CyberWitch -- 26

White WItch

The action went down just as Lady E. had planned. The group hung around by a tree on the street while the female cat went around the house. Cisco sniffed the base of the tree with interest, then cocked his leg to leave his signature there.

He looked up in embarrassment when Sophie laughed.

“Look, I’m still a dog at heart. There’s a bitch around here someplace, and it smells like she’s about to go into heat. I’d at least like to leave a marker, even if I’m not staying around, so don’t laugh. Dating doesn’t happen for us the way it does for you. Besides, you’ve already mated with Michael.”

Sophie looked at the white dog. He was looking directly at her while he did his business. She was blushing. She could feel it.

“How did you know about that?”

Tao said, “Oh, come on. I can’t smell as well as he can, and even I can smell it on you. You two have mated recently, and from the residual odor, it was a serious thing. You weren’t just pretending to like each other.”

Now that the two had pointed it out, she realized that she was giving off an aura of pheromones that only appeared when she was most aroused.

“Wow. I’d never realized that smell was so informative,” she said.

There was a loud yowl that carried around the house.

Tao said, “There she goes. Cisco, why don’t you peek around the place and come tell us when the old lady opens the door?”

The little dog trotted down the drive, passing between the freestanding garage and the clapboard side of the old house.

He came dashing back. When he was fairly close, he yipped, “Let’s go!”

Sophie walked purposefully down the drive, trying to give the impression that she knew what she was doing and had permission to do it.

There was a brick on the ground near the base of the garage door, and Lady Elaine had been correct. A car key was under it.

She grabbed the key and then opened the garage door. It was one of the old-fashioned solid doors that pivoted upwards, then back into the garage. Unfortunately, the springs were really in need of lubricant, and made a loud screeching sound as she opened it.

Sophie stepped inside, hoping that Mrs. Kincade was as deaf as Lady Elaine had indicated. She was about to open the car door when the gray cat came around the corner, followed closely by an elderly woman.

Sophie turned, flustered, and said, “This isn’t what it looks like.”

The old woman looked her up and down and said, “No. I know that. Ms. Kitty here just warned me. I can tell you that I almost fell over when she started talking. It’s lucky that I believe cats are exceptionally smart, or I would have thought I was losing my mind.”

Sophie turned to Lady Elaine.

The gray cat made a motion that was remarkably similar to a human shrug, then said, “Well, she heard the garage door and started this way. What else could I do?”

Cisco said, “Maybe trip her. Cats are pretty good at that.”

Mrs. Kincade’s mouth dropped open. “My word, a talking dog, too. What’s next?”

Tao slunk around the back of the parked car and said, “That is not a good idea, Cisco. Lady Elaine likes the old woman, and tripping her could have seriously injured her.”

Mrs. Kincade looked closely at Sophie.

“I suppose you’re some kind of witch. You’ve got all these talking animals. Are they your familiars?”

Sophie shrugged helplessly, but before she could think of something that made sense, Mrs. Kincade asked, “Can you cast spells? Healing spells?”

Lady Elaine said, “Of course she can, Mrs. Kincade. She is a witch of the best kind. However, she can’t fly, and we need to borrow your car.”

The old woman looked at the car in amazement.

“My car? You can have the old piece of junk. My nephew brings groceries to me and also takes me to the doctor.” She looked disgusted and added, “That quack!”

Sophie said, “I’ll bring it back to you if I can.”

“No need for that young woman. Just cure my aching lower back so that I can get up and down more easily. The doctor gave me pain pills, but they don’t do much. I’m so tired of being in pain. Can you do that? If you can, we’ll call the car an even trade.”

Sophie’s heart went out to the woman. She knew what it was like to be in constant pain. She also knew how to fix the problem.

“Let me breathe into your face for a moment,” she said.

Mrs. Kincade looked startled, but said, “If that’s what it takes, breathe away.”

Sophie exhaled a cloud of nanites directly into the woman’s mouth and nose.

“Now let’s wait for a few seconds,” she said.

“That’s the strangest magic I’ve ever heard of. Usually, in the books I read, the magician or witch just waves his or her hand and says an incantation to get results,” the old lady said.

“Ah. But, I’m just getting the hang of things, and I’ve got to do it my way,” Sophie replied. “Now, hold on a moment.”

She mentally parsed a command, then sent it through the nanite communication frequency, pairing it with some nonsense syllables designed to fit Mrs. Kincade’s expectations.

“Frang-il-la-back-be-free. Pain be gone!”

The nanites did their work, rebuilding worn bone and cartilage quickly. The woman’s back muscles were spasmed and tight, so Sophie placed her hand on the old lady’s lower back and sent an additional pain-relieving command to the nanites. While she was at it, she commanded them to begin to work on Mrs. Kincade’s body, repairing as much of the age-caused damage as they could.

“Why. I feel much better already!” Mrs. Kincade’s face lit up with joy that approached ecstasy. “Bless you, child! You are a true witch, a white witch. You’ve cured me. Now we’ll see what that quack of a doctor says.”