Rote World Index

Cats Creep Return

Mrs. Rotes & Songmark characters copyright Mr. Simon Barber.

Used with Permission.

“Three more Alpha” Elizabeth Juniper informed her dorm mate. “Then you may shower.”

“Your killing her” Megan Brightwhite observed from her bed, curled up with her weather textbook. “I shall be much upset should I lose my bet with Beryl.”

“Bet?” Katrina Schmidt asked. She turned away from the window, her eyes still filled with the lights from Casino Island. “What bet mah sweet darlin.”

“That we shall have the same members within our group that we started with, at the end of first testing.”

“Vivisect you” Alpha cursed as she pushed her body off the floor again. “And bets. Bets not scientific.” She grunted in effort as she lowered herself carefully, having once injured herself by letting a certain part of her chest take the full impact of her collapse.

“Scientific?” Megan asked. “No. Yet Beryl is as English as I, though she would not desire it known by the world I believe. She desires to be infamous, not famous. Infamous. Thus she has that infection called greed within her which does make her vulnerable. When ones knows the signs and is careful not to press too hard.” She watched as Alpha struggled off the floor a second time, wondering at the shrews courage. She knew that there was nothing yet, other than failure, to drive her to push her own body so hard. Love was a weakness in her mind, thus love was something she had no intention of allowing within her heart. At least not until her own goals were met first.

Elizabeth glanced over at the covered mirror in their room, not for the first time angry at being watched when she thought that she was in private. Alpha had warned them of the thing, and what it was being used for. Together the girls had decided not to tell anyone else, yet the sheet laying over their mirror was warning enough to their instructors that this dorm knew. Alpha had also warned that there were hidden mikes, some kind of device she had ‘tossed together’ had proven that much. But as to where said microphones were, that they were still hunting. Her comfortable seat moved again as Alpha lifted a third time.

“You will win Cats Creep Alpha” the nutria warned her ‘seat.’ “I will not have my meal ticket to strange exotic places escape me. Not even if I must drag your cold limp body through third year finals.”

Alpha Rote managed her last pushup, lowering her body flat upon the rooms non-too comfortable floor. Only when she was completely still did the larger girl slip off her back, standing to walk to the window. “I would curse you” the shrew gasped, speaking slowly. “I cannot think of one harsh enough.”

“Send me to the moon” Elizabeth suggested. “Stranded there would be curse enough, if I had no camera.”

“I will remember that” Alpha gasped, rolling over with Katrina Schmidt’s help. She gasped as the marsh rabbit began massaging her tired arm muscles. “Thank you all” she managed before Katrina’s ministration made talking too painful.

Elizabeth took the place Megan had abandoned, settling in to watch the night sky. Again she wished for her camera and its long lens. Yet such things were forbidden until her dorm had passed first exams. All of them, and Alpha had failed the climb. She listened in silence as Katrina elicited moans of pain from the shrew with her ministrations. Many questions passed through her mind as she appeared to be absorbing the view outside. Most were inconsequential, a few though she felt were important. What did she want to be remembered for. True it had taken only a day to discover, to her delight, that the strange shrew from an even stranger island might be the ticket to her dreams. To travel the world, document things before they vanished in time or by encroaching civilization. For that the Rotes were perfect. She could be their official photographer, their travels getting her where she wanted to be.

Then there was Megan. Megan was what her father would have called a scrounger. When Alpha or any of them had expressed a need, the martin had managed to dredge up something that would work. Her own foolishness had cost them the radio Alpha had built. A mistake, one she would not make again. And Katrina. Watching her work on the shrew Elizabeth didn’t try to fool herself. There was interest in that rabbits eyes, very serious interest. As long as it was directed at Alpha everything was fine, but if Katrina turned to her. Well, acting two sided was one thing. Actually trading sheets again? Carefully the Nutria weighed her options. If she had too yes, but only if she had too.

“Come on Alpha” Katrina said from behind Elizabeth. “I’ll take yah to the shower then you promised tah spill tha beans on you and that Miss Tatiana.”

Elizabeth watched the two stagger out of their room, Katerina carefully supporting the exhausted shrew. Megan’s bets seemed to be random, yet she had not failed to win any that Elizabeth was aware of. She’d been interested in what had happened between their shrew and the second year, betting Alpha that in one week she could reach twenty pushups with Elizabeth sitting on her back had been another. Of course, hinting that earning such strength would make climbing the easier hadn’t fooled Elizabeth one bit. Katrina knew how to pull peoples strings and do so without them noticing either. And just why had the Russian Tatiana become so interested in their little mad scientist anyway?

