St. Louis Kidnapping 1

"Hey, Freckle! You in?"

Rocky's loud and energetic voice rang throughout the house, reaching his auntie's and cousin's ears with ease. As he closed the door behind him Nina – Freckle's Mum – appeared at the top of the stairs. Her eyes were narrowed and dull and her mouth was in the shape of a disapproving frown. A usual occurrence when Rocky was in the house.

"In the garden." Nina told him coldly, her steely gaze fixed on her nephew.

"Thanks, Aunt N." beamed Rocky, turning towards backdoor.

He began to walk forwards at a steady pace, his zoot shoes clinking on the wooden floor and his whiskers twitching in amusement. Rocky soon found himself in the kitchen and stopped to look at the calendar.
Today's date – 15th April 1927 – was circled. The grey tabby observed it, his hand on his chin. He was pretty sure today had no significance whatsoever, yet it was circled in one of Freckle's best red marker pens, something his cousin only did with the very important stuff. With a last glance and a shrug, Rocky turned to the door and pushed it open with a paw. He was met by a solemn sight.
Freckle was mowing the lawn extremely slowly, his head down and his tail low. His whiskers moved every now and then as blades of grass would fly up.
Rocky immediately jogged over, a stupid grin on his face.

"What you doing, Freckle? Part-time job?"

"No..." Freckle paused, before continuing.

He was thinking of what Rocky might possibly ask him to do – what possible scheme he could have waiting for him. Freckle was positive it would involve some kind of violence.

"Speaking of jobs, I've got something I need doing for Mitzi if you're interested." Rocky suggested casually, shoving his paws in his pockets.

Freckle's reply was an uneasy stare.

"It's your sort of thing, I promise."

Before Freckle could answer Rocky had grabbed hold of his arm.

"Come on, cousin. It'll do you good to get out of the house for a while." he told him, smiling unexplainably widely.

Freckle gave a sigh. There was no way he could get out of it now – he knew as well as Rocky that he hated arguing, and usually agreed for the sake of it. He let Rocky pull him across the garden, his eyes wide as his mind wondered what could possibly be waiting for him.