Witching Hour   Part Two: A Familiar Cat   by Roberta J. Cabot   Kim is now a girl – a girl who was supposed to take over for his sister Kaye as part of a quartet of witches, for a purpose that he didn’t know anything about, except that it’s important. But before that, he needed to know how to work his newly-acquired powers even though he didn’t know what powers they were yet. But maybe he needed to get a handle on this girl thing first. Well, at least he had the help of Kaye’s witch friends, as well as the help of four new, furry… housemates. Author’s Note: No long-winded author’s note this time. Except that… it seems this story is the least popular of the stories I’ve written so far (not that I’ve written a lot heehee). Even so, hope you guys give it a chance nevertheless. BUT! Be warned – this is a verrry sentimental kind of story, with buckets of sugar-sweet scenes sprinkled liberally throughout. If that’s not your type of story, stay away from this one. ;-)

After visiting Kaye’s grave, we rode back in silence, with me driving this time and Diane sitting up front with me.  I kept on glancing at the rear-view mirror, looking worriedly at Kimmie sitting in the back.  She was staring out the window, tears rolling down her beautiful face.  Diane had put a box of Kleenex in the back, and I could see some in Kimmie’s hand.

We would hear her breathing hitch every few minutes, and I would look in the mirror.  I would see her face scrunch up as she tried to control a new bout of tears.  I felt for her, and longed to put my arms around her.  Diane said to leave her alone as she needed to come to terms with her grief by herself. I agreed, but I didn’t much like it.

I decided to take a more scenic, though longer, route back to the house, and drove a little more slowly than what was warranted, hoping that it would help calm her down.  After a few minutes of driving, I decided to play some music on the car’s radio, and hunted around for a nice, easy-listening station. I would have used my phone, but I didn't have any tunes that Kim would probably like.

“Is it okay if I play some tunes, baby?” I asked, but no answer was forthcoming.  Eventually, as I was getting annoyed at not finding a station and was about to hunt up a nice streaming channel on my phone, I finally found a mellow-music station and turned the music down low enough so that it was mostly just in the background.

“Nice day today, isn’t it?” I said.  Again, no response.

“Maybe we can go somewhere today,” I continued, hoping that Kimmie would respond. “Watch a movie, maybe? Or a picnic by the duckpond in the park?  It’s a weekday today, so we’d probably have the entire park to ourselves…”

Silence.

“I know!  Maybe we can go to the mall? And do some shopping? Maybe Union Square? Doesn’t that sound like fun?  I know you need lots of new clothes and stuff.  We can buy you a new wardrobe! Doesn’t that sound fun?  Diane? It’s okay to shop for Kimmie’s new clothes, right?”

Diane played along.  “Sure.  It’s not as if we couldn’t afford it.  Just don’t go overboard.”

“Oh, I don’t know – I’m sure our new girl needs a little pampering.  I know I do.” I giggled. Still no response.

“Well, okay,” I said.  “Let’s just go home instead, and get some rest.  Kimmie?”  I looked at the rearview, and just saw Kimmie staring out the window, occasionally dabbing at her tears with the tissues in her hand.

The silence was quite loud, if you know what I mean, but neither Diane nor I wanted to make any noise.

The radio continued to play quietly, changing the silence to something bearable, and I continued driving on.

I pulled up to the house, parking at the curb, not bothering to drive it up the driveway and into the garage, and switched off.  I looked at the rearview and I saw Kimmie leaning limply against the door. I hurriedly unbuckled, stepping out to get to Kimmie.

“Honey?” I said, and gently opened her door.  She was slumped against the door, with only the seatbelt holding her up.

I reached around her, unbuckling her seatbelt, and held her close to me.  I could hear slow and deep breathing, and felt her sweet breath on my cheek.  I guess she’s worn out.  I gently lifted Kimmie from the seat, stood up with her in my arms, and walked to the front door.

Diane came over, and she put her hand gently on Kimmie’s cheek.  “She’s sleeping,” I said.

“Emotional exhaustion, probably,” Diane agreed.  She went back to the car to get her bag and more tissues, and I sat down on the steps of the front porch, easily settling my charge on my lap.  Diane came back with her big hobo bag and rummaged around it.  “Where is it?” she said as she hunted for her house key.

I had half a mind to go back to the car for my own purse and get my own key.  Which reminds me – we need to get Kimmie a key, or maybe give her Kaye’s set.  I seemed to remember Kaye telling me that Kim never had a key of his own the whole time they lived here.  The advantage of living in a home with a witch with ESP, I suppose – Kaye would always know when someone needed to be let in.  I looked at Kimmie’s face and I found it hard to associate the beautiful, feminine face with Kaye’s brother.  And that reminded me again - we have to find the name of my new girl.  Wonder what it’ll be… Hmmm…

I also noticed that I had said “my new girl.”  When did I start thinking of her as mine? I tried to be honest with myself and realized that I had started thinking that way right from the first time I set my eyes on the female Kim.  I felt a small stab of pain in my heart.  Am I being disloyal to Kaye, or Kaye’s memory?  And is it a good thing or a bad thing for Kim to have a girlfriend this soon after becoming a girl?  An even bigger and more painful question – will she want me to be her girlfriend? Or maybe she'd prefer a boyfriend instead?

While Diane continued to search for her keys, Kimmie’s eyes fluttered open.  Those long, sexy lashes fluttered up to reveal Kimmie’s shining bottle-blue eyes.  They took my breath away again.  I tried to hide the reaction by hugging her close to me.

“Hello,” Kimmie said when she had her chin on my shoulder.  I felt a glad smile creep into that one word, and it made me happy.

“Hello to you, too, baby,” I said.

“Not you!” she said a little impatiently.  “We got a visitor.”

“Huh?”

“Turn around, Cassie,” she said.

I twisted around and looked.  There on the porch deck was a big dog, with white fur all over.  It was sitting on its haunches, looking back at us.  I instinctively tightened my arms around Kimmie, but she wriggled.  I stood up, ready to take her away and maybe kick the strange dog if it attacks or something.

“No!” She protested “She’s a good doggie! I want to play with the doggie! Mommie!”

“What, honey,” Diane said, and looked up from her vain search for her keys.

She gasped when she saw the dog and ran to put herself between us and the dog.

“No, Mommie!” Kimmie protested.  “It’s not a bad doggie! It’s a good doggie! Cassie, let me go!”  I wasn’t prepared for how strong she was. She managed to wriggle free of my grasp and ran around Diane to the strange dog.

“Puppy!” Kimmie squealed happily and put her arms around the dog’s neck. 

Diane and I were still a bit shocked and didn’t move.  As we took in the scene, Kimmie hugged the dog around the neck and the dog just took it patiently.

