London Wild (24 page)

February cracked open a few eggs and placed them in the
prep
and set it to fry. ‘The rest is ready; they’re just being kept warm while I do the eggs.’

Kitty smiled and nodded
. She had watched her Master cook many times, but he refused to use a prep, claiming that the food didn’t have the same taste as when cooked the old-fashioned way.

No more than twenty seconds after she’d placed the eggs in the
prep, she removed them and started to share the perfectly fried eggs between two plates that already contained sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon.

‘There are several things we have to do today,’ February announced as she handed the plate over. ‘First we need to find you a name; I can’t go calling you Kitty in front of herd. No herd would ever name their child Kitty because of the feline associations.’

‘Catherine,’ Kitty suggested.

‘It’s true
that some of the herd are still in the habit of naming children Catherine, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It might draw attention to yourself, picking a name that starts with the letters C-A-T.’

Kitty sighed
. ‘What else needs doing?’

‘Well, we need to get you some clothing. Also
, I’ll need to go to the regional headquarters to warn them of this weapon I found, as well as the extra trackers we found in the laser weapons. I’d like you to come along with me so you can be introduced to some of the others. Before we go anywhere, though, I’ll have to teach you a little something about how to disguise yourself. We can’t go out the door like this. ’

‘That might take a long time,’ Kitty said.

‘When you know a little more about what you’re doing, I’ll teach you the best type of disguise we use. It’ll take quite a while to put on, even assuming you’ve done the preparation first and assuming you’re used to wearing it. However, it’ll fool a herd sitting as close to you as I am. It can fool nearly anyone. That’s for another day, though,’ February said. ‘Today I’m just going to teach you a quick disguise, the most common type of disguise we use. It’ll get you past nearly everyone’s cursory glances and can be applied in just a few minutes.’

‘Nearly everyone?’
Kitty asked thoughtfully.

‘Well, those in the
Elite Guard are not easily fooled. Fortunately they are a relatively rare occurrence on the streets. But they know where to look and what to look out for. If we wear something to cover those signs, it just makes them suspicious. No, you might get away with it if the Guard isn’t alert, but it’s not worth gambling your life over.’

Kitty nodded slowly. ‘I think it’s probably fundamental that I learn, then.’

‘I’ll have to get to the regional headquarters today, whether you’re with me or not. We’ll have breakfast and then I should start teaching you immediately. The clothes shopping can always wait until tomorrow if getting you ready takes too long.’

Kitty nodded
; she was enjoying the meal.

‘By the way, I think I found that article you mentioned while you were in the shower,’ February commented between mouthfuls. ‘I think your master might have done you quite a service. I definitely don’t like the sound of what they’re claiming. After all, the location of the
Cattery is the best-kept secret in the country. They aren’t about to release anyone who’s seen the way there. I suppose they could knock them out for the trip there and back, but somehow I don’t think so. Anyone with half a brain can see that something is up.’

Kitty nodded but said nothing.

‘I’d like to meet this master of yours—on friendly terms, I mean. Not as prey.’

Kitty grinned and pointed to the piece of paper she had been holding when she had emerged from the shower. ‘He gave me a contact number, asked me to call him nightly if I could. He definitely wants me to contact him when this latest government edict thing has blown over so he can come and collect me.’

February eyed the paper suspiciously. ‘I think we might call him, but not from here. And I’ll want to check him out first, see if he’s as he appears or if he’s a government stooge laying a trap for whoever helped you.’

‘But,’ protested Kitty.

February grinned. ‘It was unlikely that anyone would have aided you before you’d run afoul of a crowd of herd. So I can’t see it being a setup. But I do have to be sure before I’ll risk contact. I’ll nip out tomorrow night and call round on him. I assume you can tell me the address where you used to live.’

Kitty nodded quietly.

‘Don’t worry; I won’t hurt him. Until I’m sure of him, though, it’ll be better if you don’t try to contact him.’

Kitty nodded her reluctant agreement. Her Master wasn’t the sort to hurt anyone, but she could understand the wild queen’s desire to be sure for herself. After all, February hadn’t survived without being careful. That last thought gave her pause. She had met February the previous night without any hint of a disguise on. That was hardly the attitude of one who survived by being careful. Kitty decided it was all done by degrees
; February was careful about some things and less so about others. Besides, all this thinking was doing nothing to sate her appetite.

Kitty finished the last of her food ravenously and then gazed at the empty plate sadly. She hadn’t realized she could be so hungry, but then it had been more than twenty-four hours since her last meal. That had been breakfast yesterday. Her master hadn’t yet started cooking their dinner for that evening when he had sent her out into the night. Had she thought
, she might have mentioned it to him, but they had both been upset and he had been in a hurry, as if the Elite Guard were going to call on them just as he was setting her free.

‘Would you like some more?’ February asked
, evidently recognizing the expression on Kitty’s face.

Kitty shook her head
. ‘I would like some more, but I don’t want you to run out because of me. I’m grateful for the one plate. Besides, if there’s going to be much more running around, I’ll need to stay fit.’

February reached to take the dirty plate from her
. ‘Well, if you’re sure. I can always mix you up something if you’re still hungry.’

‘I’ll be fine
, thanks, and thank you for a lovely meal,’ Kitty said.

February put the plates and cutlery into a small machine that sat by the
prep which was about three foot square and could only really be described as a dishwasher. Once the plates and cutlery were in, she closed the door on the front and pressed a button. After the passage of no more than thirty seconds, during which the machine buzzed gently, she opened it again and took the clean items out.

