Trapped

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

The Usual Suspects copyright Mr. Simon Barber

corrected 10-09-2009

It was Friday, April second and the last official day of work for a certain English feline, and she was worried. At the moment Millicent sat behind her desk, thinking carefully of her next step. It was beginning to bother her that she had been ordered to maintain her abrasive personality. And her nasty jokes against others within the English compound. At least until further notice. This had left her with no friends within the compound. Certainly Dassher and the rest could not be considered friends after all.

Now that she had Tatiana, and had found a balance in her life remaining without friends was proving difficult. So very difficult. Added to that, having chosen a woman as her lifemate had turned many of those against her even further. Yet now there was so much she wanted to share with others, so much of her new life. Other than a pawfull of those about her, she really did like the people she worked with. Yet orders were orders and along with the packet on her battered desk the paper she now held in her paw was most direct in its orders. That everything was most official she had no doubt, having been given it directly from the handsome Captain Dassher himself not more than five minutes ago. Yet to do this to Maria? Now? It made no sense.

Remembering the whispered addition to those orders she suspected that it must be a test. Perhaps a test to see just how well she could follow orders. With a feeling of deep regret she took pen to paper and began to work, knowing that for this to pass all tests she would have to be extremely careful. She just hoped that Maria would not hate her too much for this, because having met the woman a few times she really liked her. Pulling the three sheets of paper loaned to her as examples, the feline turned to her task.

Millicent was quite correct in her thinking. It was a test of her own abilities to follow orders, even when those orders might destroy someone she liked. It was also a test for Maria. A test of the kind that every Songmark girl went through at some time in her three years. Had she known the test that Beryl was facing, she would have understood everything. But that information was not for her eyes. Much to her misfortune.

On the eleventh third year student Maria Inconnutia found herself called to Miss Blande’s office. Lately having spent most of her free time at Mrs. Whitehall’s home studying Killian Whitehall’s papers, she couldn’t think of anything that she might have done wrong. Unless it was about that mugger on Casino Island last week. Still she doubted that anyone would be upset about a criminal with two broken arms. Would they? Perhaps it was an important message from home. Had something happened to her family? Did her Uncle abruptly need her to return? Curious she followed procedure, soon standing at attention in front of the feline.

“This type of action is absolutely unacceptable” the cat announced, holding an envelope up for Maria to see. “Completely unacceptable. You will be expelled for this girl. But you were aware of this when you came to us, correct?”

“Exactly what” the bovine asked in confusion, completely in the dark this time. Ice water pounded down her spine in standing waves. Expelled? Nothing she had done that she could think of would demand that horrid action. And along with Amelia she had done some rather odd things since coming to Songmark, but was certain none of the things she was guilty of could be this bad.

Miss Blande simply tossed the opened envelope onto her desk, just within reach of the Itallian. “Are you so stupid as to deny that is your pawwriting?”

Looking at the envelope Maria could see that it was addressed to someone at the American consulate. It was written in her paw, that she was certain of. But exactly what it was about she had no idea. She had never written the American consulate. She had never had reason to. “May I?” she asked, indicating the envelope with only her gaze.

“By all means. Please do refresh yourself with your crime” the feline agreed. “We would not want you to be able to claim that you were unaware of the reason you are being expelled. Now would we.”

That Miss Blande, and all the Songmark facility were in on this trap would not have surprised Maria. Yet at the moment she wasn’t thinking anything like that. Picking up the envelope she first noted that it had been opened with a very sharp blade. Removing two sheets of paper from within it she started reading. Stopped, restarted from the top and managed to finish before speaking. “I din noh write the thing” she announced, though her voice was unsteady. This WAS her paw-writing. This was the private stock of paper she used for official communications with her Uncle. That she kept locked and hidden even from her dormmates. It was unmistakably her style of work and that was her signature. Complete with the delicate little mark in one corner most would think was a simple ink smudge.

