When they were half way up the tree, Thorson slithered out of the shadows and watched the two cats climb. He had found the perfect moment to put his dark plans into action. A smile grew across his face as he anticipated what he would do next.
“I think a good turn is needed here,” Thorson whispered with a chuckle as he placed his front paws on the bottom of the tree trunk. After a moment of straining, he summoned up all the demonic power he could muster and used it to rotate the fallen tree.
“Grab on!” Cheshire exclaimed in horror when he felt the tree start to roll. Unfortunately, before the cougars could dig their claws in, the tree trunk rolled 180 degrees, sending them plummeting toward the ground.
Thorson watched with sadistic joy as he envisioned their collision with the ground. To his horror, though, an orb of brilliant green light appeared below Cheshire and Leana, absorbing them before they hit the ground. They vanished before his very eyes, thus robbing him of the feast of agony he had so longed for. Thorson glared defiantly at the storm front that had descended upon the area.
“Not nearly as satisfying as my plan, but it works,” Thorson commented after finding shelter. As long as the Marquis was gone forever Thorson would be content. After waiting nervously for a few minutes just to make sure that it was not one of his adversary’s tricks, Thorson himself disappeared. He had big plans for using Jeremiah. Knowing that pride would be his greatest tool for accomplishing this, he planned on working Jeremiah’s wounded ego for all it was worth.
CHAPTER 21
Sitting Indian style across from each other with only the living room coffee table between them, John and David faced each other. Lying on the table was a brightly decorated game board. On the floor next to David was a game box marked CAT SCRATCH in big letters that were printed over the images that David had recorded in Evermore. The Strategy Masters game company had been fascinated by the game that the teens had described. For several years the company had published a game book based on the teens’ notes. This board game was the first commercial version to feature pieces. John and David had gotten the prototype as a gift and were to give the go-ahead if it played properly. The first thing that the teens had done was to leave the plastic pieces in the box. Then they ventured outside and collected two sets of different colored rocks. The boys then polished them, marked them, and finally set them up on the board.
“I don’t think that the game company meant for you to ignore the pieces they designed,” John’s mother commented as she passed through the living room.
“Every cat scratch set in Evermore is different; the pieces are individually selected,” John explained.
“I don’t think the game company is interested in that idea,” she replied and then continued on into the kitchen.
“Are you prepared, Sir?” David inquired after putting his last piece in place.
“The Duke of Springbrook is ready, but the initiative is yours,” John replied.
****
Mrs. Jones had walked through the kitchen and exited out onto the screened in porch. Once there she stretched out in a lounger next to the wicker end table and thumbed through the mail that she had left there. The usual bills were there, as well as envelopes to John from National Geographic and several other publications. Both teens had decided to split any profit from their adventure down the middle. Now both teens had enough money saved up to go to whatever college they chose.
Both the Joneses and the McLeods had been proud of how their sons had not exploited their adventure. They had turned down a movie deal, a cereal, a toy contract, as well as several other shameless marketing ventures. They had allowed several major magazines to print their photos and to interview them. They had also helped create a book on the game Cat Scratch. The game had caught on like wildfire, especially since the teens had insisted that the game be reasonably priced.
From that simple game and book a worldwide following had developed. There were cat scratch clubs in North America, England, Ireland, Germany, Australia, and Japan. Of course, they had been given a fancier name in Japan--Fantastic World Animal Warriors: Cat Scratch. There was an official newsletter that featured user invented moves and strategies. Sooner or later a series of books would be written. Mrs. Jones had no doubt.
****
After reflecting on John’s move, David slowly reached out and selected his piece with the feline symbol for M on it.
“I see that you want to weaken my ranks with your lieutenant, but the marquis will put a stop to that,” David announced as he tapped John’s game piece with his.
The sound of thunder rattled the walls of the Jones home causing a picture to fall off of the wall. The picture crashed onto John’s Vega CX game console. The startled boys jumped to their feet and John rushed over to examine his game console which lay under broken glass. Ignoring the growing storm John cleared the area around the gray console and then pressed the power button. The console booted up normally
“ Attention a severe storm warning has been issued for Louisaburg,” the console’s weather app flashed on the TV screen.
Suddenly the area around the TV was engulfed in bright light. Startled John, David, and Bart, the family cat, fled to the safety of the couch.
With a blinding flash the light sent the board game, its pieces, and a cougar hurtling into the couch. The cougar slammed into the back of the couch and flipped it, sending Bart airborne. Seconds later Bart landed on top on the cougar, and one of the game pieces fell and landed on David’s head. With a yowl and a hiss Bart bolted from the room and into the kitchen. Stunned, both teens looked at the cougar that lay between them.
“Ow! I got hit by my own marquis,” David moaned after looking at the piece that hit him.
“My apologies,” the cougar stated while trying to recover. Hearing the cat’s voice both boys instantly knew who had dropped in on them.
“Chesh?” John inquired.
“Leana?” Cheshire called out while still trying to regain his bearings.
