Louis, Molly & the Woodchuck

by Michael Arnold

  Chapter 13

  “I’m going to say it one time and one time only, Daisy. I don’t want any trouble out of you. You will stay in this house as long as you stay away from Molly. If I see that you are bothering her, then out of the house you go!”

  Then suddenly Daisy attempted to lick her owner’s hand but was stopped and pushed away.

  “Not now, Daisy. I have had my fill of your mouth’s slime for one day. Can you please, just give it a break?”

  Daisy felt awkward. How could you treat me like this? I’ve been with you for as long as I can remember and you never, ever complained about my mouth’s slime! Now since you have young and pretty here, it’s forget about old and not so pretty Daisy. She found that thought hard to accept, but to her, it was true. She allowed her owner to take that cat in the house. Although she was an old dog, she still liked to jump up on her owner, but that too became a no-no.

  “And before you do it, I am giving you fair warning, Daisy. I have Molly in my arm, so please don’t jump on me; you may hurt Molly!”

  “Oh, give me a break about the young kitty. I get it already. You go and have your kitty. I will be fine,” Daisy said then lay down on the living room floor.

  “Sorry, Daisy, but since I have to make a run, I am going to have to keep you tied up at the back door until I get back. I want to find more than white hair when I return.”

  Daisy’s reply came out in a bark.

  “Oh I know, Daisy, but sometimes you have to move over and let the less fortunate have the house,” he said patting Daisy on the head and chaining her to the back door.

  “I think before I go, I better give Molly something to eat. I wouldn’t want her to be hungry while I’m gone,” the owner said.

  “This has to be the most embarrassing time of my life. I can’t believe what he is doing to me all over a stray cat, who hasn’t had her shots.”

  When the owner left and placed Molly on his bed to sleep, she dreamed. She dreamed of what she had been through over the course of a couple of days; the Valley of the Flowers, the flower bird that Molly so desperately followed and, of course, the coyote. She dreamed that she was in the Valley of the Flowers and so was the coyote but he didn’t pursue her, he was just there, laying on the ground surrounded by those red flowers that he so desperately wanted to find. Then there was the flower bird, many flower birds, flying around up in the sky. There were beautiful light blue clouds and from the clouds a cool autumn color mist that came down.

  This is so very beautiful, Molly thought in the dream. Then she saw Kelly. Her tall, lanky body was dressed in a long flower sun dress. Her bare feet walked slowly amongst the flower but they never made contact with any of them. Just as they did for Molly, they did the same for Kelly. They cleared a path for her as she walked toward Molly. Her face was a mirror image of the smiling sun that sat in the corner of the sky.

  Kelly, oh Kelly! Molly remember saying, when she heard screams at her back. They were coming from the flowers. Then she heard the gigantic sound of single stomps making contact with concrete ground. She saw the coyote turn to a colorful butterfly. It’s her, it’s her, don’t let her hurt me. Don’t let her get me!

  Molly screamed but the sound only came out in her silent dream. The coyote, which was a butterfly now, provided a distraction by flying toward this woman who had the massive foot-steps.

  “Go from her. Run!” the butterfly yelled as he transformed into a coyote again. But as Molly moved her feet, nothing happen. Her front legs moved as if they were going somewhere, but she didn’t move her hind legs. They felt as if they were dead. Then it happened. Edna overcame the coyote and got to Molly before Kelly did.

  “No, no, no, leave me alone, you bad woman. Leave me alone,” Molly shouted as she woke abruptly. Molly woke not to Edna seconds from apprehending her, but to a bedroom cluttered with shoes and clothes thrown everywhere. The smell was a smell of mildewed socks and sweaty shoes. Molly never smelled anything as bad as what she smelled in that room that day. She felt the desire for sleep still on her, but she wanted to focus. She wanted to know what was going on, so sleeping would have to come later, possibly, depending on what happened between now and when the owner got back.

  Molly saw a window to the left of the bed and dirty curtains stained with food and greasy spots.

  I wonder if the bird is anywhere around, Molly thought. She jumped off the bed and since it wasn’t her house, her bedroom, her curtains, she pulled on them until they came completely down, together with the curtain rod.

  “What are you doing in there, kitty litter?” Daisy yelled, her cracking voice confirming her age.

