Miko and the Puppy
by
M.R. Harris
PUBLISHED BY M.R. Harris at Smashwords
Copyright © 2011 by M.R. Harris
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Chapter One
Miko, a huge silver and white tabby with long silky fur, stretched in the sunlight that streamed through the bay window. Even though the warmth of the sun made Miko drowsy in a happy contented way, and even though she was fed four times a day and her litter box was cleaned twice a day and even though she spent hours lying on her human's laps and purring, she was miserable.
More than anything else, Miko wanted to spend time outdoors in her human's backyard but Matt and Jane Lark never allowed her outdoors. Each day she would look out her window at the Lark's back garden and see the green plants and brightly colored flowers and she would look at the butterflies and the bees and the diminutive sparrows and the eminently climbable oak tree that grew outside the kitchen window. Miko wanted to pad through the garden and smell the tanginess of the onions and feel the thyme brush against the fur of her tummy. She wanted to run through the freshly mown grass and feel the wind in her fur as she chased grasshoppers and butterflies.
Another reason Miko wanted to run away from home was that she didn't like her whole family. A year ago, her humans had seen fit to adopt two scrawny kittens whose only saving grace was that they weren't dogs.
Miko sighed and settled back onto her terrycloth towel and halfheartedly licked her paw as she gazed out the window and lazily tracked the progress of a bumblebee as it droned past. She was soon fast asleep.
Chapter Two
"What's she doing?" Larry asked Spark. Larry and Spark had just finished cleaning themselves and had curled up together on Matt and Jane's bed for a nice snuggle, but -- to Spark's annoyance -- Larry wanted to chat.
Spark stretched and curled into a ball, "If you're that curious, just go look."
Larry got up and nervously kneaded the bedspread and licked Spark's ear for comfort. "But she might see me look, and then she would hiss and get all upset and run away ...,"
Spark sighed. It wasn't that Larry was wrong, that's probably what Miko would do, but he was mystified why Larry cared. If Miko detested him the way she did his brother he would steer clear of her, but Larry, Spark shook his head. Larry was in love.
"Listen, Larry, the crazy one is never going to want to be your friend. She is never going to want to touches noses with you and give you a kiss."
Larry gave Spark a little nip at the base of his tail. "She is not crazy. Just because she sits in the kitchen window all day looking out at the backyard ... well, it just means that she knows what she wants. You needn't be so negative. Just because she doesn't like you ..."
Spark looked at Larry and, exasperated, sprang up from the bed, shaking his head. "Me? Doesn't like me?" Spark swatted his brother. "Wake up! You don't think I've seen you? Every morning since you were big enough to crawl you've padded up to Miko and said in that hopeful voice of yours, 'Hello Miko, how did you sleep?' and every morning she hisses at you and swats your head with one of her gigantic bear-like paws. Every morning she scares the stuffing out of you and you slink away and eat everything in sight."
Larry's nose turned bright red. "Do not!" He shouted at his brother. "You take that back!"
Spark rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dude. Have you looked in the mirror lately? Been putting on a little weight," Spark said and looked pointedly at Larry's bulging waistline.
"I'm just big boned, that's all," Larry huffed.
Spark rolled his eyes again, "Yea, and they're all in your waist."
"Well ... Well ...," Larry said, temporarily unable to think of an appropriate comeback. "Well, I'm not the one with the catnip problem. Ever since you tried that designer 'nip last year you freak out every time you get near the stuff."
Spark rolled his eyes. "Whatever dude. All cats like catnip and, besides, you're just jealous because I know how to let loose and have a good time ..."
"You get violent!" Larry yowled. "When you get within a foot of the stuff I have to run away or you'll attack me."
Spark looked uncomfortable and huffed. "Do not. You're exaggerating. Besides, you're just trying to change the subject."
Larry sighed and settled back onto the bed. "Maybe I was. Look, If I don't try and make friends with Miko ... well, then we are never going to be friends, are we? I'm not ready to give up my dream." Larry tucked his front paws into his chest. "Is that so hard to understand?"
Spark got up, stretched and settled down next to Larry. He licked Larry's ears affectionately and said, "No. No, I guess it's not," and snuggled into his brother. "More sleep, less talk," Spark said, but Larry was already snoring.
Chapter Three
Matt and Jane were sitting at the kitchen table having enjoyed fried eggs and bacon with multigrain toast slathered with lots of butter.
"Matt," Jane said, "Hilda, my friend from work, you remember my mentioning her ...?"
Matt grunted noncommittally.
Jane plunged on. "Well, Hilda's husband, Stan, ran into some money problems, something about investing high and now the market is low or ... oh I can't remember ... but they're selling their apartment!"
Matt made another grunt.
"Matt, you don't understand, they need to sell it within the next week and for half of what it's worth!"
Matt raised his head to Jane and froze in the act of raising a yolk-soaked piece of bacon to his mouth. "Half?" he asked, eyes bright.
Jane looked at her husband and smiled.
* * * *
Miko scratched her post with such vigor that part of the carpeting came away; she screamed in frustration. The Larks might be moving into an apartment; an apartment! Miko jumped up on her windowsill, stared out at the backyard, and blinked back tears. Gone, all gone. If they moved into an apartment she would never be able to frolic in the backyard that she had spent every single day of her life looking out on.
Miko sniffed and told herself to pull it together. It wasn't as though this was the first thing in her life that hadn't gone her way -- Larry and Spark being excellent examples -- she would just have to make sure her dream came true, no matter the cost. All she had to do was think and come up with a good plan.
