Cats in the Belfry (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 24)

by Patricia Fry

  “Are you sure you saw them?” Margaret asked. “It’s pretty dark up here.”

  “Yes, I happened to catch them in the light. I saw them for sure.” She scratched her head. “But I can’t imagine where they went.” After opening the closet door and checking inside twice, Savannah walked toward the hallway. “Let’s take a look in some of the other rooms.”

  They checked all of the upstairs rooms, then Margaret shook her head in disbelief. “How could we have missed them, Vannie—I mean, if they actually went into one of these rooms? There’s no furniture—no place for cats to hide.” She patted her niece’s shoulder. “I think your eyes were playing tricks on you, or maybe it’s your imagination.” She grinned playfully. “Yeah, that’s it; now that you think you’re a writer, you’re making up stories.”

  Savannah tightened her lips. “No I’m not, Auntie.”

  Margaret contemplated the situation, then took a deep breath. “Well, let’s go pack up that litter of kittens downstairs. Then I’d like to walk around the grounds again and see if we spot any more black cats.” Before the two women had reached the staircase, however, they heard a loud noise behind them. Margaret grasped Savannah’s arm and quickly turned. “What was that?”

  “Probably one of those cats,” Savannah said, shining the light into the hallway. She held the flashlight steady and peered into the distance. “Hey, look. There’s one of them. See it? It’s about halfway down the hallway.”

  “Yes. That’s a black cat, all right,” Margaret agreed. She then muttered, “Is it a new one, or is it the mother cat we saw downstairs? See if you can get closer to it, Vannie,” she instructed.

  As Savannah edged toward the cat, a second black cat appeared and sat down next to the first one. They both stared at the light as Savannah slowly approached them. When she was about six feet away she crouched, laid the flashlight on the floor next to her, and poured a few of the kitty treats into her hand. “Here, kitty,” she cooed, reaching her hand toward the cats. They didn’t seem at all interested in the kibbles, and without warning they disappeared into a room at the end of the hall. “Come on, Auntie, I saw which room they went into for sure this time.”

  “Yes, so did I,” Margaret said, moving swiftly and quietly toward the doorway. Once inside, she clenched her teeth and said, “This is just too spooky. They’ve vanished again. How? I mean, how can they just disappear like that?”

  “Yeah, like my bracelet,” Savannah said quietly.

  “You lost a bracelet out here?”

  “No. I lost it at home. Just like those cats, it simply vanished.”

  Margaret gazed at her niece for a moment, then looked around. “It’s a puzzle to me. There’s no furniture in here, no shelving…this room doesn’t even have closet doors. There’s no place for those cats to hide, yet they’re nowhere to be seen.” Margaret opened her eyes wide. “Ghost cats, that’s what they are.”

  Savannah chuckled. “Aren’t ghosts white?”

  “Evidently not in this case.” Margaret shook her head slowly. “I mean, what other explanation could there be?”

  Savannah stared at her aunt for a moment, then asked, “So we haven’t documented any black cats yet, right? I mean, except for the momma cat we just saw downstairs and her kittens.”

  “No, we haven’t seen any solid black cats outside.” Margaret looked around. “I wonder what they’re doing in here.” Under her breath, she added, “If they really are here at all. If they’re real, why haven’t we seen them outside with the other cats?”

  Just then Savannah let out a shriek and ducked. “Look out!”

  “What was that?” Margaret asked, once she’d recovered from the shock of it.

  “A crow, I think,” Savannah said from where she now sat on the floor. “What in the heck is he doing in here? How did he get in?”

  “Vannie,” Margaret said quietly, “black cats…a crow…are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Probably not. What are you thinking?” she asked, lifting herself to a standing position with her aunt’s help.

  “Voodoo, witchcraft—that’s what.” Margaret raced into the hallway, pulling Savannah along. “Let’s get the heck out of here.”

