The Black Cat and His Book

The cat, with fur black as the night sky wandered aimlessly down an overgrown path. His lean body winding like a river through the brightly coloured moss and shrubbery, his eyes alight with purpose, and behind him was a girl. Her bottom lip sticking out in the most displeasing way as she used a stick to abuse the shrubbery around her. At first glance one might simply think she is a bad egg, but if an individual were to really look at her they would see she was rather disheveled; much like someone who had recently fallen. She was covered in dirt and leaves that clashed horribly with her neon pink t-shirt, her hair was in tangles, and her hands and knees were bleeding from various small cuts. 

Disheveled as she was, she seemed determined to follow the black cat in front of her. If it turned right she turned right, and if it turned left she turned left. If the cat climbed over logs and under hills she followed faithfully, with an annoyed yet determined look on her face. Why might she be so unwavering in her pursuit of the black cat you might ask? Well, it all started six months prior when the girl had rescued an injured black cat from an alleyway, likely having been attacked by stray dogs or cruel people. The girl had begged her mother to let her keep the cat, promising to tend to its every need; and true to her word the girl managed to nurse the cat back to health. However, as time went by she noticed there was something strange about the cat she had named Mr. Merripen. Something peculiar that she couldn’t quite place, like a fond memory that had begun to fade over time. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant, but she couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss each time she gazed into the cat's golden eyes. 

Something about the way his eyes observed her seemed far too human, like he was staring into the depths of her soul and bewitching her thoughts. The girl could sense something was off, and for months she stewed over this knowledge thinking she had gone mad. For months she waited for the cat to do something to validate this feeling of unease, but nothing ever happened. So again she waited, and waited, and waited. Until finally just as the first spring showers began and all the snow had melted the cat did something peculiar. It stole her favourite pink pen and darted out the window of her room.The girl had been so enraged as she chased the lithe cat through the neighborhood. Her cries of “No!” and “Mr. Merripen, give that back!” were ignored by the feline who would stop every now and then to see if she was still following. Its tail twitching back and forth, before sprinting off again; and finally stopping at the beginning of a moss covered pathway leading into the woods. There the cat would drop the pen and look between the woods and the girl expectantly, but the girl only grabbed her pen with a huff and left. 

However, that was not the peculiar thing that the cat did, the peculiar thing was that it would repeat this game of chase twice every day. Once in the morning and once in the evening, always stealing the girl's favourite pink pen. She did try to stop him many times,  by building barricades, locking her pen in cupboards and hiding it in secret places, but try as she might, he always managed to find it. So often did this game of chase occur that the girl had come to expect it, and she no longer ran after the cat because she knew where it was going. Instead she would walk slowly behind it pouting as she kicked at rocks with her feet and muttered something along the lines of “Stupid black cat!” and “Wait till I get my hand on him, the beast!” Not that she would ever hurt him, but she hoped that she might scare him into stopping his little game of chase. When she would finally arrive at the mossy path the cat's ears would be laying flat on his head and his tail would be swishing back and forth in annoyance, and each time the girl would glare at Mr. Merripen and scold him as she took her pen back with a huff. 

Weeks passed like this until finally the girl had had enough. She longed to know just what was so special about that damned path, and why did Mr. Merripen seemed dead-set on bringing her there every day? So when he stole her pen the next time, she was determined to know why and broke off at a sprint behind the small creature. Once more it stopped at the mossy path and stared at her expectantly, an eerily human excitement passing through its eyes as it glanced between the forest path and the girl. Who glared back at him as she took a moment to catch her breath as beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. When Mr.Merripen noticed she had no intention of leaving he picked the pen up once more and wandered into the woods, his tail swishing excitedly and pace brisk. “Now where are you going?” yelled the girl who began to jog after him. In her efforts to keep up to the cat the girl did not pay much attention to the ground beneath her feet. Nor did she notice how the pathway had begun to gradually slant downward, getting more and more uneven the deeper she went into the woods. Her only focus was the cat in front of her, and as result she did not notice the large root stick up in the path as she ran. Having noticed it too late she found herself rolling down the mossy hill. Her neon pink t-shirt and long brown hair caught on branches and dirt alike as she rolled to the bottom, where she landed on her back breathless and bruised. 

