2 The Cats That Chased the Storm

by Karen Golden

  “Spitfire,” Tommy yelled. “Get away from there.” Katherine could hear the boy taking the cat to another room. Then Tommy returned and tapped on the door, “Hey, lady with the cats. Mom wants you downstairs. She’s making pancakes.”

  “Okay, tell her I’ll be right down,” she said, then to the cats, “I’ll try and find you something to eat other than pancakes.”

  Katherine cautiously opened the door and slipped out, saying to the cats, “Back! Back! Get away from the door!” After she finished washing her face in the dark bathroom, she went downstairs to the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” Margaret said. “Have a sit down. I’ve got coffee. It’s instant. Still no power, but Cokey said I could use the electric griddle.”

  “Tommy said you were making pancakes. Must be his favorite.”

  “That’s all the boy wants to eat.”

  “Margaret, I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

  “Ms. Kendall, if you are going to be sitting at my table eating my pancakes you must call me Margie.”

  “Only if you call me Katz!”

  “Deal!” Margie poured batter on top of the griddle.

  A young girl came into the room carrying a huge orange cat. “Who are you?” she asked, eyeing Katherine suspiciously.

  “I’m Katz. And who are you?”

  “I’m Shelly.”

  Margaret flipped a pancake onto the growing stack and said, “This is my youngest. She’s ten, but going on twenty.”

  Shelly sat next to Katherine and held the orange cat like a doll. “Mom, can Spitfire have some too?”

  “Ah, no,” the mother said. “How about putting Spitfire in your room. We’ll feed the cats later.”

  “He never gets to eat pancakes,” Shelly whined, carrying the rotund cat out of the room.

  Katherine asked, “Where’s Cokey?”

  “He’s with Jake. They’re over at the pink mansion assessing the damage.”

  “Not anymore,” Cokey said, coming in. “I came home to get a few tools.”

  “I’ve got to go home,” Katherine said, getting up. “I’ve got to call Chief London.”

  “Don’t worry,” Cokey said. “I already talked to him. He said that since the town didn’t have any missing persons, he had other fires to put out. He’s going to call you later. I gave him your cell number.”

  Katherine sat back down. “I’ve got to have a change of clothes. I can’t wear my PJs all day!”

  “I’ve got a pair of jeans and sweatshirt you can wear. After breakfast, I’ll find some clothes for you,” Margie said, smiling. She set a plate with buttery pancakes in front of Katherine.

  “They look delicious!” Katherine said, smothering them with maple syrup.

  Cokey said to Margie, “If the power doesn’t come back on, we need to pack some bags and stay at Jake’s tonight. He’s got power.”

  Shelly ran in, passing her brother. “Yay! We get to watch the windmills,” she said gleefully.

  Tommy came in, excited, “We get to stay at Jake’s!”

  “Jake has windmills?” Katherine asked. She suddenly imagined the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike, wearing wood shoes, and living near a windmill.

  Margie answered, “He rented his house from a wind turbine farmer who moved to Florida.”

  Katherine said to Cokey, “I wouldn’t think of imposing on Jake. Can I just stay at the mansion?”

  Cokey advised, “It’s better if you and the cats found another place to live for a few months. With the construction, there’ll be lots of dust. Plus, I had to turn the power off at the main switch because of damage in the kitchen. The gas main is off, too. So you wouldn’t have any lights or hot water. And I’m sure the cats would freak out at the noise. I know mine would.”

  Margie suggested, “Call Mark. Orvenia owned lots of properties. Maybe he can find you one.”

  Cokey added, “Oh, when you walk over to the house, use that path from last night. Give a holler to one of us in the back. Don’t try to walk up front yourself. It’s dangerous. Be prepared for a shock. There’s several trees down on your street, but the town is out there right now clearing up this God-awful mess.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Katherine said.

  Cokey nodded, then said to his wife, “Got to get a move on. I’ve got a crew coming in from the city. We’re going to measure the windows and order the replacements. Then board up the openings. See you at lunch.”