Miko turned around three times and curled up into a ball on the windowsill. She felt the sunlight bathe her fur but she didn't fall asleep. She thought and she planned and she schemed and then, as though out of the blue, an idea came to her. A beautiful, horrible, idea. She narrowed her eyes and sighed. Like all great plans -- and she had no doubt that this was a great plan -- it called for sacrifice; or, more exactly, a sacrifice. Miko smiled, and it was a smile that would have stopped your heart. And, along the way, she thought, I just might be able to get rid of Larry.
Chapter Four
"I have a plan," Miko said to Larry and Spark. Miko had invoked article 451 of the Feline Charter and called an All Cat assembly in the living room. Their humans had just left for the day so they had the house to themselves.
Larry sat on his haunches in front of Miko, head tilted to the right, and watcher her adoringly. Spark looked at Larry and rolled his eyes but didn't needle his brother about his futile adoration of the furry one; he wouldn't embarrass him in front of her. "So ... What's up?" was all he said.
Miko was annoyed by the question and by Spark's casual manner toward her. Miko bared her teeth in what she hoped looked like a smile. "Excellent question," she said.
'She's crazy', Spark thought and sighed wearily. If only for his brother's sake, he'd listen to what Miko had to say but, unless she was proposing they raid the catnip drawer, he wasn't going to help the pompous windbag with anything.
"What do we all want?" Miko asked, but before either Spark or Larry could answer she plunged on. "I'll tell you what we want, we want freedom!"
Spark rolled his eyes and sighed. This was going to be a long speech.
"Freedom to ...,"
Spark cleared his throat and held up his paw. "Yes?" Miko said, irritated.
"Let me guess, you want to find a way to escape into the backyard before Matt and Jane move us all into an apartment and you want our help."
Miko jumped, her eyes opened wide and she caught her breath. "Well ... well ... yes, but how did you guess?"
Spark shook his head. "You lie on the kitchen windowsill everyday and stare dreamily out into the backyard, it wasn't a big leap."
Larry grinned from ear to ear. He was so excited he couldn't stand still and started turning in circles, then he sat down and licked his belly fur. Larry looked up at Miko and his eyes glistened with excitement. She was asking him for help! That's what friends did. And if he did a good job and she was pleased with him maybe, just maybe, she would give him a kiss.
Miko looked at Larry and growled, but Larry didn't care. Nothing could douse his happiness right now. With a belligerent grunt Miko recognized this and gave up trying. Instead, she outlined her plan.
"The next time Matt or Jane opens the back door, Spark, you pad over and slip a piece of cardboard between the door and the doorjamb so it can't shut properly." Miko looked at Spark and he nodded. Gritting her teeth, Miko turned to Larry. "You are to provide a distraction by pretending to fall into the sink in the cellar. While our humans are occupied with rescuing you I'll slip out the back door."
"Provided Larry does his job ...," Miko said and glared at Larry. Her stare would have turned most other animals into quivering piles of goo but Larry just lapped up the attention and gave her a dopy smile
Miko frowned at Larry then turned away and cleared her throat. "Well, as I was saying, provided Larry does his job I'll have 15 minutes or so to romp around to my heart's content and be back inside before our humans figure out I've been gone." Miko smiled at Larry and Spark condescendingly. "Questions?"
Spark had a question, but it wasn't one he would ever ask Miko. Namely, what was to stop him from going along with her plan and then locking Miko outside? On her good days she was condescending and cold but on her bad days she would yell at him and Larry, call them interlopers and, sometimes, attack them! What was to stop him from ushering Miko outside and locking the door behind her?
Larry nudged Spark, "Hey, isn't this great! Miko needs my help and if I do a good job, maybe she'll be my friend," Larry gushed. Spark looked at his brother, his poor addled brother. Larry was what was stopping him from taking this golden opportunity to get rid of the crazy one. He sighed and shook his head. The things he did for his brother.
"Okay then, the meeting is over." Miko turned to Spark, "I'll get you that bit of cardboard ...,"
Spark laughed, cutting Miko off. "I never agreed to do anything for you."
Miko looked at Spark horrified. "But you have to. I thought I made that clear. If you don't help me I may never get to go outside."
Larry glared at his brother but Spark shrugged, unconcerned. "That'd be a shame," he said to Miko. It didn't sound like Spark thought it would be a shame. Miko narrowed her eyes at him.
"I would help you but I've been running a bit low on catnip lately. If someone were to replenish my supply then I would have time to help you with your little excursion, but as it is ..." Spark said and smiled at Miko.
"That's blackmail," Miko hissed.
Spark frowned at Miko. "No. No, that really isn't. Extortion, maybe, but definitely not blackmail."
Miko hopped up and down with impatience. "Whatever! Okay, okay, if that's the only way you'll help me, I'll make sure you get your precious catnip."
"And you will give it to me before I help you," Spark said, impassively staring at Miko.
Larry gave Spark a shoulder check and glared at him but Spark took no notice.
Miko growled at Spark but quickly nodded her furry head and turned to stalk away.
"Hold on now, where are you going?" Spark called after her.
"I'm going to send a letter via cat post requesting my next two month's allotments of catnip. And, just so you know, you are going to cost me extra for rush delivery.
"Well, that's great, but what about Larry?" Spark said.
Larry looked at Spark, puzzled. "What about me?"
Spark glared at Larry. "Well, don't you want something for helping Miko?"
Larry's nose went from pink-white to full-on red. "Stop it!" he whispered to Spark.
Spark rolled his eyes at Larry and turned to Miko. "Larry wants a nose rub from you and he wants you to let him bury his head in your fur as well as touch your fluffy tail with his paw."
Larry's nose went even redder, and his ears turned pink. "Spark shut up!" Larry groaned.
