Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2018 06:22:59 -0500
From: James Hazelton <hazejas19@gmail.com>
Subject: Somerset Farm Chapter 75

SOMERSET FARM

Chapter 75

By

Jamie Haze



By the time Doug and Buck returned to the Dagger Cay lagoon with Claw after
an exciting shakedown cruise, most of their guests had already departed for
their homes. The young couple really appreciated the ability to relocate
with a thought. Travel to anywhere was reduced to little more than one
second, but they decided to return to Dagger, via allowing the wind to
return them to port. Curiously, when they arrived they learned that Buck's
father, Bucky along with his wife Victoria, had chosen not to relocate, but
they flew out on Kermit instead.

The boys didn't know that Bucky hadn't been feeling well for the last two
days. On the advice of Fang, the 1500-pound golden effigy of the living
Great Cat, they used Kermit. Golden Fang held a consultation with Leader to
see if there was anything the truly Ancient Great Cat could do or recommend
to correct the advancing problem with Buck's heart.

The Great Cats could work wonders with body parts on and in any species,
but the one organ they had no powers to correct was the heart. Fang did
suggest that Bucky fly in Kermit instead of relocate, because at the
instant of movement the heart always skips a beat or two and the concern
was that Bucky's simply might not start again. That information was enough
for Victoria to hear. She told Bucky, he would travel in Kermit or he would
not travel at all. Rather, the best cardiologists in the world would be
relocated to Dagger Cay. Probably, Bucky kept insisting, the problem was
related to heartburn due to all the rich food and fine wines he'd been
consuming during the week. He didn't want Victoria to worry.

He was hiding what he really felt from Victoria, although he looked
dreadfully pale each time he looked in a mirror. To appease Victoria, he
readily agreed to see their family doctor as soon as they touched down in
New Jersey. That satisfied Victoria outwardly for the present. Bucky didn't
see the look she gave Will and Joe or them nod at her to say that a private
ambulance would be waiting at the family's recently purchased private
airport. They'd already arranged for two of the best cardiologists in the
country to be at the hospital when they arrived.

Leader Great Cat and the living Fang were there in the boy's suite on
Dagger Cay to greet them when they walked in. Sander and Glen were also
present and vainly trying to schuss Bonnie and Clyde, as well as Blue
sitting on Glen's shoulder. It was near dinnertime. Everyone presumed the
birds were discussing what treats Sander and Glen had for them to eat. The
audible bird `talk' was mostly limited to unintelligible squawks with just
a few `fuck yous' thrown in by Bonny and Clyde.

Bonnie's `voice' seemed to be amplified by her continued presence in the
nesting box where the hole worked as a boom box bass speaker. The hole
blasted out her cries the length of the terrace, while the sounds on the
opposite side of the wall were much more muted.

Glen had tried to teach Blue some words including the phrase, `Fuck You!',
but since Blue had been a wild macaw only a few days earlier, he didn't
hold out much hope of teaching Blue to talk. What Sander and Glen didn't
know was that Bonnie and Clyde were teaching Blue to say human words just
like they could, not discussing dinner. Sander could have gone into his
bird's minds but he didn't bother. He naturally assumed the topic of
conversation was food as it was, frequently during the day.

Blue suddenly ruffled his feathers, then gave Clyde several whole-body nods
as if he understood something important. Blue tapped Glen's ear to get his
attention as if the boy couldn't hear his earsplitting squawks. As soon as
Glen turned his head to look Blue in the nearest eye, the big blue bird let
out a steam of cuss words that Sander and Glen didn't know Bonnie and Clyde
possessed.

Blue only goofed up the last phrase when he said, "Feed Clyde, Clyde is
hungry!"

Glen giggled, "You should have said `Feed Blue," Glen corrected, "but
otherwise you did very well," he congratulated his new feathered friend.
"Now quiet down, the Great Cats need to talk to Buck and Doug."

The Cats used mind-speak since it was faster. They told Buck his father was
having a heart problem and he should contact his mother confidentially,
they stressed. Buck immediately closed his eyes to concentrate on his
mother. He knew his father was sitting in the next seat. There could be no
`leakage' between his and his mother's mind.

This was potential problem the Trenton family had prepared for over several
years, ever since Buck was old enough to understand. Initially, if Bucky
should become incapacitated for any reason, Victoria would run the family
business `Organization' until Buck was mature enough for him to take over.
Age was never a consideration; it was simply the degree of Buck's maturity.

Fortunately for Victoria, unfortunately for Buck, his mother passed
business reigns on to Buck immediately. There could be no delay that might
cause a power struggle within the Organization. This would last until Bucky
was well enough to resume his personal control. Or, if the unthinkable
occurred, Buck (Buckminster IV) would continue `undercover' until he felt
it was safe to announce that Buckminster Trenton III had passed and he
would succeed his father as the CEO of the Trenton Organization.

When Buck opened his eyes, he sighed before he motioned to Doug and of
course, the boy's personal bodyguards, David and Noah who were never far
away from Buck and his inseparable partner, Doug. "Come on guys, we'll go
home first to pick up a car before we head to the hospital to meet Dad and
Mom when they arrive."

With that said, the four guys winked out to their separate quarters in
Trenton Hall to shower and dress. In their shower, Buck said, "I'm so
worried about Dad because I'm selfish. I hoped he'd live another 50 years
or longer because I dread the thought of having to run the business, ever."

Doug pulled Buck into his wet arms and slippery body. "I'll help all I can,
if you tell me what to do. I can help right now by lighting a fire under my
Dad to get the prep school finished as soon as possible. That will cut
travel time to zilch and we can drive ourselves to school. I just thought
of that. I'll even let you drive once in a while after we get blocks put on
the gas and brake pedals," he risked joking to get a smile out of Buck.

Doug got more than a smile. He forgot he was holding Buck against his body
with Buck's arms and hands free. Doug's giggles ended in a yelp as he felt
his cock being stretched and squeezed. Buck looked up to smile innocently.
"You'll always have me in height, but you'll never catch up to me in
length, unless I give you more stretching exercises just like the Cats gave
the kids, beginning now," he said as he pulled Doug out of the shower.

"I give, I give!" Doug pleaded, for which he got a towel in the face but at
least Buck released his hold. While Doug dried off, he inspected his
offended member in the mirror. "I guess I'll have to be on the bottom until
I get the bandages off. Do we have time for a quickie?"

"No, unfortunately. Now stop playing with yourself and get dressed or
travel naked," Buck warned, with a lecherous grin.

"Mission accomplished for now,"

###

Buck had he and Doug dropped off at the hospital's main entrance because he
wanted to talk to the administrator in advance of his father's arrival.
Somewhere near the top floor, there was a suite that had been built in the
new `Trenton Memorial Wing' but so far, never used.  The memorial part was
named to honor Buck's father, Buckminster Junior. The suite had been built
for the Trenton family's exclusive use. The rooms had to be readied for his
father who would arrive in an hour.

Although Buck had never met the hospital administrator, he began to dislike
the man, beginning with the receptionist who was painting her nails. Buck
introduced himself as Buck Trenton. He said he wanted to see the
administrator.

The woman laughed at that request. She said the man never saw anyone who
simply `dropped in'. Buck should call at least two days in advance, give
his full name and state the reason for the appointment, then maybe, just
maybe, a time could be arranged for one or two days later if the reason was
important enough.

Doug saw Buck's face begin to color. He covered his mouth with his hand to
hide he face splitting grin. Then Buck surprised him by taking out his
billfold and extracting a business card. He placed it on the desk that was
devoid of any other paper. The computer monitor was also black. "When did
you get business cards?" Doug asked, letting his surprise show.

"I've always had them. I just never used one before I ran into this, ah,
person." He looked up at Doug with a grin to stage whisper, "I almost said
dumb bitch."

That caused the woman to really look at the card. If it wasn't for her
newly painted nails, she would have called security when the two teenage
school boys first walked in. By then, she was glad she didn't. Instead, she
pushed speaker and dialed an extension. Another woman answered to complain
that she was in the middle of her coffee break, when she should never be
disturbed.

"You don't understand, Grace, there's a very nice young man out here who
wants to see Joe. His name is..."

"I don't give a shit what his name is..."

"Even if my name is Buckminster Trenton the Fourth?" Buck interrupted.

There was no response to that revelation. Instead a side door opened, to
reveal an expensively dressed, over-made up woman who rushed straight to
Doug to offer her hand. "Mr. Trenton, what a nice surprise. What can the
hospital do for you this morning?"

Before Doug laughed too hard, to make talking impossible, he pointed at
Buck. "That's Mr. Trenton, I'm his friend Doug Henderson of Henderson
Constructors. I believe we built this hospital for the Trenton's." The
woman, Grace, dropped Doug's hand as if it was a hot potato, to turn her
attention to Buck, the real Mr. Trenton. After she got done cranking Buck's
arm, she repeated her question.

Buck quickly explained his business and the obvious need for haste to get
the Trenton family suite ready for his father to occupy, hopefully for only
one or two days. Doug, David and Noah noted that Buck's voice was cold,
grinding rocks and he wasn't asking for the rooms to be prepared, he was
ordering the woman.

Doug noticed something else about Grace, her face paled under her makeup
and her posture stiffened. *"This bitch has something to hide,"* Doug sent
Buck, *"You keep her talking while I see if there's a Great Cat around."*

Buck nodded for no reason Grace could see, before he, not Grace took her
into her office. She was already explaining that Joe wasn't in the
hospital. He'd decided to go golfing. She should have stopped there but she
rambled on to say that one of the hospital administrator's many perks was a
membership at the local private country club, which Joe used at least once
a week. She said it was really too cold for golf but Joe enjoyed the
clubhouse cocktail lounge and dining room.

Doug sent an open mind-speak, *"If there's a Great Cat around, we could use
your help."* He was answered too many times as if there was an echo in his
mind. That meant, at least the adult Great Cats, Leader and Fang were at
Trenton Hall, as well as the Numbers, since they knew where that was and
they could safely relocate from there, by zeroing in on Tara Doug at the
hospital.

*"These Great Cats too!"* The five Numbers sang out together. They'd also
been to Trenton Hall along with Tara Peter and Edvard, their Cat friends.

Doug winced. He didn't think the big kittens would be all that useful, but
knew they'd be looking for something to do while he wanted to keep them out
of trouble. He finally thought about the pool. *"You five know what you
could do?"* he asked, *"You could go to the pool, find those 10 swimmers
who were new to coupling with each other. I'm sure they could use your help
to couple in different ways and maybe get them into some rough and tumbles
so all 10 get used to touching each other."*

*"We hear and obey Tara Doug,"* was returned along with kiddie Cat giggles.

Next, Doug turned his attention to Joe, the alleged hospital administrator.
He sent the Cats an image of the dude taken from a framed photo in the
hospital lobby. Then he sent an image of the outside of the country club,
clubhouse since he and Buck had been there because his father and Bucky
were also members. He knew for certain that Joe couldn't afford to drink
and eat there once a week unless his salary was $500K or higher. He asked
that the man's brain be scanned to see what his duties were supposed to be
in the hospital and then discover what he actually did when he was supposed
to be working.

Lastly, he wanted one of them to find the Trenton hospital suite, then make
sure it was ready for Bucky as it was supposed to be. Doug had listened in
on Buck's conversation with Grace, again he sensed that something was wrong
and she was stalling, so he gave his permission to clean out her mind as
well.

Fortunately, Leader and Fang appeared in the outer administration office
not in the hospital's lobby. Only the receptionist was shocked into near
immobility, except for her hands. They went up to rub her eyes where she
succeeded in getting red paint in her eyebrows and lashes as well as
getting what appeared to be brush marks on her nails.

*"This female has a vacant mind,"* Leader observed silently, *"and her
teats have been augmented in some way," *he added in amazement as he gave
her a face covering lick that removed most of her makeup, only to replace
it with paste.

The woman rolled her chair back so she could stretch out. Then her hips
began to thrust up repeatedly until she moaned and fainted. "I bet that was
the best couple she never had," Doug surmised out loud with a chuckle.
"Let's let her sleep it off while we go into that office to visit with
Buck. Then you can tell us about the man at what we call a country club and
what you found out about Chief Bucky's resting place somewhere in this
giant hut."

Doug wasn't talking down to the Cats as it would seem. He just didn't want
to take the time to define `hospital' for the Cats. It was full of human
resting places so to them, it was a giant white warrior hut. Much like
Trenton Hall, although far less ostentatious.

"Great Cats, Freckles and Spot have found Chief Bucky's resting place. This
Cat will allow those Cats to relay what they found." Leader replied out
loud. He didn't use mind-speak because the second women fainted as soon as
Doug and the Great Cat entered her office.

Then, just about when the woman began to recover, Freckles and Spot happily
blinked into the room, so she suffered a relapse. "Don't bother with her,"
Buck pronounced, "I can fire her ass any time." He turned to the twins,
"Did you find my father's, I mean Chief Bucky's temporary resting place in
this hut?" he asked.

"We found a room with seats that can be made into resting places. This room
is connected to a large resting place, only it was already occupied by an
old white warrior. Both rooms are very ostentatious -- rooms that Chief
Bucky's mate, Victoria, would be proud of," Freckles reported.

It was obvious to Buck and Doug that Freckles and Spot were equally proud
of their successful mission. Buck's smile quickly changed to a frown.
"Could these assholes be using our suite for patients?" he asked Doug with
amazement in his voice.

