FLOREPA HAD BEEN living on the street for several weeks and enjoying every
minute of it, when he began to notice that Loper didn't seem to be around as
much as he used to be. The realisation didn't worry him at first. Loper was
always going off by himself, and he always turned up later. Perhaps this was
Loper's way of telling him that he, Florepa, was self-sufficient now and independent.
He didn't need Loper guiding him anymore, and indeed Florepa had come into his
own as a street pet. But several days later, when Loper missed a storytelling
session, then a midnight romp, and then a good old scrap (which they lost) with
a rival gang, everyone began to get worried.
"Where's ol' Lope?"
"He never misses our nightly activities, never!"
"Relax, Loper's a smart one."
"Yeah, he wouldn't be dumb enough to get caught
by those humans, not our Lope!"
"Flo, have ya seen him lately?" And Florepa
would have to shake his head, and say no, he hadn't.
Pretty soon, Loper had been missing for several
days, and even the firm believers in him were beginning to waver.
Then one night, when the rompers had galloped
to their heart's content and returned to the home alley and settled down for
the night, Florepa was awakened by an urgent whisper.
"Flo! Hey, pet, wake up!"
Florepa groggily opened his eyes. In the darkness
he made out a Zafara's shape, a Zafara wearing a bandanna tied around its head.
Immediately he was wide-awake.
"Loper? Is it you?"
His reply roused the others, who instantly looked
up.
"Loper! It's really Loper!"
"See, y'all? What did I tell ya? Lope wouldn't
get caught! Not in a million years!"
Loper stepped out of the shadows. He looked uneasy.
The gang crowded around him.
"Lope, what is it?"
"Yeah, pet, what?"
Loper took a deep breath. "Guys, I… I'm leaving
the gang."
Immediately protests broke out from every throat.
"What?"
"Lope, ya can't! You're our leader!"
"Without ya…what'd we do?" Loper looked at them,
firmly.
"Ya guys can manage well enough without me.
Ya're strong survivors, all of ya. I have ta leave, tonight."
"But where will you go?" Loper hesitated before
replying.
"I'm movin' to Terror Mountain. I…oh, ya guys
will never forgive me, but I've…found a family."
"Whaddaya mean, pet? We're family!"
"Ya often say so, Loper. Gang is family, ya
always say that."
"I mean…I've found a human."
Silence reigned. Every pet was too shocked to
speak.
Finally Speedy the Poogle found his tongue.
"But…Loper, ya always said humans were-"
"I know, Speedy, I know." Loper ran a paw through
his head fur. "But Kenny…he's different. He understands me, ya guys. See, his
folks dumped him too."
"Dumped him?!"
"Ya mean humans even dump their own kind?"
"Yeah, 'parently. At any rate, he was dumped
by his folks because he was, well, a misfit, let's say. He didn't fit in with
what his folks wanted. I met him when I was scroungin' up some scraps. We both
got along great. I've been seein' him this past week. And now, it seems, he's
been, well, 'dopted by some other family, and they're takin' him ta live in
Terror Mountain, and…oh, ya guys, it hurts me so ta leave ya, but…I just have
to go with him!" Florepa walked quietly forward and put a paw on his shoulder.
"It's OK, Loper," he said. "I'm sorry you're
leavin', but if you care that much for the human kid…"
"Yeah," Jaq added. "If the human means that
much to ya, then go."
Murmurs of assent passed through the gang. They
would miss Loper, but were perfectly willing to resign themselves to his loss
if he would be happy where he was.
Loper wiped the tears from his large eyes. "Thanks
ya guys. I'm gonna miss ya tho', all of ya. I'll try and come back sometimes,
when I can."
He untied his bandanna, and then handed it to
Florepa, to the young pet's surprise.
"Here Flo. You're gang leader now."
"What? Me? Are you absolutely sure?"
"Course I'm sure, fuzzlehead. Why else would
I make ya leader? Ya do a good job and lead this gang when I'm gone."
He walked round, embracing each gang member in
turn.
