Grimalkin Chapter Nine (Patreon)

The greatest danger comes when we feel ourselves the safest.

-Lady Chatterwick’s Journey

The canvas top of the wagon was pleasantly warm, and once the two cats assured themselves that they were in no danger of being seen or rolling off, they settled into the slight depression created by their combined weight. The wagon rocked smoothly back and forth as the horses continued to ignore the driver, and moved at a comfortable pace. While the wheels were loud on the cobblestones, the sound blended with a cacophony of voices, other wheeled conveyances, and the distant sounds of animals and the breeze rushing past their ears.

Maria soon found herself blinking heavy lids open as they fell shut again and again. When she glanced over her shoulder at where Tia’s furry black head rested on her own cream-colored back, she saw that the other kitten was already fast asleep. The weight of her companion’s limp body against her own was all it took to push her over the edge into sleep.

A dream carried her away, and she saw herself and Tia afloat in a small, wooden boat on a broad river with no beginning or end. Distantly, she realized that they were both in human form, but she never looked directly toward Tia, to see what she looked like, though she was certain she should be curious. Instead, they cast about for oars, but soon realized there were none, and they were drifting aimlessly along with the current. Somehow, she felt no fear, and settled back in the boat to listen to the waves all around them.

It was only when the boat began to rock violently that she realized they had been caught up in a series of rapids. Large rocks loomed around them, but the water below them was shallow, and so clear she could just see her own reflection in the small, flat spaces between white-capped waves. There was something very strange about the way she looked, though she couldn’t define the oddity. Turning to Tia, she started to ask if she knew what it was, when an indescribable pain shot through her, and she yowled.

She woke, still yowling, and heard Tia, too, screaming in pain and fear. The world swung around her sickeningly, and she realized that she was hanging from her tail. Someone had her tail gripped in a merciless fist, and however much she swung her bared claws, and tried to twist so she could bite, the hand and arm were always just out of reach.

The person shook her, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tia, too, swaying sickeningly in the air. “Hush up, you,” said a voice that was all the worse for its nonchalant cheer. “‘Ere, Myra, y’had two hitchhikers. What d’ye want me t’do with ‘em?”

A woman’s voice answered, sounding thoughtful. “Aye, well, my sow had piglets a few months gone, and I brought six of ‘em to sell. Like as not, I can use them cats, ‘an sell eight instead.”

The hand held Maria up a little higher, presumably so Myra could see her better. “This’un is pretty. You could maybe sell ‘er to one of the fancy ladies as a pet.”

Myra snorted and spat loudly. “An’ what d’you think one of those fancy ladies would be doin’ talkin’ to the likes of me? Nah, I’ll get more for a pig in a poke than a cat on a Sabbat. Them ladies are in church, ‘an their servants’ll be lookin’ for supper, like as not. Here, bring ‘em down.”

By now, both kittens were exhausted and defeated, and hung limply from their captor’s meaty fists. Tia still growled low in her throat and swiped half-heartedly at the man as he jumped down from the wagon’s bench seat with a loud thump. It was probably because of this continuing mild resistance that she was the first to be dropped into a rough burlap sack, as Tia watched helplessly. Myra, who she recognized vaguely as the driver of the wagon onto which they had jumped, then turned to Maria.

Reaching out, the woman chucked Maria roughly under the chin. “Y’are a pretty one, aintcha? Might be I could get a bit of coin for you, if I had the time to try properly, but I need to sell these pigs an’ chickens and get home.”

The big man that Maria could see now that she wasn’t spinning so much, shook his head. “Liam still not well yet?”

Myra shook her own head, and a dark bag swooped up from beneath Maria, dropping her into clinging, all-encompassing darkness. She lunged for the opening as soon as she got her paws beneath her, but Myra just clucked and yanked the mouth of the bag closed.

“There now, pretty. Odds are whoever buys ye’ll be upset they didn’t get their piglet, eh? But you’re pretty enough you may yet be made a ratter, at least. Just hush up, so I don’t haveta make you hush.” The bag was dropped, and Maria felt something, or perhaps several somethings, squirming beneath her.

