Chapter Seven
Ryder hated the night. And it wasn't because that was when his owners went to sleep and no longer could be bothered with him, or that he was usually required to stay inside until it was morning again.
It was more like the fact that it brought an overall sense of loneliness, which was the one thing he absolutely tried hardest not to feel. It'd gone on for his entire childhood; before he'd been adopted by Jack and his wife, Amelia, he'd lived in a shelter after being left on the streets. Whoever originally owned him, he did not remember, and he wasn't quite sure if that was a bad thing. It had now been ten years since he had been adopted, and still he hadn't forgotten how lonely those days were. Every time night came, there were always those memories of having almost no one to speak with, or that wanted to play around. Not many other animals were ever there, and the ones who were always were much bigger than he and wanted close to nothing to do with him. He could push the thoughts back, most of the time successfully, but other times, he simply couldn't ignore them.
And tonight, being away from his owners the first time for an entire day and night, the thoughts just weren't allowing him to sleep.
He knew he needed to be able to help Puss out should he need it in his dangerous plan, and that doing so would be easier if he wasn't tired. And yet, he'd been lying awake in silence for almost two hours, only waiting for the rest that apparently wasn't coming.
I'm never going to get to sleep, am I?
"No…"
Ryder frowned, confused for a moment before he realized the soft murmur had come from a few feet away from him. He raised his head to look at the cats, noticing the ginger had a very troubled look on his face, his tail twitching. Ryder cocked an eyebrow as he muttered in Spanish, and then jumped up, startled, as Puss suddenly cried out as if someone had struck him.
Kitty also jolted awake, on her paws in an instant, and leaned over Puss, who was still caught in whatever nightmare he was having. She grabbed him and shook him slightly. "Puss! Wake up!"
With a soft groan, Puss opened his eyes, beginning to struggle to pull away from her before he finally seemed to recognize it was merely her.
"Are you all right?" Ryder asked, coming over to stand next to them. Puss hardly seemed to notice him, trying to focus. "I-I'm sorry—" he managed, wondering how he had awoken the two. He was shaking badly from fright, and Kitty hugged him. "It's okay!" she tried to comfort him.
"I…" Puss' voice cut off and he pulled back, embarrassed, his eyes refusing to meet either's.
"What happened?" Ryder asked, and Puss glanced at him. For once, the dog realized it was not a glare; it was more like the ginger expected him to suddenly attack him. Ryder frowned slightly and then finally after a few long moments Puss spoke up. "You want to know why I am…" he hesitated and looked away, unwilling to say afraid. "Why I am…untrusting of you?" His eyes briefly met Ryder's again, and he shifted uneasily. "Fine." He took a breath, trying to control his trembling, not exactly eager to be reliving the experience. But he didn't have much of a choice, and so he began. "Months ago, I got involved in a…a not so great group…"
-Five Months Earlier-
"Hey, you!"
Puss cringed and turned around, expecting whoever it was to be someone who recognized him, or worse—wanted to turn him in. He hated that practically everywhere he went, someone had seen the WANTED poster for the crime he hadn't committed, and attempted to capture him for the reward. He'd gotten away from everyone who had tried so far, and he was prepared to do the same now as he looked at the figure approaching him. The pit-bull, strongly built and at least twice his size, certainly appeared able to try and run him out. But instead of mentioning anything about who he was, the dog gave him a small smile and nodded at him. "Are you new around here?"
"You could say that." Puss replied after a moment, and the dog nodded once more. "You got an owner?"
"I'm…"
"Simple question, cat," the pit-bull said, almost not giving him a chance to answer.
"I…eh, no," Puss admitted without thinking, bracing himself for what he expected to come next. To his relief, however, the dog only smiled bigger, as if that had been the exact answer he had been looking for. "Ah. So…you are just passing through."
"Mm," Puss mumbled, knowing very well he couldn't deny it.
"You want to stay somewhere with food?"
Puss frowned at the abrupt question and hesitated, slightly concerned at what the cost of such might be. "It depends…" he began, though he wanted to automatically agree to whatever it was. "What do I have to do?"
The dog chuckled as if amused. "Nothing, señor; I am only trying to help you out."
Puss did not move, still frowning, and the pit-bull smirked. "Three times a week I want something in return. Anything valuable you can get from the people in this town."
"You—want me to steal?" Puss' frown only deepened, and the dog stared at him. "Haven't you done it enough times you know how to?"
Puss inspected him closely, but his expression gave nothing away, "Sí, I know exactly who you are, Puss in Boots." He smirked at the now panicked outlaw. "Maybe you would prefer I notified the guards of your visit…"
The ginger took a step back.
"It is your choice. But if you want food and shelter—and safety, I'd suggest saying yes."
