Okay everybody, votes are in and I've done a bit of thinking of my own. So without further ado, our new kitten pal is named…... read and find out!

Also, BIG thank you to TX peppa who's review from a couple chapters ago got my creative juices flowing!

Chapter 9: Earn your keep

"Sugah yah keep makin that face it'll stick."

Logan kept up his glare, aimed mostly at the blissed out little kitten tucked cosily into Marie's was the third time the rotten flea ball had taken the place of his head and he was ready to skewer the damn thing.

"Ah don't see why yah can't get along, kitten likes yah so much." Marie continued, petting said animal as opposed to his scalp. "Agree to disagree Kid." He grunted, flipping listlessly through the cat had been with them for a couple weeks now and making a regular nuisance of itself. Chasing his bootlaces. Cosying up to Marie. Sleeping in his hair and batting at his claws while he tried to clean em. Marie continued to try and name it while he continued to refer to the animal with nicknames such as "trouble", "that little bastard" or "rotten flea bag" As Marie hated all of them, they both referred to their tiny charge as 'Kitten'. So far he'd shot down muffin, polly and socks but it was only a matter of time before she wore him down….

An insistent meow tipped him off to the little creature's interest, apparently the kitten had grown tired of Marie's attention and moved on in search of greener pastures. Tiny paws batted at the back of his neck, Kitten was now climbing along his shirt sleeve with clawed determination.

"Stop that. Get down already." He growled. The kitten meowed back,scrambling up onto the feral's shoulder and turning in a circle to make herself at home. "Awwww Kitten wants cuddles!" Marie crooned, snuggling closer to them both. He released a long suffering sigh as his females made themselves nice and cosy. Kitten purred louder, directly in his ear now. Triumphantly even.

You won this one you furry little bastard.

A day later, Logan was done trying to fight the mangy thing for Marie's attention. In fact, he'd come up with a plan that would completely wipe it from her memory. Kitten who? Psssh. While she and Kitten played, he drove the three of them along to a house on the lake. He'd won it in a poker game years back and an older couple in the nearby little town kept it up for him. He'd made a quick call the night before and smiled to himself now, the place would be aired out and ready upon their arrival. There was a dock for swimming and fishing, a fire pit on the side and a soaker tub Marie would ooh and ahh over like no tomorrow.

"Almost there, won't be long now Kid." He nudged her, grinning as he imagined her reaction. She smiled back, actually setting the Kitten aside to look up. "Yah sure in a good mood this mornin. Where are we goin?" Eyes back on the road, Logan even began a brief whistle before answering his traveling companion. "Thought you might like to stick to one spot awhile. Least a few days mentioned somethin about home cookin. Got a place for us, what do you think?" Marie squealed and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight even while being careful not to block his view. "Ah can cook for yah now! An mah pie, Logan Howlett yah have not lived until yah had mah granny's pecan sticky chew pie." He laughed and squeezed her tight, smirking at the kitten who watched with curious eyes. "Sticky chew pie huh? Sounds real good kid."

In another 15 minutes or so, they had reached their destination. The little house was brown with white shutters and surrounded on three sides with the scent of summer earth, newly budded trees and copious amounts of wildflowers. The lakefront was in plain view, water lapping gently on the shore and seagulls screaming overhead. There was even a tire swing hanging from one of the trees on the side of the house a hammock in the other. Backpack slung over her shoulder and Kitten hugged to her chest, Marie raced up the porch steps.

"Logan it's perfect! Looky here, it's got a big ol' porch and it looks so nice and snug , hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! Let's see inside!" Kitten meowed loudly, plainly repeating the sentiment. He jogged up after her, opening the door so Marie could get in while he grabbed things from the truck.

She set down her beloved pet, watching her scamper off before doing some exploring of her own. It was small, little more than a cottage really but perfect for their little family. The kitchen was blue, it's cabinets all painted white and smelling of lemon. There was a good sized pantry and Marie had all sorts of plans for the cooking she would do while here. By a window that looked out on the side of the house there was a small table to eat at, she put down a little bowl of water for Kitten and then headed to look over the rest of the place.

