Chapter 15

 The first thing Missy sees are cats, quite many of them, most in varying shades of orange. It is the most dominant color to be found. The next thing she notices is that most of them are staring at her and Hemp, ears laid flat and tails puffed up as if they’re afraid. The hideout is an enclosure, Owner-made lights at the top illuminating bronze ribs protruding from the walls. The last is the overwhelming stink of carrion, though the cats look too healthy to have been feeding off of dead meat, so that was a small favor, at least. No matter if they’re responsible for the murders or not, no cat should have to suffer. Hemp is stiff beside her, claws digging into the ground as he surveys everything, so Missy steps up next to him and calls into the round: “Brothers and sisters! I’m Missy and this is Hemp, and we’re looking for our friend Dusty. Is he here?” Murmuring breaks out across the gathered cats, and Missy spies movement out of the corner of her eye; it is Dusty, tail lashing about in confusion. He steps towards Missy.

    “Sister, what are you doing here?” He seems genuinely happy to see her, and so Missy doesn’t have to fake her purr as she sidles up to him, telling him that she’d grown curious about his new group and about Pinecone, and that she’d like to meet this cat who was doing so much for those that were abandoned and left behind. Hemp remains silent next to her. Dusty meows in surprise. “Then come along, I’m certain the Mother doesn’t mind! She’ll like you, I’m sure of it!” And he bounds off, leaving Missy and Hemp to scamper after him. They find Pinecone sitting on top of a bronze rib, her tail curled around her legs elegantly, Magpie tense underneath her. Two more orange cats are flanking the black brother.

    “Welcome, Owned cats,” Pinecone greets them, and at that moment Missy remembers seeing her when they’d found the Old Crone, and how she’d been stricken with grief. She’d been the cat that told them to re-bury the Crone with lily flowers. Dusty is sitting slightly to their side. “What brings you here to my den?”

    Missy is silent for a moment, and then Hemp nudges her in the side, and she takes a breath. “We’ve reason to believe that the Crone and the kit had been victims of cats rather than a wandering fox. Foxes are not knowledgeable enough to willfully target the heart and soul. You’ve quite the number of cats from different blocks, so we had hoped you might’ve noticed something.” Dusty hissed in surprise, but Pinecone was silent for a moment, green eyes boring into Missy’s, before she laughed.

    “I cannot believe your gall, little Owned kitty! You come waltzing into my territory to accuse mine of a crime on a cat long past her prime! Of such a sacrilegious act! Such utter disrespect-” she jumped down from her perch, gentling her voice and expression as she stopped in front of the frozen garden block cats. “-I loved her! I adored Coconut from my first life onwards! She was my one and only, and losing her felt like death to myself. We spent years together in the past, content with watching the world go by, wild and free of any people. Then I close my eyes for but a second, and suddenly she is with Owners and pretends to not remember me, and will not listen when I try to tell her-!” Pinecone hisses. “How did you figure it out!!”