The Adventures of Caterwaul the Cat (15 page)

The momma starling wheeled about for another pass. Shrieking all the way she plunged, talons bared. This time she struck the white cat squarely between the shoulders. The cat squealed and took off running with the angry bird pursuing until it was safely out of sight. She then returned to guarding her nest.

Steering clear of the angry mother, Caterwaul followed the fleeing cat. This was the first all-white one that he had seen since leaving the castle. It had to be a female. It just had to. He was afraid, though, that it had gotten away from him. What horrible luck.

Then in the distance, he spotted it. It sure looked as if it was pure white. It was a fast animal. He had to run what he imagined was the length of three village streets to catch up. Not wanting to be seen just yet, he watched the cat slip silently into a barn.

Tiptoeing carefully up to the barn door so as to not make any noise, Caterwaul peered around the corner. Right in front of him, not five yards away, was the all-white cat. It looked like it was stalking something. He pulled his head back because he didn't want to reveal himself, at least not just yet. “There must be another way in,” he thought aloud.

Looking around on the side of the barn, he saw a window. It was high up on the south wall, but it was open. He praised his good luck. Fortunately for him, there was also a fairly tall oak near the barn with a number of branches extending in the direction of the opening.

Climbing quickly up the tree, Caterwaul bounced along its branches until he was within jumping distance of the window. It was still a stretch, but he thought he could make it. He hopped up and down on the branch to get it swaying. Then he launched himself at the open portal, hoping that the upward movement of the tree limb might add some extra distance to his leap. Landing awkwardly in a pile of straw, he prayed he hadn't given himself away.

He hadn't. He was far enough above the ground, and the white cat was too involved in its own affair to notice his less-than-smooth landing.
Excessive high living
, he thought. His time at the castle had done nothing for his stealthiness. He decided to hang back awhile and observe.

It was obvious the white cat was after something. But what was it? Caterwaul couldn't tell. Whatever it was, it was located on the ground under the storage platform where he was hiding. He searched about the platform for a knothole. He was lucky. There were several. He moved to the closest one and put his eye next to it. Then he saw what it was that so interested the cat. On the ground, directly beneath him, was a wounded mouse, thrashing about in the hay.

The hungry white cat was focused on what appeared to be an easy meal. Because of this, it did not see what Caterwaul could from his elevated position. The mouse was bait in a trap. Just an inch in front of the rodent, partially covered in hay, was a piece of dull metal, which had been rigged to trigger a containment device of some type. Before Caterwaul could shout a warning, the trap sprung. The snare was a primitive one, made of a few springs, some wood and hemp cloth, but it was effective. It caught the white cat completely by surprise.

The cat was howling wildly. “Got us another one boy,” said an excited voice. Caterwaul shifted position in order to determine the source. It was the hunter and his dog, but this time, he had not been content just to chase the cats away. Emerging from the darkness, the hunter picked up his trap and headed toward the barn door. The captive feline continued to shriek.

Caterwaul remained motionless until the man and his canine companion were gone. “Now what am I going to do?” he asked himself. He ran back to the open window to see which way the two were heading. He had to follow them. This was the only white cat he had seen since leaving Druciah's castle. He wasn't going to mess this up. He needed to find where the man was taking it.

Leaping onto some bales of hay below, Caterwaul hit the ground running. He tore out of the barn after the hunter. Following the man was not going to be easy. He had to make sure he remained far enough behind to avoid being detected by the hound. Fortunately there were now so many felines in Harsizzle that the huge number of overlapping scents had the poor dog befuddled.

He remained at a safe distance, watching. Soon the man and his beast came to a large house. Behind the house was a utility building, like a woodshed only larger and built more sturdily. The approach to the house was bare and rocky and dotted with large muddy areas that had yet to dry from the previous day. Caterwaul no longer had the advantage of the tall grass, so he remained hidden.

The hunter set the trap down at the bottom of a small set of stairs and walked up into the house. He emerged a minute later without his bow and quiver. He walked toward a chain, which was wrapped around a tree and hooked it to the dog's collar.

