The Adventure of the Double Image

by Kevin L. O'Brien

with the paws tucked beneath and the face covered by a tail.

  It was a cat.

  "Aw, cripes." She figured it must have gotten caught by the storm and crawled in there looking for shelter.

  Poor thing, probably froze ta death.

  Not sure what else to do, she picked it up. To her surprise, the body didn't seem stiff at all, but hung loose in her hands, and she felt a weak heartbeat.

  It's still alive!

  She hurried into the house and kicked the door closed. "Sunny!!"

  She appeared in the foyer. "What is it?! Something wrong?" Then she focused on the cat. "Where'd she come from?"

  "I found her by the gate, covered with snow."

  "Is she still alive?"

  "Yeah, but we gotta get her warm."

  Sunny held up the skirt of her apron. "Put her here, then get a towel from the dryer."

  She laid the cat in the hammock Sunny made. "I wish we had some hot water bottles."

  "Get the heating pad out of the closet. Hurry!"

  She raced to the bathroom off the library. Had the latter been a garage, the former would have doubled as a mud room. In the back, behind a partition, sat the laundry washer and dryer. Sunny had thrown some bath towels into the dryer before they retired the evening before, and she pulled one out. She then ran to the coat closet in the foyer, in front of the office. She rummaged through the storage drawers until she found the electric heating pad they used whenever one of them pulled a muscle while exercising.

  "In here." Sunny nodded to the kitchen as Eile came out, and she followed her in.

  "Clear off the island and put the pad on it."

  "Gottcha." She plugged it into one of the island's outlets. She then spread the towel on top, picked up the cat, and laid it in the center. She covered it with the ends of the towel as Sunny turned on the pad.

  "Start with a low setting, then we'll gradually set it higher."

  "Right." Sunny stood beside her and looked at the feline. It had its eyes closed, but she could see the towel rise and fall slightly as it breathed.

  "All we can do now is wait."

  Sunny nodded. "You keep an eye on her while I finish breakfast." And she went back to the stove.

  She retrieved her coffee and a stool, and sat beside the island. Except for its breathing, the cat didn't move. Every now and then, she felt the pad to see how warm it had gotten, and she set it a fraction higher about every quarter hour. Sunny dished up their breakfast and they ate in the kitchen, and afterwards she cleaned up and loaded the dishwater. All the while the cat remained unconscious.

  "I feel so helpless," Sunny said at one point.

  "Yeah, I know wha'cha mean. I just wish we knew whether we were doin' any good." She reached out and gently scratched the feline behind the ears. "Poor thing."

  The cat moved its head, opened its mouth, and stuck out its tongue as its eyes slitted open. Surprised, she dropped her hand down to its nose, and it licked her fingers.

  "I think she's getting better!" They squealed in delight as they both grinned wide enough to split their faces.

  Sunny stiffened and smirked as her eyes grew as big as saucers. Eile knew that reaction; it occurred whenever she got one of her screwball notions. The only thing missing was the sound of "Doyng!" and a light bulb appearing over her head.

  "I've got an idea!" She ran for the refrigerator. As Eile watched in fascination, she took out the milk, then a cup from one cupboard and a saucepan from another. She filled the pan with water and put it on the stove, and while it heated she poured milk into the cup and placed it in the pan. She tested the milk frequently by dipping a finger into it.

  Finally she said, "Alright, it's ready!" She picked up the pan, brought it over to the island, and fetched a spoon. Dipping the spoon into the milk, she scooped some up and presented it to the cat. She had to poke it a few times to get its attention, but when its tongue came into contact with the warm fluid, it licked it up.

  "Atta girl, kitty!" Eile said as Sunny filled the spoon and offered it more. The cat lapped that up as well.

  "I think she's gonna be alright!" Sunny squealed as she spooned up still more milk.

  "Ya know, we'll probably need ta take her to a vet. I'm gonna see if there's one close by. You got everything under control?"

  "Yeah."

  She nodded, got up from the stool, and went into the office. It had been one of the few rooms Medb had furnished herself, though with the just the basics: a desk, chair, and computer. However, she had set the computer up and connected it to the Internet; all Eile needed to do was find the time to load her design software on it. She turned it on as she sat down, opened Firefox after Windows came up, and did a search for US Dex. She clicked on the Yellow Pages link and performed a search for cat veterinarians in Denver. She ignored the listings and selected the Google map, zooming into the area around their Lowry neighborhood. In addition to housing districts, the development project that had refurbished the old Air Force base had put in shopping malls and store districts to attract business to the area. Most everything she and Sunny could need was within an hour's walk from their home, and they could take buses and the Light Rail from there all over the city.

