Conversations with Critters Presents Chapter 15 of The Case of the Jumping Gene!
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And the highly anticipated release of Chapter 15! Go go go...
Today Critters, we are pleased to present the highly anticipated release of Chapter 15 of The Case of the Jumping Gene! Brought to you by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!
Previously! After an intrepid overland and overnight sled ride through the mountain wilderness, our incredible Critters arrived at the Alpaca Farm and were warmly welcomed into the farmhouse by Sassafras.
Now! With a suspicious set of snowshoe tracks discovered in the s-n-o-w, what will our Detectives do to protect their Clients? And what measures must Jasper Kitten take to succeed in the scientific method with the last Orange Rufus Subset under such challenging circumstances? Will Charlotte be able to shine in her natural state?
Please! Welcome our Core Community Critters, Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent repeat experiment critter commentary and conversation. Take it away!
Jasper: Hello, Friends! Nothing rhymes with Orange. But. We can repeat it.
Chris: That’s right, Dear Gentle Critters. And we can reverse it.
Jojo: Furthermore, Dear Gentle Readers. We can read all about it.
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 15
REVERSE ORANGE
Star and Jojo stood guard outside the barn door. Chris conducted an inspection of the interior perimeters and then lent a toebean to the workbench experimental setup. The test tube and beaker were placed in proper order and within close reach of Jasper Kitten’s white gloved paws. And thus, the Critter Detectives were prepared to proceed with the final reset of the Rufus Subsets, of number one hundred, the restoration of Charlotte to her own true nature.
Fiona cried out in protest, not to impede progress nor to avoid participation in the scientific method, but to confess her humility before the previous and now pending success of Jasper Kitten.
“But Jasper Kitten, my attempts at running the experiment were always a fiasco! A disaster!” cried Fiona at the workbench.
“You did your best under adverse circumstances, Fiona,” consoled Jasper Kitten. “I understand the learning curve.”
“But all I succeeded in doing was setting the test tubes on fire. I could have blown up the lab!” she implored.
“I have learned a great deal from you, Fiona, and would not have succeeded in reversing the Orange mutation among the entire Rufus Subset, from one to ninety-nine, had you not set the stage for me first,” he added. “It is because of you that I had a Eureka moment.”
“That is most kind of you, Jasper Kitten,” replied Fiona, her eyes downcast.
“You were held captive at the Bio Lab and did nothing but unpaid work. I, on the other paw, have my own personal finances, not one penny but two,” said Jasper Kitten, producing the coin from his pocket. “The copper is the catalyst.”
“You’re right, Jasper Kitten. Thank you for your two cents worth. It wasn’t possible for me to discover the proper copper substance to make the experiment a success and bring home the elixir. I don’t have a penny to my name,” she mewed.
“Fiona, you understand the experiment better than anyone. The reagent. The catalyst. The elixir. And you knew to ask the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency for help. Are you ready to help reverse Charlotte's Orange coat?” he asked.
“Yes, Jasper Kitten,” she responded, her paw resting on Charlotte’s shoulder for emotional support. “I’m ready.”
“Charlotte, are you ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” she replied with a deep deep sigh. “I have waited for this moment my whole life, Jasper Kitten.”
“Your waiting is over, I promise,” assured Jasper Kitten.
He held up the large test tube and dissolved the powdered reagent in ten milliliters of water, then agitated the test tube in his white gloved paws, tilting it to and fro, and rotating it through a full series of rapid circular motions.
The solution turned from cloudy to clear. Jasper Kitten removed the penny from his pocket and dropped it with a singular deliberate direction, centered over the test tube, with a slight splash.
Steam rose, a fizzle, a sputter, a spark. Jasper Kitten furrowed his brow and concentrated on his breath, easy, easy. He remained calm and set the proper experimental tone for Charlotte to carry on toward her restoration, a mere moment more to go go go.
One spark then two ignited in the test tube, danced together and leapt up to the top, then fell back and dissolved into the solution which proceeded to turn the requisite experimental Orange.
Fiona held the beaker and Jasper Kitten poured out the contents of the test tube.
“Charlotte,” mewed Fiona, “here, my friend, drink this.”
Charlotte clasped and grasped the beaker and knocked back the solution. She gave a cough and composed herself.
Nothing happened. Charlotte remained solid Orange. A minute went by and another and another. Still Orange.
Jasper Kitten deepened the furrow of his brow, his stripes so close they merged into one.
