Chapter 12: Dinner And Lies
Later that afternoon...
Caitlin, Natsu, and Megan walked up slowly to the bridge that crossed the river. The river wasn't as calm as it was earlier when they crossed it, and it splashed up onto the bridge. The three girl hams didn't much care, they just wanted across. They were tired from all of the commotion in the day.
"How long will it take to walk to where the Bad Hams are?" Natsu groaned.
Caitlin shrugged. "About thirty minutes," she mumbled.
"Ugh," Megan muttered.
Caitlin groaned herself and started walking toward the place where the Bad Hams were supposed to stay. Natsu and Megan followed closely behind her as she walked near the river. She knew that it was a big tree, and there was a big entrance on the front of it.
"It's a big tree with a big entrance," Caitlin described. "And there's a big rock in the middle of the river where it is..."
"Okay...," Natsu mumbled.
"I'm gonna sleep good tonight...," Megan murmured.
"Don't worry, me too," Caitlin responded.
Thirty minutes later...
It was dusk by the time Caitlin, Natsu, and Megan saw the first signs of the place where the Bad Hams were. Dusk seemed darker since there were lots of trees giving off lots of shade around the area. Caitlin walked up to the entrance and thwacked on the door.
A few minutes later and after a few more knocks on the door, Number 4 came to the door and let the three girl hams inside. In the front entrance, it was very grand. There was a Y-shaped staircase with pure white carpet on it, and the ceiling extended very high. There was a coruscating chandelier that was the biggest chandelier Caitlin had ever seen. There was a large globe made out of marble on the left side of the room, and Mike walked into the room from the stairs.
"Find out anything?" Mike smirked, doubting the fatigued girl hams found out anything.
To Mike's surprise, Caitlin nodded. "We know who his best friend is, and we know he did it, thanks to a little victory speech he put off. But the guy doesn't know where he lives! Dude, he doesn't even have a phone, he said. And-"
Mike was listening until Caitlin said "Victory speech." What was that?
"He was really short, and really loud, and-"
"What was this...victory speech?" Mike frowned slightly at the thought of it.
"Well, he bragged about Jake kidnapping Stella, and then he started encouraging everyone to kidnap each other. Crazy, if you ask me. He seemed like a real retard."
Mike turned pale. He didn't have any idea what was going on here, but he wanted a closer look at something he knew he would regret getting into later. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at the sound of Jake's name.
"Well, what did his best friend look like?" Mike inquired with a tone of anger in his voice.
"Well...," Caitlin mumbled, "he was really short, and he was white and blond. Yeah, and he talked really loud, too. His name was Chad, and he looked really annoying."
Mike nodded with an aspect of serenity. "Surprisingly, you three, you've done very good for you first day. Would you like anything to eat?"
"Of course!" Megan replied eagerly. "...If it's not poisoned."
Mike smirked. "Why would it be?" he asked teasingly.
Caitlin shrugged. "I guess," she replied.
"Yeah," Natsu remarked.
Mike nodded and walked toward a door on the left side of the grand front room. Caitlin, Natsu, and Megan followed closely behind him as he walked down a long, elaborate hallway. Mike walked through a pair of doors, and the three girl hams continued following him.
Inside the two doors was a large dining hall. Caitlin, Megan, and Natsu stood in awe as they looked around it. There were five tables, which could have five or six hamsters at each one. The Numbers were taking up three of the tables, and they were playing cards while they waited. Becky and Roger were at another table conversing as Mike walked up to the table with the three girls following right behind him.
Becky glanced over at Natsu and inquired, "How do you like the Bad Hams? You didn't wanna be in them first, did you? But how do you like it now?"
Natsu nodded. "It's akay...," she mumbled.
"Master Mike was doubteeng thaat three girl hams like you would be able to do aneetheeng," Roger acknowledged them.
Megan flashed a mean look at Mike and retorted, "Oh? You thought that we couldn't even get to Hamster City, did you? Well, YOU'RE wrong!"
