"Meow" came a sudden sound behind her, before a small bundle of fur jumped into her lap. Anwyn giggled and began to stroke the kitten soft fur. "You know what, cat?", she said, her brow wrinkling with puzzlement, "Alot of this just doesn't make any sense".
She looked out across Thendara and sighed. Sure, talking to a cat was odd. But maybe it would help her put together the puzzle if she laid out all the pieces she had. "Let's see ...", she pondered, "first Kay is all excited and happy about her date with Louis last night. Something must have gone wrong between them, but Louis wouldn't tell me what it was. All he said was that she left in those icky clothes, and that she insisted on going alone. Then she goes into town somewhere looking for something. And the next time I see her, she's talking about demons hunting her, and she's looking like she got half the stuffing knocked out of her in a drunken bar-fight".
Mairead rubbed her head against Anwyn's ribs and purred. This small human was so tense, and she didn't understand why. Mommy-human was no longer either bleeding or sleeping too soundly to be awoken. So why was the human-kitten making such a fuss ?
Anwyn looked back down at her and added "And as for the three of you guys, I can't even begin to explain your behavior. Where I come from, owls that size would EAT a kitten instead of parent it. And cats like you would be considering that injured little hawk to be quite a tempting snack".
With a frown, she insisted "It's got to have something to do with why Kay didn't come home last night, and how she got hurt".
Then another thought occurred to her. She recalled Kay showing her the painting that Master Painter had done. Kay had called them 'the only family I know'. So then where did 'Uncle Ceroill' fit into the picture ? She was certain that's what Kay had called the man who the owl so obviously favoured.
"Nobody ever tells me ANYTHING important", Anwyn concluded unhappily, "not unless it slips out by accident".
Feeling very disgruntled, Anwyn turned her mind back towards checking out all the people she could see in the vicinity. At this time of morning there weren't very many.
Anwyn remembered that she was suppossed to be looking for a pair of young Comynara. One of them was called 'Danette'; she was short and thin, and had long red-brown wavy hair like Kay's. But Anwyn needed to prod her memory for what 'Melissa' looked like.
After a bit of digging about, she managed to fish the details out of her memory: short, with strawberry-blonde hair, and the sort of soft slenderness that indicated a constant battle between junk food and not wanting to gain weight. Anwyn giggled to herself; Melissa sounded like fun, and likely would know where to find the best chocolate in town.
Continuing to watch people passing by, she idly wondered what was going on downstairs. Part of her was tempted to go peek. But if she indulged that temptation, she'd be abandoning her duty. So, with another sigh, she gave up on THAT idea. Sooner or later, she was sure to see SOMETHING notable anyways. And THEN she could justify charging back downstairs.
Anwyn wasn't particularly looking forward to squeezing through that hole again, even though the outside hoisting arm had made her climb easier. Idly shaking the dust out of her hair, she decided that it was no wonder it was used only for storage purposes. Sure, the ceiling had been high enough for her to stand. But it was hot and dry and dusty up here. Worse, there were no windows; only that latticed hole she'd found. With the way that the roofbeams and rafters and reinforcing beams divided up the space, it was certainly way too awkward to be liveable for any person. And doubly so, because of the huge clutter of boxes, trunks, old furniture and other stuff that she'd had to walk around.
But on the other hand, it was starting to get kinda boring up here. What if Kay was wrong, and NOBODY was coming ? There was a slowly-increasing number of people out walking about. But none of them matched any of Kay's descriptions. "Of all there is to see from here, this weather-vane is _still_ more interesting than anything going on below", she grunbled disgustedly. This surveillance idea wasn't nearly as exciting as she'd hoped.
So part of her was rather distinctly-pleased when she heard human-sized footsteps coming up the stairs. No doors had opened. Anwyn was certain that she would have heard THAT. So it must be either Mestru Merrick, or Louis. Kay wouldn't have been able to make it up the stairs so steadily. "Hey", she called, leaning over to shout through the hole, "Who's there ? I don't have anything to report yet."
As Ceroill opened the attic door, Oberon decided to precede him in a silent flutter of wings, perching on a crossbeam where he could watch this new and excitable human.
Anwyn heard the flutter of wings, and decided that it must therefore be Mestru Merrick who'd come. This was confirmed a few seconds later when a low male voice called out to her.
"It is only your humble shopkeeper, Damisela", Ceroill said, "How do you find my attic?" He emerged slowly from the doorway, ready to brush away cobwebs or dust.
It was somewhat difficult to hear him, so Anwyn carefully climbed over the edge of the roof and and slid down until she was riding the hoisting arm. She then twisted her torso sideways so that enough light passed over her shoulders for her to see the outline of the man. "It's certainly cool enough to tempt a packrat to explore ... but don't you ever _clean_ it ?", she giggled mischievously.
"Clean an attic?", he asked with mock incredulity, "Why do you think I put these things here? So I wouldn't have to clean them." He grinned as his feet stirred up some dust.
Seeing Anwyn lit starkly and dramatically as she was, it occurred to Ceroill that there were a number of Shakespearean roles she would look wonderful in. Being so small and delicate-featured, it would be easy to imagine her as a pixie or elf. and she certainly seemed to have the personality for either one.
"It is much more comfortable to watch the street from my sitting room, you know". he pointed out. That hole wasn't very big. He himself likely wouldn't be able to fit more than an arm (or perhaps his head) through it. It amazed him that she'd dared climb all the way through it and onto his roof. What if she'd fallen ? Ah, but she'd likely never even considered _that_ problem. So he wasn't too surprised when the girl replied to his entirely-sensible suggestion with a peal of laughter that was like the ringing of many small bells.
Obviously, Anwyn thought to herself, Mestru Merrick didn't know much about tactics and strategy. "Aye ... more comfortable indeed", she agreed, "But then I'd only be able to see in one direction, and only have one direction of exit. NOBODY sneaks up on a millitary brat; most of us spend too much of our childhood playing hiders-and-seekers !".
"Ah, try that game in the snow, high up on Mt. Nevarsin! That trains one's senses as well!" He was still grinning, and had a twinkle in his eyes.
Anwyn giggled. "And it probably taught you how NOT to feeze your butt off. I was so cold when I first got here; it was awful !", she said.
Then another thought suddenly occurred to her. "Now that you're here, Mestru Merrick", Anwyn suggested, "maybe you could at least introduce me to your weird owl. I've never seen a bird act like _THAT_ before. What's up with him ? Did you train him ? What's his name ?" . She then glanced over to where Oberon was perched. "Hello, bird", she all but chirped.