Their work was far from over. Debbie’s focus was on keeping the kitchen clean and organized. Her injured hand prevented her from doing half of what she was capable of accomplishing.
There would be a turnover of guests today. That meant changing the sheets and towels from all ten guest rooms, then washing the dirty laundry, drying, folding, and putting them away in the upstairs pantry. Luggage to carry out to the departing cars. More luggage to bring in from the new arrivals. A breakfast and a dinner to cook and the cleanup that followed.
Bob shook Debbie. She muffled a snort as she woke. “What time is it?”
“Five in the morning.”
“So much to do,” she mumbled as she pulled off the covers, a half dozen sleeping cats jumping to the floor then making their way to the cat beds lining the wall. “Ugh. I haven’t even stood up and I need a day off.”
Bob never imagined how hard and strenuous it would be to run a bed and breakfast. They both got out of bed, backs sore, shoulders hunched. “All I want to do is watch the last of our guests leave, then take a long nap.”
Debbie looked in the mirror and stuck out her tongue. “Blech. I look awful,” she said as she tried to fix her shoulder length blonde bob with her fingers.
Bob wrapped his arms around her slender waist. He grinned at Debbie in the mirror. “You look pretty darn good from where I stand.”
Debbie turned. “Thanks, lover boy. Tempting. But I have work to do. The afternoon will bring new guests. All ten rooms will be filled again. And I’ll have to cook what the newspapers, websites, and blogs promised will be my biggest and grandest meal; a turkey dinner that will rival Cornwell’s Turkeyville.”
Debbie let out a flap of air through her lips. Bob tried not to cringe at her morning breath. He smiled weakly, but didn’t think he was convincing.
“What in the heck was I thinking, letting them write that? I sorely regret that now. How’s the ad in Craigslist coming?”
“I’ve gotten a few responses and set up interviews beginning this afternoon. The first is Raymond Hettinger. He’s twenty-seven years old and a local handyman. Claims he can fix anything. Second is Maria Gonzalez who would help you. She’s twenty-two and a medical student at Western Michigan University looking for a summer job. At this rate, I’ll probably hire them out of necessity before the day is over.”
“At least the Barnetts will be gone. Hopefully their toilet isn’t blown apart.”
Bob helped Debbie make breakfast for both shifts. But time flew by too fast and the guests needed their luggage brought down to their cars. The dishes, piled high and dirty in the sinks, would have to wait.
Bob and Debbie donned their best smiles and hoped they didn’t look as bad as they felt. One by one the guests left. He did feel good there were no complaints. The weekend, as demanding as it was, had been a tremendous success.
Bob shook the hands of a couple leaving for home in nearby Battle Creek. “Thank you again for visiting Murcat Manor.”
“I hope to see you back again soon,” Debbie said with a genuine smile. “Check our website for available listings. We’re open all year.”
“Thank you,” the wife beamed. “I can’t tell you how much this weekend away from the kids has helped us. We really needed this three day weekend alone.”
Debbie nudged Bob and grinned.
Bob wasn’t merely happy with the money coming in. He was thankful he and Debbie were able to make people happy. Couples getting away from a stressful life were taking a weekend to reconnect. He saw this venture in a new light. It wasn’t just himself benefiting. He was helping make a difference in other people’s lives.
Another couple stepped off the porch and into the driveway. Patrick and Marian Allen was it? A young man and woman on their honeymoon. They stayed in their room the entire three days, emerging only to eat.
“The Love Machine was amazing,” Patrick said, his wife hugging his waist tight and smiling brightly. “We’ll have to book this room again soon.”
“We’d love to have you back,” Debbie said. “Check our website for available days.”
Bob noticed a handful of cats emerge, now that the Barnetts and their red headed triplets of terror had finally left. He’d wondered if the cats might have run off the property, never to return. Instead, the felines huddled and purred around his legs.
“Oh, isn’t that just darling,” Marian said. “These cats love you so much.”
