Unfamiliar Territory, page 28
Fleurette laughed. “Fine! Thanks to the preparation that my fellow GOGS member went through, we have a fairly solid case on our hands. But there’s a side quest we are on. I need to know who exactly put the bounty out. You said that you had asked for the information, and they were being secretive about it?”
I nodded when she turned her head in my direction.
She pursed her lips as she studied me. “Feel like letting your true self out and doing a bit of sleuthing while I plead my case?”
“Sounds like fun.”
Lawrence turned out to be a sandy haired man in his mid-forties with a bit of a paunch and a friendly smile. He was a GOG who also had a law degree. Lucky us.
After letting the siblings and Grimm out of the back of the wagon, we six marched into the courthouse just a few minutes shy of its public closing time. I assumed Fleurette and Lawrence had timed our arrival on purpose, for the hallways were mostly empty. The evening guard tried to keep his expression set to neutral, but I could still sense the aggravation of having to check a large group in at closing time.
As he waved his orb over Fleurette in front of me, I began to reach into my boot by habit, only to remember that Hail Mary no longer resided in its usual spot. I sighed and straightened.
Having been checked in, we made our way to the bounty office, pushing the door open and filing into the small room. I hadn’t bothered to ask the guard who was working the office today, because he clearly wasn’t in the mood for banter. I had a brief amount of time to wonder who it was before a hard, feminine voice filled the tiny room.
“Get that dog out of here!”
Ah. It was Miss Clark.
I opened the door again to usher my partner out to the hallway like a good model citizen. Hopefully, that would win us brownie points for what my friend was about to pull.
Fal and Wren, both looking nervous, sat on the waiting bench by the wall, which opened up a little more walking room for the three remaining bodies. I surged forward and took my place at the gilded window.
“Miss Clark, how good to see you again!” I gushed rather uncharacteristically.
“Miss Curtain, we close in two minutes. This had better be good.” The clerk’s acerbic tone made me internally flinch. I pressed on.
“Oh, it is. You see, I have completed this bounty.” I slid the folded-up paper under the cage.
She sniffed with disapproval, unfolded the paper, read it, and glanced first at me, and then at the siblings, over the paper’s top.
“Miss Curtain,” she began with that stuffy tone as she slid the rumpled paper back under the slot for me to take back, “since this office is about to close, you need to follow after-hours protocol and take this boy to the jailhouse.”
“Oh, but I’m afraid this case is not typical in the slightest,” Fleurette butted in, stepping forward as I pocketed the paper.
Miss Clark gave my friend a once-over, keeping a slight look of disgust on her pallid features. “And you are?”
Fleurette stepped fully up to the counter. “Fleurette Williams, Miss Curtain’s manager. And this”—she gestured to Lawrence, who also stepped up to the just behind Fleurette—“is Mr. Lawrence Farthing, Esquire.”
The clerk paled ever so slightly but I had to give her credit for not breaking her hard demeanor. “And?” she demanded.
Lawrence pushed to the front. “Madam, there is a grave matter of dispute over the authenticity and claim of the bounty placed on this young man’s head. I must insist that a consultation happen immediately out in the hallway.”
Apparently, the term ‘Esquire’ had a lot of pull with Miss Clark. She froze with indecision for a couple of seconds before blowing out an annoyed breath. “Very well. But I insist this young man be watched by the guard while we talk.”
“Agreed,” said Lawrence amiably. “And the guard can watch his sister while we talk. This involves her as well.”
Muttering under her breath, Miss Clark fumbled for a key ring that was attached at her waist. She unlocked her door to the hallway, opened it, and called out, “This way, please.” She did not leave her small room but watched us instead.
Lawrence walked back to the waiting room door and held it open as Fal, Wren, and Fleurette filed out. He glanced at me, and I could feel the unfriendly gaze of Miss Clark on my back. I shrugged my shoulders and sat on the bench that had previously held the siblings.
“My part is done. I’d like to wait in here if I may,” I said.
Lawrence smiled and tipped his head in acknowledgment before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him. I spared a glance toward the clerk, who simply walked out of her own door. I heard the tell-tale sound of a key locking that door.
I stayed put, using my superior ears to determine what was happening outside this room. There was the muffled voice of stuffy-britches Clark telling Fleurette and Lawrence to stay put while she marched the Ramberts over to the guard. There were her prim footsteps just a minute later as she returned. Another muffled yet snooty command to follow her into an adjacent room. A doorknob jiggled nearby as she unlocked and opened it, followed by a curt closing.
That was my cue. I transformed swiftly and ran to the counter. Bunching my muscles neatly underneath me, I sprang upward and landed on the small surface area in front of the barred window.
This was the tricky part. Using my whiskers, I measured the space between the golden bars. Even turning my head sideways, the fit was simply too tight for my body to squeeze through. That left only one option.
Through the back wall, I could hear snippets of the conversation. As I very carefully squeezed under the cage through the slot left open for exchange of papers and money, I overheard Lawrence claiming that the Ramberts had left a will with his company that stated Fleurette was the rightful guardian of the children. Miss Clark’s response was more muffled. I sucked in my belly, my small primordial pouch dragging on the counter as I finally wiggled through the narrow space.
