A MEOWvelous Witness (Klepto Cat Mystery Book 17)

by Patricia Fry

  She thought for a moment and said, “Yes, we could, but our car would be here and so would the cats.”

  “Yeah, I guess it could get complicated. Okay, then; we’ll ride the trails out here and arrange to get the horses back, hopefully tomorrow.”

  Savannah nodded, then pulled her phone out of her pocket again. “I’ll call Colbi and tell her we’ll bring Dolly home a little later.”

  “What did Colbi say?” Michael asked when she returned from making the call.

  Savannah winced. “Well, she doesn’t seem to be answering her phone now. Michael, I’m concerned about her. I called Damon and he said he’s concerned about her, too. He said she has been isolating herself. She spends a lot of time in front of the computer. Michael, he thinks she’s working, but I know she’s communicating with that support group.” She leaned toward him. “She told me the other day she wants to get involved in a clinical trial she saw offered—you know—where they test drugs and placebos on people with a disease. She doesn’t even know she has this disease, for crying out loud.”

  “This has really knocked Colbi off dead center, hasn’t it? I didn’t know she was so easily rattled. I thought she was stronger.”

  “She is,” Savannah said, placing her saddle on her mare and tightening the cinch. “This is not Colbi. I can’t imagine what has happened to cause this strange imbalance.” She began to brush down Beulah, saying, “I just hope she doesn’t get the diagnosis she seems to be expecting when she sees her doctor tomorrow.”

  ****

  “That was so much fun!” Adam said, as they rode into the Bowmans’ ranch a couple of hours later. “I’ve never been on a picnic with a horse before.” He started laughing. “I thought it was funny, Dad, when Peaches took your apple right out of your hand.”

  “Yeah, hilarious,” Michael said, faking a smirk. He reached over and poked the boy in the stomach playfully. “Someone shouldn’t have let her walk up behind me like that.”

  “I couldn’t help it. I was taking a drink of water and she just started walking without me telling her to.”

  Savannah smiled, then reined her horse off to the right. “I want to check on the cats.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Michael said. When she returned, he asked, “Are they still there?”

  “Yup. They aren’t even complaining about being cooped up like rabbits. I think they’re exhausted.”

  “Can I go play with them?” Adam asked as he slid down from the saddle.

  “No, Son. There’s work to be done before we can play.”

  “What work?” Adam asked.

  “Well, the horses need to be unsaddled, watered, brushed down, and put away. We have to store the saddles and other equipment.”

  “Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know about that part. It always looks like the cowboys are having fun.”

  Savannah patted the top of Adam’s helmet. “Taking good care of a horse can be fun. And it’s good for the horse and for you. Come on, you can take Peaches’s blanket and pad off and bring them into the tack room, okay?”

  “Sure.” He watched her remove the saddle, then he pulled at the pad. “Ewww, it’s wet…with sweat.”

  “Yup. Just bring them in here,” she coached. She pointed out a bucket of grooming tools. “Now grab a brush and you can groom Peaches—use swirling motions on the sweaty part—that’ll help her coat to dry faster.”

  “After you brush Peaches, you can brush Delilah and Beulah,” Michael instructed.

  Adam started to laugh.

  “What’s funny?” Savannah asked.

  “Those names,” he said, chuckling. He repeated, “Deli-lah and Beu-lah,” accentuating the last syllable. He then laughed harder. “And Savan-nah,” he said.

  “Don’t forget Brian-na,” Michael added, chuckling.

  Savannah joined in. “And Hannah, Banana.”

  “You guys are silly,” Adam said, grinning as he continued to brush down Peaches.

  “Want to lead her to that water trough over there, Adam?” Savannah asked.

  “Sure,” he said, untying the lead rope and walking with the mare toward the water. “Wow, look at her drink. She’s really thirsty. Didn’t she get enough water at that river?”

  “Guess not,” Michael said, walking toward the trough with the other two mares.

  “That was sure fun, Dad. Thanks for taking me. Hey, I can’t wait to see the pictures Savannah took.”

  “Yeah, we can print them out for you to take home, if you want,” she said.

