Chapter 2
An urgent Matter
Five knocks.
Five knocks usually meant for whomever was on the receiving end to get up from their seat, jump up from the bathtub butt naked, wake up from their deepest sleep, drop whatever they held in their hands unless it was a baby or a cat or a precious family heirloom, and storm to the door with a well-prepared look of shock on their face. Something very unusual had happened. And in Hesteyri, where everything was unusual, that meant a great deal.
Kaisa and Nonni shot each other baffled looks and stormed to the door. It was Rita, with an expression of sheer panic.
“There’s someone, you need to see it, I don’t know who he is, but he’s so small, and I think you need to see it. The cat brought him, the cats all say he’s strange, and he can’t follow them and that they don’t know what to do and…,” she said, panting and stumbling over her own words.
“What are you talking about? You know what? Never mind, I’m coming with you. Show me,” Kaisa replied, grabbing her down coat, which was still at the same spot as yesterday. Nonni came back from the kitchen, carrying her boots. Kaisa grabbed them and shuddered.
“From the freezer? Seriously? That’s just plain cruel,” she said as she slipped her warm feet into the stiffened, frozen lining of the boots. Nonni gave her a weak smile and put on her own clothes which were never misplaced for some reason. Something that Kaisa had noticed and found deeply unfair. They followed Rita through the front yard and down to the docks.
“He showed up at Olli’s workshop. Olli said he just stood there, in the doorway, crying,” she explained as they walked along the narrow footpath along the shoreline towards the old shed.
Olli’s workshop was an old, red and white shack that had “Olli’s” written on a big sign above the entrance. An old boat-helm sometimes leaned next to the door; sometimes it hung on the wall behind the house. Same with the pot of flowers, the rope, and the old rusty bucket. The only thing that stayed put was the sign, so Olli never dared to repaint it. Best never to change things that didn’t change by themselves.
As they stepped in, the cats were already there. The familiar smell of salty old wood, rusted metal and stained leather filled the air, the floorboards creaking beneath their feet. A black cat on the edge of the colony turned and approached them.
“Hey Little Bean, what’s going on? Rita told me you found someone?” Kaisa’s voice was pitched a little high for the cat's taste. She wasn’t talking to a random pet, after all. It pulled away from Kaisa’s hands and narrowed its eyes.
“You know I don’t appreciate that name or any other name for that matter. It’s a little boy. He turned up at the shop. Olli called us in to show him the way home, but he can’t seem to follow,” the cat said matter-of-factly.
“Never had that before, to be honest. We have no clue what to do with him. Talk to him. Maybe you can…see something.”
The black cat stared up at Kaisa, and she knew what was expected of her.
“We’ll see about that,” she replied, got back up and made her way through the feline crowd toward the counter. There was Olli, his beard as scruffy as always, his hat pulled down to his bushy eyebrows that covered most of his eyes. His scarred, wrinkled face looked friendly, but worried.
“He seems scared. I didn’t want to make it worse, so I had Rita get you. I figured you could find out what’s wrong with him since you…you know,” he said. Kaisa gave his arm a gentle squeeze.
“Since I’m the crazy one in this crazy place? Don’t worry, I’ve gotten used to it by now. He in the back?”
Olli nodded, told her the kid had cuddled up with one of the cats in the room behind the counter. She opened the old metal door with a sharp clank. The room behind it was just big enough for a small couch that had clearly seen better days, a round coffee table and an old TV. The boy sat on the couch with his legs crossed. He wore a gray sweater, his skin was tan and his eyes dark. A gray feline was curled up in his lap. When the door opened, the boy looked up, his eyes red from all the crying.
“Hæ, litli kall. Þú ert nýr hér, er það ekki?” Kaisa said, but remained standing in the doorway. The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he nervously started playing with the cat’s small paws. Kaisa stepped forward and sat down on the coffee table. She heard Rita come inside, who leaned over Kaisa’s shoulder and gave the little boy a thorough inspection.
“What do you reckon?” Rita mumbled into Kaisa’s ear.
“I doubt he speaks Icelandic. That’s my first line of assessment,” Kaisa replied.
“So what? He wouldn’t be the first. Try something else.”
“How many damn languages do you think I speak, Rita? Why don’t you try something?”
Rita rolled her eyes.
“English? Maybe? Most people speak English.”
“Everybody here speaks English, why does it always have to be me,” Kaisa mumbled to herself, but decided not to turn this into an argument, nodded and tried again.
“What’s your name?”
He looked up through glassy eyes.
“Archie,” he said, in a small voice.
“Where are you from, Archie?” Kaisa went on, but tried to keep a casual tone. The way he looked at her made it clear that pushing too hard would turn this into a nightmare, so Kaisa forced herself to take it easy. Be gentle, she thought, even though sometimes she wasn’t quite sure what that really meant.
“I don’t know,” he said, and lowered his head.
“Hm…how old are you?”
“This,” he answered, holding up his right hand with all fingers spread out.
“Five?” Kaisa asked. Archie nodded.
“Okay, one young lad you are. Did you get lost?”
“I think so…”
He pressed his hands into little fists and hid his face behind them. It was always hard, no matter the age, no matter who showed up in Hesteyri. There were always tears, bargaining, sometimes yelling. You can’t bargain with fate. But since he was this young, usually the cats could lead him away again, show him the way home. Usually.
“Don’t worry, Archie. We’ll get you home eventually. I think…”
“Okay,” Archie replied and lowered his head. His little fingers gently brushed through the cat’s gray fur like he was running them through a puddle of shallow water. Kaisa was surprised the cat didn’t seem to mind, still lying curled up in Archie’s lap. She looked up at Rita who merely gave her a shrug and both sighed. There was no use. Now that she thought about it, she really had to ask herself what these people expected her to do. She was no cat, after all.
“Dunno, man. Are you hungry?” she said, smiling at him through pressed lips, hoping he would bite. Archie smiled up at her and nodded. Rita stretched out her hand for him to take.
“I’m Rita, this is Kaisa. C’mon, little man, put on your jacket and let’s find you something to eat.”
Kaisa leaned her head a little closer to Rita’s, making sure her words would stay between them.
“Thank god small kids have the brain capacity of a guinea pig. Easily distracted,” she whispered with a sly smile on her face.
“That’s a bold claim, considering you are fourteen and still have the brain capacity of a guinea pig. Next time you’re upset, I’ll just jingle a bunch of keys in front of your face to distract you,” Rita whispered back.
“Make it a sandwich and we have a deal!”
As Archie and the girls emerged from the back room, the colony of cats had already spread out, leaving only Nonni, Olli and the small black cat still waiting in the shop.
“And?” the cat said, coming up to Kaisa, circling her leg. Kaisa’s mood shifted when the two adults looked down at her.
“Nothing, I…I didn’t. I will, later. I’ll just get something to eat for now,” she said, and pulled both Rita and the boy towards the front door.
“You’re delaying the inevitable,” the cat called after her.
“It’s not my responsibility, you know?” Kaisa spat, shooting an angry look over her shoulder.
“It’s not the cat’s responsibility to lead him home, yet we still do it. Some roles you choose, some choose you.”
Kaisa had heard, but didn’t turn around. She pushed the door open and shoved Rita and Archie through.
“Then don’t do it. Leave him here. What do I care,” she whispered to herself, and let the door fall shut behind her.
I had an audiobook generated actually in order to help me edit, but if your heart is dark and evil and you have no moral compass, you can enjoy this very immersive AI voice reading the chapter to you.
