The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat by Damon Plumides Read Free Book Online

retainers. If they needed to rest, they simply stopped and occupied whatever abandoned home struck their fancy. Every so often, they would find a home where the residents had not been gone for too long, and because of this, their homes and stores were quite well-provisioned.
    Still , she thought, it would be nice . . . to actually see some other faces besides Warwick and the other guards.

    After more than two weeks on the road, the party reached the edge of Red Moon Forest. Her heart sank. Obviously the queen was not prepared to encounter something so vast. The untamed wilderness seemed to extend in either direction as far as the eye could see, and she knew in her heart it was likely as deep as it was wide.
    She called to her driver, screaming, “Halt the beasts; we’re here!” The coach pulled to a stop, and the queen stepped out of her carriage to look around. “Warwick! I need you to find the best way for us to enter this place. Take two of the guards and ride north. Have the other guards ride south. If neither group finds a way in within the next few hours, turn around and come back.”
    â€œBut what if we do find a way in, your majesty?” asked one of her more intelligent guards.
    Shaking her head dumbfounded, Druciah answered. “Well, I suppose then you will come back immediately and let the rest of us know where it is . . . won’t you?”
    The guards split up and rode off in opposite directions. It was nearly four hours before Warwick Vane Bezel III and his party returned. Sending one of his riders south to retrieve the others, the commander dismounted and approached the queen’s carriage.
    â€œYour majesty, I believe I have spotted a place that looks like it might be a possible entrance. It’s about an hour north of here. However, my guards and I explored the area, and I must tell you, this is a very difficult wood. This forest is not going to be passed through easily. If we go in at all, it’s going to have to be on foot.”
    From Caterwaul’s directions Druciah had expected this would be no light undertaking, but she didn’t realize the wood would be so dense that they would have to fight their way through it. Then it dawned on her: Caterwaul would have seen things through his cat eyes; the forest would be far easier for one of his size to pass than it would be for a human.
    As soon as the other three guards returned, the party turned north and rode to where Warwick Vane Bezel III had seen the likely entrance point. Immediately the queen knew that her secret police commander had failed utterly to communicate the fullness of the forest’s growth.
    â€œOn foot indeed,” she said. “Warwick, you idiot!” she bellowed. “What impassable thicket have you brought me to? This is no entrance! We would need fifty men with axes and torches to be able to get through this tangle.”
    â€œMy apologies your majesty,” answered Warwick Vane Bezel III, “but you’ll remember I said that it would be difficult. And of all the places we checked out, this was by far the most suitable place to try to go in.”
    Druciah sat down on a stump to think. She was sure there was no way to make it into the woods through this entrance where they now stood. She felt disappointed; her quest to find the Witch of Red Moon Forest might be over before it really had a chance to begin.
    Just then, she noticed a darkening of the sky. The sun had begun to drop below the tree line. As it disappeared from sight, strange, slithering noises began emanating from the woods. They all turned in order to see what was happening. What they heard was unnatural. It sounded as though something, or a great many somethings, were being dragged along the forest floor.
    Then she remembered Caterwaul’s words that she should wait until nightfall before entering the forest. As the sky grew darker, Druciah could see the thick growth of Red Moon Forest was retreating. Soon