There were two bedrooms, both on the second floor and separated by a bathroom with connecting doors. There were was also two bathrooms, though only the one upstairs had a shower. It also had an enormous claw footed tub, something Marie couldn't wait to use. She dropped her bag off in the left bedroom, thinking Logan might appreciate the one with more space. The colorfully braided rug beneath her feet was a warm sun-soaked contrast to the wooden floors, while the pale yellow of the walls made her smile. The bed was made up, she flopped back onto it's quilt covered mattress and scratched beneath her pet's chin.

"Ah think it's perfect, don't yah agree muffin?" She asked. The kitten, who'd curled up on one of the pillows and was happily sunbathing, didn't so much as open an eye. "Already told you kid, we're not calling that little shit muffin." Logan reminded her, coming upstairs and into the room. She glared, huffing out an indignant gasp and covering the little cat's ears. "No swearing! She'll hear yah." He gave into the knee-jerk response to roll his eyes. "Marie, it's a cat. Not like it's gonna run around repeating things, it can't talk." To his suppressed amusement, she glared, voice dropping to a whisper.

"Don't call Kitten 'it'. Yah gonna hurt her feelings!" Logan swallowed a chuckle, knowing it would only bug Marie all the more. Besides, this wasn't the first time they'd disagreed about the kitten's awareness. When he nodded, and she could be sure he wouldn't curse again, Marie uncovered her pet's ears. That settled, he sat down beside them both.

"I got the things inside. But I need to go grab some groceries. Wanna come? Or you wanna stick around here, check things out? Could go collect apples if you wanted, there's a few trees out back." Logan allowed himself the small pleasure of pushing her hair back from her face, even touching her cheek a brief moment. She nuzzled into his hand, happy as always to be the recipient of his affection. "Mmm.. ah think ah'll stay here. Get our things situated. Maybe see if ah can't scrounge up some supper." Secretly, she was already planning a surprise and hoped her scent wouldn't let him catch on. He shrugged. "I'll bring back some stuff. Maybe burgers?" "We could have spaghetti. Ah make great meatballs." She offered. Logan took the bait.

"Alright! Make a list and I'll get going." She wrote it up quick, accepting a peck on the cheek and a pat on the head before he jogged downstairs. Once she heard the truck pull out, Marie raced down to the kitchen, grabbing a bucket she'd found in the pantry and a burlap napsack from beneath the sink. The kitten had followed and now she trotted alongside her mistress, every so often running ahead to leap at butterflies or stalk robins. When she tired of this, she chirped a meow at Marie, as though asking what exactly they'd gone out for.

"Ah think ah saw some berry bushes. And Logan said there's apples, yah member? Ah'm gonna get a bunch an make pies! That's why ah put flour an stuff on the list." She explained. The kitten wrapped around her ankles as she walked, Marie taking that as an agreement with her plan. "Yah gonna help meh trouble?" The kitten continued to stalk falling leaves. "Okay, so yah not gonna be named trouble… hmm…" Still pondering this, Marie stopped at the first apple tree she saw and went about picking several apples such as she could reach them. When the sack was full, she left it at the base of the tree,grabbing one to munch while hunting for berries. Kitten continued to play and frolic, always returning to check in on her mistress.

Marie, meanwhile, had re-thought eating the apple without cleaning it (being clumsy like she was, she'd dropped more than a couple during her time picking the fruit) and so now was on the hunt for a stream or a hose, whichever came first. As it happened, past a particularly dense cluster of wild strawberry bushes was a freshwater brook. It bubbled past cheerfully, rocks on the bank smooth and worn down from years of exposure.

Kitten padded forward, helping herself to a long drink. Her little pink tongue, all sandpaper, lapped up the water before sitting on her haunches to groom herself. She watched with interest as her mistress kicked off her shoes and began hopping on different stones, laughing as the cool wetness of it tickled her toes. Kitten continued to watch, licking a paw as Marie took a misstep, feet flying out from under her and legs buckling. Down Marie went, dimly aware of Kitten's startled mewling when she was splashed in the process.

After a few false starts and lots of spluttering, Marie hauled herself out onto the grassy bank. She'd managed to cut her head when she fell and now blinked blood out of her eyes. However, she was a lot more worried about getting cleaned up before Logan got back otherwise he'd probably never let her out of his sight again.

