The Aristokittens #1 (Volume 1)

The kittens huddled together, flattening their ears.

The French bulldog growled again and took a step closer. He had light brown fur and a white chest.

“I’ve got this,” Toulouse whispered as he moved protectively in front of his littermates. He then arched his back and fluffed up his tail, trying to make himself look much, much bigger. “Mrrrow! Ffft-ffft-ffft-ffft. Go away and leave us alone!”

Toulouse held up a paw, showing his tiny claws, and swiped at the air.

The bulldog froze in his tracks. His eyes grew wide.

“He’s frightened!” Marie whispered to Berlioz. “Maybe Toulouse has actually gotten much scarier!”

The dog burst out laughing.

He laughed so hard he flopped onto the ground, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Toulouse flattened his ears and tilted his head, looking confused. Marie took a deep breath and inched closer to the dog.

“What are you doing, Marie?” Berlioz called softly after her. “You could get hurt!”

Marie looked back at her brother and said, “Mama always tells us, ‘Good manners and kindness are always in fashion.’”

“Yeah,” Berlioz said, “but…I don’t think that bulldog cares about what’s in fashion.”

Marie kept approaching the dog, her whiskers quivering with fear. She’d almost reached him when he stopped laughing and suddenly sat up straight. She took a deep breath, gathered all her courage, and smiled her friendliest smile.

“G-good afternoon, monsieur. My n-n-name is Marie. Charmed to make your acquaintance.”

She held out a dainty paw.

The bulldog stared at the paw.

“Is it just me,” Berlioz whispered to his brother, “or does he look hungry?”

The bulldog sat up extra straight and…broke into a huge grin. He held out his own paw, touching it to Marie’s.

“Bonjour, Marie,” he said in a gruff but polite voice. “My name is Pierre.”

Marie looked over her shoulder at Berlioz and Toulouse. Her expression said, I told you so!

“I sure do hate it when she’s right,” Toulouse murmured.

“These are my brothers, Toulouse and Berlioz,” Marie told the bulldog. “I’m sure Toulouse is very sorry that he hissed and swatted at you like that. We were just frightened.”

“Oh, no harm done,” Pierre said. “I was scared, too. Apologies for all the barking and snarling. I often find rats here playing cards and eating the furniture, so that’s how I chase them away. When I got closer, I realized you were kittens!”

“Is this where you live?” Toulouse asked.

“Bah, no!” Pierre replied. “Perhaps you’ve seen the Luxembourg Brasserie restaurant across from the park? My humans are the owners. I live with them in the apartment right above.”

“We have seen the Luxembourg Brasserie!” Marie exclaimed. “Every time we walk by, our stepfather, Thomas, says those are his favorite smells in the whole world.”

“So what is this?” Toulouse asked. “Is it part of the restaurant?”

Pierre let out a sigh and started walking around the room. With his nose, he pushed a fallen chair back into place.

“This was a separate restaurant,” Pierre said softly. “Le Café des Creatures. Or as we all knew it, the Creature Café.”

“Humans,” Berlioz said, shaking his head. “Where do they come up with these names?”

“This wasn’t a human restaurant,” Pierre said with a knowing smile. “It was a restaurant for animals. All the animals of Paris, in fact! Whether you had fur or feathers or scales, if you had a tail or no tail…everyone was welcome. Even the rats—as long as they behaved themselves.”

Marie looked around at the broken chairs and tables and the old piano in the corner. “Oh, it must have been just super.”

Pierre sighed, then ran a paw along a dusty tabletop. “It really was. Always filled with music and delicious food and excellent company.”

“Well, now it’s a super mess,” Toulouse said.

“Toulouse!” Marie scolded, swatting her brother. “That’s rude!”

“Not rude at all,” Pierre said. “It is a mess. Bah! My dear friend Monsieur Midnight would be so sad to see his beautiful restaurant like this. He was the best feline chef in all of Paris, and he was always so proud of the café. My job was to bring him leftovers from the restaurant upstairs, and—voilà!—like magic, he would turn them into the most amazing dishes.”

“Where is Monsieur Midnight now?” Toulouse asked.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s living a fabulous life in America with his human,” Pierre replied. “Midnight’s human and my human are brothers, you see, and together they ran the restaurant upstairs. But the brothers had a big fight, and then Midnight and I had a fight over their fight. When his human left for New York City, Midnight went with him.”

Tears formed in Pierre’s eyes, and he dabbed at them with a paw.

“Oh, no,” Toulouse whispered to Marie and Berlioz. “I didn’t mean to make him so upset.”

“How can we cheer him up?” Marie asked.

“We could sing a song,” Berlioz suggested. “The one that always cheers up Mama when she’s feeling down.”

“That’s a great idea!” Marie said.

“Not that song,” Toulouse groaned, rolling his eyes. “You both sing it so loud.”

Marie stuck out her tongue at Toulouse. “Well, it’s two against one.” She turned to Pierre. “Monsieur Pierre, we have a little something to help you feel better. A one, a two, and a one-two-three.”

Berlioz sat down and started thumping one front paw against the floor, creating a beat. Then he and Marie began to sing:

When the world makes your fur stand on end

When you feel like you need a forever friend

Toulouse let out a sigh, then joined in, too.

Just call my name and flick your tail

I’ll come running, without fail

By the time the song ended, Pierre had stopped crying. He shuffled toward them and patted Berlioz’s head with a front paw.

“Thank you, kittens,” he said, quickly patting Marie and Toulouse as well. “I needed that. Will you come visit me again?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Marie said. “We come to the park all the time….”

She froze and turned to her brothers. They all exchanged glances and at the same time cried, “Mama!”

“I’m so sorry, Pierre,” Berlioz said. “Our mother and stepdad and human, they’re all across the street getting ready for a picnic. If they realize we’re not in the park—”

“They’ll think we’ve been catnapped again!” Marie finished the sentence for him. “But we’ll be back soon, we promise!”

The kittens raced toward the door to the alley, climbing over one another to be the first to make it through.