  The loud, aggravating screech of Daisy’s voice startled Molly, but it didn’t scare her. At that point, Molly was done being scared. She had enough of it in the animal shelter and out there in the wintry outdoors. She wanted to move forward to different circumstances, which did not include being afraid.

  “That bird led me here and I don’t believe it led me here to a trap, did it?” Molly whispered, jumping onto the window sill. Out the window, there was evidence of cold all around the barren yard. There wasn’t any sign of the rainbow or the bird. “Where are you? Why did you bring me to such a place just to leave me here? I don’t deserve this. I don’t have to be here, of all places. Is this where you took me?” Molly’s eyes began to water. Hope for what she had expected didn’t happen. What was out there beside the cold, in Molly’s eyes was discouragement, obstacle, sadness, fear and loneliness, if she returned out there. She turned away from the window and jumped down onto the dirty floor rug. “I guess I will have to make my home here. It’s not like my real home with Fannie and Elvin, but at least it is a home. I’m not out there,” Molly whispered. She found the bedroom not uncommonly dirty but abnormally cold for the beginning of winter.

  Where would I hide if I had to? What will be a suitable place for little old me?

  “I said: what are you doing in there? I heard you and it didn’t sound like you are lying down, Catnip!” Daisy asked. Every so often she yanked on her chain, hoping there was a weak link in it somewhere, so that she could defy her owner’s orders, go after Molly and do something bad to her.

  “I think we could be friends you know, Daisy. It would take some time getting use to, but I think after a while, it would work,” Molly shouted. She meant what she said but she didn’t want her words to be true. Yet, there wasn’t any other way. If she was going to find peace in this life, she would have to find a common ground between her and Daisy. She walked out from behind the owner’s bedroom door leading to the back and into the kitchen. Molly noticed that the house was a little cleaner, much cleaner than the bedroom in which she had been resting.

  “What has gotten into you, cat? I’m a dog and you are a cat. We have nothing in common; except I am a fabulous woman and you are a simple cat, just here in the world. The only reason why I haven’t kicked you out is because I am tied up with this stupid chain and I can’t break it. But, the moment I get free from this chain, you mark my word; I am going to let you have it!”

  Molly walked closer to Daisy, only close enough to speak to her. Daisy was fuming mad. If she could get one swipe at Molly, she would, and that’s all she wanted. “What do you want?” she asked.

  Molly didn’t reply. She glared at Daisy, not backing away at all.

  “You took my bed. Yes, that is the bed I sleep in with my master, and you rudely took it,” Daisy yelled then yanked on her chain. “Let me out of this chain and I will get you for this, Catnip!”

  “We have no other choice, Daisy. Why don’t you accept the fact that we are going to have to co-exist? Why don’t you just accept it?” Molly said.

  The kitchen contained food that, from the smell of it, had been on the edge of that kitchen table for days.

  “I don’t want to be your friend,” Daisy barked out. The word “friend” came out of her mouth forcefully, right along with thick, white saliva.

  “Where are we anyway?�
� Molly asked, jumping on the table. She wasn’t a bit interested in the one-week old food. She wanted to look out the window above the kitchen sink and what was out there beyond the rainbow.

  “Why does it matter where we are, Catnip. It’s not like you’re going to pick up a set of keys and leave this house in a car like humans do. You are where I am. And you do absolutely nothing in here or out there unless they tell you to,” Daisy said.

  “Who are they?” Molly asked.

  “Come on, Catnip; are you that out of sync with humanity?”

  Molly didn’t reply. She listened. “They are the humans I love. They’re my owners, and I love them with every part of me.” Her voice broke into whimper.

  “They have all of the control. We have to listen to them. We have no power whatsoever. If it’s what you are looking for out there, you should have stayed out there. You belong to him now.”

  Molly wondered about that statement and it confused her. Why would she say that I belonged to him now as if being here in this dirty, dirty place is a bad thing? She is right about one thing; we have no say about anything they rule. That is accurate.

  She jumped down from the window sill and directly in front of Daisy. Molly tensed up a little, thinking that, as angry as Daisy was, she could, at least, take a swipe at her. But she didn’t. Daisy stood there on all fours, white liquid dripping from the corners of her mouth.

  “You are right about something, Catnip,” Daisy said.

  “What I’m right about something?”

  “Yes, you are right about something.”

  Molly didn’t question Daisy’s sudden inspiration in her being right. It was a compliment that made her feel good. With what she was going through, every little compliment helped.

