jailbreak

Seville awoke with a start.  "What was that?" he whispered to himself. "What was that noise?" Deciding to investigate, he jumped off the bed. The noises appeared to be coming from the main floor so he padded down the steps, through the hall and kitchen and into the family room, only to find his two long-haired marmalade brothers munching on cat treats, with their eyes glued to the television set.

"What are you doin' watching TV at this hour?" Seville demanded of his brothers.  "You two have any idea what time it is?  It's way past your bedtimes and if Peep #1 finds out, she's gonna freak.  Oohhh... SHOVE OVER," and Seville settled in beside Rushton and Anderson.  "This show does look good.  What's it's about?  New crime drama or something?"

Rushton answered in a whisper.  "Not a show, Sivvers.  It's the news."

"Yeah, high-speed police chase," piped up Anderson.  "They're replaying what happened earlier today."

BREAKING NEWS...  Earlier this evening, the suspect wanted in this afternoon's high-speed police chase was picked out of a police line-up by several witnesses.  Suspect has been identified as Mr. Harold Bunnykins of Number 22 Hyacinth Lane.  Bystanders state...

"OH MY MOUSES!" Seville, Rushton and Anderson cried in unison.  "That there is the Easter Bunny, for sure!"

At that very moment, Mason came tearing into the family room.  "Seville!" she yelled.  "We have an emergency situation.  Word on the lawn is that the Easter Bunny has been arrested and is being held for questioning regarding a massive egg theft and..."

"I know!  I know!" and Seville pointed to the television screen.  "It's all over the news and everything.  LOOK!"

"No time to watch TV now, Sivvers," and Mason pulled her brother to his paws.  "The teleportation device is primed and ready.  We need to break the Easter Bunny out of jail, immediately.  Kids will be waking up tomorrow morning and there will be no chocolate eggs for them to find.  There's no time to waste!"

"Why don't you just use one of those whisky things of yours," began Anderson, "and whisk yourself back in time and prevent him from getting caught in the first place?"

Seville stared at his brother.  "That's not a bad idea.  Where did you get it?"

"Won't work," stated Mason.  "Everybody knows Easter Bunny magic isn't compatible with whisk time travelling technology."

"Don't you mean every bunny?" chuckled Rushton.

"NO, I meant what I said.  Everybody...   Oh for mousin' out loud!" and Mason threw her paws into the air in frustration.  "Why am I even explaining this to you, Rushton?  Come on, Seville, we have work to do," and with that she hauled Seville out of the room, leaving Anderson and Rushton to continue watching television.

"You have any idea where they're holding him?" Seville asked Mason as they scurried toward the teleportation device.

"I'm one paw ahead of you, Sivvers.  I've programmed the coordinates into the teleportation device. Eggbeaters are at the ready.  Here," and she thrust a large bag into Seville's paws.  "Things we might need for our mission."

Moments later, Seville and Mason were flying through space, teleporting to the police station where the Easter Bunny was being held.

After landing safely, the two cats approached the front doors with caution.  "How are we ever gonna open those?" Seville asked of his sister.  "They look pretty heavy and neither one of us can reach the..."

"Run for it!" Mason hissed as a door opened and a uniformed officer exited the building.  Mason and Seville high-tailed it inside before ducking down a side corridor.

"Now where are those blueprints?" and Mason dug through the bag she had instructed Seville to bring.  "Got them!"  Spreading the blueprints for the police station out on the floor, she circled the locations of the holding cells and interrogations rooms.  "They'll be holding him either here or here," she stated.  "We're currently at the front desk which is right here," and she used the marker again to make a large letter 'X'.  "We'll make our way to the interrogation rooms first and then down to the cells if necessary."

Seville gazed around.  "What if someone spots us?"

"Got that covered.  Put this on," and Mason thrust a police hat at Seville.  "Wag your tail and say woof and they'll think you're a police dog on staff."

