King of the Road

I'm currently writing a kid's book called King of the Road. It's about the adventure of a house cat and a rabbit that was raised by stray cats. It is based off many of the animals in my neighborhood. This is the fourth chapter, where they meet another cat and a raccoon.

CHAPTER FOUR

RUMBLE

Quickfoot slowed his pace so that Chesterton could keep up with him. Together, they walked down The Road.

“How do you do that?” remarked Chesterton.

“How do I do what?” asked Quickfoot.

Chesterton noticed that Quickfoot had a peculiar way of walking. Whereas Chesterton had the lumbering stride of an overweight cat, Quickfoot didn’t seem to walk at all, he seemed to be pouncing on his hind legs for every step.

“How do you pounce on your legs like that? Why don’t you walk like me?

“I don’t know,” said Quickfoot, “This is just how I walk. I don’t know any other way.”

After some time, they decided to pause for a rest in front of a strange house. “I’ve never been here before. Do you remember the way back home?” worried Chesterton.

“Yeah, of course I do. It’s that way,” Quickfoot said, pointing down the other end of The Road.

“I smell something different,” Chesterton said, turning his attention toward the house.

“Me too, it’s over here,” said Quickfoot.

“Wait for me,” yelped Chesterton.

Chesterton caught up with Quickfoot and together they began stalking around the back of the house. The house was built on a hill and as they made their way around the house the ground began to decline. Before they knew it they were standing at the bottom of a hill and the house seemed very far away.

“What did you smell?” asked Quickfoot.

“I don’t know,” remarked Chesterton, “It was something I’ve never smelled before.”

They continued investigating the large hillside. Eventually, Chesterton came across the wooden support beams of the house’s back porch. The smell was growing stronger and he began sniffing around further.

“What are you looking for, fatty?”

Chesterton swirled around and stared at Quickfoot, who was sitting still in the grass.

“What?” asked Quickfoot.

“What did you say to me?” snapped Chesterton.

“I said it. Up here.”

Chesterton and Quickfoot both looked up and saw two figures sitting on the porch railing.

“Who are you?” asked Chesterton.

“The more appropriate question is, what are you?” responded the tall, statuesque figure on left.

“What are you talking about? I’m a cat, same as you!” The thin figure on the left had the smell of cat all over him, Chesterton was sure of it. It was the shorter, round figure that confused his sense of smell.

“Like me? I don’t think so.” The figure jumped off the railing onto the ground in front of Chesterton. He sat upright in the most dignified fashion. He was lean and muscular. His short hair was entirely black, and the moonlight reflected off his shiny coat, outlining his feline features. His eyes beamed in the dark like tiny yellow diamonds.

The swarthy cat sat there and stared at him. Not knowing what to do, Chesterton decided to introduce himself. “My name is Chesterton T. Cat. What’s yours?”

“Midnight,” the cat said curtly, “and my estimable colleague up there is Ratchet.”

Ratchet jumped off the railing and landed with a crash. His body was rounder and his coat was a coarse gray except for the black patches over his eyes.

“Evenin’ fellers,” he grunted, “What brings you to this neck of the neighborhood?”

“My friend and I were just out investigating,” confessed Chesterton, “I’ve never been this far from my house.”

Midnight and Ratchet chuckled. “Obviously,” sneered Midnight. “Where is your friend, anyway?”

Chesterton looked around. “I don’t know,” he said, “Quickfoot, where did you go? It’s okay, we’re all cats here.”

Quickfoot timidly hopped out of a nearby bush.

“I am not a cat, boy,” laughed Ratchet, “and neither is that.”

Midnight laughed, “Little one, if you were any smaller I’d be making dinner out of you.”

“Hey,” hissed Chesterton, “that’s not very nice!”

Quickfoot turned to leave but in one sleek motion, Midnight leapt over him and blocked his path. “Why in such a hurry? You just got here.” Midnight raised himself up to his proud, full height and flashed a menacing grin. He was missing one of his fangs, which made the remaining fang stand out like a solitary shining knife.

Chesterton yelped, “Where’s your other fang?”

“In the back of a dog’s neck,” Midnight sneered.

“There are dogs out here?” gulped Chesterton.

“Dogs AND Coyotes,” Ratchet chirped.

“And they would make a hearty meal out of you, chubby,” quipped Midnight.

A flash of lightning cut the night sky in half. Quickfoot was frozen in place. Chesterton shrunk down and his hair stood on end. He turned away from Midnight but Ratchet, standing on his hind legs, towered over him. Ratchet brandished his clawed fingers and snapped his teeth.

“Look, we just want to leave,” Chesterton said meekly.

Midnight began licking his paw and flashed his claws. “Come now, that’s not very sporting.”

“Don’t you boys want to have some fun?” Ratchet cackled.

Chesterton’s ears twitched and filled with the low rumble of thunder. Quickfoot remained still, ready to run at any moment. Chesterton could feel the moisture in the air. It was unfamiliar to him and he began to panic.

Just then, a woman’s voice sang out over the thunder. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” the voice sang. “Midder baby. Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Midnight huffed, “I must go. It’s going to rain anyway.” In one glorious jump, Midnight leapt onto the porch railing. He turned and stared down at Chesterton and Quickfoot. “If I see you two around here again, I’ll make stew out of you.” And with that he jumped out of sight. Chesterton heard the woman remark, “Midnight, get your little butt in here.” “Where’s my pillow, woman?” Midnight meowed.

Ratchet scampered off. “You boys got lucky. See you around,” he grunted.

Chesterton tried to breathe a sigh of relief, but he was still very tense. He felt the first drop of water land on his back and his entire body twitched. His back arched and his whiskers stood on end. “What was that?” he hissed.

Quickfoot jumped. “Chesterton,” he yelped, “it’s going to rain! We need to find shelter. NOW!”

Chesterton felt more water hit his back and finally a drop landed square on his nose. He lost all sense of control and took off running. Quickfoot tried to followed him as best he could.