She laid there for what felt like an hour, staring at the foliage of the trees dancing in the wind, a stinging sensation coming from cuts on her hands and knees; likely from when she had tried to stop her fall. In her mind she wondered if she had a concussion and how she would explain her current state to her mother, because she couldn’t very well say that she had been chasing Mr.Merripen through the woods. Many suitable excuses she could give her mother passed through her mind as she lay there, her mind whirring like a freight train down a track. Until her thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Merripen’s face looking down at her, an all too human look of worry dancing through his eyes, and her favourite pink pen in his mouth. Seeing him the girl shot up remembering why she was in the forest in the first place, ignoring the pain she looked at the cat with a new fire in her eye “Well lead on, I haven't got all day.” she stated in a strong but slightly shaky voice.

Mr. Merripen did just that, but his pace seemed to have slowed into a saunter rather than the dead run as it had been before. The girl couldn’t help but feel that the cat had done this for her sake as she limped behind it with a pout. She watched how his body weaved gracefully through the shrubbery, and how he would look back at her every few steps like a man with a guilty conscience. She also observed how he would stop every so often and shift his attention from side to side, his tail swishing anxiously, almost as though he were considering which path to take. It became clear to the girl that the longer she observed the cat the more it seemed he was blaming himself for her fall, and that bothered her because any other cat she had met never really expressed guilt like this. Then again she also remembered that she had never met a cat that was so peculiar, because although it acted like a cat, she had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t.

It was well into the afternoon when Mr.Merripen stopped in front of what looked like an abandoned cabin, and turned to the girl with a strange look. His body had become still, and his eyes shone with an odd sort of excitement before he darted into the building leaving the girl staring after him in confusion. With him went her bravery, because as she looked at the forest she realized that she didn’t remember the way back. She berated herself silently for blindly following the cat into the forest as she glanced uneasily at the surrounding woods, a sudden fear emerged in her mind as she imagined that inside the cabin was a wicked witch who eats children. Foolish as the idea seemed she still hesitated to go inside, however after some thought she decided that joining Mr.Merripen inside was better than remaining outside alone. 

So she walked up the creaky old steps and across the old deck that groaned under each step she took, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end until she reached the front door. There she paused for a moment gathering her wits as she slowly wrapped her hand around the cold rusted mettle of the door handle and pushed the rotting door inward the hinges screaming in protest. Still holding the door handle she found herself staring into a large room filled with rotting furniture, moth-eaten curtains, and moss covered books piled along every wall; and sitting in the middle of the room was Mr.Merripen who seemed quite at home. The girl shuffled across the room and knelt before the cat and began scratching his head to calm her nerves, feeling foolish for being so scared to enter the cabin. Mr. Merripen purred as she pet him for a few minutes, rubbing his head into her hand with vigor, before wandering away from her and jumping up onto the old table and sitting down next to a very large book.

The girl laughed at his cheeky behaviour and started to make her way to the table when Mr.Merripen swatted the book off the table. The book landing on the floor with a loud thw-ump and bursting open, revealing beautiful black hand writing on golden pages. At first glance the cover of the book had seemed ordinary sitting on the table, but as the girl looked at the open pages of the book she found herself drawn to it, and before she knew it she had knelt down in front of the book. Wonder filled her mind as she caressed the pages, curious as to who in their right mind would abandon such a beautiful book. Perhaps if the girl had paid more attention she would have noticed how the words on the pages began to vibrate, and how the aged cabin around her began to appear clean and brand new. She would have noticed how the black cat on the table began to get bigger and bigger, his fur shifting into a velvety suit, his legs extending and swinging off the table, and his all too human eyes now accompanied by an all too human face. Although his cat ears and tail remained the same, swishing back and forth as he observed the girl with clear amusement, an excited grin on his face and black fedora in his hand.