Doug shrugged before he suggested that Snoopy should be called in to check
the hospital's computer. That's when both boys looked at Freckles who was
Snoopy's best friend just like all the `machines' Freckles encountered if
they had a lick of intelligence.

Freckles stepped to a window, sat down and looked up into the sky. The
Snoopy satellite almost directly above the area served as a blanket
security system. Particularly Somerset Farm where Evan, Snoopy's owner
lived mostly, Trenton Hall and all the other properties in the area, owned
by Family members.

"Now where can I find a place for Dad? And when Mom finds out about this,
she's likely to go into a killing rage."

"Your honored parent will not find out," Spot assured Buck with a Great Cat
grin. "The old white warrior was moved to another room where there was an
empty bed. We are sure he will be very pleased to have another old white
warrior to talk to when he wakes up."

Doug burst out laughing as the first to understand what Freckles and Spot
did with the elderly patient. "Don't tell me you moved him into a double
room? I didn't know this hospital had double rooms!"

Great Cat pride of accomplishment showed on Spot's face while he nodded and
grinned to agree with Doug's assessment. "Do not worry Tara Doug, the old
white warrior will not know he was moved. These Cats also relocated all his
flowers from both rooms although they over-filled the new room, both old
warriors can now enjoy them."

"Exactly where did you find this double room?" Buck sputtered between
giggles.

"There is a part of one floor, a female worker's mind said is for indigent
patents. Brother and this Cat found the bed there." Spot caused another
burst of laughter from the guys when he turned to Buck, the walking Great
Cat dictionary, "What is indigent?" he asked.

Buck didn't answer until they relocated into the lounge of the Trenton
suite. Doug flopped on a sofa to gauge its softness and laugh at Buck with
a pillow covering his face. "Well," Buck began, "to be indigent means the
person has no currency to pay for his care, but I'm sure the hospital gives
the same care to everyone."

"No currency," Spot questioned, "not even gold or gems?" He was amazed that
any person could be so poor. He and Freckles knew that JC, also known as
Tara among the People, owned most of the currency, but the People and the
Great Cats owned far larger quantities of gold and jewels. The Great Cats
also didn't know that they, as well as the Cat People were rapidly catching
up to JC in the currency department as paste sales, marketed as Stuff
around the world, knew no upper limit.

By then Buck and the Great Cats were investigating the actual hospital room
when Doug's peals of laughter were heard. They could no longer be contained
by the pillow. "Douggie, if you don't stop, I'm going to get Freckles and
Spot to give you your next stretching treatment."

"We will help," Freckles volunteered. He assumed Buck wanted Doug stretched
so he was taller. Of course, Buck corrected Freckles with a thought. That's
when the Cats rushed to Doug with every intention of making him longer, not
taller.

Doug was saved by a mind-speak from Noah to say that Bucky's ambulance was
just backing into the hospital's emergency drop off area. He wanted the
room number although Bucky was also using mind-speak to say the room
wouldn't be needed. In fact, he was complaining of being kidnapped by Will
and Joe, his personal bodyguards and senior Trenton company executives.
Victoria noted that her husband's complaints were limited to mind-speakers
so he was talking to an unsympathetic crowd when dealing with a Family
member's health.

"You just shut up, Bucky darling," Victoria cut in to end Bucky's protests.

"When will Buck arrive?" Bucky asked as he was wheeled into an elevator.

"Apparently he and Doug arrived about an hour ago. They're already in your
suite, waiting for you dear. I'm afraid our son is not happy about taking
over, even temporarily, until you are better."

"I hope that's soon my dear, but right now, frankly, I feel like shit."
Bucky finally admitted. Bucky said nothing more until he was rolled into
the special suite lounge. "You know when I included these rooms, I didn't
know I was going to be its first inmate. I just assumed Buck would be
first, with something like a broken bone, or appendicitis, you know kid's
stuff. Is there a hospital room somewhere or do I get my pick of sofas?" He
quipped sarcastically.

Once in the official hospital room and transferred to the waiting bed,
Bucky looked around at the banks of silent, dark monitors. It wasn't until
the orderlies had exited through the hall door, that the crowded room got
even smaller when golden Fang appeared in the company of the living Cats
who dwarfed Buck and Doug who were just as suddenly standing on either side
of the bed.

"In coming," Noah warned from the lounge. He'd been monitoring the hospital
staff on the floor. His early warning meant a squad of hospital staffers
was approaching, preparing to hook Bucky up to the monitors after getting
him out of his clothes, into a hospital gown. The living Cats disappeared
once again as the hall door opened. Only golden Fang and the boys remained.
The boys greeted the nurses and stepped back out of their way while golden
Fang turned ever so slowly so he could watch the procedure through
unblinking emerald eyes.

The machines were activated one by one as sensors were attached to various
parts of Bucky's body with amazing speed. A problem arose early on when the
head nurse ordered Bucky's emerald pendant be removed so it wouldn't
interfere with the sensors attached to his chest.

Buck stepped in before there was an argument or she touched the gem. He
promised the pendant was completely inert and suggested that the machine be
turned on to see if the readings were affected. If they were, then his
father would remove the pendant himself. The nurse agreed and when the
results were within normal parameters, she agreed, the thing could stay.

Thus thwarted, the boss nurse turned her eye to golden Fang; that statue
was in the way, and had to go. Even Bucky laughed at that order. "Go ahead
and move it out to the lounge," he challenged.

The nurse's only comment was that it was warm to the touch, not that she
couldn't move it at all. "Say, Mr. Trenton, how'd you get that thing up
here without being seen?"

"His name is Fang, not thing," Bucky's grinding rocks voice corrected with
a frown. He went on to say Fang was gifted to him by the sculptor and he
liked to keep Fang with him wherever he went. Bucky also mentioned that he
was responsible for the construction of this memorial wing to remember his
father. As a wealthy man, he was entitled to some eccentricities, and
affectations, and his emerald pendant and golden Fang were both.

Bucky was tired and wanted to nap so he wanted to clear the room. He did
that by asking the squad of nurses if they would like to see the living
model. They thought the new patient was joking, so they said, yes.

"Okay ladies, turn around." There sat Fang looming over them, with his tail
politely wrapped around his paws and smiling brightly. The nurses didn't
wait around for Bucky to explain the difference between a Great Cat smile
and a frown. Bucky was still smiling when he dozed off, after he told Buck,
they would talk about the business after his nap.

Buck and Doug walked, not relocated into the lounge. They'd already agreed
they had to get used to walking again not relocating when civilians were
likely to be around to catch them. Victoria had already claimed a chair
close to one side of Bucky's bed to hold her husband's hand, while Golden
Fang moved his bulk to the other. Neither Bucky nor Victoria realized that
Fang had surrounded them with a protective screen that not even a bomb
could break through.

Once in the lounge with nothing to do until Bucky woke up, Buck suggested
that they visit the patient that had been evicted from the suite. Doug had
time to nod once before Leader said, "This Cat will accompany you brave
white warriors." With that said, the boys materialized in a quiet hospital
hallway, sitting on Leader's back.

###

"Damn Leader," Buck complained, "what if someone was around and saw us,
especially saw you?"

Leader managed a snicker, "Then you two brave warriors would be found
sitting up in the air with your legs spread and your paws dangling. This
Cat would not be seen," he replied innocently with mischief in his eyes;
very pleased with his prank.

"For the record, humans have feet, you have paws," Doug reminded after his
and Buck's feet, not paws, touched the floor.

"Would you like to have proper paws?"

"NO!" Buck almost screamed, "You know Leader Great Cat, you're getting as
bad at pulling pranks as Freckles and Spot. Can you tell if anyone is awake
in there?" he asked.

Leader didn't answer. Instead he made a window that included sound. Both
elderly men were not only awake, they were beginning to talk quietly. They
both wanted to know from each other if they died while they were asleep.
They thought they must be dead, that would explain all the fucking smelly
flowers. Plus, they were suddenly sharing a room.

The other agreed, then he wondered if they made it up to heaven or down to
hell. One suggested purgatory while the second man didn't know where that
was, so they mutually decided to take a `wait and see' approach. Then it
was time for introductions. The man from the suite was Andrew, the other
was Walter, known as Walt by others he lived with under an Interstate
bridge.

Walt had planned to winter in Florida as usual, but then he got too sick to
travel. Andrew countered that he owned a home in Palm Beach. He invited
Walt to go down there with him if they were allowed to travel as ghosts
from either heaven or hell, a location that hadn't yet been decided.

Walt immediately called Andrew, Andy. Andy told Walt that no one ever
called him Andy anymore. If they called him anything, they called him Sir
to his face, although he was sure he was called lots of other names behind
his back he said and laughed. Of course, the next topic was why either was
in the hospital.

Walt had been told he had colon cancer while Andy took the high road and
said he had been `diagnosed' with lung cancer while he hadn't smoked a day
in his life. This led him to the desire to try out a Cuban cigar just once
since he didn't think it was possible to catch the same cancer twice. Both
men went on to cuss out their doctors.

The elderly men wished they had been given the opportunity to have a last
meal before they died. Both men agreed that a steak dinner with all the
trimmings would have been ideal. Fucked again, both men agreed.

Traffic out in the hall had picked up since the boys and Leader arrived, or
they were just lucky that no one was in the hall when Leader relocated
them. Once Leader opened the `window', he also put up a screen that he
buffered by a gurney and some unused equipment so no one would run into the
invisible screen that duplicated the wall.

Leader, Doug and Buck had the same idea. Leader agreed with the plan by
`curing' the men's illnesses, of course without their knowledge. Meanwhile
Doug and Buck managed to trade their street clothing for blue hospital
scrubs that all hospital staff wore along with useless stethoscopes and
dangling name/title badges carefully turned backward, so no patient could
tell who did what or identify anyone by name.

Next, Doug was holding a large serving tray that held a pair of complete
ribeye steak dinners with all the trimmings exactly as the men dreamed.
Buck found that he was pushing his mother's rolling tea trolley that had
been set up as a bar once again.

Buck giggled at Leader, "You know Mom's going to kick your furry butt for
snitching her trolley. It's supposed to be hundreds of years old. She
threatened to nut us if we touched it again," he took pleasure in adding.

Leader didn't respond except to tighten his tail around his legs. He
figured Victoria couldn't remove what she couldn't see. He compromised
rather than admit wrong doing, by substituting an empty stainless-steel
hospital trolley but he forgot to keep the booze. He just hoped that no one
had seen the old wooden one that reappeared in the Trenton Hall butler's
pantry.

When the boys were ready, Leader dropped the screen so they could enter the
room, the old fashion way, through the door. Since the boys didn't say no,
Leader followed them. The men didn't see Leader at first. Their eyes and
noses were fixed on the steak dinners and the good looking clean cut
teenage boys, who just had to be angels, so they finally knew where they
were!

Tara Doug the Builder to the rescue when he realized the men had nowhere
comfortable to sit and eat. A table and comfortable chairs were needed.
Buck took care of another problem by asking Leader to remove all the
electrodes from their bodies as well as the oxygen hoses in their noses.

The men watched Doug set the table with their dinners while Buck introduced
themselves, told them they no longer needed the wires or oxygen because
they were cured and they would find that they were easily strong enough to
get out of bed and still stronger after they'd eaten.

"Just Doug and Buck," Andy asked suspiciously or perhaps fearfully, "no
titles, like angel?"

"Nope just first names only," Buck assured as the men took cautious first
steps before the final three at speed to get to the table without pain or
stumbles from weakness as their apparent renewed good health became reality.

"Do we need to say a prayer?" Walt asked with his knife and fork at the
ready.

That was when Leader sneezed.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Andy exclaimed.

"Holy Shit!" Walt agreed. Shocked or not, the `angels' noted that neither
man dropped his knife or fork.

"Goddamnit Leader," Doug said with a frown, "you did that chicken shit
sneeze on purpose," he accused. "Great Cats don't sneeze," he reminded.

"This Great felt he was being ignored and this Cat hungers too. This Cat
wishes to eat food with these two ancient white warriors." With that said,
Leader relocated to sit at the table and stare down at the two steaks.

"Don't worry, this is Leader Great Cat. He's a very good friend when he
isn't playing pranks. He won't hurt you and he won't eat your food, or he
won't unless Doug doesn't get his ass in gear and bring him some food."

Doug's blink caused the round tabletop to become crowded with a gold tray
that was piled with steak sandwiches. It was Walt and Andy's turn to blink
but not pause eating when Leader's tail began handing his mouth one steak
sandwich at a time.

Leader was half finished before he scowled at Doug, "No wine?"

"Damn Leader, you're more demanding than the macaws," Doug groused as a Cat
bowl filled with wine appeared, complete with cherries and pineapple wedges
crowded the table further. "I think you've been in civilization too long.
You need to hightail it back to Sphinx City."

Leader ignored Doug. Instead he asked his dinner mates, "Would you like a
drink?" Of course, he waited to ask until his head was deep in the wine
bowl chasing cherries.

"We're allowed to drink up here?" Andy asked in surprise. Then without
waiting, he turned to Leader, "Exactly how is it that you can talk, or
maybe I shouldn't ask. And, if you're serious, I'd like a Scotch on the
rocks please."

"Same for me if you won't get in trouble," Walt agreed.

"I got the food," Doug reminded Buck, "so it's your turn to fetch the booze
since an unnamed Great Cat returned the booze with Mom's trolley. You may
as well bring the bottle and a bucket of ice to save trips," he added. Andy
grinned when he saw Buck give Doug the finger.

"All teenagers are alike wherever they live, even up here," Andy whispered
to Walt without thinking that the magical cat or the two `angels' could
hear everything that was said or even thought.

