The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 52: When in Doubt, Pick the Cat

Another lap of tea. "And yet, their behavior is highly abnormal."

"Yes. From what I can tell, it underwent an abrupt transformation at the beginning of last winter."

Silence as Boot thought it over. "Could they have met a ghost? Have there been any recent ghost sightings in the barony? You do have that river next door. Could it be the soul of someone who drowned back during the Empire and never got reincarnated?"

That popular misconception about the nature of ghosts was ancient. Two of Cassius' scholars had been passionate about correcting "peasant superstition," although they'd never agreed on what it should be corrected to. One had asserted that ghosts were the lingering memories of people who died in highly emotional circumstances. The other had argued that ghosts were the awakened flesh of a corpse, making them kin to stiffs, which were awakened skeletons. Neither scholar had had a convincing explanation for how memories could persist after death, or how flesh could be preserved long enough to awaken.

"No." Master Gravitas' answer was swift and definitive. "There have been no reports of anyone getting attacked by a ghost. Or even losing life force mysteriously."

"A stiff?" persisted Boot. "If I remember correctly, there was a lot of fighting in this area near the end of the Empire. Enough time has passed. The bones of, say, a soldier who died then could have awakened."

"There have been no human disappearances that we cannot account for. The only demon eating people around here is Lord Silurus. Have you tried questioning the Jek children?"

A hiss. "Of course I've questioned the Jek children. They're obviously hiding something, but each time one of the younger ones is on the verge of blurting it out, their parents or older brothers or even that snake stops them. I can't get them alone either. The mother or the snake is always around. None of them have mentioned that 'Mr. Turtle' in your last report."

"I'm afraid I haven't been able to find out anything more about him," Master Gravitas apologized.

"Why didn't you set your agents to surveil the family earlier?"

"My instructions were to proceed with extreme discretion, ma'am."

Yes, yes, I knew he must have received instructions – but from whom? Neither of the cats was saying. It was aggravating.

Their meeting wrapped up shortly thereafter, with Boot instructing Master Gravitas to keep an ear out for any information on the Jeks in general and "Mr. Turtle" in particular. Then the black cat slipped out the back door and melted into the shadows. In the moonlight, I caught a flash of a skinny, hairless tail: one of the rat spirits following her. From below came dull thumps and clinks as Master Gravitas straightened the room.

A wingtip brushed the side of my shell. "Head back," Stripey mouthed, and I nodded and got back into the pouch. Once we were airborne and out of earshot of anyone on the ground, he spoke at his normal volume. "Blackmail. We can blackmail them."

Agreed. Too bad they never talked about who they work for.

Since Stripey was using his wings to fly, he couldn't make his trademark shrug, but I heard it in his voice. "Just threatening to reveal that Boot is a spy will be enough. And Master Gravitas too! The Baron will run all the cats out of town!"

That's it? He won't execute them? I couldn't picture any nobleman tolerating treason.

Stripey went quiet for a long time. At last, in a low voice, he admitted, "He'd have to. To send a message." Even if the duck had no particular love for cat spirits, he sounded like he didn't like the image of his long-time neighbors dangling from the gallows or laying their heads on the chopping block.

I had no such sympathy. If you became a spy, that was the risk you ran. Also, Master Gravitas was the one who had set his, Floridiana's, and Boot's master on the Jeks, thus endangering everything I was trying to accomplish here. His purchase of two measly chairs to help them pay rent did not come close to balancing this betrayal. Even the Heavenly Accountants would have to agree with me on this one.

But for Stripey's sake, I said, There's no way they won't go along with us. They're not going to force us to report them to the baron.

"I hope you're right." And, because he could never let anything go, he had to remind me, "You have to admit that Bobo was right. It was better to talk to the cat spirits first."

Mmph.

And down we glided towards the bamboo stand where she waited. Time for me to confess that she'd been correct to insist that talk came before torture.

Even if she hadn't intended for that talk to involve blackmail.

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