by Marla Monroe
“No. I mean that I was wrong. I could have yelled harder for Scott or attempted to scoot her off the bed so that she had to get up. I was a little hurt that you guys had left me and let her keep me company. I was wrong.”
“You told us to go. I was going to stay and offered, but you told us you were fine. Why did you lie if you really wanted me to stay with you? You’re trying to make this my fault.” Kelly turned around as much as she could so that Gabe could see her red-rimmed eyes.
“Kelly. I’m really sorry. Men don’t always say what they mean because they don’t want to look weak or needy. It was my fault. Entirely. Not yours. I don’t know what to do to make it up to you.” Gabe punched the side of the buggy.
“I don’t know either. I’m sorry I didn’t know better and stay with you. Tyler could have done the shopping.” She looked over at his friend. “Maybe. He had trouble keeping the women off of him, as well.”
“Really.” Gabe uncrossed his arms. “What happened while you were shopping, Tyler?”
“One of the new women approached me. I immediately pushed the cart over to where Kelly was to get her off of me.”
“You needed Kelly to get rid of a weak woman?” Gabe gaped at him. “I didn’t have Kelly to rescue me.”
“Fuck you, man.”
“Stop it, both of you.” Kelly sighed. “What was it you found out about why the women are so mean to me? You said you’d found out.”
Gabe wanted to hear this, as well. “You found out what is going on?”
“One of the guys at the lumber yard told me that how it all started was that some of the wives overheard their men talking about how good looking Kelly was and that whoever got her would be lucky. They thought she was hot and the women didn’t like it so they belittled her every chance they got,” Tyler told them.
“You’d think they’d have been happy I was gone then. I’m not there to stir up their husbands.” Kelly shook her head. “I don’t get it.”
“I think they believe that by shoving the other women on us that we’ll abandon you and they can continue to humiliate you with that piece of knowledge. If you lost your husbands to another woman, you really weren’t all that great to begin with. It would have made them feel vindicated.” Tyler reached over and squeezed Kelly’s hand.
Gabe wanted to do the same but couldn’t reach her from where he sat.
“I’m really sorry I fed into it, Kelly. Please forgive me.”
“Oh, Gabe. I can’t stay angry with you, but I’m still hurt. Just give me time to get over it.”
They rode in silence for nearly an hour, making Gabe feel more and more uncomfortable. His leg hurt and he felt like an ass for hurting Kelly. She’d been so good to them and he’d messed up the first time something happened. He opened his mouth to tell her he was sorry again.
“Stop the buggy, Tyler. Stop it!”
Chapter Eight
Kelly couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A dorrie was chasing something that looked like a cross between a small tiger and rabbit.
“What? What’s wrong?” Tyler stopped the buggy and looked around.
“What is that?” She pointed toward the weird animal. “Make the dorrie leave it alone, Tyler.”
“What?” Gabe leaned up toward the front but couldn’t move much.
“Look out the side window. See the little animal the dorrie is chasing around? It’s scared and the dorrie will eat it. Make it stop, Tyler.” Kelly couldn’t bear to see the cute little animal get eaten.
“You’re kidding, right? It’s probably got huge teeth like the other animals on this planet.” Tyler grabbed the gun they kept on the side of the door and opened the window to the buggy.
Kelly watched as he took aim and squeezed the trigger. The dorrie yelped and turned a complete circle before racing off in the opposite direction. Before anyone could stop her, Kelly unfastened her harness and opened the door to the buggy.
“Don’t jump down, babe. You might get injured with the buggy on like this. Hold on.” Tyler set the craft down and cut off the engine. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. It’s dangerous, Kelly.”
“Don’t let her go out there, Tyler. Are you crazy?” Gabe yelled from the back seat.
“She’s going to go whether I let her or not. I’m going with her.” Tyler climbed out of the buggy right behind Kelly.
“Look. It’s scared to death, Tyler.” She pointed where the funny looking animal seemed to cower in a hole about fifteen feet from the buggy.
