章 6: Chapter 6: Council Of Cats

Susan gasped. Despite the fact she knew what she was walking into and the crowd of cats that passed her on her way there, she was not prepared for the sheer number of animals filling Center Square. Stunned and with her fear rising even higher, she could only stare as she very slowly made her way through the huge mass of furry bodies at the entrance.

Cats of every size, color and description filled the large square to bursting. The area itself was sunken, like a theater, surrounded by levels of steps. In the center stood a short pedestal. Placed on it were five thrones made of the same cold, gray stone. The steps themselves were overflowing with cats. And the noise! She could barely comprehend what she was hearing. Her mind tried to separate out the different sounds but gave up.

She just focused on keeping herself from tripping down the stairway on her way to the bottom.

Susan was halfway down before she realized where they were taking her. She looked around desperately for Tucker, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"They won't let him come." Vinnie's deep voice barely made it through the sound of the other cats. "But I'm here with you, Susan."

She wasn't sure if she was going to cry or hug him. Knowing how embarrassed she would make him, she chose to cry quietly, wiping at the tears just as they fell, not wanting the watching cats to see her despair. It was becoming quite clear that she wasn't dreaming after all and the more that was revealed as real, the more frightened she became.Susan kept her eyes on the tip of Cynthia's white tail. She was sure as long as she could see that tall, fluffy flag she would be fine.

The sound of the cats stilled as Susan reached the bottom of Center Square. She looked up, startled, to see thousands of cat eyes staring at her, their cat bodies frozen. She tried not to let them see her shiver.

And then, the sound started up again, even louder, Susan was certain, than it was before. She couldn't help herself and finally pressed her hands to her ears. The dull thunder of the gathered cats quieted to a low, hissing roar.

Susan waited, Vinnie pressed to her right leg for support, while the gathered cats howled out their displeasure and surprise. Susan actually felt herself shrinking smaller and smaller into herself, wishing she could simply disappear all together. She watched as George took a place near the front row and Cynthia continued on, making it to the center of the square. She sat down in front of the pedestal of thrones, tail neatly wrapped around her paws. Susan had no idea what they were waiting for, but her nerves were very quickly getting the best of her and she wasn't sure if she could wait much longer.

Fortunately, she didn't have long to wait after all. A gap flowed open in the sea of fur and whiskers and five cats made their way forward. Susan watched as one by one they climbed to the top of the pedestal. Each cat, with a quick leap, settled onto the wide right arm of their throne, until all five were taken. Each drew themselves up, sitting exactly as Cynthia had, tails slung forward in a half circle as they faced the white Persian before them.

Susan was almost too scared to wonder why they didn't sit in the seats. She felt Vinnie push against her leg and looked down. He was speaking to her, she was sure, but couldn't hear him with her hands over her ears. She slid her right hand down and leaned toward him to listen.

"The Council," Vinnie said. "Cynthia will plead your case to them."

Susan nodded, not exactly happy with the whole arrangement. She was left wondering how much of a defense she would get from Tucker's mother and wishing he was there with her.The five cats gave the crowd another minute before the largest, a huge orange tabby with folded ears, nodded to the guards at the edge of the circle. One of the guards went to a large, silver gong and hit it with his tail.

Susan was startled by the sound. She hadn't expected it to be so loud or to carry so well. The vibration made her teeth rattle and her eyes water as she dropped her hands in shock.

The gathered cats fell silent. The gong sounded a second time, this time more quietly.

The chosen guard who struck it bounded back down to the center and nodded to the Council.

The large orange tabby nodded back and turned to address the crowd. "Residents of Cat City," he said in a huge, booming voice, "Council is called to

session."

There was a brief, collective meow from the crowd, then silence. Susan held her breath in the stillness, almost deaf from the sudden quiet. Vinnie pushed against her leg again and she looked down at him. He nodded her forward. Susan really didn't want to, but she figured it was better to go on her own then to have hundreds of cats make her.

She took a shaky step forward and knew instantly that Vinnie was no longer with her.

She glanced back at him, a little desperately, but he was sitting, calm and composed, behind her. He nodded to her. Feeling a little better, knowing Vinnie wouldn't let anything happen to her and confident he was okay with her going on alone, Susan returned her attention to the pedestal and took another step forward.

She finally made it to the base of the pedestal, standing just behind Cynthia. She tried not to look around at the staring cats, and instead focused on the five in front of her.

The large orange cat with the folded ears looked grim and angry, although Susan wondered how much of that was his breeding and how much was his actual mood. The cat next to him, a golden Persian, looked even angrier, but Susan always had trouble with Persians and their pushed-in faces. To her, they always looked cranky.