Caterwaul eased closer to the building. It was now dark outside so his courage was up, despite the presence of the hound. He was sure he could hear the sound of cats, many cats, coming from the outbuilding.

The man picked the trap up again and started toward the sounds. When he got up to the door, he set the trap down again and lit a torch. He unlocked the door and opened it. As it swung open Caterwaul saw what looked like dozens of similar traps stacked one on top of the other. Each one of them contained a trapped cat.

“Pssst . . . What the heck are you doing?” a voice called to him. It was Coy, the kitten he had saved from Lucius Jr. Again he had slipped right on up to Caterwaul without him noticing.

“That hunter has cats in there,” answered Caterwaul. “From what I could see when he opened the door, it looks like he's holding a lot of us in there.”

“No kidding,” said Coy. “He's been out rounding up cats all over town. Most of us know to stay out of his way. He hates cats. He usually just sends his dog Huxley to chase after us. But something different is going on here.” Coy motioned for Caterwaul to follow him.

“Word on the streets is someone made a deal with him to round us all up and get rid of us.”

“Who do you think . . . the Felinos?” Caterwaul asked.

“Not their style.” They stopped and crouched down behind a large stone. “Besides, the Felinos like having all these cats around. It makes their job easier. They can pretty much make a cat do whatever they want now. They control the fish stocks. It's a supply-and-demand thing. If the cats go bye-bye, so does their influence. Nah . . . It's definitely not the Felinos. I'm thinking it's gotta be a human.”

Before Caterwaul could ask who, the door to the building opened again and the hunter came out. Coy put his claw to his lips, motioning for silence. Caterwaul pressed his body close to the ground. They waited for the man to go back into the house before daring to move an inch.

“Okay, let's go,” said Coy.

“Go where? What's the plan?”

“You and me are gonna take us a closer look at that building,” the kitten answered.

If there was one skill the little cat had mastered, it was how to move about silently. Not a single leaf rustled or twig snapped as he moved toward the outbuilding. Caterwaul was jealous. He had always considered himself pretty sneaky, but compared to Coy, he was a rank amateur. He tried to do what the little cat did, but he did not even begin to come close.

Still they made it to the building without attracting the attention of Huxley the hound. The big lug's attention was thoroughly drawn away by a rather large bone. Caterwaul suspected it was a part of a deer leg. The hound smiled and slobbered as he gnawed away, oblivious to their presence.

“Help me,” said Coy straining, “I want to try to dig away at the dirt under the back wall. My paws are too small to do it on my own.”

Caterwaul got down in the dirt and proceeded to help him dig. Soon they had removed enough dirt to make a hole large enough for Coy to squirm through. A few moments later, the smaller cat emerged.

“I counted twenty-eight cats and two more empty cages,” said Coy. “So it looks like the inn is pretty much booked. Whoever is behind this is probably going to come by in the next few days to pick them all up.

“That means if we are going to do anything to free these cats, we have to do it now.”

Caterwaul nodded in agreement. “So what do we do?”

“I have an idea,” said Coy, “but it's pretty dangerous. Come here.” Coy moved close and whispered something in his ear. Caterwaul removed his pack and took something from it.

A few minutes later, he was moving toward where the dog lay chewing on his bone. Caterwaul quietly estimated the length of the chain. This was going to be tricky. He wasn't sure if he was quick enough to pull it off.

He shimmied up behind the clueless hound. The noises coming from the dog's chewing were more than enough to cover any he would make. He hoped that the aroma of the venison marrow would similarly mask his scent.

Placing his left forelimb on a short stump, Caterwaul raised his front end up and hurled something at the hound. It was an acorn, but unlike most acorns, this one was full of a powder designed to explode on impact. The seed hit Huxley square in the butt and flashed.

Boom! The drooling hound shot to attention, howling in pain. He whirled about to see what had caused his discomfort. There, leaning against the stump, he spotted Caterwaul, who waved at him. “Hi there,” the cat said.

