CHAPTER V – THE GUESTS
The afternoon the Spanish pair of cats spent together wasn't too short. Before they could notice, it was dawn already. The orange sun slowly started to dip and disappear under the horizon. It was obvious that night was coming. And not some ordinary night. The Polish night especially – quite colder than what they encountered back in Spain where the flowers were blooming and plants were growing no matter what due to abundance of sun and warmth.
They both began heading back to the tavern, with smiled on their faces. Here Kitty caught exactly three pigeons, all by herself in the foreign lands more or less unfamiliar to them.
„See, Senorita? I told you you could do it." Puss spoke to her when they were walking between the tables.
„Oh, Puss, you always know how to motivate me the right way." She told him and dipped his hat down in one swipe of her paw.
Nevertheless, they both went close to the counter and looked around. None of the tables had Paweł next to them. They looked up and down, left and right, yet still couldn't find him in the dining area. It looked as if the Polish cat has just disappeared into thin air.
However, Puss didn't give up and located wooden stairs leading to the upper floor. He tilted his head towards them and made his way upstairs, Kitty following his footsteps right behind him. The stairs lead them to a corridor with multiple doors on each side. However, one of the closest doors was slightly open, just enough to see the light coming from inside. Out of curiosity (even though it's the curiosity what kills the cat), Puss looked inside the room.
From the small fraction, he took a peek inside and could not believe his eyes. Inside the room there were a few lit candles shedding light to the whole room. In one of the corners, there was a mediocre-sized wooden bathtub which certainly looked like a flat and wide barrel. Next to it there was a stool with all of his equipment – his belt, cheap boots, and cape. But inside it, there was not anybody other than Paweł Mieszkogradzki himself, relaxing and sunk so deep that only his head was peeking out. He seemed to enjoy it all, having his eyes closed and breathing slowly.
This was literally a cat enjoying water. They both got slightly amused by this rather rare sight. After all, neither of them had any pleasant memories with water. Or even any cat they knew.
Puss gently knocked on the door and this only caused Paweł to open his eyes and look at the direction of the sound.
„Is it you both? Come in, come in." He spoke reluctantly and continued to enjoy his bath.
Therefore, Puss pushed the door open and entered the room, Kitty following him right behind. He just tilted his head at the sight and asked:
„Uuuh… Are you relaxing there, Senor Polaco?"
Paweł just slowly smiled and slowly nodded. „Tak. Did you want anything?"
That was when he supported himself by grasping the edge of the bathtub with his left rather muscular arm. Suddenly, Puss felt an urge to try out what Paweł was doing and thus he dipped his paw into the water, hoping it would be cozy, judging from the Polish cavalrycat's perspective.
It wasn't cozy at all.
Dear reader, listener, whoever, have you ever fallen into a pool right after sunbathing? Or maybe held an ice cube in your warm hands? After all, this is what Puss felt at this moment. An excrutiating pain made by the cold.
He retaliated immediately after realizing that the water in which Paweł was relaxing was actually freezing cold. He grasped his paw in a slight pain, yet didn't wince or say anything at all. Paweł looked at him in a slight disbelief.
„How can you..." Puss asked in shock and even slight anger. „The water's literally FREEZING!"
„It is just my preference. Doctors say it does well to the heart." And that was when Paweł started slowly emerging from the water and walked out of it. With all the water soaked in his tough fur, he looked very odd. However, he immediately grabbed a blanked and began wiping the water out of himself quickly.
„Senor, we didn't want to interrupt you." Kitty finally walked forward and began explaining herself. „We just wanted to know where you were."
„I always have been inside for the time being." He answered while still being focused.
When he was about to finish drying himself, Puss wrapped his arm around Kitty's shoulders. „Well, we've been enjoying the nature in the meantime. You have some great mice and birds around here, companero." And he licked her ear.
Paweł noticed this and stared at Puss with his eyes narrowed for a while. But after a few seconds, he continued drying himself and eventually, he was done.
Right after that, he made his way to the stool to put his belt and equipment on. „You look to be very close to each other." He stated. „Not so ordinary among cats."
Kitty just smiled and nodded: „Uh-huh, you can really say that, judging by the take he has on other females." And she looked at Puss while smiling but Puss only got gritted his teeth a bit.
„Either way," Puss started. „What have you been doing exactly, on the other paw?" He asked.
