The Spotted Tail

“Why has your security failed and mine hasn’t?” her grandma said, talking in a calm voice as if the whole crisis of his daughter missing was unimportant. Her grandma continued, not waiting or expecting an answer. “If it hadn’t been for my security…for the Tails….Tache specifically, you’d have a more serious situation on your hands. You have an inside problem that is too close to home. You need to really look at where everyone’s alliances are.”

“You’re questioning my security? My security? I have the whole damn government at my disposal,” her dad said in a strong voice.

“Your security handled the security at the house. Your security failed,” her grandma said matter-of-fact.

There was a long silence again. Paxine had never experienced her dad being speechless.

“I can’t see who… why…my security…” her dad said, cutting himself off as if he realized he wasn’t making sense.

“Someone has found a way around your security,” her grandma said.

“I understand the concerns for your granddaughter…” her dad said, regaining control of his voice, sounding like he was now trying to take control of the conversation.

“My concerns go beyond my granddaughter. My concerns go beyond your security. My concern is the Child Protection Act,” her grandma said.

There was again silence on the other end. Paxine sensed her dad was confused, maybe not expecting this sort of attack from her grandma. Her grandma was telling him he had a problem. She didn’t think her dad liked that.

“I heard about the beetle and I know about Rostenter. I would be very concerned if I were you. I would have your security, your offices, your staff, and everything else you can think of checked for bugs. Real bugs. Maybe you really need to fumigate your offices,” her grandma said, sounding more like she was giving orders.

“What is your connection with the Child Protection Act?” her dad said, his voice sounded dangerous again.

“Let us just say that I’m not a supporter of the Act and nor are the organizations that I represent. Personally, I’m very concerned about this act and I’m just as involved as you are. The Gala Ball is key and I will be attending,” her grandma said.

Paxine knew now her grandma hadn’t called her dad about her. Her own mind was putting together pieces to the puzzle, connecting the dots, so to speak. The Child Protection Act, the intruders in their house, and the beetle were all connected. Was her dad making the same connection?

“What I don’t know…” her grandma said, jolting everyone back to the present. “…is whether our enemy is after Paxine because of you or me.”

“What do you mean?” her dad said, not sounding tired any more.

“You are a powerful player in regards to this Act, and someone is capitalizing on it by targeting your daughter. I’m also a powerful player. Someone is targeting my granddaughter,” her grandma said.

“Yes…,” her dad said, acknowledging her grandma’s words.

“I will say this again.” Her grandma’s voice was commanding. “You need to re-evaluate your security and where their alliances are. Your security is breached and not to be trusted.”

“Yes,” her dad said, but Paxine couldn’t tell if he was acknowledging or agreeing with her grandma’s word.

“Are you getting us another cat?” her dad said.

Paxine couldn’t believe her ears. Her dad wanting another cat?

Her grandma laughed. “No. Only Paxine needs a Tail. Don’t worry about her. She has the Tachalarm, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” He drew out the ‘Yes’ like a sigh of relief. Her dad now knew she was okay.

“I’ve already spoken with Dalia,” her grandma said.

“I’ve got to open more drawers,” her dad said, confusing Paxine until Tache whacked her with his tail, looking smug.

Her dad was talking about having to act more like Tache. She almost laughed aloud.

Her grandma gave her a look to be quiet.

“Come to my house tomorrow, I mean today, for dinner. Don’t tell your staff. I’ll introduce you to JayLee, Paxine’s new nanny,” her grandma said.

“Another security breach?” her dad said, meaning that the nanny could just be another security issue.

“No, she comes highly recommended and has her own Tail. Paxine will like her. She even speaks Portuguese,” her grandma said, giving Paxine a wink.

“Why Portuguese?” her dad said, sounding just as curious as Paxine felt.

“My housekeeper speaks Portuguese,” her grandma said as if that was the only reason. “JayLee is also well versed in your types of security and to my types of security.”

“Okay. See you tonight. Is that all?” her dad said.

“Yes, get some rest and start investigating your own staff. G’nite,” her grandma said, ending the call.

“My dad is the one with all the problems?” Paxine said, remembering her grandma had always said her dad was the one with the problem, and she thought she was just meaning with Tache.

“I think his advisor…” her grandma said.

“Kirt?” Paxine said, not feeling surprised.

“Yes, Kirt is getting behind the times. He’s a bulldog in an investigation, but he tends to miss things and he’s not up-to-date in the latest technology. That’s a government problem and your dad is trying to do the best he can with what he’s given,” her grandma said.

“I’m glad he knows I’m safe,” she said.

“I’m glad you picked up on that. Now get some sleep,” her grandma said rising.

Paxine woke to find that she was alone. Garon was no longer in the kitchen. Even Tache wasn’t by her side. That scared her. Shaloonya dashed into the room, startling her. Tache was close behind, chasing Shaloonya around the sofa.

