The Prophecy and the Familiar

FIFTEEN

"She ate like she was starving. Poor baby."

The cat hadn't looked all that neglected, John thought. Cleaned up and dry, she seemed healthy enough.

"Well, good," he said aloud. He leaned down and petted Mr. Pumpkin, a fluffy, rotund orange cat with an equally rounded face. Appropriate name on Halloween. Pumpkin was his favorite, apparently lacking the brain power to run from the man who clearly smelled like a veterinarian. The other three—Beasley, Noodle, and The Big Boy—being wiser, were hiding elsewhere in the house. "Did you have many trick-or-treaters earlier?"

"Just a few. The weather."

"Well, maybe it'll keep the teenagers out of the cemetery."

Miss Winter pursed her lips and made a so-so gesture. "They seem to be staying away lately. It's rumored to be haunted, you know."

"I'll keep clear of it. Would you like me to pick up something up for you? I'm just going to walk down to the teriyaki place after I look at our patient."

* * *

Ivy crouched near the door into the next room. It wasn't completely closed, and she teased it farther open with one paw. She watched the humans blathering and understood that the healer was going to leave. Good. If she could just slip outside when he did...

"Merciful moon. How will I get him to follow me?" She flicked her tail in consternation.

The woman now offered the man some folded-up pieces of paper, which he tried to refuse. Payment of some kind, Ivy realized, like the battered silver coins the farmer's wife hoarded in an old kettle. The man finally relented, putting the money into a small leather wallet and then into his coat pocket. Then he took his coat off and draped it over a nearby chair.

"Sebastian," Ivy whispered. "Could you lift that little leather thing? Just move it to the floor under the chair?"

As the dragon fluttered toward the coat, the long-coated tomcat at the healer's feet looked over at her. Ivy held her breath, then growled, very low in her chest. Go away, foolish creature.

Abruptly, the other cat turned and trotted from the room. She couldn't detect any other felines nearby, though she could smell at least three others. They must be in yet another room. It was all right, though; the two humans turned their attention to the departing orange tabby, and this allowed Sebastian to drop the wallet unnoticed.

"All right," Ivy whispered to herself. Her hindquarters wiggled a little as she prepared to bolt. "Here I go."