‘Ah, it’s the Dream Lady.’ The Queen of the Little People smiled down from her seat on the balcony.
The lady nodded, curtsied hurriedly and went over to speak to one of the fairy guards. The fairy shook her head and held up the spear in warning. The lady fell back and stepped back to speak to the Queen.
‘And what do you want this time?’ the Queen asked coldly, signaling her handmaidens to leave the balcony.
‘A request,’ the lady answered, frowning. ‘I thought we had a deal.’
‘But not a partnership,’ the Queen retorted tartly, standing up and coming over to the edge for a closer look at the lady below. ‘That was part of the deal, Lady. We are not obligated to grant the requests of the other.’
‘I know.’ The lady sighed. ‘But surely you would not think of putting the lives of your fairies in danger?’
‘I’ve known you since you came into memory, Nyamph,’ the Queen said. ‘I know what you are capable of. And I would thank you to keep out of my affairs, as they do not concern you in the least.’
‘You do remember that if it had not been for my intervention, your disagreement with Oberon would never have been resolved?’ Lady Nyamph folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.
‘A long time ago, and I’ve repaid that.’ The Queen waved dismissively. ‘What happened then has no relation to the arrangements we have now.’
‘But, I believe,’ Lady Nyamph said carefully, with just a hint of sarcasm, ‘your history is somewhat cyclical. Past events have a tendency to repeat themselves, do they not?’
‘As do the history of humans,’ the Queen countered without pausing for thought. Her face remained impassive and expressionless. ‘What you ask of me now, Nyamph, would happen again, and I do not think that it would be wise for me to help, now or later.’
‘Then explain why the glams are interfering in this,’ Nyamph said. ‘I’ve been followed since I left the girl. Why is that?’
‘They did offer to help,’ the Queen said. ‘You had a right to ask then, and they agreed to it. I have gathered that they did not manage to perform the task you set them, but that does not change the deal. You could have told the girl yourself when you met her.’
‘You haven’t answered my question.’ Lady Nyamph glanced over her shoulder and scowled. ‘I want to know why they were avoiding me, Titania. They intended to lead the girl away from me, and had another person not interfered unknowingly, I would not have met the girl. However – because of the glams’ distraction, one of your fairies also met her end there.’
‘I know.’ The Queen sat back down and began fanning herself in a bored way. ‘I have received news of that. However, I am also interested to know why she stayed with the boy and made a bargain with the boy’s guardian. Perhaps you would care to explain that?’
‘I don’t know why she stayed with him. But I do know that she entered the deal when she received a signal for help from the glams. They were threatened then by two men, who had kidnapped the girl – ‘
‘Men? I haven’t heard of any men,’ the Queen interrupted. ‘Are you attempting to cheat me, Lady?’
‘Haven’t the glams told you then?’ Lady Nyamph said defensively. ‘They’re acting most suspiciously, Titania. I’m worried about that.’
‘Do not try to discredit my orders, lady,’ the Queen snapped. ‘I know what you imply by your words. The glams are, at best, a group who will act in their own interests, that is true, but I assure you that I have sufficient trust and confidence in their loyalty towards me.’
‘Then you’ve lost.’ Lady Nyamph curtsied and turned her back on the Queen. The Queen stood up, enraged.
‘Stop her!’ The Queen threw her fan at the lady’s retreating back. The fan transformed into a bird in mid-flight and flew straight towards the lady’s head.
Lady Nyamph shrugged and flicked a hand. The bird turned into paper and crumpled silently to the ground. The guard fairy turned to the Queen in anticipation of an order. None came, as the Queen had fallen silent.
‘I suggest you have someone check on the glams, Titania,’ Lady Nyamph said as she left through the unguarded doors, ‘before it’s too late.’
Art stared in amazement as the cat continued talking. Iris had the ginger horror on her knees and was even now stroking it as she questioned it. The cat stretched lazily now and then, extending pointy claws and giving sly looks with its clear green eyes in Art’s direction. Jonas was awake by now, petting the cat at intervals but not saying much. Mr. Sept snored peacefully beside the fire.
‘Then I came here,’ the cat said, ‘and tracked you down. It was easy.’
‘I see,’ Iris said, scratching the cat’s ears. The cat purred in satisfaction and flicked its orange-and-white striped tail in Jonas’s face.
‘But why do you want to find us?’ Art asked, in a somewhat accusatory tone. The cat opened its eyes and surveyed him with amusement.
‘Haven’t you been listening, boy?’ There was something smug in its voice. ‘I just said that I heard the glams talking about you and this very nice girl here, and decided to see what the fuss was about.’
‘Suspicious, I’d say.’ Art tugged the cat’s tail lightly. ‘Look, you’re a talking cat, and I’ve never heard of one before. Who’s to say that you’re not working with the glams?’
‘And what’s wrong with that?’ Iris said dreamily. ‘The glams saved us, and we didn’t even thank them. Maybe they sent this cat here to keep a watch on us.’
‘They didn’t.’ The cat stood up and leapt lightly onto Art’s blanket. ‘I said that I overheard them talking about you and Iris. I tried asking round who were you two, and found out enough to follow you here.’
‘And what were they saying about us?’ Art asked.
‘Lots,’ the cat replied vaguely. It settled down on the blanket and yawned. ‘I’m tired. Ask the girl what I said.’
‘Now look here, you might be someone spying on us!’ Art knelt down beside the cat and pulled at the blanket. Claws shot out of two paws and pulled back the blanket.
‘Art, stop it,’ Iris spoke up. ‘Don’t bother him.’
