Chapter 5

“Litter boxes over there. Cat trees over… Hi Tinder,” her grandma said, stopping the camera on Tinder who was sunning herself on a cat tree.

“Mew,” Tinder said, blinking her eyes in the sun.

“Hi, Tinder,” Paxine said.

“Over here we have scratching posts,” her grandma said, continuing after giving Tinder a scratch behind the ears.

“It's so quiet,” Paxine said. “Peaceful.”

“Not for long,” her grandma said, moving the camera down the room toward a door.

“What’s behind the door?” Brat said.

“You’ll see, or hear,” Paxine's grandma said, opening the door.

“Yeowlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.”

“Good morning, Dragonslayer,” her grandma said in response to the high-pitched yowl. She spoke in a loud voice so she could be heard over the yowl that did not stop.

“He wants out of there,” Paxine said as her grandma panned the camera around the new room. This room was half the size of the previous one and contained a number of floor-to-ceiling enclosures. Each enclosure was furnished with its own cat tree, cat exercise wheel and other cat accessories.

Dragonslayer jumped down from his cat tree to trot over to his door, maintaining his high-pitched yowl the entire time.

“Yes you can have a belly rub,” her grandma said, opening the door.

Dragonslayer sprawled on the ground, rolling. Her grandma rubbed his belly and scratched his neck. The yowling stopped.

Dragonslayer’s coat was a rich brown and black with paw print and arrowhead rosettes. Brown and black marbling that resembled wings decorated his shoulders.

“Is his coat as soft as Tache?” Brat said, stroking Tache's coat.

“Very silky and soft, probably softer than Tache’s,” her grandma said.

Tache's tail twitched.

Her grandma stopped her scratching and Dragonslayer resumed his yowling.

“Yeow, merrrr,” a different voice said, causing Dragonslayer to quiet.

“Is that EJ?” Paxine said.

The camera turned, showing EJ gliding into the room. Not far behind her was JayLee.

“Hi JayLee,” Paxine said, “bodyguard,” she said in a whisper to Brat, not telling her that JayLee pretended to be Paxine’s Nanny, but was really Paxine’s second cousin. EJ was JayLee’s Tail, resembling Tache, apart from being more petite and her tail never whacked any one.

“Well, how is Dragonslayer?” JayLee said, entering the room. She had dark, almost black shoulder length hair. While she was much shorter than Paxine’s grandma was, she was built like a bulldog, and could be just as tough. She and EJ were almost opposites, but they complemented each other well.

“He’s doing very loud,” Paxine’s grandma said.

Brat giggled.

“I’m doing a video call with Paxine and her friend, Brat,” her grandma said.

“Mew,” EJ said, quieting Dragonslayer just as he opened his mouth again to complain that his belly rub was too short.

“Thanks EJ,” JayLee said. “Hi Paxine. Hi Brat. How’s the skiing?”

“Super,” Paxine and Brat said together.

“Thank goodness someone is quiet or we’d not be able to have this conversation,” her grandma said. “I wish we could find him a person so he would bond and quit being so loud.”

“He’s quiet now,” JayLee said.

“That’s because there’s a girl around,” her grandma said. “And I don’t mean Paxine or Brat.”

Both girls giggled again.

EJ walk up to nose Dragonslayer. He yelped at her, and she bopped him on the nose, gliding over to his cat wheel. She ran laps as fast as she could.

“I’m glad someone likes that cat wheel. Dragonslayer is a regular couch potato. I’m having Garon put a counter on it so I can tell if he’s using it when he’s alone,” her grandma said. “He's rather large for his age.” Her voice hinted that she thought he was fat.

“Garon worked with your dad,” Paxine said in a quiet voice to Brat.

“I've met Garon,” Brat said, surprising Paxine.

“He got Dragonslayer as a gift so my grandma could start… how do you say it grandma?” Paxine said.

“Growing my own,” her grandma said with a laugh.

“She’s going to raise Tails, I mean Bengal cats,” Paxine said.

Brat nodded in understanding.

“We should get a cat wheel that generates electricity for EJ. She can go and go and go,” JayLee said with a laugh, watching EJ do laps with ease.