That wasn’t the problem. Oh she was dead certain that she had never written this offer, would never have written it. “I offer to deliver Molly tah this Two Red Stones upon graduation nigh. Sah for American Citizenship ahn ten thousand English pounds in American money. Miss Blande. Molly is mah friend. I did never write such an evil thing.”

Miss Blande though was unimpressed, she was already sitting back behind her desk studying the student still standing before her. “Surrender your Songmark jacket” she ordered. “You will be escorted off Songmark grounds immediately. I thought so much of you. You showed us so very much promise. Molly will of course be warned of this, as she should understand that you are not truly a friend. Now get out. As of this instant you are no longer a Songmark student.”

Papers fluttered to the floor in response to that announcement. Looking up Miss Blande was hard put to keep her expression even neutral, much less the stern anger she was trying to maintain. Before her Maria stood stock still, an expression of pure terror on her face. “Well?” the feline asked.

“Prove... Pa...” Maria took a deep breath. It was only Songmark’s training and her own experience that brought her back to her real self. Strong again she faced the woman sitting before her. “Give some time” she begged. “I will prove I had no thing to do with this.”

“One week. Starting now” Miss Blande agreed. “You have one week. Still the jacket remains here, in my office. Return with your proof and I will place that jacket upon you with my own paws. Fail. In one week your personal gear will be sitting outside of Songmark’s gates, a ticket on the next flight to Italy with it. Now take your filthy offer and get out of my sight. You have one hour to be off Songmark property. That includes Song Sodas.”

Removing her precious jacket with its third year note sewn carefully upon collar and sleeve Maria first placed it upon a nearby coat hanger, then retrieved both papers and envelope. Managing a salute to Miss Blande, a salute the cat studiously ignored, Maria turned and left. She had one hour, then a week less that to prove her innocence and drag the vile creature who had done this into Miss Blande’s presence. First to inform her friends, then begin her hunt. There was absolutely no time to waste.

Two days later Millicent found herself standing before Captain Dassher. The hound was finishing a phone conversation with someone, an obviously unimportant conversation as Millicent was allowed to listen. Finally replacing the handset upon its cradle he looked up at the young feline standing across his desk. “Sit my dear. Please” he offered.

Millicent sat, automatically placing her most secret case in her lap, her right paw settling next to her firearms grip. It was a habit Sergeant Proud had instilled in her. Pounded would be the truth, but now it was second nature to her. “Sir?” she asked softly.

“Your little project my dear” the hound answered. “You did pass that test. Have you any idea as to what it might have been about?”

“Those papers about Maria and the Americans sir? Yes sir. I assumed it was a test of my loyalty.”

Dassher nodded in agreement. “That was Miss Blande, of Songmark. Maria was faced with those papers of yours two days ago. She is now hunting ‘the fiend who is trying to ruin me’ as Miss Bland did explain it. She will discover you of course. Should she not, then you have both failed our full test. She, in not discovering who has placed the black robe of traitor upon her shoulders, you by not giving her just that much information to find you.”

“It is there sir, within the text sir.” Millicent shivered, Maria was a third year and known for her bursts of anger. Her own Tatty was only a second year. Though Tatiana had been well trained by the NKVD Millicent considered the two equals. “Sir. I will not place my Tatty between myself and Maria” she decided.

Dassher actually smiled when Millicent made that announcement. “Very good. You are more than you were my child. Much more. And when Maria begins to twist that pretty neck? When your vision greys, your heart begs your lungs for air? Then what.”

“I do not believe she will do such Sir” the feline answered. “She must need a witness that those papers are not of her construction. I believe that she may rough me up as the Americans describe it, but I must be alive to save her tail as it were. Sir, I shall surrender most calmly, with no attempt to resist. As Sergeant Proud has often said to me. To use force one must first be certain that ones force is superior to the others. Else you are doomed to fail. I could no more hope to defeat Maria in even an unfair fight that the flutterby could hope to defeat a whale.”

