The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat (22 page)

Juan motioned to Muse to come over and together the two of them wrapped their arms tightly around a very scared, very brave, chocolate-colored kitty, who just might have saved all of their lives.

20

What Goes Around

T
here were now three more Felino soldiers on his tail. “Bring ‘em on,” thought Caterwaul out loud, “I'll take out the whole family . . . every last rotten one of them.”

He looked around for his pack, but it wasn't where he thought it was. Then he remembered he'd left it hanging on a nail above the ledge between the fourth and fifth levels. He was now on the sixth level. To get to it, he would have to give up some ground and head toward his enemies.

But did he even have time to go back for it?
Probably not
, he thought. It was too dangerous, not worth the risk. Plus, these new pursuers were moving up the stairs between levels at a good clip, much faster than the first trio.

His rush of adrenaline was subsiding, and suddenly he was reminded of the pain in his leg from when he had stepped on the hidden cat. Reflexively his paw flew to the spot where the cat had tagged him. It was still bleeding slowly, and there was a piece of fur-covered skin hanging loose from his wound.

“Owwwwww!” he shouted, as everyone does when they first discover they have been cut. “This is going to slow me down.”

He then realized there might be a way for him to use his injury to his advantage. At the end of the sixth level, there was a small window. Through it, he could see one of the wooden blades of the windmill. It wasn't moving.

The windmill was the kind often used to pump water for irrigation. It had been turned off before the event. The party planners didn't want to leave it running for fear that it might somehow stop and cause a sudden swell of water. He understood this perfectly because he knew how most cats felt about large amounts of water.

He yanked the hanging bit of skin and hair sharply away from his body. He could hear a loud tear as a clump of his leg came loose in his paw. Caterwaul wanted to scream, but he didn't dare. Instead he moved methodically toward the window, making sure to smear the blood from his piece of now-unattached flesh, leaving a trail on the boards going up to the window. He then dropped the clump of skin out the window. It bounced a couple of times on the outside of the windmill before landing silently in the weeds below. He then backed away quietly and hid behind a red canvas tarp.

By the time the three Felinos had reached the sixth level, they were out of steam. The one in the lead position was sucking in air like he had just run a marathon. Between his loud deep breaths, he managed to get out two words, “Find him.”

The other two cats spread out to search the level, but none of the three cats were in any shape to do it right. Meanwhile, the first cat had discovered the trail of blood and was following it toward the open window.

He was still gasping when he got up to it, and he put his paws up on the sill for a better look. He could see the signs of blood on the outside wall and assumed, as Caterwaul had hoped he would, that his prey was no longer inside the windmill.

Turning back to his companions, he called, “He's gone. He went out this window. Probably long gone by now.” He was still breathing heavily when he told the others to head back down to inform Lucius Jr.

Juan was trying to get Feliz to his feet. He had been out cold for nearly half an hour before any sign of consciousness returned to him. He was gagging and wheezing. The Felino that choked him was obviously out to hurt him permanently.

“I can walk,” the smaller brother said to the other. Then he noticed the two Felinos lying in a lump on the floor. “What in the world happened to them?”

“Pudding happened to them!” exclaimed the brown female proudly.

“Huh?” Feliz asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

Juan laughed and put his paw over his still-weak brother's shoulder for support. “Leez, do you remember the old blackjack maneuver we used to pull on the Umbertos back when we lived in Sullins?”

“You mean back when we were stupid kids? How could I ever forget? You were always getting us into trouble.” He was laughing. “Man, I remember when that big cat Mo from down the street kicked the stuffing out of you and tore your face up.”

Feliz continued laughing until it was clear that Juan preferred not to take this stroll down memory lane any further than he had to. His laughter ceased as he cleared his throat. “Yes well, that was was then . . .”

Juan refocused the conversation. “Well, tonight we turned the damage level up a few extra notches.” He pointed to the pillow with the rocks inside, which Pudding had used to lay out the two Felinos. “Man, you should have seen her. She was fearless.”

“I would hardly say I was fearless, Juan,” replied Pudding. “I was scared to death. But after you went down, Feliz, I just went berserk. There were two of them against Juan. I just wanted to help even the odds.”

She looked at Muse. The white cat was at last starting to calm down. Her breathing was returning to normal, and other signs of shock were dissipating. “I hope that Caterwaul got away,” she said, concerned.

