“Wow,” she kind of murmured. “I’ve never seen cats do anything like that before. It’s almost like you kittens have been taking lessons or something . . .”
That’s when I decided it was a good time to climb into her arms and tuck my head in under her chin. I was so glad she didn’t go to jail. Especially since she didn’t do anything wrong. And as much as I loved being a cat detective, I knew I always had to make sure I had enough time for her, too.
“I learned something important today,” she whispered into my fur. “My cell phone is really great for emergencies. But I’d rather talk to my friends in person. Sophie is going to host the next party.”
If you asked me, I thought that sounded like a really nice idea.
“There is one thing I don’t understand, though,” Gracie went on. “I’m not sure who sent that message to me. The one that said you cats were locked in Garnet’s safe.”
She pulled back and looked right into my eyes. But I didn’t say a word. Instead I just purred and gave her a big kiss on the nose.
She giggled and hugged me again. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you, Buckley. You and all the cats.”
The feeling was mutual. I didn’t know what I would do if something bad ever happened to her, either. Then again, just like the Wise One had told me, if anything bad ever happened to Gracie, I would do everything I could to change that. And to save her. Just like I’d done today.
I wrapped my arms around her neck and suddenly my eyes felt really heavy. Now that I knew we were all safe, and with so much happiness all around me, I let my eyes fall shut. Then I slowly drifted off to dreamland.
The next morning, I woke up in my cat bed in the family room. Everyone else was already up, and it sounded like something big was going on out in the front hallway. So I yawned and stretched and went out to see for myself. Mrs. Bumble was there, talking to our Mom.
“Big day,” Bogey said with a grin. “You’ll never believe it, kid. The calicos are all being adopted.”
I crinkled my brow. “You mean . . .?”
“Yup, kid. Someone is taking all three. Together. They’re going to have a new home.”
“Trixie, Mitzi, and Magnolia? They’re going to leave us?” I kind of gasped.
Okay, I know I should have been excited and happy for them. But I’d gotten used to having them around. In fact, I really liked having them as part of our family. Sure, I had been pretty annoyed with Mitzi when she first came to us. But she’d come a long way in just a little bit of time. Especially for such a tiny kitten.
And who was going to watch out for that tiny kitten now?
Right about then, my heart started to pound. “I don’t think they should go, Bogey. This sounds like a really bad idea to me. I think we should try to stop this. Maybe we should hide them.”
Bogey shook his head. “No can do, kid. It’s a big day for them. They’re going to have a real home of their own. A forever home. The day a cat gets adopted is the happiest day of their lives.”
Well, I had to agree with him on that.
Still . . .
By now I was starting to panic. “But the new people won’t know anything about them. They won’t know that Trixie got rescued. And she needs to eat lots so she can put on weight. And they won’t know that Magnolia almost got stung by bees. And they won’t know . . .” All of a sudden, I started to choke up. “They won’t know Mitzi’s name.”
Bogey put his paw on my shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, kid. I’ve got this covered.”
Just as the doorbell rang.
Gracie was there to answer it with a big smile on her face. Much to my surprise, Merryweather, one of the ladies who worked at our Mom’s store, walked in. Today she was wearing a pink dress with a big skirt and a pink scarf around her neck.
She greeted Gracie with a hug. “I’m so excited. I’m about to become a cat Mom. I’ve never had a cat family before. And you promise you’ll babysit sometimes, right Gracie?”
Gracie’s eyes danced with joy. “I would love to.”
I glanced at my brother. “Merryweather is adopting them?”
Bogey grinned. “You got it, kid. We’ll see them all the time. She’ll probably even bring them down to the store.”
Well, I had to say, that didn’t sound so bad.
Merryweather glanced at her phone. “I got your message, Gracie.”
Gracie tilted her head. “I didn’t send you a message.”
I turned to my brother. “Did you . . .?”
His grin got even bigger. “Wait for it, kid.”
So I did.
“Okay,” Merryweather said as she read something from her phone. “The big one is Trixie. She needs to put on some weight. And one of those little ones is Magnolia Belle.”
Magnolia lifted her tiny head and let out a meow. A meow with a Southern drawl, of course. So it sort of sounded like, “Mee-yoow-wa.”
“Finally,” Merryweather went on. “We have Mitzi.”
And with those words, Mitzi jumped into the air and did one of her roundhouse kicks.
Which made all the people say “Oooh!”
Our Mom laughed. “I didn’t realize they all had names. And they’re certainly very pretty names.”
After that, everything turned into a big flurry of good-byes.
Trixie smiled at both Bogey and me. “I will never, ever forget what you did for me. Anytime you need an extra paw on a case, well, you can count on me. And us. The kittens and I are going to be starting our own agency. Calico Cats Consolidated, SWAT Team.”
“Sounds like a plan, Trix,” Bogey said.
“It would be nice to work with you again,” I told her. “Plus, we’ve been so busy lately, maybe we could send some of our cases your way.” I glanced at my brother. “So we can have more time to spend with our family.”
“That would be terrific,” she said. “It would be a great way to get our agency off the ground.”
Bogey grinned. “Then count on it. We’ll be in touch.”
He gave her a paw bump and I gave her a hug. I was so happy to see her doing so well. And I knew Merryweather would take very good care of her.
Then Trixie went off with Lil for a moment, and Bogey and I said so long to Magnolia. And last of all, I found myself face-to-face with little Mitzi. That’s when something strange started happening to my eyes.