  “That would be great.”

  “What was the most fun part of our ride, Adam?” she asked.

  “Oh, that’s hard. It was all fun.” He started to laugh. “I thought it was funny when your saddle twisted and you almost fell off, Dad.”

  “Yeah, another hilarious scenario for our scrapbook,” Michael said rather sarcastically. “Darn bloating mare.”

  Adam’s demeanor changed. “I got kinda scared when Peaches stumbled that time going down the hill. But she didn’t fall.” He cocked his head. “She probably wouldn’t let me fall, do you think?”

  “No, she sure wouldn’t let you fall if she could help it. But sometimes horses stumble and sometimes they fall down,” Michael explained.

  “My favorite part,” Savannah said to Adam, “was watching you jog her along that straight path. The look on your face was priceless. You were having so much fun.”

  “Yeah, that was one bouncy ride. But I did like going fast.”

  “So do you think you’d like to be a race-horse jockey?” Michael asked.

  Adam’s face lit up. After thinking about it for a minute, though, he said, “Maybe not. Once on TV I saw a rider in one of those races fall off a horse and get stepped on. No, I think they go too fast for me.”

  “Well, let’s get these cats home, shall we buddy?” Michael said. “Go ahead and lead Peaches back to her corral.”

  ****

  Less than an hour later, the Ivey family pulled into Colbi’s driveway. As Savannah exited the car, Colbi rushed out the front door and down the porch steps to greet them. “Oh, Savannah, thank you so much,” she said, hugging her. Stepping back, she peered through the car windows. “Where is she?” she asked excitedly. “Where’s my Dolly?”

  “Here she is,” Adam said cheerfully, opening his car door and revealing the tabby curled up in his lap. “She likes me to hold her,” he said, petting her fur. He made a face. “But she’s full of stickers. I pulled out a bunch of them, see?” He held up a plastic sandwich bag nearly half full of twigs, stickers, and burrs.

  Colbi took a closer look. “Wow, she sure is.” She reached for the cat and cradled her in her arms. “What have you been doing, Dolly? Your beautiful fur is a disaster.”

  “I could have cleaned her up for you, Colbi,” Michael said, “but I figured you were anxious to have her home.” He looked her in the eyes. “I’ll take her to the clinic and groom her, if you want me to.”

  She cocked her head. “I didn’t know you did grooming.”

  “Yeah, it’s something we do sometimes for patients who get themselves into predicaments like this. Want to meet me at the clinic in a while?”

  After thinking about it, Colbi said, “Nah, I can give her a bath and start working on the stickers.” She pulled at Dolly’s fur, saying, “I may have to cut some of these out.” She shook her head. “That’s all I need, one more problem.”

  Savannah and Michael were silent, then Savannah said, “Hey kiddo, how about if we take her with us? Michael and I’ll get her cleaned up and bring your pretty Dolly back in an hour or so.” She glanced into the backseat and winked. “You should take advantage of our offer, since we have Adam here to help us today.”

  Colbi presented a slight smile. “Okay, that sounds good.”

  “Yeah, we’ll bring her home all pretty for you,” Savannah said, taking the cat from Colbi. “And she’ll smell good, too.” She wrinkled her nose. “Did you get a w
hiff of her?”

  “Yes, what is that?” Colbi asked.

  “I suspect rabbit poop along with sage and…”

  “Rabbit poop?” Adam said. He sniffed his sweatshirt sleeves. “Now I smell like it.”Michael laughed. “I guess we all need grooming.” He glanced at Rags, who was lying near Adam in the backseat. “I think we’ll bathe him, too.” He started the car and called out, “We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah said, “go rest, will you?”

  Colbi nodded and watched the Iveys’ car head for the highway.

  ****

  The following morning, the Ivey family sat around the kitchen table, finishing omelets and fruit. “Adam’s still talking about that ride yesterday,” Michael said, winking at his son.

