The Green Witch

Chapter Seventeen

     That night, the cat caught another mouse.

     Tala was woken up by a tiny, pathetic scream of terror that she sensed came from downstairs, in the kitchen. She also heard the grieving wails of several other mice. <Monster's got Shiver. Poor Shiver.>

     This time, though, Tala was able to do something about it. <Cat!> she shouted in her loudest green voice. <Let the mouse go. Now!>

     She sensed the cat's astonishment. <You're the one,> she heard it say in a delighted, gleeful voice . <The one the other human's looking for. She said she'd give a great big fish to whoever told her where you are.>

     <You're too late,> Tala told it. <She already knows where I am. I don't have to hide any more, which means I can give you a hiding if you don't let that mouse go right away.>

     The cat snarled with fury. <You try anything with me and I'll claw your eyes out!>

     That made Tala pause. The cat was a big, evil looking creature that might well be able to carry out its threat. Maybe she should try a different tactic. <I know where there's some leftover mutton in the pantry,> she said. <Let the mouse go and I'll give you a piece right now.>

     The cat paused, and Tala sensed that it was interested. <Like playing with the mouse, though,> she heard it say. <Mouse squirms and wriggles. Fun!>

     <I'll give you a great big piece of mutton,> Tala replied. <As big as your head. But you have to let the mouse go right away.>

     <As big as my head?>

     <Bigger than your head. It'll take you all day to eat it.>

     <Agreed,> said the cat, and Tala heard a disbelieving cry of relief from the mouse as it scampered away. From nearby came equally delighted cries of delight as the other mice gathered around their newly released comrade. Tala felt a moment of relief and satisfaction, but the cat was still plotting and scheming, unaware that Tala could read its thoughts. <I can catch another mouse later and play with it. Or I can make the human give me more mutton to let it go. Guess I'll be catching a lot more mice in the future.>

     Tala was horrified. She'd left the mice in a far worse position than they'd been in before. Threats hasn't worked. Bribery hadn't worked. What was left?

     An idea came to her and she spoke to the mice instead. <Hey, mice. Can you hear me?>

     <Who's that?> she heard them reply in astonishment.

     <I'm a friend. I want to help you. I need to know, how many of you are there?>

     <Lots, lots. There's me and him and him and her and...>

     Tala waited until the long string of hims and hers had come to an end. She suspected that several of the mice had been counted twice but she was still able to tell that there were dozens of them. Red mice. Almost the size of rats, and enough of them to be able to fight the cat if they all ganged up on it. She had little experience with red mice. The ones she'd had back in her cottage had been common house mice, and if it had been a colony of those creatures here in Drisco's house then their situation would have been hopeless. The trouble was that a mouse's instincts, even those of red mice, were to run away from predators.

     She'd heard stories of red mice, though. Stories of them hunting in packs when the opportunity presented itself, with three or four ganging up to take down creatures as large as moles and even small rabbits. Their teeth were amazingly sharp, she knew, and they could chew through pretty much anything if they were determined enough. All she had to do was stoke up their fighting spirits and make the mice see the cat as a rival rather than as a predator. She was pretty sure she could do it.