The Fifth of November

Hamza

The fifth of November? Yes, I remember. There was a small get together. I stayed in my rooms at the far end of the left corridor there’s a bedroom, bathroom and separate living area from morning until the guests arrived closer to dusk. I put on a blazer I found in one of the closets. It was gray, corduroy, surprisingly nice fit, with a yellow handkerchief. I digress.

Who was there? There was Josephine, Esther, of course, Merlin, and myself. Although, I have only been residing here since the end of summer. Oh, and Henri, a black cat. There were also a dozen or so people invited by Josephine. When the evening began I was lounging on the back veranda where Josephine held court, and then I spent about fifteen minutes wandering the garden. It’s a massive, sprawling English garden. I did not know anyone there except for Claudine and her son Tristan. Tristan and I are about the same age but we don’t have much in common so we just said hello. I think Tristan snuck off to his car after that. After leaving the garden, I moved to the front to people watch. It looked like Tristan was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car watching the squirrels hop in the trees in front of him. Then I saw Esther get into the passenger side seat. Esther and I were friendly but not enough where I thought about approaching. They looked calm, I’m not sure why they were talking or what was going on. There was one other person I remember I met, he was an English professor from Lille, I think. I did not stay longer than thirty minutes total before I returned the blazer and went to my rooms. I was going to do some reading when there was a tap, tap, tap at the window. It was Merlin, visible from the waist up. Merlin is the groundskeeper. He’s known Josephine for a long time although he's quite a bit older than her. He doesn’t live in the main house but has his own detached room elsewhere on the property. I lifted the window and he hoisted himself over. I remember Merlin’s head fell into a deep think as he stroked his short, gray beard and swept the room with his eyes. The first thing he actually said to me was something about a dragonfly on the window sill.

“Did you put that there?” He asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” I said.

“The dragonfly.”

I looked over at what he was talking about and there was a yellow dragonfly, presumably dead, resting adjacent to the window.

“You didn’t put it there?” He repeated.

“Why would I?”

“It’s a strange place for a dragonfly to die.”

“What does the dead dragonfly mean?”

“I don’t know,” He said, chuckling. “I didn’t put it there.”

I was not following and changed the subject, “Why didn’t you use the door?”

“Didn’t want to be seen,” Merlin told me as he sat his tall, lanky frame in one of the three chairs around the little wooden round table. There was a chess board set up we had been in the habit of using since we met in the summer so I asked if he wanted to play.

“Alright” he said, “You play white.”

The first game was normal. Started E4, E5, F3. I should say while I think I’m a decent player, Merlin is certainly better. I think he found mate before the queens were off the board. As we were resetting the pieces for a second game, he was ready to tell me why he was there. I joked that he brought the dragonfly.

“I told you that wasn’t me.”

Now, I’m a little hesitant to share the events that followed but I do not want to hide anything important. I’ll tell you the truth, and hope this will not affect your opinion of me. Merlin reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a brown cloth bag the size of his palm which held a small glass bottle. He pulled the cork out and shuffled the contents onto the table. I took a piece and ate it. Merlin did the same but a much larger piece. I remember it was around this time that Henri the cat jumped up from outside and sat on the window sill. I would not have noticed her silhouette except her honeydew eyes penetrated the darkness.

“Which cat is that?” Merlin asked, glancing at her.

“Henri.”

“Do you think that’s Henri or do you know that’s Henri?”

It’s true there were a few cats around the property that shared the same black coat, however, Henri was the only one I had seen inside.

“I think that’s Henri. Am I right?”

“I don’t know,” Merlin admitted and said something that seemed strange to me then, but makes sense now. “They’re all the same cat.”

I remember there was a doorbell and knock from the front door. Merlin was perfectly still for a few minutes gazing at the board but I knew his mind was not on the chess position. 

“Another guest?” I suggested, but I could tell something else was happening.

“Forget it,” said Merlin, jumping into action. “We’ll finish another time.” 

And with the agility of a much younger man, Merlin practically jumped out the window and the next thing I knew everything had changed. A second black cat appeared next to Henri and ate the dragonfly. The two cats sniffed each other for a moment and then looked over at me in a way it seemed something was on their mind. I tried to pet them but they jumped away too fast. Poised on the dirt path, I swear those cats looked at me as if they were waiting for me. I found a small flashlight from the desk drawer and climbed out the window after them. Honestly, I had never done that before I had seen Merlin do it.

Even though it was night much of the chateau was still softly illuminated from the outdoor fixtures. The cats, however, were moving away from the house and towards the neighboring woods to the north. I figured Merlin went to the commotion happening in the front, which is west. I could hear shouting from that direction. I followed the cats to the forest, waiting to turn on my flashlight until I was far enough away where I knew I would not be seen. It was really dark without it. The cats continued down a path with nothing but fallen trees and trodden down leaves. It was like this how I found myself in the woods that night. I would have normally never been out that far if it weren’t for all of that other stuff that I told you happened.

It felt as if we were walking for many minutes but I’m not sure exactly how long it was before the cats finally stopped at a small clearing. I remember there was a log that looked like it would make a good seat but the cats sniffed and scratched at something in the corner and when I focused the light there was a small square stone door flat to the ground. The grass around it was cut. I heard some faint noises from the other side and when I lifted up the handle there were six more black cats. They emerged into the world and joined the other two before all eight scattered into different directions. The sight of those cats was rather unsettling so I tried lowering the door but I knew I must have been having a bad trip because when I let go of the door there was a man that caught it. He looked just like me but wearing a blue mask. He did not speak. I don’t know what got into me or what I thought in that moment but I dropped the flashlight and ran as fast as I could move. I was running in circles but I could not find the direction back to the house and when I thought I found it, I heard the most foul scream. Everything started spinning and went black. The next morning I was waking up on the floor of my bed room with a terrible migraine.

I know this all sounds strange but you should speak with Merlin before you believe anything. He’ll have a lot to say. If there’s one person you can trust with the truth, it’s Merlin.

Merlin

Can’t think of much to say, really. A buddy of mine was coming down early from Lille and said he could bring the planks of wood I needed so I worked on the fencing most of the day. Weather was nice, warmer than normal for the season. I’ve thought about the whole thing a few times since it happened and maybe I could have nipped it in the bud, I don’t know. I didn’t know him real well. Tristan, I mean. Esther was nervous about him being there, that I know. He’s back, he’s back she said to me. I’d seen him a few times over the summer with his mother. Real quiet type. Always in his head. Josephine liked him. Well, I told Esther to forget about him and stay inside but she didn’t listen. Can’t blame her, you know. It goes against their kind’s nature to listen to good advice. Well, I guess she said she’d talk to him. He was out hiding in his car, probably so he could smoke. I told her I’d keep an eye out so at one point I’m pushing some leaves around with both eyes on them when I see Hamza walk over and take something from Tristan through the car window. Didn’t see what it was but now we know. Hamza went inside right after that. As I was passing by the side I happened to look through one of the windows. He was on the floor with the cat and he was definitely on something. 

Well, I found Jo and told her what the kid had in his car. She has no tolerance for that stuff so I’m not surprised she made the phone call. Must have been embarrassing for Claudine to see her son like that. Strange he was alone when you found him in his car because we haven’t seen Esther since.

Hey, when you got him, did you smell burning rubber?