Whiskerful Thinking

by Patricia Fry

  "Can I run?" Lily asked. "I want to run."

  "Sure," Savannah said. "Just stay where you can see me." When Lily hesitated, she explained, "If you can see me I can see you."

  "Okay, Mommy," Lily said running ahead of her.

  They had run around the lawn three times when Lily sat down on a rock.

  "Tired?" Savannah asked.

  Lily nodded, then she slipped the collar she still held over Lexie's head. "Look, it fits Lexie," she announced. "I put the collar on Lexie."

  "Yes," Savannah said. "Lexie has a small head. Did you slip it over her head?"

  Lily nodded. "It fits her neck, too."

  "Yeah, so maybe the dog who lost it wasn't so small after all. She just had a small neck."

  "You look pretty, Lexie," Lily said.

  Savannah smiled. "Ready to go around again?" she asked. "Teddy's ready. Just look at him run." She laughed when he fell on the lawn and rolled over and over, giggling. She picked up Rags, then trotted to Teddy and tickled him on the tummy. She gave the toddler a hand up and asked, "Ready to run some more?" But before they could get up any speed, they heard a friendly voice.

  "Hello there."

  Savannah looked around and saw a woman of about seventy strolling along a paved path next to the park. "Hi," she said.

  "I'm wondering where you got that collar," the woman said, pointing. "The one that's on your dog. Is that your dog?"

  "Yes," Savannah said. "Oh, we found it."

  The woman gasped. "Where?" she asked. "Where did you find it?" She walked closer to Lexie, leaned over, and studied the pink collar. Wiping tears from her eyes, she said, "That's Millie's collar. Where'd you get it?"

  Before she could respond, Savannah heard Adam calling her name. She looked up and saw the boy running toward her with something in his hand. Michael followed carrying the shovel.

  "What is it?" she asked, when they'd caught up to her.

  "It's a note," Adam said, sounding out of breath. "We found it where the collar was buried."

  "A note?" Savannah questioned, glancing at the woman, who was still dabbing at her tears. "I'm sorry," she said tenderly. "Did something happen to your dog? The one that wore this collar?"

  The woman nodded.

  "By the way, I'm Savannah Ivey. This is my husband, Michael, and our children. We just stopped here to have lunch, and our cat found the collar in some soft dirt over in that flower bed near the parking lot. I thought he was going to, well, you know, but he just kept digging and pretty soon came up with this."

  "Can you show me where he found it?" the woman asked. "That might help us determine what happened to Millie." She began to weep again, then faced the others. "I'm sorry. I'm Diane. I lost Millie last week, and I've been so upset. I put up signs with my phone number, but no one has called."

  "Like this sign?" Adam asked, holding up a poster.

  "Yes," she said. "No one ever called. I'm worried sick about Millie."

  "Someone wrote on the sign," Adam said. "See? They crossed off your phone number and wrote on here."

  "What?" Diane asked. "Where did you find this?"

  "Over there where Rags found the collar," Adam said.

  "Why would someone scratch off my phone number?" she asked.

  "Because it was wrong," Adam said. "Look, they wrote you a note."

  Diane took the poster and looked more closely at it. She read slowly, "Your phone number is no good. I have your dog. Call me." Wide-eyed, she said, "Oh my goodness. Someone has Millie. I must go home and call the number." She looked up at Michael. "Or do you think this is one of those scams people perpetrate on us seniors? My son is always warning me about telephone scammers. I'm practically afraid to talk to anyone anymore."

  "Here," Savannah said, pulling out her phone, "I'll call. What's the number?"

  Diane read the number from the poster and Savannah placed the call. She offered Diane the phone. "Would you like to talk to them?"

  "No, if you don't mind," Diane said. "I'm so nervous and I don't hear well on those tiny phones."

  Savannah smiled and said into the phone, "Hello, I'm calling about the lost dog. We just found your number on one of the posters."

  "Oh," the person on the other end said, "I was hoping you'd find the poster with my number. I never could get through on your number, but I was pretty sure whoever owned this sweet dog would want her back. I saw some kids playing with her behind the recreation center. I thought she belonged to them, but when they left, the dog was alone. No one claimed her, so I took her home. Later I went back and saw the poster. She sure is a dear thing. I imagine you've missed her terribly."

