Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales Paperback

His smile was infectious.

Julian had never signed a contract before. In a daze he okayed it.

The figure at the door said a single word and not in English. Suddenly ? 141 ?

? Tales That Fairies Tell ?

Reynard was out of the room and in the hall. The roommates asked if they could send their resumes. But, apparently, he didn’t hear.





5.


For a few minutes afterwards his roommates barraged Julian with questions. “What are your plans for tonight, for tomorrow, for your life? Are you getting a personal assistant, talking to the media, doing a show? Is it possible you’ll need to hire a private pedicab, a tour guide, companion? Couldn’t his art tie in with music, dance, film?”


As they talked, Julian became aware of another presence. He closed his eyes and saw a huge figure that smelled of rotted meat. An ogre in clothes of fine velvet, stained with food and drink, sporting an elaborate beard and immense hairy eyebrows, stared down at him.

“When I consume a cow I have a gentle, calm disposition,” it said. “When I dine on a child, I become innocent. When I eat a king (preferably simmered in a robust wine sauce from a traditional family recipe), I am majestic. You look at me and you don’t believe it. Well think again, my friend! When I devour you I will be a witless young man.” Julian began to scramble to his feet.

But the ogre turned into Puss. When Julian opened his eyes, it was just Puss and him in the apartment. The Cat had bribed the roommates to go away.

“One great difference between ogres and cats is that cats never talk about themselves,” Puss said. “But others talk about us. You must know the story of how I dealt with the ogre.

Julian saw through cat eyes Puss challenging the monster to turn into a lion, an elephant, and finally a mouse; watched the cat kill and eat the mouse.

“Just as the ogre changed with what he ate, when I devoured him, I inherited his ability to change shapes and came into my dominion.”

Right in front of Julian the cat turned first into a hawk, then a bear, and again into a fat, hairy ogre. Julian was terrified. He thought of the contract he’d signed with Reynard.

? 142 ?

? Rick Bowes ?

“Never fear me.” Puss was once again a smiling cat. “You’ve met my old . . . acquaintance.”

“He said . . . ”

“ . . . many things.” The cat shook his head, “Young men are so foolish.” But he seemed charmed by that fact.

The apartment door opened. “Movers,” said Puss. “Ones you can trust. Show them what has to be taken from here. I’m placing you in more suitable quarters.” The movers set to work and Puss disappeared.

Later that evening, Veronessa and Julian sat in the back seat of a car carrying them through Central Park to her townhouse in the East 70s. He stared, fascinated and shocked, at her vivid, barbaric vest of red fox fur.

She noticed this and gave a nod and a smile. “Jack Reynard will not be back. At least not in this incarnation,” she said, patting the fur.

Julian wondered if having your dreams and ambitions realized always left you as tense and confused as he felt. “I hope my staying at your place is okay . . . with you . . . ” he began.

She smiled, reached over and stroked the back of his neck like a pet. His nerves were so relaxed at her touch that it felt like he was sinking into the cushions. “Richelieu’s’ kittens,” she said, “were treasured by those to whom the Cardinal gave them.”

“If they knew what was good for them,” Julian remarked and was surprised at himself.

“Ah,” Veronessa said with a small frown. “It is not wise to be wise so soon.”

Puss was there when they arrived. His hat bore a red fur tail with a white tip in place of the white plume. “The Fox has the strengths of the trickster: misdirection, a quick eye, and a fast tongue. But . . . ”