Chapter Three
Rangerkitty and Tygra entered the kitchen to find Snarf busying himself with the griddle. Looking at the mess on the counter, it was obvious that he had been at work for some time now.
"Snarf, everything okay?" Tygra inquired.
He jumped at the unexpected voice behind him and grabbed the stool he was perched upon to avoid falling off. Steadying himself he turned around to see who had come into his kitchen. Seeing the two tigers, he grinned and wiped his brow. "Good morning…Ready for some pancakes?"
Rangerkitty blinked in surprise and smiled. "Wow! What a wonderful surprise! What's the occasion?"
Snarf shrugged and turned. "Why don't we just say it's in honour of the first snowfall?"
They nodded and inhaled the delicious smells of buttermilk and citrus. Snarf had also made fresh burble fruit juice, and the rinds of the fruit still remained on one of the counters. As Snarf poured fresh batter onto the grill, RK and Tygra helped clean off the counters to save him time later when it came time to tidy up.
"I can't believe Galina hasn't woken up yet, pancakes are her absolute favourite." Rangerkitty mused.
"Oh she was here already." Snarf informed her, not turning away from what he was doing. "She and Bengali already left for the spaceport."
The tigress turned suddenly, confused. "The spaceport? Why would they go there?"
Startled by her exclamation, Snarf cringed, wondering if he had given something away. Feeling her eyes on the back of him, he tried to act nonchalant and flipped the flapjacks over to brown the other side.
"Er, they didn't say."
Rangerkitty looked at Tygra. "Are they going away together? I thought they were going to spend time with us this weekend at the mountain lodge."
He shook his head. "I have no idea. I thought so too, but perhaps they ran off on a last minute romantic getaway."
Her shoulders slumped slightly as she lost her smile. "I thought that's what this weekend was going to be. I was really looking forward to this."
Tygra crossed the kitchen to his red haired fiancé. "My love, we are still going to have an amazing time, even if it's just you and me. We don't know what's happening yet, so please don't let this get you down and destroy your good mood." He kissed her forehead as Snarf announced that breakfast was ready. She smiled at her handsome tiger and followed him to the breakfast table, carrying the pitcher of fresh burble fruit juice with them.
Galina was excitedly bouncing on her heels beside Bengali anxious to see the Sh'iar couple exit through the gate. There were a lot of passengers disembarking from the shuttle that had arrived from Tymperia.
"Where are they? Do you see them yet? They couldn't have possibly missed the flight!" She wailed curling her fingers through her mane.
Ben chuckled. "I highly doubt it…Argo is not one to let anyone down." He suddenly pointed. "And speaking of the devil isn't that them coming over there?"
Gali looked to where he pointed and sure enough there were the Sh'iar couple strolling towards them. She had to stifle a laugh seeing how overdressed they were for the weather on Third Earth. The Tiglon waved at the white tigers; he stopped apparently whispering something to Crys which made her smile.
"ARGO and CRYSTALANDRA!" Galina gleefully shouted rushing over to them. "You made it!" She hugged Crys, grinned up at Argo, and then crossed her arms critically inspecting the pair up and down. They were wearing heavily insulated hooded parkas, thick gloves, scarves, and boots from their attire they were ready for the deepest Arctic snow!
"Um, I think you may have overdone it a bit with the winter accessories." Galina said with a smile.
"Aren't you a tad bit under dressed?" Crys countered eyeing the tigress; she loosened the scarf from around her throat so she could speak. "It's freezing outside and your midriff is bare? Are you nuts?"
"Oh the weather is perfect!" She sighed happily. "And besides I'm used to this!"
"I can see that." Argo chuckled removing his gloves to shake Ben's hand. "Hey Bengali it's good to see you! I take it Galina here is keeping you on your toes."
Ben grinned grasping the huge hybrid's hand. "I suppose you could say that. How was your trip?"
"Cramped!" Argo complained. "I wish they would make the shuttle seats bigger to accommodate someone of my size and stature."
"There is a simple solution for that." Crys replied. "Stop bulking up." And she kissed him on the cheek as he playfully scowled at her.
Galina laughed. "No Crys…please don't discourage him I beg of you!" The thought of the Tiglon losing his fine physique didn't sit well with the tigress at all—oh no!
"Where's your luggage?" Bengali asked changing the topic of the conversation. "Don't tell me that's all you brought with you? Just these bags you are carrying?"
"If we need anything we'll get it at the Berbil village." Argo informed the pair while following them out of the space port towards the awaiting car. "If I had encouraged Crys to pack more we wouldn't have made it on time."
The she-cat stuck her tongue out at her mate. "Men! I swear you have no patience whatsoever!"
Galina nodded in agreement. "You get no argument from me there. I agree wholeheartedly with you…You know it's really great to see you both again."
"It's wonderful seeing you too…" Crys stopped in her tracks as she stepped outside the glass doors. Her eyes grew round as saucers at the sight of the snow piling up on the ground. "Is that white stuff snow?"
"It sure is!" Bengali picked up a handful of the stuff and blew it at the she-cat making her jump back against Argo. He laughed out loud. "It's harmless! It won't hurt you!"
The Tiglon gave an involuntary shudder. "It looks cold…I hope this mountain retreat has plenty of heating."
"It does but I'm rather surprised by your reactions." Galina tilted her head. "I mean you Sh'iar warriors are not afraid of anything yet something as simple as snow has you two cowering."
"It's not that." Argo answered. "As Sh'iar warriors we are tolerant of most anything but the cold…We cats are more suited to the tropical weather—the hotter the better."
Crys nodded. "Anyway can we discuss this in the comfort of the warm car? I'm cold!"
"Sorry guys." Ben apologized and ushered them inside the vehicle.
"Tygra and Rangerkitty have no idea that we are here do they?" The Tiglon inquired squeezing into the back seat.
"None at all!" Galina giggled. "Boy will they be surprised to see you!"
Argo took hold of Crys' hand giving it a loving squeeze; his nose was pressed up against the window watching the white scenery flash by as they headed towards the Cat's Liar.
"How much snow normally falls during this time of year?" He asked the tiger couple; Bengali turned slightly in his seat to address the Tiglon. "This is just a slight dusting which can get anywhere to as much as 4 cm of snow. Up at the mountain cabin where we will be staying it's not uncommon to see 25cm of snow on the ground."
Crys shuddered. "That much huh?"
"Oh come on Crystalandra I guarantee you…you'll have fun! There is so much to do in the snow." Galina gushed.
"If you say so…" She didn't sound convinced; Argo raised her hand to his lips kissing it. "I'll make certain that you enjoy yourself." He assured her with a mischievous curve to his lips. "Think of this as our honeymoon."
"Okay…" Crys giggled. "I believe I can do that."
"Excellent, because we are going to have the time of our lives."
"Yes, all right!" The she-cat agreed snuggling close to her comfortably warm Tiglon and joined him to stare out the window with child-like wonder at the snow-scape.