by Patricia Fry
When he placed Rags on the floor, the cat sat down and stared across the room at Kat. She noticed this and said, “I hope he doesn’t blame me for that calamity.” She leaned over toward him, and he walked cautiously up to her. “I’m sorry, Rags,” she crooned. “That was an unfortunate accident, wasn’t it? No damage done.”
With that, Rags rubbed against her ankles, then turned and leaped up onto the windowsill perch.
“That looked like an apology to me,” Gladys said, chuckling.
****
The last cat alliance member drove out of the Iveys’ driveway minutes before the delivery of horses began. The children were still napping, and Savannah and Kat sat on the wraparound porch with both cats on their leashes, watching the remaining workers put the finishing touches on the corrals.
“This has been a fantastically successful trip,” Kat said. “Not only have I met people with some great magazine and Internet stories, I’ve recruited members for our organization. Your cute little friend, Colbi, was quite interested in the concept and may attend the conference.”
“Really?” Savannah said. “It would be fun to have her along. If you can get her involved, she’ll be a great addition to your organization.” Savannah asked, “Did she tell you that an article she was writing about an awful cat hoarder almost got her killed? Rags actually came up with the clue that saved her life. Boy, that was a close one. She spent her recovery here; that’s when we became good friends.”
“Well, she didn’t tell me about that,” Kat said, “but she did tell me she’d done an article on hoarders. We’re going to talk more about it next week by phone.” Kat looked at Rags, who was holding Suki down on Lexie’s outdoor bed, licking him. “He really is something else.” She did a double take. “What is he doing to Suki? Giving him a bath?”
Savannah chuckled. “I think he’s trying to wash any trace of his natural wild scent from his fur.”
“Maybe,” Kat said, laughing. She ran her hand over Rags’s back. “I think it would take a whole lot of licking to remove Suki’s heritage, boy.” Suddenly, she gasped. “What is that?”
“What?” Savannah asked, looking at the two cats.
“It looks like a sore. Suki has a sore on his neck. That’s what Rags is licking—that sore.” Kat moved closer to the cats and kneeled to examine Suki. “I wonder where he got it.”
Savannah squinted down at Suki. She lifted Rags away from his friend and examined the sore more closely. “Hmmm. I didn’t notice that before.”
“Well, I felt a small lump there under his fur yesterday, but it wasn’t oozing like that.”
“Yeah, it looks like an abscess,” Savannah said. “He must have had a puncture wound. Another cat snagged him with a claw or something, and it’s been festering. It’s in a spot where you might not notice it in the folds of his neck and it’s also where he can’t reach to lick it and keep it clean. Rags evidently was doing that for him.” She took a closer look, then handed the end of Rags’s leash to Kat. “Here, hold onto him. I’ll get something to flush it out with. It really doesn’t look that bad, but it sure could have caused a problem if it hadn’t come to the surface and started draining.” When Savannah returned, she cleaned the area then flushed it out, saying, “There, I don’t think it’ll cause him anymore trouble. Just watch it and try to keep it clean.”
“Gosh, thank you, Savannah. So you keep veterinary supplies here at your house?”
“With Rags and with horses, oh yes.” She waved when she saw Bonnie pulling her truck into the driveway with a horse trailer behind it.
“Here are your first boarders,” Bonnie called from the driver’s side window.
“Cool.” Savannah started to lead Rags out to meet Bonnie. She stopped and said to Kat, “You’d probably better not take him around the corrals with that open sore.”
“Good idea,” Kat said. “I’ll go put him away. I want to see those horses, especially the special endurance horse.”
Savannah smiled. She walked out to greet Bonnie as she climbed out of the truck, and gave her a hug. “How’re you doing?” she asked compassionately.
“Okay,” Bonnie said. She shaded her eyes and looked at Savannah. “It could have been worse.”
“Sure could have been. I guess you can be thankful for that.”
Bonnie nodded and gazed out over the yard. “Gadzooks, that’s quite a transformation.” She rested her hand on Savannah’s arm, “How are you doing with all of these changes?” She chuckled. “It’s like some sort of invasion.”