Puss hesitated, but at almost that precise moment, his stomach growled, a hunger pang causing him to wince. When was the last time he'd eaten more than he could bear to steal from the already poor people he came in contact with? It was that, which they needed to survive, or small things, something they wouldn't miss…
"Ah…all right, dog." Puss sighed.
"Dagger," the pit-bull corrected, scowling like being called that had irritated him.
"All right, Dagger. I will do it."
Puss blinked at Kitty and Ryder, who were listening intently. He sighed, unwilling to continue for a moment. "It was an accident that I ever found a reason to stop my contact with them. There was a little family of only a father and a daughter in the last house I took anything from. It was only a little chain, I—I didn't think it was anything to be missed…"
Puss very cautiously made his way down a street of the town. He, and the rest of the animals Dagger had somehow persuaded to agree to the same thing, were now practically expected around, as the pit-bull had upped the price of shelter, which really was only an old abandoned building no one cared enough to bother looking inside. There was food, however, so no one complained.
Although, two animals had already been captured and turned in to the guards for stealing to stay there. Puss evaded all trouble with them, but only because he'd had so much practice; and a small part of him wished he hadn't. If he were to be nearly caught, he would have an excuse to leave the town, and that would mean no longer having to steal from these people.
But he had no choice—he'd already seen the results of someone trying to back out of Dagger's offer, and it hadn't been pretty. He shook his head to end the thoughts; he was being fed and given a place to stay, shouldn't he be grateful? And yet, as passed one of the former houses he'd taken something from not a day before, he couldn't help but stop, hiding in the shadows, frowning at the young girl who was sitting outside on the steps, leaning against her father—and sobbing.
"It's all right, sweetie," the man was saying, attempting comfort that obviously wasn't of much help. "I know how much it meant to you…"
"But Mama…she must be so disappointed…"
The father pulled back and forced the little girl to look at him, hands on her shoulders. "Don't you ever think she would be disappointed in you," he said softly, wiping her tears away with a finger. "I know she is watching you, and very proud. It wasn't the necklace, it was the thought."
Puss flinched as the girl nodded and yet continued to cry. He'd…he'd stolen what a mother had given to her daughter before she had died?
Horrified with himself, Puss staggered back and changed direction to head back to the temporary shelter he lived at.
"I tried to make it right," Puss said, his gaze once again focused on somewhere far beyond the two listening to him. "But I didn't get a chance."
"Hey, Puss—what do you think you're doing?"
Puss gasped and turned around to see Dagger at the entrance to the small room he kept all the things that had been stolen for him, glaring at him. "What…are…you…doing?" Dagger repeated slowly and angrily.
"I—I—I was—" Puss stammered and then stopped, taking a deep breath and gathering enough courage to speak to the dog. "I want the chain I stole yesterday back."
Dagger stared at him a moment longer before bursting into laughter and shaking his head. "You're joking! All right, now get out."
"N-no, I'm not." Puss said. "I need it back."
Dagger scowled at him, taking a step closer to him. "You will leave on your own, or I will force you to."
A paw now on his sword's hilt, Puss frowned. "Give me the chain."
He barely saw the dog's paw reach out to scratch him, but managed to dodge it in time anyway, jumping into the corner of the room, his sword now out and readied, pointing at the pit-bull.
"Be careful of your next move, cat." Dagger growled. "You cannot tell me what to do. Get out!"
"Fine," Puss spat. "I'll get out; in fact, I will get out of this town."
"What?" Dagger scowled. "Listen, furball; you can't just walk away that easy."
"Look, I do not want anything more to do with you! Go ahead, call the guards; I'll be long gone before they come." Keeping the sword pointed at Dagger, Puss slowly stepped around him, inching his way towards the exit to the room, making sure to keep his attention on the dog. Then—he'd hardly had time to blink—Dagger leapt at him, ripping the sword out of his paw with such strength the ginger gasped in pain, and then grunted as the dog knocked him away from it and into the other room. The rest of the group that stayed in the shelter turned to stare at him as he struggled to his paws.
"Trust me," Dagger chuckled, raising his paw, claws unsheathed, to strike him again. "When I'm done with you, you're going to wish calling them was all I'd done."
Puss exclaimed as he vaguely felt the dog's claws digging into his back, jolting back to the present, gasping for air. Kitty was by his side in an instant, pulling him into her arms again.
"Jeez…I'm sorry." Ryder frowned, unable to think of anything else to say, and Puss looked up. "I do not even remember how I got away; only that did, and that I was limping for a week afterward." He shook his head. "That's why I did not trust you. I do not trust dogs."
Ryder did not reply for a moment, thinking, then; "I wouldn't hurt either of you. I don't hurt cats, no matter how much you'll hear how that's every dog's goal." He realized the ginger suddenly looked just as exhausted as he had when Ryder had first met the two, maybe more so. And he couldn't blame him, either, after everything. The Doberman looked around. "We're still pretty far from the house…you don't have to do this; we can turn back."
