Chapter 2: Valerie
Ruby heard an unfamiliar voice. Ah, so this must be the person who's watching me, Ruby thought to herself. She opened the door and looked down from the stairs.
It was a snow leopard. She had white-gray fur with the dark gray spots here and there. Her eyes were an emerald green and she had a gray vest and beige pants. The snow leopard glanced her way. Ruby narrowed her eyes and the snow leopard looked away.
Zenghui saw his sister glaring at Valerie. "Hello, Valerie. I'm Zenghui, Ruby's older brother," he introduced himself.
She smiled and held out her paw. "It's nice to meet you, Zenghui. I hope you have a nice time at that meeting of yours," she said kindly.
Zenghui shook her paw and said, "Thank you." He looked to see if Ruby was watching them. She wasn't. She was in her room.
Zenghui took Valerie over by the door and whispered, "Okay, you might have some trouble with Ruby."
"I will?" Valerie asked.
"Well, yes. You see, she's kind of upset that's she's not coming with us and she's even more upset that we're making someone watch her. She thinks she's old enough to watch herself," said Zenghui.
Valerie nodded. "Okay, I understand."
"Now, you want to always check what your eating, whether you make it or not. She might put something in yours. Lock the doors and windows when you sleep," he told her.
"Because of burglars?" asked Valerie.
"No, because of my sister. She'll probably try and draw on your face or set up some kind of trap for you in the morning."
Valerie didn't feel so happy babysitting Ruby now. She thought it would be easy to watch after this red fox, but now she was getting cold feet.
"Also, if she gives you a present, make sure you step back a couple of feet. It might explode or pop out at you," Zenghui added.
"Um," she began. She didn't know what to say.
"We'll be back in about a week okay?" Zenghui told her. She nodded and smiled, trying to look confident.
"Okay. Have a nice journey!" said Valerie.
She waved good-bye to the metal-gray fox in a gray robe. He left with his parents and he heard the carriage go off. She sighed and turned to the stairs. As she was about to go up stairs, she felt something touch her foot. She looked down and saw some rope. Then something snapped! She looked to her right. It was a sandbag. It fell to the ground and something swept her off her feet!
She didn't know what happened. She looked at her feet. A hook had grabbed her two feet. She looked around the room upside down.
Soon, Ruby came down the steps, her paws behind her back, her head held high, and her tail flicked to the side a few times. She narrowed her eyes at the snow leopard.
Valerie just sighed. This was going to be one long week for the two of them!