by Patricia Fry
“I might do that. Thanks, Maggie.”
“Vannie, is that you?” a woman a few years younger than Savannah asked as she climbed out of the front passenger side of the dark-colored SUV.
“Mel, you’ve grown up,” Savannah observed.
“Well, yeah—what did you expect?”
“But you’re almost as tall as I am.” She hugged her cousin, then turned to look at the others, her arm around Melanie. “I’m not the only tall woman in the family anymore.”
“No, you’re not,” Brianna said. “Melanie, you’re gorgeous.” She reached up and flipped her cousin’s hair with one hand. “Love your red hair.” She looked puzzled for a moment. “Where did that come from?”
“A bottle,” she said, smiling. Melanie then turned toward a man who had joined them. “This is my husband, Ron. Ron,” she said, pointing to each of the women, “these are my cousins, Savannah and Brianna and my aunts—oh, you met Aunt Maggie and Aunt Gladys when they came out to Indiana a few years ago.” She pulled the back car door open. “Come out kids and meet your cousins. “This is Misty and Aaron,” she said, smiling proudly.
“Hi guys,” Savannah greeted.
Brianna patted them each on the cheek. “What cuties.”
“How old are you two now?” Gladys asked.
“I’m seven,” Misty said. She pointed at her brother. “He’s five.” She asked, “Where’s the baby?”
Melanie ran one hand over her daughter’s hair. “Oh yes, she loves babies. I told her you had a baby, Vannie.”
“She’s napping. But she should be getting up anytime. Want to go with me to check on her?”
“Sure,” Misty said, walking with Savannah toward the house.
Savannah turned and called out to the others, “Bring your stuff on in and I’ll show you to your quarters in a few minutes.”
“Mama, Mama,” Lily said when she heard Savannah and Misty walking down the hallway toward the nursery. “Mama.”
“She can talk?” Misty asked. “How old is she?”
“She’s just about sixteen months old,” Savannah said as they stepped into the baby’s room.
“Oh, she’s big,” Misty said. “My cousin in Indiana is only three months old. He’s real small. I can carry him by myself.” She glanced around at some of the things in Lily’s room, then asked Savannah, “Do you have a horse?”
“Yes. Do you like horses?”
“Uh-huh. I rode one at my grandpa’s ranch in Wyoming. Can I ride your horse?”
“Well, we’ll see. I’m not sure we’ll have time to do that.”
“We’re staying overnight,” she announced, watching Savannah change the baby’s diaper.
“Here, do you want to walk Lily out to where the others are?” Savannah asked, lowering the baby to the floor.
“Okay,” Misty said, taking the toddler’s hand. “Her name’s Lily?”
“Yes.”
“Come on, Lily,” she coaxed.
Once they reached the living room and Lily saw the strangers and heard all the commotion, she broke away from Misty and ran for Savannah, who lifted her up and held her.
“Oh, isn’t she adorable,” Melanie said when she saw Lily. “Good job, Vannie. But how could you miss? You are a beauty—prettier than I expected you to be. And I just saw a picture of your husband in there. Wow, girl! He’s dreamy.”
Savannah blushed. “Thank you.”
Melanie looked around. “Where is he?”
“Out of town,” Savannah explained.
Melanie patted her husband’s chest. “Guess you’re the only guy, babe…well, except for Aaron.”
“My husband will be here for dinner tonight. So it won’t be too awful,” Margaret said.
Savannah spoke up. “Okay, I have two empty rooms. One is downstairs and the other is. upstairs.”
The children began jumping up and down, repeating, “Upstairs, upstairs.”
“Okay with us,” Ron said. “Lead the way and we’ll get the bags from under foot.”
Savannah turned toward the staircase, still carrying Lily. “Bring your things and follow me, kids.”
“I’ll get the sandwiches. Are you guys hungry?” Brianna asked.
“Boy are we!” Aaron said. “Mom wouldn’t let us stop and eat. She said you invited us for lunch.”
Brianna nodded. “That’s true.”
“What are we having?” Misty asked suspiciously.
“We have chicken salad and egg salad for sandwiches. There’s also ham and cheese, turkey, chips and homemade cookies for dessert.”
“Got any peanut butter?” she asked, hopefully.
Brianna looked at Savannah.
“Yeah, I believe there’s some in the pantry, and homemade jams and jellies.”
“Awesome,” Misty said. She then jumped. “What’s that?” she shouted.
Savannah laughed. “That’s Lexie. She’s part afghan hound. She’s a sweet dog. Likes people—especially kids.”
“I like her,” Aaron said. “Can I take her for a walk?”
“Not now,” his mother said. “Just settle down, Aaron, and help us put your stuff away. Then we’ll come down and have some lunch, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I want to ride the horse,” Misty complained.
“They have a horse?” Aaron asked. “Me, too. I want to ride a horse.”
It was a lively group around the tables on the porch at lunchtime with the women bringing up memory after memory of their time spent at the old Forster home and the children talking nonstop about the horse.
“Can we go see him?” Aaron begged. “I’m through with my sandwich.”
“It’s a girl,” Savannah said. “…a mare. Her name’s Peaches. Since you’ll be here for a few days, I’d like to set some ground rules. There are things that are okay to do around a horse and things that are not.” She glanced at the neighbors’ house. “I promised some other children I’d teach a horse-safety class. Maybe I’ll do that while you’re here. After lunch, I’ll go check with them and see if they can come over this afternoon. Okay?”
“Is there a girl my age?” Misty asked.
“Yes, there are children of all ages living there.”
“Can we go play with them, Mom?” Misty asked.
“Let’s not rush into anything. One step at a time, okay?” Melanie said calmly. “Now eat your lunch.”