With its head laying against Kimmie’s, we could just see how big its head was.  The dog looked at us, and we felt it smile.  We couldn’t see any “expression” on the dog’s muzzle and face, of course, as it was a dog after all, but we felt sure it was smiling.  As I looked, the dog’s left eye closed.

Did it wink at me?  Or maybe his left eye was irritated by Kimmie’s blonde locks.  But I felt sure it winked. Can dogs even wink?

Kimmie let go and sat back on her haunches to get a good look at the entire dog. “You’re a pretty puppy,” she said, and petted it on the top of its head.  “Big, too.”  The dog made a loud and powerful “woof,” which made me and Diane step back in surprise.  The dog moved in closer to Kimmie and started licking her face.

Kimmie giggled.  “Ewww! Yuck!”  But she didn’t pull back.

After a bit, Kimmie batted the dog’s head away good-naturedly, but the dog didn’t seem to mind.  The dog stood up and went to Diane.  It sat down again and put a paw up and onto the front of Diane’s blouse.  Diane didn’t move.

“The doggie’s saying hello, Mommy,” Kimmie said. 

“Ummm, hello,” Diane said hesitantly, and the dog, which seemed to be responding, woofed again.

“Diana!” I whispered fiercely.  “I don’t recognize the dog.  It’s not from around here.”

“I know,” Diane replied.  “But I don’t think it’s an ordinary dog.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think this dog is a ‘familiar.’”

“Huh? I thought witches’ familiars were supposed to be cats?”

“Not necessarily.  According to legend, a familiar is like a spirit in an animal form, and it doesn’t have to be a cat, but can actually be any kind of animal.”

“Well, why couldn’t if have been a goldfish?” 

Diane giggled a little.  “Just imagine a witch with a goldfish for a familiar.  You’re gonna have to bring a fishbowl with you all the time just to be able to have it around.” 

I giggled at the image.  “Anyone in the coven own a familiar?”

“A few were lucky enough to have been chosen,” Diane said.  “And they don't 'own' them. Familiars aren’t like pets, Cassie.  You don’t just buy one at the pet store.  And they have a specific witch or human that they attach themselves to.  Like I said, they’re spirits that work with witches, like protective or helpful servants, or provide inspiration like a spirit muse would for an artist.”

“Okay.  So, Ms Smarty-pants, if you’re so smart, tell me which witch does this familiar belong to, then?”

Diane kneeled on the porch deck.  “Cassie, you stay over there.”  She had indicated a place on the deck a few feet to her right.  I went there and kneeled, copying Diane.

“Kimmie, honey?” Diane said.  “Can you go and sit over there?”  Diane pointed at a spot on the deck a few feet to her left.  Kimmie had a puzzled look but obeyed.  Owing to the tight skirt she was wearing, she sat with her legs together and folded to one side.  I was amazed at how these things seem to come to her automatically.

“Now,” Diane said.  "The two of you be quiet and don’t disturb the animal.  Let it do what it wants.”

We sat quietly and waited for the dog to do its thing. 

The big white dog walked in a circle several times, looking at each of us in turn as it did so.  “Oooh!” Kimmie squealed.  “We’re letting it pick the one that gets to keep it!”

“Quiet, honey,” Diane said.

“Ah, nuts,” Kimmie pouted, but settled down.

As the dog circled again, it stopped in front of Kimmie.

“Me! Me!” Kimmie whispered.  “Pick me, pretty puppy!”

The dog went forward and licked her face again, but after a moment, it walked away and sat on its haunches in front of Diane.

Diane and the dog looked at each other, as if contemplating each other.  The dog then put it’s paw on Diane’s lap.

“Are you sure?” Diane said, and the dog woofed, seemingly in agreement.  “Okay, then.”  Diane opened her arms and the dog came forward to be hugged.

“And I wanted the doggie, too.” Kimmie said, disappointed. But, after a moment, she set aside her childish disappointment and went over to Diane and the dog.  She ran her hand over the dog’s back. 

“You have nice fur, you know that, puppy?”

The dog woofed, as if he was responding again.  It then walked around us and looked over to the front lawn.  It woofed again and head-bumped me on my left leg.  It gestured with its head towards the yard in front of the house. 

I looked to where the dog was pointing, and there on the sidewalk immediately in front of the house stood three animals.  One was a small red fox, with a white chest and bushy red tail with black sparsely mixed into it at the end.  Beside it was bigger rounded animal that looked somewhat also like a fox, except it was too big and fat.  Almost as large as Diane’s dog, and it had a small face like a koala or a chubby puppy, but with white ears, and a long and bushy red tail with light-red stripes.  The tail was moving around restlessly.  I couldn’t figure out what animal it was.  A fat dog?  An undersized red bear? 

Right beside the bear was a more conventional animal.  It was a predominantly-white cat, with bushy fur all over, and a dark face, ears and dark, bushy tail, and the fur nearest its feet was pure white, making it look like it was wearing booty-socks. Pretty cute cat.  Actually all three of them were pretty cute-looking. 

As we were looking, all three of them started walking towards us.  The cat went straight for Kimmie, and the bear-like animal went to me. 

Predictably, Kimmie grabbed the cat, and proceeded to hug it to death.  “Pretty kitty!” she said.

As for me, my familiar was a little more stand-offish.  I stood, unconsciously trying to show my new pet who was boss. The bear stood up as well, standing on its hind legs, and using its tail to balance itself.  The top of its head was level with my boobs.

“Whatinheck are you, anyway?”  I said to the bear-like thing. The bear looked at me, twitched its white ears and shrugged.  At least I thought it shrugged.  “So, what now?” It shrugged again, and made what sounded like a meow kind of sound.

I noticed the red fox, and it was curled up in the middle of the floor, like it was both sad and scared.  I can only guess it was to be Tamara’s familiar, but since Tamara wasn’t around…

Kimmie, with arms around her new cat, walked over.  “Hi, pretty fox.  You’re missing your human, huh?”  The fox looked up at her with sad eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you with us until she turns up.  Right, kitty?”  The cat jumped down and walked around the fox, rubbing against it like an affectionate cat would around your leg.

I looked at my familiar again.  “So, are you hungry, bear? Wanna grab a bite?” The thing twitched its nose as if agreeing, and ran to the door.  It stood on its hind legs again and scratched at the door with it’s front paws.  It had pretty long and sharp claws, but, somehow, that didn’t scare me.  “Wait until I get the keys,” I said to the bear.

I was about to go back to the car and get my purse with the keys, but Kimmie stopped me.

“Wait!” she said, and went to the door.  She put her hand on the doorknob and twisted it.  Apparently, we had left the door unlocked.

“C’mon, guys!” Kimmy said and ran in, high-heeled boots tapping on the marbled floor.  All the animals, except for Diane’s dog, followed Kimmy inside. 

