CHAPTER VII – THE UNFOLDED MYSTERY
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The sun finally began to rise on the horizon in the forest. Albeit slowly, the area started to be gradually less and less dark. Both Puss and Kitty were constantly staring at Paweł, their bigos almost eaten already. Seeing that Paweł was listened to, he continued:
Bożena is the most precious cat to me right now. The only daughter. The only one to pass on my legacy. Contrary to what many cats do, I took care of it. Even though Anna did not really want my help at first, you probably realize how it is. I raised her to be a member of the cavalry because there was not really any other career for her. Especially when she bit my paws and ears often even before she could see on her eyes.
But unfortunately, one man was aware of my past. He was one of the Komturs of the Teutonic Order – one of the governors of its lands. And his name was Leopold von Spielwduper, I have learnt. One day I went to Częstochowa, a city nearby, to buy some supplies. When I went back…
I noticed my Anna dead and lying in a pool of blood. And a message right next to it that indeed Leopold von Spielwduper was responsible for it.
This image still haunts me to this day, even though it happened a year ago.
But I try to live with just my daughter Bożena. I swear that one day when I meet Komtur Leopold, I will kill him for what he has done to me. I have never tried to cause any harm by my own hatred or anything of that sort. I tried to live a good life. And these are my consequences.
The White Eagle, however, was a legend I heard when I was young. But I have never really bothered to take it for real. However, one day on an expedition, my commander mentioned that the White Eagle might be a real thing. That it might be a reason why Poland stays together. And Hussar commanders never joked like that. I started researching it in my free time. Asked villagers. Asked townsfolks. Even priests and monks. But I then realized that it is so well hidden that it might be a total secret or it just might not exist. Up until now when I met you. And up until now when I discovered that Heinrich and Klaus were after it too.
Puss tilted his head and asked: „Why would you think so?"
Out of his satchel, Paweł pulled out a piece of pergamin and unfolded it. There were in fact a few numbers and letters randomly spread over.
„They had the last piece of the puzzle. Searching for the White Eagle will not give us much trouble that way."
Later, he yawned and opened his jaw widely, exposing his more or less crooked teeth. He was surely getting tired, especially after fighting, riding, and telling a story. The party was not hungry anymore after eating some bigos, so now the only thing needed was to take a rest.
„...I'll stay on guard, companero Polaco- I meant… Senor Paweł." Puss quickly corrected himself.
Paweł at the moment did not really bother the sudden change in Puss' vocabulary. He was preparing himself to sleep by taking off his boots and belt. However, the fact that Puss called him per „senor" probably meant something.
Puss walked up to horse and as he moved by Paweł, he spoke: „I-I'm sorry for what happened to your fiance."
Without any bigger concern, Paweł just nodded as he laid on the grass and closed his eyes, just to fall asleep. Kitty did the same, albeit she curled herself up to preserve warmth.
Puss just leaned on a tree and held his paw on the sword, hoping nobody unpleasant would happen this time. Paweł's backstory looked really tough. However, didn't he really got what he worked for? He admitted to have killed many. It is practically no wonder that he is wanted in foreign lands.
At the same time, Bożena kept riding towards South, hoping to reach Zakopane in no time. She did not care about any calculations whether she could get to her destination today or tomorrow or maybe in a few days. What is more, she did not even manage to get any specifics regarding her journey. She had forgotten her map after all.
Bożena shook these thoughts aside and just kept riding down the path. The horse was not tired at all yet, so she didn't think of any stop as of now. Bożena Mieszkogradzka, obviously being herself, was just so focused on the end that she forgot about the beginning and the middle. Sure, she may have packed some supplies at first, yet they were not huge at all.
Her rather aimless journey finally had a stop in a village of Katowice. In modern times, it is a prosperous city of a big size and decent population. However, back in the 1600s, it has been nothing more than a village.
After examining the whereabouts, Bożena entered the hamlet to take a look around. People were already busy in the morning – women were trying to wash the clothes in a nearby stream and men were either chopping down wood, fishing, or setting up their businesses. There was even a happy fisherman walking by, being dressed in brown cheap rags and a straw hat. He was smiling from ear to ear and had a fishing rod on his shoulder as he marched down the path.