CHAPTER 22
John’s mother had been driven into the kitchen by the sudden storm. She stood at the kitchen door watching the wind, rain, and lightning through the window. A sudden crashing sound made her jump . She whirled around to discover a cloud of flour billowing out from under the bottom of the pantry door. At first she thought that the family cat had gotten locked into the pantry. That theory was given up when he came streaking into the kitchen squalling at the top of his lungs. The cat quickly retreated into the potato bin sending spuds rolling across the tile floor.
“A shelf must have broken due to the storm,” she thought to herself as she walked over to the pantry to examine the damage that had been done there. The sight she found upon opening the door made her freeze in terror. There, standing in her pantry, was a cougar coated in flour, honey, and maple syrup.
“Hello,” Leana offered a greeting with a self-conscious smile.
With a shriek John’s mother slammed the pantry door, turned, and sprinted out of the room only to come to a screeching halt in the living room. There she found herself face to face with an even larger cougar. The cougar stepped back seemingly startled by her entrance and then looked up at her. Looking into the cat’s inquisitive green eyes she stood frozen, too terrified to move, but that was before the cat took a step forward. With an ear shattering scream she fainted and crumbled to the floor.
“Wow!” Chesh stated still trying to recover from the near deafening he had just experienced. “What happened? Is she well?” Chesh added visibly amazed by the thought of someone being terrified of him.
“Mom!” John exclaimed, rushing to see if she was okay.
“You’d think the kitchen had attacked her. Wonder why she came running out like that,” David commented, pondering what had just happened.
The group quickly learned what had sent Mrs. Jones running when the sound of something trying to break out of the pantry caught their attention. Cautiously, John, David, and Chesh crept into the kitchen. Once inside
the kitchen, they could see the pantry door shaking violently as something heavy slammed against it.
BLAM! BLAM! CRASH! The door ripped off its hinges and the closet’s occupant slid across the tiled kitchen floor. The cougar from the closet slid to a stop after tipping over the potato bin. The house cat that had been hiding in the bin leapt onto the kitchen cabinet, fearing for his life, and knocked down an open bottle of ketchup, spilling it on top of his attacker.
“Leana?” Chesh inquired.
“Yes,” she answered as she turned to face the group.
“Claws and whiskers!” Cheshire exclaimed. If he had not known Leana well he would have never recognized her. She was now coated with things that he knew nothing about.
“What happened?” he gasped.
“I don’t know! I was falling and then I landed in that small cave. Then all kinds of things fell on me and hit me,” Leana explained.
“What a confectionary horror,” David observed.
“Heavens this stuff is sticky!” Leana grumbled as she tried to remove some of the syrup which had run down her nose bone and coated her whiskers. “Wonder what it is used for.”
CHAPTER 23
When Cheshire and Leana did not return from their patrol of the meadow paths by dusk, a search party was sent to find them. Having found no sign of either cougar, the searchers returned home and reported them missing.
“Gabriel, did you suspect anything foul was afoot?” Leana’s father asked between anxious paces.
“Everything seemed fine when they left,” Gabriel answered with a distant and worried expression.
Leana’s father was meek by nature and did not seek to have anything other than a quiet life with his family. Leana had inherited some of his quiet ways, but she also had inherited a passion for justice and for integrity. She would stand up for herself immediately if challenged about her core beliefs. Her homeland was one of those core beliefs, and she loved Evermore and her clan with a passion which enabled her to willingly step out as Cheshire’s assistant. This was a passion shared by father, daughter, and Cheshire and his father as well. Therefore her father understood this great love which she felt and was proud of his daughter; but he was still a very worried father at this moment.
“I have not been this worried ever. She’s my daughter….” Patrick Longclaw continued his bout with parental panic.
“And he is my only son. All we can do is pray for their safety,” Gabriel interrupted.
Before any further words could be spoken, Michael Shepherd and Max Panther walked up to the elder cougars, who immediately turned their attention to the newcomers hoping to receive good news.
“Well?” Leana’s father asked with a pleading expression.
“Their trail ends at the log, Mr. Longclaw,” Michael answered in as optimistic a tone as he could muster. Gabriel thanked the two searchers and turned his attention to Leana’s father.
“Patrick, We both cannot stay up all night. Go home and rest. Both of us collapsing will not help anyone.”
“Will you stay up?”
“Yes. When you are rested then you can stand watch while I sleep.”
After considering it a moment, Patrick nodded and walked away wearily, allowing Gabriel to return his full attention to Michael and Max.
“You know, Jeremiah was the first to volunteer to help search.”
Upon hearing this both Michael and Max gawked at the thought of Jeremiah volunteering to work at all.
“Really??” Michael asked in a state of disbelief. He did not know Jeremiah well, but from what he had seen of the frail, vain little cougar, he doubted that acts of charity came naturally to him.
****
Head Nurse Sharon Thistle had been home doing some soul searching when she had heard the news. The fact that Leana had disappeared without a trace sobered her. The truth was that Thistle liked Leana. It was for that reason that she had left her den and gone to speak with the Longclaws. Elizabeth Cougar was right. It was time to make peace. Sharon was going to let the Longclaws know that they were not alone.
“Hello,” Patrick Longclaw greeted Sharon Thistle when she arrived at the Longclaw den. Both he and Lily looked exhausted.
