Paws and Effect (Mystic Notch 4 4) Read online

  “Maybe,” Striker said. “But not recently. It looks like they’ve been here for a while. They're picked clean.”

  Striker got a small tarp from the construction area and Willa’s heart melted at how gently he removed the bones from the dirt and placed them on the tarp.

  “We’ll give it a proper burial.” Striker folded the tarp neatly.

  “Well, this is certainly the most interesting ground-breaking ceremony to hit Mystic Notch,” Hattie said over Striker’s shoulder as she watched him.

  Striker seemed distracted. Willa noticed him looking into the woods as if something was there, but when Willa followed his gaze, she saw nothing. He looked up at Hattie, then down at the small tarp, his mouth set in a grim line. “Somehow, I have a feeling things are about to get much more interesting.”

  2

  Sunlight poured through the bookstore window, heating Pandora’s sleek, gray fur to a perfect ninety-eight degrees. She snuggled down into her soft, shearling cat bed and soaked in the warmth like a sunbather on the Rivera.

  Pandora’s life was nearly perfect. As the official bookstore cat at Last Chance Books, Pandora enjoyed certain luxuries of which the sunny spot in the store’s window and luxury cat bed were two.

  If only she could train her human, Willa, better. With a sigh, she slit one greenish-gold eye open so she could observe Willa and Striker, who were engaged in conversation across the room.

  Pandora normally preferred to ignore the humans. Their mundane daily tasks were of no interest to her. She did, however, keep half an eye on them as she was sworn to protect them. For the most part, no protection was necessary, but there had been times when Pandora and the cats of Mystic Notch—who, like her, were sworn to protect humans—had been called upon to go above and beyond to ensure the balance of power stayed on the side of good.

  The humans went about their business, blissfully unaware of the lengths the cats had gone to and the cats preferred to keep it that way. It wouldn’t do to have humans knowing what was really going on.

  As she watched Willa and Striker, she noticed the conversation seemed awkward—strained, somehow. She opened her eye a little wider. It was as if Striker was distracted, trying to keep Willa away from something and Willa was suspicious, noticing Striker’s strange behavior.

  Pandora raised her awareness just a tad to listen to the conversation. Normally, she found their talk to be excruciatingly boring. She hardly ever bothered to listen because in doing so, she had to expend extra energy to translate the humans’ inferior mode of communication, but their unusual body language had piqued her interest.

  They were talking about some box and a pile of bones. Yawn. But it wasn’t what they were saying that was of interest. It was the way Striker was acting.

  Now that she was paying attention, she could sense something very odd in his demeanor. She liked the man and thought he was perfect for Willa. In fact, she happened to know that the two of them were made for each other, even if they had yet to figure that out.

  One of the things she liked most about Striker was his kindness. Though he was a tough guy on the outside, she knew he was a teddy bear inside. He’d even saved her life once, rushing her to the veterinarian when she had been gravely wounded. Another time, he'd cared for her when Willa had been wounded.

  He was a good guy. Plus, he was a looker, at least by human standards. Pandora herself preferred something with more fur, but for female humans, Striker was definitely a man any woman would be happy to sink their claws into.

  Other than Striker, Willa and Pandora, the bookstore was empty. Pandora usually liked to take this quiet time to nap, but the humans’ curious behavior had gotten the best of her.

  She dialed her awareness up another notch. Cats’ senses were much more powerful than humans’. Pandora usually kept hers running on low in order not to become overwhelmed by sensory data that would zap her energy and require even more napping time than her usual eighteen hours.

  As she heightened her senses, details of her surroundings came into focus like the sharpening of the landscape upon turning the knob on a pair of binoculars.

  The musty smell of old books, mingled with the Orange Glo cleaner that Willa used on the oak bookcases and counter, pervaded the air. The creak of the old, pine floorboards, normally barely audible, sounded like firecrackers every time Willa and Striker changed position. The cat bed became even more soft and luxurious and the tiny molecules still left on her tongue brought back the taste of the turkey and greens Fancy Feast breakfast Pandora had chowed down earlier that morning. On the counter, Pandora could see waves of blue, red and yellow energy flowing out from Willa’s computer.

