With One Touch [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 10

As Joseph waited for the door to open, he observed the small, spherical objects Daren had given him. They looked like farthings, only the gold glistened, and they were extremely thin, yet somehow sturdy. He had twenty-five altogether, so to prevent them from being stolen he stuffed them in a pocket of his grey trousers, which were slightly grungy and creased badly. "Dad will not be happy." He remarked in a voice of dread.

The door swung open and a tall woman in a green dress towered above him, "why 'ello there, are you lost?" She had friendly green eyes, and smiled at Joseph's fearful expression. She bent down to his height so she could get a better look at him, "What's your name?"

Joseph breathed in steadily, before answering her question. "My name is Joseph Tailor, Miss," he felt himself shaking, and she saw it - she rubbed one of his arms in comfort. "I am not lost, I was told to come here so I could stay the night, and I have nowhere to go."

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but before she could another voice interrupted, "Joseph!" The voice was perky, and quite steady, almost as if the individual speaking had only recently learned how to; the way the personality spoke hinted that they had a broad knowledge of grammar and words.

The woman turned around to find the source of the voice, pulling Joseph inside and shutting the door as she did so. "You know this boy?" She looked at a round wooden table with a lit lantern on top of it, and a familiar figure sat beside it.

Joseph moved closer to the figure, the black hood peering up as the individual inside noticed his movement, "Raban? Is that you?"

The figure nodded, moving back the hood that shielded his face. "Yes, Joseph," he smiled, his arm slightly moving left and right. "And I think your friend wants to see you again."

Two small, black triangles suddenly appeared above the tabletop, followed by a round face and two eyes, one green eye and one blue eye. "Hello, Joseph!" The voice that spoke was the same as before, which confused Joseph greatly.

Echo jumped off Raban's lap, onto the table, and purred. "I have been waiting for you here, I am glad you are OK."

Joseph stumbled back, his mouth agape, and his eyes blinking in disbelief, "E-Echo? You are... talking."

Echo jumped down off the table and strolled to Joseph, who moved his feet away as the feline approached him. "What is wrong, Joseph? I thought you would be pleased." He sat on the cold, wooden floor, his big eyes watching Joseph. "You talk to me all the time, and I have never been able to reciprocate my thoughts to you, but now we can converse together! Well, in this world only, back home we cannot talk to each other. I will be as boring and quiet as I have ever been. But you can still talk to me, and I will listen to every word!" He looked at Joseph's feet for a brief moment, before moving a front paw forward and laying it on one of his owner's feet. "I am the same cat, Joseph; I am only different because I can talk now."

Joseph did not know how to feel - he felt guilty for not accepting Echo's new skill, but he also felt terrified that this was not his cat, and something bad had happened to him. As Echo rubbed against his legs, he felt a small amount of familiarity, "Hello, Echo," he stroked the cat's midnight fur, then picked him up and held him tightly. "Don't ever leave me, OK?"

Echo began struggling to climb out of Joseph's arms, his claws pinching his skin as he pulled himself up. "Yes, Joseph, but please could you release your upper limbs from my torso, I seem to be stuck and cannot move."

Joseph chuckled and gave his cat a final squeeze, before letting him down and looking at Raban. "Thank you, Raban, for looking after Echo."

Raban nodded, standing from his seat and replacing his cloak, "you are welcome, Joseph." He strolled towards the door and removed the lock.