Mike scowled at her and returned, "I was testing you."
"Riiight," Caitlin murmured.
Mike pulled out a chair and sat down in it. "Well," he remarked, "are you gonna sit with us, or are you going to sit alone?"
"I guess we'll sit here," Caitlin declared as she pulled another chair from the other table and sat down in it. "I'm worn out!"
"I bet you are," Mike mumbled.
After a few minutes of waiting, eight maids came out of a large doorway each with a tray. Caitlin watched with bright eyes as they walked up to the tables and laid down a plate of food in front of everyone. Their way of doing it was fascinating, and they knew exactly where to go. Caitlin could tell they had been maids for a long time.
Caitlin looked down at the plate of food she had gotten. It was a club sandwich with a side of fries, one of her favorites. Her eyes grew bigger than her stomach as she started nibbling on it.
Megan watched Caitlin closely and remarked, "Gosh, CC, you're acting as if that's the only thing you've had all day!"
"It is, though," Caitlin said with her mouth full.
Mike was talking actively with the other Bad Hams. He was talking about how he was going to beat up Jake until he wished he was dead, and the other Bad Hams were listening attentively. Mike also talked about how the ride to Hamster City was more nerve-racking than usual.
Roger looked over at Caitlin and remarked, "I wondeer whaat zee Haam-Haams are doeeng?" He looked as if he was trying to get her to remember them.
Caitlin turned pale. She didn't tell her husband, Boss, she was in Hamster City. She didn't tell him anything about going anywhere. She remembered how she crawled out of the large bed early in the morning as Boss was still sleeping and how she put on the temporary black dye and lime green ribbons and walked to the Bad Hams Place. She hadn't told him anything about the Bad Hams either.
"Mike." Caitlin's voice sounded panicked and shaky.
Mike looked up with a look that said, "What the hell is your problem?" and remarked, "Yes, Cait?"
"Can...I...use your phone?" she inquired.
"What for?" he asked.
"I need to call...someone."
"Your husband? Ah. Yes, the Ham-Ham leader... Do you know where the phone is?"
"No."
"It's down the hallway."
"Akay, thankies." Caitlin got up and walked out of the dining hall. She knew there were eyes following her after she mentioned her husband. Caitlin walked down the hallway to a small table with a phone on it. She wondered why it wasn't somewhere else.
Caitlin picked up the cord phone gingerly and dialed the familiar number of the clubhouse. She held her breath as it rang. After a few rings, she heard the familiar, "Hamha???"
"Hey, Bossy," Caitlin whispered into the phone. She could tell from his voice that he'd been worried about her.
"Caitlin-Chan, where have you been?!" Boss shouted into the phone.
"I'm at Hamster City with Natsu and Megan."
"Howdy was wondering where Natsu was, too. We've been looking all day long! Why did you leave without telling me?! When I woke up this morning, I was afraid that you had run off!"
"I'm sorry."
"Well, tell me next time. You comin' home?"
"I'll be home in a few days."
"Where are you in Hamster City anyhow?"
"..."
"CC?"
"...ummm..."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just somewhere in Hamster City..."
"Why can't you just tell me which hotel you're at? I'm gonna go up there and stay with you."
"No! I mean, it's just me and the girls. You can just...stay home."
Caitlin heard Boss sigh loudly into the phone. "Where are you calling from?" he inquired.
"...Here."
"Where's 'here'?"
"Here."
"Caitlin-Chan, what are you telling me?!"
"..."
"CC? Hello?"
"..."
"CC! Where are you in Hamster City? I'm going up there!"
"..." Caitlin thrust the phone down and hung up. Boss was obviously angry with her, and he was going to go up to Hamster City to look for her. If he came up and she was out in the city with Natsu and Megan, he would be able to find her in a heartbeat!
The phone started ringing, and she turned pale. There was most likely more than one phone, and what would happen if a maid picked it up? Caitlin picked up the phone slowly and whispered, "Hello?"
