Chapter 1

“Cat loose.”

“Loose Cat. Shut the doors. We have a cat loose.”

Bam. Bam.

Echoes bounced off the walls and high ceiling. A whoosh of air rustled the papers in Paxine’s hand. People brushed against her and she found herself surrounded by people. Everyone was reaching for…

“Tache,” Paxine said, scooping him up.

“Cat caught. Open doors.”

“Who’s cat?”

“He’s mine. Sorry, he’s used to following me,” Paxine said to the people around her. She felt ten feet tall and that everyone stared at her. This was her first cat show, and she’d forgotten that Tache couldn’t just follow her about as usual.

For her twelfth birthday, she received Tache, a spotted exotic cat from her grandma. He was, as her grandma put it, her Tail Guard or simply, her Tail. His job was to protect her, and he had proven that he was an extraordinary Tail in that he protected not just her, but anyone around her.

Paxine shifted Tache in her arms to check the packet of papers she received when she checked into the show. Written on the packet was her table and row number. The center of the room contained row after row of tables. Along the edges of the room, vendor tables sat full of cat toys, cat trees, cat food, and every other cat item she could ever imagine. She hoped she’d have time to take a look.

“Tache, I can’t see through you,” she said, unable to shift the paperwork so she could see. She resigned herself to walking about, looking for her table, since she couldn’t put him down.

The tablecloths were cheap thin plastic with names scribbled in black marker to indicate the occupant of the reserved spaces. She didn’t see her name until the fifth row. The name “Cushing” was written on the middle table. She set Tache down on a chair, letting her backpack slide to the ground.

“That’s heavy. You’d think I was still carrying you around,” she said.

Tache ignored her, staring at the table next to them. JayLee’s name was scribbled across the table. JayLee was Paxine’s second cousin but acted as her bodyguard. Her grandma called her Paxine’s nanny. JayLee was showing her Tail, EJ, but really, she was here to provide added protection. JayLee was strolling around the room as if she too were looking

for her table. EJ was perched on her shoulder like a lookout.

“Cat loose.”

“Close doors.”

Bam.

Paxine reached for Tache, but no one was paying him any attention. Two rows over, a man and a woman scrambled around a table. The man stood up with a cat in his arms.

“Cat caught.”

“No, cat loose. Over there.”

“Another?”

Paxine kept close to Tache as people scrambled around a table, but they came up empty handed. More people walked over, checking under tables.

How was she going to get her table setup if she had to watch Tache the whole time to make sure no one thought he was loose? Maybe grandma was wrong about not needing a cat carrier.

“Over there,” a woman said.

How hard was it to pick up a cat, Paxine thought?

Two men ducked under a table.

Why were they chasing the cat? Couldn’t they just call it?

“Over there,” someone said with a shout. A dozen people dashed over to another table.

“No, over there.”

“How many cats are there?”

More people scurried in to help look.

“Maybe we should help,” Paxine said in a murmur to Tache.

“Me owp,” Tache said, his voice carrying across the show hall. A few people looked over in her direction.

“Mew.”

The reply came from across the hall, where no one was looking, and no one paid any attention.

“Well?” Paxine said to no one. She couldn’t believe no one changed where they looked. Didn’t the cat just say he was over there?

“Geesh,” Paxine said with an eye roll. “I’m getting stupid, Tache.”

“Yerr,” Tache said, smacking his tail against the chair in agreement.

Paxine always thought Tache was special, but her grandma told her she was the one who was special, because she understood cats and they understood her. This was a skill very few had and it was no wonder no one else in the room understood.

“Me owp,” Tache said, calling again for the cat to come join them.

“Mew.”

The response was closer.

Bam.

The room vibrated. The large posterior of a woman stuck out half underneath an overturned table. Two cages flew to the ground, and two frightened cats escaped.

“More cats loose,” someone said with a shout.

“Me owp,” Tache said again.

“Mew.”

From beneath the table in front of them, scooted a white Persian kitten. The kitten took one long jump, landing on the chair beside Tache. She looked terrified.

Paxine placed herself between the chair and the people in her aisle. People were panicking, bumping into each other, and other cages.

Another cat, a gray and white shorthaired, scooted out from another table, jumping onto the chair with Tache. There was barely room for all three, but the frightened cats didn’t seem to care, hugging close to Tache who seemed to be oblivious to all the activity. Then a dark brown shorthaired cat peered out from under her table.

“Mew.”

“There you are,” Paxine said, picking him up. “You’re the one that started all this.”

A show clerk rushed past her.

“Hey,” Paxine said, startling herself as she hadn’t intended for her voice to be that strong, yanking the man to a stop.

The man looked frazzled. A dainty cat-shaped charm hung from one ear.

“Come here,” Paxine said, shifting to reveal all the cats crammed onto the chair. “I’ve got all three cats.”

The man looked at the chair with three cats and the cat in her arms.

“The Bengal is mine,” Paxine said, indicating Tache.

