The First Nine Lives of Isabella LaFelini

by Harvey, Rhonda

  “No, I didn’t say that.”

  Isabella continued glaring. “Yeah, okay, well, whatever. See ya for dinner. Around six.” And with that, Isabella walked away.

  “Mom,” Isabella told her mother when she returned to the car, “that jerk actually had the nerve to imply that Ty was faking today.” For a brief moment, she hoped that “imply” was the word she wanted to use under the circumstances.

  “Isabella, do not call Rick a ‘jerk’. And I’m sure he didn’t mean to imply that at all.” Ah, Isabella thought, must be I used ‘imply’correctly!

  Ty and Isabella exchanged meaningful glances. “Yeah, he did. He asked if Ty was ‘miraculously healed’. ‘Miraculously’! He actually said that.”

  The word choice seemed to bother Luci a little, for she was silent on the subject. “Well, come on,” she said, a little too cheerfully, “let’s get Ty home so he can start feeling better! Ty, we’re going to stop and get you a ginger ale; it’ll help, I promise.”

  Ty groaned a little. Isabella wasn’t sure if he was really that sick or if he might not be milking his illness for some special treatment. “Um, thank you, Mrs. L,” he told Luci in a weak voice. “I really appreciate it, but you don’t have to go to any trouble…”

  “No trouble, Ty. None at all. We’ll just stop at a convenience store on the way home. Is there anything else you might need? I was hoping you were going to feel well enough to eat dinner with us tonight, but…”

  “Ugh,” Ty told her in a convincing voice, “I don’t even want to think about fish…”

  “Okay, okay. Sorry I mentioned it. We’ll take your fish, though, and clean them for you. Isabella would be glad to do that, wouldn’t you, Isabella?”

  Isabella glared at Ty. She hated cleaning slippery, slimy fish. “Yeah, sure,” she said unenthusiastically. Ty managed a small smile—probably because he knew it was going to annoy her—and said, “Thank you again, Mrs. L.”

  Luci pulled the car into the Quik-E Mart parking lot. “Okay,” she told Ty, “I’m going to get you some ginger ale to calm your stomach; what about saltines? Do you have any at home?”

  “I don’t know—maybe.”

  “Well, I’ll get some anyway. Isabella, can you think of anything we need?”

  Isabella thought a moment. “Yeah, get some sour cream and onion potato chips, okay?”

  Luci laughed a little. “I said ‘need’. I hardly think we need potato chips, but I’ll get you some. Anything else?”

  “Do you know what you’re serving for dinner? Remember, your boyfriend is coming.”

  “Isabella, darling daughter, I do wish you could say the word ‘boyfriend’ without quite so much animosity.”

  Isabella gave her mother a “who, me?” look, and Luci just shook her head. “I’ve got dinner covered,” she told Isabella. “So I guess we’re all set. I’ll be quick,” and she hopped out of the car.

  “Boy,” Isabella told Ty once her mother was out of the picture, “you really are a great actor, Ty. I mean, Oscar-award worthy!”

  Ty groaned. “Isabella, I am sick. Really sick. I feel like crap. I wish I didn’t, but I do.”

  Isabella frowned. “So that means you can’t come with me to check things out at the Overmans?”

  “Yeah,” Ty said weakly, “that’s what that means. Wait until tomorrow, and I’ll come over with you then.”

  Luci slid back into the car. “Hey, guys. How are things going?”

  “Okay, Mom. I hope you got Ty a lot of crackers and ginger ale. He’s really sick.”

  “Isabella, why do you act like you just found that out? I know Ty’s sick. Poor kid. How are you feeling, Tyson? Any better at all?”

  “Maybe a little, Mrs. L., thanks. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have had that third piece of cake. But your lemon cake is the best I’ve ever had…”

  Luci smiled widely, flattered by Ty’s comment about her cake. “Well, next time, stop at two pieces, Ty. And I’ll give you the third piece to take home, okay?”

  “Sounds like a plan, Mrs. L. Thanks.”

  “Glad that’s decided,” Isabella remarked bitterly. Ty’s sickness was putting a damper on her plans to investigate the Overmans’ septic trouble, and she wasn’t happy about it.

