I was about to say no, since, after all, I had to join the others and get ready to go. But apparently my mouth had other ideas. And it seemed to run away without me. And I do mean run! Because my words just flew right out. Almost as fast as Bogey flying down the stairs.
“Everything feels like it’s spinning out of control,” I told her. “From Gracie having problems with her cell phone to a lady we barely even know trying to hurt our family. Then there’s the way Bogey was out of commission at the cat treat factory. And our Mom and Gracie had to go to the police station. And now these little kittens are going with us on a case, and I don’t want them to go. I don’t like the way everything seems to be in a big, giant mess. But no matter what I do, it seems like I can’t get things to go back to normal.”
She nodded to me. “Ah, yes, young one. You have been through some trying times. As you grow older, you shall learn there are some things you can control and other things you cannot.”
I frowned. “I sure don’t like it when things are like this. And I really hope that everyone will be okay.”
That’s when Miss Mokie’s eyes sparkled with kindness. “It appears that you are rather worried about those around you. And that you cannot control what’s happening to them.”
I glanced at the floor for a moment. “Uh-huh, I am, Miss Mokie. I didn’t like seeing Bogey in such bad shape at the cat treat factory. He couldn’t even think straight when he was surrounded by all those cat treats. Then I didn’t like it when Gracie first got her cell phone. She acted almost like Bogey did today. She couldn’t think straight, either. And she couldn’t put that phone down to go to sleep or even walk across the room. That’s how she ran right into a jewelry display. For a while, it seemed like her cell phone was more important than . . . well, everything else. Her cats and her family included.”
The Wise One frowned and shook her head. “I fear that is a rather common affliction among humans these days. They can’t part from such devices for even a moment or two. They truly miss out on the joys of life, simply because they spend too much time staring at a small device in their hands. And that, I fear, is a very different kind of being out of control.”
I crinkled my brow. “It is?”
“Ah, yes, young one,” she said, closing her eyes for a moment. “For there are things in life that are meant for use in moderation.”
I tilted my head and looked up at her. “Moderation?”
She sat up straighter. “It means, ‘not to excess,’ young Detective. For it is important to have balance in life.”
“Oh, okay,” I told her. “I think I have pretty good balance. I can walk across the stair railing without falling off.”
Miss Mokie gave me a small smile. “Perhaps I might explain it this way. Imagine a seesaw. If it has too much weight on one end, that end will go to the ground and the other side will tilt up. But if you have the same amount of weight on either end, the board will be level. When the board is level, you might say it is balanced.”
I glanced at the ceiling for a moment. “Hmmm . . . okay. But what does a seesaw have to do with cell phones?”
She lifted a front paw, flexed her claws, and examined them. “If a human were to use their cell phone too much and not spend much time with their friends or family, you might say they’re giving more weight to the cell phone.”
That’s when the light finally dawned on me. “Then the seesaw would tip to one end. And it would be out of balance.”
She put her paw back on her purple velvet couch. “You are correct, young Detective. And it’s important to have balance in your life. You should spend some time working and some time with your family. There should be some time spent eating and other time spent sleeping. But if you spend too much time on one thing, you will be out of balance.”
I nodded. “Then one end of the seesaw will be down.”
“Precisely. You have learned much today, young one. And now I must leave you with these parting words. As the years go by, you may find there are things in your life that are out of control. Things that need to be changed. Sometimes those things are harmful things. And if you have the power to change those things, then you should do all that you can to change them.”
“Like Gracie did with her cell phone,” I said. “She realized that it got her into trouble. So she did everything she could to change that and quit using it so much. She even got some of her friends to do that, too.”
Miss Mokie’s eyes lit up. “An excellent example. Gracie is a very good-hearted and sincere young girl. Her efforts are to be commended.”
Thinking of Gracie made me smile. And that’s when it dawned on me. Maybe Gracie hadn’t been the only one whose seesaw had been tilting to one end. After all, Bogey and I had been so busy with the BBCDA that we hadn’t been spending as much time as we usually did with our family. Especially Gracie.
So right then and there, I vowed to pay more attention to her. In fact, I decided I would start right this very minute. And then I remembered that she was still down at the police station.
“Thank you, Miss Mokie,” I murmured. “I think I understand.”
Miss Mokie lifted her paw and held it in the air above me. “You have done well, Grasshopper. But now you must take your leave, for I must rest. Know that your efforts in training these young kittens have not gone unnoticed. And know that I, too, am rather proud of you, young Detective.”
With that, my mouth fell open just as Miss Mokie’s eyes fell shut. To know that Miss Mokie was proud of me . . . well, there weren’t many things in the world that could make me feel any better than that. Especially since the Wise One didn’t exactly say things like that very often. So when she did, it was a pretty big deal.
I smiled and tiptoed out of the room, so Miss Mokie could get her sleep.
Her words stayed with me as I left her and headed down the stairs to join the others. Because I knew there was something else in my life that really needed to be changed. Something that I could change.
I needed to stop Garnet from harming my family and friends.
And the only way I could do that was to prove that she had robbed her own jewelry store.
So with the help of Bogey, Lil, Trixie, and the kittens, I intended to do just that.
