The Soulkeepers

Chapter 31: Gideon's Passage

Chapter 31
Gideon’s Passage

As soon as his obligatory Sunday brunch was eaten, Jacob crossed the street to Dr. Silva’s. He didn’t need an excuse, it was his job to feed the cat and weed the garden. In fact, he would do those things, but he would do something else as well. He would find Dr. Silva’s notebooks and learn how to navigate Oswald.

The mosquitoes were becoming a nuisance after dark, so he decided to work in the garden first. He finished up by late afternoon, and then let himself in through the sunroom to feed Gideon. The big red cat was waiting, pacing the tabletop. Jacob pulled the next plate from the refrigerator and placed it on the floor.

“You must be hungry, huh, boy,” Jacob said.

Gideon didn’t move. The tip of his tail twitched.

“You can eat now.” He tapped the edge of the dish and made a kissing sound with his lips. Gideon blinked in his general direction.

“Okay. Whatever,” Jacob said. According to the stone, Gideon would somehow be the key to finding the notebooks but he didn’t understand how. Maybe it wasn’t the cat but rather something about the cat. He decided to search the library again. Maybe a book on cats or a picture of Gideon would be the clue he needed.

He walked toward the front of the house. When he reached the bottom of the grand staircase, Gideon leapt in front of him, teeth bared. The cat growled a low warning, the hair on his back standing straight up.

“Gideon, get out of the way,” Jacob said and tried to step around him. The cat struck, shredding his shin with his claws.

“Owww. Son of a … damn it, Gideon! What the hell?” He reached down and pulled up his pant leg. Three rips in his skin dripped blood onto his sock. He limped back to the kitchen, not wanting the blood to stain the white marble floor. With a wet paper towel, he dabbed at the cuts. They stung fiercely. He had to sit down and put the scratched leg up in a chair to get a good look at it.

Gideon followed him into the kitchen and sat too close for comfort, glaring in his direction. The stare was knowing, almost … human. An idea clicked into place as fast as his brain could process it. Dr. Silva was not human, and her cat was probably not a normal cat. What exactly the cat was, he didn’t know for sure, but what he did know was that if he wanted Gideon’s help he would have to take a more direct approach.

“Gideon, I need to go upstairs.” Jacob looked the cat full on like he was talking to a person.

The cat shook his head from side to side. He did understand.

“I have to find Dr. Silva’s notebooks. The ones that say how to use Oswald. It’s important.”

Again, the cat shook his head vigorously.

“It’s the only way. I have to find my mom. I can’t just forget about her. She’s the only real family I have left.” He rubbed his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t like the people I’ve met in Paris. My friend Malini, my Uncle John, Dr. Silva, they’ve all become important to me. But the thing is, my mom is all I have left of my history. She’s my roots, my only link to who I really am. If she’s alive, the thought that she could be somewhere and need my help…” He shook his head. “I have to find her. I have to help.”

The cat continued to stare but his eyes softened. Jacob was getting through.

“Gideon, how do I make you understand?” He rested his head in his hands. “After my dad died, when I was, I think, eleven, my mom took me to the beach. It was a Sunday afternoon and our first time back since we lost him. I was boogie boarding. It was a great day for it because the water was rough and the waves were big. I’m not sure when exactly I knew I was in trouble. The water swept me from shore but I thought I could swim through it. I lost my board in the waves but I was a strong swimmer, always have been. But the harder I swam, the harder the water pushed. I swam until my muscles ached but went nowhere.