Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 07:45:20 -0400
From: James Hazelton <hazejas19@gmail.com>
Subject: SOMERSET FARM Chapter 74

SOMERSET FARM

Chapter 74

By

Jamie Haze



Exhausted Sander and Glen were shaken awake by Tommy and Spencer and told
to dress in a hurry. No more than shorts were needed, not even shirts.
"What's happening, where are we going?" Sander wanted to know.


"Road trip!" Tommy sang with a giggle.


Spencer was calmer, "The guys just found the two assholes who beat up Glen
and they want you there to watch what the Family does to guys like that."


While Sander and Glen were busy searching their unpacked bags for shorts,
Sander noticed that Tommy and Spencer were already dressed in shorts.
"How'd you guys get dressed so fast?"


"Because we've already been there and we came back for you," Tommy said
through his communicator.


"Where is `there'?" Glen asked.


Tommy rolled his eyes, "Where they beat you, Palm Beach," he said in
frustration although he realized Glen was new to mind-speak, he could have
gotten the information from him directly, or any of the other guys in the
Family by reading someone's open mind.


"Oh, well I don't want to go back there. I want to forget that whole
incident." Glen turned his back, "See, the whip marks are already mostly
healed. I just wish the cigarette burns on my arms would disappear too," he
lamented.


That got another giggle out of Tommy, "Have you looked at your arms
recently?" he inquired.


Glen looked and looked again, "They're gone! Who, how, when..." he stuttered.


"One of the busy Cats, probably when you were sleeping," Spencer replied.
Then he directed everyone to hold hands so Glen and Sander wouldn't get
lost during the relocation since neither had been to the gay club before.

The beat of dance music assaulted the boy's ears before they touched down
inside the Palm Beach club. Sander and Glen were welcomed by Buck and Doug
who by then were dressed exactly like they were -- barely, with their tight
shorts pushed low, being held up by their youthful bubble butts. Spencer
and Tommy resumed dancing, once again with Tommy perched on Spencer's
forearm.


Around them were many guys that Glen and Sander had seen on Dagger Cay but
didn't know, except they all were obviously Family. The guys were part of a
ring formed between them and the unknown club patrons.


Everyone in the ring seemed to be watching two older guys who were both
naked and dancing, but really moving like marionettes, as if their arms and
legs were being controlled from above somehow.


Glen moved to behind Sander as soon as he recognized the two dancers. They
were Donald and Shawn, the two guys he never wanted to see again.


*"Look up,"* someone said in Glen's mind. When he did, he couldn't help but
to smile and give a little wave of recognition. There were all the Cats
mostly lounging on the steel rafters. The loungers were the biggest Cats,
while all five big kittens seemed to be intent on being as annoying as
possible to their adults, including Freckles and Spot, in an attempt to
make them fall.


The five Numbers were alternately practicing their aerial gymnastic skills
and perfecting their appearing and disappearing abilities. Speed was of the
essence for the Numbers because as Glen watched a Number would alight on
Fang or Leader's head, which forced the head to bob. Then in the briefest
length of time it took the Great Cat to look up, the offending Number was
gone to hassle one of the other big Cats in some other way.


*"They can't hurt you,"* the same voice said, *"Now look down at their
feet,"* it instructed.


Glen immediately saw that neither of his former pedophile kidnapper's feet
touched the floor. This caused Glen to grin as he showed himself to the
hated men since he knew the Great Cats had the men under their control and
were forcing them to dance. Glen noticed something else; the two men were
beginning to turn blue from their bare feet up!


Of course, a few of the regular patrons in the crowded room knew of Stuff
or paste as well as its erotic property and were amazed that so much of the
expensive Stuff was used to color all the teens in the room. Glen and Tara
Sander didn't know what Stuff looked like in the presence of the club's
black lights. Stuff caused the men and their own bodies to almost look
transparent as if they were shimmering blue ghosts with almost white
glowing skeletons. Two were unhappy ghosts according to the men's facial
expressions.


Suddenly, Shawn and Donald recognized Glen, but they forgot they weren't in
control of their body movements when they made a move toward him or tried
to. The men forgot about Glen when they rose three feet in the air to
become the stars of the floor show with their iridescent blue bodies, and
nearly white bones that at first glance, could have been exoskeletons.
Lastly, both appeared to have see-through erections.


"YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH MY BOYFRIEND AGAIN!" Sander's voice boomed impossibly
loud over the thrumming music as he stepped in front of Glen again
protectively.


With that said, a package of cigarettes appeared in front of the men. The
pack opened, all 20 cigarettes drifted out, lined up and began to burn as
if invisible lips were taking 20 drags simultaneously.


"Who's doing that?" Glen shouted in Sander's ear.


Sander shrugged and grinned mischievously as he shouted back, "This Tara
business is great! Leader and Fang are showing me some new stuff I can do!"


By then, the men had become the center of attention on the dance floor
since they were not only glowing, fully erect, they were also three feet
taller than the surrounding dancers. Then someone discovered that they
weren't actually taller, their feet were dangling three feet above the
floor and apparently, they were about to be attacked by a pack of lit
cigarettes!


The two boys began a shouted discussion about which of them should go first
to apply a burn mark on which man and where, until Leader suggested the use
of mind-speak. It quickly turned out that neither boy was sadistic enough
to burn the men.


That's when Evan stepped up. He had no hesitation. He deftly plucked the
location of each burn Glen had displayed previously from the boy's mind
before he put the cigarettes to work with his hands innocently on his hips.
The men's screams could barely be heard over the music.


When Evan was done, he decided to leave a `signature' for the men to
remember him by. Donald and Shawn watched in horror as the last two
cigarettes moved toward their hard cocks. That last burn caused screams
that could definitely be heard over the deafening music as well as leave a
humongous healed scar on their cocks so they would always remember a
certain smiling blond boy.


When Evan was satisfied, he nodded to Hans and Herman, who took the men in
tow and disappeared with the advisory that the police were on their way and
the Family should vacate. With sirens heard in the distance, Buck grabbed
Sander and Glen's hands and winked out while Doug the builder was delayed a
few seconds with the need to restore the building to its former sleazy
grandeur so the crowd outside clamoring to get inside past the door bouncer
could get in at last. These guys also faced the additional problem of
running into guys who didn't want to be there when the cops arrived.


The Family of boys and the Great Cats plus one extra boy who had no choice,
chose to land outside on the terrace near Dagger Cay's pool. There they
found Squeak and his partner Hughie, both were outraged because they had
been excluded from the `party' due to their ages and sizes plus they were
unaccompanied unlike Tommy although he was older than he looked, and was
always with tall Spencer.


The boys had learned over time to shy away from angry Squeak because they
all recognized that he was probably the strongest of all the Taras so far
revealed and that made him the most dangerous when he was pissed off about
something or at someone. Everyone knew what he could do with one pointed
finger, and lately, no fingers at all. Fortunately, Great Cat Spot
recognized Squeak's bubbling anger and the approaching temper tantrum.


To cool Squeak off, Spot collected both little boys in his tail and jumped
into the deep end of the pool. Squeak retaliated by quickly draining the
pool of every drop of water including on him, Hughie and Spot's pelt.


That set Doug off in a fit because fresh water on Dagger Cay was a rare
commodity and he wanted Squeak to bring every single drop of water back
into the pool "or else," Doug threatened.


"Or else what?" Squeak counter threatened.


"Or else it's tickle torture for you and Hughie my lads, that's what!" Doug
promised with an evil grin. Doug saw that the whole gang was gathered
around the edge of the pool and looking down. "Let's get them guys!" Doug
shouted and jumped to grab Squeak in his arms to begin the torture.
Everyone else and the rest of the Cats also jumped to begin another epic
rough and tumble that was contained by the pool walls.


Squeak of course couldn't maintain his anger as he began to giggle and try
to squirm out of Doug's grasp while at the same time, repel any of the
other guys who intended to help Doug. Through it all, Squeak was careful
not to relocate anyone out of the pool. When everyone was engaged in the
bottom of the dry pool, Squeak returned the water to the pool exactly as he
took it away; that would be, all at once!


Even the Cats were surprised by the sudden deluge, as they fought to the
surface spitting and sputtering just like the rest of the guys. Everyone
but the stranger began to laugh and congratulate Squeak on such a
successful move. The strange boy on the other hand was really coughing up
water. During the rough and tumble he thought he was going to be mauled to
death by giant cats and then when the water returned, he just about drowned
clawing for the surface.


"Dolf!" Glen exclaimed, "What the fuck are you doing here?"


"This Cat kidnapped him just like he kidnapped you," Leader responded.
"There was no time to treat him as he treated you so this Cat brought him
here so you can do whatever you want and take all the time you want to do
it."

Very surprisingly, Glen took Sander by the hand and took him to meet Dolf.
Glen had already explained to Sander that Dolf was his first ever lover
that he did everything with, that two guys could do together. He was always
gentle during subsequent sessions they enjoyed together. Dolf never
involved himself in the torture that was disguised as `training', but he
also didn't stop it.


Just then, Hans and Herman reappeared but without Donald and Shawn, Dolf's
bodyguard or tutor. Questions were raised with Glen, the newest Family
member, the loudest. He thought the men had been released back into
society. David and Noah, Buck and Doug's bodyguards took Glen and Sander
aside to begin explaining something referred to as `Family business'.


Until quite recently, Bucky Trenton, Buck's father, had used any one of
several `company owned' `sanitariums' to warehouse certain individuals
whose crimes warranted continued, up to a lifetime of extreme discomfort
that they would escape if they found their way to six feet underground
immediately after their transgressions were discovered.


This policy was workable but very expensive. About that time, Bucky read
about a growing trend of building and operating private prisons, both State
and Federal, around the country. The new private prisons would take the
over-population pressure off government owned facilities and best of all,
government would pay the private corporations for the service. Of course,
the corporations could provide the service far cheaper than government.

Predictably, Bucky began to build a string of private prisons across the
nation that were quickly occupied by State and Federal convicted felons as
soon as one was finished. Glen wondered how a company could operate a
prison more economically than any government.


David laughed as he pointed out stories of government paying $500 each for
toilet seats, and that was from the low bidder! Noah suggested that if the
Federal government nationalized the beer industry, the price of a six-pack
would zoom to $50 each and government would manage to lose money on every
six-pack sold. After the laughter died, David continued.


It was Buck's plan to clean out his sanitariums after certain paperwork
found its way into various files starting with the court systems. The
`guilty', convicted felon would have records to show a trial and
conviction, then transferred to a privately-operated prison. This all
without the individual being aware that he'd been tried and convicted. All
the individual knew was that he was being transferred to another
institution to finish serving a life sentence that he also didn't know
about beyond still being alive. Best of all for Bucky, was that the State
or the Feds would be paying all costs for these special individuals, far
into the future.


As far as Donald and Shawn were concerned, Hans and Herman had taken them
to one of Bucky's prisons. They would stay there the rest of their lives,
which could be short term since they had been labeled as convicted
pedophiles and immediately placed in `general population' intentionally.


There was one crime the general population of any prison could not abide;
that was child molesters. Herman assured the new boys that he and Hans made
sure that the men were placed in a special section reserved for the most
violent offenders and of course related some of their crimes to the guards
so stories of their offenses would spread like wildfire, both real and
imagined so the men would spend some very uncomfortable nights after lights
out, as well as come to think of communal prison showers as something
neither wanted to endure, ever again.

Dolf had listened to the conversation and had no interest in following his
former bodyguard and tutor, so he gradually drifted closer to the nearest
landscape planting and into some blooming bushes. His escape was short
lived when Freckles noticed that he'd disappeared.


Freckles didn't bother to give chase, instead, he sent the five Numbers
into the bushes with orders to capture and return the boy to Glen, without
injury, he stressed. While the Numbers weren't big enough to collar a human
individually, all together they were big enough to take Dolf down to his
back, color him blue, both outside and in and then one collar him with a
tail while the other four chose more sensitive areas to hold and carry him
back to Glen. Number Four got Dolf's neck with his tail and each time he
opened his mouth to protest, Number Four got his tongue in the boy's mouth
until Dolf began kissing Number Four back which effectively ended all his
protests.

