The Case of the Crafty Christmas Crooks

by Cindy Vincent

Mrs. Nelson, on the other hand, was the kind of lady who stood out in a crowd. She had black hair and dancing blue eyes. And she seemed to have a lot of energy.

  She pointed to a plate of cookies on an end table. "Mike and Mesmeralda were so kind to bring us Christmas cookies."

  I looked over and saw cookies in the shape of snowflakes, angels, Christmas trees and Christmas ornaments. There were bells and Santa Clauses and holly leaves and candy canes. Just like the cookies I'd seen at the Mitchells' house. Every one of them was decorated with icing in red, green, white, or blue. Let me tell you, each one of those cookies was a work of art. They were so pretty, someone could have hung them on the Christmas tree and they would have looked just like ornaments.

  Our Mom smiled at the Mitchells. "That was so sweet of you. I'm sure it will help keep the Christmas spirit alive."

  The Mitchells both frowned and didn't say a word.

  Mr. Nelson ran his fingers through his gray hair and turned to our Mom. "I don't know what we're going to do. Our son and his wife and our grandkids are flying in right before Christmas. And all their presents are gone. We can't afford to buy more."

  Our Mom tilted her head and gave Mr. Nelson the same look she gave Gracie when she'd scraped her knee. "Don't worry, Nate. The people of St. Gertrude are really good people. We'll all pitch in together and help you out."

  Mrs. Mitchell sighed. "We don't have any Christmas presents under our tree either."

  Mr. Mitchell put his arm around her. "Don't cry, Mesmeralda. At least we have our health."

  Mrs. Nelson went over and put her arm around Mrs. Mitchell, too. "Christmas isn't just about presents, Mesmeralda. It's about so much more."

  I smiled inside. I knew Mrs. Nelson was right. The Wise One had told me so last night.

  "Don't worry, Mesmeralda," our Mom said. "The good people of St. Gertrude won't forget about you either. I sure hope these awful burglars are caught soon."

  And speaking of catching burglars . . . I watched Bogey jump down from Mrs. Nelson's arms. He ran behind the Christmas tree without anyone noticing. But I knew exactly what he was doing. He was checking out the scene of the crime!

  Holy Catnip!

  I was about to jump down, too, when Gracie suddenly hugged me tighter and bounced to the center of the room. "Don't forget to come to the Christmas play at my school, everyone. That will help you get into the Christmas spirit! I'm going to be the angel."

  Mrs. Nelson came over and gave Gracie and me a hug. "Good for you, dear. You'll be a wonderful angel."

  Then she stood back and patted me on the head. "You're an angel, too, Buckley. Wish I had a cat like you, too."

  That's when I climbed up Gracie's shoulder. I reached over to Mrs. Nelson and gave her a kiss on the nose.

  Everyone laughed. Except for the Mitchells.

  "Do you always take your cats everywhere you go?" Mrs. Mitchell asked quietly.

  Our Mom stood up. "Not everywhere. But lots of places. And right now it's time for us to take them home. So Nate and Nellie can eat their pizza while it's still warm."

  Mrs. Nelson smiled. "Well, I, for one, am happy you brought them over today. We always enjoy a visit from the boys."

  Our Mom called to Bogey and he came running from behind the Christmas tree. She picked him up, and Mr. and Mrs. Nelson walked us to the door. They thanked us all again for the pizza.

  A few minutes later, we were headed home. The streetlamps overhead lit the way.

  "What did you learn?" I meowed to my brother.

  He leaned up on our Mom's shoulder. "It was the same as yesterday, kid. I could smell everyone who was there, and maybe the slight scent of Officer Smiley. But no one else. These burglars are brilliant, kid. They've figured out a way to break in, steal stuff, and not leave a trace behind. Like I said, they're real criminal masterminds."

  There was that word again. Criminal mastermind.

  The idea of it made me shiver. I snuggled in tighter to Gracie. That was, until something caught my eye.

  I popped my head up and stared at our own house, up ahead. Something was happening. There was a bunch of stuff on our front yard. And I could barely make out someone going in the front door.

  Was it the burglars? Had they shown up at our house, too? Were we being robbed?

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER_11

  __________________________

  Holy Mackerel! My heart started pounding a million miles an hour. I hollered to my brother as he was being carried by our Mom.

