Norton, Andre - Anthology (30 page)

 
          
 
"And?"

 
          
 
"I'm afraid I hurt the kitten."

 
          
 
The professor stopped where he stood, one paw
up in the air. He looked like a statue. "How badly?" he asked.

 
          
 
"I'm sure that Vootie is still alive, but
I stepped on her getting out of the kitchen . . ."

 
          
 
The cat seemed to relax. "But, David,
these things happen. You needn't ..."

 
          
 
"The kitten clawed me. So, I, uh
..."

 
          
 
The old cat was deadly serious again.
"David, what did you do?"

 
          
 
"I kicked her."

 
          
 
"I see. You know that you're in serious trouble,
don't you?"

 
          
 
"Oh, God, I didn't mean to," said
David.

 
          
 
"The problem here is the goddess,
David."

 
          
 
They stared at one another, the old smart cat,
and the young not-terribly-smart man. Professor Purr preferred looking into the
eyes of a human at times like this instead of plastic and metal that told him
nothing.

 
          
 
"I've come to a decision, David,"
said the cat. "I won't let them bury you in the giant litter box . .
."

 
          
 
"You mean Sorscha wasn't kidding about
that?" asked David, incredulously.

 
          
 
"I'm afraid not. But I have a solution to
all your problems."

 
          
 
"I don't want to die!" David
half-screamed, looking wildly around for an avenue of escape. But the whole
world was the trap.

 
          
 
"Don't be ridiculous," said the
professor. "Why would I bother to save you and throw it all away now?
Besides, I promised Miko that I would always preserve your life. But to help
you, we must act quickly. Come with me."

 
          
 
The professor's quiet determination helped to
calm David. He followed the cat to the door attaching the lab to the dormitory
where cats stayed who chose to help with the many research projects. There-were
eleven living there at the moment.

 
          
 
Professor Purr's ultimate objective was to correct
the many human interventions in natural cat blood lines. For example, Bast was
incensed that Persians with only one blue eye were usually deaf in the ear on
that side. The goddess didn't like the fact that certain eye colors had been
eliminated in whole lines. She didn't view all human intervention as equally
bad, especially not when the breeding techniques had strengthened natural
tendencies. As to what was natural and what wasn't, Bast had left Professor
Purr with a library of helpful guidelines. And that wasn't all she had left.

 
          
 
"Excuse me, everyone!" raaaorrrred
the professor as the door opened. Almost immediately there was dead quiet. The
alpha qualities of the good professor had been greatly enhanced. "You are
all free to wander off and tend to your business. I won't be working with any
of you today."

 
          
 
David stepped back more than he normally would
have, but the accident with Vootie bothered him. The professor's reaction
bothered him even more. He could just imagine what Sorscha would tell Miko. But
the other cats had stared at him in the same cold, unforgiving way . . . even
Zhadi.

 
          
 
So now he gave plenty of room to Snowy and
Shark and Merry Kat, all white as the ice in his heart; and all as white as he
imagined his bones would be after they'd been allowed to bleach in the sun.

 
          
 
Next came the two smallest cats there, the
aptly named Rusty and diminutive Perri who had a purr so loud it was hard to
believe it was generated in so small a body. Then came Squeaker, bigger than
the other two, but still small enough to sit comfortably on the narrow ledge
provided by the top of a door. David imagined how easily he could hurt any of
this threesome and tried to merge into the wall behind.

 
          
 
The remaining cats were bigger and he relaxed
a little. There was night-black Noir, the best hunter in the region and whose
bones seemed to be made of water when he had to move fast andj&rpugh narrow
spaces in pursuit of a bird. Behind him strutted Piewacket, or Pie for short,
who had the most aristocratic table manners, next to the professor. Then came
Tux, with a black-and-white coat leaving no mystery about his name. He was
older than the professor but in good health. The only cat older than Tux
followed behind him, Tabbis—another Hemingway cat and the professor's favorite.
Bringing up the rear was the orange-and-white Buttons, a big young adult who
thought he was a kitten and could be seen frequently playing with his own tail.

 
          
 
David Lawrence Alexander hated them all.

 
          
 
Professor Purr was so good-natured that he
consistently misread the reactions of his human assistant. He tried to put the
man's mind at ease: "I can imagine how you must feel about your accident
with the kitten. Even the kicking could be forgiven in a more tolerant regime.

