Witch Catcher by Mary Downing Hahn

It's been a long, dirty time since I've had me a good wash."
    Wearily, I headed for the bathroom carrying Kieryn. A bath ... all I wanted was to get in bed and sleep for a hundred years.

11
    S TILL IN HER CAT body, Kieryn perched on the edge of the tub and watched me turn on the hot water. "Do ye have sweet-smelling bath salts?" she asked. "I'd so love a long soak to wash off the grime. It were dirty in that globe, ye know. Dust to make ye sneeze your head clean off."
    Obediently. I produced what she wanted and added it to the water. The steamy air filled with the sweet scent of my favorite bath foam, a Christmas present from my best friend, Janie.
    Kieryn jumped into the water and became a girl again, her body hidden in bubbles. "Lovely," she sighed. "Absolutely lovely."
    I watched her sink down to wet her hair. Her black curls spread in the water, framing her little pointed face. She closed her eyes and smiled. "Ye cannot imagine how good hot water feels."
    After that, she had nothing to say. She splashed in the tub like a child, splattering water everywhere. Floors, walls, even me. She laughed and I laughed, too. For the first time in a long while, I let myself have fun.
    It didn't last long. Someone pounded on the bathroom door, and I heard Dad shout, "Jen, what on earth are you doing in there?"
    Instantly, Kieryn transformed herself into Mist. Bad decision. She began swimming in the tub, her eyes wide with fear. Quickly I lifted her out and wrapped her in a towel.
    When I opened the door, Dad and Moura stood in the hall, staring at me. His face was bewildered hers expressionless. "I was giving Mist a bath," I said.
    "How did you get so much water on the floor?" Dad asked.
    I shrugged. "Mist didn't like being in the tub."
    "Cats don't need baths," Moura observed. "They clean themselves."
    "Well, she'd been in the woods, and she was dirty," I muttered. "I thought she'd like a bath."
    Dad sighed. "I suggest you clean up the bathroom and go to bed."
    "And put the cats outside," Moura added. "Like all nocturnal animals, they hunt by night."
    I held Kieryn so tightly she mewed. "Tink sleeps on my bed, and Mist will, too."
    Moura glanced at Dad, hoping he'd back her up. To her obvious disappointment, he sided with me. "Jen's lonely at night," he explained. "Having Tink close by comforts her. And Mist's too small to leave outside in the dark."
    "Don't be silly." Moura frowned at Kieryn. "That cat was living in the woods when Jen found her."
    "Moura," Dad said gently, "if it makes her feel better, why shouldn't Jen keep the cats in her room? I see no harm in it."
    Moura shrugged. "Do as you wish. Jen is your daughter. You know her far better than I do." Her voice was sweet and light, and she smiled at Dad to show him he'd convinced her.
    Dad put his arm around her shoulders, pleased to see she wasn't cross with him. He put his other arm around me and drew me close for a good-night kiss. Once again the musky smell of Moura's perfume filled my nostrils. Fine cobweb strands of her black hair brushed my face. In my arms, Kieryn shrank down as small as she could. I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd changed herself into a mouse. But, of course, she couldn't do that without giving herself away.
    I gave Dad a tight one-armed hug, nearly squashing Kieryn in the process, and went to my room. Safe behind my locked door, I put Kieryn on the bed, changed into my pajamas, and climbed in beside her.
    "That was scary," I whispered. "The way Moura was looking at me, almost as if she knew—"
    "Ah,
her
's a witchy old thing,
her
is.
Her
knows something's going on, but she don't know what, and that drives her dafty." Kieryn shivered and snuggled closer. "Ye be careful, Jen.
Her
's a tricksy one."
     
    The next morning, I left Kieryn dozing on my windowsill. The sunlight glistened on her sweet, clean fur. Her sides rose and fell, and she purred softly, content to stay where she was and wait for me to bring her breakfast. Tink chose to follow me