They trudged along the bright white path, which was clearly illuminated by the large full moon above. The path back wound its way through the park where Grace had seen the giant jelly fish hovering in the air. She looked up and could see them hanging silently above floating effortlessly in the night’s breeze, their massive size defying gravity. A noise in the distance told Grace that the pop fish were still active.
A lone figure stepped out of the darkness ahead of them.
‘Good evening!’ a firm voice broke the silence. Boot and Grace were startled by the stranger’s presence. Boot placed a hand on his sword hilt. Grace closed in behind Boot.
‘Who is there?’ asked Boot peering into the moonlight but unable to make out the face.
‘I’m sure that’s not as important at this minute as why am I here?’ came the reply.
‘Enough of these games, I’m in no mood. Identify yourself before I slice you in half.’ The metal on leather sound of Boot’s sword being drawn grated heavily on the air.
‘Oh I wouldn’t be too hasty there if I were you.’ As he spoke Thaal stepped into the light and the others saw his face.
Boot was weary from the battle and was in little mood for diplomacy or word games, I’ll just kill him and worry about it all in the morning after a good night’s sleep, he thought to himself with a dry smile.
‘I want the Girl. Hand her over and you will be spared.’ Thaal was lying but he didn’t care if Boot suspected that fact or not. Grace’s eyes widened and she drew closer to Boot, reaching for her own sword.
‘You will have to come and get her!’ sneered Boot, his sword raised and his mind focused. He watched Thaal intently; unsure of what he was up to. Thaal would have to know he was no match in a sword fight against Boot. So what trick did he have up his sleeve?
Thaal wasted no time in banter, he removed the object he had hidden within his robes and pointed it in Boot’s direction. Grace gasped and Boot flinched as they caught sight of the gun in Thaal’s paw. No cats used guns. They were banned and considered by all cats as dishonourable and deceitful. Anger rose within Boot. Clawing its way up from his stomach and out through his throat. Rage tinted his eyes red and he hissed loudly at Thaal. Grace noticed Boot seemed to swell in size as his fur stood up. She had never seen him this worked up before, not even during the battle with the Drawl.
Thaal lifted the weapon and aimed at Boot’s chest.
‘Drop your sword and step away!’ he commanded.
‘Never, you traitor, you’re insane,’ replied Boot with a low pitched growl.
‘Very well then, I have no long speeches, I will simply shoot you.’
‘But if you miss you might hit the girl!’ replied Boot pushing Grace further behind him.
‘Yes but she dies tonight anyway, it’s only a formality you see. Oh yes it’s nice to have a little ritual, a sacred blade and some pomp and ceremony. But all that is simply embellishment. The prophecy is clear. She dies, we are saved. So I could simply shoot you both. Last chance, drop your weapon and step away!’
Boot took a deep breath and glared coldly at Thaal. There was nothing he could do, his sword, his reflexes were no match for a gun. So this was how it would end, gunned down by a traitor, what an unsatisfactory way to end your life. Boot decided if he had to die he would do so trying to save Grace. Thaal was five meters away, Boot knew he would never make it before he was shot but that wasn’t going to stop him. He lurched forwards to attack.
Thaal followed Boot with his sight and pulled on the trigger.
Pop…
Bang. Grace screamed. The empty silence of the cold night had been torn apart by the cruel sound of the gun.
Pop…
Grace realised what had just happened. The pop fish had appeared right in front of Thaal just as he was about to fire causing his aim to drop. It was all the distraction Boot had needed and he had made the distance to Thaal before he could recover to fire again. Boot smacked him in the head with the butt of his sword. Thaal fell limp to the ground. Death would be too easy a punishment for him. He would be imprisoned in the palace dungeons for a very long time.
Grace rushed forwards as Boot slumped. A tiny splatter of blood hit the ground.
‘You’ve been hit!’ she cried checking Boot over for signs of injury. She found a wet patch in Boot’s clothing. He had been shot. She placed her palms over the wound to put pressure on it. There was more blood now, her hands were slippery and she screamed into the night.
‘Help us! Somebody help us!’
Cats appeared. Stirred by the gunshot they had rushed out of their homes to investigate the unfamiliar sound. Several large cats lifted Boot and took him away. Fredya made her way towards Grace and walked her to the hospital where Boot had been taken. Grace didn’t speak, and Fredya didn’t ask any questions, they just sat in silence waiting for news.
Chapter Fifteen
The day after the battle everyone was assembled around Yang’s lab, saying their goodbyes to Grace. Of course they could stop by anytime to see her, but they couldn’t have any meaningful conversations in Grace’s dimension.
Boot had discharged himself from hospital, against his doctor’s advice. The bullet had grazed his left side but there was no serious damage. He had a large bandage about his waist and some of his fur had been shaved off, making him look quite silly. Boot complained that it only hurt when he laughed which everyone else thought was funny.
In spite of what this small group of cats had achieved the night before against the Drawl, not many of the city’s inhabitants knew anything about it. The Emperor had sent his thanks and there was talk of a medal for the soldiers, but there was always lots of talk in government circles.
Grace said her goodbyes to Yin, shook Yang’s paw and gave Fredya a very long hug. She handed her sword and armour over to Fredya for safe keeping. There would be no explaining that away in her dimension even if she could have taken it back.
Grace turned to Boot who had been waiting patiently for his turn to thank her for all her help against the Drawl.
‘I’m going to miss our little chats,’ Grace said wiping back a tear.
‘I’ll be around I guess,’ Boot replied.
‘But it won’t be the same, how can things be the same when I know you’re not just a pet cat?’
‘Well actually,’ said Boot. ‘There is something that should change.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Grace, her eyes quite red with tears now.
‘I don’t like chicken. I don’t mind the tuna, and the beef is fine, but no more chicken ok?’