The man nodded. “I know who owns the one you’re holding. Let me take that one first,” he said in a calm voice that didn’t match his frazzled look.

The crowd parted as they saw him, as if he was royalty.

The owner, a woman one row over, threw up her arms. “BrowniePie. You naughty boy.”

The woman cooed, kissing her kitten as she slipped him back into his show cage.

The clerk returned for the second and then the third cat, heading two rows over. The overturned table was upright and two women were getting their cats calmed and back into their cages. The clerk joined them, handing them the last cat.

The clerk waved to no one in particular. “Cats caught. You can open doors.”

Others echoed his call.

“Thanks Tache,” Paxine said, wondering if her grandma saw any of this. So much for being discreet. She felt like everyone knew she was there and that she was up to something.

Tache yawned as if he did this every day. His idea of being discreet was showing off.

“Now, what do we do with this?” Paxine said, focusing back to their table and a flattened metal cage leaning up against the table. She noted that most people in the show hall were using fancy pop-up cages, made of cloth with zippered doors and plastic windows to allow you to peek in. This was her first show and the metal cage was a rental.

The people around her paid her no attention, focusing on their own tables. Paxine didn’t see anyone else with a metal cage in her row. She lifted the cage onto the table and it unfolded on its own with three clicks, snapping into shape.

“Well that was simple,” Paxine said, opening the cage door.

Tache ignored her.

“You have to get in. It’s required,” Paxine said.

Tache stood, looking disgusted.

“Do you see any other cats sitting out?” Paxine said, waving her hand around.

Tache hopped up into the cage.

“I’ve a few things in the backpack that grandma said would make it nicer,” she said, opening her backpack.

Tache turned his back to her.

“See. A blanket for you to sit on. Bowls for food and water. And…”

There were two other cloths.

“Uhm. We’ll figure these out later,” she said, putting them on the chair.

The blanket, folded in quarters, seemed just the right size for the bottom of the cage.

“Grandma always knows everything. How did she know this was the size we needed? Tache can you move?”

Tache was big for his age, weighing twelve pounds. He wasn’t cooperating, refusing to move out of her way. Within the confines of the cage, he was hard to lift and move.

“I guess I should have done this first, huh?” she said.

Tache’s tail came close to whacking her in the nose.

“Watch it now or you’ll stay in there forever,” Paxine said, positioning the bowls in a corner and pouring water from her water bottle.

“There. Pure, crystal clear water for your highness,” she said.

Tache flattened his ears in dislike of the cage, flicking his tail at the chair.

“Yea, I know, I’m not done,” Paxine said, looking at the two remaining cloths. One looked like a sheet. The other looked like…

“A hood. A hood?” Paxine said, looking around again.

Hisss.

The cat in the show cage positioned behind Tache’s, hissed his displeasure at seeing Tache. A man draped a hood over his cat’s cage to block the view.

“Privacy…” Paxine said, murmuring to herself.

A young woman, two tables over, draped a sheet over her table, setting her cage on the cloth.

The sheet.

Tache thumped his tail.

“Yes, I know. I messed up. The sheet goes first,” Paxine said, opening the cage door.

Tache stood, stretching, but didn’t step out.

“Oh come on. Now you don’t want to leave?”

He yawned, pausing just a bit longer, before hopping out.

“Well, you didn’t know what the sheet was for either,” she said, taking all the items out of the cage, using JayLee’s empty area to move the cage.

“There, I see now. The sheet hides the front of the table and I can stash my backpack there,” she said, sliding the backpack under the table and out-of-sight. She set the cage back, putting in the blanket which was easier to spread out now that Tache wasn’t sitting in the cage.

“There. Just as it’s supposed to be,” Paxine said, placing the water bowl in without spilling a drop.

Thump. Tache’s tail whacked the chair.

“Oh, the hood,” Paxine said.

The hood covered the top and three sides of the cage.

“There all nice and tidy,” she said, holding the door open.

Tache ignored her.

“Ahhh, you have to get back in. Tache. It’s not that bad. Looks pretty comfy to me,” Paxine said, patting the blanket.

He didn’t move.

“You’re no help,” she said, lifting him into the cage.

Tache scrunched down, looking gloomy. She laughed, but it didn’t come out right.

Tache ears twitched forward as he stared behind her, causing her to twirl around. Garon, her great uncle, her grandma’s brother, hurried toward them. He would have been tall if he stood straight, but he stooped. His usually neat and tidy white hair was flying.

“Garon. What are you doing here?” Paxine said, keeping her voice low.

“We forgot something,” Garon said in a whisper. His eyes were bright with his usual energy. Out of his pocket, he brought out a metal punch that looked familiar to her. “We have got to take that off.”

On one of Tache’s ears was an Aural ring.

“Those are illegal,” Garon said.

Paxine nodded. An Aural ring was one of Garon’s inventions that allowed Tache to hear better, permitted him access to her grandma’s office, and allowed him to be tracked should he ever get catnapped.