Walt rubbed his eyes when he saw Buck disappear, then reappear within
seconds ignoring lesser brands displayed on the hospital trolley, with a
rare 40-year-old bottle of single malt Scotch jammed into an overflowing
ice bucket in one hand, and a pair of gold color squatty goblets that were
studded with colored glass gems. "Utoh, your mom's going to kick your ass
when she discovers who took those two goblets," Doug warned with a laugh,
"or she will after I tell her," he added.

"I'll return them after we get back from taking these guys to Andy's home
in Florida."

Surprised, Andy questioned Buck, "How do you know about my home in Florida?"

"We know pretty much everything about you both," Buck answered cryptically.
Both boys were enjoying playing at being angels. "If you want, we could
take you into New York to your townhouse or your home right out here in the
country."

"Nope, Florida is fine. If we're going to haunt a house, we should pick one
where the weather is always warm. That townhouse and my home here are too
drafty." Andy grinned at a thought, "I can hardly wait to scare the shit
out of my wife and her son. The bitch is my second wife. Three years after
my first wife died, I wanted to remarry a woman who wasn't after my money
because she didn't know I had any. The bitch served me a burger and fries
at a joint near my office. We talked a bit before I asked her out that very
evening. Then we courted for six months. She introduced me to her son after
our second date. Another boy in the family was no problem since I had a son
as well. Sean was older and was on his `walkabout' for a year so I couldn't
introduce him."

"What is walkabout?" Leader questioned as he finished his drink. Doug saw
him about to lift his head so he scurried to the sink to get a towel. When
he returned, he was surprised to see that Leader was clean and dry, with no
pink whiskers. This time Doug gave Leader the finger while Leader giggled
like Buck.

*"All this time, we've been washing Cat faces, while you guys could be
doing it yourselves,"* Doug sent via mind-speak.

*"Great Cats enjoy being pampered,"* Leader countered*, "that is what the
Cat People are for. Only here, there are no Cat People, so..."*

Andy was unaware of the mind-speak conversation. "I got the term from the
Australian aborigines. Their young men often disappear from their homes and
families to walk about the countryside for a long period of time. As I
understand it, when they return, they're ready to be men.

"The day after my son graduated from college, I gave him $100 grand in cash
and told him he was on his own for a year. During that time, I didn't want
to see or hear from him. After a year on the dot, Sean walked in the door.
The first thing he did was give me the $100K back and said he was ready to
go to work. I still don't know what the boy did for a year, I just made the
young man my executive vice president and now that I'm gone, the company is
his."

"I wouldn't be too hasty about giving your company away," Buck cautioned.

Doug jumped into the discussion, "Yeah, you guys aren't really dead. But,
since you thought you were, we played along. All we, I mean Leader did was
to fix your bodies so you're not going to die from cancer."

Before either boy or Leader could explain further, the door opened to
reveal a nurse, or presumed to be a nurse. Walt and Andy looked from her to
Leader and back to see her reaction to having a giant Cat in the room. The
only problem was, Leader had disappeared.

The lady looked at all the flowers and then at Walt, the only patient who
was supposed to be in the room. Since he was indigent he certainly had no
known relatives to send him flowers (or pay the hospital bill). Also, she
assumed if Walt had any friends they would most likely be indigent as well,
therefore not likely to be sending him or anyone else flowers. Then she
spied a second patient, as yet unnamed, who had been occupying the second
bed.

Since dinner was finished the men had their feet up on a table that wasn't
there earlier, enjoying a second drink from a bottle of booze sitting on
the table along with what looked like a gold ice bucket, with both casually
puffing on what looked like foot long cigars in a hospital!  This was not
to be tolerated. The woman filled her lungs with smoky air in preparation
of berating the patients when she fainted.

The woman didn't have time to fall. Leader's tail wrapped around her neck
appeared first, then the rest of him as he lowered her to the floor. "Right
on Leader," Walt congratulated. He turned to his new friend Andy, "That
there is my bitch. Always making snide comments about what a burden I am to
the tax payers."

"That was close, we better get you guys to Palm Beach. First you need
clothes," Doug said, "We can't have you appearing with your asses hanging
out of those hospital gowns. Leader, would you mind..."

He didn't need to say more. Leader winked out only to return a minute later
along with a small mountain of men's clothing. "Some of those look like
mine," Andy guessed.

"That is because I took them from the hut you live in locally," Leader
agreed. "You both appear to be the same size. You should dress quickly."

"Hut?" Andy giggled like a teenager, "I never heard a house that size
called a hut before. That's a good one Leader."

"Thank you."

While the men dressed, Victoria's goblets were replaced with leaded crystal
that had also been filled with ice and Scotch. Leader stuck the men's
lighted cigars in their mouths and used his tail to `hand' them their
drinks. Doug took Walt's free hand while Buck took Andy's while Leader
caused the remaining clothing to disappear. Then there was a moment of
disorientation before the group was standing in a great room with a glass
wall that looked out on the ocean.

"This Cat has been here before," Leader stated. "You have a grandson who
has the name, Dolf."

"That's right, Dolf is my stepson's kid. He's a nice boy, just a little
strange, but completely normal compared to his parents. I imagine my
asshole stepson and his wife are away on another vacation, but Dolf should
be around here somewhere. He has a live-in bodyguard and a tutor to take
care of him. If I could get rid of those two creeps, I'd take him to live
with me and turn him into a man with a work ethic, not a professional
vacationer. Say, how'd you come to be in this house, I mean hut, Leader?"
Andy asked with a laugh at his little joke. He guessed no one had ever
called this home a hut either.

"Dolf was doing some bad things that those two creeps put him up to. He'll
be away from here for a year too, but he's fine and probably enjoying
himself. The two creeps as you call them are in prison for the rest of
their lives for what they did. We can't say any more," Buck concluded.

Doug added, "Maybe in a month or so, after you get used to your new healthy
bodies, you could go and visit him?"

Walt had remained silent until then, just staring out at the ocean and palm
trees. He shook himself and offered his hand to Andy. "I guess I'll be
going now. Thanks for your company in that hospital, these nice new clothes
and the quick trip to Florida," he said to the boys.

"Just where do you think you're going buddy?" Andy asked and refused to
shake Walt's hand.

"I need to find a nice dry, safe place to sleep before it gets dark."

"Well come on up stairs and pick out a bedroom. We just became friends and
I want to keep it that way," Andy said with his arm over Walt's shoulder to
lead him to the staircase. "This might surprise you, but I'm not exactly
over-run with friends. The people that sent me all those flowers were
probably hoping that I'd be allergic which would speed up my trip to the
grave." Andy laughed but Walt looked shocked.

"In that case, maybe I'll stay with you for a few days until you get
settled, like Doug said."

When the men turned back to the boys and Leader, they were gone.

###

Buck, Doug and Leader winked into the lounge attached to Bucky's hospital
room where they found Buck's mother, Victoria, Will and Joe as well as
their guards, David and Noah. Noah was flexing his fingers and grinning. "I
think you both deserve a nap for leaving us behind," Noah warned the truant
pair.

"No wait Noah, we just went to see if the guy we relocated from Dad's room
was alright. We stayed in the hospital honest," Buck protested. "After a
lightening trip to Florida, that is," he mumbled. Then he said louder. "No
one knew we were going there so we weren't in any danger so put your damn
fingers on hold."

With Bucky incapacitated, Buck's safety was of paramount importance since
he had suddenly become the Trenton Organization leader, hopefully, only
temporarily with Bucky's quick recovery. Both boys were leery of Noah's
ability to put anyone to sleep if he got his fingers on the back of the
offender's neck and they were his most frequent targets if either
misbehaved.

"Well in this case, since Leader was with you, I'll just let you go."

"Wait, how do you know Leader was with us?" Doug wanted to know.

Noah giggled, "We know because he kept reporting that you were both okay.
If he or one of the other Cats wasn't with you, Dave and I would have been
on you like flies on cow shit," he promised.

"Noah please," Victoria scolded although she was smiling.

"Sorry Victoria, but I had to put it terms these two pumpkin heads
understand."

Victoria brought Buck and Doug up to date. The two specialists were with
Bucky at the moment, which was the reason she was sitting in the lounge,
not in the room holding Bucky's hand. That's when the two men walked from
Bucky's room. After they reported they had no news, good or bad, Victoria
started to go into the room only to find that the room was empty.

The doctors were quick to tell her that Bucky was sent to have a battery of
tests. He'd been wheeled from his room through the hall door. Then they
told Victoria that after the tests were completed and he was returned to
the room, he'd be given a sedative to begin any recovery while they
reviewed the test results. Sleep was the best medicine for him at the
moment until they got the results so they could develop a game plan. They
urged her to go home, rest and get a good night's sleep herself.

Of course, Victoria was used to having her own way. The men and boys in the
room braced for her explosion, but it didn't happen. Somehow, she
controlled her impulse to figuratively `chew' the two doctors, new
assholes. She simply sighed and nodded, then left the lounge in Will and
Joe's company after she advised them that an assistant chef and Hamilton,
the Trenton butler were on their way to the hospital. The chef would cook
while Hamilton would serve Bucky's food and anything else he wanted

While walking down the hall to the elevators, Victoria felt reassuring
whiskers on both cheeks. She smiled to her right and left. She couldn't see
them, but she knew that Freckles and Spot had appointed themselves as her
bodyguards and were walking beside her despite Will and Joe's presence.

Once outside the hospital's main doors, her smile broadened when she saw
her ride. It was Leader's personal Cat Mobile. Inside the bus for the first
time, she was surprised to find one long comfortable sofa facing forward,
right in front of the windshield. She was temporarily shocked to notice
that there was no steering wheel, shift lever of any kind, nor was there a
gas or break peddle. Will and Joe were equally amazed.

Then when they heard a snuffle behind them, they looked back to see
Freckles and Spot stretched out on Leader's Cat bed and smiling back at
them brightly.

"Dare I ask, which of you is driving?" Will wondered sarcastically.

"I am!" The twin Cats answered together, just before their ears flattened
and their `smiles' turned into Great Cat frowns.

Victoria returned to her imperious ways. "Don't you two dare start a rough
and tumble! At least not until we return home safe and sound," she warned
with a sweeping gaze that included both twins equally.

Suddenly both Cats let out very real yowls when none other than Great Cat
Leader himself joined them by landing his greater bulk on the Cat siblings
and making them move in opposite directions until both were pasted against
the deeply tinted windows on opposite sides, so Leader had the space to
stretch out on HIS bed.

"This Cat will drive," Leader stated unequivocally. The human doors locked,
as the engine started and ready or not, they were on the way to Trenton
Hall, rolling out from the hospital portico.

Leader drove slowly and carefully until they reached the less well traveled
country roads. When the three humans felt a cold draft, they looked back to
see Leader was sitting up with his head out of the open sunroof as the
vehicle's speed increased dramatically. They could also see that Freckles
and Spot had prudently `bailed' to somewhere else.

Then as they rounded a sharp curve on the wrong side of the road, the
humans saw that they were about to have a head-on collision with a large
dump truck. They were a second from dying, when suddenly they were parked
at the Trenton Hall front door, under the portico, with the engine off. It
was as if the custom Cat Mobile hadn't moved since the last time anyone saw
it.

"Oh my, that was certainly exhilarating," Victoria breathed as she thumped
her chest. "I wonder if Bucky's room can hold another bed.'" She quipped
while pushing big Will out of the bus' human door, she hoped, before Leader
decided to extend their ride.

"Make that one more bed and bunkbeds for us. Just think of the savings!"
Will said with a laugh. "Did you know the hospital was charging the former
occupant, an elderly man, five grand a day for that suite?"

"Maybe he decided to pass on while enjoying some luxury, if any hospital
room could be considered luxurious," Victoria suggested with a foot on the
first stair.

"This Cat, Tara Doug and his mate Buck, corrected his cancer problem,"
Leader Great Cat volunteered while sitting in the center of the rotunda as
if he was Golden Fang. "The man, Andy, and his new friend Walt, are now in
Andy's home in Florida," he informed.

"The guys did say they made a lightening trip to Florida, but they didn't
say why. You guys did a good thing Leader," Will congratulated Leader while
scratching his ears to get a rumbling purr out of the Ancient Great Cat.

###

Freckles and Spot reappeared in the suite's lounge suddenly. Doug and Buck
thought both Cats looked a bit frazzled, unusual for a Great Cat. They took
turns explaining that they considered Leader to be the world's worst ever
driver and they barely escaped with their pelts before he killed them all
with a head-on collision.

"Are my mother and the guys alright?" Buck asked quickly. It turned out
that everyone was fine, but all held the same opinion of Leader Great Cat's
driving skills, or lack thereof.

When Buck found out that his father would be at least another hour taking
tests, he suggested that they investigate Joe, the hospital administrator
further. Buck and Doug knew that Bucky always appeared to have unlimited
free time. Only they and Victoria knew that he could be found in his study,
working at any time of night or early morning. In that regard Bucky
considered himself lucky that he was an insomniac and with the addition of
`Stuff' in his system regularly, he could get a full night's sleep in one
or two hours. He could get his daily `work' done, make love to Victoria and
still get a `full' night's sleep.

Buck, Doug and the Cats disappeared from the suite, but only Buck and Doug
reappeared in the country club. Of course, Freckles and Spot were there
too, ready to have some amusement scaring the shit out of anyone Buck
wanted scared.

The boy's first target was the cocktail lounge bartender. In order to have
a beer, they needed to look older. Freckles and Spot accepted the
challenge. Doug suddenly appeared to be his father while Buck was the exact
image of Bucky.

