A Picture-Purrfect Christmas (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 13)

by Patricia Fry

  “Our leader?” Marcus questioned.

  “Yes; in your case, Marcus, that would be me.”

  “Oh, got it.”

  Just then, Rags sauntered over to Marissa and sat a short distance from her.

  “Well, hello there pretty kitty,” she chirped. When she struggled to stand, Esse put his hands on her to help and, without speaking, she walked awkwardly toward the cat and began petting him and scratching him behind one ear. She smiled when he rubbed against her hand.

  “Rags seems to like you,” Savannah said.

  “Well, he likes being petted.” Marissa reached over and picked up her camera, then stood. “Oh, what’s he doing now?” she asked, as the cat stretched his front paws up against her. He then jumped down and began weaving himself around her crooked legs.

  “Careful boy,” Savannah said, positioning herself to hold onto the girl. “Let’s don’t knock her over, Ragsie.” Then, leading Marissa to a chair, she suggested, “How about you sit here and let Rags sit next to you.”

  “He’s a boy?” Marissa asked. “I think I insulted him. I said he was pretty.”

  Savannah smiled. “He doesn’t mind being a pretty boy.” When she noticed Charm wandering around looking lost, she suggested, “Charm, would you like to take a picture of the cat sitting still?”

  Shelly overheard her. “Good idea. Can we use him as our model?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Savannah said. “I’m not sure how cooperative he’ll be.”

  Shelly spoke so all the children could hear her. “Let’s take a portrait of the cat, shall we?”

  “We already took a picture of the cat,” Marcus complained.

  “Yeah, can we go out and take pictures of your horse now?” Chuckie asked.

  “No,” Shelly said. “You did an action shot earlier. Now we’re going to practice shooting an animal portrait. Let’s start by photographing him where he wants to be. That’s generally the best way to photograph an animal. Otherwise, what happens?” Shelly asked the kids.

  “They won’t stay posing,” Charm suggested.

  “That’s right. Now Rags wants to be in the chair with Marissa, so let’s photograph him there. You can either zoom in on his face or take a picture of Marissa and the cat. You have choices. If your camera doesn’t zoom, move closer or farther away for the effect you want.”

  After everyone had taken several shots, Marissa asked, “Can I take a picture of him now?”

  “Sure, hon,” Savannah said, lifting Rags from the chair so the child could stand up. She placed the cat back on the chair, but he immediately jumped down and walked over to Marissa.

  “You’re too close, silly cat,” the girl said giggling. Each time she’d back up and begin to focus her camera, he’d follow her, until finally she stepped so far back she fell over onto the sofa.

  “Here let me help you,” Esse said, reaching for Marissa.

  What happened next surprised even Savannah. Rags stood between the girl and the man and he began to growl. “Rags,” Savannah called. She started to walk toward him, when the cat struck out, lightning-quick with one paw toward Esse.

  Just then, there was a loud shriek. “Don’t do that!” Charm shouted.

  Everyone looked in her direction in time to see Chuckie sprawled on the floor and Charm looming over him.

  “It was a joke,” Chuckie said, rubbing one elbow with his hand. “You don’t have to get violent.”

  “Well, don’t do it again,” she threatened.

  Shelly rushed toward the children. “What’s going on?”

  “Chuckie was trying to take a picture of her chest,” Selene complained.

  “Yeah,” Charm said, “aren’t there laws against that?”

  “There will be no more of that kind of behavior, young man,” Shelly said, giving the boy a hand up.

  “Well, there’s nothing fun to take pictures of here,” Chuckie whined.

  In the meantime, Savannah addressed Esse. “I’m sorry. The cat can be a pain.”

  “It’s okay,” he said rubbing his hand. Didn’t break the skin.” He squinted in Rags’s direction. “…but I have to wonder, if he’s safe for these kids to be around.”

  Savannah grimaced. “I don’t know what to say…I…”

  That’s when Shelly broke in. “It seemed as though he was trying to protect Marissa. That’s what it looked like to me.”

  “Yeah, he’s taken a liking to her,” Savannah agreed.