Miko stalked over to Larry and stared down at him; she towered over Larry as he cowered at her paws. "He can rub my nose with his and he can bury his head in my fur for no more than five seconds but I will never ... let me repeat that, I will never ... let him put his furry pink paws on my tail. Are we perfectly clear?"
Mute, and horribly embarrassed, Larry nodded.
Miko turned and stalked off.
Chapter Five
Miko and Larry and Spark were ready to set their plan into motion when Matt and Jane arrived home from work the next day, but one look at his humans told Larry that something was wrong. Matt and Jane looked guilty. Not only that, they acted guilty. As soon as they got home they gave each of the cats treats and new toys. Miko and Spark were ecstatic and ate and played with delighted abandon but Larry stood back, fear thrilling through him like ice water. What had the humans done that they felt this guilty, he wondered.
After a few minutes of play Jane looked at Matt and Matt cleared his throat. "It really is for the best Jane. Even at half price we couldn't have afforded the apartment."
Jane nodded sadly and ran her hand over Miko's soft fur. "I know. But I won't pretend I'm not disappointed, I've always wanted an apartment in the city ..."
Matt bent toward Jane and kissed her head. "Something good has come out of this, if we didn't live in a house with a yard we could never have ...,"
"Oh!" Jane squealed, cutting Matt off. "We have to show the cats."
Matt nervously glanced at the cats, "Do you think we should wait? I'm not sure what their reaction will be."
Jane stared at Matt. "Why should we wait? Don't be silly." Jane turned toward the cats. Although she didn't believe that Miko, Larry or Spark could understand her, she liked pretending they did. "We have some happy news for all of you," she said.
"Our family ...," Matt reached out and took Jane's hand as he said this, "Our happy family is growing by one."
"Jane is pregnant!" Larry called out to the other cats, grinning. "Oh it will be fun having a baby around to protect and make laugh and ..."
"Just a minute," Jane said, smiling uneasily. "I'll introduce you to her."
Larry put his head on one side. "That was quick!" he said to Spark.
Spark frowned and looked at Larry. "What do you mean?"
"Well, It usually takes cats a full two months to have babies, I guess it's quicker for humans," Larry shrugged.
"You don't know it's a baby, you're just guessing," Spark said and turned back to his new toy, unconcerned. Matt and Jane had bought him a purple spider with bells on the ends of its six legs. An elastic band was attached to the spider's back and Jane had fastened the end to the back of a stool. Spark loved batting at the spider and making the bells jingle. Now if I only had some catnip, he thought and sighed.
When Jane came back a few minutes later she was carrying a bundle of blankets. Larry nudged Spark and nodded toward the bundle. "Told ya," he said. Spark looked surprised and stopped playing with his spider.
"I don't see a baby," Miko sniffed. "I just see a bundle of blankets."
Larry huffed and pressed his lips firmly together. For someone so beautiful, so utterly gorgeous, she certainly could be obtuse. "Well, how else would she carry a baby?"
The three cats crowded around Jane and peered at the bundle.
Then they sniffed it. When they did, Miko hissed, Spark jumped back in surprise and Larry slanted his head to the side in puzzlement. All three cats stared at each other in shock. This didn't smell like a baby, this smelt like ...
A snuffling bark sounded from within the blankets and a tiny red tongue flicked out and licked Miko on the nose. Miko let out an ear-splitting yowl and jumped so high she nearly hit the ceiling.
A puppy! Their humans had adopted a dog!
Jane looked at Matt and said, "It was wonderful that Hilda's and Stan's dog had puppies, I just wish that we could have taken her brother home as well."
Matt patted the puppy's head and said, "Dear, that would have been nice, but you know we simply can't have five animals in a space this size." Matt and Jane Lark looked at the cats.
Larry and Spark swallowed hard. Well, a puppy wasn't so bad.
Spark went over and sniffed the puppy and flopped down beside it. Larry went over and sniffed the puppy and rubbed his face against her fur. The puppy felt so soft, just how he imagined Miko's fur would feel. Larry sighed and looked at Miko.
Miko sullenly stared at the puppy. She narrowed her eyes until they were sinister slits and she stared to growl, deep, deep down in her chest.
Larry and Spark knew what that meant and got out of her way but the puppy and Matt and Jane had no idea. Miko stalked over to the puppy and swatted her on the nose. Miko's claws bit deep into the tender flesh and sliced it open. Blood was everywhere.
Chapter Six
Matt and Jane were furious with Miko and did something none of the cats ever thought they would do, not in a million years: they tossed Miko out the back door and closed it on her when she tried to run back inside.
It was dark outside and from somewhere in the blackness an owl hooted. The air was heavy and damp and there was no sun to warm her fur and no gentle breeze to play in her whiskers. Miko shivered and backed up until her behind ran into the closed door. Shivering, she padded over to the oak tree by her window, climbed it, and sat on the branch by her window so she could look inside and see what Matt, Jane, Spark, Larry and the puppy were doing. They were all curled up together on the couch watching TV. Tears welled up in her eyes and dribbled down her cheeks. All she wanted was to be on the couch with them, watching TV.
Miko screamed in frustration and raked her long sharp claws over the bark of the oak tree. This was so unfair! This couldn't be happening to her! She was, after all, the original cat, the first one. She had been there before Larry and Spark, and certainly before that puppy! She had been the one Jane had slept with at night when Matt went off on business trips. She couldn't believe they would turn on her like this!
A moment later, in the direction of the hedge, she heard dry twigs snapping, as though something, or some things, were desperately trying to squeeze through the old thinning cedar bushes that separated the Lark's backyard from their neighbor. A moment later she heard a great snap as though a large branch had been rent in two. Miko watched, bug-eyed, as shadows, silent as the grave, streamed into the Lark's backyard through the newly breached hedge.