  “Wait,” Savannah insisted as she was virtually yanked out of the room. “I want to check once more across the hall. Maybe…just maybe they…”

  But before the women could make a move, a voice sounded behind them. “Hello.” Savannah gasped and quickly turned. She shined the light in the direction of the greeting and saw a man and a woman standing in the hallway peering suspiciously at them. “Oh, hello,” she said, panting just a little while she tried to catch her breath. She glanced at her aunt, who held tightly to her arm, her eyes wide. “You startled us.”

  “What are you doing here?” the man asked rather abruptly.

  Savannah noticed that he was probably in his early seventies, on the short side, and thick around the middle. “Um…”

  Margaret let go of Savannah’s arm and cleared her throat. “We’re from the Hammond Cat Alliance and we’re managing the cat colony that has formed here.”

  The woman adjusted her designer eyeglasses. “Good! Will you be taking them away? They’ve been a real nuisance.” Before Margaret could answer, the woman motioned to the south. “We moved into that new tract several months ago and these cats are trying to take over—they dig in our flowerbeds, sleep on our lawn furniture…”

  “Yes, they’ve been out here for a long time,” Margaret explained. “This is their home.”

  “And we’re the encroachers,” the woman said, laughing. “They must resent us something awful.”

  “They’re probably coming around your place hoping to find food,” Savannah suggested. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been feeding them on a regular basis.”

  “So what will you do with them?” the woman asked, pulling her lightweight sweater around her thin frame.

  “We’ve started a feeding program,” Margaret said. “Once we’ve fed them and observed them for a week or so, we’ll determine the best situation for each cat and kitten. June Balcomb, at Ragsdale Cat Ranch, will probably take most of them, some will be placed in foster care, some in permanent homes. Those that are too frightened to be adopted and aren’t able to even work as a barn cat, they’ll spend the rest of their days in the feral enclosure at the cat ranch.”

  The woman let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Just wonderful. I adore cats—we have one of our own. While we don’t want the cats from over here tearing up our garden, scattering our trash, and scaring our kitty, we sure don’t want to see them harmed.” She spoke more quietly. “I’ve been concerned that less-aware neighbors will hurt them or trap them and maybe release them out to the hills. That’s one of the solutions we’ve heard neighbors speak of. So I’m awfully glad you’re here to help. I’ll definitely spread the word.” She tilted her head. “What are your names?”

  “I’m Maggie Sheridan. This is Savannah Ivey.”

  “Ivey, Ivey,” the woman repeated. “Do you know Dr. Mike at the Ivey Veterinary Clinic?”

  Savannah smiled. “Yes, he’s my husband.”

  “Oh, what a small world! Well, I know these cats are in good hands if Dr. Mike’s involved.” She reached out to shake hands with Savannah, then Margaret. “By the way, I’m Lauren Ward. This is my husband, Karl.” She looked around. “We walk past here a lot, but this is my first time inside. We saw your car and wondered…” She shook her head and cringed. “Believe me, I’d never come over here at night, that’s for sure. Not with what I see going on at this place.”

  “Oh, Lauren,” Karl said, “you read too many of those mystery books.”

  “You stay up past eight one night, Karl,” she spat, “and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  “Dare I ask what you see?” Margaret asked hesitantly.

  Lauren looked at Margaret, then Savannah before speaking. “I don’t rightly know.” She addressed her husband when saying, “
But it’s real and it’s spooky!” She turned to leave and said, “Just don’t come out here after dark and you’ll probably be fine.”

  Just then they heard a clattering sound and they all looked in time to see something crashing down the staircase. “What was that?” Lauren hissed, grabbing her husband’s arm.

  Savannah and Margaret recoiled.

  When Savannah shined the flashlight in that direction, Karl said, “Looks like one of the hand railings gave way, that’s all.”

  “Maybe that crow did it,” Margaret said quietly.

  Lauren frowned. “Crow?”

  “Yeah, we think it was a crow that flew over our heads a while ago.”

  “Hmmm,” Lauren said, “are you sure it wasn’t a raven? I’ve seen a couple of ravens out here. They’re larger than crows, you know.”

  “It was big all right,” Savannah confirmed. “But it flew past us so fast, I didn’t get a good look at it. Did you, Auntie?”

