Huh? I sucked in a kitty sized breath and hissed it out. What if Lucinda had done something to Ami? I had to get out of here without drawing attention to myself so I could get out on the street. Boots on the ground and all that. Pen and Dr. Luke’s budding romance would have to wait. Now that I had an idea of what might be going on, I needed to enlist Sage and my other friends for some investigative work.
“I know,” Pen replied, her eyes welling up with tears. “You would have loved them both. I don’t have many memories, but my grandma talked about them so much, I felt like they were still with us in the house while I was growing up.”
I gave Pen’s calf one final massage with my limber back in response to her sadness and then trotted off to talk to Sage.
Chapter 9
After I discussed my suspicions with Sage, we decided to wait until after midnight to go out in search of any word about the recent movements of Lucinda Chokecherry. A time of the night when our brethren in the animal world would be more active and likely to talk to us. If we could find some in the refuse bin outside of Once Upon A Bottle, that would be even better. The drunk never lie.
Penelope’s even breathing indicated that she’d fallen asleep. After her upsetting conversation with Dr. Luke about her parents and their untimely demise, she’d tossed and turned for thirty minutes until I wondered if I’d be able to leave the house undetected tonight for my mission with Sage.
Crash!
I heard a strange thump coming from the shelter where the adoptable cats were housed. Since Pen slept so lightly, she heard it too and shot straight up in the bed.
“Did you hear that, Tali?” she asked. “It sounded like it was coming from the kitty condo. I’d better go down and check it out.”
Grab your baseball bat first. Or, your hand gun.
Did you people really think I was serious? Pen doesn’t have any weaponry in the house except for a medieval broadsword handed down from her grandfather that currently hung in a place of honor above the fireplace mantle. A historian said it had been used in the Medieval Crusades. Pen thought Papa's spirit protected her through that old relic, and knowing Papa DeLacroix, he'd infused it with some positive magic to do just that.
But that damn thing was duller than Garrison Keillor in an episode of Prairie Home Companion. Or watching paint dry. Or reading the dictionary.
I digress.
If she could even lift it, what with it weighing close to thirty pounds. My razor sharp claws and pointed teeth were probably the most effective defense we had at the moment, so I trotted off after her.
Pen kept her lithe body close to the wall as she crept down the hallway to the stairs. I noticed she’d forgotten to grab her glasses in her haste to get to the shelter. Great. Blind and weaponless. Since the shelter was attached to the house by an addition Nana DeLaCroix had built years ago, only a flimsy wooden door protected us from what danger lurked on the other side. I prayed that danger wasn’t a Chokecherry or some other kind of evil demon, because there wasn’t any place that I could morph without being detected between where I stood and the breezeway.
About half-way down the stairs, Penelope stopped dead in her tracks. Another crashing noise permeated the silence. Then, it started in earnest. The howling, the caterwauling, scratching and barking. Whoever or whatever was down there had awakened the entire shelter and the animals were letting it be known that an intruder was present.
I trotted ahead of Pen in case I needed to create a diversion in order to distract the attention of whatever it was away from her. After all, I had more lives, and I was more limber and possessed excellent reflexes in case of a sneak attack.
As soon as I reached the door to the shelter, I heard it. The voice. The door was ajar and someone was on the other side, swearing.
“Damn it!” the voice was raised in anger or frustration and there was also a thumping, like someone’s beating heart had been ripped from their chest and thrown on the cement floor.
I stretched my neck out to peer around the door and came face to face with … a cat. A long haired, Seal point, mitted, Ragdoll cat. A female cat. I stood there in stunned silence. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever beheld. Then, she coughed. A great heaving cough and snot flew out her nose.
What are you looking at, beefcake? She asked between hacks.
Nothing.
Nothing? That’s all you can say to the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen in your life. I needed help. Serious help. I needed to grow a pair. I’d tried to tell Penelope that the neutering thing wasn’t for me.
