Here, Kitty, Kitty

Second Star To The Right

The next night, as planned, Cassie went back to Harriet's ship with Kody in tow. Though she knew the one-eyed pirate was only hanging around her initially to keep Harry off his back, she still appreciated him coming with her tonight—she certainly needed the support with what she was about to do.

Unfortunately, Cassie hadn't quite found the right time to tell Helena about her somewhat idiotic decision to steal from Captain Hook. The evening before, after she'd been lucky enough to sway Harry away from putting her in the sea, she'd spent the rest of the night with him. Nothing too exciting happened in the captain's quarters; he'd still been exhausted after getting very little sleep between training her and the newbies. They'd mostly traded little tales of their time on the Isle—at least for a little while.

~~~

"Ye' said ye' were runnin' from the Ringmaster that day. What happened?"

Cassie paused, turning away from the door to face Harry.

It had been no longer than five minutes after their tense 'chat'. After grumbling to her that he was tired, he'd climbed back into Uma's bed, resting his head on a navy-blue pillow as he tugged the sheets back up to his stomach. And Cassie, knowing how sleepy he still must've been, had headed for the door. Apparently, though, he wasn't so tired he couldn't settle his curiosity.

It wasn't a story Cassie enjoyed retelling, but considering it was what had her running onto his side of the Isle back then, she understood his intrigue and decided to explain.

"You know who he is, right?" she asked, perching herself at the foot of the bed.

Yanking the pillow up from beneath his head, Harry placed it upright against the headboard, shuffling around so he could comfortably face her. "Aye," he replied. "He used to try bringin' his circus 'round these ways."

Cassie cocked her head. "Tried?"

"Hmm. Us pirates have never liked outsiders. And his crate smelt like shite," he answered, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Did you ever see what was under the sheet?" she asked, bringing her legs up to rest on the bed. He shook his head, so she continued, "Cats. The cages were about, hmm, this big." She held her hands five inches apart. "Not many animals here, I guess. Rats wouldn't do as good, so he used to take the cats." A humourless smile tugged at her lips. "He tied the cages together, put some on top of the others, and wouldn't let them out if it wasn't training or performing. So, that lovely little smell? It was the ones on top shitting on the ones under them."

Harry scowled. "Knew there was somethin' funky goin' on under it," he remarked. Then realisation came. "Ah, he wanted ye'?"

Cassie hummed and nodded briefly. "Nearly caught me, actually. He uses rats to lure in the cats." Her eyes lowered to the blankets, her fingers toying with a few frayed strings. "I was hungry, so..."

There was a brief silence. Then he asked, "How long had ye'r dad been gone?"

Cassie blew a huff of air through her lips, her eyes rolling skyward as she thought back. "A month? Maybe two." She shook her head. "I don't really know."

The pirate let out a silent curse. "How did ye' find food before?"

"Mal's room was right under the attic. She didn't always finish her food," the little cat explained. "She got grounded, though. Like, a lot. Made it hard to sneak down like this." Cassie waved a hand across her body.

Harry gnawed at the inside of his cheek, his eyes moving down Cassie's body and then back up to look her in the eye. "Ye've had a munch today, yeah?"