The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat (24 page)

“You have ten seconds . . . the clock is ticking. Tick tock tick tock.” On every tock, he jerked the noose a little tighter.

From his place up on the windmill, Caterwaul shook nervously. “All right, Jr., you win. Just please don't hurt her,” he implored the Felino below. “I'm coming down right now.”

Just to make clear that he was the one in charge, Lucius Jr. gave one more tug on the rope tightening the noose a little more. “Quit wasting my time,” he shouted, “and get your tail down here.”

Caterwaul was beaten. He had no choice. If he didn't surrender himself to this insane cat, his friends would be seriously hurt. He scrambled down the windmill blades and jumped to the ground.

“Okay, I'm here. Now let my friends go.” Two family members immediately grabbed him by his front legs.

Lucius Jr. grinned. “Oh no . . . not just yet. They are going to stand here and watch what I'm going to do to you.”

Muse was crying. “I'm so sorry, Caterwaul,” she whimpered, “for getting you caught like this.”

“It's not your fault, Muse, it's mine. I should have taken care of this bully the first time we met.”

“Yeah, but you didn't,” snapped Jr. “And now I am gonna get riddaya for good.” With every word, spray flew from his mouth. He was quaking with excitement. Whenever Lucius Jr. became extra excited, the drool came. Right now he was positively raving, and the saliva poured like a waterfall from the corners of his open mouth.

“Bugsy,” he howled, “you got dibs.”

Bugsy lumbered forward smiling. “I'm gonna hurt you now.” He did not even draw his claws. This was going to be an old-fashion beat down. Bugsy drew back and slammed Caterwaul in his exposed chest with an open paw. The other Felinos let go because they wanted to watch Bugsy dismantle him one blow at a time.

Caterwaul, the wind knocked out of him, couldn't even muster the energy to defend himself. The enormous mobster grabbed him under the front legs and flung him, end over end, against a tree.

“This is way too easy,” said Lucius Jr. “Come on now, Caterwaul. This isn't what I expected from the guy who just flattened three of my best guys. Fight back, you coward.”

“Actually, it was four, you miserable waste of meat, but who's counting.” Caterwaul remained defiant. He realized he was getting creamed, but he was not going to give his foe any satisfaction by acknowledging it. Pushing himself up onto his feet, he sprang toward the big yellow cat. Bugsy stepped aside, grabbed him by his neck skin, and flipped him over like a kitten's plaything.

“I know what might make you fight better,” spewed the underboss. “Hey Meyer . . . You always had a thing for white cats. Take her, my gift to you, for your years of loyal service to the Felino family.”

He handed the rope to his lieutenant. Meyer flashed his saber teeth and started leading Muse back inside the windmill. She was horrified. But if she tried to pull away, the noose drew tighter about her throat.

“If he so much as touches her, Felino, I will end you. I will end every last one of you,” Caterwaul said, enraged.

“Merely hot air, my friend,” said the corpulent cat. “Look at yourself. You can't get past Bugsy. You don't have the stuff to beat even one of my crew. You'd need an army to beat us all.”

Then from out of nowhere, Caterwaul heard singing. It was beautiful.

“Foolish cats rush in, where kittens fear to tread . . . ”

Lucius Jr. lost his train of thought. Suddenly everybody stopped what they were doing to listen to the melodious voice.

At that moment, a white cat appeared on the ridge overlooking the fray. It was Frankie, the white male that Caterwaul rescued from Warwick Vane Bezel III. And he brought company. It was he who sang. Surrounding the crooner on both sides, there were cats—and lots of them. Caterwaul estimated there were at least fifteen, maybe even twenty cats with him. They all remained silent and motionless as the crooner sang the rest of the verse.

From his place on the ridge Frankie called to the Felinos below. “Did I hear somebody mention an army? Because gentlemen, the kitty cavalry has arrived.”

Frankie signaled for his cats to attack. They had the mobsters outnumbered three to one. But the Felinos were big cats and used to fighting, so the odds were pretty even. Still, Frankie brought some tough customers with him. The outcome was in no way certain.

The sudden melee drew the attention of the Felinos who had been assigned to watch the prisoners. Feliz took advantage of the confusion. Popping out one of his claws, he pried apart the chain that held his collar to the others. “Pudding, you need to get out of here quickly while you have time,” he barked at the chocolate-brown cat.

“Not on your life,” she shouted back. “That degenerate has my cousin in there.” She bolted into the old windmill to chase after Meyer and Muse.

Lucius Jr. was worried. The unexpected arrival of Frankie and his reinforcements had made the outcome of the day unclear. He began to think of ways to salvage what he could of his victory. That meant Caterwaul had to go.