"Wag my tail and say woof?" Seville scoffed.  "Like that's gonna work.  MOUSES!"  At that very moment a uniformed officer turned the corner and looked down at the two cats.

"Woof!  WOOF!"  Mason and Seville cried, while flipping their tails back and forth.  The officer smiled and muttered, "Evenin'."

"Well oh my mouses, I'll be darned," Seville murmured, shaking his head.  "It did work, after all."

"Told you.  Now come on, time's a wasting.  We need to go this way," and Mason hauled at her brother by his tail.

Finding the interrogation rooms empty, the two cats continued down to the basement where they found the holding cells and there before them was the gloomiest looking rabbit either one had ever seen.  Seville grabbed the iron bars and peered inside the cell.  "Psst...  Harry!  We're here to spring you.  Hang on there, bunny.  I mean, buddy.  No, I really do mean bunny.  MOUSES!"


At the sound of Seville's voice the Easter Bunny's ears perked up.  "Seville, is that you?  Seville the Cat?  I'm locked in here and I can't get out."

"Don't you worry Mr. Bunnykins," piped up Mason.  "We'll have you out of there in a jiffy. Seville?  Need one of your hairs."

"No Mason, Harold is a bunny, not a hare.  Easter Bunny, remember?"

"What?"

"He's a rabbit, Mason."

"But I said I needed a hair."

"But I said he's a bunny as in rabbit and not as in hare."

"What are you talking about, Seville?" Mason asked, furrowing her eyebrow whiskers.

"Excuse me," Harry interrupted.  "Seville, I think she needs one of your hairs," and with that he plucked a hair from Seville's coat.

"Ouch!  Oh.  MOUSES!"  Seville watched as Mason used the hair to pick the lock on the holding cell.  Within seconds the lock popped open and the cell door opened.  "There you are, Mr. Bunnykins, you've been sprung.  Free as a bird."

Seville tapped his sister on the shoulder.  "Mason, he's a bunny, remember?  He's not a bird."

Mason rolled her eyes.  "Just grab the rabbit's basket and the two of you follow me."

The two cats and Harold the Easter Bunny crept down the hallway, quietly.  "Why were you locked up in the first place?" Seville whispered.

"Weasel Syndicate.  What else?  Some weasel was caught raiding a hen house and, in typical weasel fashion, he made a deal with the police in order to get off with a lighter sentence.  Claimed I was the mastermind behind all the egg thefts leading up to Easter."

"And were you?" Seville asked with a gasp.

"Of course not!" Harry cried in his own defence.  "Weasels.  You can't trust a thing they say..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE," a loud voice demanded from behind them.  "Put your paws up and turn around...  slowly."

The cats and rabbit obeyed but when Seville raised his paws, he dropped the bag he had been dragging around and out of it fell a spare eggbeater.  The police officer peered at it, clearly wondering why a cat would be carrying eggbeaters around with him.  He leaned over, giving it a visual examination while being careful not to touch it.  Seville took the opportunity to act and snatched the eggbeater from the floor and started turning it with a flourish.  At the same time, Mason grabbed Seville by the tail and Harry by his ears and dragged them both over and onto a wheeled push cart that just happened to be in the hallway.  Seville continued to beat madly with the eggbeater while yelling, "PREPARE FOR TELEPORTATION.  INITIATE TELEPORTATION. TELEPORTATION INITIATED!"

The air in the hallway became hazy and sparks began to fly.  Off in the distance the two cats and rabbit could hear police officers yelling as they scrambled to catch the escapees but they were too late.  Seville, Mason and Harry were already whizzing through space, teleporting home on the makeshift push cart teleportation device.

"Drop me off at my workshop, would you?" Harry asked the cats.  "I need to pick up my Easter supplies and start hiding eggs before morning.  Can't disappoint the kids, you know."

