Crafts, Cat Burglars, and Murder

by Stacey Alabaster

  It wouldn’t work.

  I started eating again, soaking up the last of my pasta sauce with a thick piece of bread. “So back to this cat of Natalie’s…do you know what happened to poor little Banana in the end?”

  Caroline shook her head.

  “Poor thing. All I know is that Natalie got fed up trying to look after him and run a business at the same time, so she finally had enough and gave him back to the shelter she’d originally gotten him from. Or, at least, that’s what she told me.”

  I couldn’t stop thinking about what Caroline had said. And I couldn’t stop thinking about the fate of Natalie’s cat. None of the cats that Andrew nabbed from the shelter fit the description of little Banana.

  Apparently, he’d been a light grey cat with white stripes, and he’d been something of the ‘runt’ of the litter, never really growing more than kitten-sized.

  There hadn’t been any cats like that during my time as volunteer at the shelter, but Natalie had given up Banana months ago, and the shelter didn’t keep cats for that long. If they weren’t claimed within a certain number of days…well…

  I couldn’t bear thinking about.

  I wondered what had happened to the poor thing.

  I just hoped he had found a home.

  Chapter 10

  I’d only left Jasper in Brenda’s care for twenty minutes. It was a Monday, which was the day I did the week’s banking, and I couldn’t very well take a dog inside the bank. And without Adam at home, I had no other option but to leave him at the shop for just a little, teeny while.

  I thought, What is the worst that could happen?

  I gulped when I trotted back up the road, my hands full of bank bags carrying fresh rolls of coins for change, and saw that Jasper was tied up outside the shop, looking very sad and sorry for himself.

  Oh, no, she didn’t do that, I thought, quickening my pace to a run. That was not the way we did things in my shop. We didn’t make any customers tie their pets up outside—all were welcomed in with open arms.

  Especially our own pets. Especially a pet like Jasper, whom I got from the shelter. One who has a big fear of abandonment and does not like to be left alone. I could hardly blame him for that!

  So I was furious by the time I’d arrived, about to bite Brenda’s head off for making Jasper wait outside on such a frosty morning.

  I knelt down and started to untie the rope that Brenda had tied him up with. “Oh, you poor boy,” I said, petting him while he licked my hands and struggled to get free, overjoyed that his savior had returned.

  Then I saw the inside of the shop.

  I stopped untying Jasper and told him to be a good boy and to wait there for a minute.

  Oh, no. What has he done?

  “Look at this!” Brenda screamed as soon as I walked through the door. “Look at this carnage that dog of yours has caused…”

  One shelf was completely on its side on the floor. Of course, it just had to be the shelf where we kept all our glass supplies, not only the glass cutting tools, but also the sheets of plain glass we sell to go with them. On the ground, it looked like a thousand mirrors had been smashed. I wondered how many years’ bad luck that was going to bring us.

  “It was lucky Carrot wasn’t squished to death when that fell over!” Brenda cried. “He’s lucky he is a quick cat and managed to escape in time.”

  I gulped. “What happened, exactly?” I asked.

  “Poor Carrot was minding his own business, like usual, of course. I told Jasper to sit and stay, but he didn’t listen. As soon as he saw Carrot, he just ran. You saw him do it the other day! Only this time it was worse. I tried to grab him by the collar, but I just ended up face down on the floor.”

  Oh my goodness. I would have quite enjoyed seeing that. I bit my tongue though so I didn’t laugh, because truth be told, it really wasn’t that funny, all in all.

  Brenda seemed unscathed from her fall, but she was definitely far from impressed.

  “Where is Carrot now?” I asked, searching around for the big guy.

  “Cowering in the corner, licking his wounds,” Brenda said, her nose upturned. “I had no choice but to put your dog outside! He is lucky that’s all I did with him!”

  “I’ll help you clean up,” I said quietly.

