The Singing Cat
The very next day, Freddy was down in the kitchen by 7:00 in the morning, and was on his fifth cup of coffee, when Amelia made her way downstairs.
"Good morning, Freddy," she said, suppressing a yawn.
"Good morning, Katherine," he said back.
He then looked at her, and said, "Have you ever been down to the city on this planet?"
"A few times," she said. "It's not that far away, Freddy dear."
"Have you ever heard of a place called The Singing Cat?"
She nodded hesitantly, and said, "I have heard of that. Isn't it one of those spa type places exclusively for women? Why do you ask?"
He the gave her a rather clever smile. She narrowed her eyes, thinking, and then put two and two together. "You didn't!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, yes I did!" he said. "The whole shebang. Massage, manicure, a fleabath and even more beside..."
She gave him a look that showed resignation and a hint of suppressed anger.
"I've payed the tab in full, so you had might as well go," he said to her. "Your appointment is at 1400 hours, Amelia. Oh, I shall following you, so I will be sure that you make it on time, you see..."
Amelia made sure that her children got off to school, and told Delbert that she would be going down to the Benbow Inn, as Freddy was taking her to the appointment in town. Once she was in the Benbow, she sat down with Sarah, telling what her cousin had done. Sarah thought it was rather cute that a man would do such a thing for his cousin, and tried to make Amelia a little happier. When 13:30 hours rolled around, Freddy came by to pick up Amelia.
"Arrow has promised to pick us up after your appointment," he said. Amelia remained silent.
"Oh, do come on, Amelia…don't be such an old stick in the mud," he said. "You were planning on getting rid of those pesky fleas, right?"
"Yes, but that's not the point, Freddy. You didn't just pay for a simple flea bath. You payed for an entire day's treatment," she said irritably and annoyed. The two didn't say anything more before the made it to The Singing Cat and entered into the parlor.
Behind a desk a horsameina (50 human, 50 horse) woman sat. She looked up brightly as she noticed Amelia and Freddy.
"See you soon, Amelia," Freddy said and left, in a bit of a hurry. Amelia was going to protest, but he had already closed the door on her.
"Men," the girl behind the desk said, and went through her appointment book. "Ah, right, Katherine Amelia Doppler. That would be you, right? Ooh, the full package. Boy, are you in for a treat!" she said, giving Amelia a knowing smile. Amelia nodded in answer, but was none too pleased with the situation.
"Hmm. Would I be right if I said that you really don't want to do this?"
Amelia shook her head no to answer.
"Don't talk much do you?" the equine girl observed. She stood up and laid a large hand on Amelia's shoulder and then gently led her through a door.
Two women sat down and talked. They where both felinids, Amelia could see, but they where from the other side of the Felinisia. There seemed to be a little leopard in both of them. The left most one was mostly brown with deep black hair, and eyes of bright green. The other one was a yellowish color with flaming red hair and deep brown eyes. Both girls sported spots and long sinuous tails.
"All right, ladies," the horsameina woman declared. "This is your next customer, Amelia. Her cousin has payed for the whole works. Now, do try to make her feel like she's gotten her money's worth, hmm?" Then she left Amelia with the two exotic felinid women.
"So…another feline, hmm?" the redhead said. "Well, that makes it just the three of us." She giggled softly.
Amelia was now smiling…just a little bit. "So, what would you like to start with?" the raven-haired girl asked. It was like the fleas answered for Amelia. The blasted pest began to bite, and she began to scratch.
"Fleas, right," the redheaded girl observed wisely. Amelia nodded miserably, scratching. "Oh, I'm Shelia, by the way," the redheaded girl said.
"And I'm Naomy," the dark haired girl explained.
"Can you please just get rid of these fleas? They are driving me to absolute distraction with all this wretched itching," Amelia said.
"No problem," the both the girls said and Shelia left to go into another room.
"Where is she going?" Amelia asked Naomy.
"Well, someone's got to prepare the flea bath," Naomy answered and got a towel out from a closet. She looked Amelia over, and then said, "Well, do you plan on taking your bath with your clothes on?"
Amelia shook her head with an embarrassed grin, and went into a dressing room to remove her clothing, wrapping a towel tightly about herself. She was then ushered into the room where Shelia was running hot water and soap into a large bathtub that looked more like a pool.
"The water is ready," Shelia told her with a smile. Amelia removed her towel, stepped into the steaming tub, and laid down in the bath with a relieved sigh. Much to her surprise, and before she could say a single thing, the two felinid girls had removed their clothes---to reveal bikinis---and jumped into the water.
"Now listen to us," the girls said. "Just relax. We have a special soap that will kill all those fleas in just five seconds. But we have to rub it in to your skin. So just relax, and let us do our jobs."
Amelia nodded and said, "Very well, but before you begin, I should warm you that I have a tattoo on my back, so please be careful with it."
"Is it big?" Naomy asked. Amelia showed them the tattoo. "Wow! That was a great tattoo. Is it your lover's ship?"
"No, it is my ship," Amelia said, just a bit proudly.
Shelia looked on her. "You own a ship?"
"Captain Amelia. Captain and owner of the R.L.S. Legacy," Amelia said and relaxed totally.
The girls began to work and then Naomy said. "Hey, I heard a rumor that a ship called the Legacy traveled to Treasure Planet."
"Yes, that was me," Amelia said and continued, "Try a little more on my left foot."
And the girls continued to make Amelia feel a little more comfortable. She was so happy that after a while she began to purr.
"Now, she's definitely on Cloud Nine," Shelia said to Naomy with grin. Naomy looked at Amelia and said, "Amelia, you do realize we're of the same species as you, but we're different, right?"
"Not really," Amelia said.
"You are from the West of Felinesia. People from the west hemisphere have no tails and hardly any hair. But you can purr. Neither I nor Shelia can purr, but instead we have a little better balance, since we have tails."
After a few minutes the flea bath was over and Naomy and Shelia helped Amelia get to her feet, and helped towel her dry.
"Okay, that was the flea bath. What now, Amelia?" Shelia asked.