Short Story Sunday: The Cat Food Can

“They died together. Here name was Grace of The Sacrament Tower. The cat was named Jot. Looks like her husband sealed her room up as a tomb.” Margo continued to read to Old English text”.  Oh God, they were murdered by a man who was in love with her and claimed she had bewitched him, but he was not her husband. The husband wrote I loved her as my very soul. This is amazing.”

“Wow,” said Shawna as they looked upon the bed of a long dead woman, sealed in her bedroom long ago.

Shawna Green and her friend Echo St. Claire were usually on paleontology digs but this summer they’d made a detour to England where their friend Margo Mendoza-Brown was working on the archeological dig of a Medieval castle.

“Textiles in this condition from this period are unheard of,” said Margo.

Shawna looked under the gold and blue blanket covering the body. “Her hair is still beautiful. The braids are woven with gold ribbons.” The mummified gray and white cat was curled on the dead women’s chest. A gold ribbon was tied around the cat’s neck. 

Echo took photos of the room and made notes in a sketch book, as the other two women looked around.

“Look at this. What do you think it is?” asked Margo as she held up a small silver toned object.

“A cat food can,” said Echo.

“That’s what I thought,” said Margo.

“It looks like a Fancy Feast can,” said Shawna.

“Yeah, or Tiki Cat,” said Echo.

“They didn’t have the technology to make something like this,” said Margo. “What is it doing here? It can’t be a modern can. It can’t be.”

“Could someone have left it here?” Echo asked.

“This room has been sealed since…” Margo looked above the doorway. DCCCXXXIC was carved into the wall. “Since the year 834 AD. Nobody has been in here for 1,189 years.”

“I know. I know. This is definitely a cat food can. See how the edge is where the top was pulled off,“ said Shawna. 

Echo took a photo of it.

“It was used as a trinket holder,”  said Margo.

“A trinket holder?” Asked Shawna.

“Some jewelry and a silver coin were in it. Look. There are earrings. A pair of earrings and a ring. The earrings are gold. The ring is silver. Look.” Margo held out the jewelry in the palm of her hand.

“The jewelry looks contemporary. The earrings are posts marked 18K,” said Shawna.

“I noticed, “said Margo. “This is so weird. Look at the ring.”

“It’s just like mine,” said Echo.

I” know. Where’d you get yours?” Asked Margo

“Hawaii. Oahu. The jeweler made all of her own designs.” 

“It wasn’t a historic reproduction?”

“No. Look at it,” said Echo holding out her hand so both of her friends could see.

“You’re sure the room has been sealed and nobody else has been in here since 834?” Asked Shawna.

“Yes,” said Margo. “I just don’t understand. Look at the can. It has aged like everything else here. There is no smell. No label. Why would someone come in here and leave some jewelry and a cat food can? It doesn’t make sense.”

Shawna looked at the body again, then looked around at the room. “I have a theory. It is far fetched and kind of crazy but hear me out.”

“OK,” said Margo. “At this point I’d consider anything.”

“About a year ago a historian named Grace Wendt vanished into thin air. She and her cat Jot went missing and nobody ever found them. She lived in Sacramento.”

“Sacramento. The Tower Bridge,” said Echo.

“That is insane,” said Margo.

“She had brown hair, just like the woman here under the blanket. Her cat was gray and white,” said Shawna.

“How do you know that?”

“I knew her. Not well, but we had mutual friends. She showed me some pictures of her cat. She loved that cat so much.”

“If it is Grace, could she have come here last year and died? Any chance of that at all?” asked Echo.

“I don’t think so. No, that would have been impossible. The body has been here for centuries. She had a husband. We’d have to have tests done, but I’ve seen a lot of bodies over the years, and this doesn’t look like a new death,” said Margo. “This is so…I just don’t know.”

 Echo took a few more photos then stopped. “Maybe we shouldn’t be here.”

“What do you mean?” Margo asked.

“This is all just sad, and weird. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable or, well, afraid like I do now. Sad too. Holy shit. Do you realize what we’ve come across? I have no idea what happened here but…I don’t know. I can’t explain it,” said Echo.

A few hours later the three women took everything from the 21^st Century out of the room and sealed it back up. They knew they shouldn’t have but on the other hand, nobody would question a cat food can and a few pieces of jewelry.

~ the end for today, but perhaps to be continued…

Thank you for dropping by and reading another tall tale written over a half cup of coffee with my cat Oscar.