Whiskerful Thinking

by Patricia Fry

  "So what does your former husband look like?" Holly asked.

  "I'll show you a picture," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

  "Oh," Savannah said. "That doesn't look like the Freddie we met, does he, Holly?"

  She shook her head. "No, different Freddie, I guess."

  "Do you have a picture of this man?" LouAnn Asked.

  "No," Savannah said. "Why?"

  "Wait," LouAnn said, squinting. "I may know what's going on. Let me check into it. If you're interested, I'll tell you about it later." She laughed. "It's really a rather unique story." She looked at each of the women. "You both seem to like cats. Yeah, I think you'll get a kick out of it." She looked into the car and said, "Well, let me take Dino off your hands and you gals can get back to vacationing with your cat."

  "And dog, husbands, and five children," Savannah added.

  Holly chuckled. "Yes, we have a birthday party to go to this evening. And it's going to be quite an event."

  "Oh?" LouAnn asked, "Whose birthday? One of the children?"

  Savannah said, "Our husbands."

  "They have birthdays on the same day? That's unusual, isn't it?" LouAnn asked.

  "Not if they're twins," Holly quipped.

  "Are they twins?"

  The women nodded. Savannah said, "Yes, and this will actually be the first birthday they've ever celebrated together."

  Chapter Nine

  "Where'd everyone go?" Michael asked, sitting down next to Keith with a cold beer in his hand.

  Keith glanced up from stoking the campfire. "I don't know. Hey," he said, "That was some good fried fish we had tonight."

  "Sure was," Michael agreed. "A meal fit for a king." He leaned back in his chair and gazed at the stars. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" Suddenly he sat up straight. "What's this?" he asked when the children approached in a rush.

  "It's your birthday, Daddy," Lily said. "Put your head down," she insisted.

  "Huh?" Michael questioned.

  "Put your head down," Cassie repeated. "Lily has something for you."

  "Yeah, 'cause you're the king tonight," Bethany added.

  "It's a crown, Daddy. I made you a crown for your birthday!"

  "A crown, huh?" he said, smiling. He lowered his head and Lily, with a little help from Adam, positioned the colorful paper crown on Michael's head while Savannah and Holly snapped pictures.

  "Your turn, Daddy," Bethany said, running up to Keith with another crown. "You're a king, too."

  "Yeah," Cassie said, "you're both kings tonight, and we're going to have a party."

  "A party?" Keith exclaimed. "Great. I love parties."

  The men watched as the women lined up with the children and they all began to sing and dance. "Happy Birthday to you—and you, Happy Birthday to you—and you…" The men laughed loudly and took pictures as the group attempted to follow what appeared to be a loosely choreographed routine. When Adam bumped into Teddy and knocked him down, Holly picked up the toddler and continued the dance with him in her arms.

  "That was…" Keith started, once the others had finished the song, "that was unbelievable."

  "You gotta believe it," Michael said, still laughing. "We recorded it. It really happened."

  Lily ran up to Michael and said, "We have presents, Daddy. Want a present?"

  "I sure do, punkin," he said.

  "Get the presents!" Lily called.

  "Yeah, where are the presents?" Bethany asked. "I want to get my presents for Uncle Michael and Daddy."

  "Right here," Savannah said, returning with Lexie's bed, which was heaped with gifts, both wrapped and unwrapped.

  "My goodness," Keith said. "That's a lot of presents."

  "They're for you and Daddy," Lily said. She ran to Savannah. "Where's my present, Mommy?"

  "Let me set this down on the table, then we'll sort them out and each of you can give your gifts, okay?"

  "Okay," Cassie said. "Can I help?"

  "Sure," Savannah said. "Let's put all of Uncle Michael's gifts here and your dad's gifts here."

  "Yeah," Holly said, "and they can take turns opening them."

  "What if they don't want to take turns?" Bethany asked.

  Savannah poked her playfully. "Hey, who's in charge here? We are. They have to do what we say, right?"

  Bethany giggled.

  Teddy climbed up onto the bench. "My present," he said. When he didn't see it on the table, he cried, "My present, Mommy?"

