The Spotted Tail

The afternoon news came on after a handful of commercials. There was a quick highlight of the weather, then a newswoman spoke about changes in government policy. Paxine poised her pencil above the pad of paper while she concentrated on the broadcast. The newswoman briefly mentioned something about the Child Protection Act, then jumped into the face of ….

“Mr. Huntsboro, what about the Child Protection Act,” the newswoman said, shouting as loud as she could, almost jamming her microphone up Mr. Huntsboro’s nose.

Mr. Huntsboro ignored her, waving a hand as if a fly was bothering his nose. Patricia, his wife, stood behind him, but in full view. Her makeup was perfect and she wore a dress Paxine recognized as one her mom passed over because it was so expensive. Patricia’s hair stayed perfectly in place, even though the flags behind her were flapping.

“Yes, this policy fills in the gaps that exist with the important task of protecting our children. I have two children and I couldn’t be any more concerned about this than the next parent,” he said, posing and looking as if he didn’t realize there were a hundred cameras on him.

“Isn’t this policy too much for the government?” someone said, screaming from the back of the crowd.

Patricia smiled with a tilt of her head, showing a mouth full of white teeth, then she gave her head a slow nod as if in agreement to the shouted question.

“Nonsense. We owe our children everything. Is that too much to ask?” Mr. Huntsboro said.

Patricia stopped smiling.

“Isn’t the government asking too much,” the newswoman said, pushing her microphone further toward Mr. Huntsboro’s nose.

Patricia nodded once as if in agreement.

“Nonsense. The government needs to go further to protect our children,” Mr. Huntsboro said, ignoring the microphone.

Patricia frowned, shaking her head side to side once.

“But, Mr. Huntsboro…” the newswoman said, pushing away another person, who was trying to reach Mr. Huntsboro.

“No more questions,” Mr. Huntsboro said, pushing through the crowd to a car. He opened the car door for Patricia, following her in. The car drove away. The news changed to the upcoming soccer finals.

Paxine turned off the TV, returning to the sofa, not sure about what she had seen. If not for her grandma’s request, she probably would have ignored Patricia. Now that she thought about it, Patricia was disagreeing with her husband’s comments.

Tache still slept, but was now half on his back and half on his side. Tinder was now in a tight ball. The notepad, still in her hand, was blank.

“Well, what did you see and hear?” her grandma said, sitting next to Tinder.

“Well, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow,” she said, not sure how to explain what she saw. “They interviewed Mr. Huntsboro about some Child Protection thing. I am not sure I understood.”

“What about Patricia?” her grandma said, prompting.

“When Mr. Huntsboro talked, she would… she would do the opposite of what he said, like shake her head no when he said yes and such. Then he stopped answering questions and they got into their car and left. Then they talked about the soccer…”

“That’s good. So Patricia stood behind her husband?” her grandma said, looking thoughtful

“Yes, but you could still see her. When he spoke about the importance of protecting children, she would kinda smile and shake her head no, but slowly so not to be obvious. When someone asked about problems then she would really smile and shake her head yes.”

“Very good. Very very good,” her grandma said.

“What is this child protection thing?” She remembered hearing about it before, but she hadn’t given it much attention.

“It’s the Child Protection Act. A terrible policy where those who think they are better should be the only ones allowed to have children. Someone is hiding this policy in another policy written to protect children, thus they are calling it the Child Protection Act, and therefore, it doesn’t sound like a bad thing. However, if it goes into effect, there will be a lot of power placed within the hands of the government that shouldn’t be there,” her grandma said, looking horrified.

“Is my dad for this?” She knew her dad never liked laws that helped people who shouldn’t be helped.

“He hasn’t said. Your mom is on one of the committees to review the policy, and she’s a strong proponent against it. There is going to be a show of hands so to speak at the Gala Ball. There is always a theme tied to the Gala and this year the theme is children in need, thus it ties into the Child Protection Act. That is where they are going to do a strong push for the Act since everyone who is someone will be at the Gala,” her grandma said.

“Wow, no wonder everyone gets so nervous about this Ball. This is serious,” She wondered if adults ever had fun.

“I am impressed with you. This is very serious, and I’m glad that you can see this,” her grandma said in a quiet, respectful voice.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Yes. Be careful. Be cautious. Train with Tache. Make sure he gets time to sleep. Don’t trust anyone,” her grandma said, turning to the door.

No one was at the door. Had her grandma heard something? A click?

Her grandma rose, holding out a hand to have Paxine stay put, while she returned to her desk, taking something out of her handbag.

Paxine could not sit there. She had to see what was going on, following her grandma to the door, which opened when her grandma approached.

The escort wasn’t sitting on the stool, but walking toward Greta’s empty desk. Greta was nowhere in sight.

“You’ve left your post,” her grandma said in a quiet voice that still carried across the room, causing the escort to jump. He whirled around, trying to hide a camera in his hands.

The click, Paxine thought.