 
          
 
“They wouldn't forgive me," said David,
watching Button's back as the last of the lab cats exited the area.

 
          
 
"You'd be surprised," the professor
disagreed. "Consider how cats fight! We're not as civilized as all that.
I'm sometimes ashamed to witness how we pee over everything and then fight
about it."

 
          
 
"You're the most civilized cat I
know," said David through his oxygen mask. And he meant it.

 
          
 
"The time has come to give you back your
face," said the professor, looking up. "You must be tired of fiddling
around with that, changing it . .."

 
          
 
"I want to breathe," said David,
following the cat scientist back into the lab. This time they passed right by
the statue of Bast that used to be in Miko's house. The statue had been moved
here at the professor's request. As David looked into the implacable eyes above
a golden nose-ring, he said, half to himself, "And I want to go on
breathing."

 
          
 
"You will, my boy," said Professor
Purr with good cheer, "and all will be set right between you and Miko, as
well. She won't be happy when she learns about Voo-tie. But don't worry, the
goddess herself has shown me the way to help you."

 
          
 
"How?"

 
          
 
The cat ran up on top of a cabinet that David
had never opened before. "My research was not ready before today, but now
is the time. I'm sure of it. You see, to alter cat blood lines requires an
ability to tamper with basic genetics."

 
          
 
"You need advanced science for
that," said David, without conviction.

 
          
 
"Or magic, dear boy. Or magic! It's the
same thing actually. They had it in ancient
Egypt
. The great pyramid was their laboratory.
They kept their supply in the pyramid."

 
          
 
"Supply of what?"

 
          
 
"Of molds, fungi, roots! Everything we
need to cure your allergy. It's in here, David. Help me with it."

 
          
 
David helped.

 
          
 
The treatment took three days. Plenty of time
for the professor to send Miko a progress report. She prepared herself for him.
She took it very well and never once came close to screaming.

 
          
 
Everyone was very nice. No one mentioned the
incident in the kitchen, not even Sorscha. Vootie went out of her way to be
friendly to David, rubbing up against his foot. At least he still had a foot.
He'd have it for another week at least.

 
          
 
The first stage of the process was slow, but
now that the metabolic changes were underway, the transformation would greatly
accelerate. Miko sat on the couch with David, holding hands with him, while he
still had hands.

 
          
 
He couldn't think of a thing to say. He was
too tired to feel sorry for himself. He was too tired to think of
self-destruction. He sat there, placid as a lump on a log, and drank his milk.

 
          
 
For all the times she had wished to have David
on her couch in her house, surrounded by her cats, and not wearing that silly
mask, now that her dream had come true, it wasn't entirely satisfactory. David
no longer had hismustache. She'd never really liked it, and didn't mind that
the professor required a clean-shaven subject for the experiment. "

 
          
 
But when she tried to kiss David, his whiskers
tickled her something awful!

            
Jane Lindskold
resides in
Albuquerque
,
New Mexico
with six cats, all named after figures in British mythology. To support
them (and her four guinea pigs and four fish) she writes full time. Her
published works include the novels Brother to Dragons,

Companion to Owls, Marks of Our Brothers, The Pipes of Orpheus, and
Smoke and Mirrors, Her short fiction has appeared in a variety of collections,
including Heaven Sent,

Return to Avalon, and Wheel of Fortune. Currently, she is under contract
to complete the two novels left unfinished by Roger Zelazny, as well as several
novels of her own. The

cats highly approve of this, as it means she will keep them in cat food
and a residence with appropriate sunbathing facilities.

            
The geisha Okesa was
strolling beneath the cherry blossoms in a garden on the
island
of
Sado
when she noticed something very odd. There
were no cats about, not one.

             
Okesa had an
affinity for cats, being one herself, and she read omens in the number of cats
she saw in the course of her daily stroll. Eight cats was very propitious, and
she had come to expect to see at least three or four. None at all struck her as
ominous indeed.

 
          
 
Without another thought, she went searching
for the cats. She checked the sun-warmed stones by the koi pond, but they were
empty of all but sunlight. She inspected the flower gardens where birds hopped
and butterflies fluttered, but not one cat hunted beneath the ornamental
shrubs.

