13
CHARLIE STOOD at the top of the cliff watching the sea, thinking about little Sage. It was nearly noon and the tide was coming in, the waves crashing and foaming against the rocks far below, turning them glistening black; the surf's wild and gigantic power, the vastness of the sea and of the earth itself, made a creature as small and hurt as Sage seem to her all the more helpless.
The fear and confusion that that little wild cat must have felt coming out of the anesthetic, waking in a strange world inside a building, not remembering how he got there, finding himself in a cage, hurting and sick and afraid. Even with Dulcie there to calm him, he must have been terrified.
Well, but he was being gently cared for now, with a special understanding that the young cat would find in no other doctor. She was still amazed that for all these years, John Firetti had looked upon the speaking cats as a natural part of his life.
It was strange, too, that she, when she first discovered the truth about the cats, had felt that such cats should have been a part of her life all along, that not knowing about them had left something incomplete in her world, left it flat and dull. She'd not been surprised that, once she shared the cats' secret, a buoyant feeling of richness had filled so many of her life's empty spaces.
She thought about the day she and Ryan and Hanni had been returning from their weeklong pack trip, riding home across the open hills, the day that Willow and her wild band first appeared to her, slipping out of the pine forest.
Glimpsing the little phantom beings secretly following her, wonder had gripped her, the same thrill that had touched her the night Willow had come to her, needing her, trusting her enough to seek her out.
Now, turning away from the cliff's edge, she stepped back into the Blazer and headed down the hills to Dr. Firetti's clinic, down Highway 1, a left at Ocean and a left again at Beckwhite's Fine Cars, where she glanced absently at Clyde 's automotive garage.
Clyde and Ryan on their honeymoon, she thought, amused. She'd never thought it would happen. No little beforehand hints, no asking for help picking out rings, no sharing of plans and secrets, though the three of them were close friends. The two had been dating for a while, but Clyde had dated a long string of women, including Charlie herself.
But then, Christmas Day, Clyde had started calling all their friends with the big announcement. Wilma said Dulcie had been so surprised she nearly did flips. The little tabby had just clawed the wrapping off her Christmas gift, which turned out to be Charlie's portrait of Joe Grey, so she was already giddy, wired with excitement when they heard Clyde 's news. To learn that he had actually proposed, that he and Ryan meant to take the big step…no one had thought it would happen.
Parking at the side of the clinic, she paused to retie her red hair with its ragged ribbon, then grabbed her package off the seat, got out, and locked the car. She had brought half a rare filet for Sage, from last night's dinner. Through the clinic's front window, she could see Wilma inside the crowded waiting room.
The door was blocked by a man in shorts and sandals trying to pull his basset hound away from a pair of fluffy "designer" mutts, while a black cat in a carrier hissed angrily. At the other side of the cheerful room, with its wicker chairs and hanging plants, Wilma was chatting with the receptionist, dark-haired Audrey Cane, about Audrey's young German shepherd; Audrey was radiant with pride in the dog's talents, was sharing her plans for his training when John Firetti came out and led Wilma and Charlie back to the small, quiet recovery room.
Sage lay in his large cage, the wire door propped open, looking helpless in his bandages. When he saw Charlie and Wilma, his eyes brightened and he got clumsily to his feet, wobbling in his cast; the doctor reached to steady him.
"Get him to drink all he can," Dr. Firetti told them as he lifted Sage into Wilma's carrier, onto a soft blanket. "You shouldn't have a problem getting him to eat, he's hungry as a wolf. Aren't you, Sage?" He looked seriously at Charlie. "Max doesn't know about the cats?"
"He doesn't need to know," Charlie said. "Later, when Sage comes up to us, we'll be careful only to talk when we're sure Max is gone. Sage will have a nice bed in my studio, and another in our bedroom at night. I'll tell Max he's a stray I've seen hanging around, that I found him hurt."
"And how will you explain that you didn't ever tell him about this stray, when you tell Max about every animal that comes around the ranch, the wild fox you like to draw, the skunk…You've drawn them all, and Max has seen them all."
"I'll think of something. Preoccupation with the wedding…Mind on a new book…"
Firetti nodded but looked unconvinced. Cops didn't buy easily into even the most reasonable alibis.
"I have Sage on antibiotics," he said. "He doesn't mind taking pills if you put a dab of butter on them; he's a good patient." He glanced toward the closed door. "Of course the staff doesn't know. They say he's an amazing patient, that he does just what they want." He winked at Sage, and doctor and patient exchanged a long and trusting look. Then Firetti laid out the medicines they were to take home, and went over the times and doses.
"I want to see him every day for a while. I'll stop by the house, Wilma, if that's all right-Sage can tell me how he feels, and I'll change the bandages." That was more than all right with Wilma. They set a time for his visits, and within half an hour the three were headed for Wilma's house, Sage's carrier strapped into Wilma's car, Charlie following in her red Blazer.
WILMA HAD SET up a bed for Sage near her desk in the living room where she and Dulcie liked to sit by the fire at night; she had covered the blue velvet chair with a puffy comforter, and had taped several sturdy boxes together to form a wide, shallow set of steps from the rug to the chair. Behind an end table was a sandbox, and on the floor beside Sage's chair was a plastic tray big enough to hold his water and kibble bowls. They entered the house through the back door, into Wilma's bright blue-and-white kitchen. A welcoming committee awaited them-Joe and Dulcie and Kit looked up from a plastic bowl where they had been enjoying leftovers from last night's dinner, and the three followed Wilma through to the living room where she set down the carrier.
As she and Charlie settled Sage in his new bed, Kit leaped up and curled carefully beside him on the soft comforter, staying away from his cast. Wilma headed for the kitchen, and soon the house smelled of fresh coffee, warm milk, and warming cinnamon buns, soon Charlie carried a tray through to the living room, setting it on the coffee table. "You're taking the week off?" she asked her aunt as Wilma poured the coffee.
Wilma nodded. "I plan to do my taxes-last minute, as usual, with Sage to keep me company. We'll have a cozy fire in the hearth, and I have the CD set up with Dulcie's favorite music, which maybe Sage will like."
"And my bandages off soon?" Sage asked shyly.
"As soon as the doctor allows," Wilma told him. "Meanwhile, all the steak and custard you can eat." She pushed back her long silver hair where it had escaped its ponytail. "You're our guest, Sage. You mustn't be shy about asking for what you want."
"Or shy about getting spoiled," Dulcie said. "A few days with Wilma and you won't want to go back to the clowder."
Sage looked uncertainly at Dulcie. The young cat was still trying to get used to the idea of feline/human conversations, was still trying to decide just how one behaved among humans.