  "Well, she isn't mine," Savannah said, "but I'm standing here with the owner. Her name's Diane."

  "Oh that's right," the woman said. "I saw that on the poster. I'm Lynn, by the way."

  "Hi, Lynn," Savannah said. "Listen, we're at the park now. Where are you? Do you still have the dog?"

  "Yes. I was planning to keep her if no one came forward."

  "Bless you," Savannah said, "but maybe you could find one just as sweet at a local animal shelter. The owner of that one, if it's the right dog, is awfully eager to have her back."

  "No problem. I'm just around the corner from the park. I'll walk her over right now. Can you all wait?"

  "Yes, we'll be here. Thank you so much," Savannah said.

  "Do they have Millie?" Diane asked hesitantly.

  "I think so," Savannah said. "She's bringing her to you right now."

  "Oh my goodness, I don't know how to thank you people," Diane said. "This is wonderful. I've been so lonely. My son offered to get me another dog, but I squelched that idea right away. I just want my Millie back."

  "How did you lose her?" Michael asked.

  "I'm not sure. My son said I need a better latch on my gate. I live a short distance from here, and this is such an attraction for Millie. She loves to visit with the families who gather on the weekend. My great-grandchildren were visiting the day she disappeared. They might not have secured the latch. I'm pretty sure that's how she got out. Or someone took her."

  "What kind of dog is she?" Savannah asked.

  Diane showed her the small snapshot on the poster.

  "A Papillion?" Savannah said.

  "Part Papillion. She has those wonderful ears. She's just a great doggie companion. She was a rescue, you see." Just then, Diane's eyes lit up. "Millie," she said under her breath. "Oh, Millie!" She began fanning herself with the poster.

  "Would you like to sit down?" Savannah asked. "Here, Lily found this cool rock to sit on. Can you make room for Diane, honey?"

  Lily scooted over, and Savannah helped Diane to sit down.

  "Millie," Diane called as the dog drew closer.

  Everyone laughed when Millie became so excited she leaped against the leash, causing the woman to let go. The little dog ran to Diane with such exuberance she almost knocked her off the rock. Everyone smiled with delight at the sweet reunion, and Savannah took a few photos.

  "Thank you so much, Lynn," Savannah said.

  "Is this your mother?" Lynn asked.

  "No, we met just now," Savannah said. "This is Diane. Diane, Lynn. We found her dog's collar, and she saw us out here with it and we got to talking… By the way," she said, approaching Lexie, "let's give this back to Millie, shall we?" She unfastened the collar from around the dog's neck and handed it to Diane.

  Diane laughed. "I don't know if I'll ever get it on her, the way she's wriggling." She looked at Lynn. "You probably want your collar back. Let me see if I can get that off."

  "No worries," Lynn said. "Keep it. I only bought it for her."

  Diane stood up and approached the good Samaritan, holding tightly to Millie's leash. She hugged the woman and gushed, "Thank you so much."

  "You're welcome. I love a happy-ending story," Lynn said. "I'm so glad I found you, or you found me."

  "From what I hear, the cat found the clues that brought us together," Diane explained.

 
; "That cat?" Lynn repeated, staring down at Rags.

  "He dug up the collar," Savannah said.

  "We found the note with your number," Adam added, "over there where Rags found the collar."

  "Rags?" the woman repeated. "Wait, is that the cat in the children's books—the very naughty cat, as my grandchildren say? I bought the books at a book show in San Francisco a few years ago. She looked at Savannah. "I believe I saw you there."

  "Could be," Savannah said, smiling.

  Lynn walked closer and petted Rags, then took her phone out of her pocket and took a couple of pictures. "My granddaughters will go crazy when they see these pictures and find out I met Rags. They love him. Oh, this is exciting."

  Just then, Michael got Savannah's attention. "We should get back on the road, don't you think so?"

  She nodded, then said to the other women, "It's been so nice meeting both of you." She petted the little dog as she lay at Diane's feet. "You are adorable."

  "Thank you so much," Diane said, hugging Savannah. She ruffled Rags's fur. "And thank you, cat. I can't imagine you being naughty, you sure did a good deed today."

