Transformed [W&W Book 1]

Chapter 11

Daphne was standing by the door. The Wizard Jim was beside her. His grey face bore dark circles under his eyes and was leaning against the wall. Theresa wondered if he had worked all night to help them.

There were two bags next to the door and Daphne leaned down to pick one up.

Jim moved next to Theresa and kneeled down. From his pocket he withdrew a roughly formed wooden pendant on a string.

"This is the solution to the wizard being able to sense your presence, Lady Theresa. If you wear this, you will remain untraceable until you reach Lord Wildwood's estate. I put a strong spell on it to mask your transformation's signature."

He slipped the tied string over her head and ears carefully and stood up.

Jim rubbed his back absently and hoisted the second bag onto his shoulder. Theresa wondered if he was coming with them.

He then handed to Daphne something that Theresa could not see. "This will help you make your way to Lord Wildwood's estate. If you are moving closer to it, it will grow warmer but will cool if your distance increases."

"Thank you, Wizard Jim," Daphne said gratefully.

Theresa nodded her agreement. It seemed almost too good to be true that they had found such a resourceful ally. She felt guilty for her earlier assessment of his usefulness.

"We must all be on our ways now, ladies. You have a wizard to seek and I have a false trail to lay before attending to other matters."

At his words, Daphne swung her new travel pack onto her back.

Theresa hoped he would be prepared when their horrible aunt finally made her way here. Theresa had a begrudging fondness growing for him and would not like to see her aunt harm him after he had done so much to assist them.

They walked outside and Theresa watched Jim as he quickly cast some spells on his house. She could see no discernible difference, but she imagined the wizard knew what he was doing.

Tethered outside were two grey horses that appeared ready for a journey. The wizard led Daphne to the darker gray of the two and helped her mount, before lifting Theresa up to join her sister.

"Be sure to leave Mahogany in the care of Wildwood's stables. She'll be well taken care of there and I will travel there to pick her up when I am able."

Jim walked towards the lighter horse with white socks and quickly mounted.

Daphne smiled. "Of course. Have a safe journey, Wizard Jim."

"The same to you as well, Lady Daphne, Lady Theresa," he said with a click of his tongue, and trotted off.

Daphne clicked her tongue and they began to move.

Riding a horse as a cat was a new and rather unsettling experience for Theresa.

In her memories, horseback riding was nothing but pleasant. The sway of a horse was like a rocking cradle and the exhilarating speed of a full out gallop was possibly one of the greatest feelings that she had ever known.

Now, however, her mind was only half human. The other half was fully that of an uneasy cat.

The cat part felt they were mad for climbing up and riding on a large animal and the swaying made her distinctly uneasy. Her cat instincts were prepped and ready for when something went wrong and something surely would go wrong with such a foolish endeavor.

Every now and then she would accidentally dig her claws in to her sister's clothing and would have to force herself to retract her claws. A couple of times Daphne flinched but Theresa was appreciative that Daphne was taking it so well.