Enter the Cat Chapter 1

Chapter 4

"Not trying to bribe me are you?" I ask with a lazy smile as I prop my elbow on the doorpost beside me.

"I might be," Jazzy giggles, "but if you don’t want to come I could sneak off with Mitchell all by myself …" She smiles coyly and there is a mischievous look in her eyes as she goes to turn away.

"Go and let me have my shower you little minx, or you’ll have to wait until midnight before I’m ready to change and go for that run." I say with a laugh. I shut the door and turn the shower on, adjusting the water before beginning to undress.

I am washing the last of the soap from my back when I hear the unmistakeable sound of my mobile phone. I pause a moment, then decide that if it is important whoever is calling will ring back. I turn back to my shower and reach for the shampoo before ducking my head beneath the spray. When I do turn the water off and step out of the shower cubicle I dry off and pull clean clothes on before reaching for my mobile where it sits on the chair beside the sink. I check for missed calls and give a slight smile as I see Baxter’s name come up. I am returning the missed call when I head out for the lounge room and grin when I hear the familiar voice on the other end of the line as he answers his phone.

"Hi Baxter, you called," I say as I head into the kitchen to grab a cold beer from the fridge.

"Yeah I called Micah," Baxter says gruffly. "I got a bit of news you might be interested in. Today when I was on my lunch hour I happened to see a werecat dressed up like a human and walking around town as happy as pie. Well maybe not that happy but it was there large as day."

"What’s going on?" I ask with a worried frown. "Cat sightings? Livestock kills?"

"No, no nothing like that," Baxter says reassuringly. "Although I am sure this one could be trouble if she wanted to be. Slender blonde with long hair, moves like liquid silk. No werecat would mistake her for anything other than a cat. Obviously in good health but she seemed a mite jumpy. I just gave her her own space."

"You sure about that Baxter?" I demand and notice that Steven has gotten to his feet in the lounge room and is not far from the connecting doorway and he divides his attention between the tv and me as I open my beer.

"I double checked with that sketch that was dropped in here a while back. I got a good look at her face from a bit of a distance and there’s no mistake - it’s that little she-kitt yous had there not too long back," Baxter confirms confidently.

"That’s really great news Baxter. Umm you had better let Wade know what you saw," I say as I clench my jaw to stop myself giving a loud celebratory yell over the confirmed sighting of Rosy from a reliable source. "I don’t think you’d want him thinking you’re not loyal to him, that you thought it was more important that I know she seems to be coping."

"I saw the look in your eye when you were here, boy. Talk to you again," Baxter says before hanging up.

"There trouble?" Steven asks as I take a large plate of food from the oven and head for the lounge room carrying the plate and my beer.

"No," I say as I walk past Dwayne where he sits watching Sam and Mitchell playing some combat game on the play station. He glances my way before turning his attention back to the game being played.

"Pause that game for a few moments, you lot," I say loudly.

Sam pauses the game and looks over his shoulder at me with a slight frown. Dwayne and Mitchell look my way as well as Donny and Jazzy who are sitting on the floor near Mitchell.

"Just had a positive sighting of Rosy phoned in," I say evenly. "She was in the town where Baxter Barnes lives. Seemed ok, sort of passed as a human but he didn’t go near her," I relay the information to them.