Bob’s eyes revolved in a three-sixty.
She bent over and picked one up, uncurling it off Bob’s lower leg. “Oh, this one is just such a cutie. I’m instantly in love.” She looked to her husband. “Can we keep it?”
Patrick Allen saw the pleasure in his wife’s face as she hugged the cat and wasted no time. “Say Bob, just how many cats do you have?”
“Too many, trust me.”
Marian held Rebecca tight as the cat tried in vain to escape. “Wow. This one sure is warm to the touch. It’s almost like she’s on fire on the inside. I guess that means extra loving. Oh, she’s so adorable.”
She looked at Bob with a pouty face, her lower lip sticking out. “Can we have him? Please?”
Before Debbie could say no, Bob blurted out, “Yes. Of course you can. And it’s a her. Take her home with you. Please.”
“Oh, thank you very much. We don’t have kids yet, although we sure put in the effort this weekend to get a running start.”
She looked at the collar charm. “Rebecca. I like that. I have a niece named Rebecca. I think she’ll work out just fine.”
“Don’t forget to have her spayed,” Bob said. “You don’t want thirteen cats like we have.”
As Bob said this, his head started to feel hot. He thought the cat glared at him. There were brief thoughts of revenge. For the first time in his life, Bob thought of seeking retribution for any and all frustrations on someone else. But the quick thinker he was, Bob realized this wasn’t his revenge. It was someone else’s. Rebecca locked eyes with Bob and hissed loud.
But that of course was nonsense. Rebecca was just a cat. Bob shook his head clear and waved to the Allens as they got in their car. “Thank you. Hope to see you again. Without the cat.”
Chapter 21 Burning Down The House
Emily lay on the one of the two couches in the living room, soaking up the sun’s rays beaming through the bay windows. Annie and Jacqueline took up the other cushions. Through her droopy eyes she saw the other cats lying together in their usual groups on various pieces of furniture.
Scarlett, Angel, and Esther each took a cushion on the second sofa facing the fireplace. Isabella, Rachel, and Madelyn commandeered three of the oversized sitting chairs. Chloe, Midnight, and Helen found a place on the ottomans.
Emily dozed off into what she hoped would be a peaceful slumber. Minutes into her morning nap she faded back four hundred years into the dark forests on the outskirts of Boston. It was midnight. She was gasping for air. Her legs ached as she ran faster than she ever could imagine.
Sarah, where are you?
“Emily, wake up.”
The ground rumbled as three raging demons rode dragon-like beasts and descended upon her. There was nowhere to hide. To her left and to her right, her friends were cut down by the terrifying monsters.
Sarah, please run harder.
“Emily, open your eyes. Now.”
Up ahead was their city of refuge. She had to make it. But she sensed her impending death. A hatchet hurling through the air end over end. Her beloved sister pushing her out of the way. Sarah’s eyes frozen wide open as she joined her fallen kindred in the muddied trail.
“Emily.”
The voice echoed in her head. Emily awoke with a snap.
“You were having another nightmare,” Midnight said.
The other cats, minus her best friend Rebecca, lifted their sleepy heads and glared at her.
“I’m sorry,” her cousin Chloe said as she jumped up on the sofa and joined her. “I know you miss your sister, and my cousin, S
arah. But you need to understand it wasn’t your fault. You did the best you could to save her. It’s been four hundred years. Time to move on from that evening. The rest of us have.”
Emily took a long, strenuous stretch. “I know. I’m trying. And thanks for waking me up. I just don’t know what else to do. That night haunts my sleep.”
“Nothing a little mischief won’t cure,” Midnight said. “Come on, let’s find some trouble to get into. Remember the last time we burned this place to the ground? Rebecca was standing right about here when she started the first fire. She blocked the front door with a tremendous blaze so no one could escape. Helen locked all the windows and the back door. We can do it again.”
Midnight stood in the center of the living room floor and started walking in a circle. She mimicked Rebecca and gradually picked up her speed until she was in a steady trot.
