by K. J. Emrick
Then I lifted my head up and around to look across the road. Darcy was standing there watching. The dog was a problem. I wasn’t sure how she would be able to get into the building with Kujo hanging around. And I knew from experience that the dumb dog would not give up. He would eventually come into the building through the other entrance and then we’d have an even bigger issue.
I considered for a moment chucking the rodent I had in my mouth at Kujo to distract him but then gave up that idea. A dog of Kujo’s size could probably eat this morsel in one bite, it would hardly be a distraction. Besides, Persephone would need it if Darcy couldn’t get past Kujo.
In the end I decided to head on inside and rally the troops. We’d figure something out to get rid of the dog like we’d done on a few previous occasions. Maybe Darcy would be able to scare him off. I was truly annoyed at Kujo for messing up my plan to get Darcy to help save Persephone.
I climbed through the broken window with care and then stopped on the other side. I was still thinking about what I could do about the Kujo problem. Just then I heard it. A familiar rumble coming down the street outside.
I heard it stop and then a whistle and a voice said, “C’mon, you mutt!” I chanced a quick look out the window just in time to see the dog running toward the vehicle. He jumped in and the door slammed. The big black machine powered away.
I could still see Darcy across the road and knew she now had a clear path into the building. It wouldn’t be long now and Persephone would be saved. I guess I won’t need this rodent after all, though I’m sure one of the others will be more than happy to have it.
It was decided that the other cats would disperse and I would lead Darcy to Persephone.
Of course, nothing is ever smooth sailing. In the end the hero Jon had to turn up like a white knight on his steed saving the day. I really do not like that man but I guess he has his uses.
When I heard them coming I scampered up to them and wound myself around Darcy’s ankles.
“Smudge!” She scooped me up into her arms. “Where have you been? What have you been getting up to?”
As much as I loved the attention I didn’t have time for it right now. I struggled in her arms and pushed my way out, dropping to floor. I scurried away but stopped a little way away from them, looking back at them, my eyes wide and intense.
They finally got the message and followed me. It wasn’t long before they discovered Persephone down the hole. After that there was a mad dash of activity as the fire brigade came and rescued Persephone and her kittens. I couldn’t believe that it had taken me this long to get Darcy to see what I was trying to tell her.
Humans. Who’d have ‘em.
I guess I would. I’d hate to be without Darcy.
Linda was very happy to see her cat and her… I suppose they’re her grand kittens.
“Well, Smudge.” Darcy knelt down to pat me. “It seems we’ve both had a busy couple of weeks.”
I meowed in agreement.
A few days later after the excitement of rescuing Persephone had died down I was lying in a patch of sunlight up on top of one of the bookshelves when that hero wannabe Jon came striding in like he owned the joint.
He walked right up to Darcy and planted one on her. I looked away in disgust. Sure I was a romantic at heart. I’d spent a good deal of time grooming myself today as I was meeting up with Twistypaws later on. But that didn’t mean I liked seeing Jon pawing at my Darcy.
I could hear them talking all lovey dovey to each other. I’d had enough. I jumped down onto the counter between them trying to break it up. I purred and acted all cute and everything so that Darcy would take notice of me and ignore Jon.
Jon laughed at me and scratched my ears. “I guess we’ll have to share Darcy,” he said. “How does that sound to you?”
I meowed and pressed my head into Jon’s hand trying to push him away from Darcy. I think I gave him the wrong idea though. Now he thinks that I’m okay with sharing Darcy.
He couldn’t be more wrong. And I intend to show him!
-End-
Smudge the Cat
More Smudge the Cat Mysteries
Acknowledgments
Time flies over us but leaves it’s shadow behind - Nathaniel Hawthorne
You can’t turn back the clock. The clock will only turn forwards into the future - Tess Calomino
Volume Two
BOOK TWO – Mists of the Past
First published in Australia by South Coast Publishing, December 2013. Copyright K.J. Emrick (2012-2017)
Description
Darcy Sweet isn't what you would call a girly girl. She almost never wears makeup and loves nothing more than to wear a well worn pair of jeans, a t-shirt and her most comfortable pair of sneakers. So she felt a little strange as she prepared for her first official date with her new cop boyfriend. They were going to have a quiet romantic dinner in a nice restaurant. There was nothing to worry about, right?
Wrong!
Darcy should have known that even a date wasn't immune to the other side when she had a vision during the date. And worse still it was a vision about her new boyfriend. What did she really know about him anyway? He was a cop, yes, but that didn't mean he was squeaky clean if the vision was anything to go by.
Making a hasty exit out the rear of the restaurant she hurries home only to have him follow her. She lies about why she left, feigning sickness but she could tell he didn't believe her. Not able to ignore the vision, Darcy delves into it further as she tries to avoid him, hoping to find a reasonable explanation for what she saw. The more she finds out the more she worries that he may not be the nice guy everyone thinks that he is. Could he really be a killer?