  Michael picked up Teddy and Savannah took Lily's hand and the family walked back to their car.

  ****

  "What are you doing?" Michael asked Savannah about an hour later.

  "I sent a video to Rob—you know, the one I took of Millie. I thought he'd enjoy hearing about Rags's latest adventure and that the gal who rescued Millie knew about Rags." She laughed. "He got a kick out of the story."

  "The story about Betsy Beagle?" Lily asked from the backseat.

  "Who's Betsy Beagle?" Adam asked, crinkling his nose.

  "The doggie in our story," Lily explained.

  Savannah smiled. "Lily made up a story after we found the dog collar. She did quite a good job."

  "She did?" Michael asked amused. "Tell Daddy the story, punkin."

  Lily took a breath, crossed her legs, then said, "Well, Betsy Beagle got lost and they couldn't find her, then she lost her collar. They found her collar, but they couldn't find Betsy Beagle."

  "Is Betsy Beagle still lost?" Michael asked, glancing at Lily in the rearview mirror.

  "No. A lady brought her to the park with a new collar and gave her back to the other lady."

  "Nice story," Michael said. He chuckled and said to Savannah, "Maybe Rob will make it into a movie. Hey, do you think he'll ever get a movie deal for Rags?"

  Savannah laughed. "Who would star in that movie?"

  "Rags, of course," he said.

  "Oh no. I have no interest in being a stage mom for Rags. No thank you." She turned toward him in her seat. "Can you imagine him being on a movie set—directors waiting for him to follow their direction, spending hours looking for him when he's supposed to be in a scene, him ruining scene after scene with his shenanigans? Oh no. I don't think I'd survive Rags the movie star cat."

  "They could animate him," Adam suggested. When Savannah and Michael looked at him, he said, "They could make a robot cat or a cartoon cat that looks just like Rags, then he would do everything just the way they want him to."

  "A cat with no brain or will," Michael said. "Yes, that might work."

  "Look out!" Savannah shouted, bracing herself against the dashboard.

  Michael didn't see the deer in time. Even though he hit the brake hard, the car slid into the animal. "Oh no," he muttered. "Dang it!" He looked behind him. "Everyone okay?"

  "Yeah," Adam said. "What happened?"

  "My baby Alana fell," Lily whined.

  "I'll get it," Adam said. "What happened, Dad?"

  Michael let out a sigh. "I think we hit a deer, bud." He pulled off the road and quickly climbed out of the car.

  "Can I see?" Lily asked. "I want to see a deer."

  "No," Savannah said, sitting as tall as she could to look out the window. "You kids stay put."

  Adam unfastened his seatbelt and stood up. "I see it. It's a deer. A big one."

  "Where?" Lily asked, releasing herself from her booster seat. "Ohhh, poor deer."

  Savannah lowered the driver's side window and called, "How bad is he hurt?"

  When Michael walked back to the car Adam shouted, "Dad, there he goes! The deer ran behind those trees."

  Michael spun around. "Good lord," he muttered. "Which way, Adam?"

  Adam pointed. "Over there. He ran pretty fast."

  "Was he hurt badly?" Savannah asked.

  Michael looked toward the stand of trees. "I couldn't tell. I sure hope not." He let out a sigh. "I'd really like to find him. If he's mortally injured, I can't in good conscience let him die a slow death out there." He walked to the front of the car, then returned and said, "It doesn't look like we hit him very hard—it's a small dent, so maybe…" He stared into the distance, then looked at his older son. "Adam, why don't we go see if we can find him?"

  "Okay," Adam said enthusiastically, skirting around Teddy's car seat to slide out of the car.

  "Show me where you think he went," Michael said.

  Adam started to join his dad, then stopped. "We should take Lexie. She might be able to find him."

  Michael thought about it for a moment and said, "I doubt it. She's not much of a tracker. I've seen her walk right past a deer without so much as a twitch."

  "A twitch?"

  "She didn't even notice the deer standing there. Didn't smell it or anything," Michael explained.

  "Maybe she was pretending," Adam suggested.

  Michael tilted his head and peered at his son. "Pretending?"

  "Yeah, she pretended she didn't see it so it wouldn't run away or anything," the boy reasoned.