“Hey, to me it’s like the circus has come to town and plopped their tent on our property. Once the show’s over, they’ll fold it all up and take it away, leaving me with maybe a little landscaping work to do and some happy memories.”
Bonnie grinned up at her much taller friend. “Well, aren’t you looking at a glass half full? Way to go, girl. I just hope all the memories are happy ones.”
When Kat returned, Savannah said, “Bonnie, I’d like you to meet Kat. She rescues and fosters feral cats, and she writes about cats. She’s here conducting interviews for articles.”
Bonnie turned when she heard a commotion behind her.
“She’s okay,” one of the hands called. “She just stumbled coming out of the trailer.”
Bonnie grimaced, then reached for Kat’s hand. “Nice to meet you. So you write about cats?”
“Mostly cats, yes. I hope to sell a couple of pieces featuring Rags.”
Bonnie addressed Savannah. “Have you told her about the night Rags saved your little Himmie from being catnapped when they were boarding at our place?”
“No. I don’t think I mentioned that.”
“From the sounds of it, it would take a whole book to document all of Rags’s antics and adventures,” Kat said.
“That’s been done,” Bonnie said. “You’ve read his memoirs, haven’t you? I mean his meowmoirs.”
Kat nodded. “Yes, I’m reading it now. It’s fascinating and amazing.”
“That’s what the reviewers are saying,” Savannah quipped.
“Where do you want these two?” a ranch hand asked.
After thinking about it, Bonnie said, “The last two corrals on the other side of the orchard.” She watched the men walk away with the horses, then said, “That’s Riley and Consuela.”
“The men or the horses?” Savannah asked.
Bonnie grinned. “The horses; the men are Juan and Luther.”
“Love that roan,” Kat said.
“So you know horses?” Bonnie asked.
“I used to ride. It’s been a while,” Kat explained.
“I don’t know when you’d have time to ride with your schedule,” Savannah said. She told Bonnie, “Besides caring for a whole bunch of cats and doing all that writing, she runs an organization for people who are involved with cats. It’s sort of like our Hammond Cat Alliance, only she’s planning a conference and I’m going to give a presentation.”
Bonnie looked at Kat. “Really?”
“And she has a Savannah,” Savannah said.
“Huh?” Bonnie questioned.
“One of those domesticated wild cats.”
“Heck,” Bonnie said, “if you want a wild cat, just come around our place some evening and catch yourself one. Those feral cats are growing in number and becoming more of a nuisance.”
“Really?” Savannah said. “I thought you had them under control.”
“So did I. Some of your cat alliance people came for a while, but they abandoned us before they quite finished the job, and the numbers are exploding.”
“Darn. I wish I’d known that. Our meeting was today and I would have brought it up.”
“It’s okay. We’ve been so busy we haven’t had a chance to think about anything else except keeping these horses safe and rebuilding our world.” Bonnie gazed toward the driveway. When she saw another truck moving slowly onto the property pulling a horse trailer, she grinned at Savannah. “Want to me
et Moose?”
“Is that the special horse?” Savannah asked. When Bonnie nodded, she said, “I sure do.” She tugged on Rags’s leash, scolding, “Never mind. You just stay here with me.”
“Where does he want to go?” Kat asked. “It appears he has something specific in mind.”
“Yes, he wants to go see Peaches.”
Bonnie spun around. “Is that who I hear carrying on over there?” She peered around her trailer toward Peaches’s corral. “Hi, Peaches,” she called out. “Are you eager to meet your new stable mates?”
“I think it’s Rags she’s calling for,” Savannah said. “These two are quite the buddies.” She picked up the cat, saying to him, “You just stay with me for now. Come on, let’s meet a new horse.” She and Kat watched as the truck pulled into the circular driveway and stopped. They followed Bonnie to where the rig was parked.
