Bellowcat

Susan sat with her elbows propped on the windowsill and stared out into the blue beyond. She tried to imagine how life would be if she was allowed to move in at the Unicorn Farm, have a familiar and be a real witch. Every time she crossed the canal separating the island from the mainland she felt free and happy, and every time she went the other way, her heart was weighed down heavily by worries and speculations.

Thora had told them that witches and wizards made up a greater part of the population than they imagined, and that the Unicorn Farm was going to expand by opening up schools elsewhere as well.
100 apprentices was all the Farm on the island  had room for, even magically enhanced. and the trouble with buying foodstuff and suchlike for a larger amount of professors and apprentices would become insurmountable.

Susan felt mocked by the universe, as Brúnleit flew past the window. She was Thora's familiar, a short eared owl, in Icelandic a kattugla.

Susan's thought went back in time. She recalled when after months of work at an annex at a local hotel, her father had been invited to the opening ceremony attended by local supports and dignitaries. He had brought the whole family along, Mom, Linda and Susan. The most fun part had been the new casino and the bowling alley. But Susan still remembered her misgivings when somebody had mentioned that the annex had necessitated the felling of a small grove where some owls nested. Susan would have liked one of the owls as a pet, but she never told anyone. She was not even allowed a cat or a dog, so an owl would be unthinkable.

* * *

Susan knew a villain when she saw one, and Tristan certainly was one. Ever since Christmas holidays she, Heidi, Tage and Lis had been sure he was a bad one. Helge and the Flower power girls were almost convinced, as were the Swedish bunch. Now he once again had decided to visit Unicorn Farm over the short Fastelavns (Shrovetide) holidays. Susan wanted to get away. She had met a stray dog when arriving - she had needed some fresh air after a long day at school and at home with smoking family visiting, and then the dizzying portal, and had went for a stroll before joining the other apprentices at the Farm.
    She sneaked a bone from the lunch and left. The bleak February sunshine was not exactly warm, rather with a promise of warmth to come, She walked along the dirt road engrossed in her own thoughts. Suddenly a big bird flew up. Was that a stork? Susan thought. No, no way, It's far too early. The storks only arrive in April. It must have been a heron or a crane ... bugger I always mix them up, the straight necked one. A crane Susan decided. Or maybe a swan. Swans, black swans ... they existed only two places in Denmark, she was told. In the moat around Castle Kronborg in Elsinore, she has seen these several times when crossing the castle grounds on her way to the beach. She still cherished the memory of one of the swans chasing off a fox one early morning. It had probably seen the cygnets as a quick breakfast, but it had not taken an angry mother swan into consideration. I had been one of the white ones, though. Black swans did not breed in Denmark.

She arrived at the small clump of trees where she had seen the stray yesterday. It had been OK, Susan had made sure of that using her animal skills, just wanting to be left alone. Susan though that it might be more sociable and hungry, today. She called for the dog, first with words, and then with her mind, but no dog came running towards her. Wondering Susan walked into the thicket. She found the place where the dog had slept, a shallow indentation,where the downtrodden grass still formed a nest-like structure, but it was quite cold. It had been dry for weeks and there was almost no chance of tracks, but Susan looked anyway. And yes, in the grass leading away from her she found what could me a path. She slowly walked along it, careful to keep to the undisturbed grass, looking at the ground. Her patience was rewarded with an imprint of a dog's paws where the thicket gave way to fields. Clear and sharp prints, not old. From here it was easy, the plowed fields was like an open book. She saw the dog chase, but never catch rabbits, looping back towards the thicket, remaking its mind, instead walking slowly - seen by the closer together paw prints - towards the short row of houses lining the road away from the water. Maybe they had been cooking something nice. Then she saw something she had not expected. Human footprints. Coming from the houses, standing still, meeting with the paw-prints, and then both set of prints walking away together, direction houses. This did not tally with the impression, Susan had gotten from the dog yesterday. "Leave me alone," it had told her. "I am weary, old and sad. I need time, time alone. Leave me, please."
A kink in the straight line of tracks, made Susan return to the barren fields. The sun, never high in the sky, was now nearing the horizon. At six she had to be back at the Farm. Three quarters of an hour left, her wristwatch told her. No time for dawdling.  She followed the traces onwards, now making a beeline for the small blue house placed a little distance from the others at the end of the row.
She walked onto the road, the field was cloggy, tiring to walk in, and she had seen what she needed to know where the dog was. Had the man kidnapped the dog? She had to know. It had seemed so listless, so sad yesterday. It should not end it's day as someone's plaything, or even worse one one of the places, Susan had heard of where they tested make up, drugs and medicine on animals. Susan was not sure the latter was true, she suspected her classmates once again were trying to pull her leg, but nonetheless, dogs were kidnapped now and then.
Walking on the road soon gave her steps back their spring, and she made good time getting to the blue house.