“Tali, is that you?” Dr. Luke asked as he limped toward the door. “I stubbed my big toe on Penelope’s desk because I didn’t want to turn on all the lights. I’m sorry if I startled you.”
So the thumping had been Dr. Luke trying to take the pressure off his minor injury as he hopped around on one foot.
“Dr. Collier?” Pen had caught up to me and must have recognized Dr. Luke’s deep baritone. She squinted into the room and followed his voice with her eyes.
“I’m so sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night Penelope, and I hope you’ll forgive me. Someone surrendered this beautiful purebred Ragdoll at the clinic because its owner passed away. I’m so overloaded with patients, we didn’t even have a portable crate we could keep her in. She has a bit of a dry cough right now, but it’s nothing contagious. I was hoping that I could just put her in your kitty condo without disturbing you.”
The knockout was staying? Right on. Maybe I could talk Pen into letting her stay stay.
Nancy boy.
Shit. I hadn’t noticed Sage on his perch as he surveyed the entire situation. All of the situation, obviously, including my lack of eloquent discourse with my new crush. Leave it to him not to keep his rude thoughts to himself.
What’s your name, beautiful?
Lola.
Ah, Lola. Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl. Yellow feathers in her hair and her fur cut down to there. His name was Tali, he wore a pendant. He was escorted to his lair. He saw Lola standing there …
Hey, beefcake. I heard that. What do you think I am, some kind of object for your amusement? By the way, you should keep your day job.
But … am I handsome? A strapping dreamboat that makes your heart go pitter-patter?
My mind raced and I couldn’t keep my feelings to myself. Better she find out about my sarcastic sense of humor right out of the gate. Before Lola could respond with the answer that had the ability to rip my world apart, our little interlude was interrupted by the arrival of Penelope and Dr. Luke to stand underneath Sage’s perch. Lola and I had already wandered over to the area where we now sat, facing each other. My green eyes gazing deep in to the azure depths of hers.
“Tali?”
What? Can’t they see that we don’t want to be interrupted? Maybe just I don’t want to be interrupted, because Lola took that opportunity to wrap herself around Pen’s legs like a pair of well-broken in Uggs. She was lucky I liked her or I might have to take her out at the knees for moving in on what rightfully belonged to me.
“I’m sorry, Penelope,” Dr. Luke said. “Now, you’re going to have light-colored fur all over your flannel pajamas.”
Why couldn’t she have worn something more appropriate? As in more revealing. Negligee, bra and panties, even a tank top and shorts would have been better than the worn out pink and grey plaid flannel pajamas Pen had on for this impromptu date with Dr. Luke. Worse yet, she felt naked without her glasses so she had the already high collar clutched in her fingers and wrapped around her neck.
“What? These old things,” she replied. “It’s fine. I just want her to feel safe here so she can rub my legs all she wants.” Then she paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to grab a robe. Tali and I heard a crash and we raced down here to investigate.”
“It’s totally my fault, Penelope,” Dr. Luke rushed to explain himself. “When you gave me a spare key to the shelter in case I needed to look after the animals, I’m sure this w
asn’t what you had in mind. Me, coming here in the middle of the night to scare you and all the sleeping critters.”
“Does this gorgeous girl have a name?” Pen asked.
Her name was Lola. She was a … Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.
“It’s Lola,” Dr. Luke said. “Her owner, Mrs. Maplegate, lived in a small apartment over on Lewis Street, and she passed in her sleep yesterday. The family didn’t know what to do because Mrs. Maplegate only had one daughter and she’s highly allergic. I had to take her in, she’s so sweet and pretty.”
You think?
“It’s no problem,” Pen said as she lifted Lola and rubbed her silky fur. “Jessie still needs a cat, and she’s stopping by in the morning. She loves Tali, so she’s not afraid of the long hair. I’ll call her tomorrow to tell her about this gorgeous girl, Miss Lola.”
Once the new queen was up there in Pen’s arms, she looked out over the shelter like she’d smelled a fart and sucked on a lemon. High maintenance. I might have to re-think my school-boy infatuation.