  “Be careful out there,” Margie called affectionately after Cokey.

  I’m glad they’re back together, Katherine thought, in the wake of Cokey’s brief affair with Patricia Marston.

  “Looks like I’ll be working on the pink mansion again,” Margie said, pouring coffee into red Fiesta mugs. She sat down with her plate.

  “How’s that?” Katherine asked, taking a sip.

  “I’m the painter!” she exclaimed proudly.

  “Really? That’s so cool!”

  “I don’t know if Cokey has mentioned it, but I do old house restoration, which includes painting.”

  “Do you get much work?” Katherine inquired.

  “Because of all the house foreclosures, they’re lots of old houses ready to be snatched up. I return them to their former glory.”

  “You’re a house flipper. I’ve watched that on TV.”

  “Not exactly a flip. I do most of the work myself, so it takes me more time to finish one. Plus, I’m picky. I don’t just slap some paint and carpet down. If I can, I like to keep the original details of the house.”

  “That sounds fascinating. Are you doing any houses right now?”

  “Actually, I’m just finishing up one right now.”

  “Where is it?”

  “At the end of this street,” Margie answered. “She’s a bungalow. I’ve got everything finished except the living and dining room floors.”

  Katherine didn’t skip a beat and asked hurriedly, “Can I rent it while the pink mansion is being worked on?”

  “We can work something out, but you’ve got to see it first,” Margie advised. “You might fall in love with it and want to buy it,” she winked.

  * * *

  Keeping to the path they used the previous night, Katherine sat down when she saw the back of the pink mansion. Every single window was blown out! Even the small, attic-level window was broken to bits. Shingles were strewn across the back lawn. Cokey’s work crew was busy hauling debris and loading it into a dump truck. Jake spotted her and rushed over.

  “Hello!” he said, smiling. “Want an escort to the front of the house?”

  “Yes,” she said, getting up. “But I don’t have the key. I left it on Cokey’s kitchen table last night.”

  “Cokey’s got it. He’s unlocked the front door for you.”

  With a firm grasp, Jake took Katherine’s hand and directed her around the crew. “I want to show you something on the way,” he said. They got to the side of the house where the basement wall had caved in. “See that,” he said, pointing at the broken bricks. “These are not original to the house.”

  “I’m new to this,” Katherine said, mystified. “Please explain.”

  “The Colfax house sits on a fieldstone foundation. See those big chunks of stone on the turret side? That’s fieldstone. It’s quarried here in Indiana.”

  “Okay, so do you think there was a problem with the foundation and new bricks were used to fix it?” she asked.

  “Hang on to me and be very careful. See that large hole?” Jake said, pointing at the ground in front of them.

  Katherine gazed at the gaping hole. “What am I looking at here?”

  Jake took a chunk of debris and threw it down the hole. She heard a loud thud. “If you fall through this, you’ll break a leg. It’s about a seven-foot drop.”

  “What is it?”

  “Not sure. Could be an old well, but anyway, let’s get you in the house before Cokey has a fit because I’m not helping him.”

  “Wait, just a secon
d. Do you think the skull belongs to someone who fell in the well and couldn’t get out?”

  “I don’t know,” Jake said, shaking his head.

  A barrage of loud chain saws roared from the house next door. Katherine yelled over the noise, “Thanks, but I can make it by myself. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Jake tipped his ball cap and left.

  Katherine waved, then decided not to go inside right away. Wading through the yard debris, she ventured to the other side of the pink mansion. She gasped. An enormous tree had fallen on the house. Its upper branches had crushed the porte cochère, and were wedged in the broken kitchen window. The tree trunk was positioned directly over Katherine’s beloved Toyota. Even the New York license plate was bent and buckled, along with the rear of her car. “I can’t look at this,” she said sadly, turning away.

