Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

 One:The work of a man All her life, Red had watched other wild cats, as herself, grow up with man. She had also watched other wild cats be hunted by man. Fortunately, jaguarundis like her were not hunted as badly as other wild cats like ocelots or margays. She didn’t like man, all the same, because she knew that he would not object to hunt her and her kind. Anyway, she knew if she kept away she’d most likely be okay. She lived in the Brazilian rainforests, an amber, three year old jaguarundi. Red sat on a large boulder, yawning and washing herself. Her two cubs were playing on the ground, two males called Serpent and Onyx. The larger cub, Serpent was deep red like herself, but Onyx was black speckled with grey. Serpent backed off from Onyx then rushed forward to pounce on him. But Onyx dodged and twisted in mid-air, getting a headstart for the chase that followed. Serpent bared his teeth and dashed after the other cub. Red looked at them and stood up, growling through a closed mouth at them. Serpent stopped and turned around. Red called for them to follow her.But Onyx didn’t hear. He hadn’t heard her growling by the sound of his feet hitting the ground, and he hadn’t known that Serpent had stopped, and so kept on going. He was even further when Red had called.Red looked at Serpent and told him to go after him. Onyx was still not aware what was happening. He thought Serpent was still in the chase, and he was, except not the playing one. Onyx thought he would trick him. He saw the river and jumped in, then turned left and began to run through the water. Serpent was still following, and soon Red ran after him, picked him up and ran for her other cub. But Onyx didn’t stop. He just kept on running, thinking he was winning the games. When night fell, he was tiring, and since it was not a in a jaguarundis nature to be nocturnal, he felt strange too. But incase Serpent was still following, he went on. Red had gone straight past the river, not left.Onyx soon felt exhausted. He didn’t want to lose the game, but when he saw a large plant, he couldn’t help but sit on it and go to sleep.  “Look!”Onyx awoke with a start. He jumped in fright when he saw three pairs of eyes staring down at him. He backed off.“It’s a baby,” said one of the creatures.“A Geoffroy’s cat!”“An ocelot!”“A margay!”“A jaguar!”“No! A jaguarundi!”They were humans. “Pick him up!” urged one.“That’s kinda risky,” replied another uncertaintely. Her name was Laura. But she was tempted. “I guess I really should…” She put her movement before her mouth.She shovelled under Onyx’s body and with her other hand took his head.“A baby jaguarundi,” she whispered.“It is a jaguarundi then, Laura,” one of the humans declared. “What will we do with it?” asked the third human, extending a stick over Onyx’s face.“Stop that, Ben!” exclaimed Laura, shoving the stick away, “You’ll frighten her,”“Him,” corrected Chris.“Well him then!” said Laura.“Okay, lets call him Bruce!”“No!” shouted Ben, “Ben-10!”“Why should we call him that?” argued Chris.“Because it’s a good name! Duh!” answered Ben.“Shut up you two!” demanded Laura, “ We have to put him back anyway,”“Awe,” sighed Ben, who wasn’t interested in nature at all, “I could have trained him to be vicious and all,”“Yeah,” agreed Chris, “I could have made him into a mini-killer tiger,”Laura listened to their thoughts. “I could have a pet jaguarundi,” she whispered. “Okay, we’ll keep him until we’re going home!” she announced. “Keeping Fortune,”“I say Cayne!” Ben voted.“I say Looka,” Chris said.“How about Furkayka?” suggested Laura, “Because it uses all our names,”“I suppose,” agreed Ben.Chris shrugged. “Okay,”Laura lifted Onyx up into the air. “Let’s show Dad,” she announced. “What do we do in a month’s time when we’re going home? We can’t take a tropical cat home to England,” observed Chris.Laura didn’t answer. She waned to ignore the twelve-year olds comments, and her own ten year old brother’s too.Now her thoughts were focused on Onyx, Furkayka. “Serpent!” roared Red, “Where is your brother?”“I don’t know mother,” stammered Serpent, “He was probably shot by man…”“No he was not! Onyx is not stupid!” “He isn’t clever either,” remarked Serpent breathlessly.Red scowled at her son. “Don’t ever say things like that!” she snapped. She growled and ordered him to be quiet and listen.