‘If there’s anything I can do about the house to help
…’ Kitty suggested as February put the plates away.

‘
Just think of a name,’ was the reply. ‘We have a lot to do already today, so don’t worry about anything else. There’ll be plenty of time to divide the chores up between us tomorrow. Right now, I want you to go upstairs to my bedroom and sit on the chair in front of the mirrors. I’ll be up as soon as I’ve cleared everything away for your first lesson in disguise.’

Almost feeling as if she had been dismissed, Kitty headed towards her new friend
’s bedroom as bidden. The stairs were tall and narrow and led to two rooms, one on either side of a very narrow top landing, barely wide enough for a doorway on either side. The rooms on either side seemed big enough, though.

The room to the left contained a number of unopened boxes, giving the illusion of someone having only just moved in and not yet having enough time to unpack. Kitty guessed that when the bed arrived
, that was where she would be sleeping.

The room on the right was February’s bedroom, and it was definitely the type of room that might have been decorated by a woman. The room was dominated by the bed. Against the wall opposite the bed was the dressing table
, complete with triptych mirrors.

Kitty made
herself comfortable on the chair in front of the dresser and studied the selection of makeups that were spread about on the top of it. There was also a mannequin head that held a blonde wig. She smiled at her reflection in the mirrors and waited for her friend.

‘So any idea what you’re going to call yourself?’ asked February when she entered the room no more than three minutes later.

‘I don’t know,’ Kitty told her; despite February’s urgings, she hadn’t really given it a lot of thought. ‘Something easy to remember, perhaps.’

‘Well, you need to think about it. It’ll be important if you want to interact with humans. I can’t be your go-between
all the time. You wouldn’t want me to, anyway, not now that you’re free of herd influence. No point leaving one leash to get restrained by another.’

Kitty nodded, but she didn’t turn around to face her friend. Instead she was gazing in the mirrors, wondering how she would look once the makeup was finished. She was looking forward to being able to mingle with humans as if she was their equal.

‘Shall we begin?’ February asked as she moved away from the window.

‘Sure,’ Kitty replied.

Learning to put on a disguise wasn’t easy, though February was very patient as she talked Kitty through each step involved. It took over an hour just to get the powder to a color that would both cover Kitty’s stripes and match her natural skin tone. It was important to get that just right
, as even a slight difference could give her away. 

‘Now apply it,
’ February told her simply. ‘Rub it in near your ears first to make sure it matches and then cover your stripes with it. This stuff will let your skin breathe and even sweat if necessary. Just don’t sweat too much; it’s water-soluble and will streak your face.’

‘Water-soluble,’ Kitty commented, ‘but why?’

‘You need to be able to wash it off easily,’ was February’s answer. ‘Now apply it as I told you and we’ll move on to your eyes. Don’t you think it’ll be a great achievement when you’re able to do this by yourself? What you don’t use we can put away for the next time you need to be disguised, and I assure you, there will be plenty of occasions.’

Kitty applied the makeup carefully, covering her stripes and blending the powder into her skin so that it seemed to flow from her natural color to the new her. She watched the transformation in the mirrors, yet she seemed surprised that her stripes were actually disappearing.

February came to watch as Kitty put the finishing touches on a few areas where she could still see her stripes through the powder. Kitty half expected the queen to point out a few other areas that she had missed, but she just watched and waited until Kitty was happy with the result.

The next part of the Herbaht disguise was something to cover the eyes. Usually this meant the wearing of contact lenses;
this revelation caused a worried response from Kitty. ‘You mean p-putting something in my eye? B-but I can’t even stand eye drops.’

‘That was what I thought
the first time I tried them,’ February replied. ‘
No Ma, don’t make me wear them
, I said. But I soon got used to them, and I think you will too.’

However, contact lenses of this sort were specially designed to fit against a particular shape of eye. They need to be crafted personally for the individual, and until Kitty could get some at the regional headquarters she would have to make do with sunglasses for now.

Next was hair. Kitty soon learned that although the natural locks of a Herbaht might appear to be of one shade, it was often not the case.

‘Examine my hair,’ February told her
. ‘I’m a natural redhead, but if you look closely at my hair in the right light you can see some dark stripes and some blonde stripes. Most herd won’t notice, but some do and they automatically equate stripes with us.’ She got up again and stood behind Kitty. Now she talked about Kitty’s hair. ‘You are a natural brunette, but when the light is right I can see the stripes of red that run through your hair. Very few members of our race don’t have some similar color mix in their hair. Quite a few actually have hair that is so obviously of two or three colors that it looks as if the stripes on their skin have simply not stopped when they meet the hair. My mother was like that, and my brother takes after her.’

For now February lent Kitty her old blonde wig
; it would do until they could get something that suited Kitty better.

The disguise was nearly finished now, though Kitty felt strange looking at a weird, almost human face in the mirrors. As she looked at herself, there was one thing still bothering her.

‘What about my tail?’
she asked suddenly. ‘I mean, I can look as human as the next cat, but with that thing dangling about I’ll fool no one.’ Kitty cringed for a moment as she realized what she had said, but February seemed to be tolerant about it.

‘Most of the time we wear baggy clothes, skirts or baggy coats. Sometimes even a long coat if the weather is such that we can get away with it.’

‘Doesn’t that make us stand out?’ Kitty commented.

‘Not as much as an obvious bump caused by tight clothing would,’ February told her.

‘I see,’ Kitty replied thoughtfully.