By now I was used to roaming the castle at night, so I easily found my way around, barely paying any mind to the shadows that loomed in the halls that had scared me so much in the beginning. My fluffy socks made no noise against the stone floor as I crossed the entrance hall and entered the west wing.

To my surprise, I found the third door on the right ajar, a thin finger of light reaching through the crack. It landed on my foot when I took a step closer to peek inside.

The room was one of the smaller ones of the castle, sterile with only a few metal beds and shelves filled with the nurse’s equipment. Noelle was sitting on a bed in the center of the room, her back propped against a mountain of pillows, eyes directed at the ceiling.

“Oh thank God,” she said when I slipped inside, pushing the pair of headphones down to her neck. “You have no idea how boring it is alone here.”

“You’ve been here only a few hours.” I chuckled and came to a stop next to her. “Is it okay if I sit?”

“No.” She grinned when I blinked at her in surprise at that response. “I’m sick of being in this bed. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“But aren’t you supposed to rest?”

“I rested. Give me my crutches.”

Accepting that arguing wouldn’t get me anywhere, I handed her the crutches that were propped against the end of the bed.

I stayed close to her when she got up, just in case she needed help, but she got to her feet and headed towards the door in a way that seemed like this was by far not the first time she’d had to use them.

Holding the door for her, I asked, “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see. Don’t you trust me?”

“Not really.”

“Smart girl. Come along now.”

The entrance hall was deadly silent except for our steps and the clicking of Noelle’s crutches against the floor. She was wearing sweatpants and a big T-shirt now, her hair falling on her shoulders.

When she came to a sudden halt and dropped her crutches to the floor to kneel, I almost ran into her. “Hey!” she quietly said, her voice suddenly three octaves higher than usual. “Hey, come here!”

I wondered for a moment if I had missed something and she had also hit her head, before suddenly, there was a tiny meowing sound. Seconds later, a cat peeked around the corner.

“Come over here, Muffin!” Noelle whispered, reaching out a hand.

It didn’t take much convincing for the cat. In the blink of an eye, she darted over to Noelle and pressed her head into her hand.

“Long time no see, pal, where’ve you been? You’ve been busy hunting mice in the attic, huh?”

The cat answered with a small meow before going back to purring happily.

“This is Muffin,” Noelle said when I sank to my knees next to her. “Mrs. Whitworth’s cat.”