Chapter 2 #3
Cat continued, leading me along the edge of the boardwalk, always several feet in front of me, checking occasionally to be sure I was still behind her. “Many come from far away. I hear much. A lot of stories.”
Animals were keen observers. While they might not understand all the nuances of human conversations, their heightened senses allowed them to pick up a lot more than people knew.
No one worried about what they said with an animal hovering nearby.
Of course, I didn’t know if anyone else was privy to their observations, like I was.
“What kind of stories?” I asked. When someone passed me on roller skates and shot a look my way, I fished out my earbud to pop in. Amazing how one small piece of equipment kept people from thinking I was out of my mind, even if it made them think I was rude. Rude was more acceptable, though.
“There is a place in the water. Land. It is special.”
“Land? Like an island, you mean?” I hurried to close the distance between us, but Cat, being, well, a cat, quickened her steps to keep the same distance between us.
“Yes. I will not go. I do not care for water.” I smirked at her declaration, but stayed quiet to let her continue. “I have sensed many creatures that have talked of this island. They say it is protected.”
“What kind of creatures?”
“Creatures like you.”
“Like me? You mean, human?”
Cat stopped and turned to face me. She looked up at me and harrumphed in that cattish way. “You are not cat, but you are not human, either.”
“What? What do you mean by that?” Cat turned away from me and led me along the walkway. “Wait! Hold up, you can’t just say that and not explain.”
“Come, Bowen,” she commanded with a sharp meow.
Not human? As my feet kept moving, I looked down at my hands, as if they would hold any secrets.
They were the same hands I’d always had.
I knew every inch of them, so what was I expecting to see?
I was raised human; my family was human.
What did she mean? And yet… I was able to understand her.
To understand many creatures, and I didn’t know anyone else who could do that. But… what the fuck?
As the sidewalk grew more crowded, Cat picked up her pace, dodging swiftly around skateboarders, strollers, and pedestrians. I was practically jogging, trying to keep up, holding my messenger bag as it bounced against me.
“Cat! Where are you taking me?” I yelled, earning more than a few looks from people who suddenly moved to the far side of the path, trying to put distance between us.
We were leaving the swimming beach area and coming up to the harbor. She stopped and wound around a light post, waiting for me to come to her side. When I reached her, I knelt down to speak quietly with her. “Why are we here?”
She looked at the harbor where boats of all sizes were parked and tethered. “You will need a boat. There’s a big one, lots of people, you should get on it.”
My skin prickled, and I felt my gut churn. I wasn’t sure if it was from the whole not-human comment, or the weirdness with the cat, but I felt off.
Cat’s eyes changed suddenly and she stared past my shoulder, her pupils going so wide her eyes were almost black. “I see it.”
Panic had me looking behind me, and that same unease I’d felt when the ducks were warning me made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “What? What do you see? Is it a cloud?”
Cat arched her back with her puffy tail straight in the air. “Not a cloud. Darkness. Shadows. Seeking.”
“Seeking what? What is it seeking?”
Her eyes met mine. “You. Seeking you. You must go on the big boat, Bowen.”
“Wha…what?” My voice barely squeaked out.
“Go!” she hissed and spit, whether at me or whatever she saw behind me, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out. I stood up and ran. It was one thing when it was the ducks freaking out, but now Cat, too.
Scrambling around people, my eyes scanned the harbor for a ‘big boat.’ There were a number of considerable-sized yachts and private vessels, but she told me to go on one with lots of people. What kind of big boat would have a lot of people on it?
A loud horn sounded, drawing my attention.
A ferry! Big boat, lots of people. That must be it.
There was a building in front of the dock that advertised trips to Catalina.
Catalina? Was that where I was supposed to go?
I didn’t know, but it was worth a shot. At the ticket booth, they were announcing last call to board for the next boat out.
I quickly bought a ticket and went down to the gangplank, where I stepped aboard.
Glancing around nervously, I watched for shadows and darkness, but I hadn’t seen anything with the ducks, and I didn’t see anything now.
Still, I felt relief wash through me when the ferry pushed away from the dock.
Was Catalina the special island Cat had mentioned?
Was it the protected place she thought a non-human creature like me should go?
I wished I’d had more time with her. More time to hear the stories, or why she thought I was different.
I wished the ducks had been able to explain better.
I wished for a lot of things. The one thing I never wished for was being on a boat that cut across the open ocean. It had been a whirlwind of a day. What the hell was even happening?