Free Cats Triumphant by Jody Lynn Nye Page A

cats behind.”
    “Very well,” Dawna said, crossing her arms. “I won’t touch a single one.” Muttering erupted amongst the townsfolk. She had agreed so easily. What were they missing? They would be missing quite a lot, soon, if she was not wrong. She raised her voice. “I’ve got a few words to say that I want everyone to hear. I wish to thank the citizens of Cabbage Town for the use of green for the last two nights. It would have been a cold and uncomfortable place to stay, if not for the hospitality of your cats. They’ve shown me the common courtesy that I thought humans owed to one another, certainly that which one might expect to be extended to fellow subjects of this kingdom.
    “To my hosts and clients, then,” and she turned to look into the round eyes of the cats huddled at the foot of the tree, “I depart now for my home town of Marigold Down. If you are afraid to remain here, you may come with me. I’ll find you somewhere better to live where you need never again fear a boot or a stone. I know my father would be grateful for good hunting cats. His barley harvest is much troubled by rats.”
    “Now, sell-sword!” the silversmith protested. “Didn’t you just agree not to take our cats with you?”
    “Now, silversmith,” she countered, turning to face him. “They’re dumb creatures, aren’t they? You’ve all said as much for the last two days. You don’t honestly believe that they can understand me, do you?”
    “Uh. Er. No. I suppose not.” The muttering in the crowd got louder. Dawna pitched her voice so it could be heard clear down to the bottom of the hill.
    “I swear to you by my soul that I will not take a single animal out of this town. If any follow me, it will be by their own volition. Will that satisfy you?”
    “Not me,” the butcher growled, stepping forward with a cleaver in his hand. “I’ll see you to the edge of town, mercenary, just to make sure you don’t steal anything of ours.”
    “And I!” exclaimed the weaver.
    “And I will, too,” said the barber-surgeon, a dark-complected man with beefy arms. In all, six of the boldest elected to act as her escort. Dawna glanced back as she marched down the hill with her honor guard trailing behind. All of the cats who had been there had melted away into the undergrowth.
    “Go on about your business,” the butcher ordered the rest of the crowd. “We’ll see she doesn’t turn back.”
    Dawna led the six townsfolk toward the northern edge of town. Six days’ march would bring her within sight of Marigold Down, and another half day to her father’s home to the northwest.
    “Goodbye,” she said, nodding to her escort.
    “Good riddance,” the butcher said. As one, the men turned and stumped back toward town.
    “Same to you,” Dawna said under her breath. The sooner she shook the dust of Cabbage Town off her feet, the happier she would be. And now to see if her speech had had any results.
    It had. As soon as she left the clean, gravel track for the muddy forest path, cats began to appear like magic out of the surrounding undergrowth. The orange cat popped out from beneath a flowering gorse bush with her kittens marching in a file behind her, and claimed the warrior with a cheek-swipe along her boot top. Dawna stopped only long enough to scoop up the little ones and put them in makeshift sling made of a fold of her cloak. The gray cat and the injured black-and-white came running from another hiding place. In all, eighteen cats and a couple dozen half-grown kits would be making the long journey northward with her. As soon as she felt safe stopping she would tie red ribbons around the necks of each to show the people they met that these cats were under her protection. She hoped she wouldn’t run into anyone as thick as the denizens of Cabbage Town.
    “Come along,” she said to the cats, setting a light pace once she was out of sight of the town. “We’ve got a long way to go, and I’ve always found a story helps