(Two months later, I’ve finally finished the next bit!  Sorry it took so long.)

Tuesday Night- Great-Grandma and Great-Aunt Pauline

Great Aunt Pauline was Gran’s younger sister, and her arch-nemesis.  Gran’s snide comments about Aunt Caroline were nothing compared to the grudges that could be nurtured by spending the first eighteen years of your life cooped up in the same house.  “Goes to pieces when she runs out of eyeliner,” Gran would say whenever Pauline was mentioned, “Can’t cook without a frying pan.”  Gran complained about everything Pauline did, from her perfume (“smells like a bloody bordello”) to the way she walked (“attention-seeking.”)  Luckily, their relationship had improved a bit since Great Grandma had moved in with Pauline last year, because Great Grandma took delight in winding her daughters up, and Gran and Pauline usually had to join forces to get her to stop.  So she was kind of a peacemaker, in her way.

At the moment, though, Great Grandma was behaving herself.  It was just after dinner (which, alright, had involved a lot of olive oil and burnt bits), and she was introducing Sandy to the newest cat.  “This is Billy,” she said, tickling the ginger ball of fluff under his chin.  “He’s my little boyfriend, aren’t you, Billy?”

Sandy might have been more weirded-out by that if she hadn’t heard it before.  Great Grandma referred to a lot of people and things as her boyfriends, including various actors on TV, the waiter at the Chinese down the road, and Sandy’s Cousin Finn, who was two.  Nobody else thought it was as great a joke as she did, but they all tended to smile and nod.  When you were ninety-two, you were allowed to make people feel uncomfortable.  “He’s very cute,” said Sandy, scratching the top of Billy’s head.

“He’s a lot friendlier than that one,” said Great Grandma, nodding towards Pepper, the little black cat, who was staring at them from under the table, “Won’t come near you unless you’ve got food in your hand.”

“Well, there’s only one solution to that,” said Sandy, getting up and going over to Pepper so she could stroke her.  Pepper gave her a long-suffering look, in the way that cats did, but didn’t bother to move out of the way.

Great Grandma laughed.  “Now, where’s Gus got to?” she said, looking around for the third cat.  Sandy shrugged, and turned back to Pepper.

Pepper had always been her favourite, but lately, Sandy had really started to wonder about her.  She was a black cat, after all.  Those were the kind that witches had.

Sandy had first noticed the… things that happened… just over a year ago, around the time she’d left primary school.  She’d noticed, but back then she’d still been able to tell herself that it was just her imagination.  Yeah, it had seemed like she’d known what the guy on the news was going to say before he said it, but that could have just been a lucky guess.  Yeah, it had seemed like that boy in the park had tripped over and twisted his ankle just after swearing at her, but that could have just been a coincidence.  Yeah, it had seemed like that power cut had happened just as she’d lost her temper with Gran… or that her friend Amy’s stomach cramps had eased off as soon as she’d patted her shoulder… or that all the spiders in the house seemed to turn away at the threshold of whatever room she was in…

She’d finally had to admit that something was going on last Easter, after that thing with the tree.  She still couldn’t think about it without shuddering.

I need to know what you are, that old lady had said on Sunday, but Sandy had a nasty feeling that they both knew already.  It had to do with black cats.

Pauline strode into the room, clearly on a mission.  She was wearing a leopard-print top that Sandy kind of wanted for herself, and a whole lot of gold jewellery that she didn’t (it looked heavy).  “Mum, why are there three paintings of cocker spaniels in the dining room?”

Great Grandma smiled innocently.  “They’re not all of cocker spaniels…”

“Has that salesman been to the door again?”  Pauline put her hands on her hips, trying to cut an intimidating figure.  But you couldn’t intimidate Great Grandma if your life depended on it.

“What, Alan?  Lovely young man.”

“Mum, how much did you spend on those?”

“Did you know, he spent three years in the army?  He was telling me…”

“Mum…”

Sandy stroked Pepper’s back with one hand, and lifted her chin with the other. She looked into her eyes (bright green- probably something supernatural about that, too), and thought about what she wanted to ask.  She wasn’t going to say anything out loud- Great Grandma and Aunt Pauline were still in the room, and they weren’t too busy arguing to hear.  She was just going to… think it really hard.  That would have to do.

OK, Pepper.  Go up to my room, and bring me…  Sandy thought through the things she’d brought in her suitcase.  Her pink gel pen?  No- cats were colourblind, weren’t they?  Pepper wouldn’t be able to tell which one she meant.  Alright, then, what about one of her books?  No- the last thing she wanted was a book covered in toothmarks and cat saliva.  She thought through the rest of her things, and finally came up with something.  Bring me my necklace.  The one with the red heart on the chain.  It’s on the bedside table.

Sandy let go of Pepper, and she sprang away from her and out of the room.  Even though that was exactly the result Sandy had been looking for, it made her shiver a bit.

Sandy went back to her chair to wait.

“Look, Mother,” said Pauline, rubbing her temples, “just because somebody comes to the door doesn’t mean you have to give them all your money.”

“And I don’t, dear!” said Great Grandma, maintaining a benign, sunny tone of voice because she knew that was what annoyed Pauline most, “I just thought they’d brighten the place up!”

“How?  Where were you planning to put them?  Because they’re not going in here.”

Great Grandma frowned.  “I don’t see why not.”

After a few minutes, Pepper still wasn’t back, and Sandy began to feel a strange sort of relief.  She didn’t know why.  Even if she didn’t have some kind of bizarre hold over black cats, all that other stuff had still happened.  The old lady and the hailstones on Sunday, for a start.  But at least it meant that this particular thing wasn’t happening.  At least it meant that Great Aunt Pauline’s cat was still just a normal cat, instead of a familiar out to do her bidding.  She didn’t have to deal with that, at least.

Great Grandma looked up from her crossword.  “Were you thinking of making a cup of tea, Pauline?”

“Nope,” said Pauline decisively.

There was a pause as Great Grandma considered her options.  “Sandy, were you…”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Mother, she’s our guest!” snapped Pauline, “I’ll make it in a minute, alright?”

Great Grandma nodded.  “Take your time, dear,” she said sweetly.

Sandy felt a movement near her ankles, and her heart sank.  Sure enough, when she looked down, she saw Pepper standing at her feet, with her heart necklace in her mouth.  Sandy leaned down to take it… and felt a nudge at her elbow.

She looked around, and saw Billy, Great Grandma’s little orange boyfriend, standing on the arm of the chair, holding her pink gel pen.  And as she turned, she saw Gus on the windowsill, with… yes, that was definitely the Goosebumps book she’d been reading last night.  He was holding it gently by one corner, as if he’d been warned to be careful with it.

Great Aunt Pauline looked up, and saw.  “Oh, you thieving little buggers!” she said, standing up and waving her hands at the cats, “Drop it, now!  All of you!”

Pauline and Great Grandma fussed around the cats, picking up the things they’d taken, apologising to Sandy and blaming each other for not keeping an eye on them.  Sandy barely noticed.  It was all she could do not to scream.