I woke up the next morning to find Heilley tucked into
bed next to me. Considering what she'd been through, I wasn't surprised. After
being kidnaped by Dr. Sloth, I'd want some comfort, too, when it came bedtime!
I grinned and stroked her as she lay on her stomach, dozing.
One eye opened, then the other. She slid me
a sideways glance. "Mmmm that feels good."
I grinned. "And just what are you planning to
do today?"
"Umm... stay in bed all day?"
I laughed at her mock hopeful expression, and
shoved her back. "Get going, you. That look is too perky to stay stuck in bed
any longer."
She giggled and rolled all the way off my bed,
hitting the floor and bouncing up like a rubber ball. "Well, meanie, since you
feel that way, I'm going to go fix my hair and then I'm going over to Koot's
house and play with her all day!" She stuck out her tongue, and I rolled my
eyes.
"Now that sounds more like the Heilley I know."
I got out of bed myself as she snickered and fled the room. It wasn't until
I'd started dressing that I remembered MonoKeras. Where was he? Had he gotten
back from that mysterious errand of last night?
Pulling things on, I crossed the hall and looked
into MonoKeras' and Kallisari's room. He was sitting up in his chair, looking
out the window at the morning sun. He noticed me, and motioned me to be quiet
as he pointed at Kallisari's sleeping form. I nodded, and beckoned him back
out into the hall. We tiptoed downstairs and into the study.
I shut the door behind us. "OK, out with it.
What's been happening?"
MonoKeras grinned. "Well the first thing is
that I got your money back!" He pointed to the knapsack sitting on top of the
coffee table.
My jaw dropped and I gulped. "How did you do
that?"
He rubbed his eyes with both hooves. "Hm. How
much do you know?"
"Not much. Heilley told me that they'd won so
much at Spectre's place that he and Sloth decided to kidnap them and use the
ransom money to make up their losses. I don't know how Sloth got into this,
though."
"He got into it almost a year ago, actually.
Spectre had so many debts out on his place that Sloth bought up the notes and
threatened to foreclose on him unless he gave Sloth a controlling interest in
the place."
I whistled softly. "Talk about a hostile takeover."
MonoKeras nodded. "And how. Spectre's been chewing
both flippers down to the cartilage, worrying about what Sloth is going to do
next. The first thing he did was to set up a secret lab below the casino and
use it for research into a kyrii transmogrification potion, among other things."
"Another secret lab?"
MonoKeras laughed. "That's what I thought when
I first found the plans in Spectre's office."
"Oh, yeah, and what made you suspect him anyway?"
He shrugged. "Easy. I suspected trouble there
from the start, but the Pteri threw me off. Not her fault, she was honest enough.
I just didn't ask the right questions. But what clinched it was the notes that
you and Meggiemufin got. They were exactly the same, and they both said that
the kidnapper had been out money- and wanted it back. Now knowing those two,
what's the only place that has been out money on both of them any time lately?"
I sighed. "The casino."
"Exactly. So that's why I investigated."
"But how did you get my money back?"
"Ah, that's a slightly longer story. Sloth came
in while I was hunting Spectre's office. I zapped him with my lightning beam
and moon staff, then locked Sun Pegasus on him for questioning. Afterwards,
I forced him to drink a knockout potion. Then I went downstairs and destroyed
the lab, and right after that I met and cornered Spectre."
I was struggling to keep up with all of this.
"All at the casino? They must have gone there right after doing all of their
other stuff."
"Of course. It was their headquarters, after
all. Sloth had a shorter trip so he got there first. Anyhow, when Spectre found
out I had knocked Sloth out, he proposed a deal. Help him get rid of Sloth,
and he'd return the money."
"All two million Neopoints? After going to all
the trouble of kidnaping Heilley and Kootmufin?"
"Hey, from his perspective, it was worth it.
Besides, he really didn't care about the money anyway. He's been cheating so
much on the books that he's got lots of millions stashed away who knows where.
The only reason Sloth ever managed to foreclose on him was because he got so
greedy that he drove the business into debt."
I whistled. "You mean Heilley and Kootmufin
didn't cost him after all?"
MonoKeras shook his head. "If anything, Heilley's
article and notoriety has helped his business. But when Sloth started pressing
him for profits from the business, he used them as scapegoats to explain the
losses. Then he proposed the kidnap plan to make up the phoney losses."
"Why that little...." I breathed in wonder.
"He had it all figured out, didn't he."
"Just about. The only thing he didn't know was
how to get rid of Sloth once he'd gotten in. That's where I came in. When he
found out I'd knocked Sloth out, he figured he had a potentially powerful ally."
"I see. So how did you succeed where he failed?"
"Partly luck," MonoKeras admitted. "After we'd
struck the bargain- I'd get rid of Sloth and he'd give the money back- we went
upstairs to find Sloth gone and the security system showing the remains of the
lab. Apparently Sloth came to while we were talking, checked on the lab and
found it ruined, then scrammed. I left, promising to do what I could. I went
to my office and did a bit of hunting through some of my sources on the Neonet,
but no spycams had seen him, and I couldn't find any financial traces of any
foreclosure threats. I came home, though, and found him flying out our front
door...."
"Right, I heard about that. So the papers they
said you found?"
"Yeah, those were the notes. He'd apparently
gotten them and was going to go fulfill his foreclosure threats when he stopped
off for a spot of kidnaping on the side."
"So you take the notes to Spectre and he gives
you the money." MonoKeras nodded. "Sweet deal. I guess that gets rid of all
our worries now except Sloth himself. What will we do if he comes back?"