-FLASHBACK-
It was right after Puss and Kitty went outside. Seeing that Paweł had nothing to do, really, he walked straight up to Wilhelm the tavernkeeper, only to rent a room for the night. Once he got inside, he grabbed some ink, pergamin, and wrote a letter. A kind of special letter which would be rather important later on. Eventually, he was done, so he folded it, sealed it, and immediately walked out with the back door to the stables. He paid a horseman messenger in coin to deliver the letter and then went back home.
But this wasn't the end. Later, he hired a maid for this night. And not an ordinary maid. No. It was nobody other than Maryla from Szczebrzeszyn.
Maryla was a Polish girl in her 20s living as a maid in Wilhelm's tavern. She mainly served food, prepared proper baths for the customers, and also massaged really well. But what really distinguished her were two things: that she liked cats really much and that she had huge breasts.
And by huge breasts, that means some serious honkers. A real set of badonkers. She was packing some dobonhonkeros. Massive dohoonkabhankoloos. Big old tonhongerekoogers. Maybe even humongous hungolomghononoloughongous!
This is what Paweł loved in women specifically. Cats didn't have these, but female humans did. And so he spent some time in them, purring from their delicacy and his comfort. Literally hugging them and staying close to them. It has always raised his moods and this time it gave him a good time too.
At last, Maryla prepared a cold bath as Paweł desired. And that's how he stood till Puss and Kitty came upstairs.
-END OF FLASHBACK-
Paweł stood there for a few seconds and gritted his lips.
„Nothing in particular, merely important affairs." He answered. „You might expect another ally in a few days or so."
„Ally?" Puss asked. „Who might that be?"
„You'll see." Paweł narrowed his eyes. „You'll see..."
„I hope it will be somebody special." Puss commented and dipped his hat down.
„So…" Suddenly, Kitty interrupted. „Where do we sleep?"
Paweł pointed over to the other corner of the room where there was a sleeping basket prepared. It was not too much, just a few white pillow put there. However, it could be more than comfortable. „Right there you might rest."
At this sight, Kitty tilted her head and smiled. She stretched her paws and said: „It's been ages since I slept on such a thing."
And she stood on her all fours with it, trying to knead it just like cats always knead soft objects. However, it was way different that Paweł was used to seeing. She was kneading it without clawing it at all. There were no claws visible either.
Paweł looked at her briefly and Kitty just glared back in a slight frustration. „Never seen a cat without claws before, Senor Paweł?" She asked with a bit of mockery in her voice.
Yet Kitty quickly regretted her saying that, even though Paweł only shook his head slowly as an answer. He just went closer to her and leaned on the wall.
„Who did this to you?" Paweł asked with frustration against possible injustice.
Kitty felt hesitant to tell her backstory to this stranger. But if the journey to the White Eagle was that dangerous, they all three needed to trust each other. So she quickly, with an huge urge to end this discussion, replied:
„My previous owners. I still don't know why they did it to me."
Paweł for some reason saw the anxiety in her and just nodded in agreement. He seemed to have understood.
„Claws might be overrated these days." He spoke as an explanation.
„Huh?" Kitty wondered and Paweł immediately answered:
„If that makes you anyhow more content, I have my own claws blunt."
And then he flexed his paw so she could see. They weren't too different from ordinary cat claws, yet if seen from a close proximity, they were not as sharp. Kitty looked at them in disappointment.
„But why?" She asked. Paweł took a while and responded:
„God Himself maybe wanted to. I have it since I can remember." He spoke, yet surprisingly without any regret or sorrow.
Puss just nodded and spoke with firm seriousness: „I'm sorry, senor."
He merely shrugged and made his way to his own bed. „As I lived so far, I believe you are not supposed to complain about these things. My guess is that you must accept them as they are… After all, I doubt if it changes who you really are."
With these words, he shrugged and laid down on the bed. Both cats knew it was now a sign to go to sleep and wait for the next day to come. Even though cats sleep many hours on average.
In fact, Paweł Mieszkogradzki was just so kept within himself the whole time he was on this journey. Hardly anything was known about him at this moment. Only that he had something to do with the White Eagle too. The best bet was just to stay compliant and continue the task, despite the threat that Paweł warned them all about – a few German mercenaries.
After a lot of hours, the midnight came. All of the Polish nature has just vanished into silence, now only the sounds of owls and chippering of crickets were the ambient sounds. Puss, however, was not sleeping at this moment, contrary to others in the party. He was curled up within himself, sleeping in the same basket as Kitty, and wondering where they really were. Was that it? Being in a whole other part of Europe in a climate they don't know? What if the White Eagle was just a story all time long and there was nothing to be found?