  The boy smiled. “That was fun.” He thought for a moment. “I’d like to be a cowboy. I sure wish my mom and other dad would buy a ranch so I could have my own horse.” Suddenly, he let out a yelp. “No Rags. That’s my bacon,” he scolded. “Oh, all right, you earned it,” he said, relenting. He looked at Savannah. “Can he have it?”

  “I’d rather he not have bacon, but he can have some of your egg and cheese, if you want to share.” She smiled. “So did you sleep better last night?”

  “Yeah,” he said, petting the large grey-and-white cat. “Rags stayed on my bed all night. I know he did because every time I woke up, I still couldn’t move my legs. He was holding them down. He sure was tired.” He looked up at Savannah as he hand-fed Rags a bite of his omelet. “I just wish I could have seen him and Dolly ride on a horse. That would have made my day.”

  Michael and Savannah laughed. “Probably not his,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “It probably wouldn’t have made Rags’s day. He likes Peaches,” Michael explained, “but at a safe distance, like on the fence railing where they can see, eye to eye.”

  “Oh, there’s my phone. I’ll be right back. Hi, Colbi,” Savannah said upon taking the call. “How’s sweet Dolly?”

  “Oh, she’s just great. I sure do appreciate you and Michael cleaning her up yesterday. She’s gorgeous. I’ll have to arrange for her to have a spa day more often.”

  “You’re so welcome. It’s the least we could do, since it was my idea to go into the wilderness and it was my aunt who took the cats out there.” She let out a sigh. “I’m just so glad we got them back. I’m going out this morning with Bonnie to trailer the horses home.” She paused, then said, “Colbi, you sound good. Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, so good that I think I’ll cancel my doctor’s appointment today.”

  “What happened?” Savannah asked.

  “It’s a miracle, Savannah,” she said, her voice hushed. “Last night I was feeling awful. I had these waves of nausea that were terrible. I was experiencing shortness of breath. I was miserable. Well, I was lying down on the sofa when Dolly came over and climbed on top of me. I started to push her off. I didn’t feel like having anything on my stomach, as you can imagine. But the minute she laid down on me I felt better. She began staring into my eyes; just staring. Savannah, for the first time in days, I felt myself relax. It was as if a ton of bricks lifted from my shoulders. I began to breathe normally. The nausea went away. Oh my gosh, I felt so much better.”

  “Wow!” Savannah said.

  “Yeah, Dolly and I lay there like that for maybe fifteen minutes. I think I actually went to sleep, because I had a vision or a dream that I was floating. I had this floating sensation. I remember thinking at the time that I should be frightened, but I wasn’t. I felt such peace. The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and Dolly was across the room curled up in her bed sound asleep and I felt amazing.” She hesitated before saying, “Savannah, I believe I was healed—completely cured. I felt and still feel such a sense of well-being—a happiness I haven’t felt in…well, in several days, anyway.”

  “Gosh, Colbi, you just gave me goose bumps. That’s wonderful news.” She paused, then said gently, “Hon, I do think you should see your doctor, though, don’t you? Keep that appointment and tell him what’s been going on—just in case. It can take a long time to get an appointment and you don’t know how long this feel-good feeling will last.”

  “Oh Savannah…”

  “Please, Colbi. Your appointment’s in a couple of hours, isn’t it? Keep it, please. See what the doctor has to say.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Thank you for caring, and again, for bringing back my sweet girl to me.”

  “You’re so welcome. Oh, here’s Bonnie. Better scoot. I’ll call you later this afternoon.”

  Before leaving, she rushed to kiss Michael, Lily, and Adam. She grabbed her jacket and headed toward the door, then turned back. “Oh Adam, you’ll probably be gone when I get back.” She walked over to him and hugged him again. “I’m so glad you came. It was such fun having you here. I really enjoyed our trail ride. Now that I see how well you can ride, we’ll be sure to plan more trail rides.”

  “Awesome!” he shouted.

  “And thank you for helping us find Rags and Dolly,” she added.

  Adam reached down and petted Rags, who was standing with his paws on his chair again. “I think Rags found us. I told you, he

  ****

  “I already miss that kid,” Savannah said that evening over an early dinner.

