Willow's Missing Tail" 10

The portal was not closed to Willow. She slunk into the garden and her midnight coat blended into the shadows, but her eyes glittered with magical intent.

Max, Chaos and Ram watched as Willow inched closer to Martha’s house. The sleek black cat nimbly jumped through the cat door and followed the sound of a voice humming happily in the kitchen.

Willow had a strong desire to toss the intruders into the deepest part of the garden; the place where the poison ivy grew rampant, but she had to be subtle to remain undetected. So for now, she’d make sure they were uncomfortable in the house.

She turned her attention first to the traitorous sibling cat lounging on her feather bed without permission; her eyes flashed with intent as she flicked her tail.

The feathers within the cat bed became tiny thorns and Thistle’s slumber was painfully disturbed by the piercing offenders. She rolled quickly off the cat bed to lick her fur and calm the tiny jabs to her delicate skin.

Willow was pleased she’d disturbed that cat’s slumber and turned her attention to the other intruder, the red haired one humming in the kitchen. She was about to take a sip of tea. Willow narrowed her eyes on the teacup and flicked her tail and that perfect blend of Martha’s tea became a bitter brew of recrimination.

Daphne spit the distasteful liquid back into the dainty teacup and looked at it in confusion. She must have missed a step in the brewing process, or she’d used the wrong tea leaves.

She turned to Thistle, who appeared to be preoccupied with her grooming, and sneered, “I don’t know why everyone thinks Martha’s tea is the best brew ever; this is the worst tea I’ve ever tasted and…it’s making me feel…,” her words trailed off as she shivered with the compunction to psychoanalyze her actions. She absolutely refused to let that feeling surface beyond peripheral; it’d be counter productive to her need for revenge.

"Thistle, follow me!” Daphne commanded as she tossed the tea into the sink and stormed out of the kitchen.

Thistle sent a jaundiced look at the cat bed first and turned around to look deep into the shadows in the room, trying to detect movement of a sinister kind, but she saw nothing. Whatever had caused that cat bed to change was not visible to her, but she felt it; something was here.

She looked down at the offending cat bed and winked one eye and it was restored to its feather pillowed luxury. Satisfied, she sauntered out of the kitchen to follow the bellowing human into the living room.

Willow followed them too, hidden deep in shadow.

*

Sahara continued to circle the house as she’d been commanded to do, making sure it was secure, but she hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary for over an hour and she was tired, and well past ready for her treat. She decided she was due a break.

She flew down the chimney and emerged from the unlit fireplace into the living room; where she found her human and that complicit cat relaxing.

“Squawk! All clear outside.” Sahara landed on the arm of the chair her human was sitting in.

“Good, but I knew they couldn't escape the meadow. So I’ve decided we’ll stay here tonight and tomorrow at dawn, we’ll enter the meadow undetected, using my camouflage potion, and I’ll finally have my revenge on Avery!” Daphne crowed with glee and threw a treat to the parrot.

Sahara caught it and settled down on the chair to enjoy it. She couldn’t care less about the devious plans her human was making; she was happy to finally rest her wings.

*

Willow left the house after hearing Daphne's plan but not before making sure every bed in the abode was lumpy with rocks, and all the food in the refrigerator was spoiled.

She ran through the garden and under the willow to the meadow.

Chaos, Max and Ram were waiting for her and she told them of the red haired human’s plan to enter under camouflage at sunrise. They would have to alert their respective humans.

*

Martha sat up in the chair with a start realizing she'd dozed off in it, but then she heard a distinct meow at the bedroom's door and her eyes lit with hope. She flung opened the door to find Willow sitting in the hallway.

Martha scooped the cat up in her arms and cried with joy. “Willow, you’re back!”

Willow was not one for affectionate displays but she was happy to be back too and she purred, and allowed the comforting embrace.

After a pampered treat of her favorite meal, Willow conveyed the plan she’d overheard to her human.

“So we have only a few hours to implement a defense,” Martha told the cat.

Willow's eyes glittered in agreement.

Martha knew she had to wake the others; they needed a plan in place before Daphne arrived.

 *

Martha rushed to Perfidia’s room to wake her up first.