  But Brenda already had a broom and dustpan in her hands. “You’ll only make more of a mess, knowing you. You might as well just let me get on with it. But mark my words, Georgina! This will be the last time I am dealing with any of this. Someone has got to go!”

  Push had really come to shove then. I couldn’t keep both Carrot and Jasper within the same four walls any longer. And I couldn’t leave Jasper at home all day on his own. If no one was going to adopt Carrot from us, then I had to take him back to the place where he at least stood a chance.

  And it looked as though Brenda had already made her mind up about what was to be done. I could see the empty cat cage sitting on the floor.

  “He’ll be fine back at the shelter,” Brenda said with little sympathy, even though I’d thought that she and Carrot were getting along and she’d just been too proud to admit it to me.

  “I’ll take him there myself, tomorrow,” Brenda said, already dusting up the shattered glass.

  “No,” I said, scooping Carrot up and giving him one of the last cuddles I’d be able to. “I’ll do it myself. He can stay the night at my place. I’ll take him back to the shelter in the morning.”

  I was so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t even hear the sounds of the acoustic guitar wafting down the street, didn’t even lift my head until I just about tripped over the opened guitar case, littered with coins and guitar picks and ticket stubs inside.

  The noise of the guitar abruptly stopped and the rest of the passers-by stopped to see what had interrupted the young woman who had been playing so intently.

  It was me.

  “I told you to stop stalking me,” Sian said, while the onlookers watched curiously on that cold spring evening, their hands pushed deep into jacket pockets and their heads covered with knitted hats and beanies. One by one, they looked away when I tried to make eye contact with them, and sheepishly they walked away, entering the supermarket or traipsing back to their cars.

  “It’s just a coincidence,” I said, holding my hands up so that Sian didn’t knock me out with her guitar. “I’m just at the supermarket buying some cat litter.”

  She shook her head. “Yeah right.”

  “You can believe me or not, but it is actually all in service of a cat that your boyfriend—sorry, ex-boyfriend—stole that I am still looking after.”

  Sian softened a little. “You’re still looking after those cats?”

  I sighed. “Yes. Well, one of them.” I wasn’t in the mood to tell her that I was taking Carrot back to the shelter. I didn’t quite want to believe it myself.

  “I’m glad,” Sian said, before returning to her guitar playing.

  I shook my head and walked away, just wanting to get the task over with.

  I almost dropped the large bag of cat litter I was struggling to carry when I got to the supermarket checkout and I saw who my bagger was.

  A man, just over forty, with dark curls and boyish good looks.

  “Adam? This is where you’re working?”

  He looked up at me in shock, then quickly glanced away again like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  He looked a lot younger—and I had to admit, yes, a little bit cute—in his green and white apron, which was part of the uniform of the Pottsville Supermarket.

  “Why not?” he said, shoving items into paper bags. He still wouldn’t meet my eye. “It pays just like any other job. It’s an honest living.”

  I wasn’t sure what I was more annoyed about right then. That Adam wasn’t aiming a bit higher, or that he was even, well, aiming at all. Why was he so intent on staying in Pottsville? How many times did I have to give him the cold shoulder before he got the point?

  We�
�d married too young. I’d been barely out of college and had been swept up in the romance of it all, even though we weren’t right for each other. I’d grown up and realized that. It was just that, twenty years later, Adam was still romanticizing the affair. Saying I was the only woman he’d ever loved, and that he was, in fact, still in love with me.

  I just needed some time to figure it all out.

  Adam got to my groceries once they had been scanned. “What is the cat litter for? Didn’t realize you were becoming a crazy cat lady this early on in your life.”

  I was starting to regret not just using the self-service lane.

  “It’s just for one night,” I explained. “Carrot will be gone by the morning.”

  “Yes, you don’t like unwelcome visitors in your house, do you?” Adam asked pointedly.

  I decided not to take the bait, right then. Instead, I simply picked up the bag of cat litter and braced myself for the walk home with it flung over my shoulder.

  “Good-bye, Adam.”