"Of course you can't," Seville nodded in acknowledgement.  "We'll have you at your workshop momentarily but while I have you here, let me tell you 'bout an idea I have.  Picture it, catnip Easter eggs.  What do you think?   You think you might hide a few of those at my house this year?  After all, I did help spring you out of that jail cell and all."


"Catnip Easter eggs, huh?" the Easter Bunny murmured.  "Never thought of doing that.  I'll see what I can do, my friend.  I'll see what I can do."

The cats waved goodbye to Harry as they took flight once more, heading for home, themselves. Harry waved back, calling out, "Happy Easter!" Then he headed inside to gather up his supply of Easter eggs, chocolate rabbits and baskets but before starting his deliveries, he put together one very special basket filled with Easter eggs made entirely of catnip, for his very special feline friends.

    HAPPY EASTER EVERYBUNNY!  purrs

finders keepers... maybe

"Two hundred and nine, two hundred and ten, two hundred and eleven..."

Creeping up behind Seville, Mason leaned over her brother's shoulder to ask, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just...  Awww... MOUSES!  You made me lose count, Mason. One, two, three..."

"Lose count of what? What are those things? They look like gold coins."

"That's 'cause they are gold coins," Seville explained, excitedly.  "Darn it.  I've lost count again.  One, two, three..."

Mason chuckled while turning to leave.  "Gold coins.  What will he think of next?"

"But they ARE gold coins," declared Seville, standing up on all four paws.  He gently bit down on one of the coins and held it out for his sister to see.  "Look, my fangs made marks.  That means it's real gold, for sure.  MOUSES!"

"Let me see that," and Mason grabbed the coin out of Seville's paw.  "Oh my mouses, Sivvers.  It is real.  Where the heck did you find a stash of gold coins?  Have you been holding out on us regarding those nip futures or something?"

"Nope," Seville replied smugly.  "Come on, guess again.  Bet you can't!"

"You haven't...  You haven't...  You haven't gone into business with the Weasel Syndicate, have you?" Mason asked hesitantly.  "I know they're constantly offering get-rich schemes, full of promise and everything, but the weasels are really nasty little varmints, Seville."

"Me doing business with weasels?  NEVER.  Have a little faith in your brother, Mason.  Besides, I learned my lesson 'bout working with them last time.  MOUSES!"

"Then where did you...?"

"I found the whole lot of these coins out in the backyard this morning," and Seville grinned from ear to ear, making himself look like the Cheshire Cat.  "There there were, sitting in a pot, waiting for me to find them."

"In our backyard?" Mason asked incredulously.

"Yup, right there at the end of the rainbow.  If you remember, it was raining this morning and then the sun came out and then there was a rainbow.  I was super lucky to discover that its end was right here in our backyard.  Very fortuitous, indeed."

"Fortui...?"

"It means," Seville began to explain.

"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.  Just didn't know you knew what it meant, is all.  Besides, I'm not entirely sure that that is how you should describe it.  Fortuitous, I mean."

"Mason, I have no idea what you're talking about.  All I know for sure is that I need to count up these coins and that once again, I've lost my place.  One, two, three..."

"Seville, did you ever wonder how that pot of gold came to be in our backyard?"

"Nope," Seville answered.  "I did tell you 'bout the rainbow, right?  Mason, it's a well-known fact that pots of gold can be found at the ends of rainbows.  Didn't you learn anything in school?"

Mason bit her lip, resisting the urge to smack her brother upside of the head.  "Seville, I think that maybe that pot of gold might belong to someone.  Pots of gold don't just materialize at the ends of rainbows."

"Actually, they do," explained Seville.  "At least I think they do.  They must.  How else did this particular pot of gold end up at the end of one in our backyard?  Mason, do I have to explain everything to you?"

"But," began Mason.  "But what if this particular pot of gold did belong to someone?"

"Finders keepers, Mason.  It's the law of the jungle, you know.  The fact that we don't actually live in a jungle is irrelevant.  Fact is, I found the gold and the gold, therefore, is mine.  MOUSES!"