“Bugsy!” he yelled to his henchman. “I need you to finish him off now. We don't have time to mess around anymore.”

Bugsy understood. There would be no more toying. Caterwaul was pretty beaten up, but the big yellow cat had been playing around up until now. He grabbed Caterwaul by the collar then, rising up onto his hind legs, he lifted Caterwaul up with his right front paw until his face was close enough to breathe on.

Caterwaul could clearly see his attacker's droopy eye and mangled ear. He had an amusing yet terrifying thought. As dangerous as this cat was now, how much more effective would he be with two good eyes and ears.

“Boss says it's time to go. I guess that means it's time to go.” Bugsy unsheathed the claws on his left forepaw. “It's time for Caterwaul to go to sleep . . . forever.”

He drew back his left arm. Caterwaul knew he was done for. One swipe of that powerful left paw, and it was all over. Suddenly he felt the big cat's grip loosen. His one good eye rolled backward, and he yelped in pain. Looking downward, Caterwaul could see his saviors. Juan was slashing furiously at Bugsy's exposed chest while Frankie dug his claws into his legs.

Bugsy staggered and fell forward. As the big yellow cat moved to land on all fours, he let go of his victim. Caterwaul grabbed onto Bugsy's upper arm and with a sudden burst of energy, swung himself onto his back. Grabbing on with his hind legs, Caterwaul slammed his front paws downward into Bugsy's face. His right paw connected with the big cat's nose, while the left tore into the flap of skin covering his remaining good eye.

Virtually blinded and bleeding from his many wounds, Bugsy shook the ragged Caterwaul from his shoulders and staggered off, howling into the woods.

Pudding was raging. She'd watched that piece of trash Meyer drag Muse back into the old windmill only minutes before. She had no way of knowing if they were still inside or if Meyer had hauled her out the back and vanished. The lanterns that lit the building had, for the most part, burned themselves out. The only light remaining came from a few last flickering candles and the moon. She heard something coming up behind her, and she spun around with her claws bared.

“Shhh . . . easy now, it's just me. I'm here to help.” It was Feliz. He signaled for her to be quiet. Whispering to her, he asked, “Which way did they go?”

“I'm not sure,” she answered. “Maybe up, maybe out.”

There was noise coming from the room where the cushions were. Carefully Pudding and Feliz moved forward toward the sound, but when they got there, they found it was only Gerhard trying to get to his feet. Just then, they both caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure moving toward the stairway.

“Get Gerhard to safety,” said Feliz. “I'll go after whoever that was.”

Pudding wrapped the injured Gerhard's paw across her shoulders and led him out through the back door.

Outside the old windmill, the fight was drawing to a close. With Bugsy and Meyer out of the fracas, the momentum quickly shifted from the Felinos to Frankie and his men. Lucius Jr. could not believe it. With a sweep of his eyes, he could see most of his crew had been beaten up pretty badly. How was he ever going to explain this to his father? After a disaster like this, there was no way the old man would let him succeed him as
capo di tutti gatte.

He needed to get out of there. Moving with a stealth one could never imagine from a cat of his build, Jr. slipped from the battlefield to the area behind the windmill. A smile returned to his face when he saw Pudding and Gerhard before him, defenseless. At least it wouldn't be a total loss. He could get rid of Gerhard for good and take the chocolate female as a hostage.

He brought out his claws and readied himself to pounce. But before he could launch himself, something grabbed him and yanked him away. It was something big and wet with a massive set of teeth. It was Huxley, and he had the fat cat engulfed in his jaws. From high up on the hound's back came a voice. “I'd love to see you try to get out of this one, Jr.” Straddling the big dog's neck, grabbing onto his collar, was Coy the kitten. He was laughing triumphantly. He slid down to the ground as Huxley gripped the terrified Felino tightly in his jaws and shook him.

Gerhard grabbed his hat off Lucius Jr.'s head. “I believe that this belongs to me,” he said.

“Better late than never,” said Coy with a chuckle. He extended his paw in friendship to Gerhard. “Hi, I'm Coy . . . I'm glad to see the party's still happening.”

Feliz caught up with the shadowy figure on the windmill's fourth level. It was a medium-sized cat, but that was about all he could be sure of in the darkness. The figure seemed to be dangling from something overhead and apparently had not yet caught Feliz's scent, too busy at the moment to notice his approach. Feliz flung himself at the swinging cat, landing across his chest. He then drew his claws and sneered. “I guess you're not as tough as you thought you were, eh, Meyer?”