It looked back to Diane.  She gestured to the dog, then to the door, and said, “go on, then.  It’s all right. This is your home now.”  The white dog turned and walked into the house, neither hurrying nor running. 

“Let’s go in before Kimmie makes a mess of things inside,” Diane smiled and went in.  I locked up the car and followed.  “We left the door unlocked?” I asked Diane, stopping her.  “Hope nothing’s missing.”

“No,” Diane said, “we didn’t leave the door unlocked.” 

“But Kimmie…” 

“Kimmie unlocked it.”

I looked at her. “You think so, huh?”  For a new witch to be able to do such a thing, and without casting a spell – that was a pretty powerful witch.

“Well, let’s not jump to conclusions until we know more.”

“Did you notice the fox?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Would that fox be Tamara’s?” Diane nodded.  “Where IS Tamara, anyway?”

“I forgot to say - she texted last night and she said that she was pretty much done with whatever she was doing in Japan, and she would be coming back soon.  This week, as a matter of fact.”

“Glad that she’s coming home.”  Changing the topic, I gestured to the kitchen.  “What are we going to do with all of those animals in the house?”

“Cassie,” Diane said, “although those look like animals, they aren’t.  Those are witches’ familiars.  And it is our privilege and duty to be their partners.  In a previous life they were undoubtedly powerful witches or warlocks, and it is their turn now to provide protection and service to other witches. So think of that first, Cassiopeia, before assuming that these are just animals. These souls are duty and honor-bound to be our familiars, and are perhaps forced to act like animals, but we shouldn’t abuse the privilege nor take these souls for granted. Show respect.”

I nodded. “I understand, Diana," I said, deliberately not using her nickname.

She giggled suddenly.  “But, it’s nice to have a pet, too.”

I giggled myself and wagged a finger at her.  “You’re a bad girl, Diane.”

I pushed the swinging doors that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house and got an eyeful of the mess that Kimmie had wrought.

The bear, cat and fox were on the dining table, with the cat and fox slurping up milk from large bowls and the bear daintily nibbling at celery sticks, a chopped up head of cabbage on a flat baking dish, and what looked like raw eggs in a soup bowl.  Diane’s white dog was eating what looked like raw hamburger meat in a bowl on the floor, thawed in the microwave no doubt.

Dumped on the counter by the sink were the candelabra, flower arrangement, and decorative fruit bowl that were usually on the dining table.  The dining table cloth itself was dumped on top of the dishwasher.

Kimmie herself was eating a bowl of cornflakes and milk, watching the antics of the animals with a big smile.

“Guys, this is so much fun! Did you want to eat, too?  There’s lots of snacks an stuff, cereal an other things. But we only have half a container of milk left.  Guess we need to buy more, huh?”

“Aaaah! Kimmie, what did you do!”  

Kimmie looked up at me, her chin quivering. “Did I do something wrong, Cassie?”

I looked at her, and couldn’t stay mad.  “Honey, it’s just that we don’t have pets on the dining table, and the kitchen’s a mess…”

“But… but… I took the place settings off, the tablecloth… an' I put newspapers down…”

“We don’t allow animals on the table, Kim.”

“Ah, nuts.”  Kimmie pouted, and made a move to pick up her kitten.

Diane was looking around the kitchen.  “Actually, Cassie,” she said, “since everything’s set up, let’s leave it as is.  I’m having cereal as well.”  She reached up and got a bowl, I suppose for her cereal.

“Diane,” I said.  I didn’t like it that Diane was contradicting me.

Diane put down the bowl, and went to me.  “Cassie,” she said quietly, “these are not pets, nor just animals. So long as they are minding their manners, they can sit on the dining table.  I’d prefer that they sit in the chairs but they just not built for them.  Physically, I mean.”

“But… but...”

“I said it’s all right, Cassie.”

“But the kitchen’s a mess!”  Even I knew I was reaching.

“It is?  Look around, Cassie.”

I glared at her but did look around.  And I noticed that what I thought was a mess, wasn’t:  The flower arrangement, candelabra and fruitbowl were well put away on the kitchen counter, and the tablecloth was neatly folded and on top of the dishwasher.  And indeed, there were newspapers on the dining table, and the animals… I mean, the familiars, were eating daintily and neatly – no messes at all.

“Well,” I said, “ummm, Kimmie should have used old papers, not the new ones.  And, ummm, and, everyone should have washed their hands… or paws….”

They all looked at me, including the animals, and they all burst out laughing.  At least, I had the impression that the animals were laughing, too.

“Well, sorreee!” Kimmie said and giggled.  She got a large bowl, filled it one-third full of water, put it on the floor as well as a folded towel.  “Okay, kiddies! Wash your paws for Aunt Cassie.”  The animals padded to the bowl, dipped their front paws into the water and wiped them on the towel.  The three smaller ones jumped back up and went back to their food.

I got a bowl of cereal myself and sat down.  As I poured milk in and started eating, the little fox and the cat nudged their bowls near mine with their noses, and proceeded slurping.  They would sneak looks at me, and I couldn’t help think that they were smiling amusedly at me.

“All right,” I said to the animals, feeling like a fool talking to a cat and a fox, “I overreacted, okay?”

The bear, “my” bear, waddled up to me, gently put a paw on my arm, and looked into my eyes.  I looked back, and felt the bear’s soul.  With that one look, I knew I wasn’t looking into the eyes of an animal but a person - a person ages older than anyone I knew, with massive experience and knowledge, and, most of all a gentleness that I only felt with my gram.  The bear was looking at me with a sort of gentle, tolerant smile, indeed like the kind gram would give me when she was trying to get a point across.  With that one look, I finally understood.  “Hi,” I said, and my bear put its clawed paw oh so gently on my cheek.

 
*** Kimmie later that night, working on her computer ***

It was a sad kind of day. Actually, it was the worst day, even with our new 'visitors.' The novelty of our new 'pets' wore off me very quickly, and I started missing my sister again. I can't believe that she's gone.

Most of the day I just floated around the house moping and crying occasionally. Cassie was always there, though, trying to cheer me up, and I loved her for it. But I was still in a kind of shock. I was just inconsolable. Kaye cannot be gone.

My new friend, my little kitty, was always there, too, trying to cheer me up as well, I guess. I must have squeezed her pretty hard a few times, but she didn't complain. I needed the hugs. I guess Kitty knew this, and fetched the fox for me as well, for additional company.

Dinner came and went. I didn't really notice, and I even failed to notice how delicious Diane's cooking was. Kitty and the other familiars had dinner with the family as well, and they occupied the other end of the table. It was good we had one of those large dining room tables. Poor doggy had to eat from a bowl on the floor, though.