"Or perhaps it is his," and Mason pointed to a face peering in through a window.

The two cats stood motionless, staring at the face in the window.  The face in the window stared right back at the two cats before gazing down at the pot of gold coins sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"Ummm..."  murmured Mason.

"Oh boy," whispered Seville.

"Uh...  Um..." Mason stammered.

"That there is a leprechaun," Seville stated in a very low voice.

"A very angry leprechaun, by the looks of it," added Mason.

"An EXTREMELY angry leprechaun who is looking for the marmalade cat who stole his pot of gold," yelled the leprechaun as he opened the back door and marched into the kitchen.

"Excuse me, Mr. Leprechaun sir, but uh...  But I'd just like to point out that although I do have a few hints of ginger in my fur, here and there, technically I'm cream.  Seville's the marmalade cat around here," and Mason pointed a paw at her brother.

"Way to go, sis," Seville hissed under his breath.  "Thanks for having my back."

The leprechaun glared at Seville with beady eyes.  "Exactly what do you think you're doing with my pot of gold there, you orange ball of fur."

"I was uh...  I was um..."  Seville swallowed, hard.  "I was...  I was merely counting the coins... Making sure they were all still...  Ummm...  You know, keeping them in safe keeping for you, for your return."

"What happened to finders keepers?" Mason whispered into Seville's ear.

"Finders keepers applies to peeps, other cats and weasels," Seville hissed.  "Leprechauns are a whole different kettle of fish."

"Mr Leprechaun," Mason coughed nervously but stood up firmly on all four paws.  "It seems to me that we have a bit of a dilemma at paw.  Legend has it that if a cat can catch a leprechaun, said leprechaun has to reveal his pot of gold to said cat.  Now my brother here might actually be the true owner of this pot of gold.  He could make a case that as he found your gold and now we have apparently caught you..."

"He did no such thing!" the leprechaun cried.  "He never caught me.  I only have to reveal my gold if you catch me..."

And with that, Mason swiped at the leprechaun and caught hold of his jacket with a claw.  "Like this?" she asked, holding him up like a cat would hold a rat.

The leprechaun struggled, trying to free himself.

"Not so mean looking now, are you," Mason said and added, "Might I say, you're a very little leprechaun to have such a big pot of gold."

"Let me go!  LET ME GO!" and the leprechaun continued to struggle.

"I think you should let him go," Seville told Mason.  "Look how red his face is getting.  If he was angry before I don't know what he's gonna be..."

"I'll tell you what," and Mason lowered the leprechaun onto the floor, still holding onto him with a claw.  I'll exchange your freedom for your pot of gold."

The leprechaun pursed his lips together.  "The legend says I do have to take you to my gold in exchange for..."

"But we already have your gold," blurted out Seville.  "Got it right here," and he pointed toward the gold.

Narrowing his eyes, the leprechaun said, "But do you have my even bigger pot of gold?  The pot of gold that makes this one look like a mere trifling..."

"You have an even bigger pot of gold?" gasped Seville.  "Mason, do you have any idea how much nip we could get with an even bigger pot of gold?  We could..."

Mason glanced over at Seville, loosening her grasp on the leprechaun for only a moment but a moment was all it took and right before their very eyes, the leprechaun and the pot of gold vanished like magic.

"Awww.... MOUSES!" Seville cried.  Sitting back on his haunches he said, "legend also has it that those little green fairies are slippery and sly.  Was he too slippery to hold onto, Mason?  Is that why you let go?"

"Wrong kind of slippery, Seville," answered his sister.  "Never pays to be too greedy, I suppose."

"Nope, never does," Seville stated.  The corners of his mouth began to curl up into a smile.  "But it does pay to be careless!  Looky here. I happened to be sitting on this coin when the little feller and his gold disappeared."  Seville bit into it.  "Yup, solid gold, for sure.  Nip store here I come!"