Chapter 1
Humming softly to herself Darcy Sweet carefully turned the pieces of chicken that were sizzling in the pan on her stove. She swept a bit of her dark hair back over her ear and smiled. The scent of the delicious herbs and spices they were coated in wafted up and she sniffed at the air appreciably.
Her eyes drifted towards the window. Looking out she could just barely see the neighboring house in the distance. It had been standing empty ever since her neighbor Anna Louis had been murdered just a month ago. Darcy had found her body. Then she endured the whole traumatic experience of bringing the murderer to justice.
Things like that happened in Darcy’s life. She attracted trouble.
Darcy sighed. She supposed that the house would go on the market soon and be sold. The thought of it made her very sad. Of course, she hoped that her new neighbors would be nice and that she would like them. Life moved on. In this instance, she could hope it wasn’t so, however.
She felt something nudging her leg and looked down to find Smudge, her black and white tomcat, rubbing up against her.
“Sorry Smudge old fellow,” she spoke to the cat like he could understand her, “you can’t have any of this chicken. It’s for someone else.” The cat gave her an offended look before turning and prancing away. Darcy smiled. He understood more than most people gave him credit for.
“Wow that smells really amazing.” Darcy’s boyfriend, Jon Tinker, entered the room and came over to her. He grabbed her around the waist and planted a kiss on her cheek. She leaned back against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head. “I didn’t realize you were such a great cook back when I agreed to go out with you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, I guess we haven’t really known each other that long have we? And what do you mean, you agreed to date me? You were the one who asked me, Mister Police Detective.”
He smiled at her with that special look he had just for her. All those events that had taken her good friend Anna from her and turned the town upside down last month had brought her and Jon together, as well. Jeff, her ex-husband, had been murdered also just days after Anna. It hadn’t been a real great time for Darcy. But Jon had been there for her. Once she had gotten past the tough police exterior, anyway.
“No,” Jon agreed with
her. “I don’t think I’ve had enough time with you. Definitely not. But we’re going to make up for that now.” She lost herself in his deep blue eyes and almost missed when he leaned over and tried to snag a piece of chicken.
Slapping his hand away she said, “Uh, uh. Not yet. You don’t get to taste it until it’s ready. Could you set the table please?” She smiled sweetly at him and he pretended to pout as he went to do what she’d asked. He knew where everything was in her house now, and flawlessly set out two plates, forks and knives and napkins and then glasses of water. When dinner was ready, she brought it to the table and they sat down to eat.
He took his first bite and made sure to let her see his eyes roll back with a little smile. She laughed at him, but appreciated the way he enjoyed the meal. The rice and apple side dish had been her great-aunt’s recipe. After a few moments of silent eating, she brought up what had been weighing on her mind. “I was thinking about Anna as I was cooking the meal.”
Jon looked at her for a long moment, chewing and swallowing his bite of food. The events of last month had been hard on her, and she knew it. She had lost a good friend and an ex-husband. Not to mention the small moment in time when she was almost killed by the murderer, who turned out to be a friend.
“There are no updates about Steve and Jess,” Jon finally said to her. She knew he shouldn’t even be telling her this much. It was a sign of how much he cared. “Their case is going to trial soon and after that we’ll know more. Although it looks as though Jess may not have to go to trial thanks to her cooperating with us like she did.”
Darcy started to twirl the delicate antique ring on her finger that had belonged to her great aunt Millie. Outside of the bookstore that she operated in town, and this house that had been gifted to her by Millie, the ring was the greatest memento she had of a woman who had been so important in her life. Twirling the ring was a habit she had whenever she got stressed or anxious. And right now thinking about the events of the previous month was definitely making her anxious.
Steve Nelson, Misty Hollow’s mayor at the time, and Jess O’Connor had been having an affair. Jess had worked at the bank, and the two of them had been skimming money from the council funds. Anna and Jeff, Darcy’s friend and her ex-husband, had both worked out what was going on and Steve had killed them. When Darcy had stumbled onto evidence of what was going on, Steve had tried to silence her, too, and Jon had saved her. With Smudge’s help, of course. They were both in jail now awaiting their fate.
Feeling Jon’s eyes upon her frantic ring twirling, she abruptly stopped and jumped up out of her chair. “Sorry, I sort of zoned out there for a moment,” Darcy said. She started to clear the table and kept her back to Jon as she wiped the tear from the corner of her eye. She dumped the dirty dishes in the sink, set the leftover chicken and rice into a container, and as she turned back to the table she found Jon standing there watching her. He had such a serious look on his face. When she tried to speak and couldn’t find the words he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head to kiss her instead. It was a sweet, gentle kiss.
Pulling back he looked her in the eyes and said, “I love you Darcy.”
She caught her breath at his words. Somehow it washed all the pain and bad memories away. “I love you too, Jon.”
She’d known for a while now that she loved him. And in her heart, she had known that he loved her, too. He’d never said it before, though. Not before now.
He always knew just the right thing to say. Darcy was so glad that she’d found him.
The next morning Darcy was in such a great mood as she walked to work at the Sweet Read Bookstore. She had a definite spring in her step as she walked through the center of town. She waved happily to a couple of people she knew at the door to the book store, flipping the sign from ‘CLOSED, THE END’ to ‘OPEN a good book today’.
