Transformed [W&W Book 1]

Chapter 19

Theresa did not know what woke her, but when she finally opened her eyes it was distressingly dark. It did not matter that she could see fairly well, she still did not like it.

She was not happy about still being trapped in the stable either. She knew that eventually someone would surely come looking for her, but how long would that take? She tried not to feel frustrated.

She cleaned her fur.

She paced.

She meowed, hoping someone would hear her.

She looked at the sleeping horses. In their stalls they were even more trapped than she, but it did not seem to bother them. If she was truly a cat, she probably would not care too much either.

Theresa sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * * * *

Theresa did not know how long she waited, but it felt terribly long in her impatient state. She wished she had not given in and napped so much earlier otherwise she could have slept the boring hours away.

She could endure staying in here with nothing to do if she had to. It was not the end of the world. Someone would surely come in the morning to work and until then she could relax.

Then she heard a click. She leapt to her feet. Someone had opened the door to the stable, carrying a lantern. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the new source of light. The horses slept on peacefully.

"Lady Theresa?"

Wildwood!

"There you are. Were you trapped in here?"

Theresa nodded, and rushed toward the door. He followed. He had a slight knowing smile on his face. Theresa did not mind; she was glad that he had found her. She felt something. Was it gratitude?

"Your sister is in a bit of a state. She wanted to rouse everyone to look for you."

Theresa shrugged. Her anger at Daphne had cooled, but at the same time she felt a nasty little twinge of glee that Daphne might be suffering, just a little. Let her have a taste of what it was like not to be able to find her sister.

"Sir Thomas brought her to me. I decided that waking the servants to look for a cat might draw too much attention to you and your problems. It was easy enough for me to follow my masking spell to your location."

Theresa nodded. It made sense. Although not ideal, she much preferred being traceable by this wizard to being traceable by Francine. Also, it might come in handy if she ever got stuck somewhere again.

Wildwood strode up the steps and went inside. Missus White was just inside the door. She fawned most unpleasantly over Wildwood and pretended not to notice Theresa. Wildwood sent her away.

"Let's get you to your sister. She was crying dreadfully and Sir Thomas looked as if he might faint when last I saw them."

Theresa was glad that her cat face could not smile, because she would have had trouble hiding her unworthy satisfaction.

Wildwood led Theresa to the sitting room. Before they even entered, she could hear Daphne sniffling.

"But what if she got eaten by something?" she asked. "Like a wolf or a bear or a mongoose?"

"Lord Wildwood said that she was fine and that he would get her," Thomas said patiently, sounding as if he had already repeated similar statements multiple times.

There was another loud sniffle. "I don't see how he knows..."

Sir Thomas was spared explaining by their entrance.