The Khat Who Became a Hero 2

Khat Sends an Invitation

Previously: On Tuesday morning, the Thyme & Seasons shop cat, Khat K’o-Kung, did not show up for work. China has become concerned, and her friend Cass’s assurances haven’t helped. “Suppose he’s been hit by a car,” China worries. “Or climbed a tree and can’t figure out how to get down.” You can read the earlier episode here.

As you have likely guessed, the cat in question has neither climbed the wrong tree (which would make for a hum-drum story) nor been hit by a car (which would put an end to it entirely).

Instead, Khat has simply granted himself the day off. No one was around when he made this decision, so there was no one to tell where he was going or when he might be back. To fortify himself, he helped himself from the jar of kitty treats Cass left for him on the pantry shelf. Then he went out to the deck, where he paused to wash both his front paws and his face, and then his back paws, and then he became engrossed in the serious business of giving himself an all-over licking.

He had read somewhere (was it in Miss Sarton’s The Fur Person?) that the First Commandment of a Gentleman Cat required one to have an immaculate shirt front and paws at all times. Finished with the washing up, he sharpened his claws on the redbud tree beside the deck, and then he was off.

And no, he didn’t leave a note. The adventures of his previous lives had conferred on our Khat an acceptable fluency in several languages, but his claws were not designed to grip a pencil. And while he could easily manage a keyboard (and did, when the opportunity presented itself), the Boss Lady’s laptop was closed and stowed under the counter.

But please don’t think that the decision to absent himself from the herb shop was a declaration of discontent. No, not at all, for Khat enjoyed many things about his current assignment at Thyme & Seasons. He was fond of Boss Lady and appreciated her devotions to his wishes, insofar as she was capable—given her linguistic shortcomings—of understanding them. This deplorable failing was frustrating for him, for he could understand her perfectly well.

And there was also the odd business of the Boss Lady’s nationality. She answered to “China” but refused, for some inexplicable reason, to acknowledge the Chinese heritage so evident in her name. (You are correct if you are guessing that while Khat is a very intelligent animal, has an imperfect understanding of human customs.)

He, on the other hand, was proud to call himself Siamese, for he had once performed valuable temple services in ancient Siam. He enjoyed paraphrasing a song he had heard somewhere:

I was once a citizen
of Siam.
Therefore there is no finer cat
than I am.

Khat K’o-Kung, singing his song of Siam. Photo: Pixabay

As well, Khat is fond of the comfortable pleasures of his days: the sweet scent of the herbs hanging in bundles from the shop’s ceiling; meals at eight-thirty and four-thirty, predictably; his catnip mouse in the corner and his pillow beside the rose geranium on the window sill, where he enjoys the sun while he keeps a watchful eye on customers; and his ability to slip out for daily jaunts to Cavette’s Market, Lila’s Diner, and yards and kitchens around the neighborhood.

And he is especially fond of his nights, when the Thyme & Seasons garden becomes a magical world of scents and shadows—his world, which he shares with the other creatures who preferred night to day. He is stern about keeping out the riffraff, like that rude policeman he had unceremoniously evicted, but he is always glad to see a friend, like Malory, the pretty marmalade cat who lives in the Hobbit House bookstore next door. He and Malory are especially fond of Ruby’s Zodiac garden, where they can enjoy the seductively-scented Venus herbs, the catnip, violet, and daisy. All things considered, Khat has nothing to complain about. Except, perhaps, certain lack . . . But we will get to that in a few paragraphs.

Since this was not his first life (nor his third nor his fifth),  Khat was frequently visited by reminders of his past, which has certainly had its high points. A celebrated poet had written of his conjuring career as the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees, famous “for performing surprising illusions and creating eccentric confusions.” You may have seen the musical Cats, which was based on the poem. Khat especially enjoys the cat-chorus’ song, "Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a Khat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?"

Erika Rae Heins, The Jellicle Cats Coloring Book

But it hasn’t all always been easy. Our Khat had often earned a hard living on the margins of society—for example, as the Cat Who Walks by Himself, the hired hit-cat who cleared the Hill Top Farm attic of a mischief of rats for Miss Beatrix Potter, a story told in The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood.

Khat was not, of course, always a Siamese, or even a male. He has been a tomcat about town, a mother cat (several times), and any number of kittens. He has been a tuxedo cat, a Persian cat, an Abyssinian cat, a ginger cat—twice, at least. He likes to imagine that he was once the Great Cat of Ra, who guards the Egyptian Tree of Life and All Knowledge, but that’s almost certainly wishful thinking. He is quite sure that he was not Church, the undead British-shorthair in Pet Sematary. It’s possible, however, that he was a kneazle in one of the Harry Potter books, an experience he should be very glad to forget.

But these pasts were eons ago and (some of them) continents away. The lives before this one felt to Khat as if they had taken place in fairy tales, and he found it hard to remember them and the names that people had given him. He had never been very good at names, anyway, which is why he was entirely comfortable with Khat. It captured the elegant essence of who he was without being terribly precious about it. And every now and then he reminded himself of T. S. Eliot’s unforgettable lines in “The Naming of Cats,” in his Book of Practical Cats:

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular name.

