A Cat at the Table

Gwen completed his circuit around the table and leapt up. The cat terrified the women sitting there, but he didn’t mind. It was his victory lap, after having played messenger to the trio for another month. As they scrambled to keep him from knocking anything over (as if he ever did!), he curled into the middle, his splotches of fur making him look quite appropriately like one of the cookies they had ordered.

The eldest girl, Karin, kept her latte in her pale hands, safe from the cat’s rampage. Her grip on the cup looked equally fierce and refined, reflecting the dress she wore. The other girls had given her a hard time for wearing work attire to their café date, but they understood: just as Karin’s schedule was dictated by her maid duties, they were bound as well to their jobs.

Contrary to Karin’s elegant cup-holding, Pam clutched her coffee with assured calm. The blonde kept it close to her blouse, but with the balance that indicated no risk of staining or spilling, years of stacking books coalescing to this most important duty.

In the end, only one cup remained callously on the table. Rather than reach for it, Tabitha instead gave her cat a pat on the head. Her bomber jacket bumped the cup, to the other girls’ terror, but Tabby could care less. Getting clothes dirty was something she’d gotten comfortable with a long time ago, before she’d ever met the others.

“Seriously, girl, teach that cat some manners,” Karin joked, “before I keep him locked in the mansion.”

“Right, like terrorizing you there isn’t Gwen’s dream,” Tabby laughed, her hand blending in amidst Gwen’s chocolate fur. “We’re lucky he even likes our route.”

“I don’t know, he looks like the spoiled one, here,” retorted Pam. “Must be nice, being able to go wherever you want during the day.”

“Still no change from the other monks?”

Pam shook her head. For years she’d tried to gain permission to journey with the others in the monastery. Her requests had so far remained ignored. Tabitha, on the other hand, traveled week by week, and as such she always tempered her stories so as to respect Pam’s struggles. Pam spent most days transcribing the books that the traveling monks found on their journeys, all the more salt in the wound.

“None of the others bother challenging, even Kaye, who sleeps with a map under her pillow! I’ll tell you what… Every time they say they wouldn’t risk my life, I know they’re just looking down on us. As if we haven’t been taking care of ourselves since we could see straight.”

Pam continued getting her frustrations off her chest, and Karin and Tabitha listened intently, as always. Yes, they were all orphans, born into a system where being parentless or abandoned meant being property of the council.

“It really is a farce. And Chancellor Rotal continues to complain about how hard it is to ‘help others reflect on the knowledge we provide,’ as if that isn’t propagandism.”

Tabitha thought back to her last mission and swirled her tea loudly, her mind seeing flashbacks of fighting the Providers as they spouted dogma. They firmly blamed the council and people like Rotal for their woes. “Believe me, you’re right and he’s failing.”

“And it’s so obvious to me and I don’t know why I’m alone in there! All that missionary work is supposed to be an exchange of ideas. Rotal has actually stopped sending out texts in the journeys. They’ve lost sight of the learning from the world, and I want so badly to change it.”

As Pam slumped back and sipped her coffee, Tabitha nodded in silence. Her mind wandered back to how badly that last assignment had gone. Out on the island, she’d been contracted to rescue some missing ambassadors, only to be dealing with an uprising instead. For a week, she felt like she fought both the Providers as well as their ideologies.

Before she could ruminate further, Karin put her cup down and leaned in, assuming her gossip stance. “Well, Pam, I heard from another bird that change is coming, and at the call of Rotal, Pike and none other than the one and only Henry.”

The mention of her brother snapped Tabitha back to the table. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Henry since she returned, and their last get-together left her uneasy. She didn’t have the heart to reach back out. Still, Henry was always busy with his work, and he hadn’t left any messages for her either. At least, that’s how Tabitha rationalized her reluctance.

“What are they planning?” Tabby asked.