Her grandma revealed within the folds of her skirt, a gun. “I think I will take that camera and relieve you of your post,” her grandma said.

The escort’s smile was smug. “I don’t think so. I don’t get my orders from you.”

“That wasn’t an order. That is what I intend to do,” her grandma said matter-of-fact.

The man’s laugh was cut short when Greta hit him from behind. He dropped like a brick.

“I have the whole thing recorded too,” Greta said, checking her finger nails to make sure she hadn’t broken any. “I set him up. He was acting too odd.”

Her grandma nodded in approval. “Yes, Garon slipped me a note that said this guy kept trying to use an aural ring to hear what we were doing, but Garon intercepts those things. An artist knows his own art when he sees it. I also heard the click of his camera.”

Greta picked up the phone on her desk.. “I need cleanup,” she said into the receiver.

Greta hung up the phone and retrieved the man’s camera.

A door that Paxine hadn’t noticed before opened and three women entered.

“Strip him of all his gadgets. Call Garon to make sure you haven’t missed anything, and then hold him. Thank you, ladies,” her grandma said.

Greta and the other three lifted the unconscious man and carried him off.

“Now, do you see what I mean about trusting no one?” her grandma said, stepping back into the office.

“Tache already told me he didn’t like him,” she said, moving back to the sofa.

“I’ll have to speak to your mom about your dad’s escort guards,” her grandma said.

Paxine knew her mother would have plenty to say.

“We have the whole government for our protection and this happens,” her mom said in a loud voice after she heard about the incident with the escort.

Her parents, grandma, and Paxine stood in her dad’s office.

“Kirt. Come into my office,” her dad said into a phone.

“Don’t you screen these people?” her mom said, spinning around to attack Kirt with her words as soon as he walked into the office. She was spitting mad.

Kirt flinched. “Exactly what happened?” he said, looking to Paxine’s grandma.

Her grandma told the story about the escort abandoning his post. She had footage from her own security cameras that showed him taking pictures. Of course, the footage of Greta knocking him out was missing. There was some static and when the picture cleared, there was no one there. She figured her grandma made it look like the escort had caused the static but bungled it just enough to show he was doing something he shouldn’t have.

“Nothing was taken, but taking pictures is a breach of my security,” her grandma said with a serious face.

Paxine kept from giggling at her grandma’s performance.

“Can I borrow this?” Kirt said, surprised when her grandma nodded and handed over the footage.

“I’ll check on this right away,” he said, leaving.

“I can’t believe this…he was alone with our daughter. Some escort.” Her mom stood arms crossed.

“We do screen our people. He could have just been a nosy picture taker,” her dad said, trying to soothe her.

“I’m hungry,” Paxine said to the cranky group of grownups; however, no one seemed to hear her. She spoke louder. “Dinner?”

Her dad heard, steering her mom out toward the cube landing. Her mom was still hissing angry words when they left for the restaurant.

The restaurant wasn’t full, but, as usual, her dad had reservations. The waiter seated them right away, leading them to their table while all the other patrons watched. Paxine felt like Mr. Huntsboro with hundreds of cameras and eyes watching her. Well, maybe no cameras, but every table of people stared when they passed. Her dad was well known. However, Paxine suspected having four security guards following them was as good as trumpets announcing their entrance.

Paxine pretended to be invisible, positioning Tache on her lap without anyone noticing while she unfolded her napkin, draping it over him.

“Is it supposed to rain?” her mom said, quieter now they were out in public.

“I don’t know. Do you have an outside activity coming up?” her dad said.

“No, I just need some sunshine,” her mom said, looking tired.

Waiters came with drinks. Paxine wondered how old she would have to be before her parent let her order her own dinner. Milk was set in front of her. She would never order milk.

At least her parents couldn’t tell her not to practice with Tache, because they didn’t know she was practicing. She reached for her milk, paused, and then glanced at something that she pretended caught her attention. Tache sniffed her milk, hidden by her napkin. His tail whacked her and she took a sip of milk. She placed her glass down, almost laughing. Tinder was just finishing a sniff of her grandma’s tea. Her grandma took a sip, glanced over at her, and winked.

A waiter served soup. Paxine scooped up a spoonful, glancing up. A tail thump approved the soup and she slurped clean her spoon. It was a good vegetable beef. Tache licked his lips, watching every move of the spoon. Even though Paxine knew she wasn’t supposed to, she let drip one drop. Tache caught it in his paw, licking it clean.

Crash.

Paxine flinched, almost sending Tache to the floor. A waiter landed by her chair with a thud. His tray of water glasses scattered across an empty table, splashing everyone around. She only felt a couple of drops.

The owner of the restaurant rushed in. “Is everyone okay? Is there broken glass? No glass?”

“Sorry. I tripped,” the waiter said, trying to restack his tray as fast as possible.

“Slow down, that’s probably how it happened. There is no need to rush,” the owner said, turning to Paxine’s dad. “You okay?”

