Cats Triumphant by Jody Lynn Nye Read Free Book Online

stay here as well.”
    “That’s as it should be,” Marco said, curling himself up gratefully. At last, a suitor—nay, a fiance—who had the proper respect for Briar Rose, and for him! “I’m relieved everyone is awake at last. I can at last take up the task that is right for me, one that I’ve neglected for almost ten years.”
    “And what is that?” Briar Rose asked, stroking his black and white fur.
    “Sleeping,” Marco said, with a yawn. “Men slay dragons. Women inspire poetry. But if there’s any sleeping to be done around here, I will do it. Wake me in time for the wedding, will you?”
    He buried his nose under his paw, and closed his eyes.

“All right, pretty kitty, you don’t have to raise the roof,” Daddy said, coming into the darkened apartment. “Shh. You’ll rouse the neighbors. Come on, sweetie baby. Let me take of my coat and I’ll go straight to the kitchen. I promise.”
    Pretty Kitty and Sweetie Baby, a pair of tabby cats, jumped out of the way as the thin, slightly-balding man tossed the warm wool coat over their heads onto the back of the couch, then hurried to trot after his moving heels to make sure he was going where he promised. He didn’t bother to turn lights on as he went, but that was all right with Pretty Kitty and Sweetie Baby. People often liked things too bright, unsuitable for the subtleties enjoyed by cats. They knew they ought to berate him for being so very, very late, but that could wait until after they had been given their dinner. It was bad enough that Mommy was away, resulting in a shortage of available laps, another unforgivable misdemeanor that would require considerable amounts of petting and treats to compensate for. They knew Daddy would pay the penalties willingly. In this home, the cats were the masters. They knew it, and their people knew it.
    Pretty Kitty, the silver tabby, in particular was proud that they had intelligent people. Other cats of their acquaintance in the comfortable, good-smelling building had people that were not quite as obedient. No smelly dogs were allowed here, and only two cats to a territory, or ‘apartment,’ as the people called it, so it was usually very quiet. The cats enjoyed that except when they wanted to express their own opinions volubly. Then, the string-and-ringer on the wall would go off, causing Daddy or Mommy to have to pick it up and talk to the blunt end. That usually resulted in a scolding, which the cats would accept without grace.
    Daddy moved soft-footed around the floor of the kitchen. Freshly washed bowls were in the steamy-noise cupboard. Proper food came out of paper wrapping from the butcher, but the cats would be satisfied with canned; it was too late to be finicky. Pretty Kitty couldn’t help throwing herself against Daddy’s legs for joy at the musical ‘grink-grink-grink’ of the can opener. Sweetie Baby, the brown tabby, just sat poised, waiting for that exquisite moment of diving in and gulping down mouthfuls of delicious, smelly food. Pretty Kitty thought that greed was why Sweetie Baby threw up her meals so often.
    Daddy laid down the can opener with a clunk on the counter, and reached for the silverware drawer to get a spoon. Suddenly, there was an answering clunk from the bedroom. Pretty Kitty danced a couple of steps in alarm and stared into the darkness. She smelled a strange scent. The hair on her tail fluffed up. Daddy pulled a sharp knife out of the knife rack.
    “Who’s there?” he shouted. Sweetie Baby, beside her companion, was huge-eyed with fear. Her fur stood up all around her neck and down her spine. Daddy took a firmer grip on his knife and marched out of the kitchen.
    He fell back almost at once. A bigger person, dressed all in close-fitting black clothing, bounded out of the shadows, clasping Daddy around the chest exactly the way Sweetie Baby and Pretty Kitty fought after meals. Daddy pushed back, trying to break free. The person in black was very strong, and kept forcing