Conversations with Critters

Talk with the animals. Walk with the animals. And the highly anticipated release from way up high in the rafters of...Chapter 17 of The Case of the Jumping Gene!

Today Critters, we are pleased and poised to present Chapter 17 of The Case of the Jumping Gene! Brought to you by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!

Previously! We encountered a wee Critter in perpetual motion who helped power the plot and provided significant clues as to the whereabouts of our one said veteran villain, Busby Bubbs.

Now! We hope you are not afraid of heights! Cuz. We must ask the existential question: Are our Detectives ready to make the Big Catch?

Please! Welcome our Core Community Critters, Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent free fall critter commentary and conversation!

Jasper: Hello and welcome, Friends. I am taking this chapter one step at a time.

Chris: Greetings, Dear Gentle Critters. Please. Prepare. For. The. Pacing.

Jojo: Welcome, Dear Gentle Readers, to the next step in the story.

THE CASE OF THE JUMPING GENE

BOOK 3 FROM THE J KITTEN, SLEUTH & PURVEYOR OF BRIGHT SHINY OBJECTS DETECTIVE AGENCY

BY JASPER KITTEN, CHRIS, JOJO AND STAR IN HEAVEN FUREVER AND EVER

DEDICATED IN LUVLUVLUVING MEMORY OF STAR

CHAPTER 17

CAT WALK

Balanced on a beam high up up up in the rafters of the big red barn, Jasper Kitten inched his way forward. He placed each of his white gloved paws carefully, very carefully, one in front of the other and kept going.

A distant creak and squeak from Perpetua running on her wheel punctuated the silence, but Jasper Kitten pressed on in stealth mode, his headlamp in proper position over his brow.

In the shadows, he detected the outline of a form, crouched and unmoving, watching his approach from the opposite end of the beam, a pair of eyes reflected back at him.

Jasper Kitten paused in his movements and glanced down below at Chris, Star and Jojo. On guard, they gave the paws up signal, a show of support and readiness to assist if and only if need be. The Orange striped sleuth took his next steps. He adjusted his headlamp against a slight shift in the stability of the beam and rocked back on his heels, his sight still unwavering and set on the form that now crawled closer.

Closer and closer came the shape along the length of the beam, the contour of a cat and a whiff and a waft of a concealed but all too familiar fishy odor from which Jasper Kitten dared not turn away.

“You’ve. Been. Had,” menaced the voice. “Jasper. Kitten. Sleuth.”

“Speak for yourself,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “Busby Bubbs. I know it’s you. So. Speak. For. Yourself.”

“Fur. Sure. Jasper. Kitten,” seethed Busby Bubbs on the beam. “Mr. Scientific Method himself.”

“Say whatever you want, Bubbs. But I’ve got news for you,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “Your biomedical ethics are profoundly lacking.”

“Who cares, Jasper Kitten. I don’t give a labcat’s you know what about those measly Rufus Subsets One to One Hundred. They’re a dime a dozen. I can easily replicate them again. Here. There. Or. Anywhere,” hissed Busby Bubbs.

“Who cares, Bubbs? I care,” asserted Jasper Kitten. “The J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency cares. Busby Bubbs, you’re the real cog,” replied Jasper Kitten, his voice level, his lithe body balanced on the beam. “Come. Out. Of. The. Shadows.”

A sarcastic snort was the only reply.

“Only cowards don’t care about other Critters,” claimed Jasper Kitten, advancing another step forward.

“If you say so, Jasper Kitten, if you say so,” sneered Busby Bubbs, not about to budge.

“You are a criminal animal as notorious as the Bio Lab where you farmed out your dirty work,” elaborated Jasper Kitten.

“Yeah, Jasper Kitten. I can clearly see how you’ve worked out the intricacies of my elaborate enterprise in that Orange striped head of yours. If you like how I farmed out my so called dirty work at the Bio Lab to the Experimental Experimenter, who may I remind you is still at large and at my bidding, well, just wait until you see what I have in store for you right here, right now on the Alpaca Farm,” taunted Busby Bubbs. “Wait and see what I’m farming out next for you.”