The bartender only blinked when the boys ordered beer because Mr. Trenton
and Mr. Henderson had previously ordered bourbon and Scotch on the rocks
respectively. The bartender was pleased that he didn't just serve them to
display his memory skills, before they ordered, because staff were
forbidden to drink their `mistakes', which almost eliminated mistakes.

The boys had settled on stools bracketing the hospital administrator. Joe
was easy to find because he was the only drunk sitting at the bar and
sitting so he kept at least on hand on the edge of the bar so he wouldn't
topple off the stool.

It was also easy to strike up a conversation with the fool. Joe admitted
that it seemed no other members wanted to talk to him. He was shunned and
didn't know it.

The reason was clear. Joe was a corporate member not a regular member.
Corporate members meant the company paid the bills. There were a few other
corporate members but none abused their privileges like Joe. If he'd
applied for a regular membership, assuming he had the initiation and annual
fee and a member sponsor, he would have been black balled from the get go.
Members weren't snobs but they most favored people just like themselves.
People who worked hard during the day, perhaps had a business lunch at the
club occasionally, if they worked nearby, and used the club amenities
evenings and weekends. Joe treated the exclusive club as if it was a
neighborhood bar; somewhere to hang out and get sloppy drunk for free.

Further questioning revealed that Joe had cleverly delegated his duties and
responsibilities to a three-person team who shared an office down the hall,
far away from his, he bragged, so no one would know. One guy was even
allowed to forge Joe's signature.

That was enough for Buck, it was time to call in the Cats to perhaps scare
this guy into sobriety. Doug began laughing when he saw his and Buck's
images in the bar back mirror. Their heads in the mirror had been replaced
with Freckles' and Spot's. He could look at Buck directly, but not in the
mirror.

It wasn't long before Joe began to rub his eyes, look in the mirror, rub
his eyes again and then look to the right and left again only to see his
two new drinking buddies. But, each time he looked in the damn mirror, the
Cat heads were still there.

Then when he directed Doug and Buck's attention to the mirror, of course
they began to look at him strangely even though they saw the Cat heads on
their shoulders, grinning mouths full of teeth and by then, wiggling their
ears back and forth. They also took the liberty of mind-speaking the
success of their prank until Tara Doug reminded the Cats not to brag.

Joe suddenly tried to stand up and almost fell. The boys took his arms to
half carry Joe out to the lobby. Along the way, Buck mind-spoke Leader to
see if he and his Cat Mobile were available to give someone the drive of
his life from the country club, back to the guy's hut.

By way of answering, the boys watched the air in front of the club begin to
shimmer before Leader's Cat Mobile appeared. This time with Leader sitting
up with his head above the roof and grinning. That image was enough for
Joe. He fainted or the rest of the booze in his system reached his brain.
Whatever, Buck and Doug had to carry the sorry dude to the human door and
stuff him in.

Then as a joke, they asked Freckles and Spot to accompany Joe. That's when
the Great Cat twins disappeared from everyone's mind to the sound of
everyone's mind-speak laughter.

"How rude," Leader commented. "This Cat will find helpers," he added.

With that barely said, Kad and Sidi, both very brave Cat People warriors
appeared on the human sofa. With instructions from Leader, they soon had
Joe sitting upright with his eyes open fully and looking around to see
where he was, as well as check the area for those mysterious, very
freighting Cat heads.

To those at the country club not in the `know', the elegant RV bus was
assumed to be a member's ride that day with one notable exception. Custom
vehicles occasionally had some extra exterior ornamentation such as a
distinctive hood ornament or paint scheme. This RV was different. It was
decked out with a roof ornament. A lifelike cat's head that would have
appeared to be real except for its size.

Leader kept his head straight forward so he gave the appearance of being a
clever (read expensive) fake as the bus began to move forward, away from
the clubhouse. "Leader Great Cat," Kad said timidly. He was aware that this
Cat was a true Ancient and he wasn't sure how Leader would react when
someone like a lowly Cat warrior corrected him.

"Yes, Cat warrior?"

"Shouldn't the engine be running before your very fine conveyance moves?"

Leader didn't answer but the engine began to rumble slightly while the Cat
Mobile picked up more and more speed. Suddenly, Kad felt Leader's tail
wrapped around his neck and lifted above the roof with his head in the
freezing cold air, and something else; he was naked, all his white warrior
clothing was gone. He only had time to look Leader in his eyes before
Leader gave his face a hearty slurp. Then Leader lifted him further, too
fast for a human to see. The slurp continued right down to include his
coupler so he ended up with a wide telltale blue paste stripe straight down
his body.

Leader spoke then; "You and your warrior mate will be this Cat's friends
henceforth," he declared. Kad noted that Leader wasn't asking.

"Yes, Great Cat Leader. It will be an honor to serve you, but first, my
coupler is bursting. That was a hint," Kad dared to add.

Leader allowed a chuckle, both out loud and via mind-speak as Kad was
lowered back to the human sofa. There he found Sidi, also naked and wearing
a matching paste stripe that ended at his coupler that was also pulsing
with need.

The brave Cat warriors pushed white warrior Joe to the window so they had
room to do what Cat warriors do to satisfy their needs. That was when the
cold draft ended abruptly. Leader wanted to watch his new Cat friends,
couple and lend assistance if and when needed.

Leader noted that white warrior Joe was watching Kad and Sidi with bulging
eyes. He was watching the warriors give each other light couples to begin
with. A simple mind touch revealed that this white warrior was far more
than interested academically, he wished he could actually participate.

When Joe looked down at his body, he found that he was also as naked as the
two exotic Asian-looking boys he was watching. Joe was so transfixed, he
didn't notice a Cat tail stroking his body. He did notice when the tail
dove down between his legs, which he opened for ease of access. He also
began squirming when the tail entered his body. It was a recurring dream
he'd had since he reached puberty.

Now Joe was glad he'd used his guest membership in the gym to work out as
well as spend time in the steam room, sauna and shower room to look at
other young men's bodies and dream. He decided that when this current dream
ended, he would return to the gym as well as return the suggestive looks
he'd received from a few other guys, hospital administrator or not.

With a nudge from Leader, he decided that he probably drank too much, too
regularly out of frustration with his love life. There were even guys who
were nurses and aids in the hospital and maybe one or two doctors he'd
seen, who had given him that special `look', the one he'd been careful not
to return only because he didn't want to jeopardize his position. What he
was really doing was ignoring his God given gaydar and all but destroying
his personal life.

Leader directed Joe's attention back to the little warriors after they'd
gotten their light couples out of the way to sort of drain their
inexhaustible `tanks' as it were, before entering each other to enjoy more
serious couples. Kad and Sidi looked Joe's body over carefully. They
mutually decided that his white warrior body would be exciting to couple
with.

They knew from experience that Joe was almost ready to lose his virginity
and would be after Great Cat Leader's tail finished its internal work.
Better yet the Great Cat tapped them to couple with him several times until
the white warrior began to pant for more. He looked forward to other
couplers entering his body.

But first, the warriors needed more space than this cramped Cat Mobile sofa
could provide. Leader heard, and parked his ride before it disappeared to
be instantly replaced with Great Cat Leader's bed in his resting place in
Sphinx City. It seemed to Joe that his nightmare had returned with a
vengeance.

Not only was a cat head back, he was suddenly looking up from flat on his
back with the rest of the cat's body sitting on a giant bed looking down on
his helpless body. Joe thought hungrily, even though its tail continued its
work. Whatever the tail was doing, he never wanted it to stop as he began
thrusting his hips up off the bed to encourage the tail to go even deeper.

When Leader decided white warrior Joe was ready to receive his first real
coupler, he appointed Kad to be first as a reward for his earlier reminder
about the engine. Sidi decided to pout by asking Kad if he needed help
finding the entry point. That insult was designed to get Kad to retaliate
by starting a rough and tumble in return for the insult. It was also
intended to delay Kad's couple.

That in turn got Leader to pitch Sidi off the bed, into the shimmering
pool. "Stay there until Cat warrior Kad finishes," Leader admonished the
boy out loud.

Joe hadn't seen the pool earlier, but when he saw the boy in a very fine
man's body, splash in but didn't see him surface, he became concerned that
Sidi was drowning. When Leader told Joe to look in the pool, he saw the
boy/man sitting comfortably on the bottom, looking up, grinning back and
waving at him. "Do not worry," Sidi sent directly into Joe's mind, "my mate
never takes long to couple, even the tenth time."

Of course, Sidi intentionally allowed Kad to hear the snide comment as well
as Leader, unintentionally. Suddenly, there was a horrendous splash when
Leader and his tail decided to discipline Sidi further by giving him a
rough and tumble he would not soon forget.

It seemed the Ancient Great Cat had forgotten how fun loving and durable a
Cat warrior's body really was since untold millennia had passed since he'd
seen or interacted with one. At first, Leader's body more than blanketed
poor little Sidi. As Sidi slid out from under the Cat, he used his hands-on
Leader's sides and made a discovery; Leader Great Cat was ticklish, very
ticklish.

With that knowledge, Sidi went on the offensive. He was everywhere around
the Cat's massive body. He was exploring places where Leader was most
sensitive. Leader began floundering and trying to avoid laughing, which
made his tail, his primary weapon, useless. Luckily the pool was shallow so
he stood up with Sidi sitting on his back, facing backward, way back near
his hips, with his steel-like fingers, still boring into both Leader's
sides.

While Sidi had been giggling all during his assault, Leader was finally
able to laugh out loud, strangely using his own voice, not imitating
someone else's voice through his pendant. The sound was a combination of a
purr with rapid growls interspersed with his ears pitched forward as far as
they could go.

Brave Cat warrior Sidi claimed victory by asking very bravely, "Do you
yield Great Cat?" using his fingers to punctuate every word of the question.

"This Great Cat yields," Leader admitted defeat, fortunately, in the
privacy of his resting place in the heart of his silent City with only his
Cat warrior friends present. The white warrior, Joe, didn't count.

When Sidi's fingers stopped, Leader was able to use his tail to fling him
back to the bed. Right on top of Kad, who at the moment was poking Joe's
sweet spot using his coupler, not his fingers. Leader followed by
relocating as his internal systems returned to normal. That would be,
`normal' for a Great Cat.

Suddenly, Leader looked up at the ceiling or perhaps all the way up to
ground level. He was actually looking into Bucky's hospital room through
golden Fang's eyes, half a world away. He'd been summoned by golden Fang to
attend a meeting between Bucky, his son, Buck, and Doug.

###

"It seems that I need to have some kind of heart surgery, that I won't bore
you with," Bucky began after hugging Buck and Doug individually while his
body was being massaged by the original Fang and Leader's tails. Bucky
understood the Great Cat's healing limits and knew they weren't messing
with his heart, they were just stimulating blood flow throughout his body
and limbs.

"Right now," Bucky continued, "Freckles and Spot are keeping Victoria
asleep while we talk so she won't be in here harassing the specialists, the
other doctors or the rest of the hospital staff." Even Bucky chuckled at
his statement. They all knew how Victoria's ways of harassing people could
be when she wanted something they didn't wish to provide.

Then Bucky said to his only son, "I know you're completely familiar with
the Organization's internal operations. It's almost self-sustaining with a
bit of help from Will and Joe, but you'll always need to keep your eyes on
the smaller more public divisions. They always seem to be in a state of
flux. Right now, one wants to get into the drug trade even though the boss
man knows the risks he takes from me if I see so much as white dust from a
broken bag blowing across our borders. The easiest way to control him is to
totally annihilate the cartel he's dealing with as a way of saying, `You're
next.' If that doesn't scare him back into line, treat him like Jorge was
treated."

Bucky was referring to a certain cartel leader who was fatally interested
in stealing JC's rooms full of currency, five billion of which Jorge paid
JC for his total operation. Just after the money changed hands, JC blew
everything up as well as informed the American DEA about most of Jorge's
remote manufacturing sites which effectively put him out of business.

Bucky changed tacks after Buck nodded that he understood. "After surgery, I
was ordered to take a long vacation. If it's alright with you Doug, I'd
like to spend that time at Dagger Cay. I may even try to attract a bird to
take care of."

Doug shrugged and looked at Buck. "Of course, it's okay by me, but
remember, my partner owns a 50 percent interest, he might object," Doug
said in fun.

Buck scratched his chin in thought before he agreed accompanied by a
Trenton giggle. "But if you manage to attract a bird or a couple, you'll
have to pay the food bill. We'll sell you all you want."

"Better look out Doug, the new boss of the Trenton Organization, might be
trying to take over Dagger Cay," Bucky warned.

"Are you kidding Dad? Doug showed me the bills for bird food. I'll never
touch his half of Dagger, especially now that you just agreed to pay for my
half of the bird food bill!" Buck countered.

That drew middle fingers from Doug and Bucky before the hospital room broke
up in laughter and caused Bucky's machines to spike. That in turn caused
the room to fill up with nurses, who expelled everyone except Bucky from
the room. Of course, the living Cats had already disappeared to somewhere
else, which left Golden Fang, alone with Bucky.

The head nurse frowned at Golden Fang once again but didn't attempt to move
him like she did previously. "Don't even think about it," Bucky warned her,
"And from now on, wherever I go in this hospital, the statue goes with me.
He's my personal security," he concluded.

"We'll just see about that," the nurse promised. "That dirty thing won't
ever get into surgery."

"Yes, we'll see about that," Bucky parroted before he dropped off to take
another nap.