Behind the blue house, a small shed could be seen. This would be the perfect place to hide a dog. Susan passed the house and walked a bit further along before she sat down on a stone pulling off one shoe, as if to get rid of a stone. She cast about for traces of the dog. As she opened up her animal sense, she was almost knocked silly. The blue house had several animal inhabitants - and the dog was in there. In the house proper, not in the shed, along with cats, at least one owl, some amphibians, and rodents.
Susan suddenly knew the house, or at least she knew of the house. She had been here before. Years ago she bought a miniature grandfather clock for her doll's house. The wonder was that it was a real watch, faithfully keeping time ever since. She wondered if the clockmaker still lived there or what had happened.

* * *

The dog and all the other animals seemed peaceful, well fed and used to living there. Susan got up and hurried along the road. She wanted to have a little time to herself before dinner. Suddenly her leg was pulled away from under her, and she fell head first into the ditch. "Ouch," she said, and put a hand to her nose, it came away smeared with blood. Oh no, she thought. Now I hit my nose again! I'll keep on bleeding for ever, I just hope it's not broken. She pulled out her handkerchief and held it to her nose, and tried to get out of the ditch one-handed. It hurt, and she began crying.
She was too old for crying, her dad always told her, but when it hurt, or when she got angry, she always began crying. It did not help. If only someone would help me, she thought. But I'm all alone, nobody knows where I am.
Then all hell broke loose, out from the blue house came all the animal inhabitants of the house. The dog bayed, the owl hooted, the cats hissed and meowed and a parrot squawked: "Take care, oh do take care." Two men came after them, Susan could not prevent herself from laughing through her tears. The parrot was too funny. "Oh dear," she said, "I think it's too late!" Only the words came out bubbling and strangely distorted. The younger man picked Susan up from the ditch, while the older one shooed, carried and hauled all the animals inside again.
"Come on in," the man said. "We'd better get you cleaned off before you can go home." Susan nodded, and supported by the man's strong arm, she entered the house.
In the kitchen he sat her on a chair gave her a wet towel and helped her rinse off her face and hands. A woman, about the same age hovered in the background and did some thing in behind a cupboard.
"Now, please tell me what happened and where you live," the man said. "I'm Jonas, the lady over there is my wife, Mona, and the other man is Trausti."
Susan sobbed, and tried to stop crying. She draw a couple of steadying breaths and said: "I'm Susan. I was out for a walk before dinner. I had a stone in my shoe," she looked down, "and I forgot to tie the laces. They tripped me." 
"And where do you live?" Jonas asked, "I think we better phone your parents, to tell them what happened. Can they come and get you? Or else I'll see you home."
"I'm staying with my aunt and uncle in their summerhouse, but they have gone shopping on the main land and won't be home for some time yet. Mom and Dad are at home, in Elsinore, please don't phone them, They can't do a thing and will only worry."
"Have a glass of lemonade to take the taste of blood," the lady said and placed a glass on the able in front of Susan. 
Susan's caution and sense of drama surfaced: "And it's safe to drink? You're not putting me asleep or anything. I should have told that I lived nearby, and my uncle was a wrestler and would come looking for me shortly."
"I think you've read too many mystery books," the lady said smiling. She drank up the glass and filled a new one from the jug and handed it to Susan. "Take this instead then."
Susan took the glass and drank deeply. The taste was just right, neither too sweet nor too tart.
"Let me feel your nose, the lady said. I'm Mona, by the way. I hope your nose is not broken.
I don't think so. Susan said. "When I hit my nose, it always bleed a lot. It hurts, but not that much ... more on the outside like."
"Yes you have lost some skin there, too," Mona said, and gently touched Susan's nose. "No, I don't think broken either. No need to take you to the hospital."
"Oh, no, please don't" Susan said, still woozy after the rapport with the animals and cold with the after-effects of the fall. "Just let me get back, then Thora will put it right." She shut up abruptly. Telling of the Unicorn Farm to strangers was not a good idea. Not even nice strangers.
But before Mona or Jonas could ask her anything Trausti, the other man, came into the kitchen. "OK, girl," he said gruffly. "All the animals answered to your call for help, even the lizards. Are you one of us?"
"One of us, whaadayou mean?"
"A witch, obviously," he said. "If you are, you know my son, Josh."
Susan looked around at the three persons staring back at her. She nodded, then she felt her head starting to swim, and everything go black.
Mona put her head down between her legs, and then laid her on the kitchen bench.
"Sorry," Trausti said. "I forgot how tiring animal talk is, here, have some of this cake."

