Wildwood had explained to Theresa he needed a break, although she wondered if he was not politely trying to give her one instead. Theresa spent the rest of the afternoon slinking around the nearly empty corridors.
One time she saw Missus White, but she hid out of the way because she was not in the mood to deal with the unpleasant woman. She did not care if the behavior was catlike or not.
After some endless amount of time skulking around while trying not to think of magical miscalculations Theresa felt herself starting to get hungry.
Glad to have something else to think about, she made her way over to the kitchen and scratched on the door. What was the point in attempting to act human? She would just do what she felt like doing.
The door opened almost immediately. "Alice!" crooned Ildri.
"Her name isn't Alice, Ildri. Her name is Theresa," Theresa heard the chef correct.
"She doesn't mind, do you, you beautiful lady?" Ildri said, picking up Theresa and beginning to pet her.
Theresa did not mind in spite of herself. She knew that it was undignified and she should feel affronted, but what did it matter?
Ildri continued to stroke her back as she carried her across the room. Theresa could feel herself purring and tried to stop it. It did not work. "She's got such beautiful eyes. I've never seen a cat with eyes this color."
"It's an unusual color, certainly," agreed the chef. "Now put her down, Ildri and get back to your tasks."
"Can I just get her something to eat?" Ildri asked.
"Yes, just hurry. It's almost supper. You know food doesn't cook itself."
Ildri set Theresa down and gave her some pieces of meat in a dish. Ildri went back to work. Theresa ate them gratefully and was quickly finished.
She glanced at the door that seemed to lead outside. They would likely let her out. It was worth a try. She walked over and scratched at it.
Chef walked over. "Would you like to go outside?"
Theresa glanced at Ildri. She was not looking. Theresa quickly nodded.
"Just make sure that you return before dark. I'll leave the window open for you."
Theresa nodded.
Ildri was rolling pie crusts on a floured board. She did not look up, but she said, "It's not like she can understand you. What if she gets lost? I'm not sure that it's a good idea to let her out. Will we get in trouble if Lady Daphne's cat disappears?"
"It will be fine," the chef said dismissively as she pushed open the door. "I'll take responsibility if she does go missing."
Theresa darted outside before the woman could change her mind.
Simply stepping out the door made Theresa feel remarkably better. She had never enjoyed being idly cooped up on a glorious day, or any day barring the worst weather.
Being changed into a cat had apparently not changed everything about her. There was something amazing about being outside under the beautiful blue sky that made her feel free.
The lawn around the castle was evenly clipped. A butterfly fluttered across her path. She walked around the structure of the castle, looking at the walls and the structures.
It really was an attractive castle and it no longer seemed foreboding, whether due to the sunny day or her increasing familiarity with the place. In fact, it now seemed much more welcoming than her own, but that might just be due to the lack of Francine's odious presence.
Theresa wandered farther from the castle. Looking back, she could see Wildwood's tower. She wondered what he was doing. Everything seemed still inside his windows, but he barely moved when he was reading so he could be doing that.
She continued looking around. There was lush forest bordering the lawn all the way around the castle. Theresa walked around the perimeter.
She heard something scampering under the trees. She was pleased to note that while her cat side was still interested in the noise she was not particularly anxious to eat it.
She did think hunting down the little creature would be entertaining as an activity, but it was not difficult for Theresa's human side to stop the thought from going further.
She decided she must always eat before she went outside. The cat part of her brain hardly needed encouragement.
Theresa found a nice patch of grass and lay down in the late afternoon sun, watching as bees lazily wandered across the lawn. Their humming was a peaceful sound.
She could almost imagine that she was back in the days when she had picnics on the lawn with her mother and she did not have to worry about undoing transformations and petitioning the king.
Her feline nature was also happy; lying in the sun with a full belly was an excellent use of time in her obviously superior opinion.
With her excellent hearing, Theresa could detect activity from beyond the yard where she lay.
On the far side was the stables, where Mahogany was probably waiting for her owner. She could hear the occasional sounds of horses being horses and she remembered a time when riding gave her peace of mind.
She rolled over to her other side and gazed into the trees. She wondered if she would ever have the opportunity to enjoy being on the back of a horse again.
While it was the least of her worries, it was still something she missed. She could feel her mind beginning to wander until it drifted away from conscious thought.
* * * * *
She was not particularly pleased when she was awoken by activity across the lawn. She could hear several sets of hooves pounding on the ground.
Suddenly she recalled Francine's dogs with horrible clarity and the men chasing them. Francine was still looking for her and Daphne. What was she doing relaxing in the sun, in plain sight, no less?
Theresa jumped up and began to flee towards the castle. She could hear that the riders seemed to have slowed in the middle of the yard. Theresa looked back at the riders on the two beasts.
And she saw Daphne was one of the riders; Thomas was the other.
Theresa was annoyed. What was Daphne doing riding all over Wildwood's estate as if there was nothing to fear?
Theresa turned again and stalked into the trees bordering the yard, thinking about all the foolish things that Daphne had done. She may have been becoming braver, but she did not have the sense of a flea, Theresa thought angrily.
If she had been in Daphne's position, she would have been working diligently to try to find a way to save Daphne. Instead, Daphne was going for little joy rides with her new little interest.
The two riders rode towards the stables and out of sight. Theresa stalked along the edge of the forest, then crossed the yard after them. She would see what her irresponsible sister was doing.
The whole thing would probably only make her more angry at Daphne but she did not care, perhaps she even wanted to fan the flames. Hot feelings of hurt indignation were simmering inside of her. It seemed that Daphne did not care about Theresa at all.
The stable doors were closed, so Theresa circled around the building. There was nothing open at her level, but there was a window that was just a bit too high.
She jumped up on a barrel and then leapt for the window. She dug her front claws in when she landed on the sill. She dug her back claws into the wall and jumped inside.
Theresa landed on her feet inside the stable. She was really getting the hang of her four legged form, she thought with some satisfaction.
The stables smelled of hay, leather, horses and other less pleasant scents. They were all familiar if unusually strong. Theresa did not mind the presence of horses and her cat half agreed, so long as they were not perched precariously on the back of one.
Theresa could not hear any sign of her sister or Thomas. She looked around, but they were not in the building. She could see the horses Thomas and Daphne had ridden being cared for by a stable hand. Perhaps she had missed them. There was no point in staying.
Theresa walked back to the window she had used to enter. Her cat part rejected it immediately as being too high. Theresa decided to try jumping onto it regardless.
She bunched her muscles and leapt. She managed to get a nice grip with her claws in the wood below the window, but she could not quite drag herself up over the overhang. After trying a few times, she gave up.
Theresa went around the stable, looking for another way. Everything was closed up tightly. Theresa thought it was odd that there was so little activity.
In their stables at home there were always stable hands working at one task or another. Even the lone stable hand she had first spotted seemed to have disappeared.
Theresa was again amazed at how few servants worked for Wildwood. His estate was no smaller than her own yet there were half as many servants and guards in her estimation.
Having exhausted all the possibilities for escape, Theresa found a relatively clean corner to wait. She started to clean her fur. There was nothing else to be done.
Theresa eventually lay down. Her eyes got increasingly heavy and soon she was dreaming again.