“Now stay right here until I come back!” she commanded.She nipped Serpent and turned away.She began to run through the rainforest, swearing under her breath.Suddenly she heard a bullet. Stopping immediately, she turned around. Pricking her ears, she twitched her right one and listened. Slightly tilted her head she listened, carefully taking another step. She could hear the bullets closer. She knew it was not likely a hunter would come after her, or serpent for that matter. But margays were still hunted so it was possible they would be after them. She knew she could not be sure though. She realized that her cub may be in danger. She set off at a fast pace, returning to where Serpent was. She was shocked to find Serpent asleep in the spot she had left him, in a bush, and the bullet shots very close. She grunted uncontentedly and snapped her teeth at Serpent’s ear. He awoke with a start. “What do you think…” he took back his sharp answer as his eyes adjusted and fixed on Red. She grasped his scruff and began to hurry off.“Where’s Onyx?” yawned Serpent. “Erm.., erm, back here,” she ended ina hurry, “Now shut your mouth! I don’t want you to be gabbing absentmindedly the rest of the way,”“The rest of the way to where?” asked Serpent.Red hadn’t thought about it, “Don’t you be worrying about that!” she muttered through the gritted teeth that clutched Serpent’s fur. Hunter’s bullets soon quietened. Finally Red dropped Serpent. Without waiting for anything, Red hurried off again.Serpent stayed rooted to the spot. “What am I meant to do now?” he mumbled to himself angrily. He turned around. “Maybe that bed…” he paused. Running forward, he made his way back to the bush he had slept in.  “Dad!” exclaimed Ben, “We found a baby jaguarundi and it’s injured and newborn!” “Are you sure?” his father raised an eyebrow.“Would I lie?” Ben replied innocently, trying to hide his grin.Chris came up behind him.“Exaggerating yet again, Ben?” “Would I?” asked Ben, then he turned fierce, “When have I?”Chris shook his head in disgust and looked up at his uncle. “Laura found a young jaguarundi,” he told him.“Injured and newborn?” questioned Laura’s father.Chris glanced at Ben, “Nope,”Shooting a questioning look at Ben, the older man made his way towards Laura.“Dad, we found him and I didn’t know what to do and the brats were like ‘Pick em’ ip, pick em’ ip,”“Actually Laura,” interrupted Ben, “My English is very good. Pick him up, I think I said,”“Shut it,” muttered Laura, looking at him, then turning her attention back to her father said, “What do you think?”“We must find it’s mother,” he replied shortly.“No!” shouted Ben and Chris together.“She was probably hunted!” Laura told him pleadingly, “We have to keep Furkayka!”“No, Laura! We can’t keep a wild animal. It belongs wild and free. Infact, its not even a wild animal, its just another wild animal. No big animal cages us up, you know,”“I’ve never ever been able to have a pet!” begged Laura.“You know why,” her father told her sternly, “We don’t want to see animals cooped up. You know I nor anyone else in the family likes that,”Laura snorted, “I’m not leaving Furkayka!” he shouted, then seeing Onyx was getting more frightened, lowered her voice and stroked him.“Laura, it’s for his sake. Its not about you, I know you’d be able to look after him well, and it might seem as though some pets are happy, but you know they belong to roam wild,” he explained.“They are hunted in the wild!” exclaimed Laura indignantly.“I know, but a short good life is better than a long bad life. Besides, jaguarundis aren’t hunted much,” he spoke calmly.“Can’t we just raise him until he’s older, than train him for the wild?” prayed Laura.“We’re going back to England in a month,” her father said.“Yes, but remember you said that we might stay for longer if the job is good. The job is six months long,”“What about school?” asked her father, “Its holidays now, but there’s only two months of that left,”“We can come back for the Christmas holidays, dad, please!”Her father struggled.“I amn’t sure…” he stuttered.“Dad, please!” begged Ben, tugging his shirt, “I wanna keep him!”“Yeah, it would be cool!” Chris agreed.“Look, I’ll think about it over the next week. For then, mind Furkayka. But promise me Laura that this time, put Furkayka’s hapiness before your own on this,”Laura nodded happily, “Of course,”

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