  One blue marker sat in the middle of the biggest district. She clicked on it, and got a listing for the Lowry Cat Clinic, with full information on the practice and the facilities. The name of the vet was also listed: Joyce Luasaigh, DVM.

  She memorized the phone number and went back to the kitchen. Sunny still fed milk to the cat, though it didn't appear to be licking up as much as when she left.

  "I found one." She picked up the phone and dialed the number. "They're up in Lowry Main Square, next to the Dillards outlet store."

  "Oh, I think I've seen them!"

  She nodded; she remembered them, too, though not well enough to come to mind before she did her search. The outlet store was one of their favorite places to shop. They could pick up some very nice clothes and accessories really cheap.

  The phone rang six times before someone picked up. "Lowry Cat Clinic; this is Dr. Luasaigh. How may I help you?" She noted that the last name was pronounced "Lucy".

  "My name is Eile Chica. My roommate and I found a cat by our front door this morning, almost frozen to death. We bundled her up in a towel, put her on a heating pad, and have been feeding her warm milk, but we wanted ta know if there was anything else we should do?"

  "She's been taking milk on her own?" The vet's voice sounded low, breathy, almost sultry, but her tone was all business.

  "Yah; she licks it out of a spoon."

  "Do you have any way to take her temperature?"

  "Hang on." She cupped her hand over the microphone. "Sunny, do we have a thermometer?"

  "Yeah, I'll get it." And she took off into the foyer.

  "My roommate went to get our thermometer, but it's probably just an oral."

  "That will work quite well."

  Sunny came back, holding it up.

  "We've got it."

  "Good. Insert it into her anus, but not too far. Just until the silver tip disappears."

  "Okay. Sunny, stick it in her rear."

  "What?!" Sunny turned a slight green.

  "Go ahead, she won't bite."

  Sunny edged up to the island and pulled away the towel in a hesitant manner. She lifted the tail, but as she got close, she pulled back and grimaced, disgusted. "Yucky, oooo!"

  She sighed in frustration. "Here, take the phone, I'll do it." Sunny gladly exchanged places with her.

  She inserted the thermometer as Sunny said, "Hello? Eile's sticking it in now." She sounded like she would throw up. "What? Oh, sorry! I'm Sunny; I'm her partner!"

  She threw her a look that could curdle milk. Sunny still hadn't grasped that everyone else would take that reference the wrong way.

  "How long should she leave it in? Uh-huh. Okay, hang on. Dr. Lucy said a few minutes."

  "Ask her if we should bring her in."

  "Should we bring her in? Yeah, I
understand. Just a moment. She said only if the temperature is too low."

  She nodded. That would be good; she started to realize just how expensive it could get.

  "What? Okay. She says you can check now."

  She pulled the thermometer out and read it. "Ninety-six something; almost ninety-seven."

  Sunny repeated that information to the vet. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, we understand. Okay. Thanks, Doctor. See you later." And she hung up.

  She covered the cat back up. "Well?"

  "She said that's too low, though not dangerously so. She wants us to bring her in."

  Eile felt her hopes sink. She wasn't sure how they would cover the expense, but they had committed themselves to helping the cat; it was too late to back out. "Okay, if that's what we gotta do."

  "Great! Another fantastic Team Girl adventure!"

  She covered her face with her palm and shook her head. "Just go get dressed before I wallop ya one!"

  Sunny giggled as she ran for the stairs.

  When they were ready, Eile called a taxi. It arrived in short order, and Sunny placed the cat, heating pad, and towel into a carryall bag. It only took them ten minutes to get to the vet's shop. It looked like a boutique store front, which she thought was probably what the architects expected it to be. A sign hung over the door showing an art nouveau design of a cat, and the lettering on the door gave the clinic and vet's name, and the hours. What would have been the display window had a curtain at the rear covering the lower half, and on the shelf sat an Egyptian cat statue. Three cats lay around it, napping and sunning themselves.

  "Yoos gals want me to wait?" Sunny had explained to the lady cabbie what they were out for, and she seemed genuinely concerned. In