 
          
 
She even donned high, awkward geta to keep her
feet dry and the skirts of her kimono clear of the mud while she hunted up and
down the alleys behind the tea shops and markets. Even there, not one cat was
to be found. The rats and mice foraged unmolested, and the fish and chicken
offal remained uneaten.

 
          
 
Okesa had paused, considering where to look
next, when she saw a cat's tail disappearing through a low hole in a stone
wall. It was an unlovely tail—dirty, gray, and broken in at least three places.
She recognized it as belonging to Bushi, a scavenger and alley rascal, and no
particular friend of hers. Still, without a pause, she changed herself back
into the slim, black cat that was her own true form and leaped through the hole
after him.

 
          
 
Bushi's battered tail was just rounding a bend
ahead and Okesa chased after, pacing herself to keep it in sight. The way was
dim, and the brushing of her whiskers against the stone walls kept her on track
as much as her unintentional guide.

 
          
 
After several twists and turns, clear sunlight
shining through a rectangular opening ahead brightened the way. The breeze
carried a fascinating variety of scents. Her pricked ears caught the sound of
running water, shifting foliage, the gentle clink of china, and something else.
Okesa slowed and picked her way soundlessly forward, not wishing to stumble
into Bushi.

 
          
 
The rectangular roof was edged with a wooden
torii—the symbol of a Shinto shrine. A figure of the Compassionate Buddha sat
to one side of the torii. Their presence confirmed what Okesa had already
guessed. She had come to the
Garden
of
Cats
, a refuge during times of grave danger to
those of the feline sort. Okesa paused before padding through the torii.

 
          
 
What had caused the entry into the Garden to
manifest here on Sado? What danger did it portend? Apprehension slightly
puffing the fur on her tail, she entered the Garden.

 
          
 
Amaterasu, the sun, shone down on a cat's
paradise. The torii was framed by short, fat hibiscus bushes whose red-orange
blossoms were attended by shimmering green ruby-throated hummingbirds that
darted from blossom to blossom, their near-invisible wings thrumming. More such
bushes were artistically mingled with red-leaf maple and fan-leafed gingkos.
Catnip and catmint grew close to the ground in heavily scented clumps.

 
          
 
And everywhere there were cats. Cats in the
tree branches, cats by the koi ponds, cats asleep on sun-warmed rocks, and cats
wide awake watching the antics of the hummingbirds. There were cats of every
color, long-haired cats and short-haired cats, cats of every age and shape and
size. Okesa, though a cat herself, was overwhelmed by the presence of so many,
so varied cats.

 
          
 
Lifting her paws with the same delicate grace
that, in her human guise, had made her a famous dancer, Okesa walked more
deeply into the garden. She passed a group of shabby cats—Bushi among them—who
were batting polished marbles through an intricate maze drawn in the sand and
arguing loudly about the results.

 
          
 
Beyond the gamblers, she spotted an
acquaintance of hers. The roly-poly orange and black and white calico was
drowsing in the lap of a statue of Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy, Buddhist, but
welcome here all the same.

 
          
 
"Okesa," the calico purred sleepily,
"I hadn't thought to see you here. Aren't you human these days?"

 
          
 
"Human-formed, but never human,"
Okesa replied. "Momo, what brings you from the sushi house? I thought you
never stirred from there."

 
          
 
"I don't, usually," Momo said,
rolling to grasp a sunbeam in her paws, "but I heard that the Fox Spirits
are coming in force to Sado. They are mischievous and tricky and fonder of no
one than themselves. I doubt they have it in for my humans, but, still, the
town won't be safe until they are gone."

 
          
 
"Fox Spirits in force!" Okesa
exclaimed, lashing her tail. "But why?"

 
          
 
"Rumor says," Momo drew her answer
out into a long rumble. "Rumor says that though the Daimyo collected the
usual tithe for Inari from the peasants, he neglected to give the Rice God his
due. Fox Spirits, as you know, are Inari's messengers. Apparently, the god
intends to send the Daimyo the message that Inari does not care to be slighted."

 
          
 
"This is terrible!" Okesa said.

 
          
 
"Why?" Momo blinked sleepily.
"Rice is only a concern for humans and rodents. We are safe here in the
Garden and when the danger is past, we can return to Sado."