Further away, Myra continued. “Nay, he’s still sickly. If’n I can make enough today, the doctor has a medicine he swears’ll cure him for good an’ all. These cats may be a sign from the gods that things’ll go well.”

The two voices faded, leaving Maria miserably alone in the darkness. She thrashed, meowing pathetically as her claws caught in the thick fabric, but did no damage.

“Maria?” It was muffled, but it was definitely Tia’s voice.

“Tia! Where are you?”

The wiggling thing beneath her thrashed again. “Here! You’re poking me with your claws!”

Instantly, Maria stopped trying to claw her way out, and lay still, panting in the hot, stuffy bag. “What do we do?” she asked, desperately.

The silence was so long that she began to worry Tia had lost consciousness, but finally, the other kitten replied, “We wait, I think. This woman plans to pretend we’re pigs, so we’ll let her. When whoever buys us opens the sacks, we’ll escape. They won’t be expecting us, so it shouldn’t be hard.”

Maria heard dismay seep into her voice. “Shouldn’t we try to let people know we’re not pigs, first? She’ll have to let us go if she realizes her plan won’t work, right?”

Another long pause. “I don’t think so. You heard her. She said if we don’t hush, she’ll make us. We’re helpless in here. If she decided to… to…”

Maria swallowed hard. “All right. We’ll try it your way.”

Maria had no idea how long it was before her sack was hauled out of the wagon and thrown onto a pile of wiggling, complaining piglets. She did know that it was far too long, and she was hot, frightened, and desperately wishing she was sitting in her mother’s garden, listening to some idle young lady prattle on about the lovely hat she’d seen in the milliner’s shop the day before.

She heard Myra’s voice start calling, “Chickens! Lovely, plump chickens for yer table! Tender young roosters an’ pullets! Suckling pigs! Fat an’ ready for roastin’!” Voices came and went all around them, and periodically, someone would pick up one of the bags and shake it, listening to the scared piglet inside squeal. One by one, the bags around her went away, until it was only her, Tia, and two last piglets. From the feel of them, quivering against her sides, they were the smallest of the lot, and not much bigger than the kittens.

“It’ll be us, soon,” Tia hissed. “She probably didn’t want to risk anyone discovering her trick while she was still here. We’ll be last, I’d guess.”

Maria was about to respond when she felt her bag scooped up. She lay in the bottom of the sack, hardly daring to move, as her side was poked, and a youthful voice said rather dubiously, “They’re not very large.”

Myra’s tone was conciliatory. “Aye, well spotted, me laddie. ‘Tis the end of the day, isn’t it? The plumpest piglets went first, o’ course. These ‘uns may be small, but they’re tender, ‘an your master will be mighty pleased to see them on his table tonight. You’re lucky I have any left at all, really.”

Maria could almost imagine the innocent child blinking as he took in the smarmy woman’s words. “Oh. Well. That’s true, I suppose. If we hadn’t gotten visitors so suddenly, I wouldn’t have had to come out so late.” His voice took on a bit of a whine. “I should’ve had the evening off, since they like a light, family supper on the sabbath, but no, it must be a feast tonight.”

“Well then!” Myra said brightly, and the bag in which Maria crouched swung as it was shoved sharply toward the unseen servant. “Bring these home, and you’ll have saved the day. I reckon they’ll give ye the whole day off, next Sabbat!”

The bags shifted as new hands grasped them, shifting to find the best way to grasp all four without fumbling one. “All right then. Isn’t the price a bit high for such small piglets, though?” The youngster sounded suddenly disingenuous, but there was a small tussle as Myra tried to take back the bags, saying that if the lad didn’t want to pay, she’d find a customer who would.

Sure enough, the muffled clink of coins sounded as they changed hands, and Maria found herself being carried away none-too-gently. The bags swung against each other, causing the piglets to begin squealing pathetically, and under the cover of their noise, Maria spoke urgently.

“Should we meow or scratch? Let him know we’re not piglets? Maybe he’ll let us out.”

