The Spotted Tail

Every noise of the store intensified. Paxine knew she was hearing through Tache’s ears. Running feet. Two sets. She stooped into a rack, behind the clothes. Tache crouched beside her, his eyes following the feet as they passed, then he dashed out, heading the opposite direction.

“Hey,” a man’s voice said, shouting.

Tache dove into another rack of clothes. Paxine tucked herself in beside him.

Running feet passed again, then stopped. Tache stared in their direction, not moving a muscle, not even his tail.

“Watch the racks,” the man’s voice said in a whisper so close to Paxine that she almost jumped. “There’s one moving. Over there.”

“Ahhh.”

Tache dashed out. Paxine following, checking behind to see an old lady screaming two racks away. The man must have jumped her while she looked through clothes on the rack, thinking it was Paxine.

So much was going on in the store, but Paxine was afraid to look over the racks to see if she could find her mom. Hold on, she thought. The fitting rooms. She could hide in there. Tache whacked her hard with his tail. There wasn’t anyone around, why couldn’t she…

The woman with the slashed face stepped out of the fitting room area. She stood there as if guarding them with an angry scowl on her face.

Tache tapped her with his tail, leading her down another aisle.

“Hey,” the woman said, shouting over to her people. “Over there.”

The running feet. Paxine kept low, circling around a rack instead of dodging in it. The running feet kept on going. Tache dodged across another isle. There was a counter. More racks. And quiet.

Tache and Paxine both crept into a rack. A number of different shoes passed, but no one was running. Then there was a pair of shoes Paxine recognized. She poked Tache, pointing at the shoes walking by. Paxine slipped out of the rack, standing up beside her mom, sliding her hand into her mom’s hand.

Her mom tightened her grip, giving no other reaction to Paxine’s sudden reappearance. They both stood there watching the disarray of the store, as if they had always been standing there together.

Paxine lowered her backpack for Tache, hoisting him up and following her mom toward the checkouts. Her mom guided them away from the people running around, keeping Paxine on the far side of her, away from the turmoil.

“What are they doing?” a clerk said.

“Lost kid probably,” another clerk said back to her.

Both clerks seemed mesmerized by the commotion, ignoring their customers.

“Can we check out?” her mom said.

Paxine couldn’t believe her mom wanted to check out. Shouldn’t they be escaping out of the store?

“Ah, sure. Find everything?” the clerk said.

“Can I get a gift certificate here?” her mom said.

How could her mom be so calm? Didn’t she realize people were trying to get her daughter?

“Sure,” the clerk said, digging in a drawer.

How could her mom… Paxine’s heart was racing… No one paid them any attention. Her mom and she were invisible to the people racing around the store because they were acting like normal customers. They weren’t drawing attention to themselves. How did her mom know this?

“Thank you. Come again,” the clerk said, shifting her attention back to the turmoil in the store.

Paxine expected them to hurry out of the store, but her mom just moved away from the checkout counter, looking back. Then, to Paxine’s surprise, her mom raised her hand as if to get a teacher’s attention. What was her mom thinking?

Her mom dropped her hand. There was Dwayne, walking fast toward them. He looked much relieved to see them. Together they left the store.

“What happened?” her mom said as soon as the cube door closed, holding tight to Paxine’s hand.

“Someone pushed a cart into me and I tripped and fell. By the time I got up, you were both gone. I searched and finally saw you,” Dwayne said, motioning toward her mom, “but I couldn’t see Paxine. I saw people running and I assumed they were chasing her. I kept getting fouled by carts. There had to be at least six people involved. There was one lady with scratch marks on her cheeks.” His gaze turned to Paxine as if she should now tell her story, but she said nothing. She wasn’t going to tell her side of the story to him.

The cube dinged, and the escort stepped out. They were back at her dad’s office.

“Be sure to make your report,” her mom said, and then she closed the door on his surprised face. Her mom slipped out her phone as soon as the cube moved again.

“Hi Greta, this is Dalia,” her mom said. There was a short pause. “Mom. Can you meet us for lunch?”

Paxine could hear her grandma’s voice through the phone.

“Yes. By the sounds of your breathing, I better. Meet me at the Roof Top,” her grandma said.

The Roof Top was a restaurant appropriately named since it was at the top of a building. It was one of her grandma’s favorites. The roof overhead was glass, and the sun streamed in. There were flowering plants and full size trees. It was a year round garden.

At their table, her grandma pulled a chair around to face the sun for Tinder. Paxine copied her. Both cats hopped up into their respective chairs and sprawled out to nap.

Paxine and her mom updated her grandma on the events at the store. Her grandma kept staring at Tache.

“He’s still in training,” her grandma said, sounding concerned. “You’re not supposed to over exert your Tail.”

Paxine opened her mouth to explain, but her grandma stopped her. “It appears we haven’t told Tache this. He is doing exceedingly well,” her grandma said with praise, letting Paxine know she had done nothing wrong.

