A Tale of Two Castles Read Free

scrambled upright and minced down the mast with a satisfied air. I returned to my cloak. Soon after, Master Dess collected that kitten and its mates.
    When they were all in their basket, the goodwife came to me, bearing a small package wrapped in rough hemp. I jumped up.
    â€œMay I sit with you?”
    I made room for her and she sat, tucking her legs under her. She placed the package in her lap.
    What a pleasure to have her company!
    â€œMay I know your name, dear?”
    I could think of no harm in telling her. “Lodie. I mean, Elodie.”
    â€œAnd I am Goodwife Celeste. My goodman is Twah.”
    â€œPleased to meet you.” I rummaged in my satchel. One must show hospitality to a visitor, even a visitor to a cloak on the deck of a cog.
    She was saying, “You and I both feared for that brave kitten.” She paused, then added, “Have you heard of the cats of Two Castles?”
    I shook my head, while drawing bread and cheese and a pear out of my satchel. With the little knife from my purse, I cut her chunks of the bread and cheese and half the pear.
    â€œThank you.” She tasted. “Excellent goat cheese.” She unwrapped her own package.
    â€œCats in Two Castles?” I said to remind her.
    â€œThe townspeople believe cats protect them from the ogre. There are many.”
    â€œMany cats or ogres?” How could a cat save anyone from an ogre?
    She laughed. “Cats.” Her package held bread and cheese, too, and a handful of radishes.
    We traded slices and chunks, observing custom, according to the saying, Share well, fare well. Share ill, fare ill .
    Goodwife Celeste’s cheese wasn’t as tasty as mine, but the bread was softer, baker’s bread. I wondered where my future meals would come from, once my food and my single copper ran out.
    Goodwife Celeste returned to telling me about cats. “You know that ogres shift shape sometimes?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œCats know they do, too. The cats sense that an ogre can become a fox or a wolf, but they’re not afraid.”
    Our cat at home, Belliss, who weighed less than a pail of milk, feared nothing.
    â€œThey’re aware that an ogre can also turn into a mouse.” She finished eating. “More?” She held out her food.
    â€œNo, thank you.” I offered her more of mine, too, and she said no.
    As I wrapped my food and she wrapped hers, her sleeve slid back. A bracelet of twine circled her left wrist. Were twine bracelets the fashion in Two Castles? She probably wouldn’t have minded if I’d asked, but I didn’t want to reveal my ignorance.
    â€œCan an ogre shift into any kind of animal?” I said. “A spider or an elephant?”
    â€œI believe so.”
    â€œCan an ogre shift into a human?”
    Her eyebrows went up. “I doubt it.” She returned to the subject of cats. “A cat will stare at an ogre and wish him— will him—to become a mouse. They say one cat isn’t enough, but several yearning at him, and the ogre can’t resist.”
    I pitied the ogre. “Is that true?”
    â€œMany believe it. What’s more, people train their cats. They don’t train them to try to make an ogre become a mouse. It is in the cats’ nature to do that, and the ogre must cooperate by giving in. But folks train cats to perform tricks and to stalk anything, including an ogre. Some make a living at cat teaching. With the flick of a wrist . . .”
    She showed me, and I imitated her—nothing to it.
    â€œWith this gesture, anyone can set a cat to stalking.”
    â€œIf there were no cats, what would the ogre do?”
    â€œNothing, perhaps. Or dine on townsfolk.”
    My stomach fluttered. “Does he live alone, or are there more ogres in his castle?”
    â€œAlone with his servants. Count Jonty Um is the only ogre in Lepai. Likely there are others in other lands.”
    â€œHe’s a count?” You couldn’t