The Secret Adventures Of Squeakity, part 03

(Before we begin this next installment, it should be mentioned that Squeakity’s enclosure is actually a hard plastic child's swimming pool surrounded by garden fencing that was designed to keep rabbits out. The bottom half of the fencing is comprised of 1x2 inch square wire holes, whereas the upper part widens out into 3x3 inch squares. This is how she is able to climb out of her enclosure, in her stories, and embark on her many adventures.)

It was Saturday night, a relatively normal Saturday night other than the fact that instead of staying home to watch television the humans had gone out somewhere. They left before dark and taken the dog with them, as usual, and Squeakity had no idea when they would be back. That was okay because they had left her with a large salad; spinach, cucumber, pepper, tomato, and a little touch of cilantro to compliment her gourmet Guinea pig pellets.

She was busy chowing down on a spinach leaf, the cats snoozing quietly on their beds, when something rattled the doorknob on the front door. At first it was just a very small rattle, maybe just a slight jiggle of the nob, but it got more aggressive, then something clicked and Squeakity heard the front door pop open. She paused in her nibbling and looked at the cats. Bobby was awake and looking toward the living room, his ears pricked forward, his whiskers twitching slightly. Tigera was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, the first jiggle of the nob had drawn her from her slumber and, she was now in the safety of her tube. (Her tube is a 3 foot long, 12 inches around, cardboard tube that the humans got from Home Depot. It was mounted just above the window in the animal room, and that's where tiger felt safe.)

Squeakity heard soft footsteps in the living room and smelled an unfamiliar scent. She watched Bobby, her mouth still full of spinach. His nose twitched, and the hair on his back began to stand up.

“What is it?” she whispered.

Bobby jumped from his perch, landing soundlessly on paws that were designed for stealth, and shook his head.

“I don't know,” he answered, as he crept closer to their open doorway, “but it doesn't smell right.”

Squeakity knew what he meant. It didn't smell like their humans, or any humans that they knew, and she decided that whatever was going on needed to be investigated, and she would help Bobby do it.

Hurrying across her bed of pine shavings, to the outer edge of her enclosure, she quickly climbed her fencing and wiggled out, landing with the usual plop onto the floor. Gathering your legs underneath her, she scrambled up next to her friend just as he reached the doorway. They both looked out into the darkened living room and could see the shadowy figure of a tall human. The blinds were pulled down, blocking out the light from the street lamps. The human clicked on a small flashlight, it's beam sliding over the furniture and walls, showing each item in single, glowing frames.

Bobby hissed, his back arched and his tail fat with all of his hair standing on end. Squeakity felt a tingle ripple over her skin as if her hair, also, was standing up. They watched in tense silence as the intruder left the living room, made his way down the hall, and entered the humans’ bedroom. They could hear him muttering to himself along with the distinct sound of drawers and doors being opened and things being moved.

Squeakity followed Bobby, his feline form stretched out into a low stalking position, as they left their room to follow the intruder. As soon as they reached the doorway to the humans’ room, they stopped, and Bobby scanned the room until his neon green eyes landed on his target.

“You stay here.” he ordered.

Squeakity narrowed her eyes in his direction, “Not a chance.”

Before Bobby could do anything to stop her, she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, straight toward the intruder, and sank her teeth into the tendon right above the heel of his shoe. The man screamed, shaking his leg around violently, trying to dislodge Squeakity. At that very second, his scream mingled with an angry yowl and screech as Bobby launched himself at the man's face. The commotion was intense as our two heroes fought valiantly with the fiend. Squeakity held on tight with her teeth, grabbed the edge of his pant leg with her little front paws, trying to keep from being slung across the room. She heard the man and Bobby cursing at each other in their struggle. The man was jumping around with a determined Guinea pig firmly attached to his Achilles tendon and an angry cat with a vice like grip on his face, its claws dug into his scalp. The man staggered backward and fell onto the bed. Squeakity took the opportunity to scramble up his pant leg and onto his body. In a second, she had joined Bobby at the man's head. The man had Bobby by the throat, trying to strangle the cat who would not let go of his lacerated face. The flashlight left spinning on the floor, causing shadows to flicker around the room.

She needed to help her friend, so in one swift move she bit into the man's earlobe and shook her head like she had seen Bobby do with his toy mice. The man screamed again, a curse erupting from his bleeding lips, and tried to grab for Squeakity but he couldn't reach her with Bobby in the way. Squeakity began gnawing up and down the edge of his ear as quickly as she could, back and forth, from top to bottom. The man threw Bobby, his almost lifeless body slamming into the wall then falling to the floor with a soft thud.

Squeakity skillfully evaded the man's hands as he tried to grab for her and jumped onto his face where she latched onto his nose, chewing up his flared nostrils. Her mouth was full of his blood, and it disgusted her, but she was determined that he would not win. She took her tiny claws and raked them down his cheeks, all four paws kicking violently.

Bobby was only stunned for a few seconds before he shook it off and jumped back up on the bed to help Squeakity. Claws out, He dug deep furrows into the man's neck from ear to shoulder, then went for his eyes, while Squeakity kept her hold on his nose.

Fighting furiously, the man managed to throw both animals off of his face and get to his feet. Squeakity lay on the bed, covered in his blood, breathing heavily, while Bobby stood next to her with his back arched, hissing loudly.

The intruder, leaving his flashlight on the floor, ran out of the room, with Bobby chasing him every step of the way. They ran down the hall, into the living room, and out the front door.

Squeakity was exhausted. She lay on the bed, until her breathing returned to normal, then got up. It was a long jump to the floor, so she went to the head of the bed and, inch by inch, pushed a pillow off the bed and jumped down on top of it. She was glad that it was over, and that the man was gone, but she worried about Bobby. Was he hurt?

Just then, Bobby returned and met her in the doorway. He seemed okay, though he was still breathing heavily, and he began checking her all over. She could smell the blood on him as well as herself and wondered how she was ever going to get it off. Then, is it reading her mind, Bobby took his raspy tongue and began licking her clean.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Bobby stopped licking just long enough to reassure her that he was fine. Tired from their struggle, they curled up together just outside the humans’ room and washed each other clean. They had gotten rid of the intruder. Everything was as it should be again. Once clean and rested, they walked together into the living room. The door stood open, letting the night air in, and Bobby pushed it shut until it clicked.

Squeakity climbed back into her enclosure, returned to her salad, and Bobby snuggled back into his bed. They both knew without a doubt that Tigera would remain in her tube until morning.