The Chimera Charm Read online

“Come on; it’s over here somewhere!” Shade exclaimed in excitement, encouraging his siblings to also tug on the leash. The cat’s heads bobbed up and down, trying to search out their brother’s target. Eclipse put his nose to the ground, and pulled up quickly, his eyes wide and sparkly. He smiled. “Follow your noses, bro’s!” My memory-erasing cat had found the scent and had now whipped up a kind of frothy excitement in the other kitties. I kept a firm hold of the leash, urging them to keep in line and not go cat-ship crazy on me. I wondered what on earth they were so excited about.

  Someone doddered out of one of the private worship service tents to the left of us. A quick look at her face told me that she couldn’t have been much older than forty. In spite of that, her face was haggard and cut through with deep-grooved wrinkles. Immediately I could tell the woman was in pain. She was walking with a birch cane in one hand and a portable oxygen tank on wheels in the other. Her thin frame looked like she could barely hold either item. Her frizzy, mousy brown hair looked like it hadn’t seen a decent conditioner in quite some time. I touched my curls almost subconsciously. The lady’s eyes had a basset hound droop to them. Something about her looked familiar, though. Those angular features. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I nudged David in the ribs and nodded towards the woman. “Who’s that?”

  “Infirma Devlin. Morag’s sister,” he said discreetly. “Morag’s only living relative. Both spinsters, they live on a rambling estate just outside Chalice.

  “Hmm, I didn’t know Morag was a Cathedralite. I thought she was from here.” I remarked.

  “She used to live here, I think. They both did; her and Infirma. When they were kids, from what I understand,” David peered across at Morag Devlin's sickly sister.

  “And her dear sis just leaves her in the middle of this crowd all by herself?” Gloom asked, evidently displeased.

  “Why, Sister Gloom,” Eclipse said. “That’s the first charitable sentiment I’ve heard you utter all day.”

  Gloom turned her rear to her brother. Midnight piped up, “Actually, by all accounts I’ve heard through my various contacts of the night,” Carbon rolled his eyes, while Midnight made sure he had everyone’s attention. My gossipy cat had his self-important strut down to a tee. “Morag is extremely devoted to her sister’s care. That estate CPI Trew just mentioned is falling to the ground because most of Morag’s ‘law-ing’ fees go toward Infirma’s medical bills.”

  I felt a little of my dislike for Morag melt at Midnight’s words. Whatever I had to say about her choice of clients, it sounded like Hagatha and Norris’ attorney understood the importance of family. I know my own granny would have approved.

  My cat o’ seven tails suddenly pulled me towards the right.

  “Alright!” Shade yelled. “Knew it was here somewhere.”

  The rest of my kitties started meowing in enthusiasm as they joined in Shade’s relentless tugging. It only took a second to see what was getting them all so excited. If there was one thing that my kitties loved about the festival, it was the “10 fish for 100 sols” game.

  Okay, it was technically a game designed for beings with hands. The operator gave you a bamboo pole with a tiny net attached. The idea was to catch ten fish from the plastic pool the fish were swimming in. If you could scoop ten of the one hundred fish in there, then you got to keep the fish, and you’d also walk away with a prize. Sounds easy enough, right? Ah, but the pool was filled with lightspeed minnows. A tiny, magically charmed fish, that moved so fast, it was really something if your eyes could keep up with their motion. You’d be highly skilled and outrageously lucky if you caught even two. I looked at the operator as my cats bounced and pounced around the pool.

  “Ugh, these tasteless little fish again,” Gloom groaned, her head peering over the rim of the shallow tank. “Can you ask him if he’s got any salmon?” She asked looking up at me, her face all earnest.

  “No, the man doesn’t have salmon, Gloom.” I responded. Although it wasn’t the same operator as last year, (I’d remember him, he had had a Celtic cross tattooed on his face,) I knew he was from the supernatural community. I spotted his wand, poking from the poorly sewn hem of the scruffy jacket he was wearing. If he heard the cat’s talking though, he didn’t let on. It happened sometimes. Some Awakened just didn’t hear the Infiniti speak. They merely heard a series of meows and chirrups the same way any Unawakened being would.

