Afternoon in the Kitchen

A few clatters, and the ringing sound of a copper pot being filled with rice, echoed from the large kitchen which took up a little less than half of the ground floor of the Tierney house. Pleasant humming echoed from within, and as the slender redhead popped out to peer down the hall, the scent of cilantro wafted into the air. Her vibrant, leaf green eyes narrowed as she walked over to peer out the front window.

  "Damnation, Sierra, how long does it take you to pick up a few herbs?"

  The thirty item list was completely incomprehensible. Kearna’s cat scratch writing sprawled across the page, making everything impossible to read. The gourmet shop she had indicated was nothing but a confusing mass of shelves and foreign-sounding names. Smells of various herbs mixed in the air to create an almost nauseating odor. The panther mewed, sounding half of her own size, and the world seemed about to come crashing down, simply because there was no star anise.

  Kearna shook her head, sighing, and headed back up the hall, humming to herself again as she entered the spacious kitchen. A butcher block island took up the center of the room, covered with various kitchen impliments, and at the moment, freshly rolled pasta dough, awaiting filling and the ravioli crimper. A rack of spice bottles, fully three feet high and two feet across, took up the only blank wall space in the kitchen. The remainder was all high, clean windows and shelves. No cabinet doors to get in her way, Kearna preferred lots of storage space with bins to keep everything organized. Only her bathroom was as well organized. The woman bounded to the island, and began almost haphazardly flinging the filling into the pasta dough, crimping and tossing them into a nearby colander. Pausing long enough to hit ‘play’ on the stereo set carefully into the space between the spice rack and her pot rack, Kearna continued flinging lunch together, humming along with the sound of her favorite songs. She paused, looking up when something caught her ears, and bolted to the French doors in the dining room. Peering out into the backyard, her emerald eyes narrowed when she spotted disarray in her herb garden.

  "What the hell…?" Unlocking the door, she stepped out onto the patio. Sandstone was warm underfoot, but the silence was heavy on the street. Kearna glanced around the backyard, noting the patio furniture was undisturbed. She padded towards the herb garden, then paused, her head tilting. ‘What was that?’ The sound had been faintly familiar, but nothing she could place at the moment. The fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she hurried over to the herb garden. Kneeling, she brushed the oregano back into an upright position, then blinked at the depressions in the soft soil. Leaning down, she traced one print with a nail. ‘Large central pad, four smaller toe pads, claw tip depressions…a wolf? But, who would go through the herb garden?’ The click of a lock sliding into place made her spin on her knees, scraping her delicate skin on the sandstone.The French door was shut. Kearna jumped to her feet and raced across the backyard. Catching the handle, she wrenched it to open the door, then yelped when she tore a carefully manicured nail loose.

  "OW!" Sniffling, she put the wounded finger in her mouth, and stared uncomprehendingly at the door. Several seconds passed, and then a crash from inside the house made her jump once more. Bolting to the kitchen window, she pressed her nose against the glass, shading her eyes to peer in. She gasped in horror, seeing her ravioli scattered across the floor, her beloved copper colander lying by the oven. Movement caught her eye, and she had to blink several times before she believed what she saw.

  As Sierra was pulling up the street, Bagheera curled up in the backseat between the paper bags filled with various ingredients, she heard a scream echoing from what could only be her house.

  "FISH!!"