This time, Golden Fang moved faster to the side of the bed, which allowed
the head nurse to see the movement. She couldn't see Fang cast a security
net over Bucky' bed that would require a bomb to breach, while it allowed
for the wires and tubes connecting Bucky's body to the monitors. When she
finally left the room, she'd convinced herself that the statue's movement
was a delusion or an illusion.

###

Buck and Doug waited for Victoria's arrival out in the lounge. They wanted
to gift Buttercup House Cat with a scaled down pendant so she could more
easily `talk' to the Great Cats and begin her education to improve her
special skills while she was still growing and maturing. The pendant was
also more in the nature of a bribe. They had an ulterior motive. They
wanted one of the kittens that hadn't been adopted out, to present to Andy
and Walt at Andy's home in Florida.

The only male, Douggie House Cat and little Hughey had already adopted each
other and Douggie had been proudly wearing his pendant for nearly two
weeks. It seemed that Douggie was already becoming skilled at talking via
close range mind-speak. He also kept Hughey aware of what was happening
anywhere on the huge ranch without him being there, by somehow showing
images to Hughie while the clever house cat rode comfortably on the boy's
shoulder wherever he went if Hughie was wearing a shirt or coat. If the boy
was sans clothes, they resorted to using a wash cloth or tea towel on his
shoulder. Then Douggie noticed a selection of potholders in the kitchen.
The little Cat somehow adopted one of those and managed to keep it hidden
in nothingness until it's thick padding was needed when Hughie stripped.
The potholder was much like a flying carpet that protected delicate skin
from needle sharp claws.

Douggie House Cat did something else. He was a direct `phone' line between
Hughie and his mate, Squeak when the boys were apart. This allowed Squeak
to summon Hughie so they could share an adventure together. More
importantly, either boy could visit the other's bed, the hay loft in the
stable, out on the open range, in Little Pettie and Scott's home or
anywhere else where the boys were unlikely to be caught coupling in Texas.

Big Pettie, Hughie's father, had also come to like and accept the two
petite Irish boys, Sean and Finn, of course as well as the four miniature
Cat warriors, he was told were Squeak's personal guards since they began
accompanying Squeak, whenever he suddenly appeared at the ranch for a
sleepover. Spot had explained the Irish lads were refugees from a poor
orphanage that the Family had rescued where they'd been regularly
mistreated.

Big Pettie barely blinked when bold Squeak asked if the two could sleep in
the same bed as he and Hughie. This arrangement was because the 14-year-old
lads had become used to sleeping in a bed jamb packed with other boys in
their orphanage and now it was the only way they could get a good night's
sleep.

Big Pettie checked Hughie's bed the first night just to be sure the older
boys weren't taking advantage of Hughie and Squeak. He was pleased to see
all four boys, sound asleep with their heads above the blanket, resting on
the same pillow, with Douggie House Cat sleeping, curled around Hughie's
head on the pillow. He also noted four humps under the bedding, further
down in the bed. It seemed the unusual had become the usual when it came to
Hughie's sleeping arrangements.

Satisfied, Big Pettie headed down the hallway to join his wife in their
room where the scent of Stuff hung heavy in the air. From that night on,
the Irish boys were always welcome whenever Squeak appeared, with his and
their sudden appearances becoming commonplace anywhere on the ranch
wherever Hughie happened to be.

As soon as Hughie's bedroom door closed that first night, the four boys,
the mini-guards and one little Cat relocated to Hughie's bedroom in Little
Pettie and Scott's home on the other side of the ranch. Very briefly in the
same positions in the bed.

Since the four boys were already coated in Stuff, it didn't take long for
them to shift bodies. With the biggest couplers owned by Hughie and Finn on
top of Squeak and Sean, the two with normal size couplers for their ages.
Once mounted on their respective lovers, Douggie House Cat could be found
anywhere on or somewhere around any of the four boys, industriously
relaying feelings back and forth among the boy's minds. Douggie
particularly enjoyed sitting on a butt cheek for the exciting ride, much
like riding a bull or a bucking horse.

Conversely, Hughie's parents got used to his short absences from the ranch
for an hour or two, or all night after lights out if they noticed. They
correctly assumed he was safe with his best buddy Squeak. It was then the
four boys could frequently be found in Leader's resting place in Sphinx
City, anywhere in Cat City, the Cat People's village or anywhere in the
surrounding jungle. Big Pettie knew that wherever the boys were, a Great
Cat was somewhere close by. It also didn't hurt that Big Pettie knew about
Squeak's fingers.

Whichever Cat, he was always ready to relay sights, sounds, tastes and
feelings coming from a menu of older guys in the Family of them coupling in
some way either in action currently or recorded for future use/viewing by
other Family members. Of course, after Hughie adopted Douggie House Cat as
his Cat friend, Douggie took over some of those responsibilities as his
powers grew with his body and mind.

Better yet, once half grown Douggie House Cat experienced a coupling close
up between Sean and Finn, he was eager to relay the happening directly into
Hughie and Squeak's minds. Unfortunately, Douggie ignored time zones or
international date lines and whether Hughie and Squeak were together or
not, when he happily relayed Family couplings he found most interesting.

At first Douggie had a control problem. Some of the coupling scenes he
relayed to Hughie, leaked into Big Pettie, his father's mind if father and
son were close together. Big Pettie was shocked at seeing some of the boys
he'd met, all friends of his oldest son, coupling together. Then he became
more interested as he found gays having sex together wasn't a great deal
different than hetero couples. What he was accidentally viewing was just
like watching conventional porno videos with the addition of an extra cock
and no boobs on athletic blue tinted bodies.

Whenever it occurred, Big Pettie would just stop whatever he was doing,
leaving Hughie behind, and make his way to the ranch house. He never had a
problem getting his wife to lay down for a brief `nap'. All that was
required was a loud, obviously fake yawn, and the tube-like display in his
tight jeans.

#######

Buck took his father's advice about wreaking havoc on the cartel who
intended to supply cocaine north of the Mexican border to one of the
alleged organized crime bosses who was associated with the Trenton
Organization. He only waited until his father's operation was successfully
completed and Bucky with Victoria had flown to Dagger Cay to begin
recuperating.

While Evan had relied on his private army to get things done, Buck chose to
try the `modern' way. That is, he'd asked for Freckles and Spot's help. So,
with Tara Doug and the two Great Cats, Buck's `army' was complete and ready
to take on the Samosa Cartel starting with Carlos Samosa, the current
leader.

Carlos took great joy in locating his rancho bordering the Rio Grande river
so he could look across the river and see the US Border Patrol looking back
impotently. He and the Border Patrol knew that there was not one milligram
of white powder on the entire rancho.

Since the boys and Cats couldn't just appear inside Samosa's hacienda
without first knowing what it looked like, Buck decided on a two-pronged
advance. Freckles decided to join the weekly butcher's meat delivery by
riding in the refrigerated truck, of course with the substantial meat order
since Samosa was feeding well over 500. These included servants, rancho
workers as well as 50 personal guards.

The Great Cat boarded the truck while it was being loaded, when the back
doors were wide open. At first, he was crowded by hanging sides of meat and
suffered the indignity until the doors were closed. Then he made room for
his bulk by devouring enough so he had room.

All during the one-hour ride, the driver and his helper wondered what the
occasional cracking sounds were, but continued on since the noise didn't
seem to affect the truck mechanically. Freckles relished the taste of fresh
beef marrow after he cracked open the heavier bones. He was glad that Tara
Doug wasn't around since he disliked the noise and always banished the Cats
from the dinner table, to outside until they finished they called, "the
best part of the meal."

While Freckles was advancing over the roads, Spot was going over-land. Spot
chose the tallest tree on the Mexican side of the river he could see from
the Texas side. As luck would have it, he appeared in the middle of a herd
of wild swine who were having a siesta under the tree, having just swum
across the Rio Grande from Texas.

Freckles noted that these swine were much smaller than those hunted at
home, but they appeared to be twice as fast as they scattered in all
directions while squealing out the danger that entered their midst.
Freckles was sorely tempted to chase down a snack, but carried on with the
mission. There was no doubt, Freckles and Spot would have a lively hunt as
soon as the business at hand had been terminated.

>From the tree, he made shorter but quicker hops until he was on the grounds
near the swimming pool with the target hut hidden by some dense shrubbery.
The pool was just too tempting on such a warm day. Freckles hoped no one
heard the splash - after the fact.

Unfortunately, someone did. A guard appeared, brandishing the usual AK-47.
He immediately saw the large strange shape walking around the bottom of the
deep end, and the wet tile deck, but hesitated to fire his weapon because
the sound would cause a general alarm. What if he was seeing things? The
guard knew of another who had made that mistake. It was his first mistake,
and his last!

Freckles could have appeared behind the guard. With a quick crunch, the
body could be hidden in the plantings. However, he decided to be sporting.
He appeared facing the dude. Freckles' sudden appearance caused another
hesitation. That was the guard's last. Then, after the body was hidden and
the blood removed, Freckles stuck his head through the screening hedge so
he could see the hut's side. This hut, while large, was not nearly as
ostentatious as Chief Bucky's.

It was from this advantage that he summoned Buck and Tara Doug. Freckles
felt the boys should do some of the work by actually entering the hut
before he did and subdue any dangers they encountered. He could have told
them there were five people in the room opposite from where he sat, one of
them being Carlos Samosa, but he didn't. Buck and Doug, particularly Tara
Doug needed to explore his expanded powers, gained from being a Tara that
thus far, he was only vaguely aware.

The boys surprised Freckles when they simply appeared in front of the
French doors that led to the room in question. Neither was over-dressed or
even dressed as an invading army. Both wore shorts and pull-over shirts
although Freckles noted that Doug was carrying his all-powerful Tara Tool
palmed in one hand.

Then so as not to be shot, Buck actually knocked on the door and waited for
someone to answer his knock as if they were casually visiting, and just
stopped by. The door was yanked open with force by a gun-toting guard
wearing a mean expression. There was also a spate of Spanish, crying and
some moans coming from further in the room.

"Is this a bad time?" Buck asked the guard, followed by, "We're here to
inquire about buying a ton of top quality coke, and we were referred to a
Mr. Samosa who is supposed to live here," Buck said wearing a hopeful
innocent expression.

The guard looked at the two young gringos in amazement before he looked
back into the room to get instructions. Doug spoke up since the handgun
pointed at them remained unwavering. "You know having a gun pointed at
potential customers isn't very hospitable, so perhaps we should just clear
the room of all those nasty weapons."

With that said, the guard felt his hand empty along with another weapon in
the small of his back as well as one in a holster fixed to his ankle. Then
he watched in amazement as all the other weapons secreted about the room
drifted to the door in front of Doug, just before they also disappeared.

Freckles watched Tara Doug raise his hand and direct the unarmed guard to
the opposite side of the room before he stepped aside and bowed Buck into
the room as if it was his home and he was doing the inviting. Doug looked
back to wave Freckles in and walked right into Buck's back. Buck was frozen
in place as he stared at a man, assumed to be Samosa, who was busy raping
what appeared to be a barely pubescent girl. She was the source of the
crying and moans.

Doug raised his hand once again to have the man drift up into the air to
swim helplessly without otherwise moving. Of course, it didn't stop the
cursing. Doug took care of that incessant noise with a gag, which caused
the floating man to begin crying. That's when Freckles appeared to be
sitting at Doug's side.

As soon as Freckles arrived, there was more crying, this time hysterical,
that came from a nearby sofa. There were two naked boys there who appeared
to be about the same age as the girl. The boys hoped they would be
forgotten if they remained silent and unmoving according to Freckles' quick
mind scan.

"In English please Freckles, I don't think I speak Spanish yet," Doug
requested with a laugh at the helpful Cat.

Freckles not only translated, he also spoke, which got the three youngsters
crying in fear again. Then he dressed the girl in her discarded clothing
before he restored her virginity while he explained that he never hurt good
people, but he would hurt bad people like Samosa. He set that pervert
spinning since Doug already had him drifting above the floor.

The three were from the rancho's village that housed all the peon workers.
Doug was horrified after he touched Samosa's mind. The man thought it his
duty and his right to remove all troublesome virginities, both males and
females, on his rancho as soon as the children showed the first signs of
maturation. Females first of course, the boys second after they watched
what was in store for them as soon as he finished with the girl.

Doug began giggling after a glance at the two boys. While he couldn't read
their Spanish minds, it was clear to him that they had become lovers and
were no longer troubled by their virginities. He gave them their collected
clothing, allowed them to dress and with the girl between them, he sent
them off to their homes with hand motions. Then he frowned at the spinning
man.

Samosa was spinning slowly as if he'd been spitted and was on a rotisserie.
That gave Doug an idea -- a death that would be appropriate for such filth.
First, he used his Tara tool to summon the man's wealth.

Samosa really began to cry when he saw shrink wrapped bales of currency
begin to appear and stack themselves in rows, four bales high. "Obviously,
you haven't been in business very long. Either that, or you're a piss poor
businessman," Buck observed. "Still, there's enough here to give all your
peons a new start after your untimely demise," he continued.

Buck turned to Doug, "Okay Tara Doug, do your thing with this cash. If
there's going to be a pig roast, we wouldn't want it burned up. We'll have
to figure out an equitable way to distribute it to the rancho's people so
someone doesn't come in and rip them off."

"Maybe we could build a local bank. Then give everyone a checking account
with debit cards," Doug proposed absently. He was concentrating on the use
of his tool to make it do what he wanted.