The tingling sensation started in Charlotte’s tail which slowly slowly began to puff up. The single tingle intensified and extended to her spine and spread out until each and every Orange aspect of her genetically modified fur was standing on end. She remained on her toebeans, steady, grounded.
She began to shed. The floor of the barn on which she stood, on a soft bed of hay, was now mingled with the vestiges of her coat and a gathering tint of Orange surrounded her toebeans.
Charlotte closed her eyes for a good long while and when she open open opened them again, the only Orange cat in the barn was the sleuth himself, Jasper Kitten.
“Now,” mewed Jasper Kitten, “how do you feel?”
“I feel transformed, Jasper Kitten,” she said with a growing sense of awe. “And I feel completely natural.”
“Would you like to groom yourself now that the experiment is a proven success?” he inquired.
She looked at herself and her long black coat, glossy and radiant in the stream of light that poured into the barn from the window.
“Yes, Jasper Kitten, I would very much like to groom my coat,” she replied.
“Clean up in aisle seven!” growled Chris, as loud and as proud of Charlotte as he could possibly be.
“Thank you, Chris,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “As Sassafras said, there are so many chores on the farm. With all due respect for the alpacas, we want to leave the barn in as clean of a condition as we found it. Please. Proceed.”
Chris swept up the fur which had been shed on the floor and disposed of it in the wastebasket by the workbench. He ran a toebean through the hay strewn about and ensured that no strand was left behind in the area where Charlotte had undergone her successful reverse Orange experiment.
“Why, Jasper Kitten, are you shedding, too?” growled Chris, low and slow.
“Of course not, Chris. I am A-okay,” indicated Jasper Kitten with a quick pat down of his stripes.
“Then where did this furball come from?” he asked, holding up a clump of Orange strands.
“Perhaps you missed something,” suggested Jasper Kitten. “It’s a little drafty in here. The fur could have easily floated away from Charlotte when she went through that big shed prior to her transformation and restoration to her natural long blackhaired coat.”
“Fur sure, Jasper Kitten. Cuz. That was an awful lot to shed at once,” agreed Chris.
“Correct, Chris,” added Jasper Kitten as he polished and replaced the test tube and beaker in his Attache Case.
Chris gave the clump a wary look and then tossed it in the wastebasket and headed for the barndoor. Jasper Kitten, at the same and simultaneous time, closed the lid on his Attache Case, fastened the latches and was a toebean away from resetting the security code when glass shattered and metal clattered and sent out a resounding reverberation in the barn.
“What. Was. That,” growled Chris, wheeling around fast fast.
“If my auditory senses serve me correctly in this case, Chris, I’d say the echolocation is coming from the hayloft,” avowed Jasper Kitten.
Fiona and Charlotte hunkered down from the continuous clatter and shatter in the barn. They shrank into each other, pressed up against the workbench. Chris and Jasper Kitten rushed to their side, protective of their safety and well being. First. And. Foremost.
“We’re going to get you outta here,” growled Chris, loud and proud.
“Correct, Chris,” replied Jasper Kitten. “Fiona and Charlotte, fear not. The Canine Unit is standing guard at the barndoor and we will have them escort you back to the farmhouse. Our experiment is complete and you will be safe with the rest of your group.”
With the paws up signal, Jasper Kitten summoned Star and Jojo into the barn and they hopped to it.
“Canine Unit, please take Fiona and Charlotte back to the farmhouse immediately and at once and briefly brief Clementine and Petal on the latest developments in the case and the elevated threat level,” commanded Jasper Kitten. “Return here without delay.”
“Roger that,” saluted Jojo.
“On it,” barked Star.
Flanked by Star and Jojo, Charlotte and Fiona were ushered out of the barn and made a rapid crossing through the snow to the safety of the farmhouse. Jasper Kitten and Chris, on guard at the barndoor, observed Star and Jojo’s dogged determination and their record time as they pivoted from the farmhouse and sprinted back.
Indoors and all together, the Critter Detectives tracked the auditory origin of the metal that clattered and the glass that shattered.
“There is no visible trace and there is no material evidence to suggest that we are exposed to anything more than the sound itself,” surmised Jasper Kitten.
“Ditto, Jasper Kitten,” agreed Chris, tap tapping a toebean on the clean workbench.
“I see no metal that clattered,” barked Star.
“I see no glass that shattered,” barked Jojo.