Bonnie greeted the driver, then reached inside the trailer to make sure the horse on the left was untied. The driver checked the other one, then he opened the trailer gate and urged one of the horses to back out. Once the tall appaloosa was on the ground, Bonnie grasped the lead and handed it to the driver. The mare looked around nervously until the man led her away and into one of the portable corrals. Bonnie released the butt chain behind the other horse and a large bay gelding quickly backed out. He stopped when he felt Bonnie take the lead, and he held his head high, sniffing the air and blowing.
“He’s a beauty,” Savannah said.
“Yes, isn’t he? And he’s talented.” More dramatically, Bonnie introduced him. “This is Moose.”
“So this is the special horse?” Savannah asked.
Bonnie nodded and patted the gelding’s neck.
Rags began squirming in Savannah’s arms and she lowered him to the ground.
When the ranch hand reached for the gelding’s lead, Bonnie said, “He goes next to the sorrel over there—in the pen with the padlock on it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the man said. He started to lead the horse away, but Moose wasn’t ready to leave the ladies’ company, or so it seemed. In reality, he was interested in the small fur-creature at the end of the leash Savannah held, but the cat was oblivious. His focus was on Peaches. When Moose moved toward Rags and snorted warm air on him, the cat quickly turned. This startled Moose and he stepped back and pawed the ground a couple of times.
“Better watch that he doesn’t stomp the cat,” the cowhand said.
“I don’t think he’ll hurt the cat, Bob,” Bonnie said. “Look how curious Moose is.” Bonnie laughed with the others when Moose stretched his neck out toward Rags cautiously and snorted again.
Then Rags gave the horse his full attention, although he appeared somewhat wary of the large creature.
Not knowing what the horse had in mind, Savannah picked up Rags and held him at Moose’s level so he could more easily check him out. When Moose pushed his lips against Rags’s fur, the cat reached out with a paw and patted him.
“I think it’s a love connection,” Bonnie said. “Moose seems to like small animals. I saw him trying to get acquainted with a chicken that had wandered into his stall at the fairgrounds yesterday.”
“How funny,” Kat said. “Now there’s a potential story—unlikely animal friends.”
Savannah laughed. “I think that’s been done.”
“Yeah, but I could change the title and bring in different animals, like Moose and Rags,” she said dramatically.
“You sure could,” Bonnie said. She nodded toward Bob. “Hey, we have more horses coming in. Let’s show this guy to his room.”
However, when Bob tugged on Moose’s lead rope, the horse didn’t budge.
Bonnie let out an impatient sigh. “Savannah, would you walk with them? He doesn’t seem to want to leave the cat.”
“Sure,” Savannah said, carrying Rags toward the corral next to Peaches and watching as Bob turned Moose loose in there.
Rags watched closely, too.
“Moose is a lot of horse,” Savannah observed.
“Yes, he is,” Bonnie said. “He’s rather high maintenance. Sandy will be here to ride him twice a day most days. She’d be here now, but she had something to take care of with the sheriff’s office.”
“Oh?” Savannah questioned.
“Yes, I told you we’re putting a guard on him—you know, my brothers. Well, a while back there was a problem. We hope it was a figment of Sandy’s imagination, but she thought she saw someone at his stall one night. She’s sure this person was up to no good. She scared him off, but she caught a glimpse of him. She thinks she can identify him, so she went down to look at mug shots at the sheriff’s department. I don’t think she’s going to get anywhere, but she figured it was worth a try. Moose has a lot of promise in the endurance sport, and she doesn’t want anything to interfere with that.”
“And she thinks someone would want to harm this horse?” Kat asked.
“There have been some threats—notes telling her to withdraw from the endurance events or else.”
“So what’s at stake in those events, anyway?” Savannah asked.
Bonnie thought for a moment. “Reputation of the horse and the rider more than anything, I guess. Satisfaction—there’s always a sense of satisfaction when you can come out on or near the top in any competition. Heck, just finishing is something to be proud of. When a horse makes a good showing, the value of an endurance horse or a race horse or any sort of performing horse goes up, as does the value of the breeding stock for that horse.”
“Oh, so it’s money?” Savannah said.
“Yes, I guess that’s the long and the short of it. When someone feels that their money train is threatened by a Johnny-come-lately horse, unscrupulous contenders are apt to come out of the woodwork and try to do damage.”