  "Maybe," Michael said, leading the way into the trees, but after a short time they returned to the car.

  "Well?" Savannah asked, holding Teddy on her lap. Lily sat in the cargo area with Lexie and Rags.

  "We found a little blood, but that's all," Michael said. "We've decided to unveil our secret weapon."

  "Secret weapon?" she asked.

  "Rags," Adam said.

  Michael went to the back of the car and opened the hatch. "Hi, punkin, playing dollies?"

  Lily nodded.

  Michael attached Rags's leash to his harness and encouraged him to jump out of the car. "Here, hold onto him," he said to Adam. "I want to get something out of the trailer." Once Michael had assembled some things, he led Rags toward the stand of trees, saying, "We're looking for a deer, boy. Do you know what a deer is?"

  Savannah grinned and shook her head.

  "What's that stuff for, Dad?" Adam asked as he followed along behind Michael and Rags.

  "Well, Son," he said, slowing his pace a little, "if the animal needs treatment and we can get close enough, I want to be prepared. If he's suffering, I'll want to put him down."

  Adam stopped and looked at his father. "That's sad, Dad."

  "Yes. It would be sad. Let's hope that won't be the case. But we don't want him suffering, do we?" Michael looked down at Rags. "Do you smell something?" He whispered, "I think he's caught a scent."

  Adam wrinkled his nose. "I hope it's not a skunk."

  Michael chuckled.

  Suddenly Rags stopped and sat down. Michael looked around. "There he is," he hissed. "Rags sees him over there. He's on his feet. That's a good sign." He handed Rags's leash to Adam and whispered, "You stay here with him. I'll be right back."

  "Well, Dad?" Adam asked when Michael returned minutes later.

  "I think he's going to be just fine. He has a scrape on one leg, but he's walking okay."

  "So you don't have to…"

  "I don't have to do anything," Michael assured him. He scratched Rags behind one ear. "Thanks, buddy. I'm not sure we could have found him without your help. Did you notice that, Adam?"

  "What?" the boy asked.

  "Rags took us on a sort of winding, crooked path to where the deer was. I kind of doubt we would have found our way like Rags did." He picked up the cat and walked toward the car.

&nb
sp; "But he's okay, so it would have been all right if we didn't find him," Adam reasoned, walking along with his dad. "It didn't matter that we found him."

  "It would have mattered to me. I sure wouldn't want to leave an animal to suffer if I could help it," Michael explained.

  "Good boy, Rags," Adam said, petting him. He looked up at Michael. "He's been a good boy twice already, and we aren't even at the campground yet."

  "That he has," Michael said. "Do you suppose he's mellowing in his old age?"

  The father and son looked at each other, and both said, "Naw!"

  "What's funny?" Savannah asked when the trio returned.

  "Dad thought Rags stopped being a troublemaker," Adam said.

  "Well, that's not exactly what I said," Michael defended.

  "But we decided Rags is still Rags, right Dad?"

  "How's the deer?" Savannah asked.

  "Did you find the deer, Daddy?" Lily asked.

  "Sure did," Michael said.

  "The deer's okay," Adam said. "Dad didn't have to…"

  Before Adam could finish, Michael jumped in, saying, "…give him medicine or anything. He may be a little stiff and sore, but I believe he'll live to be hit by another car." He looked off into the forest and took a deep breath. "Unfortunately."

  Chapter Six

  "I see them," Adam called. "There's Uncle Keith and Cassie right there!" He pointed. "That must be their tent. Ours is bigger than that one, right, Dad?"

  Michael nodded. "Yup. Ours has two rooms with an extra little area for Rags's pen and Lexie's bed."

  "Nice spot," Savannah said. "Look, we can see the lake from here and there are a few trees for shade. This is real nice." She lowered her window and waved.

  "Hi!" Cassie shouted, running toward their car.

  "How'd you beat us here?" Michael called out. "You had farther to go than we did."

  "We rode in the car forever," Cassie exaggerated dramatically.

  "A long-long-long time," Bethany complained when she joined her sister.

  Michael chuckled. "You girls don't like road trips?"

  "Yes, short ones," Cassie said. The eight-year-old looked into the backseat and called, "Mommy, come see how big Teddy is. He's huge!"