  “I think you’re right about us, about us living here, so we girls need to act like girls, and get along, if not for anything else, but for the fact that you and I are going to be house mates.”

  Why now? Why is she so happy about us being house buddies now? Don’t over-think it, Molly. There are other things to over-think than this. She has come to her senses. That’s a good thing. Enjoy it while it last. You need this, right? Molly was encouraging herself in her mind when Daisy asked a controversial question, ending these good thoughts all at once.

  “Hey, if you let me out of here, and since we are friends, maybe I can help you find what you are looking for, out there in the cold,” Daisy suggested. “You are looking for something, aren’t you?”

  Molly felt weird. She wanted to say no but what came out was the opposite of no. “Yes, you are right, there is something out there that I am looking for,” she replied.

  Daisy’s facial expression showed something resembling a sneer. “I think two is better than one, and when my owner sees that we are working together, I think he would like that more than anything.”

  “So what are you asking me to do, Daisy?” Molly asked as if she didn’t know already.

  “All you have to do is help me get out of this chain. It is a headache when it is around my neck for so many hours,” Daisy said.

  “Why can’t you do it yourself?”

  Daisy held up both of her paws. There were no claws in the inside of them.

  “Wow, a dog without claws is like a human without any hands,” Molly said.

  “Okay, I guess you are right; two is a lot better than one. Yes, you can help me!”

  Out of Molly’s paws came sharpened blue claws. She severed the neck collar on Daisy’s neck then cut the chain that connected to the collar into two separate chains, freeing Daisy.

  I can’t believe I did something that was pretty cool! Molly thought.

  “How do you feel, Daisy?” Molly asked.

  “To be honest I feel good but I would feel a lot better if I could really get my paws around your neck and squeeze you to death!”

  “What? I just helped you out of that chain, and you said that…?”

  “Forget what I said and remember this…,” Daisy growled, the saliva dripping from her mouth to the already food stained floor. “I hate cats. Now you come here, catnip!” Daisy scrambled to get to Molly before she could get away.

  It was air and because Louis didn’t feel any liquid hit his face this time, he was sure that he was outside. He woke suddenly, his small but yet alert eyes opened wide. The first thing he saw besides the bottom of a front porch, that was several feet across a street and inside a fence, was mud, fresh mud. And then he heard words from a woman that sounded familiar to him.

  “I told you we would finish what we started the other day, Louis!” The voice was a little hazy but Louis was clear that it was his worst enemy, Edna.

  He thought seriously about laying there in the thick, wet, cold mud rather than having to get up and battle against the cold and whatever else Edna had in store for him.

  “You made me look like a fool; this is why I am wearing this neck brace around my neck. You and your rat friend did this to me!” Edna squatted down, pulled Louis up by his name tag and up to her face. Louis was dealing with the after-effects of the Stun Duh. “Get on your feet, Louis. Come on; get on your feet I said.”

  Edna had Louis secured with a collar and a chain that was locked around a steel post at the back of the building in which Louis was before he woke up from being stunned. She pulled on his chain when Louis refused to get up out of the mud.

  He was on his feet and with the pulling on his chain and the cold air, Louis was up and he was steady. Edna was tall, busty and tough. She stood with the stance of a football player; dressed in long, black spandex pants, a bleached-out jacket, and a hoody that cover her head and her hair. Louis stood still. His thoughts began to shift as he took a few seconds to figure out what was going on.

  She has to be out of her mind. She wants to wrestle? Is that it? Louis thought. Before he could get in any position, besides his standing position, Edna pulled on Louis’s chain. When he came lunging forward, she kicked at him with one of her muddy feet, the momentum took him backwards but it didn’t put him in the mud as she expected.

  “I see that didn’t move you, did it, mutt? How about I give you another one then? Come on over here, you dirty old mutt!” Edna yelled, pulling his chain again. This time Louis didn’t budge. He stared Edna down then snarled.

  “I’m not scared of you and I won’t let you get the best of me out here, without me getting the best of you first,” Louis said.

  “You don’t want to move, I see, mutt. You’re playing hard. I will show you hard,” Edna yelled. She let go a bit off Louis’s chain, giving it a little slack and some running room for Louis. He took advantage of the slack in the chain and charged Edna. His head hit her right below the knees. She dropped down, almost in the mud, when she grabbed her neck.