Meanwhile, Number Three managed to spread Dolf's legs enough so he could
walk between them, of course with his tail inserted in the boy's most
private place far enough to massage his prostrate and add enough paste
there so Dolf began to thrust his hips up into the air.


Here Dolf was aided by Numbers One and Five who had good grips on the boy's
cock and balls respectively all while Number Two was painting the rest of
Dolf blue. By the time the Numbers transported him to Glen, all five were
intent on getting Dolf off as he was half carried and half levitated along
the terrace.


That's when Freckles and Spot stepped in to shoo the Numbers away and get
Dolf back on his feet in front of Glen. The Cats didn't know what sentence
Glen had in mind, but they were there to carry it out for the newest Tara,
Tara Sander, Glen's mate.


First Glen asked Dolf what his parent's schedule was. Those professional
vacationers were leaving early the next morning to tour most of Asia. He
didn't expect them home for at least a year. Glen was pleased that Dolf
would not be missed for at least a year as he passed sentence on a boy that
he liked but didn't love.


Dolf would be enrolled as a Junior Cadet the next morning and he would hold
the lowest rank until Glen decreed otherwise. Glen saw that most of the
Cadets had turned out to surround the pool terrace to watch whatever the
Family had going on that night. Glen raised his voice so the Cadets could
hear.


"Since it's too late to assign you a room, you'll have to see if any of the
Cadets will allow you to bunk in with one of them tonight. Who knows, you
may get lucky and find a roommate," Glen couldn't help grinning when almost
all Cadet hands went up to volunteer their beds that night and perhaps,
longer.


Glen went on to say that Dolf was restricted to Dagger Cay and would not be
allowed to take leave to Nassau or Ft. Lauderdale. "Wait a minute, ah Sir,
where the fuck am I anyway?" There was an intake of breath among the Cadets
since the `f' word was a curse word that was forbidden.


Glen used mind-speak to ask Freckles to pitch Dolf into the pool and then
asked the Numbers to fish him out. Dolf had just surfaced when the Numbers
attacked, only this time they were pleased when Dolf fought back although
ineffectually in part because he was laughing too hard whenever he could
and not risk drowning.


Leader broke up the nautical rough and tumble by merely belly flopping onto
all of the combatants. The kiddie Cats sank to run along the bottom to the
shallow end before they surfaced and sent pleas to Leader for him to do
that again. But Leader was already busy holding Dolf up with his tail
around Dolf's neck before he happened to think about shaking off.


After Great Cat Leader transferred 50 gallons of water to the closest
Family members, he chose to assume their boos and jeers were really some
kind of a thank you for the wash down service. That's when Tracy, the Great
Cat's super-efficient and mostly silent Executive Assistant sent a
mind-speak request to Leader, Tara Sander and Glen.


*"If no one objects, I'd like to volunteer my bed to this boy, Dolf,
tonight,"* Tracy sent with a very red face for being so bold.


Great Cats Freckles and Spot thought that was a great idea, if Dolf agreed,
so to spur the relationship on, Tracy found his and Dolf's bodies almost
pasted together while facing each other. The two boys only had to look at
each other before bashful grins appeared and they looked to Glen hopefully
for his final approval.


While Dolf couldn't hear Tracy pleading his case to Glen, Glen had seen
Tracy always in the background with a Cat or Cats so he only managed a half
nod before Tracy and Glen disappeared along with both teenage Great Cats in
attendance for a change.


"Well I know Dolf likes guys our age so let's see how he likes a much older
guy," Glen said to Sander.

Hans and Herman looked at each other and began laughing. Tracy looked like
he was a new teenager but he was actually 21 years old, which Glen and
Sander could tell just by looking at him and was considered `old' by their
standards.


Dolf was having trouble with being relocated by any of the guys who wore
the amulets but to be moved around by the giant talking Cats scared him to
death. Of course, no one had yet explained the difference between a Great
Cat smile and a frown as both facial expressions always involved a great
number of long sharp teeth. The Cats left to Tracy to explain the pitch of
the ears. He had already come to enjoy interacting with the big kittens
after he figured out they were not going to tear him apart and eat him, but
now he was in a bedroom with a strange older guy and not just one, but two
of the adult-size Cats. Just then those two Cats were intent on recoloring
him and the guy named Tracy, blue and the blue was definitely having some
kind of effect on him again. He couldn't help blushing like a virgin as
Tracy's eyes fell on his body.


Since Dolf couldn't mind-speak, Tracy said out loud, "You know Great Cats,
we haven't been to Cat City in a while, maybe we should visit and use your
resting place."


With that barely said, the bedroom fuzzed out to reappear as a magnificent
golden room, a bedroom with a huge oddly shaped bed and circular pool
dominating the room. "Where are we now?" Dolf asked.


While Dolf didn't understand the answer, he understood that he was on his
back on part of the bed with Tracy looming over him and one Cat on the bed
with them while the second sat on the floor between the bed and the
shimmering pool. Suddenly, Dolf didn't want to be anywhere else in the
world as he lifted his arms and his legs to welcome Tracy into his body.


#######


JC, Juan Carlos Escobar, and his partner, John Carter, arrived in the
Princess Suite on the top floor of Doug's `home' on Dagger Cay in the
middle of the night. Twins Pablo and Paulo, JC and John's able assistants,
shared their bed as usual. Their suite was one of four on the fourth floor.
All four suites were identical except for their names. Buck and Doug's
suite, the Royal, shared a common wall with the Princess.


JC, John, Pablo and Paulo sat up in bed together at just after dawn the
first morning on Dagger Cay. All four were holding their ears, but sort of
grinning. They knew the exotic bird population left the roosting barn at
dawn and began their incessant raucous calls that continued until almost
sunset. Previously, all the noise was from more distant perches so it
wasn't loud enough to wake the dead sleeping in the `big house'. That
morning however, it seemed, the sounds were coming from Doug and Buck's
terrace that was separated from theirs by a privacy wall.

Their smiles were from realizing that one or more birds, maybe a flock from
the sounds, had set up housekeeping right next door on the neighboring
terrace. The boys already knew Doug and Buck's plan-- to spend most of the
week sailing Claw, alone as everyone in the Family had already been
politely warned; the do not disturb sign was out on Claw's imaginary door

.

Unless Doug and Buck changed their plans due to the birds, they would still
be in their suite, or someone else was there to take care of the demanding
birds. Whatever, there would be no one sleeping in any of the fourth-floor
suites from dawn until dusk for the foreseeable future.


At first, the boys were tempted to visit by just `dropping in' but then
they didn't know who they would meet for the first time, so they decided to
go the old fashion route. They would go out in the hall and knock of the
neighboring door.


Sander and Glen were out on the terrace amusing themselves by hand feeding
Clyde. Bonnie had done her fly around, had her breakfast and returned to
her nesting duties so Clyde was free to play with the boys as long as he
stayed within shouting distance if Bonnie suddenly wanted something.


It had become habit for the boys to sit, jammed into the same chair so
their shoulders touched. This allowed Clyde to sit on one shoulder and
mangle a piece of fruit, then take three steps to the side to sit on the
other shoulder to accept a rock-hard Brazil nut, carefully and easily crack
the nut open and delicately eat tiny pieces of the nut meat he deftly held
in one clawed foot. It no longer seemed strange to send all the mess Clyde
made to nothingness as it occurred. All while Clyde was enjoying breakfast
the boys were teaching him words and simple phrases by repeatedly saying
the same thing over and over.


The boys knew Clyde could say, `FUCK ME', so far at inopportune times, but
they had been working secretly on him saying `FUCK YOU' when there was a
knock on the door. At the time, Clyde was sitting on Sander's shoulder so
Glen got up to answer the door. Surprisingly, Clyde took to the air and got
to the door first, leaving Sander to follow. The knock came again just as
Clyde landed on the door handle to use as a perch and promptly used his
beak to return the knock.


This started an impromptu knocking game. As soon as whoever was out in the
hall knocked, Clyde answered with knocks of his own. After a minute of
playing, Sander unseated Clyde by levering the door open. Clyde squawked a
steam of protests as he retreated to a foyer lamp shade. Lampshades were
places the boys were trying to break Clyde from using as perches because if
he got bored he naturally set about destroying the cloth material until
there was nothing left but tatters and a wire frame.


"WE TOLD YOU NOT TO LAND ON LAMPSHADES!" Sander screamed.


"FUCK YOU!" Clyde screamed back while glaring at Sander using one eye then
turning his head to use the other. No one but Sander understood that the
bird was having fun and hadn't said fuck you until he could use it in
proper context just like the boys, but very unlike other `talking' birds.


This verbal joust caused the four young guys still out in the hall to laugh
at the boy versus bird confrontation. It was Glen who invited them inside
while Sander shook his fist at Clyde in mock anger accompanied by a grin
and a pat on his shoulder as if to say `all is forgiven'.  In response,
Clyde took to the air immediately. Only to have the last silent word, he
landed on Sander from the front with some extra wing flaps in Sander's
face, then he turned around always facing out so he also dragged his tail
feathers across the boy's face just to be extra contrary.

Sander and Glen had heard JC and John's names mentioned in the dining room,
but since they were new they didn't ask questions about them, or anyone
else. The boys were just happy to be accepted and enjoyed a growing sense
of belonging to the group. They enjoyed being among friends.


After pleasantries were out of the way, the boys took turns telling how
they came to be a part of the Family, but when Sander mentioned that he
somehow had been declared Tara, Lord of Creatures and hadn't yet visited
Cat City, the stories ended there.


JC said that Sander and Glen should visit Cat City that morning, after
breakfast of course. The younger boys assumed they would all go down to the
dining room and were shocked when JC just picked up the phone and placed an
order after he asked what everyone wanted to eat. Sander felt he was only
living in the Royal Suite to take care of the birds while Glen knew that he
lived there only because Sander did and neither dreamed of using room
service.


It was too late to argue. Within minutes flower bedecked servers arrived to
begin setting the dining room table. The dining room explained what was
behind the closed doors from the lounge which the boys had yet to explore.
When breakfast was announced, Clyde was still ensconced on Sander's
shoulder.


Sander looked to the side and asked, "Do you like scrambled eggs and
sausage, or do you want to go sit on your perch while we eat?"


Apparently, the key word was `eat' because Clyde replied, "Feed Clyde.
Clyde is hungry!" This was followed by an ear drum splitting squawk and
several nods.


When Clyde saw what humans ate, he began nodding enthusiastically. When
Sander began feeding Clyde, the bird decided he liked eggs and buttered
toast, but not the sausage. Then when the bird decided feeding him by a
teaspoon was too slow, he jumped down to the table top to share Sander's
breakfast off his plate without regard to the damage his three-foot-long
tail was causing the other diners. Luckily, they all thought Clyde's antics
were hilarious.


Then Clyde noticed that John was enjoying a melon compote that also had
grapes and blueberries mixed in. Clyde recognized grapes and blueberries
but not the diced orange colored melon so he decided he would share that as
well.


While all the big birds are consummate fliers, they do not do so well when
walking. The boys hurried to save their glassware at the expense of the
flower arrangement. Clyde thought the white flowers were tasty but the red
ones not so much while his tail scattered the rest on the walk to John's
breakfast where he began to eat while always keeping an eye on John in the
event the human objected to sharing.


"GOOD!" was Clyde's opinion of his first cantaloupe. This was followed by,
"Bonnie like!"


Sander immediately agreed to have the diced melon in Bonnie's bowl in time
for her noon break. Then he told Clyde that they were going away for the
rest of the morning and the bird had a choice; he could stay close to
Bonnie and the nest or he could go along with them.


Clyde looked at everyone as if they were nuts for laughing at him and
Sander, while the other guys thought that Sander was a little whacko for
holding a conversation with a macaw. Clyde ended the human breakfast by
stretching his wings and departing the tabletop for the nesting box and
dumping glasses while adding a few small feathers to some remaining food.


