Free The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat by Damon Plumides Page B

disappeared into the cover.
    The queen, Warwick Vane Bezel III, and the last of her guards followed the creek bed for half a kilometer as directed by Fairfax, sidestepping slippery rocks and the occasional water snake. It occurred to her that every step they took might just bring them a step closer to their doom. She imagined she could hear her companions’ heartbeats. They sounded like arrhythmic drums beating uncontrollably. They were now in the darkest part of the forest. The smells of decaying plants and termite-infested tree trunks were palatable. Then as if at once, all of the natural sounds of the forest went silent. They had arrived at the cave of the Witch.
    Druciah could tell it was an ancient cave, carved out eons ago by the blood of some long-extinct volcano. Warwick Vane Bezel III pointed to an old sign above the cave and said, “Look here, it has ancient writing on it.” On closer inspection, it happened that the words were not ancient at all, but read “KEEP OUT! THAT MEANS YE!”
    Suddenly a voice seemed to come from nowhere and said “Hold there; you’re the queen, aren’t you? You don’t want to go in there.”
    â€œWhere are you, and why can’t I see you?” asked the queen.
    â€œI’m down ‘ere,” said the voice. “Or what’s left of me, that is.” Druciah looked down to see a large and slender rat. He was laughing and smiling with big, yellow teeth. In front of him was the core of some long-rotten piece of fruit, and he took the occasional gnaw at it.
    â€œMy name’s Edsel. I used to be a blacksmith in Harsizzle, but I couldn’t afford to pay your taxes . . . so I asked this nice old woman in the village if I could borrow some coin. Now, my business didn’t pick up, and I couldn’t pay her back. Didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. I meant to. But anyway as it turns out, the old woman had a sister. You’ll never guess who.
    â€œSo one night I’m sitting ‘round, minding my own business having a bit o’ cheese, and there is a knock on me door. I open it, and there is this other old woman standing there all in black—not slimming at all, if you ask me. I think she coulda benefitted from some high heels and a bit of makeup, not to get off the point . . . but she starts telling me that I need to pay her sister back the money I owes her.
    â€œSo I says to her. ‘Hey, what’s all this then? Fancy a bit of cheese?’ I mean a woman is a woman, if ya know what I mean.” He winked and leaned against a nearby rock. “So I tells her I don’t have the money and ask her what she’s gonna do about it? And she turned me into a rat.”
    By now Druciah felt that she had stumbled into something truly awful. Here was a rat that loved to hear himself talk.
    The rat kept rolling, “So that’s how I became this handsome fellow you see before you now. Don’t care all that much really. It’s quite a wonderful coat she gave me, don’t you think?” He looked at himself. “Bit greasy maybe.
    â€œEvery thing’s all right though, ‘cept for the snakes . . . I don’t like them much at all. Always trying to trick me into becoming their dinner.” He paused long enough to catch his breath.
    â€œI never thought in a million years I would be staring at your face. Of all people in all the possible places, Queen Druciah! Ha, who would have imagined? There were several times I reckoned as to what I might say to you if I had the chance. But now, everything escapes me. This is just brilliant. You and me, together, here in the mouth of this filthy cave, just brilliant.
    â€œAnd who is that with you? Who else but Warwick Vane Bezel III? Amazing . . . Hello, constable. Shouldn’t you be back in Harsizzle plundering, stealing, and causing grievous bodily harm? It is Friday night, you know. I remember just a few years back how you busted