“Well missus, do you like my book?” he said in a candid voice startling the girl, who just now noticed how her surroundings had changed. She stood tongue tied in the middle of the room as she eyed the stranger before her with unease. “Aw come now missus! Y’can’t have me believin’ that you have nothin’ to say.” He mused a mischievous grin appearing on his face “Unless…” he paused and eyed her playfully, each word sounding like a pur he continued “The cats got your tongue!” he jested and began laughing. The girl remained silent, keeping as much distance between herself and the man as was possible. She did not know who he was, or how he got here, but she was certain that he was crazy. As the man before her laughed she began to make her way towards the door, and make a quick exit when the man's voice stopped her in her tracks “Please don’t leave missus, you won’t be able to return home if you do. For these are not the same woods that you came to this cabin by, and I’d hate for you to get lost. Especially, when I am so fond of you, and am quite indebted to you.” he purred. 

The girl was scared and could only reply “Wh- who are you?” of course there were a great many other things she would have liked to ask such as ‘How do I get home?’ and ‘How are these woods different from before?’ being a few of her main concerns. The man smiled softly at her, his lanky form towering above her as he strided towards. Stopping just in front of her, holding his fedora to his chest with one hand and gently grabbing one of her hands as he kneeled in front of her. “Missus, surely you recognize me” he implored, bending his head downward slightly and looking at her, “I am Matwick the black cat, or as you have come to call me Mr. Merripen!” he purred. The girl gasped as she looked at the man before her, searching his face for any signs of deceit, and as they landed on his eyes she knew at once that he was indeed her Mr. Merripen. 

“But… how?” She inquired, shaking her head in disbelief, “Why do you look like a man, you were… you were just a cat? Weren’t you?” She questioned as she touched his ears that were now accompanied by short curly black hair instead of fur. “Well missus, I am a cat and I am a man. Well, more specific I am a Familiar.” He said frankly, his ears twitching slightly against her fingers as his gold eyes observed her. Confused the girl retracted her hands from his ears and contemplated his face, noticing his clear dark skin, and how instead of whiskers he now had a mustache and a goatee. “Familiar?” She questioned her attention moving to his tail as it swished across the floor “ Yes missus, a Familiar. Creatures that pledge themselves to a witch, that are neither human nor animal, but magical all the same.” he clarified, placing his hat on his head and walking to the book he had swatted onto the floor earlier that day and picking it up. 

He flipped through the book till he found a certain page before he spoke again. “That is why I wanted to bring you here missus.” he stated as he looked at her,  “I want to pledge my service to you, to repay you my life dept. For I would surely be dead If you had not saved me. “ he said earnestly. “But I am not a witch, I am just a girl!” said the girl in shock. “All witches were once just girls. Not one of them was born with magic. Afterall, witches don’t become witches until they are chosen by a Familiar who grants them their magic when a contract is signed; and I have chosen you to be my witch.” he paused looking at her with a serious expression “This is my book, every Familiar has one. When a girl signs her name on the front page of a Familiars book, she is signin’ a contract and from that moment forth she becomes a witch; and the Familiar is bound to her for the rest of their life.” 

Mr. Merripen looked up at the girl with a sincere smile “I will not force you to sign, but know that even if you do not wish to be my witch. I will remain by your side for the rest of my life, because I will not leave the girl that saved my life for as long as I shall breathe.” and with that he handed her the book and her favourite pink pen. The girl looked at the golden page and read over the contract, and thought long and hard about all that Mr. Merripen said. She laughed to herself as she realized she had already made her decision.  So at the bottom of the page, just below the line that said ‘Familiars signature’ where the name Matwick Merripen was written hastily. The girl smiled, and with her Favourite pink pen and many hopes for the future she signed her name like so;

Witches Signature: Abigail Hemlock