  She shook her head. “It’s hard to see a black bird or a black cat in here, as dim as it is.” She shivered a little. “Well, shall we get out of here? I don’t see those cats anymore.” Margaret took another look into the hallway. “I’m still confused as to where they could be.”

  This piqued Lauren’s interest. “Vanishing cats?” she said, laughing nervously.

  Margaret nodded. “Yes. We saw them go into that room, but when we followed after them, we couldn’t find them. As far as we could tell, there’s only one way in and out of that room.”

  “I believe it.” Lauren leaned toward the other women. “I think this place has been taken over by something of another world.”

  “Now, Lauren,” Karl warned, “you don’t know that. No sense in scaring them.” He turned to leave. “We have work to do and so do they. Let’s get out of their way, shall we?”

  “Okay.” Lauren started to follow him, then changed her mind. “You ladies be careful out here, will ya?”

  Savannah nodded. “We will.” She then called out, “Thanks for coming by.”

  “Oh, wait,” Margaret said, digging into one of her pockets and pulling out a business card. “Here’s my number. Would you call me if you see anything strange going on out here?”

  Lauren looked at the card, then at Margaret. “Sure,” she said, stuffing it into her pocket.

  Once the couple had left, the two women made their way down the wide staircase. “Let’s take the kittens,” Margaret suggested.

  Savannah stopped and glanced around the large reception area. “You know, they look so good, I wonder if we should leave them alone for now—maybe until we find out more about the other black cats. It could be that someone’s taking care of them.”

  “Who?” Margaret challenged.

  “I don’t know. Maybe someone from that tract, or a transient is crashing here and feeding them. Maybe it’s actually someone your friend Andy knows. Why don’t we leave them alone until you’ve talked to him?”

  After thinking about it, Margaret agreed. “Yeah, you’re right. Good thinking, Vannie.” Once the two women had stepped outside, Margaret pulled the small door firmly shut. “I wonder if we should leave this open for the black cat or cats.”

  “If they’re even going in and out,” Savannah said under her breath. She raised a finger in the air. “Hey, this door was closed, wasn’t it? If they’re going out at all, they probably have an escape route through the floor and under the building.”

  Margaret thought for a moment. “Yeah, I had my eye peeled for something like that—you know, floorboards missing, perhaps. Didn’t see anything.” She scratched her head. “But I still can’t figure out why we’ve seen no black cats out here.” Margaret winced, then said, “Okay, let’s finish our inventory and feeding and call it a day.”

  “Do we have extra bowls we can leave inside for the black cats?” When her aunt looked at her, she explained, “You know, in case no one is feeding them.”

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” Margaret agreed. “Just in case.”

  ****

  That evening over dinner, Michael asked, “Well, how did it go today? Everything okay?”

  Savannah nodded while serving Lily a small plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas. “Pretty well, I guess. You’ll be busy in a few weeks when we start bringing the cats in for their little snip-snips.”

  “How many are there?”

  “Would you believe we’ve counted thirty-one so far, including the kittens?” She joined him at the table. “We found some cats and kittens hiding inside the place today. All of them black. It’s strange because the only black ones on the property are those we found inside.” She raised her eyebrows. “And two of them seem to be little Houdinis or magicians.”

  “How’s that?” he asked.

  “Well, they keep disappearing.”

  Michael peered at his wife over his glass of iced tea. “They disappeared? Where?”

  “We don’t know. We’d see them—or we’d think we saw them—and when we followed them, they weren’t there.”

  He stared at her for a moment, then asked, “Do you think you’ve found all of the new litters?”

  “Well, we hope we’ve found all the kittens and pregnant females.” She let out a sigh. “But there’s a lot of debris around. I suppose we could have missed some.”

  “Take Rags out there. He’ll find them.”

  “Yeah, I guess we may have to.”

  “You sound reluctant.”

  “And you wonder why? Michael, I’d think you’d be the last one to want Rags involved.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, that’s true. But in this case, he just might be helpful.”

  “Oh, we met some of your clients—Lauren and Karl Ward. They said they bring their kitty to you.”

  “Oh yes. They have a Maine coon. Nice cat.” He frowned. “Where did you meet them?”