Even if it was scary.
Holy Catnip!
CHAPTER 22
Holy Mackerel!
Everyone was already at the back door by the time I got there. Trixie and Lil were busy talking and pointing up at the doorknob. And the Princess was fussing over Mitzi and Magnolia.
Bogey pulled me aside the second he spotted me. “Everything okay, kid?”
“Not just yet,” I told him. “But I’m hoping it will be. Really soon.”
Bogey raised an eyebrow. “Not sure I follow you, kid. But as long as you’ve got your head in the game, you can fill in the blanks later.”
I glanced over at the two kittens and did a double take. In fact, I had to blink a couple of times just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.
I leaned toward my brother. “Bogey . . . are Mitzi and Magnolia . . . are they wearing . . . sunglasses?”
Bogey grinned. “Yup, kid. It would appear so.”
I almost gasped. “Do we need sunglasses, too?”
“Only if you want them,” my brother replied as he stretched his back legs.
I crinkled my brow. “I don’t know . . . I guess I never thought about it before.”
Though I had to say, the girls did look pretty fierce with their glasses on. And it was sort of strange that I couldn’t see their eyes. It made them look like they had no expressions at all. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell what they were thinking. But one thing was for sure — they didn’t look one bit scared.
“We’ll figure it out later, kid,” Bogey told me. “After we get back.” Then he waved his front paw to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, folks. Let’s get this show on the road. Got the camera, Lil?”
“Got it.” She pointed a paw to our dad�
�s little camera that she had attached to her collar. “We only need a couple of pictures to prove that Garnet’s missing jewelry is in her safe.”
“And then we’ll be out of there and headed home,” Bogey said as he turned to me. “Okay, kid. You’re up. Ready to help Trix get us out of here?”
“Aye, aye,” I told my brother.
Then I tried to salute him. But I missed and just touched the top of my head. If nothing else, at least Trixie, Lil, and Bogey had all glanced at the back door right at that moment.
Though the kittens both bowed and said, “Oooss.”
I sighed and went to join Trixie for phase one of our plan. The part where I was supposed to help her push a chair up close to the door. Trixie put her huge paws against her side of the chair and had no problem moving it right into place. Almost like the bottom of the leg had grease on it.
As for me, well . . . that was a whole different story. And one I sure didn’t want to talk about later. Because when I put my big paws on my side of the chair, the back leg seemed to be stuck. It wouldn’t budge one inch. No matter how hard I pushed.
So I decided to give it a running start. I backed up, ran straight for that chair, and smacked into it with a loud whomp! The chair went flying and bashed right into the door. Unfortunately, the whole thing also sent me flying. And I ended up doing a somersault and crashing into the wall. Then I just stayed there for a second or two, all sprawled out while the room kept on going in circles.
Not exactly the kind of move a guy wants to make in front of a whole bunch of cat detectives. And not a great way to start out on a very important case.
Above me, Bogey’s face came into focus. “Well, kid, I gotta hand it to you. You really know how to give it your all. But maybe we should save the rough stuff for Garnet’s house.”
Rough stuff? I sure hoped there wasn’t going to be any rough stuff. Especially not at Garnet’s house.
I blinked a couple of times and rolled over. Just in time to see Bogey climb up onto the chair and wrap his arms around the doorknob. He squeezed it tightly and managed to turn the knob. Then he leaned back and pulled that knob with him, until the door opened an inch or two. Finally, he jumped off the chair, and Trixie and I scooted it out of the way.
This time the chair moved just like it was supposed to.
Then Lil used one of her paws to tug the door open wide enough for all of us to run through.
Bogey turned to the Princess. “You know what to do if our family gets home early, right?”
She nodded her little head. “Uh-huh. I’m supposed to make a big fuss about this door being open.”
“You got it,” Bogey said with a grin.
With that, we waved good-bye to the Princess, and we were off. We took the same route to Garnet’s house as we’d taken the last time. To speed things up, Magnolia rode on Trixie’s back and Mitzi road on mine. Though I had to say, it seemed like it was easier going this time. And before I knew it, we were all in position in the backyard. Thankfully, the whole house was dark and it looked like nobody was home.
Trixie directed us all to a mat by the back door. “This is where Garnet keeps a key hidden. I saw her put it here from the window of the room where she held me captive.”
For a moment, Trixie glanced up at that very window. And I could have sworn I saw that big cat shudder. Then again, it probably wasn’t easy for her to visit the place that had basically been her prison.
I put my paw on her shoulder. “You’re not by yourself anymore, Trixie. You’ve got all of us now.”
“And we’re not going to let anything bad happen to you, Trix.” Bogey hooked his claws into one end of the mat and pulled it up. “We’ll just get in and get out. Nice and easy like.”
Trixie swallowed hard. “Thanks, boys. And everyone. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it.”
I grabbed the key with one of my claws and Bogey let the mat fall back into place.
“Don’t sweat it, Trix,” Bogey said while he stared up at the door. “We’ve all been in a pickle a time or two ourselves. Now, let’s get to work. Time to get that door unlocked and opened up.”
Trixie nodded toward the door. “Once we’re inside, we’ve got exactly thirty seconds to turn off the alarm before it starts to blare out with full force.”
