Protector

Buckets of rain dumped endlessly into the city. Lightening illuminated even the darkest of alleys for a split second, followed immediately by an enormous clap of thunder that shook the buildings and their foundations mercilessly. The few humans who ventured out into the storm adorned heavy coats and held umbrellas tightly over their heads, moving quickly across the city sidewalks to their destination.

The cat was obvious to all this because he was caught in the middle of it. Paws running doggedly, he dashed through the stinging hard rain, intent on finding shelter. He was a young cat, barely a year old, whose coat hung ragged with water and filth. He had not eaten decently in days, and on this night he felt certain exhaustion would catch up with him if he didn't find food and cover from the storm. Sighting the dimly glowing sign of a small diner, he dashed across the street towards it.

And right out in front of a car.

There was a screech of tires, a flash of headlights, and the cat felt the impact of metal on his back a split second before he was thrown violently to the side of the street. He landed deep in a puddle of rainwater washing into a sewer drain. Exhausted and hungry, he didn't bother to try and get up. He was too tired... Eyes closed, he felt the hard rain pounding into his side, the water washing over his ears, the cold seeping under his fur. He didn't see the three humans pile out of the car, covering their heads against the rain, and lean over him for a quick inspection. Thunder rumbled hard overhead, vibrating the ground. Lightening split the sky, and the next thing the cat felt was the sensation of being lifted and wrapped in something warm and dry before exhaustion overtook him.

Something pressed against his lips, a warm hand resting over his entire side. Slowly the cat let his eyes fall open, their vision taking a moment to clear. Three humans leaned over him: a Man, his female, and a young male all watched him intensely. The female held a small dropper close to his mouth, and from it the cat could smell a warm yellow liquid thick with the taste of chicken. Gently he licked it, the delicious taste dripping onto his tongue as the female gently squeezed out the broth. The dropper was emptied quickly and replaced by another serving, then another and another, all which the hungry cat gulped down readily. The humans circling him talked quietly to each other, the young male grabbing hold of the Man's arm and gazing up, his tone of voice pleading. After a series of refusals the Man looked at his female, then sighed and agreed to his son's wishes. The young male laughed happily and stroked the cat's side, but the cat was oblivious to all of this. He was content for the moment to rest, taking in his surroundings.

He was in a human house of some sort. Beside the glowing warmth of a fireplace he lay on a soft, thick blanket that smelled fresh and clean. A full stomach on chicken broth lulled him into a lazy state, quite usual after the exhaustion he had felt and the warmth on his back. The cat's side throbbed somewhat where the car had struck him, but nothing that wouldn't be gone in a few days. After the feeding the human Man and his female moved away, leaving the young male to gently pet and talk to the cat. The cat understood nothing the young human male said other than his voice tone of very gentle and soft, and instead relished the gentle pampering. It took the cat a moment to realize his fine silver-striped coat had been cleaned and dried. Another effort of the humans. All this was pleasant, of course, and probably half the reason the cat didn't run away during the night.

Two days after being taken in by the human family the young male was put in bed, coughing and sneezing repeatedly. The female sat with him for awhile, putting something long and plastic into his mouth until it made a noise and she took it out to examine. She shook her head sadly, stroked the hair of her son, then made him lie back down as she left. The cat had watched this all from the doorway to the young male's bedroom with only minor interest. The young male coughed again, and groaned as he rolled his head to the side and sighted the cat. Calling softly, he extended his hand and gestured the cat over.

Taking his own leisurely time, the cat approached the bed. He paused a moment, gazing up as the young male coughed fitfully again, then gathered his haunches beneath him and leaped up onto the sheets. The young male grabbed him, perhaps a little roughly, and pulled him close under his chin, gently stroking his head. The cat didn't seem to mind, and instead of leaping from the confining grasp of the young male he curled up against him, purring gently as their mutual warmth surrounding him and the gentle strokes became softer down his side. The young male's grip also released. That was perhaps when the cat decided to stay.

The cat knew adapting to a human family took some time, and right away he began to realize the human family's habits. For one, the Man didn't like him to jump onto the furniture of any room. Sometimes the cat did just that when the Man wasn't around, but not often. The cat found himself quite comfortable in the soft basket that was designated for him beside the fireplace, or sometimes spending the night in the young male's arms, which he seemed to enjoy. Also, the Man's female had set down two bowls on the slick floor of the room that smelled of food for him. One always held water, and the other containing the type of food the cat remembered eating at his last family home that only tasted decent for the first day. She allowed him to eat and drink from those bowls as often as he wanted, but didn't allow him to approach the table when the three humans were sitting at it as they did every evening. The young male was who the cat found most use in. He never seemed to tire of petting the cat, and at a moment's notice would open the front door to let the cat out each day. The cat also remembered the reason for the litter box with his previous family, and delighted these humans by doing the same. The humans also gave him a new collar: thick black leather with metal studs on which a tag hung freely, a few words inscribed on it. But the cat couldn't read. He didn't have to. He knew his name.