Huxley snarled and grinned. He was pretty fast. Caterwaul was surprised to find out just how fast the dog was. He snapped his frothy jaws, barely missing the fleeing feline. The dog was also huge. Caterwaul thought:
He must weigh eighty pounds or more
. Also he noted that a good percentage of the dog's total body weight was his head, which despite its jowliness and generally amicable appearance, was full of sharp and scary teeth.

Caterwaul knew his only real advantage here was his agility. Roused as he was to anger, the dog would likely be off-balance. Caterwaul did a quick stutter-step, stopped, and dodged left abruptly, causing the hound to hurtle past him. He then jetted around the side of the building with the dog close on his heels. He could feel the dog's hot breath on his tail. Summoning the last of his strength, he shot forward. He imagined he was a cheetah or one of the other giant cats he had heard about. He propelled himself through the air, extending his body like an athlete in competition. When his paws touched down, he prayed he'd reached a place safely out of Huxley's reach.

The chain on the dog went taut. He had guessed right. Huxley's head snapped back and he fell over, yelping as he reached the end of the chain's length. Taking no chances, Caterwaul took off. He did not stop until he was out of the dog's sight. The next part was all on Coy.

As the hound regained his footing, Coy shot from behind his rock and made straight for the hole, which he and Caterwaul had been digging under the wall. He made sure this time to make as much commotion as he could so the dog would follow. He squeezed through the gap seconds before Huxley arrived at the spot.

Not to be out maneuvered again, the dog started digging furiously at the hole. He was barking very loudly and howling as the dirt flew into the air behind him. He made so much noise that the hunter came running out of the house.

“What in the world is going on out here?” he shouted at the beast. But Huxley was oblivious to his master's presence. He continued digging wildly. The hole was now almost big enough for the hound to get through. He was going to get that cat. It was the only thing on his mind. The hunter was shouting at him, but he couldn't hear. The imprisoned cats wailed frantically in their cages at the commotion outside.

“Durn it, Huxley, I said stop it.” The hunter grabbed the chain and yanked the dog away from the hole. Huxley yelped as the collar he was wearing pulled tightly against his windpipe. He was choking. “Now look what you've done. I'm going to have to come out here tomorrow and fill that blasted ditch back in.”

He smacked the dog repeatedly across his rump. He did this with an open hand, but it was very hard. Huxley yelped, whimpered, and slunk away, shaking. “What in blazes is wrong with you?” Unhooking him from the chain, he grabbed the animal by the collar and dragged him inside the house.

Once things had quieted down, Caterwaul came slinking back. Coy's plan had worked perfectly. The dog's frantic digging increased the size of the opening tenfold. The gap under the wall was now enormous. There was easily more than enough room for two or three cats to get through at the same time.

Caterwaul stuck his head through the gap and looked around, but he saw no sign of Coy. He was about to call the little cat's name when Coy tapped him on his shoulder.

“Come on. Let's get outta here for a while. We'll come back in an hour or so, when things have had a chance to calm down.” Coy looked at Caterwaul and started to laugh. “Man,” he said chuckling, “That was way too close for comfort. If that hunter hadn't come out when he did, I might be a chew toy right now.” As they left the yard, they did not notice that Huxley was watching them from a window in the house.

About ninety minutes later, they returned. Coy felt that enough time had passed. They scoured the yard for signs of Huxley, but there were none. The angry hunter had the hound locked up safely inside the house.

Coy scurried through the hole, and Caterwaul followed. Sure enough the inside of the building was filled with cages containing some very frightened cats. The cats started meowing when they saw the newcomers.

“Shhhhh,” said Caterwaul, urging them to silence. “We've come to get you all out of here, but you have to be quiet. We don't want to attract attention.”

A hush came over the animals, and the room was still. Coy started climbing up to the top row of cages. “Now, as we get you out, we need you to try to remain as quiet as possible and help us to free the others,” the smaller cat instructed them.

They'd only had enough time to get four of the traps open when they heard the sound of horses coming from outside.