Rye's Secret

In Northwestern New Jersey, away from the overcrowded cities in the east and the shore towns of the South there are small rural towns. Jenny’s parents grew up in that area and chose to stay there, and after they married, they bought an old white colonial just about twenty miles north of where they both grew up. Jenny, the youngest of four and the only girl was born in a town called Hope.

Jenny threw her backpack on the couch after getting off the school bus that dropped her off right in front of her house. She went right to the refrigerator and looked for something to eat, she was almost always ravenous with hunger when she got home from school.

Nothing but apples! The boys always eat the good snacks before I get a chance. Jenny took an apple and slammed the refrigerator door. I should find a good hiding place for snacks and other things like my diary, somewhere the boys will never find them, Jenny thought to herself. She grabbed her backpack and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. It was Friday, which meant her backpack was light. She didn’t have homework and her mood was lifted a little but she still wanted to find a place. She laid on her bed, bit into the apple and began contemplating. Well Tara is coming over tomorrow to play, if I can’t find something tonight, she can help me tomorrow.

The house Jenny grew up in, once a small hotel or bed and breakfast, needed a great deal of repair when her parents first moved in. Her father, being a carpenter, had little trouble fixing most of the issues, while plumbers, electricians and the like took care of the rest. The best part of the house though, according to Jenny, were the many old nooks and crannies where she found hiding places from her brothers. They were a continuous bother except maybe for Chris who was only a year and a half older than her, he’s alright, she thought. The worst one was Kyle, who was fifteen and whom Jenny’s mom kept telling her, “well Jenny, he’s going through an awkward time, try to get along.”

It will have to be a good place, somewhere that nobody, not even my brothers, would even guess. This is going to be tough, she thought. Still considering her options, Jenny fell asleep.

“Jenny, Jenny,” Jenny’s mother whispered as she gently shook her awake. “Huh?” Jenny looked up at her mother squinting her eyes from the setting sun that was blaring through the window.

“Dinner is ready, come down and eat,” her mother insisted.

Jenny got up immediately, even more hungry now than before she fell asleep and followed her mother downstairs. Her brothers were already there eating everything. Jenny got to the table and began eating. She ate quickly and filled her plate again. 

"Hungry?” Her father asked as Jenny set down her glass of milk on the table with a thud. 

"Yes, and I have to eat fast or I won’t get anything!" Jenny scanned the table staring down her older brothers who were smirking at her, then got up and went upstairs without saying anything else. Nobody in the family could know she was even looking for a place to hide her important stuff.

There was the crawlspace that had the door right in her room, she thought. The entrance was blocked with blankets and pillows She moved them away from the entrance and pushed on the little door just to get a peek. Then she pushed herself halfway into the crawlspace, it was completely dark except for a tiny circle of light that shone on the left wall right near the end of the crawlspace. Jenny wondered if one of her brothers had found it and left a flashlight in there. She reached around, found a light switch, and turned it on. She was surprised to see that nothing was in there, not even a flashlight. “Awesome,” Jenny whispered.

She backed up out of the closet and started putting her important stuff into her backpack, the stuff she didn’t want anyone to bother with. She was so happy to have a place that was all her own. She pushed herself back through the little door and went inside the crawlspace. She emptied her backpack and began setting up her own place. She reached out and got a couple of pillows and blankets to set up a place to sit. She laid down on her stomach with her diary and her favorite pen and began writing about her new place.

Jenny finished writing, set down her diary and laid down on her makeshift bad. She stared at the ceiling thinking of what else she could do in here when she heard a strange sound, her stomach knotted up. “A mouse!” she thought and quickly rolled over into a crawl to see where the sound was coming from. Again, she heard a scratching sound from the far back of the crawlspace, but then another noise she couldn’t make out. It was like a quiet motor running. Beginning to relax, Jenny peered toward the back of the crawlspace and then she saw something peek out at her. She jumped and began backing up, eyes wide still staring at whatever it was. It came further out looking just as scared as she was. It was a black cat. Jenny began to creep slowly toward it. “Hey little kitty, do you live in here too?” she said in a high pitched but low voice. The cat cocked its head to the side still investigating her. 

“I declare, what sort of creature are you?” 

The cat spoke with a strong British accent she had only heard on BBC when she watched “Dr. Who”, but most of all, what was it doing speaking at all?

“Um, hi.” She managed to say back.

“Hello, now what sort of creature are you?”

“Well, I’m a person?” she answered wondering why it didn’t know she was a person.

“Now, who are you and how are you speaking to me? You’re a cat.” The cat appeared to smile at her. Jenny was confused now more than ever.

Jenny crawled toward the cat. “Am I in a dream?” she asked.

The cat pondered the question carefully, “No,” he said matter-of-factly, “not at all!”

Just then another cat appeared, this one was orange and walking on his two back paws like a person. Jenny blinked her eyes twice and shook her head, “My goodness! A cat that can walk and are those shoes that you're wearing?”

The orange cat consulted with the black cat as to who the creature was. “Of course, I’m wearing shoes, are you?”

Jenny wriggled her socked feet. “Well not now, but I wear them sometimes.”

“I see.” the orange cat replied. He consulted again with the black cat then said, “Would you like to see our village, it is the village of Feline, there are other villages as well if you’re brave enough to visit them."

