The Wicked Cat (4 page)

Jessie smiled. “You're kind of cute, Adam. Did anyone ever tell you that?”

“My m-mother,” Adam stuttered.

Watch persisted. “So Sally passed you on the street and told you about our troubles with her cat?”

Jessie was defensive. “I already said that.”

“What exactly did she say?” Watch asked.

“That you thought the cat used magical powers to knock down the tree and set Cindy's porch on fire,” Jessie explained impatiently.

Adam frowned. “That doesn't sound like Sally.”

“Why do you keep calling me a liar?” Jessie demanded.

“I didn't call you a liar,” Adam protested.

“You implied that I was one,” Jessie said.

Jessie's glass of milk finally arrived. But Jessie
just stared at it before speaking to the waitress. “Can I have an empty bowl?”

The waitress wanted to know what for. Jessie pounded the table.

“Just get me the bowl!” she shouted.

The waitress went for the bowl.

“You shouldn't shout in public,” Cindy said. “It's rude.”

“I can do whatever I want,” Jessie said, fiddling with the napkin as if she had never seen one before. Then she broke into a grin again. “The town has really changed since I was last here.”

“How has it changed?” Watch asked.

Jessie was amazed. “Why, there are so many cars and buildings and roads. There are all kinds of new things.”

“How long ago did you live here?” Watch asked.

“It was a long time ago,” Jessie said with a wicked smile.

“How long ago exactly?” Watch persisted.

Jessie was annoyed. “I don't have to answer your questions. I don't have to answer to anyone.”

“What about your parents?” Cindy asked. “You have to do what they say.”

Jessie shook her head.” They're dead.”

“That's too bad,” Adam said sympathetically.

Jessie didn't seem to care. “They died a long time ago.”

J
essie's cat was waiting for them outside. It was brown, and except for its large size, it didn't really resemble the cat Sally had found the previous day. Also this cat had brown eyes, which made it seem more human than scary.

Yet Jessie didn't seem to like her cat. One of the first things she did as they started down the block was kick it when it accidentally stepped in front of her.

“Hey!” Cindy shouted. “That wasn't very nice.”

Jessie seemed surprised. “I didn't think you liked cats.”

“Whether I like them or not is beside the point,” Cindy said. “I don't go around kicking them.”

Jessie was annoyed. “Yeah, but you don't mind pushing them to the floor or making them wait outside.”

“Did Sally tell you all this?” Adam asked, puzzled. It sounded as if Sally had told this perfect stranger every single detail of what had happened the previous day.

“Of course,” Jessie snapped. “Listen, you guys, I want to know, what are we going to do for fun today?”

“We're going to the library,” Watch said. “There we're going to study quantum physics and organic chemistry.”

Jessie frowned. “That's boring.”

“Nothing fascinates us more than intellectual pursuits,” Watch said.

“Particularly after we've had milk and doughnuts,” Cindy added.

Jessie was obviously bewildered. “Well, I'm going to have to hook up with you guys later.” She turned away. “Come on, Sassy, let me find you a raw fish to munch on. I'll see you later, Adam.”

The cat didn't move, which annoyed Jessie even more.

“Come on,” Jessie said, getting ready to boot the cat. “Or you'll get another stiff kick.”

Adam stepped in front of the cat. “You're not going to hurt this animal.”

Jessie was frustrated. “Why do you like this cat and not Sally's cat?”

“This one isn't creepy,” Cindy answered.

“Who are you calling creepy?” Jessie snapped.

Watch spoke very softly. “Sally's cat, not you.”

Jessie turned away. “You guys are not nearly as much fun as I thought you would be,” she said and took off, leaving her cat behind.

When Jessie was gone, Watch scratched his head and sighed.

“There is something very strange about that girl,” he said.

“Sally must trust her,” Cindy said. “She told Jessie everything about us.”

“No,” Adam corrected. “Just everything about yesterday.”

Watch crouched and studied the new cat. “Isn't it funny that we should run into two interesting cats in the space of two days?” he asked.