The guys thought the bird decided to stay, but Sander explained that he was
asking Bonnie if he could go. Apparently, Bonnie gave her permission
because Clyde returned to Sander's shoulder after a quick fly-around,
fluffed and said simply, "GO!"


###


JC, also known as Tara among the Cat People, had once again taken up
residence in his favorite home among his friends, the Cat People. His home
there was not only comfortable, it was the safest place in the world to
live now that the Great Cats had shown themselves and bestowed or taught
some of their Ancient powers to the People to make them even stronger than
they already were.


JC and his longtime Comprador, Angus had worked hard to further the myth
that the gold and treasures were found and were being recovered from the
depths of the sea. A place so secret, no one could even be found who
admitted they knew the actual location of Atlantis, yet the unique
treasures continued to appear, put up for auction and sold to collectors
and museums around the world for astounding prices.


While secrecy prevailed overall, rumors also abounded that the real source
was in South America, in Venezuela to be more precise. These rumors were
the cause of renewed incursions into the yet to be explored Cat territories
by land and sea by treasure hunters, big game hunters once again, hunting
the fabled Great Cats and the foolish adventurers with enough money to
mount an expedition so they could make a name for themselves as the first
to discover Atlantis officially, and perhaps finally reveal its location
after the city had been thoroughly plundered.

Chief Tonga and his Cat warriors were delighted to have these incursions.
They were something different to do and with the newly found ability to
relocate with some Great Cat help, they delighted in sending the invaders
packing back to civilization with all due haste

.

Scaring invaders instead of simply killing them was a new policy the Cat
warriors adopted with a vengeance once they found out what fun it was to
harry the evil ones all the way back to civilization by appearing in force
and then disappearing just as quickly all accompanied by the roar of Cats
and the sight and sound of very real monster swine that could be herded
just like all `farm' animals. There was one other factor that caused these
invaders to retreat, all of their weapons including pocket knives had
suddenly disappeared, most effectively, in broad daylight and from their
hands and holsters while they watched. Next to go was all equipment and
supplies except for a minimum amount of food and water, just enough to keep
them alive until they reached safety.


As a matter of protocol, JC had his little group that included white
warrior strangers, Sander and Glen, appear in the People's village. They
had to meet Tonga and the other tribal dignitaries as well as any other
People present. Of course, the new friends demanded a feast, which JC
declined just then as Sander was a newly discovered Tara. He was the Lord
of Creatures.


When the Cat children found out, they immediately began making animal and
bird sounds and calls and among the noise, was several calling macaws and
other exotic birds. Clyde perked up as he listened while the kids were
answered and to some, further away who were not `pets'.


Clyde brushed Sander's ear to get his attention and then Sander nodded his
approval with a caution he said out loud, "Okay, go meet your relatives.
Just remember if you aren't back by the time we leave, you'll have to hitch
a ride with some other mind-speaker and you'll piss off Bonnie."


Clyde nodded before he flew up to circle the village once to get his
bearings before he set a course for the highest concentration of chattering
macaws. Sander was left alone for all of two minutes before the Kid's pets
began to arrive. It seemed that every native species flooded the village
meeting place.


Birds, small mammals and even several snakes, flew, scampered or slithered
into the area. First, they went to their Cat friends who whispered and
pointed to Sander. Then the creatures made their way to the new Lord of
Creatures. It seemed no animal was there to pay homage, they just wanted
Sander to touch them. Sander wondered if his touch was some kind of
blessing so he obliged by slowly walked around while birds large and small
and every color took turns landing briefly on his shoulders or his head,
while land and tree dwellers just wanted a touch by his hands and monkeys
hugged his legs before each returned to their Cat friends to chatter,
squawk or hiss.


Just then Angus, in his role of Admiral, appeared in their midst wearing a
great big smile. He reported that the Cat People's freighter that was
passing through the delta channel was being followed closely by a small
ship or a large motor yacht so they thought they were safely in the
unmarked channel. The Great Cats high in the Stonewood tree that were
managing the channel, promptly closed it both in front and behind the
invading ship thus stranding it and everyone one on board in the middle of
the delta.


Angus just stopped in to see if anyone wanted to come out to watch their
navy in action as they took over the ship and sent the invaders packing
toward a neighboring country or civilization in Venezuela, their choice as
long as they were out of Cat territory. Angus was asking `tongue in cheek'
because he knew every warrior, woman and child would make for the growing
collection of captured motorized watercraft and the two old fiberglass
gunboats that had been joined by two new steel gunboats that were bigger,
faster and Israeli built that literally bristled with weapons of all kinds.


Sander wanted to go with the People, but was aware of the elapsed time and
kept looking at his watch. Suddenly Kad and Sidi appeared at Sander's and
Glen's side to remove choice by picking him up and carrying him just before
all four disappeared to reappear on one of the new gunboats that just
happened to be Admiral Angus' current flagship.


"Remember when you pushed me off the top of the mast?" Sidi laughed at
Sander's sour expression, "I told you we would have payback!"


Sander's expression changed to a grin, "I did not push you; you were scared
shitless and nearly fell off yourself," he retorted his memory of the
event. "What are you guys doing here anyway?"


"We have what you white warriors call a hobby. When we wish to visit our
homeland and get warm, we come here to help make brand new Ancient
artifacts to sell to the unsuspecting in the land of snow and ice," Kad
explained happily.


Early on it was decided that no gold coin, ingots or artifacts of Spanish
origin would ever be `found' and sold with anything of Ancient manufacture.
This so the Spanish, still greedy to this day, could ever claim what was
sold at auction was originally stolen by them from the godless heathen
natives, therefore it all belonged to them!

When Angus ordered his crew of kids to cast off, Sander once again looked
at his watch. "Do not worry Tara Sander, these brave Cat warriors will have
you back home on time," Sidi assured confidently.


"But Clyde is out there somewhere visiting with relatives. He's the one
that has to be home by noon to relieve Bonnie."


"When it is time, we will bring him along with us, and as final payback,
these brave warriors will also bring Clyde's newly found relatives," Sidi
managed to say before both brave warriors were laughing too hard at seeing
Sander's horrified expression.


"Don't you dare!" Sander protested, "Dagger Cay is already over-populated
with beautiful birds. In fact, maybe some of the young ones could be
relocated here. That is if they want to," he qualified his idea. But he
certainly didn't want any wild birds to be hanging around Doug and Buck's
terrace or he and Glen might end up relocated to somewhere else themselves,
when those boys returned from their sailing adventure.


As the Cat People's navy exited the river with Angus' flagship in the lead,
they could see a flurry of activity on the deck of the stranded boat since
that crew could also see the flotilla slowly coming toward them. If the
adventurers onboard thought they would only encounter tribal natives
paddling dugout canoes, they were quickly disabused of the thought. It also
appeared that these invaders were prepared to fight for what they planned
to steal.


The Cat People saw villains running toward the bow with long guns and just
a few, not so long, possibly automatic weapons of some sort. Angus could
see someone had stacked sand bags up as high as the safety rails in the bow
area, which explained why the big boat appeared to be `bows down'. It was
because of too much weight forward, it caused the stern and the props to
come nearly out of the water. This in turn would affect ship's speed as
well as maneuverability.


As Angus looked carefully at the overall ship's lines, he decided that it
would be an excellent distinctive flagship with some modifications and of
course after it was properly armed. He was shaken out of his planning
session with gunfire and then the dull thunks of the bullets hitting the
invisible screen that preceded the flotilla.

Sander asked about the barrier and who was making it. He was told to look
down at their bow. There was none other than Freckles Great Cat, sitting
and striking his classic Great Cat pose.


"HEY, HI Freckles!" Sander called down from the bridge.


While Freckle's attention remained on the enemy boat, his tail unwound from
around his paws to look up and wave before he said, *"Welcome Tara Sander!
Come down and join me. We will have great amusement when we board this
enemy boat!"* The Cat sent cheerfully.


Before Sander could react to the invitation, he winked out to reappear at
Freckle's side to be cuddled by his tail. It was then that Freckles decided
that Tara Sander would become a full Cat warrior that very day, but with
his obvious aversion to taking life, Sander just wouldn't know about that
part of the rite of passage from boy to Cat warrior.


Then Sander found that he was holding a beautiful rifle that was equipped
with a telescopic sight. "See that tall man in the center of the fly
bridge? He is the evil leader. You must wing him."


"Excuse me Great Cat, what does `wing' mean?"


"It is something warrior Pettie says. I think it means wound him."


"Okay, I'll try for his shoulder, but I've never shot a gun before."


"Just be very calm. This Cat will assist."


As Sander raised the weapon to his shoulder and looked through the scope,
Freckle's tail went into action and the man's head and shoulders suddenly
filled the scope's view and the bouncing from the moving gunboat
disappeared. When Sander had a shoulder squarely in the crosshairs he
squeezed the trigger.

Freckles was ready in that instant. He gently nudged the bullet to the side
and up. The recoil caused Sander to flinch at the moment the bullet smacked
cleanly in the dead center of the man's forehead. When Sander looked in the
scope again an instant later, all he saw was the man's body fly backward
and disappear from view all together.


Sander giggled, "I think I winged him just like you said! Now what do we
do?"


With the leader out of action, small arms fire intensified, although
completely harmlessly with the barrier still in place. Angus knew he had to
allow his warriors the fun of answering the gunfire but he cautioned
everyone out loud, by radio in Tongue, and by mind-speak to shoot evil
doers only and not the boat if possible.


That directive unleashed a hail of return fire that in some cases caused
some of the boldest villains, those shooting, to be shot so many times,
body parts disappeared in chunks before they fell below the sand bags. The
event was just like shooting yellow melons.


"Disarm the rest, you big kitty! Don't make me come down there for a rough
an' tumble you'll not soon forget!" Angus screamed at Freckles.


"You must have healed up from the last time you tried!" Freckles replied
dryly. He asked, "Do you need weapons?"


"Nope, we have the best, all we need. Now get on with it!"


"Climb on," Freckles instructed Sander and Glen, "we will see who can swim!"


It was becoming usual for a Cat to ask for something, or instruct someone
and then take the human or Cat warrior in tow. This time Sander blinked and
found he and Glen were sitting on Freckles and the Great Cat was standing
among the remaining invaders on the bow of the enemy ship. The Cat and the
boys were idly watching men jump overboard to get away from the giant cat
and the boys sitting on its back, who were obviously controlling the
monster.


Not everyone jumped. Some just stood looking at their empty hands where a
weapon was a second earlier. By then the flotilla had caught up and was
busy fishing for swimmers, who by then were happy to be captured by anyone,
not a cat.


Then Freckles challenged Sander to clean up the mess the Cat warriors made
on the whole ship, by sending everything to nothingness including all the
sand bags and every trace of blood and do it very quickly so as not to
offend Admiral Angus' delicate stomach when he came aboard.


"I heard that, you rascally kitty," Angus advised from directly behind
Freckles.


Without looking back, the Cat said, "Great Cat Leader will come to regret
teaching some humans the trick of relocation," then he giggled just like
Sander.


"I see you've got everything ship-shape. Very fast work for a great big
kitty. Has the boss man been found?"


"Tara Sander winged him but someone else may have shot him more seriously,
and for your information, it was Tara Sander who cleaned up the mess your
navy made. He was practicing sending things to nothingness," Freckles said
quickly out loud, while he informed all by mind-speak that Tara Sander was
now a full Cat warrior. Everyone already knew there was only one way that
could happen except Tara Sander.


Sander was watching the Cat warriors load life boats and big inflatables
with surviving invaders. Freckles was helping by just sitting close by to
the loading. No villain wanted to be left behind with that huge cat and his
smiling handlers.


That's when JC, John and the very dangerous twins, Pablo and Paulo
appeared. While Sander and Glen privately had admired all the Family's
splendid bodies, they were amazed by the male Cat People of any age. Even
youngsters Squeak's age had the fully developed bodies of their elders,
just in a variety of smaller sizes.