  “How sweet,” Marissa said smiling.

  But, Esse wasn’t about to let it go. “So what if one of those little boys gets near the girl and the cat attacks him? He’s a menace. You should put him away somewhere—he shouldn’t be allowed out here with these kids.”

  Before Savannah could respond, Selene pointed. “There’s another cat. Is it wicked, too?”

  All eyes were on Buffy as she strolled into the room and looked around at everyone.

  Savannah glanced at the Himalayan-mix and smiled. “No, she won’t hurt anyone.”

  “It looks mean to me,” Brad said as he and Chuckie scampered to the other side of the room.

  Selene grabbed Charm’s arm and the two girls stepped back, nearly upsetting a lamp on a small table.

  “Okay, let’s settle down, children,” Shelly said sounding a little weary.

  In the meantime, Savannah picked up Buffy and began petting her. “Would you like to take a picture of Buffy?” she asked.

  “Yeah, if it stays nice,” Charm said. “I’m not getting near that other evil cat.” She glanced around the room. “Where’d he go, anyway?”

  Savannah sighed. “Who knows?”

  “You guys hurt his feelings,” Marissa said.

  Shelly, trying to defuse the situation, suggested, “Let’s get some pictures of this gorgeous cat, shall we?”

  “Is that all she does,” Charm asked after snapping several pictures of Buffy, “just sit there and look at you?”

  “Yeah,” Marcus said, “can you make her do something? I want to get…what’s it called, a moving shot.”

  “Action shot, dum…” Brad caught himself mid-sentence, flashed a quick look at Shelly, and then continued taking pictures.

  Savannah, in the meantime, brought out a feather toy on a wand and began wriggling it trying to entice Buffy to play. Instead, the little fur ball just sat staring curiously at the children…until suddenly she lurched toward Selene. Several of the children squealed, screeched, and jumped back.

  “She attacked me!” Selene shouted.

  “God!” Esse yelled. “Are all your animals crazy?”

  Savannah and Shelly exchanged glances. “She was after the strap on your camera, Selene,” Savannah explained. “Cats like to play with things that dangle or wiggle.” She then asked, concern in her voice, “She didn’t scratch you did she?”

  Selene shook her head. “No.” She looked at her camera, examining the short strap. “Oh, I see. So she just wanted to play.”

  “Yes,” Savannah said, letting out a sigh. She then asked the rest of the children, “Did any of you get that action shot?”

  Those with digital cameras began checking their pictures.

  “Hey,” Brad shouted. “I got it. Look at this,” he invited as he held his camera out to show the others.

  “Wow!” Chuckie said. “It’s fuzzy, but you got her jumping. Cool.”

  “Of course, it’s fuzzy,” Marissa said, laughing. “She’s a cat.”

  When a few of the children looked puzzled, she said, “Cats are fuzzy—they have fur.”

  “Oh, I get it,” Marcus said. “Good one, Marissa.”

  “I see your friend is back,” Savannah said, when she saw Rags lying in Marissa’s lap, getting a massage.

  The child smiled and continued petting the cat.

  “Oh, hi punkin’,” Savannah greeted when Margaret entered the room with Lily.

  “She’s fed and changed,” Margaret announced.

  “She’s so cute,” Marissa said. “I want to take
a picture of Lily.” She smiled at Margaret. “Can you hold her there while I take a picture? Rags won’t let me up.”

  “Yeah, Auntie, he has glommed onto Marissa like she’s his long-lost soul mate. He won’t leave her alone.”

  “How nice,” Margaret said. She smiled at Marissa. “Okay, got your camera ready? Where do you want her?”

  Marissa put her camera up to her eye. “Just hold her and let me see if I can focus on her face.” Before she could take the picture, however, Rags grabbed her hand with one paw and encouraged her to pet him instead. “You are so…clingy,” she said. She then asked Margaret, “Could you move a little closer? There, perfect. I think I got a cute one. Thank you.”

