The Case of the Cat Show Princess

by Cindy Vincent

  I suddenly choked. “What? Cute? Why do I have to be in the Cutest Family Pet Competition? My friends back at the shelter will never let me live this down. I’ll be a laughing stock.”

  Bogey shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s face it, kid. You’re cute. You’re big and fuzzy and humans always want to cuddle you.”

  Okay, maybe that part was true. And I sure didn’t mind getting cuddled. But still, a guy’s got his image to think about. I frowned at my friend.

  Bogey waved his paw in the air. “Sorry, kid, I know it’s not fun, but these things are just part of the job. Besides, while everybody’s making a big fuss over you, I’ll be running the race in the Agility Competition. That’ll make it easy for me to sneak out and investigate.”

  I rolled my eyes. “In other words, I’m supposed to distract everyone so they don’t notice you.”

  Bogey nodded. “You got it, kid.”

  Holy Mackerel! So I was finally starting to get the picture. The only thing was, it wasn’t a picture I wanted to look at!

  I dropped my head into my paws and sighed. “Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight. Our Mom will read this fake letter from Felicia Fairweather in the morning. When she does, she’ll feel sorry for Felicia and want to help her. That means she’ll take us to the cat show.”

  “That’s right,” Bogey said and tossed me a cat treat.

  I caught the treat in my huge paw. “But what will happen when we get there? And our Mom finds out we’re not really registered?”

  Bogey sat up tall and stretched his back. “Already taken care of, kid. I registered us over the Internet and paid the entry fee from my bank account.”

  Sometimes I forgot that Bogey had been in a cat food commercial a few years ago. He took the money he made and stashed it away in what he called his “Emergency Fund” bank account.

  I guess trying to help a cat in danger sure counted as an emergency.

  And that was the thing I had to remember. If people called me things like “cute” and “adorable” at the cat show, I had to remember that I was suffering through it to help some poor cat who was in danger. A cat we only knew as P.A.

  That’s when it hit me — I suddenly realized that getting to the cat show was really only the first step in this case. The hard part was going to be finding P.A. and then figuring out how to help.

  I looked at my best friend. “So, I guess we’re officially entered into the St. Gertrude Cat Show then.”

  Bogey handed me another treat. “You got it, kid. The fun starts now.”

  Of course, I should probably tell you that when Bogey said “fun,” he didn’t really mean fun at all. Oh, no. What he really meant was “not fun.”

  Holy Catnip! I sure found that out the next few days.

  First, I was in the office when my Mom got the letter on Thursday. She read it and kind of gasped. Then she went straight to my Dad and told him all about it. For a few minutes, I was scared she was going to call Felicia and tell her we couldn’t go. But in the end, she decided to take us. Just like Bogey had said, my Mom has a very kind heart. And she wanted to help someone in need. In this case, it was Felicia.

  Besides, when Gracie heard all about it, she started to bounce up and down. “Oh, Mom, how fun! I can hardly wait. I know Buckley and Bogey will win!”

  With those words, she picked me up and started dancing around the room. “Oh, Buckley,” she said. “You are so cute. I just know everyone else will think so, too.”

  There was that word again — cute!

  But to tell you the truth, right at that moment I wasn’t even bothered that I’d been called cute again. No, I was too busy holding on for dear life while Gracie spun me around and around. It wasn’t long before I started to get really dizzy.

  That’s when Gracie ran upstairs with me. She took me to her room and plopped me down on the middle of her doll table. My eyes were still spinning, and I could barely see Lil Bits wave at me from Gracie’s bed. She had a huge grin on her face and she looked like she was about to burst out laughing.

  Gracie went straight to her doll clothes. “Oh, Buckley, what are you going to wear for the show?”

  Okay, as a cat detective, I probably should have picked up on that clue right away. But it wasn’t until she was coming right at me with a doll dress that I got the picture.

  She planned to put that dress on me! And she probably expected me to wear it at the cat show! Well, it was bad enough that people were already calling me cute all the time. I sure didn’t need someone putting a doll dress on me.