The newest Tara and his mate looked forward to that evening's
`entertainment' as promised by Kad and Sidi back on Dagger Cay. As the boys
looked around, they wondered where Kad and Sidi had gotten to. JC answered
that question before it was asked.


"Those two brave warriors are in Cat City. For some reason, they both enjoy
making Ancient artifacts. Then they watch the auctions to see how much
their artwork sells for because they like to know how much money they're
contributing to the Cat People. We brought you here so you can see Cat
City, so let's go," JC encouraged. *"Hey Freckles, Tara Sander and Glen
want a tour of Cat City,"* JC sent.


With that request, Sander and Glen once again found their legs astride the
Great Cat's back who was standing in Cat City's gathering place with its
golden throne and the pair of erupting phallus' that instead of cum were
spouting showers of diamonds for all eternity. Then there was a column of
intensely bright light in the center of the vast space that dominated the
room and was surrounded by lush exotic plantings that all knew were not of
this world.


>From there they winked into Spot and Freckles' resting place, empty at the
moment. Sander and Glen were unnaturally drawn toward the big bed, but
there wasn't time that visit. As compensation, Freckles told the boys that
since they knew what the places they visited looked like, they could return
safely on their own at any time and stay as long as they wanted.


Then Spot took them into the work room where they found Sidi and Cad with
Bani not only supervising the imps, he was creating artifacts of his own
design. While Kad and Sidi favored life-like animals, People and humans in
their sculptures, Bani preferred working with trees and gem studded flowers
that were known to exist only in Cat City.


One end of the room was devoted to `art supplies', at the moment gold and
lessor artifacts of clearly Spanish origin along with piles of glittering
coins. To keep the greedy Spanish at bay, everything in the room would be
melted after all gems were removed to be recut eventually to be
unrecognizable as Spanish.


It was obvious to the boys that the Cats and Cat People had more wealth in
their City than individual Central or South American countries annual GNPs
and it continued to pour in now that it was common knowledge among the
people of the continent that American currency could be traded safely for
`things of value', with the strange but mighty Cat People.


The last place Freckles and JC took the boys to was the armory. Tara Sander
needed to select his personal tool, or Tara tool. The boys had seen Kad and
Sidi use the larger versions like those sitting in racks around the room,
but Bani didn't appear to use such a tool. Rather, Bani wielded a thing
that looked like a small cigar. That's when JC pointed to the round stone
rack in the middle of the room.


Once again Sander was drawn to one particular tool. When he touched it, he
knew that it was his as it grew warm in his hand. "Okay, but what will it
do?" Sander asked.


"It would be easier to say what it will not do for its Tara. You might ask
Leader Great Cat since he alone among the Great Cats walked with the true
Ancients. Now you must return to the village. There is one very angry bird
looking for you," Freckles concluded with a toothy grin.


With that, all of the group appeared in the village. It wasn't hard to find
Clyde. He was standing on the top of a pole and screaming his head off.
Clyde made a beeline for Sander as soon as he appeared from nothingness.
The bird showed his displeasure by landing on Sander's shoulder from the
front and then intentionally turning around the wrong way with extra wing
flaps in the boy's face, followed by his long tail feathers across his eyes.

"I wasn't late, you were early," Sander argued with a laugh as he nearly
upset Clyde by picking up his tail and moving it way up over his head to
his back. It took all of a few seconds for Clyde to settle down and forgive
Sander by rubbing his beak on his ear and cooing softly for a change. As
Sander began to scratch Clyde's neck, he initiated their relocation on his
own and of course ready or not, took everyone with him.


As soon as Clyde recognized `home', he flew directly to the nesting box and
disappeared inside. Sander listened for a while before he announced that
Clyde was telling Bonnie about the wonderful new place he'd been to. It was
a place they could migrate to after their babies flew. It was a place where
they could collect food directly from the trees as well as get handouts
from the friendly two legs who lived nearby.


######


Twins Toby and Terry de La Varga, their brother and their friends along
with their guardian, Patrick Fitzmorris were just about to relocate to
Dagger Cay for spring break vacation. However, Toby and Terry were holding
up the works by selecting and reselecting the perfect wine vintages to
present to Bucky Trenton. They ignored Patrick's impatient tapping foot as
various wooden cases of vintage wines appeared from the climate controlled
warehouse to present their labels to the twins. The twins then read the
label before the wooden box either joined those already on the pallet or
disappeared back into the warehouse.


At home at their estate vineyard and winery, the boys let their guards down
and conversed telepathically. There, no one thought them strange as the
only other person who could `hear' them and respond in the same manner, was
their guardian, Patrick. Patrick became their guardian and business manager
after their beloved grandfather passed on from a sudden heart attack.


*"If I was doin' the selectin' I believe I'd go in the warehouse to select
the wines, not make the poor boxes come out into the heat an' sunlight,
only to be rejected by you two scamps."* Patrick observed, the twins
thought, rather sarcastically.


While neither boy would admit that Patrick was right, they just winked out
of the courtyard only to reappear inside the warehouse. Patrick wasn't
done. He followed the boys although he felt vindicated. "But what do I
know, I be just a first-generation Irishman, stuck babysittin' two machin'
brats," he added out loud with a grin.


"Keep picking on us and we'll paint you blue with a whole gallon of Stuff,
then you'll be in our power," Toby warned playfully.


Patrick was the twins' first ever conquest. It didn't bother them in the
least that he was far older than them, nearly their grandfather's age.
They'd read his mind, knew that he was a closet gay and most importantly,
he desired them both together, not one over the other.


Previously, Patrick thought his future love life was limited to marrying
his hand occasionally until the twins barged into his room and had their
way with him, over and over, until he thought he was going to die from
repeated orgasms. To compound his problem, the twins took him to Buck and
Doug's boat bed where they held a party, a sex party that consisted of four
merged teen libidos, plus one; Patrick's.


Then he became convinced that the four boys had conspired together to kill
him by repeated ejaculations. This occurred before anyone was aware of the
Great Cats, the Cat warriors or -- paste, later to be marketed as Stuff. Now
with Stuff available in unlimited quantities to Family members, that was
applied liberally and often. Patrick looked and felt much younger plus he
looked forward to having all the sex the twins wanted, with or without
Stuff. Just a mental touch by one of the twins was all it took to get him
into bed.


"Ready, set, go!" was the twins first and last warning before they, with
Patrick and company appeared in the old hotel lobby accompanied by a pallet
of their finest wines. The hotel lobby had been converted to Doug and
Buck's foyer with a simple name change and the removal of the registration
desk.


The first thing Toby and Terry did was strip their northern California
clothing before they went upstairs to the fourth floor to see if there was
still a suite available or if there wasn't, see if there was a couple or
two they, with Patrick could stay with. When they found there was an
unoccupied suite, they contacted Pettie and Scot to see if they wanted to
room together. They invited this couple specifically because Patrick had an
affinity for guys with swimmer's bodies. Also, the twins knew that they
would also have Hughie and Tara Squeak with them along with two 14-year-old
Irish boys that were new to the Family, that made up a successful foursome
and Toby and Terry hoped to `join' with that foursome during their stay.


The invited group simply appeared in the suite's lounge in answer to the
twin's mind-speak invitation because they knew that Toby and Terry had a
special `touch' that caused simultaneous ejaculations if joined couples and
the twins touched each other's bodies somewhere at the `moment of truth'.


There was one other addition to the group; Dr. Jonathon Meriwether, M.D.,
PhD, or just Doc, had emerged from Cat City and Angus' home, with its squad
of beautiful, always willing, very young Cat warriors, to vacation with the
Family for the first time. Of course, when Doc first saw Pettie's group
downstairs, he wanted to see more of them. Hopefully the youngest would at
least allow him to watch, so he attached himself to them. Then when he saw
Toby and Terry for the first time, he knew he made the right choice when
they began staring at him, his body and his coupler.


Doc didn't realize that except for age, with the constant use of paste, his
body very nearly matched Pettie's, the reason he was so popular among the
younger Cat warriors. The Cat warriors of any age loved muscular, very tall
Pettie and his matching coupler, so Doc became a willing substitute.


Doc also didn't realize that the de La Varga twins liked older guys or
their relationship with Patrick but he would that first evening. The
mornings' first order of business was to get some sun and have fun doing
it. The small mob had just stepped into the hall when macaw's or cockatoos,
something big and close, suddenly began to squawk as if they were being
killed.


They quickly identified the sounds as coming from Doug and Buck's suite,
across the hall. The guys didn't knock on the door, they just barged in.
There in the lounge, they found Sander with a macaw on his shoulder and
doing more than half of the squawking. The rest of the noise was coming
from inside a nesting box on the terrace wall. Those sounds seemed to be
amplified somehow and the hole in the box acted like a boombox bass speaker.

JC, John and the gang were busy laughing at Sander who was interpreting
Clyde and Bonnie's conversation for them, or trying to. Sander finally gave
up trying to compete with the birds. He turned his head to the side to make
eye contact with Clyde. "I know you're excited about the new place, but why
don't you go inside so you and Bonnie don't have to holler? Tell her all
her questions will be answered if she just shuts up and lets you talk
without interrupting you for a change."


Clyde nodded his body several times before he took wing in a cloud of blue
and yellow-gold feathers, straight for the nesting box hole where he
promptly disappeared inside. Sander cocked his head to listen for a moment
before he began to giggle. "I'll be damned. Clyde just told Bonnie to shut
the hell up although he used the `f' word, not hell. She was so surprised,
she did exactly that. Just listen to the silence. That's because they're
using the bird version of mind-speak to talk."


It took 15 minutes to bring Toby, Terry and Patrick up to speed about
Sander being the Lord of Creatures, any of which he was able to talk to, of
course the creatures could talk to him and be understood as well. Then
Sander explained how he came to be living in the Royal Suite with Buck and
Doug. That was because the bird couple adopted him before they decided to
nest on the boy's terrace and he and Glen were there as bird caretakers who
occupied the second bedroom.


Just as the boys were about to hit the beach to play some volleyball,
Bonnie appeared from the nesting box to take her noontime break. This time,
instead of going to her side of the perch with its bowls of fruit, nuts and
seeds, she flew to a small table where the boys had placed a bowl of diced
cantaloupe, a new taste that Clyde had raved about. They left her there
eating her fill.


The gang chose a court that was close to the water so they could cool off
as necessary or wash off if someone had to dive in the sand to save a ball.
They split up roughly as two teams and began batting the ball over the net.
At first, the idea was to keep the ball in play for more than one volley.
They were so bad, there was no thought of keeping score. Everyone was
having fun and getting some sun on their hides at the same time.


Apparently, Bonnie had returned to the nest, which once again allowed Clyde
his freedom while remaining within earshot of Bonnie if she called. Clyde
very quickly found Sander on the beach, doing a thing there that he'd seen
human's do before. Since Sander was moving around too much to use him as a
perch, Clyde flew down to light on the top of one of the poles that
supported the net.


Sander saw him watching and waved. Clyde responded by nodding his body
several times while he kept at least one eye on the flying ball. By then
the ball was being returned more frequently so the volleys lasted longer.
The concentration of flashing emerald pendants marked them all as Family,
which in turn drew a growing crowd of cadets since it was spring break for
them too.


After watching, Clyde determined that the idea of the game was to bat the
lightweight ball. It was a game the Clyde thought he could play too. He
watched the ball closely after a serve and the successful return. The
return ball was moving far slower than the serve. The perfect speed for
Clyde to intercept it at the peak of its arc over the net and away from the
side that Sander was on. Clyde launched at the perfect time to connect with
the ball using his clawed feet to stop its flight and drop it in the sand
right in front of Sander, before landing on the opposite net pole, turning
around to look at his boy as if expecting praise.


Instead of praise, Sander shook his fist at Clyde as the game stopped with
everyone either playing or just watching, laughing at both Clyde and
hapless Sander, the bird boy. The bird boy promptly sent a mind-speak to
the bird to say that the ball should always hit the sand on the side
opposite Sander's.


