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Ada pulled the front door closed behind her and set off down the driveway, pulling her gloves on as she went. She was halted in her tracks by a muffled shriek from behind the house. Ada hurried to investigate.
"Hecate?"
She found her hopping up and down in the greenhouse, wearing one black wellington boot and one woollen sock, the other boot lying discarded on the floor.
"There was a mouse in my boot!"
"Oh dear." Ada held out one hand to steady Hecate and used the other to flip the garden kneeler over into a stool. "Sit down."
Hecate sat, shuddering. "I can't bear mice."
"Where did it go?"
"It ran away behind the compost heap."
Ada knelt to pick up the boot and tried to hand it over but Hecate shrank back.
"There might be another one in there."
Ada thumped the heel on the concrete floor of the greenhouse before shaking it upside down. "Nope. You're quite safe."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure."
Ada fought the urge to smile. She would never have had Hecate down as someone who might be afraid of mice, especially since she'd fearlessly rescued Ada from more than one spider in the past.
Hecate peered anxiously inside the boot before pulling it on.
"You don't think it'll come back?"
"Perhaps. It's warmer in here than the rest of the garden. Maybe you should get a cat."
Hecate narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "I did have a cat, a long time ago. She was hit by a car and I didn't want to replace her. ...Perhaps you're right though. It might be time to move on. This street is a lot quieter since they built the ring road."
Ada blinked. Her suggestion had been made lightly and without much thought but Hecate appeared to be giving it her full consideration. It still caught Ada off guard sometimes, being taken so seriously.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Indigo.
"Oh I'm sorry Hecate, I'm running late. Are you going to be alright now?"
"I'm fine. Where are you going?"
"Indigo has an emergency dentist appointment so I'm going to take care of Azura."
"She called you instead of me?" asked Hecate, frowning slightly.
"She said you'd be working this morning."
"I meant to but I thought I should turn over the soil in the vegetable beds while the sun is still shining."
"You're more than welcome to come with me."
Hecate wavered, but shook her head. "No. I'd like to get this done, and I have all morning with her tomorrow."
Ada pushed aside a pang of regret that she would not be here to see Hecate working in the garden.
"Ok, well I'll probably see you later. Happy digging!"
~*~
"...Thank you Azura, what's this one?"
Ada was sitting on the floor assisting in Azura's favourite game of pulling all her mother's books off the shelves, trying to make sure they went back the right way up and without too many tooth marks. "... Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering. I think that might be a little advanced for you, dear. For me too, if I'm honest. You have a very clever mummy."
Indigo's letterbox rattled and a brightly coloured leaflet floated down onto the mat. Azura commando crawled to the front door to investigate. She waved the paper in Ada's face.
"Quack quack!"
"No dear, those are cats, not ducks. They say meow."
Azura found this so hilarious that Ada felt obliged to continue meowing for another minute. When the baby tired of this entertainment and began to crawl back into the living room, Ada followed, examining the leaflet more closely.
Could you give them a loving new home? The cats were black, curled so close together that it was hard to see where one furry body left off and the other began. The smaller cat looked particularly appealing to Ada. There was something about his tranquil green eyes, the tilt of his head, that called to her. We could be friends, he seemed to be saying . Such wonderful friends.
The other cat was more aloof, eyes slightly narrowed, staring haughtily down her nose as though being photographed were beneath her dignity. For some reason her expression reminded Ada of the author photograph inside the cover of Hecate's books. Smiling at the absurdity of this, she turned over the paper to read the back.
Pendle and Morgana have lived together since they were kittens and are the best of friends. Unfortunately their owner can no longer take care of them and wishes them to be rehomed together. They are both fully vaccinated and in good health. Pendle is extremely affectionate, and while Morgana is more reserved, she is very loyal once you win her trust.
Ada thought longingly of how nice it would be to have a cat again. Someone to cuddle when she felt lonely in the evenings, a companion upon whom she could lavish affection without having to worry about things becoming complicated. "...Pendle," she mused, trying out the name and liking it. He really did look sweet. As for Morgana, she seemed like the very essence of Hecate in cat form.
On a whim, she pulled out her phone and dialled the number on the back of the paper.
"Hello, is that Gwen Bat? My name is Ada Cackle. I'm calling about your leaflet with the two black cats?... That's right. Are they still…? Oh, that's wonderful! Yes, we could come by this afternoon to meet them. … Yes, ok, we'll see you then. Goodbye. ...Ouch!"
This last was addressed to Azura, who had poked her in the foot with a wooden brick. "Sorry sweetheart, I'm not paying you enough attention am I? Let me just send one quick message and then I promise I'm all yours."
She glanced back down at the screen for long enough to fire off a text to Hecate. I may have done something a little impulsive…
"Alright Azura, what shall we do with these bricks? I know! Let's build a castle."
~*~
Three hours later she stood with Hecate on the doorstep of a pretty, old fashioned cottage, contemplating an ornate brass knocker in the shape of a bat. They both reached for it at the same time and their fingers collided. Ada dropped her hand and apologised while Hecate grasped the knocker and rapped firmly on the door.