"I'll miss ya guys," he called, and then loped
off into the darkness of the alley. Everyone watched him go in silence. Then
Skip suddenly nudged Florepa. "Go on, Flo, put it on! You're leader now." Everyone
called agreement.
"Yeah, Flo boy, Lope told ya ta be a good leader."
"Good ol' Flo!"
"Yay Flo!"
Half happily, half with a deep sense of loss,
for Loper had been almost a father to him; Florepa tied the bandanna around
his head. The gang cheered, except for perhaps one.
"Speech, speech!"
"Yeah, pal, say somethin'!"
"Fine! As new leader of the gang, I propose
that we all get some shuteye. Like right now!" Laughter bounced off the alley
walls as the gang bedded down again. Florepa would have gone to bed with the
same sentiments if Zac had not walked past him and discreetly whispered something
in his ear that put suspicion into the picture.
"Leader, huh," he sneered. "I should've been
the gang leader when that ol' green furball left." Florepa didn't get much sleep
that night, mainly because he was thinking. Now he knew for sure that Zac didn't
like him, was probably even jealous of him. He might do anything to get back
at him and get the title of gang leader.
He would have to be on his guard.
The scruffy little red Kyrii peered out from
behind a garbage can beside the Health Food Shop in Neopia Central. When she
saw that the burly green Quiggle's back was turned as he turned laughingly to
serve a customer, she darted out, keeping in the shadows, as quick as a flash
of light glances off a mirror, and snatched up an organic apple in her little
paws. She dropped to the ground and sprinted around the corner into an alley
as swiftly and silently as she had come. Panting but proud, she held up the
red globe, glowing radiantly with the nutrients it contained, to a blue Zafara
wearing an orange bandanna tied around his head. He grinned at her.
"Well done, Carayi. You're learning faster than
I did."
"Wow, Flo, really?"
"Yeah, sure. C'mon, let's go show the rest of
the gang. They'll have brought the stuff they nicked too, and we'll have a feast."
"Goody!"
Together they set off down the alley.
It had been a month ago now that Loper had left
the gang, and the gang itself had not heard from him since. Still, the members
had done their grieving privately and quietly, as they did with all affairs
of the heart, and after a week or two things were more or less back to normal,
with one big difference. Florepa was in charge now, and the gang prospered under
his rule.
No one had challenged his leadership, openly.
Zac had often made snide remarks when he thought he was out of earshot, some
of which Florepa with his good hearing had been able to detect, but he had never
actually done anything yet.
Florepa himself had grown and matured considerably
over that time. Bitterness towards humans and Peophins combined with life on
the streets had made him harder now, tougher. But the comradeship with his gang
had kept his compassion, and every time a new member joined he always made sure
that the newbie was settled comfortably and had friends to show him or her the
ropes. He had taken Carayi under his wing, though, for he knew not what reason,
but she had stood out from the rest. Maybe it was her spunk.
At any rate, gang life was good, and as he and
Carayi arrived in their home alley and one by one all the other gang members
brought in the food items they had stolen through the day, and waited, looking
expectantly to him for the signal to begin eating, Florepa felt like it couldn't
change and he wouldn't have wanted it to.
The next day was the day his whole life turned
upside down again, for the third time.
***
The next day the whole gang decided to hunt for food from the same shop. Florepa
felt it would put the newbies' skills to the test, and anyway the whole gang
deserved a daylight outing for once. Besides, if everyone were careful, nothing
would go wrong. The key word in that last thought, he was later to find out,
was 'if'.
They crowded together, as quietly as they could,
behind the dustbins of a human-owned shop. The newbies were giggling and whispering
with excitement at their first actual test.
"Wait," Florepa whispered, smiling at their
exuberance. "Wait 'til his back's turned."
"Why?" Zac asked, loudly.
"Shh," whispered his sister. "Flo's tha leader,
Zac."
"So?" answered Zac rudely. "Doesn't mean I have
ta listen ta every single li'l word he says, right? Unlike the rest of ya, seem
to think he's a faerie or somethin'. I'm hungry and I'm goin' in now!"