Kelly slowly approached the poor thing, crooning to it that she’d take care of it. Tyler was just behind her, holding the gun up on one side of her.
“You’re scaring it, Tyler. Put the gun down and stop pointing it at it.” Kelly stopped about three feet from the little creature and crouched down. “There now, kitty-bunny. It’s okay. The mean old dorrie is gone now. Come out and let me see you.”
As if her voice was a siren’s song to the little thing, it slowly crept out and lifted its nose to her. Kelly smiled and reached out her hand palm up.
“Are you crazy, Kelly? It might bite you. I’ve never seen one of these before. We don’t have a clue what it might do.”
“It was afraid of the dorrie, so I doubt it’s a predator. It’s just afraid.”
“If you get hurt, Gabe will kill me right after I have a heart attack. It’s safe now, Kelly. Come on back to the buggy.” Tyler’s hand on her back just urged her closer.
“I think it’s harmless, Tyler. Why else would it be running from the dorrie? It’s almost the same size as the other animal.”
“Hell. You wait right there and let me see if it’s going to bite or not. I’ll feel better if it’s me it attacks instead of you.” Tyler crouched and scooted closer to the shivering creature.
“Don’t spook it, Tyler.”
“I just pray it doesn’t bite and if it does that it’s not deadly.”
Kelly watched as Tyler reached out and gently patted the thing on its head. To her delight, it turned its head up and rubbed against Tyler’s hand. Then it jumped into his arms, knocking the big man over onto his back.
“Kelly! Is he okay? Did it bite him?” Gabe’s voice from the buggy sounded terrified.
“No. It didn’t bite me. It slobbered on me.” Tyler sat up and pulled the weird looking animal off his chest and plunked it into Kelly’s waiting arms. “It can slobber on you. Hurry up and love on it and put it down. We need to get back into the buggy before we attract the attention of another dorrie or a mantis.”
“I’m taking him home,” she said.
“Hell, no. We aren’t keeping some strange beast in our home. We don’t have a clue what it’s capable of and who knows if this slobber is dangerous or not.” Tyler stood up and wiped the drool with the sleeve of his shirt. “Come on, Kelly. Put it down and let’s go.”
“I’m not leaving without it. It’s scared, and I think it’s just a baby. You wouldn’t leave a baby rabbit or kitten out here all alone, would you?”
“Kelly. Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Try to make me feel guilty over it. I let you talk me into scaring off the dorrie, and I walked out here with you to check it out. That’s enough. We need to go.”
“Tyler.” She drew out his name in a whine.
Yeah, she was pleading. She wanted the little thing as a pet. It would keep her company when they were gone all day. If he continued to balk, she’d pull out the pouting card if necessary. She’d read about that in her book.
“I’m going to regret this. I just know it.” Tyler looked up at the sky then shook his head. “Fine. You’re responsible for anything it does. At the first sign it’s dangerous, it goes. Understand?”
“Oooh, thanks, Tyler. It’s harmless, see?” She wrapped her arms around the furry tiger-looking rabbit and grinned.
“What’s going on out there?” Gabe yelled.
“We’re the proud new owner of a beastie. Don’t have a clue what it is, or if it’s dang
erous, but Kelly wants it,” Tyler yelled back at him as they walked back to the buggy.
“Oh, no. We’re not keeping some wild animal we don’t know anything about. Drop it right there, Kelly,” Gabe said.
“It’s coming home with us. It’s harmless, Gabe. It’s so cute. I’ve discovered a new creature and get to name it. It could be a ritten, ratten, now that sounds too much like a rat. Riger, tabbit, bunnycat. I like bunnycat. What about you, Tyler? Do you like bunnycat?” Kelly loved how Gabe’s face screwed up into a frown as she climbed up into the buggy with Tyler’s help.
“I don’t care what you call it. Once you decide on a name for it, we’ll take a picture and call it in to Space Station One to put it in the books. I still can’t believe I let you talk me into bringing it back with us.” Tyler closed the door and started the buggy up once more.
“I can’t believe it either. You’re crazy.” Gabe kicked the back of Tyler’s seat with his good leg.