Next morning found a cold mist drifting about the climbing cliff. Mrs. Oelabe was again with them though Miss Devinski had joined them as well. Alpha wasn’t the only one taking her second attempt the girls noted. A rather pretty Norwegian vixen and her dorm had joined them. As Alpha walked towards the climb called Cats Creep Miss Devinski snapped her fingers. “Not that one Alpha” the hound announced. “Boot Eater if you please.”

Confused Alpha turned to her dorm mates. Quickly Megan whipped out the climbing notebook they had all been given, hurrying up to the waiting shrew so that she could discover the route. A couple minutes careful consideration and Megan returned to her friends. Alpha however simply walked up to the wall. Without a word she stripped off her outer clothing, leaving only her underpants and boots on. Thus unencumbered Alpha began climbing.

“Miss Devinski. Is that allowed” Elizabeth asked.

“For all we care you may make your first climb with nothing on. This is simply a test to see if you have the strength needed to remain in school. All other climbs will be fully dressed, with weight of course.”

They watched as Alpha made her way up the more difficult climb, a climb made that harder by the shrews tiny size. Yet well within the allotted time Alpha had made the top, was kneeling at the edge looking down in wonder. Megan ran up, quickly gathering the shrews clothing into her arms.

“Excellent training girls” Miss Devinski announced, though her voice was so soft only they could hear. “We knew you would manage it, thus the harder route. She now has confidence, hasn’t she?” Raising her voice she called to the blond vixen. “Miss Gjelsteinli. Please follow the route Mrs. Rote took, to the best of your ability.”

Everyone watched as the vixen walked up to the climbs base. She too undressed as she studied the route, then carefully began her own climb. Unlike Alpha the taller vixen had little difficulty in her climb, that was until she was near the top. Abruptly she stopped, for a little while no one could tell why until Miss Devinski withdrew a pair of field glasses from her pack. “Her left boot is jammed between two rocks. I will get her.” Giving the nurse her glasses the hound ran towards the cliff, then leapt a good five feet up its face before touching anything. In seconds she was below the trapped vixen.

“Give me a moment. I’ll free you” Miss Devinski instructed her student.

“Ne” the girl answered forcibly. “I not climb I fail. I fail father be very unhappy. More important I be very unhappy.”

Understanding the girls decision Miss Devinski studied the problem. “Your not getting that boot out” she warned, “Unless you push down. Pushing down might unbalance you. You’d fall and be out of Songmark. Is our little school worth risking your life?”

“Is worth more” the vixen announced. “Much more.”

“Then do it. I will not catch you if you fall” the hound announced. That her words were a lie the vixen could not know.

As Miss Devinski watched her student gingerly pushed her foot down, releasing the trapped boot. Soon she and her student joined Alpha at the top. “You have both passed” she told them. “Though...” Turning to the vixen her voice became harsh. “If you ever again tell me that this school is more important than your life, you will be expelled. Understand?”

“Ja Miss Devinski. I understand.”

“Good, then both of you climb back down. We have a two mile run ahead of us before breakfast as you are dressed now.”

Alpha Rote again lay on her bed trying to sleep. She had managed the climb with her mates help. In fact, it had been easier than Cats Creep. Alpha was no fool though, each test would become harder. If she let herself relax only a moment she would fail. Rolling off her bed she went to Elizabeth’s bed, but the nutria was sound asleep.

“What is it” Katrina’s voice asked out of the darkness.

“I must continue training” Alpha answered after moving to the rabbits bedside. “But Elizabeth is asleep.”

“I will be your weight then” the rabbit decided. “Besides, I am much softer.”

“You do not weigh as much.”

“Then you will do more pushups to compensate of course” Megan answered as she slid out of bed.

Alpha had to admit the simplicity of Megan’s logic, so placing herself on the floor in position she waited until the rabbits weight settled onto her back. “One...”

Elizabeth cracked open one eye, watching the two. Alpha’s determination was as obvious as the sun at noon. So was Katrina’s, though it was as plain that the shrew had no clue that she had become Katrina’s hero. Rolling over she wondered what a certain American Squirrel was going to do when she found out that an American rabbit was chasing her wife, it should prove very interesting. Just as she started to fall asleep Elizabeth decided to place twenty shells on the squirrel.