But the fact of the matter (the slightly discomfiting fact) is that if Khat’s past lives were becoming increasingly remote, it is because his present life is so enjoyable. The Boss Lady is such a good manager that the shop and the tearoom and even the catering service run smoothly. Her friend Ruby Wilcox is an exceptionally intuitive human. And  Malory is an affectionate friend. The gratifying dailiness of his days, the enticing paths and intimate corners of the garden at night—all of this lull him in its comfortable embrace.

And now we must come to that certain lack that we mentioned a few paragraphs previously. For it has to be admitted that Khat felt a certain deficiency in the life of Thyme & Seasons. A kind of absence, if you will. It comes down to the fact that while Boss Lady is passionate about her plants and understands how to use them in cooking, crafting, and medicines, she neglects to exploit their extraordinary potential as magical herbs. Herbs for good fortune, for prosperity, for exorcisms, for protection and purification and divination. Spells and incantations and enchantments. Natural magic, traditional magic, ritual magic, green magic.

This regrettable omission is largely due, Khat felt, to the Boss Lady’s habit of logical, rational thought. And Ruby isn’t much help, for although she has many of the requisite magical skills when it comes to crystals and gems and cards and the like, she knows far less about magical herbs. It was unlikely that this unfortunate situation would change, Khat thought, unless he took measures to change it. And the best way to do this—the only way, he decided—is to invite a teacher, someone who can show China how these herbs are used, and when and why and what happens (sometimes surprisingly) after that.

I’m sure you understand that issuing an invitation of this sort is a delicate matter, so you won’t be surprised that our Khat has given it a great deal of thought. He first considered a certain sorcerer he had known in Egypt, well versed in Middle Eastern spells and potions. On reflection, however, he felt that the fellow might not be able to accommodate himself to the ordinary routines of Thyme & Seasons. What was needed was someone gentler, someone who could fit comfortably into the shop’s daily to-and-fro.

Then he thought of Gillian, a British hedgewitch he had known during one of his lives in the English Lake District. (This is a known features of cats’ past lives. Some attract cohorts—individual colleagues or groups who, for a variety of reasons, accompany a cat from one life to another, and who are available, when invited, to undertake an assignment that fits their skills and experience.)

Yes, Gilly, of course! A perfect choice. It took some extra extrasensory effort to track her down, but Khat finally located her in a remote village on the Isle of Skye, where she was cataloguing the personal library of a widely-respected retired witch and working on the campaign to win pardons for the witches who had been convicted and executed in Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. She had been reluctant to come, saying vaguely that, what with one thing and another, her life was rather complicated just now. But Khat could be quite persuasive, and she had finally agreed.

“But don’t expect me post-haste,” she said, sounding a little cross. “I can’t just pack up a broomstick and fly off, you know, willy-nilly. It takes planning.”

So while Khat waited for Gilly to appear, he thought he might take a day or two away from the shop. Which is why he did not, as usual on a Tuesday, wait for Boss Lady at the front door or appear at his bowl for breakfast. Instead, he finished sharpening his claws, then trotted purposefully up the alley and kitty-corner across the courthouse square to present himself at the rear door of Lila’s Diner, where—as it happens—he is on familiar terms with the cook. Delia greeted him affectionately and put down a heaping plate of his favorite Tex-Mex breakfast migas, in return for which he allowed her to stroke the top of his head.

After that—well, Khat had declared a day’s holiday. He was free to come and go as he chose.

And hadn’t he just caught the scent, the magical scent, the ineffable effable
effanineffable scent of catnip? Which, I am sorry to tell you, reminded him of a recent adventure in Fannie Couch’s garden, an orgiastic affair that had been . . . well, an orgy.

He sniffed again. Perhaps Mrs. Couch had replanted her catnip.

His pace quickened. He must certainly get to the root of this. He trotted off, quite pleased with himself

Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a Khat so clever . . .

Watch for Episode 3, “The Further Adventures of Khat,” coming Wednesday, April 17!

I hope you enjoyed this episode—it seems to be taking us in a different direction from our usual stories. Since there is much more to be said about various elements of the story, I am making the bonus extras available to all subscribers.

From Susan

When I wrote the original version of this story in 2001 or so, Khat was not a viewpoint character. The entire story was told from China’s point of view, as she traipsed around town, looking for clues to her shop cat’s whereabouts. If you’re interested in seeing the changes, you can find the first story in An Unthymely Death.

But as I began rethinking the story for this publication, Khat suggested that I tell part of it from his point of view. To bolster his argument, he told me something of his history—the magical history that’s beginning to emerge in this episode. Other writers will tell you that this happens often: characters become real enough to jump off the page and tell you—sometimes very energetically—who they are and why they’re there.