Captain Dassher listened carefully as Millicent spoke. This was not the proud, self centered girl that had arrived some time ago. She had changed. No matter what, he had to place a lot of that change in a certain Russian sable’s paws. “I will place your name on the list” he abruptly announced. Noting the confused look upon that enticing face he shrugged. “There is a list dear child. For all things there is a list. Even for entry into Diplomatic Training there is a list. Now go. Be careful. When she comes be most diplomatic.” As Millicent started to leave he stopped her with a word. “And the clue?”

“My name sir. Should she take the first letter of each paragraph, it does spell my name. It is why the letter is so long. My name.”

“Very good. Dismissed.” He watched her leave, smiling to himself as he watched her depart. As one of only two holders of a certain photograph it was not the first time that he envied Tatiana. With her constant physical training Millicent was becoming less of a flutterby and more of a woman. Still he thought. Should Tatiana ever discard Millicent he hoped that he was about. His own wife would be delighted to share her bed with such an enticing creature. Picking up his phone again he spoke. “You heard all? Very good. It is well that we work together. And Amelia? Yes, yes. It will be interesting to see how she intends to deal with her new position. Until Maria discovers the truth then. Goodbye Miss Blande.”

Days later Maria’s muscle heavy body slammed against a buildings wall, causing it to shake. Somewhere glass shattered but that wasn’t her problem. She started to move only to have her cougar opponent shake his head no. Fighting her anger Maria accepted that, perhaps this time, she was out matched. In fact, as far as she could tell all she had managed was to give the Amerindian a workout. “Who sent it” she growled, using the time to regain her breath. “We all know tha transvestite wants her. So who sent tha letter.”

Two Red Stones studied his opponent carefully. Maria was good. In fact she was the best opponent he had sparred with in many a year. Here in the Consulate’s gymnasium they were alone, it being very early in the morning. “Child. I can not release such information.” She waited, spotting her attack.

An interesting deviation on the side sweep the cougar noted, declining to follow with the standard defense/attack move. Instead he simply reached out, snagged his opponents tail and threw himself in the opposite direction of her turn.

Sometime later Maria was standing quite still as Two Red Stones applied ice to her tail root. “I did warn you I am very unconventual” he reminded her when she winced. “For the record child. Never having read such, I can not know who sent it. I can tell you this. None of my usual suspects could go that difficult route.”

“Didnah have tah almost dislocate my tail” she complained through gritted teeth. “Couldah told me that anytime.

Examining Maria’s swollen tail the cougar nodded to himself after finishing his inspection. “It shall heal child. This time you will not lose it. But next” he shook his head no. “Had I wanted, you would be holding that tail, not wearing it. This was for you, this learning. You will remember. Come the next time.”

Taking a deep drink of warm water Maria forced herself to calm. She had taken the Cougar up on his challenge. ‘Defeat me in physical combat, only then will I solve your puzzle for you.’ It had been a challenge, one she couldn’t refuse. Not just because that challenge meant that he could tell her who had written that letter, but he was a handsome side of male feline to boot. “So not your people” she replied. “Someone else. I have only two days now.”

Two Red Stones picked up the water jug, drinking lightly. “I will give you but one clue, for that is all you have earned. By not defeating me.” He watched Maria’s expression, noting with quite satisfaction that she accepted his decision without complaint. “Two then. For you battled on. Even in great pain. Even thinking your tail was gone. Two. They are. She has placed her name in open sight.” He sipped again, then picked up a curry comb to straighten his fur.

“Two.. Yes” the Italian bovine realized. “It is a woman. Her name is in plane sight. Not Beryl though. This is beyond even her abilities. At this time.” Gathering her property, nothing more than a loose canvas bag that held her money and the letter Maria walked towards one of the doors. “This is not over” she added as she walked.

Two Red Stones looked up at the departing Italian, a smile on his face. “When you are ready whitefur. When you are ready.” He watched her walk out, then continued combing himself until a phone next to him rang. “Yes” he asked after picking its handset up. “She has left. Good. Connect me with the English Consulate. Secure line.”