Of course, the opposing team laughingly cried `foul' even though Clyde had
helped them the first time. They all heard Sander's mind-speak and after,
the damn bird began staring at them as if he knew he did wrong the first
time and it wouldn't happen again. There was something else; since Sander
didn't send Clyde away, he was inviting Clyde to play on Sander's team of
humans! Everyone agreed it was a very good thing that this was a game
played for fun, not points, so a certain amount of cheating was allowed.


Then, a scarlet macaw flew in to first circle the court, then landed of the
net post opposite Clyde's. The big red bird listened to Sander's silent
instructions and nodded that it understood. As Sander's team served, the
scarlet launched in time to bat the ball down just before it reached the
net amid boos, cat calls and victory cheers. When it resumed its perch, and
ended the human's calls when it screamed, "FUCK YOU!" it followed that
declaration with, "Billie slow down GOD DAMN IT!" That was Jeff, Tommy's
bird, no doubt about it. It learned those words originally from Dieter when
he screamed at his partner Billie, as Billie drove their golf cart or
mini-truck at breakneck speed wherever they went on the island.


The Cadet audience got into the game at that point. There were three other
volleyball courts, and there were plenty of players. All the Cadets needed
was bird teammates. The Cadets with bird friends began calling their
friends in from rooftops, tree branches and high up in palms. Apparently,
all were nearby watching the silly humans and then watching two of their
kind join whatever the humans were doing. Soon the six vacant net posts
were occupied so others began landing on the top ropes supporting the nets.
Naturally, all of them called for the games to begin as only big parrot
species could; at the top of their lungs.


It didn't take long before the boys were screaming and laughing as loud as
the bird's squawking and shouting short phrases with "FUCK YOU!"
predominating.


The informal games continued for an hour. Then, while no one was wearing a
watch, the games stopped as the boys all ran for the lagoon to rinse off
before lunch. The birds circled until their boys emerged from the water
before each landed on a friend's shoulder.


The Family boys decided to have lunch with the Cadets since the former
resort restaurant turned cadet dining room was closer than the `big house'
dining room.


When the games ended suddenly, scarlet Jeff, took off over the trees while
screaming for Tommy and Spencer that he was hungry and wanted food. When
Tommy and Spencer walked in, each had a bird on his shoulder. Tommy had
hungry Jeff while Spencer hosted Tommy's banana beaked toucan, Mutt.



This was the first time that the birds accompanied their boys into a dining
room. They usually waited outside somewhere. To the birds, that meant that
they were invited to eat, or at least sample human foods. Clyde was the
first to hop down to the table top to stand facing Sander opposite the
plate of food. Naturally, when Mutt and Jeff saw Clyde sitting on the
table, they joined him. Sander quickly removed the flower arrangement from
the middle of the round table, so the macaw tails wouldn't destroy it.


Both Jeff and Clyde watched Sander place the flowers on the floor out of
danger, which the big birds thought was good as they both liked hibiscus
and planned to have them for dessert. However, Mutt wanted the flowers as a
salad, so he followed the arrangement down to the floor and made short work
of the macaw's planned dessert.

All the Great Cats, large and small had been having lunch in the big house
dining room until they missed Sander and Glen. Finding him was no problem
at all and they all relocated without regard to the space required for them
to eat in the crowded Cadet dining room. The Cadets were all excited to sit
shoulder to shoulder with a Great Cat. Many had even been visited in the
dark of night and looked forward to subsequent visits from the Cat's
versatile tails and tongues.


Just as everyone adjusted and resumed eating, Sander suddenly clutched his
shoulder in extreme pain, Clyde began screaming incoherently and the Cats
all looked up at the ceiling as they received an urgent message.

Sander quickly relayed that someone had shot at and wounded a scarlet macaw
somewhere within far flung Cat territory. Clyde nodded to agree as he
jumped back to Sander's shoulder, ready to go and help a distant cousin in
any way he could, of course with Sander's help.


The Great Cats all roared out their displeasure before Fang announced that
the territory was under attack by no less than 500 well-armed evil villains
whose sole intent was to steal all the treasure from Cat City. This, even
though the villains didn't even know there was a Cat City. Just the rumors
that it existed prevailed on someone to finance the vile expedition.


Fang added for Tara Sander's benefit, that undisciplined individuals with
nothing to do, were taking pot shots at anything that moved in the
surrounding jungle. That was said just before the Cats winked out, leaving
their golden bowls and half eaten lunches behind.


Sander, and every mind-speaker on Dagger Cay followed almost instantly.
Everyone had relocated to the gathering place in Cat City with Tara Bani
the Leader, sitting on his golden thrown and acting like the Leader for the
very first time to the extent that he was even wearing his golden armor.
Even Squeak and Hughie were wearing Ancient armor while standing at Bani's
side.


Only a few individuals on Dagger Cay were outside to see catamaran Claw
appear out of nowhere, already safely moored before Tara Doug and Buck also
promptly disappeared from Claw's deck. Bani called for order after a few
moments waiting for the Great Cats, mostly wild, that lived in the
immediately affected area, also appeared to sit among the Cat People, both
young and old, the other Great Cats and the mind-speaking human white
warriors.

When Bani spoke, he used Ancient tongue that actually shook the solid rock
that surrounded them. First, he directed the Cat warriors and the
not-yet-warriors to muster near the invaders with the Cats that lived in
that area. The rest of the Cat people were to resume their daily
activities. Next, he assigned the white warriors to find out who financed
the expedition, then cause him to present himself before the throne. He
stipulated with a grin, that the man or men should be accompanied by ALL of
their wealth, every single penny. Lastly, he directed that the Cats most
used to white warriors to accompany them and be of any assistance they
could.


Sander balked, "I will do as you command Tara Bani the Leader, but first I
must see to the wounded animals and birds these evil fiends have left
behind," he said stubbornly as if he was prepared to argue his case further.

There was no need. Sander didn't realize that he spoke Ancient Tongue
flawlessly and his form of speech was exactly what an Ancient Tara would
have used when addressing his Leader so many millennia ago that only Leader
Great Cat recognized that he'd heard it before.


Tara Bani granted the request and detached Leader Great Cat to be of any
assistance to Tara Sander, the Lord of Creatures. With that said, Sander,
Clyde on Sander's shoulder, Glen and Leader winked out to somewhere that
Leader chose. That was almost on top of a wounded scarlet macaw with a
broken wing. Fortunately, the bird had the presence of mind to stop
squawking his distress as soon as he was hit so the villain who shot him
was unlikely to come and finish him off. Although they could hear the
invaders not too far away.


Sander used both hands to hold the break together while the wing began to
glow. When the glow stopped, even the missing wing feathers had been
replaced.


*"Think of the villain who shot you,"* Sander said in a language similar to
normal mind-speak.


The picture of the man appeared in both Sander and Leader's minds. Leader
disappeared briefly before there was another gunshot. When he reappeared,
he was holding the pictured man off the ground by his neck while the man
was crying that he thought his shoulder was broken, the gushing blood
notwithstanding.


"This fool saw his gun barrel was bent back to face him but he fired at
this Cat anyway, and so shot himself with some assistance from this Great
Cat," Leader said out loud proudly.


When the wounded villain heard Leader speak, he fainted. "What do you want
done with this creature Tara Sander?" Leader asked.


"I will stop his bleeding but not his pain. Then I think we will leave him
here to the tender mercies of the local birds and animals," Sander decreed.


Clyde joined the wild scarlet macaw on the ground to rub beaks in
friendship before Clyde made a silent suggestion that only Sander as the
Lord of Creatures could also understand. Sander giggled and nodded his
approval before the big wild bird flew up to the villain's face and deftly
removed an inch of beak (nose) only to drop it and complain loudly about
the vile taste! That set off the other macaws in the vicinity until the
dense jungle came alive with complaints of wrong doing by the two legs and
their weapons.


Sander paused long enough in his search for injured jungle residents, to
stop the bleeding from the man's nose stump, before the small party moved
on. Although from then on, they had the eager help from all the area macaws
and other parrot species. They were directed to other victims. Some were
still alive that Sander could help but others had to be sent to
nothingness, or the Great Beyond.


They were about to give up the search when a very beautiful hyacinth macaw
flew down with a flutter of all blue plumage to say his mate was missing.
By then Sander could tell bird sexes apart, if, like macaws, both sexes had
identical plumage.


Sander appealed to the area birds. It didn't take long to locate the
missing mate's mangled body. During the search, the male chose to sit on
Glen's shoulder because he was taller than Sander so he had a better view,
plus Sander was already hosting Clyde.


Then after his mate was sent to the `great beyond', he resumed his perch on
Glen and appeared to be content to go wherever Glen went since he was
unlikely to ever mate again. As it turned out, hyacinth macaws are no less
vocal than blue and yellows or scarlets. In fact, the first words that Blue
(what else) was happy to repeat from Glen was, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He only
really quieted when Glen shushed him because he realized the command was
important.


Leader helped Sander really become a Cat warrior that day. As Leader and
Sander watched the invaders from the dense cover along the side of the
tail, Sander reacted each time he saw a soldier just aim to the side or up
into the trees. Leader felt a burst of some kind of power from the innocent
appearing boy at his side that caused the weapon to explode in the
villain's hands.


While Sander was intent on stopping the shooting, he couldn't really
prevent mortal injuries to the shooters. The random firing only stopped
after the third fatality, any one of which made Sander a true Cat warrior.


Of course, Sander wasn't alone in the fight, he was just a small part of
the army of Cat warriors and Family. These fighters had great fun
encouraging the many `not-yet-warriors' to strive for their ultimate field
promotion to full warrior status. These youngsters ages ranged from 12 to
14 officially but there were also several `stowaways', just four to be
exact, who were age four and five, and they were emulating their hero, Tara
Squeak. The feeling was, if their friend Squeak could do it, so could they,
but they must be bold and brave to succeed.



Every man and boy in the Cat warrior force was completely camouflaged to
blend flawlessly with the jungle. In fact, many of the invading force
walked within three feet of individual defenders. Any given tree or bush
along the trail could conceal three or four Cat warriors. The only thing
that betrayed their presence were their eyes if anyone was really
observant. But, none were because they had all been assured of success and
future untold riches as soon as they found the fabled city of Atlantis.


The four little boys hatched a plan that would quickly elevate them to full
Cat warrior status. They planned to take out the invader's cadre: Cut off
the head and the beast dies, simple.


To affect their plan, they first needed to alter their camouflage from
forest greens and browns to mostly browns with strange white areas added
that would appear to be fungi that proliferated in the layer of litter on
the forest floor and the almost invisible trail the invaders were using. As
the fungi grew on the dead leaves and small branches, it hastened the
rotting process that turned the litter into part of the rich soil that
supported all the plant life.


Once properly decorated for their mission, the little boys scampered ahead
of the column including the advance scouts. The boys already knew from
their white warrior friends that the invading force was a multi-national
force of former military men who became mercenaries or soldiers if fortune.
These men were already complaining among themselves that they didn't sign
up for the high paying jobs to go slogging through endless impenetrable
jungle, even though they were on a trail that the Cat warriors considered a
four-lane highway.


The mercenaries had expected to be airlifted to an open field where they
would maybe shoot a few spear chucking savages that would cause the rest to
run for the hills, so they could achieve their goal; stroll into a city
full of gold and jewels.


The little boys quickly hollowed out shallow indentations directly in the
center of the narrow path. There they lay, barely covered with dead leaves
and other jungle litter including some of the whitish fungi that completed
their disguises. Each boy was covered except for the child-size blowguns
they held in their teeth that would appear to outsiders as nothing more
than fungi `flower' bud stalks or something similarly strange in nature.


First, came the scouts. Scouts in name only since they weren't about to
leave the trail to venture into any jungle that was too dense to walk in
comfortably. They reasoned that if the growth was too dense for them it
would be the same for any defenders. While the scouts were 100 yards ahead
of the main force, for all the scouting they did, they could just as easily
have joined their comrades in occasionally looking right or left. There was
no doubt in their minds that there was no one there.