The shadows gathered around her and swarmed around the base of the tree. Miko had no idea what they were, she only knew that something about them, about the way they moved, terrified her. Miko looked around wildly. Perhaps she would be safer if she climbed higher in the tree but that was out of the question since she was out of shape and weak and terrified of falling. She started to shake, panic turning her blood to ice.
One shadow, bigger than the rest, blacker and more menacing, broke off and moved toward her. As it did, the waning light of the moon fell on it. A black, huge, muscular dog stood before her. "Hello dearie," the dog said. "Lost, are you?" The dog looked at her and drooled, slobber dribbling from its gaping mouth. "My name is Zoroaster, what's yours? Why don't you come down from the tree so I can see you better."
The dog might have had trouble seeing Miko but Miko, being a cat, could see the dog just fine. The dog was pitch black. Miko didn't know much about dogs but she knew enough to realize she was looking at a Doberman Pinscher. Although Dobermans were very nice dogs Miko could tell that this dog wasn't at all nice, that it was a trained killer. The dog looked up at Miko and smiled, but it wasn't at all a nice smile, it was the sort of smile a dog might give to a rat she expected to be especially tasty.
"It's okay, I like it up here." Miko said. She swallowed and backed further up the branch. As she moved, the branch began to sway under her weight and, a moment later, the sound of breaking wood filled the night like a gun shot. The branch that Miko was perching on, dry and rotten, fell from the tree. Just in time, Miko jumped to another branch. She shook and her breath coming in huge gasps.
As though drawn by the sound of the breaking bough the shadows at the base of the tree stepped forward into the light of the moon. They were dogs, every one of them. Big dogs, little dogs, brown dogs, yellow dogs, skinny dogs and ... well, there were no fat dogs. They all looked hungry. Starving. Fear chilled Miko as she glanced at her amble tummy. "What do you want?" she intended to say that defiantly but it came out as a dry whisper that the breeze caught and almost carried away.
"Isn't it obvious?" the Doberman sneered. She stood up on her hind legs and eyed Miko as the cat tried desperately to inch higher into the sheltering boughs. "We want you, Dearie." The dog licked her chops. "Why don't you come down here and let us," the Doberman paused and glanced around at the dogs surrounding her as though sharing an inside joke with them, "get acquainted with you." The Doberman barked with laughter and the others joined in.
"Silence!" Zoroaster shouted after a few moments. The dog looked up at Miko. "So what will it be? Are you going to come down here or are we going to have to drag you down? It's up to you, but, take it from me, you don't want to make us angry. The dog looked at Miko and growled, spittle dripping from her jowls.
Miko was out of her mind with fear. It was perfectly clear to her that this motley gang of dogs meant to kill her and. She craned her neck to look in the window, her window, and take one last look at her family as they sat together on the couch happily watching TV. Miko swallowed and a tear broke free and ran down her fur. She didn't know which she minded more, dying or never seeing any of them again. Even Larry. She snorted and blinked her eyes.
She realized she didn't know anything anymore. Well, that wasn't true. She knew one thing: she needed a miracle or she was dead.
* * * *
That's when it happened, Miko had an idea. Just as the Doberman put her paws on the tree and stretched out to her full height and lunged at Miko, her great jaws gaping open, Miko opened her mouth and gave a bloodcurdling scream.
Now, in the history of screams, there have been some loud ones, some screams that, if heard, would cause your ears to bleed, but this scream was a hundred times louder and more frightening than any of those.
The dogs that had gathered around the tree, growling and licking their chops, all fell back, temporarily stunned. Adrenalin pumped through Miko's body as she leapt from the tree and sailed over their heads. She was heading for the soft mat in front of the backdoor and counting on it to help break her fall. Her breath got knocked out of her when she landed, but she wasn't completely winded. She was about to stretch up and rake her claws down the outside of the backdoor and scream and beg and plead to be let back in when she made a mistake. A big mistake.
She looked back at the dogs.
Clearly visible in the moonlight 20 or 30 dogs had gathered around the tree and were growling at her, their stunned expressions giving way to rage.
"Let's get 'er, boys!" the Doberman growled and, as one, the dogs charged Miko, her death reflected in their eyes.
Terrified, Miko stretched up to the back door and scratched and meowed frantically, but panic sapped her strength and stole her breath away. Matt and Jane have to hear me and let me in, they have to! she thought.
Just as the gang of dogs was closing in on her the backdoor light bulb came to life and flooded the yard with light. The dogs came to a sudden halt and, as one, growled at Miko.
The rattle of a doorknob turning filled the night. Hearing this, Zoroaster glowered at Miko, "This isn't over, don't think for a minute that this is over! My mate, Hellion, and I live next door and if we ever see you out here again we will be waiting for you."
It seemed to Miko as though the Doberman was holding it against her that she had gotten away. She stared at the dog, scared and bewildered.
Zoroaster turned, became a shadow, and melted into the darkness, her minions following her.
Jane opened the backdoor and looked around but the backyard was empty. "What's all the racket? We thought you were being killed!" Jane laughed and rolled her eyes. "You big drama queen! Come on, come inside."
Miko had never been so happy in her entire life. She ran into the kitchen and purred so loud even Matt, who was sitting on the couch all the way across the room, heard her. After Jane shut the door Miko rubbed up against Jane's legs and stretched up asking to be held.
Jane laughed and scooped Miko up into her arms and held her. Miko rubbed her face against Jane's cheeks. "Oh Jane," Miko said. "I know you can't understand me, but I love you, I do, and I love living here and I love Spark and ..., well, I love living here, and I never, ever, want to go outside ever again."