“Sure, Bubbs. Fur. Sure. However. Look around you. You can no longer hide in plain sight. You are no longer elusive. You are stuck on a beam in a barn. And. You. Are. Surrounded,” cautioned Jasper Kitten.

“Well, Jasper Kitten, catch me if you can,” replied Busby Bubbs with a jump back into the shadows.

“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, be careful, he’s setting a trap!” barked Star from below. Jasper Kitten caught the light that flashed in her eyes.

“Why, Busby Bubbs, I’m gonna come on up there myself and scruff you rough and tough if you’re trying to lure Jasper Kitten into your lair,” growled Chris, loud and proud.

“Thank you, Mr. Twinkle Toebeans,” called Busby Bubbs. “By all means. Be. My. Guest.”

“A citizen’s arrest will be made of you, Busby Bubbs,” bark bark barked Jojo. “Give yourself up. Do. It. Now.”

“Oh, fur sure, fur sure, Ret. Sgt. Det. Jojo, formerly of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Canine Unit, Muttville Division,” roared Busby Bubbs with laughter. “And what a pleasant retirement you are now having with your motley crew of Critter Detectives in the, shall we say, private sector.”

“That is correct,” called Jojo. “I can and I will arrest you.”

“Ah, look at those bright shiny cuffs you still carry with you. So sporty,” snarled Busby Bubbs.

Distracted from Jasper Kitten on the beam, Busby Bubbs edged himself a whisker too too far to the left of center. A toebean slipped and he caught himself, abrupt and unsteady. With the swat of a white gloved paw, Jasper Kitten took full advantage of the sidestepping situation and leapt into the air. He dropped into a crouch an inch away from Busby Bubbs.

“Still feeling elusive, Bubbs?” inquired Jasper Kitten.

“There’s always a way out, Jasper Kitten. Don’t fool yourself,” he warned.

“You won’t get away with it. Not. This. Time,” replied Jasper Kitten.

“That’s not your first mistake, Jasper Kitten, trying to reel me in. But. It. Is. Your. Last,” he huffed.

“Admit it, Bubbs. It’s over. You’re over,” mewed Jasper Kitten.

A toebean teetered on the side of the beam and Jasper Kitten bore witness to it, the sway, the loss of control, first to the right and then to the left, the course correction and the claw that scratched the wood on the way down, a thin splintered slice.

And Busby Bubbs pitched backwards into the void of the big red barn.

Midair, he began to twist and rotate his body, righting himself and arching his back with his legs spread wide.

“Gosh,” gasped Star from the floor of the barn, “it looks like Busby Bubbs is turning himself into a parachute!”

“Yes, I see, Star,” called Jasper Kitten, scrambling down the side of the barn and racing to rejoin the Detectives.

“Why, he’s going to increase his drag, expand the surface area of his body and slow his fall,” growled Chris as he readied himself to make the catch.

“Correct, Chris. Critters, brace for impact. Please. Proceed,” instructed Jasper Kitten.

“I’m ready to make a citizen’s arrest and stop this career criminal animal once and for all,” Jojo clasped and grasped his set of cuffs.

They watched the arriving toebeans of Busby Bubbs as he prepared to land on his feet.

Paws down, he crashed onto Chris and toppled him from the force of his falling body which he torqued with deliberate intent on impact. The last ditch sneaky maneuver by Busby Bubbs wrenched a split second of time in his favor and he bolted for the door. He dashed outside, elusive as ever, as white as the snow.

“We’ve got you on the run, Bubbs!” cried Chris as he popped up onto all fours and gave chase.

“Jojo! Please, fetch Clementine and Petal from the farmhouse immediately and at once!” commanded Jasper Kitten. “This is an emergent urgent situation! We need all Critter Detectives in hot pursuit of Busby Bubbs!”

“Roger!” saluted Jojo and took off at top speed, the Serval Officers already crossing the threshold out of the farmhouse to meet him.

“We heard a commotion!” they cried, the distinctive horizontal stripes on the back of their ears elevated to the highest of high auditory alerts.

“Hurry! We can’t let Busby Bubbs get away! This is an all points bulletin!” Jojo raced ahead.

“Roger that, Ret. Sgt. Det. Jojo,” they shot back at him.

Sassafras bolted out the door, fast on their heels in a flat out gallop.

