Justine and the Calamity Catalogue: Cat Clues, #6

By Ruth Hay

Justine believes the terrible catamount confrontation on the Glenmorie estate in Scotland is all behind her.

Daniel Hudson knows better, however, and it is up to him to try to mitigate the catalogue of effects from that incident that are not yet resolved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ruth Hay
• Release date: Nov 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393863687

Book preview

One

I believe that time cannot always be measured accurately by a clock.

Time stretches when I am bored or sleepy.

Time contracts into a few crucial and alarming seconds when I am faced with a terrifying situation like on the mountainside in Glenmorie.

Unfortunately, time does not always allow recovery to happen, and present events to superimpose on top of the terror.

I am beginning to understand the dimensions of time in my particular case.

---

I am safe at home in a peaceful countryside with Dan coming and going to work at his mobile veterinary practice, and also at the college where he teaches students.

I have ample comfort and ample food and nothing to do but rest.

It should be a wonderful time for me and the cats……. if it were not for the nightmares, the headaches, and the continuing weakness of body, that combine to halt my progress.

I did not expect this delay.

I obeyed all commands and remained in bed for a full week after we returned home to Devon. Dan stayed by my side, as did the cats, but eventually I had to send Dan off to work again and I fully expected to resume light household duties and enjoy seeing my cats outdoors again.

That was not to be.

I was weak. Not just in my right leg, that has plagued me often, but also in my whole body.

I just lacked my normal energy for some reason, although I was sleeping more than usual and taking naps during the day.

---

One day, when I was combing my hair in the bathroom mirror after a lovely warm shower, I found something that concerned me greatly. From my forehead and springing up and back to the ends of my hair, was a streak of pure, silver-coloured hair that did not fit with the blondish tone of the rest. It looked strange to me. Far worse, however, was what I saw when I stared at my eyes.

I have often been told that the pupils of my brown eyes turn very dark when I am in the grip of psychic trauma. What I could see now for myself, were eyes that appear black in the centre as if the pupils had enlarged. I looked in different rooms with different lighting and in a variety of reflective surfaces, but the effect was the same.

Something had changed my eyes and added silver to my hair.

When Dan returned, that night, I asked him why he had not mentioned these changes.

His response was alarming.

My darling Justine, you have undergone an experience that any other person would not have survived. You did survive, but not without damage.

"Is that what caused my hair and my eyes to change like this?

What else has happened to me that I have not been aware of?"

My heart was thumping in my chest for fear that worse was to come.

I have consulted with doctors online, to preserve your privacy. What they say is that you have a form of Cataplexy.

What? Is that even real?

I laughed at the thought of such a strangely appropriate name for a syndrome. As I laughed out loud, a feeling of exhaustion almost over whelmed me and I felt my muscles go limp.

Daniel leaned forward and supported me until I felt stronger again.

What you experienced right then is one of the symptoms, Justine. Intense emotions make your muscles fail for a brief time.

But why? What is the reason for all this?

Daniel Hudson’s compassionate face told me everything before he spoke again.

He was concerned for me and afraid, in equal measure.

On that mountainside in Scotland you did something superhuman in order to save Gordon Campbell and me from certain harm. Somehow, you managed to hold off a wild cougar attack for a considerable period of time. That enormous effort caused damage to you, Justine.

"But, but, it was Midnight who tackled the mountain lion while I was unconscious. I just remember seeing a flash of black when he arrived in front of me.

Are you saying that Midnight was hurt also? You took him away and looked after him.

Dan, tell me the truth!"

That was when I fainted away entirely. It may have been Cataplexy or simply pure fear.

---

When I came to again, I was still held within Dan’s arms and the concern on his face had not diminished.

My darling, no more talk at this moment. I have contacted Estelle. She is coming here to look after you whenever I am away. I can’t risk you fainting and lying helpless until I return.

Two

Whether or not I wished it, a new existence now began for me.

I must try to prevent any intense emotion overwhelming me, or I could fall down stairs or hit my head on a hard surface.

My mother took over the household when Dan was working and it was good to have her company as well as her support. Best of all was the connection she had already with my cats as she was the one tending to most of their needs in the low bunk house linked to the Glass House, as we called it, at 335 Dart Lane.

I could not stay all day and night in our bedroom upstairs, so I took Estelle’s arm and used the chair lift to descend safely to the main level. We cooked meals together, and talked about many things past and present. Dan made me promise not to ask about Midnight until he was confident about my calm response, so I avoided that subject entirely.

No one could prevent me from studying Midnight when he lay at the foot of our bed on my old blanket with Catrine and Tabitha. He looked much the same as always, a little thinner perhaps, and possible a little slower in his movements, but he was the same lovely cat I rescued from the church in Exeter that Hallowe’en night.

Midnight did not appear in my dreams. My nightmares were full of Dean Dixon following me through the English countryside and getting closer and closer until I woke in a sweat and had to be soothed back to sleep by Dan.

On nights when Dan was away, Catrine took over and she would wake me with a gentle paw on my cheek before the nightmares grew too overpowering.

I realized there was only one way for me to banish these awful dreams.

I decided to tell my mother all about Dean Dixon.

---

We were in the kitchen sharing a mid-afternoon tea break when I began.

Mum, I have something to tell you, but first I must say there is nothing for you to be concerned about. The man in this true story is safely in prison in the United States for a long time to come.

Justine, who is this man? And why do you look so serious?

I put down my cup and took my mother’s hand in mine.

I met my father in Exeter some weeks ago and he pursued me through England intending to force me to work in his stead for some very dangerous men.

It all came out in a rush instead of the slow pace I had planned.

Estelle’s face paled to white.

Dean Dixon was here in Exeter?

Mom you were never in any danger. Oliver knew what happened and he kept watch over you very successfully. I am sure you wondered why Jackson arrived to stay with you while I was travelling north?

"Yes, I did wonder about that at first, but Oliver assured me he was a friend, and Jackson was such good company that I never questioned it.

So he was part of this protection plan?"

Jackson is a good friend of mine and an accomplished medical man. He is also good with a gun if required.

It took a moment or two for my mother to absorb all this new information.

Oh Justine! Did that man Dixon have something to do with your injuries? I can’t bear the thought that he endangered you and Dan.

I realized downloading my fear onto my mother was not fair.

I tried to backpedal.

No. We took care of him with the help from another good friend. He will never bother any of us again, I am certain. He would not even be allowed back into Britain.

Estelle looked out of the glass wall onto the front lawn bordered by flower beds where early summer blossoms were growing more beautiful each day.

"I have felt something between Oliver and me for some months now. Something that I was unable to put my finger on. Now I know Oliver was keeping your secrets.

I am glad you told me. In the back of my mind, I