Here, my lovelies, is yet another chapter!


ENJOY!


Throttle watched silently from the bushes. Limburger's workers were moving a lot of earth. So far they were just piling it up, but he had no doubt the dirt would be moved to a holding bin and sent to Plutark eventually.

Man. When I said I'd see what I could dig up, I didn't think I meant it literally. Throttle shook his head at the irony of his words.

Movement caught the corner of his eye and he glanced back. It was his tail. He was still getting used to having it back. His balance was ok, but every now and then, he'd see it out of the corner of his eye and do a double take.

Charley liked to tease him about being twitchy because of that.

He returned his attention to the work site. From the looks of things, Limburger was doing exactly what he said he was doing.

For once.

Which made Throttle all the more suspicious. The day Limburger did something out of the generosity of his heart, was the day Throttle sprouted long white whiskers and turned himself into a cat.

He crept back to his bike and climbed aboard. But he didn't leave.

The bike remained silent, aside from a soft rumble of greeting when he climbed aboard.

It would be dark soon. He'd wait until nightfall, then move in closer and have good nose to nose look at what Limburger was building.

He grinned and patted the bike. "What do you think girl? Once we know what he's up to, what do you say we call in Modo, maybe Askook, and we go in there and wreck his lil' project all to hell. What do you think?"

The bike rumbled happily in response. She apparently thought very highly of this plan.


Askook watched Malachi play with the Tiffany and Angela.

The three children were playing with the blocks on the floor. This time they were building a bridge. They were having trouble getting the arch to stay though.

Askook settled a hand on his rattle, stopping it before it could become too loud.

His father.

He had been protecting Malachi from his father, Askook's uncle. The thought of it made his blood boil.

After that revelatoin, Askook had steered the conversation in other directions, asking questions about the house, the family pet. He asked about his Aunt, Malachi's mother. Anything and everything to keep his mind off of his father.

Malachi was deathly afraid of his father.

The children groaned as their arch fell yet again. "This is impossible." Angela stated glumly.

"Maybe we should try building something else?" Tiffany offered.

Malachi shook his head. "There has to be a way to do it. Otherwise we wouldn't have bridges for cars."

"Yeah. But they have tools. We don't." Angela answered.

"Malachi grinned. "Neither did the Romans. But they built all kinds of stuff. Mommy showed me pictures."

"Here." A mottled brown and black tail snaked down off the bed and formed an arch. "Build it up along the top of my tail. You need something to hold it up until you get the last block in. Then it'll hold itself up."

The children looked up at Buckshot in surprise. He smiled over the rim of the cot. "Go ahead. Give it a try."

They grinned and had at it, quickly stacking the blocks up on the arch of his tail. It didn't take them long. Angela dropped the last block in place, and all three looked up at him expectantly.

He carefully pulled his tail out, leaving their arch behind to stand on its own. It was a rather lopsided looking thing, and it leaned precariously towards the cot, but it stood.

The children laughed and clapped their hands happily. Tiffany quickly got up and hugged the mouse enthusiastically.

Buckshot winced but held his tongue, pasting a smile on his face before she could see it. "See? All it needed was a little support."

Askook smiled. He didn't know what would become of Malachi, or of himself. But for now they were safe, or as safe as they could be with Limburger gunning for them. And that was all that mattered.

Charlie hobbled in from the garage. "Hey Askook? Could you run upstairs and ask Modo to come down? Throttle just called."

Askook nodded. "Of course." He slithered toward the stairs.

"Oh, and Askook?"

He paused and turned. "Yes?"

Charley grinned. "Throttle wanted to know if you were up for a little revenge on Limburger."

A smile curved the serpents lips back, allowing teeth to show. "I most certainly am…"


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Until next time...