Day Shift

32

The sun seemed to plummet; the light vanished abruptly, and only the glow of the moon illuminated Midnight. From time to time, it was obscured by clouds. Despite what the weather report had told Chuy two days before, the chance of rain was heavy in the air.

Fiji stood on her back porch, looking out over her garden, until the light was absolutely sucked away. She saw lightning cut through the darkness miles away to the south. She noticed a little piece of the darkness moving in the bushes, and then Mr. Snuggly was by her feet.

“Get in,” he said, in his bitter little voice. “Foolish woman.”

Fiji, who’d been mesmerized by the lightning, flung open the back door and skittered inside, Mr. Snuggly dashing in past her. She had the door shut and locked while he investigated his water and food bowl. He looked up at her with wide, sad eyes, and she could almost imagine tears.

“You piker,” she said, not without affection, and opened a can of cat food. She put half of it in his food bowl and cleaned and refilled his water bowl. There was silence for a few moments, while Mr. Snuggly made his food disappear with a neat dispatch that had her shaking her head incredulously.

When the cat finished, he began to clean his paws. He paused for a moment to say, “Did you know Joe has wings?”

“Yes,” she said. “I suspect he’s an angel.”

“Everyone else thinks they’re fake,” Mr. Snuggly observed, and resumed his cleaning program. “The wings, that is. The ones he and Chuy ‘wear’ at Halloween.”

“They’re just not always visible.” She sat down in one of the chairs by the kitchen table. She scrubbed her face with her hands. “Did you see anything else out there that I should know about?”

He nodded. “The Rev and Diederik are out and about,” he said. “Everyone else… besides you… is properly in a house.”

“And now I am, too,” she said, determined not to be miffed with the cat.

“The big man is almost back,” he said. “Diederik was talking to him on the phone.”

“Diederik’s father? That’s wonderful. The boy will be so happy. He’s grown so much! I wonder if his dad knew he would.” Fiji beamed at the cat.

“He told his son he was sorry to have missed the boy’s first moon time. I have very sharp ears.”

“I’m glad he’s coming back.”

“Tonight is very, very dangerous.”

The smile vanished from Fiji’s face. “More dangerous than the past two nights? Why?”

“Don’t need to know,” Mr. Snuggly muttered. “Long as you stay inside like a sane creature.”

“Why would I not?”

Muttering something unpleasant under his breath, Mr. Snuggly stalked into the front room. Making his way between the display cases and chairs and the table, he went over to the window and jumped onto a padded stool Fiji had placed there just for him. The light was off in the big front room, and Fiji went to look out with the cat. There weren’t any streetlights in Midnight, of course, and the traffic light and the moon were the only sources of illumination.

Fiji caught her breath.

In the middle of Witch Light Road (smack between Manfred’s house and hers) stood a tiger.

It was huge.

When she finally exhaled, she whispered, “Bengal. Holy Goddess, look at those teeth!”

“Told you so,” said Mr. Snuggly.

“But is that…?”

The first tiger was joined by another. It was larger.

“The Rev? And Diederik?” she breathed.

“Maybe his dad is here by now,” Mr. Snuggly said. “I can’t tell ’em apart unless I smell ’em.”

“Do they… Would they know me? If I went out there?”

“Do you want to risk them not knowing you?” the cat asked acidly.

“Ah. No.”

“Then keep your butt indoors.”

“I will.”

She was glad the light in the shop was out, for though she didn’t imagine the tigers would notice her at the window, she felt very strongly that avoiding their attention was better than drawing it. Shoulder to shoulder, the two huge cats paced slowly down the street until they reached the empty house two doors east of Manfred’s, where they simply vanished into the shadows. Their smooth movements, their silence, the massive heads turning slightly from side to side to survey the night around them… it was as eerie and powerful as anything Fiji had ever seen.

Perhaps they’d vanished because they’d heard the car coming. The road was empty for only a few seconds before it appeared. It was an antique car with big tail fins. Fiji had no idea what make and model it was, and she was not interested. She didn’t know the driver, who seemed almost irrelevant to the behemoth he was driving. He was a short, plump man with thick blond hair and a lot of rage. She could see it simmering and shimmering in the night like a red nimbus. He’d pulled into Manfred’s driveway, blocking Manfred’s car, and he got out of the car to walk rapidly to the front door, his arms pumping with energy. He banged on the door with his fist and began yelling.

“Oh, no,” Fiji said. “Oh, no! This is awful!” She rushed over to her own door and suddenly felt a lot of needles sticking in her back. She shrieked.

Mr. Snuggly hissed, “Do not open that door!” He’d launched himself from the stool to land on her upper back, and he was clinging desperately to her with his claws.

“I have to stop him! He doesn’t know!” she said. “Dammit, get off my back!”

“Just back over to the stool,” Mr. Snuggly said. “I’ll drop off.”

Clumsily, she did so, and he landed on the stool, righting himself immediately and with as much dignity as he could.

“You silly woman,” the cat said.

“I can’t let—” Then a noise from outside made her look through the window.

One of the tigers was peering around the corner of Manfred’s house at the newcomer, who was still banging and screeching. Above the pawnshop, in Bobo’s apartment, a light came on. Bobo flung open a window. She could see the silhouette of his head.

“Get back in the car, man!” Bobo called.

“What?” The man stepped back and peered upward.

“Get back in your car and leave. Right now!” Bobo sounded very serious.

“See?” Mr. Snuggly said. “He has a whole floor between him and the creatures. Let him speak.”

“I will not!” The man fairly twitched with indignation, and Fiji pulled up her own window.

“Get back in your car, you moron!” she yelled. “You’re in danger!”

“Don’t threaten me,” he yelled back, and he banged on Manfred’s door again.

The first tiger padded silently around the corner of the house. Perhaps the man smelled the tiger or caught its movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look. And he froze. Fiji hoped that was a good thing.

The tiger made a “chuff” noise, like a cough. Hearing it in the Texas night was hair-raising, literally. It was as out of place as a hyena’s cackle.

Fiji was awed into silence, and she didn’t hear a peep from Bobo.

She had never read a brochure advising her on what to do if she had to deal with a loose tiger. Or two.

The second one joined the first. Fiji could feel the fear emanating from the stranger. It had gathered in a tight black ball around him. The two tigers took a step or two closer to the man. Then several things happened as quick as a wink. Manfred’s front door opened, his tattooed arm shot out, his hand grasped the man’s shirtfront, and he yanked him in.

In theory, this should have worked like a charm, ending with the door slamming shut in the tigers’ faces. In actuality, the stranger’s feet got tangled, and he sprawled in the doorway, leaving it wide open.

Fiji leaned out her window and yelled, “Hey! Tiger!”

And Bobo did the same thing at the same moment.

Both tigers turned their heads, one to look up at Bobo and one to turn slightly to look at Fiji, and while they were distracted, the man was dragged inside. Manfred’s door closed.

“Shut your window,” Mr. Snuggly said. He was hiding somewhere in the room, Fiji could tell, but she couldn’t see the cat. Hearing him was enough. She shut the window and locked it.

“I wonder who the idiot is,” she said, collapsing into a chair.

“I expect,” said Mr. Snuggly, “that’s Lewis Goldthorpe.”