The Tortoiseshell Mirror Ch. 05

This story is a romance but it also contains fantastical elements including a character's transformation into a non-human, feline humanoid which may not appeal to some readers. There is some sex but it only comes at the end of this chapter.

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As she had expected, Marianne found herself at Mary's house well in advance of her two friends and it even appeared that Mary was out herself. Marianne sat in the car pondering, as she had done all throughout the drive, about her experiences of the past few days. Now she was away from the cottage it all seemed even more fantastical than it had done there. Yet, there was too much of it to rationalise as some kind of hallucination brought on by stress or a form of food poisoning. There were stories enough of people going into other worlds, usually via mundane household items. She remembered the dramas she had seen on television as a child: of clocks that struck thirteen, statues that came alive at night, phoenixes and flying carpets. Generally the stories seemed to revolve around rather spoilt Victorian children, but what was to say that even in those stories there were not strands of truth. For an instant Marianne wished she was a better writer and could make money based on what she had experienced; but she recognised that even to attempt to do that would cheapen those experiences.

Then, once again, the feelings cut in. Whenever she thought back to Paurr and the world of the feylins it brought a burst of excitement to her and remembrance of the sense of freedom, of coursing through the woodland and the surrounding fields; unplagued by bills and the worries of her appearance and keeping up with what was expected. Even her brief interaction with feylin society had suggested that those things would not trouble her there. Marianne shook the wondering from her head. She was a human woman, with friends to help out, and a social life to rebuild; those were the things she should focus on now.

Mary's car appeared and drove past Marianne's. Marianne jumped out and for a moment was met by Mary's startled eyes. Then recognition came and the two women hugged. In moments Marianne could tell her friend was putting on a brave face and it was tiring her in a way that she could not conceal. Now Marianne wished it had been her who was bringing the cat. She was bursting to reveal the surprise, but instead, as she unloaded her car and walked with Mary into her rambling house, Marianne found it was she who was being grilled. Marianne, for once, was happy to talk. She had worried at her pain so much that it was dulling to an ache and she guessed by exposing Mary to the worries of another, would distract her friend from her own concerns.

Lisa and Amanda arrived within five minutes of each other a couple of hours after Marianne had done. They seemed a little resentful at Marianne's way-finding skills and the fact that she was already settled in Mary's house when it had been them who had initiated this mission. However, revealing the kitten brought first tears and then happiness and Marianne was pleased to see that the arrival of all three of Mary's friends seemed to be having an immediate positive impact. Whilst Lisa cooked a meal and Amanda dozed, Mary and Marianne played with the kitten. For some reason Marianne found she wanted it to be called 'Emma' or 'Angeline', but Mary was averse to human names for animals and ultimately settled on 'Tiggy'.

The afternoon quickly turned into evening. Marianne let Amanda and Lisa do the talking, they seemed to have so much to say. As before with her own conversation, she felt their babbling probably was a good distraction for Mary. However, she soon saw that her friend was tiring and she suggested a prompt night for them all. Amanda and Lisa agreed only when promised a trip around town and a good lunch at a nice place near Exmouth, the following day, as a consolation. Here there was more than enough room to house the four women in separate bedrooms. Marianne was a bit hesitant at this, worrying a little that if left alone she would spiral back into the strange thoughts and waking dreams of the previous week. However, she drank lots of hot milk and sat reading to make sure she would fall into a deep sleep rather than lie staring at the ceiling for hours.

Marianne awoke, feeling a breeze blow over her. She shifted awkwardly, fumbling around, trying to feel for the bedcovers which she must have kicked off. She realised that she was lying at a very awkward angle. Then there was the sensation of smooth bark beneath her and woodland scents came to her nostrils. Marianne realised something was wrong. She sat up abruptly and found herself sliding into a join between two branches. She looked down, alarmed, as she realised she was in the branches of a tree. Her clawed hands and feet scrabbled at the bark and fortunately quickly gained purchase. Marianne's heart was beating quickly, but as she took in her surroundings she managed to calm herself. She sat for a few moments, brushing twigs from her fur. Then she sprung to the ground, realising how much she had missed the sleekness and strength of her feylin body. She glanced back at her tail, curling it and sweeping it a little. For some reason she felt most comfortable with it tucked to one side close to her right leg.

