by R. F. Kristi
Monk polished off the food. One moment the food was there, and the next it had disappeared into Monk’s belly.
Never before had he eaten at our place as he had so many treats at his home. I sometimes wondered how he could eat all the treats that he received.
He loved his food, did our pal Monk.
Hobbs and Solo tended to spoil him rotten.
Soft music floated across our cottage. We had a great deal of fun helping Mom decorate the tree.
More often than not, Fromage messed up the decorations while he played with the glass balls and got himself entangled with the brightly colored streamers.
Despite the minor mishap of Fromage breaking several glass balls and being banished to a corner over and over again, we had fun.
We decorated the tree, put up streamers, and hung bunches of mistletoe tied up in red ribbon all over the living room.
Afterwards, Mom sat down and admired our work.
Mom gave a sigh of pleasure and went off to take her bath.
Friday Evening:
The fire was crackling in the fireplace, shedding a warm glow in our comfortable sitting room.
Monk was sitting beside me watching the fire crackle, with a mournful expression on his face.
“What’s wrong Monk? Are you upset about something? You’re not mad that I went to see Boss by myself, are you?”
Monk’s somber face turned towards me and broke into a chuckle.
“Inca, that adventure was one of the brightest moments in my life. You have turned out to be a great detective. No, Inca, even though I am worried about Terrance and my guys, it’s Lance that is bugging me. He has become a nuisance.”
“What is going on with him?” I asked.
Monk had not mentioned Lance’s name since the day we first met him.
“Lance wants to enter me in a show,” replied Monk with a look of dismay.
“A show?” I meowed in surprise.
Several of my old friends in Paris had won medals at shows. But somehow, I couldn’t imagine Monk enjoying being on display.
“Have you ever been in one before, Monk? I know that there is quite a lot of work that goes into getting ready for a show.”
“It’s Lance’s idea. He is keen on collecting the prize money,” replied Monk, with a glum look on his face.
“I have a good mind to run away from home. What is horrible is that he has put me on a DIET.
“Can you imagine that? Me, on a DIET!
“Horror of horrors!” shuddered Monk, “on top of that, he brushes me every day for nearly an hour.”
I dared not tell Monk that I enjoyed being brushed and that Mom dropped me off regularly at the animal spa to have a full grooming session.
“When is this show going to take place?” I meowed to quickly change the subject and avoid talking about spas.
“Tomorrow,” he replied. “I have never been so insulted in my life. Who does he take me for?”
I now understood why Lance had been so keen to examine Cara and me, while he ignored Fromage.
He had wanted to enter three cats (Monk, Cara and me) in the show instead of one.
Of course, he had not been interested in Fromage as Fromage’s pedigree is questionable.
But we think that Fromage’s personality makes him more delightful than any pedigree in the world.
Lance may have finally abandoned his idea of entering Cara and me to the show knowing how carefully we were watched over by Mom. She could pop in at home any time of the day, unannounced.
“Chin up Monk. It will soon be over.” I responded.
6 Days Before Christmas
Saturday Afternoon:
We waited eagerly for Monk. He had gone that morning with Lance for the show.
At last he arrived. He slowly ambled in, looking very pleased with himself.
Naturally we were impatient to know what had happened.
Cara begged him to start talking and he gave us a description of the day’s events.
“I was woken up very early this morning,” he started off.
“I had to endure one hour of brushing. Lance spent so much time examining my ears, teeth and eyes that I had no option other than to bite him a couple of times.
“That didn’t stop him though.
“He is one bad dude!
“Finally, we got to the show. It was crowded with both humans and cats of various breeds. It was a total drag. We had to hang around for a long time.
“I longed for some sort of escape. I wouldn’t have minded if:
“Lance was kidnapped by gangsters.
“The roof fell down only on Lance.
“Boss came in and attacked Lance and chased him out of London.
“A tornado whirled in and carried Lance away.
“A bus crashed into the place and headed straight for Lance so that he had to run for his life!
“Any one of the above would have been a relief.
“But nothing of the sort happened.
“What did happen was that many people came to look at all the contestants. They took notes, chatting away.
“I was taken out of my cage, weighed, lifted up and turned around several times. All very boring indeed.
“I looked at the other cats, some of them quite proud to be there.
“Silly spoilt brats.” I thought to myself.
“Talk! Talk! Talk! That’s all the humans did.
“I thought it was never going to end, this endless babbling.
“Lance tensed. The big moment had come!
“There was a hushed silence in the hall.
“Suddenly, the judge, a tall balding man stepped forward and presented me with an award and everyone clapped and cheered.”
“Wow!” we said in union.
“You won, Monk?” meowed Cara clapping her paws.
“I won a ribbon all right, but Lance didn’t get any prize money,” crowed Monk with a smirk.
“What I won was the ‘Heavyweight Champion’ award - the award given to the heaviest, healthiest, sleekest cat in the show!