Jane smiled indulgently at Miko. "Okay, okay, I get it, you're happy to be back inside."
"You're right," Jane said to Matt. "It's not fair to just turn her out, she has never had to fend for herself, she'd just die."
Matt nodded. "Yes, the cat shelter on 5th is no-kill, they'll keep her until a suitable family can be found, one without any other pets." He turned to the puppy that was sprawled on his lap, softly snoring, and looked at her nose to see if it had stopped bleeding. "It's a shame, if only Miko had been able to accept the puppy, but as it is ...," Matt broke off and shook his head.
Jane sighed. "I know. I'll miss her, but keeping Miko wouldn't be fair to either her or the puppy. We would have to lock Miko up whenever we weren't around and she would hate that, she couldn't stand not being able to sit in her window and peer out." Jane rubbed Miko's head and blinked tears out of her eyes.
Miko, able to understand everything that had been said, had gone very still. Jane, not noticing any change in her, scratched Miko behind the ears, "Yes, in the long run, she would be much happier on her own, even if she has to stay in one of those small cages for a few weeks or months."
Miko thought her heart stopped. They were going to leave her in a cage for months? Hours ago not being able to run in the backyard and climb the oak tree had seemed too horrible to consider and now, more than anything, she just wanted to be able to sit in her window and look out at the backyard.
"Oh dear, I think Miko has something in her eye," Jane said, noticing Miko's tears.
"Don't worry pet," Matt said. "She has pretty markings, and she's long-haired. Those are the kind of cats people look for so someone is sure to want her. Eventually."
Eventually. Miko swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut as a part of her soul died.
Chapter Seven
The next day Miko called another meeting and Spark and Larry, both somber after the previous nights events, joined her in the living room.
Miko stood up, cleared her throat, and said, "Yesterday I told you both what happened to me last night." Her expression grave, she studied the other cats for a long moment. "The puppy has to go," she said.
Larry whined. "Really? But the puppy is so soft, and it has a cool baby smell ..."
Spark looked at Larry. "I like the puppy too, but what if I get into the catnip and accidentally scratch her nose?"
Larry looked at Spark, horrified. "But ... they would never send you away! I wouldn't let them!"
Spark smiled at his brother, leaned into him, and licked his ear. "I don't think you'd have much say in the matter."
"Or even you, Larry," Miko said, her voice uncustomarily soft. "What if you accidentally scratched the puppy? If they would send me away, they would send you away."
Larry opened his mouth to object but what Miko said made sense. It was horrible, but it made sense. He looked at his brother who nodded his agreement with Miko.
"We may not like it," Spark said, but the puppy is a danger to all of us." He looked at Miko and nodded. "The puppy has to go."
"Good, glad you're both on board," Miko said. "I am ...," Miko paused and her nose turned vividly pink. "I haven't been as nice to you both as I could have been, I want you to know I'm sorry and I'll try and do better."
"Oh, it's okay, we understand," Larry gushed before Spark could stop him.
"Let's just deal with the matter before us," Spark said tersely.
Miko cleared her throat. "Right. Down to business. I have a plan and it's easy. Remember our plan to get me outside?" Miko shuttered at the very thought of being outside. She was definitely an indoor cat from here on out.
Spark and Larry nodded.
"This plan is like that, only easier. What we need to do is lure the puppy outside and then shut the door behind her so she can't get back in."
Spark and Larry looked at Miko, shocked that after her ordeal of the previous night she would suggest such a thing. They had thought she meant finding the puppy someplace else to live, not shoving her outdoors and leaving her to fend for herself.
Miko set her jaw. "Look, I know what it's like outside, but what choice do we have? She nervously licked herself a few times. "Besides, the puppy is a dog. The dogs won't harm her."
"But I like the puppy," Larry whined. "Isn't there another way? Any other way? We don't want the puppy hurt."
"That's right," Spark nodded. "The puppy has never done anything to us. Finding it a new home is one thing, even dropping it off at the cat shelter, but to just leave it outside to fend for itself ... that's, well, the puppy wouldn't have a chance."
"Yes," Larry said, nodding. "Puppies need people to take care of them, they need someone to feed them and to brush them, and someone to sleep with, or else they grow cold and lonely and sad and ... and ... well, that's not good for them," Larry finished, his nose pink, and looked down at his toes.
Miko looked at Larry and sighed. "I know you like the puppy," she said, "but I don't see what other choice we have. We can't drive it to a cat shelter or put in an advertisement in a human paper for someone to come and pick her up."
"And may I remind you," Miko said, her frosty manner back, "that I'm not the one who is forcing this choice, it is the humans." She spit the word out as though it were poisonous. "If the puppy is still here when the humans come home tonight, they are going to take me away and put me in a small cage with just enough food and water to live on, and with no window to look out of. I won't even be able to run around, the cage will be too small, the only thing I will be able to do will be to pace, and pace, and pace, until maybe one day someone will come and want me and take me home and love me."
Miko looked at Spark and Larry with fear in her eyes. "But maybe that day will never come and I'll be a prisoner in that small cage until someone decides that I am old and infirm and no longer deserve even the small amount of food and water and space that I have and I will be led into a small room that smells of fear and desperation and be killed."
Tears glistened in Miko's eyes and she hastily wiped them away with her paw and cleared her throat.
Larry and Spark looked at Miko with a sense of compassion they hadn't had for her before. They couldn't let such a fate befall her. She was family, after all.
* * * *
To hear Miko tell it, her plan was simplicity itself. "All we have to do is wait for Jane to open the back door. Spark, you distract Jane, and make sure the backdoor doesn't close. Spark will give a shout at that point and, Larry, that will be your cue to provide the distraction. You'll jump in the big washing sink in the cellar and pretend to be drowning."