These things and more the cat had to learn about his new human family, but there was little real trouble in his adaptation. He was content with them, and hoped that they wouldn't put everything in their house into boxes and leave as his last human family had done. His true loyalty to the family, however, would be tested a mere two weeks after he decided to stay with them.

It was not an extraordinary day. The three humans had gone off as they did everyday, letting him outside for the duration of it, then the female returned home first to let the cat in, followed shortly by the young male and finally the Man. They had gathered at the table as they did every evening, watched the moving color box, and went to sleep. Having spent the day prowling, the cat was eager to climb into his basket for his own night dozing.

Sometime in the night a window was shattered.

The cat shot up, wide awake, every sense on the fullest alert as he stood and gazed over the dark area. He was sure of it: a muffled voice in the other room of food and the slick floor, the soft scrape of padded footsteps, the slight cling of metal upon metal. Sure-footed and silent the cat bounded from his basket bed and across the thick carpet, tail held high, and slowed into a low crouch as he approached the room of food. He slunk along the wall as his instinct told him, stripes flashing among the shadows. Finally the white wall ended and he stared into the kitchen, whiskers and ears pressed forward.

Even in the darkness he could see the form of a Man clad in black. Hunched over, the Man moved silently through the room that smelled of food, opening drawers and cabinets. The cat saw nothing immediately wrong with the Man's presence, and sat down to calmly watch as he went about the counter top. The cat grew bored after a few moments, and was preparing to go back to his nap. Why should he be concerned about the Man anyway? Humans did lots of strange things that cats didn't understand. Perhaps this was just another one.

But this Man didn't smell like the other Man that the cat lived with. His scent was thicker, stronger, reeking of a foul odor the cat didn't like. He stayed a moment, watching, keeping out of sight as the Man pulled something long and shiny from a block of wood. It gleamed in the moonlight filtering through the nearby window, and the cat knew it was metal. It was a knife. Yes, he knew about knives. Humans used them like claws since they didn't have any. Putting the knife in the top of his pants the Man turned, quietly moving into the carpeted room where the cat hid.

The cat followed him, ten times as invisible as he made not a sound and crouched close to the wall.

Another thing struck the cat odd about this Man. Usually when other humans came to his family's home there was a loud noise before they entered, and his family went to greet them. This one had not made that noise, and the cat assumed the family didn't know he was here. They were all upstairs, asleep.

The cat watched as then the Man rooted through the room of carpet just as he had the other, opening boxes and drawers in the desk against the wall. Sometimes he found the shiny things the human liked to play with: the round pieces of metal or golden decoratives the family Man's female sometimes put on herself. These the stranger Man shoved into his pockets, and when he had completed the room, he moved towards the stairs. The cat followed.

Two more rooms followed in the same procedure. At one point the stranger Man had knocked over a plastic trashcan, and he immediately froze. A long time of absolute silence passed before he moved again. He turned and saw the cat sitting against the wall. The Man said something, but the cat just stared. There was no feeling in the Man's voice. Not a tone of anger, happiness, or sadness that the cat could detect. But the Man seemed amused by the cat's presence, and went back to his routine.

The cat thought nothing of these strange actions. Two Men the other day had come and taken away the large white box in the room of food, so the taking of items seemed to meet the approval of his family of humans. But the two Men had brought another white box in to replace the other, and the family had watched them do everything. This Man he watched now took and took, piling his pockets full of items whose only use was known to him, yet he put nothing back, and the human family still did not know he was here. The cat puzzled over this for a long while, ever-watchful as the stranger Man moved down the hallway. The cat finally found satisfaction. The Man was going toward the rooms of the human family. Perhaps now he would let them know he was here and taking some items. Surely then the family would deem it alright.

The Man gently pushed open the door to the family Man and his female's room. The cat could hear their breathing, deep and slow in sleep, as he padded behind the feet of the stranger Man. He wanted to make sure he saw the family's approval, and leaped up onto a dresser to view the entire room from there.

But the stranger Man was quiet as ever, moving along the wall making noises that only a cat could hear. Again he opened a drawer, reached in, and pulled out a rolled stack of paper to put into his pocket. The cat's golden eyes glanced at the Man and his female, still asleep in their bed. They should be woken up, the cat concluded on his own. He moved to the edge of the dresser to perch.

A fancy glass vase had been set on the dresser, filled with flowers and water, and as the cat moved to the dresser's edge his flank brushed the smooth glass side of it. The vase tumbled to the floor and broke in a loud crash.

And cats never knock anything over on accident.

The family Man and his female jerked as they woke, sitting upright in their bed as the family Man saw the dark stranger Man against the wall. A loud, angry cry came from the family Man, and he jumped from his bed as the stranger Man turned and began to run out of the room. The family Man tackled the other, and the female screamed as they began to fight.

Evidently they didn't want the Man taking their items, the cat thought.