  Striker’s movements suggested that he was trying to keep Willa from seeing something that was happening behind her back. But Pandora could see nothing … not on this plane, anyway. And, judging from Willa’s reaction, she couldn't see anything either, but was confused over Striker’s jerky movements and strange body language.

  Pandora figured there must be a reason for his weird behavior, so she turned her awareness up another notch and that’s when she saw it.

  Behind Willa stood a ghost. Pandora still wasn’t at full awareness, but she could make out the barely visible figure of a female with a long cloak that swirled about as she gestured wildly, trying to get Striker’s attention.

  Pandora noticed with amusement that Striker was trying very hard to ignore the ghost and not let on to Willa that he saw something. Willa was smart, though. She kept looking over her shoulder, sensing exactly where Striker did not want her to look. Apparently, Willa could not see the ghost.

  Pandora thought this was hysterical, because she knew that Willa also saw ghosts and took great pains to hide that fact from Striker. Neither one of them knew that the other had the strange ability to see the dead, and both of them had been trying to hide it for a long time.

  Pandora couldn’t say she blamed them. It was not normal to see ghosts. Even among cats the ability was not bestowed on all. But whereas in cats it was considered a special gift, in humans it was shunned. Pandora was proud to have the gift and even better, she could see ghosts on all planes. Willa and Striker could only see them on one plane—and not the same plane, either, which explained why Striker never saw the ghosts that frequented the bookstore and why Willa could not see this ghost now.

  The hairs along Pandora’s spine tingled with electricity. This might be something she should pay attention to. She heightened her senses even further, bringing the sketchy outline of the ghost into focus. Pandora rarely notched her senses up this far. It took too much of her energy. She would have to spend a lot of time lying on Willa’s keyboard or standing in front of the monitor to charge up her energy stores.

  Willa and Striker were still rambling on about the box and bones, but Pandora had little interest in their conversation. She was busy watching the ghost. By the way it was gesturing, it really wanted some help. Now that she could see her better, she realized she was a very old ghost, dressed in garb from centuries ago. She must have been haunting this plane for a long time. Pandora knew a ghost would have to have a pretty good reason to stick around that long.

  “Pssst.” Pandora heard a strange noise from near the swirling ghost and cocked her head, angling her ear so as to hear it better. Then she saw it peeking out from behind the ghost’s swirling cape.

  A ghost cat! And it was beckoning Pandora over.

  Ghost cats were incredibly rare. Cats usually had no reason to hang around on this plane and preferred to pass over to the other side immediately after serving their nine lives. Pandora didn’t know why any would stay here. She heard the other side was quite beautiful with a colorful rainbow bridge and filled with flowers and fields and lots of mice for the taking. A cat would have to have a powerful reason not to be lured over to the other side right away.

  Pandora was intrigued by the ghost cat. She hunched up her back and extended her front legs in a stretch, then jumped down from the window and trotted over t
o inspect the feline apparition.

  Her journey caused Willa and Striker to pause. Striker frowned down at her, glancing from her to the ghost cat then up at Willa. Willa was also frowning at her and Pandora figured her actions of trotting to sit in the middle of nowhere to look at nothing must seem pretty random to the human. Then again, she often did random things just to keep Willa confused.

  The ghost smiled when she saw Pandora and bent down to pat her on top of the head. Striker’s eyes widened and he gave Pandora a quizzical look. Pandora decided to freak him out, so she looked up at him and winked.

  “What’s going on?” Willa asked.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all,” Striker said quickly, causing Willa to cast another suspicious glance behind her.

  “You’re acting kind of strange,” Willa said.

