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Chapter 20

"Explain this. Please," Death folded her arms.

"Okay, so I was coming back with the pizzas. And there was a couple of kids a little older than Alex messing with this box, hurting the cats. So I told them to back off and give the box to me, and they said only if I gave them the pizzas, which I did. Then--"

"Why did you give them the pizzas? They're animal abusers, they aren't allowed to make demands. And you could have taken them. Easily," Zora said.

"Exactly. But there's no point in fighting if you've already won."

"What happened next?" Rodrigo asked.

"They took the pizzas and ran away laughing," Marc said. "The kittens are staying, by the way."

"Well, of course they are. They have to. For a while, at least, until we find them nice homes," Death said, leaning down to stroke one of them.

"You have got to be kidding me. You can't seriously be okay with this?" Cindy said.

"Can we name them?" Alex asked, kneeling down to pet them. Zora sat down too and carefully watched their movements, checking for injuries.

"No. Don't get too attached; they're going to be leaving soon," Marc said.

"This one's got a bit of a limp. Can you fix that?" Zora passed a calico one to Death.

"I can try," she said.

"We can't live with kittens!" Cindy asked.

"Why not?" Rodrigo asked.

"Because by the time I can list all the reasons why not, seven years will have passed and Alex will be able to have a drink with the rest of us!" she said.

"Ow! Man, it's like they've got little built in swords," Zora said. "This one is named Blade. Because he's like the ninja of the animal world."

"No, no, don't name them. They aren't staying," Cindy said.

"Um, Zora, she maybe has a point. Eventually, they will all be someone else's kittens, and they are going to want to name them themselves," Death said.

"Yeah, well we'll just tell them that this one's name is Blade, alright?" Zora picked up the kitten in question and set him on her shoulder. His black fur stuck up in all angles, and his eyes shone a bit greener than the typical baby blue. He rubbed his head against Zora's, flexing his claws without digging in.

"Oh, that's so sad," Death said.

"What is?" Alex asked.

She met his gaze sharply. "Um, that the kittens were getting hurt. But they aren't now. It was sad, because they were getting picked on and stuff by the side of the road, but now it's not, because now they're safe," she smiled.