"Which," Larry whispered to Spark, fear thick in his voice, "I just might be."
Spark rolled his eyes at his brother and told him to be quiet.
Miko glared at them both and then continued. "With Jane and Matt in the cellar tending to a wet and shaken Larry, I will have time to herd the puppy out the back door and close it behind her."
"Any questions?" Miko asked.
There weren't.
Chapter Eight
All the next day Miko waited in the kitchen and watched the back door, ready to give Spark and Larry the signal to put her plan into motion the next time Jane opened the door to the backyard, but she never did. In order for her plan to succeed Miko couldn't be locked up in the laundry room for bad behavior so she was extra nice to the puppy, even when no one was looking.
Matt and Jane had been planning on sending Miko to the cat shelter that day when they got home from work but when they saw Miko getting along with the puppy they thought they would wait another day. And then when, the next day, Miko was still getting along with the puppy they decided to keep Miko after all. The truth was, they were feeling guilty about their plan to drop Miko off at the cat shelter because they knew that even though Miko wouldn't be killed she might have to live out the rest of her life in a 1.5 by 2 foot cage.
Miko, though, didn't realize any of this.
Later that same day, after the dinner dishes had been cleared away, Jane did what Miko had been waiting for: she opened the backdoor. Jane had no idea why Miko, at that moment, got excited. Jane just shrugged and smiled indulgently at the crazy cat and stuck her head out the door to see what the weather was like. That was when she saw what had been done to the backyard.
"Matt!" she cried.
Matt was sitting on the sofa reading the day's paper. "Ummhmm," Matt said and turned the page.
"The backyard! It's ruined."
"Ummm?" Matt said and then added, as though not sure his response had been sufficient, "Yes dear?"
The backyard was much changed from when Jane had last seen it. Her thyme and oregano bushes had been chewed and battered almost beyond recognition. Her brightly colored flowers had been snapped off near the root and trodden under. The garden was ruined. But that wasn't all. The lawn had gaping holes in it, like wounds, where dogs had dug into it.
"Matt ...," Jane said, her voice soft and horrified.
"Jane what's wrong?" Matt asked, concerned by something in his wife's voice. He put his paper down and came to stand by her and put his arm protectively around her waist. Then he looked outside.
As Matt surveyed the damage he clenched his jaw. "It's those damn dogs from next door. Look," he nodded toward the hole in the hedge Zoroaster had made, "that's how they've been getting in. I should go next door and give the neighbors a piece of my mind. Look at this mess!"
But Matt stayed right where he was. The neighbors scared him, although he would rather die a thousand deaths -- or at least one or two -- than admit that to Jane.
"Let's calm down first," Jane said. The neighbors scared her too, but she didn't want to let on to Matt. "We should take the puppy for a walk."
With one last look at the devastation in the backyard Matt nodded. "Yes, let's do that," he said and kissed the top of his wife's head. As Matt and Jane turned toward the couch Jane released the door and let it begin to swing closed behind her.
At that moment Spark dashed in front of Matt and Jane and yowled.
"What on earth ...," Jane said, shocked, and began to walk toward Spark to see if he was hurt.
Larry, hearing his cue, jumped into the sink in the cellar. A loud splash followed and, simultaneously, an ear-splitting cry for help.
"Larry!" Jane cried, turned, and ran down the cellar stairs, followed closely by Matt.
As Matt and Jane made for the cellar stairs, Spark sprang to the back door in time to prevent it from closing and Miko herded the puppy toward the backdoor.
Miko hissed and growled at the puppy, herding her like a sheepdog might, and got her out the back door and onto the lawn. As the puppy ran from Miko it tripped on its paws and tumbled onto the grass.
Miko smiled to herself. The plan had worked brilliantly. Just before she turned to go back inside and shut the door behind her the puppy picked itself up off the grass and, her large liquid brown eyes wide and terrified, looked at Miko.
Miko froze.
Chapter Nine
Dusk was settling over the garden and the shadows had grown longer and more substantial. The puppy was shaking, clearly terrified. Miko remembered how she had felt, alone in the dark, with the dogs hemming her in. She swallowed and something unusual happened -- unusual for Miko at least -- she felt ashamed. She didn't want to be hauled off to the cat shelter but leaving the puppy out in the backyard to fend for herself wasn't right.
Miko sighed and resigned herself to her fate; if Matt and Jane sent her off to the cat shelter then that's what would happen. It wasn't as though it was all her human's fault, she should have been nicer to the puppy. Anyway, living in a cage at the cat shelter would be a better future than the puppy was likely to have locked out here, left to the non-existent mercies of the dogs.
"What's taking so long?" Spark called out. "Matt and Jane are going to come up the stairs any second!"
Miko looked toward the backdoor that Spark was holding open. "Okay, be right there." Turning back to the puppy she said, "You there! Puppy!" The puppy looked at her, miserable and shaking. Miko felt awkward and cleared her throat. This was the first time she had spoken directly to the puppy. "Come back inside. I'm ... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have chased you out onto the lawn. I won't do it again, I promise."
The puppy didn't say anything, she just cowered a few feet away on the lawn and shook with fright so much her teeth chattered.
Miko huffed in frustration and growled. Hearing this the puppy's eyes opened wider and she scrambled backwards. "Don't do that!" Miko yelled. "Just hold still. Can't you tell? I've changed my mind about leaving you out here all alone. If you know what's best for you, you will get back inside and quickly!"
Of course Miko didn't mean what she said as a threat, she was thinking of Zoroaster and Helion. If they saw the puppy ... well, Miko could only imagine what they might do. Miko glared at the puppy, "Get inside!" she hissed, but the puppy shrank back, frightened of her.