  Before she could slip that dress over my head, I made a flying leap across the room. I landed just a few feet from the door and then I took off.

  I raced downstairs to find Bogey. And when I did, I could hardly believe my eyes.

  There he sat on the kitchen counter, dripping wet. Our Mom was drying him with a towel. She was talking to him in a soft voice and kept telling him how nice he looked.

  My mouth fell open and my chin practically hit the floor. He sure didn’t look nice to me! He looked wet and cold and really skinny with his fur all matted down.

  “Bogey,” I meowed. “What happened to you?”

  In case you didn’t know, when a human is present, cats immediately switch over to cat language.

  Bogey gave me a feeble grin. “It was a bath, kid. I’m glad you weren’t here to see it. It wasn’t pretty.”

  I gulped. I knew just what he was talking about. I’d had a bath before, and let me tell you, it was a bad experience.

  And now, I could only stare in horror while my Mom started to brush Bogey from head to tail. Funny, but I couldn’t seem to move a muscle when she put Bogey on the floor and then went after me. For some reason, I was frozen to the spot.

  “Come on, Buckley,” my Mom said in a very sweet voice. “You have to be nice and clean for the cat show.”

  Then before I knew it, she plunked me right down into the kitchen sink full of water and suds.

  Okay, that was about the time when I’d had enough. I started kicking and splashing and fighting that water. All the while my Mom kept telling me to hold still.

  But there was no way I was going to hold still! I twisted and turned until she could no longer hold onto me. Let me tell you, sometimes it really pays to be an extra large cat. Because I used every bit of strength I had and went bounding right out of that sink.

  I ran as fast as I could, but my wet, soapy feet kept slipping on the hardwood floor. I’m sure I must have left a trail of soap bubbles and water a mile long.

  My Mom ran right behind me and she finally caught up to me in the dining room. I tried to hide behind a chair, but, well, you can do the math on this one. A big cat can’t exactly hide behind some skinny chair legs.

  My Mom smiled and petted my head. I noticed her own dark hair had suds in it and the front of her shirt was soaking wet. But her brown eyes sparkled.

  “I know, Buckley,” she said in her softest voice. “Cats don’t like baths. But if you just put up with it for a little while, it’ll be over before you know it.”

  Okay, she was probably right about that. Still, it didn’t mean I was going to like it any better.

  She picked me up and cuddled me, and well, I always like it when my Mom cuddles me. She took me back to the sink and I took a deep breath before she put me into the water again. At first I couldn’t help it and I let out a really loud scream. But then I tried to calm down.

  Bogey jumped up on the counter beside us. “You can do this, kid,” he meowed to me. “Hang in there a little longer. Sometimes a bath just goes with the territory of being a cat detective.”

  That’s when I had to remind myself that I was doing all this for the cat in danger. But one thing was for sure — it wasn’t always easy to be a hero.

  Even so, I did live through the whole bath and getting combed and all the other things my Mom did to groom us. And in the end, I do have to say I looked pretty good.

  By Friday, Bogey and I were all ready to go. He�
�d been practicing his Agility routine, which meant he had to run up one side of a ramp and down the other. Then he had to run back and forth through some bars and through some tunnels and stuff. Holy Mackerel! That cat could fly!

  Of course, I didn’t have much to practice, since I was only in a competition that required me to be cute. But Lil had shown me how to turn my head just right and look at the judges and stuff. She said those were things that would help me win. Not that I wanted to win any title with the word “cute” in it.

  Even so, Gracie was sure excited about it all, so I figured I’d do my best for her.

  That night, I was so nervous I could hardly settle down. I ran surveillance on the house as usual while my human family was sound asleep. And if you don’t know what the word surveillance means, well, it’s just a fancy word that means checking things out around the house to make sure everything is okay. You know, so I can make sure my family is safe and sound.

  After I finished my rounds, I went back to the office to find Bogey on the computer. He looked calm and cool as always.

