Night Maze (The Cat Lady Chronicles #4)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

The ginger cat formerly known as Tiddles was seated between Thane and me, her tail swishing back and forth with considerable vigour. I shaded my eyes from the bright sun and glanced down. ‘What’s wrong?’

She didn’t immediately answer and her narrowed gaze remained fixed on the far corner of the garden. There was a faint rustling sound and the leaves on the blooming rose bush quivered.

I tilted my head. ‘It’s fine,’ I told her. ‘It’s not a problem.’

Thane squinted. ‘It’s late in the day for the ferals, isn’t it? Didn’t you already feed them?’

I nodded, somewhat distracted by the glimmer of a dark shadow beneath the bush.

‘The regulars know what time to come by.’ Although there was a water bowl nestled nearby, I’d already cleared away the other bowls that had been emptied of kibble a few hours earlier.

I craned my neck to try and get a better view.

‘But there are occasionally stragglers who arrive at odd hours.’

There was a chirrup from the open door behind us.

I didn’t need to turn my head to know that the sound came from She Without An Ear.

It went without saying that I could recognise each of my marvellous moggies by their individual miaows, but it was interesting that it was She Without An Ear who had chosen to make her presence known.

The last time she’d engaged with the feral cats, which I fed on a daily basis, there had been bared teeth, unsheathed claws and flying fur.

To put it mildly, She Without An Ear wasn’t known for her sociability.

I pulled myself out of the comfy garden chair with considerable effort and turned around. ‘Don’t be a dick,’ I told her sternly, as if my words might make an actual difference to her behaviour. Then I nipped indoors to fill another bowl to feed the latest arrival.

I wasn’t gone for long. Two minutes if that. When I returned to the garden, Thane was on his feet holding his writhing, yowling ball of ginger fur in his arms, and She Without An Ear was sniffing at the bush. Goddamnit. Nobody needed a catfight.

‘Hey!’ I said sharply. ‘Get back here!’

Unsurprisingly, my grumpy tabby cat ignored me. Time for Plan B: unashamed kitty bribery. I softened my voice. ‘I’ve got treats.’

She Without An Ear continued to pay me no attention.

She chirruped once more, dipped her head – and a moment later a pink-tipped nose emerged from beneath a curling rose.

To my utter astonishment, She Without An Ear leaned forward and touched her nose to it in greeting, then flopped down, rolled onto her back and presented her furry belly to the incomer. Wow.

‘Wonders will never cease,’ I murmured. I crept forward on the balls of my feet, moving slowly so as not to cause alarm.

Whoever this cat was, they were definitely new to the area.

I had never seen She Without An Ear act in this manner towards any other cat, not even to my placid old darling She Who Loves Sunbeams.

‘If you’re going to do something, Kit, do it quickly.’ Thane’s voice was strained as he continued to deal with his furious ginger demon.

I grinned at him, nipped forward, put down the food bowl then pulled back to give the newcomer some space. ‘They’ll be scared,’ I told him. ‘It will likely take a few minutes before they feel brave enough to come out and…’

I stopped in mid-sentence as a large furry head emerged from the bush. I gazed at the two fur-tipped ears and lion-like mane while the cat pushed himself out from his hiding place to investigate the bowl. Huh. No wonder She Without An Ear was suddenly acting girlish; I was tempted to do the same.

‘Wait,’ Thane said. ‘Is that a Maine Coon?’

‘Certainly looks like it.’

‘I’ve never seen a cat like that in Coldstream.’

Neither had I. Demon moggies of every shape and colour abounded in the city but, other than the odd house-kept Persian, there were few cats of pedigree.

There was no doubting this guy’s pedigree, however.

His regal posture, silver fur and larger than usual frame spoke volumes.

The chance that a cat like this was a feral stray beggared belief.

He was already eating from the bowl, crunching on the chicken-flavoured kibble like a cat possessed.

Whatever this furry boy’s story was, he was certainly hungry.

As I crouched down, he paused mid-chew to glare at me.

I recognised the fierce, wild look in his eyes in an instant: this cat was no pet.

I examined his body. His fur was well-groomed and too thick and fluffy for me to tell whether he was skin and bones underneath. Without getting closer, I couldn’t know whether he was genuinely starving or simply needed one or two decent meals. Either way, I was more than happy to oblige.