Bits of hay drifted down on them, then a single clump of Orange fur caught Star’s eye from the middle range of her progressive lenses. She clasped and grasped it in her cinnamon brown paw and they all huddled together for a closer inspection.
“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “It is as I suspected. This fur is not natural.”
“Gosh, are you saying…,” cried Star as Jasper Kitten’s headlamp flashed in her eyes.
“Why, do you mean…,” growled Chris.
“How could it be…,” bark bark barked Jojo.
“Exactly. Critters. This. Fur. Is. Synthetic,” concluded Jasper Kitten.
He held the Orange clump of fur steady in the beam and pulled his magnifying glass out of his pocket in a multitasking maneuver.
“Jasper Kitten, but it looks so real!” added Star.
“It does, Star. But. It. Is. Not. This Orange clump of fur is a manufactured product and I am willing to bet that I know who did it and why. Here. I want each of you to feel this with the full finesse and dexterity of your toebeans,” instructed Jasper Kitten.
The Orange clump of fur was passed in tandem from toebean to toebean for a complete tactile assessment. First Chris, then Star, then Jojo made an inspection. Chris also circled back to the wastebasket by the workbench and fetched the Orange clump that he had previously disposed of and dismissed.
“This also requires a second and thorough look, Jasper Kitten,” cried Chris. “The fibers are subtle but distinctly synthetic.”
“Thank you, Chris. I definitely underestimated this particular Orange clump of fur when you first discovered it during your clean sweep of the floor and I appreciate that you have brought it to my attention again,” praised Jasper Kitten. “It certainly is a match for this Orange clump of fur which has drifted down from the hayloft.”
“Of course, Jasper Kitten. That’s why we’re a team,” growled Chris, low and slow.
Jasper Kitten pocketed the magnifying glass and adjusted his headlamp. He approached the wooden ladder to the hayloft and proceeded to make the climb, steady and ready for what he would find. He stretched on the tips of his toebeans from the top rung and scanned the hayloft.
“There’s no one here!” cried Jasper Kitten as he surveyed the space. A small rectangular object rested in a far corner. “I’m going in!”
“I’m going with you!” barked Star.
“Ditto!” cried Chris.
Jojo, ever the Retired Sergeant Detective, remained on watch at the foot of the ladder with his tried and true Terrier temperament and was careful, very careful, based on his years of career experience in Law Enforcement, lest there be a trap.
Jasper Kitten led the way with Star and Chris to the investigative find in the far corner.
“Chris, this looks suspiciously similar if not the same as your phone. Check. Your. Pocket,” requested Jasper Kitten, his voice growing tense.
“My phone is secure in my pocket, Jasper Kitten,” tap tapped Chris with a toebean at his side.
“Thank you, Chris,” mewed Jasper Kitten as Chris moved forward and extended a toebean toward the object in question.
“Why, it’s an analog tape recorder!” cried Chris, amazed at the technological marvel. “This is spycraft that went out of use years ago.”
“Correct, Chris. But and however. It. Still. Works.” Jasper Kitten swatted it with a white gloved paw, but the recording continued without a hitch or a glitch. “It is set on replay and could very well be remote controlled.”
Chris pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a photo of the device.
“For the record,” he growled, taking another shot.
The box squawked over and over again with the clatter and shatter that had caused the Critters so much alarm from down below.
“Given the analog technology, I suspect we are dealing with an adversary who is well versed in trickery from a bygone era,” mewed Jasper Kitten.
“Busby Bubbs,” barked Star with her Senior Chihuahua can do attitude. “Old school.”
“A pre-digital age adversary,” Chris tapped a toebean on his phone screen.
“The veteran of villains,” nodded Jasper Kitten in the affirmative. “And now. He’s about to be history.”
The tape recorder stopped and started to rewind. It stopped again and shifted into fast forward with a high pitched screech. And then the voice came out, projected in an automatic tone, embedded with a singular existential question, and a command set on repeat.
“J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency. You think I’m history? You’ve been had. You’ve been had. You’ve. Been. Had.”
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Poetry with Pets
Repeat the results
Successful experiment
Shiny long black coat
By Jasper Kitten, Chris 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
The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Book Number 2!
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! 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
Wow, what a twist! Can't wait to read more about what this villain's gonna do next.
I like the analog references and an interesting twist at the close of this chapter, Heidi. Looking forward to learning more about the veteran villain from era goneby.