As we were finishing up dinner, Diane and Cassie started thinking up names again for me. I don't understand what the fuss was all about, though. Anyway - so they talked about possible names for me from Greek and Roman mythology. And possible names for Tamara, too, apparently. Some of the names they mentioned I recognized, but most of them I didn't. Well, I wasn't any sort of expert on literature.

From what they were saying, they didn't really have any special method to select the names - just sound out a name, and see if it fit.

"In thirty-five generations, Cassie," Diane said, "No one has come along like Kaye and Kim. I don't know if we should recycle any of the usual names. None of them fit."

Cassie giggled. "I know. But that's good. I'm getting pretty tired of girls named Diana."

"Cassie!" Diane exclaimed, sounding offended, but ruined the effect when she giggled as well. "Well, 'Cassiopeia' isn't that unique in the Family, too, you know."

"Sure. I just wish it'll be easier than with me. Has... inspiration hit you yet?"

"No, nothing's been coming to me."

"yeah, me too." She thought a bit. "How about Aphrodite?"

Diane shook her head. "No."

"Venus?"

"No..."

"Athena? Thea? Io? Gaia? Minerva?" Nike?"

Diane giggled. "Sounds like a basketball shoe."

"Oh, sorry! I mean Victoria. But, yeah. None of them sound right." Cassie saw me looking at them.

"How about you, angel?" she asked. "Any thoughts on a name?"

I shrugged. "Kim?" I suggested.

Cassie smiled at me compassionately. "Maybe something else," she said.

"I'll think of something else later," I said.

"Okay," Cassie said, and leaned over to kiss me on my cheek.

I offered to do the washing up, and found it almost therapeutic to clean up the table and wash the dishes. It felt good to keep busy so I didn't have time to think about Kaye. Unfortunately, I was soon done and my sadness descended on me again. I retreated to the verandah to be alone with my thoughts and my grief, and my cat and my fox.

Cassie and Diane peeked in and said goodnight. Cassie said she was going to watch TV in her room, and I should just knock if I needed anything.

I still had trouble getting used to the change. After all, I had been a girl less than a day. How could I hope to? My mind kept straying back to my dead sister Kaye. I forced myself not to dwell, both on the change, and on Kaye. This morning helped a lot in putting a sort of closure for me, but I knew it would still take time. I wanted to forget, deny that Kaye was gone. After all, I saw her in my dream last night, and we all heard her today. She isn't really gone, I thought. Then I remembered enough of my psych college electives to know that grief had distinct phases, and what I was feeling, witchiness aside, was probably one of them. But I was in a hurry for the acceptance stage to start, darn it! I giggled inside, imagining how Kaye would laugh at my feigned, but stereotypical, impatience.

The cool air finally chased me indoors, so I decided to go to bed.

I went to Kaye's room to look through her cabinet for something to wear to bed. Thing was, Kaye's taste in clothes was pretty girlie - there were, indeed, tons of sleep clothes, but most of them were pretty flimsy negligees or wispy nightgown-type stuff, and though my interest in these nightclothes would just normally be seeing them worn by a girl, God help me, I felt a kind of attraction to actually wear them. I didn't give in, though, and dug through these gossamer gowns and other stuff looking for something else.

Thankfully, I found some other more conventional-looking pajamas in the bottom drawer. In silk, and in pastel colors, though - guess you can't have everything. But, in the back of my brain, I was thinking that I would have preferred the sexier stuff.

I grabbed a matching top and bottom, opened a other drawer and grabbed the most plain-looking pair of panties there.

"Hope you don't mind, sis," I said out into the night.

As I was about to change into my borrowed sleep clothes I heard a small voice, almost like the sound of a stray gust of wind whistling through the window. I came down with a feeling that I was missing something... Oh.

I'd been getting this kind of feeling ever since I woke up. It was a little unsettling, but also comforting. It sounded weird but that's how I felt.

I turned and opened the drawer with the panties, and looked for an appropriate bra. I looked through the tags and found the one with the largest size - a t-shirt bra in white cotton-spandex.

So I shucked my clothes, hung up the blouse and skirt, put the bra, stockings and panties in Kaye's hamper, and then put on the nightclothes.

I saw my reflection in Kaye's mirror and I looked adorable. If one can ignore my hooters - an almost impossible thing, I know - one would think I was like ten or twelve. It was probably the short-sleeved pajama top and capri-length pajama bottoms that did it.

I found a pair of terrycloth slippers, put them on and padded to my own room, my ever-present kitty and fox following. I still walked on tiptoe, but managed.

I lightly washed my face, brushed my teeth, and brushed my hair in my bathroom. After that, I climbed into bed and tried to get some sleep.

But I couldn't.

Feelings were whirling inside me. It wasn't about Kaye, although my thoughts were a bit about her - it was mostly things I couldn't pin down. You know when you feel restless, and you just toss and turn, not thinking of anything in particular, but can't sleep anyway? My first night as a girl was like that.

Since I wasn't getting any sleep anyway, I decided to get up. I went over to my study table carrying Kitty. I opened my room's windows and the almost-full moon was high and bright in the night sky. I looked at it as a cool, gentle wind wafted against my face. It wasn't cold, but was exhilarating and bracing instead.

I put Kitty on the desk, and she sat patiently, looking at me. I looked around and found the fox on the floor by my feet, looking up at me. I picked her up, gave her a quick cuddle, and put her on the table as well.

That took away the melancholy mood. Kitty, Foxy and I were fine, just the three of us.

I petted Kitty and switched on my desktop computer - a relic from my college days. Not exactly cutting edge, but still good enough for surfing and word-processing.

On my screen desktop was a ten-year-old picture of Elisha Cuthbert. I was afraid that my sexual preferences might have been affected as well when I changed, but it was clearly not as I still found her awfully sexy. But I felt the same when I looked at Cassie, too, so I shouldn't have been worried. But when I recalled how I looked like in Kaye's mirror this morning, maybe I wasn't too relieved when I found out my new self was turning me on, too. I may be in a bit o' trouble, Boyo, as Mom would have said.

I sighed and opened my browser. To test myself, I typed in a couple of search words like hunk and beefcake, and checked out the images displayed. Oh-oh. Seems my libido couldn't decide if it was AC or DC...

"You really know how to mess with me, Kaye," I mumbled. "You really do." I decided to check my mail instead, and think about this at a later time.

The mail was really piling up. But could I open them? If I do, the senders would know that I did. Hmmm. That could be a problem. This is something I need to talk to the girls about.

So I ran a little program I wrote a while back: I am (or maybe 'was' was the more appropriate word) a structural engineer for the state, and would often be on the road to inspect roadwork or civil structures like government buildings or dams or bridges, and signal was often spotty or nonexistent when I was on the road.

To make sure I didn't miss any correspondence, my program would dump all my mail into a file without opening them. I can then download that file remotely the next time I had internet access, and browse my mail later at my leisure so internet connection wouldn't be needed anymore.