He grabbed another mouthful, but before he could start chewing it properly there was a hiss and yowl from behind me followed by a loud curse from Thane.

A blur of ginger fur ran at the Maine Coon and he vanished beneath the rose bush. I caught a flash of silver as he leapt over the garden wall and bounded away. At the same time, She Without An Ear hurled herself onto all four paws, her back arched as she hissed with genuine rage.

‘Your cat is a damned menace,’ I told Thane.

He grimaced. ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’ He raised his head. ‘She Who Commands!’ he snapped. ‘Get your ginger arse over here before you end up looking like She Without An Ear!’

‘You know that's not her full name,’ I said in a mild tone, while the young ginger cat ignored him entirely.

‘It's most of her name,’ Thane returned.

I tried not to smirk but I wasn't very successful.

Thane sighed heavily. ‘If I use her full name, she'll think she's in charge of me.’

‘Look at her,’ I said while the cat in question pointedly turned her back on us. ‘She already thinks she's in charge of you.’

‘I can't win, can I?’

My answer was cheerful. ‘Nope.’

Thane ran a hand through his copper-coloured hair. ‘Fine,’ he muttered. ‘She Who Commands Werewolves!’ he called. ‘Come here!’

My grumpy tabby raised a threatening paw in the ginger cat’s direction to add clawed weight to Thane’s words. We all knew it was her movement rather than his order that caused his beautiful beast to back off.

I shook my head with mild dismay then went to the garden gate to see if there was any sign of the Maine Coon.

Sadly he had gone – for now, at least – but I’d leave the food in case he decided to return.

I suspected this wouldn’t be the last time our paths crossed; that moggy likely needed some proper food and now he knew where he could get it.

‘It’s time I got ready to head out,’ I said aloud. ‘And it’s high time the two of you left.’

‘I’m sorry about the cat, Kit.’

I smiled at Thane. ‘It’s not your fault.’ I went to him and brushed away a few strands of ginger cat fur that were clinging to his T-shirt, then planted a long, slow kiss on his mouth. He wrapped his arms around my waist, allowing me to revel in his deep vetiver scent and hard body.

Suddenly I was tempted to tell him to stay and to drag him to my bed instead of fulfilling my other obligations, but Thane Barrow had already satisfied my carnal desires twice today. It was time to attend to other matters.

Marie Wicker was outside when I arrived at the front door of the temporary training centre, sucking furiously on a cigarillo and expelling clouds of blue smoke into the air around her.

The witch’s disdain for me hadn’t altered since the first day of the MET course for wannabe investigators, but at least she tried to maintain a polite veneer during our conversations and I certainly couldn’t blame her for her attitude.

If anything, I cultivated it at every opportunity.

She inclined her head as I approached. ‘Kit.’

I nodded, smiling brightly enough to make the witch turn her head away and roll her eyes. She might be a Wicker witch, a member of the most magically adept coven in Coldstream, but she wasn’t as skilled at hiding her feelings as she thought she was. I tried not to laugh.

‘I can’t believe that this is already the last day!’ I gushed.

‘Time flies when you’re having fun. But this isn’t the last day.’ She offered me a patient look. ‘We still have the fieldwork component of the course to complete.’

‘And graduation.’ I continued to grin broadly. ‘I love a good graduation.’

‘Uh-huh.’ She dropped the cigarillo butt and stubbed it out with her toe.

I ought to have let it pass but Marie had pigeon-holed me from day one, so I was merely assuming the role she expected me to fill. I widened my eyes and gazed in feigned horror at the squashed cigarillo butt. ‘You’re going to pick that up, right?’

Her blue eyes flicked to mine. It was quite clear that she had no plans to do anything of the sort.

I allowed my smile to drop and my voice to take on a worried edge.

‘I mean littering is an offence. We will be law keepers, so we have to keep our noses clean, Marie. We have to set a good example to the other citizens of Coldstream. We can’t break the law ourselves and then expect to be taken seriously. ’

Two points of colour emerged high on her cheeks that were either the result of rage or embarrassment. I reckoned the former because Marie was too sure of herself for shame.

‘You’re absolutely right, Kit,’ she said. She bent down, pinched the butt between her forefinger and thumb, walked smartly to a bin nearby and dropped it in. ‘But,’ she added without turning her head, ‘we’re not law keepers, are we?’