“Mom,” her mom said, “if I could have had a heart attack, I would. That was absolutely terrifying.”

Her grandma nodded with understanding while she continued to stare at Tache.

“Should Doug know about…” her mom said.

Her grandma shook her head. “He’ll know about what happened from his own man’s report. I’m not going to share my investigation. I have my own misgivings about his security.”

Her mom sighed, nibbling absentmindedly on a bread stick. “What else can we do?”

“I can’t change Doug’s security. I can only add to it. Tache is doing his job. I have her nanny coming, but getting her here takes time,” her grandma said.

“Ladies?” the waitress handed out menus, but Paxine’s grandma held up a hand to stop her.

“Ice tea all around and chicken crepes,” her grandma said.

“Sounds good. Thank you, ladies,” the waitress said, rushing off.

Paxine thought about complaining about not being able to order except she always had the chicken crepes when she came here. Although she would have gotten a soda, but knew because her mom was here, that was out of the question.

“But there must be something we can do,” her mom said, breaking a long period of silence.

“I want you to stay at my house until you can secure another,” her grandma said.

“Here you go ladies.” The waitress set down their ice teas and another came in with their plates.

Paxine’s mom ate very little, but Paxine and her grandma ate half of their plates.

Her grandma pushed aside her plate. “You did say you found a new house?”

“Yes. It’s not as nice as the last one. It’s almost like a holiday cottage; small, comfortable and quiet. Actually, before I forget, I should let Doug know about it and see if it meets approval,” her mom said, tapping away on her phone.

Then her mom voiced her true concern, “They’re after Paxine. Not Doug. Not me.”

Her mom and grandma locked eyes.

“We’re fighting against our own security, aren’t we? Doug’s people are clueless to what is going on. They can’t protect us. I mean, if it wasn’t for Tache…” her mom said, almost crying, but she took a deep breath, pulling herself together.

“Yes,” her grandma said. “I need to step up my training with Paxine.”

Her mom’s words made Paxine feel small and defenseless, battling against the whole world. Maybe she needed a couple more Tails.

The clouds broke when the moving van pulled into the driveway. A whole week of rain left the air fresh and clean. There was more rain in the forecast, but her mom hoped it would stay off until they finished moving into the new house.

The moving van blocked the front door, so Paxine escaped out the back. The backyard grass was wet, but the sun was out and things were drying. Tache walked with care through the grass unsure if he liked wet grass or not. Every flick of his tail sent water flying.

Whack.

His tail hit her with a solid thud.

“Hey, that hurts. You’re getting me wet,” she said, moving away.

He flicked his tail at her, hopping closer.

“Hey, stay away,” she said, veering off toward the ditch. It was full of water.

Whack.

“Tache,” she said, complaining.

She ran off to the other side of the yard, toward the gate flapping in the breeze. She caught it, holding it open. The trees in the next lot seemed larger when viewed from the gate rather than up on the porch. In fact, some of them looked climbable. Over by a brush pile, she thought there was a ladder that went up into a tree house. She added it to her list of things to check out once security loosened up. If it ever loosened up.

On the porch, watching her, was a new security escort, and he was nervous with every step she took. She knew she couldn’t go through the gate.

So far, the neighborhood was empty. Not even a nosey neighbor appeared when the moving truck pulled up. She wondered if anybody lived in the other houses. Maybe later, during dinnertime, she might see people come home, but only if they used cars. If they all had personal cubes, she would never see them unless they came out into the yard.

“Paxine.” Her mom was standing on the porch.

She heard the moving van drive down the street and knew it was time to unpack.

“Bug check,” the security escort said, scanning her and Tache for any mechanical bugs and did a physical check for real ones before he let them back into the house.

The house smelled of fresh paint and the walls weren’t white any more.

“Move anything with a “P” written on it up to your room,” her mom said from the kitchen where the walls were now lilac.

“What if it looks like a “d”?” she said, staring at the huge pile of boxes in the living room. The walls were now painted peach.

“Then the box is upside down,” her mom said, grabbing a box marked kitchen.

Tache jumped onto a box marked “P”.

“Good thing there isn’t a room in this house also starting with a “P”,” she said, grabbing the box and heading upstairs. “Good thing no boxes go to the porch. That’s the only thing I can think of that starts with “P”.”

She dumped the box into her room, now painted pale green. Her bed was already setup, but there weren’t any sheets. She knew she would be searching through boxes for them by the end of the day.

“Yelp,” Tache said, heading toward the door.

“Okay, I know. A thousand more boxes to go.” She raced him down the stairs.

Whack.

Tache’s tail hit a box marked with a “P”.

“Thanks, Tache. Is there another? I can carry two.”

