J.H. White's Puss in Boots: Book I

Chapter Five

Puss woke up in a courtyard. It was morning already. "Kitty?" he called. "Humpty?" No reply. The silence was almost eerie. "They're gone." He noticed an object on the ground. A revolver. He inspected it closely and saw the name "Humpty Alexander Dumpty" etched into it.

"Humpty's gun," he murmured. Then, he noticed a small puddle of a yellowish liquid. He tasted it. "This is egg yolk. There was a struggle. But why?"

"They took her," Humpty said, approaching Puss. "They took Kitty." Puss instantly knew that if Kitty was missing, Humpty was behind it. A growl formed in his throat.

"NO!" he roared, tackling Humpty to the ground. "WHERE IS SHE?!" Humpty tried to play dumb.

"I-I don't know where they took her, I swear!"

"NO LIES!" Puss hissed. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"I said," Humpty screamed, "I DON'T KNOW!" Puss slashed out one of his eyes, and he wailed so loudly Puss would've been surprised if the whole town hadn't heard. He felt no remorse.

"You mouth off to me again and you die," Puss said. When it came to Kitty's protection, he would show no mercy.

"I've had enough! Where's my gun?!" Humpty said. Puss held up the weapon mockingly.

"Oh, you mean this?" Puss replied. Humpty cursed in surprise.

"Give. It. Back," the egg said, attempting to appear nonchalant. Puss cocked the gun.

"I will pull the trigger."

"Come on, we both know you don't have the balls," Humpty jeered. Puss came closer and jabbed the weapon into the egg's face.

"Keep going and you'll have one less eye."

"Okay, I confess! I set you up to die; you happy now?" Humpty said.

"Well, the tables have turned, haven't they?" Puss said as he got ready to blow the egg to pieces and finally put an end to all this. A smile suddenly appeared on Humpty's face, and then he started laughing his head off as a demon would've.

"What's going on? What's so funny?!" Puss demanded.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that I wouldn't be so sure about that considering that Kitty's behind you holding a knife."