"There's no obligation you know," Ada said for the third time, as they waited for a response. "Just because we're going to meet them, it doesn't mean we have to-"
Hecate's eyes gleamed with amusement. "I know."
The door was opened by a stately elderly lady dressed all in green with a white cat wrapped around her shoulders like a scarf.
"Ada?" she asked, glancing from one to the other.
Ada smiled and held out her hand. "That's me. It's lovely to meet you. This is Hecate."
"I'm Gwen." The old lady reached up to the cat around her neck. "And this is Snowdrop. Do come in. … Try not to trip over Reginald," she added, skirting around a striped ginger cat. "He will insist on snoozing on the doormat."
A quavering voice came from the next room. "Could you give me a hand dear? One of the kittens is stuck under the piano again."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "It must be that little tabby. It took us an hour to get him out last time. Coming, Algy!"
She led the way into a large living room crowded with furniture, most of which was occupied by cats.
A grey bearded man rose to his feet as they came in.
"Pleased to meet you,'' he said vaguely. "Gwen dear, I think we'll have to try and move the piano."
"We could do that," Ada offered. Hecate slipped her leather jacket off and rolled up her shirt sleeves.
Gwen looked relieved. "That would be ever so kind of you."
Two black shadows detached themselves from the dark piano top at their approach. The smaller and fluffier of the two immediately wound himself around Ada's ankles. Charmed, she bent to scratch behind his ears. He rubbed his head against her hand and began purring loudly. Ada's determination not to get too attached melted away like ice cream in the sun.
Gwen beamed. "Pendle, Morgana, these nice ladies have come to say hello to you!"
The bigger cat, sleek and powerful, gave them an unimpressed glance and turned her back. Ada noticed Hecate watching her with interest.
There was a plaintive mew from behind the piano and everybody's attention returned to the problem in hand. Just as Ada and Hecate moved to either side of the instrument, Pendle stuck his face under the front and made a low, persuasive noise. The kitten mewed. Pendle called again and stood back. After a moment, a tiny set of whiskers poked out into the room, followed by a very dusty tabby kitten. Pendle touched noses with him, and sneezed. Morgana graced the scene with her attention once more, picking the kitten up by the scruff of his neck and marching him over to where his siblings were being nursed by their mother in a basket by the window. She stalked back to join Pendle, wiping a stray piece of fluff from her mouth with a fastidious paw.
Ada laughed. "It seems Pendle and Morgana have saved the day," she said, watching regretfully out of the corner of her eye as Hecate rolled her sleeves back down to her wrists. "Are you sure you could bear to part with them?"
"It will be a wrench," Gwen admitted. "But I have to say in some ways it would be more peaceful without them." She bent down to pet them both. Pendle greeted her amiably and even Morgana gave her a moment of contact before Snowdrop leapt down from Gwen's shoulder and hissed at her, tail lashing furiously. Morgana retaliated with a lightning swipe of her paw and the other cat retreated.
"Morgana doesn't get along very well with some of the other cats," explained the old man.
"... You don't say," Hecate drawled. She crouched and held out a hand to Morgana, who gave it a cautious sniff before graciously allowing herself to be stroked. Ada opened her arms to Pendle, who jumped up for a cuddle with heartwarming enthusiasm.
Gwen watched with approval. "I'd almost given up hope of finding these two a good home, we've had them for months. Most people come here looking for kittens, you know, and those who could be persuaded to take an older cat only wanted one or the other. But the previous owner was adamant that they should not be separated. So I thought I'd try one more round of leaflets, just in case. ...And here you are!" She gave a bright smile. "I can see you're all going to get along beautifully."
Algy shuffled a stack of papers before gently moving a tortoiseshell kitten out of the chair he wanted to sit in. "We can see that you're both cat lovers. But we will need to go through a few formalities before we let you take them home."
Ada's face fell. "Oh, we can't take them today! We hadn't even quite decided- that is, we were only…" She trailed off as Pendle nuzzled under her chin, her heart heavy with the thought of leaving him behind. Hecate looked from Ada to Pendle and back again, her fingers playing in the fur at the back of Morgana's neck.
"We could take them today."
"But Hecate, we don't have anything ready!"
"I still have all the necessary equipment," Hecate stated. "Freshly cleaned and ready to use."
Warmth filled Ada's chest. "Oh Hecate!"
Hecate gave her half a smile. "I had a feeling you might struggle to say goodbye, once we were here. We'd just need to stop off for some food on the way home."
Paperwork complete, they made their way back towards Hecate's car, each clutching a cat carrier. Ada was full of happy excitement for their new friends, and still glowing a little at Hecate's unexpected thoughtfulness.
"I'll sit in the back," she said when Hecate moved to open the passenger door for her. "If I take the middle seat I can have a cat on either side and make sure they don't get bumped."
As Hecate was handing in the second basket, Gwen's voice floated down the driveway towards them.
"Such a lovely idea, adopting pets together for Valentine's Day."