In the garden of the Witch’s cottage, I lay the brown pine box that contained my beloved black cat, Skeeto. I had named him Keoto in Japanese, and the word meant literally, “black cat.”
When I was a little girl, I had read a short story about the black cat that could talk, and now I had to figure out the answer. I thought the black cat was just talking, but now was it real? Could he tell me things?
My mother had a little twig shaped broom like my grandmother’s, and my grandmother had a little plait like my great-Grandmother’s. It is important to remember that the stories in the family are kept alive.
I had set out to study to become a witch. I had been banished by the priests because I suffered from fainting spells, a condition that was seen as the result of demon possession.
Lean thought I was becoming bad, and he remarried within six months of saying “I do.”
Nobody wanted me around. So after the honeymoon, I had moved in with my grandmother and my great-grandmother. They had let me live with them since I was nearly 16 and they did not like to watch people suffer just because they were born with certain gifts.
My favorite of the three cats I lived with was Juni-chan. Her last name was exactly the same as my grandmother and great-grandmother’s grandchild’s name, and she and I always got along so well. She had helped me learn about kemono, Japanese for animal spirits and the Kami-kami, Japanese for gods. She had helped me to look for and interact with spirits.
I placed the last plant on top of the coffin. I paused for a few moments. This was the last part of my preparation. The information I was attempting to get was not known to just anyone. It was the sort that only a special witch would be able to tell me. I was convinced that this was the cat who had been watching over my family since the beginning of time.
Skeeto had been my father’s god once, and through sharing my life with him and listening to his stories, I figured that was who he was destined to be. Now I was convinced that this was the same creature of legend.
But I feared if I summoned by name, he would vanish, and I would have to live with the terrible pain of losing my mother again.
I took a deep breath, and said, “Black cat!”
I waited for a moment. Nothing happened. I said it again, “Black cat!”
I waited again. A breeze blew. I waited a little longer, but no one appeared. I believed it was not possible to get the answers I sought.
I left the site of my burying, and scurried into my house.
“I called him,” I said to my cat, Juni-chan. “But I think he doesn’t want to talk to me,” I added.
No one heard me. My grandmother was out in the market, and my great-grandmother was out in the mountains. However, I was not lonely. “They will be back soon,” I reassured myself.
I noticed that Juni-chan was looking very sad. I could hear her crying. She was meowing very pitifully and I could tell that something was rubbing her nerves raw.
“Why are you so sad, Juni-chan?” I asked her.
She looked at me, but I immediately went into a trance, because she had answered me. I could not hear her answer to my question.
When I finally came out of the trance, I found the room empty
“Juni-chan?” I called out.
She did not answer. Being her, she would not respond if she did not feel like talking, and I could not expect an answer from her at the moment.
I felt foolish for trying to do the summoning without summoning a spirit first like the instructions said to do. But the black cat specifically told me that the summoning had to be done at a certain time to be effective, and it was already past that time.
So I just sat and waited for my grandmother to come back.
“What’s wrong?” Grandmother asked.
“I think you need to explain to me what happened just now,” I responded.
“You just had your first real vision,” she noted.
“It was about the black cat,” I presumed.
“You must have summoned him,” she said to me. “Then what?”
“I thought he did not want to talk to me and so I just waited a long time,” I added.
“Is that it?” Grandmother said.
“Yes,” I responded. “I suppose that’s it.”
“What’s wrong?” Grandmother asked.
“Juni-chan has been acting very strange,” I replied. “She’s been very sad. It must be something really bad.”
“Well, I’m sure if you tell me more, I can find out,” she said.
“She was crying about something when I came in,” I said. “When I looked into her eyes, I got drawn into a trance. I’m not even sure if she speaks Japanese,” I added.
“Well, you’ll just have to ask her to answer your questions,” she said.
“How can I do that?” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You’re an adult. If you want to ask your cat a question, then you just ask a question.”
“I suppose,” I said.
“Don’t you have to go to work?”
“Yes,” I said. “I suppose I can go to work.”
“I’ll come to our meeting later on,” Grandmother said. “I want to ask a few questions, too.”
“Just make sure you are there,” I said.
“Oh, this is going to be good,” she said. “I’ll see you later, precious.”
She picked up her things and breezed out, closing the door behind her.