Thirty seconds? That wasn’t much time. But first we had to get inside. So I quickly passed the key to Lil and made a beeline for a plastic porch chair. Trixie followed me, and together, we had the chair in place next to the door in a hurry. Then we both helped to lift the kittens up to the seat. Lil stood beside us and handed the key up to Mitzi. She put the key in her mouth and stretched up to the doorknob. With Magnolia’s help, Mitzi used her tiny paws to guide the key right into the slot on the lock. Once it was firmly in place, the kittens jumped back to the porch while Lil leaped up onto the chair. She was all set to use her strong arms to turn that key and open the door. Just like we had planned.
But then a funny thing happened.
She had barely leaned into the door when it suddenly opened up all on its own. The hinges even creaked a little as the door moved a couple of inches.
Right at that moment, my heart started to pound really hard inside my chest. Bogey, Trixie, Lil, and I all turned to stare at each other. The kittens just stood at attention, without one bit of expression on their faces.
Let me tell you, finding an unlocked door sure wasn’t part of our plan. Especially one that just pushed right open. Like it wasn’t even latched properly. If you asked me, I thought the whole setup looked pretty suspicious.
Trixie shook her head. “I can’t imagine that Garnet would leave a door unlocked. It’s not like her.”
“Could this be a trap?” Lil suggested quietly.
Bogey tilted his head. “Could be. If we go in, we could be in trouble. But if we don’t go in, our Mom and Gracie could be in trouble.”
I gulped. Because I really didn’t like either one of those options. Even so, I knew we had to prove that our Mom and Gracie were innocent. And the only way we could do that was to prove that Garnet was guilty.
I couldn’t believe the words that came out of my mouth next. I blurted them out without even thinking. “I think we should go in. There are six of us, so we’re not going in alone. And I sure don’t want Gracie or our Mom to go to jail.”
Bogey put his paw on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you, kid. You’ve got enough guts for all of us.”
But the truth was, I didn’t really have any “guts” at all. And I sure didn’t have enough for the whole group. Because I was already shaking in my paws, just thinking about Garnet laying a trap for us.
“Count me in,” Lil said.
“Me, too,” Trixie added.
And I knew it probably took more bravery for her to go in than anyone else. After all, she had already escaped from this place once. Now here she was, going back in so she could help our Mom and Gracie.
“Maybe we should leave the kittens out here,” I suggested.
Mitzi’s mouth fell wide open. “No way! You’re not leaving us behind!”
“We’re here to be cat detectives,” Magnolia jumped in. “We’re not staying outside.”
Bogey pushed the door open a little wider. “Well, any way you look at it, we’ve only got ten seconds left to punch in that alarm code. So we’d better run in and turn it off before it starts making a racket.”
“The code is 5-5-5-5,” Trixie said quickly. “And the keypad is right by the door.”
Bogey motioned to me. “Let’s go, kid. I need you to give me a boost.”
And the next thing I knew, I was leaning against the wall and holding Bogey up as he stood on my shoulders. I tried to hold us steady while he used his narrow paws to punch in the code.
But let me tell you, it wasn’t easy being a feline ladder. Because Bogey weighed a lot more than I thought he did, and it was really hard to balance. For a second or two, I felt us start to lean to the right. I did my best to straighten us out
, and then we started to lean to the left.
It was a good thing Bogey and I were cat detectives. Because we sure wouldn’t make it as a circus act.
It felt like an hour went by while I stood there and waited for Bogey to finish pushing the buttons of that alarm. All the while, I just stared at the floor, wishing he would hurry up.
At long last, he jumped down. Then I stepped outside and motioned for the other cats to come in. They didn’t waste a single second before they tiptoed inside. Like it or not, we were now officially inside Garnet’s creepy mansion. And the sooner we got the job done, the sooner we could get out of there.
Naturally, we let Trixie take the lead since she knew her way around. The rest of us followed, and we barely made a sound as we walked up a set of stairs and into a big hallway. From there, we made our way to a huge curved staircase, deep inside the mansion. The rooms all around us were dark, and the whole place was really, really quiet.
Too quiet, if you asked me.
Without a word, we started up the stairs, going in a single-file line. Trixie stayed in the lead, followed by Bogey and then Lil. I came next, with Mitzi and Magnolia behind me. And while I was worried about us all, I was especially worried about having those two tiny kittens with us. Every inch of my being just wanted to get them back outside and let them wait out there until we were all finished. But I knew that would never happen. Because it was too late. We were too far inside that mansion already.
So I just kept on moving behind the rest of the bunch. And before long, we started to pick up the pace a little bit. That was, until Trixie accidentally stepped on a loose board in the stairs. I nearly jumped to the ceiling when I heard the loud creak! Then we all froze in our tracks and listened for any movement upstairs. To see if anyone had heard us.
When we didn’t hear a thing, we kept on going. Of course, the rest of us were really careful to walk around that creaky board. I wasn’t sure about the others, but every hair on my body felt like it was standing on end. I could barely even breathe. I just wanted to get to that safe, open it, and take our pictures.
The Case of Too Many Clues Page 22