  Sian had already packed up and gone by the time I got back outside, and the sun was setting over Pottsville, meaning the street lights began to flicker to life. I sighed and wished I had a car, or that the bus service ran more regularly than once per hour.

  The cat litter weighed about three pounds, which wasn’t too intense for a short walk to a car, but I was walking home and it seemed to get heavier and heavier with every step I took. My shoulder was aching and already going numb, and I’d only walked half a block.

  I just closed my eyes and told myself, “It’s only pain.” Which was true. You can ignore physical pain.

  Along the way, I saw a flier for Dylan’s next gig taped to the window of the news agency, which had just closed for the night. He’d started a new band, apparently. I took note of the time and place.

  Might be a little fun.

  I needed some of that right then.

  I felt as though I had figured out the situation fairly well. Jasper in one room, Carrot in the other, and never the two should meet. At least, not for that night.

  So, Jasper had been barred from the living room as it had been taken over by a little tubby ginger fella who had already claimed it. He had his cozy bed on the floor, his litter tray next to the door, and a bowl of food and water. So he had no cause for complaint.

  I’d just poured myself a glass of red wine and was about to sit down myself when I heard a knock on the door.

  I looked through the frosted glass and recognized Ryan’s silhouette.

  Suddenly feeling a little nervous, I checked my hair in the hallway mirror, fluffing it up a bit and taking a big gulp of wine before I answered. I hadn’t seen Ryan since the night we kissed.

  “Just thought I’d check in. I haven’t heard much from you since the other night,” Ryan said as I invited him in and he stepped through the door.

  I supposed we’d been at a bit of a romantic stand-still. A ‘who is supposed to call who first’ type of situation, so when I hadn’t heard from Ryan, I hadn’t reached out to him either.

  “Sorry. I’ve just been busy. Cat-sitting, mostly,” I said, pointing to my new friend who’d made himself at home, moving from his own bed to a corner of the sofa. Now that he was out of the shop, he’d really come out of his shell and wanted pats and cuddles all the time.

  Ryan walked over and gave him a stroke on the head. Even from a few feet away, I could hear the engine-like hum of Carrot’s purrs. “He looks like he’s settled in well.”

  “Yes. It’s just a shame I can’t keep him,” I said a little sadly as I leaned against the wall. If Jasper and Carrot got a long, keeping him would be an absolute no-brainer. But keeping them locked in separate rooms was not a long-term solution, and I had to prioritize the pet I got first, even if he had been driving me up the wall recently.

  Carrot arched his back when Ryan walked away for a moment, demanding more attention.

  Ryan laughed and walked back over. “Sorry, boy.” He petted Carrot again. “It’s too bad my job is so demanding. I don’t think I have time to dedicate to a new pet right now. Otherwise, I would take him.”

  “It’s okay,” I reassured him. “Carrot’s been a difficult one to find a home for. I just have to have faith that the shelter will do a better job than I have been able to do. People adopt from there every day, so he still has a chance to find a home.”

  Ryan nodded and settled down on the sofa. In front of it, on the coffee table, was my spy novel that I had yet to crack open.

  “So did you ever read your mystery book?” I asked Ryan, standing up straight. I kind of expected the answer to be no, so I braced myself not to feel too disappointed.

  “I did, actually!” he said, his eyes lighting up. He grinned. “It was a romance, which I never really thought was my genre, but I actually got really swept up in it and read it all in one night! I mean, I was down at the station manning the phones overnight, so don’t tell anyone. But it certainly helped the time to pass quickly.”

  “Oh!” I said, with a little laugh. “Well, I must say I am pleasantly surprised. And glad you enjoyed the book so much. We’ll have to go to another event. I heard that they run the Blind Date with A Book night once per month.”

  “What about you?” Ryan asked. “Did you read yours?”

  I shook my head and glanced at the coffee table. “I left it out for…for…” Whoops. Didn’t really want to discuss my ex-husband right then. “Never mind. It’s a spy thriller, which isn’t really my cup of tea. But I might get to it on a rainy afternoon. Hey, if you can take a chance on an unknown genre, so can I.”

