Realms of the Cat by Susan Kite

Author:Susan Kite
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
Published: 2018-07-04T12:23:31+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN….

Lotus leaped through a broken out window pane. The battle noise changed pitch as well as volume. TB followed her example and was immediately in the middle of a group of snarling rats. He leaped on the closest one and killed it. The others backed away a few steps and snarled. TB yowled back, raking two aside with his paw. There was yowling above him, young cat yowling, but he didn’t have time to see how in the world Ming had held off all these rats.

He felt one latch onto his back leg, but before he could howl his pain, the rat was gone. Several more fell beneath his claws and fangs, and in another moment the rats had disappeared. TB prowled around the inside of the little building and found no more live rats.

The bite throbbed and he reached around to lick the spot. The rat hadn’t had time to bite him deeply. Melvin was licking his tail. “Thanks for knocking off that rat, pal.”

Now he could figure out how the kitten had managed to fight off all those rats. He noticed a tall wooden cabinet that was gouged and clawed, and figured Ming had been smart enough to hold them off from up there.

The kitten jumped down and Lotus began nuzzling and licking her. Ming gave token resistance to her mother’s attention. It was obvious that while the kitten had bravely battled the rats, she was also scared to death.

“They’re gone for now, but they are likely to come back. We can go back to where we were and wait for dawn, or continue on to find Butch,” TB suggested.

Ming leaped up, her tail puffed out. “They caught Uncle Butch and his friend, Leroy. They told me to wait here, but I wanted to follow and help them.”

“You were right to wait,” Melvin reassured the kitten.

“But they almost got me anyway—the rats, that is,” she mewed, shivering.

“I know,” her mother said soothingly. “We got here as soon as we could. You were so very brave.”

“You sure were,” Melvin and TB said together.

“How long ago did they take Butch?” TB asked.

“About half the night ago,” Ming replied. “It seems forever since they’ve been gone and the rats came in.”

TB was relieved. They weren’t that far behind. “We have to go forward. It’s almost dawn, and I don’t think we have a lot of time.”

“If the rats come back—,” Ming began.

“We’ll go down the middle of the road. More defensible.”

“And hope there aren’t any more trucks and cars,” Melvin added.

“Well, one thing I know. Ming can hold her own,” TB declared. The kitten stood up, her now-unpuffed tail straight up. “There’s no place here where she’d be safer,” he added.

“No, somehow I feel nowhere is safe for us, either,” Lotus concurred, glancing at Ming. “Let’s go then.”

Melvin slipped out the door and checked. “Clear so far,” he called out.

The cats filed out, TB at point and Lotus taking the rear. They trotted along slowly, all of them watching from side to side.

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