Just as he saw Bożena on a horse, he stopped in his tracks and with a smile on his face he told her:
„Good mornin'! Nice day for fishing, ain't it? Huah-hah!"
Bożena was more weirded out than scared by the sudden approach of the fisherman. Nevertheless, she smirked and told him:
„It sure is? I guess?" Yet she told it in a manner as if the fisherman was a total bafoon.
The fisherman then shrugged and without dropping the smile off of his face at all continued marching down the path. Bożena needed a guide and she needed one fast.
Thankfully, her father had told her that in fact quite a few villages and even more towns have alleys in which cats reside in peace. Lured by the possibility of feasting on scraps and catching mice and fish, they are surely gathering around real settlements to live there. Cats were officially domesticated after all.
Once she rode to the back of a sizeable hut, there really were a few cats minding their own businesses. They did not fight, they seemed to have an already set hierarchy in the small colony they had, since in fact cats in reality are forced to live semi-social lives when close to each other.
Without hesitation, Bożena confidently asked the cats:
„Hey, you all! Who the f*** of you has ever been to Kraków or at least Zakopane?! AND STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR TAILS WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU! THEY DO NOT HAVE THEIR OWN WILL!" She shouted with anger while sitting on the horse.
There were only four cats in the colony and suddenly they all stopped their activities and rose their heads up to Bożena herself. In a slight shock, they switched their gazes and finally one brown-furred cat raised his paw.
„I know, moja pani. Relax, I've been walkin' through these lands no problem. From North to South."
„Good!" Bożena widened her eyes and nodded. „Good! Where to Zakopane, then?"
But he only shook his head slowly. „Ooooh, moja pani, moja pani… It ain't that easy to travel that far. You are really goin' to need a guide. I could be one."
Bożena only sighed and covered her face with her paw. „What do you want in exchange, huh?"
The mysterious cat shrugged. „Nothin', really. Just strollin' with a member of szlachta like you could be enough honor. I thought such a nice panna like you would need some company… like mine." That was when he smiled and showed his teeth.
And that was also when Bożena quickly drew his saber and pointed it at the cat colony's direction. The sound of the saber being drawn out of its sheathe suddenly gave all of them chills down their spines.
Bożena glared at the cat with anger: „Don't f*** with me! I got the power of God and anime- I mean, I mean, of God and the King on my side!"
The brown cat slowly raised his paws up because in fact he was more or less intimidated by the sudden outburst. „Chill, panna, chill! I just want to help somebody."
Calico she-cat took a while to regain her breath and come to her senses once again. Soon, she concealed her saber and spoke. „You are coming with me, then. Just don't try anything stupid or I'll gut you like a fish. And trust me, it's a horrible death."
The guide cat as of now clapped his paws while smiling and turned back to his group: „So yea! Farewell, guys and gals! Have a good time!" He saluted as the other cats were growling at him like animals. He came closer to Bożena's horse.
„Okay, soo…" The cat started. „I guess I'll jump on tha horse and give you direction, eh?"
Bożena's face went blank and angry. „...No. You stay on the ground and just lead the way."
He shrugged. „Okay, okay, your choice, panna."
And so the cat walked forward down the road and Bożena was riding her horse just right behind him. He turned around and while smiling, he spoke:
„I am Filemon-" But he was immediately cut by Bożena:
„Yeah, whatever, just keep going forward where Zakopane is!"
Filemon frowned from her sudden outbursts and just kept walking where he remembered the South really is. Needless to say, he seemed to like Bożena nevertheless.
After quite a few hours, Puss opened his eyes groggily from sleep. Just as he came to his senses, he noticed Kitty shaking him back to reality.
„Wake up, sleepy furry lover." She spoke a bit seductively while smiling. „You were lucky that Paweł woke up once you were the one to fall asleep."
Puss slowly sighed and rubbed his eyes. „Where is Senor Paweł at the moment?" He asked.
„Oh, now?" Kitty tried to clarify. „He's not so far away in the forest. He's… practicing… I guess?"
At these words, Puss immediately rushed out of his sleeping place and went deeper down the forest. Down there, he soon enough saw something quite out of ordinary.
