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Cat - Part 4
Cat - Part 4

Cat - Part 4

LeCat127LeCat127
1 Review

A few days later, Elaine woke up from a dream she couldn’t really remember, but she suspected it had had something to do with the Lady Enchantress. Maybe it was the change in what she now realized was kind of a super boring life, maybe it was something else… But whatever the case, she just hadn’t felt right since the Enchantress had left. She couldn’t stop thinking about the Lady’s moment of vulnerability, the surprising similarity between the two of them— and the fact that it had been the Enchantress, not Elaine, who made that connection— and especially the way Elaine had said nothing in that moment. She felt bad.

Also, things just weren’t the same without having a cat to chase off the roof every day.

With a sigh, Elaine got out of bed and did her best to brush away thoughts of the Enchantress, and the image of Lady Katherine wearing Elaine’s clothes, left over from whatever her dream had been.

She had only just gotten dressed when there came a knock at the door.

A week ago, this would have been cause for alarm to Elaine. Well, it still was, a bit— probably nothing could heal that old wound— but now she was also a little excited. It’s undoubtedly not Lady Katherine. But at the very least, it could be someone with some work for me to do, or…

Elaine smiled at herself wryly. Or it could be Lady Katherine.

Elaine opened the door and felt her eyes go wide when it actually was Lady Katherine standing there, clothed much more finely than when Elaine had last seen her and holding a bundle of fabric.

“It is you!” Elaine exclaimed, and immediately wished that her house could suck that sentence away and stick it in the ground.

The Enchantress looked bemused, but she didn’t appear annoyed by Elaine’s weird greeting. “It is, in fact, me. I came to return your belongings.”

“Oh.” Elaine realized she sounded disappointed— Spirits, Elaine, stop being so weird— and added quickly, “Thank you.”

She grabbed the proffered bundle. “Is there anything else? Oh, also, is your magic back?”

The Lady smiled a little, looking wryly amused. “Well, that’s the other reason I’m here. Yes, it’s coming back— almost all back now, thank the Spirits— but when I talked to my therapist about the incident, he told me I should come back here and practice using my magic where it’s not so easy to do as in the city.”

Elaine was surprised. “Your therapist recommended that?”

“I am supposed to be the most powerful magic user there is. He seems to believe that working on my magic here will help with that.” Suddenly looking a little nervous, the Lady added, “I hope that’s okay with you? I won’t be anywhere nearer than the fence to start out.”

Once again, surprised. “Oh, of course, it’s no trouble to me. I feel like I should be asking you if you’re okay with it. I don’t think things went very well last time.”

Lady Katherine chuckled dryly. “Well, no, I wasn’t very happy to be stuck in someone else’s house while it ate away my magic until I was unconscious, naked on your floor.”

“Oh, Spirits, of course not.” Elaine felt herself blushing again and added, “I understand, and of course I don’t mind you practicing magic here. I’ll just be… here… if you need anything? Water, or food or anything else?”

“I appreciate that,” the Lady said, giving Elaine an amused look before she turned to do whatever exercises her therapist had laid out for her.

It wasn’t until Elaine had started on a sewing project that she realized the Enchantress could probably make her own water and food appear out of thin air. She told herself that she wasn’t disappointed that that would mean the Lady probably wouldn’t come in for anything.

“Well, Elaine, just keep on keeping on.”

Throughout that day, Elaine couldn’t help but repeatedly glance out the windows, watching the Enchantress work. Sometimes she seemed to be doing little more than sitting on the ground with her eyes closed, other times she was doing all sorts of hand and arm movements, even some running and jumping. Elaine couldn’t see much magic-wise, but she often found herself just watching the Lady.

Evening came and the sun was setting when the Enchantress finally quit for the day. Elaine was alerted to this fact by a soft knock at the door, followed by the sound of someone entering.

Elaine finished the stitch she was working on, then looked up to see Lady Katherine looking down at her.

“What are you working on?”

Elaine looked down at her sewing. “Oh, this is just for fun. I mean, I could probably sell it, but I don’t know who would buy it from me for what I think it’s worth, and…”

Lady Katherine looked down at it a little longer. “It’s beautiful. I would buy something like that.”

Elaine looked down at the embroidered black cat she’d been working on with new eyes. “You would?”

“Well, admittedly I have a soft spot for cats.” Lady Katherine leaned down to lightly touch the thread. “But even so, your work looks at least as good as anything else in my home.”

Elaine bit her lip, helplessly noticing how good the Enchantress smelled. “Oh, well, you could have this one, when I’m done with it, if you like it.”

The Lady stood back up and smiled. “Really?”

Elaine shrugged, feeling a little weak at Lady Katherine’s smile. “Sure!”

“Well, I’ll be back next week, so perhaps you’ll be done with it by then?”

“Yeah, I could have it done by then.”

Lady Katherine moved to leave. “Alright, I’ll see you next week then.”

And with that, she left, with Elaine staring after her and trying to make her heart stop beating so fast.

Author Notes: Part 1: https://www.shortstories101.com/story/cat-part-1/
Part 3: https://www.shortstories101.com/story/cat-part-3/
Things are movin' right along! Let me know what you think!
Part 5: https://www.shortstories101.com/story/cat-part-5/

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About The Author
LeCat127
LeCat127
About This Story
Audience
12+
Posted
28 Jul, 2021
Words
983
Read Time
4 mins
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Rating
5.0 (1 review)
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