"That was fun," he said, not sure if he meant it.

Grace turned and walked way haughtily. A window was open just enough for them to slip under, letting them into the building again.

"From here it's easy getting out." Grace showed him a niche at the corner that led into the stairwell.

They raced to the ground floor, Robie barely beating her.

Out of breath, they flopped on the concrete and enjoyed the coolness on their bellies. Robie hopped to his feet and found Grace's way out of the stairwell-another small niche. He wondered how he had missed these design flaws on his first excursion into the building. Within minutes he was out on the street and racing for the alley.

Sirens sounded in the street and caused him to hunker down. The human-infested Animal Control machines rolled up with red and blue lights flashing. Grace's alarm had reached the right ears.

He walked down the alley, howling to gather the stray cats. They looked at him with new respect, as if they knew what he had done. The mother cat perked up, and her kittens looked at him, eyes open wide.

"You bring us more food?" the mother asked.

Before Robie could answer, Grace said, "Not this time. Soon."

Robie spun on Grace.

"You were bringing your own food to them," he said, realization dawning on whom he had been competing with to furnish food to the needy.

"Don't be silly. Of course not. My lady would notice right away and put me on a strict diet if a lot of food was missing. That's why I didn't want you stealing my food. I steal from others in the building."

"You were the one who left the windows open so you could get in and out."

"I disarmed the alarm, too, but I had to turn it back on." Grace craned her neck to see the two burglars being led out of the apartment building and put into the noisy machines.

"Are you going to keep bringing food to the stray cats?" Robie asked.

"Am I? No," Grace said.

"Why not?" Robie waited for the answer he hoped to hear. And he did.

We are."

He rubbed up against her and purred loudly. What a pair they'd make!

THE SCENT OF DEATH.

by Elizabeth A. Vaughan.

One took the blow on the back legs and was tossed off to the side of the black expanse. The noxious scent of the human's rolling death faded from the night air even as the rumble faded from the earth. One lay still, in the moment. Perhaps the damp seeping into one's fur from below was just tainted water.

Or so one could hope.

The pain hit between one breath and the next. The blow had been glancing, but it had sufficed. Dazed, numb, all this one could do was pant. The cold bit through too-thin flesh and ragged fur. One should not have tried to cross the black expanse; others had died trying. But the prey was fat and slow on the other side...

There had been too few kills in recent days, and the scent of snow was in the air. One did not have the strength to recover from this blow, and it made little difference. Eyes closed, this one waited for the pain to end. The scent of Death was in the air.

Soft paws padded close. Death came quietly to this one's side, sleek and silent.

It was time. One was grateful for surcease to come.

"There is a task that needs to be done."

Not quite what this one expected Death to say. Forcing pain-dulled eyes to focus, one saw a sleek brown tabby sitting close beside.

Golden eyes gleamed in the night. "Do this task, and receive aid."

"Or die?" One hissed, and then regretted it as the ribs grated, causing more pain.

"Or die." The other confirmed with a flick of an ear pierced with gold.

That One was not Death. A twitch of whiskers and a breath through one's open mouth brought the scent of burning sands, bright suns, and the weight of a thousand lives. Her name was not to be spoken lightly. "Lady Guardian, death is not feared."

"Regardless," She purred. "The task needs doing."

One closed one's eyes. This life or the next, it mattered little. "Lady, I will do it."

Voices then. Human voices and hands. Lifting this one, with warm cloths that smelled of calm. Pain flared at the movement, but one endured and did not lash out. One caught a glimpse of the Lady, still seated, poised and calm, her tail wrapped around her paws. "Rest," came her purr.

This one obeyed.

The damp expanse became a warm room with many humans. Things were done to this one that one does not choose to recall. All indignities were suffered patiently. One had a task to fulfill, after all.

Strength returned, but not freedom. One has seen others through windows, who spoke of warm laps and sweet feedings, but one had wondered at the price. One now knew the cost, but it was just as well. There had been many long, empty hunts and cold nights. The cage was metal, but the cloths were clean and warm. Food appeared, waste disappeared. Scratches of the head and neck were frequent, and many kind voices.

Time pa.s.sed, and the cage opened to allow one to roam within. Thanks were expressed in the traditional ways, with swipes and purrs and nose kisses. One found the price of comfort to be bearable, as one watched the snow fall outside.

Words were used, such as "good kitty" and "gentle soul." Names were called, for it seems that humans are obsessed with names. One sensed that decisions were being made, but one was untroubled. The Lady held one's life now, and She would do Her will in Her own time.

One waited, patient.

The time came when one was lifted, collared, and taken to a new place. A warm place that smelled of waiting. One twitched one's whiskers and peered out of the moving cage, uncertain. There were smells of resignation, sorrow, and illness, and the faintest scent of Death.

A brown-skinned human looked within and greeted this one in a soft voice. Taken into a room, one emerged from the cage to step on papers and scattered sticks. One particularly liked sticks. A quick bat, and it flew from the surface to land on the floor. One sat, tail wrapped around quick paws and was pleased.

"Bastet."

This one turned, ears perked, eyes wide, surprised to hear a version of the Lady's name on the lips of a human. The brown-skinned woman chuckled in a warm voice, even as she bent to retrieve her stick. And so it was that this one was named by the alpha female of the place of waiting.

The humans obeyed their alpha, and called this one by one of Her sacred names in the days that pa.s.sed. One was uncomfortable at first, and waited to be punished for this audacity. But punishment never came. So this, too, must be part of the Lady's will.

As She wished.