Karin looked left and right, spotting imaginary conspirators and drumming up the intrigue. “Pike is funding a new building in the Commons. The building is Henry’s idea, and its contents will be filled by Rotal and the monastery. It’s going to be a building for public access to books!”

Pam gasped, loud enough for Gwen to perk up and adjust his napping position. “Impossible,” she hissed. “I gave Henry that idea years ago…”

“It’s supposed to be multiple floors of books, a scroll room, an observatory, everything that we’re used to at the monastery, as far as reading is concerned.”

“That definitely sounds like Henry,” Tabitha said, tapping her chin. “Public works, free access, literacy education… All in his crusade.”

“And let’s not forget, impressing Pam!” Karin laughed defiantly, catching the cookie that Pam threw at her with her mouth. “Why thank you, dear!”

“Well, what about Tabby, and that partner of hers?” Pam shot back.

Now it was Tabitha’s turn to shift back in her chair. She picked up her tea, keeping her nervous hands in check. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve got nothing to tell you.” A pause. “Really!”

“Oh, you spent a week with him on that mission. We need details!” Pam kept up the pressure, going as far as to put down her coffee. Karin shifted her lean to all out offense, crossing her legs and turning straight to Tabby. The girl in question sighed, then squared her shoulders.

“Okay, okay. Nothing happened, really, because… Xavier was captured before the mission even started. I had to rescue him.”

“Again!?” the others exclaimed. This time, Gwen started up, annoyed enough to give Tabitha’s cup a warning slap with his paws and sending a slow drip of tea over the lip.

Tabitha nodded and laughed, realizing just how bad it sounded. Pam shook her head and Karin threw her hands up. This was the third time (in a row!) and they all knew it wouldn’t be the last.

“Tabby, you need to do something about that boy’s instincts. He’s apparently shit at defending himself, and he’s apparently shit at being observant, if he’s still not with you. How did he even become a Valian?” Karin sighed hard enough to cut glass. “I don’t know how you deal with it, girl.”

“I’m not! We are not a thing and I’ve told you both as such a million times,” Tabitha retorted. She played along with their fantasies for the fun of it, and she did enjoy Xavier’s company, but for her, romance was far too awkward.

“Seriously, Pam, help her out, there must be some script that she or Xavier can read and give us what we want, I mean what she wants.” Karin turned to Pam, her hands scheming. “If not, maybe when this library thing opens – that’s what they’re calling it, by the way – Xavier can be properly educated on how to woo a girl.”

“A library, what a curious word. Can you imagine, though, if you never saw another orphan go to the monastery for materials?” Tabitha wondered, desperate to change the subject.

Karin leered at Tabitha. “Fine, we’ll stop egging you, for now, but you need to be more forthcoming. We only tease you because you keep denying it. And yes, if we had this library growing up, we probably never would have met.”

Tabitha nodded. No seeing Karin in line, every day at three, gathering novels for Mrs. Pike. Future children wouldn’t explore the archives, as Tabby and Pam did, looking for scrolls on warrior forms for Master Clay. As much as it was a chore for orphans to play courier to their stewards, she didn’t regret having the opportunity to meet her friends.

For the rest of their time together, the girls reminisced on their misadventures, on their chance meetings and common fates as wards of the state. They made their plans for their next meeting, and Pam and Karin gave thanks to Gwen for being a loyal mail cat. Tabby didn’t think about the library again, until she’d already returned home.

Gwen followed her into the apartment, picking up the mail at the door with his mouth. He kicked his paws on the welcome mat, and beelined for the dinner table, leaping up in one go. As he nestled into his favorite corner, where he could sway his tail over the frayed edge, he let go of the mail and let it slide across the table.

The sound of rustling paper brought the library back to Tabitha’s mind. Books and reading marked both her and her brother’s childhood. As she draped her jacket over the chair, she pulled out the pen that held up her hair. Maybe she couldn’t talk to her brother just yet, but she could at least write a letter and let him know she was home.