  "Bogey, Bogey!" I meowed as loud as I could. I tried to jump from Gracie's arms. I had to warn her and our Mom.

  But Gracie just giggled. "Buckley, I'm not letting you down out here. I don't want you to get lost outside."

  Bogey tilted his ears toward me. "What is it, kid?"

  By now I was in such a frenzy that I could hardly get the words out. "Bogey . . . look! Our front lawn!"

  Bogey closed his eyes and yawned. "Yup, kid. That's our front lawn up there, all right."

  "But Bogey," I gasped. "I think the burglars are there. They're breaking in!"

  Bogey glanced over at our house and then back to me. "Don't sweat it, kid."

  Holy Catnip! Burglars were breaking into our house, and all Bogey could say was "don't sweat it"? I could hardly believe my ears. Right then and there, I was sure he'd been hitting the cat treats a little too hard. Or maybe he didn't get enough catnaps today and he wasn't thinking straight.

  I tried to jump around in Gracie's arms, but she was holding on to me tight. No matter how much I tried to wriggle away, she wasn't going to let me go.

  "Shouldn't we stop them?" I hollered. "Shouldn't someone call the police? Shouldn't we protect our Mom and Gracie?"

  Bogey shook his head. "Nope, kid. It's not burglars. Nobody's breaking in."

  "They're not?" I squeaked.

  "Look again, kid," Bogey told me. "Our Dad just walked out the front door."

  I took another look, and sure enough, the person who walked out was our Dad.

  Bogey waved a paw my way. "He's just setting out the lawn ornaments, kid."

  Right about then, I started to feel pretty dizzy. Lawn ornaments? I vaguely remembered Bogey telling me about lawn ornaments.

  And now as we moved closer, I could see some big things cut out of wood sitting on the yard. Those things were painted and looked a lot like . . . people. People wearing robes.

  I calmed down in Gracie's arms. "What is that?"

  Bogey nodded to our front yard. "It's called a Nativity scene, kid. There's Joseph and Mary. They're Jesus' Mom and Dad. Then there's baby Jesus lying in a manger on a bed of straw. And there's some sheep and some other people, too."

  I nodded back. "Oh, okay, I can see it now. What is that big wooden thing around it?"

  Bogey grinned. "It's the outline of the stable, kid. It's supposed to show the night when Jesus was born. Pretty soon Dad will put up a big star that lights up. And he'll hang strings of lights from it that look like star trails. Plus he'll put up lots of other lights."

  "Wow," I breathed.

  Baby Jesus lying in a manger. I'd heard the whole story the night before from the Wise One.

  Wow, this Jesus must be some guy.

  A few minutes later, Gracie passed me to our Dad. "I don't know what's bothering Buckley. He sure is squirmy tonight."

  Our Dad had his winter jacket on. The fleece felt nice and soft against my fur.

  "Too much Christmas excitement for you, Buckley?" he asked as he held me in his arms.

  Boy, he could sure say that again.

  That night, our Mom and Dad and Gracie ate pizza while us cats ate our favorite food — tuna fish. Our humans talked mostly about the break-ins in the neighborhood. But then their conversation quickly turned to the Craft Fair on Saturday. Gracie wanted to make sure she had enough collars in enough different colors for people to buy. And our Dad talked about the last of the Christmas lawn ornaments he needed to paint. All in all, it sounded like they would b
e taking lots of stuff to the Craft Fair.

  Once Bogey and I had finished our tuna, we lounged next to Gracie at the dinner table.

  She reached down to pet me. "You and Bogey can come to the Craft Fair, too. You can model some cat collars and help me sell them."

  Our Dad laughed. "I even have a little red wooden wagon for you that I made. It looks like a small version of Santa's sleigh, except it has wheels hidden below. Buckley can pull it and Bogey can ride in it. That way they'll help sell collars and lawn ornaments."

  I turned to my brother, who had a huge grin on his face. "Watch out, kid. Soon they'll have us doing all kinds of things they think are cute."

  I backed under the kitchen table. After all, I'd been down that road of having to be "cute" before. And believe me, there was nothing cute about it!