“I just want you to know that my prayers are with you. I know that Leana will be okay. The Marquis would never let any harm come to her,” Sharon offered comfort to the family. She meant it too.
CHAPTER 24
The walls of what John called the “master bathroom” were white with what appeared to be small flowers on them. Both cats quickly learned that the flowers were an illusion. John, who had lead the way, now stood in what appeared to be a stone pit. Leana assumed that somehow the pit would lead to water because John said it would help her wash.
“ Look at the bright side. At least you smell sweet,” Cheshire commented.
“ No, I smell fake,” Leana grumbled as she cautiously stepped into the stone pit that John straddled.
“ I don’t think that honey and maple syrup were meant to be worn as perfume,” David added.
“ What is perfume?” Cheshire inquired.
“ In our world women use perfume to make them smell pretty. All of these little bottles contain perfume,” David explained with a gesture toward a collection of small bottles on the sink.
“ Really?” Lea inquired.
“ Yep.”
After a close study of the pit, Leana decided if there was any water to be found she would have to dig for it. She tapped the cool bottom of the pit and found it rock hard.
“ Where is the water?” she asked.
“ Sorry about that. We got kind of distracted,” John appologized as he grabbed a silver knob and twisted. Leana could hear a minute hissing sound in the wall that continually grew closer. Seconds later water fell on her. Leana leaped out of the pit and looked up. There to her amazement water cascaded from a small silver object.
“ Indoor rain!” she marveled.
“ Amazing!” Cheshire exclaimed.
“ Is everything alright in there?” Mrs. Jones called from the living room.
“ We are fine, Mom,” John called back.
“It looks like the whole bottle of Gourmet’s Choice maple syrup dumped on Leana’s head,” David observed.
After hearing about the quality of the maple syrup, Leana decided that she would taste it. After all, maple syrup was a delicacy back home. Leana licked some of the syrup off of her leg. The flavor that she found was not of maple.
“ It... It tastes like corn. Are you sure it was maple?” she sputtered. “The syrup is bitter too.”
“The grocery store would not want Leana’s review,” David commented.
Not wanting to wear her confectionary coating a moment longer, Leana cautiously stepped back into the stone pit and stood under the running water. Slowly the kitchen ingredients diluted and ran down the drain. Once she was totally clean, Leana hopped out of the tub and slid across the tile floor. Cheshire leaped into the hallway and the boys stood on the toilet and the tub in order to get out of the way. Using her claws Leana regained her footing.
“ How do you survive this?” she exhaled.
CHAPTER 25
When John’s mother had regained consciousness, she had prayed that the two cougars running loose in her home had been a dream. After opening her eyes she found her son John kneeling beside her with a look of concern. She had explained the incident away as being caused by the storm and stated that she was going to rest.
She thought very little about John explaining that he and David were going to show some friends where they could wash up. It was not until John and David reentered the living room followed by two mountain lions that she realized she had not been dreaming. Both wild cats were huge. They were closer to a tiger in size. She had assumed the earlier photos made the Evermore cougars look bigger because of a flaw in the lens. This was not the case. The larger of the cats had deep green eyes. The smaller cat was soaking wet and had soft blue eyes.
“The beasts
!” she whimpered after opening her eyes.
“Mom, this is Cheshire,” John introduced his friend and patted him on the head.
“I am Leana. I am sorry about your pa-n-try,” Leana struggled with the wording of her greeting. Having never seen a human’s home before, she was totally at a loss for words. Leana’s attempt to sound the human word out revealed a soft accent that was common among cats.
“It talked!!!” John’s mother squeaked. Having talking cougars in her home did not improve the situation any. She was convinced that she was losing her mind.
Before any further recovery could take place, the sound of the front door opening alerted the group to the fact that John’s father had come home from work. Seeing two cougars standing over his wife, who was lying in the floor, John’s father froze momentarily while assessing his options.
“Get away from my family!” he shouted and hurled his briefcase at them. Cheshire reacted by extending his claws and gutting the briefcase as it sailed past him. Cheshire then retracted his claws and stepped toward the man. Cheshire had learned that John’s dad was a warrior on earth whose first impulse was to defend his home and his family. Therefore he made allowances for his behavior, but he really preferred a clawless introduction.
CHAPTER 26
After Cheshire and Leana vanished through the portal, Thorson focused his energy on fracturing the Cougar Clan. With the Marquis of Cougars missing and Jeremiah under his dark influence, everything seemed to be going his way.
“A few lies whispered in the correct ears is all it will take,” Thorson chuckled as he plotted. Safely housed in his private chamber deep beneath the bog of iniquity, Thorson was safely hidden behind earthen walls. He flexed and posed as he admired his reflection in a lavishly decorated gold reflection stand. Thorson could have easily spent several hours admiring his twisted perfection in the mirror, but the supernatural breeze that started to surge through his chamber caused him to temporarily divert his attention away from himself and toward his surroundings. Without warning a plant sprouted in front of Thorson and transformed into an older woman dressed in gypsy-style clothes. A bright light engulfed the woman, blinding Thorson so he could no longer see her.