Andrew Mackay - Infinity Claws

“Mom, I’m scared,” Jamie shot her a look and grabbed Jelly’s cage handle.

“Me too, poppet,” she said over Jelly’s whining from within the cage. “But we have to go, right? We can’t very well have the driver turn around and take us back to the hotel, can we?”

Jamie shook his head enthusiastically. “We’re here to win. We’re going to win, aren’t we?”

Emily smiled. She knew she had to fabricate the truth and keep her son’s spirit up.

“Brits? Second to a Russian? We already had one cold war,” Emily snorted and kicked the back door open. “And I’m all for doing it again if they want to mess around with us.”

“Wait,” Jamie called after her as the crowd whistled at her. “What’s a cold war?”

“Doesn’t matter, poppet,” Emily pointed at the crowd behind her, “Bring Jelly out. Let’s show these Americans that victory always begins at home .”

Jamie didn’t know what his mother had meant by that, but he trusted her enough to jump out of the car to an adoring crowd.

“We love you, Jamie,” screamed a bunch of similarly-aged American girls from behind the railings.

“Jelly! Jelly! Jelly!”

Dreenagh clapped and whistled along with the crowd. “There she is, little Jelly Anderson all the way from the United Kingdom.”

Jamie marveled at the sheer enormity of the crowd. A first taste of super-stardom which overwhelmed him to the point of hysteria.

“Hello, everybody,” Jamie waved as he and his mother walked along the carpet.

This time, security came running over to greet and escort them. “Mrs Anderson?”

“Ms Anderson, thank you very much,” Emily said, walking alongside them toward the arena doors. “Take us inside, please.”

“Yes, of course,” the security guard walked with her, trying to remember the name of her contestant. “As soon as you’re in, we need to take, uh…”

“—Jelly, mister?” Jamie corrected him.

“Yes, Jelly,” The guard turned to Emily and ushered her forward. “As soon as we’re through the doors, we’ll get you and your son in makeup. An official will take Jelly to the prep room.”

A teenage Star Cat Trials official named Lindsey ushered Jamie through a tunnel. He’d been separated from his mother.

“Where are we going?” Jamie asked, suddenly aware that he was on his own.

“We’re going to the main stage. You’ll get to meet the finalists. Won’t that be fun?”

“Why are you talking to me like I’m a child?”

“You are a child, aren’t you?” Lindsey spat, looking up the length of the corridor.

“Yes, but I’m not stupid,” Jamie raced forward, catching up with Lindsay.

“No, of course you’re not.”

The audience hubbub came from behind the walls. It felt like there were at least a million people in attendance.

Anxiety rushed through Jamie’s body. “I want my mom.”

“No, sweetie. She’ll be in the audience. You’ll see her in the family and friends section.” Lindsey clicked a button on her headset. “Approaching door B-Two, now. Are the others ready?”

“Yes, they’re waiting for you, now,” came the response. “Five minutes till show time.”

The stage music and audience commotion grew louder and louder as the pair approached a set of double doors.

Lindsey reached the door handle and grabbed it, shooting him a smile. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Honestly, there’s nothing to worry about,” Lindsey chuckled. She developed a soft spot for the kid right there and then. “We’ll walk in and Gunnar will introduce you all. Just do as he says.”

“Okay.”

The stage doors flew open.

Lindsey and Jamie approached the arena’s central stage to overwhelming applause. Music played amid an array of fireworks.

Jamie looked up and saw his name and nationality on the mega-screen. He looked at the audience. Most were in pitch darkness due to the colossal stage lamps shining in his eyes from the gods.

“And finally,” Gunnar said from under the spotlight, “All the way from the United Kingdom… Jamie Anderson and his contender, Jelly. ”

Another spotlight shone down on Jelly, who sat patiently at the right of the stage. Next to her was Bisoubisou, the Russian Blue. Next to her sat a white American bobtail. Each had a plastic tie around their necks which shackled them to the wall. They were very unhappy about the restriction.

The audience continued their adoration as Jamie made his way to a marked-out area in front of a grid of twenty-four panels, measuring five-by-five feet.

“So, we’re down to three. The cream of the crop,” Gunnar said over the music as Jamie, Remy and a girl each took their respective grids. “Just two more rounds in the finals of the Star Cat Trials, here we go…”

The music thundered across the arena as the lights dimmed down, forcing everyone to focus on the mega-screen.

Three handlers unfastened the plastic shackles on each cat and carried them over to their respective grids.

A female voice narrated the event as the three kids and their cats prepared to begin the event.

“Each contestant has a grid of twenty-four panels that light up. The owner will use their gears to light up one panel at a time. Each time their cat hits the corresponding panel, they will score one point. Will their pet obey their instruction? Welcome… to Obedience …”

Jamie looked at a panel of gears on a machine deck in front of him. He made a face at Remy, who fiddled with his controls in the middle of the three contestant line-up.

“Hey, I’m Jamie.”

“I know,” Remy said in his Russian accent, trying to ignore the kid. “I saw your name on the screen. Do not talk to me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Remy.”

“Remy, it’s very nice to meet—”

“—Do not talk to me. English .”

Jamie mocked the boy with his face, “Do not look at me.”

He looked over at the girl, who sat to Remy’s right. “Who’s she?”

“I said do not speak to me, English. You must concentrate,” Remy nodded at his Bisoubisou. She lifted her paw and waved back, as if on cue. “You ready, Bisoubisou?”

“Meow,” she responded, frightened by the impressive arena lights.

Jamie decided to enact the same action with Jelly. “Hey, girl. You ready?”

Jelly didn’t say anything as her handler plonked her on the starting grid. No lift of the paw. Jamie felt immediately inferior and wondered why Jelly didn’t wave back like Bisoubisou had done with Remy.

Of course, they didn’t have that kind of a relationship. Remy had clearly done his homework. It pleased the Russian kid no end that the stupid Brit hadn’t taken the time to train his own pet.

“Useless, English.”

“Shut up,” was Jamie’s provocative retort.

Gunnar waved his hands and held the microphone to his mouth. “Okay, I think the contenders are ready.”

A dramatic game show-like synthesizer replaced the music.

Jamie, Remy, and Leesa’s gears lit up.

“And… go!” Gunnar said.

Jamie looked at his controls without the faintest idea what to do. “What do I do?”

Remy looked over and smirked. “Make it up, English.”

“Okay, Russian ,” Jamie muttered sarcastically as he hit the first panel on his deck. It lit up and seemed to growl. He lifted his head and nodded at Jelly. “Go on, girl.”

She trundled forward and sat in the middle of the grid on the lit panel. It sunk in a few inches and made a “ping’ noise, indicating that she’d selected the right one.