  But me? Well, that was a different story. I kept wondering what it would be like at the cat show. And I kept wondering how we were going to find P.A. And I kept worrying about whether P.A. was okay or not.

  Bogey grabbed a cat treat and handed me one. “Everything check out all right?”

  I gulped down the treat. “Uh-huh. Everything’s fine.”

  He pointed to the computer screen. “You’ll never guess what just came in.”

  Well, he was right about that one. Because I could hardly get my mind off the cat show to guess anything about anything.

  He took another cat treat. “We got a second email from P.A.”

  I’m sure my eyes went huge. “We did? What did P.A. say?”

  Bogey nodded at the screen. “Take a look for yourself, kid.”

  I looked at the email and read it aloud. “Help! I don’t know if I can hold on much longer. I’m here in St. Gertrude. I’ll be at the cat show in the morning. What should I do? Signed, P.A.”

  I gasped and put my huge paw to my mouth. “Oh, no! What are we going to do?”

  Bogey stretched his front legs. “I think it’s time we let P.A. know that we’re on our way.”

  I turned to my friend. “But how? By email? Won’t P.A.’s owner find out?”

  Bogey shook his head. “Probably not, kid. It’s late at night and most humans are in bed right now. That means P.A. will probably be the one to get the email. And the cat’s owner won’t see a thing until tomorrow. But just in case, we’ve got to make our email look harmless.”

  I was starting to get the picture. “And by tomorrow we’ll be at the cat show and hopefully get this cat out of a bad situation.”

  Bogey set his paws on the keyboard. “You got it, kid. I think it’s a chance we’ve got to take.”

  I watched as Bogey hit the email “Reply” button. He erased all the typing in P.A.’s email before he started typing one from us.

  Then Bogey wrote, “So nice to meet others who will be going to the cat show. My associate, Buckley, and I will also be attending the show. We’d love to meet you there. How will we recognize you?”

  He signed his name and sent the email.

  Okay, if I said I was nervous before, well, it was nothing compared to how I felt right at that moment. I was so shook up that all I could do was pace back and forth across the desk. It seemed like forever before another email from P.A. came through.

  “I’ll be wearing a diamond collar,” was all the email said.

  I suddenly stopped pacing and just stared at the computer screen.

  A diamond collar?

  Who exactly was this cat?

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 3

  Holy Mackerel! A diamond collar? I could hardly believe it. I kept wondering about P.A. the whole way to the cat show the next morning.

  Bogey and I were both in our soft-sided pet carriers and placed safely on the backseat of Mom’s car. My carrier was next to one door and Bogey’s was next to the other. Gracie sat between us. She’d pulled her dark hair into a ponytail and I noticed she was wearing her favorite pink shirt.

  “I just know you guys are going to win,” she said over and over. “Everyone is going to love you. Just like I love you.” She talked so fast and smiled so much that I knew she was really excited about the show.

  I only wished I felt the same way. Instead, my stomach kept turning flip-flops. I couldn’t stop wondering what was going to happen once we got there. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how we were going to help P.A. That was, after we figured out who P.A. was, of course.

  It wasn’t long before my Mom drove into the parking lot of the St. Gertrude Events Center. That’s where the cat show was being held. And let me tell you, the place was packed! Even though we were pretty early, we had to park a long way from the entrance. I guess the cat show must have been a pretty big deal for a little town like St. Gertrude!

  Lucky for us, it was a bright, sunny spring day. The grass was starting to grow again and leaves were budding out on the trees around the center. I always loved the Spring, when everything smelled fresh and new.

  I took in all those new smells as my Mom carried us in our pet carriers to the front door. Gracie followed right behind us with a box full of stuff. And when I say stuff, I mean stuff! Gracie had looked up cat shows on the Internet and learned all the different things to bring. So she brought toys and food and cat treats. And she even brought curtains for our cat show cage. Just so we could have a little privacy or take a nap if we wanted to.

