Fire up those troops.
Tell them what was what!
“Boys and girls!” our fearless leader intoned, gesturing for the crowd to be quiet, “today marks a momentous occasion. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: our humans have treated us with kindness, fairness, and an abundance of kibble. Now the time has come to return the favor.”
“I’m not sharing my kibble!” a cat shouted, much to the amusement of the others.
Shanille gestured for silence once more.“We’re not giving them our kibble,” she said, just to make matters perfectly clear from the start. “But we are giving them our time, the excellent sniffing powers of our noses, and our capacity to find what we’re looking for. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about: when have youdogs ever not found a buried bone?”
Loud cheers from the canine contingent greeted these words.
“And cats, when have you ever not found that last piece of kibble that managed to get wedged in behind the cupboard?”
More cheers, this time from the cats.
“And so today our humans have asked for our help, and by golly, we’re going to give it. A girl has gone missing.”
“And her boyfriend!” Dooley piped up.
“And so we’re going to search those woods. We’re going to look under every branch, behind every tree, and under every rock until we’ve found them. And when we do, we can rest easy in the knowledge that we made a difference, and possibly saved a life. Or two,” she added, with a nod in Dooley’s direction.
I’d never heard anyone compare a missing person with a piece of kibble stuck behind a cupboard, or a buried bone, but her words didn’t miss their effect. This group was fired up! And as they all cheered, she descended from her makeshift throne, looked on by stunned and mystified ladies and gentlemen, the regular visitors of the park, and we all moved out, singing a pleasant song as we did, with Harriet taking up the soprano part, as usual.
If Addie and Ted were in those woods, we’d find them—or die trying.
Okay, so maybe not. But we’d definitely give it our best shot!
CHAPTER 26
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
“What is that daughter of yours up to, I wonder?” said Vesta.
Tex, who’d been organizing his files—he still kept paper files on all of his patients, even though he probably should have digitized everything by now—looked up. “What do you mean?”
“Harriet told me this morning that Odelia is going to spend all day out in the woods. Said it had something to do with Edward Dexter.”
“Oh, not again,” said Tex. “I thought you said it was all over. That it was just a fling? A momentary weakness?”
“That’s what I thought, especially when I saw Odelia and Chase so happy together last night. But now I’m not so sure.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the window. “You know that your daughter is out there right now? In those woods with Edward Dexter? And we all know what happens to innocent young girls when left alone in the woods with some horny old dude.”
Tex swallowed. Simply picturing his one and only daughter traipsing in those woods with her billionaire lover brought back images of red riding hood paying a visit to the big bad wolf.“He wouldn’t…”
“Wouldn’t what?”
“Take advantage of the situation, now would he?”
“Oh, wouldn’t he? Show me a billionaire and I’ll show you a guy whose hormone levels are off the charts. How else do you think they collect all those billions?”
“Through hard work and diligence?”
“Hormones, Tex! And now that man is focusing all of those hormones on your daughter!”
He gulped and almost dropped a file.“But what does he want from her?”
“What do all men want? Sex, of course, and plenty of it. Now what are you going to do about it is what I want to know?”
She had planted both hands on her sides and was eyeing him expectantly. He felt very strongly that he should do something, though he had no idea what.“What can I do?” he asked finally, when the solution escaped him.
“Go after them, of course! Save her from that man’s horny hormones!”
“But I have a full roster of patients to see. I can’t get away right now!”
“Oh, yes, you can. This is Odelia we’re talking about, Tex. The mother of your granddaughter. The wife of your good friend Chase. And most importantly, the only daughter you’ll ever have. So what are a few patients compared to saving the life of our most precious and beloved Odelia?”
“You’re right,” he said, galvanized by this pep talk. “And when you’re right, you’re right. We have to save her from herself and from that horrible man. And we have to do it now!” So he shoved the file folder back into position, and picked up his phone. “Cancel all my appointments,” he told his loyal assistant-slash-receptionist-slash-mother-in-law. He’d always wanted to say that. It sounded so important.
“Now you’re talking,” Vesta grunted appreciatively. “Let’s get out there and save a life, Doc Poole!”
CHAPTER 27
[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]
I don’t know if you’ve ever searched a large swath of woods for a missing billionaire’s daughter? If you have, you’ll agree with me that it’s not as easy as it sounds. These woods weren’t made for walking, or at least big chunks of it weren’t. Parts of it are a protected nature reserve, and as such can get a little impenetrable. Lucky for us, cats are small, and so we can reach into places where humans would have a hard time reaching. Like inside a hollowed-out tree, or in that genuine thicket created by a field of brambles.
And so it was that a couple of hours into our search for the missing couple, Dooley and I found ourselves entering a clearing, with a circle of mushrooms in the middle. It all looked a little like a fairy tale, and even featured a squirrel that was eyeing us suspiciously, probably wondering who these trespassers were.
“Hey there, squirrel,” I said by way of greeting as we took a break by sitting down in the middle of the clearing. “Can I ask you a question, please, sir?”
“It’s ma’am, not sir, and who are you anyway, and what are you doing in my home?”
“My name is Max, and this is Dooley,” I said, gesturing to my friend, who’d closed his eyes and was about to take a refreshing nap. “We’re looking for a missing couple. They were last seen two weeks ago, when their RV broke down on the side of the road. You wouldn’t happen to have seen them, would you?”
“No, I would not,” said the squirrel, softening now that she could see that we meant her no harm, and were merely passing through. “I don’t usually see a lot of human activity in here, on account of the fact that humans aren’t allowed to pass through this part of the woods.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” I said. “Well, that’s too bad, cause the girl’s dad is very worried, as you can probably imagine.”
“Of course,” said the squirrel, drawing closer and darting curious glances at Dooley. “Is he all right?”
“He’s tired,” I said. “We’ve been combing these woods for the past couple of hours, and it looks like it’s going to be at least a couple of hours more.”
The squirrel sat down at the edge of the circle of mushrooms, and said,“It’s very nice of you to look for these people, Max. But if I were you I’d be careful.”
“Careful? Why?”
“These woods aren’t safe. There’s a malevolent presence here that is very dangerous, at least if you’re not used to living here, like I am.”
“And what presence would that be?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s not a laughing matter, this presence.”
“But is it a person, or an animal?”
“Not an animal, and not really a person either,” said the squirrel, musing for a moment. “I’d say it’s something in between. Half man, half beast, if you will.”
“And you’ve seen this man-beast?”
“Oh, sure. Many times. And I usually manage to steer clear of the thing. I can hear it coming, you see, and the moment it crosses my path, I simply skedaddle, hopping into the nearest tree and making sure not to be seen.” She shivered freely, as if a sudden gust of icy wind had fluffed up her fur. “They say that one look from this evil presence can kill you stone-cold dead in your tracks. So whatever you do, never look into its eyes, Max.”