Dropping down, I wasted no time regaining my human form. I turned to the filing cabinet to my right.
“Miss Williams is willing to give these children a home,” the lawyer continued through the wall, “and she is also willing to pay whatever fine is necessary for these ridiculous charges to be dropped.”
I pulled the rumpled dossier, the one for a nameless teen boy who had stolen items and battered an old man over the head, from my vest pocket. I ignored everything written upon it except for the long number typed in a very small typeface at the bottom. 974332. Fal’s bounty case number. Scanning the files before me, I searched for the matching number.
“As much as you have everything in order, I still cannot divulge any information. That is classified!” Miss Clark practically screeched through the wall.
I chuckled under my breath. No need to divulge it, Miss Clark. I had found the folder.
I pulled it out of the cabinet. Inside the folder were extra copies of the dossier. I flipped those aside and finally found what I was looking for: the bounty application.
It sounded like the next-door meeting was wrapping up. I quickly started reading. “Application date, August 1 … location, Chargrove, O.R … name of applicant, Gregory Elkins—Gregory Elkins?”
The supposed uncle was the independent contractor? Things just got interesting.
I kept reading, but the rest was regurgitated information about how the source wished to remain anonymous, and so on and so forth. All this I had already gleaned from Angie. Just as well. I heard the door of the meeting room start to open.
Quickly, I closed the folder and shoved it back into its spot in the filing cabinet. As a key slid into the knob by my left, I shut the filing cabinet as softly as I could.
“I just need a few signatures for now. Please meet me in the waiting room,” Miss Clark declared as she fumbled with the lock. I shimmered down.
Just in the nick of time. The door opened as Miss Clark began walking in. While her body was still blocking the doorway, I lowered myself until my belly practically dragged on the ground and slinked out the open door, keeping myself as close to the righthand wall as possible.
“What in the world?” Miss Clark demanded, clearly having seen a glimpse of me as I exited around her feet.
Before she could swivel her head back out into the hallway, Fleurette swiftly opened the bounty office waiting room door, allowing me to make a speedy entrance. As soon as I was back in the room I shimmered to a human, as my clever friend kept Miss Clark’s attention out in the hallway with an innocent-sounding, “Is everything alright, Miss Clark?”
“Did you just see a cat?” A mystified Miss Clark asked her. I settled back on the bench as Fleurette replied in the negative.
The stuffy woman reentered her little room, looking around and then glancing at me. I pretended to be half asleep for a second before meeting her eye with a confused look. Miss Clark glared around her as Fleurette and Lawrence entered the room, also feigning confusion over the clerk’s demeanor.
After a couple of seconds, she let out, “I could have sworn I saw …” but she did not finish her sentence. Miss Clark let the matter drop with a sharp shake of her head.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
It was officially case closed.
That night, the Rambert siblings came home with us, but only after Fleurette, Fal, and Wren signed all sorts of papers. I let my mind space out on that part due to boredom. The only thing I signed was the paper stating that I officially captured the “criminal” and “collected the bounty.” I say these things in quotes because in actuality the bounty was forfeit due to extenuating circumstances. I was more than okay with this.
When I told Fleurette about what I had discovered in regard to who put the bounty out in the first place, she actually laughed.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” she said with a touch of ruefulness. “I looked into the Ramberts’ family tree. As I suspected, they don’t have a great-uncle. Since Elkin’s plan to pose as their uncle didn’t get those two into his clutches, he resorted to playing dirty. And I suspect he’s not finished trying. I’m not sure what his motive is in all of this, but we’ll have to be careful.”
A week later, Fleurette had a court date with Fal and Wren. I was not invited. I did lend them the use of Humbert and the wagon, however, since I had decided to take a small hiatus from my profession. Just to make sure everything was sorted out.
When they returned from court, all three were smiles. “It’s official!” trilled Fleurette. “Fal and Wren are now my wards.” She beamed as she wrapped an arm around the shoulders of both kids. They smiled widely and leaned into her. My heart sang at the sight.
There were many details to work out still, such as permanent sleeping arrangements. The house only had two bedrooms and the siblings couldn’t feasibly share a room, but Fleurette had plans to transform one of the outbuildings into a little sleeping cabin for Fal. He was delighted at the prospect. It seemed that everything would work out quite well for everyone involved.
That evening, Fleurette threw a family party to celebrate. Lyle came with my mother in tow, who actually changed into a human for part of the shindig. Lawrence came too but left early before dinner was served because he was traveling back to wherever he had come from. He did not divulge where that might be to me. Those GOGs were a secretive lot.
After a most delicious dinner, we retired to the cramped living room for after dinner tea. As we chatted about anything and everything, my vest pocket vibrated. I pulled out my message mirror, flipping the leather cover open.
“NEIGHBORING TOWN HAS WW PROBLEM. REQUEST ASSISTANCE FROM C CURTAIN.” It was signed by Sheriff Jones of Veradale.