  Later, after dinner, Gracie went back to sewing cat Christmas collars and our Mom and Dad finished decorating the front lawn. When they were done, Bogey and I just sat in the dining room and stared out the windows. I couldn't stop looking at all the pretty blinking lights. And I couldn't stop looking at what Bogey had called a Nativity scene.

  But once in a while I looked back at the pretty Christmas tree in the hallway. It had blinking lights, too. Seems like we were surrounded by lots of pretty things.

  Holy Mackerel. When Bogey said Christmas was the best, well, he wasn’t kidding.

  Bogey passed me a cat treat. "Here's a little dessert for you, kid. Hope you're ready for a lot of surveillance runs tonight."

  "Aye, aye," I told him. But this time I didn't even try to salute him. I was just too busy looking at all the lights.

  Later, after our humans had gone to bed, we did run surveillance. Lil even offered to help us and she ran a few shifts, too.

  All in all, the night was pretty quiet. There wasn't a burglar in sight. And believe me, nothing could have made me happier.

  In the morning, after Gracie had gone to school and our Dad had gone to work, Bogey insisted we head straight for the kitchen.

  "No matter what, kid. We've gotta go to work with our Mom today," he told me.

  I followed along behind him. "So we can investigate Nunzio's shop, right?"

  Bogey made a beeline for the kitchen cabinets. "You got it, kid."

  He jumped up on the counter and planted himself right across our Mom's purse! "Come on up and join me, kid. Today she's not going anywhere without us."

  I ran up to the cabinet but I stayed on the floor. "Um, I think I'll wait down here."

  After all, I was a little nervous about jumping up on the kitchen counter. Especially since we weren't actually supposed to go on the counter. And I really didn't want to get in trouble and end up in time-out.

  Bogey grinned down at me. "Suit yourself, kid."

  He slipped a bag of cat treats into the pocket of her purse. "Like I said before, kid, desperate times call for desperate measures. Just look as adorable as you possibly can. Our Mom can never resist us when we look adorable."

  And sure enough, Bogey was right. When our Mom was ready to go, she ran into the kitchen to grab her purse and her keys. That's when she saw us. At first she kind of gasped. Then she looked a little bit mad, and finally she sighed.

  "Let me guess," she said with a smile. "You boys want to come to the store with me today."

  Bogey reached up and gave her a kiss on the nose. And I rubbed up against her legs.

  She laughed. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

  And minutes later, we were off.

  It only took about fifteen minutes to get to our Mom's store. Her antique shop, Abigail's Antiques, was probably the most popular antique store in downtown St. Gertrude.

  Our Mom carried us both in through the back door and set us on the floor. Because she took us to work a lot, she already had an area in the back all set up for us. We had our own food and water dish. Plus a cat box, beds, and toys.

  Not that we had time to play with toys at her shop. That's because the place was loaded with lots of old furniture that was stacked all over the place. And there were rows and rows of shelves and display cases. It was a perfect place for cats like us to explore.

  Nunzio's Novelties and Knick-Knacks Shop was located right next door. Our Mom had taken us over there once before. And we'd even wandered over a time or two on our own, without her knowing we'd been there. But generally speaking, we stayed away from the place. That's because Nunzio had made it clear he didn't like us. He was a big man with dark, dark eyes, and even darker hair. And believe me, when that man stared at me, well, it felt like his eyes were boring right into me. Kind of like he had laser beams instead of eyes.

  But today, we didn't care whether he liked us or not. Today we were going over to investigate. The only problem was, first we had to sneak out of our Mom's store. Without her seeing us.

  While our Mom went to the front of the shop, Bogey and I stayed in the back. The ladies who worked for her, Millicent and Merryweather, were already in the front. We could hear them greet our Mom when she walked in.

  Bogey pulled the bag of cat treats from our Mom's purse. "Okay, kid. The best time to make our move will probably be around lunchtime. That's when our Mom and Millicent take their lunch breaks. Merryweather will be in charge and she'll have her hands full. Plus that's the time when Nunzio takes his lunch break, too. And he only leaves one employee, Brutus, to run the store."

  He passed me a cat treat and took one for himself.

  I munched on the treat and nodded. I was trying my very best to remember all I had to remember about this big plan.

  Bogey grabbed a couple more treats. "We'll zoom out the door when a customer comes in. We'll have to be really stealthy, kid. We can't risk having someone see us. Otherwise they'll come after us and bring us back."