And so, with my program, I could access my mail and people wouldn't know it. I decided to keep the program running and have it dump my mail into the file at regular intervals. That way, it'll look like I wasn't touching my emailbox.

Better to discuss this situation with the girls tomorrow, I thought. I mean, what'll happen to the male me? I mean, Kim-the-guy's gone now... In the meantime, I checked my new mail after it was downloaded. There was nothing major - just a lot of work stuff, and junk from facebook, twitter et cetera.

After knocking around in the web for a bit, My eyes strayed to Kitty and Foxy. I searched for stuff on "familiars."

Okay. There wasn't much on the web. But it did jibe with what Cassie and Mommy... ummm, Diane, said.

Next, I decided to check out what animals they were. First thing was to try and find out what kind of animal Cassie's familiar was. I found out that it was a "Red Panda." It wasn't really a panda, but was closer to a raccoon than anything. I looked up it's diet and habits. Hmmm. My guess earlier was right on the money. But I guess we needed to grocery-shop a bit tomorrow.

I then turned to my kitty, and it turned out that she was actually a Birman cat. Nothing too unusual there. Then, Foxy - as best as I can tell, was a Red Fox. Again, not too exotic. And then there was Doggy. I went through everything I could google, and it turns out she was an Alaskan Malamute.

Well. That was a relief. Except for Cassie's bear, they weren't too difficult to take care of. Guess I'll ask Mummm.... ah I mean Diane, and Cassie, what we should do next.

I wanted to give them names. We couldn't continue calling them Doggie and Kitty forever. I didn't want to presume and give the others names, as they were not my familiars (if it was even proper to think of them as pets), but I thought it was okay to give "my" cat a name, at least.

I pulled her closer to me and contemplated her as she sat on her butt and looked at me quizzically.

"Hmmm... how would you like a name, little furball? Would you like that?"

She looked at me and meowed like she was agreeing.

I still wasn't sleepy. I guess, since I was still up, maybe I should work on finding a name for me as well. That seemed to be an important thing, apparently.

I looked through all my usual sites and found some references to Greek mythology. Hmmm. The male Greek gods outnumbered the female ones maybe by fifty to one. But when I started to include the demi-gods and the humans, the numbers evened out more-or-less.

But that's all I got. I never got closer to selecting a name for myself, or for Tamara (a name which I found out, in my research, wasn't at all Japanese). I did think up some nice names for the new guys, though. I guess I'll suggest it to the girls tomorrow. Or, rather, this morning- it was already four AM, after all.

 
*** Diane, the following morning ***

Waking up the following morning, I felt a load off my mind. That puzzled me, though, since nothing really had changed since last night, except for the arrival of the four animals... I mean "familiars." Could that be it?

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, reached over to the chair by my dresser and grabbed my negligee's gossamer gown. As I put it on, I noticed the dog from last night. He was sitting up, alertly looking at me. I had this feeling that he had been there all night, and it didn't bother me much. Actually, knowing he was there gave be a feeling of security, like someone was watching over me and keeping me safe.

"Good morning," I said pleasantly, and didn't feel at all weird talking to a dog.

The dog woofed at me, and thumped his tail. Like last night, I felt that he was actually smiling at me, and that made me smile, as well.

I padded to my bathroom, and did my usual morning routine while the dog stayed at the bathroom doorway.

"Hey, how about some privacy, huh?" I said in slight indignation.

He panted the way some dogs do, and the panting sounded like laughter. He considerately turned around and faced the other way.

"I guess you four are here to help us, huh?"

He stayed at the doorway and woofed.

"Well, I apologize if I seem a little rude. I guess I have to get used to this first."

I went to my closet, picked out a change of clothes, and settled for a comfortable top, a pair of shorts and a pair of canvass shoes.

"I'm a bit worried for Kim," I said. "I'm sure that Kaye and whoever knew what they were doing, but I can't help it. Being changed from a man to a girl's a big thing. I don't know if he... she will come out of it okay."

As I sat on my bed to tie my shoes, I heard a loud thud. I looked back and saw that my familiar had somehow pulled one of my psychology textbooks from my bookshelf, and it had fallen to the floor. The dog then used his nose to open it, and was using one of his paws to turn the pages. Well, he was actually sliding the pages more than actually turning them.

"What're you doing?" I asked. But the dog eventually stopped pawing at the pages. He woofed at me and I came over.

"What do you have there, dear," I said. I looked at the open book and where he had his paw on.

Prior to my... being introduced to the life of a modern-day witch, I was a professor at the nearby college. At the time, I was teaching psychology and was actually on the way to becoming the head of my department. But then, my... real calling was revealed. Needless to say, I left my old life and, with the help of a few changes to my files and records care of some of the coven's friends in the government and in the university staff, the face of Dr. Joyce Anne Burton in all of her records had been changed slightly and now looked different from mine - it looked very similar to mine, making us look like relatives, perhaps, but still a different person. And with a few spells courtesy of the coven, everyone that ever knew or have seen me will all recall me always looking like the new picture.

But the subterfuge wasn't uncovered because Dr. Burton soon after resigned and disappeared from campus life, and from the life of my family and friends. It was ridiculously easy, actually, to make Dr. Burton disappear from the world, and it was even more easy to create my new identity as Diane Burton, a distant cousin of Joyce.

I was then indoctrinated and moved into the Burton Manor in the other side of town. I found out that the Manor was owned by distant relatives, and was being managed by the coven. Now that I was "found," the big house was turned over to me.

I then learned about the coven, and about our family, and it seemed I was to inherit not just the house but the family line, and it was up to me to... reconstitute the legacy.

These psych books and some other odds and ends were all that was left of my life as Joyce, but I didn't regret leaving my old life since I was still able to keep in touch with my old friends, coworkers and students, though I had to be careful not to tip my hand and comport myself in my new identity as Diane, or Diana - Joyce's well-to-do antique collector-cousin studying to be a psychologist and psychotherapist.

- - - - -

I looked at what the dog's paw was pointing at, and it was the section on gender, with the sub-section on identity and the sense of self. Was the dog telling me something?

I knew this stuff already but, nevertheless, I picked up the book, sat on my bed and started reading.

 
*** Cassie, preparing breakfast ***

After I woke up and got ready for the day, I went downstairs fully expecting Diane to already be in the kitchen getting breakfast ready, as usual. She was always the first one to wake up in the house, and she and Kaye would usually be the ones that took care of breakfast.

But since Diane apparently had overslept, I decided to be the one to prepare breakfast today. My bear was with me - he had been tagging along since yesterday, and had even slept beside my bed last night.And this morning, the thing started "helping" me, seemingly helping to choose what to prepare today through gestures and cute little yips, and "suggesting" what spices and vegetables to include in my scrambled eggs and other things, and would yowl if I picked the wrong ingredient or whatever, and would nudge me with his nose if I had to take something off the stove or something.