The head of the main force was 20 guards. They were charged with protecting
the three chiefs of the invasion force who walked just behind their 20
guards. Just behind the chiefs was the rest of the force, so the leaders
felt well protected; front and rear by men, and from the sides by the
continuous impenetrable jungle growth.


All of the invaders including the leaders were further protected
individually, from the rear by the huge packs they all wore. Everything
needed to pursue the invasion; food, water, extra ammunition, tents,
sleeping bags, etc., had to be carried on their backs. They couldn't even
expect an airdrop through the triple canopy forest of trees.


The little boys reasoned that while Tara Bani, The Leader, hadn't given the
order to attack and kill the invaders, his directive said nothing about not
incapacitating anyone, specifically the three leaders to slow if not halt
the invader's progress. The boys thought they could best accomplish their
mission by darting the three leaders in their asses or cloth covered
crotches just after the men walked over the boys.


The four boys expected to get stepped on and were prepared for that
indignity but they would also succeed. They were using the diluted form of
their killing drug that merely paralyzed their quarry, normally game, to
keep it alive and fresh until it reached the cooking hut. The drug would
last at least 24 hours. The boys hoped the invaders would make camp during
that time while they pondered what was wrong with their leaders. Then the
little warriors to be, hoped to kidnap one or more of the enemy chiefs to
be presented to Chief Tonga for interrogation.

In order to camp, clearings for tents and cooking fires had to be hacked
out, off the trail into the jungle far enough to accommodate 500 men. More
importantly pickets would have to be posted further out and these, the boys
planned, would be their e-tickets to Cat warriorhood in the event that
capturing a white warrior chieftain didn't work out as planned.


If the four little boys weren't Cat People, they would already be dead just
from being stepped on by so many of the enemy. Suddenly, the foursome was
looking up at the three chief's asses and crotches. Shooting darts couldn't
be coordinated so only two out of three were darted but those two each
received two darts which would put them out of action for an extended
period of time. Certainly, well beyond 24 hours they expected if in fact
they didn't expire from the double dose.


Those two slapped at their asses and began to curse the jungle bugs that
could penetrate their heavy pants so easily and then escape being swatted a
second later. Neither man kept up their tirades for longer than three
seconds before they slumped to the ground only three feet beyond the
closest boy. The column was halted as expected while a medic was called to
access the problem but when that man appeared to be mystified, the order to
make camp came from the remaining chief. This was a problem the boys hadn't
anticipated. The enemy was making camp right on top of and all around them
so they couldn't escape their nests under the trail and under invader feet
until after dark.


By then the boys didn't realize all the Cat warriors knew what they were up
to and exactly where they were barely hidden and the closest had oh so
slowly worked their way to both sides of the trail opposite the boys. When
the order to make camp was issued, the nearest Cat warriors took to the
trees where they were truly invisible and unlike the little boys, those
warriors had killing darts in their blowguns and the rest of their unique
`ammunition' close at hand should the brave boys be discovered.


The Cat warriors in the trees didn't know that most of their chosen trees
were already occupied. Not-yet-warriors made the climb back when the little
boys first buried themselves under the trail. While the older boys shared
the same goal with the little kids, the kids were actually brothers,
cousins or merely friends as well as exceptionally daring in executing
their plan and they all wanted the little kids to succeed.


Of course, the not-yet-warriors chose higher branches on which to hide and
had fun slowly dropping down to the warriors with the intention of scaring
the shit out of them when they felt someone touch them accompanied by quiet
giggles to let them know they'd been caught with their backs exposed. About
then, crickets began to `sing'.

All the warriors and older boys in the trees listened closely. The little
boys were asking their elders to create a diversion so they could leave
their nests, grab one of the sleeping enemy chiefs and spirit him into
Chief Tonga's clutches, where they hoped to be a part of the interrogation
team. The eldest Cat warrior sent out some bird calls in response.


Soon, there were screams and a few gun shots right at the tail end of the
invader's party. Since the invaders were all engaged in making camp,
everyone began to make their way to the sounds, even the undarted mercenary
officer left his paralyzed comrades behind, to see who had made first
contact with the unknown but assumed, tribal warriors who lived in the
region.


Almost 500 men clustered around four of their rear guard who lay just off
the trail. Their lifeless facial expressions showed fear, while they all
faced in the same direction with their weapons still pointed into the
jungle. It was very unsettling to see that each man had a long toothpick
with a red tuft of feathers in the end while the opposite end was embedded
in one of their eyes.


The rest of the rear guard was there to report that all of them suddenly
saw the snarling visage of a huge prehistoric sabretooth tiger with the
four dead men the closest to the apparition. Then one of the soldiers who
was more inquisitive or stupid than the rest, pulled one of the darts from
his comrade's eye to inspect it more closely. None knew what he expected to
see, but in the process, he managed to just barely prick his finger. Two
seconds later, he was dead. The rest of the invading minions backed away
from the five bodies without even collecting their weapons. It was
unanimously decided without direct orders, to have a `cold' sleepless camp
on the narrow trail that night.


Meanwhile, near the head of the column, the four little tykes rose from
their hides under the trail and scampered over to the two helpless
chieftains, split up and two each carried the men away into the surrounding
jungle that wasn't quite as dense, at least at near ground level, as the
invaders thought. Although the men couldn't move so much as a finger, they
were awake and alert.


 Both men suddenly, independently had a revelation. The tribe of savages
they had been dealing with were true pygmies and the heartless, ruthless
savages that carried them so effortlessly were actually adult warriors with
none more than three feet tall. About that time, both men were dropped to
the ground where they were inspected by yet another pygmy warrior who just
happened to be accompanied by a huge, a really huge, jaguar and both spoke
understandable English to each other while they spoke to the four savages
who kidnapped them in gibberish, obviously their native tongue.


"You four and your captives are about to be relocated to see Tara Bani to
receive your reward for being such brave warriors," Tara Squeak told his
four friends.


While Squeak talked with his friends, Great Cat Spot got up close and
personal with the captives by snuffling in their faces so they could feel
his hot breath and the touch of his whiskers. "This Great Cat will eat well
tonight," Spot announced to each with a toothy grin that matched his size.
What Spot was doing was beginning the `softening up process' although he'd
already scanned their minds and knew that their sole mission was to steal
all the treasure they could carry away to a ship that was already anchored
in a cove just west of the river and the Cat People's village.


For good measure Spot asked Squeak; "Could this Great Cat just dine on one
leg each right now? This Cat hungers for the taste of man flesh."


"Certainly not," Squeak replied while laughing at Spot's antics silently.
"You know very well that the heads must be full of blood before they are
shrunken down to be proper trophies. Besides, you know our illustrious
Chief always gets first choice of body parts to dine on! Now delay no
longer, Tara Bani becomes impatient."


Suddenly the helpless captives went from being in the dark jungle to being
in the light of full day. Then it took them several moments to realize that
they were no longer lying on the ground, they were stretched out on a
golden floor just below a golden throne that was occupied by someone
wearing yet more golden clothing. They also noted that the throne was
flanked by a pair of huge phalluses that somehow were spewing diamonds by
the thousands.


However, the evil men forgot about the treasure they could already see when
the huge tame, talking jaguar was joined by two more who were even larger
than the first one. Fang and Leader were in the mood to have some fun, so
they continued Spot's game, already in progress.


Fang roared his displeasure before he asked, "These creatures are only
enough food for one, what are the rest of you going to eat?" That question
started a fake rough and tumble between the Cats, that quickly devolved
into a real rough and tumble. It seemed some sort of call went out because
the five Numbers and Freckles also appeared in the middle of the giant
wrestling match.


The four tykes and their friend Tara Squeak, couldn't stand watching
anymore so they shed their equipment belts and joyously jumped into the
match, which by then, had worked its way down to the front of the throne.
Bani giggled behind his mask and suddenly it was gone as well as the rest
of his Ancient armor as he too joined the epic rough and tumble.


Meanwhile, the captives realized that the fight was rapidly getting closer
to them and while neither wanted to be a cat's dinner, they also didn't
wish to be trampled or mashed into the floor since they couldn't move out
of the way. Leader Great Cat heard their silent pleas and nullified the
effects of the drug after first removing their cloth coverings.


The first that discovered he could move, sat up just in time to get a Great
Cat ass in his face. It was then the captives discovered that the giant
cats could not only speak, apparently were the savage's pets, but also had
versatile prehensile tails as they were picked up by those appendages and
used as 200 pound missiles against the little boys, somewhat taller Chief
Bani and the five 60 pound kittens. Then the hapless men thought about
escaping while this playfight fight occupied all the savages and the huge
cats they'd seen so far.


Leader quickly relayed their thoughts to Tara Bani. Bani shrugged mentally*,
"Then let then go. In fact, gently nudge them toward the treasure rooms so
they can at least see what they cannot steal. First, it would be
interesting to cover them with paste, both in and outside to see what they
might do,"* he suggested as Fang sent him and two of the Numbers flying out
of the fight temporarily.


Thus far, no one in the Family, or Cat People had been painted blue by so
many Great Cats of any age. At first, the two villains attempted to resist
the tails and raspy tongues, but then their libidos slipped into to neutral
before they went directly into high gear with unquenchable desire. At that
point, the evil minions would have assaulted any one of the little kids if
they could have gotten to them without being killed by the other savages or
any one of the Cats who had assaulted them and covered them with blue,
slippery but tasty gunk.


Neither of the villains knew that the other had been assaulted in their
asses by one or more Cat tails but suddenly they both mourned the loss when
the tail was withdrawn. Suddenly, both men were ejected from the struggling
pile in the same direction. They briefly thought of assaulting each other
before the overwhelming desire to escape intruded into their minds and for
some reason they ran through the garden to a side exit, not into the larger
hall that led to Great Cat resting places.


At first, the men kept pausing to be sure they weren't back in the jungle,
the images looked so real but they encountered nothing but the glassy
surface that looked much like a window they couldn't get through. So, they
began to look for a private place where they could take care of their
erections in their opposite number until they looked into the first opening
where the room looked as if it contained dunes on a beach or wind-swept
desert sand dunes. They realized that the `sand' was actually gold dust!
Piles of the stuff, so much, if they had some way to load it all in the
small freighter that was waiting for them, it would sink.


The two men were so happy that they found what they came for, they rushed
into an embrace. It didn't seem odd at all when they began to kiss with
tongue as if they'd never kissed anyone before with equal passion. They
were about to sink down on to the nearest golden pile to consummate their
friendship when they heard a distant roar from one of the Cats. Their
erections wilted visibly, along with the mutual desire for each other as
the desire to escape replaced the desire for sex with another man. What
were they thinking of?


The next room along the hallway held nothing but neat piles of
multi-colored gravel and rocks. They were about to pass that room by until
one noticed a smaller pile that glittered in the soft blue light more than
the other piles. Closer investigation revealed that they'd stumbled on a
room full of gem stones, mostly uncut but millions and millions of dollars
in gems that were finely cut, ready to be set. Some emeralds were as large
as the ones worn as pendants by the damned huge cats and some of the
savages, with a very few even larger.


Here was a room full of treasure that could fill their ship without sinking
it, that was worth far more than the whole room full of gold dust. BUT,
first they had to escape and find their comrades so they had help to pack
this wealth of the world to the ship. They decided that after the ship got
underway, they would find some way to get rid of the surviving invasion
force. There was no need to share this wealth with lessor beings.


Greed among humans was such a wonderful weapon, Leader thought. He planned
to direct the men to the Cat way nearest the cove where they could see
their ship at anchor. First, the naked villains must take proof of their
find so Leader provided them with empty back packs at Tara Bani's
suggestion.


Bani's very flexible plan was to allow the men to reunite with the
survivors of the invasion force that hopefully would start a stampede
toward the cove and the Cat way. There they would encounter the problem of
finding the entrance that had already been sealed, with the surrounding
jungle growth replaced. Tara Bani hoped that recriminations would begin a
fight to the death for the two-gem filled back packs. The men would
rationalize that if they couldn't get to the main treasure, the gems that
they had in hand was still a fortune for one or two men. The communal
thought instilled by the Cats on Bani's orders, was to simply kill their
commanders and the gems would be theirs.