“Both rooms are done,” her grandma said. “I just have to find some girls for Dragonslayer. Everything always takes so much work and time.”

“Garon finally took on an assistant,” JayLee said to Paxine.

“He needed one. Who?” Paxine said.

“I think it was more like his assistant finally took him on,” her grandma said, chuckling as if she heard a joke.

“Who?” Paxine said again thinking her grandma hadn't heard her.

“Well, EJ. Shoo. Have to close up,” her grandma said.

“Yeowl,” Dragonslayer said, complaining.

“Just leave EJ in there with him,” JayLee said. “I'm here all week and the next anyway. EJ won’t mind. She likes his wheel.”

“I’ll have to get a few more of those wheels made,” Paxine’s grandma said, closing the door. “At least EJ will keep him calmer so his vet check next week goes well.”

“Oh, by the way, Greta wants you,” JayLee said as if remembering why she'd come into the room in the first place.

“What’s Greta doing there?” Paxine said. “She’s my grandma’s assistant,” Paxine said, whispering to Brat.

“With all the redecorating and changes to the house, I’m spending more time here. Need Greta to keep me organized,” her grandma said. “You’ll need a Greta one day. Hope you can find one as good as Greta.”

Paxine nodding, thinking that might be hard. Aside from being brilliant and dangerous with a gun as well as her hands, Greta had a bubbly personality that always made everyone around her relax and feel comfortable. Paxine knew her grandma considered Greta one of her greatest assets.

“Well, girls, I better let you go. If Greta needs me that means work,” her grandma said, facing the camera.

“Okay, grandma. Thanks again and talk later,” Paxine said, ending the call. “Darn, she didn't tell me who's Garon's new assistant.”

“They must not want you to know yet,” Brat said.

***

“Can I? Please?” Paxine said, pleading. It was the second week of their ski vacation, and she'd refined and perfected her skiing skills. She wanted to try the triple black diamond hill, the only hill she hadn’t gone down yet.

Her mom, the last person to give her permission, seemed hesitant, looking back and forth from Paxine to Tache. “Is Tache ready?” her mom said.

Everyone looked at Tache. His new snow pants were keeping him dryer and warmer. There were a few ice balls on his tail, but he used them as a counterbalance for making turns. There hadn’t been a slope yet that he couldn’t manage.

“Mom,” Paxine said. “I know you’re not more concerned for Tache than me.”

“I don’t know. You’ve become a good skier. That hill is pretty steep,” her mom said, still looking concerned at Tache.

“Yelp, yow,” Tache said to her mom.

“Okay, what did he say,” her mom said.

“He suggested I go first and then he and then dad to watch over us,” Paxine said.

“Deal, Tache,” her mom said, relenting.

“Cool. Let’s go Brat,” Paxine said, pushing off toward the steep slope.

Her confidence wavered as she reached the top of the slope. Not only was the slope steep, with some rolling dips and no curves, the slope bulged in the middle, adding a third dimension to the whole concept of skiing. In addition to side-to-side and down, there was the added complexity of turning while at the bottom of a dip. This meant starting a turn while heading down hill, and ending the turn going uphill. It made the turns a little more difficult to accomplish.

Brat head down the slope first. Paxine steeled herself, pushing off, making the final commitment. She felt like the first time she’d gone down a slope. Her legs weren’t responding and she was scared.

Breathe, she thought. Don’t forget to zigzag. It took all of her concentration to get her legs to move. The slope was so different from any of the others. Each time she reached the middle of the slope, she slowed down, only to speed up toward the edges and have to turn. At the crest of the slope, she looked for the bottom of the slope, which didn’t appear any closer.

“More zigs,” her dad’s voice carried down to her, correcting her decision to go straight down the hill.

She completed five more zigzags before reaching the bottom of the slope at a fast speed. One last bump sent her airborne, but she kept steady, landing on her feet.

“Awesome, isn’t it,” Brat said as Paxine coasted up to her.

“Wow,” Paxine said, breathing hard.

Her dad coasted up beside her. He was holding Tache and his board.

“Tache do okay?” Paxine said.

“He cheated,” her dad said. “I carried him.”

“How'd you do that? That’s a tough slope,” Paxine said in awe of her dad.