"Zac," Florepa called, sharply, but the Gelert
was already closing in on a Ransaurus Steak steaming on one of the counters.
Forgetting all else, Florepa warned the gang firmly to stay put and went after
him.
"Zac," he hissed, urgently. "You gotta get down
quick, the man'll come! At least let me make sure it's safe. We'll get that
steak."
The Gelert, his paws on the counter, was already
closing his jaws around the tender meat and ignored him.
"Zac," hissed Florepa again, but at that instant
what Florepa had but previously prophesied happened. The man and his Lupe stood
at the entrance to the shop. For an instant time stood still as Florepa, the
man and the Lupe regarded each other, for Zac had not seen them. Then Florepa,
reacting with instinct, pushed the Gelert off the counter as the Lupe bared
his teeth in a snarl. Both pets tumbled to the ground. Zac glared fiercely at
Florepa. "So ya wanna fight, now, huh?"
"Run," Florepa urged, pushing him. "Now, before-"
A net suddenly dropped down, enmeshing Florepa in its folds and just missing
Zac.
"Got you!" cried a triumphant voice, combined
with barks from the Lupe. Zac's eyes widened and he fled. The man dragged the
net to the back of the stall and flung Florepa into a rusty cage. As he left
the little room, Florepa heard his voice, apparently having a one-sided conversation.
"Hello? Is that the Pound? Yes, a rogue pet
has been at my stall, a Zafara, ruined a good steak of mine he did, too…"
Florepa groaned. He heard the word Pound and
disregarded all else. All those months of mad, exhilarating freedom and now,
he was going back there.
"Flo?"
He looked up. Skip, Zac, Dice, Jaq and Carayi
were peering around the door frame, framed in light from outside.
"Don't worry, bud. We'll have ya out of there,"
called Jaq as he bounced into the room, Kiko fashion. Florepa saw the flashes
of many colours outside and knew that the rest of the gang had come too. He
shook his head. "No, Jaq, no."
"But why? Don't ya wanna be free?"
"Yes, Jaq, yes, but if you rescue me, you'll
only risk getting caught yourselves. I don't want our gang to go out of existence,
and neither, I'm sure, do you all." Sad but true. The whole gang reluctantly
agreed. Florepa smiled weakly.
"I'll be okay. I'll probably find some owner
to look after me and maybe I'll escape someday. Skip, I put you in charge. You're
the new leader. Look after the gang well."
Skip nodded, obviously trying to be strong. Someone
outside called, "The man's coming back!" Florepa nodded sadly. "Goodbye, you
guys. I'll miss you."
They left one by one, swift and silent, all sad
and angry at fate, as they had been when Loper announced his resignation from
his post. Dice's ears and tail drooped as she said goodbye to her leader. Zac
looked at Florepa, his eyes apologising and regretful all at once. Skip was
trying not to cry, and even Jaq's eyes were damp and gleaming. And finally,
Carayi, the last to leave, her little, tearful face burning strongly into Florepa's
conscience and heart. He realised suddenly that he hadn't given the bandanna
to Skip, and the Kacheek hadn't noticed or cared either. The door opened again,
this time framing the tall, heavy bulk of the man. "They're in here," he called
and several humans came in and carted the cages away. They were put into a large
white truck and driven to the Pound where they were put in even smaller, even
rustier cages.
The change was uncomfortable for Florepa, but
he simply sat back and began to try and think of a way out for himself.
Pound life wasn't so bad. He did get food, even
if it was a little greenish and lumpy and watery, and Dr_Death the Techo did
come and chat to him quite companionably. He wasn't such a bad guy after all.
Rose the Uni loved to talk to him too, and she was nice, though in a different
way from Dr_Death. The first few days passed without a hitch, or a plan for
Florepa. He was still trying to think of a way out. He thought he had found
a way when he thought of escaping when their cages were cleaned. But that balloon
burst when he saw that they were caught and put in a separate cage while the
cleaning process took place.
To be continued... | 