I was grateful, actually, as I would not have been as... organized. I had a reputation of being all thumbs in the kitchen, and the girls will be surprised that I turned out something edible this time.

In gratitude, I gave him a couple of carrots and a celery stick to munch on as I prepared things. He used his two front paws and held on to the vegetables like an old man would hold a glass of watr with both hands, and contentedly munched on them. The disadvantage of no opposable thumbs...

Eventually, Diane came downstairs, with the big dog following. She had one of her college books under her arm.

"Hey, Diane," I said. "Good morning."

She came over and gave me a good morning kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Cassie," she said. "Whoa! You're cooking breakfast? Oh, no!"

"Shut up, Diane," I said mock-sternly. "I think the eggs came out okay this time, and the bacon's draining on that plate over there."

Diane took a peek. "Honey, I don't think you cooked this."

"Shut up, Diane," I repeated, this time a little more seriously. "I did so cook them! ... well... I had some help..."

"You did? So, when did Kimmy wake up?"

"No, no!" I said. "Kimmy didn't help me - he did!" I pointed to my bear, who was just sitting in the corner looking at us and nonchalantly munching on his carrot.

She looked at the bear, and then back at me. "Somehow, I believe you," she said.

"You do?"

She nodded. "Let me tell you what happened this morning."

She sat at her customary chair at the head of the table, and I dished up some eggs, bacon and toast for her.

"So," she said, "I woke up and the dog was near the bed looking at me, and for some reason, I started talking to him."

I got myself some eggs and bacon, and sat down and listened.

"Anyway," she said, "I was thinking aloud and saying to the dog I was worried about Kim, and that being changed from a guy to a girl would be quite traumatic, so I was wondering if Kim would be okay. Anyway, he," she gestured at the dog, "pulled down this book somehow, and turned it to this page." Diane opened the book and showed it to me. The title of the chapter was something about gender identity or something, but I was paying more attention to her.

"Anyway, I think I now know what Kaye did what she did to Kim. The book sort of gave me a clue."

"Yeah? And?"

"Did it ever bother you why Kim was acting so girly, and acting so much like a kid?"

"Not really," I said. "I think it suits her."

"Well, I think that Kaye, and whoever else, did that to her intentionally."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why, for god's sake?"

"I think that Kim is undergoing a kind of adjustment or something. This childish behavior of hers is her going through a kind of childhood. It's like she's going through her own version of growing up."

I looked at her a little quizzically. "Eh?"

"It's like she's growing up again, and by the end, she'll have grown up into the girl she is now. In a way. Otherwise, Kim could actually go psychotic, or maybe suicidal."

I looked at her in alarm. "You mean she could kill herself or something?"

She shrugged. "I can't be a hundred percent sure, of course, but all I know says this probably the reason why, and this is their way of protecting Kim."

"Is there any way to be sure?"

She shook her head. "No..."

"Okay... So, anything else?"

"Well, assuming I'm correct, Kim thinking me as her mother - it fits. After all, a child needs parents. I guess I've been drafted to be her mom."

"Oh..."

"Oh, don't worry about me - I don't mind. In fact, I kinda like it. Given our life now, I don't think I'll have a chance to have a family, anymore. I guess this would be my chance."

"Diane," I said, and reached for her hand.

"Yeah?"

"You're my family now, and always will be. You and Tamara, and Kim."

She gently smiled at me. "I know, honey, and you're mine. But, you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Here's the thing, though - we have to let this thing play out. Otherwise, it might hurt Kim, psychologically, at least."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning I will be mom to her, until she's, ummm... grown up into an adult again, and doesn't need me to be mom anymore."

"How about me? What's my role here?"

Diane shrugged. "I don't know."

"Then how can I..."

"Just be patient and understanding. I'm sure it'll become clearer as time goes by."

I nodded. "No problem - I can do that. What about, you know, Tamara?"

"I have an idea about that she's supposed to be, but I'm not sure?"

"Well, whatever it is, tell me."

"Tamara's like, what, sixteen?"

"Yes?"

"I think she's gonna be the sister."

"Then what about me?"

"I don't know, Cassie," she shrugged. "Anyway, whatever she will be, we'll know soon. I got a text from her. She's actually en route, and should be landing this afternoon."

"Good morning," a sweet, somewhat high-pitched voice called.

Diane and I turned around. We saw Kim by the dining room door, holding one of Kaye's stuffed toys, and the cat and the fox right beside her. Kim was wearing shorty pajamas, sleepily rubbing one of her eyes with the back of one hand, and held one of the doll's arm with her other hand. I cringed because the doll was dragging on the floor. Knowing how Kaye kept her precious plushie toys so clean and spic-and-span, I had half a mind to tell Kim to put the doll back, but I bit my lip.

"Good morning, honey," I said.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"Well come on over and sit down, and I'll dish you up some eggs and bacon."

She sleepily shuffled to the chair across from mine and climbed onto it like a little child. I had to smile at that. She put Kaye's little stuffed monkey on the table beside her.

"Got milk?" Kim asked.

"We only have less than half a carton left, but I don't want milk this morning." I put a loaded plate in front of her, and put my glass of milk beside it. "Guess we need to grocery-shop later."

Diane put a couple of pieces of toast on another plate and slathered them generously with marmalade. I couldn't stand marmalade myself, but we knew Kim liked it. At least when she was still a he. Diane put the plate beside the glass of milk.

"Go on, honey," Diane said. "Dig in."

Kim looked at the glass of milk for a little bit, and after a moment or so, got down from her chair. picked up the glass and walked around the table to me. She put the glass beside my plate and reached up to give me a kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna have orange juice this morning," she said, and walked to the fridge and got the carton of juice.

"Honey?" I said. I was very touched by that. It was only milk, but to a child's mind, that's a big deal. But Diane gave me a warning shake of the head.

"Uhuh?" Kim said around a mouthful of eggs.

"Thank you for the milk."

She gave me a big smile, and then proceeded to eat with gusto.

"Thiff iff real good, mommie," she said as she proceeded to stuff herself. "Fank you."

"Cassie was the one who cooked breakfast today, dear."

Kim looked at Diane with unbelieving eyes. "No!" she said, and then looked at the both of us with suspicion.

"Hard to believe, huh?"

"Now, wait a minute, you two!" I said in feigned indignation. "I cooked this all by myself!"

"Really?" Kim said unbelievingly, full of the conviction of a five-year-old.

"Really, really!"

I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked down. It was my bear. He had his eyes closed and was sticking his tongue out. Diane and Kim giggled, and I wasn't sure about the other familiars.

"All right, all right," I huffed. "The bear helped me." And the girls broke into laughter.