  "I have it right here," she said, showing it to him. "I didn't want to wrinkle it." She asked the others, "Shall we let the youngest go first?" Under her breath she added, "Before this one completely destroys his gift."

  "Probably a good idea," Holly agreed. "They seem to have the least patience."

  "Okay, Teddy, it's your turn. Do you want to give your gift to Uncle Keith first or Daddy?"

  Teddy stared at the gifts in Savannah's hands. He looked up at her, then down at the gifts. Finally, Savannah said, "How about Uncle Keith? Want to give Uncle Keith his gift first?"

  "Okay," he said, picking it up and running to his uncle. The toddler tossed his gift at Keith.

  "Hey, buddy," Keith said. "I hope this isn't breakable."

  "No," Teddy said. "It's a rock."

  "Oh, that's why you threw it," Keith said, laughing.

  "And a picture," Teddy said, picking it up off the ground. "I make picture."

  After all of the gifts had been shared, everyone had their fill of roasted marshmallows and chocolate, and the fire was just smoldering, the two families spread blankets on the ground, lay down together, and watched for shooting stars. It wasn't long before the youngest children fell asleep and had to be carried to bed. The others soon followed, each of them filled with joy and feeling deeply blessed.

  ****

  The Iveys had been asleep for several hours when Michael sat up straight. "What the heck?" he mumbled, awakened by the sound of a scuffle outside their tent. He shimmied out of his sleeping bag, pulled on a pair of jeans, and slipped out into the night. "What's going on?" he hissed upon seeing his brother holding a man in a headlock.

  "I caught this creep rifling through our stuff," Keith snarled. More excitedly, he hissed, "help me tie him to this chair. Grab Cassie's jump rope there."

  "No need for that," the intruder complained as the brothers tied his hands behind his back and secured the rope to the chair. "I didn't take anything. Just let me go on my way."

  "Not a chance," Keith said, double-checking the knots. "You just stay put while we decide what to do with you."

  "Call 911," Michael said when Savannah joined them. He frowned. "What are you bringing the cat out for?"

  "He was restless," she said, taking in the scene before her.

  Michael glanced at Rags, who was walking around at the end of his leash, then said again, Savannah, call 911. Tell them we have a prowler."

  "I'm no prowler," the man said. "Just let me explain, will you?" he pleaded, trying to break away from the chair.

  "Explain what, Freddie? You were inside our tent for cripes sake!"

  "Yeah," Michael growled, "what in the heck were you were doing?"

  Freddie huffed nervously. "It isn't like you think." He smiled down at Rags and murmured, "Hi, kitty-cat."

  Rags emitted a purrrt and rubbed against Freddie's legs.

  "Get your cat," Michael said, after Savannah had finished the call.

  That's odd, she thought, watching Rags interact with the prowler. I just can't figure out why Rags likes Freddie so much when he's obviously the one who's been sneaking around the camp stealing from us. It doesn't make sense in light of what I know about this cat. But then there's a lot that doesn't make sense lately.

  When the intruder made another move to stand up, Keith hissed, "Sit down. Wait there for the police."

  "But I didn't do anything wrong," he insisted.

  "You're Freddie, aren't you?" Savannah asked. "We met you yesterday, and I saw you taking things from the Babcocks' c
amp the night before. What's wrong with you?" When Rags rubbed against the man's legs again, she tugged on the leash and said, harshly, "No, Rags."

  "He's an awfully nice cat," Freddie said, watching Rags butt his legs. "He's so friendly."

  "And I sure don't know why," Savannah said under her breath.

  It didn't take long for a park ranger to arrive in his truck. He asked, "Something wrong here, folks?"

  By then other campers had come outside and were staring at the activity at the Iveys' and the Pettits' site.

  "This man was trespassing and appeared to be trying to steal from us," Keith said. "In fact, we have reason to believe he has been taking things from other campers."

  "We've been missing things," a man said approaching. "Is he the thief?"

  "Just let me explain," Freddie said.

  "What is it, Freddie," the ranger asked, grinning, "are you looking for a lost dog again?" He looked down at Rags. "Or maybe a cat this time?"

  "He's done this before?" Michael asked. "You know about his thieving ways?"

