The Lost Kits

Chapter 3

Alice woke up in darkness. At first she was confused at why her mother wasn't curled around, but then she remembered: May was dead. Alice looked at her littermates beside her. Ella's dark grey pelt seemed to melt into the shadows and Alice couldn't tell if she or Ace were awake.
Alice thought for a moment, then nudged Ella with one paw. Ella jumped to her paws, instantly alert. She whirled on Alice, her blue eyes almost glowing. Her muscles were tensed as though she were about to leap, but she relaxed when she saw it was just Alice who had woken her.
"What's wrong?" Ella meowed wearily.
"I thought maybe we should leave now, while it's dark, so the No-Furs don't stop us or close our escape route." Alice waved her tail towards an open window. Ella nodded and woke Ace as Alice looked around at the No-Fur den. She would miss it, but it wasn't the same without May.
"We're leaving? But what if Mother comes back? We can't leave!" Ace exclaimed as Ella explained what they were doing.
"We have to leave, Ace. Mother is not coming back and it's not safe here." Ella meowed. Alice noticed that Ella's voice was hard and cold. She's probably just still shocked. She doesn't want to accept it.
Alice didn't know what Ace was thinking, but he gave a small nod and pressed against Alice as they padded towards the window. Alice leaped onto the windowsill and landed beside Ella, who was clawing at a second screen of what looked like stiff strands of fur woven together.
"You think they'd stop at the clear stuff, but then they but this here too? No-furs don't make any sense." Ella whispered in frustration. Alice tried to help, but it didn't look like the screen was going to break.
Alice was about to suggest that they wait until sunrise when she saw a dark shape leaping down from the fence into the yard. She nudged Ella, who looked up and stared at the figure.
"Excuse me! Over here!" Ella called loudly. Alice's eyes widened and her fur bristled with fear. What if that was a mean cat? There were some rude ones who had visited May once, but she had bundled the kits inside before the other cats could say too much.
The cat in the yard leaped up onto the window edge on the other side, almost knocking over a basket of red and black flowers that was perched there. In the moonlight Alice could see that the stranger had fluffy ginger fur and a curious look on her face instead of a snarl.
   "Oh! You must be May's kits! I'm so sorry about your mother, I heard what happened..." The she-cat meowed. Alice was glad to hear that her voice was friendly and light.
   "What do you know? What happened to our mother?" Ace wriggled between Alice and Ella,eager to know what the she-cat was talking about.
   "You don't know? Oh... " The she-cat suddenly looked a lot less cheerful.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Ella meowed.
"Yes. I'm Cora, by the way." The she-cat meowed. Alice noticed that her happiness suddenly looked a bit more forced. She also saw that Cora's claws were unsheathed. What is this she-cat up to?
"Why are you in our yard in the middle of the night?" Ella asked, and Alice was glad she's finally noticed how suspicious this cat was.
"Oh, I... um... I didn't think you wanted to spend the night alone." Cora ducked her head so they couldn't see her expression. "Why are you trying to open the window when you should be asleep?"
"We're trying to escape before the No-Furs take us away from each other." Ace meowed puffing out his chest. "We're planning on finding our father."
"Really? You must be very brave." Cora's whiskers quivered and Alice stared at her. Is she teasing us? "I'll help you get out, if you want."
Ella nodded and with a quick swipe of her claws, Cora cut through the screen. Alice took one last long look at her home before following Ella and Ace through the hole that Cora had created.
   "Thank you for the help, we..." Ella trailed off. Alice, who hadn't jumped off the ledge yet watched in horror as cats appeared on the fence. There were at least a dozen cats staring at the three kits, along with Cora, who had a evil gleam in her eyes.
   "Grab them!" Cora hissed, leaping towards Ella. The cats one the fence jumped into the yard.
   "Ace! Ella! Get up here!" Alice called. Ella was leaping towards the cats, a fierce look on her face as she clawed at them. Alice, who was panicking, watched as two cats pinned a struggling Ace down. What's going to happen to us?
                                  •••

Ella resisted the urge to whimper in fear as she saw the cats on the fence. She barely heard Cora as she was overwhelmed by fear... And anger. Anger at the No-Furs for not saving May, anger at her father for abandoning them, anger at these cats who seemed to want to capture them for no reason. An overwhelming anger that seemed to consume Ella.
   Ella realized just in time that Cora was leaping towards her and managed to move out of the way. But there were three other cats coming towards her. She ducked under a lithe brown tabby tom and leaped at Cora. She heard Alice calling to her, but she ignored it and focused on the battle.
Ella was barely in control of herself as she landed and dug her claws into Cora's back. Cora yet out a yowl of pain and rolled over, trying to crush her, but Ella leaped off just in time and crashed into a tortoiseshell she-cat. She sank her teeth into the she-cat's leg, then leaped off.
   But she was surrounded now. She glimpsed Ace being pinned down by a muscular tom, and glanced up to see Alice still on the window ledge, sending the flowerpot crashing down onto a she-cat's head.
   "Just come peacefully, and we won't hurt any of you." Cora purred. Ella panted and resisted the urge to point out that she was already hurt and bleeding from multiple scratches, so there was no point in giving them that option now.
   "Ella, please, maybe it's better if we go with them." Alice meowed, shooting a worried glance at Ace, who had stopped struggling to escape and was looking at Ella.
   She avoided his pleading look and instead looked at Cora. "Fine. We'll go."  Cora waved her tail for two of the street  cats (Ella knew that's what they were) but Ella wasn't going to give herself up that easily. I'll be back soon, She thought, then turned and, before the street cats could react, used the last of her energy to leap to the top of the fence, jump down the other side, and take off into the night.