A short way off was a small stream. She bounded across to it and fell to all fours to drink deeply of the cool water. It felt good to go down low on her front paws so thrusting her bum upwards. She stretched out like that, luxuriating in the sensation, stepping her rear legs back and forth, shaking her taut body. Her tail raised and briefly quivered. Marianne felt a quick thrill course through her. Then she rolled on her back in the soft grass which edged the stream and from her mouth came a long plaintive moan that seemed so loud in this landscape. Marianne closed her lips tightly, uneasy at how the sound had come so unprompted. Then her will to resist whatever feylin urges came to her faded and she lay docilely on her back, stroking gently at the soft fur that covered her breasts and midriff. Then she found herself licking down her arms and lapping at the top of her breasts. This was nice. Her tongue traced down her body until she realised that she could lap at the lips of her own sex. As her tongue did one long stroke, she jumped back startled both by how good that felt, but how hollow too, and by a recognition that her flexible feylin body permitted her to do things her human body never would.

Suddenly Marianne felt irritable. She turned back round on to all fours before looking up and glancing around impatiently. The landscape was initially unfamiliar. She was tempted to think this was some kind of intense dream, but she had had enough experience now of crossing into the feylin world, to know that this was real. As she looked around her, she realised that this was the feylin version of Exeter. The landscape, more visible here without all the buildings on it, seemed to roll in the same way and she could guess where the stream would have once run in the human version of this location before the town had been built all over it.

Marianne lounged by the stream wondering what to do. She had no idea if this area was populated in the feylin world or not. Despite having survived the encounter in Paurr's village she was uncertain if she could get through meeting strange feylin without him to help her. As she thought back to the visit to the village she realised she was missing Paurr. She wondered what it would be like to lie with him the way she had pictured the two feylins in her drawing. She realised she had to admit that she had drawn it thinking of herself and him lying together, and she now worried that he would think that was what she had been signalling to him. Rather than the fond farewell she had intended, a memento of some fun times together, maybe he would read it as her actually saying 'be patient, I will return and this is what I want us to do when I come back'.

Marianne felt she should be embarrassed, sorry that she had misled Paurr, but there was a different sensation, a frisson of excitement, a 'what if?' becoming a 'why not?'. Why should she not lie with him? Marianne had to admit that his sleek, strong body was appealing, and his manner was far more gentlemanly than many men she had known. Yet, somehow those thoughts seemed improper. She remembered back to her shock at seeing Tiggy as her feylin child; that was all wrong: she was a human, he was a different species, it was a mistake to mix the two.

Marianne stood irritably. She worried, as before, that maybe her female feylin body was coming on heat and making her think irrationally. As it was, she must be days of walking away from Paurr. He was as effectively out of her life in this world as back in the human one. However, would her in-season body appeal to other feylin males? Marianne worried she might be seen as fair game. She looked around nervously and headed back to the tree feeling it offered her some protection. Marianne sat at the foot of it and tried to calm herself. It was now clear she had to get out of the feylin world. Yet, how? There was no house here overlapping between the two worlds to give her a gateway back. She could hunt all night for one of those chairs and then would that do her any good? She would simply be a feylin in the human world. How had she got here, anyway? Surely the changes only came when she was at the cottage, not in a house hours' of driving away from it? Had she somehow become infected or had some latent ability, latent curse, now been released? Did she now risk turning into a feylin wherever she might be?

Marianne realised that trying to work all this out was not actually helping her. The prime thing was to get back to Mary's house. This tree presumably lined up with the house in the human world, so at least she knew if she could turn back into a human she would be back where she had started from. She did not want to emerge naked in the streets of Exeter. She jumped up the trunk and into the join in the branches where she had first emerged. She tried to make herself as comfortable as she could. Calming her breathing Marianne was soon meditating, thinking as best she could about Mary's house with all its decor and its modern technology and avoiding any thought of woodlands or pools of water or cats. As she turned to a more comfortable position, Marianne felt her skin brushing the bed clothes and she felt a joyful sensation. She was back, back as a human woman in her friend's house.