“He’s not too hard to carry. Oh, here comes Champe and your mom,” her dad said, looking up the slope.

Paxine’s mom and Champe swept down the slope as gracefully as if it was the bunny hill.

“That is exhilarating,” Champe said. “One of my favorite slopes.”

“Good time to break for lunch,” Paxine’s mom said, nodding toward Janique and Lanny skiing toward them.

“Dad. Dad,” Lanny said, shouting. “We went down Maple Syrup.”

“Good girl. Was it fun?” Champe said.

“Yes,” Lanny said.

“We do have fun when we go skiing. Time for lunch?” Janique said.

“Yes, we were just heading in. Good timing,” Champe said with a smile, hugging her.

The group clomped up to their tables, going through the routine of taking off all their snow gear.

“How do you get your boots and coat off so fast?” Paxine said, still struggling with her boots. Brat had all her snow gear off and was taking Tache’s snow pants off.

“I had my coat off before we barely got inside. I get hot so fast,” Brat said, spreading Tache’s snow pants out to dry, then taking off his coat.

“I just love his snow pants. They work great,” Paxine said, grabbing a towel to wipe down Tache’s tail. “Hardly any snow balls.”

Lunch came together for the two families onto the two tables now pushed together. Tache sat between Paxine and Brat, enjoying the attention.

Lanny boasted about the hills she was going to ski, but everyone was talking over her and enjoying lunch.

“I can’t wait to get my new braces,” Brat said in a whisper to Paxine, trying to eat her sandwich without getting bread wedged into her braces. “I hear the new ones are easier to clean.”

“Yes,” Janique said, overhearing the whisper, “we need to get your braces changed.”

“Invisible braces,” Champe said in a quiet voice.

“Brat. Brat. Brat has braces,” Lanny said, taunting.

“Lanny you need a haircut,” Champe said.

“No I don’t,” Lanny said, pulling on her hair.

“Her hair is fine. It doesn’t need cutting,” Janique said.

Brat smiled at her dad for changing the conversation. Paxine hid a grin, turning to give Tache a pat. He was dry now and sleeping.

Lunch was winding down when Paxine’s phone rang.

“Hi, Grandma. We just finished lunch and we’re going to hit the ski slopes again,” Paxine said.

“I need you to come home,” her grandma said in a calm voice but Paxine detected a tone of worry.

“What happened?” Paxine said, feeling like the sun blacked out.

“Dragonlayer’s been catnapped,” her grandma said with a dead, monotone voice.

Everyone was staring at Paxine.

“What’s wrong,” Paxine’s mom said, looking worried.

“Grandma wants me to come home. Dragonslayer’s been catnapped,” Paxine said.

“Mom,” Paxine’s mom said, speaking loud so she could be heard on the phone.

Paxine switched her phone to speaker mode.

“Dalia,” her grandma said in a quiet voice.

“Mom, what happened,” Paxine’s mom said again.

“I took him to the vet for a checkup,” her grandma said. “This was organized. They planted a new vet tech that helped from the inside, letting the people in through the back.”

“But…but how,” Paxine said, confused. How could someone take a cat from her grandma?

“We were in the exam room. They took him out to weight him as the scale in the exam room didn’t work,” her grandma said. “I got locked into the exam room. JayLee busted me out. Someone grabbed Dragonslayer and cubed to the airport. Tinder followed…” her grandma said in a monotone.

“Tinder? They have Tinder?” Paxine said, almost in a panic knowing how she'd feel if she lost Tache.

“No. No. She only followed so far, hiding in the cube,” her grandma said. “We’re still at the vet clinic. It’s so sunny out. It’s hard to see.”

“Yeowl,” EJ said in the background.

“Oh, EJ, I know you did your best to try and protect him,” Paxine said.

“Cube?” Champe said. “You can check the ions and identify it.”

“Unidentified,” her grandma said.

“That’s impossible,” Champe said. “The government controls all cubes…” His voice faded.

“Are we fighting our own security again?” Paxine’s dad said.

“Only someone who… If a cube hasn’t been assigned, it’s still under the control of the Cube Authority,” Champe said.

“I’ve dealt with them before,” Paxine’s dad said. “Not a group you mess with.”