Shaloonya lapped around the sofa again when Tache dove into her, rolling them both across the floor in a tangle of legs and tails.

Hiss.

Shaloonya separated herself, dashing back around the sofa with Tache close behind.

“Tache. No. Tache,” she said, scared.

The two cats raced around again, bumping a chair in the kitchen, which slid across the floor with a loud scrape.

“No. Tache,” She didn’t know what to do. She knew she couldn’t catch them since they were moving too fast.

A door opened and Garon, still in his pajamas, hurried out.

“Garon. Tache and Shaloonya are fighting,” she said, hoping he could catch Shaloonya.

“Oh,” Garon said with a laugh, sounding relieved.

“They’re fighting,” she said louder. Hadn’t he heard her right?

“Yes. Yes. Shaloonya is a good fighter,” Garon said with a wave of his hand.

“But...but they are fighting.”

Garon yawned. “Shaloonya is teaching Tache.” He went back into the bedroom, closing the door.

Tache brushed against her legs.

Mew.

“Teaching?” She knelt to searching his fur. There wasn’t a scratch on him. “Sorry Tache. You looked like you were beating up Shaloonya.”

Tache flicked his tail, looking please, eyeing Shaloonya who sat half hidden by the edge of the sofa, peering around with one big yellow eye.

“I thought you were really fighting,” Paxine said, picking Tache up and putting him in her lap. He rolled in her lap, pretending to bite her nose. She laughed.

“I guess I should have known better. There wasn’t any fur flying.”

Tache jumped back onto the floor, boxing with Shaloonya. Then she dove at him and they raced around the sofa. Shaloonya was faster with her paws and could land more blows. Tache was a better jumper, which he had to be to avoid Shaloonya’s lightning fast paws.

Garon came out of the bedroom fully clothed just when Tache sailed over the sofa in a single leap, skidding into the kitchen chair, knocking it over.

“You have to watch your landing zone,” he said with a chuckle, putting on the kettle for tea.

Tache trotted off behind the sofa as if embarrassed, creeping from behind the sofa into a corner to lie down. He had but a moment of rest when Shaloonya followed the same path and landed on him. There was a brief tangle of tails and legs, and then the two fell still. They had worn each other out.

“I have cereal and toast,” he said, putting bowls onto the table and then righting the chair.

“Sounds good. I’m hungry,” she said, grabbing a bowl.

“Pour me a bowl, too.” He popped toast into the toaster.

He poured tea with milk and sugar. The toast popped up and he slathered on butter. She thought it was the best breakfast she had ever had.

“I thought only my grandma… and I had Tails,” she said after breakfast, helping cleanup, hoping for more of an answer than what her grandma gave her.

“Oh, no. Anyone in the family…uhm can have a Tail. Most people have Tails and don’t even know it. Of course, they aren’t as well trained as ours,” he said, looking at Tache and Shaloonya on the sofa.

“Why are they called Tails?”

Garon looked at her as if she was speaking a different language. “Why are they called cats?”

This wasn’t the answer she was expecting. “I-I…”

“They are cats. They are Tails. Cats have always been Tails,” Garon said, scratching his nose. “It’s not the Tail that is special, like you think Tache is special. The person they protect is special. It takes a special person to understand a Tail. To everyone who sees him, he’s a cat. However, you don’t see a cat. You see a friend, a companion. You can talk to him. He talks to you. You understand each other. You are part of each other.”

She nodded.

“And you think that’s normal,” he said.

She nodded again.

“But it’s not,” he said, surprising her. “Tache will be your Tail for the rest of his life. When he goes, it will hurt. It will hurt until you get another Tail. It’s unfortunate that our Tails live such shorter lives than we do. Shaloonya is my seventh Tail, and I hope my last.”

For a moment, he looked tired, then he smiled and his eyes gleamed with energy and mischievousness. “Now, we have some training to do today while the Tails are resting.”

“How long have you known my grandma?” she said, awed by what she had just learned.

He laughed. “All my life. Well, actually, all hers. I am a few years older.”

“You grew up together?”

“Shh,” He looked around as if he would find someone listening. “Don’t tell. We are brother and sister.”

“What? You’re my uncle! No, my great uncle. So cool,” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Why can’t anyone know?”

“I break a lot of laws,” he said, sounding as if that was all he did. “Well, you know the adage that you have to spend money to make money? Well, sometimes you have to break laws to keep the law. So I keep a low profile, and with your dad, being who he is, I have to be even more careful so no one finds out and uses it against him.”

“Wow. The things that go on that I don’t know about.” She hoped all that he said was really true.

“You don’t know the half of it, but you will be learning. I need to teach you how to get through government security so you can attend the Gala Ball, since you are underage and don’t have an invitation. The invitation part being the actual problem,” he said, dropping his voice to a mutter on the last sentence.

“The Ball?” She wondered how many more surprises she was to learn.

“Yes. Yes,” he said, muttering and looking at his hands as if they held the answer.