“Settle down back there. You’re upsetting the bunnycat. Now I need a real name for it.”
“One name isn’t enough?” Gabe asked dryly.
“Bunnycat is the type of animal it is. It needs a name for me to call it.” She mulled over several names in her head and finally settled on one. “I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl and we don’t know how to tell, so let’s call it Tiger.”
“Tiger. Right,” Gabe said from the backseat.
“I could call it Gabe, Jr, you know.”
“Tiger is a good name for it. It sure ran like a tiger, with a sort of jump in between.”
“I love its long ears. It looks funny with the short little striped tail though,” Kelly said.
The creature was about the size of a large housecat with ears that weren’t quite as long as a rabbit’s but flopped over, and instead of a tiny cottontail, it had about a nubby, four-inch striped tail that looked like a tiger’s. It had fur like a rabbit with the stripes of a tiger, only the stripes were reminiscent of a zebra’s in white and gray.
“All I want to know is what does it eat and does it have sharp teeth?” Tyler asked.
“I haven’t seen his mouth open yet to know about the teeth. I guess we’ll find out what it likes to eat when we get home.”
* * * *
“I don’t believe it. It eats grass,” Tyler said when Kelly fed the little creature some from the back yard. “Those teeth look sharp to me.”
“Nope. They aren’t. I felt of them when he was chomping down on his dinner.” Kelly set the bunnycat down on the floor.
“What are you doing now?” Tyler asked.
“I’m going to fix us something to eat. How about sandwiches tonight, and I’ll cook something fresh tomorrow night.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said. “Watch that thing and don’t let it poop or anything on the floor.”
“Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. I wonder if we could teach it to use a box like a cat. Find something we can use and then put some dirt in it. I’ll see if I can train it.”
“Why not just let it live outside in the fenced in area?” he asked.
“It might eat the garden before it has a chance to grow.”
Tyler hated that she was right. “Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can come up with.”
He walked into the pantry and lifted the door to the cellar. There was bound to be something down there. The second he had the door propped open, the little monster called Tiger raced down the stairs around him.
“Tyler! Catch him. Don’t let him go down in the dark.” Kelly hurried over to the pantry.
Tyler sighed and raced down the steps as fast as he could go. “It’s not dark down here with the light on, babe.”
He rummaged around and found a plastic bin they weren’t using that looked large enough for their new pet but couldn’t find Tiger when he got ready to climb back upstairs.
“Did Tiger come back up while I was down here?” he called up to Kelly.
“No. Did you lose him?” Kelly asked.
“No. I didn’t lose him. He’s hiding or something.”
“What’s that noise?” Kelly took a few steps down the stairs.
“Sounds like growling to me.” Tyler looked around but didn’t see anything.
“Is something attacking Tiger? We have to find him.”
Tyler stomped across the cellar floor just as Tiger raced out from behind a pile of empty storage cubes with something in its mouth. It dropped it at Tyler’s feet and looked up as if for his approval.
“What is that?” Kelly asked from just behind Tyler.
“I think it’s a muskie. Your pet just killed a muskie. Don’t get close to it. Their saliva is dangerous. I’ll have to get the shovel and bury it. Run back upstairs, Kelly.”
“Good Tiger. You killed the bad old muskie.” Kelly ignored Tyler and picked up the pet before retracing her steps back up to the kitchen.
“I don’t believe this. How did that thing get in the cellar? It could have hurt Kelly.” Tyler found a pair of gloves and the shovel before scooping up the dead creature to carry it outside and dispose of it. He’d have to bury it so it wouldn’t stink up the area.
He called up the stairs to Kelly. “Close the cellar door, Kelly. I’m going out the outside door to get rid of this thing. I’ll be back inside in a little while.”
He buried the muskie outside the fence, hoping the entire time a mantis didn’t catch wind of him and attack. He should have brought the gun out with him but had been in too much of a hurry to get the dangerous carcass away from the house.
“Fuck!”
I should have made sure Tiger didn’t have any of the saliva on him before I let Kelly carry the thing. I’m so stupid.