  We’d barely reached the front entrance of the building when a gray-haired lady opened the door for us. It looked like she and another lady were directing traffic.

  She smiled at my Mom. “Name?”

  My Mom smiled back. “I’m Abigail Abernathy. I’ve brought Buckley and Bogart.”

  The lady nodded. “Oh, yes. You’re number 724. Just follow the signs to your spot.” She pointed to the far end of the huge building.

  My Mom thanked her and started walking in the direction that the lady had pointed.

  That’s when Bogey meowed to me from his pet carrier. “Okay, kid. Time to go to work. Look around and memorize the lay of the land.”

  “Aye, aye,” I told Bogey. I tried to salute him but I only ended up losing my balance and tipping onto my side.

  Still, I looked out the front of my pet carrier and tried to take in everything I could.

  Holy Catnip! There were rows and rows of tables as far as I could see. On top of those tables were cats in cages. One after another after another. Side by side by side. Cats in cages everywhere. And some of those cages even had more than one cat in it.

  But what amazed me the most was the way those cages were decorated! They looked just as colorful as the Christmas presents under our tree every year. Most of them had curtains made from bright fabrics on the sides. And some had bows and jewelry and shiny stickers. Just about anything you could imagine was hanging from the side of a cage.

  Inside those cages, there were cats in every size and shape and color you could think of. I kept hoping to see a cat with a diamond collar. But no matter how hard I looked, I didn’t spot any diamonds twinkling back at me.

  Besides all that, the whole place was really, really noisy! Everyone seemed to be talking at once! People talked in human language and cats meowed in cat language.

  As my Mom carried us through the building, I caught bits and pieces of different conversations.

  “Did you see the way she posed for the local paper?” meowed a Persian. “It was shameful.”

  “I’ve heard the judges this year are really tough,” growled another.

  “What do you think?” asked a gray cat. “Does this collar make my rear end look too big?”

  There was so much talking and meowing I could hardly stand it all.

  But Gracie looked like she was having the time of her life. She just kept smiling and walking behind us. She
even said hello to some kids who’d come to the show, too.

  My Mom carried us past a few more rows of cats. Finally, she found our row and turned left. Then she kept walking until we reached the cage labeled number 724.

  Seconds later, she and Gracie moved Bogey and me from our pet carriers to the soft-sided cat show cage. It came with its own litter box and top bunk. Gracie filled our food and water dishes and placed them inside, too. Then she attached the curtains to the back and sides of our cage. After that, she started to decorate the front. She attached stickers and pictures and curly ribbons. She finished it all off with a sign that read, “Buckley and Bogart.”

  To tell you the truth, the whole setup was actually kind of pretty. And well, it was even kind of comfy. I jumped to the top bunk and stretched out for a nap. After all, I’d been up really late the night before and I’d had a lot of excitement already today. I knew a few hours of shut-eye would feel really nice at the moment.

  But Bogey signaled that it was time to go to work. He strolled over to one side of the cage. He reached through an opening and hooked the curtain with a claw. Then he pulled the curtain back so he could see outside.

  “Hello,” he called out to the cage next to us. “Anybody home?”

  The next thing I knew, a cat next door pulled his curtain back, too. Then I saw four little brown faces with green eyes appear.

  Kittens.

  Well, let me tell you about kittens. They’re full of energy and kind of wired all the time. They run and jump and play without a care in the world. And these kittens were no different. They practically bounced with excitement.

  Next thing I knew, I just sort of heard this running stream of conversation. One kitten would talk, then the other would take over and then the other would finish that one’s sentence. There were so many words so fast that it almost made me kind of dizzy.

  “Hi, there! Hi, there! We’re Havana Browns! That’s a breed of cats. Isn’t that cool? We’re brown with green eyes. Aren’t we cute? Do you like tuna? We like tuna. I wonder if we’ll get to play? We like to play. We brought all our toys. Do you have toys? Have you been to a show before? Isn’t this fun?”