The patterns of the place were learned quickly and accepted. Humans came and went, tending other humans that lay in large expanses of softness, each in its own room. One wandered the halls, careful of those that traveled in small rolling deaths. They did not smell, but one watched one's tail closely and took great care nonetheless.

Many feeble hands stroked and scratched, with words of praise. One twined carefully between legs and purred, proud to be a source of consolation. The rhythms of the days were pleasant and unchanging.

One also enjoyed the quiet times in the place of the alpha. The brown-skinned woman spent a great deal of time staring at her box and scratching at papers with her sticks. One sat with her and purred. One was content.

Until one night, when the Death stalked within and claimed a human that lay in softness.

Noise and confusion filled the place. Tears and disarray resulted. Disorder in this one's ordered world. It was unpleasant. One was not fed on time, and the waste did not disappear. Even the alpha was perturbed.

It took time for the patterns to settle only to have it happen again, and again. Each time, the scent of Death was in the air well before the human was taken. Each time the humans reacted in surprise.

Was it possible that they did not know?

One almost fell off one of the high counters at the very idea. To have no warning? To not scent Death on the air? To fear it? Even prey knows.

This was a jest, a bad one. Such a thing could not- "They do not know."

One was not so proud as to believe that She would speak so, within the depths of one's mind. So this one pulled within oneself and contemplated the humans as they went to and fro. Curled and silent, one watched the rhythms of the place of waiting, the comings and the goings, and the deaths of the ones that lay in softness. Each time, there was the scent within the halls. Each time Death stalked. Each time, the humans were taken by surprise.

They did not know.

Poor creatures. Was not life hard enough?

One hid beneath the alpha's place of sticks, on the warm box. One contemplated, eyes half closed and paws curled in. One finally concluded that the humans did not scent Death's approach and therefore could not prepare, could not antic.i.p.ate. One wondered at their deficiencies.

"Bastet, you okay?"

One blinked to see the alpha leaning down, staring beneath into one's place of concealment. One was warmed by her concern and emerged with a long stretch and a loud purr, to offer rea.s.surance.

For the Lady is a Guardian, and She had placed one here to serve. Disruption was not to be tolerated. One now knew one's task and was prepared.

So it was that the next time the scent of Death was on the air, one perched on the corner of the softness, where the human in question lay. One waited, patiently.

In walked one of the humans, with their things, and expressed surprise at this one's presence.

One howled. Loudly. Not the soft greeting, not the cry of anger, no this was the yowl of attention, the lower note that carried a warning.

"Lord in heaven, what's wrong?"

"Sophie, what was the noise?" In walked the alpha, as one had hoped.

"I have no idea. I walked in to get Ms. Martin's temperature, and Bastet howled to wake the dead."

"Then why isn't Ms. Martin awake?"

Their attention focused on the human in the softness. It was but a moment before the alpha spoke. "Call the Doctor, Sophie. I think Ms. Martin is starting to slip away from us."

Satisfied, one jumped down and padded from the room.

In this regard one served for some time, but eventually the mere fact that one was perched on the edge of the softness was enough to let those who also served know that Death stalked. Once in a great while, they fought back. But for the most part, death was welcomed and the warning gratefully received. With time to prepare, all was orderly. There was still sorrow, to be sure. But life is sorrow, even for a human.

So, one served, and served well.

Until one night, Death appeared with no warning, glaring at this one. "What do you think you are doing?"

One half opened an eye to contemplate Him. As the Lady took the guise of a cat, so this one took the guise of a human, dressed in black and pale. One did not even twitch a whisker.

"One serves."

"Well, you can d.a.m.n well stop."

One rose and stretched slowly, carefully, and then settled in to groom one's nether regions.

"Cats." Death said in disgust, and disappeared.

The laughter of the Lady Guardian sounded deep within in one's head.

One continued to groom, smugly.

So it was, that the pattern of life was restored. The alpha praised this one, and there was a new food, called treats, and that was well.

Others came and made a fuss over this one, but one fled them and their "cameras" and "microphones." One was not amused. One had a task. The alpha sent them away.

Outside, the leaves emerged, and one watched as the prey danced outside the gla.s.s, young and old alike. One felt no need to hunt but would occasionally make the hunting sounds and bat the gla.s.s, scattering those without. It served no purpose to allow prey to become complacent.

Nor can one become complacent about Death. He is everywhere and nowhere, and one should have remembered that. It was not just the humans lying in softness that needed warning.

One blames oneself for one's failing, but the scent grew over time, creeping in as prey rots. Until finally the odor was too strong to be ignored.

But this scent lay on the alpha.

One sat straight up at the realization and fixed the alpha with a stare. This was not one who lay in softness, yet the scent was there, unmistakable. Warning must be given, but would she comprehend?

One leaped to her place, ignored the sticks that lay about, and padded over. The alpha was staring at her box. "You hungry, Bastet? I'll feed you in just a minute. I have to get these reports out-"

One yowled.

The Alpha's head jerked around to stare at one, her dark eyes wide. "Bastet, what's wrong? Who-?"

One yowled again, staring at her intently, with a soft prayer to the Lady Guardian that this human would fall within her protection. The sound that rose from this one's throat grew more anxious, for the alpha was respected and admired. Let Death stalk elsewhere.

The alpha's eyes grew thoughtful. She reached for her phone, speaking of lumps ignored and an appointment. She grabbed up her things, turned off her box, and left.

One batted at the sticks, arranged the papers to one's satisfaction, and settled for a nap. One had done what one could do.