“Werewolf problem …” I muttered to myself. I glanced at Grimm, who was stationed next to me. He had heard the vibration too and perked his ears in expectancy. “Ready to get back to work?” I asked him. He wriggled his sitting bottom with anticipation and let out a tiny whine. “Yeah, me too, buddy,” I answered. The time off had been nice, but we both had been growing antsy from the lack of work. It was time to get back out there.
Picking up my teacup and a stirring spoon, I rapped them gently together, the spoon making a tiny tinkling sound on the porcelain. All eyes swiveled to me, and conversation dwindled to silence. I cleared my throat.
“Grimm and I are leaving first thing in the morning for a job,” I stated to the crowd. A couple mumbles of sadness reached me. I ignored them. “I have something important to say to all of you. Being a cat, I always thought of myself as a loner. I assumed I would make it in this world by only relying on myself. That I didn’t need friends, or a family for that matter.”
Silence met this statement. I swallowed a suspicious lump in my throat. “But I was wrong. It started with Fleurette and Lyle, who showed me that some humans could be trusted. And then Grimm, my faithful partner. Mom, of course, has always been there for me, even if she doesn’t approve of my actions.”
Mom scoffed at those words, but also smiled.
“I thought early on that being alone was how I was supposed to live my life.” I stared at the people in the room, meeting the eyes of first Lyle, then Mom, then Fleurette, and lastly Wren and Fal. I placed a loving hand on top of Grimm’s head to include him too. “I am so glad that this wasn’t the case. If anything, these last few weeks have only proven how much that wasn’t how I wanted to spend my life. I am honored to call you all my family, no matter how unusual it may be. And, as my family, I’d like to bestow a token upon you.”
I transformed back into a cat and leapt up onto a side table in front of everybody. I sat down in a statuesque pose, head held high, tail curled around my feet. I met the gaze of each member of the room. And then, with my ears perked forward, I slowly closed my eyes. And kept them closed.
Silence reigned.
Still keeping my eyes closed contentedly, I heard Fal whisper, “What’s happening?”
It was my mom that answered, and she spoke just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Cats are very suspicious by nature, and only in the most trusted company will a cat deliberately close her eyes. It is considered the highest honor a cat can bestow to close her eyes at you.”
Another small stretch of silence. I imagined they were digesting my mother’s words. Finally, Wren let out a little, “Aww!”
“To Cressida!” Lyle suddenly shouted. The outburst nearly made me open my eyes, but I refrained, only tucking my ears back for a second. “To Cressida!” “Hear, hear!” followed in Lyle’s wake.
I basked in the praise that my ears brought me. As I continued to bestow my respect upon this motley group of people and animals, I reflected upon the happenings of these last couple of weeks. I had bested my enemy, a witch that hadn’t shown her face in five hundred years. I had gained the love and trust of two more humans and discovered a whole secret society that would forever have my back. Sure, I had been cursed in the process, and I was still processing this fact, but more importantly, I had also been blessed with a sense of camaraderie and family.
Overall, just another successful job.
Acknowledgments
Dreams don’t often come true overnight. Timing is often a huge factor—at least it was for me. Even though I have wanted to publish a novel for many years, I had to jump over a lot of hurdles just to get to a point where I could take the time to write. For me, my time hurdles were college, jobs, marriage, and raising my daughters from babies to school-aged children. But throughout it all, the dream held fast.
My main character Cressida has been hanging out in my head for at least ten years. I’m so glad I was finally able to liberate her, and I'm excited to continue her story in the rest of the series. But it takes more than one person to show her to the world at large. Publishing a book seemingly takes an army!
First, my thanks go to my parents, who raised me to believe in my vivid imagination and never to stifle it. And that goes for my husband Matt as well, who has supported my flights of fancy wholeheartedly. He was also my first beta reader and gave me the confidence to show my manuscript to more people. Appreciation goes to my wonderful friend Jennica, for also cheering me on the whole way and for being my sounding board whenever I needed a sympathetic ear. And for Rachel, my beta reader, who gave me a major boost of confidence when she loved my story.
For the professionals I hired during my publishing journey, I am so appreciative of your much-needed assistance! My editor Tina Beier is amazing and really polished my book beautifully. I couldn’t have done it without you, Tina! Angelee van Allman, thank you for the gorgeous cover art. I can’t wait to see what you do for the next book! And many thanks to Cynthia Ley for proofreading the whole thing. You all were so helpful during this journey.
A special shout-out goes to the Northwest Independent Writer’s Association. Its fellow members were incredibly helpful and supportive any time I needed questions answered. Thank you, NIWA!
And lastly, thank you to my readers. You took a chance on a new author, and for that I am very grateful. I hope this literary journey found you happy at the end.
About the Author
R. Lindsay Carter wanted to be a zookeeper when she was a girl. Now, she is content to stick with her small menagerie at home, which includes her supportive husband and her two daughters. When she isn’t in the throes of writing, you can find R. Lindsay creating art, reading, gardening, ignoring household chores, and otherwise lounging about, usually with her lap taken up by her dog and/or one of her three cats. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, R. Lindsay happily lives in Oregon.
Connect
Follow R. Lindsay Carter for all the latest news!
Social Media:
https://www.rlindsaycarter.com
https://www.facebook.com/rlindsaycarter