  “Okay, Rags, let her up,” Savannah said, lifting him from the girl’s lap. “She wants to take more pictures. Marissa, Lexie’s in her bed in the kitchen, if you’d like to get a picture of a dog. Charm, let’s go take a picture of a dog, shall we?” She placed Rags on the floor and told him, “Now you leave her alone.”

  But he wasn’t easily deterred. He tagged along as Savannah and the two girls walked into the kitchen and he stayed close as they snapped a few pictures of Lexie.

  “Thank you for the picture, Lexie.” Marissa giggled. “Love your hairdo.”

  Savannah chuckled. “She’s part Afghan-hound. That’s her heritage, a fancy hairdo.”

  “Well, it’s cute. She reminds me a little of an old lady who lives down the block…Mrs. Prune-face.”

  “Prune-face?” Savannah questioned.

  Charm laughed.

  “Oh, that’s not very nice, is it? That’s what the kids call her behind her back. Her real name is Prudence Nuñez.” Suddenly, Marissa noticed something through the large kitchen window. “Hey, there’s your horse!”

  Charm peered out the window, as well. “Wow! Yeah, a horse!”

  Savannah nodded. “Yes, that’s Peaches.”

  Marissa wrinkled up her nose. “Peaches? That’s an unusual name for a horse. Aren’t they usually called Silver, Buck, Trigger, Black Beauty, Blaze…Misty?”

  Savannah smiled. She glanced outside and then called to the others, who were milling around in the living room and dining room, “Hey, it quit raining. Shall we go out and get a few shots of the horse before it starts again?”

  It didn’t take long for the eager young photographers to wriggle into their jackets and head for the kitchen. Savannah held the children up at the door until they were all ready to go out.

  “I got a picture of Lily holding a rubber duck,” Selene told her.

  “Oh, I’ll bet that’s really cute. I’d like a copy,” Savannah said.

  Selene grinned from ear to ear.

  Brad held his borrowed digital camera up for Savannah to see. “I took a picture of her drooling.”

  “Clever.” Savannah looked at the camera screen. “That’s a pretty good shot, actually—look how clear the drool is on her chin.”

  When Savannah opened the door for the children, Rags, watching Marissa step out, tried to make a dash to follow her. “No you don’t, Rags,” Savannah said, grabbing him. She held him back while letting the others exit, closing the door before he could escape. As she walked down the porch steps, she glanced up at the window and shook her head when she saw him sitting on the windowsill kitty perch Michael had installed, meowing rather loudly.

  Half an hour later, the children started filing back into the warm kitchen, chattering about their experiences photographing Peaches.

  “I got a picture of her eyeball,” Brad said, laughing.

  “I got one of her teeth,” Chuckie announced. “I took it while she was eating that carrot Ms. Savannah gave her.”

  “She sure has big feet,” Marcus said, wide-eyed.

  Once Marissa stepped into the house with Shelly’s help, Rags jumped off the perch and raced to her, rubbing against her crooked legs.

  “Hi Rags,” she said. “You are so friendly.”

  “But only to you,” Savannah pointed out. “He really likes you.”

  She smiled. “Well, I like him, too. I’d love to have a cat like him someday.”

  “Okay, let’s see what we got today, shall we?” Shelly said. “We have two laptops, so we can download two cameras at once. Those of you with film cameras will have to wait until Wednesday to see your pictures. Gather around, students. Let’s see what Brad got. Savannah, can you download the camera Charm and Selene have been sharing?”

  “Who’s that?” Charm asked when she noticed a truck pulling up in the driveway. “Is that someone’s dad?”

  Savannah strained to look out through the front window. “Oh, that’s my husband, home early. Hi, hon,” she said when he walked through the door.

  “Whoa,” he responded with a smile. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re taking pictures, that’s what,” Brad said.

  “Are you Lily’s father?” Selene asked. When he nodded, she said, “She’s cute. We took pictures of her.”

  “Cool,” Michael said. He glanced around. When he spotted Shelly, he nodded a greeting. He then noticed Esse and walked over to him with his hand out. “I’m Michael Ivey,” he said cordially.

  “Esse.”

  “Esse?” Michael repeated.

  The man nodded.