  Michael nodded toward Lily. “I think she does, too. After he left this morning—well, it was around noon—she kept going to the door, pointing, and saying ‘bacon-bacon.’” He laughed. “You know, that’s what it sounds like when she tries to say his name.”

  “Awww, how cute. So what did you do to distract her?”

  “We went for a walk to see the ki-kis at her auntie’s.”

  “Oh, I’ll bet she enjoyed that.”

  “Yes, she seemed to.” He glanced at Savannah. “Craig and Iris were there.”

  “They were?”

  “Yeah, it seems that Maggie knows Iris’s former husband—the one who has come here to cause trouble—and they thought she might be able to shed some light on their case.”

  “Case?” she questioned.

  “Well, their defense, in case he takes them to court.”

  “What would my aunt know that Iris doesn’t know?”

  “She knew him in high school and ran with some of his friends—knew his family before he and Iris got married.”

  “So did she have any information that would help?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. She gave Craig the names of some of his friends and was pretty sure she could come up with additional information if she thought about it. She was going to pull out her yearbooks to refresh her memory. Craig seemed pleased with what she told him. He said she’d given him some ammunition.”

  “So what’s the deal, anyway?” she asked. “That guy thinks he can get a judge to award him money he didn’t actually pay in child support because Iris wouldn’t let him see Damon when he was a child, which I don’t believe, anyway?”

  “No, I don’t think there’s any truth to that, either, at least according to Iris.” He laid his fork down. “Evidently, he’s pushing for a DNA test to prove he isn’t the father and shouldn’t have had to pay out all that money.”

  “What money?”

  “I guess he has paperwork showing he paid. Craig said it’s all falsified, but how are they going to prove that?”

  “It’s a darn shame when someone who’s innocent has to prove it against a scammer. You know, I guess it was him that I saw the other day with Craig.” She clenched her teeth. “And I have to say he sure looks a lot like Damon, for someone who isn’t Damon’s father. He’s a mess, though—like Damon used to be.” She tilted her head. “Michael, did Craig say who that other man was who evidently claimed to be Damon’s father?”

  “He mentioned something about two men and a woman being involved in the scam. But how the other guy fits into the picture, no one knows. The woman is Eugene Jack
son’s attorney.”

  “Then why was she with the tall guy that day when they were hassling Damon?” Savannah asked.

  Michael shrugged. “I suppose that’s something Craig has to sort out, as only he can do.”

  She softened her tone. “How’s Iris holding up under all this?”

  “She was kind of quiet. I imagine it has her pretty shaken up. But she’s a tough cookie and she has a good detective on her side.”

  Savannah suddenly sat up straight. “Oh, do you know what happened when she took Colbi to the doctor?”

  He gave her a blank stare. “Uh, no. Did Colbi go to the doctor today?”

  “Yes. I need to call and see what she found out.” Before Savannah could pick up her phone, however, it began to ring. She laughed. “It’s Colbi. Hi, girlfriend. How are you?”

  There was silence. “Colbi?”

  “Oh hi, Savannah.”

  “Hi, how’d your appointment go?”

  “Good. I got a check-up. Everything seems to be okay.”

  “Then why do you sound sort of down?”

  “It’s Dolly. She’s acting odd and she’s not eating much. She seems mopey to me. I got to thinking maybe she misses Rags. I was wondering if you’d like to bring him over. I want to see if it makes a difference in her mood.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Well, I was hoping…”

  Savannah thought for a moment, then said, “Sure, it’s early yet. Can Lily come, too?”

  “Of course.”

  “Okay, I think Michael wants to catch up on the news. Adam and I—not to mention the punkin—have kept him pretty busy around here this weekend. He’ll probably be happy to have me out of his hair. I’ll see you in a few. Want me to bring anything?”

  “No, just Rags.”

  Thirty minutes later, Savannah approached Colbi’s front porch with Lily in her arms and Rags on his leash.

  “Dolly’s already excited,” Colbi said upon opening the door. “She saw you through the window and raced to the door, eager for me to open it.” Colbi reached down and picked up the cat. “Stand back now and let our guests in, Dolly-girl.”