“He’s heading for the textile barn!” she directed them and surged ahead.

The Critters pounded after her and charged inside, fanning out into rows and rows of the finest of fine alpaca wool, bundled and stacked to the ceiling. They slowed to a purposeful deliberate pace, inspecting the fleece on a fiber by fiber optic level.

“Gosh, Busby Bubbs could very easily blend in,” observed Star, seamlessly scanning the stacks through her progressive lenses. “Especially with the white wool.”

“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten from one row over.

“Why, the Bubbs better be hoping that I’m not the one to find his camouflaged bod,” growled Chris, loud and proud. “And I’m sure you can hear me, Busby. As. I. Speak.”

Chris ran a toebean up and down a pile of white wool and sorted through the layers, filtering the fibers with his trained tactile sensitivity to distinguish between sources of fur, between alpaca versus cat.

“Jasper Kitten, do you have your pocket magnifying glass handy?” he called out.

“Yes, of course, Chris,” replied the Orange striped sleuth, making his way through the rows and withdrawing the requested and required investigative tool from his pocket.

“Check this out,” cried Chris as he detected a magnified contrast in the composition of two strands.

With a nod in the affirmative, Jasper Kitten had to agree with the fiber findings.

“Good work, Chris. And you are correct, we have two different species specific strands. This is clearly a domestic feline versus an alpaca source,” confirmed Jasper Kitten.

“But gosh, Jasper Kitten and Chris,” commented Star, sidling up to them, “the domestic feline fiber of fur could be from any variety of a multiple number of barncats on the farm.”

“Your point is well taken, Star. And indicative of a Busby Bubbs signature tactic. He is still hiding in plain sight and using others to obfuscate the facts. Of. His. Own. Existence,” Jasper Kitten swatted the air.

“Are you saying…,” conferred Star.

“Do you mean…,” concurred Chris.

“Yes. Exactly. In this instance, any feline with white fur on any part of their anatomy could come into play.” Jasper Kitten pocketed the magnifying glass and considered his own white gloved paws. “Furthermore, we cannot let this finding distract us. We must find Busby Bubbs. And we must find him fully, completely, bodily. Please. Proceed.”

Chris and Star and Jasper Kitten fanned back out into the rows, steadfast and thorough in their ongoing search.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the textile barn, Jojo peered into a pile of fleece remnants with Clementine and Petal.

“Notice the almost imperceptible indentation,” remarked Jojo.

“Roger,” saluted Clementine and Petal.

“What is your assessment, Officers?” he queried.

“First, the impression is similar if not the same as that of a domestic cat,” apprised Clementine.

“And foremost, it is still warm to the touch,” added Petal.

“Thank you for your astute and keen observations,” praised Jojo. “We have discovered a most important thermodynamic clue as to the most recent whereabouts of the elusive Busby Bubbs. We must communicate this vital intel with the rest of the Detectives.”

They made haste through the rows and gave the paws up signal to Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo.

“Thank you, Jojo, Clementine and Petal,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “We clearly have Busby Bubbs on the move, but also localized. It won’t be long now, I can assure you.”

“We’ve had him in our crosshairs before and yet he still managed to elude us, Jasper Kitten,” barked Jojo with his tried and true Terrier temperament. “We can’t be overly confident.”

“Of course, Jojo, of course. However. If my olfactory instincts serve me correctly,” and here Jasper Kitten gave a nod to the next row, “I. Smell. Something. Fishy.”

The Critter Detectives took a collective deep deep breath in and sensed it, too.

“Jojo,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “Do you have the cuffs ready?”

“Ready, Jasper Kitten,” bark bark barked Jojo.

“Good,” said Jasper Kitten and then called out. “Busby Bubbs! Your number, not your name has come up up up!”

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Poetry with Pets

Balance on the beam

Spectacular fall from grace

Cat righting reflex

By Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo

Thank you for reading luvluvluv Jasper Kitten, Chris, Star in Heaven Furever and Ever, and Jojo

Critters! Catch up on all of the mystery and adventure with The Case of the Jumping Gene! Book Number 3! Brought to you by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!

Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap. 14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16

The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Book Number 2!

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The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope! Book Number 1!

Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap.14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20

The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope