The Aristocats Collection

Part 22

It had been a month since Paris returned. Is it just me, or do all kids run off at some point? It was very quiet in the house--almost too quiet...
I looked behind me. Nothing. I felt like someone was watching me. You know, when you have a presence upon you that you just can't shake away. I turned forward. "Ahh!" I screamed.
There was a black shadow in front of me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Oh. It was just Berlioz. That was who had been watching me. "Marie." he said seriously. "Come with me."
Without asking any questions, I followed Berlioz to the living room of our house. When you open the front door it leads to the living room. Nothing looked off. But I looked closer.
"Marie, someone was here last night." Berlioz whispered. "See, everything is messed up." Berlioz began pointing to places. "That chair was over there. This table was straight. Those clothes were in your bedroom. The curtains were closed, but now they are open."
"Wait!" I exclaimed. I wandered over to something that hadn't been there before. A black bow tie. There was a small silver plaque on the back of it. I turned it over. The words inscribed in it were none other than...

If Found, Return To Edgar Balthazar
543 Maple Leaf Lane, Berwick, England

I stared at the bow in shock. It couldn't be true. He couldn't find us. He would never know we were here! Edgar Balthazar. The butler Edgar! He was in our house. Snooping around in my bedroom, switching up tables, moving chairs--why would he even want to come? Surely he woke up at least one of the twenty-something odd cats. Or did he use cinnamon milk? I shook my head. Confusion is as confusing as it is.
Berlioz looked to me. "So Edgar came..." he whispered, staring at the bow tie. "How did he know we lived here? He couldn't have looked at the Census, could he have? That is private information!"
I shook my head. "I think if you prove that you are related to or have rights to their information, you can view their Census report." I said. "I think Edgar may have proved that he was our butler in the past and he could view our Census information."
Berlioz breathed in. "He is now a true threat to not only us, but all cats as a whole, and Madame. We must stop him, get him arrested, something of the sort!" He fumed.
But then I heard a step and a crack in the floor. I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"Oh, look who it is. My old little friends."
But I did turn around. It was Edgar! He was strangling Toulouse in his arm, holding him firmly to prevent him from escaping. Edgar scooped Berlioz and I up. "No! Stop!" Toulouse was screeching. "Leave them alone, you nitwit!"
Edgar held us tight. "Oh, little kitties. Let's go home." he maliciously laughed. Edgar trudged out the door with us. My heart skipped a beat as he stuffed us in a covered cage in the back of his motor bike. I watched in horror as we drove away, Madame's mansion fading into the horizon. We were gone.
It was the middle of March, but the air was still frigid. I shook as Berlioz and Toulouse huddled against me, desperate for warmth. A cold tear stroked down my cheek. "It's okay." Toulouse whispered, his voice cracking halfway through. "Agh!" Berlioz shrieked as the cage bumped up. I shivered. "Where are we?" I asked. Toulouse wandered to the edge of the cage and flitted his paw, creating air. The air pushed open the curtain covering the cage for a few seconds.
There was a nearly barren field, covered in wheat, surrounded by a forest of trees. The motor bike bumped up again. We meowed and hissed. Edgar laughed. I heard him say, "Stupid cats."
Leave us alone. Please, please. I thought, clutching my head in both fury and desperation. The motor bike stopped. I looked around. Edgar picked up the crate and unveiled the curtain. "Look what you stupid cats have done! I have to live here, of all places."
A tiny, run down shack rest in front of us. "If you stupid cats would have gone wild, I would be bathing in money right now! I'd have my very own butler!" He waved his hands in the air dramatically. "But no. Madame loves you and takes you in, and I nearly get shipped off to Timbuktu! And then my sister Agatha got a job. She had been homeless, should you know, until she got that wretched job! I hate you, cats--I curse you beyond your knowing!"
Edgar threw the cage onto the ground. We meowed and yowled in hurt. The cage spun, and the door shook (yet didn't open). "Ha! Stupid, stupid, dumb cats."
Edgar picked up the cage. He shook it. Toulouse hissed. "Be gone, cats!" Edgar whistled, flinging open the door to let us out. Toulouse darted out of the cage and into the wheat ahead. Berlioz and I were careful to stay together, but we were quick.
When Berlioz and I were in the middle of the field, we notice Toulouse was nowhere to be seen. "We've got to stay together." Berlioz gulped. "Toulouse!" I yelled. "Toulouse!
We searched for hours, but we couldn't find him. The sun was going down, and I hoped that wherever Toulouse was that he was safe.
Berlioz waddled over to a tree at the edge of the field. There was a large opening in the roots, large enough for two cats in fact. Berlioz and I slipped in, watching the sunset. We had to curl up into a sleep position for us both to fit. It had been a long day. My eyes dropped and I fell asleep.
When I woke up, Berlioz was already awake. He just hadn't moved because if he moved it would have woken me. We both went out. I realized that I was hungry, and I heard Berlioz' stomach growl. "I don't have the stomach to hunt," Berlioz chuckled, as if his pun were funny. "But I guess we should."
I saw a bird on the ground. I ran toward it. The bird flew into the air, wiggling away. I sighed. Berlioz' face turned sad with near desperation. "Well, it might be a bit harder than we thought. Let's go for something that doesn't fly."
Berlioz and I wandered into the forest. I saw a mouse, and I thought of Roquefort. But then I knew I needed to hunt to survive. I leapt onto the mouse, a frail squeal emerging as I dug my claws into its neck. It went limp. I had just killed an animal. Berlioz looked at me.
"Well, I guess we have to share." he whispered, acknowledging the mouse' death. Berlioz precisely cut the mouse in half. I chewed the mouse up, the tough meat disgusting in my mouth. I quickly swallowed. "I feel a bit better." I whispered, although I was nearly more hungry than before. Berlioz nodded. "Let's find Toulouse."
We called out, trudging across the whole field. Occasionally, there would be a rustle in the bushes that we thought might be Toulouse. But he was nowhere in sight.
"What if he fled?" I shivered. The thought hung in my mind. "He could be at Madame's now, while we are stuck out here in this cold place." I shook. A load of icy wind blew past me. My human-like fur that hung off my head lifted to the side, swaying with the air. I brushed it back in place. Berlioz dashed in front of me. "Do you see that, Marie? It's Madame's car! With Toulouse in it!"
I scurried up the bump in the hill. Yes! A burgundy car came up through the field. We ran towards it, meowing. Madame saw us and stopped the car. "Oh, my beauties!" she whispered, lifting us into the car. "Edgar, oh, that evil man!"
I looked at the shed on the other side of the field. It was small and quaint. I heard Madame mutter something about filing a lawsuit, whatever that means. I nuzzled against her leg, glad for warmth. I buried my head in her faux fur coat. Madame revved up the car. I took one last look at Edgar's shack. And then I looked away.