Grace looked confused, what was Boot on about?
‘Oh and a drop of milk wouldn’t go astray every once in a while.’ The cats were all grinning now as it slowly dawned on Grace.
‘Goodbye everyone!’ she cried as she stepped into the machine. Yang closed the cover and Grace waved through the little window.
***
The light in the recovery room was turned down low. The curtains were drawn and the mood was very sombre. Lights flashed and monitors bleeped away day and night. The walls were a softer colour than the usual sterile hospital white.
Grace lay tucked up inside the hospital bed. Only her little head could be seen sticking out of the covers. Her mother sat reading a paperback in a chair. She turned the pages slowly as if deep in thought. But Joyce was far from engrossed, stopping to look up every few moments as Grace’s breathing changed or a monitor beeped. It was late and George had taken Jason home to sleep. Joyce wouldn’t leave Grace’s side and the hospital staff had set up a cot for her, but Joyce didn’t sleep much more than a few minutes. She put the novel down and reached for the pitcher of water beside the bed. Grace made a funny gurgling noise and sat bolt upright, her fingers reaching up and pulling at the tubes feeding oxygen into her nose. Joyce dropped her cup and grabbed her daughter.
‘Gracie! Oh Gracie you’re awake. You’re awake!’ Tears rolled freely down Joyce’s cheeks and splashed onto her daughter’s forehead.
Grace looked at her mother, trying to speak.
‘Mum, ease up you’re crushing me.’ Her throat was parched and the words sounded like sandpaper on wood. She tried to wriggle free but Joyce just kept hugging her beautiful baby girl.
***
It took some time for Grace to be discharged. The doctors still had tests they wanted to run. It seemed like every day Grace spent in the hospital after awakening she had someone drawing blood, tapping away on her kneecap or asking her to describe ink blots. When she finally arrived home, things never really returned to normal. There were subtle little differences. The way people looked at her, the hushed whispers in the corridors at school about her hallucinations and operation. Even her friends didn’t seem as close as before. The scar on her head healed nicely and was the only physical reminder of the events that had transpired. Boot hadn’t been seen since Grace’s collapse. Grace missed Boot. She put food out every night for him but never chicken, just in case.
The End.
Grace and Boots adventures continue in volume two of the Grace Trilogy: Grace and the Revenge of the Drawl.
About the Author
Author Dale Cusack lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Emily and their two cats Boot, and Dudu. When he is not writing, he likes to fish for cunning brown trout in South Island mountain streams, go running with his wife or dream up weirder plot lines for new stories. You can contact Dale by email with comments, questions and suggestions. @Drcusack or https://www.dalecusack.com or
[email protected] Cover and illustrations by Dennis Ma
Illustrator Dennis Ma is twenty-seven. He lives in Auckland and has been drawing since he was four years old. He works as a freelance illustrator and is always open to enquiries for work. When he isn’t drawing he plays guitar and serves in a local church. Dennis can be contacted by email.
[email protected] Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the help and support of the following people in the preparation of this book. Thanks to David Faulkner for the many days spent reading and listening patiently to me prattle on. Thanks to Carole Ryall and Marianne Burns for their hours and hours of proof reading. Thanks also to Amanda Kong for her hours of proofing and suggestions. Thanks to Nicola Faulkner for her proof reading and encouragement. Special thanks to Amelia Turnwald for her intensive editing. And thanks to my wife Emily, for letting me off cooking dinner to write.
Grace and the Revenge of the Drawl
After her last brush with death, Grace is trying to get on with her life. But things haven’t been going well. Teased and bullied by her peers at school, her life is far from happy. Grace tries to pursue a new love interest but his shyness threatens to bring things to an end before they have a chance to begin.
Grace arrives home from school to find a letter on her pillow. It’s a desperate plea for help from the cats. Grace returns to find their city deserted. A massive Drawl invasion has forced the few survivors from their homes and into hiding in the surrounding forests.
The Drawl have been busy, enslaving the cats and forcing them to work. Grace finds Yin and learns of Boot’s disappearance. Together they struggle to unravel the evil creatures’ plan. But time is running out if they hope to free the prisoners and stop the invaders from completing their war machine.
Grace continues to search for Boot refusing to believe he is dead. She will risk everything to save her friends but can she lead the cats to victory in the ultimate showdown between the Drawl and the inhabitants of their world?
Grace and the Drawl Invasion of Earth
A young college sophomore, Grace is an unlikely candidate to save the human race. But this wouldn’t be the first time this determined young woman has risked her life in battle. This time, however, things are different. Human scientists have witnessed the destructive power of the Drawl for themselves.
Driven by sheer hunger, Drawl attacks on humans have increased and become more brazen. In an audacious attack the extra dimensional creatures pour into Grace’s world. Meanwhile chief scientist Dr Yang has copied the Drawl technology that allows them to travel between dimensions. The cats are now able to fight beside Grace in her own world.
Now, somewhere in the Australian outback, the only thing standing between the humans and the Drawl invasion is an elite band of soldiers fighting side by side with a small group of cats. In a battle that stretches across continents, Grace is hurled from one corner of the earth to another as she helps to repel the invaders. She finally comes face to face with those responsible for her amazing abilities and learns the truth about Shadow and the Nellaf.
Gwen and the Dragon
Unprepared for what they discover beneath the castle, Gwen and her twin brother Edmund race against time to save their home and prevent a war. But what other dangers are lurking underground in the dark and ancient caverns besides the enemy soldiers? Can the twins convince the King’s men it’s all real and will Edmund be in time to save his sister from a sinister fate at the hands of the evil Gort…?
Beautifully illustrated and written in a classic style with charming characters, suspense, and a hint of danger, this story will entertain children of all ages.
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