  “They live in that new tract near the old seminary and they came in to ask what we were doing there.”

  “Peas, Mommy,” Lily chirped. “Peas, Mommy.”

  “Eat your potatoes and meat, punkin,” she said.

  “Peas!” Lily shouted.

  “You already ate your peas. Eat some of your potatoes and I’ll give you more peas,” she bargained. “Come on, you like smashed potatoes and meatloaf.”

  “No like!” Lily said, throwing her spoon.

  “Uh-oh. Are we going to have a temper tantrum?” Savannah asked.

  “Peas!” Lily demanded.

  “Just mix some peas with her potatoes and meat,” Michael suggested.

  Savannah stared at him. “Oh, you mean that then she’ll have to eat some of the meat and potatoes?”

  He nodded.

  Savannah gave him a sideways glance. “I don’t know, Michael. She doesn’t like her food mixed like that.”

  “Here, try it,” he urged, taking Lily’s plate and spooning some peas over her potatoes and meat. “There you are. More peas.”

  “What do you say, Lily?” Savannah prompted.

  The toddler smiled sweetly at Michael. “Thank you, Daddy.”

  He picked up her spoon, wiped it off, and handed it to her. “You’re welcome, punkin. Now eat up.” He winked across the table at Savannah. “Problem solved.”

  “One can only hope. That little mind of hers gets stronger every day.” She watched as Lily carefully picked the peas out of her mashed potatoes with her fingers and ate them one by one. She grinned, then said to Michael, “Lauren Ward says she sees strange things at that place at night.”

  “She does? Like what?”

  “I don’t know. That’s all she said.”

  “Well, you won’t be going out there at night, will you?”

  “Um…”

  “Savannah?”

  “Well, we may go out once to see if we can catch sight of cats we don’t see in the daylight. You know how feral cats are—more nocturnal than a house cat.”

  Michael chuckled. “Who could be more nocturnal than Walter? But he sleeps all the time, d
oesn’t he?”

  “Pretty much. He doesn’t leave his chair very often, that’s for sure. But sometimes he’s awake in his chair—simply having a bath or sitting there watching Lily or Lexie. He loves to watch Lexie.”

  “Yes, they were the best of friends at one time. When we acquired you and Rags, things changed.”

  Savannah laughed, “Acquired us?” she repeated.

  He nodded, then continued with his thoughts on their black cat. “It’s like Walter suddenly became old. As you know, he does have some health issues and I think he’s just aging faster than normal or he’s depressed.”

  “He seems to be doing better on his new diet. I think he’s had more energy these last few days.”

  “It could help. I hope it does. It doesn’t seem like much of a life, just sleeping, eating, and sleeping some more.” Michael looked down and smiled. “Well, Walter, speak of the devil. What are you up to, old boy?” He scratched the cat alongside his neck and Walter pushed against Michael’s hand, asking for more.

  When Lexie saw the black cat, she rushed to him and poked her nose against Walter.

  “Look at this, hon,” Michael said. “Walter’s actually playing with Lexie. When’s the last time you saw that?”

  “It’s been a while, that’s for sure,” Savannah agreed. “Awww, how cute. Now don’t get too rough, Lexie,” she cautioned the Afghan-hound mix. “Be gentle.”

  “No!” Lily shouted when she saw the two animals playing. “No, Lexie! No hurt kitty.”

  “Awww. It’s okay, punkin,” Michael soothed. “They’re just playing. Walter’s okay. Lexie likes Walter.”

  Lily leaned over and watched the animals until Walter trotted under a kitchen chair, where he sat down and proceeded to watch the dog from a safer place.

  “Are we having our family-and-friends meal after church Sunday?” Michael asked.

  “Yes, at the inn. Iris has asked Mattie to prepare lunch for us.” Savannah shivered in excitement. “It will be neat seeing everyone. It’s been a long time.”

  “What do you mean?” he challenged. “I see Bud every day at the clinic and you see your aunt almost every day. We traveled with Maggie and Max and Iris and Craig just a couple of weeks ago, didn’t we? And we all got together last Sunday.”