  Ryan gave me a kiss on the cheek when he left and wished me good luck giving up Carrot the next day, promising me that we’d catch up soon.

  I wandered back to the sofa and lay down. Carrot curled up beside me and we both fell asleep like that, soundless and peaceful.

  The morning came all too quickly though and soon enough, I was getting the cat cage ready. Carrot seemed to know that something was wrong and quickly fled to hide under the sofa.

  “I’m sorry, Carrot,” I said, reaching down to pick him and put him in his cage. “I don’t want to do this, but you’re going to have to go back to the shelter. I just hope that you find a new family that way.”

  Jasper was grinning and wagging his tail when Carrot finally left the building. So there was at least one person—well, dog— in the house that wasn’t going to be sorry to see Carrot go.

  “Hi, Tom,” I called out as I walked down the blue corridor of Pottsville Pet Rescue animal shelter. “I’ve got a little friend to return. He’s probably a familiar face to you…”

  Tom didn’t look happy to see either Carrot or myself. “Yes, he is very familiar! This is one of the cats that was stolen by that Andrew person. And then, I can only assume, by you.” He glared at me.

  “Correct,” I said briskly. I could own up to that. I just wanted to get it over with before it became too painful to bear.

  Tom’s face was full of accusation. “So, you found this cat too difficult to care for, did you? So you’re giving up on him?”

  I sighed heavily. “Not giving up, at all. Just trying to find him a home this way because I was unable to do it. And it’s not like I haven’t given it my all. Not only have I tried to find a home for him, I tried to provide one. It’s just that circumstances haven’t panned out as I would have liked them to.”

  Tom folded his arms. “We have quite a full shelter, George. You should have phoned ahead.”

  I began to feel panic rising in my chest. He couldn’t possibly be about to turn Carrot away, could he? “Oh, but you will find room for him, won’t you?”

  Tom tutted and reached for the cage to take it out of my hands while I let out a little sigh of relief. “I’ll do the best I can.”

  Even though it was painful, I made myself watch as Tom pulled Carrot out of the cage and then placed him in another one that wasn’t much bigger at the back of the shelter.

  “Bye-bye, Carrot,” I
said, waving my pinkie at him through the wires of the cage door. “I’ll come and check in on you, I promise.” I turned to Tom. “I trust that you will still welcome me back to the shelter as a volunteer?”

  But Tom would not be moved.

  “We don’t need your help any longer, George. We’ve got plenty of volunteers now. Volunteers I can actually trust not to lie to me. And to actually take care of the pets.”

  I was shocked. Not just at the accusation that I was an untrustworthy person who shouldn’t be allowed near animals, but also to hear that the shelter was suddenly well staffed. Where had all these people come from? “Plenty of volunteers? I thought your part-timer quit?”

  Tom looked at his watch, not meeting my eye. “Well, he’s come back.”

  “Oh, I see.” I could barely pry myself away from the cage though. It was breaking my heart to leave Carrot there, even though I could think of no other option for the poor boy.

  “You don’t look so full-staffed right now, though,” I said to Tom. “Why don’t I just stick around for a little while until your help arrives. I can sweep out the cages… I even volunteer to give one of the cats a bath and to clean out the litter trays.” Now, that really was being generous. I didn’t think Tom would turn down an offer like that.

  And yet, he did.

  “You can leave now, George. Dylan will be here soon enough.”

  Dylan? Dylan was the volunteer?

  Surely it wasn’t the same Dylan from the Red Room?

  “Did you just say Dylan?” I asked Tom.

  “Yes. What is the big deal?”

  I blinked a few times. I wasn’t sure yet, but I intended to find out.

  “What is Dylan’s last name?” I asked a disinterested Tom, whose only priority right then was getting me out the door and out of his sight.

  He shook his head. “Last name escapes me. He’s some sort of musician, though.”