  “That’s what I’m talking about. I want a fight and now I see you want to give it to me, dog!” Edna said, yanking on Louis’s chain as hard as she could to bring him forward.

  Molly found a place in a room with the door closed. There was a window in there, but it was nailed shut.

  “You have no way out now. If you come out of there we can talk about this,” Daisy yelled from the other side of the door.

  “You said we can work together. You said we are friends, so why have you changed your mind now?”

  “I hate cats, for the thousand times. You had me on a chain. It was because of you my owner has me second and has you first,” Daisy said.

  With her clawless paws she beat on the door. She even tried to turn the knob. Molly locking the door was one of the main reasons Daisy couldn’t get inside, but her feeble paws had little to no strength in it to turn the door knob.

  “Go away! Leave me alone!” Molly yelled.

  Before her beautiful blue eyes she saw a vicious, Daisy, coming through that door head first, smiling an evil smile, grabbing Molly by her throat and throwing her against the window in that room. She backed to the corner that was littered with books, computer parts, and, of course, dog hai
r. It was a room of clutter and dog aroma.

  Molly didn’t notice the clutter even when she tripped over a book wet with fresh urine. She backed into one of the four corners of the room, the one closest to the window. The boom and then the boom, boom, boom of Daisy’s huge body slamming against the door was horrifying. Molly had never been so scared in her life.

  What am I going to do? Maybe if she gets in, I can claw her? Yes, that’s it, I will keep her off me by clawing her and then I can make my escape and I will be free from her. Yes, that’s it. Then, as if someone told Molly something different, she retracted those thoughts.

  No, no, no! I can’t claw her or anyone. That is mean and it may hurt her really, really bad. I’m stuck on what to do? Molly’s thought ended with a boom then the door opening with a slam against the wall. Through the door walked the angry, drooling Daisy.

  “Come to me now, Catnip. Don’t make me come and drag you out of that corner,” Daisy groaned, her voice straining to produce words.

  “You promised. You said we were friends. What will your owner say if, if, if…” Molly looked for words but all she found was that sloop face, drooling woman dog, Daisy, slowly walking toward her.

  “I’m going to put you in the basement until I figure out what I want to do with you. If I let you out of this house than it is a good possibility you may return here. This is why we are in this whole mess to begin with, because you are here, CAT!” Daisy growled. With all the speed she could muster, Daisy was slow. In Molly’s opinion, she had a fifty-fifty chance to get away from that big dog. So, instead of gambling her life away, she picked up one of the books and slugged it in Daisy’s direction. She batted it down.

  “Come here, you little annoying cat!” Daisy yelled.

  Molly was faster than Daisy, much faster than Daisy, but Daisy was smarter. She knew she was way too old to out run Molly. The one thing she could do would be to stop Molly from going out the hole in the door. Daisy had to get to the broken door before Molly got there.

  “I got you, Catnip. Now you’re all mine!” Daisy jumped from the window to the door and caught Molly with her drooling jaws. It was like Molly was in a pair of vice grips.

  “Let me go, let me out of here!” Molly yelled.

  “No can do, pretty kitty! As I said before, I am going to take you to the basement until I decide what’s next.”

  “Your owner is going to be mad, if something happens to me. He made that very clear before he left. Weren’t you listening?” the dangling Molly asked.

  “I’ll figure that out when the time comes for him to wonder where you are.”

  Molly should have been scared but she wasn’t. The more she was locked in the vice grips of Daisy’s mouth, the more she felt like something good was going to happen. Molly didn’t know what this was about, but she didn’t push this feeling away.

  When they got to the door of the basement, which was directly beside the back door, Daisy tried her hardest to turn the knob but it didn’t budge. “What is wrong with this stupid door? It can’t be locked. It’s never locked!”

  “So if it’s locked and you can’t get it open, what will you do with me then?” Molly asked.

  “I’m still thinking, so be quiet while I’m thinking,” Daisy replied.

  She thought about squirming one more time and put her good energy to use when the front door opened. It was Daisy’s owner with a brown paper bag and a kennel. Daisy turned at the sound of the door opening and ran for the room where the urine drench books were.

  “Let me go now. He is here, and once he knows you have me, you are in big trouble,” Molly said.

  “He won’t find out!”

  “He will find out because your chain is broken. I demand that you let me go right now!” Molly screamed.

  “Molly, is that you?” the owner said, hearing a loud meow.