Once again Doug raised his Tara tool that he kept hidden in his hand while
he merely pointed just like he'd seen Squeak do. The neat rows of bundles
shimmered before they disappeared to somewhere else. That set Samosa off
crying through his gag again. Doug pointed at Samosa again. While his tears
continued to flow, there were no further annoying pleading sounds.

"Where do you want to roast this pig?" Buck asked, gesturing toward Samosa.
Until that moment Samosa was wondering what a pig roast had to do with his
death. The only way he had to protest his being the guest of honor and main
course was the widening of his eyes.

Doug shrugged, "Right here is fine. I'll just break up some of this
furniture for firewood. I just hope it's cooked before the house burns
down," he added.

"If we leave the house, it could be used as the local community center,
just like the Cat People use one of JC's houses," Buck suggested as an
alternative.

"Okay, I'll see if I can save the house by keeping the fire in this one
spot. Then when the mess is cleaned up, the local people will just have one
small burned spot in the floor to remember Samosa by. I think I'll try to
make a fire from nothingness, but if it doesn't work, get ready to run,"
Doug cautioned with a giggle as he pointed his hidden Tara tool again.

Doug, Buck and Freckles were fully aware that three new teenagers who
didn't run away as instructed, were watching by peeking around the
doorjamb. The teens would be the source of a story about two gringo boys
and one giant jaguar that would likely become local legend with the passage
of time.

Doug's fire was so intense it would have melted steel if there was any.
Buck's small army didn't wait around to see the conclusion. As soon as
Samosa was crispy, Doug sent what was left to nothingness.

Then they had to make one more stop before they left Mexico. Samosa had
consolidated his laboratories and drug storage in a small nearby city.
Every piece of fire fighting apparatus in the city had to be called out to
fight a dangerous chemical blaze in a warehouse located in a large
industrial park. Unfortunately, the crews were only able to save the
concrete slab the building sat on.

As the modern-day army was about to leave, Doug felt movement in his
messenger bag. One half grown kitten had poked her head above the flap in
time to witness everything. That reminded the boys that they needed to
deliver her to Andy and Walt in warm sunny Florida. They winked out with
Doug trying to explain what happened and why to the mini Great Cat.

#######

As soon as Bucky and Victoria woke up in their cottage in Dagger Cay the
first morning, there was a timid knock on the doors facing the lagoon.
While Victoria scurried to put on a robe, Bucky just pulled open the door
dressed in his birthday suit before he thought about it.

He often considered how it would feel to go out in the sun in the nude just
like the hundreds of boys in the Marine Academy. Here was his chance. He
stepped out on the terrace to greet Sander and Glen, boys that he'd met
before. Sander took care of a macaw couple that had set up housekeeping on
Buck and Doug's terrace. Of course, one of the birds, Clyde, was sitting on
Sander's shoulder and Glen's bird, a hyacinth macaw, named Blue was riding
on Glen's shoulder.

Strangely, neither boy said anything, they just rolled their eyes toward
their respective pets. "Well?" Sander encouraged Clyde.

Clyde nodded and fluffed before he clearly said, "Good morning Chief
Bucky," in an almost normal voice.

"Good morning Clyde..."

Before Buck could say more, Blue screamed, "Good morning Victoria!"

Bucky didn't see that Victoria had come out and was standing behind him.
Her presence was Blue's cue to greet her. "Why good morning to you Blue,
you beautiful bird," she answered.

That also seemed to be the cue a squad of servers needed to deliver Bucky
and Victoria's breakfast that also included bowls of fresh bird food and
unfortunately a bowl containing a fresh flower arrangement. The flowers
looked delicious to Clyde and Blue. They didn't wait to be told to join the
`Godfather' and his wife at, or on the table.

The birds demolished the flowers and some of the foliage but only picked at
the cut fruit and nuts available since they'd already eaten their
breakfasts. Both seemed to be waiting until Bucky and Victoria finished.
Until then, neither boy said a word but maintained ear to ear grins.

"NOW?" Clyde screamed.

"Now!" Sander agreed.

The birds immediately retreated to the boy's shoulders before they screamed
together, "COME ON DOWN!" Then the boys and the birds looked up to the
nearby coconut palm trees. There was the sound of wing flapping and
rainbows of colors as about 20 other big birds raced each other to the
breakfast table to surround the bowls of bird food to begin eating their
fill.

"Buck called ahead," Sander began while he touched his emerald to make
clear the form of communication used, "He said you might try finding a bird
friend while you were here. These are all young fledglings I thought you
might consider. I mean just one of course, not all 20, unless you want them
all and they all want you for a human friend."

While Sander babbled as his carefully rehearsed speech fell apart, one
bird, a sulfur crested cockatoo, eyed Bucky's plate with some uneaten
scrambled eggs and a whole slice of toast before it looked up at Bucky with
its head cocked to the side as it edged closer. Bucky made a hand motion
and said, "Help yourself pretty bird," he invited.

With permission, the big bird went into full waddle speed with its tail
feathers swishing back and forth to get to the plate before its mates,
although the other birds seemed content to feast on the bowls of bird food.
Then, while gripping the edge of the plate, it set about eating the eggs,
alternating with bites of toast.

When the bird seemed to be finished, it eyed Bucky's glass of ice water
before it looked up at Bucky. Bucky nodded that he understood while
removing his coffee cup from the saucer and filling the saucer to
over-flowing with water and an ice cube or two. The bird took a sip of
water before it picked up an ice cube to quickly reduce it to melting
shards and small chunks.

The big bird seemed pleased that it had found a better way of getting
water; by eating it. Just watching was too much for Clyde and Blue. They
flew down to the table to stare at Bucky by constantly switching eyes.

"Really darling you're so dense at times," Victoria accused as she dumped
what was left of the flowers and refilled the bowl with the whole pitcher
of ice water.

Clyde took the time to cast an evil eye at Bucky before he joined Blue in
crunching ice cubes and eating the smallest pieces before they melted.
"Well excuse me!" Bucky protested with a giggle.

With breakfast over for the young cockatoo, it decided to join Bucky by
hopping with a wing flap to his shoulder. Bucky winced, expecting to feel
the claws sinking into his skin. It didn't happen. "We trimmed all their
nails in case," Sander explained. Then he watched the big white bird raise
its golden crest and rub its body against Bucky's ear and head.

"I guess you have your bird friend Sir," Glen announced.

"No Sirs here," Bucky countered with a smile while looking at his new bird.
"What's his name?" he asked.

"SHE," Sander corrected, "doesn't have a name yet. You can pick one you
like. I think she'll let you know if she doesn't like it."

Bucky transferred the bird to his hand so they could look each other in the
eyes. The bird also cocked her head opposite the way Bucky moved his as
they traded stares. Finally, Bucky grinned while the bird raised her crest
the maximum height and nodded enthusiastically before squawking her
agreement with whatever had been decided.

"Everyone, please meet Princess," Bucky announced as he moved her so she
touched his bare chest to stroke her from her crest down her feathered body
while Princess nuzzled his chest with her beak. "Now for the hard part,"
Bucky said as he looked all around the terrace.

Victoria looked a question at Bucky. He explained, "Princess needs to meet
Buttercup House Cat, but I don't see her."

"Oh, a very good idea. I think she's having breakfast," Victoria said as
she peered into the bedroom and called, "Buttercup, come out and meet a new
friend."

Like all cats of any age, Buttercup slinked and stretched out her whole
body as she walked toward Victoria with a kiddie meow that was meant to ask
why she was called from her `after breakfast' catnap. "Go see what Daddy
wants," Victoria pointed and Buttercup changed direction.

Bucky rolled his eyes. He still wasn't used to a housecat thinking of him
as `Daddy'. He moved his leg suddenly when Buttercup began to climb his
leg, her usual way of getting up to his lap before jumping from there to
the table top. "Not this morning Butter, I'm not wearing pants for you to
hook on to. Today we'll do this." Bucky reached down, scooped up the cat
and placed her on the table.

Fortunately, Sander had chased the extra fledglings back into the palms as
soon as they finished their breakfast, so Princess the cockatoo, faced
Buttercup House Cat alone. *"You two are going to be roommates so get used
to it,"* Bucky and Victoria realized that Sander used mind-speak when they
both `heard' the message and saw Buttercup's amulet sparkle.

The Cat raised her hackles but didn't hiss, so Princess countered by
raising her golden crest as if to say `mine's bigger, now what else you
got?'. That move seemed to have ended the impasse.

Princess lowered her body for a closer look as well as a tentative sniff
and a touch of her beak to the soft pink Cat nose. Buttercup took advantage
by sniffing back. Satisfied there was no danger, Princess picked up Bucky's
spoon only to drop it in front of Buttercup.

"What's that all about?" Bucky questioned Sander.

Sander shrugged, "All parrot species love to play. I think she wants to
play with Buttercup using the spoon. You'll have to come up with some toys
for Princess to play with or you'll risk getting your house damaged if she
makes her own toys," he explained. Then Sander sent Bucky a playground
design that he'd been thinking of building somewhere for Clyde to play by
himself at first, then with Bonnie after her `child rearing' duties were
complete.

Bucky reviewed the design in his mind with Victoria, Sander and Glen
`looking' on.  Together, they wrapped the posts in rope, then added small
platforms at various levels. All intended for either Cat or bird use to
climb or sit and rest or bases to play. Sander added mirrors, hard rubber
balls, rock hard dog bones and anything else he thought it would take the
birds time to demolish. All these toys were suspended from the log frame by
airplane cables that the birds were unlikely to bite through. Glen
contributed to the play area by adding more durable toys around the floor
that could be rolled or taken up high to be dropped back to the floor.

When no one could think of anything else at the moment, Bucky mind-spoke
Doug, the Builder, for a quick fix without knowing where Doug and Buck were
or what they were doing.

*"Easy, where do you want it?"* Doug responded.

*"Right here off the terrace for now, but we might need another one indoors
later. Thanks Doug,"* Buck had time to say before the proposed area began
to shimmer, a log frame appeared with climbing posts to assorted levels all
wrapped in rope more for Buttercup than the bird.

Of course, Doug had to have some input by adding enclosed boxes except for
holes in two sizes. Buttercup could get into the smallest hole but not the
bird. The boxes intended for Princess were at the top of the box and were
bigger. He even impulsively added slides.

One spiraled down a post to the floor, while the second ended abruptly in a
kiddie-size pool of water. Sander thought Doug's improvements were
inspired. All Lucy House Cat's brood were taught to love water by the Great
Cats, their giant cousins. While all birds enjoyed splashing around in a
bath if it was safe and not too deep.

The design group didn't realize they'd created a monster until the unique
playground was finished and the young birds who had been in the palms
watching the goings on, were first to fly down to begin playing in the
contraption. Princess joined them by flying to the highest platform. Not to
be left behind, Buttercup simply relocated to the same platform.

Then since Princess still seemed intent on playing with her new fur covered
friend, she batted a hanging ball. As soon as it began moving, Buttercup
reached up and batted it back to Princess.

"I didn't know Buttercup could relocate," Bucky looked in question to his
wife.

"I didn't either, but since she can, accompanying her new flying friend
will be no problem, but that trick doesn't seem to bother Princess."

They watched Princess and Buttercup look down from the highest perch to
survey their new playground. Buttercup took an interest in the small pool
below them. Then she saw one adventurist bird enter the dry slide to slip
and slide spiraling down while screaming all the way. When it reached the
end, it flew back to the starting platform to go down again.

Then Buttercup noticed a similar slide that hadn't been used yet. This one
terminated in the pool. When she relocated there, Princess followed. The
miniature Great Cat barely hesitated to stretch out her front legs on the
polished surface then walk forward until she began spiraling down to splash
into six inches of water. Ready or not, Princess was right behind her
screaming all the way, to splash into water that was the perfect depth
(fortunately) to take a bath as well as keep splashing Buttercup with her
wings whenever her head came above the water's surface.

Meanwhile, all the unattached birds that Tara Sander brought to the
meeting, were having a high and low time of their young lives. The few
mirrors that had been affixed to poles were crowded with birds trying to
get to know their images better and couldn't quite figure out what the
invisible partition was all about.

On the floor, birds were playing soccer with rock-hard rubber dog balls
that had a bell hidden inside that tinkled as it was rolled about. One more
enterprising feathered contestant ended the game by clamping beak to ball
and flying to the highest perch then dropping it among its mates. Thus, a
new game was born with soccer temporarily forgotten.

"I think we have a winning playground here," Bucky declared. "I think we
should build a far larger bird playground in a location where the noise
won't disturb anyone. They sure are a loud bunch."

"Yes dear, but before you start construction, you had better come inside
and let me apply just a little Stuff so you won't get sunburned down
there," Victoria pointed. "I never complain about sick headaches, and I
won't have you pleading you can't because of sunburn!"

"Yes dear," Bucky agreed, but before he left the terrace, he invited Sander
and Glen to wait around as he wanted their input on toys for the new
playground. More importantly, where to place it.

Just before Bucky disappeared, Princess left her bird playmates to join
Bucky on his shoulder. Not to be outdone by her new friend, Buttercup
relocated to Victoria's shoulder so she was waiting for Princess by the
time she and Bucky got into the bedroom.

"Don't you guys want to play around while we wait for the Godfather, err, I
mean Bucky?" Sander asked Clyde and Blue.

Apparently, they did, because they flew up to a heavy rope that was
suspended between two posts. Their landing caused the rope to swing back
and forth so balance became a factor while keeping the rope swinging. Then
Blue grabbed at a hanging hollow dog chew bone that was suspended just
within beak reach but off to one side. When he pulled at the bone, the rope
swung more and more erratically, nearly causing Clyde's need to fly.

