Chapter Four - New Friends

After a breakfast big enough for the three of us, I decided to find out what my two new friends were capable of. I asked them if they had any special powers and they both replied that they weren't sure.

"Well, do you know of anything that you can do to help me rid the area of King Nepharious?" I asked.

"Yes!" they both replied quickly.

"We can help you in two ways." Bones said brightly. "Firstly, we can rid the village of its rats by asking them to move into the castle. That solves two of your problems. Secondly, we can be your eyes and ears inside the castle. Let you know what is going on there and give you suggestions on how to proceed next."

"Oh! I knew I was going to like you two from the first crash you made!" I replied with a huge grin. "Let's get busy!"

The next week was filled with laughter when Bones and Spot came back with their tales of the goings on at the castle. They managed to get all the rats in the village to agree to move up into the castle, and my little spies told me wild stories of the cooks chasing the rats with cleavers. Another was of the ladies in the castle. They were spending their days screaming and climbing the furniture to get away from them.

They also came back with new pieces of the castle layout daily. Together we managed a crude map of the castle. I marked on it what the rooms were and who might occupy it at any certain time. The knights I was not so concerned with as I already had them grumbling. Now was the time to work on the rest of the staff and the upper class citizens. For the chambermaids I worked up a wind that blew in the windows and stirred the dust around just as they were finished with a room. The cooks were still dealing with rats, and that had them occupied for a while. The lessor servants had problems enough of their own so I pretty much let them be.

The cats had been doing quite well inside the castle and I was very proud of them, but they had been coming home the past week looking quite frazzled. When I finally asked them what was up they both started talking at once.

"The blasted cooks have set the dogs upon us!" Bones said. "Bloody dogs almost got me today!" replied Spot. "My tail is missing fur!"

Bones then looked at Spot's tail and when he turned back to me he said in a snickering tone, "Not like he can see it any way, but we need help mistress. The cooks are angry that we aren't chasing off the rats."

"Hmmm, I will have to see what I can come up with to help you with that." I said turning away to hide the smile I was fighting as I watched poor spot trying to look at his tail. He got me finally when he almost had it in his grasp and fell over just as he had grabbed it with his paw. Bones and I both burst out laughing.

Spot finally rolled over on his back and said, "Ok, laugh at my pain!" and started laughing with us. It was quite a while before we could regain our composure.

The next day I sent my two cohorts in with vials of a two-sided concoction for the dogs that were giving them problems. In one vial was a double dose of laxative for the cooks. Bones took this one and added it to their wine jug just before they sat down for breakfast. He was the faster of the two, so he crept into the kitchen while they were preoccupied with cooking for the upper class of the castle.

Spot had the vial for the dogs, which was the double dose spell. While the dogs were out with the knights on a hunt they had scheduled for that morning, spot added my vial to their water dishes. I had taken some beans and spelled the gaseous properties out of them. To that I added a nasty case of the mange. Together it was one mean spell. Needless to say Spot and Bones stayed away from the castle for a couple of days, but not before getting promises from the rats for a full report when they returned.

We spent those next few days getting to know each other better. Bones and Spot were almost litter mates, in that they had the same father. They told me they were also born on the same day in the village below us. They had become fast friends and went everywhere together. It was on a dare from Bones that they met the dragon lord. They were very young then and full of piss and vinegar. Their mothers had told them the stories of the cranky dragon that lived in the cave and to stay clear of him and it. Well being young has its trials and tribulations and these two were always in trouble. It was a boring day; no mice to chase or birds to scare and they could not stem their curiosity.

According to Spot it was Bones that made the dare that they should go up and see if there really was a dragon in the cave. "It is just a scary story they like to tell us to make us behave Spot!" Bones told him.

"'Tis not! You are gonna get us both in trouble if we go up there!" Spot replied.

"Ha! You are just a big fat scaredy cat, Spot! I dare you!"

"I am not scared of anything, Bones! I am going to get you for that!" Spot replied and with that he jumped on top of Bones nearly crushing him.

Well, up to the cave they did go after Bones recovered from Spots attack. Being as sneaky as cats can be, they crept up to the entrance and waited behind a bush for a while to see if they could hear anything. Not hearing a sound for what to them was hours; they got up enough courage to go inside the cave.

"Phew, it stinks in here Bones, do we have to get any closer?" Spot asked Bones.

"The smell is not that bad, you silly scaredy cat. I want to go all the way inside to see if there really is a dragon." Bones replied smugly.

Whispering his answer back, Spot replied with "Well, if there is a dragon I am going to tell him to eat you for making me do this!"

"Hiss, Shhhhh I hear something!" Bones replied back, and with that said ventured deeper inside the cave. Spot had nothing else to do but to follow him.

Upon entering the cave, Spots fur started sticking up all over his body. He felt that something was not quite right with the way the cave "felt" to him. Moving in a bit deeper, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

"It is not cooler in here like it should be." he thought to himself. Looking around the entrance he saw nothing peculiar and he certainly did not see hide or hair of Bones. "Where did that bag of bones go?" he wondered. "This place is creepy, and I want to go home."

Venturing in a bit further he heard a strange rumble but could not figure where it was coming from. Whispering, he said, "Bones, where are you?" When he received no answer he got a bit miffed. He then turned around to head back outside when all of a sudden Bones whacked his tail.

"Raaaaaaoooorrrreeeeeerrrrrrrrr! Bones! You scared me!"

"Ha ha!" Bones replied jumping in front of him. "Where do you think you are going? You should see all the neat stuff in there! There is a lake that is on fire and bones and jewels and human stuff scattered all over the place!" he rushed out the words in his excitement.

"Did you see the dragon?" Spot asked him after Bones semi-composed himself.

"No, but I kept hearing a rumbling noise. Did you hear it?" Bones asked him.

"Yes I did and its making my fur stand up. See?" Spot said as he turned around. "And the lake must be why it is so warm in here. Lets go now, Bones, there is no dragon in there."

When Spot turned back around to face Bones again is when they both felt earth moving. "What was that!?" they both said at once. The earth shook again, only this time it was harder. Again and again it shook, each time increasing in severity. By now they were both scared witless and frozen in their spots, with their fur standing straight up. Wide-eyed they watched as steam puffed into the entrance as the sun was slowly blocked by something very large.

"Grrrr, I smell the smell of small animals in my cave." a very deep voice rumbled.

That was all it took to shock the two kittens into action as they quickly turned back into the cave and ran for their lives. Skidding to a stop just at the edge of a lake, they stopped and turned back to find a place to hide.

"Look over there, a ledge we can hide in and it looks dark!" Bones hissed quietly.

"Wow! Interesting story you two are telling me! Keep telling it while I get us something to eat" Getting up I scrounged up some food and drink for the three of us.

On my way back with the food I overheard Spot whispering to Bones. "You need to tell her! She thinks she has no name and now that you remembered it you need to tell her. I think it will make her very happy."

"I will, I will! Don't get your tail in a knot!" Bones replied.

"What is this about a name?" I asked sitting back down on the cushions.

"Yes Mistress, I remembered it after you got up to get the food. I was recalling that day and I remembered it!" Bones replied. I think Bones was almost glowing with excitement at that moment.

Chapter Five - A Name