The City Heroes Read Free Page B

instinct for hunting, Blaize trailed the intruder to a corner. The rat hid under a heap of papers and books. But before Blaize could make short work of the rat, he jumped out of the heap and dashed towards Dr. Pepper’s bed. Red with rage, Blaize gave chase, but he had a tough time and could not bring the situation under control. Suddenly, an opportunity for freedom presented itself to the rat. He had stumbled upon a little opening on the windowsill, escaped from the room and raced across the field to the backyard of the main building. Hardly satisfied with the situation, Dr. Pepper threw open the door as Blaize pounced into the outside world to continued the chase. Fleeing for dear life, the rat made his way around the main building before disappearing into a hole as Blaize trailed under the shadow of disappointment.
    Dr. Pepper had high hopes that his cat had sent the interloper to blazes. But of course it was not so, and he became furious when he found poor Blaize circling the hole that the little devil had entered. “So you could not ruin the rat, you useless cat?” He flashed a menacing smile at Blaize. Then the angry man glanced about and found a shovel. He grabbed hold of it with an iron grip and advanced towards the poor cat. But just as he hurled the shovel at the cat, Blaize scaled the fence. He’d suffered a few bruises, but he was whole. The man breathed a sigh of relief and walked briskly back to the cottage to put the day behind him.

CHAPTER 5
Treacherous Night

    In the dark of night, Dag, Pork and Fred feasted on a roasted fish that had fallen from the table of a seller on Maxwell Street. As they relished each bite, they were distracted by a strange sound from a corner. Dag, the eldest, raised his head, but when he did not see anything, he lowered his head again and continued with the meal. Moments later, there was a big bang. Pork stopped eating and said, “What’s that?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Dag replied. He chewed noisily, staring at the darkness. Blaize limped out looking as if he had fallen from a tree.
    â€œIt’s only Blaize. I thought it might be Flinz. I would have snuffed the life out of the foul toad!” Pork boasted.
    â€œHey, guys! What do you have for me?” Blaize groaned.
    Dag chuckled. “Why would a cat that has a rich owner be looking for a meal in this filthy place?”
    Blaize wore a long face. “My new owner is not what we thought.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” asked Fred.
    â€œCan’t you see that I’m limping? Dr. Pepper almost killed me few days ago. I have been tending to my injury on one of the roofs on the other side of the street,” Blaize disclosed as tears gathered in his eyes.
    â€œWe must look after each other. What happened?” Dag inquired as he drew closer.
    â€œThere was a stubborn rat that the old man expected me to kill, but the little devil escaped into a hole as I tried to make a short work of him,” Blaize said as he shook his head in despair.
    â€œThat’s not enough to make him treat you badly. Age can be a terrible curse. If I may ask, how did you escape?” Pork asked.
    Blaize inhaled sharply and said, “I had to pull a few strings to get out of the bloody mess.”
    â€œI can’t believe that Dr. Pepper could be such an evil man,” Fred reacted.
    â€œThat was not the first time that I saw his dark side. Two weeks ago, he threatened me with a knife because a rat entered his cottage and ruined his old diary. And it wasn’t my fault because he always kept me in the cage,” Blaize said and began to sob gently.
    Dag was discouraged. “I wonder why some people do not value life. I am looking forward to the day when we will all be free to walk the street and get equal opportunity to live the best life we can.”
    Pork was the next to speak: “We are due for a revolution. But we do not have what it takes to confront these wicked people.