“What's unusual about this one?” Adam asked.

“It's awfully big,” Watch said. “And it has a strange master.”

“But it doesn't like its master,” Cindy pointed out.

“That's curious in itself,” Watch said, scratching the cat on the top of its head. Then he stood and looked up and down the street. “I want to go to Sally's house.”

“But she doesn't want to see us,” Cindy said.

“Jessie said that,” Watch replied. “But I think Jessie tells lies.”

Adam nodded. “I didn't believe a word that girl said. We should check out Sally, see how she's getting on with her cat.”

When they got to Sally's house, they found she wasn't home. They waited around for a while but she never showed up. They decided she might be down at the beach, which was one of her favorite places to hang out as long as you didn't ask her to get too close to the water. She still had a thing about all the sharks that were supposed to swim just off the shore of Spooksville.

But Sally wasn't at the beach either.

Bum was, though, busily feeding the pigeons.
Dressed as usual in shabby clothes and a four-day-old beard, he asked if they would buy him a turkey sandwich. Naturally they got him one, as well as a large Coke, potato chips, and a few chocolate-chip cookies. They sat with Bum not far from the jetty while he hungrily ate his sandwich. He even fed some of it to Jessie's cat, which devoured the bread as well as the turkey. Bum laughed at the cat.

“This is a funny girl,” he said. “She likes bread as much as meat. Not many cats do. Give her one of these cookies. See if she eats it.”

Watch gave the cat a cookie and the animal promptly ate it.

“She must be hungry,” Cindy remarked.

Bum continued to stare at the cat. “Where did you get this cat?”

“It belongs to a new girl in town, Jessie,” Adam said.

“But she says she's not really new,” Watch added. “She used to live here.”

“Describe her to me,” Bum said. When Watch was finished, Bum shook his head. “No girl named Jessie who looks like that ever lived here. I know everybody who's lived here in the last sixty years.”

“Then she even lied to us about that,” Cindy said, disgusted.

“Watch,” Adam said, “tell Bum about the cat Sally found yesterday.”

“Before you do that,” Bum said, “tell me where Sally is. I never see you guys apart anymore.”

“We had kind of a fight yesterday,” Adam said. “She's not speaking to us.”

Bum smiled. “That may not be such a bad thing for a few days. It gives all of you a rest.”

Watch described the cat to Bum, and then explained about the tree falling and the porch burning. Bum continued to eat while Watch spoke, yet Adam noticed he was paying close attention. When Watch was done Bum sat still thinking for a long time.

“I would really like to have a look at that other cat,” he said finally.

“When Sally shows up I'm sure she'll show it to you,” Adam said.

Bum shook his head. “I don't know if Sally is going to show up any time soon.”

Adam was stunned. “What do you mean? Do you think her cat has hurt her?”

“I don't think her cat is a cat at all,” Bum said.
“It sounds as smart as a person and is able to knock down trees and set houses on fire.”

“But the cat loved Sally,” Cindy said, worried. “I can't see it hurting her.”

“The cat did not love Sally,” Bum said. “The cat was using Sally.”

Watch nodded. “It wanted to get her alone. I think I understand what happened.”

“I don't understand,” Adam said. “Tell me.”

“Watch this,” Bum said, picking up the cat and carrying it over to the sand. There he set the cat down and said, “Write something. Use your paws.”

“What is this?” Cindy gasped.

“Shh,” Watch said. “Watch. This cat is smart, too.”

“But how do you know?” Adam asked.

The cat pawed at the sand. A moment later they realized it had traced out a name. The letters were wobbly and widely spaced but there was no mistaking what the cat was trying to tell them. The word in the sand was

SALLY

Cindy frowned. “How can a cat spell? How can it write?”

At last Adam understood. “Because it's not a cat.”

“Of course it's a cat,” Cindy protested.

Watch shook his head. “This cat is Sally. The other cat turned her into this cat.”

Cindy was shocked. “But where is the other cat?”

Bum put the final piece in the puzzle for her.

“The other cat is that new girl you just met,” he said.