Talisman, pull your head and heart away from the new wench. We must go and find information about Amelia post haste. Say, Cheerio and let’s get on with it.
In this case, Sage was right. We had to get rid of Dr. Luke, get my new woman in a cage and get the heck out of here so we could look for Amelia.
“Okay,” Dr. Luke said. “I’ll leave you to it then and stop back tomorrow and check on her. By the way, Penelope, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
Oh no, Dr. Luke. You don’t ask your true love out on a first date when she’s in her comfy pajamas with no make-up and bed head. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but I think he got his dating advice from an autobiography about Bill Gates. Complete with snort and pocket protector.
“Yes?” she asked as she glanced in his direction.
“You know that movie that’s playing at the Science Museum? I really want to go.”
As he spoke, his words came out faster and faster until the ending was nothing but a jumbled mess of syllables. Ireallywannago.
“Me too,” she exclaimed.
He blushed and kept rubbing the sole of his tennis shoe along the cracks in the cement floor. Thank God Pen didn’t have her glasses on and couldn’t see him acting like a third grader with his first crush. Then again, she’d probably like it since she’s a sappy girl. Sage leaned over his wooden perch and peered down on the entire scene as if he couldn’t believe his gigantic, black owl eyes. The he gave me an owl version of the thumbs up with his wing tip.
“Maybe we could go together … this Friday night?” He stammered the question. “Then grab a bite to eat at The Hayhouse?”
“I’d love to, Dr. Collier … I mean Luke,” she replied with Lola still nestled in her arms. “Let’s touch base when it gets closer and work out the details.”
“Thanks again for taking Lola without advance notice,” he called as he opened the exit door. “I’m really looking forward to our date on Friday.” Then he slipped through back in to the night.
The shocked look on Pen’s face gave me a kitty chuckle. I don’t think she thought of it as a date but a date it was. She looked down at me with her huge blue eyes.
“Tali, did Dr. Collier say ‘date’?”
Chapter 10
“No one’s seen her.”
I found that a little hard to believe. Ever since Fawn had been called back that night by her imposing father, Stag, and chastised, she’d been a wealth of information. Not.
Worse than that, my new girlfriend, Lola, had insisted she needed to come along and get the ‘lay of the land’. She was holding us up with her whining about the temperature, and the distance and the tiny rocks prickling her pampered paws. I was going to have to toughen her up if she wanted to roll with me. Sage was pissed at her and didn’t hold it in. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, because I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose your owner and have your whole life completely turned upside down with uncertainty. I was sure she could use a … friend.
Insert diabolical laugh here.
“I told you this would be a waste of our time, Talisman,” Sage chastised. “Let’s move along. Since we got a late start tonight, dawn will be breaking in a couple of hours and we need to be home before then so we don’t arouse any suspicion.”
Sage turned his back and flew to a branch high above the others so he could serve as lookout. Lola sat on the shoulder licking her tender feet, leaving me and Fawn alone for the first time.
“I know you know something, Fawn,” I whispered. “Please tell me if Amelia or Penelope are in any kind of danger. I promise I won’t rat you out to your dad.”
“Who’s the new girl?” Fawn asked, and then it hit me. I knew Fawn had a crush on me, but when Lola had asked to come along, I hadn’t been able to say no to her. Probably the first in a long line of indulgences I’d give in to where miss fancy pants was concerned.
“That’s Lola,” I answered. “Her mom died and the surviving relatives are allergic. Dr. Luke just dropped her off at the shelter before we left, so Sage and I didn’t want to leave her alone.” I hoped that explanation would fly because I really needed Fawn to be straight with me.
“Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend,” Fawn commented. “She’s really pretty.”
“I hadn’t really noticed,” I replied, hoping the lie had flown off my lips and into the deer’s ears without detection. I didn’t want to encourage her school girl infatuation but I didn’t want to offend her either. A relationship between a young deer and a cat that was hundreds of years her senior could never work, and in her heart, she had to know it.