“So his owner thinks someone’s out to stop her horse from competing because he’s so good?” Kat asked.
Bonnie nodded. “That’s what Sandy’s beginning to think.” She waved her hand in the air. “Or she’s overly sensitive and overly protective and paranoid.”
Savannah tried to read her friend’s demeanor. “So which do you think it is?”
Bonnie took a breath. “It’s hard to tell; I don’t know Sandy all that well yet. But just in case, my brothers will be keeping an eye on Moose.” She nodded toward the driveway. “Here they come now with another load of horses. They have Sassy and Bart—almost-twin ponies belonging to a couple of adorable little cowgirls. Haylie and her sister, Bootsie, come out to ride only occasionally, usually on weekends. But their parents are real good about keeping them focused on the ponies. I don’t think they’ll be intrusive at all.”
“Bootsie?” Kat repeated.
“Yeah, her name’s Clementine, but they call her Bootsie.” She shook her head. “The girls are six and eight, I think. Cute as the dickens.”
“Oh, aren’t they adorable,” Savannah said when the ponies backed out of the trailer.
Bonnie greeted the two men who led them toward the corrals. “Joe, Roy, this is Savannah Ivey and her friend Kat”
Joe nodded.
Roy said, “Nice to meet you.” He asked, “Where do you want these scallywags, Sis?”
“We had a pen brought in just for them—pony-safe, you know. It’s a little larger, since they like to room together.” She looked out over the array of pens and horses and pointed. “Over there. Good, they’ll be within easy viewing from your kitchen window. Ponies sometimes require an evil eye.”
“Lily is going to love those little guys,” Savannah said, smiling.
****
“So are all your horses here?” Michael asked, gazing out over their property later that evening.
Savannah joined him at the window. “Yes, isn’t it a sight to behold? Our own boarding stable.”
“Oh yes, a sight to behold,” he cranked. “All that’s missing is me behind a shovel, right?”
“No,” she insisted. “We d
on’t have to clean corrals or anything. Bonnie’s and Barney’s people will do that.”
“Let’s just hope they do,” he said, “otherwise we’ll be inundated with flies.”
“It won’t be forever,” she reminded him. “It’s just temporary. The horses will be back at the Teagues in no time, and we’ll have just our own horse poop and flies to deal with.” She laughed. “You should have seen Antonio. I told him a few days ago that we would be taking care of some horses for a while, but when he came by to work in the yard this afternoon and he saw all of the horses and trailers and people, he almost lost it. I did my best to convince him that the horses would not get out and eat his beautiful tomatoes and corn, but he was still ranting in Spanish when he left.”
“Poor Antonio,” Gladys said.
Everyone laughed when Rags leaped up onto his windowsill perch and began turning in place and meowing.
Savannah petted him. “Exciting, isn’t it Ragsie? Looks like those horses will keep you well entertained.” She faced Michael. Rags has a new horse friend. He seemed to really like Moose—the endurance horse.”
“Does he like your other horse—Gypsy?” Gladys asked.
“Not really—well, he seems indifferent to her. He loves Peaches and she seems to be infatuated with him, too.” She laughed. “And now he has a new horse friend. Well, Moose made all sorts of overtures toward Rags. Rags seemed a little overwhelmed at first. I’m pretty sure that horse had a cat friend before, because as soon as he saw Rags he tried to interact with him.” She giggled. “Bonnie sure got a kick out of it. And Kat took a bunch of pictures.”
“So did your cat-friend go back to Sacramento?” Michael asked while pouring himself a glass of water.
Savannah nodded. “Yes. She said this was a productive trip for her. She already has a magazine interested in a story about June’s cat preserve. She was pretty excited about what June and Nola are doing there. And she talked to Colbi after the meeting. I think they’re going to do a telephone or email interview about that hoarding incident Colbi got caught up in.” She looked at the clock. “Oh, that reminds me; Colbi and Damon are bringing Rosemary over to see the ponies.” She faced Michael. “Did you see them? They’re adorable.”