Puss snapped back to reality as he heard a sound of door opening with a loud screetch and then closing with a thud underneath. Somebody must've went into the inn. There were a few faint footsteps, very slow-paced and decisive.
And then a small conversation in German and sound of keys ringing.
His eyes immediately perked at these sounds. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know German at all, yet he expected the worst.
Just once he heard another pair of footsteps – this time on the creeking stairs, he quickly rose up from his basket. He ran up to Paweł in a slight worry and shook his rather massive shoulders.
„Wake up, Polaco companero, wake up!" He whispered with a slight hiss right into his ear.
From an instinct, Paweł opened his eyes and drew his saber as fast as light and stick it to Puss' throat. Both cats were just now staring at each other in shock, but as their heartrates went down and relaxed, Paweł lowered his saber.
„What is it?" He whispered.
„I've heard some voices in German, you might want to check them out." Puss explained it to him quietly. „They might be those mercenaries you mentioned."
Paweł's face immediately went blank and even a bit furious. He got on his hind feet and put on his cheap black leather boots and belt in an instant. Once he was ready, he made his way outside of the room he hired for the night.
After peeking left and right, he heard the faint noises spoken in German. Nobody was in his view, so he went forward. While crepting quietly and keeping his profile down, he followed to their location. He held his saber so much his paw was almost sweating and he kept his arms bent for any surprise situation. This was some serious affair and Puss saw this instantly.
But what would that be? Puss at first really doubted the Polish Hussars' strength. Yet it was because he never met them. It all changed when he fought one for real. He fought Paweł in full armor and with his saber. He knew their might and flexibility, he even recognized that an older member of the Hussars like Paweł can really beat others. So if this cat alone wants to take it safely, then what kind of threat are these merccenaries?
Paweł got closer to the door and put his ear on it. There was a chatter in German between two men, apparently. He seemed to know this language fluently, he understood the conversation clearly:
„Again, did you ask where Polish Hellrider is?"
„The tavernkeeper swore up and down he didn't see him. Maybe he went abroad or somethin'."
„Heinrich, are you out of your mind?! He certainly wouldn't give up like that! I heard stories of him slaughtering dozens of Teutonic Orders' men without breaking a sweat! He's a monster!"
„Klaus, Klaus, calm down, for Grand Master's sake. As long as we are together, nothing will happen to us. We will hunt him down for what he did to our dearest friends and get a lot of coin."
„I hope so, I wish this would be all over. Maybe we should stop, eh? Look, there were still a few mercenaries trying to hunt him, but everybody else failed. What makes you think we will succeed?"
„You choked a cat to death when you were seven, don't you remember?"
„Uhhh..."
„Yes or no, Klaus?"
„Yes, but… But it was just an ordinary cat and it clawed my doll."
„Ha, exactly, you are a born cat killer! Trust me, with the Polish Hellrider it will be the same thing."
„I guess, brother. Ey, and before we get to sleep, do you have some ink and paper?"
„Uuuuuh, no, Klaus, I've left them in our saddle pouch of our Sleipnir."
„On that stupid black horse… Then go for them, verdammt, I am not your mother!"
„Fine, fine, just shut up already."
Paweł heard footsteps coming to the door, so he immediately went to the wall and leaned on it, having his saber steady. Puss did the same thing, yet on the other side.
„...This is my fight." Paweł quickly explained, but Puss ignored his suggestion. He craved for adventure. After a while, the footsteps came to a halt and the door opened.
In the doorframe now stood a grown man in black justacorps with a bit puffy white sleeves and brown boots with a golden lock. His black beard was covering his face with small wrinkles and a black pointed Bayern hat with a silver lock was on his head covered with black hair. Even though it was night, the German lad was more or less energetic.
The other mercenary inside had a similar outfit as his companion. But his face had less wrinkles and long blonde hair covered his face a bit instead.
Heinrich walked out of his room, only to see nobody other than Puss aiming his sword right at him.
„Fight me! If you dare!"
The German didn't understand any word of his. But he clearly understood that this fellow really wants to fight. He immediately drew his big rapier, but then Paweł told him from behind:
„Ich bin es, wonach du suchst!" And so he immediately slashed his right tight and Heinrich screamed in pain.
Even after being wounded, the German fought back and so the duel began on the corridor. Paweł was big for a cat, although still small when compared to a full-grown human. He swiftly delivered all the cuts from different angles, which was truly astonishing in itself. Swords in Spain couldn't make such cuts with full effectiveness. Paweł jumped, ducked down, strafed left and right, and always aimed for the weak spots of his opponent. Heinrich was clearly infuriated by the might of the retired Hussar. He really wanted him dead.