“Do you have any idea about where Amelia could be?” I asked, not knowing how much time we had before her dad would come bursting through the brush like a runaway locomotive.
“I saw her yesterday at the library, Tali,” Fawn said. “She was carrying a book. A really big, scary book. Then she took the book to her car and put it in the trunk.”
“A scary book?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine anything at the Shadowkeep public library being that big or that scary. Knowing Amelia, she was just doing research for her job as the local article writer for the Shadowkeep Gazette. I knew she was trying to keep the residents of the small town informed about the local activities.
“Yes, scary,” Fawn said as she shivered. “A book about … witchcraft.”
Amelia had probably been looking out for Elias Stout and his lawyerly bullshit and not even realized that the animals might be watching her comings and goings. No one outside of the witch community even knew that animals could have special powers. Now, I had to talk Fawn down from the ledge. She knew something, but it wasn’t important to our search for Amelia. Unless, Damian or Bianca had seen Ami carrying around a book about the dark side.
“I bet she was just doing research, Fawn,” I explained. “Ami just told Penelope the other day that she was working on a fun article about love spells for the Valentine’s Day issue.”
“Oh,” Fawn replied. “That makes sense. After she got in her car, she drove away and I haven’t seen her since. Has anyone checked her apartment?”
“We’re going there now,” I said. “Penelope wanted to go there today but she was completely wrapped up in the adoption event at the shelter and it got too late for a visit. She thinks that Ami just dropped her phone or it’s dead. Ami can be pretty scatterbrained. It’s probably nothing.”
“Okay,” Fawn said. “I’m really glad you stopped by tonight, Tali. I’m sorry my dad was rude to you and Sage the other night. I don’t have many friends.”
“Fawn,” I promised. “You and I are most definitely friends, and we always will be. I’m going to grab Lola and head home, and Sage is going to fly on to Ami’s to check on her. Have a great night. And watch yourself out there. You never know when danger lurks.”
Or Damian lurks.
She turned back to me before disappearing in to the brush with a look of longing, like she wanted to
stay. “You too.”
****
“Tell me about her.”
We were alone. Lola sat on Pen’s office chair and licked her silky fur free of the dirt and foliage that had accumulated like lint to tape on our outing. She didn’t like any stray objects in her fur. I’d found that out when she’d complained about it on the walk home. We had a few minutes to chat before I needed to crawl in to bed with Pen. For the first time in a long time, I was actually interested in the getting to know you conversation with a newcomer.
“Edith was a wonderful woman,” she said, her huge, blue eyes welling up with kitty tears. “I’m going to miss her horribly. Every day, she fed me my favorite food, gave me treats and brushed my fur during the entire episode of The Young and the Restless.”
Lola sighed and stopped licking to look in to my eyes.
“Will I be okay here?” she asked.
“I can guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that you will be more than okay,” I promised. “Penelope is the nicest, most caring witch … woman you will ever meet. She will make it her mission to find you a home that is just as good as the one you had, if not better.”
Holy smokes, the allure of her compelling eyes had almost caused me to spew some privileged information out of my smitten, black mouth. I couldn’t do that yet. I didn’t know if I could trust Lola. She seemed okay, but you just never knew. Maybe Damian or Bianca had sent her for espionage, knowing that eye candy was my one and only weakness. I wouldn’t put something that diabolical past either one of them.
“How long have you been here? With Penelope?” she asked.
That was a loaded question and I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I couldn’t tell her the truth, that I was over three hundred years old and had been with the DeLaCroix family, watching out for their women back before old Rupert DeLaCroix had tried to mine for gold back in the early seventeen hundreds.
“As long as I can remember,” I went with the safe and evasive answer. “I really like it here, and you will, too. But as beautiful as you are, you’ll find a home right away. Most likely in the morning with Jessie Plunks.”
Fur Magic Boxed Set: Talisman, Sage, Fawn, Lola: Paranormal Romantic Comedy Page 6