A MEOWvelous Witness (Klepto Cat Mystery Book 17) (10 page)

Michael interrupted. “I thought you and Shelly were going to ride them back.”

“Oh, I talked to her. She’ll be out of town most of the week.”

“Sure, they can stay. No problem,” Heddy said.

Savannah relaxed a little. “The Teagues won’t be home with their trailer until late tomorrow.” Before Heddy could respond, she said, “Of course, we’ll pay you for their room and board.”

“Okay, we’ll take something for the feed.” She shrugged. “But other than that, heck, we have the space—what are three more moochers?” She looked off into the distance, her mood turning sullen. “I thought we’d have to evacuate last night. Bob and I saw this big billow of black smoke not too far from here.” She pointed. “Over in that canyon. I guess someone torched a car. Bob saw Ranger Mitchell this morning. He said some kids stole the car and went joyriding. When a tire went flat or maybe it broke down…well, they must have gotten mad, set it on fire, and pushed it over the side. Stupid no-good kids.”

“Do you know who they are?” Savannah asked, expectantly.

“I hope not. No, Mitch didn’t give us any names.”

“So the fire didn’t get out of control?” Michael asked.

“No, thank the Lord. We called as soon as we saw the smoke and they got here lickety- split…” She smirked. “Well, as fast as any of them come to our aid. We’re not a priority, beings we’re practically the only ones up here.”

“So have the horses been behaving?” Michael asked.

“As far as I know,” Heddy said. “Where do you plan to ride today?”

“Out to where the car burned. Are there trails in that area?” Savannah asked.

“Depends on how close you want to get.” Heddy looked sideways at them. “You can take the road. As I understand it, the car’s over the side a ways beyond Statler Canyon—not too far from Coyote. But if you want to ride down closer—which I wouldn’t advise, but if you do—you can take the Buckle Trail—it’s marked. It’ll ease you down into that canyon. What’re you looking for, anyway?”

Before the Iveys could respond, Bob Bowman called out to his wife, “Hey, we’d better get a move on. The auction’s going to start soon.”

Heddy shouted, “Okay. Got the pigs loaded?”

When Bob nodded, Heddy said to the Iveys, “Well, nice seeing you. Enjoy your ride.”

****

Michael and Savannah had ridden for about twenty minutes when she said, “I can smell the car fire.”

He shook his head. “Not only do you have the best hearing of anyone I know and pretty darn good eyesight, you also have the ability to do distance smelling?”

“What can I tell you, I have sensitive senses.” She turned to him. “Don’t you smell that?”

“Now that you mention it, I can smell something—it smells like burned rubber.”

“Rags!” Savannah shouted. “Dolly! Where are you guys? Rags! Kitty, kitty. Dolly! Come on, kitties.”

Michael and Savannah rode slowly, combing the terrain with their eyes, following every movement and shadow, peering into every cavern and crevice, and watching for shades of color not typically seen in the wild. But they didn’t catch even a glimpse of anything resembling two domestic cats.

“I’m so discouraged,” Savannah said after a while. “This is really a wild area.”

“Your cat has an amazing sense of survival, hon. If any cat can survive out here, it’s Rags. I’m rooting for Rags.”

“And what about sweet Dolly?”

“He’s taken care of other cats before—you know he has. He’ll take care of Dolly.”

Fighting back tears of frustration, she asked weakly, “But where are they?” Michael took a deep breath and turned in his saddle toward her. “If they were in that car when it went over the side, they probably ran as far away from it as they could. Don’t you think so?” He gazed across the rugged terrain and said to himself, “But which way did they go?”

“What?”

“I’m trying to think like a cat—a very frightened cat who’s running away from obvious danger. Look at the environment—the configurations. Where do you think a cat would go?”

After considering Michael’s question and surveying the area, she said, “Well, away from the fire, like you said, and into dense brush, maybe—they’d want to be hidden.”

“Look, the flames climbed up the hill, so probably that way,” he said pointing in the opposite direction. He looked at the car and added, “That is, if they got out of there.”

“Michael, Craig said they didn’t find any carcasses at the scene…of course they got out.”

“Yes, but when? Did Bonnie and Clyde let them out somewhere else or did the cats find a way out once the car tumbled down the hill?”

“So you’re saying they might not even be here at all—they might be running around someplace miles from here?”

“It’s possible.”

She looked sullen. “You’re not cheering me up.” She then leaned over and peered at something on the ground. “Michael, look!” she shouted.

