Kathy's Kelter

Chapter Six- Praise and Condemption

Kathy's fingers lightly tickled the remote controller,

then gripped the rigid plastic. The noontide light filtering in through the glass panes, Kathy was bathed in a mixture of natural and unnatural lighting while browsing through the television channels. She perked her head up, seeing her own Year 13 school photo gawking to the onlookers on the BBC News at One. It was overlaid over footage of the blonde woman darting through the streets, being trailed by Kathy.

"We'd like to thank Kathy Kalloway for detaining the suspect and alerting the police. A very astute woman indeed."

Taken aback, Kathy ogled at the screen.

She had received possibly as much recognition and fame as she would in her entire life, though she didn't care about that part. The real assiduity here was the fact that they excluded 'III' from her name.

It's a part of her identity; she felt unclad without it.

The report continued. "The suspect has been identified as Catrina Eva Alicia Wolf, an eighteen year old from Edinburgh. It's speculated that she was on a visit with friends when the barbarity occurred." As quickly as it began, the delineation was over, and Kathy added the name of the woman to her mental list of adversaries.

Sumptuously, sun caulked the sky with tinctures. Clouds of white oscillated over the amalgam of blue, yellow, and white. Kathy always enjoyed admiring the sky. It reminded her of how small and insignificant she was, which was very comforting at times, though disheartening too. Either way, she relished in it.

Sitting in her bijou garden, the gentle breeze licked Kathy's face. Clive stared across at her, placed next to an olive bush.

A collection of moss was situated on the left foot of the elephant. She really should scour that at some point. The exuberant face of a stone angel pouring water into a bowl embraced Kathy's eyes. It would be nice if she had a guardian angel watching over her. A guardian angel to intervene when life gets hard. It would be quite useless in her opinion, since her life was worse than hard. However, she desired the feeling of something watching her back. For now, the notion was just a velleity.

Restive, the clock hand ticked on. The time was almost 1:30, and Kathy still hadn't eaten. She didn't have much of an appetite anymore, though she knew it was important to eat. Noticing an uneaten hakarl hanging out of view, Kathy decided to finally eat it. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, and she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to know. All her Icelandic friend told her was that it's aquatic. Kathy didn't know why Helga had gifted her the food; it seemed to be a rare, expensive delicacy. Perhaps she just likes Kathy that much. She didn't dare complain. Why would she? Free food was an instant yes from Kathy - it's all she lived for.

• • •

The taut area of the hakarl remained stuck to the plate. Kathy had no interest in eating it. She attained the platter and placed it into the dishwasher. The remaining dishes could be saved for later.

Abruptly, the buzzing of the telephone rang throughout the house. Kathy clambered toward the nearest phone, and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Kathy Kalloway III, correct?" Responded a dulcet female voice.

"Yes, that's me. Speaking?"

"Hello Kathy. I'm Olivia. I'm calling to inform you we would like to elicit you to the court case of Catrina Wolf. It is at 12:00 PM tomorrow, and is located at the Exeter Magistrates' Court. It would be greatly appreciated if you attend."

Agreeing swiftly, Kathy thanked the woman, and proceeded to hang up.

This was going to be... interesting, to say the least.