“Bad kitty,” I said. “No distracting me like that.” This just made her giggle at me.
Dammit, that’s cheating.
“Okay, nyaaa,” she said. I swear she drew out the ‘nya,’ even though she’d said before she didn’t know she was even doing it. She flickered away before I could grab her.
PARTY CHAT / JAMES: Guys I changed Danielle to see if she could smell anything. There’s blood and tracks but no sign of the mother. We’re pretty sure a coyote got her and dragged her off. We’re coming back. Danielle wants to stay in her catgirl form to distract the kids. That okay Samantha?
I figured that Samantha, as the only mom on party chat, should probably get a say. Though if anybody else had something to say, that was fine too.
While we waited I tried to pinch Danielle when she wasn’t looking to get her back for teasing me. She just twitched her hips and I missed her by an inch. She didn’t even glance back at me.
“You’ll have to do better than that. You’re too slow, nyaa.” she said, laughter in her voice. I heard Anthony snort.
PARTY CHAT / SAMANTHA: That might actually help. Give me a few minutes to tell them about the catlady.
PARTY CHAT / JAMES: Joe are you still outside with Sheila and Bruce? Can you sort of warn them that the catlady is real and she’s coming? The kids probably won’t care but Sheila freaks out easy.
The response to this came much faster.
PARTY CHAT / JOE: Okay will do.
Eventually we got the all-clear from Joe and Samantha and walked back around the house. Sheila, Bruce and the kids were standing with Joe and Mandy. As Danielle came into view the kids let out excited shouts.
“She is a cat-lady,” squealed Betsy, who ran forward. Robert stayed back at first, but then couldn’t contain himself and came after her. He didn’t exactly run, but it was a very fast walk.
“Hi, kids,” she said, giving them a dazzling smile. “I told you the cat-lady was real, nya!”
Betsy hit her at full speed and gave her a giant hug. “You’re so pretty!”
“Thank you, nya!” said Danielle, laughing.
Robert had stopped a few feet back. “You’ve got fur,” he said breathlessly. “And cat ears.”
“Know what else?” she said. Somehow her teasing sounded much more innocent this time.
“What, what?” cried Betsy, stepping back.
Danielle lifted up the back of her jacket, and her tail fell out. She’d fished it out of her jeans beforehand, but hidden it so she could surprise the kids. Again.
“You have a TAIL!” With an even louder squeal, Betsy ran around and grabbed it. Danielle winced.
“Easy, sweetie. It’s sensitive, nya. Don’t pull kitties’ tails.” She managed to keep her voice even. Betsy, looking guilty, eased up, but then immediately started stroking the red fur.
Meanwhile Bruce and Sheila had been walking up, much more slowly, with stunned expressions on their faces. Sheila looked a little nervous.
“It’s me,” said Danielle, looking up at them. “This is the perk I got, nya, like your Invulnerability protection, Sheila.” Her voice was unchanged, except for the ‘nyas,’ and I saw Sheila relax a tiny bit.
“How does it work?” said Bruce, wonder in his voice.
“I can just change back and forth, nya” she said. “When I’m in this form, I can see and smell and hear like a cat.”
Robert had been studying her intently. “Where are your fingernails?”
“Right here, nya!” she said with a smile. This one was so wide it exposed her fangs. At the same time, she held up her hand and her razor-sharp claws slid out like a magician’s trick.
Sheila gasped.
Danielle’s ears twitched in Sheila’s direction, and she immediately retracted her claws and lowered her hand.
“Sorry, sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to scare you, nya.” She looked at the kids, who were staring at her open-mouthed. “Kids, I’m going to go in and see what’s going on in the house. Can you stay out here and help keep watch, nya?”
“Why do you keep saying ‘nya?’” said Betsy curiously. When Danielle said ‘nya,’ it fit seamlessly into her speech. It was sort of jarring to hear Betsy say it.
For some reason, this question got me glared at. Gigantic blue eyes narrowed quite a bit and gave me a look that definitely said, ‘This is all your fault.’
“I’m a cat, nya. It’s just how we talk.” She ruffled Betsy’s hair. The speed of her hand made the little girl jump, but then she giggled. “Gotta go, nya. Be good out here.”
She and I went into the little house. I led the way, not that finding Samantha, Mike and the kids was hard. Sally gasped as Danielle stepped into the room, and pressed into Samantha nervously. Billy just stared at her. His mouth had opened just like Betsy and Robert’s.
“See?” asked Samantha gently, her arm around each of them. “I told you we had a cat-lady friend. Isn’t she pretty?”
“Hello,” said Danielle gently. “I’m Danielle. I’m happy to meet you, nya.”
Sally looked up shyly. “You’re pretty.”
“Thank you, nya. Would you like to touch my fur?” She held out one hand. It was covered with barely-visible fur, slightly paler than her fair skin.
The little girl looked up at Samantha, who nodded. Then she looked back at Danielle and shook her head ‘yes.’
Danielle walked over and knelt down, then reached out and let the child stroke her hand. Sally’s eyes grew wide.
“It’s real, see? Look, you can touch my tail, nya.” Danielle’s tail curled up toward her other hand: she obviously had some control over it. She held it out and the little girl touched it.
“It’s soft,” she said in a whisper. “It’s so pretty.”
PRIVATE MESSAGE / TO DANIELLE BRAID: Is that how I look when I’m touching your fur?
The catgirl made a choking sound. Sally yanked her hands back, looking scared.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she said softly. “I just coughed. You didn’t hurt me, nya.”
PRIVATE MESSAGE / FROM DANIELLE BRAID: Stop that I’ll deal with you later.
PARTY CHAT / JAMES: Did you tell them, Samantha?
The blonde woman’s face fell.
PARTY CHAT / SAMANTHA: No. I told them we were looking, then I told them we had a cat-lady friend who wanted to meet them.
PARTY CHAT / MIKE: Normally you break it to kids this young gradually. But we have to leave and we may never come back. We have to tell them she’s not here.
PARTY CHAT / MANDY: I don’t work with kids but I agree they have to let go as fast as possible.
PARTY CHAT / JAMES: Okay. Let me.
I wasn’t sure why, but this felt like my job.
“Can the cat-lady sit with you, Sally? You can hold her hand if you like her fur,” I asked the little girl.
She nodded, so Danielle got up on the bed and sat on the other side of Sally, who was now sandwiched between her and Samantha. Each of them took one of her little hands.