  The rest of the ride was quiet, and Ty actually fell asleep. Luci pulled up in front of his house and turned to Isabella, “I hate to wake the poor kid. Here, take his crackers and ginger ale into the house, and I’ll wake him gently. Knowing you, you’d dump the cooler on him or something!”

  “I would not!” Isabella retorted. Sometimes my mother can be so unreasonable! She knows I like Ty—oh-em-gee! That ’s it. She knows that I like him. Oh, no. This is horrible. She’ll never let this alone. She had a horrifying thought.Oh, no! What if she tells Ty’s mother? Worse yet, what if she tells Ty? Or her stupid boyfriend, who’ll tell Ty just because he’s mad at me about today and his cell phone? Crap, crap, crap!

  Ty stirred in the back seat. “Are we home?” he asked weakly.

  “Yeah,” Isabella told him. “C’mon, I’ll help you inside.”

  Luci, who was holding the driver’s side back door open was touched by Isabella’s gentle way with Tyson. She really does care about him, she thought to herself. I’m glad. I think he’s really good for her.

  Isabella came back to the car for the crackers and ginger ale. “Mrs. Briggs is home, so she’s gonna take care of him.” Peggy Briggs waved from the front porch. Isabella grabbed the bag and took it back to her.

  “Thanks, Luci,” she called. “Sorry you had to cut your day short!”

  “Don’t worry about it, Peg,” Luci called back. “I hope it’s just seasickness, and he’s not coming down with something more serious. Let me know, please?”

  “Will do! Thanks again!” Mrs. Briggs waved and went back into the house.

  Isabella sighed. Luci looked at her carefully. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Isabella. He just needs to rest.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Luci studied her again. “Okay. Well, let’s get home so we can clean these fish, all right?”

  Isabella groaned. “Now I think I’m gonna be sick.”

  Luci laughed. “Yeah, nice try, Missy. You’re still gonna help me clean those bad boys! What time did you tell Rick to come to dinner?”

  “Six.”

  “Perfect. Oh, don’t let me forget to look for my cell phone. I can’t imagine that I left it at home, Isabella. I don’t think I’ve ever left the house without it!”

  Isabella winced. She’d nearly forgotten that she had hidden Luci’s phone. She’d have to be creative in recovering it from the car seat. Still, it had been worth it. After all, she took the phone out of Rick’s hand and forced him to use a pay phone, which allowed her to hear that he was, as she had suspected, up to something. She didn’t know what yet, but Isabella knew she’d find out. No matter what it took, she wasn’t going to let Rick Tomasetti get away with whatever it was he was planning. No way, no how. No matter what it took. She was determined, and anyone who’s ever had a cat as a pet knows that few things rival a determined cat.

  Twenty-Three: Making Contact With a Neighbor

  ISABELLA FEIGNED SLEEP the next morning, and as soon as her mother had left for work, she popped out of bed and went into her jewelry box. Tucked beneath a knot of chains was the necklace. Out of respect for Nonna Rose, she had tucked the pendant away, but now she knew what she had to do. Isabella closed her eyes tightly and rubbed the leaden square until she felt overwhelmed by the desire to sleep. She curled up on her bed and hoped that the necklace had worked.

  When she awoke, Isabella had transformed. Wow, I can’t believe that I’m actually happy about this! She leapt down from the bed. Now I’m gonna go see what’s going on at the neighbors’house. I don’t know why, but something tells me Rick Tomasetti is involved in a lot more than concert promotion!

  She made her way to the Overmans’ house. There was a tall man who seemed to be supervising. Maybe this was the
guy who claimed to be Mr. Overman’s brother? He was on the phone, so Isabella made her way toward him.

  “Listen, we’ve been at this for three days now. No luck. Nothing but dirt. Maybe we need to rethink this. What? No. No. Yeah, I know you’re the boss, but…Okay, okay. What about your girlfriend’s house? Well, if you had kept your end of the deal and had kept her away all day…yeah? Well, you need me, too, buddy! Don’t forget that!” He slammed the phone shut. “What do you want?” Isabella realized a little too late he was talking to her. His foot made contact with her ribs, and the jolt sent her flying to the curb. “Damn strays, anyway!” he muttered and walked toward the backhoe operator.

