Old Version of "These 9 Lives"

Chapter 5: On the Search (Ginger)

It was nighttime and Ginger hadn't found Toby yet. The other cats hadn't either. They were at their usual meeting place. " I guess we have to go out of the city," Ginger mewed.

" Then we must go now if we want to catch up to him," Caribou pointed out. " He's probably way ahead of us now. If he's asleep now then we could at least get half way to the place Toby's resting."

" Well then," Ginger turned to Moon. " Goodbye my friend."

" Bye Ginger," Moon replied. " I sure will miss you."

" I'll miss you too," Ginger mewed. " I hope you have a great life here."

" Oh my life will never be great," Moon said. " It may be good but not great. Not as great as yours will be."

" But what if I don't find my son?" Ginger asked. " What if my life isn't as great as you say it will be?"

" The only thing that could stop you is you," Moon said. " If you lose faith, you'll never find him and you've let Toby down. I can see in your eyes how determine you are to find him."

" What if he probably doesn't miss me?"

" Oh I bet he does. Remember, he left because his dream was to go to paradise, not to get away from you. He will always love you. You will always love him. I bet he even whispered good-bye before he left. And your dream was to keep Toby around as long as possible. Now is your chance. I'm sure he won't run away next time. It may take 10 years or one day, but you'll find him as long as you have faith no matter how long it takes or how tragic things get. And never,EVER, think he's died. The animal spirits will never let that happen.I made that mistake and lost all my kittens.He has survived an abusive human and Cardinal as a kitten so I bet he'll survive the world outside as an adult. Have good luck finding him."

" You have good luck," Ginger said. She and the two of her friends that were coming said their last goodbyes to their other friends. Soon they were on their way.

Caribou and Carrabelle followed her to the tunnel. They all walked in one line, in and out of the tunnel. When they were at the edge of the tunnel, Ginger looked around. Carrabelle mewed " So we should go to the side and run from there, right?"

" Of course," Ginger mewed. " We wait until there's a big gap between the cars, then we go." It surprisingly didn't take that long to find a large gap between cars so they all ran to the side of the road. Ginger turned around to make sure they were

"Okay now lets run," Ginger mewed. They ran and ran until they slowed down from being fatigue, still on the road.

They looked out at what was at the other side of the road. The first thing they saw was the New york city skyline. There were lights everywhere and buildings of different sizes. Surprisingly for Ginger, it was beautiful. I haven't seen this since I first moved into the city, Ginger thought. I don't recall it being beautiful. The day was just horrible. " Come on," Ginger mewed. " Let's go." She yawned and then walked over to the trees ahead. Ginger was panting. She even started stumbling from how enervated she was.

" Ginger," Caribou mewed. " you're tried and you need to rest. We should find a place to stay for the rest of the night."

" But I want a sign that we're going the right way first," Ginger protested, mumbling.For a moment she yawned. " A paw print, fresh kill, whatever. I want a sign."

" Well you're in luck," Carrabelle said.

Ginger walked over where she was. She looked at the ground and saw a paw print nearly covered by leaves. " It's a cat's paw print," Ginger gasped. " And with Toby's scent!"

" And there's more," Carrabelle said. "There are more cat pawprints but there are pawprints of a dog too. Of two dogs in fact. And not all of the cat pawprints belong to Toby. There was another cat. Like of a female from the scent. And they all seem fresh. Toby must've encountered some strangers."

"It could be a good thing or a bad thing," Caribou mewed. " I doubt they ignored Toby like he wasn't there, so either they're friends or they killed him."

" But there's no blood so I think it's a good thing," Carrabelle observed.

" I'm satisfied that we found Toby's paw print," Ginger mewed. " Now for shelter..." They all looked for a den. They soon found one with the scent of the two dogs and the unfamiliar cat. Ginger laid down on her belly.She looked around with sorrow. " I hope you're happy now, Toby," Ginger whispered to herself. Soon enough she was asleep.

* * *

Ginger woke up to the afternoon sun. She sat up and looked out at the trees ahead of her. Being out here in the wild is strange, Ginger thought. I'm no wild-blood. I don't have the instincts of one. I'm an owned-blood. I'm supposed to live with humans. But Toby is in fact a wild-blood. He has to be.

She stood up and walked outside. Now I understand how Toby felt when we lived in the city. I feel like I don't belong here. Like that is nothing for me outside of my son. It's so different out here. So looked at all the trees and wildlife.

Then she soon realized it was late during the day. She was furious with herself. Her friends were still asleep. " Get up already!" Ginger yowled. " It's late in the day! Come on!"

They all woke up instantly. " Geez," Carrabelle said. " I know you're worried about your only living son, but you need to calm down a notch."

" Carrabelle's right," Caribou nodded. " You need to chillax."

" Sorry," Ginger whispered. " I just wish I kept a closer eye on him and never told him about that place. It feels strange out. And I believe he's very very far away. If I never told him, we wouldn't have to leave the city and the other cats and I wouldn't have to kill Cardinal."

" You killed Cardinal?" Carrabelle gasped.

" I killed her when I came across her after I first went into the tunnel," Ginger explained. " She needed to be punished so I killed her. We couldn't do anything else."

Ginger looked at the pawprints they saw earlier. She ran to where the pawprints led to. They showed that they were going straight ahead. She didn't have to tell the other where to go.Her friends just followed her as she run, looking at the tracks as she did. She was beside the road. Soon the pawprints lead to the other side of the road. And with that they were lost.Shoot, Ginger thought. She walked across without looking for cars. Darn pawprints! Where did Toby go?

Her friends were starting to catch up to her when Carrabelle yowled " Watch out!" then a car shrieking and the next thing Ginger saw was pure darkness.

* * *

Ginger slightly opened her eyes. She felt a human hand on her back. She wanted to tear it to shreds but she couldn't. It was a pain just trying to breathe or to even think. She felt like she was being eaten alive. Her heart was pounding very hard. She had a huge headache She heard huge objects making loud noises.

This can't happen, Ginger thought. I have to find Toby as soon as possible. There's no time to waste. Wait. Where are my friends? I can't die now. Is Toby in this situation? Ginger tried to stand up, but she was too weak. " Friends?" she said weakly. She heard the human make a hushing sound. She looked to her left and right. She saw blood and saw humans surrounding her. Why are you all here? Ginger wondered. Why do you want to help? She laid down her head again, and passed out once more.