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  “Mmm, this is good steak!” Freddie the Ferret grinned around a mouthful of the tasty red meat. Then Freddie dipped a forkful of boiled potato into the rich gravy and crowded that tasty treat into his happily chewing mouth as well.

“Glad you like it,” Greg the Greek said in a real friendly way. “Have a little more wine.” Greg refilled Freddie’s glass with the blood-red wine and then watched with an amused smile on his face while Freddie swallowed the meat and potatoes to make room for a nice deep drink from his wine glass.

“Mmm, that wine’s good too!” Freddie raised his glass in a toast to his benefactor and then drank the rest of the wine right down before he began attacking the steak and potatoes again with his knife and fork. Life sure was good sometimes.

“You deserve it, my little Ferret. With my help you have become a very good thief, maybe the best thief I've ever trained. You did a very nice job on that museum last week. Greg the Greek ran his fingers over Freddie’s short dark hair in a friendly way.

Down at his feet Freddie could feel Chrissie the Cat rubbing herself up against his legs to thank him for the nice meal of fish he had given her earlier. Freddie smiled down at his only real friend and felt happy and warm all over. A month ago the two of them had been XXXX on the streets and pretty near starving. Then Greg the Greek had found them and took them in and now they were both so happy.

Freddie saw that his wine glass was full again so he took another deep sip from his glass and smacked his lips. That may have been a mistake. Suddenly he felt a wave of light-headed dizziness wash over him and then he began to feel these strange tingling sensations running down through his arms and legs.

Then a confused Freddie looked over at Greg the Greek and saw that his big boss was smiling at him in a strange way. Freddie blinked his eyes and now he could see two Greg the Greeks sitting beside him. He blinked again and suddenly the two smiling Greg’s became three, and then all three of those Greg’s began spinning around and around his head until finally everything went really dark.

Some time later Freddie opened his bleary eyes again and looked all around in confusion. Now he was sitting on the couch, his nice shirt was gone, and now his hands and feet were tied for some reason. What was going on here?

Freddie looked up to see a smiling Greg the Greek standing over him and he tried to ask him what was going on. That’s when Freddie discovered that an old cotton rag had been tied between his lips and now that thick band of cotton was pressing his tongue down into the bottom of his mouth. Fear started crawling around in Freddie’s stomach.

“Feeling comfortable Freddie?” Greg the Greek purred. “I hope those ropes aren't tied to tight. You may have to wait awhile before my friends come over to get you.”

His friends…? What was Greg talking about? Freddie started to squirm against the tight ropes.

“Don’t waste your time, kid. I know how to tie good knots. Too bad that we had to come down to this. You see there were twenty-eight gold coins in that collection you took from the museum, not twenty-four. You thought I wouldn't know if you took four of those coins for yourself. Just like you thought that you could sell those coins without my finding out about it. I guess you didn't know that I know every crooked dealer in this town. Too bad for you, well I hope that you enjoy your moonlight swim.”

"But I can't swim…!” Freddie cried as loud as he could into the thick cloth dividing his drooling mouth.

“Don’t worry kid, you won't have to.” Greg the Greek chuckled as he wrapped and tied another thicker folded rag cloth tightly over Freddie’s spread lips.

“There, now you just sit here quietly. There are a few things I need to take care of before it gets dark so that we can all drive out to the lake together.”

Freddie the Ferret watched Greg the Greek walk away with eyes that felt like they were going to bug right out of his head. Already he could feel his young heart drumming up against his chest and there was a real funny squishy feeling way down in his stomach. A moonlight swim; they were going to drown him!

Greg the Greek walked out of the room and then Freddie listened intently until he heard Greg close the door to his office and then he could hear Greg’s muffled voice while he talked to somebody on the phone. Freddie had to get out of here!

At first young Freddie panicked and began pulling and twisting on those tight ropes every way that he could, but that didn't do him any good.

Then he managed to calm down a little and began to think. Maybe if he could get his face close enough to his hands, maybe he could pull the XXXX rags off of his mouth, and then maybe he could use his teeth on the knotted ropes, and then maybe—

“Meowww…!” Something was wrong with Chrissie.

Freddie twisted his head around, trying to see what was wrong with his furry friend until he fell over onto the floor. Then he looked up and saw big Greg towering over him.

“You just sit tight here,” Greg commanded, “And don’t make any noise. My friend’s car broke down so I've got to go and pick them up, but that won't take long.”

Greg the Greek stalked out the room.

Freddie froze and listened hard until he heard the front door close and then he heard the sound of Greg’s big car driving away.

Chrissie the Cat knew that there was something very wrong with her human friend and she rubbed her head up against Freddie’s head in a sympathetic way. “I know Chrissie,” Freddie hummed into the muffling mouth cloths. “We're in a lot of trouble and we've got to get out of here somehow. Anybody who would drown a nice boy like me probably won't be very nice to you once I’m gone.”

Freddie the Ferret was afraid for himself and he was afraid for Chrissie the Cat. There just had to be a way out of this mess. Freddie tugged at the tight ropes in frustration, but they wouldn't come free. There had to be a way! Freddie struggled and strained until he managed to sit up on the floor, and then he looked all around until he saw—

“Scissors…!” Freddie cried into the muffling gags so loud that he was afraid that someone might have heard him. But he didn't see or hear anyone, so—

Slowly and painfully with the tight ropes cutting into his tender skin every inch of the way, Freddie managed to crawl across the room and then to stretch his tied hands up until he was finally able to grasp the scissors with his fingers.

Then, very carefully so that he didn't cut himself, Freddie maneuvered the sharp scissors around until he was finally able to slip them under the ropes binding his wrists and to cut himself free.

How much time had passed now? How long before Greg the Greek and his friends came back? Freddie didn't know. He only knew that he had to hurry as he frantically cut at the ropes binding his ankles together. At last his feet came free!

Then his frenzied fingers clawed at the tight knot holding the muffling cloth over his lips. The stubborn knot finally let his fingers pull it apart and then Freddie pulled the hot XXXX cloth off of his face and took a deep breath of fresh air. One more to go.

The second cotton rag was tied tighter than the first and so it took more precious time before he was finally able to claw the knot open and then pull the soggy band of rag cloth out of his mouth.

“Come on Chrissie! I don’t know where we're going or how we're going to live, but I’m not taking any swimming lessons tonight!”

Freddie the Ferret and Chrissie the Cat hurried out the door and then disappeared, never to be seen in that part of the world ever again.

THE END

Freddie the Ferret played by Cain

Chrissie the Cat played by Persephone

Photography by Caitiff

Date of Production 06/15/2005