Tyler hurried inside only to find Tiger sitting in Gabe’s lap while Kelly finished making their sandwiches. She appeared fine but Gabe looked grouchy as hell.
“Will you get this thing off of me? It drools if you pet it, and if you don’t pet it, it growls.” He pushed against the funny-looking thing. “Are you sure it doesn’t bite?”
“Well, it did kill the muskie.”
“Well, hell.” Gabe petted it with two fingers. “I never liked cats.”
“Something’s wrong with you if you don’t like cats,” Kelly said as she walked into the room with a tray full of sandwiches. “Dig in. I’ll bring in the tea.”
“Kelly, don’t go down into the cellar until we can figure out how that muskie got in. I don’t want to risk another one being down there.” Tyler grabbed a sandwich and took a big bite out of it.
“I won’t. I don’t like it down there at all. But I don’t think I have to worry anyway, I’ve got Tiger to keep me safe when you guys aren’t around.” She sat the glasses down for the guys.
He didn’t like that she was so attached to the little killer. It worried him that the bunnycat might still prove to be dangerous to Kelly. How had it killed the muskie? Kelly claimed its teeth weren’t all that sharp. Why had it run from the dorrie if it could kill the muskie? Yeah, the dorrie was larger, but still.
I’ve got to watch it and be sure it won’t hurt her. She’s already too attached to the damn thing. I shouldn’t have allowed her to bring it home.
Yet it had already prevented a possible disaster if Kelly had gotten bitten by the muskie. Tyler would need to make sure Gabe watched out for Kelly even though he was stuck in the recliner most of the time. He would have to go back to the fields the next day. They were behind on planting and irrigating.
As soon as Kelly carried the empty tray back to the kitchen he leaned closer to Gabe.
“Watch that bunnycat thing close and make sure nothing happens to Kelly while I’m out tomorrow. I hate to leave while you’re hurt, but I’ve got to see about the fields. Do you think you can get around well enough without messing up your leg?”
“Yeah. I can hop around. I’ll get Kelly to find me a stick of some kind. I’ll have to get up and down to the bathroom anyway. Do you think it’s dangerous? I could let it out the front doo
r when she’s not looking.”
“Don’t do that. She’ll go outside looking for it, and we sure don’t want her outside of the fence.”
“I’ll watch her and that little monster. I think it likes you, but I’m not sure it likes me at all. It drools all over me. I don’t see it drooling on Kelly.”
“It drooled on me, too. Don’t feel special,” Tyler told him with a chuckle.
“Who’s special?” Kelly asked as she returned to the room.
“You are. That little creature likes you and killed that muskie for you,” Tyler said.
She picked up the bunny cat up and smiled down at it.
“I told you he was harmless. He was protecting us from the nasty muskie, weren’t you?” Kelly rubbed her hand over the top of the creature in her arms. “Gabe, you hold him while I clean up the kitchen. I can’t hold him while I put things away, and he wants to be held.”
“How do you know he wants to be held? He might want to run around the room or something.” Gabe groaned when she deposited the bunnycat on his lap. “What about my leg? He might hurt it or something.”
“He’s not going to hurt your leg. Just pet him and he’ll probably go to sleep. He’s had dinner and excitement. He’s probably ready for a nap.” Kelly gave the little creature one last pat before striding from the room.
“Here, Tyler. It likes you more than it does me. You hold it.” Gabe picked the bunnycat up and held it out in Tyler’s direction. It squealed.
Gabe quickly dropped it back in his lap. Tyler laughed. “Tiger wants to stay in your lap. You can hold him until Kelly gets finished in the kitchen. Consider it part of your punishment for upsetting her earlier.”
“That’s cruel, man. That’s just cruel.”
Chapter Nine
“I can’t believe how much everything has grown! Look at those tomato plants. They’re huge.” Kelly clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait until they start producing so I can put them up for soups and chili and salsa. Do you guys like salsa?”
Gabe leaned on the crutch Tyler had fashioned for him. “Yeah. We like all of that. I think you planted too many though.”