Bani knew that his warriors had to be appeased by allowing `kills', so
after a sleepless night in a cold camp (no fires or hot food) the invaders
found a dozen of their fellow's dead. A few were found crouched down in
their defensive positions, staring into the surrounding jungle with dead
eyes. This time there were no more of the red fletched darts found, which
meant that the savages actually had the nerve and jungle warfare skills to
creep among the living men to retrieve their darts from their victim's eyes
during a pitch-black night. A place where no one could see a comrade who
was crouched two feet away. The heartless savages!


By then, the whole invasion force was nervous. They were so nervous and
anxious to resume their trek, they didn't take the time to bury their dead
nor take the time to start fires to have a hot meal in daylight. They also
began to see perfectly camouflaged naked savages standing by every tree or
worse, standing in front of trees. The enemy knew they dare not fire their
weapons and risk shooting themselves, based on the deaths by rifle shot the
previous day. Far, far worse than savages, some saw whole giant jaguars,
sitting in their classic poses and watching through slitted green eyes with
just their heads moving along with their tail tips raised to see the
villains more clearly.


As dawn arrived Sander and Clyde disappeared from the defender's group. The
boy and bird had to get back to attend to Bonnie's needs. At first, Bonnie
gave Clyde all kinds of hell for leaving her overnight. That ended when
Sander explained that wild birds had been killed or wounded without reason
except perhaps they made colorful targets, flying or merely sitting and
watching the strange earth-bound creatures slogging through the bird's home
territory. Glen also introduced Blue, the hyacinth macaw whose mate had
been killed.


Strangely, Bonnie flew to the food perch and invited Blue to join her for
breakfast by sitting on Clyde's end of the perch with a glare aimed at
Clyde, daring him to protest. Clyde not only didn't protest, he flew to sit
on the food cup's lip to share a bit of his breakfast with Blue by way of a
welcome, before he flew to the nesting box to replace Bonnie on the eggs in
the nest.


By then Bonnie and Clyde knew that both eggs had been fertilized, which to
them simply meant viable. The chicks were beginning to mature and grow and
develop their normal infant macaw shape. If one or both didn't develop
normally, Bonnie would know and Sander would find the broken egg under the
nesting box.


Blue had no idea where he was, but the food his new friend Glen and these
macaws served in this place was second to none. After the first taste of
melon, fruits and berries not found at home, he left the common tropical
nuts that he could get at home from trees and feasted on the rare treats
while he had the opportunity. He took the time to look at the taller human
to see him smiling back and decided that henceforth, he would ride his
shoulder wherever Glen went.


Since it was obvious that Sander was anxious to return to the wild birds,
Bonnie hurried her time off the nest and then almost evicted Clyde, her
mate, from the nesting box so he could assist Sander, Glen and the bereaved
hyacinth macaw, Blue.


The two boys and their birds arrived in the jungle beside Squeak and Spot.
Squeak told the boys that Bani had released the warriors from the order not
to kill too many of the invaders. Rather he wanted their total number
reduced to at around 100, and those would be driven to the coast. Along the
way, it was hoped they would meet with the two previously catatonic leaders
who were each packing a fortune in gemstones. When the 100 survivors saw
the stones, it was hoped the fun would really begin when greed reared its
ugly head.


Both Sander and Glen grinned on hearing the news while the two macaws began
their ear-splitting screeches once again. Until Sander found the first
injured bird, he was an ambivalent humanitarian. He personally, wouldn't
dream of killing an animal for sport although he knew that many so-called
sportsmen did and enjoyed exercising the power they held over lessor
animals. He also knew that killing was necessary for food, but what these
invaders had been doing to small animals and birds as they hiked along was
just mindless and vicious. Sander agreed with Squeak; the best defense was
a good offense.


It was Glen, whose mind was open to all mind-speakers, who hatched a plan
whereby the birds and some animals such as monkeys might get even with the
invaders for the harm they'd done. Glen was jolted out of his daydream when
he noticed that Sander, Squeak and Spot were all staring at him wearing
huge grins. Although Glen continued to think Spot's smile was
disconcerting, at least he no longer felt he was going to shit his pants
each time a Great Cat smiled at him.


The boys and Cat agreed that a trial run was necessary to see if the
audacious plan worked. By then, rifle fire had begun as the Cat warriors
and the not-yet-warriors opened fire to gain honor, become full warriors
and to begin to `winnow the herd' or reduce enemy numbers. Squeak opened
his dart pouch all warriors carried as part of their personal arsenals.
Then Sander called down four more macaws and six monkeys from the tree
tops. He gave each animal and bird one of the red fletched darts and a
quick-fire course on how they could be used against humans, while he
cautioned the strange mixed force about the extreme danger of merely
touching the sharp pointed business end.


The monkeys took their darts in one of their hands, chittered that they
understood and took off back into the tree tops. The macaws took their
`weapons' in their claws but before they took off they held a yakking
`conversation' before they transferred their darts to their beaks then they
flew away in the invader's general line of march.

The six monkeys attacked in one of two ways, they either scooted from the
undergrowth to jab the target in the leg as they ran to the other side of
the trail, or waited above the trail on low hanging branches, then either
dropped down or just swung down using their prehensile tails. Just a slight
scratch was enough to bring the vile minion down.


The aerial force of macaws, with Clyde and Blue in the lead, swooped in
quietly since their beaks were occupied. They approached their targets from
the rear, as if they were going to land on a shoulder. Then when the
victims felt the flap of wings and they turned their heads, they received
at least a scratch on the cheek, or ideally a dart point in the eye.


Not to be outdone by Cat warriors, birds or monkeys, the Cats got in the
war of attrition by simply appearing suddenly in front of the advance
scouts. There they administered just one swipe of a paw across the target's
face. Their intent was just to wound the minion, possibly blind him to
leave him alive but in need of urgent medical care, which those that
followed either didn't provide or they were just happy that they weren't
the victim that was dying from blood loss.


The Cat warriors, both older and brand new began using their superb
marksmanship to follow one specific target until he turned his head to look
to the side so he could receive a small round hole, dead center on his
forehead. At first this was to keep the big birds and the monkeys safe, but
of course it quickly turned into a skill game.

The top marksman would be determined by the size and intensity of the
muzzle burn a victim wore on his face. The smallest and most intense meant
the rifle barrel muzzle was six inches or less from the forehead.

By the time the main party was reduced to about 100 as Tara Bani, The
Leader directed, they met the two enemy chiefs rushing toward them while
pulling off their bulky back packs. Very soon, as the gems were revealed
combined with the news that there was a ship load more just a few miles
away, mostly on the trail they were following, a contest began to see which
of the mob could get to the treasure trove first.


That's when the killing stopped. Many of the enemy dropped their packs and
equipment, while a few even abandoned their weapons since to just show
intent or actually use one was to invite instant death from anywhere. While
the chain of command dissolved, the Chiefs were encouraged to lead simply
because the remaining 100 wanted to keep those two packs in sight, and the
two bearers alive and healthy, at least until they were lead to the strange
cave into the ground.


###


Meanwhile, the newest and youngest Cat warriors were sent up from Cat City
armed with the little .22 cal. automatic rifles the other tyke Cat warriors
and Squeak himself most favored. There the little boys were attached to
Admiral Angus and his so far victorious navy.


With the news that there was a large boat or small ship anchored in a cove
only 100 miles to the west, caused Angus to organize a task force of only
the fastest boats with the greatest range to meet this new threat. The
distance overland was actually fairly close, but the boats had to sail
along a torturous coastline. There was his elegant new flagship. The former
yacht had been built for extended cruising but had no armament until Angus
and the Cat People got hold of it.


 JC and Angus had continued to buy arms from Evan's unlimited catalog that
included three innocuous looking antique cannons that were really smaller
versions of the cannon/rocket launcher that was mounted on Sea Song's bow.
One of these special cannon had been mounted on `GREAT CAT', Angus' new
flagship. Its range was only five miles and while the missile was slimmer,
the warhead was longer so the killing power was almost the same.

Since Angus had been warned not to fire a missile if he was closer than one
mile, he also added two conventional mortars both fore and aft to use in
close bombardment. These improvements aside, his gunners would never allow
him to sail without a full complement of 30 and 50 cal. machine guns
mounted wherever there was space, plus of course, a squad of expert gunners
with their loaders to man each of the fixed weapons.


The last and most deadly bit of weaponry to be added was Tara Squeak and
his finger, of course accompanied by his Cat friend, Spot who was just as
powerful in his own way. As soon as Squeak saw the four little Cat
warriors, he adopted them as his bodyguards, more to keep them safe rather
than them protecting him. Squeak forgot to tell his little buddies that he
would be popping on and off the flag ship as needed. Naturally, he would
take them along wherever he went.


At first, they took their promotions too seriously. They scowled at anyone
who they felt got too close to Tara Squeak if they were carrying a weapon,
even just a knife, which included all the Cat warriors on board. They only
relaxed their vigilance if Squeak smiled a welcome.  Squeak finally told
them to go below for food and relax unless the call to battle stations
sounded.


The only other boats capable of such a long trip were the two new steel
gunboats. Of course, these boats also had been equipped with far more fixed
weapons than necessary and manned by newly trained gunners and loaders.
Also, all three boats were packed with Cat warrior marines and every one of
them was eager to get as many kills as they could before they ran out of
targets

.

###


The enemy ship in question was a former `research vessel', read spy ship,
that had been declared obsolete, stripped of its secret electronics and
sold at auction by the US Navy. This ship was not well defended because the
syndicate that mounted the expedition anticipated that there would be
adequate forces onboard eventually even if only half the foot soldiers
survived after wiping out the tribe of savages that protected Atlantis and
its vast treasure.


Curiously, the ship lost radio contact with its ground forces early on.
There was a mad scramble to renew contact without success. It was finally
decided to contact the German company that owned a private worldwide
satellite surveillance system to receive daily progress updates in real
time from far above. This alternative was horribly costly but it was felt
that costs could easily be recovered from the wealth of Atlantis and would
ultimately be considered a pittance, merely a tiny unanticipated cost of
prosecuting this unique project.


Evan Falconberg was delighted to have the new business and the challenges
involved in creating realistic images of an intact invading force as it
slogged through unexplored jungle on its way to the heart of the Cat
territories. Evan even went to the trouble of `accidentally' including an
old clip of the valley of the golden Ancient and brand-new Taras with paste
vines attempting to climb the individual statues just before they were
moved into a new underground chamber. No one viewing the clips imagined
that the huge works of art were all brand new, that they could even be
moved or that there was that much gold in all of South America.


The clip also showed a very brief view from above, of naked Indians of the
region as they harvested blue paste berries from the same vines while
ignoring the presence of the magnificent statues that watched them for
untold millennia as they worked. The syndicate members began to drool with
anticipation as they watched these brief clips over and over and even sent
copies home. Two of the members even wished that anti-slavery laws could be
revoked as they studied the Indian's perfect athletic bodies, both male and
female, that weren't covered by so much as a loin cloth.


Of course, by contracting for Snoopy's services also gave Evan names and
addresses of the syndicate principles who were financing the expedition.
These men included two `Leaders or Presidents for Life', or heads of state
of two third world countries, one international banker and two who were
titled, `financiers' who had no visible income sources. Taking out the
syndicate members was a job for the Family to undertake and of course, they
accepted the task with glee since they'd only watched the Cat warriors
without participating in the jungle fight.

The first time the Cat warrior tykes knew that they were to travel with
Tara Squeak was when they found themselves back in their jungle standing
beside the august Tara Bani himself, several Great Cats, Chief Tonga and a
new Tara, Sander and his mate, Glen. Both new boys had beautiful birds
riding on their shoulders and were engaged in a conversation.