With Tache’s help, she moved all the boxes she could find, knowing her mom would find some she missed. There was little room left to maneuver in her room. She cut through the tape, empting each box. Her drawers were soon full and she had a cave of boxes made for Tache.

“How’s moving day?” her grandma said, opening the bedroom door.

“Grandma. You here to help?”

“For a few hours. I have some homework for you,” her grandma took out a bundle of papers.

Paxine groaned.

“No, some of my homework,” her grandma said.

“Oh?” she said, knowing grandma homework was always more fun.

Her grandma folded the papers, but instead of handing them to her, slipped the bundle into her backpack. “This is for when you can have some quiet time alone. I would like you to read it and see what you can understand. For your eyes only,” her grandma said in a quiet voice, then she dropped the backpack on the floor.

“Hey, mom. Come to help?,” her mom said, poking her head around the door. “Doing good, Paxine. The boxes, once someone is done playing with them, can go into the garage.”

They didn’t own a car, so the garage was storage.

Tache dove into the tower of boxes, knocking them down.

“Yes, mom,” She pretended to be annoyed, but Tache was so funny, she ended up laughing.

“I’ll hang these up,” her mom said, grabbing a coat and the backpack. “Hey, mom, you’re just in time to help with the china.”

Her grandma and mom laughed, and Paxine rolled her eyes. That was supposed to be a joke. Her grandma liked to break china, or at least that’s what her mom told her. Paxine had never seen her grandma break anything.

Over the next couple of days, everyone was busy unpacking. Even her dad stayed home one day, and spent less time at the office on the other days. Since security was still tight, she didn’t go to school, although homework continued to arrive. Even with unpacking and homework, the house was dull and boring. She was supposed to spend more time with her grandma, and she had, but since the move, she had been stuck in the new house. It was raining again, so going outside wasn’t an option.

“I need a Room,” Paxine said with a groan, following her mom. Her mom ignored her while she hung up curtains in the living room. “Can’t I go to dad’s office?”

“He’s really busy,” her mom said.

“I just need The Room,” she said, trying to sound pitiful.

Her mom rolled her eyes. “I brought you some new books to read.”

“Paper books. I can’t even enjoy an e-book.” She drooped her shoulders and trying to look as dejected as possible.

“You poor, poor dear,” her mom said, not sounding sympathetic as she straightened the curtain and left the room.

Paxine plopped down on the sofa, bouncing Tache who was sleeping. He didn’t wake, having spent all night patrolling the house. She sighed, curling up next to him.

A crack of thunder shook the house, waking Tache. Rain fell in sheets so thick it was impossible to see out of the windows.

“We’re gonna need a boat pretty soon Tache. Do you have a raincoat? Do you even know how to swim?” She wondered if the ditch in the backyard was full and if she could use it as a swimming pool.

Tache ignored her, trying to go back to sleep. The windows lit up with a flash of lightening and a boom shook the house. His ears twitched as he focused toward the back of the house. He rose, heading toward the backdoor. She followed.

The coat closet beside the backdoor was open, where her mom had been storing coats and hats. Tache ducked inside.

“We have…” she started to said, but then shut up instantly at his mental urging. She dropped on all fours, squeezing in beside him, then pulling the door almost closed, so there was a thin gap through which to peak.

She felt odd hiding. There was more thunder, muffled now that they were in the closet. She shifted to get more comfortable, fumbling on some rubber boots. They were hers. She slipped them on. Over her head, she pulled down her raincoat, only to freeze when the hangers clinked. Tache glared at her, whacking her with his tail.

“Sorry”, she mouthed, slipping on the coat as quiet as possible, but the coat rustled with her every move.

Boom. More thunder. The flashes of lightening couldn’t reach them in the closet. Rain beat on the porch roof. She wondered if that was all Tache heard, but he was still alert, staring through the closet wall, as if he had x-ray vision, toward the back porch.

His right ear flicked. Footsteps. One, no two people. They had to be security guards, she thought. Her heart pounded against her chest. She couldn’t remember if there were two security guards in the back. Wasn’t there one up front and one in the back?

The backdoor knob turned and cool wet air wafted down the hallway. Two men passed. They weren’t security guards. Tap. Tache’s tail touched her hand, sending a jolt through her. He pushed the door open wider. On the opposite wall was a deactivator. The normal indicator light was off. The electricity to the whole house was off.

Tache reached up, tapping the door handle. His message was clear; it was time to get out of there. Paxine knew her mom had her phone and the cube. All she had was Tache. She hoped her mom would be okay.

Up on a hook by the door was her backpack where her mom had hung it up out of the way. Paxine grabbed the backpack, following Tache out the back door. She didn’t worry about being quiet when shutting the door. The rain pounded the roof, drowning out any other sound.

Paxine hoisted her coat up over her head, running toward the gate, which was flapping wildly in the wind. She and Tache timed the flaps, slipping through unscathed, keeping the gate between them and the house.