  The man beamed at me, and I could have sworn he was tallying-up the Sol's as his eyes rested on the row of seven cats gathered around his impossible game. I almost felt sorry for him. He truly didn’t have a clue what was coming.

  “Howdy, folks,” he said with an amused grin. “Looks like you have a few kitties who smelled what’s in the pond here.”

  “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Shade demanded, putting two front paws on the edge of the tank.

  Given the fact that the rest of the clutch was following his example, I had to hand off the leash to David to give my arm a rest.

  “Care to try and make at least some of your kitties happy?” the operator asked, his smile getting ever wider and more vulpine.

  “I go first,” Eclipse demanded, walking over to the guy and staring up in his face pleadingly.

  “Seeing as your man there has—“

  “We’re not a couple,” I blurted feeling my cheeks flood with heat.

  The operator held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry…I just assumed, and I shouldn’t have.”

  “W-wonder if he understands us,” Fraidy mused.

  “One way to find out,” Gloom said with a genuinely evil grin on her face. “So how many people do you cheat on a daily basis, hayseed?”

  “Anyways,” the operator said with a shrug. “10 lunes could net you 100 Sols if you’ve got what it takes.” He said, bending down to stroke Eclipse. “And, seeing as this little fluffer has the cajones to come and see me, I’d say he can go first, eh?” The operator chortled and urged Eclipse toward the pool.

  "Yes, we already established I'm first, numb-nuts," Eclipsed responded wearily.

  “No fishing rods needed for this,” the man joked. “Just plain old cat skills.” Again, I felt sorry for the guy. He was so confident in his speed-of-light fish gimmick that it actually made me feel like I was the one doing the swindling.

  “Definitely Unawakened,” Onyx said with a nod.

  “Except for his fishing paw, kitty’s got to stay outta the pool,” the man finally declared, pointing at me.

  “Child’s play,” Eclipse whispered through his happy purring.

  “You’re on,” I said, reaching into my purse for the money.

  “I’ve got this, Hat,” David declared, handing the man his money.

  I unhooked Eclipse from the harness and let him suss out his tactics poolside. The one hundred minnows inside were darting around like bubbles in a boiling solution, almost too fast for the eye to see.

  “Got a minute and a half to get the ten,” the man said, holding up a stopwatch. “And…go!”

  “Up to you now, Clipsy,” I said, giving his back a rub before stepping back.

  "Go, Bro!" Shade and Midnight whooped in unison.

  My furry fisherman's face turned stony studying the movements of the minnows with his black darting eyes. Fifteen seconds ticked by, and still, he did not move. Only tracked the speedy fish’s movements. The operator tittered and rubbed his hands together. I suspect he thought he had a line of cat-customers to go through before the night was out. Thirty seconds passed now, and still, Eclipse just watched. His siblings were holding their breath, all crouched and ready for action. The operator didn’t think there was going to be any action though, as he remarked with a smile:

  “Twenty seconds remaining.”

  Eclipse yawned and licked his lips.

  “Ten seconds. Ten seconds remain--”

  Without warning, Eclipse dipped his paw into the water and swooped out a fish, sending it high into the air over Midnight’s head. Midnight pounced, opened his mouth and downed the f
ish in an effortless gulp. In a blur of splashy motion, Eclipse had emptied the pool and had sent every last fish flying into the mouths of his siblings. He saved the last three wrigglers for himself. The final one popping between his lips, until only the tip of the tail could be seen. The bemused attendant barked “Time!”

  He peered into the pool in disbelief. Empty. He looked at the cats. All of them purring bundles of coal black fur, each of them licking their lips.

  “Ogre Doll! Ogre Doll!” Exclaimed Shade, springing up and down on his four paws and grinning like a cat possessed.

  I turned to the operator. “Err, for the prize, instead of the lunes, can we take two of the Ogre Dolls?” I asked sheepishly. I knew, even as dazed as he was at my cat’s performance, he wouldn’t turn down such a great offer. The stuffed toys cost way less than ten lunes, so he’d be happy to part with two. The cat’s had no value of money. But, they had been squawking about these Ogre Dolls for about a week now. I’m not sure what got them so excited about them. They only ever slept on the damned things. Of course, the cheap toys fell apart in no time, so they were always excited to get back to the fair to win new ones.