A light came on in the hallway, and through the open door the cat could see the little male human standing at the entrance to his room, eyes wide and frightened as he saw his father wrestling the stranger Man on the ground. The young male cried out something, scared and frightened, but didn't move.

The cat wasn't sure which occurred first: his smelling the fear and anger heavy on the air, the stranger Man lifting the knife he had brought from the room of food and jabbing it at the family Man, the female human's scramble to grab something lumpy and black from the desk beside their bed and put it to her ear, or the cat's realization that he had to do something. Something wasn't right.

He must have realized it when the knife flashed and the family Man was left with a long cut on his arm. The cat's ears and tail rose, quivering. This stranger Man was raising the knife again. He wanted to hurt the human family! The cat was certain then he had to do something. The family shouldn't be hurt... These humans had rescued him from the street, and it was time to return the favor.

With a terrible snarl the cat leaped from the dresser and touched the floor only twice as he bounded across the room. He threw himself at the stranger Man, feeling his teeth and claws slicing through the stranger Man's flesh as he latched onto the wrist that held the gleaming knife. The hot taste of blood filled his mouth, shutting his eyes against it, and a cry of the stranger Man's pain as he jerked away from the family Man, shaking his hand to try and loosen the cat's hold. But the cat didn't let go. Holding with his front claws, he let his hind sets gouge away at the stranger man's sleeve, cutting the soft skin beneath the black fabric like razors. The stranger Man cried out again, and this time the family Man hit him hard in the jaw, sending him back out into the hallway. The cat was thrown up against the wall, and finally releasing his hold he collapsed dizzily.

The stranger Man wiped more red from his bottom lip and attacked the family Man again. The female screamed, and the young male ran to her for comfort. The knife had fallen from the stranger Man's hand, and now both Men struggled to grab it, fighting as they did. One of them kicked over a small table beside the doorway, and the cat dodged to avoid being trampled. As he did, his hind foot knocked the handle of the knife and the weapon spun away, out of the reach of the stranger Man who had been closer to grabbing it. The stranger Man snarled angrily and yelled, but in a streak of silver fur the cat attacked again, this time pouncing onto the stranger Man's face and mauling with all his strength. Crying out again the stranger Man freed both hands to reach up for the cat and pry him off, and when he did the Man grabbed at the cat's throat and squeezed hard. The cat yeowled, struggled, but didn't have to for long as the family Man struck the stranger Man across the head and the stranger Man fell, not moving again.

Leaning back with a grateful sigh, the family Man hugged his female and son close to him, and together they let the tears trickle from their eyes. The cat wearily pushed himself up and away from the still-breathing-but-not-moving stranger Man, shaking the dizziness from his head and keeping one paw up from touching the ground. For a moment he sat, calmly licking his claws, satisfied that the stranger Man-which he didn't like after all-was no longer mobile. He then glanced across at the human family. They seemed unhurt. Scared, perhaps, but unhurt. The cat flattened his ears as he heard the screech of loud sirens in the distance, drawing closer and thus getting louder, hurting his ears. He glanced up, and saw that the family Man was looking at him, too. Though the cat met his eyes squarely, unblinking, and saw the sparkle of sincere gratitude in them, he was still curious as to why the Man extended his hand gently. The cat thought it better to humor the Man, and padded forward to let the Man run his hand across his back and tail, then scratch behind his ears. The cat licked the Man's hand in return, but when the Man said something softly, the cat of course couldn't understand.

Soft moonlight filtered down through the drawn curtains of the human family's bedroom in pale shafts. Outside crickets chirped merrily, giving no warning whatsoever to the presence that crept through the garden beyond the walls of the family house, eyes trained on the window open a mere crack. He was watching, knowing the family was inside. He approached without a sound, hidden from human eyes by the darkness, his path illuminated by moonlight, only one task in his mind.

Now was the time. It had been a week since the black and white cars with flashing lights had gone. The windows were replaced in the human family's house, and the human themselves now slept peacefully in their beds. Except the little male, who had since the incident with the stranger Man wanted to sleep in between the comfort of his parents. But they were all asleep now, and that's when he climbed in through the window. His wounds still hurt a little, but after the visit to the hospital they felt much better, and didn't bother him as he approached the bed of sleeping humans on silent feet. He made not a sound as he gazed at the sleeping female, his eyes wide and unblinking as he stared. He approached closer, not making a sound, and readied himself for what he was going to do.

Little Chris's eyes shot open warily as he felt something touch his leg and a shadowy figure crawling across his mother's hip towards him. Stiffening in fear he reached for his mother's shoulder.

"Mommy," he whispered as the shadow began to circle.

The woman woke up with a small hum, but said nothing as her eyes landed on the shadow now stretching out beside her legs at Chris's feet. Startled at first, she gently reached out and touched it.

The shadow purred.

"It's okay, honey," Chris's mother said softly. "It's just the cat."

Maybe Munkustrap was just a cat, but as he curled up to go to sleep, he knew he was the protector of this family.

THE END