Cat's Quill Read Online Free PDF Page B

tugged at a clump of grass, examining the blades one by one, his brain trying to make sense of what Cathal had just said and failing.
    "Are you all right?" Cathal sounded concerned. Tomas did not look at him.
    "Who are you?" Tomas had always prided himself in getting straight to the point rather than wasting time with small talk. "I ask you questions and you talk in riddles. Either I'm missing something or you're not being honest. Where do you come from?"
    "My name is Cat. I already told you that," Cathal said quietly. "I cannot tell you where I come from, although you could figure it out if you allowed yourself to think beyond the boundaries of what your world dictates to be normality." He sat down on the grass next to Tomas and placed the borrowed book in Tomas's lap. "I could be whoever you want me to be, but for you I am simply who I am. No more. No less."
    "You are still speaking in riddles," Tomas pointed out. He had asked a question and expected an answer.
    "Riddles are like puzzles. I can give you the pieces, but how you put those together is up to you." Cathal shook his head. "I'm sorry, Tomas. I cannot do any more than this. I still have to follow some rules. I do not know you well enough to risk any more, but I would like to be your friend." He smiled, but it was sad. "Some questions I can answer, others I cannot. It is the way things are."
    "Friendship is built on trust." Tomas shrugged, his gaze settling on the book in his lap. His fingers brushed against the worn edges, seeking solace in something familiar. "You are asking me to trust you, but you will not do the same in return."
    " Can not," Cathal corrected. "It is the way things are." He looked down, his gaze following Tomas's to rest on the picture of the dragon that was the centerpiece, the other illustrations mere shadows bordering it. "I enjoyed the story. The main character risked everything to be true to himself, to follow the path he was meant to, not the one dictated to him."
    "Yes, he did." That was one of the things that had drawn Tomas to the character of Christian. The setting was wonderful, dragons and knights, mythical lands to explore, but it was Christian who had haunted him, spoken to him, made it impossible for Tomas to put the book down or part with it. That and a hope that one day he might find someone or something he would feel that passionate about to fight for in that manner. "He was prepared to give up forever for the person he loved."
    "He lost her," Cathal said quietly. "Would you give up forever if you loved someone like that, Tomas?"
    "Would you?" Tomas countered.
    "I have never been in love. It is not a question I can answer." Cathal pulled up several blades of grass, arranging them in a circle on the ground in front of him. "None of us know how we will react unless we come face to face with any given situation. We can hope and guess, but we cannot be certain."
    "That sounds very cynical." Tomas picked a daisy and placed it in the middle of the circle, pointing to it. "The flower represents the dragon on the cover of the book. He is surrounded by an unbroken circle of shadows, an eternity that can't be changed." Tomas removed a blade of grass, breaking the circle. Letting it rest on the palm of his hand for a moment, he took a deep breath and blew, watching it be carried away by the wind. "Now his future isn't so certain. It only takes one blade of grass or one gust of wind, and everything is different."
    "Or merely the idea that things can be different." Cathal smoothed over the remainder of the circle of grass, using his hand to flatten it so that it no longer existed. The flower he picked up and put in his pocket. "I'm keeping it safe," he explained.
    "Safety is an illusion." Tomas couldn't help but smile at the serious look on Cathal's face. "Nothing lasts forever, only in our imaginations, and even we grow old and die. That flower will wilt now it has been picked. You've already squashed it by putting it in your pocket."
    "I