"I think you mean here we come," Mason grinned.  "Come on, we can teleport over in a jiffy and get ourselves a whole gold coin's worth of really good nip."

"We sure can," agreed Seville.  "And as luck would have it, we'll get it just in time for St. Patrick's Day, too.  MOUSES!"

blown off-course

THUMP!

"What the mouses?" cried Seville as he looked up from his computer. "Snowball hit my office window or something?  Is someone throwing snowballs at my window?"

The marmalade cat got up from his desk, hopped onto the window ledge, and peered outside. "Awww...  MOUSES!  It's a bird.  I can see a wing protruding out of the snow."

"Peepers!  OH PEEPERS!" Seville yelled.  "Bird down, outside.  You wanna do something about that?"

The cat's cries were met with silence.

"For mousin' out loud," Seville muttered under his breath.  "PEEPERS!  PEEPERS!  There's a bird outside needing your help.  Did you hear me?  Some stupid bird hit my office window and as I'm busy working on my blog post, you're gonna have to deal with him.  Okay?"

Settling back in at his desk, Seville started to type but after a few minutes, he realized that Peep #1 had not yet gone to the aid of the injured bird.  "MOUSES!  Boy-oh-boy I have a useless peep.  I can see I'm gonna have to go outside and help that bird myself."

Seville stomped across the office floor, toward the door.  Stepping outside, he made his way over to where he had spotted the bird earlier.  "Oh my mouses!" he gasped, stopping dead in his tracks. "Uhhh...  Ummm....  Excuse me but uh...  I'll be right back."

Racing back into the house, Seville yelled up to Peep #1 from the bottom of the stairs. "PEEPERS! We've got the weirdest looking bird out front.  He's pretty big for a normal bird and not at all pretty and I think he's wearing a diaper.  Seriously Peepers, you have got to go out there and deal with that uh... thing.  And could you get on that right away 'cause to be perfectly honest, he's kinda freaking me out.  Peepers!  PEEPERS!  You up there, Peepers?  Come on, I need your help down here.  PEEPERS!!!"

Met with silence once more, Seville threw his paws up in the air with frustration and stomped back outside.  "Diaper or no diaper, I can see I'm the only one capable of dealing with this stupid bird.  I have got to get myself some better staff.  MOUSES!"

"Hey, did you just call me a bird?" the bird asked.

"He wears a diaper and talks.  MOUSES!"

"I am not a bird, sir.  The name is Cupid and would you mind helping me out of this snow?  It's really cold."

Seville grabbed Cupid by the arms and pulled him to his feet.  Narrowing his eyes he asked, "Are you sure you're not a bird?  You have wings like a bird."

"I am most definitely not a bird," Cupid scowled.  "A cat thinking I'm a bird.  Of all the...  Oh, it's absolutely FREEZING out here!" he cried, and beginning to shiver, he drew his arms close.  "How can you stand it?"

"Yeah, well welcome to Canada, buddy with wings but who's not a bird.  It's the middle of February so that kinda means there's gonna be snow and it's gonna be cold.  Maybe if you weren't flying around out here in nothing but a diaper..."

"It is NOT a diaper!" Cupid yelled.

Seville raised an eyebrow.  "Really?  'Cause uh...  'Cause it kinda looks like a diaper to me.  Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing," and he pushed Cupid's bow and arrow away from him.  "You could hurt somebody with that."  Seville sat back on his haunches and stared at Cupid.  "Okay, so you're not a bird.  Not even a diaper-wearing bird.  But you do look pretty cold.  Why don't you come inside and warm up."

Cupid sat down at the kitchen table while Seville poured two mugs of hot nip tea.  "Get this into you and you'll feel a whole lot better," advised Seville.  "So tell me, how did you end up in my neck of the woods and crashing into my office window?"

"That last Nor'easter blew me off course.  I tried flying around it but got caught up in some tail winds and then when they turned..."