“What?”

“It’s part of Rags’s leash.” She climbed off her horse and picked up a swatch of blue nylon, holding it out for Michael to see. “Doesn’t this look like a piece of Rags’s leash?” She glanced around the area and began calling again, “Rags! Dolly! Here kitty, kitty.” Looking down at the piece of nylon in her hands, she began to cry. “It’s burned—look it’s singed. Oh Michael, this could mean…”

“It could mean that the cats got out, but the leash wasn’t attached and it was burned in the fire. That’s what it could mean.”

“Michael, are you trying to give me false hope, because I’m not a twelve-year-old kid, you know.”

Michael raised his eyebrows enticingly. “Yes, I know.”

“Oh, stop it. You know what I mean.”

Now sounding a little frustrated, Michael replied, “What do you want me to say, Savannah—that there’s no hope? That Rags couldn’t possibly live through this? Is that what you want to hear?”

She shook her head. “No, but I don’t want to believe so hard that I’m not prepared for the worst.”

Michael took a deep breath. “So what do you want to do?”

Sniffling, she said, “Keep looking.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

****

Three hours later, after riding a few miles of trails into rugged brush and rocky terrain, the Iveys and their mounts returned to the ranch.

“You’ve been quiet,” Michael said.

“I’m just so sad. It seems hopeless. We didn’t see even a sign of the cats.”

“We didn’t look in the right place. Oh, I believe they could be out there. We’ll find them, hon. It’s not hopeless—just hold onto that thought, okay?” When she didn’t respond, he said, “Looks like they’re still at the auction. Should we toss the horses some hay?”

“I don’t think so; they’re probably on a regular feeding schedule and that will just throw them off.” She slid off Peaches, ran her hand over the mare’s face affectionately, then took a deep breath. “How about we go spend some time with our kids and maybe come back tomorrow for another search? You were going to take some time off tomorrow, weren’t you?”

“Yeah. But don’t forget you said you’d take Adam for a ride. His mom’s coming to get him Tuesday.”

“Wow, I sure did say that.” She shaded her eyes and looked at Michael. “What do you think about bringing him out here tomorrow? He can ride Peaches and I’ll take Beulah, if you want to ride Delilah again. We can ride the easier trails. Maybe Lily can stay with Jenna. She’s been wanting to have a playdate with her and Bradley.”

“You haven’t mentioned Jenna much lately. Do you two stay in touch?”

“Not as often as we’d like. We both have so much going on in our lives. But yeah, we do connect from time to time. I kept Brad while she attended a funeral a while back. She wants to reciprocate before too much time passes.”

“Okay. Yeah, I think Adam would like to ride out here. We could take it easy—maybe have him wear his bike helmet.”

“Good idea,” Savannah said. When he chuckled, she asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Adam’s going to be over-the-top excited when he finds out we’re taking him on a trail ride.”

“Yes, he will.” She lowered her head. “Let’s hope he’s with us when we find the cats.”

****

“You mean a trail ride on a horse like a real cowboy?” Adam asked later that afternoon. “And I get to ride Peaches?”

Michael and Savannah smiled at his exuberance and nodded.

Suddenly Adam frowned. “Do I need those leather things on my legs? Cause, I don’t have any.”

“Leather things?” Michael asked, puzzled. “Oh, you mean chaps?”

“Yeah, like the cowboys wear in the movies. They always wear them when they chase cows or bad guys or stagecoaches. Do we have any of those?” When Adam noticed his dad looking at him, he frowned and asked, “What?”

“I’m just wondering how you know so much about cowboys. I haven’t seen a Western movie on TV or on the big screen in years.”

“Oh yes, Dad, they show those old Westerns on TV all the time. My other dad and I like to watch them on holidays and weekends—Gunsmoke, Rifleman, Bonanza…So do you have chaps, Dad?”

“I have a pair of chaps,” Savannah said. “But I’m afraid they wouldn’t fit you—not yet, anyway. You’ll be fine just wearing your jeans. We’ll probably be sticking to the trails—no brush-crashing this time.”

“What about a bandana?” he asked in all seriousness. “I’ll probably need a bandana and a canteen. Darn, I have a canteen at my other house for my Boy Scout camping trips. Dad, do you have one I can borrow?”

Savannah laughed. “We usually just take water bottles in these modern times. You can use my saddlebags for your water bottle. And we can pack a lunch.”

