Free The Wicked Cat by Christopher Pike Page B

breath came in a sharp pant. In the light of her flashlight, her skin was the color of snow.
    â€œWho’s there?” she demanded.
    The skeleton moved slightly. “It’s me. It’s Jack.”
    Jessie put a hand to her horrified face and backed into the wall of the cave. “No!” she cried. “It can’t be! You died two hundred years ago!”
    Jack lifted a bony arm and his skull rocked to the side. He seemed to be looking down at his own hand. Adam understood he hadn’t had any light to see himself in all this time.
    â€œI admit I don’t look too good,” Jack said quietly. “But as I was telling Adam here, I’m not dead. You just don’t get much to eat walled up in a Mack cave. But I’m not the main issue here. I’m concerned about you, Jessie. You seem to have gotten as bad tempered as Madeline.”
    Jessie stared at him as if in disbelief. But she recovered remarkably fast and it must have been her training as a familiar. “Madeline was the one who locked you in here. How can you call her something as simple as bad tempered?”
    â€œBecause I’ve forgiven her,” Jack said simply. “I’ve had a lot of time to think and forgive. I suggest you do the same, especially now that you have your body back. Really, Jessie, you don’t have much to complain about. You’ve still got your figure while mine has gone to pieces.”
    â€œLiterally,” Adam muttered.
    Jessie shook her head. “No. I can’t let it go. I suffered so long.”
    â€œI suffered, too,” Jack said. “At least as much as you. But it won’t ease either of our suffering to hurt other people. Now let Adam go and help this nice girl up and give that cat back her human body. Then maybe we can talk about old times.”
    Jessie was stunned. “You won’t talk to me unless I do these things?”
    The skeleton shook his bony head. “No. You are wrong here and you know it. So Madeline harmed us? We don’t have to follow her example.”
    Jessie was not convinced. Apparently her bitterness went deep.
    â€œBut I want my life back!” she complained. “It was stolen from me and I deserve it back!”
    â€œYou can have a life,” a voice said from the direction of the entrance. “But not the one you have stolen.”
    Adam stared in amazement as Ann Templeton and Watch stepped into the cave. The witch wore a long black coat and carried in her right hand a green jewel that lit the way better than any flashlight. Watch hung close to her as if they were old friends. Ann Templeton surveyed the scene and then offered Cindy a hand and helped her to her feet. Cindy brushed off her pants and retreated to the wall closest to Adam, who was still stuck to the wall.
    â€œThank you,” Cindy muttered to Ann Templeton, although she continued to watch the witch and Jessie with fear.
    Ann Templeton nodded and turned to Jessie.
    â€œI am sorry for what Madeline did to you,” the witch said. “I have just come from my castle. I have been reading her diary. I know that Madeline had a temper and that she acted rashly in regard to you and Jack. On her behalf, I ask for your forgiveness.”
    Jessie stared at her. “You look like her.”
    Ann Templeton nodded. “Except I have dark hair and she had red hair. Do you accept my apology?”
    â€œI do,” Jack said brightly.
    But Jessie slowly shook her head.
    â€œI will accept it when you give Jack back his body,” she said. “Not until then.”
    â€œNow that sounds like a good idea,” Jack said.
    But Ann Templeton shook her head. “Madeline cast this spell. I cannot fully reverse it. If I am to restore Sally to her normal body, I cannot create two new human bodies. That would be beyond my powers. But I can create an extra cat body if you wish, for Jack.”
    â€œI have always liked Siamese cats,” Jack