  What kind of man kicks a cat? Isabella asked herself as she half-limped off toward Ty’s house. Yeah, one of Rick’s friends would kick a cat. Dang! That hurts. She approached Ty’s house with caution, glad to see that the neighbor’s dog was sleeping under a tree in the backyard. Isabella leapt up on Ty’s bedroom window, clinging to the screen as she did. “Ty!” she half whispered. “Ty! Are you there?” She scratched at the screen, hoping to make enough noise to wake Ty, if he was still sleeping.

  “Isabella?” Ty pulled the curtains aside. “That you?”

  “Who else?” she asked dryly in her little cat voice. “Who else would be out here stuck on your window screen? Let me in, would ya?”

  He opened the window and she leapt in. “I was just at the Overmans’. That Frank guy was on the phone. I’ll bet you anything he was talking to Rick; he said something about ‘your girlfriend’ and ‘coming home early’. I’ll bet we were supposed to stay gone all day, and the fact that you got sick ruined some kind of plan.”

  Ty wiped the sleep out of his eyes and looked intently at the little red cat on his bed. “Isabella, what kind of plan? You don’t know who he was talking to, do you? I mean, did you hear him call him ‘Rick’ or anything? Did you hear the voice of the person on the phone?”

  “Oh,” Isabella continued, oblivious to what Ty had just said, “and get this! The jerk actually kicked me. He kicked me!”

  Ty looked thoughtful, waited for a moment for Isabella to take a breath and then repeated his earlier questions.

  Isabella looked dejected. “I don’t know what kind of plan, Ty. But it seems kinda weird, dontcha think? I mean, really? Three houses on the same street with septic trouble. A guy who claims to be the neighbor’s brother but he doesn’t look anything like the neighbor. And my mom doesn’t think Mr. Overman even has a brother. Add to it the fact that he said that about the girlfriend coming home early and not being gone all day. Plus the guy is the kind of person who would kick a cat!”

  “Well, his kicking a cat isn’t much…” Seeing Isabella’s anger at this comment, Ty quickly amended, “I mean, it isn’t much to the police, but maybe the other stuff. Was there anything different about your house?”

  “Different?”

  “Yeah, Isabella, did it look like someone was in the house while we were gone yesterday?”

  “I didn’t check.” Isabella felt stupid suddenly. “I…I…geez, Ty, I didn’t even think about checking it out. I feel really dumb right now…”

  “Eh, don’t worry about it. I’ll grab a quick shower and get dressed, and I’ll go back over there with you. Okay?”

  Isabella smiled as only a cat can. “Thank you, Ty. I’m gonna curl up on the bed here and take a nap. Maybe I’ll transform while I’m at it…” She sneezed and then yawned. “Don’t be too long…” She yawned again and closed her eyes.

  Ty showered and dressed and emerged from the bathroom expecting to see girl Isabella waiting for him. To his concern, however, she was still asleep and still a cat!

  “Isabella?” he shook her gently. “Isabella, wake up. You’re still a cat. Isabella?”

  Isabella opened her eyes slowly and stretched her forelegs out in front of her. “Mmmm,” she purred as she stretched. “Sorry, I guess I fell asleep. What did you say?” She opened her eyes fully and screeched, “Oh-em-gee! I’m still a freaking cat! Ty, I’m still a cat! I fell asleep, and I’m still a cat! Holy crap, Ty! What do you think is wrong?”

  Ty couldn’t believe how strongly Isabella was reacting. “Isabella, this isn’t the first time it’s taken a little while to transform back.”

  “Ty,” her little cat voice cracked, “you don’t understand. It’s never happened this way. I slept, Ty. I usually change when I’m asleep. I didn’t change. What if…what if…” The thought was so horrible that she could barely speak. “What if…” her voice dropped to a whisper, “what if Nonna Rose was right? Maybe…maybe I’ve done it too many times…maybe I’m gonna be stuck like this.” She pulled her paws over her eyes, and Ty would have sworn the little cat was crying.

  Ty’s heart was breaking for his friend. “Isabella, hold on. It’s been…what? Seven times?”

  “Eight,” the word was muffled, as Isabella didn’t move her paws from her face.

  “Okay…eight times. Nonna Rose said ‘nine’ was dangerous, right? Nine, not eight, right? And you’re sure it’s only been eight times, right?” His tone was soft and gentle, and Isabella felt herself relaxing despite the fact that she felt anything but relaxed.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Isabella spoke more clearly as she sat up, licked her paw and wiped her face. “But maybe she was wrong? What if she was wrong, Ty?”