Darcy went behind the counter to get things ready for the day. Sometime later the bell over the door jangled loudly and someone burst through the door. Darcy looked up to see her single employee Sue Fisher rushing in wearing a tight pair of jeans and a flattering red blouse, her blonde hair whirling around her shoulders.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said by way of apology. “But I did bring coffee.” She lifted a couple of cups up to eye level and Darcy smiled.
Darcy knew full well why Sue was late. The woman was only twenty, a college student, and Darcy was lucky to have her as an assistant while she was taking a break from her law degree for a year. Sue was one of the most level-headed women Darcy knew but she was still a young woman. She would have been having a good old gossip at the bakery when she picked up the coffees.
“So what’s the news about town today, then?” Darcy was sure that Sue would have something to tell.
Sue handed Darcy one of the coffees and settled down on a stool behind the counter. It looked like she was settling in for a good long chat. Darcy took a sip of her coffee, a little smile playing around her lips.
“You will never guess it,” Sue said to her excitedly, swinging her feet like a little child. “Helen is running for mayor.”
Darcy didn’t know what to say to that. Helen Nelson was the soon to be ex-wife of the former mayor of Misty Hollow, the same man who had murdered two people just to keep secret the affair he was having from Helen. She had been running things in the town since Steve had been arrested at the suggestion of the town council and the support of the voters, Darcy included. There was going to be a special election in a few weeks to decide on a new mayor. It would be wonderful if Helen was elected.
“Everyone thinks that Helen is going to win and become the new mayor. Wouldn’t that be great?” Sue’s eyes were wide and it was obvious she was eating the gossip up.
“They don’t have this kind of drama in that fancy college town you used to go to?” Darcy asked her.
“Are you serious? The most we ever got there was professors hitting on us cute co-eds.” She giggled as she said it. “Or stupid stuff like the captain of the football team stealing a police car. I much prefer this town. This place is interesting.” She drew out the last word like it was a sweet piece of candy between her teeth.
“I don’t know if murders qualify us to be interesting,” Darcy tried to imitate the way Sue had said it but the word was more sour than sweet on her lips.
“Okay, yeah, I know what you mean, but apparently we’re interesting enough to draw people here to live. According to Helen, a newlywed couple have moved into the old mill house.” Helen hadn’t just been the wife of the town’s mayor. She owned and operated the Bean There Bakery and Café, the only bakery-slash-coffee house in town as well. The business had been at risk of closing before the scandal happened. But now, with all of the negative publicity, business was booming. Darcy was happy for her friend’s good luck, but sad that it had come at such a price.
Sue continued, “Oh and Blake and Pete’s cousin has moved to town as well.” Sue looked coy for a moment. “Randy is thinking about moving here also.” Randy was Sue’s on again off again boyfriend. Darcy gathered that the relationship must be on again right now.
“What do you think about that then?” Darcy couldn’t help ask the question.
Sue screwed her face up. “I’m not sure that it is such a good idea. We can’t seem to settle into a steady relationship. We argue over the stupidest things. I’m just afraid that if he moves here it will be worse and we will break up for good.”
Darcy considered that for a moment. “But wouldn’t it be better to find out if the relationship is strong enough to withstand a closer proximity or not now instead of falling apart later when you are more invested in it?”
Sue shrugged. “Maybe. Right now I have work to do or my boss might get annoyed and give me the sack.” Sue smiled and Darcy could tell that she was using humor to deflect Darcy away from the conversation so she let it go. She’d had enough turmoil in her own life the last few weeks to last a lifetime and didn’t need to take on anybody else’s.
Thankfully
things seemed to be getting back to normal in Misty Hollow. At least, a little bit. New people moving into town, Helen moving on with her life. Darcy herself hadn’t had a single nightmare in the last two weeks. No visions or signs of impending doom. And the mists that gave the town its name had stayed away as well.
The mists always came in when that special kind of trouble that Darcy attracted to herself was about to happen. She shivered as she got back to work tidying up the shop. She was happy that there hadn’t been any of that kind of trouble in a while.
Later that day Darcy and Sue were busy unpacking a shipment of books that had just arrived. Business had begun to pick up again after a small slump which Darcy had assumed was due to the fact that most people read their books from an electronic device instead of the real paper product these days. Darcy had been afraid that she might have to close the bookstore and sell up. She was relieved that the crisis looked like it may have been averted, at least for the time being. New shipments were coming in every other week now.
Darcy was on autopilot, her thoughts on Jon. A singularly embarrassing but nice thought about his lips was interrupted by the bell over the door ringing as someone entered. Darcy looked up to see who it was. She felt a little thrill rush through her when she saw it was Jon. It was like her thoughts had conjured him up.
He smiled at her and she felt her heart skip harder as she smiled back at him. “Hi Sue,” he called over as he walked in, keeping his eyes on Darcy. “Hello there, pretty woman,” he said very quietly as he drew her to him and kissed her lips ever so softly.