Cautiously, she stood and just as quickly dropped back down. The throbbing pain in her ankle hurt something terrible and the injured limb refused to take any weight. To make matter worse she'd swallowed about a gallon of stream water and had about hacked a lung coughing it back up. With no voice, hidden in the thickets and not sure how far away she'd wandered, Marie was feeling the first tendrils of panic beginning to form.

Kitten came to her aid, meowing anxiously and licking at the feral's cheek. Kitten! Maybe she could get help, Logan ought to be back by now… but how would he know where to find her? She had no paper… Marie thought it over, then decided on a course of action. She took off one of her gloves, glad she'd kept them in case of thorns. A couple berries were tucked inside before Marie tied it like a bandana around the little cat's neck.

"Take this tah Logan. Yah hear meh? Oh ah hope yah understand Kitten.. Go find Logan please. Find Logan."

And with a little nudge the kitten was on her way.

Kitten wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Her mama, though furless, had always taken good care of her. Never before had she Mewled in pain, but the rushing water changed that. Now Kitten was weighed down by the silky thing she and mama sometimes played with, squirming through dirt and branches to find the Logan.

The Logan was as much a play thing as he was her papa. When mama Marie said Logan, Kitten knew her papa was nearby. And if mama was in pain, only the Logan could fix it. Briefly she was distracted by a little bird - dinner time, yum! - before a loud rumbling caught her attention. As she trotted through the final bushes, Kitten could see the place they were bedding tonight and the big shiny cat who took them places. The big shiny purred louder than any other cat Kitten had ever seen, but the Logan and mama didn't seem to mind- Big Shiny! She was the Logan's cat. Which meant he was close. She raced up the porch steps as fast as her paws could carry her, calling for him along the way.

At the door, she waited impatiently as he came up the stairs after her, arms full and walking oddly.

"Mrrroooooow!"

Hey! Hey down here! Hey! Papa look at me already!

He kneeled,frowning when she clawed his shoe.

"Blah blah blah blah Cat?"

"Meow!"

Mama is hurt, come on we gotta go, we gotta go! Ugh, why don't you speak like the rest of us cats?!

The Logan tried to push her out of the way, but Kitten would not be deterred. Mama Marie needed help! She jumped up, tiny teeth embedding into his thumb. He yelped and tried to shake her off but Kitten clung to him with her paws. Now he was mad but that couldn't be helped.

"Marie?! Marie blah blah blah blah blah Cat blah blah!"

Arrrggggh! Clearly this wasn't working. He was calling for Mama Marie but looking around in the wrong places! She decided to try a different tactic and wrapped herself around his ankle. He seemed to like her purring, she did it now and rubbed against him. When he kneeled again, she looked towards the trees, then back at him.

"Meow, mroooow."

Look, it's the silky thing mama let's me play with. She got hurt, come on and understand! Mama needs us! Look at my silky!

The human stopped, removed the glove from her neck. Then he took the berries out, let her have a taste. Finally he understood! His frown was different now, this time when she went back down the stairs he was right on her heels.

Marie wasn't sure how long she sat there. She'd begun to shiver in her wet clothes, the shade which had been such a relief before was now a cold and continuous torment. For all she knew, Logan had been right and the tiny stray was useless-

"MARIE? KID I'M HERE, ANSWER ME! MARIE WHERE ARE YOU?!"

She coughed, trying to clear her throat enough to yell back.

"Ah'm- ah'm here! Logan Ah'm here-"

She coughed again but it had been enough. Not more than a minute later, both Logan and Kitten came bursting through the foliage. Soon she was cradled against Logan's chest, safe in his protective embrace and sobbing out the entire thing. He wiped away her tears, kneeling so that Kitten could jump up into Marie's arms before he carried them both back to the house.

"And she got yah, she saved meh! Kitten yah a real hero!" Marie sniffed,cuddling the animal. Logan smiled, a bit gruff and emotional himself.

"Can't just have a hero go and be nameless now, can we?"

"What?"

"Well if we're gonna keep her she needs a name, right?"

Not wanting to hurt sensitive feral ears or accidentally drop their new pet, Marie settled for grinning as hard as she could.

"Ah like Pollock. Like yah said when we found yah Pollock? Hmm?"

Kitten looked up at that, meowing her vote. Then she stood on her hind paws and licked Logan's nose. He smiled back, bringing his girls back to the house.

"Pollock it is."