“This is how Rebecca did her thing. Just like in the barn in Boston. And the Turner house. And the Amish property before that. She’d run around in a circle until a fire started in the center, then she’d project the flames up and out to start multiple fires and blocking the exits.”
“No,” Emily fired back. “Absolutely not. Stop right now. We need to keep a low profile here. Good ol’ boring Bob and this bed and breakfast is the perfect setting for us.”
“How about the neighbors,” Scarlett countered. “We can perform our craft at night.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Isabella said. “They’ll never know what happened.”
The other cats nodded in agreement.
“Rebecca’s not here,” Emily said. “We can’t start any fires.”
“I can cause inanimate objects with dormant energy to explode,” Esther said. “Bet I can start a fire. I’ll focus on a car’s gas tank. How about the Brady family next door? The kids now live there. I bet they’re pompous jerks as their parents were fifty years ago.”
“What about the new hired help,” Midnight said. “Raymond and Maria. Bob just hired them. It’s their first day. Those two have no idea what they just walked into. I say let’s kill them.”
“No. Just stop it, okay? No more trouble. No more mischief. No more fires. And no more murders.”
The silence from the cats gave way to laughter from the kitchen. Debbie was serving the second shift breakfast. Five families. Ten adults. Three children.
“I really hate kids now,” Jacqueline said as she walked to the large arch that led to the kitchen and peered in.
“The Barnett triplets were the worse,” Chloe said. “The ones here aren’t so bad. But that freckled faced girl at the end of the table pulled my tail again last night. I almost lost it levitated her right out her second story bedroom window.”
“I considered speeding up the synaptic transmissions in her brain receptors to the point she’d take in every piece of information her five senses detected.” Annie said. “Give the little brat a case of sensory overload that would drive her and her parents crazy.”
“Wow. Look at you,” Helen said. “You sound like a college professor.”
“We can thank Madelyn for that,” Annie said. “She’s the one researching and teaching us the latest and greatest in the scientific and medical fields. We’re learning how to better understand our powers and use them far more efficiently.”
“She’s helped explain what I can do,” Rachel said. “I’ve never understood how I can leave my body and travel around.”
“Now we know,” Madelyn said. “The term is astral projection. Some call it an out of body experience. As long as you leave your physical body in a safe place where people won’t find it and think you’re dead, you’ll always have a place to come back to. Remember during our fourth life when you separated and the Amish family found your body and buried it in the backyard?”
Rachel shuddered at the thought. “Sure do. With no way to get back, I floated off to the Netherworld. I had to wait for you all to join me until we could come back in our fifth lives at the Turner place.”
“Too bad Rebecca’s not here,” Scarlett said. “She could catch that kid’s pony tails on fire.”
“I can short circuit the thoughts of that brother and sister,” Helen said. “Make them think they’re each other. And if we see those Barnett triplets here again, I’ll rewire their brains so every month they’ll think they’re one of the other brothers. Their parents will never be able to tell which one is which ever again.”
“We all know we can’t do things like that,” Emily said. “And thanks to all of you for showing constraint. We’ll just have to do our best to stay out of the way of children.”
Chloe started to nod off. “Okay, Mom.”
“Maybe we need lookouts while the rest of us sleep,” Annie said. “Like a sentry.”
“Great idea,” Chloe said through a yawn. “I second that motion.”
“And since you mentioned it,” Esther said, laying her sleepy head on her folded paws. “You get the first shift. All in favor?”
The remaining cats all said, “Aye,” in unison.
“Fine,” Annie said as she stood and stretched. She walked over to the large arched door leading into the kitchen. “Those kids are such brats. Isabella, maybe you could implant a thought in the parents’ minds to smack some sense into them.”
“Better yet,” Scarlett said. “Plant the thought into one of the adults to slap another person’s kid. That’ll start a fight between families at the table.”
“Great idea. I can do that.”
“Isabella?” Emily glared at her. “Don’t you dare.”