The small skirmish soon turned into a bloodshed once Klaus joined the battle. The duel suddenly became a battle. It was so intense that Puss for a few seconds forgot where he is. He reminded himself of Jack and Jill – the two crooks who were able to kill without mercy. He remembered fighting them. But there was this one harsh truth (SPOILER ALERT FOR THE MAIN MOVIE) – they were fighting him without any bigger intention to defeat him, let alone kill him. This time it was way different. Way different. At this moment, two mercenaries were out for blood.
He suddenly felt an urge to redeem himself for that lost duel he had in the small aley of San Ricardo. He was a cat of honor, after all. This thought was possible to be put to realization once Paweł suddenly turned his odds around and jumped into their room. After all, combat for two grown men in a tighter space might be difficult.
The fight was about to end when Paweł sliced Klaus' face and suddenly Heinrich kicked him to the wall as strong as he could. The cat landed on the wall with a loud thud and Heinrich winced in pain his foot from the kick he had delivered. Seeing this golden opportunity, Puss charged at the disoriented German and stabbed his knee. After doing this, he immediately went to fight with Klaus.
Surprisingly, Paweł quickly rose up from being literally slammed onto the wall. Now that Heinrich was in pain, he ran up his legs and torso and sliced his face. He began suddenly unleashing all his fury on the German mercenary: he sliced, he cut, he stabbed, he ripped, he tore. At last, Paweł sank his saber right into his eye a few times and Heinrich dropped dead on the floor.
Puss fought against Klaus with all his might and even managed to counter his attack and stun him by a slice to the nose. Klaus retaliated and noticed his brother Heinrich lying on the floor dead. Tears began flooding from his eyes as he shouted at Paweł:
„DU VERDAMMTE POLNISCHE SCHWEIN! ICH WERDE DIR SCHLACHTEN, HURENSOHN!"
With these words, he slashed at Puss who thankfully blocked his strike yet fell down due to impact. That was when Paweł found a certain pistol on Heinrich's corpse, safely in his holster. It was a double-barreled pistol, and surprisingly locked and loaded. It could serve Paweł well as a carbine if he ever used that.
After taking Puss down on the ground, Klaus now had an open way to the Polish cat, therefore he used that chance. How bad his move was. Just when Klaus reeled his sword backwards, Paweł drew the pistol as fast as light out of the holster, aimed it from his instincts right at the attacker and pulled the trigger. An ear-shattering bang echoed as the two barrels were emptied into Klaus' skull.
Have you ever seen a human skull being shot with a pistol? Now imagine it being shot with two barrels at once. You can just see the horror now.
And that happened to our heroes just now. Paweł was still holding the pistol and trying to calm his breath down. He showed his more or less crooked teeth, now slightly soaked in blood. The fur on his paws switched color from his usual white to notorious red. He stared at Puss now, who was too shocked to say anything.
Paweł made a step forward and Puss flinched from literal fear. He stopped in his tracks, only to nod once to Puss to at least try reassuring him that it was alright. Soon, Paweł made his way out of the room and carefully peeked.
What he saw were several people peeking their heads out of the door. There were many faces – a mother who was just taking care of her child, a few young lads who were playing, and even a muscular beerbelly who was merely trying to sleep. Paweł went to the center of the corridor and spoke to them calmly, blood still dripping from his paws:
„Jakieś, kurwa, uwagi?"
Suddenly, all the patrons suddenly slammed the doors shut and even carefully locked them. Kitty finally opened the door, still tired. But when she saw Paweł's fatigue from the battle he just had, she quickly regained her senses and felt her heart squeezing in her throat.
„Senor… What- what happened here?" She asked almost breaking her voice.
„Pack up and meet me outside." Paweł spoke and made his way back to the room.
Puss was still standing there, staring at the corpses. Even though he was a thief, he was a good cat. He would never dare to permanently injure anybody. But this was different. Right here, he experienced real death in front of his eyes. And the „Polaco companero", as he named him, did not even bat an eye. Was that it? Was that what just one Polish Hussar was capable of? Then what to think of a hundred Polish Hussars? This petrifying thought really gave him chills on his spine.
Paweł started searching both of the corpses for any further clues. He didn't find much. Then, he went over to search the desk. There were a few pergamins and books there and Paweł grabbed one such pergamin and examined it. He whispered:
„Finally.", and folded it before stuffing it into his satchel.