“Be sure to keep practicing your cat karate,” I told her. “And watch out for bad guys. And big nets.”
“I will, Buckley,” she said in her little voice. “I sure am going to miss you. I wish I didn’t have to go.”
Suddenly there seemed to be something wrong with my nose, too. “I’m going to miss you a bunch, too. But you have to go. The day you get adopted is the best day of your life.”
She nodded her tiny head. “I’m really happy to have a home. And I think Merryweather is a very nice lady. But it’s not the best day of my life.”
I crinkled my brow. “Umm . . . sure it is.”
She looked me right in the eyes and shook her head slowly. “No, Buckley. The best day of my life was the day I met you.” Then she reached up and gave me a big hug.
I hugged her back and held onto her for a moment. And that’s when wet stuff really started to roll down my cheeks. What in the world was wrong with me?
I let her go and wiped my face with my paw. Then I followed them all to the door. Merryweather carried the kittens while Trixie trotted along beside her. They all went to the curb and started to get into a blue car.
A blue car that looked familiar.
That’s when I spotted Dave, our Drive-N-Dash driver. He looked up and gave us a wave. Bogey grinned and gave him a “paws up” while I just waved back. Then Dave helped Trixie into the front seat while Merryweather got into the back with the kittens. They took off just as another car pulled up.
Much to my amazement, it was Mr. Pennypacker.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Abernathy?” he called out as he hurried up the walk.
The n
ext thing I knew, he was inside our front hallway.
“Please excuse the intrusion,” he said as he removed his bowler hat. “But you weren’t at your store this morning. And I have a special request that couldn’t wait another minute. I’ve seen your stunning cats around town. Buckley and Bogey. And I was wondering if you would mind if they were models for my new ad campaign.”
Our Mom’s eyes went wide. “Ad campaign?”
“Models?” Gracie repeated.
“Yes, yes,” he went on. “I just opened the St. Gertrude Cat Treat Factory about a month ago and I need to advertise. And I think Buckley and Bogey would be perfect for my ads. Though I’m afraid I can’t pay much. The best I can do is to guarantee them a lifetime supply of cat treats. Delivered fresh a couple of times a week. Would that do?”
“Of course, Mr. Pennypacker,” our Mom said. “I’m sure they’d be happy to model for a cat treat factory. Heaven knows the cat treat bags around here seem to disappear the second I get them home from the store. I’m always finding them in the strangest places.”
I glanced at my brother. His eyes had taken on kind of a faraway, glazed look, and he just flopped over onto his side.
Then Gracie picked me up and started to dance around the room with me. “Did you hear that, Buckley? You’re going to be a model!”
The room whizzed by as she danced around and around. Funny, but I had forgotten that Gracie had once gone through her spinning phase. Though I had to say, I hadn’t missed it one bit.
In the meantime, our Mom and Mr. Pennypacker made arrangements for us to get our pictures taken later that week. By the time Mr. Pennypacker had gone, Bogey had recovered a little, and Gracie had set me back on the hardwood floor. Though as near as I could tell, it still felt like the room was going around and around and around.
I waited till my eyes focused again, and then Bogey and I wobbled over to the front window. Together, we watched Mr. Pennypacker stroll down the walk.
“I like that guy,” Bogey murmured as he pulled a bag of cat treats from behind the potted plant. “I think this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
I nodded. “The cat treats from his factory sure were good.”
“The best I’ve ever tasted.” Bogey grinned and glanced at the bag. “Guess we won’t be eating these regular old treats much longer.” Then he passed us each a couple of treats.
“I guess not.” I said before I put one of the treats in my mouth and munched away.
“Heck of a week, wasn’t it, kid?”
I nodded. “You can sure say that again.”
In fact, I almost said it myself. That was, until the Princess pranced right up to me.
Then she stared up at me with her big, green eyes. “Buckley, I just wanted to say . . .”
And suddenly the room started to spin all over again.
“You were so wonderful with those little kittens,” she went on. “You made such a difference in their lives. I think you’re just the best, Buckley.” And with that, she reached up and gave me a kiss on the nose.
Well, it was all just more than I could take. Stars danced in front of my eyes, and now it was my turn to flop over onto my side.
The next thing I knew, Bogey was standing over me. “Dames, kid. They’ll do it to you every time.”
“Dames,” I kind of mumbled.
He waved a cat treat in front of my nose. “Here you go, kid. This’ll get you going again.”
I took the treat and ate it slowly.
Bogey grinned. “As soon as you get your bearings, kid, we’ve gotta get back to work.”
“Umm . . . okay. What’s going on?” I asked him.
He arched an eyebrow in the direction of our Mom’s office. “I checked the computer first thing this morning. Looks like we’ve got another case for the BBCDA.”
I got to my feet and shook my head. “So soon?”
“Yup, kid. And this one’s a doozie.”
Somehow that didn’t surprise me. I only hoped this new case didn’t have nearly as many clues as the last one.
Holy Catnip!
THE END
About the Author
Cindy Vincent was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and has lived all around the US and Canada. She is the creator of the Mysteries by Vincent murder mystery party games and the Daisy Diamond Detective Series games for girls. She is the award-winning author of the Buckley and Bogey Cat Detective Caper books, and the Tracy Truworth, Apprentice P.I., 1940s Homefront Mysteries. She lives with her husband and an assortment of fantastic felines — including the real Buckley and Bogey, who run surveillance on her house each and every night.
The Case of Too Many Clues Page 25