"You have a tail?  I didn't see any tail," and Seville tried to get a glimpse of the back of Cupid. Seeing nothing but wings he gave up and asked, "Cinnamon heart?" The cat pushed a candy dish across the table after grabbing a pawful of the candies himself and popping a couple in his mouth.

"But they're green," Cupid stated, staring at the heart-shaped candies.

"That's on account of the nip," explained Seville, crunching down on one.  "Nip makes 'em green."

Cupid picked up a candy and sniffed it.  "And they smell..."

"Nippy?  Of course they smell nippy.  That, too, is on account of the nip.  I get Peep #1 to make 'em for me using nip in place of the cinnamon.  Much better that way, for sure."

"But then why do you call them Cinnamon Hearts?" asked Cupid.

"Oh my mouses, Cupid.  They're called Cinnamon Hearts because today is Valentine's Day. Everyone knows you have to have Cinnamon Hearts for Valentine's Day.  Valentine's Day just wouldn't be the same without a few Cinnamon Hearts on the go.  You're not too up on this Valentine's Day business, are you?"

"Well actually," began Cupid, "Valentine's Day IS my business.  It's my busiest day of the year and I cannot believe, for the life of me, that I'm stuck here in a cold and snowy place, conversing with a marmalade cat at his kitchen table and eating catnip-flavoured, green Cinnamon Hearts that do not look or taste like real Cinnamon Hearts at all."

"And don't forget how you're doing all that while wearing a diaper," added Seville.

"It is NOT a diaper!" Cupid cried.  "Look Mr. Cat, I need to get out of here and fast.  Today is Valentine's Day and I have work to do."

"Work?  YOU GO TO WORK WEARING A DIAPER?  Just what kind of work do you do?"

Cupid opened his mouth to complain about the diaper comment again but thought better of it.  He needed Seville's help.  "Please...  I'm not sure that I'm up to flying on my own.  I hit that window pretty hard.  Maybe I could catch a last-minute flight.  Is there an airport nearby?"

"Not a commercial one, no.  Where is it that you need to go?"

"I needed to be in Paris hours ago.  Are you sure there are no International airports around here?" asked Cupid.

"Sorry kiddo but...  WAIT A MINUTE!" and Seville slapped a paw to his forehead.  "I can teleport you over to Paris in a jiffy.  You ever travelled before using eggbeater teleportation technology?"

Cupid screwed up his face.  "Eggbeater what?"

"Eggbeater teleportation technology," Seville repeated slowly, exaggerating every syllable. "Mouses, don't know why I didn't think of that before.  I can get you to Paris in mere minutes.  That would be Paris, France, I assume.  Or were you heading for Paris, Ontario?  Doesn't matter, really. All I need are the global teleportation co-ordinates and we'll be all set.  Well all set except for..."

"Except for what?" Cupid questioned.

"Well except for that stupid diaper you're wearing.  No way, no how, am I travelling all the way to either of those two Paris places with a bird or a baby or whatever you are, while you're wearing nothing but a diaper."

"But it's not a..."

"Yeah, yeah," Seville interrupted.  "You keep saying that and one day, someone might even believe you, but that someone is not gonna be me.  A diaper is a diaper is a diaper, for sure. Hmmm...  We're going to have to find you an outfit of some sort. Neighbours' dog over on the next street has an entire wardrobe of jackets and stuff and I think you and he are about the same size.  I'll pop over and ask if I can borrow one for you while you find this Paris place on a map.  Meet you back here in ten minutes for teleporation.  Okay?  Okay."

Seville was still muttering as he turned to leave for the neighbours' house.  "Gosh, some baby bird guy hits your office window and you try to help him out but all he does is argue about diapers and stuff.  Gotta get rid of him quickly so that I can get back to working on my blog and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day, for sure.  MOUSES!"

                                    *******************************************

               HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY!
             Love you!  Love you lots!  Love you always and forever.  Purrs, Seville.