Page 69 of A Skirl of Sorcery
If I told him what had happened it would make it true, so I said nothing and simply waved. Dave, who was far smarter than he usually let on, didn’t say anything more. Instead he pointed into my garden: all five of my cats, even She Who Loves Sunbeams, had come outside. Oh.
‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘Go inside.’
None of them moved.
I folded my arms and glared. There wasn’t so much as a flick of a tail in return. Bloody hell. ‘Nothing will happen right now. This is about locating an address. Nothing more, nothing less.’
Five unblinking pairs of eyes gazed at me.
I huffed. ‘Fine.’ As I stepped out of the gate alongside Bin, all the cats followed.
We walked ten metres. Bin glanced over his shoulder. We walked another ten metres and he glanced over his shoulder again. ‘Are they coming with us?’
‘It appears that way.’
The trow was clearly baffled. ‘Why?’
I considered my response. ‘Why did you spend so many nights breaking into houses and stealing?’
He pursed his lips. ‘To save my community.’
I smiled slightly. ‘There’s your answer.’
‘But they’re cats.’
‘Exactly.’
Bin frowned. ‘Don’t worry,’ I told him. ‘They can look after themselves.’ I did, however, glance over my shoulder and check on She Who Loves Sunbeams. Her whiskers twitched when she noticed my gaze. Somewhat mollified, I faced the front again. She wouldn’t do anything stupid – not unless I did.
Bin led me to the bottom of my street where the road forked towards the riverside market. We both stiffened. I wouldn’thave been surprised if we were attacked again but this time nothing happened. Bin pointed right. ‘This way,’ he said. He cast a nervous glance up at the sky, worried about the impending sunrise. Trows weren’t vampires and he wouldn’t spontaneously self-combust, but he would find the effects of the early sun painful.
‘Is it far?’ I asked.
‘No.’
Good. Then I began to worry. What if this really was a wild good chase, as Thane had suggested? What if the bone box Bin had stolen from this place was simply an icky trinket? I drew in a shaky breath. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if this lead turned out to be a waste of time.
‘Youdidfind hundreds of these bone boxes in this house, right?’ I asked.
‘Right.’
‘And they were all the same as the one you took?’
‘Mostly.’
I paused. ‘Mostly?’
‘Some had labels on them.’
‘Written labels? You didn’t mention that before.’
‘I didn’t think it was important,’ Bin said. ‘There were hundreds of boxes. Only a few had labels.’
Getting irritated with the trow wouldn’t help anyone. ‘What was written on them?’
‘Different things. House mouse. Field mouse. Dormouse.’
My heart dropped to the soles of my feet. Oh no.