In the open Maria reminded herself as she walked. Taking out those pages again she looked at them. In the open. A code then, but a very weak one. Old school probably. Abruptly it struck her. “This is a test” she whispered. “Of course this is test. I am Songmark. All things are tests. Even sleeping.” Locating a stone bench that would hold her species she sat, wincing at the pain as she adjusted herself. In open sight. What were the simplest codices...

Abruptly she had the answer. A name, but. She checked her theory again, tried seven other possibilities before accepting her targets name. “Tatiana will kill me if I harm her” she told herself. “If not her, then Oharu will burn my soul. But how? This is perfect. It would take generations to reach such perfection. Unless.” Maria abruptly sighed in defeat as the answer came to her. Not generations of study.

The English feline was more dangerous than any opponent the bovine had ever faced. For Millicent was a born natural.

“Good afternoon Captain Dassher” Millicent said in greeting when she found the hound waiting for her. “I rarely do find you in the armory” she continued. “If I may be so bold sir. You are quite the handsome hound today.”

Dassher actually blushed a moment before gathering himself together. He had begun to admire this young woman in more ways than one lately. Having her compliment him, and mean it was a surprise. “Thank you young Millicent” he replied. “I bear bad tidings I fear.”

“Sandra is with pups” the feline asked. Dassher’s aside’s with the skunk Sandra was a semi-open secret. Perhaps six people besides themself were aware of it.

“No she..” Dassher stopped, closed his mouth and counted to ten. Slowly. “How long” he asked softly once he had his emotions under control, watching as Millicent unloaded and cleared her weapon before turning it, and its holster belt over to the armorer.

“Any time now sir, if you keep up your current schedule. Sandra much desires pups, but you need not fear. She is not the kind to expect you to marry her. Two wives would be a strain on anyone’s budget after all. Even with your wife’s own tastes. She will keep her mouth shut.”

“My wife is aware of my dalliance Millicent. That is not what I asked. And how did you know so much about my wife?”

“No sir, it was not. How long have I known about Sandra sir? Not quite a month now sir. When I confronted Sandra she admitted her love for you. And that she would quietly return home as soon as she was certain. Her father is well off, she is certain he would not disown her. Being as she was conceived out of wedlock herself.” Touching her nose on its left side Millicent smiled. “Like mother. Like daughter you understand. Sir. She does love you. About your lovely wife sir. Tatiana briefed me several weeks ago.”

Dassher remained silent, opening the heavy steel door for Millicent before following her. Besides, the view from behind was just as good as the view from in front. As they walked in silence down the underground hall Dassher made several decisions. “I will so inform my Katherine Miss Millicent. Now as to my news. She has discovered the Winter of her Discontent.”

"Now is the winter of our discontent. Made glorious summer by this son of York. From King Richard III. I believe Act one, scene one, first line correct?” She smiled gently towards the hound following her, taking a moment to flick her tail lightly. It was a pleasure to see his eyes follow the movement. She was to be married to a woman, but it was still a delight to know that men desired her even so. “Shakespeare. I do not quite believe that Maria will understand the fullness of that quote sir. Certainly I hold no jealousy anymore sir. I do though have great ambition.”

“Nor are you an ugly hunchback creature whom none could desire” the hound agreed.

Millicent abruptly dropped one shoulder, bending a knee under her skirt. “Master. I have the brain as you ordered Master” she quipped before standing straight again.

“You read Shelley as well? My dear Millicent, your Tatiana has no idea what great gift you have given her. What a great prize she has captured.”

Millicent threw her left paw to one side, an expression the hound knew well. “When one has nothing but time. Then one reads extensively. I do not much like Miss Shelley’s works. Nor do I much like Sir Williams plays. As to Lady Maria, have you any idea as to the time of her arrival?” She stopped at a wooden door, reaching up to tap on it twice in warning to the guard watching its other side. Then opening the door she stepped through, Dassher still behind her.