Perfidia yawned and her heavy lidded eyes weren't fully focused. “Martha, it’s the middle of the night,” she mumbled.

“I know, but you have to wake up.”

“Don’t want to,” Perfidia said petulantly and turned away.

“If you don’t, when that sun comes up, it’ll be too late to plan a defense against Daphne.”

Perfidia turned to Martha, trying to clear the fog of sleep from her ears. “What dooo youuu…” she'd begun but her words slurred off and her breathing deepened; she was falling back asleep.

Martha sighed and having no alternative, nodded to Willow. “Okay, wake her up.”

Willow gleefully complied and with a flick of her tail, the bed was a layer of ice cubes.

Perfidia screamed and jumped out it in record time; she was fully awake now!

“What the…why did you? What’s going on?” Her eyes filled with accusation as she grabbed up the thick, Egyptian cotton, robe from the bedpost and pulled it around her shivering form.

“I’m sorry Perfidia, but I did try to wake you up gently; it didn’t work.”

“You could have just made an alarm clock keep going off, that would have worked just as well and not been as invasive!”

“Again, I’m sorry but it’s important you’re fully awake, and you are.”

“What’s the urgency?”

“We need to set a trap.”

“A trap…?”

“Yes. Daphne is planning to sneak into the meadow at dawn.”

“Okay," Perfidia nodded, “I’m fully awake now, and interested.”

Chaos trotted into the room and sat down next to his human; they were all ears for what Martha had to say.

*

Max was sent to wake up Avery and upon hearing the night’s events; Avery called everyone into his massive kitchen for an early breakfast and to conjure up a sure trap for Daphne.

The familiars and their humans were seated around Avery’s large kitchen table; breakfast had been served and the tea was poured.

“If she has a camouflage potion, how will we even know she’s here?” Avery asked as he tossed in several sugar cubes into his teacup and stirred.

Perfidia shivered at the idea of all that sugar and Avery noticed her reaction.

“I need the sugar boost to stay awake at the moment Perfidia,” he defended his choice of additive.

Perfidia shrugged. “Whatever.” Then she sipped her own unsweetened tea.

“Getting back to our problem,” Martha insisted, “I think Daphne’s perfume will give her position away. We'd detected it hours after she’d been in Perfidia’s shop, so we know it lingers.”

Avery nodded. “You’re right Martha; Daphne does wear a very distinct and potent fragrance but who'll stand guard at the entrance, and be undetected to her?”

Ram gave a low meow volunteering for the job.

“That’s perfect,” Perfidia said nodding to the cat, “if Daphne hasn’t suspected Ram is with us, he can meet her and send us an alert.”

“Do you think she suspects you?” Martha asked the cat.

Ram shook his head. Even though he hadn’t answered Daphne’s call to meet at Martha’s garden last night, he knew Sahara wouldn’t alert her to his desertion for fear she’d be blamed for it.

“Okay, then you’ll hide near the portal to Martha’s garden and when Daphne enters you’ll alert Robin, who will be waiting above you on a tree branch, and he'll alert us,” Avery instructed.

Robin wasn’t pleased with the plan.

“You want me to wait with this cat and risk myself on a whim that this cat is trustworthy?”

The cat in question flicked one ear and a bell of birdseed hung in the air next to the suspicious Robin.

Robin eyed it and took a tiny nibble then he looked back at the cat.

“Fine; I’ll risk it,” he said sourly, before attacking the bell of seeds with hungry gusto.

“So we agree Ram will alert Robin when he sees Daphne, and Robin will tell us she's here,” Avery concluded.

“Good start, but what comes next? We still won’t see her. How do we catch her?” Martha asked.

“Maybe we can see her,” Perfidia said with a pensive look.

“What are you thinking,” Martha asked with interest.

Perfidia’s smile grew wicked. “I think we’re going to need some of that awful stink weed."

Martha's eyes widened and she laughed, "I think we can muster up some from the meadow."

"Excellent," Perfidia crowed.

"But how will that make her visible to us?" Avery inquired.

"If you had a whiff of that awful smell, could you stop yourself from gagging?" Perfidia asked him.

Avery's eyes lit with understanding then he laughed and offered to help them locate the nasty plant.