“I had not lost an ounce of fat! In fact, with my daily second treats at your place, thirds at Polo’s, and being fed my Mrs. Applebee every day, I had actually gained weight,” chuckled Monk.
“All of Lance’s efforts were in vain. Serve him right!” he added with a smirk.
“The boring part though, was that the prize consisted of this ribbon, getting my photo in the newspapers and a free one-year pass to the cat spa. Can you imagine me going to the cat spa?
“Lance will be in trouble when Solo sees my face in the newspaper. He entered me in the show without talking to Solo” Monk concluded with a nasty snigger.
Monk’s chuckles died down when we heard the sound of a vehicle coming to a stop near his house and doors banging.
“Looks like you have guests,” I said.
Monk jumped out of the window, calling — “See you later.”
For a chunky guy, he did move fast.
Saturday Evening:
That evening, Monk came over and tapped on our window. He told us with relief that Solo, Hobbs and Terrance had returned home safely.
Mom had received a call from Solo just as she returned home, so we had already received the news. We were waiting for Mom to jump into some warm, casual, clothes to dash over there.
More importantly, the Señora’s husband had been found!
Despite Monk’s joy in having his good friends back, there was also a feeling of grave concern.
Mom said that Raoul was terribly thin and could hardly walk. Other than that, he was in good health.
What was worrying was that when he fell off the mountain, he had bashed his head against a stone and could not remember anything.
Raoul had lost his memory, meaning he had amnesia.
Solo had decided not to inform the Señora about Raoul’s return, as of yet. Instead he had brought Raoul directly to his house.
The doctor had examined Raoul to check on his c
ondition. He had advised that Raoul would physically recover with nutritious food and care.
The doctor’s concern was Raoul’s loss of memory. He didn’t recognize anyone - not Solo, not Hobbs, and not even the doctor who had treated him as a patient for many years.
Solo had called his friend Inspector Reid and Mom to come over to discuss what they should do.
How were they going to break the news to Señora?
Solo, brainy and brave as he was, was completely lost on how to deal with Señora and tell her that Raoul had amnesia and could not remember the past.
Solo, though friendly and kind, was counting on Mom to break the news to Señora.
“Chicken!!” muttered Cara, because Monk had told us that Solo disappeared when women became emotional.
5 Days Before Christmas
Sunday Morning:
When we woke up the next morning, the garden was covered in thick snow.
A winter wonderland! Hooray!! Last night had been the first day of winter.
This was our first snowfall and we went out to frolic and play in the snow.
Fromage suddenly bombarded us with snow balls.
“Just you wait!” Cara shouted at him as we both pounced on him.
Playing in the snow turned out to be great fun.
But Mom had to spoil the fun by insisting that we came in to dry off. Mom sure knew how to spoil our fun!
Drat & Double Drat!
Sunday Evening:
Later that day we followed Mom to Monk’s house.
When we arrived, the usually silent house was bustling with activity.
The doctor had just left.
A tired looking Terrance was lying before the fire. It must have been a rough trip.
However, he was happy to see us and he stood up and wagged his tail.
“Good boy Terrance. You brought Raoul back home,” said Mom as she knelt down beside him.
At that moment Solo came downstairs. He too looked exhausted but his face lit up when he saw Mom.
He came up to her and held her hands.
“I have never been so relieved to see you Missy,” he said.
“Do you want to come upstairs to take a look at Raoul?
“Hobbs is preparing a light supper for us. Reid will join us later; he is at the police station right now.”
We trailed behind Mom, following Solo and her up the stairs.
The room was dim but there was a soft light close to Raoul’s bed. He looked very thin and drawn. There was a large bandage covering his head.
Other than that, he seemed fine to me. We left the room quietly.
During supper, Solo told Mom about what had happened in the Himalayas.
I listened to him sitting silently next to Mom.
“It was rough going,” said Solo.
“Thank goodness for the guide. We never would have found this village without him. We nearly got lost in the middle of a strong windstorm when we were separated from him.
“Thanks to Terrance we were able to retrace our steps. From then on, we had a rope tied around our waists from one to the other.
“We found Raoul in a small shack. He was weak from a large head wound. The villagers had used local medicine and bandaged his head tight. Although his head injury was healing, he could not remember anything. Not even his name.
“When we came in, he was able to make some feeble comments, but he had no idea as to who we were.
“I rewarded the kind villagers. Despite their poverty, they had looked after Raoul when he stumbled into the village, hurt and weak.
“As soon as there was light we strapped Raoul onto a mule and started out on our trek back.
“The return journey was tougher. More so as the mule, with Raoul on him needed careful guidance.
“We had decided to bring four mules on the return journey. So as not to burden the mules, we kept changing Raoul from one mule to the other, even though Raoul was not that heavy.