To retaliate, Clyde flew but just far and high enough to grab at the cable
holding the bone Blue had his beak clamped on. That caused Blue's beak to
slip off the bone and him to roll until he was upside down, looking up at
Clyde. "Fuck you!" Blue inserted several times into his continuous stream
of squawks.

The two adult birds soon abandoned the rope swing for the waterslide. After
both had splashed, they stayed long enough to take leisurely baths, all the
while splashing each other as well as any of the younger birds within range.

While the birds enjoyed their new play park, Bucky contacted Doug via
mind-speak, *"Hey Doug, would you have time to drop in to Dagger to build
us a really big play area for all the birds? The small one you built by our
cottage is a splashing success." *

*"Sure Bucky, but right now we're delivering one of Buttercup's sisters to
some friends. Then we're going up to Boston to watch one of Paul Wilcott's
gymnastics meets. We haven't seen much of the Wilcott brothers lately and
they're close neighbors."*

*"Okay, no hurry I guess,"* Bucky responded. He added, *"Please tell Paul
we wish him success and keep Marc out of Paul's way on the apparatus,"* he
chuckled tiredly.

#######

It should have been a surprise when Doug and Buck arrived at Andy's Palm
Beach oceanside estate sitting on Leader's back, but Great Cat's joining
the boys unexpectedly had become almost common place. Leader used his tail
to fish the half grown miniature calico Great Cat out of Doug's messenger
bag and place it squarely on his head, between his ears.

The little Cat looked around at her surroundings, and saw the door into the
house just as her emerald flashed. Leader rolled his eyes up before he used
his tail tip to see what the little Cat wanted. "You need to learn to talk
out loud," Leader instructed. He continued, "If you want the door opened,
just say so."

Leader rang the doorbell but didn't wait for it to be answered. Instead, he
relocated them into the foyer which sent the butler running in the opposite
direction while screaming something about a deadly wild cat of some kind
that somehow had gotten into the house.

"How rude," Leader commented dryly as the boys nearly fell off their furry
seat from laughing. Leader stopped the laughter by simply sitting down,
which unseated the boys anyway.

"How rude," Buck parroted Leader while laughing harder.

The boys and the Cat heard the servant tell someone further in the depths
of the house that they'd been invaded by two boys and a giant cat. The man
sounded like he was crying, obviously in fear of losing his life. They
heard Andy saying in response, "They're friends, including the Cat. Go to
the wine closet and get out three dozen bottles of red wine, the best we
have. We'll go welcome our guests. Where did you leave them?"

"In the foyer."

"Correction, right behind you," Doug said with a laugh. Andy and Walt had
been sitting on the shaded part of terrace reading when the `invasion' took
place. They'd clearly become compatible friends. Since the elderly men had
been reading, they were past the need to be talking incessantly as two
people who meet for the first time often feel the need to do.

Neither man hesitated to welcome the boys they very recently thought were
angels with handshakes and hugs. Neither man knew how to greet the seated
Cat but Leader took care of that by lifting each of them for a formal
greeting that involved direct eye contact and the touching of noses. Once
again, Leader hoisted them aloft by wrapping his tail around their bodies
not their necks.

The kitten wasn't about to be left out, so when Andy was first to be
greeted, she shifted to his shirt front, then just held on until the man
took her in his hands gently. He held her up close to his eyes then
actually rubbed her nose with his. Then, when Walt was finished greeting
Leader he handed of the kitten to Walt.

While Andy was more used to having pets around, Walt was not. He always
thought of having a pet to keep him company but his former circumstances
didn't permit a four-legged friend. Now it looked like the unnamed kitten
would never have to walk anywhere ever again as Walt continued to stroke
her back and scratch her ears all while holding her close to his body. Then
Andy invited the group into the library, the men's favorite room.

As their host, Andy offered drinks and a bite to eat with a glance in
Leader's direction. He obviously didn't have enough food to serve as Cat
snacks, nor did he own large golden bowls, or a plater he'd seen the Cat
use in the hospital. Not to mention the fruit he'd seen in the friendly
monster `sangria' style Cat's drink.

Leader to the rescue. He took Andy, Walt and the kitten and relocated them,
the boys assumed, to the kitchen when they heard screams coming from the
opposite end of the big house. Buck and Doug knew better than to ask where
Leader found the food supplies. They just assumed correctly that everything
was `found' in a store or someone else's home.

Then there was total silence before wine corks began to appear willy-nilly
in the library where Doug and Buck were still sitting. *"Leader, what are
you doing?"* Doug sent. *"If you're aiming at us, you need practice."*

*"This Cat is teaching Daffy, short for Daffodil, to shoot corks,"* Leader
reported.

Just then a cork hit Doug in the center of his chest, *"That one was this
Cat's, Tara Doug. It should have hit you in your chest," *Leader countered.

*"Good shot,"* Doug reported, *"but where did the name, Daffodil come
from?"*

*"Walt picked the name, which Daffy approved -- simple."*

The boys knew that the drink and snack preparations were complete when all
the food and drinks appeared on the coffee table between the two facing
sofas. It also appeared that Leader Great Cat had already staked out his
claim for the middle of one of the sofas. That was where he could drink his
drink from his golden bowl and eat his food from his golden tray piled high
with Cat snacks or tail foods without relocating or standing up.

With the improvised cocktail party well underway, Buck and Doug were taking
turns explaining Daffy and some of her special powers that were developing
as she grew in size and maturity. Andy and Walt listened as they took turns
feeding Daffy pate from the tips of their fingers.

"Good!" Daffy clearly said, speaking through her kitten-size amulet for the
first time. Andy and Walt were so surprised, the flow of pate ceased. "Feed
this cat more," the kitten demanded.

"You must say please," Leader instructed without interrupting the steady
flow of his Cat snacks from his tray to his mouth. He was about to take a
serious drink and enjoy chasing fruit when he suddenly froze and raised his
hackles. To the boys, that was a sign of unknown danger.

At that same instant, Daffy hissed a warning of her own before she
disappeared from Walt's lap. Doug and Buck immediately joined Walt and Andy
on their sofa. Then Doug put up a screen around the sofa that would keep
them all safe from whatever was wrong. The men and boys were about to ask
Leader what the danger was, but he had also disappeared.

###

Suddenly Doug and Buck heard men whispering harshly at each other, probably
from the great room. "You fucking idiot! You said you cased this joint and
there was no one living here. There's drinks and open books out on a table
on the terrace between two lounges."

"I swear no one has been here for a week. The gates never opened, neither
did the garage doors and there weren't any lights at night I could see from
the street."

"Well, explain those wide-open doors. Not even rich assholes like these
would go away and leave the terrace doors open, not with rooms full of all
this valuable stuff. First, we need to find whoever lives here and maybe
take them out..."

"Take them out? No way, I ain't up for no killing," the second voice
interrupted.

"Asshole, did you bring along your mask? Well, I didn't either. If they see
our faces, we can be identified. We been lucky, all the houses we cleaned
out so far have been empty. Now we need to take these people out before the
truck and the other guys get here in 10 minutes. No more bullshit. Let's
search the rooms on the first floor, if we don't find anyone down here,
we'll go upstairs."

###

Buck quickly relayed the whispered conversation to Andy and Walt while Doug
cast his mind out to find Leader and maybe Daffy. He hoped the kitten
wasn't so frightened, she disappeared into nothingness where even Great
Cats couldn't go to find her.

He found Leader in the kitchen, the direction the robbers had been
searching first. He had just `hidden' the cook and butler, a married
couple, as well as two maids in the servant's lounge by removing the
doorway on the kitchen side to make it look like a kitchen wall without the
four servants being aware of it unless they tried to get into the kitchen
only to find a solid wall behind the door.

*"What are you doing? Why not just take the bad guys out?"* Doug questioned.

*"Because this way is amusing to this Cat. Wouldn't you enjoy playing with
these invaders?"*

*"Yup, I guess it will be fun to scare the shit out of them, but maybe we
should wait for the rest of their crew? Don't worry about us,"* Doug
assured Leader, *"I've got us completely screened and I didn't even touch
my Tara tool,"* he announced proudly. "Here they come," Doug warned Andy
and Walt after he assured the elderly men that they were surrounded by an
invisible screen. The men were even more convinced the two boys were really
angels in disguise, disclaimers aside.

Buck thought he should look scared, but he couldn't quite erase his smile.
He didn't know what Leader and Doug planned but he knew Doug was enjoying
the use of his Tara powers. Then when two men carrying guns finally entered
the room, Buck's smile broadened in response to Doug's reassuring giggles.

One man, assumed to be the `boss', who had decreed the `hit' on the homes'
residents, began to fire his semi-automatic weapon until it was empty. The
man appeared to be so mad, he didn't notice that the bullets just dented
Doug's screen and dropped to the floor. When his weapon was empty and the
would-be victims were still alive and had the nerve to smile and laugh at
him, he snatched his partner's weapon away with the clear intent of trying
again.

Doug lost his smile before the man could even raise the weapon. "If you
fire that gun, the first shot will be returned into your partner's
shoulder," Doug warned, "I think the second shot will be returned somewhere
into you. Want to guess where? In fact, I'll allow you to pick a place. Are
you feeling lucky asshole?" he dared.

The man couldn't resist. The force of the slug spun the second man around
before he dropped to the floor, holding his shoulder in agony.  "You
asshole!  You shot me!" He screamed through clenched teeth.

Apparently, the boss didn't feel lucky. He didn't fire again but kept the
weapon trained on Doug. He assumed that if the four residents couldn't be
shot for some unexplained reason, it was unlikely that the two teens and
the two old guys could get out of the barrier that protected them. Then his
attention was diverted to the glittering golden punch bowl. He carefully
used his empty hand to feel for the barrier as he reached out to upset the
contents.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch that drink," emboldened Andy warned, "It's
clear that you haven't met our other guest. Touch that bowl and I think you
will."

Just then, the wounded man renewed his screams with even more intensity.
But, he wasn't screaming in pain. Rather, it was the apparition of a giant
cat who had a small kitten growing from between his ears that appeared
suddenly behind the boss man who was reaching out to dump the bowl's
contents, clearly with the intent of stealing the bowl.

Two things happened simultaneously; the weapon disappeared from the man's
hand and a furry tail wrapped tightly around his neck. The man was lifted
over the second sofa and turned so he could see Leader's wide-open mouth
that was full of glittering white teeth and whose tongue seemed to be
beckoning the human food closer.

"You dare to touch this Cat's drink?" Leader asked the boss. He fainted
before part of his mid-section was eaten. Leader's attention was diverted
by the second invader's continued screams. "Will Tara Doug please fix this
man before he is first to be eaten? His noise is affecting this Cat's
appetite," he grouched for the wounded man's benefit, all without closing
his mouth.

"Work, work, work, that's all I ever get to do." Doug complained as he
stood the wounded villain up, removed his shirt, caused the slug to drop to
the carpet and the wound to heal without even a scar or any blood. All
without moving so much as a pinky finger. "Now you're healed, please shut
up, not even a whimper or you'll be the first human dinner for this Great
Cat," he warned.

The man nodded before he moved to put his back against a wall where he
hoped he'd be forgotten. Buck disabused the man of that by telling Leader
that they were expecting a moving van with four minions. They needed all
six to return to their warehouse to load and deliver all the stolen goods
to their original homes before any of them could be eaten.

He tempted Leader in mind-speak by concluding, *"After that, perhaps you'd
enjoy a hunt with all of them to stalk. It will be most amusing,"* he added
as a lure. While the Cats didn't eat human flesh, they loved a good stalk,
always at the prey's expense.

Meanwhile, the boss was beginning to turn blue while still being held
aloft. Leader shook him awake, then put him down on the floor to stand
quietly next to his companion. The two invaders still didn't believe their
eyes when they saw Leader wink out of the room only to return five minutes
later, herding the four minions ahead of him.

Leader wasn't actually herding them, he was just directing their feet. The
men were running on their own in an effort to escape a giant smiling Cat.
When Leader had the four lined up with their fellows, he called a halt to
the fun. He still had half his Cat snacks to eat as well as a drink that he
hadn't touched.

When Daffy realized Leader was about to dive his head into his drink, she
abandoned her perch on his head by blinking her way back to Walt's lap so
the men could continue to feed her bits of pate. She kept a wary eye on the
invaders and an occasional mini-Cat frown at Leader for trying to drown her
in his drink.

Then Leader changed his mind; he didn't like to be stared at. He decided to
send the home invaders back to where they were storing all the stolen loot
to get them started returning it. When he began instructing the men, they
saw that Leader wasn't really talking. His words were coming from a huge
emerald suspended from a chain around his neck.

The boss at least realized that one precious stone was worth far more than
10 times what they'd stolen so far. Of course, stealing the gem from the
giant talking Cat was another problem entirely when all six of them might
still be eaten if just one of them failed to cooperate, Leader warned
before he told them they would be watched.

The invaders raced each other to get out of the house and into either the
semi-moving truck or the SUV they arrived in. They all screeched to a halt
in their attempted escape when they saw the damned Cat sitting on the
moving trailer's roof, staring down at them.

"This Cat warned you would be watched," Leader warned a final time as he
very slowly faded from view. The men drove to their warehouse that turned
out to be a franchise of a nationally known moving and storage company.
This was an ideal `front' for a theft ring. Large property owners
frequently planned home improvements while they were away, which could not
be done until some or all of their furnishings were removed to be put in
storage. A moving van backed up to a mansion's front door would not raise
suspicions of wrong doing in those neighborhoods.