“Tonight” the hound answered. “She has but until sundown tomorrow to clear her name. She will be in a hurry. But she is Songmark. I have yet to meet any Songmark third year I would consider impetuous. Not even the one who failed.”

Turning to the guard Millicent signed his book before continuing. “I must prepare for her arrival then sir. If you will allow me?”

Signing the book himself Dassher nodded his agreement. “Be careful. This is a test young lady. Not an experiment to see how long it takes for your body to cool.” He waited until Millicent had walked out of sight before speaking to the guard. “There is, in all of Britain. No more wonderful sight than an attractive young girl. Do you not agree Corporal?”

“SIR” the soldier barked. “On duty I am not to watch the pretty ladies SIR.”

“No. No you are not. But when you are off duty lad?”

“SIR. It was a sad day when she decided to marry the Russian sir. A sad day for all men.”

Dasher looked back down the empty hall. “Lad. For once I am going to agree with you. A sad day indeed for most men. A very sad day.” He walked down the hallway Millicent had so recently passed through, thinking. So Sandra desired pups, but no commitment. That just could not do. He would not be known as a man who would throw aside a love because she became with pup. A telegraph to his wife then. To settle things as she wanted them settled. After all, Sandra was almost as attractive as Millicent, and had denied him nothing. She was also very available, while Millicent would probably cost him his paws should he touch her.

Maria slipped behind the bungalow, keeping to the shadows as she had been trained. A fast bath with certain herbs had killed her scent for the time being. That time though was measured in hours, not an entire night. A guard walked his post in typical British fashion, a specific number of steps, then turn, walk back the other way. There was exactly seven seconds when the door to her targets home was out of his sight. She waited, counting. At the correct moment she rushed across the lawn, thankful that rain would be coming soon to cover any scent the cat would leave when she was carried out. Reaching the door she rapped quickly, but lightly. Five, six... The door opened and Maria rushed in, turning to grab Millicent before she could scream. “Make ah noise ahn yre dead” she threatened, attempting to push the door closed with her hoof.

Millicent simply stood still. One paw still holding the door handle, the other held tightly behind her by Maria’s larger, stronger paw. She made no move to escape and to Maria’s surprise there was no fear in the cats eyes even when she searched the woman for a weapon. “Quietly” she warned before lifting her paw from the cats lips.

“Quietly” Millicent echoed in a soft voice. “Will you have tea or coffee with dinner” she continued, again catching the bovine off guard. “I cooked especially for you this time. And Maria, my home is heavily infested with concealed electronic listening devices. Even the water closet.”

“So. They know already?” Plans flashed through Maria’s mind as she examined her position. Plan D seemed the best. “We leave now.”

Somehow Millicent avoided the jab meant to knock her out, but she had no illusions that she could avoid a second. “You are safe here Maria” she explained still in that soft voice. “Our tests are over.”

“Our?” Maria pushed the plump feline to arms length, an act that forced Millicent to release the door knob, and by doing so allowing the half open door to close as Maria released the felines other paw. “Your Tatiana’s wife, so I will accept your word. This time” she decided. Besides Maria admitted, it had been a very hard day and she’d only had one fast snack since sunrise song. “Explain.”

“Over dinner. We will travel to Songmark later this evening. No one will attempt to delay our travel. Now, will you have tea or coffee?”

Accepting defeat Maria turned to the waiting table. “I will try your tea Mrs. Wei. Mrs. Whitehall makes good tea.”

“If you will choose a chair please” Millicent offered as she walked to her tiny kitchenette and the waiting Fettuccine al Burro. Having spent half the day on this meal she hoped that she hadn’t missed something.

Within the huge building not far from Millicent’s small apartment three canines relaxed. “Thought she’d rip that girls head off” a middle aged boxer admitted. “Faced ‘er like tha pro you claim she can be. Good training Dassher. Good trainin.”

