Free Awaken by Michelle Bryan Page A

taking no chance that he may be faking. After a bit he opens
his eyes and stares up at me. I back off a pace.
    “ You’re okay,” I say. “The
beast won’t hurt you, not unless we tell it to.”
    I watch the memory of what happened
come flooding back to him and he bolts upright looking around
wildly. Finn is keeping Cat firmly by his side, but the boy himself
is staring all wide eyed.
    “ That’s a ….a devil cat!”
the little man says like he cain’t believe what he’s seeing. I
don’t know who is more awe struck, him or Finn.
    “ Aye that it is,” I say, in
my scariest voice. “And a mighty vicious one at that if you get to
thinking you can rob us again.” I reckon if the iron shooter don’t
scare him away then Cat would do the trick. The stranger watches
Finn keeping Cat calm by scratching her ears. Then a peculiar thing
happens, he starts smiling and clapping his hands! No... no! He’s
supposed to be running away in fear!
    “ A tamed devil cat! This is
extraordinary! I never would have thought it possible. Oh my
heavens this is remarkable!”
    He gets to his feet and brushes past me
like I ain’t even standing there holding an iron shooter on him.
Bold as anything now he walks over to Finn and Cat.
    “ It belongs to you boy?” he
asks Finn. The boy just nods, still in wonder of the
stranger.
    “ Extraordinary!” He puts his
hand out towards Cat, then stops. “May I?”
    Finn nods again and the half man starts
rubbing Cats head and ears. Immediately Cat responds to the
stranger by rolling over for a belly scratch. So much for me trying
to scare him away with Cat’s viciousness. Not even so much as a
growl or baring of the teeth like she had done with me. Traitor! I
think.
    “ Hey!” I yell at his back.
“I ain’t forgot I caught you pawing through my
slingbag!”
    “ What?” He looks back at me
as if he even forgot I was there. “Oh yes, yes. Forgive my rudeness
my dear. I was not ‘pawing’ through anything. I was just analyzing
the situation, deciding if you were friend or foe. It was the smell
of your delectable meal cooking that drew me to your campsite. You
see I am but a simple traveler such as yourself just hoping to
share of your meal and repay you in kind with a fine tale or
two.”
    Finn exchanges a look with me. I don’t
trust this odd little man but Finn is grinning like a fool and I
know right away he believes him to be harmless. The stranger
notices our hesitation.
    “ Oh please, allow me to
introduce myself. My name is Winston Phillip the Third. But you may
call me what my dearly departed mother so affectionately referred
to me as…Tater. Tater the trader, the storyteller, the minstrel, at
your service.”
    He removes his hat and takes a little
bow. Finn is charmed but I still don’t trust him.
    “ If you’re a trader then
where are your wares?” I ask.
    “ Ah, very astute for one so
young.”
    He taps his nose and smiles at me. I
don’t smile back.
    “ They are just a ways in the
wood, packed onto my very trusted companion, my mule Winnie. Named
after my dear mother of course. They share the same temperament.
Some might even say the same facial features….but that’s a story
for another time, yes? I shall fetch her if you like.” He heads for
the trees but stops after a couple of steps. “Oh but can I trust
that this magnificent beast will not take my Winnie as a late night
snack? As with my mother I am very attached to my mule you
see.”
    Finn finally speaks.
    “ Oh no, Cat won’t eat your
mule mister. She listens to me real good.”
    “ Wonderful! Then I shall
fetch her. And maybe, perhaps share in your evening
meal?”
    “ Aye, you can,” says Finn.
“There’s lots of snake to go around. You can even camp with us for
the night, if you like.”
    Tater happily claps his hands again and
moves off into the woods.
    “ Finn! What are you doing?”
I say angrily once the odd little man is out of earshot.
    He looks at me all dumbfounded.
“What?”
    “