‘I want to know why it can talk.’ Green eyes narrowed as the cat arched its back and settled into a more comfortable position. Art waited till the cat seemed to have dozed off before adding, ‘And why it’s taking an interest in us.’
‘Reward, see?’ the cat replied without opening its eyes. ‘The glams were talking about some reward that people were offering. And then they mentioned two men – seemed to have got rid of them, I guess – but they did say that the men were out and about again, and it was getting dangerous.’
‘Oh-kay.’ Iris tucked her hair behind her ears and turned to look dreamily at Art. ‘What do you think of that? A reward.’
‘Who’s offering the reward?’
‘The glams didn’t say.’ The cat flicked an ear and purred softly. ‘All I heard was they. But I think they want you and the girl soon. Seems urgent.’
‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ Iris said, twisting a strand of hair round and round.
‘You’re supposed to say “more curious”, not “curiouser,’ Art replied; annoyance and fear were getting the better of him. Iris appeared not to have heard him, but he felt slightly guilty all the same. They had a sort of truce after all.
‘I don’t know, it just sounded like something I read before.’ Iris stopped fiddling with her hair and frowned. ‘But I don’t even read much anyway, there’s no time. And I know “curiouser” isn’t really a word…why?’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Art reassured her, turning back to the cat. ‘Do you have any idea who they might be? Or why the men and glams are after us? And what was the reward?’
‘And why, I might add, do you want to track us for a reward if you did not know who were the ones offering it?’ Mr. Sept said abruptly from behind Art.
The cat turned its glassy green gaze onto the man. Art stood up and went over to sit beside Iris, wondering uneasily about how much Mr. Sept had heard when he had woken up without them noticing. The cat flicked its tail back and forth, almost as though the action helped it to think carefully about what to say next.
‘Someone told me to find the girl,’ the cat answered calmly. ‘He trusted me to bring her back to him without anyone’s knowledge. I managed to track her all the way to the circus, but then she disappeared, obviously. I followed the signs and clues the glams left on the way, and later the fairies informed me that she was heading here. So here I am.’
‘And who was it?’ Mr. Sept asked quietly.
‘A man. Said the girl was his daughter. He knew who I was, said that we had a shared history together, but I can’t remember anything about that.’ The cat blinked. Art wondered if the blink had been a substitute for a shrug. It felt like one.
‘And how did you come by your intelligence and ability to speak, if I may ask?’
‘Dunno.’ The cat blinked again rapidly. ‘I just woke up and I had it. If I had memories before, they weren’t much, because like the guy said, I didn’t have intelligent thought then. He might be lying, I don’t know, but the explanation seems possible.’
‘But realistically, cats are not supposed to talk,’ Art interjected. ‘So are you a – a mutant or something?’
The cat fixed its shrewd gaze on him and blinked. ‘Have you heard of oneiric energy, boy?’
‘Yes – but that would mean that it’s – it’s something like magic – ‘
‘What the theorists forgot to add,’ the cat continued, ‘was the fact that not all worlds may be or are usually identical. They may resemble each other so closely as to fool the casual observer that the worlds are exactly alike, but there are always differences, dissimilarities, and little details unique to each world. Haven’t you heard that?’
‘No.’ Art swallowed a few times; his mouth was unusually dry. A cat had just told him what
‘In this world, then, it seems that cats have the ability to think and speak,’ the cat finished smugly. ‘Deal with it, boy.’
‘What are these worlds you said?’ Mr. Sept got off the chair and settled on the floor, crossing his long legs easily despite his age.
‘Dunno.’ The cat blinked twice. ‘The man told me about them, but I don’t really know what they are. He said that these worlds are highly unstable, but they’re usually under the control of…some people. He started babbling then; I had no idea what he was saying. Then the next day he told me leave very urgently. Showed me a picture of this girl here and said that I had to bring her back to him before it was too late.’ The eyes looked reproachfully at Mr. Sept. ‘I’ve told you everything, you know.’
‘But who is this man?’ Mr. Sept demanded impatiently, waking Jonas beside him. The boy sat up and stared blearily round the room.
‘Some guy, in the place.’ The cat yawned, evidently bored with all the questioning. ‘I didn’t know much then, but he was good to me, fed me and all that. He taught me words and things, told me about his past and what he said was my past. I thought he was losing his mind after a while.’
‘And why was he in that place?’ Iris said, puzzled and excited. ‘Why? And why did he keep saying that he was my father?’
‘He told me that he was taken there when his world started disappearing bit by bit,’ the cat explained unhelpfully. ‘I don’t know what he meant, but at any rate, he said that his daughter was taken before him and now he wants to find her and put things right.’
‘But I can’t have been from another world!’ Iris burst out laughing, incredulity and relied mixed with her mirth. ‘I’ve always been here! My father’s Harry Langdon and I’ve always been in a circus. How could I have two fathers, and especially one who claims to have come to another world?’ She smiled broadly to Art and Mr. Sept, clearly thinking that they had the same opinions as she did.
‘However,’ Mr. Sept said gently, ‘how did the man obtain a picture of Iris?’
‘Who?’ the cat said, his tone bewildered.
‘The girl, Iris. How did he get a picture of her?’
‘Said he always had it with him,’ the cat replied. ‘He said he loved her, had promised to protect her, blah blah blah, and felt it was his utmost responsibility as a father to ensure that no harm would come to her, and on and on until I got quite sick from listening, to tell you the truth.’
‘How odd.’ Iris scratched her nose and sighed. ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’
Someone stepped into the room. Every head turned instinctively to look at the dark doorway. The lady shook her head, her head bowed as though in defeat.
‘I’m sorry,’ Nyamph said, ‘for what I must do now.’
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