Next to the Persian was a pair of Siamese, slim and butter colored with black paws, faces and tails. Their brilliant blue eyes seemed to stare right through her and Susan quickly looked away.The last cat on the pedestal had the build of the Siamese but was a beautiful bronze with gorgeous golden eyes and huge ears. Susan thought he was the nicest looking of the bunch and hoped she had at least one cat in the Council who would look kindly on her.

"As we are all now aware," the big red tabby said, whiskers jutting forward aggressively as his folded ears fell even farther over his frowning forehead, "there was an event yesterday."

The crowd of cats hissed as one. Susan wanted to crawl under the pedestal. "This is the result." He flickered his tail at her.

She wasn't sure how much she liked being referred to as Ôthis' but guessed she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

The gathered cats broke out into loud yowling. Susan cringed. They sounded really angry. She sniffled back a few tears, feeling sorry for herself. It wasn't her fault the stupid rat bit her.

The crowd fell silent quickly, all eyes back to the large red cat leading the Council. "We will hear now from the one responsible for the perpetrator," the cat said.

Susan saw Cynthia's tail thrash and realized why the white Persian was so angry.

Because of what Tucker had done, his mother now had to answer to the Council.

Cynthia, however, was not about to let them judge her for something she didn't do. "Councilor Albert," she said, voice carrying, "this is an unfortunate circumstance." There were a few hisses from the crowd. The red tabby Albert scowled down on

Cynthia.

"You understate the difficult position you have put us in," he said.

She nodded slowly. "I realize how troubling this is. But, it was unavoidable and because of Tucker's actions, the girl is safe and sound."

Susan was fairly certain that few of the gathered cats cared if she was alive or dead. "And why exactly was this child in danger in the first place?" One of the Siamese

with a soft female voice wanted to know.

"Well asked, Miku," the other, obviously her brother, congratulated her. "Thank you, Maku," she said.

The crowd echoed the question with hissing.

"She went into the forest," Cynthia said, "and found the grove.""All by herself?" The golden Persian asked, her voice silken but biting at the same time.

The crowd's chatter lasted longer this time.

"Indeed," Albert said. "Do you have an explanation, Cynthia?"

Before Cynthia could speak, there was a loud yowl and a sharp cry of pain and then Tucker was there.

"I would speak to the Council," he said in a loud voice, panting as though out of breath. Susan realized they must have been restraining him and he finally broke free.

Cynthia turned with a snarl to silence him but he ignored her, looking up at the five cats on the pedestal.

The Council conferred for a moment before the orange tabby nodded. "Very well," Albert said. "We will hear from Tucker, son of Cynthia." Susan caught herself frowning. Wasn't he George's son, too?

"Thank you," Tucker said, continuing to ignore his Mother. He came to stand next to Susan, one paw resting on the toe of her red plaid rubber boot. She fought back tears again, but this time from gratitude. Her friend was there for her and that was all that mattered. Susan, feeling stronger and the least afraid she had since she arrived in Center Square, squared her shoulders and faced the Council with her head high.

"This is Susan," Tucker said.

The crowd murmured, shocked. She was confused. What's the big deal? She wondered. Did they think I was the Ôthis' and didn't have a name?

Tucker waited for quiet. "Susan and her parents, as you know, just moved in to the house Above."

"Yes, Tucker," Albert said. "Continue."

"I have been living with them for two weeks now."

The howls and hissing that ran through the crowd was sudden and incredibly loud.

Susan instantly put her hands back over her ears.

It took another ordered ring of the gong to silence the cats. Tucker stood firm beside her, head up, ears perked, but she could feel his soft trembling and wanted to lean down and hug him. She now knew he took a huge risk being her friend and she wanted to helphim if she could. She knew the only way she could do that was to be quiet and let him take care of it.

"Tucker, son of Cynthia, you have broken one of our most important rules." Albert was visibly upset, his fur standing on end, tail twitching. "We are not common cats to be the playthings of the humans. What possessed you to do such a thing?"

Tucker didn't hesitate. "To keep Susan safe," he said.

"From what, dear boy?" Tabitha asked. "What threat could possibly make exposing us to humans again, worth it?"

"Only one thing," Tucker said in a steady voice to a totally silent crowd. They hung on his every word, waiting to know what could possibly have driven him to live with humans.

"And that is?" The beautiful bronze cat, the only one who remained silent, stared at Tucker. Susan's friend exchanged a look with the Councilor, and Susan understood there was more there than she or anyone else knew about.

Tucker's chest heaved as he drew a deep breath. "Rats," Tucker said.

There was a moment of total silence that seemed to go on forever. And then, the crowd went wild with sound, worse, Susan was sure, than it had ever been before. She looked down at Tucker who looked up at her. She tried to smile a little but her ears hurt and she was afraid again.

And, from the look on her friend's furry face, so was Tucker.

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