“Thank you Herbert” Captain Dassher answered, not quite ready to let the man with him know that Maria really had no choice in the matter. “You will arrange for her classes as agreed. Now to dinner. Private, maintain observations. If this goes wrong and you fail me. Then I assure you that the Major will be speaking to you.”

“Sir” was the young sheep hound’s only answer.

Letting the boxer leave first Dassher looked again at the control board. Every building in the compound was served by this board, even his own. Another like it elsewhere served by civilians like the boxer who had just left. He reported directly to the Home Office. His kind couldn’t understand. Couldn’t understand that Maria was in a corner. If she harmed Millicent the girl would not admit her work. Worse, Maria would then have Tatiana and the Priestess Oharu after her. No, the civilian couldn’t see how Maria had been maneuvered into this position. Only that a large and very dangerous woman was very angry at a smaller much less able clerk. More than likely he had been hoping to hear Millicent’s screams of terror, the tearing of cloth and that final liquid gurgle of a throat filled with blood. No sense of the game, none at all. Songmark might be the best school for lady adventuress that existed, but they were not the only people who nudged young women into the path someone needed them to take. For a moment he wondered about the girl who had failed her third year. Had that truly been failure, a blind or Songmark forcing her to learn something about herself. It would be interesting to know the truth.

“Would you have anything else” Millicent ask as she cleaned up the table, scattered crumbs all that remained of the rich carrot cake whose ingredients had cost her almost a full days pay.

“Nothing” Maria answered, releasing the belt she wore more than one notch. “Such a cook. Should I be that kind, I would fight Tatiana for you.” She relaxed as her hostess cleared the table, then returned to stand in front of the Italian. “Yes?”

Millicent hesitated, then brushed her skirt flat before speaking. “We will go to Songmark now? I have been assured that you will not be stopped on the way out, if I am freely with you.”

“We go. Millicent, it was very good dinner.”

“Thank you.” Millicent answered before the went to her front door, waiting until Maria joined her. Turning off the lights the two left.

On a water taxi somewhere between Casino Island and Eastern Island Maria eased up beside Millicent. “Why” she asked.

For her part Millicent didn’t ask what the bovine meant by that question, or why Maria had chosen the slowest water taxi available. A fact that would extend their trip by a good fifteen minutes at least. “I was being tested” she answered. “In many ways. Could I do it so well even you would be fooled. Could I turn on one I thought of as a friend, simply because I had orders to do so. Without asking questions. There were other tests involved Maria, for reasons that I cannot tell you. Perhaps tests I am as yet unaware of. I will hold those within my own confidence.” She looked not forward to the approaching Eastern Island, but back towards Casino Island. “It is my dream to enter the diplomatic service Maria. Had I failed these tests, my dreams would be thrown into the rubbish heap forever. It was my testing.”

Maria remained silent for a while, then asked another short question. “Why me?”

Millicent simply held her paws up, palms upward in a sign of defeat. “I honestly have no idea. Your name was given me. Your crime. Examples of your pawwork. I have read your articles. Though I do not agree with all of them Maria, I do agree with enough to understand where you expect to go. That will not be a kitchen with several bambino’s pulling at your skirts.”

Maria laughed, reaching over to turn Millicent’s face towards her. “And why the not” she asked.

The felines next words were spoken in such a low voice that Maria could barely hear them. “Mother Oharu has explained your pain Maria. That there is no man in this world who will truly fill your arms, your heart.” She held her paw up to the bovines lips, causing Maria to hesitate. “I too have a great weakness Maria. In turn for knowing your weakness, I will now tell you why I belong to my Tatty.”

When they arrived at Songmark’s gates it was a troubled Italian who demanded entry. She now knew a secret she dared not expose. Not because Millicent would counter expose her, but because Millicent belonged to a fellow Songmark girl. It was honor to her, that bonding.

“And ye wish what” the second year girl guarding the gate asked.

“Entry” Maria answered.

“An that would be ah no then” the girl answered. Behind her another girl trotted up from the darkness, a club held lightly in one paw.