Still lying down she gingerly ate some of the cake and emptied another glass of Mona's excellent lemonade. Then she asked: "Why, I mean, How ... What are you doing here, and all these animals?"

Trausti smiled. "That's a long story. It is my story, and Josh's story, and Jonas, Mona and Jan's story too."
"Jan?" Susan asked. More confused then ever.
"Yes," Trausti continued, "Mona and Jonas are Jan's parents, They and I moved here when the Unicorn Farm was founded. You might know that Jonas is a vet. A vet with magic is a strong thing indeed, and Jonas is the very best. I'm telling you a lot now, because I feel you can be trusted. Please don't go around blabbering."
"I don't - normally - mentioning Thora before was a slip. Only because I was so woozy still."
Trausti nodded, "We of course know Thora. It was her suggesting we came here. All those animals needed a home. Have you ever wondered what happens to familiars when they grow old, or when their witch or wizard dies?"
Susan sat up and shook her head: "Ow, it does not hurt much any more. She gingerly touched her nose. "It feels not very sore any longer either!"
Mona smirked: "I put some Knitbone elixir in that lemonade, you should be all good in an hour."
"Wow, thanks," Susan said and propped herself up on one elbow. Lying flat while being talked to felt intimidating.
Mona and Jonas sat down, and after a short pause Trausti did too. The dog came into the kitchen put it's muzzle into Susan's free hand and made happy sounds "It's OK. Everything will be fine," it thought at her. Susan smiled and caressed its stubbly-haired head.
Trausti continued telling: "We have a hospital, a retreat home for familiars here. That dog belonged to a man in the nearby town. He did not know he was a wizard, but the dog knew, and when the man died, it followed the whiff of magic in the air and came here. We travel a lot, we use the Portals at the Farm, we fly broomsticks, we teleport as well, and even go by car, train, bike and buses to look for old or left familiars all over Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Trausti has a place in Iceland as well, but mostly he's here. And we have a lady, Nicklas and Sanne's aunt actually taking care of the Faroese ones for us.

That owl here is Thora's old owl, Brúnleit III. Even if the lifespan of familiars are enhanced by the magic, they seldom live more than 15 years, and they cannot keep up with a busy witch or wizard for the last of those. We train replacement familiars and take care of the old ones. It is a worthy task for us.

