Chapter 3 – The Water
When the children returned to their room, they found Nightcat waiting for them.
“Now,” said Nightcat, “since you all have had a good sleep this afternoon, we can go adventuring.”
“Okay!” Keziah replied quickly.
“What if Mr. Raymond sees you again?” asked David.
“That’s the point,” said Nightcat. “I need to learn how to be a normal cat in the daytime. I think it has something to do with that pool of water that is in the secret passage beyond the cellar.”
“It’s worth a try,” said Priscilla.
“It’s a good idea,” said Richard. “We don’t want another day like today.”
“Here are some charged batteries,” said Keziah. She replaced the batteries in her flashlight. “Let’s go!”
The children followed Nightcat, tiptoeing softly so no one would hear them.
“Stop!” David said suddenly. “I think I hear something!”
Then they saw a light. It was coming from the kitchen.
“It must be Daisy, the cook,” said Keziah.
“Shh...,” whispered Richard.
“Let’s get out of here,” whispered Celesta.
“This way,” said Nightcat. “There is another way down. I found it while I was exploring the castle.” Nightcat led the children to a certain stone in the stairwell. There was a soft clicking sound and the wall swung inward. There were more stairs leading away.
“Let’s hurry,” whispered Richard. “Quietly! You know Daisy hates cats!”
The children followed their friend, Nightcat, into the tunnel. When the door was closed, Keziah flicked on her flashlight. Soon they found the large room with the pool of water in the middle.
Celesta said, “But I thought that this water will turn the dragons back into kittens?! We don’t want to turn you back into a kitten!”
“I think Nightcat would be a cute kitten,” giggled Priscilla.
“I don’t think it will turn me back into a kitten,” said Nightcat softly. “It only turns dragons into kittens if you splash it on to them. I think, if I just take one lick, then I will be able to turn back into a regular cat for the day.”
“Do you mean you will need to come and have a drink from this pool every day?” asked Celesta.
“No,” Nightcat answered. “I believe that just one lick will make me able to control whether I’m a normal cat or in this form.”
“So, drink,” said Keziah, encouraging him.
The huge Nightcat leaned down to the water. Carefully, he put out his large tongue and lapped only once. Nothing happened.
“Why didn’t anything happen?” asked David.
“I feel I’ll be able to change back to my old self in the morning,” said Nightcat. “That way I will be able to sleep in the library and not scare your tutor.” Nightcat looked at all the children fondly. “Thank you for coming with me. Even though I seem so much different now, I still need your love.”
The children patted Nightcat fondly and they could hear a deep purr coming from his throat.
Suddenly, Keziah noticed the passageway seemed lighter. She flicked off her flashlight.
“I think it’s almost morning,” said Keziah. “We’d all better hurry back upstairs!”
“Let’s pretend we’re sleeping when we get back to our room,” suggested David.
When they opened the door in the stairwell, light from a window shone down on Nightcat. Slowly, he began to shrink. His wings got shorter and then disappeared altogether into his soft fur. He was a normal cat again!
“Nightcat!” said Celesta.
But Nightcat just meowed. They had all stopped and were just staring at him.
“Let’s get upstairs,” said Keziah. “We don’t want Mr. Raymond to find us here!”
The children hurried up to their room and jumped into their beds. Priscilla actually fell asleep in the few minutes that passed before Mr. Raymond came in to wake them up.
“Morning already?” asked Priscilla.
The children had breakfast and then they got straight to their studies. They had to work very hard since they had missed a day of school. It was a very busy morning. They even did an art project, using glue and pastels. Keziah made a picture of Nightcat.
After they had eaten lunch, their tutor looked at them with concern.
“You children don’t seem well. Perhaps there was too much excitement yesterday, with a bear in the castle and all. Yes, I do believe we all had quite a scare. I think it would be best if we all had a little rest this afternoon.”
The children all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Okay,” said David.
“We did have a lot of excitement looking for you,” said Richard.
“And we saw the creature face-to-face,” said David.
Celesta scowled at her little brother.
“But we really did!” David whined.
“That’s enough,” said their tutor. “Now, off to your room.”
They all lay down in their beds and quickly fell asleep. The next thing they knew, Daisy was waking them up for dinner.
“Time for dinner, Little Ones!” the cook called up the stairs. “I’ve made your favorite - pasta with cheese and chocolate cake for dessert!”
“Yes!” shouted David as he threw off his covers and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
Celesta noticed that Nightcat was not in their room anymore. “Where’s Nightcat?” she asked.
“Maybe he went into the secret passageway,” whispered Richard. “Let’s not talk about it in front of the cook.”
The children sat at the large wooden table in the kitchen to have dinner. After dinner, their tutor, Mr. Raymond, read them a story. Then the children got free time.
“I think Nightcat is changing back to his other form!” said Keziah.
“Yes,” said Priscilla, looking up at a high window. “It is getting dark outside.”
“Maybe we should go to sleep,” suggested Keziah. “That way we’ll be ready for another night adventure.”
“I want to go on an adventure now!” said David.
They all looked at the sky through the window.
“Maybe we could,” said Richard, “if we were sure that Mr. Raymond and Daisy wouldn’t notice. I wonder what Mr. Raymond is doing right now.”
They could hear Daisy still working in the kitchen.
“I wonder what Nightcat is doing right now!” exclaimed David.
“I think he’s waiting for us,” suggested Celesta.
“We need to see where Mr. Raymond is,” said Richard. “We don’t want him to discover what we’re up to.”
“Good idea,” replied Celesta.
“I’ll go,” said Richard. “You all wait here while I check it out.”
The children waited anxiously for Richard to return. In a few minutes, he came back.
“He’s already asleep!” Richard told them.
“Let’s go find Nightcat!” said David impatiently.
“Wait! Which passageway do you think he went into?” asked Celesta.
“We can’t go into the labyrinth ourselves. We could get lost!” said Keziah.
Then, suddenly, Nightcat came into their room. He was huge again and his wings looked even bigger than before.