  “I need coffee,” Striker replied. “I didn’t get one before the ceremony.” He pulled Willa over to the desk and away from the ghost who just followed him anyway, all the while blathering on about some box that she needed him to protect.

  Pandora addressed the ghost cat. “What’s that all about?” She jerked her head toward the two humans and the ghost.

  The cat shrugged. “Humans. Who can explain their strange behavior?”

  “No one,” Pandora agreed. “But ghosts usually behave that way for only one reason. They want something.”

  “Oh, that. Right. My human was entrusted with a very important silver box. She has waited on this plane of existence all these centuries to make sure it does not get into the wrong hands.”

  “Why wait so long?” Pandora asked.

  “It was hidden, but has recently surfaced. The human over there has access to it.”

  Pandora’s whiskers twitched. “You mean Striker?”

  The cat nodded. “Yes, the male.”

  “What are you doing here?” Pandora asked. “I’ve never seen a ghost cat before and I’ve seen my share of ghosts.”

  “Yep, that’s right. I’m a rare, cool cat. Not many of us have the guts to tough it out here on this plane.” He glanced over at the human ghost and his expression softened. “My name is Obsidian. The ghost was my human. She left me in charge of the box, which I guarded religiously. Unfortunately, my nine lives were lived out and I could no longer guard it. I was reunited on this plane with my human and I decided to stick around and help her out. She’s determined to make sure the box doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. She cannot rest until it is safe with the right person.”

  “And you think Striker is that person?” Pandora asked.

  Obsidian glanced over at the humans. “No, but he has access to the box, so he can at least get it to the right person. But he does not seem like he wants to listen to my human.” His eyes flicked back to Pandora, sparking a brilliant golden color. “You are young, still wet behind the ears, but perhaps you can help.”

  Pandora backed up a step and looked at Obsidian skeptically. The challenge in his words had her hackles raised. Sure, she was only on her first life, which was young in cat terms, but she was pretty smart and fully capable of taking care of things. She didn’t mind helping out, especially if it was something important, but she wasn’t convinced this was important. Besides, she didn’t know this ghost cat and wasn’t sure if she should trust him.

  She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean? How can I help?”

  “The contents of the box would have disastrous effects if it got in the wrong hands. It can make evil more powerful. I think you do not want that to happen.” He narrowed his eyes. “Am I correct?”

  Pandora sat on her haunches and casually licked her paw, rubbing it behind her ear slowly. “Sure. Who wants powerful evil? No one. But I don’t know what you think I can do to help.”

  Obsidian sized her up. “You can persuade your human and the other cats to come to the cause. The evil ones want to harm the humans through the cats … especially one powerful cat in particular.”

  Pandora’s paw froze halfway from mouth to ear. Was he talking about the cat they had recently saved from the clutches of the bad guys? The two-faced cat that had been written about in the old scrolls?

  A sense of doom flooded through her. “Tell me more about this box. What is in it? How can it harm us and what can I do to stop it?”

  “As you know, there are humans who would have evil prevail, and those who would have good prevail. You know which ones are which?”

  Pandora nodded, even though she honestly wasn’t exactly sure.

  “It’s simple, then. You just have to make sure the box does not get into the hands of the evil ones.”

  “Well, it would be nice if I knew what the box does. Otherwise, it’s going to be rather difficult to protect it.”

  “The box doesn't do anything. What needs to be protected is inside it. It is the contents that have the power whose misuse could plunge Mystic Notch into the deep abyss of an evil greater than mankind has ever known.”

  Pandora twitched her whiskers. That sounded a bit overly dramatic. Was the cat exaggerating?

  Obsidian noticed her skeptical expression. “Trust me on this. The cats are in danger and, once the cats are gone, the way will be paved for evil to run rampant. You know how inadequate the humans are at protecting themselves.” Obsidian paused for effect, then added, “My human was burned alive over it.”

  Hmmm. Okay, that sounded pretty drastic. Pandora was sure the other cats had not heard of this and the news made her feel important. She didn’t want Mystic Notch to be plunged into an evil abyss. She liked things just the way they were.