* * *

Trausti offered to bring Susan home. "But I'm not going home," Susan protested, "I'm going to the Unicorn Farm. After dinner today there's a talk on familiars ... I want to hear it."
"I know," Trausti said. "Who do you think will be giving that talk?"
"I thought Thora, but now you ask ... you will?" Susan said hesitating a bit.
Trausti nodded. "Yup. I will. Now let's get going. I guess you're mostly OK by now."
"Oh, I am," Susan said. "I'll have to change before dinner, but else I feel fine. Thanks a load, Mona, once again." Susan said to the woman sitting bewtween Trausti and ther husband, Jonas.
"Any time," Mona smiled, "now you know the way."

* * *

Susan got her problems sorted out before dinner. Dressed in a fresh tunic and skirt, she ate with the other Danes, Trausti sat with the Icelanders, enjoying the food and speaking freely with everybody. The only pollution to the good atmosphere was David's crooked friend. Susan had learned by trial and error which subjects to avoid, and so had most of the other apprentices, only the Norwegian Terje, who was a bit wanting in attention, could now and then spark an uncouth discussion over the plates.

When everybody was done eating, Jon rang the bell and asked the apprentices to re-arrange benches and tables so that everyone could sit facing the balcony in the western end of the Barn. Soon the barn was a hive of industry and magic, and chaos reigned for a short while, Then the last of the tables softly landed on its legs in front of the benches, guided by Selma's steady wand.

Gilvi stood up and walked to the free space under the balcony:"Dear fellow wizards, dear apprentices, and dear guests. Tonight Trausti Traustason will continue our education on the subject of familiars. Would everybody please be seated. The apprentices sit up here in front, at the benches behind the tables. Green," he pointed at the two leftmost benches, which turned a pale green, and continued towards the right he said: "Blue, yellow, purple and red." The benches took on the appropriate colour at his words. "Professors in the next row, on the benches with no tables, and finally our guests in the comfy chairs. Apprentices get your notebooks up and note anything you find interesting. There'll be question time afterwards, so don't fall asleep please." He smiled, as he knew that most of the apprentices really wanted a familiar and were going to listen well. "And with this I withdraw and give the stage to Trausti." He swung his wand and a gentle, golden light lit the area under the balcony and shone unto the tables in front of the apprentices.

Trausti stood still in the light. Then he whistled sharply two times. Then he waited.

* * *

After a short, quiet spell a bird flew in through the open window, an almost totally white buzzard landed on Trausti's outstretched arm. He fed it a small bit of meat, and it folded its wings and settled down.
"This is my familiar, unimaginatively called Haukur." A few of the apprentices laughed, and Susan smiled. 
"Gilvi, who was my coach in all things concerning Familiars, after my wife, Vigdís, died, chided me for my lack of imagination, I feel lucky not to possess overly much of this, as the miserable lives of some of the Familiars I look after, are scary without any imagination."
Trausti looked around on the apprentices, professors and guests, and noticed Tristan and David exchanging glances, but did not quite grasp the undercurrent. Had they ben dogs, he would have thought them imagining some easy to get treats.
He drew a breath and continued: "Now, I know that most of you here would like a Familiar. You imagine how nice it would be to have someone totally loyal, always ready to defend you, or for a cuddle," Haukur rubbed his beak against Trausti's thumb as if proving his words. Susan smiled, thinking of Granny's owls on the clothes line, she would think twice before accepting a rubbing from their lethal beaks.
"But you forget all the problems," Trausti continued, "How many of you have ever had a pet?" A bit less than a third of the apprentices raised their hands.
"Now think of all the trouble you've had, fights, visits to the vet, not being able to go visiting or on a sleepover because of that pet." Susan thought back to the long summer night when Knud - female in spite of the name - decided to have her litter of kittens in Susan's bed; to the many times she and Linda had spent hours catching a sick or injured cat in a box, without getting clawed, and waiting forever - and paying loads of money - at the vet's. Some of these problems would surely be lesser ...
"Some of these problems would probably be lesser," Trausti began, echoing her thoughts, "like getting your Familiar to the vet. But some would be way bigger. Imagine the vet asking from where you have that bat, or owl or what not. Imagine having your best non magic friends visiting, and the Familiar making an appearance, or for those of non magic families imagine your parents' and siblings' reaction to a Familiar." Susan shivered. Linda would not accept an owl in the family, and her parents would not be overjoyed either.