A
fter they had slightly recovered from the shock of the revelation, Adam turned to Watch.

“You knew?” he asked Watch.

“I suspected,” Watch said. “But I couldn't believe what my head was telling me. But notice how much Jessie licked her fingers and brushed herself—just like a cat. And she wanted to drink her milk out of a bowl—just like a cat. She even looked a little like Sally's cat.”

“She had the same green eyes!” Cindy exclaimed.

“Exactly,” Watch said. “But the real question now is how did she become a cat in the first
place? And how did she manage to turn Sally into a cat?”

“Obviously she transferred an evil spell of some kind onto Sally,” Bum said. “Which is why she was so friendly to Sally—when she was a cat. She needed Sally to become human again.”

“I wonder how long this Jessie was a cat,” Cindy said.

“It must have been a long time if I never met her as a girl,” Bum said. “But I think I have an idea who changed her into a cat, and why. Witches often use cats as familiars.”

Watch nodded. “That's right.”

“What's a familiar?” Adam asked.

“A familiar is like a witch's power pack,” Bum said. “They are like an extra battery when a witch wants to cast a particularly powerful spell. The witch is able to draw power from a living creature. A familiar doesn't have to be a cat, but cats are the most common form of familiars, particularly black cats. That's where, the superstition about black cats comes from.”

“But you don't think Ann Templeton turned
this Jessie into a cat, do you?” Adam asked. Personally he liked Ann Templeton, even though she was the town witch. She was very beautiful and always nice to him. Well, almost always—he had almost died the last two times he was in her castle.

“Not Ann Templeton,” Bum said. “Remember, we think this Jessie was changed a long time ago. Also, I've never known Ann Templeton to employ a familiar. I don't think it's her style. But the witch who helped found this town, Madeline Templeton, often used familiars. They were one of the keys to her great power.”

“But if Madeline Templeton turned Jessie into a cat, then that means she's hundreds of years old,” Cindy protested.

“Familiars can live a long time,” Bum said.

“Remember how Jessie said everything looked so different?” Watch said. “I think she is from a different time.”

“So Madeline cursed Jessie and she became a cat?” Adam asked.

“I don't think it's that simple,” Bum said. “I think you have to agree to the change.”

“But who would agree to be a cat?” Cindy asked.

“Madeline might have phrased the offer in such a way that it sounded attractive,” Bum said. “Or else she lied to the original Jessie. Sally, also, must have cooperated with the cat last night when it started to change her. But maybe Jessie was able to hypnotize her, I don't know. A familiar can be very powerful.”

“But how do we reverse the spell?” Adam asked. “We can't leave Sally as a cat. She has to start school with us in a couple of weeks.”

“Cindy smiled. “But she is easier to handle as a cat.”

The cat growled.

“I don't know,” Bum said. “I'm a bum, not a witch. If I was you I would go talk to Ann Templeton. I happen to know she's in town this morning, buying new clothes at the Tomb.”

“There's a clothes shop in town called the Tomb?” Cindy asked.

“It's pretty interesting,” Watch said. “A few of the mannequins are actually preserved corpses. They look so lifelike.”

“I've heard some of them do come back to life from time to time,” Bum said. “Especially when Ann Templeton is around.”

Cindy made a face. “I don't want to go there.”

“You don't have to,” Adam said. “Watch and I can take the cat to her. We'll catch up with you later.”

“You can come with me,” Bum said to Cindy. “I'm going bowling.”

“But doesn't it cost money to bowl?” Cindy asked.

Bum smiled. “That's why I want you to come along.”

Adam and Watch did find Ann Templeton at the Tomb. She was in the middle of getting some clothes altered and didn't appear to be happy about being interrupted. But when she saw the cat they had brought, she immediately took a break to talk to them. As always, with her long dark hair and bewitching eyes, she was beautiful. She spoke to them in the reception area away from the mannequins and the weird shop owner, who was dressed like a thirsty vampire with had “taste.

“Where did you get this cat?” Ann Templeton demanded.