He quickly ran back to his own room and saw Kitty dressing herself. Paweł did not waste any further time and grabbed the little of the belongings he had and ran downstairs.
That was when Wilhelm went out of his room on the ground floor, with a sleeping hat and a gray sleeping shirt which barely contained his huge beer belly. He stretched and yawned loudly.
„What was that noise?" He asked as he wiped his eyes.
Paweł stood right in front of the counter and said: „Heinrich and Klaus. They were after me."
The innkeeper froze for a moment and let out an amused: „...Oh. Where do I clean up the mess, then?"
„In their room." Paweł responded as he made his way to the door. „Prepare a lot of water and soap, preferably."
Wilhelm sighed and turned back to his room. That was when Puss and Kitty both ran downstairs while still being shocked by the outcome of the battle.
„MARYLA!" Wilhelm shouted back to the room.
„...What?" A familiar female voice answered.
„Move your bottom and clean up the mess upstairs!"
„Aaaargh, again? What is it this time?" She asked in an exhausted tone.
„Herr Paweł Mieszkogradzki had a nasty encounter."
„Oooooooh!" Her tone of voice suddenly changed to excited. „Does he maybe want a belly rub gratis?"
„Just clean up the mess, Polish woman!" Wilhelm yelled at her and Maryla stormed out of the hidden room with a bucket full of water with soap. Her big bonkhonagahoogs were jiggling on her chest as she jogged her way upstairs. Once she was nearly at the top, she blew Paweł a kiss and continued her journey to the first floor. Puss blushed at this sight and dipped his hat down, concerned that it was him whom the beautiful Polish girl blew the kiss to.
Paweł opened the door quickly and ran back to the stables in pitch dark of the cool night. He managed to check the horses too, since he looked for one in particular. That is why he walked up to a black horse and shouted:
„Achtung!"
This black horse was the only one what neighed mightly upon hearing this German word. He waved his hooves up and down once he saw that noone other than Paweł was standing right in front of it.
„Sei ruhig." Paweł ordered calmly in German again as he came closer to the house. But it kept on waving his hooves at his direction. Finally, Paweł lost his good mood with the horse and grabbed it by one of his lunging legs, firmly pressing his own boots against the ground in order not to loose balance. He gave the horse a death glare and the horse just stared back and neighed slightly in fear.
„Sei. Ruhig." He repeated and the horse finally calmed down as it seemingly saw no sense in neighing any further. Paweł nodded and went up to the saddle pouch. He opened it, but there was nothing here. His paw looked further and deeper, until he heard Kitty's soft laugh.
She waved a whole sack of golden coins and various equipment the Germans had right in front of Paweł: „Looks like the Germans lost their equipment, so I guess we can have it now.".
He only nodded and took their belongings with him. „Thank you." He spoke as he made his way to his brown horse.
At last, Paweł put the loot right in his horse's saddle pouch and pulled out what seemed to be a wheellock pistol in a holster. He pulled the wheellock out and put it back in the pouch. Next, he grasped his newly acquired double-barreled flintlock pistol. He examined it for a while and discovered that there was a name engraved on it: „Wunderwaffe". After that, he slid the pistol back into the holster and put it on his back.
All of the cats hopped on the horse, Paweł leading it. They rode out of the inn to the Southern direction in a very quick pace, away from trouble. The only thing heard now was the beat of the galloping horse.
„Where are we going?" Puss asked, barely having shaken himself out of the shock.
„The last piece of this puzzle is straight in Carpathians. That is where we are going."
„Oh, caramba." Puss muttered to himself and for some reason Paweł heard that. And he was not going to ignore that.
„What's wrong?"
„...The blood… You all killed them, Senor Polaco."
Paweł took a deep breath and explained:
„Who fights with a sword, dies by it. They wanted blood, they got blood. Just not my blood." and so he kept riding the horse, licking his paws clean from blood in the process.
This was a dangerous midnight for both Puss and Kitty. What was extraordinary was that Puss at first saw Paweł as a poser, a false idol. Later, after being beaten by him, he treated him as a nobleman warrior who is able to fight fluently. But now... now Paweł in both Puss' and Kitty's eyes was nothing than a monster who is able to take lives without mercy if he wants to. Puss had a strange feeling in the pit of his chest. A deep mix of respect and fear aimed at this mysterious Polish cat.
He now knew what Paweł was capable of. And fully realized that following him was the only right way to succeed in the journey they had ahead.