  "Oh yes," the ranger said, stepping out of his truck. He unwrapped the jump rope from the chair and the prisoner's wrists, helped Freddie to his feet, and slipped handcuffs on him."

  "How do we get our things back?" one camper called out, as the ranger led Freddie toward his truck.

  "I'm not sure you will," the ranger said. "We've picked him up a handful of times and we've never found anything on him or in his trailer. Nothing."

  "Well, he should have something on his person tonight," Keith said. "I saw him take our daughter's sunglasses just now. He probably has them in his pocket."

  "Oh?" the ranger said. "Let's see, Freddie." He began to pat him down, reached into a pocket, and pulled out the child's sunglasses. He handed them to Keith and said, "Gotcha this time, Freddie. Come on, let's go into town and lock you up so these folks can get some sleep."

  ****

  "Hey, there's LouAnn," Holly said the next morning when she, Savannah, and the little girls walked out of a shop in a town not far from the park.

  "Hi," LouAnn greeted. "These must be some of your five children." She leaned over and asked, "What's your name?"

  "Lily," she said. "That's Bethany and Cassie."

  "Hi, girls." More animatedly LouAnn said, "My students used to call me Miss LuLu."

  The girls giggled.

  LouAnn leaned over to engage Teddy, who was sprawled in his stroller.

  "That's my brother," Lily said.

  "Cute kids," LouAnn complimented.

  "How's Dean Martin?" Savannah asked.

  LouAnn smiled. "That's why I came into town today. I'm going to pick him up from the veterinarian in a bit and take him home to recover. He's actually been a pretty good boy. I just hope he'll stay around this time." She leaned closer to the women. "I hear they picked up the fake Freddie."

  "Fake Freddie?" Savannah repeated. "His name isn't really Freddie?"

  "Not when I first met him years ago. His name is actually Alexander Frederick. He was always Alex, but when I married Freddie, whose name was Fred Alexander, Alex suddenly decided he wanted to be known as Freddie."

  Holly frowned. "That's odd."

  "Alex is an odd guy," LouAnn said. "He's been wooing me ever since my Freddie left."

  "Oh really?" Holly said. "Did you know he was a…"

  "A thief? A burglar?" she said. She nodded, "That's why I keep saying no to him."

  "Has he been arrested before?" Savannah asked.

  "Oh yes, and they always slap him on the hand and let him go. What are they going to do, change his behavior? He won't go to a therapist or join a support group. Says he doesn't need that because what he's doing isn't stealing." She looked at her watch. "Oh, I'd better get over to the veterinary clinic and pick up Dino. Dr. Kim doesn't like it when anyone's late. He runs a pretty tight ship over there."

  "Nice seeing you, LouAnn," Savannah said. "Again, good luck with the cat."

  "Thanks. Bye." She waved at the little girls. "Bye you cutie pies."

  "She's nice," Bethany said.

  "Yes, she is," Holly agreed.

  "What did she mean when she said Freddie or Alex isn't stealing?" Savannah asked.

  "Heck if I know," Holly said. She waved. "Hey, there are the guys. Looks like they're

  ready to go back to camp."

  When the families returned to the campsites, the men and Adam began assembling their fishing equipment, and Savannah took Teddy into the tent to see if she could get him to take a nap. She called, "Lily, want to come in here with us? I'll read you a story."

  "Okay," she said, "but I'm not going to sleep."

  "That's all right. We'll just rest you and me, okay?" Savannah suggested.

  Lily walked into the tent, looked around, and asked, "Where's Rags?"

  "What?" Savannah said, turning quickly toward the cage. "What do you mean? He's in his pen, isn't he?"

  Lily shook her head. "I didn't see him in there when I went to get baby Alana's brush."

  Savannah leaped to her feet and peered into the pen. She gasped and looked around, then called, "Michael, do you or Adam have Rags out there with you?"

  "No," he said.

  She stepped out of the tent. "He's gone, and so is his harness and leash." She walked back into the tent, then returned, saying, "Michael, his food's gone, too. "Oh my gosh, someone came into our tent and took him. Who would do that?"

  Michael ran his hand through his hair and looked around.

  "I knew we shouldn't leave him while we went shopping." She frowned. "I wonder if that Jeff creep did something to him. He's had it in for Rags from day one." She checked to make sure she had her phone, then said, "I'm going to have a little talk with him."