Tia snorted. “More likely he’ll take us back to Myra, and wouldn’t she be angry if she gets caught. No, wait until the bag is opened, and then make a break for it.”

Maria still wasn’t sure this was the best option, but she decided Tia knew more about how everyday people were likely to react to cats than she was. After all, she was just a sheltered princess, and she’d never even had a proper conversation with a servant, much less seen a kitchen churl go about his work. No, the servants who worked with the royal family were highly trained, and were often members of low nobility themselves. The actions of the boy in whose hands they found themselves couldn’t be judged by anyone Maria knew. Still, she was certain that Lady Chatterwick wouldn’t just have hung about in a bag while someone else decided her fate.

After several long and bruising minutes of being battered about by the boy, who seemed to know everyone in town and was determined to bemoan his lack of an evening off to each and every one of them, they were dropped on the ground with an unceremonious oof. “There you are, Cook! Four piglets, perfect for suckling pig for the master’s guests.”

The answering voice was harried, but pleased. “Well done, then, young Thomas. Take them out to Peter to be butchered.”

Thomas whined, “But, Cook, it was to be my night off!”

Cook’s voice was stern, now. “It isn’t any more, my lad, and you know it. We’re all working tonight, so hop to it!”

The lad scooped up the sacks again, almost fumbling them as this spawned a new wave of squeals and grunts. Maria coiled her body into a tense bundle, ready to bite and claw her way toward any hint of light.

They were dropped again, and when Maria’s tight body met a sharp, hard rock, she let out an involuntary mew. Thomas, who had started to speak, stopped abruptly.

A deep man’s voice said, “What is that, then, Thomas?”

Thomas’ voice was shaky. “It’s a piglet. I bought them for the master’s guests tonight.”

A sharp bark of laughter sounded. “And did you think to look at them, before you paid?”

The boy sounded defensive. “Of course! Well, I looked at two of them. They’re a little small, but young and tender.”

Maria’s bag was picked up and jostled. Thick fingers poked at her through the burlap, and she winced away. “This one’s no piglet, lad. You’ve been had, an’ well. Let’s see the others.” Rustling noises came as the other sacks were also prodded, two of them producing sounds that seemed to satisfy the man.

“Well, y’got two piglets, at least. Do you remember what the merchant looked like, at least? Mayhap you can get the master’s money back before it’s docked from your pay.”

“I… Maybe?” Thomas was dubious, at best. “‘Twas a woman, in a brown dress. Brown hair, I think, though she wore a cap, so maybe it was blonde. Or red?”

A smack sounded, and Thomas yelped in pain. “That’s for being a fool. Though I ‘spect you’ll learn your lesson when you don’t get any pay for a week. We don’t need any more cats in the barns. Take these two off and get rid of ‘em. And do it right quick. You’ll have to go back to the market and try to find two more piglets for supper, if there are even any left.”

Maria was scooped up again, with even less gentleness than before. Thomas shook her roughly, and she could feel him moving, the roughness of his gait indicating that he was probably jogging. “Cats, is it?” the boy muttered angrily. “I’ll find that woman and call the guards on her, see if I don’t. But what’ll I do with you?” He shook the bag again, and now that they were found out, Maria could hear Tia growling angrily from inside her sack.

The boy continued jogging, muttering in breathless, angry pants as he went. A few people called out to him, but each time he just shook the bags at them and continued on his way. Finally, he stopped, and Maria’s rear bumped hard into the ground as she was dropped. She could hear Thomas breathing hard, and then he said, “We won’t need any more cats? Fine, then, we’ll have no,” there came a yowl and a splash, “more,” Maria’s bag was picked up and hurled through the air. She, too, cried out as she spun wildly. “Cats!”

The fabric surrounding Maria quickly took on water, and she caterwauled in terror as she realized the horrible boy had thrown her into the river. In a matter of moments, she would sink, and then she would drown, alone and in the dark. Worst of all, her family would be left to wonder what had happened to her for the rest of their lives. She gasped wildly at the last gulps of air, and water closed around her.