The Felino who had been leading the second trio of mobsters turned back to the window and leaned out. It looked like he was about to call to one of his family members outside the windmill to tell him that Caterwaul was on the loose below. As the thug cat leaned forward a little more to try and spot one of his “fellas,” Caterwaul attacked. Propelling himself forward with all of his weight, he caught the Felino in the back with his front right shoulder, knocking him through the window.

Though he was still slightly winded, the Felino righted himself in mid-fall, twisting around to avoid the windmill panels, and hit the ground on all fours. Unfortunately for him, the window was six floors up, more than enough to injure even the most acrobatic of cats—and this big Felino was no acrobat. He managed to land on his feet, but the force with which he hit the ground undoubtedly broke at least one of his legs. He staggered forward a few steps and fell over on his side, calling out in pain.

“Man . . . that had to hurt,” said Caterwaul squeezing his eyes together and making his face really small. He suddenly realized how high up he actually was.

Turning back inside, he started moving toward the stairway leading down to the fifth level. After all, he knew the other two cats were heading downstairs to tell Lucius Jr. the bad news about Caterwaul's supposed escape. Only when he got close to the steps did Caterwaul realize only one of the two cats had followed orders. The other one was just sitting on his haunches with a dopey expression, enjoying what was left of a partially mummified mouse. The dry and cracking tail of the mouse protruded from his mouth as he stared up at Caterwaul with surprise and alarm in his eyes.

“Oops,” said Caterwaul as he jumped backward.

The Felino spit the remains of his impromptu dinner on the floor and scrambled to his feet. Like most of Lucius's soldiers, he was a large, muscular tom. He was colored with light-orange stripes. Caterwaul thought the cat looked like he might be Bugsy's stripy brother. He had that same stupid look on his face.

Since he no longer had his pack with him and was injured, Caterwaul didn't think much of his chances in a fight with this bruiser. The Felino was much bigger than Caterwaul and not hampered by a gammy leg. Caterwaul believed his best option was to run. Pivoting in an about-face, he fled back toward the window again.

“Why did it have to be so high up?” Caterwaul asked himself as he climbed up on the window ledge. One look back revealed his pursuer was closing in, so he closed his eyes and leaped out of the window and onto one of the moving wind panels. Surprisingly, he was able to get his footing quickly. The blade of the windmill had many small crevices he could sink his claws into to gain purchase.

Within seconds, he was in a good position to look back to the window. He noticed the bigger cat was already on the windowsill, hissing and ready to pounce on Caterwaul.

“Let's get out of here,” said Pudding. There was a lot of commotion, and she figured it was only a matter of time before someone discovered what she had done to the two Felino soldiers. Feliz and Juan grabbed the limp bodies of the unconscious gangsters and dragged them toward the back of the cushion room. They completely covered both cats with pillows to hide them before returning to where the females stood.

Gerhard was now conscious, but in no condition to move, much less try to make a break for it. “Leave me,” he said. “Move me back into the other corner and cover me like you did those two leg-breakers,” he said. “I'll try to stay quiet enough so that no one will notice me.”

The brothers carried Gerhard to the far corner, hiding him beneath the cushions, as he had requested. Still they were reluctant to leave their good friend unattended.

“Go on now, fellas. You got ladies need protecting,” said the injured cat. His head was all that remained uncovered. “Don't worry about me, mates. I can take care of myself. You know this. So just go on and get those females to safety.” As they started moving back to the girls, they heard him talking to himself: “Now where the blazes did I leave my hat?”

Gerhard watched as his protectors headed out. He saw Muse step fully out into the light and noticed she had pure-white fur. “Wait ‘til Caterwaul gets a load of her,” he snickered aloud to himself. Smiling and shaking his head, he continued his one-sided conversation. “Very pretty . . . But she's just a bit too skinny for me. I like ‘em with a lot more meat on their bones.” He ducked his head beneath the cushions and disappeared from sight.

“So which is the best way out?” Juan asked, turning toward Pudding. “I mean, so we can best slip away unnoticed.”

“Well, the front door is out, and the basement is sealed off. I suppose that the best route would be to see if the back door has opened up. The four cats tried to move as fast and silently as possible to where the rear exit was. They were in luck. It appeared to be clear.