Paweł was literally holding on a rather strong branch of an oak and performing pull ups. A domestic cat's physique is not at all suited to upper body strength. They have flexible spines and rather strong hind legs, yet Paweł was actually working on his upper body. He made just a few pull ups when Puss stared at him as if at a complete alien. Soon, Paweł ceased the grip on the branch and landed on the ground.
„What on earth are you doing, compane-, I mean, Senor Polaco?"
At this question, Paweł just nodded. „I am just training, as you can see."
„But, pull ups, senor?" Puss asked in disbelief.
„Tak, pull ups. Arms are stronger this way." Then, Paweł laid on the ground and began stretching himself.
Puss was now close to shock. „But, senor, don't your arms hurt that way?"
Pawel sighed while still stretching his legs and spine. „Of course they do, eventually. But I hope you understand that pain is nothing more than the weakness leaving your body."
This was a little outrageous mindset for Puss. But maybe was there something to be learnt from it?
After this moment of reflection, Paweł made his way back to the makeshift camp and Puss followed him while asking:
„Do you know where should we go now?"
„Good question. On me." Paweł told when he made his walking pace faster and finally made it to a tree trunk.
Kitty walked up to Paweł and, out of concern, she asked him: „Senor, are you feeling good after working out that much?"
„Tak." Paweł responded as quickly as possible once he grabbed a few pieces of pergamin from his satchel. He laid them on the tree trunk and began explaining:
„I have been collecting each and every evidence about the White Eagle. I asked everybody and got little clues. It seems as though that Heinrich and Klaus had the last piece of the puzzle right on them. It was not easy at all, but after a few mathematical equations, interpretations, and translations, there is one thing deducted – we need to reach the Dragon's Lair, which is fortunately located in Carpathians, just as the rumor about the White Eagle says."
„The Dragon's Lair, senor?" Kitty wondered.
„Tak. It is surprising indeed because it has another legend already."
„Go on." Puss told him while waving his paw gently. „Maybe we will learn something further."
Paweł licked his paw and swiped his right ear a few times, in attempt to clear it. Then, he started to describe the legend:
„I do not remember it too clearly, yet there was a legend about the Wawel Dragon which plundered Kraków back in the middle ages. Many brave knights fought it and nobody succeeded. However, there was one boy named Dratewka who was a shoemaker. Maybe he was a very bright lad or maybe at the moment he was very drunk, but he made a stealth sheep which was filled with salt to the borders. The Wawel Dragon ate the sheep bait and later felt intense thirst. To quench it, he drank from the nearby river – Wisła. He drank until his body could take no more water and died."
At this legend, Kitty clapped and Puss commented while dipping his hat down a little: „Sounds like an intelligent strategy."
„Indeed, I agree. And we need to reach that exact location." Paweł summed up. „In fact, it makes it all easier because now we don't need to ask people around in Carpathians. We already know where to go."
„Brilliant, Senor! Let's go!" Puss hollered and the whole party packed their supplies and tools. Soon, they were on the horseback again with Paweł leading the horse.
„And hey." Puss suddenly spoke as they were riding. „Who is this companero we will meet soon?"
„We are supposed to meet and regroup in Zakopane." Paweł explained. „And the helper will be nobody other than… than my daughter actually."
Puss' eyes widened and he leaned to the side to let himself speak to Paweł more clearly: „Daughter?"
„Tak, Bożena Mieszkogradzka, my daughter. I hope you don't object. Just… Just be patient with her once we meet her, alright?"
Puss only smiled once he learnt that nobody other than Paweł's daughter is going to pay a visit. „...Alright, Senor, alright." He immediately thought how beautiful she might be and whether she would like a Spanish macho like him.
„Why are you drooling like that?" Kitty out of blue spoke to Puss. He shook his head and asked:
„What?"
„You have something to say about the fact that this veteran's daughter is going to join us?"
„Uhh..." Puss hesitated a bit and said: „No, obviously, never!"
Kitty smiled at his response. „I hope so. Hope you don't start to act oddly." She chuckled and dipped his hat down playfully.
At the same time, Paweł only gripped the reins harder and slowly buried his face in his paws. He prayed to God himself that nothing would go wrong. Because, in fact, his intuition, experience, and his companions' behavior were telling him otherwise.