 * * *

"Also," Trausti continued, "not all Familiars are nice." He whistled another tune, and a very big bat flew in through the window and landed on the table and rubbed it's big, gargoyle-like head on Trausti's gloved hand. It was almost a third of Trausti's size, and so ugly that it was almost cute. Most of the apprentices could not help laughing.
"This male hammer headed bat comes from Africa," he said. "How it ended up here, I have no idea. I fetched it in a big banana crate in a supermarket, where it scared the man opening up the crate. A logical place for it to hide, as it's a fruit eater, living mainly from figs, mangoes and bananas." He looked at the apprentices, who were most of them studying the creature with interest. "The downsides? I can see you think. Apart from the size and the claws to fit this size, they are nocturnal and extremely noisy during their active period. And here we have another uncouth specimen. A giant cat-like creature approached Trausti, rubbing its head against his trousered leg. Suddenly the cat began breathing rapidly, panting like a bellows and expanding. Then it opened its maw, a gigantic, pink abyss. It raised its head, and Trausti quickly drew his wand, pointed it at the now enormously swollen cat and screamed: "haltu kjafti!"
Thora looked at him in disgust: "That's not a nice spell to use in front of the apprentices! Was that really necessary?"
Trausti looked squarely at her: "That was a Bellowcat. A few seconds more and we would all have been deaf. I thought she was a Sweller, she has never bellowed before." Trausti bent and examined the flaccid cat. He blanched, stood up and continued: "Any questions?"

There were a few, mostly variations of Will we ever get a Familiar, and What are Bellowcats and Swellers.
After listening to their questions, Trausti answered:
"Will you ever get a Familiar? Only time will tell. Once you're a true witch or wizard, you can begin looking for one. Or more possible the Familiar will find you. I think this is one of the subjects Gylfi has in mind for next year's curriculum." He looked at Gylfi, who nodded.
"Then to Swellers and Bellowcats. Bellowcats are an under-species of Swellers, at least that's what I have found out from studies. Swellers are cats that can increase their size by inhaling air, then they can soar by letting out the air slowly. They kind of fly, like a balloon where you let out the air. They are fun, and it can be a great help for the cat to get somewhere they cannot climb. They are able to steer, partly using their tail, partly by controlling the outlet of air. It takes training for a Sweller to become good at it. It is not a practical thing inside a house, notwithstanding any cat's natural ability to not break or turn over any object, and always land on their paws, flying cats are not a thing to bring into your living room. Bellowcats are a subspecies. They breath in the air rhythmically, like bellows, like what you saw earlier, instead of the steadier intake of Swellers. And instead of using the airflow for flying, they let out the air in one, big MEOW, loud enough to make anybody at close quarters deaf, break the window panes and any other glass nearby, and sometimes even killing the bellowcat himself. Normally Bellowcats are male and Swellers female, although male Swellers are sometimes found. They can interbreed with normal cats of any species, fortunately they generally limit themselves to housecats - fortunately for the world at large. Just imagine a lion-sized, or even a panther sized Bellowcat.

The apprentices left, discussing Familiars and strange cats in small groups. Susan went out in the dark evening with Heidi, Lis and Tage, it was crisp and cold, with a hint of snow in the air. "I forgot my notebook," Susan said, "wait for me please, it'll only be a second." She ran back into the Barn, and overheard Gylfi's, "... but it's male!" before he fell quiet. Susan excused herself, grasped the notebook and hurried back to her friends.

* * *