FicWad

2. Cats are by nature suspicious

Cat Chant's future as an inadvertently evil enchanter had been placed indefinitely on hold. For one thing, he had recently met an actual evil enchanter. The brief apprenticeship with Neville Spiderman had proven unpleasant, not to mention smelly and grubby. Cat, who was quite fond of bathing, felt that, if evil required going without, he should work more strenuously to avoid such a fate. He had meant being kind to Tonino as a step along the road to redemption, which would, in the natural course of events, include frequent stops for hot baths and perhaps the occasional hols by the sea.

For Cat had discovered that he didn't mind Tonino. He thought this rather odd, as he had minded him before. He had minded him very much indeed. But after they had been locked together in the dank cellar under threat of mildew and gruesome death, he had changed his mind and rather thought he should be minding him instead.

At which point, Cat's mind had been deeply confused.

He'd thought that perhaps Master Spiderman's mouldy basement had affected him somehow. He had mentioned this to Chrestomanci.

"I may have a dread disease," Cat had announced hopefully.

"A developing conscience does not require antifungal treatment," Chrestomanci had suggested mildly, whilst vaguely examining a rosette on the candelier.

At which point, Cat's mind had become even more deeply confused.

He shouldn't have believed that a near-death experience could change one's perspective so thoroughly. But then again, he wasn't in a position to judge; the variety of accidents and murders had given him only actual-death experiences, and only three remaining lives of his original nine.

Or perhaps, technically, he had four lives. He wasn't entirely certain whether the violin counted.

In any event, Cat did arrive at one firm conclusion amidst the perplexity: He would look after Tonino. As he had gone to great pains in making this decision, he found it tiresome of Tonino to never do anything that required heroic action.

Well, until that morning -- Tonino now required saving.

Tonino was tucked into the side of one of the shabby play-room sofas, smiling to himself, reading yet another of those tedious letters. Every few days the post would bring one of those garish red envelopes with a silly black leopard seal.

Cat knew he needed a miracle for his examination in Advanced Magic Theory that afternoon with Chrestomanci; yet, despised textbook before him, he found himself unable to stop studying Tonino instead. He was as baffled by Tonino as he was by his problem sets. Cat did not see why Tonino would waste so much of his time reading scrawls from mingy little Italian hedge witches.

"Angelica is of Casa Petrocchi, the rival spell-house of my family," Tonino had explained.

Cat expected that this Angelica Petrocchi was as ugly as her handwriting. Not that Cat had bothered to examine it closely, of course. Cat had no interest in Petrocchis at all.

Besides, they were all written in Italian.

"Something is the matter?"

Cat started badly, realising that those brown, habitually worried eyes were now fastened on him.

"Nothing at all," Cat blurted hastily. "I was just wondering what was funny," he lied. He pondered how to extricate the younger boy from his obvious peril.

"Oh, this," Tonino waved the letter, and in his lilting English explained, "Angelica says that Vittoria has had her kittens. One is black and long haired as Benvenuto, but the others are tabby as are all Petrocchi cats." He shrugged. "She says, 'Ha, so there'."

"Benvenuto," Cat repeated stupidly. Tonino had mentioned of him before. Cat had assumed that he'd meant a family servant or a tutor, not a, a--

"The boss cat of Casa Montana," Tonino said proudly. "As I have said, he looks after me."

"Oh." The Montanas were, quite possibly, as loopy as the Petrocchis, Cat concluded. "We've cats here as well, you know."

"Lady Millie did mention them," Tonino said, "but she has been too busy to introduce me."

Cat assumed that 'introductions' must be some secret ritual shared among potty cat fanciers. The subject of cats brought several interesting ideas to mind. He thought perhaps this was a good opportunity to give Tonino the Castle tour that Cat gave to people he liked. Rather than the tour he gave to people he resented quite fiercely. Tonino had already had that one.

"We'll go out this afternoon," he decreed. "After I'm finished with, er, and you've done with Michael up in the tower."

Tonino's pleased expression settled the matter.

"I say," Tonino said suddenly. "I had meant to ask, but had forgotten. Do you know of anything special about buns? Or, perhaps, bread?"

Cat peered at him. "With or without marmalade?"

"Ah. I wonder if that matters?" Tonino frowned in thought, then shrugged. He gestured toward Cat's textbook. "I have also wondered: That is boring for you?"

"Er, not as such," Cat said, flushing. "I just don't like them."

"No? Could perhaps I see as well?" he asked wistfully.

"Ughn, if you want," Cat said, relieved to shove it all away, even for a moment.

Tonino rose, walked over, and leaned over the textbook. A few moments later, he caught his breath and pointed to the page. "This problem is so interesting, is it not?" he said, pleased.

"Interesting?" Cat gaped at him. Ghastly, mortifying, perplexing, and frustrating, all sprang to mind, but 'interesting' never.

"Ah," Tonino said. "I only had meant how it is actually applied, you see." He smiled. "For I have seen several of these used in the past in duels. Would you like to hear of them?"

"Duels?" Cat blinked at him, intrigued. He shrugged. "Why not?" He knew his tutorial doom was already ensured, but the distraction served another goal.

Tonino put his letter away.