  Ty frowned. “Well, I dunno, but don’t they say that cats have ‘nine lives’? So if that’s the case, it only makes sense that nine would be the number you should worry about.” He forced a small smile, hoping it would calm Isabella further.

  Secretly, Isabella thought back to the dream that seemed to start all of this—the time she had fainted. Did that count? If so, then she’d already transformed nine times. This would be the ninth time. Maybe she was stuck! Still, she didn’t want Ty to worry. She looked at him, so earnest, trying so hard to help her, and she gave him a small smile in return. “Yeah, that does make sense. Okay…well, maybe I just wasn’t asleep long enough. Or maybe I rubbed the necklace a little too much this morning. I was really anxious to get to the Overmans’ and see what was going on over there.”

  Ty grinned. “There you go. You were impatient. Gee, I can’t imagine you impatient! That’s probably all it is, Isabella. You know that your Nonna warned you about that necklace. Guess it has more power than you thought!”

  Isabella sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she agreed, while praying that he was right and that she hadn’t transformed for the last time. “Sorry, Ty…I guess I just panicked, ya know?”

  “Isabella,” Ty told her, “you never have to apologize. It’s not like you know what to expect or anything. This entire thing is freaky. It’s okay.”

  Isabella yawned and sneezed. “Ah…ah…ah…choo! You know, I’ve been taking a lot of allergy medicine because I’ve been sneezing so much. Maybe that’s got something to do with how long I stay a cat?”

  Ty shrugged. “Could be. Wish there was an instruction manual that went with this curse!” He laughed a little. “So, you wanna go back to your house and see if there are any signs that someone was there yesterday?”

  “Yeah,” Isabella yawned again, “and getting home might be a good idea. I’m still pretty sleepy—maybe I’ll transform once we get over there.”

  And no one looked twice at Ty and his little cat friend as they walked the few blocks between Ty’s house on King Street and Isabella’s house on Craven.

  “Does anything look moved or disturbed in any way?” Ty asked Isabella as they inspected the inside of the garage.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Isabella replied in her little cat voice, “but I’m not sure. C’mon, let’s go in the house. We can look around in there. It’s too hot out here in the garage, and I’m getting sleepy.”

  They walked into the house. “Hey, Isabella? What’s this door?”

  “What door?” She looked to where he was pointing. “Oh, that? It’s the basement. All the time you’ve been over here, you’ve never n
oticed that?”

  “Basement?” he questioned. “You guys have a basement?”

  She yawned and nodded. “Uh huh. I think there are only three or four houses on the street that have basements. The Bakers, the Overmans, us…”

  Ty interrupted Isabella excitedly. “And the Randalls?”

  Isabella thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. I think they’re the other house…”

  “Isabella? Don’t you see?” Ty was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Don’t I see what?”

  “The houses with the septic trouble? All of them—except yours, of course—all of them have basements!”

  “Yeah, and…?” She yawned widely, showing her spiky white teeth.

  “Isabella! That can’t be a coincidence! Think about it. Houses in North Carolina usually don’t even have basements. There are four houses on your street that do? And three of the four have men digging in their front yards?” Ty was so excited that he was spitting a little as he talked. “They’ve got to be looking for something, Isabella! And for some reason, they’ve narrowed down their search to houses with basements! I’ll bet you anything someone was at your house yesterday—or at least planned to be—until I got sick, and we came home early.”

  He opened the basement door. “C’mon. Let’s go down and see if we can find any signs of anyone snooping around…” He turned to Isabella to find that she had curled up and had fallen asleep on the little green rug Mrs. LaFelini had placed over the tile in the foyer. Ty sighed. “I guess it can wait a little while,” he said aloud as he stooped to pick up Isabella. He took her to her room and laid her gently on the center of the bed. Maybe I’ll go down and check things out for myself, he mused. Nah, what’s the point of that? I wouldn’t recognize if anything’s outta place. I’ll just wait until Isabella wakes up… And he went into the kitchen to get the breakfast he missed out on when Isabella woke him so early.

  Twenty-Four: A Trip to the Hospital