"Just hold still!" Miko said and lunged at the puppy. Her cat-reflexes were much faster than those of the puppy and so she easily gained purchase on the flap of skin behind the puppy's neck that mother dogs use to cart their offspring from one place to another. The only trouble was that the puppy weighed considerably more than Miko. Miko braced herself and pulled for all she was worth but she couldn't budge the puppy.
Spark, who was still holding the door open, whispered, "They're coming!" At just that moment Jane and Matt started climbing the stairs from the cellar. Jane had a very wet Larry cradled in her arms and wrapped in a huge soft towel.
"I can't be seen holding this door open!" Spark called, sotto voice, to Miko. "If Matt and Jane see me keeping the door from closing, and then find the puppy missing, they'll blame me!"
Miko glared at the puppy. "Look, I'm sorry about before, but it's not safe out here. Believe me, I know! Please, just come in with me." But it was no use, the puppy shrank back still farther. "Fine," Miko said. "Just hide somewhere, okay? Don't let anyone, or anything, know that you're out here. Please."
Matt and Jane were almost at the top of the stairs, in another moment they would notice Spark holding the door open.
"Miko!" Spark hissed.
With a final, pleading, glance back at the puppy Miko ran for the safety of the house. "I'll come back for you!" she promised.
Just as Miko ran inside Matt and Jane reached the top of the stairs.
"Oh look, Larry, here's Miko," she cooed. "She was concerned about you and came to give you licks." Jane bent down and peeled back the towel so that Miko could see Larry. He was utterly miserable. He was soaked and shook from head to tail.
"It's okay," Larry said through chattering teeth, "You don't have to."
Miko swallowed and strode forward and, before she could think too much about what she was going to do, she licked the side of Larry's face.
Larry stared at her wide-eyed as though he couldn't quite believe that had just happened.
"Oh, who's the nice girl, huh? Who's the nice girl?" Jane said to Miko, devolving into baby-talk.
Miko looked at Larry, "Look, I was wrong about the puppy and you were right. I'm sorry. The puppy is hiding in the backyard and we need to get her inside." Miko swallowed and looked down at the floor for a couple of seconds and then looked back up. "I need your help to do that. Can I count on you?"
In answer Larry struggled free of Jane's arms and walked over to Miko. "Of course you can. Just tell me what to do."
Miko smiled at Larry and Spark. "Quick, you and Spark open the dog door Matt installed yesterday."
Larry stared at Miko. "But ... we can't open doors."
Miko stamped with impatience. "Yes, yes, I know, not normal doors, but this one has a thin piece of wood keeping it closed. If you push on the door really hard the wood will break and you'll be able to open the dog door. When the humans see that the dog door is open they will think the puppy escaped that way. Can I count on you?"
Larry nodded. "Of course," he said and, signaling Spark to follow him, ran off toward the living room.
* * * *
When, about ten minutes later, Matt and Jane couldn't find the puppy they looked all over the house and discovered the dog door was open. Jane accused Matt of not installing the door property, a charge that Matt roundly denied, and then she began to cry. "The puppy is outside all alone and it's almost nighttime!" she said.
Matt hugged Jane, "Don't worry love, we'll find her. She can't have gone far."
As Jane stood behind Matt, giving her husband what she felt were helpful suggestions, Matt typed out and printed "Puppy Lost" fliers that prominently displayed a picture of the puppy. They left the house with a stack of about fifty. "It never hurts to be prepared," Matt said.
After Matt and Jane had gone, Miko carefully removed the piece of cardboard Spark had used to keep the backdoor from closing completely and jammed it open. If the dogs caught them outside she knew they'd never make it back to the house but it didn't hurt to be prepared, just in case.
Chapter Ten
As one, the cats stepped outside. It was full night and the only illumination was the moon. The three cats looked at each other and swallowed. "Let's do this," Miko whispered and the three cats crept further into the backyard.
"Puppy, ..." Miko called out, but Spark shushed her.
"You're the reason we're in this mess," Spark said, uncharitably. "If you hadn't been so mean to the puppy she wouldn't have run away from you and we wouldn't be out here at night trying to coax her back inside."
"Fine!" Miko said, icily. "You try calling the puppy then, let's see if you have better luck."
For the next few minutes the three cats searched for the puppy but with no success.
* * * *
A low growl pierced the night. The three cats froze. The sound had come from the neighbor's yard. As one they crouched down so their tummy fur was brushing the tips of the grass and stared at the neighbor's yard, where the sound had come from.
"That was Zoroaster," Miko said, her voice shaky.
Miko slunk toward the hole in the hedge and peered through to the other side. It was dark but, being a cat, she didn't have any trouble seeing the puppy huddled on the lawn in front of two enormous dogs, both Doberman. The smaller one was Zoroaster, the dog who had tried to kill her the other night, but she didn't recognize the hulking Doberman beside her. That most likely was Hellion, her mate.
Miko looked at the puppy. "Please, please, be okay," Miko breathed. Although the puppy was scared it seemed untouched. Miko let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and carefully made her way back to where Larry and Spark waited for her on their human's side of the hedge.
Miko told Larry and Spark what she had seen. "This is all my fault," she said. "What we need to do now, what I need to do, is rescue the puppy but I have no idea how to do that. Can you help me?" Miko looked at Spark and then at Larry.
Larry gazed adoringly at Miko. "You're asking me for help?" he asked, grinning.
"This doesn't mean that you're friends, Larry," Spark said, looking at Miko skeptically. "The furry one is just using you to get what she wants. If she didn't need your help, do you think she would be nice to you?"