  The man didn’t say anything. He tried to mouth something as he handed over the overly-large rag-doll plushie’s, but he couldn’t find his voice.

  “Thanks very much,” I smiled at him as David and I took one Ogre Doll each. Even when I was out on a supposed night of leisure, I always somehow ended up being the kitty servant in some regard. Humping this doll around was a testament to this fact.

  We left the fishing pool behind and walked deeper into the carnival grounds, the giant plushie’s toppling over into mine and David’s faces, making it hard to see where we were going. The cat’s bobbed ahead happily. Even with the doll in his face, David was scanning the crowd. I had to smile. He was such a cop. He was supposed to be enjoying a night out, and here he was looking for any suspicious activity. I watched his face between the giant nose and the stuffed purple lip of the Ogre Doll I was carrying. The chief saw something that made him smirk. I looked at him, and he nodded in the direction of a fortune-telling stand a bit further down the midway. The couple standing there stood out in this crowd, the man wearing a black three-piece suit while the woman was wearing an elegant evening dress with material that made me think of the night sky, complete with diamante stars. Their clothes were better suited to a museum opening than a homegrown fair like this.

  The man’s hair was dark brown and slicked back in a pompadour, aided by lots of gel that I fancied I could smell from where I was standing. He had a thick jaw, a Cro-Magnon countenance and skin so sallow that the fair lights seemed to bounce off it in sickly hues. The woman was in better shape facially, a few laugh lines that make up concealed somewhat, with a Mediterranean complexion framed by lengthy black hair. More striking was their body language. No matter how hard they tried to act the part of the loving couple, it was all wrong, too stiff, too distant. Remind you of anyone, Hattie? I shook the thought away.

  “Barnabus and Zinnie Kramp,” David explained. “Barnie’s one of none other than Gideon Shields’ phalanx of lawyers and Zinnie is the sister of our very own Mayor, Sincerity Jones.”

  Midnight observed. “Hard to tell what’s more awkward: them being here or them being together.”

  David shrugged. “They’ve been married since high school. But I did hear a few whispers about how their marriage is a loveless one. And, old Barnie is apparently no stranger to adultery. There are some things Zinnie Kramp probably doesn't know about. Or doesn't want to know about, at least.”

  “Oh, do tell!” Midnight squealed.

  I shook my head. I loved Midnight as much as I did the rest of his siblings. But he always regarded personal privacy as more of a suggestion than a basic human right.

  “How about we go by the Celestial Cakes stand?” I suggested trying once more to steer our night into cheery realms. “Gabrielle’s frying up some of those delightfully sugary mini-donuts, and I want to try them.”

  Gloom coughed up a hairball. We watched in mild disgust as it wriggled and flipped on the ground, as the still live minnow caught in the furry trap gulped its last breaths.

  “After that tasteless fish stick, anything’s got to be an improvement for the palate.” Gloom sniped, washing her face clean from her fishy ejection.

  I looked at the fish, who had given up the battle now. Something about this creature's dying here in front of me rocked me to the core. It was totally unexpected.

  "Okay, that's it, guys. Absolutely no more killing for sport. Look at you all; you're barbaric. You too, David. Not one of you is being respectful of the end of a life here." Bran, I had no idea what got me so upset, I mean it was just a little fish, right? A cold, non-interactive, seemingly uncommunicative fish. And, yet, how is it this critter's fault for being a fish? Did I expect him to have the manners to behave differently? Perhaps in a more cuddly, endearing, playful way? The guy was a fish. Done. There has to be fish in the world. So, this guy was one. He only knew how to be a fish. He did what he knew, and he lived what he knew. And, for fun, he was killed.

  I exhaled loudly through the woolen hair of the dangling Ogre doll and looked at all the eyes on me. Sixteen laser-focused pupils and gaping mouths told me all I needed to know: They thought I'd gone insane.

  "Donuts!" I exclaimed, changing the mood as quickly as I could. I pushed the plushie's head to one side and offered the gang a smile. And then I dived into the cover of the crowd; my shocked companions close at my heels.