  I nodded. "Got it."

  Bogey glanced into the main part of the store. "But first, I think we'd be wise to get some shuteye, kid. We need to be good and alert for this investigation. We'll wake up just before noon."

  "Aye, aye," I told him. I was going to salute, but I was just too tired.

  Instead I curled up on one of the cat beds our Mom had left at the shop for us. I tried to doze off, but thoughts of burglars and Santa Claus and Christmas cookies just kept floating into my mind.

  But I must have dozed off at some point. Because, the next thing I knew, Bogey was shaking me.

  "Time to get up, kid," he meowed quietly. "It's almost noon."

  With those words, I popped my eyes open and sat up straight. Then I followed Bogey into the main area of the store. That's where we found Millicent and Merryweather talking to our Mom about a big, antique dresser. Millicent had short, curly gray hair and dark-framed glasses that she wore on the end of her nose. She was dressed in a black pantsuit, while Merryweather was dressed in a red polka-dot dress. It matched her red hair and her pretty pink, pointy glasses. Our Mom called them cat-eye glasses. I have to say, I sure liked that name a lot.

  Millicent spotted us at once. "Oh, hello, boys," she said. "I didn't know you two came to work today."

  Our Mom laughed. "They were pretty determined to get here. But it looks like they just showed up to take a good nap."

  Merryweather finished writing out a price tag for the dresser. "That's a cat for you. They'll go out a door, only to want to come right back in again."

  Millicent knelt down to pet us. "Would you like me to bring back some leftovers from my lunch? I'm having fried chicken today."

  Holy Catnip! She didn't have to ask us twice. Bogey and I rubbed up against her, and I gave her a kiss on the nose. I wanted to let her know that I really, really liked that idea. A lot.

  Now our Mom picked us up one at a time and gave us a kiss on the head. "You boys be good. Millicent and I will both be gone for an hour. Merryweather will be keeping an eye on you. I'll be back right after lunch."

  I gave my Mom a kiss on the nose, too.

  As soon and she and Millicent had left, Merryweather pointed her finger at us. "I know you boy
s, and I've got a feeling you're up to something. So don't get any ideas of doing something sneaky on my watch."

  Neither Bogey nor I so much as meowed in return. Instead we just sat staring at her, purring as loud as we could.

  "Uh-huh," Merryweather told us. "Don't think I'm fooled for one minute by that sweet, innocent look. And don't forget, there are cameras all over the store. So I'll be keeping an eye on you two."

  Luckily for us, the bell at the front door jingled and a customer walked in. It was a blonde-haired lady wearing a big, fuzzy jacket.

  I looked at my brother. "Cameras? She's got cameras?"

  Bogey shifted his eyes from one side to the other. "Yup, kid, she does. Our Mom has security cameras to make sure no one comes in and steals stuff. But don't sweat it. Let's just inch our way to the front door."

  "Um, okay," I said out of the side of my mouth. "But how? She'll see us."

  Bogey ducked down so he was almost flat to the floor. "Just don't make any sudden moves, kid. Nothing that would catch Merryweather's eye. Be stealthy, like I taught you."

  "Aye, aye," I whispered back.

  I didn't even try to salute, in case Merryweather might see me. Instead I flattened myself out like Bogey did. Then I followed him around the counter and past the place where the cash register was set up.

  Next we ran under a settee and a pair of matching chairs. We zigzagged around a camelback sofa and paused behind a bookcase. We ran around that bookcase and then another one. Finally, we passed a few display cases and we were just a few feet from the front door.

  That's when Bogey paused. "Let's zoom out the front door when the customer goes out, kid. But we've gotta move fast. We won't have much of a window of opportunity, as they say."

  "They do?" I whispered back.

  I tried to scrunch down even closer to the floor. But it was kind of hard for a guy my size to get any flatter.

  Bogey's tail twitched back and forth, and he put his weight on his back legs. I could tell he was getting ready to leap.

  "Yup, kid," he told me. "Now concentrate. We're going to have to spring on outta here."

  We could hear Merryweather chatting and laughing with her customer. Then finally, we heard the customer's footsteps moving in our direction, just one row away. Any second now, she'd be approaching the front door and opening it.