Page 14 of Waifs And Strays
I ignored them and the approaching tram and stooped to pick up the token. As I did so, I turned my head; the waiting passengers were watching me with morbid fascination. I suspected that at least some of them were hoping to witness a bloody mess as I was run over.
The one person who wasn’t watching me was the damned werewolf, who continued to studiously avoid looking in my direction. That settled it: he was definitely following me.
I scooped up the token and jumped back in the nick of time before the tram creaked to a halt at the spot where I’d just crouched down. The witch driver glared at me; the last thing he wanted was to deal with my corpse on his tram tracks.
I offered a sheepish shrug by way of apology and took my position at the back of the queue while I sifted through an array of mental images in an attempt to identify my erstwhilefollower. I’d only caught a glimpse of him but I’d seen enough to register his face. He had bright-red hair shorn close to his skull and his skin was only lightly tanned in the manner of a true ginger. He had a crooked nose, suggesting it had been broken at one point and not healed properly, and his clothes were baggy to conceal his physique. The fact that he didn’t want to display his physique told me that he was either incredibly skinny and weak or completely the opposite, and I suspected the latter. I was also certain that I’d never seen him before in my life.
I shuffled up the queue and waited for my turn to board. Just before I stepped up, I heard footsteps behind me. He had decided to get on the tram with me and, no doubt, track me all the way to my front door. I caught a faint whiff of unwashed clothes overlaid with vetiver, woody, leather notes bound together with a hint of citrus, before I hopped onto the tram and handed my token to the scowling driver. Then I paused.
The werewolf followed me and gave his own token to the driver. I squeezed into a narrow spot at the front, forcing him to pass me by, then I coughed loudly, spun round and leapt off the tram just as the doors started to close.
I landed on the pavement and turned in time to see the driver’s irritation deepen but the werewolf only stared at me from the other side of the window showing no discernible emotion. The horn blasted again and the tram trundled away with the red-headed werewolf still aboard.
I exhaled. I had no more tokens with me. So much for public transport; I was going to have to walk home instead.
Chapter
Six
Ikept my wits about me during the long hike through the streets of Coldstream in case the werewolf had jumped off at the next stop and doubled back. If he were a tracker, he’d already have my scent in his nostrils and he’d locate me within minutes.
Although it was unlikely I could disguise my scent, I skirted close to several stinking open drains. If I’d had any money on me, I could have detoured to a witchery store and purchased a masking spell to conceal myself but unfortunately, although I was smart enough to always carry a tram token in my pocket, I didn’t always carry cash.
There was no sign of the werewolf, though, and that in itself was curious. If he wasn’t a skilled tracker then why would someone have sent him after me? Surely any of the packs that were curious about me would have used somebody who could stay close – unless, of course, whoever had ordered Mr Red to follow me had underestimated my abilities even more than the MacTires had done.
Without more information, it wasn’t a problem I could solve. Maybe the werewolf had happened to be passing theMacTire stronghold and seen my hooded body being bundled in or out of it and followed to satisfy his curiosity. He might have already lost interest. Whoever he was, I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over him. I told myself to be proud of my day’s achievements and pushed him out of my mind.
It was late evening by the time I turned onto my street. My feet were sore and I was longing for a hot bath. I heaved myself along the last few hundred metres and turned into my front garden. Before I did anything else, I had to deal with She Who Hisses. The gnarly cat would not be happy.
Dave waved at me from his window and I felt a brief rush of warmth. He wasn’t stupid enough to have gotten involved in my abduction but he’d kept an eye out for my return. I waved back and he scowled; all was right in the world.
I opened my front door and stepped inside, desperately pleased to be home. Part of me hoped that Nick had taken the initiative and finished the cooking we’d started that morning but there was no aroma of home-cooked food, delicious or otherwise. There was, however, a very angry cat in the carrier near my feet and a large paper bag filled to the brim with the tomatoes I'd asked Nick to buy.
I left them where they were and focused on my more immediate problem. She Who Hisses was already emitting a low-pitched growl and I could see a line of black fur standing on end along her spine.
I sighed and scooped up the carrier. ‘I’m sorry,’ I told her. ‘This wasn’t the way I would have chosen to do things but it will be for the best, I promise you.’
She glared at me, her narrowed eyes promising dark vengeance. I cooed at her and hauled her into the kitchen where nothing had been touched since I’d left earlier in the day.
I pushed aside the chopping board and the prepped onions and carrots and got to work. From my special cupboard Iselected several dried herbs then reached to the back for a sprinkling of magical enhancement powder. That ought to do the trick – at least I hoped it would.
I wasn’t particularly skilled in spell-craft; for one thing I wasn’t a witch, and it was rare for non-witches to be able to cast anything useful on spec. But witches were business people and they were happy to sell their wares to anyone who needed them, so I maintained a healthy supply of magical medicines. I only needed an extra sprinkling of weak magic to bring the ingredients to life and I could manage that much.
I chatted to She Who Hisses as I worked. ‘It really won’t be that bad,’ I told her as I measured out the ingredients. ‘First I’m going to send you to sleep…’ she gave a low screech of righteous indignation ‘…though not for long,’ I assured her. ‘Ten minutes at most.’
She yowled again, although there was less fury in it this time.
‘Then I’ll apply an ointment to that nasty wound to sort out the infection. You’ll be healed in no time.’
The kitchen door creaked as He Who Must Sleep nudged it open with his paw. He yawned, wandered inside and looked up at me. I knew that all five of my cats would have kept their distance from She Who Hisses while I’d been gone because they wouldn’t have trusted the cat carrier to hold her for any length of time. Now I was back, they’d wend their way to me, hungry and annoyed that I’d missed their usual dinner hour.
‘I’m guessing you’ve been snoozing away in the back all day long,’ I said.
He blinked at me lazily then stretched. She Who Hisses watched his every move with undisguised malevolence.
‘Where are the others?’ I asked. He Who Must Sleep blinked again.
I shrugged and returned to my potion, rubbed the mixtureof dried herbs between my fingertips then scattered them over the cat carrier. I received a furious hiss in return but fortunately the herbs were still potent enough for it to be short-lived. There was a thump as She Who Hisses collapsed.