“Either someone is messing with them, they're breached, or corrupt,” Champe said in a slow, thoughtful voice.

“Whoa,” Brat said under her breath. The word whistled through her braces.

“Paxine needs to come home,” her grandma said.

“What can Paxine do?” Paxine’s dad said. “Between you and Garon, you can’t track him?”

“We can only track so far,” her grandma said, sounding bleak.

“I need to find him. I’m the only one,” Paxine said, understanding what her grandma meant.

“Why? I don’t understand,” her dad said.

“I do,” Paxine’s mom said, surprising everyone except Paxine’s grandma.

“He’s a Tail and he needs help. Paxine is the only one who can help him. Garon may be able to track him, but…Paxine is the only one who can talk to him,” her mom said. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, mom,” Paxine said, surprised by her mom.

“She’s the only one,” her grandma said in a voice just above a whisper.

There was a long pause of silence. Lanny braided her hair, ignoring the conversation.

“Well, we only have a few days left…” Paxine’s dad said.

“I can go ahead. You can finish the vacation,” Paxine said.

“…so it won’t matter if we leave early,” her dad said, finishing his sentence.

“Thanks, dad,” Paxine said with relief. “We'll let you know when to expect us, grandma.”

“Okay, bye dear,” her grandma said, ending the call.

“You have to leave?” Brat said, looking crestfallen as Paxine put away her phone.

“Dragonslayer’s important. He’s really special and valuable. I have to help her get him back,” Paxine said.

“I understand,” Brat said with a nod, looking at her dad. “Tails are special.”

“I’ll give you my email and phone number and you can give me yours,” Paxine said. “We can meet back up once Dragonslayer is found. Dad…”

She groaned, seeing him on his phone.

“He’s checking on flights,” her mom said, making Paxine feel better. “Here, share a soda while we wait.” Her mom divided a soda between the three girls.

“Burp. Scuse me,” Brat said, finishing her glass. “The bubbles always go up my nose.”

“Brat burped. Say excuse me,” Lanny said, tossing her braid from shoulder to shoulder.

“I did Lanny,” Brat said, rolling her eyes.

“The soonest we can leave is tomorrow, but there is only room for two. So your mom and I will flip a coin and see who goes with you,” Paxine’s dad said, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“I’ll go with her,” her mom said. “You can stay and ski with Champe. This high altitude is better for you than me.”

Paxine caught a look between her parents. She wondered what that meant.

“Well, we can finish the day skiing together at least,” her dad said.

“I’ll let grandma know,” Paxine said, dialing her phone. Her grandma answered right away.

“Just me grandma. We can't leave until tomorrow,” Paxine said, worried that her grandma needed her to leave now.

“That will be okay,” her grandma said. “That will give Garon some time to figure out what we can do. You go have fun.”

“Okay,” Paxine said, ending the call, but she didn't feel like skiing any more.

“Nothing else to do,” Brat said, holding up her snow pants.

“We can pack tonight,” her mom said. “We might as well distract ourselves and hit the slopes one last time.”

“Just bring your overnight bag,” Paxine’s mom said, calling from the door.

“I am,” Paxine said, rushing out with her bag and backpack as she mentally ran through all the things she needed.

“Let’s go, Champe is waiting,” her mom said. “They are outside already.”

“Coming. Tache. Where's Tache, oh, he’s already in the hall. Hey, how'd he get his coat on already?” Paxine said, fastening her coat.

“I put it on him. Are you ready?” her mom said.

“Come on, mom. Let's go,” Paxine said, beating her mom, who was having trouble zipping up her coat, out the door.

“My coat is getting tight,” her mom said from behind her.

The blast of frigid air made them both gasp.

“Gosh, it’s cold,” Brat said, huddling in her coat. Only she and her dad were braving the cold to say their farewells.

“Thank you for everything,” Champe said, giving Paxine a hug.

“Thank you for Tache’s snow pants. They worked great,” Paxine said. “Bye Dad.”

Her dad hugged her. “Take care. Guard her well Tache.”

“Meow,” Tache said with confidence from inside the taxi, saying he would.

Paxine didn't need to translate.

“Bye Brat,” Paxine said, having a million things run through her head, but she couldn't get the words out.