It turned out that the return of stolen goods from the three properties was
easier than expected. Each of the three were stored in individual
air-conditioned trailers that protected the contents against Florida's heat
and humidity. Once again, the felons found Leader Great Cat sitting on the
loading dock watching them as a reminder not to do anything so foolish such
as attempting to flee.

While the six invaders worked feverishly to return the stolen goods, the
intimate cocktail party resumed as if nothing had happened. The
conversation revolved around where Leader wished to hold the impending
stalk. There was no thought of letting the men go.

One of their number fired a weapon at four white warriors. One of them
being a Tara; Tara Doug, the Builder, a reincarnated Ancient. Ancient,
always spelled with a capital `A', as opposed to mere ancients, human races
who built kingdoms and empires, that were allowed, tolerated and mostly
ignored by true Ancients. A race of People from somewhere else who built
vast underground cities while they sought some of earth's riches. Doug and
Buck explained to Andy and Walt in a continued effort to convince the men
that they really were not angels. Although they enjoyed playing those roles
when they first met in the hospital.

"The question remains," Doug said to Leader, "where do you want to hold the
stalk and can we all come to watch?"

Leader's ears pitched forward to display his grin. "This Cat thinks, Sphinx
City, would be ideal. There are still about 50 or so younglings living
there, who were to be sold until white warrior Evan cooked their former
owner. This Cat wishes they could become Cat warriors, but they have no
interest except playing with their toys like those annoying skateboards."

"Did you say cooked?" Andy gulped. He had turned a nasty shade of
gray-green.

Buck kind of giggled, "Well, cooked is not quite correct. I would say
boiled in oil would be closer to the truth." When he saw his explanation
hadn't helped Andy's color, he explained about one of Evan's supertankers
being pirated and the senseless death of one of the ships' officers
outraged Evan. "The man still would have died but the death for stealing
probably would have been less messy," Buck concluded.

Doug thought the best way to get the elderly men's minds off the difference
between cooking and boiling was to change subjects. He told Leader, "We'll
go ahead so we're there to see the would-be invader's faces when they first
arrive. Now that will be amusing."

With that said, Leader disappeared. Doug, Buck, Walt and Andy held hands
and Tara Doug took them all through nothingness, straight to the gathering
place in the heart of Sphinx City. It seemed that Leader wasn't joking
about the 50 boys playing.

The golden walkways and Cat ramps were ideal for skateboarding. Some boys
were heard splashing and shouting in the unseen pool. Their bare feet were
attacked by remote controlled cars and trucks and small groups were rough
and tumbling. It was the first time for many of the former orphanage lads
that they had the freedom and unlimited access to such toys that were
commonplace to the rest of the world's youth.

Of course, their sudden appearance didn't go unnoticed, along with the fact
that Doug and Buck wore emerald amulets, automatically made them as
powerful as Evan, their savior. Doug and Buck stood near the unoccupied
golden throne to introduce he and Buck, Andy and Walt.

At the mention of their names, the men turned from staring at the growing
number of naked boys with definite blue casts to their skins that were
gathering from walkways. They were amazed by the varieties of plants and
trees in the distance, all surrounding a column of sunlight. Then there was
the overall beauty of the huge underground chamber they stood in. Doug and
Buck were also naked, while the men still wore their shorts and shirts.

Walt was the first to notice that the two columns that flanked the throne
were actually a pair of heroic golden phalluses that somehow were spewing a
shower of diamonds that he assumed were meant to represent sperm. Walt
looked at Andy in question.

"If you want to get naked just say the word," Doug seemed to know what the
question was. The men already knew Doug and Buck could read their minds if
they wished. The men grinned and nodded permission with deep red blushes.
Doug took care of their clothing with a blink while they stood among a
mixed group of teenage and prepubescent boys.

It was check out time. The boys felt free to look at the elderly men's
couplers (They'd been taught to say `couplers, instead of cocks or dicks.),
while the men frankly studied the boy's equipment.

One older boy breathed a sigh of relief. Although only 16, he'd
occasionally wondered if he'd be able to `spring wood' when he was as old
as the two guys he was standing near. He was gratified to see that couplers
didn't wear down with regular and lately, even frequent use.

The budding scientist in the boy wondered what would happen to the men with
the addition of Stuff or paste, as it was called locally. "Where are the
Numbers?" he called loudly into the realistic sky.

In answer, Number Five was first to appear, draped over the boy's head. The
sudden addition of over 60 pounds caused the teen to wilt to the floor. Of
course, Five was followed by the other four Numbers on top of and around
the giggling teen to administer a tickle torture.

"Not me ye crazy Cats. It's those two who are in need of paste for the
first time," the lad pointed at Andy and Walt. "Perhaps a good rough an'
tumble is in order?"

That was enough in the way of permission for the fun loving Great Cat
kittens. They first took Walt down on top of the teen, a long-suppressed
desire for Walt. Then the Numbers stacked Andy on top of Walt's back, yet
another suppressed desire that Andy had never acted on although he'd always
secretly fantasized of being on the bottom looking up at an old prep school
chum and roommate.

Twenty or so other boys of all ages joined the play fight until the kittens
were completely outnumbered. They silently called for help, which brought
Freckles and twin brother Spot to the party. They in turn brought Kad and
Sidi to the growing rough and tumble. Then Fang arrived after he heard a
number of jumbled mind-speaks about a rough and tumble in Sphinx City.

Fang immediately noticed that the two elderly white warriors were giving
the Irish boys piled on and around them as good as they got from the boys,
particularly two 16-year-olds who viewed them as kindly priestly `friends'
from their respective orphanages. The two teens had been whisked away due
to yet more abuse allegations that rippled through the Church regularly of
late. Of course, everyone in the pile was beginning to respond to all the
busy Cat tails that were working all over them to turn them a nice `pasty'
blue and create `warm' feelings deep in their guts.

That's when Leader arrived with six bedraggled, very frightened men in tow.
As Leader watched the rough and tumble that was quickly becoming an orgy,
he was reminded of days long gone when the City was well populated by Cat
People, numerus Cats and 12 all-powerful Taras. Mass orgies such as this
was the major reason the Taras built such large gathering places in their
Cities.

Leader allowed his senses to roam so he could locate Tara Doug and his
mate, Buck along with the old white warriors. He found them grouped on the
edge of the excited melee. Buck and Tara Doug seemed to be intent on
playfully raping each other, while the elderly white warriors were thinking
of allowing a pair of teens to mount their bodies for the first time ever
in their lives as they watched Doug and Buck.

It was obviously time for some privacy. Leader accompanied all six to his
resting place with a blink. Before bed, a good wash was necessary so he
splashed himself and the rest of them into the warm waiting pool. While
Doug and Buck had enjoyed a Cat's resting place before and knew what to
expect, the others were newbies and had remained in the prone position as
they sank.

In the few seconds it took them to stand up, Buck and Doug were already
leaning on the pool's edge and laughing at them while Leader was found to
be sitting in the middle of the pool just watching the human's antics.
"Thanks for the bath," Doug called to the smiling Cat, "but in the process,
some of our paste was washed off. How about a renew?"

Doug didn't see Leader blink, but the pool began to turn a nice inky blue
from the center, where Leader was sitting. "Sink up to your chins," Buck
instructed the men, who were about to bail out before the blue caught them
at the edge. The men complied so the Irish boys followed. The boys stood up
again as soon as they felt their couplers (not cocks, they learned)
tingling for immediate gratification. The men couldn't see the boy's
erections but they could certainly feel their own that were as hard as they
were when they were teenagers themselves.

Leader took the liberty of fishing the men and boys out of the pool the old
fashion way; he used his tail and tickled each to get them laughing as they
were deposited on the bed as couples. The Irish boys on top of the men and
Buck looking down on Doug. Then his tail and tongue went to work as he
dimmed the lights to total darkness.

He waited until the three couples were joined in some way before the
lighting returned. By then no one cared if they were preforming before an
audience of thousands. The men and Irish lads each discovered they'd found
a friend that they were compatible with. Walt and Andy requested that they
be sent home to the big house in Palm Beach, but before they left, they
wanted to know what happened to the invaders that were running loose in
wherever they were at the moment.

Leader was about to blink them to the stalk when Doug and Buck begged off.
They both had outstanding work to do. First there was a bird playground to
build on Dagger Cay, then there was an organized crime boss to settle with
in a manner the boss wouldn't like. Lastly, there was a mountain of actual
homework to do before classes the next day. With that said, Buck and Doug
disappeared to carry on with their onerous duties. It seemed the planned
trip to Boston to visit Paul and Marc would have to wait for another time.

###

Since Leader was engaged in playing cupid, he'd invited Spot and Freckles
to begin the stalk. He gave each teenage Great Cat two of the invaders to
hunt, while keeping the last two for himself. All three Great Cats had the
same idea; they would provide empty backpacks and guide each target to
Leader's treasure rooms, then allow greed to overwhelm the sense of caution
or common sense.

They should have explored the infinite tunnels for an escape route before
they filled their packs overflowing with gemstones. They had no idea that
they were 1500 feet below ground or that all the Ancient Cat ways had been
sealed for millennia and that the only way to get into or out of Sphinx
City was to be relocated by a Cat or someone who knew the trick.

The four former `moving men' stayed together. Each was lugging over 100
extra pounds. The Cat twins allowed their targets to travel at their own
speed while they were in full stalk mode. Stalk mode being, their bodies
looked like furry throw rugs, except these rugs moved with surprising
swiftness.

Freckles and Spot made their presence known after an eerie voice echoed
down the hallway. "This Cat wants every gem returned and all the mess
cleaned up without fail!" Leader reminded them.

The twin Cats' cover was blown when they couldn't help snickering audibly.
Their targets looked back in time to see the Cats sit up and smile at them.
Instead of dropping their packs and running, they began to claw at the
invisible wall that separated the hall from the surrounding jungle scenes
even though they continued to be hindered by the gem filled packs.

The four minions demise was predictable after the backpacks disappeared as
Leader ordered which allowed them to run faster while each mourned the loss
of their fortunes. While the men ran, the twin Cats merely plodded along
after them, always keeping them in sight to make their presence known.

The Cats did blink when the men suddenly disappeared. This caused
accusations to be hurled back and forth. Each accused the other of sending
their prey to nothingness prematurely, without a single scratch among the
four.

When the Cats got to the site of the disappearance, they discovered a side
chamber; the entrance to an Ancient Cat way up to the surface. They could
hear the men climbing the spiraling ramp, complaining all the way until one
suggested they save their breaths and energy until they reached what they
hoped was an exit.

Freckles and Spot sat patiently at the foot of the ramp until they knew
their prey had reached the top chamber only to discover there was no exit
when the four began crying while placing blame for their entrapment
squarely on one man's shoulders. Guilty or not, the Cats looked up the well
to see someone hurtling toward them.

"That one was one of yours," Freckles was quick to claim before the man hit
the solid stone floor right in front of their paws.

Spot went into action by stopping the man's fall inches from the floor. The
surprised man had time to smile his thanks for the save before Spot gave
him a single swipe of his claws. Then the Cat allowed the terminal velocity
the man acquired to continue that resulted in a sickening splat.

"I will send the others down to you," Freckles called down from halfway up
the ramp. "The next felon will be alive for you to deal with. However just
avoid the others," he warned. "Those two will be mine."

The stalk was concluded in minutes with a pile of torn clothing, broken
bones and rivulets of blood that didn't cover Spot's pelt from nose to tail
tip. Cleanup was instantaneous before the brother Cats returned to the
gathering place only to find that Leader Great Cat had embarked on a stalk
of his own in pursuit of the remaining two invaders.

It seemed Leader Great Cat wasn't in the mood to play with his prey. He got
them running down a corridor as fast as they could go, considering the
weight of their packs. Instead of making like a traveling rug, he just
relocated to in front of them so they almost crashed into him from looking
backward instead of forward to see where they were going. He stopped them
permanently with two swipes of a paw.

Then Leader cleaned up the mess before he returned to the gathering place.
He only forgot one thing; he neglected to clean up himself. His appearance
sent the 50 orphans who were playing there off into the surrounding bushes
to gag and or puke. Still, many couldn't help taking a second look at the
very real human blood that Leader, their savior was spattered with. Someone
else's death held a fascination for all the boys, despite the horrible way
they died and the very visible result that all but covered Leader's front
half.

When Leader realized he was the cause of the general sickness, he corrected
the problem without even a blink. Only Doug and Buck were laughing out loud
at the Great Cat's latest `Oops', never a mistake.

"This Cat will fix you for your disrespect," Leader warned. "This Cat will
send you and all these not-yet-white-warriors back to your home and marine
school."

Leader needed to blink that relocation, but he did it without thinking
about the gang's ultimate arrival point. He sighted in on the Dagger Cay
dock. Only there wasn't enough room. Buck arrived standing on the dock,
while Doug, formerly standing close to Buck in Sphinx City, wound up
treading water beside the dock along with half the orphans.

Of course, those on the dock, including Buck began laughing and pointing at
their less fortunate friends who were floundering, spiting and sputtering
in the warm tropical water, including Doug.

"Come out of there Douggie," Buck called, "Why are you always fooling
around when we have 50 new cadets to welcome?"

#######

As always, a big THANK YOU to friend Emoe for editing my stuff!

Please remember that Nifty remains a free site only from continued
donations from readers. Please help however you can.

HAPPY READING!
Jamie Haze