Kelly, Sofie - Sleight of Paw

Everett didn’t talk about the estate, ever. It wasn’t that he changed the subject. He just didn’t talk about it. And because of that there were a lot of rumors about the old place. Some people said it was haunted; others said that the cats were very old and had some kind of magical powers. Roma felt they were most likely descendents of the kitchen cats from the estate.

But most people believed the cats were descended from Everett’s mother’s cat, Finn. It was commonly believed that Finn had otherworldly abilities. That last rumor worried me. People knew Owen and Hercules came from Wisteria Hill. After Roma told me that she didn’t think they had ever been feral, I started telling people that they had probably been abandoned. I didn’t want anyone getting the idea my cats might have superpowers.

At one point there had been a push to round up all the Wisteria Hill cats and find foster homes for them. Roma had strongly resisted that, making a point of educating people so they understood that a feral cat was never going to turn into a fluffy house cat, chasing a ball of yarn across the living room floor.

“Do you think it’s true?” Marcus asked as we went around to the side of the old carriage house, where the cat shelters and feeding stations were.

“Do I think what’s true?” I said, as he held the side door for me.

“Do you think there’s something different about these cats?”

I looked back at him and tried not to smirk. “You think they might have supernatural powers?” I waggled one hand from side to side at him. “Or maybe they’re shape-shifters?” I stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the dim light.

Marcus closed the door carefully behind us. “No, I don’t mean all that nonsense,” he said. “But you have to admit, some of these animals have lived a very long time under”—he held out both hands—“some pretty adverse conditions.”

Marcus Gordon didn’t seem the type to buy in to the woo-woo theories about the old estate or the cats. “You think the cats have some kind of genetic mutation?” I asked. Now that I could see better, I started across the wooden floor to the feeding station.

“Maybe.”

My chest tightened. I didn’t want him—or anyone else—to get any ideas about Owen and Hercules.

I bent to brush some straw and dry leaves from around the shelf where the dishes would sit, so he couldn’t see my face. “So do you think they should be somewhere being studied instead of living here?”

“No, I don’t.”

I stood up and turned so I could see him now and read his expression. He pulled off his hat. His dark hair stood up at the crown of his head. It made him look like a kid, not like an annoying police officer.

He met my gaze directly. “I think the cats have the right to live where they feel safe. They aren’t bothering anyone and I don’t think anyone should bother them.”

“Wait a second. Has someone been out here again who shouldn’t be?” I asked, stuffing my mittens into my pocket so I could open the bag of cat food. “I know Roma made a couple of extra trips out here this week.”

“Yeah, I think so.” He took the clean water bowls I held out to him. “Monday the outside door wasn’t closed properly.”

“It could’ve just been someone being careless,” I said, even though I knew none of Roma’s volunteers would be careless with the cats’ safety.

“Harry saw tracks when he came out to plow.”

“What kind of tracks?”

“Snowmobile.” Marcus leaned around me, setting the water bowls in place. A couple of times during really bad weather, Harry had used his own snowmobile to come out and feed the cats, but other than that everyone else drove their trucks or SUVs.

“Were the cats okay?” I asked, as he filled the bowls with water.

“As far as anyone can tell. I don’t think whoever it was realized the shelters are back here.”

The cats’ homes—insulated shelters built by Roma’s volunteers—were in what she called the cathouse, a corner of the old building that had probably originally been used for storage.

I filled all the food dishes and Marcus and I retreated to the door, where we waited, crouched down on the dusty floor.

“Why would anyone want to be out here, anyway?” I whispered.

His shoulders rose under his jacket. “Who knows? Maybe it was just kids. The rumors are kind of dramatic, when you think about it. What kid wouldn’t want to own a cat that was a hundred years old and could turn in to a wolf?”

A flicker of movement caught my eye in the far corner of the carriage house. I put a hand on Marcus’s arm to warn him into silence. The cats came into view. The first one was a sturdy black-and-white cat not unlike Hercules, but with more white on his face. The others came behind him, cautiously, one by one.

They’d all come to know the volunteers and realize our presence meant food, and we all knew to stay quiet and still while they ate. Like Marcus, I eyed each cat in turn, looking for any signs of injury or illness.

“Where’s Lucy?” he whispered.

I looked around. He was right. There was no sign of Lucy, the matriarch of the feral-cat colony. She was usually the first one who appeared to check things out.

I scanned the space, squinting in the dim light. There was something—I hoped it was feline—over by one of the posts supporting the carriage-house roof.

I leaned forward on the balls of my feet, grabbing Marcus’s arm for balance. He really did smell good, like a fruit salad of orange, lemon and grapefruit. Lucy made her way slowly across the floor. The calico cat was carrying something in her mouth. Or, to be more accurate, she was half dragging something.

She paused. Her ears twitched. I didn’t hear anything, but something caught her attention. She looked back the way she’d come for a long moment. Then, seemingly satisfied, she turned back around.

And looked directly at us.

I froze, not even breathing for a moment, because I didn’t want to scare her.

The cat put a paw on whatever it was she’d captured so she could get a better grip on it with her teeth. Then she started toward us. Should we move, or would that startle her and the other cats? They were all eating, not even giving her as much as a glance as she passed them.

Lucy made her way closer. She still had a very small limp left over from last summer when she’d injured her leg. And whatever it was she was carrying was heavy, close to half her size.

It wasn’t a bird; I couldn’t see any feathers. I could see a long tail and . . . fur? I tightened my grip on Marcus’s arm.

Lucy continued to make her way across the floor. About six feet or so away from us she stopped, dropped her . . . catch on the wooden floor and looked at us. Then she gave the dead animal—I was pretty sure it was dead—a push with a paw.

It dawned on me that she was bringing us a gift. Owen and Hercules brought me things on occasion—a dragonfly, a dead bird, a very hairy caterpillar. Owen had once gifted Rebecca with a dead bat that was bigger than he was.

“Thank you, puss,” I said softly.

She tipped her head to one side and studied me for a second. Then she bent and nudged the gift a bit closer with her nose. With a flick of her tail she made her way over to the feeding station.

We stayed where we were, silent while Lucy ate. My legs were cramping from being crouched in the cold for so long. I kept one eye on the dead thing, just in case it wasn’t so dead after all.

One by one the cats finished eating and wandered away until only Lucy was at the feeding station. Like Owen, she liked to sniff and scrutinize every bit of food before she ate it. Finally she stretched, took a couple of steps away from the food and started washing her face.