It was pitch darkness and movement on
the street had completely died down. So rodents were having a field day on the
outside world. Lurking in the dark were hungry top hunters of the feline
population, Blaize, Dag and Fred. The cats were quietly plotting how the poor
rodents would become their meals for the night. Opportunities like this don’t
come too often. So Blaize and his friends were not ready to allow it slip.
Out of the belly of the quiet night,
emerged a van. Possibly, a fourteen seated passenger bus, which rolled slowly into
the street and pulled up in the front of the building where the cats were
having a meeting. Before they could snatch a breath from the wings of the night,
the doors of the van were thrown open and hefty figures with a woman alighted
from the van.
In the last few hours, they have been
moving the woman from one location to another to frustrate any attempt by the
police or security agents to track them.
Her hands were bound to the back. She
tried to shove virtually every hand that was laid on her off as the men dragged
her to the building. The sound of the vehicle had scared the rats and rodents back
into their holes, leaving only Blaize and his friends to witness the terror
under the watchful eyes of the quiet night. This wasn’t a welcome development
for the poor cats because their potential source of dinner had just evaporated
into the thin air. They will need to strategize again and come up with
something substantial if they are to feed tonight. With the rats and rodents out
of the menu for the time being, there are hardly any assurances of a decent
meal anywhere in the neighborhood. A long night is on the horizon. Tough times
don’t last. Tough cats do!
However, Blaize recognized the woman.
She was Mrs. Lucy, priest Valdin’s wife. “I know that woman!” he told his
friends.
“Are you sure?” Dag probed nonchalantly, gazing
at the men.
“Yes,”
replied Blaize. He nodded his head almost a million times.
“Sometimes,
hunger could make people say something silly,” Dag said.
Blaize
laughed. “I know that I am hungry but I am not joking. I know her. She is my former
master’s wife!” Blaize said. “I can bet my life on it that she is Madam Lucy!”
“Madam
Lucy? She should be in her husband’s house by now,” Dag frowned. “What is she
doing with those guys in such an unholy hour?”
“Can’t
you see that her hands were tied? Something is not right here,” Blaize stated.
Fred moved nearer to his friends. Thrusting
his face forward, he said, “Blaize, don’t be too emotional. Some humans are
terrible.”
“I know,” muttered Blaize. “But
something is wrong here.”
“I am happy you know,” said Fred. “The
woman looks like someone that was kidnapped because she is not a familiar
visitor to that house. She doesn’t live there. I am a frequent visitor to that
house. So I know virtually everyone around there. That was why I said some
humans are terrible. Look at the way they are dragging the poor woman. It
doesn’t look good. What offence would a woman commit that is so grievous that the
law cannot handle or that will prompt these men to drag her about? If she is a
criminal, she shouldn’t be here. She should be in a prison. For crying out
loud, that house is not a police station and these men don’t look like police
officers. I have always suspected the compound. So frustrating to go hunting
there. Always deserted and I hardly find any decent meal there each time I
scale the fence to find food. These things are not coincidence. I might be
wrong but it looks like a red flag.”
Blaize and Dag exchanged glances.
Then Blaize scratched his hindquarter slowly. “Fred could be right. We must
find out if she was kidnapped or not before we decide what to do,” Blaize
suggested. “I cannot assume that they kidnapped her yet because of my past
experience. I have seen many things in this life. Some are too bad that I can’t
even talk about them. For instance, Dr Pepper’s wife used to come home with her
boyfriend each time her husband traveled. You need to hear the kind of things
she say to her boyfriend about the husband. Terrible words from a house wife. These
things have made me have broader view about life. People can be funny. We need
to properly investigate this matter before we can conclude that she was
kidnapped.”
“I don’t understand you, Blaize. From
the little that I know of your former master, he was a priest. Are you saying
Valdin’s wife is flirting around?” Fred inquired. “I beg to disagree. The scene
that just played out before us is not of a woman in a romantic relationship
with the men. The woman looks troubled. She is in bondage and needs help. You
don’t need a prophet to tell you that!”
“Don’t get me wrong, Fred. I am only
trying to approach the matter with an open mind and caution. The world is a
small place. Anybody can change,” Blaize explained.
“That is true,” Dag said and
swallowed hard. “Only change is constant. However, just as Baize had suggested,
we must get to the root of this before we jump into conclusion that she was
kidnapped,” Dag commented. “So what do we do?” He turned to his friends.
“We
are not going to do anything about it. It is not our fight.” Fred yawned. “I am
hungry. I came here to hunt for food. When have we become the police?” Fred
asked his friends. “I will suggest we mind our business. Pretend as if we never
saw this incident. Kidnappers are deadly. To make the matter worse, we are mere
cats. Engaging them is like walking on the highway to hell.”
“No
doubt, Fred,” stated Blaize. “But we can still find out if she was truly
kidnapped or not without getting into harm’s way.”
“How?”
Dag asked. He fixed a glance on the men as they dragged the agonized woman into
the house and slammed the door behind them.
Blaize turned to Dag. “That woman and
my master’s wife have a striking resemblance. To clear my doubt, we need to
visit Priest Valdin’s house now.”
“Going there is not the problem. How do we get
into Valdin’s house?” Dag asked.
“That’s
not a problem either. We were two cats in that house before I was given to Dr
Pepper,” Blaize disclosed.
“Yes!”
Dag interjected. “I remember you told me that it was his wife that told Priest
Valdin to give you out to that cruel Dr Pepper!”
“Yes,
she did. But all that is history now,” Blaize replied, almost close to tears.
“It is the past now and I have learnt to live with it.”
“What
do you mean?” Fred asked. “What kind of creature are you Blaize? You worry
about people who do not care about you. Dr Pepper cast you into this hunger stricken
world because you could not kill a rat, forgetting how many you had walked into
silence under his nose. Priest Valdin’s wife was the architect of your
misfortune. She made you a low life fellow by prompting her husband to give you
to Dr Pepper. Today, she is presumably in trouble and you are breaking your
head over it!”
Blaize
took a deep breath. “I know exactly what you are talking about, Fred. I hardly
think about my pains because it might hinder me from doing what is right. What
will it profit me if I watch this woman die at the hands of these kidnappers?
Do you value life? If you do, you won’t pay evil for evil. It is important we
help people,” Blaize said and began to move away. “Contrary to your opinion,
Madam Lucy did not know that Dr Pepper was a bad man. She only helped the man
by giving me to him. I was to solve Dr Pepper’s problems by killing every rat
in his house. It was not her fault that I failed to kill the rat that robbed me
of my place in Dr Pepper’s house. And it is not her fault that Dr Pepper
treated me badly. Be careful the way you condemn people. Priest Valdin’s wife
was innocent. If you say Dr Pepper was cruel to me, I will understand!” Blaize came
down from the rooftop. He faced the street and began to move quickly away. “Condemning
the poor woman, doesn’t make any sense!”
“Blaize,
wait. Where are you going?” Dag inquired.
“I am going to Priest Valdin’s
house,” Blaize sounded from a distance as he raced down the street. “I need to
find out if Madam Lucy is at home!”
Dag
came down from the building and ran after Blaize. Fred had no choice but to
reluctantly join his friends.
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