“Yes, hardly a splash,” her dad said. The owner moved on with apologies streaming from his mouth as he moved over to the next table.

Two waiters arrived with towels. One brushed against her chair. Tache growled. Her dad’s security closed in, watching the cleanup. The waiters finished wiping up water and resetting the table. The other diners returned to their dinners. Paxine returned to her soup and sipped another spoonful.

Grrr.

“Ouch,” she said when Tache swiped the spoon out of her hand.

“Oh, my,” her grandma said, sounding fuzzy.

Paxine felt confused. Something happened but she couldn’t tell what it was. Tache was upset, yelping at her. She could see his mouth moving. Her parents seemed unaware of anything, appearing to move far away. Her gut twisted and turned, and she couldn’t breathe.

Why was her grandma on her phone? Didn’t she understand something was wrong? Why was her mom holding her? Why were her mom’s lips moving? Her ears exploded.

“Paxine,” her mom said, screaming. “Someone poisoned her.”

The security around their table scattered. Where were they going? Didn’t they know she had a problem? Why was her dad looked like he was seeing how slow he could take his phone out of his pocket? Then everything jiggled and the room spun.

Paxine knew, only because of Tache, that a security guard picked her up and they were now in an emergency cube. Her grandma was talking to her mom, but Paxine couldn’t understand anything that was said.

The cube door opened, everything changed speeds. People were talking too fast and running. The floor turned into the ceiling and she was rolling at high speed down a hallway. She could hear her mom speaking so fast that it was impossible to understand.

A door crashed open and they were in a room with lots of equipment. The lights were bright and she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She felt a poke on her arm and someone put something over her head. Cool air filled her nose. She could breath.

Silence. Whoosh. Silence. Whoosh. Paxine felt tired, opening one eye to see a big yellow eye staring at her. Tache was sitting on her chest.

“How did you know which type of poison?”

Paxine didn’t recognize the voice, too tired to keep her eye open to see.

“Almonds,” her mom said. “The cat smelled almonds. Almonds don’t belong in vegetable beef soup.”

A door opened and closed

“How is she?” It was her grandma’s voice.

“She’s breathing easy. Thank goodness, it was only a little dose. Another spoonful or two would have been fatal. Aunt Sara, I’m Judith,” the unrecognized voice said.

“Oh, my. Judith, I mean Dr. Judith. I didn’t even recognize you. Thank you so much for saving Paxine,” her grandma said.

“You’re welcome. I know my mom mentioned to you that I was starting a practice in the area,” Dr. Judith said.

Aunt Sara, Paxine thought? Her grandma was an Aunt?

“Yes, she did, and I am so glad to have you in the area. I look forward to working with you,” her grandma said.

“I’ve had lots of experience with…” Dr. Judith said.

Paxine had the feeling Dr. Judith was looking at Tache.

“Now, Paxine just needs a little rest and then she can go home. There is no reason to keep her overnight,” Dr. Judith said.

“Thank you, Judith,” her mom said, sniffing,

Her mom was crying.

“You’re welcome. Here’s a box of tissue,” Dr. Judith said in a comforting voice.

The door opened and closed and Paxine had the feeling that she was alone with her mom and grandma.

“Why Paxine?” her mom said.

“Child Protection Act,” her grandma said.

“Those monsters. Destroy a child for their own good.” Her mom’s voice was a low hiss that caught Tache’s attention. He slid off Paxine’s chest and lay alongside her with only his head and one paw resting on her.

“I’m surprised. However, Doug’s view of this Act…” her grandma said.

“He isn’t going to vote for it. He keeps waiting for an amendment to correct the Act, but obviously, no one is coming forward to correct it. He realizes this can’t become law. He, like everyone else, is waiting for the Gala Ball to see what happens there,” her mom said.

“Looks like someone doesn’t want to wait for the Gala,” her grandma said.

“Is this conversation safe?” her mom said.

Safe? Was that a spider walking across the ceiling? Wait, Paxine thought, were her eyes even open? She opened on eye. There weren’t any spiders on the ceiling, but her grandma was digging in her purse.

“Here it is,” her grandma said, bringing out what looked like a pen. A light on the pen blinked once and her grandma nodded. “Yes, we’re safe.”

“Can…can you get me a cat?” her mom said.

“Dear, I don’t want to bring you in on this,” her grandma said.

“Mom, it doesn’t look like we have a choice. I know you’re training Paxine. I know she’ll be your successor. I know that’s how it is to be. Now, I think I need to provide a little more of an assist in the matter. To protect her,” her mom said with some insistence.

Paxine shifted her arm around Tache. Did she hear right? She was being trained to become her grandma?

“A cat is not what you need. In the meantime, I can provide a nanny that will be a much better solution than one of Doug’s escorts,” her grandma said, being calm.

A nanny? Wasn’t that the same as a…

“I don’t want a babysitter,” Paxine said. Her mouth was dry.

“Not a babysitter, dear. Think more of a kungfu fighter,” her grandma said. “How are you feeling?”