Marianne spent the rest of the night propped up on pillows, only allowing herself to fall into light sleep, worried she could so easily slip back into being feylin and fearing that her friends would be alarmed if she simply disappeared without a trace. Morning came and Marianne felt safer, but understood that she had not shaken off the impact of 'Silverbirch Cottage' on her life and that she would need to be careful on what she did. Getting back home might be the answer, at least in London there was no-one to question her comings and goings. She might have to start sleeping on the ground floor of her small house as she could not guarantee there would be a tree in the feylin world to break her fall. That thought simply reminded her how lucky she had been last night. She imagined that somehow she had dreamt of the woods or the beautiful pool and that was what had transformed her. She hoped that getting back to her normal life would make such thoughts fade and with them the ability to become feylin. Whilst it had initially seemed a novel experience, Marianne was beginning to see it rather conflicted with her ordinary life.

It was not long before all the residents of the house were stirring and Marianne was the first down into the lounge, soon followed by her hostess. Tiggy had spent the night curled up with Mary, but on seeing Marianne she was soon nuzzling her ankles. This time Marianne did not react so hostilely; after all it was just a kitten, it knew nothing of the complexities of her life. After they had all breakfasted Mary outlined the plan for the day, they were going to do some shopping; retail therapy seemed to be a good solution for all of them. If they tired of that there were a few sights to see before heading down to the coast for this lunch. All four women were soon ready. Checking at the front door, Marianne realised her purse must have dropped from her handbag.

"Oh, while you're up there can you fetch my headscarf?" Lisa asked. "It's bound to be breezy at the coast. It's in my shoulder bag."

"Certainly." Marianne replied and hurried up the stairs.

Marianne was glad to find that her purse had fallen out as she had suspected and was on the floor close to her bed. She then hurried to Lisa's room which was next along the corridor from her own. She quickly located Lisa's shoulder bag and dug into it seeking the headscarf. Among the various items of clothing she came across something hard that seemed as if it had been jammed in. Marianne tugged at it thinking it would ease pulling the scarf out if it was removed; its handle felt like it belonged to a brush. However, as it came into the light, Marianne saw the familiar shape of the tortoiseshell mirror emerging from Lisa's bag. For a moment she thought it might be a similar one, but as she flipped it over and saw her feylin face in it, she knew Lisa had stolen it from the cottage.

Marianne felt angry and then a little worried about the consequences of the mirror being here. She believed it was wrong to have taken the mirror from where it so clearly belonged, then she was glad she had found it before embarrassing questions could arise if Lisa had lent it to her or seen her reflected in it. Surely Lisa did not see herself as a feylin in it. Paurr had said that Marianne was special in being able to change and it seemed unlikely that Lisa had the same ability; she had probably simply taken the mirror because she wanted it, the way she treated so many things in life. Maybe Lisa thought it was valuable. As Marianne thought these things through she was a little reassured. This must be the reason she had changed last night. With Lisa's bag just the width of the wall from where Marianne slept, it had to have been the mirror that had enabled her to transform. As long as she was away from it, she would not slip into being a feylin again. In addition, she felt it was only fair to take it back to the cottage, to where it belonged.

Marianne now quickly located the headscarf. She replaced the mirror at the top of Lisa's bag where she reckoned she could quickly find it again. A plan was growing in her mind. She hurried downstairs and joined the others. Soon Mary was driving them into the city centre. With all her friends soon shopping enthusiastically, Marianne found no difficulty in slipping away from them in a department store. As she had expected, Exeter was a large enough and wealthy enough town to have the sort of place that could supply her with tortoiseshell hand mirrors. She was soon the owner of a replica of the one Lisa had taken. She hid it beneath a blouse she picked at random from a rack and bought at the same time. She re-joined her friends with them none the wiser.