  The female ghost swirled over and Obsidian strutted back behind her cloak. “Good luck, kid.”

  “Hey, where are you going? You didn’t tell me wha—” Pandora started, but they were already gone, leaving Pandora staring at empty space.

  “Pandora, what are you yowling at?” Willa asked.

  Pandora blinked up at her. Dang, the ghost cat hadn’t even told her what exactly was in the box or how someone might use it against them. All she knew was that Striker had the box. Her gaze flicked to the window where she could see Striker’s cruiser pulling away from the curb. Did he have it in his car? At his house? She would have to use her superior detecting skills to figure where he was keeping it.

  But if the contents were so dangerous, how would she get it safely into the hands of those that would protect it? And just exactly whose hands were those?

  Pandora couldn’t figure this all out on her own. Luckily, she knew where to get help.

  3

  Pandora suffered through the rest of the day at the bookstore. She was anxious to bring the important information about the powerful box to the other cats, but she did not have an escape route at the bookstore like she did at home. The only way to get out of the shop was when Willa took out the trash, and she’d already done that.

  So she passed the time by lounging in her cat bed and practicing patience.

  Later that night, after obediently eating her supper and suffering through watching Willa and Striker make googly-eyes at each other over a large pepperoni pizza, she finally got her chance to escape.

  Of course, she’d had to feign interest in getting into Willa’s bedroom. It wasn’t that she actually wanted to go in there and witness what Willa and Striker got up to in the dark. She had no interest whatsoever in that, but she’d discovered that whenever she insisted on being let into the room, it appeased Willa and made her less watchful. The more times she snuck in as Willa was closing the door, the less Willa would watch her later on.

  So, whenever she wanted to escape, she made sure to pretend like getting into Willa’s bedroom was the most important thing on her mind. That night, she’d snuck in and been turned out three times.

  After they had closed the door for good, Pandora spent some time gazing into the crystal ball that sat on Willa’s coffee table. This was an activity that Willa thought was ‘amusing’ but which Pandora knew was actually serious work.

  The ball was a vital source of informat
ion, especially when it came to the mystical goings-on in Mystic Notch. Willa, however, always failed to see the mysterious things that were revealed in the crystal. She actually thought it was just a plain old paperweight.

  Unfortunately, that night it was of no more use to Pandora than an old paperweight. No clues were revealed, and when the moon appeared halfway in the night sky, Pandora snuck out her secret exit in the basement and trotted over to visit the cats of Mystic Notch.

  The cats took up residence in the barn of Willa’s neighbor, Elspeth Whipple. Elspeth had been best friend to Pandora’s first human, Anna, who was Willa’s grandmother.

  Pandora raced through the woods to the sound of owls hooting and peepers peeping. The warm, perfume-scented night air was still, but the speed at which she ran ruffled her fur and pushed her whiskers back. Even though she had excellent sight in the dark, the glow of the moon was a welcome beacon and revealed a myriad of nighttime animals, including some tasty looking chipmunks who scurried in the leaves. Pandora did not have time to chase them, though. She was in a hurry.

  Thinking about Elspeth always made her think of Anna. Pandora’s heart clenched. Anna and Pandora had been very close. Anna, like Elspeth, was in tune with the cats. Anna had been a joy to train and the two of them had had an easy rapport. She had almost gotten to the point where Anna would understand her telegraphed thoughts, just before the old woman passed. Pandora had inherited Willa shortly after. She’d come with Anna’s house and the bookstore, so Pandora didn’t have much choice. Unfortunately, Willa was not as quick a study as Anna and Pandora had little hope of training her to such a high level, even though she was becoming quite fond of her.

  Pandora burst out of the woods, the red, two-story barn looming up in the clearing next to Elspeth’s storybook gingerbread Victorian. The barn door was open a crack, just wide enough for her to squeeze in.