Page 47 of Cats Never Fly

Clive’sshoulders slumped underMama’sreprimand.ButIknew he would do the same thing the next time he wanted something.Hewas a scrapper.Ialways wonderedhow he could be my littermate when we were so different.Thenagain,Iwasn’t like any of my brothers.

ThenMamainterrogatedEliandTheobefore going back toWarrenandClive.Sheskipped me—and well,Ogdentoo.Thatunnerved me more than if she’d tied me to a metal chair and shone a spotlight in my eyes untilIspilled every single secretIhad.

Assoon as the plates were cleared and all the washing up was done,Mamasent my brothers out of the house.OgdenandIwere told to wait in the living room.Thedragon appeared amused by this.Iwas mortified.

DidIhave enough time to shift and get in a few comforting licks beforeMamaandPopsjoined us?

Wesat on the couch, across from my parents’ favorite chairs, and waited.Ogdensettled right beside me.Isuppressed the urge to lean into him.Canoodlingwith boyfriends wasn’t the kind of thing you did inMama’shouse.Therewere rules, andIwas the epitome of a rule-follower.Although… wasOgdenmy boyfriend?Andwhat exactly was canoodling anyway?

“It’sgoing to be fine,”Ogdenwhispered as he set his hand on the back of my neck and squeezed lightly.

Tinglescascaded over my body from where he touched me.Oh.Thatwas nice.Yeah.Thatwas almost as soothing as licking my fur.

“Thereyou go, kitty cat,” he soothed in my ear, andIrelaxed a little more, well, at least until my parents walked in.Mama’sface twitched like she was about to sprout her whiskers.Herirritation was building stronger and faster than a thunderstorm inJuly.Underher narrowed gaze,Ipulled away fromOgden’stouch.

Iregretted it immediately.

“Alright.”Popsleaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his paunchy stomach. “Here’swhat’s going to happen.Yourmama wants to know what’s going on.Sothat’s what you’re going to tell her.”

“Peter,”Mamahuffed as her fingers batted nervously at the fringe on one of her pillows.Thepillow was new; those fringes would never have survived a house full of kittens.AlthoughIwasn’t sure they’d surviveMama’sfidgeting now, either. “Youwant to know too.”

Herolled his eyes at me but didn’t disagree with her.

Fromthe corner of my eye,Icould seeOgdennod. “Thatis understandable.Youare concerned aboutSimon.”

Thenhe told my parents what he knew.Thestory hadn’t changed from whenI’dheard him give his statement to the police.Whenhe got to the part about me and the whistle,Mamahissed out my name.Irecognized the look on her face.Shewas ready to march across the room and swat me on the head again.Ogdenleaned forward, like he was ready to jump between us if she made a move in my direction.Iswallowed hard.Weirdemotions bubbled up inside me.

WasIashamed of whatI’ddone?Yes.WasIthrilled with howOgdenlooked ready to protect me?Yesto that too.WasIhappy thatI’dended up savingOgden?Ofcourse.WasIuncomfortable with howOgdencame to be trapped at my side?Absolutely.

Myemotions were like a tangled ball of yarn.

Popsrested his hand onMama’sleg, effectively holding her down with the barest of touches.Ogden’sbody lost some of its tension.Thenhe continued with the story.Whenhe finished, both my parents turned their attention to me.

“Wheredid you get such a thing?”Mamapursed her lips and gripped the arms of her chair, like she needed to anchor herself in place. “You’vehad that whistle for a while, haven’t you?Iknew something was going on.Didn’tIsay so,Peter?”

Myshoulders dropped. “Ifound it.Iwas out west of town, just doing my thing whenIheard some wolves.”

Mamagasped.

“Itwas back before the robbery at the inn.”Iwrung my hands together.I’dknownMamawouldn’t be happy to hearI’dkept secrets from her for so long, butIcouldn’t do much about that now. “Therewere three of them, and they were talking about stealing from the inn.”Ishrugged. “Isaw something drop out of their bags and when they left,Iwent to see what it was.That’swhenIfound the whistle.Itold the police about the wolves the next day.”

“Butyou stole the whistle?”Mama’sfingers twitched, like she was itching to pinch my ear and haul me over to the inn to give it back right now. “Andwhat about the wolves?Whowere they?NotHayden,I’llbet.”

Ishook my head. “Nah.Theywere from up in the hills.”

Mama’seyes bulged. “Didthey scent you?Dothey know you were there?”Shegrasped my father’s hand and squeezed hard enough that he winced. “Oh,Peter… our baby…”

Igrimaced.Iwasn’t a baby—Iwasn’t even the youngest in my family.Infact,Iwas the third oldest, according to our birth records.JustbecauseIwanted toprotect my nine lives didn’t mean thatIcouldn’t take care of myself.

Althoughperhaps no one would suspect that if they met me.

“Theydidn’t knowIwas there.Iwaited until after they were gone to retrieve the whistle.LikeIsaid,Iwent to the police station right away.”Well, soon after, anyway. “Remember?Itold youI’dreported those wolves to the police.”

“Youjust told me you’d overheard something that the police needed to know about, not that you stole from them.”Mamashuddered.Herhair looked a little bigger than it had earlier.Ifshe was in her cat form,Iwas sure her tail would be puffed up. “Whatwere you thinking?”

Iwinced then.Because, okay, that sounded stupid, even worse than her thinkingI’dstolen the whistle from the inn.Thewolves in the hills were rumored to be feral, even back before they went really crazy and set off bombs and all that.

“Itold the police everything,”Isaid.