Ridges of Doom

Chapter Three

It rained the next day. Hard, at that. The wind blew most of the remaining leaves off the scarcely placed trees as an autumnal gray sky enveloped London. Honestly, I'd never seen the weather this bad. I had been born in what Mum said was summer, a warm time where love roamed free. It seemed the era of summer was coming to an end, and a new, colder era would take its place. Like my life, I realized. Except maybe my own new era wouldn't be colder.

I had fallen asleep on the chair by the fireplace and radio, listening to the quiet drizzle that would become the storm of today. Where John's home had always been filled with ruckus at night as my siblings urged me to come and play with them, all was silent at Truman's. That wasn't to say I didn't already miss Rain's humor, Max's intelligence or Aranola's curiosity. I had to repeatedly remind myself that I would see them all, and Mum, again soon.

I was jostled awake that morning by the front door opening. I leapt off the chair and raced up the entrance hall to see Truman, dressed for business, ready to exit the house. He looked down at me, a sudden pity and sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Yama," he said, reaching down to scratch my head, bringing his hand down by ridgeless back. "I've got to leave for work. Got to pay for all our necessities somehow." He stood back up to his loose, carefree full height, so different from his brother in every way. "I'll be back before nightfall, promise. Until then you can keep exploring."

I whimpered. After only a day, less than that, Truman was leaving?

"Yama," my master said in a comforting voice. "You'll find something to do without me, I'm sure of it! I'll see you later. Besides, I'm sure you'll find company somewhere." With a laugh, he went out the door into the rain. The wind slapped my face and the water wet my coat for a second before he gently shut the door behind him. I shook the cold, eerie feeling off, leaving only myself, Yama, in a huge, empty house. Or perhaps not, whatever Truman might've meant by "you'll find company somewhere".

With a sigh, I sulked back down the entrance hall and looked at the stairs. Perhaps I could explore the upper levels of the place next, I considered. Much to my surprise I noticed what looked like a statue of an slender orange cat perched on the railing at the very top of the staircase, looking forward blankly. One of its paws was white, contrasting the rest of its coat. It had the eyes of a feral predator.

I had seen cats before, back in the Chilterns. A family of strays would come by the house for food every so often. Mum could communicate with them, if only vaguely. Their language was so similar to ours, yet so different all at the same time. Quite peculiar creatures, cats.

Suddenly, I saw the statue's tail twitch, if ever so slightly. I yelped at the sudden movement and jumped back, attracting its attention. It bore its eyes into mine, looking down with a mixture of surprise and contentment. Was this the company Truman said I'd find? This cat? Why didn't I hear anything about it before?

I swallowed. It's just a cat, I reminded myself. "H—Hello."

The cat cocked its head, and spoke in a sly, masculine voice. "So, I'm guessing you're Master's new dog, then?" He yawned with boredom.

I was surprised I could understand him perfectly. Willing up more courage, I replied, "Correct. What about it? And how can I understand you?"

The cat rolled his eyes. "Pup, I've been here 18 years. Course I've seen Ridgebacks from the Chilterns come and go. You ain't the first." He leapt down from the rail and started down the stairs. For a cat his age, he got around as if he was still in his youth. "I've taught myself their language. Not that hard to learn one so...crude."

"Well..." I started, ignoring his insult. "If we're expected to live together I suppose I should tell you my name. Ingonyama."

"Neville," the cat yawned again. By now he had reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly began approaching me. "You got a mother, Ingonyama?"

As he grew closer and closer, I began to get nervous. "Yama's fine. And...her name's Nola. Aranola de Xidion is what my old master called her."

Neville's eyes widened, and for a moment he stopped slinking. A smile spread across his face. "Aranola de Xidion? The award-winning Aranola de Xidion? Oy, the humans never cease talking about her on the radio! Droning on about how smooth her brown fur is, how straight and perfect her ridge, how—" He snapped out of his trance and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "So if Aranola's your mum, then...then I'm proud to say I got her son in my home!" He started laughing, ugly yewls spouting out of his mouth, exposing his blade-sharp fangs and rolling tongue. He was a reptile of a creature indeed.

"Well, I'm glad you admire my mum, but—" I was cut off as Neville began examining me, circling around me, sweeping his predatory eyes across every inch of my body. Seeing if I held up to the perfection of Mum, I supposed.

Once he saw my back, he gasped, backing away slightly in shock. "You're...you're ridgeless," he whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

I grumbled. "So what?"

"Oh, nothing against you, pup, but, er..." He positioned himself in front of me once again and resumed his pondering. "How could the Aranola de Xidion produce ridgeless puppies? It doesn't make any sort of sense whatsoever...could it have been the sire? Perhaps one of Aranola's ancestors was ridgeless..." He mewled in frustration, meeting a dead end at every turn he took. Finally, he met my eyes. "And what of your siblings, ridgeless one?"

"Well," I sighed. "They all have ridges. All qualified for show."

Neville sat up straight and looked at his white paw in deep thought. "That's good, then. The legacy of the Xidions will live on!" He then looked at me with the closest thing to guilt a cat could have. Such shameless creatures, they were. "Oy, sorry about that. I get a little carried away about these sorts of things sometimes. But lordy, a ridgeless dog born from Aranola, of all the Ridgebacks! Definitely a strange occurrence in my book!" He meowed a laugh again and brought his swishing tail around my shoulders rather sharply, making me gasp. "Maybe in time we'll be friends, ridgeless one. But for now..." He started making his way back to the staircase, yawning a third time. "I'm going back to bed. I'll quite enjoy the dreams I'll have about the ridgeless puppy born from such a bitch as Aranola de Xidion."

With that, Neville leapt up the stairs and disappeared into the upper sanctums of the house. I decided he wasn't worth following, not yet. That would be his domain for now, and downstairs would be mine.

Who are you kidding? I scolded myself. That Neville practically owns this house, and he knows it!

For a second, I wished I was back in the Chilterns.