The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat by Damon Plumides

confused by the fact that she still looked the same as she had when she left, although there may have been a few more errant hairs on her face.
    â€œI need you to forget about all of that right now,” she said. “Ask me no more questions. What I need you to do for me now is to go out among the villages and retrieve for me an all-white female cat.”
    She drew extremely close to him to emphasize her point. “It is of the utmost importance that she be completely white with no stripes, spots, or speckles whatsoever. Is that clear? And you will have to be quick about it because I need her back here as soon as possible.”
    â€œYour majesty,” Caterwaul answered, “that’s a strange request. Of course I will go as soon as possible, but why do you need her?” Caterwaul asked.
    â€œI said no questions. Bring me a white female cat as I have requested. All will be revealed to you in time. Now do as I ask.”
    The cat stretched his limbs, stood at attention, and said, “Don’t worry, my queen. I will bring you back the most beautiful cat in the kingdom.”

    Caterwaul gathered what he’d need for the trip. He stopped by to see Orris on his way out. The two had become good friends since the queen left. The chef prepared enough food to put in his cat-sized backpack for his travels. The remaining room in the pack he used to carry the magic powders and potions he could need to deal with problems that might arise along the way.
    Orris had come to like having Caterwaul in charge of the castle. He had been enjoying life again. He was not happy now. With the return of the queen, his life at Cathoon was sure to go back to the way it was before. He wasn’t looking forward to that at all.
    The queen looked around the castle at what “damage” the cat had done. As soon as he is returned to the Witch, I will do some renovating myself. I will create a new Cathoon worthy of an empress, she thought to herself. I will have all of these cat things removed from the premises and burned.
    Caterwaul will be erased from my memory. I will be young, and as such, I will have new young suitors to keep me occupied. Most importantly, I will be feared. She thought all of these things as she put the sack that Warwick Vane Bezel III had given her high on a shelf in the armoire in her bedchamber for safekeeping.



11

    To Harsizzle
    C aterwaul strolled into the village of Harsizzle. “It’s been so long since I’ve been just a cat, I don’t know where to start,” he muttered to himself. He’d lived most of his life with the Witch of Red Moon Forest, and she didn’t often have visitors, much less of the cat variety. He roamed through the village streets, noticing all of the smells and sounds he remembered from back when he was just a small kitten.
    Unsurprisingly, it seemed everywhere he glanced in town he saw cats. There were so very many of them. Wherever he went, there they were: in the windows, in the doorways, in the alleyways, and on the streets.
    Many of them looked hungry and more than a bit scared. This was understandable since only a short while ago many of them had been humans. He noted that there were a number who were still just getting the hang of walking on all fours. Caterwaul sat for a while watching, as it was quite hilarious for a cat who had been one all his life to see all of these new ones trying to adjust.
    In some houses, Caterwaul could hear the crying of the people who remained, wailing about what had happened to their husbands, wives, daughters, and sons. What sort of horrible creature could be responsible for this?
    Surely it was sorcery . . . a truly monstrous deed. What had they done to deserve this awful fate? These were the questions on the lips of those who had not been changed. Caterwaul shook uncomfortably because he knew he was responsible. It was true he was following the queen’s orders, but now he felt that he could have, and that