The weight of the carrier bag later reminded her, returning in Mary's car from a tasty lunch and invigorating walk along the coast, of her mission. She made sure to get into the house ahead of Amanda and Lisa and hurry upstairs saying she needed the toilet. Though she was apprehensive about failing in her mission and worried about the awkward questions she would have to answer, Marianne was quickly into Lisa's room. She had substituted the new mirror for the old before her friend was even in through the front door. For the moment she concealed the mirror from the cottage in her room, but knew that whilst she still had to get it away from where she slept, the first part of the task was complete: the mirror was back in her control. Later she found an excuse to go out to her car and hide the mirror there. She felt a little guilty at misleading her friends, but then realised it only counter-balanced the wrong Lisa had done in stealing the mirror in the first place. In addition, Marianne knew it was for the best, as she was eager not to have any more transformations at awkward moments.

With the mirror stashed away, Marianne felt more comfortable and could again relax. However, she found her appetite had faded. That offered some benefit, though, as Mary had never been a big eater and Marianne could see she found it difficult to fit in with Lisa's and Amanda's greater hunger. Marianne enjoyed chatting with her friends though the evening and it was a good distraction as she found that in contrast to her time in the cottage she now found it difficult to settle to anything. Sleep proved elusive and Marianne guessed that without the tiredness caused by work or runs in woodland, that was no real surprise.

In the long periods sitting in bed awake she found her mind flitting, though she was able to concentrate enough to consume numerous short novels and as many magazines as she could get her hands on. She felt the need for long baths and really enjoyed rubbing herself down with a soft sponge and some bubbles. Marianne put all her new quirks down to the chopping and changing of the past few weeks; she was sure things would settle down soon enough. At least she felt that she was putting thoughts of Rob behind her and the cottage, its woods and all their magic also seemed to be fading from her mind.

The three friends had been at Mary's for four days when Andy returned unexpectedly. He was a little put out to find his house 'under occupation' as he weakly joked. Even Lisa read that any longer stay was not really welcomed and at a hurried conference, she, Amanda and Marianne agreed that their work was done. Looking at Mary, Marianne certainly felt she looked more her old self, and even Tiggy seemed well established around the house. Now Marianne began thinking about what she should do next. She had a handful of days of holiday left, there was even some time left on her tenancy of Silverbirch Cottage. However, with Mary apparently healed, Amanda and Lisa began indicating that they felt that Marianne might be the next focus of their attentions and they were eager to get her back to London and into the social whirl. There seemed to be so many plays and new exhibitions that she just had to see. Marianne wondered if that was really the solution. However, she accepted that she had been away from the capital now for a reasonable time, in different environments and that had allowed her to take different perspectives on things; surely it was now time to ease back into her former life.

By ten the next morning they were all packed and the three cars were pulling away from Mary's and soon heading out of Exeter. Marianne did not hare off at top speed like Amanda and Lisa, rather she enjoyed taking some of the smaller roads and the countryside she passed through. The West Country in Autumn proved to be a rewarding sight.

Marianne did not really understand how she found herself so close to Silverbirch Cottage. Had her subconscious encouraged her to follow this route? If she had stuck to the motorways and other major roads, no doubt she would have bypassed it by a long way, but now she found she was in a familiar landscape. Marianne gave into whatever was driving her. It would be good to return the mirror to the cottage anyway. In theory she was still renting it and she did not want to be liable for damages caused whilst she had neglected it for Exeter or due to the actions of her light-fingered friends. As she came closer, Marianne realised that she also wanted proper closure with the place. Being whisked off by Amanda and Lisa had not permitted that. She knew that in London she would regret not having finished fully with Silverbirch Cottage. She did, however, dismiss the siren call thoughts that going into the woods one last time as a feylin while the weather remained this good, might be nice. Now she saw the transformations like an addiction, and she, like a recovering alcoholic, could not even given in once or she would be back to zero.