Larry gazed at Spark and then at Miko. He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know."
Miko's shoulders slumped. She had no right to ask for Larry's help, not after the way she had treated him. This was no more than what she deserved.
"I don't know," Larry said, "but it doesn't matter. I'm Miko's friend and I've got a plan." He smiled.
* * * *
"I don't like this plan," Spark said to Larry as Larry and Miko carefully, working together, tied a pouch around the top of Spark's front leg.
Larry frowned at Spark. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. Just ... just don't think about it too much."
Spark snorted derisively to show what he thought of that reasoning.
"There's no more time!" Miko snapped. "I don't know how long the dogs are going to play with the puppy. As soon as they get tired of terrifying the poor thing they'll close in for the kill, or if the puppy tries to run ..."
"Okay, okay," Spark said, "Let's get this over with before I change my mind."
Larry put his paw on his brother's shoulders, "You'll do fine. I would never have asked you to do this if I wasn't sure you could pull it off."
Spark nuzzled his brother's neck for a moment and then, turning away, said, "You'd better be right because, even if you and the furry one do become friends, I don't see her volunteering to lick your ears clean any time soon, and you have that problem with ear wax buildup ...,"
"I'm right here!" Miko snapped. "Don't talk about me like I can't hear you."
Spark stared at Miko and said, unconvincingly, "Oops, did I say that out loud?"
Miko rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We need to move out, now!"
* * * *
Miko, Spark and Larry padded across the lawn toward the hole in the hedge and the huge dogs. They stood by the hole and peered into the next-door neighbor's yard. They could hear the Doberman growing and the whimpering of the puppy. The sounds the puppy was making were growing fainter as it grew weaker. Soon the Doberman were going to tire of their sport and move in for the kill.
Miko turned and looked first at Spark then at Larry. "Whatever happens, thank you," she said and held her paw out in front of her. "You are my family," she said soberly.
Larry put his paw on top of Miko's and looked at her. "For family," he said. Miko blushed a little and then turned to Spark.
Spark rolled his eyes but put his black paw on top of Miko's and Larry's. "For family," he mumbled. Geeks, Spark said under his breath.
They broke the huddle and Miko nodded to Spark. "You're on."
"Be careful," Larry whispered to Spark, his nose pale with worry.
Spark grinned at Larry. "This? Pah. Piece of cake." Spark bent down and, with his teeth, ripped open the pouch of catnip on his leg and took a deep breath. Immediately Spark's eyes dilated and, as his fur stood on end, he seemed to grow bigger. His tail became like a huge bristle brush and his eyes dilated in a killing frenzy. Spark screamed out a battle cry and the two Doberman turned away from the puppy and, as one, glared at Spark. Spark didn't hesitate, he didn't wait for the dogs to make the first move, he ran, lunged at Zoroaster and, extending his claws to their fullest, raked them across the dog's nose, drawing blood. The Doberman whimpered and fell back. Spark allowed himself a smile of victory.
And so it was that Spark noticed, too late, that Zoroaster's mate had silently sprung at him, mouth open, heading straight for Spark.
Chapter Eleven
Hellion 's jaws and were about to close over Spark's neck. Spark only had time for one last look over his shoulder. He wanted to see his brother one last time but Larry wasn't waiting by the hedge.
Like a white overweight comet Larry launched himself at Helicon's back and dug his claws in deep while screaming incoherently. The Doberman roared more in surprise than in pain and, Spark forgotten, tried to fling the crazy cat from his back but Larry hung on like a rodeo rider. "I'm okay, get the puppy!" Larry called to Spark.
Spark turned to Zoroaster. Blood dripped from the dogs nose. Spark took a menacing step forward and hissed. To his surprise the dog moved backward, ears plastered against her skull, and whimpered.
Miko was watching all this from near the hole in the hedge. She regretted how she had treated the puppy and wished she could have atoned for her mistake by putting herself in danger and herding the puppy to safety, but she knew the puppy would run from her. All she could do was hold her breath and watch as Spark quickly herded the puppy toward the hole in the hedge. Miko cringed as the puppy shied away from her as she passed into the safety of her humans' backyard.
"Larry, time to go," Miko called, and tried to keep the worry out of her voice. She knew that if Larry jumped off the creature's back the dog would probably grab him up in his powerful jaws and crush Larry's bones to a bloody pulp. The key was that, to escape, Larry had to be quick; unfortunately Larry's ample tummy would make that difficult. Realistically, though, even if Larry was quick enough to jump down off Hellion 's back without getting bit in half he would still have Zoroaster to deal with. She was scared of Spark, not Larry. Larry, she would gladly crush between her jaws..
Spark materialized beside Miko and Miko looked at him. "The puppy?"
"Safe," Spark said, curtly. He glared at Miko. "Larry's dead, you realize that, don't you? He jumped in the sink for you and nearly drowned and now he threw himself at an angry attack dog to save my life, but it was all because you couldn't find it in your heart to love and accept a puppy." Spark spit the word out at Miko.
Miko looked down at the ground and blinked tears from her eyes. "You're right," she said. When she looked back at Spark her eyes were clear and dry and there was a new sense of determination, a new set to her jaw. She even held herself differently. "I messed up. It's up to me to set this right. I'll distract Zoroaster, you try and get Larry."
Miko looked up at Zoroaster and said, without looking at Spark, "Tell Larry I'm sorry I never had the chance to get to know him better."
No sooner had the last syllable left her mouth than Miko was flying over the ground heading for Zoroaster. Spark had never seen anything run that fast before, it was like she was flying. As her gait ate up the yards between her and the dog the wind made rippling waves in her fur. She was beautiful and determined, her jaw set, her eyes calm and deadly.
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