“We’ll take you to our Queen, I’m sure she’d love to meet you, she is quite fond of, well how shall I put this? Curiosities I suppose might be the best description.”

Jenny thought for a moment, swallowed hard and then said “Okay, as long as I’m back before bedtime.”

The black cat whispered something to the orange cat who nodded in agreement. “My name is Rye and my orange friend here is Mist, may we inquire as to your name miss?”

“I’m Jenny,” she replied feeling a little more comfortable knowing their names.

“Follow us then, Jenny.” Jenny crawled over to the two cats and followed them to a hole that looked as though it was full of vanilla pudding. She paused, “how do you breathe in there?”

“Quite easily, it must appear different to you, but it is quite safe, believe me.”

Jenny watched as the orange cat named Mist disappeared into the hole. It didn’t sound as though he had walked through pudding. The only sound she heard was the clicking of his fine black shoes, so she went in followed by Rye, the black cat.

She breathed easily and as the substance (which was only a mist) she had been crawling through cleared, she was amazed at what she saw.

It was a village, well a cat village of course! She looked around and saw hundreds or even thousands of cats of all different breeds, colors, and sizes. As she followed Rye and Mist, she saw several scratching posts that looked like mountains. There were restaurants, rivers, trees and just about everything a cat could want. She looked up at the sky which was just like her sky, with clouds and a sun. Some cats were even sunbathing! Jenny laughed when she saw that. Finally, they got to a palace that was about Jenny’s size, in height at least. Mist rang the bell on the cat door and a black and white cat answered. It looked up at Jenny.

“Ah, another person has come to see our Queen, this one is different though, the Queen will be so pleased. I will let her know what you have brought, and she will come out on her balcony should she wish to see it.” The black and white cat was dressed as a butler and spoke in the same accent as the other two, only with an air of aristocracy that Jenny thought was so cute. She resisted the urge to pick up one of the cats and begin petting it.

The Queen was notified of the visitor and made her way out onto the balcony of the palace. As soon as the other cats saw her, they cheered and bowed to their beautiful Queen. She was Siamese with cream colored fur. Her face was covered in dark fur over her stunning green eyes. She wore a crown of silver sprinkled with sparkling emeralds that brought the green in her eyes out even more beautifully. She was introduced as Queen Sasha of Feline. She wore a beautiful long cloak which was covered in four straight lines of emeralds. She walked on her hind legs like many of the cats in the village, who were of nobility or were servants of the Queen. Queen Sasha lifted her right front paw, which had a small diamond bracelet around it, to greet Jenny. Jenny leaned down, careful not to hit the palace by accident and shook the Queen’s hand.

“It’s so wonderful to meet another of your kind,” the queen said bowing her head in a gesture of acknowledgement.

Jenny tried to do the same but hit her head on the castle realizing it wasn’t as weak as she thought. It must have been made of a strong metal. She saw a few of the cats, who were all at attention, snicker at her. Jenny smiled.

“It’s wonderful to meet you too,” Jenny replied. “You have such a beautiful village. Are there other villages?”

“Oh yes!” The Queen replied. “There are many villages in our world and in our species realm which is Feline. There are the villages of Tigres, Leon, Pantheorn and many others. We live in peace with one another.”

“I’d love to visit all of them!” Jenny said, excited to learn that there was more than just this one village.

“That would be magnificent, only you must take care to watch out for any danger” the Queen replied.

“May I pet you?” Jenny asked.

“Oh yes, we cats love to be pet but only once, I’ve just had my fur done, do you not think it’s beautiful?”

Jenny reached down and ran her hand over Sasha’s fur and said, “It is beautiful.”

“Thank you my dear.” The Queen said, “please come back for another visit anytime.”

Jenny was so happy to hear that, “can you and the others visit me?”

“We can, but we must remain a secret. We have lost many cats who became lost and then found by people who kept them as pets or brought them to jails.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jenny replied, “are all cats from here?”

“No,” the Queen replied, "there are only some who’ve found our village that wanted to stay. Others preferred to live as pets and that is their prerogative.”

“Interesting,” Jenny answered, “I should go now, my mother will be looking for me if I’m not in my bedroom soon.”

The Queen reached up her right paw and patted Jenny’s nose which made her smile. “Come back again soon.”

“I will,” Jenny replied and carefully followed her guides, Rye and Mist back through the portal and into the crawlspace. Jenny pet them both and then crawled back into her bedroom with her pillows and blankets. She covered up her new place quickly just before her mother came in.

“What’s going on?” she asked Jenny.

“Oh, nothing mom, just looking for something.”

“Oh, okay well don’t play on your phone too much longer, okay? Don’t forget that Tara will be here in the morning.”

“Oh yea, I almost forgot!”

“Well, I’m off to bed. Goodnight sweetie.” Jenny’s mom kissed her on the forehead and left her bedroom.

Jenny sat down on her bed and began her game again. She thought about everything that just happened. Knowing that it wasn’t a dream, she thought about telling Tara, but decided against telling anyone just yet. It will be my own secret place. Jenny smiled, she’d write all about it tomorrow in her diary and maybe pet a cat or two.