Chapter Five: A Blind Witness

I dug my claws into the carpet of the room I'd fallen into, my ears twitching, tail thrashing. I saw the outlines of my pursuers walk right past where I'd fallen. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're new in the neighborhood, aren't you?" a slivery voice asked.

I turned. I appreciated the elegance of the room I was in, but it was the occupant that floored me. A beautiful snow-white queen with a pink rhinestone collar was sitting on a chair by a fireplace, staring into the flames.

"Yes," I responded, "that's right." I approached her slowly, my head bowed. "The name's Mistofelees."

"Friend or foe?"

The question surprised me, but I answered, "Friend, a friend forever."

"Hmm, a friend who fell," she mused, "suddenly out of the sky." She turned to me and licked her paw. She had unusual eyes, baby blue with unnaturally small pupils.

"Well not exactly," I told her, as she jumped down from her chair and walked past me, "Through the skylight, not from the sky. I was escaping from some lunatics from the Everlasting sect. The objected to me watching their ceremony."

The white queen sprung up on a ledge piled with pillows and stared out the window. "It sounds typical of them," she smiled, "Tell me, has gotten light out yet?"

I frowned.

"Well yes," I said, jumping up to join her, "But surely you can see that for yoursel-"

Then I understood. I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and knew she couldn't see me back.

"You're blind," I gasped.

"I'm not blind," she protested.

"Then wha-"

"I just can't see."

She left the ledge to sit in front of the fire, curling her long white tail underneath her.

"Do you ever go out?" I asked her.

"No," she admitted tearfully, "though not a day goes by in my life, not one day, that I don't wish I could see this world, evil and cruel though it is."

Deeply touched, I went over to her and laid my paw on top of hers.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. I didn't know what else to say.

"Why?" she asked me. "There are much worse things Mistofelees. We cats can get used to anything, except perhaps living in a dog kennel."

We both laughed. I stared at this remarkable queen and asked the question burning my tongue.

"Listen, have you always . . . well, you know-"

"Been blind?" she finished, licking her paw once more and rubbing her face. "Yes, since birth. But you know what? I see pictures, pictures in my mind."

Mystified, I asked, "What kind of pictures?"

"I see these people grouped around me," she began, "They're so big, tall and, somehow, bright. One of them bends over me. He smiles and something glistens in his hand, then terrible pain. Then I fall asleep."

Her last words were barely a whisper. She wiped a tear from her eye and turned away from me, heading back for the ledge.

"I don't think you were blind from birth," I explained, slowly approaching her again, "I'd say some human has done something terrible to you."

"But that can't be," she purred, "The human race is the kindest there is." She craned her neck to look at me. "Who else would give a worthless thing like me a home?"

These words saddened me, so I asked, "Can I change the subject and ask you a question . . . uh?" I faltered here.

She turned herself completely around and answered my unasked question.

"Victoria," she smiled.

I smiled back, even though she couldn't see it.

"Have you heard anything you'd describe as unusual in the last few weeks?" I questioned.

"Only the death cries," she informed me.

Starting, I exclaimed, "This means you're the first witness I've found to the killings!"

Victoria frowned as I jumped up next to her. "I don't see why you're so interested in this."

"Victoria, we're talking about murder," I explained, exaggerated.

"Murder?" she frowned again. "Oh, I'm sure you're wrong." She tilted her head. "I think it's more likely that it's sex that's just gone too far."

"And why do you think that?" I asked, circling around her.

"The death cry's always uttered by tom cats," she explained. "I could tell by their growls that they were excited. Somebody they knew is suddenly there and, although they are excited, they don't attack him."

"And did this someone speak to our excited, expectant toms?"

She nodded.

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't hear what he was saying to them. His tone of voice, though, there was a sense of urgency in his tone. A persuasive conviction; he was trying to tell them something important."

"What though?" I wondered. "So, what then?"

"And then," she shuddered, "then I'd hear those awful cries."

I sighed. So much information to process and still I needed more.

"Do you know anything about the Everlasting Sect?" I pressed on, circling around her to sit on the other side.

"Not much," she admitted, "Only that they pray to a dead martyr called Jellicle, a dead cat. They say he lived around here many years ago and was tortured by man all his life."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

Before she could answer, the skylight I'd fallen through twisted open. We both gasped and looked up.

"Why did you run off?" Tugger growled, poking his head in, "The others just wanted to talk."

Jumping down, I scowled up at Tugger.

"I'll bet they did with two thousand volts loosening my tongue!" I snapped, before turning to Victoria. "I'll be back soon, real soon," I promised, "but right now I need to get a couple of things straight."

Jumping up onto a dresser, I leapt out the skylight. Before I left, I looked back down at Victoria. She had crept into the patch of dim light from the skylight and was staring up out of those unseeing eyes, searching for me. I wished I could take her with me.