The Orange Cat and Other Cainsville Tales (Cainsville 3.5)

So I turned to go and--

A shriek rent the air as a blur charged me. I staggered back, my arms going around Maggie, shielding her with my body, and I went into crash position, baby to my chest.

The gwragedd struck me. Then she was gone, Ricky hauling her off as she screamed, "Mine, mine, mine!"

"Yeah," Ricky said. "We let you keep the puppy. That is not a puppy."

"Mine!" Tears sprang to her eyes as she wailed and twisted, her claws out, but Ricky had her by the shoulders, and she couldn't get to him. When she reached again, he grabbed one hand and then the other and pinned them behind her back.

"She is mine! Mine! They did not want her. I heard. I heard!"

"No," I said, as I backed away, Maggie fussing now. "When you told us about the puppy, you said he didn't want her. Not they. He."

"Yes, he. He was going to get rid of the baby. Sell her. I heard him."

"Who was going to sell her?"

I knew the answer, but she confirmed it, saying, "Her father. Her own father. Bad, bad boy. Terrible father."

"And her mother?"

The gwragedd went silent.

"Not a bad girl, right? Not a terrible mother?"

"It does not matter. He was going to sell the baby, and then she would be gone. So I took her. She is mine!"

"You heard her father trying to sell her?" Ricky said. "Exactly what did he say?"

"He was talking to a man. A man who comes by in a truck where the boy works. A man who brings things that are not his. Things to sell."

"A fence," Ricky murmured. "Okay, so you heard the boy say . . ."

"He asked how much a baby could be sold for. In the city. The big city, far away. The man did not know, but the boy wanted him to find out. See if anyone would buy his baby. He would give the man part of the money."

In other words, Owen hadn't exactly been in the process of handing Maggie over for cash. He'd just been putting out feelers, and the truth is that those feelers almost certainly wouldn't have gone anywhere. He was a dumb kid, saddled with a baby and looking for a way out, not realizing that it wasn't like selling a toy he no longer wanted. But there was still a possibility that this guy could find someone, and I understood why the gwragedd had jumped at the excuse to take Maggie.

"You can't have her," I said. "You know that. Her mother wants her back. Her grandparents do, too. All her grandparents. They love her, and they're devastated, and I think you know that."

"She is mine," the gwragedd said, with less conviction. Then she squared her shoulders. "The girl can have more. I cannot. I want a child."

"You want company," I said. "You're lonely."

She flinched, and I went on. "You have a place you can go. An invitation. It's an old one, but I'm sure it's still open."

"I do not know what you mean."

"I think you do. The Cwn Annwn."

Ricky looked up sharply.

The gwragedd's eyes narrowed. "How do you know of the Hunt?"

"Same way I know about you. You wanted the Cwn Annwn to set up shop here, but they said there aren't enough local fae and humans with fae blood. They invited you to come to them, despite the fact you attacked them for their kindness."

"I--"

"You've secured the passage to the Otherworld. It's time for you to go."