  I knew from Millie that the stand was on the other side of the Ferris wheel. So I steered the crew through the crowd toward my baker friend, Gabrielle. The crowd thickened, and it became difficult to dodge the elbows and scurrying feet. I WILL have those donuts! My body pushed forward like a determined battering ram, while my mouth flooded with saliva at the thought of cinnamony and doughy goodness.

  “Ack, maybe a quick burst of flames might clear our way?” Carbon asked hopefully, as he dodged boots and clogs alike.

  “Don’t even think about it, buddy.” I cautioned my pyromaniac cat.

  “I didn’t say I would, By Brigid. I just meant I could do it if you gave me the nod,” Carbon replied, his voice thick with resentment.

  I turned away from him as the aroma of frying sweet dough reached my nostrils. The delicious smell gave me the strength I needed to get my daily pastry, and I pushed with more force toward Gabrielle's stall. I had it in my sights when a cacophony broke out behind me. Screams, gasps, and shouts filled the air. I wheeled on one foot

  “Carbon!” I shouted so loud at my cat for disrupting my donut mission that he did a vertical leap into the air. I scanned quickly for the fire my pyro cat just started but could see neither smoke nor flames. David grabbed my arm then and, with a grim face, he raised a slow-motion finger to the top of the Ferris Wheel.

  Two women in the uppermost carriage of the big wheel. One standing, alarmingly, on the now rocking seat. The other trying desperately to hold onto the pant leg of the standing figure. I saw the glint of the oxygen tank then. And the feeble hand that tried to hold her sister in the safety of the carriage. Infirma. And Morag. And, it looked like Morag was about to …

  Morag jumped.

  What happened next didn’t seem to involve any conscious effort or thought on my part. I dropped the plushy ogre, pulled out the apple wand in my pocket and started reciting the words of a spell. It happened in an uncannily swift and smooth motion. As reluctant as I’ve always been about casting magic, this time it felt different. And, by that, I mean I didn’t actually feel like I was the one doing anything! I had a flooding sense that Granny Chimera was really close to me. I felt that her presence was almost swirling, blending with mine. When I recited those foreign words, I intuited Chimera Opal chanting right alongside me. The aroma of lavender and rosemary, Grandma’s favorite herbs, came dancing to my nose. All I can say about what happened is that I was really present, you know? But, also not present if that makes
any sense? I won’t deny it; it was spectacularly peculiar. Morag’s rapid descent slowed dramatically at around the ten-foot drop mark. I kept chanting quietly, and Morag’s body fluttered weightlessly toward the ground in a gentle swaying motion. She came to a stop then, approximately six feet from the ground. I knitted my eyebrows. What were those lights? Are those lights from the other rides? I watched as delicate bubbles of golden light popped and fizzed around Morag. I blinked my eyes trying to ignore the crowd’s gasping and to bring my focus back to Morag. “Hattie? What are you doing? Are you doing that? What’s going on?” David’s questions came at me like a machine gun. My focus broke, and Morag plummeted the remaining six feet or so to the ground. Luckily there was a fair amount of padding over the earth, what with all the drifting sand from the dunes. I assumed the shark lawyer would be mainly fine. Wrong!

  David ran over to Morag, already pulling out his badge and urging people to stand back. The cats moved silently behind the chief, and I was about to run over myself when Onyx caught my eye. He gave me a strange, penetrating look.

  “Now’s not the time, Onyx,” I grumbled as I walked quickly over to the fallen woman. My sage kitty cast me a stare that told me this was something we’d discuss later.

  David flashed his badge again and shouted to the crowd, “Whoever has a cell phone, I want you to call emergency services. Now!”

  I bent down next to him, Onyx nudging his head between my knees. I placed my hand on his chest; I didn’t want him getting too close, just in case. I looked at Morag then. She was too still. Too inanimate. Morag Devin was most definitely dead.

  I stood up, trying to catch a breath. It felt as if I had a cold, lead hand squeezing my heart. David grabbed me by the arm.

  “Hat? You good? Wanna sit down over there?” He pointed to a bench close to the platform of the big wheel. I shook my head and gulped in a breath.

  “Did I kill her?” I managed.

  “Kill her? What? What? No. No, Hattie, you didn’t kill her. She’s dead, yes. But, no you didn’t kill her. Just breathe, okay? We need to get her covered up and taken away.” His head whipped around to see if help was on its way.