Adam sat quietly for a moment on the floor petting Buffy, who had walked up to him. “How will we carry the cats when we find them? They won’t stay sitting on the horses, will they?”

“Good thinking, Son. We thought we’d take a couple of soft cat carriers we can lay across the saddle in front of us. Rags has ridden a horse in one of those before.”

“Did you take them yesterday?”

Michael let out a sigh. “Actually, no. We forgot them. But we figured we could each `xcarry a cat in our arms, or maybe get them to lie across the saddle. If the cats are out there, they’ll be so tired by now they’ll probably ride any old way we put them, don’t you think so?”

Adam lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, lifting Buffy onto his chest. “Dad, do we need a rope?”

“A rope?” Michael asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, to lasso them little doggies,” Adam said with a twang.

Once Michael and Savannah stopped laughing, she said, “If you guys don’t mind, I think I’ll take Lily over to visit Colbi. I want to spend some time with her and maybe see if I can muster enough hope for both of us.”

“She shouldn’t be sad until she knows there’s something to be sad about,” Adam said thoughtfully, watching Buffy step off him and sit down a few feet away.

“Well, there is something to be sad about. Our cats are missing and we don’t know where they are or if they’re…” Savannah glanced at Adam, then said, “I think she’s just worried.”

“Yeah, but my teacher says there’s nothing to be worried about until something happens.”

“Something has happened, Adam,” Michael said. “Rags and Dolly have disappeared and she misses Dolly very much, just like we miss Rags.”

“Boy, I sure do,” he said, scratching Buffy’s head. “And Buffy misses him and Lexie and even Walter is acting different since he’s been gone.” He rolled over onto his stomach and looked up at Savannah. “Dad misses him. You miss him, too don’t you, Savannah?”

“I sure do, Adam. My heart hurts, I miss him so much.”

He stared up at her for a moment, then said, “We’re going to find him. I know it. Rags doesn’t know how to get lost.”

“That’s an interesting statement,” Michael said. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, when we play hide-and-seek, he always makes sure I find him. You’ve told me about times when he’s been missing before and he always comes home.”

“That’s true. Let’s hope you’re right. But there are a lot of dangers out in the wilderness.”

Adam scrambled to a sitting position and looked down at the Himalayan-mix cat. “I don’t want to talk about that right now, if it’s okay with you.” He ran his hand over the cat’s fur. “I don’t think Buffy does, either. Do you Buffy?”

“Okay, then,” Savannah said slapping her palms against her knees as she stood. “No more negative talk about Rags and Dolly.” She grimaced. “Let’s hope I can maintain that rule when I visit Colbi.”

****

It was four fifteen by the time Savannah arrived at Colbi’s two-story farmhouse. She stood on the front porch with Lily in her arms. “Hi. Glad to catch you at home,” she said when Colbi opened the front door.

Colbi looked expectantly at Savannah. “So what’s up?” Clasping her hands under her chin, she added, “Please tell me you found Dolly.”

Savannah thinned her lips. “I can’t do that—at least not yet. Colbi, this morning we rode out in the area where the carjackers took my aunt.” Her eyes brightened when she said, “We found a piece of Rags’s leash.”

“Oh?”

Savannah stared down at her feet for a moment. “Well, it could mean that the cats were still in the car when it rolled down the hill and they’re out in the brush or…” When Colbi continued to stare at her, she said, “If they’d taken the cats out of the car, they would have put their harnesses and leashes on, wouldn’t they?”

Colbi clenched her teeth. “So we still don’t know if our cats are dead or alive?”

“No, but Michael and I have hope and we want you to.”

Colbi looked at Savannah, her dark-blue eyes rather vacant. “That’s a hard one. I don’t know if I can muster anything resembling hope—not with all that’s going on in my life right now.” She turned and walked into the house.

“What do you mean?” Savannah asked, following her. She placed Lily on the floor and began removing the baby’s sweater. “You have a great fiancé, a wedding coming up, friends…”

“Yeah, what’s that worth if you don’t have your health?”

“You look fine, only maybe a little tired. Are you feeling bad?”

“Sometimes, yes—just awful. My cousin Roberta says there’s a horrible genetic flaw in my father’s and my uncle’s line. It’s fatal, Savannah—or it usually is.” She started to cry. “I’m so worried. I’m worried that Dolly won’t come home and if she does, I won’t live long enough to care for her. Should I get married and burden Damon with this disease? It’s not fair to expect him to give up his life for an ill wife.”