  Inside the house, she walked back to the kitchen. One worker was sawing tree branches, while another was picking up shards of glass. Cokey was there. He shook his head and put up his hand. “Best stay in the front of the house for now,” he advised. “Oh, here’s your key,” he said, handing it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  Walking into the office, Katherine saw books and papers strewn everywhere. Her laptop was on its side. She carefully brushed off the dirt and pressed the on switch. It powered up. “Yay,” she said.

  Three men were working on the sun porch, removing broken window glass. One said, “Good morning.”

  “Hello,” Katherine answered. “Do you know how much damage was in town?”

  “It beats anything I’ve ever seen,” he began. “Only two streets were hit. Your street and parts of the main highway. It’s like the tornado came down, did its thing and then lifted right back up again. The worse hit is outside of town.”

  “Where exactly?” she asked worriedly.

  “Down by the vet’s office.”

  “Okay, thanks,” she said. Pulling out her cell phone, she found Dr. Sonny’s number in her contacts list. She tapped the screen. The phone rang and rang. No one answered. Miraculously, Dr. Sonny’s name appeared on the top of her screen. She answered it right away.

  “Dr. Sonny, I just heard the tornado hit your area, too. Is everyone okay?” Katherine asked.

  “Actually, it skipped us, thank God. A bunch of trees are down across the street. Landlines are down. Power’s off,” he said. “I can’t say exactly, because after I dropped Abby off at the university vet school, I checked into a hotel. I called Valerie on her cell and told her to close the office today. We’ve got several dogs being boarded, so Valerie, bless her heart, took them to her house.”

  “Valerie’s a keeper,” Katherine said. “How’s Abby?”

  “Abby’s doing just fine. The vet school did a sonogram and found no indication she ate any of the eucalyptus, but they want to keep her for one more day.”

  “I’m so relieved to hear this,” Katherine said happily. “When can I pick her up?”

  “I’ll give you their number so you can talk to them directly.”

  “This is great news,” Katherine said, writing down the number. “Thanks,” she said, disconnecting the call.

  * * *

  By mid-morning, one lane of Lincoln Street was clear for vehicles. The tree limbs and yard debris had been bulldozed to the other side of the street, away from the pink mansion. The emergency crew vehicles had gone farther up the hill, and the frequent drone of chain saws seemed to be less audible. Chief London pulled his cruiser in front of the house. A few minutes earlier he had called Katherine’s cell, so she met him at the door.

  “Hell of a day,” he said, walking in.

  “I’m not sure where to begin,” Katherine said, closing the door.

  “This morning Cokey showed me the damaged basement wall from the outside, but I need to come inside and see the skull,” he said pleasantly. “Care to show me?”

  “Yes, follow me,” Katherine said apprehensively. She never knew if the chief was going to bite her head off, or be friendly. She pretty much knew she was a thorn in his side. They walked through the house to the back office. The door to the basement stairway was open. Katherine grabbed a flashlight.

  “Ladies first,” the chief said.

  Cokey and Jake were working in the solarium, fitting plywood over the broken windows. Chief London called to them. “How’s it going?”

  “Slow, but we’ve got most of the windows boarded up,” Cokey answered. “How’s it your way?”

  “A few trees down. I’m hoping Indy Energy can get the power up and running soon. I’ve got a quick question. Have either of you been anywhere near the site where the skull was found?”

  Jake answered, “Cokey and I went back there this morning, but didn’t disturb anything, if that’s what you mean.”

  Cokey agreed. “I needed to see the interior damage, but we stood several feet away. Until we can dig it out, we can’t know what’s on the other side.”

  “The State Police are sending up their CSI unit. I’d expect we should have an answer soon,” Chief London said. Then to Katherine, “Lead the way.”

  Katherine cautiously stepped into the mechanical room. She played her flashlight beam back and forth and was happy the water heater and furnace appeared to be okay. In the next room, where she was hit with flying debris, she could see bricks scattered on the concrete floor and what appeared to be broken bottles.

  The chief reached down and picked one up. “I haven’t seen one of these in years.” The bottle was pint-sized, and lavender in color.