And as it’s happened, Khat isn’t the only intelligent, even magical animal I’ve written about. Around the time I was writing the original story, I was also working on the Cottage Tales, a series of eight books set in the English Lake District and featuring Beatrix Potter, whose tales for children about animals (Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and more) were popular in the early years of the 20th century. In those books, I created a menagerie of animals native to the Lake District, all of whom live magical lives. Now, rereading the Cottage Tales and thinking about Ridley Rat and Bosworth Badger and Professor Galileo Newton Owl (D. Phil.), it seems quite natural for Khat to have a magical life. I hope you won’t mind.

And who knows? Maybe Khat will come up with more of his Khat-Who stories! He seems to be an adventurous cat. 😊

And now for those extras!

The Ten Commandments of The Gentleman Cat. I’m sure you know that all cats abide by a code of conduct that guide them through the many uncertain circumstances they encounter in their attempts to train their humans. The commandment that Khat is remembering in the third paragraph of this story comes from a delicious little book called The Fur Person, written in 1957 by poet and memoirist May Sarton.

Carrot-and-Catnip Kitty Treats

Before he leaves the shop, Khat dips into the treat jar. Here’s the recipe for those catnip-flavored carrot treats Cass bakes for him. There are four other recipes on that same link. Your fur friends need never run out of healthy kitty-crackers!

Khat’s Favorite Garden

There are a variety of herb gardens at Thyme & Seasons, each demonstrating the different uses of herbs. The Dyer’s Garden, for instance, the Kitchen Garden, the Butterfly Garden, and so on. Khat’s favorite garden (mentioned in paragraph nine of this story and frequently in the mysteries) is the Zodiac Garden, a circular bed divided into 12 sections, planted with herbs that have been traditionally associated with the signs and planets of the 12 houses of the zodiac.

Here’s a diagram and a list of plants familiar to most North American gardeners. The symbols in the outer ring designate the planetary rulerships. The herbs in the table below are traditionally associated with each of the planets. (I’ll have more on this in an upcoming series of posts: Herbs of the Zodiac.)

The 12 signs of the zodiac

Aries (ruled by Mars): nettles, garlic, mustard, red clover, ginger
Taurus (Venus): violet, catnip, daisy, plantain, primrose
Gemini (Mercury): parsley, dill, valerian, thyme, fennel
Cancer (Moon): peppermint, spearmint, pumpkin, motherwort
Leo (Sun): rosemary, mistletoe, hawthorn berries, St. John’s wort, bay
Virgo (Mercury): anise, fennel, coriander, marjoram
Libra )Venus): thyme, goldenseal, juniper, hollyhock, cranberry
Scorpio (Pluto): ginseng, aloe vera, southernwood, wormwood, cohosh
Sagittarius (Jupiter): dandelion, black willow, sage, yellow dock, meadowsweet
Capricorn (Saturn): mullein, comfrey, horsetail, holly, wintergreen
Aquarius (Uranus): skullcap, lemon lavender, chamomile, passion flower, valerian
Pisces (Neptune): echinacea, poppy, mugwort

Khat’s Favorite Mouse

Khat’s catnip mouse (the one that’s waiting for him back at the shop) is easy to make. Spruce Crafts gives us the pattern, the supplies and tools you need, and full instructions. For another version of the same craft, check out these directions from The Practical Herbalist.

Khat’s Earlier Lives

This obviously isn’t Khat’s first rodeo, as we say here in Texas. I’m pretending that T.S. Eliot conjured him up in 1939 as the Magical Mr. Mistoffeelees, in his Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber memorialized this magical creature in his 1981 musical, Cats. I’m sure our Khat agrees with every word of Eliot’s delightfully playful lyrics.

I have lived with and written about quite a few cats over the years and must confess that I’m having fun with Khat’s prior lives. In this story, I’m playing with his life as the Cat Who Walks by Himself, the hired assassin in the third Cottage Tale (The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood), who was called in to rid the Hill Top attic of a gang of unruly rats. I’m still playing with these ideas and I’m not sure where they might take us. Really. Not. Sure.

But for me, this is a huge part of the fun of writing these short reads and sharing them as works-in-progress—so very different (for me, anyway) than offering them to you in a book, on printed (or pixeled) pages complete, finished, and final.

And What About That Kneazle?

Image: Harry Potter Wiki

I certainly wouldn’t exclude the possibility that our Khat spent at least one of his lives as a Kneazle. In the Harry Potter series, this animal is a magical creature with a distinct resemblance to a cat, but with a squashed face, spotted fur, large ears, and a plumed tail. Highly intelligent creatures, they are known for their ability to detect suspicious or untrustworthy individuals. Crookshanks, who belongs to Hermione Granger, might be a Kneazle. And I wouldn’t bet against the possibility that Khat and Crookshanks are related.

A Recipe from Lila’s Diner

Image: GimmeSomeOven

We have to have at least one recipe, of course, and Delia’s breakfast migas (a Spanish/Portuguese term for a dish made from stale bread and whatever-else-you’ve-got) is a favorite at our house. It’s easy and quick to scramble together. Gimme Some Oven has a recipe your family will go for.

Thanks for reading all the way to THE END!

More of Khat’s adventures next week.