  “We got a picture of your big mean cat jumping,” Charm said to Michael.

  He looked confused. “Mean cat?”

  “Yeah,” Selene said, her eyes wide, “he attacked Mr. Esse.”

  “He did?” Michael looked at Esse who smirked and nodded.

  ****

  Thirty minutes later, all of the students had been picked up from the recreation center and Shelly and Savannah sat talking about the progress of the course.

  “I’d like to give the boys a job,” Shelly announced.

  “A job?” Savannah questioned.

  “I don’t think photography’s their thing. But what I did see from Chuckie and Brad today is their ability to design. Did you notice them creating backgrounds and backdrops for the pictures?”

  “Yes, they were busy rearranging my house, weren’t they?” she said cringing a little. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I’d like to help them produce a book of the students’ photos for each child to take home at the end of the sessions. I may be able to get some funding from Roy Shively, the camera shop owner.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Just then Savannah’s phone tweeted. “A text,” she said. “I’d better check; it’s from Michael.” She read aloud, “Rags has been carrying on something fierce since you left. Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

  Shelly tilted her head. “Well, that’s odd. Does he usually have separation anxiety?”

  “No,” she said. “And I’ve never seen him take such a quick liking to someone as he did Marissa today. I wonder if he’s pining for her. We have another little girl who comes over to play with him sometimes; he loves Charlotte. But I’ve never seen him react to any child like he did Marissa. I wonder what’s up with that.”

  “He didn’t like Esse, though, did he?” Shelly said, chuckling. Before Savannah could respond, she added, “I think Esse was a real plus in our class today. His critique of the kids’ photos was spot on and they seemed to like him. Would you mind if we meet at your house Wednesday? I’d like to invite him again.”

  Savannah shrugged. “Sure. It’s okay with me, I guess.”

  “You have reservations,” Shelly noticed. “What are they?”

  She kept her thoughts to herself, finally saying, “It’s nothing…nothing concrete, anyway.” When Savannah noticed Shelly staring at her as if waiting for an explanation, she said, “It’s just hard to trust someone Rags doesn’t like. We’ve had too many…situations…with him.” She shook her head. “But I’m probably overreacting. Sure, let’s see if he wants to come to the next session.”

  “If you’re certain,” Shelly said. She continued, “I want to do some still-life work with the students—you know—let them photogr
aph some of your great decorations and unique furniture pieces. That’s a specialty of Esse’s—along with landscapes. He can teach them a lot about lighting.”

  “Sounds fun. Want me to have some fruit and vases and other doo-dads for the kids to arrange…maybe dried beans in different colors…?”

  “Good idea.”

  “Hey, I have some neat holiday decorations I can bring out—Santa figures, angels, elves...that might be fun for the kids.”

  “Yes. I’m loving it. So next Wednesday at two; your place.”

  ****

  “I’ve been thinking, Michael,” Savannah said that evening over dinner.

  “Uh-oh, about what?”

  “About taking Marissa for a horseback ride.” She leaned toward Michael. “You should have seen her today. She was in heaven with these animals. She and Rags hit it off really well.”

  He frowned. “Well, what’s this I heard about him attacking that man who was here?”

  Savannah shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, Michael. For some reason, Rags doesn’t seem to like him.”

  He took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll have to say I didn’t find him particularly charming myself, but when I met him he was probably planning to launch a lawsuit against us and your cat.”

  “Funny.”

  “So the child you mentioned—why do you want to take her riding?” he asked.

  “She’s such a sweet little girl and it seems she doesn’t have many opportunities for activities outside of school. As I said, she really liked being around our animals and was fascinated by the horse. She’s never even been close to a horse before, but she’s read every children’s storybook about horses ever written. She named some I haven’t heard of.” She paused before saying, “Michael, I know that horse-craving.”

  “Horse-craving?”

  “Yes, as a child, I could practically taste what it would be like to ride a horse and I wanted it so badly. I’d love to offer that opportunity to Marissa.” She picked up her phone. “I checked the weather for the weekend and it looks like it will actually be sunny—or at least partly sunny.”