After everyone got themselves under control, Diane looked at us.

"You know," she said, "I think our guys need names. You can't keep on calling him," she pointed at my familiar, "'the bear,' and neither can we keep calling the others 'the cat' or 'the fox,' or 'the dog.'"

"What would you suggest?"

"I got a suggestion," Kim said.

"Go ahead, dear," Diane said.

"Well, I was thinking," she got up from her chair and went to the bear, "what if we call this guy, 'Alloysius.'" And she pronounced it correctly: "ah-low-wee -shoes."

"That's the name of the stuffed bear in the book, 'Brideshead Revisited,'" she explained, "and it sounds really sophisticated." Brideshead revisited... Yes, Kim liked to read a lot.

She petted the bear on the head. "Would you like that, little guy?" she asked.

The red panda nodded his head and made a "yip" kind of sound.

"Guess Alloysius likes it," I said. The red panda then licked Kim on the face and then went to me. He put his paw on my lap, and looked into my face with those soulful eyes, sort of asking if I liked it.

"I don't know if I get a vote," I said, "but if you like it, I like it, too." And he licked my face, too. Yuck...

"How about my pup," Diane asked.

"Hmmm..." Kim said. "I was thinking Brian. You know - the smart-alecky talking dog on 'Family Guy?'"

Everyone laughed. The malamute comically put his left front leg over his eyes like you sometimes see those trained dogs on TV shows do, and everyone laughed.

Diane had to wipe her eyes - she was laughing so hard. "Maybe something else, Kim?" she said.

But the dog woofed and nodded his head vigorously.

"You're sure?" Diane asked, and he woofed again, with tail-wagging enthusiasm.

"Okay - from now on, you're Brian." She then turned to Kim. "Now, how about your cat?"

"I don't know," Kim said. "'Socks,' maybe?"

Besides it being a common cat name, and it being a Birman cat with its white paws, it felt accurate. It also sounded cute, which is probably what Kim was going for.

The cat jumped up into Kim's arms and proceeded to buzz and purr.

"Guess Socks likes it," I said.

"How about Tamara's fox?" Kim asked. "Can I give him a name, too?"

"I think we need to wait for Tamara, dear," Diane said. "We need her approval for that, and not just the fox's."

"How about we give him a temporary name until Tamara comes home? And if she doesn't like it, she can change it."

Diane shrugged. "I guess that'd be all right. What did you think of, anyway?"

"I was thinking of calling the little guy 'Miles.'"

"Miles? Why Miles?"

"Miles is the name of the fox in Sonic the Hedgehog! It'd be real cute! And appropriate, too!"

The little fox yowled in a high-pitched kind of whine, and nodded vigorously.

"Okay, then," Diane said, "but!" She then gestured for the fox to come closer.

"But you have to realize that this is just temporary," she explained to the fox. "You and Tamara have to agree on your forever name later tonight, when she comes home. Okay?"

The fox yowled again and nodded.

"Okay. Then you'll be Miles until then."

The fox started jumping up and down, and Kim giggled.

"Well," Diane said, "after all these names, have you come closer to a name for yourself, Kim?"

Kim frowned. "I'm sorry, mommie," she said. "I really tried. I even stayed up almost the entire night doing research..."

"Research?" I said.

"On the internet? Duh?" She looked at me, like she was saying, "you're so clueless."

Normally, those would be fighting words for me, but Kim was so cute, I had to laugh.

"So, what did your 'research' show?"

Kim sighed dejectedly. "Nothing."

I got up, went to her and gave her a hug.

She hugged me back, and I was surrounded by her scent and her aura. It was enough to make me swoon.

"But..." she said.

"But?" Diane said. She got up, went to us and took Kim's hand.

"But... a voice, or more like the ghost of a voice - a whisper, really - woke me up. It was like Kaye's voice. And she had a few suggestions."

I felt her tremble, a kind of sadness swept over her as she thought of Kaye, but it wasn't as devastating as yesterday.

"What did she say?" Diane asked.

"Like I said, a few suggestions, and the ones I liked best was Selene and Cate, which is short for Hecate" (she pronounced it Hek-ut, like the verrsion in the Shakespeare play, with the stress on the first syllable).

"But?"

"But the one I liked best was Bia" (she pronounced it Bee-ah, with the stress on the first syllable).

She turned to Diane. "Can I be called Bia?" she asked.

Diane looked at me, and within us, something clicked, as it did when Joyce became Diana, and Cassandra became Cassiopeia.

Diane spread her arms. "Sure?" she said. And Kim, ummm, I mean, Bia, gave her a one-armed hug (she was still carrying Socks, after all).

And, with everyone having real names now, we continued with breakfast.

Later on, Kim decided on a bath before we went shopping and doing a few errands. Diane started doing research of her own among her psych references and other tomes before we had to go, and I decided to do some research as well.

When I... became what I am now, I learned many, many things. And one of the things I learned was that names - at least among us... witchy folk - names defined what one was. That was why names were so important to us.

For example, Diana's namesake, was the goddess of the hunt, of the earth's fauna, and of motherhood. It was an appropriate name for the brave Joyce Burton, especially in light of her elemental power over earth, and over creatures, her quick mind, and her protective nature, especially over her "children," which were me, and later Kaye, and then even later, Tamara, and then, now Kim... I mean, Bia.

But she preferred "Diane" for casual conversation - "Diana" felt too formal.

I suppose it's not that names define us. Rather, names that are correctly chosen woud fit us. So our coven tries to find names that best fit our sisters instead of force-fitting names to us.

Which why it was unfortunate that the name that fit me was Cassiopeia...

In Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was vain and arrogant and quick to anger, which suited my ability to conjure up destructive cyclones or tornados in the blink of an eye whenever I wanted, but Diane was also pointed out that the Cassiopeia of legend was also very beautiful and powerful, just like me. How very like a mother, I would usually think, when she tried to make me feel better about my new name. But when she said things like that, it would usually pick me up and cheer me up. And I suppose that is what mothers do best.

They say knowing is half the battle. So knowing these things of Cassiopeia, and finally realizing that they also matched what was in me, I tried to be better, and was constantly at war with my temper - my quickness to anger, and my vanity.

I was always trying to be better, and Diane was always there to point out that I was becoming a better person for it. Truth be told, and humility aside, I think she's right. I guess I was able to forge my quickness to anger into something like a quickness to decide, or a quickness to take action, and my vanity into an ability to appreciate beauty, wherever I found it and not just me - and not just in a pretty face, but a pretty sunrise or a beautiful gesture of kindness for exampe - not like my old, narcissistic tendency to just focus on my own physical beauty.

Sure, I'd sometimes fall back to the old Cassie, but that vain and arrogant Cassie was largely gone now, thank god.