  “You dumb cat, why can’t you shut up?”

  “I got you something that I am sure you would like, Molly; it’s your own personal house within a house!”

  Molly didn’t see that the house the owner was referring to was a kennel that he had in his arms, toting it like a new born baby. Molly could hear the owner’s footsteps. Even though Daisy was able to get to the room, it wasn’t enough. When the owner saw the broken chain, he said, “Daisy, did you break that chain again?” as he got to the kitchen.

  “Wow!” Then the owner laughed. “I didn’t think you were that strong to break the collar too. I guess I don’t know her strength!” the owner said, taking a glance at the chain and the collar that lay by the back door. Then he heard another meow and the muffle sound of a bark. He dropped the bag and the kennel where he stood.

  “Molly, Molly, where are you?” the owner yelled, rushing to his bedroom where he had left her. Daisy had made a bad mistake but she had come to grips with it when her owner walked through that spare room with the pissy books.

  He was struck with immediate anger. Molly fell from Daisy’s open mouth. She ran out of the room and behind Daisy’s owner.

  “What did you do?” Daisy’s owner yelled. His up-turned scowl wasn’t the only thing that showed his rage. His eyelids were red from the late night drinking and television watching. While Daisy’s owner was scolding her, Molly made her way into the kitchen. She looked at the broken chain, collar and brown paper bag, and then lifted her eyes to the table. Then she saw it; right before her eyes, that thing she hated. The thing that held her in bondage. The thing that always brought her fear and shame and the feeling of not being wanted; it was the kennel.

  So this is why he wanted me. These humans, I can’t understand why they want to do this to us. We don’t belong in a cage and if they don’t realize that, then they will never have a pet who can love them unconditionally!

  Molly jumped on the table just to be sure that what she saw from the floor was in fact the kennel, and it was.

  It is time for me to get out of here with or without the bird. If I stay here, I will either be in a basement or in a kennel and I deserve better than that. I will not live in either one, Molly thought.

  “Hey, Molly, are you okay?” the owner said. He opened his arms and reached out for Molly.

  Molly’s heart and mind told her the half closed front door was her out from the stretched arms.

  “What’s wrong, Molly? Did Daisy hurt you or something?”

  No, but a half a second more and I would have been in a basement, in confinement, just the same as you were going to lock me away in the cage that you bought, Molly thought, glancing at the kennel.

  “No, Molly, it’s not what you think. It’s for your own safety. You saw what happened when I was gone, didn’t you?” the owner said.

  Molly jumped off the kitchen table. She walked away backwards.

  “Molly, if you want things to be alright, you are going to have to come with me now!”

  “Help me, help!” Molly heard Daisy yell from the room.

  “I have Daisy locked away in a closet to protect you. Now get over here, now!” In the owner’s voice was frustration and anger.

  Locked away in a closet? Molly thought. I guess you were going to lock me away too, I bet!

  Molly forgot that seconds ago Daisy was going to lock her away in the basement until she found out what she would do with her. Molly only saw that the owner was trying to do the same thing to her.

  “I said come here, cat!” The loudness of his voice told Molly one thing: to run. The owner had a head start on Molly and he would have caught her if it hadn’t been for the glare of light coming through the crack in the FRONT door. Molly slipped through it without being bothered, but the blinding light stopped the owner from grabbing her.

  The bird, she thought then ran toward the light. “No, my cat, come back here, Molly. Please don’t leave me!” The owner’s words were like an echo. When he got to the door the light was gone and so was Molly. The owner, who had only shown signs of happiness and excitement when Molly was with him, now showed sorrow.
He dropped down to his filthy carpet and began to cry.

  Louis was used to the battles and the disrespect that he got from Edna. From the way it looked, he not only had a few tussle in his life, but the way he was fairing against Edna, he had won those tussles. She was eye to eye with Louis, one hand gripping his chain, the other balled into a fist as if she was going to hit Louis, but in her hand was a ball of mud.

  Louis saw this, so he moved about like a wild, deranged animal.

  “Hold still, mangy mutt! I’m going to give you something that I think you are going to love a whole lot. Hold still I say, or else!” Edna yelled.

  He didn’t and he wouldn’t. He was sure of himself, chain or no chain, he had Edna’s number. He believed he had the wrestling match wrapped up. All he would have to figure out now, was how would he get free without the woodchuck around? If being free yet again was in the cards for Louis.