“You will not hurt them Maria” Millicent demanded as she placed her paws on the gate. That movement turned the second years attention to Millicent. It was a minor mistake, she could still see Maria but she couldn’t see the sable, who didn’t even pause in her run as the bounced that club off the girls head.

“How. You two r’ mind readers?” Maria asked even as Tatiana retrieved the keys, opening the gates lock.

“I am Tatiana’s” Millicent explained. “Thanks to her adopted mother she is aware when I am in danger, and when I am close to her.” She threw her arms about the Russian, giving her a kiss that would have started a bonfire had there been fuel about. “I love you Tatty.”

“Pravda” Tatiana agreed. Still holding Millicent she turned to face Maria. “You have brought my kitten why.”

“A gift?” Maria asked. She started to step over the line only to have Tatiana push Millicent aside, facing the bovine herself. That club Maria noted was now held tightly in Millicent’s paws. “You would fight me?” Maria asked with humor.

“Is orders. Maria Inconnutia , niece iL Duce. Not to enter Songmark without Faculty permission. You have such?”

“Of course not. Then shall we spar?”

A sound of metal moving, a hammer being cocked caused both girls to turn and face Millicent. The feline was now holding her firearm, the exact same firearm she had supposable turned in that afternoon. That club was leaning against the gate, useless. “You” the British girl said. “Will not harm my dear wife. Or I will most certainly fill that delectable body with lead instead of later exploring it, as it should be explored. Do you understand me clearly Maria Inconnutia?”

“How” Maria gasped. She had searched the girl. Millicent’s dress was simply too form fitting for her to hide a gun. She had run her paws along the felines legs. Then she paused in her thinking. “Not there” she laughed.

“Nyet” Tatiana answered. “My love carries steel there. She is most well endowed, dah?”

“She...” Maria studied the weapon, then Millicent. “Barely. Just barely” Maria admitted. Looking again at Millicent she made to step towards her. Surprisingly the feline made no move to back away, her aim wavered only the smallest. “You would.”

“I most certainly shall” Millicent answered. “I am not a crack shot my Italian friend, yet at this range even I cannot miss that often.”

Whatever else was to be said died in its sayers throat as a door slammed several yards away. Though Millicent did not move Maria did, yet only her head. “Miss Blande” she called. “I have brought my proof. May I enter.”

“Let her in Tatiana. Millicent is it? Please put your weapon away dear. This testing is now officially ended.” She looked at the girl laying unconscious on the dirt. “The other?”

“Bound most well” Tatiana answered.

The feline took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Go release her, send her here to wake her companion. Then come to my office. We will speak of this later.” Saluting, Tatiana threw her love a kiss, then trotted off. “Millicent, would you have actually shot my student?”

“Center of Mass” Millicent answered.

“I see. Both of you. Please come with me.”

Near sunrise Tatiana escorted Millicent back into her home. “You really to shoot Maria” she asked as the door closed. “And what of promise to explore Italians body?”

“Well” the feline answered, blushing as she pulled out her weapon and placed it in Tatiana’s paws. “It would have been helpful you understand. Were the weapon real. And I do keep my promises. You told me to explore other ladies, when I was lonely.”

Tatiana stared. Turned the weapon over in her paws. It was real, it had to... Then she realized. It was a toy. An very well made toy but still a toy. “When tell Maria” she whispered.

“Oh give it to the poor girl” Millicent laughed. “I bought is specifically for this night. Now one last thing.”

“Is?”

“By Tiki mounted water taxi it will take you exactly forty minutes to return to Songmark from my doorway. Yes?”

“Yes. Less if run hard. You know about such?”

“Mother Oharu told me last weekend” Millicent answered with a smile. “Now, with forty minutes accounted for, how long do you have before you must return to your Songmark.”

Tatiana opened her aviators watch, comparing the time against what was needed. ‘One hour, twenty minutes” she answered.

“How badly do you need breakfast” Millicent asked ,before pressing her lips hard against her loves.

Not much it turned out. Not much at all.