“I’m going to the Ball?” That was impossible. Her parents would never let her go to the Ball.

“Didn’t I just say that?” He looked at her as if she was forgetful.

“But the Ball? I don’t have anything to wear.” She was thinking of how impossible going to the Ball would be.

“That’s not the problem,” he said with some strain to his voice. “Oh.” He was muttering again. “That’s right. We’ll use some of your dad’s security for an invitation. You are his daughter. Oh, that was quite easy.” He chuckled, looking lighthearted again.

“I’m glad that’s easy,” she said having no idea what he meant.

“Well, now, we can continue training. Shaloonya has been teaching Tache defensive moves. He appears to have quite a knack for the rolling trip,” he said as if he was going down a list of things to do.

“The what?” She was confused, wanting to know more about the Ball.

“Rolling trip. He rolls into your legs to trip you. Now, you need to learn a few moves.”

“I don’t think I want to learn the rolling trip.” She was thinking now she was going to throw herself in front of someone to trip them.

He laughed, slapping his knees. “That would be interesting to watch, but, no, you need to learn how to get out of a grip if someone grabs you.”

He grabbed one of her arms. “Now get away.”

She lunged forward, kicking up one leg.

“Ow,” He released her and hopped on one foot. “My shin.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, horrified.

He laughed, still hopping and rubbing his shin. “That’s good. Very good. You remember that move.”

“Are you okay?” she said, worried about how hard she kicked him.

“I’m fine,” he said with a laugh. “Now, watch these holds. See where my hand is? See between my fingers and thumb? That is the weak spot. If someone grabs you and you can see their hand, pull away between the fingers and thumb. Sometimes, if you lean into them that can confuse them because they think you should be struggling to get away.”

Garon danced around her like a wrestler, an old arthritic wrestler, grabbing at her. She laughed, pushing into his grip and getting away. Garon didn’t dance very long, getting tired, and sitting down.

“Now, getting out of a grip is often not enough. You have legs and I feel you know how to use them,” he said, rubbing his shin again. “But you also have teeth,”

“And claws?” she said with a laugh, being silly.

“Oh, yes,” he said, being serious. “Using fingernails is good too.” He put a finger right by her eyes. “Now if I poke you in the eye that’s going to hurt.”

She flinched.

“For the nose, use the palm of your hand. Don’t do like in the movies and use your fist. You’ll just get hurt.” He demonstrated how to use the palm of her hand, making her practice.

Her stomach gurgled. Already? Didn’t they just have breakfast?

“Oh, yes. Lunch. 11:30,” he said, pulling bread out of a cupboard along with peanut butter. “Can you grab the jam out of the frig?”

She pulled a jar of strawberry jam out of the frig, handing it to him.

“Now,” he said while they ate, “remember pointy things. Sometimes you need more than hands and feet. You need a weapon, but a weapon is best when it’s not a weapon.”

Her tongue was stuck with peanut butter so she gave him a quizzical look.

He reached into a pocket, pulling out a bracelet. There were two keys attached to it.

“Slip a key between your fingers and a quick jab of your hand will cause quite a pain point,” he said, demonstrating by spearing a cookie out of a package.

“Poor cookie,” she said, poking the package with her finger, which couldn’t get through the package like the key did.

“This is yours,” he said, handing her the cookie, then spearing out a cookie for himself. “This is for you. Your first weapon,” he said, handing her the bracelet.

She slipped the bracelet around her wrist. A weapon that wasn’t a weapon. She felt an odd sense of power knowing that she was armed.

Garon cleared lunch dishes and led her back out to the living room. He showed her more moves and before she knew it, he dashed in to the kitchen to make dinner. She set the table. Dinner was pasta with evening entertainment provided by two Tails, practicing mock fights.

Garon yawned. “Time for bed.”

“What? It’s only seven o’clock,” She said, holding back her own yawn.

“We got lots to do tomorrow. Best to be up early,” he said, heading for the bedroom.

“Oh, okay,” she said, thinking about her gamer. “Good night.”

Paxine settled on the couch with a blanket and pillow, much more comfortable than the night before. Her gamer sat on the floor beside her. She closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. The bedroom door clicked and all was quiet.

Paxine opened her eyes. Tache was sleeping beside her. The room was lit up with the morning sun. She couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep so early. Well, maybe she could sneak in a game before Garon got up, but a trip to the bathroom first.

“Good morning. Up and early.,” Garon said, already dressed and setting the table for breakfast when she came out of the bathroom. “We have a busy day.”

He bustled about as if half the day was gone despite the clock showed it was just after 6 A.M. Tache and Shaloonya curled up on the sofa as if they had already had a busy morning.

Paxine couldn’t figure out what else Garon could show her. He stepped her through the moves from yesterday and then showed her some other self-defensive moves. Then he dashed into the kitchen.

“Lunch? Already?” Her stomach gurgled in answer and the clock showed it was noon. How could time fly by so fast?