 
          
 
"Have you heard what the Fox Spirits
plan?" Okesa asked after a thoughtful pause.

 
          
 
There was no answer. Momo was asleep.

 
          
 
Okesa prowled the Garden, barely noticing its
delights. She exchanged polite greetings with many cats, but paused only to
ask, "Have you seen Kynn, the eat who lives with the sake merchant?"

 
          
 
At last, she found him, a long-bodied,
slim-hipped, golden tomcat with a white star on his breast. He was perched on a
log above an oval koi pond, one paw cupped to strike.

 
          
 
"Kynn-san!" Okesa called happily.

 
          
 
"Hush," he hissed, then his paw flashed,
water splashed. "Hachiman forfend! I missed!"

 
          
 
"Sorry," Okesa said, glancing into
the pool, certain that the long-tailed carp gliding away on gauzy fins was
laughing at them. "You'll have another chance. It can't go far."

 
          
 
Kynn fastidiously shook water from his paw.
"Okesa-san! I'm surprised to see you here."

 
          
 
"Why?" she asKed," Settled
though she knew she shouldn't be. "I am a cat!"

 
          
 
"Of course," the golden torn
soothed, "but I thought ... I mean . . . well, you've been human for a
while."

 
          
 
"Only while I earn some money for my
poor, old humans," Okesa said. "Then I plan to go right back to
chasing rats and sleeping in my basket on the hearthstone. You always have all
the gossip. What's this I hear about the Fox Spirits?"

 
          
 
Kynn quickly repeated what she had gathered
from Momo, then he went on.

 
          
 
"The Daimyo is hosting a Noh drama
competition this very afternoon. What I’ve heard is that the Fox Spirits will
enter the competition and when they win—for surely they will, being masters of
illusion—they will use the Daimyo's well-known generosity against him to gain
Inari's revenge."

 
          
 
"We must stop them!" Okesa declared.

 
          
 
"Why?" Kynn said curiously.
"How does this involve cats?"

 
          
 
"Why? He is our Daimyo!"

 
          
 
"Okesa, don't be ridiculous. You have
been living as a human for too long. Daimyo have little to do with cats. Their
world is the human world."

 
          
 
Okesa lashed her tail from side to side.
"Then go back to hunting little fish, great warrior!"

 
          
 
She stalked away, somewhat embarrassed over
her outburst. Kynn was right—as far as he went—but she could not escape the
feeling that the challenge of the Fox Spirits must be met. Whiskers curled in
thought, she went to the torii into the Garden and leaped lithely onto the
lintel.

 
          
 
Amaterasu still warmed the open plaza by the
gateway with her shining benevolence. Among the cats who basked in her light
were many that Okesa recognized. The marble players had put aside their game
and were now sipping fish soup from eggshell cups. The fountain that dispensed
the soup was shaped like an open-mouthed carp. A trio of kittens played on its
marble flanks.

 
          
 
Other cats dined on bowls of fish or meat
carried on black lacquer trays by invisible servitors. There were thimble-sized
bowls of cream for the kittens.

 
          
 
Looking at all of this lazy splendor, Okesa
despaired of finding anyone who would help her. Nonetheless, she meowed for
their attention. Little murmurs greeted her.

 
          
 
"That's Okesa, the dancing cat!"
"That's Okesa, who lives as a human!" "That's Okesa, who has the
blessing of the gods." "That's Okesa! She's utterly mad!"

 
          
 
Okesa ignored the murmuring, sat bolt upright
on the torii, and perked her ears for silence.

 
          
 
"Brothers and Sisters in the Sun,"
she began, "as all of you have most certainly heard, Fox Spirits are
coming to Sado at the command of Inari, the God of Rice. Their purpose is to
punish the Daimyo for neglecting proper sacrifices to Inari following this
year's harvest."

 
          
 
She could see from the twitching of a few
tails, the long washing of ears and whiskers, that she was losing their
attention. Boldly, she dropped her reasoned explanation and issued her
challenge.

 
          
 
"I say that we should stop the Fox
Spirits!"

 
          
 
This announcement brought her the attention of
every cat in the Garden. Eyes of gold and green and, occasionally, blue turned
their startled gazes on her. Ears pricked up and more than one tail
straightened in surprise.