  Katherine observed more lying on the floor. One of those is probably what hit me in the head, she thought. “I’ve never seen them before.”

  “You find these in antique stores,” the chief commented, examining the bottle. He then shone his light on the broken brick wall and the jagged hole. “Maybe they got sucked or blown in from here. A little gift from the tornado,” he said, tongue-in-cheek. “Don’t see a skull though.”

  Katherine hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward. “It’s right there.”

  The chief crouched down, but didn’t touch anything. “I see it now. Definitely human. Looks like it’s been down here for a while.”

  “How long?” Katherine asked.

  “Not a clue. We’ll let the State Police figure it out. Oh, lookie here. Cat tracks. Lots of them,” the chief said, taking a photo with his smartphone.

  Katherine assumed her best poker face and said, “Two of my cats were loose and one was in a carrier.”

  The chief glared at Katherine for a moment. “That’s all I need to see,” he announced, standing up. “Let’s go back up and I’ll explain to you what’s going to happen.”

  Upstairs and inside the office door, the chief spoke. “The CSI unit will be here any moment. Erie police will be working closely with them. I’m betting a tent will be put up outside the collapsed wall. It might rain later so they’ll want to protect the scene. Right now I’m going to cordon off the area with yellow tape.”

  “Crime scene tape?” she asked.

  “Not sayin’ it’s a murder or not until the team lets me know. If I need you, I’ll call you on your cell,” he said.

  “I’m working in the attic for the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Surely you don’t plan on staying here.”

  “Cokey said it’s not safe to live here, but I can come and go as long as I avoid certain areas.”

  “I’ve got one more question. Mark Dunn said Carol Lombard was with you a few minutes before she died. What was her mood?”

  “I don’t understand,” Katherine said, confused.

  “Was she happy? Sad? Tense? Seem afraid of anything?”

  “She was happy about her new car.”

  The chief said, “It’s a shame. Carol was a good gal. I’ve known her for a long time. Mark said she picked up some boxes for the historical society. I didn’t find them in her car. Was there anything in there of value? Something someone would want enough to kill for?”

&
nbsp; “No,” Katherine shook her head. “My great aunt kept everything. Newspaper articles. Recipes. Letters from friends. Christmas cards. Bills. Old magazines. I don’t know what to keep or what to throw out. Mark said keep things of historical significance. In fact one of the boxes I gave Carol was a box of TV Guides dating back to the sixties. I thought they were cool, but who would want them?”

  “Okay, good to know. When you leave, lock the doors, but leave the lower basement entrance unlocked. Don’t want any looky-loos coming in.”

  “What’s a looky-loo?” Katherine asked.

  “Nosey Erie folk wanting to see the damage. Don’t worry none. Trust me. The State Police will watch this house like a hawk,” the chief said, then left.

  Katherine sighed in relief. She mentally patted herself on the back about how she evaded the issue of the cat tracks near the skull. She protected her cats the way a mama bear protects her cubs. Yes, Scout did do the Halloween dance, but the chief didn’t need to know. He’d seen the Siamese do it before when Vivian Marston’s body was found. Katherine shuddered when she remembered how he’d wanted to call ‘animal control.’

  Katherine resumed collecting her personal things when the cell phone rang. It was Mark.

  He began concerned, “I heard what happened. Are you okay? Are the cats okay?”

  “We’re fine, but where are you?”

  “I’m on my way back from Indy. Lawyer stuff,” he explained. “I’ve talked to Cokey about the damage to the house. He said it isn’t safe for you to live there. Can I stop by when I get into town?”

  “Sure, but I’ll be working in the attic. Text me because I won’t be able to hear the doorbell. I know this is a little premature, but since Carol has passed away, who do I give Orvenia’s documents to?”

  “Beatrice Baker is in charge now. She’ll be giving you a call. I told her not to bother you for a few days in light of what has happened. Do you have a place to stay?”