  "Now, Savannah," he warned.

  "Michael, who else would it be? He swore Rags was bothering his things. We never did tell him about the cat we caught—the one we think is the culprit. I want to set him straight before he has time to do anything to Rags." She grimaced. "Oh, the thought just makes me sick." She walked toward Jeff's camp. As she drew near she saw Jeff and Lacy sitting outside reading a newspaper. "Hello," she called as she approached.

  "Hi," Lacy responded cheerfully. She put the paper down and sat up. "How are things over at your camp this afternoon? You had a little excitement there last night, right?"

  "Sure did," she said. "First a birthday party, then…"

  "Come sit down," Lacy invited. "Tell us what happened. You caught the thief?"

  "I guess so," Savannah said. She glared at Jeff and said, "I want to ask you about my cat."

  "Your cat?" Lacy repeated.

  Savannah nodded. "Yes, he's missing. Someone evidently took him, along with his leash and his food." She looked suspiciously at Jeff. "You don't know anything about that, do you?"

  "No," he said. "Why would I?"

  "Well, I thought you might have seen something this morning. Besides, you have had a vendetta against my cat ever since you saw him." Before he could respond, she added, "We caught the cat that's been bothering your stuff, you know. He's at the veterinarian's this morning being neutered." She pulled out her phone. "Here's a picture of him. As you can see, he does look a little like my cat, but it wasn't my cat. See?" she said, showing him a picture of Rags.

  He glanced at the screen and waved a hand. "All cats look alike to me. That don't show me nothing."

  "Let me see," Lacy said. When Savannah showed her the picture, she said, "Yeah, that's the cat I saw out here early one morning."

  "Well, here's a picture of my cat," Savannah said, showing her.

  "Oh, yes, similar, but…"

  Savannah flipped back to the first photo.

  "Yeah, not the same cat, for sure," Lacy confirmed.

  Savannah looked at Jeff. "We trapped the cat that was bothering you and turned him over to a woman on the other side of the park. She's going to take care of him and hopefully keep him away from here."

  "Okay," Jeff said. "And this matters to m
e how?"

  Savannah glared at him. "I want to know if you did something with my cat."

  "No," he said.

  "Did you see anyone else around our camp this morning while we were gone?"

  "No," he said, standing up and walking away.

  "Don't mind him," Lacy said. "He's just not very social and he really cares nothing about cats, which is hard for me, because I adore cats." She frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that someone may have taken your cat. I sure didn't see anything, but I wasn't actually watching. You have so many people in your camp, I probably wouldn't have taken notice if I saw someone up there."

  "Well, thank you, anyway," Savannah said. "Do let me know if you hear anything, will you? I'll talk to some of the other campers."

  Savannah returned to their camp after talking to the Babcocks and a few others. "No one saw anything," she complained. She added, "By the way, Freddie's out." She pointed. "That couple over there saw him down by the docks a while ago."

  Holly noted, "Like LouAnn said, a slap on the hand."

  Just then the two older children approached. "Cassie and I are looking for clues," Adam said.

  "Yeah," Cassie said, "we found footprints."

  "Suspicious footprints," Adam added. "Let us see the bottom of your shoe, Savannah."

  "Sure," Savannah said, sitting down and holding her feet up for the kids to see.

  "Not hers," Cassie confirmed.

  "Yeah," Adam said, "that print doesn't belong to anyone in this camp."

  "Where'd you find it?" Savannah asked.

  "There's more than one," Cassie said, "we found them on the other side of your tent. Come on, we'll show you."

  "I'd say you're right," Savannah said, studying the prints. "Those tracks are suspicious. They lead right out of the tent and around the back there. Good one, guys. What else you got?"

  "Teddy found something, but he won't let us have it," Adam complained.

  Savannah looked at her son. "I thought you were going to take a nap." She held her hands out. "Come show me what you have, buddy. Come show Mommy."

  "Candy," Teddy said, holding it out for her to see. "Yellow candy."

  "Yes it is yellow candy, isn't it? Butterscotch. Where did you find it?"

  "Rags's cage," Teddy said, pointing.