“Won’t do well to get your father in trouble if his daughter’s caught with illegal devices,” Garon said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, dad would have a fit,” Paxine said, remembering that her dad didn’t like Tache when she first got him, but now he was okay with him. She didn’t want her dad to have any reason to change his mind.

“Oh, but won’t that leave a mark on his ear when it comes off?” she said.

“Might leave a black mark,” Garon said with a chuckle.

“Oh…” Paxine said, thinking.

Tache’s ears were black.

“A black mark on black ears?” Paxine said.

“No one will notice,” Garon said.

“Very funny,” Paxine said with a scowl.

Tache ignored Garon as he put the punch up to Tache’s ear. There was a faint click and the Aural ring stuck to the punch.

Paxine checked out Tache’s ear. There was only a faint shadow indicating something might have been there.

“That takes care of that. We can put it back on later. Now, I’ve gotta run,” Garon said, pocketing the punch.

“You’re not staying? And what about his…” Paxine said, pointing around Tache’s neck where there was a very fine chain. She had a similar chain around her ankle. These two chains allowed them to communicate, even if they were far apart. She also had a ring that fit on her pinky that worked the same as Tache’s Aural ring, except it didn’t allow her to hear further.

“The judges will never find that. Nope, I can’t stay. Got work to do,” Garon said, rushing off through the crowd, passing JayLee walking up the aisle.

“He had to take EJ’s off too,” JayLee said out of the corner of her mouth. “Hi, I’m JayLee. This is my first show,” JayLee said louder. She’d finished her tenth circle around the hall and was now pretending to find her table.

“Hi, I’m Paxine. This is my first show too. This is Tache,” Paxine said, almost laughing because they were pretending not to know each other.

“This is EJ,” JayLee said, letting EJ hop from her shoulder onto the table.

EJ’s coat was lighter than Tache’s and her tail was longer, but she didn’t whack anything. Today, despite the fact that she liked to greet everyone with a very loud meow, she greeted Tache by touching his nose through the metal mesh of the cage. Tache was her best friend.

“She’s quiet,” Paxine said in amazement.

“She’s learning,” JayLee said out of the corner of her mouth.

Paxine held in a giggle. Tache and EJ played pawpaw, a cat game of trying to slap each other’s paw.

JayLee set up her cage like a pro.

“First show, huh?” Paxine said into her hand.

“With EJ,” JayLee said, placing EJ into the cage.

There was little left to do but wait for the show to start. Paxine paged through the show catalog, finding Tache. He had a long registered name of Underfootbengals Tache of Tache. Paxine Cushing, herself, listed as the owner.

“See,” Paxine said, pointing to the catalog. “There’s your name.”

Tache ignored her.

“You do have to remember,” she said in a whisper, “we are on a mission. You have to pretend to be a show cat. There are dangerous people all around us.”

“Meow,” EJ said, disagreeing in a loud voice, quite sure she hadn’t seen any dangerous people.

Tache sat up, facing the front of the cage. Paxine grinned with encouragement.

“We’ve exposed their plan, now we have to catch the culprits responsible,” Paxine said, continuing to whisper.

The last couple of months had been dangerous. Certain politicians were trying to promote and pass into law The Child Protection Act, which had nothing to do with protecting children. She and Tache managed to expose the Act for what it was. Now, her dad, a high-level politician and international lawyer, and her grandma, the Director of the Foundation (that governed all the women behind the successful men and all the Tails), were following the trail to find the people responsible for the Child Protection Act. Anyone willing to murder was dangerous.

This was why she was at a cat show. Her grandma and she were following a lead. They learned that the governor may be involved, and his wife showed cats. They knew she would be attending this show. Sometimes the way to a man was through his wife.

“Now, you’re looking the regal part of the Champion show cat,” Paxine said.

“Kitten,” JayLee said under her breath.

“Kitten?” Paxine said, forgetting to keep her voice down.

“Mew?” Tache said, wondering why he was a kitten when he was so big.

“You have to be eight months or older to be a cat,” JayLee said in quiet voice. “In what section did you find him?”

Paxine paged back through the catalog. “Oh. Short-haired kittens. You’re not eight months old yet, Mr. Tache,” Paxine said, realizing the catalog listed the cats by their category: Cats, Kittens, Alters, and House Hold Pets.

“Yelp,” Tache said, saying he could beat any cat older than he especially if he didn’t have to sit in the cage.

“This is the one you have to beat,” Paxine said, ignoring him, pointing to an entry for an Abyssinian owned by Karen Talassee, the governor’s wife.

“Yealp,” Tache said, saying again he could beat any cat or kitten if he wasn’t in a cage.

“Ah, you’re not competing against that one. He’s an adult,” JayLee said out of the corner of her mouth.

“Oh, yeah,” Paxine said rolling her eyes at herself. “Anyway, grandma said not to be too disappointed if you don’t do well. You were chosen for attributes that make you a great Tail and not a great show cat, er, kitten,” Paxine said, noting a hush fall over the hall.