"Caitlin-Chan! Why did you hang up?!" Boss's angry voice rang through the receiver of the phone.
"I'm sorry. It hung up on me." Caitlin tried to sound as innocent as she could.
"Okay...now tell me, where are you in Hamster City? I wanna go up and see you!"
"...It's just me, Natsu, and Megan."
"I know who you're with, now just tell me where you are!"
"I'll be home in a few days. Don't worry. I'm fine."
"CC?"
"Uh, bye, Boss Woss!" Caitlin thrust down the phone. She couldn't just say, "Oh, I'm with the Bad Hams 'cause I'm also a Bad Ham." She couldn't say, "Oh, I'm hunting down a creep that might hurt me." And she definitely couldn't say, "I'm doing something for Mike."
Caitlin sighed as she leaned back against the wall. Did the clubhouse have Caller ID where it said not only the number but the name of the place? What would the Caller ID say? Would it say "The Bad Hams"? She hoped not as she paced back into the dining hall.
She sat back down at the table, where everyone was still eating. Caitlin sat in thought for a minute about her husband. Would Boss actually come look for her in Hamster City? Well, actually, she was in the outskirts of Hamster City. They weren't really in Hamster City.
Mike glanced toward Caitlin and inquired, "So, how did your phone call go?"
Caitlin gulped. "He was worrying about me, and he wanted to know where I was."
Mike flashed his eyes. "Did you tell him anything?" he asked.
Caitlin shook her head. "I just told him I was hanging out with Natsu and Megan."
Caitlin realized that Mike didn't use Boss's name much. Luckily she remembered that, otherwise she would've called him by name.
Natsu glanced toward Caitlin and questioned, "Did Boss say anything about Howdy?"
All of a sudden, all of the action in the dining hall stopped. Natsu looked around and inquired, "What did I say?"
Caitlin leaned over toward Natsu and whispered, "You're not supposed to say his name unless Mike does. Mike hasn't, so you can't either. Only when Mike refers to him by that, which is really rare, it's akay to say his name."
"Ah, so it's like an enemy thing?" Megan questioned.
Caitlin nodded. "Just remember that."
Mike glanced around and remarked, "Well, anyhow... How is everything? Is everyone alright with what they got? Well..."
Caitlin sighed. The other Bad Hams started conversing again, and she welcomed the friendly break of the silence.
After about ten minutes, the eight maids came back in and took away all of the plates. They walked back through the large doorway and came back a few minutes later with more plates. This time, they had dessert, and Caitlin watched eagerly as they set it down on the tables.
When one of the maids set a plate with a chocolate brownie on it in front of Caitlin, she started eating it spontaneously. She still listened to the conversation going on around her though. She knew Roger was talking about playing cards later that night with the rest of the Bad Hams, and Megan was talking about the last movie she saw. Mike wasn't talking much now, and after a few minutes, the conversation died down.
Caitlin hated silence at any meal. She set down the fork in her paw and remarked, "Have you ever thought and questioned about some things in life?"
Mike looked up. "What do you mean?" he inquired.
"Well, which came first, the chicken or the egg?" she asked everyone.
There was a bit of silence. "Good question...," Becky mumbled.
"If you put 'THE' and 'IRS' together, you get 'THEIRS'. Accident? I think not." Caitlin smiled a bit.
"Hmm...that's not quite a coincidence, is it?" Mike mumbled.
"Well, if the S.W.A.T. team knocks down your door, do they come back later and replace it?" Caitlin asked.
"...I doubt it," Megan responded.
"Ask a question you think makes up life's many unanswered questions," Caitlin remarked.
"...Which came first, the fruit orange or the color orange?" Natsu inquired.
"...They probaablee came aat zee same timee," Roger said.
"What makes the sound when you snap your fingers, your middle finger hitting your index finger or thumb, or your middle finger hitting your palm?" Mike questioned.
"I dunno...," Caitlin replied.
"Are kids who act in R Rated movies allowed to see them?" Megan asked.
"Maybe...," Becky mumbled.