“But it’s so boring here. There’s no excitement, unless you count the kids chasing us and pulling our tails.”
Emily knew she needed a diversion. “Madelyn, the Battle Creek newspaper is on the coffee table. Anything interesting on the front page?”
Madelyn jumped up on the low table in front of the couch. Emily saw her gasp.
“What is it?”
The cat used her paw to read back and forth and down the column of the lead story. “You won’t believe this. Remember the couple who took Rebecca home with them?”
Emily knew this could not be good. She joined Madelyn, who pointed at a large picture of the remnants of a house, still smoldering from a fire.
“Damn it. Rebecca’s at it again.”
The other cats jumped up on the table and gathered around the newspaper. Front and center was a picture of Patrick and Marian Allen.
“Madelyn, what’s the story say? You’re the only one that can read worth a darn.”
“A young couple from Battle Creek died yesterday while they slept when their house caught on fire. By the time fire trucks arrived, the entire structure was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”
Emily shook her head. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Out of all the cats the Allens could have chosen, they had to take Rebecca. She has the shortest temper. And of course, she can start a fire a dozen ways.”
“What did you expect?” Midnight said.
“I expect everyone to follow my orders.”
“Well, maybe you should broaden your horizons. The rest of us are getting real tired restraining what comes natural to us. Of course, living inside a cat’s body helps take on their personality traits as well. And there’s nothing we can do about that. We’re trapped inside cats, Emily. Do you understand? You need to. Otherwise, you may soon have a mutiny on your hands.”
Chapter 22 Unity or Mutiny
The word mutiny stayed in Emily’s mind. To appease her followers’ boredom, she allowed a little mischief when the guests at Murcat Manor went to sleep. The cats split up into their usual groups of three. Scarlett, along with Angel and Esther, hid the left shoes of all the families at the bed and breakfast in the kitchen pantry.
Chloe, Midnight, and Helen switched credit card charges with the wild biker couple in Roadhouse Blues and the Amish couple the Victorian Room. The latter’s wife would erroneously see her husband frequented strip bars
on their next statement.
Isabella, and Rachel, and Madelyn caused the wife in the Frontiersman Room to believe the moose head and other animal heads on the wall would talk to her just as she dozed off. She screamed every time, waking everyone in Murcat Manor.
It had been a busy night for all, guests and cats. Emily waited for her following to fall asleep across the assorted pieces of living room furniture before allowing herself to doze off.
The sun broke through the darkness and a new day had begun. Bob and Debbie, along with the two new summer employees, Raymond Hettinger and Maria Rodriguez, were in the kitchen. Emily went to her favorite spot on the living room sofa. Bob had left the front door open, letting a cool morning breeze in.
Slumber overtook her. Her eyelids sagged. A yawn escaped as she stretched her arms and legs. Drifting between consciousness and sleep, she envisioned a tired and ragged dark gray cat with a blend of white stripes across its back and belly arriving at the front door. She didn’t need to confirm if this was a dream or reality. Rebecca had found her way home.
Emily shook the sleep from her head and jumped onto the floor, then sauntered to the screen door. On the other side sat Rebecca, licking her paws, as if this were just another boring morning with the Stevens.
Emily stared at her second in command. She would hold the glare for as long as it took. After a few minutes, she could see in Rebecca’s eyes she was ready to submit to her authority as leader. Emily surmised Rebecca was starving, and thus her willingness to relent.
“Well, aren’t you going to open the door for me?”
Emily summoned Chloe and Helen. “Wake up. I need you to open the screen door and let our prodigal sister in.”
Rebecca stopped cleaning her dirty, matted fur. “Why don’t you open the door,” she asked calmly. “You assume all the individual powers we possess.”
“Because I’m mad as hell at you for starting a fire and killing that young couple. I told you, no more killing. Remember?”
“Oh, so you heard.”
“It was on the front page of the papers, news channels, and local websites. And Madelyn can read.”
Salem's Daughters Page 13