“I was never so pleased as to be back in Kathmandu. We changed the return dates of our air tickets and brought Raoul back home.
“The doctor said that his wound had healed. But the shock of the fall would have been too strong for him. As a result, he didn’t remember the past.
“Raoul needed rest and good nourishment to build up his strength. The doctor said that in a week he should be much stronger. He needed time to recover his memory.”
Solo continued, “What do we say to Señora, Missy? Should we tell her immediately?”
Mom responded, “Señora left yesterday with Polo for a cure in Bath. She should be back 0n Christmas day. We will tell her as soon as she returns.”
“Good idea, Missy,” said Solo.
It was agreed that Reid and Solo would play chess with Raoul and talk to him.
Mom would visit him as well.
They would talk about all the things he loved:
Polo,
Horses,
The rescue-home from where he adopted his little Polo,
The opera music that his beloved Señora sang.
4 Days to 1 Day Before Christmas
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
The last few days before Christmas were somehow blurred. I decided to lump them together in my Diary.
We visited Solo’s place every day with Mom when she returned from work.
While the humans had dinner and talked together, we sat with Terrance.
I had told him of our own adventure and about forming Inca & Company to solve mysteries.
I watched his reaction anxiously.
After all, he was the true detective in the group. Would he be upset that the agency had my name on it, thereby making me the unofficial head of the group?
I guess I don’t really understand dogs.
He was tickled pink!!
“Good thinking, Inca. You’re a brave cat. We are going to make a good team,” he said and congratulated me warmly.
Raoul now walked without a limp.
Although he remembered the events that had passed since Solo came into the shack for the first time, he still couldn’t remember his past and we could see that this worried him.
He knew that he was married to a beautiful former opera singer because he had been told so. But he just could not remember her or his past.
In the meantime, Aunt Florence had come over from Provence. She was content to be among her family and old friends.
She was happy living in Provence. But she considered Mom her daughter, and thought that there was no better way to spend Christmas and New Year than with her own family.
When she heard about Raoul she was concerned for her friend. She spent time talking to him, but he did not recognize her. This was upsetting for Aunt Florence.
She remembered the fun-loving and kind Raoul of the past and couldn’t quite relate to this serious, quiet man.
Christmas Day
Friday morning:
Christmas day had arrived!!!
WHOO …. PEEE!
Despite Raoul’s condition, Mom and Aunt Florence were determined to make it a special day for everyone.
After all, Christmas comes but once a year!
We excitedly dashed downstairs to check out our gifts under the tree.
Fromage had received a great mound of French cheese and a spiffy new blue beret brought over for him from France by Aunt Florence.
-Ditto, for Charlotte-
For once, Mom let them have their fill of cheese.
Cara and I had received matching shawls and a bag of ping-pong balls.
We immediately started playing football with one of the balls, racing after it and knocking each other over.
“Out you go,” said Mom after Fromage nearly knocked over our Christmas tree.
We rushed over to Solo’s house to wish Monk and Terrance a merry Christmas.
Christmas dinner preparations were going on in full force in the kitchen.
The Applebees had taken over the catering for the Christmas
party in Solo’s kitchen with the help of Hobbs.
Mrs. Applebee was busy cooking up a storm for Christmas dinner. Together with Hobbs they had made a long menu of fancy-fare.
The Applebees had been thrilled to bits that Raoul had been rescued. On his return, they had rushed to introduce themselves to him. Since the Señora was away, they had taken him on a visit to his own house in the hope that he would recognize the place.
Unfortunately, this was not to be the case.
Still, Raoul was making good progress health-wise.
Solo was determined that the dinner party would go ahead despite Raoul’s condition. Mom thought that the best remedy for both the Señora and Raoul was to have good friends surrounding them at this uncertain time.
Fromage had great plans for the Christmas dinner of the furry crowd. He had made his special Blue-Cheese Cake. A cherished recipe.
He had stayed up all night making it with the help of Charlotte and Monk.
Fromage insisted I included his special recipe in my Diary for future reference.
I have done so. I have added the last point about Fromage eating the lion’s share as that’s exactly what would happen.
Fromage’s Special Blue-Cheese Cake
Ingredients:
- The ripest and strongest blue cheese stolen from our cheese shop;
- Rich Cream borrowed from Monk.
Method:
Smash the blue cheese with his paws with Charlotte doing the same;
Jump on it and lick it to keep it moist (According to Fromage that was the secret to his amazing Blue Cheese Cake);
Pour the rich cream over the smashed blue cheese;
Monk to jump on the cream and blue cheese mixture to give it a good stir;
Put the end result in one of Mom’s Pyrex dishes and leave near the fire place for one whole night.
Fromage to lick his paws and those of his assistant cooks – Monk & Charlotte.
YEP, PAW Licking Good!
Share with everyone, ensuring that Fromage got the lion’s share.