Actually, Sander was talking to his macaw, Clyde. While Clyde seemed to be
relaying the conversation to the hyacinth macaw, Blue. Finally, Blue
started squawking while looking up into the trees. That brought four more
of the big birds down to sit on the little boy's shoulders along with six
monkeys. Sander giggled at them for saying the same thing; "Lost", they all
insisted while looking guilty.


"I find it hard to believe that every single one of you lost the darts Tara
Squeak loaned you," Sander countered. "Too bad, if you still had them, Tara
Squeak would have applied new fresh magic that makes them kill and you
could have kept them in a safe dry place. Then if someone else tried to
harm your kind or other animals, you could have come to their defense."


Suddenly the monkeys chittered quietly among themselves while the six birds
just looked at each other while they conversed silently. Whatever was
decided happened quickly. Clyde touched his beak to Sander's ear, a signal
that he had something to say. Rather than turn his head at first, Sander
just rolled his eyes to the side and smiled. What Sander didn't know, is
Clyde saw a dimple form at the side of his mouth, which meant that Sander
was playing with him. For that, Clyde rapped the side of Sander's head with
his beak as hard as he could.

"Ouch!" Sander rubbed his head and turned it so he was looking into Clyde's
eye

.

"Fuck you," Clyde said clearly in a quiet voice for a change, that was
accompanied by several body bobs, Clyde's way of laughing at Sander. "We
find?" Clyde suggested.


"Sure, if you guys can remember where you may have lost your darts. Tara
Squeak is right here now, but he might be called away in a hurry," Sander
cautioned.


It was amazing to see how fast a troop of monkeys could climb trees and how
fast the big birds could launch their bodies into the sky, even if at the
expense of some pain in young shoulders. It was clear that all 12 of the
animals `lost' their weapons quite close by because they returned just as
fast. All holding the `lost' darts in their beaks or tiny little hands.


In Clyde and Blue's haste to be first to have their darts renewed, they
landed on Squeak's shoulders while the rest of the unique squad landed or
climbed the four little Cat warriors. Then Blue and Clyde flew to their
boys to silently ask where they could hide their weapons so they were
always close by wherever they went.


Bani, the ultimate gold worker, realized the problem and winked out to wink
back just as rapidly. Bani held a pair of narrow gauge gold cylinders that
were apparently closed at both ends. He attached the cylinders to the side
of the chain that held the boy's amulets. Then the boys and the birds
looked at Bani in question.


"Easy, they are like any weapon holsters. If you want your dart, you
`think' the holster open," Bani explained and demonstrated. Then he closed
the tiny holsters and taught the birds how it was done. Each time they
tried there was a spark on the end and the red feathers appeared within
easy beak reach.


Practice withdrawing the darts, was interrupted by several gunshots. "Now
the fun begins," Sander said with a gleam in his eyes. He looked at the
birds and monkeys. "Come on guys, let's get closer to the action. We'll
teach these invaders to kill innocent animals. Just remember that no one
escapes and we take no prisoners. Then we'll just go to their ship and wipe
all of them out too!"


"Slow down there cowboy," Spot cautioned Sander.


Surprisingly Sander laughed, "Cowboy? Do you even know what a cowboy is?"


"Certainly," Spot stated, "A cowboy is a monster with the body of cow and
the head of a boy, or perhaps the other way around." It was Spot's turn to
grin, "I believe I can show you. Which end do you want to be? Admiral Angus
and the navy are on the way to take the enemy ship. You and your animal
friends are only allowed to watch."


"Oh, I guess I was getting a little carried away. Okay, the navy can have
the ship, but can we still take out some of the bastards still on land?"


"Yes indeed, they have all seen the gems taken from Cat City, none can
escape to tell what they found." Great Cat Spot agreed.


With that said the entire `war party' winked out to reappear smack dab in
the middle of a gun fight with few of the evil minions banding together in
an effort to win over the rest. Spot immediately threw up a shield so
bullets headed their way just bounced off for the present while Spot could
have easily sent the bullets back at the senders but he was looking down at
the four Cat warrior tykes. It seemed they were the only ones in the party
who were already armed although that too was easily correctable.


"See what you brave warriors can do with your rifles," Tara Squeak told his
bodyguards.


With the order given, the four promptly and eagerly went into the stalk
mode, meaning that they just disappeared into the jungle floor exactly as
they'd been trained. Before long individual popping sounds were heard from
all around. The sounds were their small caliber rifles firing individual
shots. The boys shot at and hit anything they aimed at, usually, the
smallest exposed body part; a foot, a hand or just a finger. Occasionally,
if one got lucky, a perfect headshot. Shooting villains was just like
shooting yellow melons. The difference was, the targets were far smaller
and they moved.


Another difference is that the melons never screamed in pain or exposed
themselves further that allowed a headshot. Meanwhile, all the Cat warriors
converged on the area from above or below and began sending larger caliber
bullets into any available target. All too soon, there were no evil minions
to shoot at anyone. Mission complete.


Chief Tonga called his warriors to come to the top of the bluff that
overlooked the cove and the enemy ship riding on her anchor and apparently
all but defenseless as Admiral Angus' small fleet of gunboats rounded a
distant point to begin a course that took them into the cove.


Sander was disappointed that he was unable to send his flyers or little
ground troopers into the fight because of the hail of bullets going in all
directions. The monkeys hadn't even had time to catch up before the fight
was over but the birds were there to look down on the enemy ship. Sander
got an idea and whispered instruction to Clyde who promptly relayed the
plan to Blue and the four wild macaw friends who already held their darts
in their beaks.

Clyde and Blue were quick to pop open their dart holders, grab their
weapons and take flight, soaring silently on the thermals as the six
dropped down to the ship to wreak what havoc they could before the fleet
got in range when they had to withdraw or risk being shot by friendly fire.
Sander directed his six fliers to take on all the lookouts first.


There were two enemy in the crow's nest. There were several others sitting
or standing on the highest parts of the ship that were marked by the
binoculars they were using to stare in amazement at the gunboats that were
approaching. No one dreamed that the native tribe were more than savages
with blowguns and bows and arrows as weapons. Yet here were gunboats
approaching and from the few faces they could see behind heavy caliber
automatic weapons, they certainly didn't look friendly enough to be a
welcoming committee.


Down below, the ship's radar operator noticed a large blip that he took to
be a flock of birds dropping down from the bluff, perhaps gulls who had
spied a school of fish in the cove. He guessed he was right as the birds
got really close, he watched them separate until he could count six before
they got too close and disappeared from his monitor.


Squeak was wearing a huge grin after he saw a man in the crow's nest slump
over the protective railing while the second man lost his footing and fell
to the deck just as blue and gold feathers flew toward their next victim.
The ship's first responders only saw the blood leaking from the back of the
victim's head and a small scratch on his cheek so they attributed the cause
of death was to severe head trauma from the soft head connecting to the
steel deck. That is until a second man who had been perched among the radar
bubbles and dishes joined the lookout on the deck.


When they looked up all they saw was a big blue parrot who was flapping
toward another lookout. The parrot seemed intent on landing on the man's
shoulder. Then that man just slumped over as the blue parrot flew aft out
of sight.


At that point, Squeak advised Sander to contact Admiral Angus to tell him
not to fire as the ship was being attacked from the air by friendly forces.
Sander sent the message by open mind-speak which caused the entire gang to
rush to the bluff to watch the unique show. They soon realized from
Sander's blank stare down at the ship, that he was the air force general
who was orchestrating the aerial battle and doing an excellent job.

That was when the six monkeys arrived with their darts. When they realized
they couldn't participate, they were content to climb Sander and Glen's
bodies without regard to what they used as handholds during the climb, to
sit comfortably on the boys' shoulders with the slowest sitting on their
heads. As they chittered, Sander frequently nodded, pointed out a bird or
just laughed with his `ground force'.


Angus almost dropped his binoculars as he barely saved himself from falling
overboard after seeing the flashes of bright colors flitting between
lookouts. He immediately cautioned his gunners not to fire because Tara
Sander had some of his flying creatures taking out enemy sailors who had
the misfortune to be out on deck.


Sander's attention was diverted by the three monkeys using him as
bleachers. As the monkeys moved about on his shoulders and head, they
constantly kept switching their darts from one hand to another so they
didn't accidently stick Sander or themselves. Sander asked if they would
consider wearing a holster similar to the one he wore on his neck chain
that housed Clyde and Blue's darts to keep everyone safe, yet be close to
an owner's beak in the event of need.


That set off a loud conversation among the monkeys until they reached a
consensus. Could a chain and holster be fashioned they could wear around
their tiny waists so the darts would be ready for instant use if needed?
Sander had no sooner asked Bani before he disappeared, the reappeared
followed by an Ancient box full of golden chain. One end of the chain
appeared to be anxious to get out as it pushed the box lid open to `look'
about, similar to a Great Cat's tail.


Bani had Sander turn to the side just as he did to display their gold waist
chains and holsters they used to hold their Tara tools. Then he gave Sander
a lesson in gold working using his tool. The monkeys scrambled to be first
in line to receive a waist chain and holster just like Tara Sander's. When
Sander finished, all six took to the trees to test out their new Tara-made
finery before they started a quick-draw contest to see which could draw
their darts first.


Sander stopped laughing at his monkey forces' antics when he noticed
movement on the invaders' bridge deck. The Captain and other ship's
officers had come out to see why lookouts were suddenly raining down on the
main deck. Meanwhile since the birds had fulfilled their mission, they were
taking a fun break by crowding together on a rotating radar arm and happily
riding the arm as if it was a merry-go-round. That was almost as good as
flying without any effort on their part for a change of pace.


Angus saw the officers too, and heard Sander's instructions to attack if it
could be done safely. He sighed pitifully because without the officers,
this sea battle was all but over, without firing a shot. It seemed that the
Cat People had just acquired its own air force!


The big birds took flight with a flurry of color. The officers watched them
with amusement and admiration; they'd never seen macaws in the wild. They
were very beautiful though very noisy, as they flew down toward them in a
rough formation. First one then the rest raised their arms, hoping to lure
the birds in by presenting places to perch. That was to be their last
memory.


By then, the rest of the enemy crew had come on deck to see what all the
ruckus was about. What they saw at first was dead officers and some of
their comrades. Then they saw three gunboats idling toward them along with
six big colorful birds sitting on the bridge deck railing, looking down on
them, while squawking their heads off to announce to the bird world and
Sander that they were victorious.


Angus used his loud hailer to demand that the remaining crewmen fall to
their knees and clasp their hands on their heads or they would be fired on.
Only one man bolted for the nearest hatch. He only ran three steps before
what sounded like a single extremely loud shot was heard with a result of
the man all but disappearing in an explosion of red on that part of the
deck along with uncountable dents in the nearby steel bulkhead. It seemed
that all the marines wanted to get at least one shot off before the battle
ended. Angus just rolled his eyes, shook his head and laughed. He did give
the order to fire but failed to designate one marine to do the shooting.


###


The mopping up operation was anti-climactic. The survivors were trussed up
and blindfolded, then taken below their ship for the ride to the People's
village. There they were hustled ashore, straight to one of the People's
giant helicopters. They were delivered to a small jungle clearing and told
that if they traveled 25 miles west, they would reach civilization. One man
was given a pocket knife and told to free everyone only after the sound of
the helicopter had dissipated. They were also warned that they would be
watched all the way and if one person deviated from the march they would
all be killed. No further instructions or warnings were necessary.

When Sander looked at his watch again, it was time for evening food. Clyde
agreed with a beak touch on Sander's ear. The rest of the Family agreed
because they all disappeared in the same instant without even saying
goodbye. There was really no need with the ability to relocate, anyone
might return after dinner to `sleep' in a Great Cat's resting place.


No one worried about the five syndicate members because it would take time
to find all their hidden assets then make those assets disappear before the
members met their own horrible deaths or simply disappeared along with
every penny they ever earned or stole.


#######



My eternal thanks to Emoe for editing this and my other stuff for so many
years!


HAPPY READING

Jamie Haze