“I don’t think he’s a ghost, Max,” said Dooley after we’d been checking some of the guy’s stuff. “Just a bum.”
“A bum who’s been out here for quite a while,” I said as I checked a copy ofTime Magazine from ten years ago.“Okay, let’s go. Nothing for us to see here.”
I must admit I felt a little disappointed. This man obviously had no connection whatsoever with Addie Dexter. He was just a person who’d fallen through the cracks of society, and had made himself a new life out here as best as he could.
But just as we were about to slip back out, the door opened, and the man walked in!
We scuttled underneath the cot, and hoped he wouldn’t take a seat or see us.
“Whatever happens, don’t look into his eyes, Max!” said Dooley, clearly not having shaken his conviction that this man was an evil spirit.
And of course as luck would have it, the man did sit down on his cot!
“What is he doing?” I murmured as no sound reached our ears, and all we could see was the bottom of the man’s very dirty pants and even dirtier old shoes.
Just then, his voice boomed through the small space.
“What do you want?” he growled, and I assumed he must have been speaking into one of those cell phones I’d seen lying around.
But how did he manage to recharge them if he didn’t have any electricity?
“Just leave me alone,” the man intoned. “No, I’ve got nothing more to say to you.” He listened for a moment, and I could hear a person speak on the other side, but it was too faint to understand the words. “I don’t care. Leave me alone!” And he must have disconnected, for he threw the phone on the floor, and got up.
For a few moments he paced up and down his shack, muttering strange oaths under his breath, then finally his feet moved out of view, and I had the impression he’d left again.
So poked my head from underneath that cot, even as Dooley said,“No, Max, wait!”
But too late.
A powerful hand grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and I was lifted up into the air.
The man brought me face to face with him, and I couldn’t help but look into his eyes. They were a clear blue, and somehow looked familiar. But I soon forgot about that, as he bared yellowed teeth, and said, “Looks like dinner is served!”
CHAPTER 30
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“They say cat tastes like chicken,” the man announced. “And I happen to like chicken.”
“You’re not really going to eat me, are you?” I said. “I’m not very nutritious. Too much flab, and we all know that flab isn’t good for your cholesterol, not even when it’s roasted over…” I gulped. “A slow fire!”
“You’re a talkative fella, aren’t you?” said the man. “Maybe I should wring your neck right now, just to shut you up!”
I got the message, and immediately lapsed into silence.
“Let him go, evil spirit!” suddenly a voice screamed.
It came from under the cot, and as even as I hissed,“Dooley, shut up!” Dooley wasn’t deterred, but emerged from his hiding place, giving the man a kick against the leg.
“Let my friend go!” he repeated. But of course the man didn’t understand what he was saying, and simply grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him up, effectively giving Dooley the same treatment he’d given me!
“Looks like it’s my lucky day!” said the guy. “Two cats, if you please.” He turned Dooley this way and that, and seemed disappointed with his catch. “Little skinny, aren’t you? Lots of fur but no meat on those bones. Oh, well, beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. And I’m not one tolook a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I’m not a horse! Let me go!” Dooley said, and tried to scratch the man’s arm. Unfortunately it’s very hard to really give of our best when they grab us by the neck like that. It’s one of our weaknesses, but don’t tell anyone I said that!
“Come on, Max, give this guy a punch in the snoot!” Dooley said.
“I would, if I could only reach his snoot!” I said.
“Feisty little creatures, aren’t you,” the man said with a wicked grin. “You’ll pipe down soon enough. Now where am I going to keep you for the time being?”
“Unhand those cats, you brute!” suddenly a voice yelled.
We all turned—or at least the man turned, and as a consequence, so did we. And much to my surprise—and I imagine also to the bum—Gran was standing there, and behind her I could see Scarlett and Tex!
“Those are my cats,” said Gran, “and if you don’t put them down right this minute, I’ll sue you for damaging my personal property!”
“I’d set them down if I were you, buddy,” said Tex, as he stepped into the shack. “She’s very cranky, on account of the fact that we’ve been walking for hours, and our feet hurt.”
“And we still haven’t found Odelia and her secret lover,” Scarlett grumbled, also joining us. Immediately, and without waiting for a personal invitation, she sank down on the cot and started massaging her painful feet.
“What is this?” said the man, shocked and dismayed. “Get out of here right now!”
“Oh, simmer down,” said Gran. “You haven’t by any chance seen a blond-haired woman with a billionaire, have you?”
“Who are you people?” the man demanded.
“My name is Tex Poole,” said Tex, introducing himself and holding out a hand.
“Very clever tactic,” I told Dooley. “Now he’ll be forced to put us down.”
Only the guy clearly hadn’t a polite bone in his body, for he blithely ignored Tex’s hand, and held onto to us instead.
“I’m a doctor,” Tex clarified, retracting the fin. “And this is my mother-in-law Vesta Muffin, and her friend, Scarlett Canyon.”
A normal person would have given his own name at this point, but this guy clearly wasn’t normal, for he said, “If you don’t get out of here right now…”
“Can you put those cats down already?” said Gran. “I mean, I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, and now I’m telling you a third time, and you’re still holding onto them.”
“Yeah, put us down,” I said. “I’m getting a pain in the neck.”
And he must have understood, for he did set us down.
“Finally!” said Dooley. “And now let’s attack, Max!”
“Let’s not,” I said, putting a paw on my painful neck and massaging it gently.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a cream for swollen feet, would you?” asked Scarlett. “Only I didn’t bring my walking shoes.”
“I told you to bring them,” said Gran. “But you wouldn’t listen, as usual.”
“Nice place you got here,” said Tex conversationally, as he inspected the stack of magazines. “And I like what you’ve done with… the decorations.”
“Can you just clear off!” said the man, still not falling into his role as the welcoming host.
“In a minute,” said Scarlett. “When I can walk again.”
“What were you doing with my cats, anyway?” asked Gran.
“We were hiding under his cot when he found us,” I explained.
“We thought he was an evil spirit, because the squirrel said so,” said Dooley. “But Max says evil spirits don’t exist, and he’s just an old bum.”
“So what’s your name, buddy?” asked Gran.
“Cyril Wellbeloved,” said Tex, having leafed to the first page of a book he’d picked up. “Have we met before, Cyril?”
“My name isn’t Cyril,” said the man gruffly. “And besides, what’s it to you?”
“Like I said, I’m a doctor,” said Tex, “and that welt you’ve got on your hand looks pretty painful. I could look at that for you if you want.”
The guy stared down at his hand, as if realizing for the first time that he had one, and in one fluid movement held it under Tex’s nose. The doctor frowned at the appendage, took careful hold of it, and examined the welt, which did indeed look pretty red and swollen.
“So what happened here, Cyril, if I may ask?”
“You may not,” Cyril growled unhappily.