MonoKeras coughed. "I doubt he does. After he
pulls himself out of the Maraquan whirlpool, he's probably going to think long
and hard before tangling with Emerald again. She really burned him badly."
I laughed. "You know, I wonder why he ever even
bothers."
"Why's that?"
"Well, from talking with Heilley and Kootmufin
when we first found them, plus now talking with you and the others, I'm just
counting this up. In this one little escapade alone, Sloth got Kyrii bitten
on both hands and a slammed toe. Then he gets Kyrii bitten again in the wrist
and ankle and you slam him with your weapons and burn him with Sun Pegasus.
Then after his stuff is destroyed, his efforts at revenge net him two more nasty
burns from Emerald, plus a wing slap from you that knocks him cold! He's a walking
disaster magnet!"
MonoKeras chortled so hard he practically rolled
out of his chair. "He's probably asking himself the same questions right now!
That's why I don't think he'll be back. He knows when he's been whipped."
I snickered. "And bitten and burned and slammed...."
we shared a laugh and I dismissed the worries about Sloth from my mind.
A week later saw a new set of worries entering
my consciousness. MonoKeras found me in the living room, hanging up the phone.
"Who was that?"
I shook my head. "You'll never believe it. Or
maybe you will at that. It was Spectre. He's wondering where Heilley and Kootmufin
have been."
"So?"
"So he wants them back there playing at his
casino!"
"Yeah. So? I told you he made money off them."
"I guess I didn't realise how much. I told him
I'd let them know, but they both refuse to step a paw in there again."
MonoKeras snorted. "Do you blame them?"
"Hardly," I sighed. "But that's not the only
problem. Heilley has been hanging out at Kootmufin's house, and she and Koot
are busily eating Meggiemufin out of house and home. Those orange and splime
muffins of hers are becoming an endangered Neopian species."
"Interesting," MonoKeras remarked. "But I don't
see anything bad wrong with it."
"Bad wrong? MonoKeras, haven't you seen Heilley
the last couple of days? She's gained at least five pounds this last week! Another
few weeks and she's going to be rolling in and out that door!"
"Uh oh. You're thinking bulimia? "
"Minus the purging bit," I added grimly. "Those
muffins made a really big impression on them when we first found them. I'm thinking
too big."
MonoKeras nodded hesitantly. "Well maybe this
will snap her out of it. Show her she's wanted again."
"Worth a try. I'm going over to talk to both
of them."
Meggiemufin met me at the door, muffin pan in
one mitted hand. I explained to her about Spectre's call and what was up, and
she readily agreed that we needed to tell the girls. She was worried about it
as much as I was. I went up to Koot's bedroom and found Heilley and Koot sacked
out on Koot's bed, looking through a beauty magazine while they both munched
on muffins.
"Hey you two."
"Oh, that's a cool one there, the white lace....
oh! Hi!" Heilley looked up. "Want a muffin?"
I rolled my eyes. "No thanks. I had an interesting
phone call that I thought you ought to know about."
"Mrrmph..." Kootmufin gulped down the last of
her bite. "What's that?" she asked.
"Spectre wants you."
They both went still and their eyes grew wide.
"Sp... Spectre?" Heilley asked. "But he practically
scared the wits out of us! Or had Sloth do it anyhow. What's he want with us?"
"He wants you in his casino playing his games."
"NO WAY!" they both chorused.
"You think I'm crazy?" Heilley added.
I sighed. "Look, did either MonoKeras or I ever
tell you the whole story behind this?"
Kootmufin looked at me suspiciously. "What do
you think, Heilley? Did we get it all or not?"
Heilley frowned, then shrugged. "I dunno. You
can't really trust what Sloth says can you?"
"Well, Sloth didn't know this, either," I replied.
"The truth is, you've actually made money for Spectre by attracting more business.
He just told Sloth all that line about you costing him to get Sloth off his
back."
"Whaaaattt? You mean we suffered all that to
save Spectre's slimy skin?"
"And he expects us to come back?" Kootmufin
chimed in.
I leaned down and grabbed both of them by their
necks. Holding their gaze, I continued. "Look you two, aren't you listening?
He wants you. You are an asset to him. He needs you down there. You're more
than just welcome. When you don't show, he calls looking for you. Don't you
understand that???"
"Yeah well he didn't call me," Kootmufin grumbled.
Heilley's anger turned partly thoughtful. "OK.
Ohhhk. If he thinks he wants us, let him put his money where his mouth is. He
apparently thinks so much of his money. Prove it!"
"Huh?"
"If he's making money on me, let him give me
part of the profits!"
I nodded. "Good idea. Why don't you call him
and work out a deal on that?"
"I will!" She leaped off the bed and trotted
out to use the phone. Kootmufin pulled her own lip as she mulled things over
while I held my breath, hoping that it would all work out OK.
I knew it had when Heilley drifted into the
room with stars in her eyes. "It's a go! Five hundred Neopoints every day we
play there at least two hours."
Koot blinked. "Huh?"
"We're in the moolah, Koot! He's gonna pay us
money just to show up and play!"
Koot's jaw dropped. "You mean....?"
Heilley reached up and grabbed her friend's
paw. "I mean we're heading back down there now! The firm of Heilley and Kootmufin,
card Jetsams, is back in business!!"
The End
With special thanks to Meggiemufin, for introducing me to her pet Kootmufin
and for her generous permission to use her and her pet in this series! | 
