The rattle of a key outside the door stirred him to action. He dropped to the floor and scurried to the cavelike bed against the wall.
Shadow hunkered down in the semidarkness, trusting in the color of his fur for concealment. He lay quietly as the One Who Reeks came in, quickly closing the door behind her with a heel. Again, she carried food and water in her hands. She peered around, trying to find him.
It would have been easy to leap out of hiding and frighten her. But it would be useless. As long as the door to the room remained closed, Shadow knew he had no escape.
The One Who Reeks came closer, filling the bowls against the wall. Tensed in the darkness of his artificial cave, Shadow held his breath as waves of scent poured off her. He wanted to make a noise of protest, but that would involve inhaling. He didn’t want a lungful of that stink.
Having arranged the food and water, the human retreated to the chair. Even though he’d slashed at it with his claws, it was still sturdy enough to sit on.
The One Who Reeks sat quietly, glancing in various directions. But Shadow saw that sooner or later, her eyes would flick over to the opening to this bed.
The female two-legs rocked almost imperceptibly in her seat, waiting for Shadow to show himself. Grimly, he kept his place, motionless, watching her. It wasn’t easy. Under the stink she gave off, he could catch the whiff of food. That was torture, to have food in his nostrils and none in his belly, but he refused to follow the temptation out into the open.
Then came other torments. His stomach might be empty but other parts of him were getting full. He had to use the litter box—and soon. Otherwise, he risked fouling this pleasant nest, the one Good Thing in this awful place.
The urge became painful, but still he held his place. He didn’t know how long the One Who Reeks sat there, trying to force him into the first move.
At last, though, she gave up. The human rose and went to the door. For a wild moment, Shadow considered leaping after her, running for the door as she opened it. But the long inactivity had sapped the strength of his muscles. He’d probably fall over his own paws—and worse, considering his overfull condition, mess himself.
So he forced himself to stay motionless while the One Who Reeks opened the door and closed it behind herself. Then, ever so carefully, he climbed out of the bed and went to the litter box. And then, when he was comfortable again, he went for a drink of water and some food.
In spite of his hunger, Shadow didn’t eat greedily. He checked the impulse, taking small bites. Then he went back to the bed. He still hated this place, but at least there was food.
*
Sunny shut the kitchen door. The morning sun was bright but treacherously misleading. Not only was the air cold, but chilly blasts of wind made it feel worse.
Ice patches had reappeared in the roads, messing up traffic. But Sunny managed to get in at a reasonable hour and started work.
She’d just about cleared her desk of the day’s major tasks when Ollie Barnstable came in. He was more of a mess than usual, wearing a leather trench coat that he seemed to believe gave him a secret agent–style image. Instead, it made him look more like an overstuffed piece of furniture. He couldn’t get the thing buttoned across his widening middle, which meant he must be freezing in this weather. That, and the flight up from New York, made his always uncertain temper a little worse than usual.
He came in waving a fluorescent orange poster. “This is your cat, isn’t it?”
Sunny gave him a smile. “Don’t tell me you found him!”
Ollie glowered at her. “Don’t tell me you used office equipment to make these.”
She did her best to look innocent. “Well, Ollie, we don’t have any paper like that around here, do we?”
“Guess not.” Still looking suspicious, he loosened the belt that barely managed to keep his coat closed and dropped into the chair opposite Sunny’s desk. “Sorry about your cat. You weren’t out traipsing around looking for him during office hours, were you?” That was the important point for him.
For a second, Sunny thought about referring Ollie to Tobe Phillips to improve his cross-examination technique. But she decided no good could come of being snarky. Instead, she contented herself with a simple, “No. But a lot of folks were very helpful, putting up the notices around town.”
He nodded absently, not really paying attention. “And nothing else interesting happened while I was gone?”
“Just business as usual,” Sunny told him. “How was your trip?”