- - - - -

For me, doing research was pretty simple, actually. I basically grabbed my phone, connected to the house's wifi, and googled "Bia."

I found out that the Bia of Greek mythology was the daughter of two Titans, and along with her mother and her siblings, she fought on the side of Zeus in the Titan War, or what academics refer to as the Titanomachy.

Among the Titans, the Bia of legend was the personification of force, power and raw energy. In fact, after the Titan war, she was the chief enforcer of the will of Zeus. But she was also the personification of anger and violence. Yikes.

That last piece of information was troubling, and if that was indicative of who... or what Kim, now our Bia, is... But we haven't seen any of that.

As for the other things: well, all I can say is, as soon as Bia's finished "growing up," she's going to be hell on wheels and then some. But with what the coven told us, we'll definitely need someone like Bia.

In the pictures and illustrations that I was able to google, the Bia of myth was always shown in heroic poses, some in armor and some in flowing Grecian robes, also, in some of them, Bia had wings - something her siblings and mother sometimes had as well - but in all cases, she always had some sort of weapon in her hand.

I shrugged - I just didn't know enough. I need to talk to Diane.

But when I heard giggling in the hall, I knew Kim... I mean Bia... was done with her bath. She was probably playing with Socks and Miles. And I guess Alloysius, too, given he wasn't with me.

That galvanized me into action, and I took a quick shower, dried my hair with the medium setting on my hair dryer, styled it minimally the way the girls at the salon taught me, picked up a casual outfit, put it on, and when Kim, I mean Bia, knocked and came in my room, I was almost ready, and was just putting the last touches on my makeup.

"Wow, Cassie," she said, "you're so pretty!"

I finished with my lipstick and turned around. Even in casual clothes, Kim, I mean Bia, was drop-dead gorgeous.

She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, but they were so big, they looked like a skirt on her, especially when she had it cinched tight around her waist with one of Kaye's white canvas belts so it wouldn't fall. I wracked my brain or a moment for what I was thinking her pants looked like, and I came up with a skort - that god-awful combination of a skirt and shorts.

A skort was a pair of shorts but had a flap in front and another in the back to make it look like a skirt. But on Bia, it looked very elegant. Casual-elegant, if you know what I mean. On top, she was wearing one of Kaye's casual blouses - this one was the stretchy, sleeveless white top that Kaye sometimes wore when shoppin - the one with a boatneck collar and thin horizontal black stripes about an inch apart. And since Kaye was a touch smaller, the blouse was quite form fitting for Bia. Wow!

Over it she wore Kim's old Letterman Jacket. It was pretty big on Bia, but I think the oversized fit made it look chic.

On the left breast it had the initials of Kim's alma mater, but instead of it being white, with black cuffs and collar, it was pink now. I remember Kim complaining about it months before - Kaye had mistakenly washed his varsity jacket with one of her red jeans. And, as you know, you're not supposed to wash colored clothes with white clothes. So Kim's then pristine white varsity jacket had become a light-pink one. And from then on, Kim never wore it again.

For shoes, she wore a pair of strappy platform sandals with a three-inch heel. I suspect she wore them because none of Kaye's shoes fit properly, and sandals were the most forgiving in terms of fit.

Guess this shopping was a necessary thing, after all - to get some clothes for Bia, I mean.

Diane got me to drive again, and I picked the F150 again since I assumed everyone, including the familiars, were going, so we couldn't use any of the other cars - they were too small to fit all of us.

So, with me in the driver's seat and Diane in the passenger seat beside me, Bia stayed in the back seat. That left everyone else in the back luggage area, but Bia folded the other half of the back seat so it gave the animals free access to her if they wanted. Miles and Socks took advantage, of course, but Alloysius and Brian stayed in back.

"Pass by Helen's first before we go to Union Square, though," Diane said. Helen was also part of the coven and one of Diane's friends from when she was still Joyce. "Crossover" friends are rare but we do have them.

Helen happened to be a veterinarian in her "civilian life" so i guess this had to do with the animals.

"It's all arranged," she said, as I pulled over. "No need to get down."

"You contacted her before we left the house?" I asked. "What did you use? Scrying? Some kind of spell?"

"What's wrong with you?" she said. "I called her on my cellphone."

Bia giggled.

"Ha-ha-ha," I said, smiling. "Very funny. Laugh it up, little miss."

Since Helen's house and clinic was just ten minutes from the Manor, we were already there before I could ask Diane what this was about.

After I pulled up at the curb in front of Helen's place, Diane jumped out.

"Stay in the car," she called back to us. "This'll only take a couple of minutes. Ten tops."

True to her word, she was back quickly, this time carrying a plastic grocery bag.

"Okay," she said, after she got back in, "I told Helen about you guys," meaning the animals, "and she got all of you licenses. She gestured for each of the to come closer, and slipped collars around their necks, with little medallions that had their name, and our names on the back as their "owners," with contact information. "Alloysius," she said, "you and Miles are special cases, though - because of your species, you're getting these WWF medallions."

"Eh?" I reacted, "WWF? World Wrestling Federation?"

Bia giggled.

"No, you stupid, silly girl!" Diane laughed. "The World Wildlife Fund!" She showed us Alloysius' and Miles' medallions, and it had the WWF logo on one side - a picture of a Panda with the letters WWF underneath it. On the other side was stamped with the important information about Alloysius. Of course, I was very interested in Alloysius's medallion, and I looked it over. On the back, it said,

"Name: Alloysius
"Species: Red Panda
"Home Range: Nepal
"License: Protected Species Custodial License WWF 555-A12RP001
"Registered Custodian: Cassiopeia Martin
"Permissions: Authorized in public places under leash, with registered custodian only
"In case of emergencies, contact the custodian or the nearest branch of the World Wildlife Fund"

It was then followed by the WWF's San Francisco office's telephone number and my number.

Hmmm. That's impressive.

Since Brian and Socks were a regular dog and cat, their medallions probably aren't this fancy, but Miles' medallion was - it was a WWF medallion, too after all.

"And, I'm sorry, guys," Diane said. She brought out leashes, and this was met with woofs, yips and yowls of indignation from those concerned.

"I'm sorry guys," Diane repeated. "You know that this is the only way we can go out together, and for you not be hunted down by people from the pound."

There were more barks and yowls of protest but it was cut off by a flash of lightning and a loud crack of thunder.

In the sudden quiet, Diane and I looked at each other. This felt ominous, and in this family, omens were treated seriously.

"Mommie, look!" Bia said, and pointed out the window.

We could see what appeared to be a dark cloud hovering over one of the tall buildings downtown. It stood out in the bright, cloudless late morning sky.

"That's scary," Bia quavered. "What is it?"

"I think we need to get to town now," Diane said.

I pulled away from the curb and started driving towards whatever that was.

I didn't realize what we were supposed to handle would be starting this early.

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