‘Not yet.’

She sighed. ‘Not ever. A two-week course on basic investigative skills doesn’t make us officers in the damned MET.’

I blinked innocently. I shouldn’t have been enjoying myself so much, but I really was. ‘Captain Montgomery has said that we may well be seconded to help with minor investigations.’

She faced me. ‘He means locating lost parcels.’ She looked me up and down. ‘And finding missing cats.’

‘I know.’ I beamed. ‘Isn’t it great?’

Marie snorted and gave my fur-strewn blouse a long look. There wasn’t a lint roller in the world that could effectively remove the amount of cat hair I accumulated on a daily basis. ‘For you, maybe.’ She rolled her eyes again and this time she didn’t try to disguise it.

Genuinely curious, I raised my eyebrows. ‘So why did you take this course if you think so little of it?’

‘The course has been great and I’ve learned a great deal, but unlike you I have no illusions that I’ll be offered a job in the MET once we’re done.

I’m here because the Wicker witches need these skills to survive and thrive.

We won’t sit around and allow ourselves to be victims of petty crimes without any chance of recourse.

I’m here to make sure my coven remains as safe as it possibly can. ’

I continued in bright-eyed, cat-lady mode. ‘Doesn’t the witches’ council investigate crimes against witches?’

‘Only when it suits them. They prefer to lay down their own laws and keep us in check. They’re jealous of covens like mine because they think we’ve got too much money and too much power.

If any criminals moved against us, I doubt they’d raise a finger to help.

’ She lifted her chin. ‘I will use what I’ve learned here to stop others from acting against us whenever they see fit. I’m doing it for my community.’

‘So am I!’ I told her earnestly.

‘Your community is cats. My community is important.’

She was very, very fortunate I was in a good mood and that I’d long since been trained in the art of staying calm under the most trying of circumstances. I reminded myself that it would be bad form to murder a fellow trainee simply for voicing her opinion.

I smiled sweetly. ‘You want to keep the streets safe for Wicker witches.’

‘Exactly.’

I leaned in and allowed my mask to slip for the briefest moment. Marie paled and stepped backwards. As she peered at my face, I knew she was wondering if she’d imagined what she’d seen there. ‘And,’ I added, ‘hopefully free of litter.’

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously but the return of my meek smile was enough to relax her again. ‘So, tell me, Kit, what fieldwork are you planning?’ she asked. ‘What will you investigate to put your newfound skills into action and prove that you’ve learned from this experience?’

We all had the same final homework task to complete: investigate a small local crime and present our findings to Captain Montgomery and the MET team, who would then arrest the culprits on our behalf, if the situation demanded it.

After that we’d receive a formal certificate and badge that allowed us to conduct minor investigations across Coldstream.

In my opinion, it was essentially a paper exercise.

As Marie had pointed out, even with training we hadn’t any real legal powers; all we’d done was a basic two-week course.

But we might actually have a few new skills, and the fieldwork assignment was a good way for us to demonstrate what we had learned.

I knew my fellow trainees were excited about the opportunity.

Fortunately, I had a prepared answer ready to go. ‘Graffiti,’ I said, with a touch of pride. ‘There are at least three different graffiti artists who are ruining the aesthetic of Danksville. I will find out who they are and stop them.’

Marie pursed her lips. She’d been expecting me to say that I was planning to investigate crimes against cats, so I played into her beliefs. ‘One of the graffiti bastards keeps painting images of dogs on local walls. It’s very upsetting.’

‘How terrible for you,’ she said, maintaining a sombre expression.

‘Oh, it’s not terrible for me but it’s terrible for the cats who have to see such horrors every day.’

She stared at me, obviously no longer sure if I was being serious or not. ‘What about you?’ I asked, the very picture of innocence. ‘What are you going to investigate?’

‘Fraud. I believe a number of our suppliers are jacking up their prices and skimming the profits to our detriment.’

I pretended to care. ‘That’s terrible.’

‘It’s daylight robbery. And I will put a stop to it.’ She glanced up. ‘Speaking of daylight, the sun has already set so class will be starting soon. Shall we head in?’

I gestured to the door. ‘Lead the way, Miss Marple.’

Marie smiled for the first time during our conversation. ‘Amateur sleuths of Coldstream unite!’