Kitty nodded in agreement. "We will find some other way."
"By what, stealing from the poor? No." Puss said, shaking his head. "That man has everything in the world he could ever want, it would make no difference to take one thing. But if I do so from anyone else, I will be just as I was a few months ago." He folded his tail across his paws and looked at Kitty. "I am sorry this ever happened."
"It wasn't your fault!"
Puss looked at the ground, clearly thinking the exact opposite. "If I had not gotten involved with the men in the first place…"
"Actually, no," Kitty said in a matter-of-fact way, "if it's anyone's fault, it is mine. I ran off alone."
Puss looked at her, slightly amused. Was she honestly fighting to put the blame on herself? "It does not matter." The small flicker of anything other than a dead serious attitude faded. "You will be going home tomorrow. I promise."
Kitty suddenly frowned. "We will," she corrected, and Puss silently settled down, pulling his hat over his eyes. "I hope so, mi amor," he murmured finally, and Kitty looked away, distressed. She glanced quietly at Ryder as he lay down once more, but neither closed their eyes, and once Puss' even breathing told her he was asleep, Kitty said, "You will help me, yes?"
Ryder raised his head. "Help you with what?"
Kitty swallowed almost nervously. "He thinks he can do this on his own. But I don't want to go home at all if he doesn't come with me." She paused a second. "And if that man catches him somehow, that's exactly what will happen."
"Of course I will," Ryder replied, almost without hesitation, and then cast a glance at the ginger. "He seems pretty set on doing it alone, though."
"I know." Kitty smiled. "And until he's already inside, he'll think he is."
Ryder smiled slightly as well, and then nodded in agreement. "Then we should get some rest before morning."
Unlike the night they had escaped, Russell Matthew's house was not crowded by cars in the least. As the first light of the day lit up the land, the only sign of anyone actually being home was the fact that one of the many windows had a lamp set on a table by it, shining through the curtains.
"All right," Puss said, turning back to Kitty and Ryder as they stood not too far away from the home. "I…will be back." He subtly grimaced before continuing. "So just stay here."
Kitty nodded in agreement, and then Puss gently grabbed her and kissed her for a long moment. He stepped back, not breaking eye contact, and handed her his hat. "I will be back," he repeated more convincingly, and then turned to run off towards the house of the man who very well could still kill them, even now.
Kitty waited until he was a far enough distance away that they could follow without being detected, then looked at Ryder, set the hat on the ground, and smiled. "Ready?"
"Mm," Ryder sighed, and the two rushed after him. Although, as soon as Ryder saw how the ginger was planning on getting in the house, he abruptly stopped.
The cat had somehow already climbed onto a second story window sill, and had his paws on the glass. Ryder squinted, still quite a good distance away, and realized a moment later as Puss suddenly grabbed something and set it against the wall that the ginger had just cut the window with his claws. Kitty seemed unsurprised, and she turned to him as he murmured, "Uh, I can't."
"What?"
"You think I can jump that high?" Ryder replied flatly, and Kitty glared at him. "No," she said, irritated, pointing to the other side of the house. "Find another way in!" She turned and climbed effortlessly up to the sill, fitting perfectly through the hole Puss had made and jumping silently to the floor inside. She looked around for the ginger and when she did not see him, she went over to the half opened door to the side of her.
She peered cautiously out before she stepped into the darkened hallway, glancing around as she walked, trying to figure out where Puss had gotten to so fast. She frowned and turned—and then gasped softly as a shadow fell across hers. She jumped into the nearest room as fast as she could, unsure if whoever it had been had seen her, hoping desperately that it was Puss.
She pushed the door just slightly and then backed away from it as she heard heavy footsteps—definitely not Puss'—and then grunted as she hit the wall. She turned around and frowned as she realized how small the closet-like room she was in really was. If whoever it was opened the door now, she would have no place to hide.
She held her breath as the footsteps seemed to pass right in front of the door, frightened, and then sighed silently in relief as they went by the room. She waited a few moments, and then her fear of Puss being caught jolted her into action. She hesitated, looking out of the small slit between it and the wall, and then grabbed it, pulling it open like it had been before, just enough that she could fit through it.
She'd barely taken five steps into the hallway—one she had just looked both ways down and found empty—before she heard a familiar, low, irate voice come from behind her. "Come back for something, hmm?"
Something blunt struck her without giving her a chance to even turn around, and she fell to the floor.
"Bad idea," she heard, and then her vision went black.
A/N: Cliffhangers…they're so fun. Probably only for me, though, but whichever! :D Hope you liked it and see you next chapter!