****
“Okay,” Savannah announced an hour later. “Their mother said they can come over for the horse-safety lesson after school today.” She looked at her watch. “That’ll be in about two hours. Where are Misty and Aaron?”
“Bri and I showed them around the property,” Melanie said, “…where the barn was, what’s left of the big old tree, our secret hiding places…they’re exploring on their own now.”
Suddenly, they heard an explosion of children’s voices. “Hey, Mom, Dad, wait ’til you see what we found!”
Ron looked up from his cell phone. “What is it, Misty?”
“A hidden treasure,” Aaron called out breathlessly.
By the time the kids reached where the adults sat on the porch, they were panting with excitement.
“What did you find?” Savannah asked.
“All this stuff,” Misty said, letting her shirt drop, spilling a variety of items onto the ground in front of her. “Aaron has more in his pockets.”
“Oh my gosh,” Margaret said. “Look at that. Where’d you kids find it?”
“Under a bush over by that shed,” Misty explained. “Where did it come from?”
Savannah shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“But I can guess,” Margaret said rather smugly. “Those look like they could be Alice’s reading glasses. That’s probably the Preston baby’s missing shoe. My God, Vannie, a baseball cap, two flip-flops, and is that jewelry?”
“Yes,” Misty said, her eyes wide, “a bracelet and an earring. Do you
know who all this stuff belongs to?”
“Yeah, look at this awesome airplane,” Aaron said. “Where did these things come from?”
Before Savannah could speak, Margaret pointed at the window behind her. “Do you see that big cat up there looking out at us?”
“Yeah,” the kids said, gazing at Rags, who sat on the kitty perch.
She leaned toward the children as if sharing a secret. “He’s a thief.”
“He steals things,” Brianna explained.
Misty stared at the cat. “He does?”
“How?” Aaron asked.
“He finds things he likes and carries them away in his mouth,” Savannah explained. She looked at the kids, then glanced at the other adults. “Does anyone want to take a walk and see if we can find out who these treasures belong to?”
Ron chuckled. “A reverse treasure hunt, huh?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Savannah said with a sigh.
“Can Lily go?” Misty asked.
“Sure. Everyone can go. Even the cat, if you’d like,” Savannah said, smiling.
“That big one?” Aaron asked. “The thief cat?”
“Uh-huh. Don’t you think he should return the stuff, since he’s the one who took it?”
Aaron nodded, wide-eyed.
“I want to push the baby in the stroller,” Misty said.
“Me, too,” Aaron whined.
Savannah addressed the little boy. “How would you like to walk the cat on a leash, Aaron?”
“Yeah!” he said enthusiastically. He then looked more seriously at Savannah. “How do I do that?”
“Ever walk a dog on a leash?”
The boy nodded.
“Just the same, only the cat may not mind as well as a dog.”
The group—except for Margaret and Gladys, who decided to stay behind and make a salad for dinner, and Ron, who wanted to watch a game on TV—set out for a walk over to Maple Street.
“That’s Auntie’s house,” Savannah said, pointing as they walked past it. “Max moved in there and opened a cat shelter. A few years later, he talked Auntie into marrying him and she sold us the old Forster place when she moved over there with him. We’ll cut through this field.” She looked at Misty. “Want me to push the stroller through the rough part? Then you can take over when we get to the sidewalk.”
“Sure,” Misty said. “It’s hard to push in the dirt.” She approached her brother. “I’ll walk the cat now, okay? You can take a turn pushing the baby.”
“Okay,” Aaron said, handing the leash to her. “He doesn’t mind me very good.”
Melanie grinned at Savannah. “She’s bossy, just like you were when we were kids.”
“I wasn’t bossy.”
“Yes you were,” Brianna agreed. She said to Melanie, “She still is.”
“Am not,” she said, defensively.
“The cat won’t walk nice,” Misty complained.
“Yeah, he does have a mind of his own,” Savannah said. “Want to put him in the stroller for a while?”
“He rides in the stroller?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.” Savannah picked him up and placed him in the basket on the back of the stroller.
“Ki-ki,” Lily chirped.
“Yes, that’s our kitty. He’s going for a ride with you,” Savannah said. She announced, “Okay, here we are on Maple Street. I think a lot of this stuff came from these neighbors. I hope we can find people at home so we can return it.” She pointed. “Look, there’s a lady working in her garden. Let’s ask her if she’s missing anything.” Moving closer, Savannah called out from the sidewalk, “Excuse me. I’m Savannah Ivey. I live over on Cranberry Lane. Uh…I think our cat…”
“That cat!” the woman said, when she saw Rags sitting in the stroller basket. “I’ve seen it before.”
Savannah cringed. When she noticed Brianna trying to conceal a snicker, she flashed a warning look in her direction. “Yes, I hear he’s been over here causing trouble. He’s not supposed to go out…We keep him in…”
“Yeah, he shouldn’t be allowed out. As I understand it, he’s a cat burglar. Frank Thomas has a video of him and the orange cat making off with Frank’s son’s baseball cap.”
“I think we’ve got it,” Savannah said excitedly, poring through the items in the bag Brianna carried. “Is this the cap?”
The woman took the cap and studied it. “I think so—yes, he’s on the Cardinal’s team—red caps. I’m pretty sure this is Scotty’s.” She moved closer and tried to peer into the tote bag. “What else is in there?”
“Here, let me spread it out on the lawn for you,” Savannah suggested. “Maybe you’ll recognize some of these things.”
“How long has he been accumulating this stuff, anyway?” the woman asked when she saw the array of items laid out before her. She looked at Savannah. “By the way, my name’s Carol. Carol Pepper.”
“Hi Carol. Nice to meet you. “Um, we’re not sure when he started visiting your neighborhood—probably only a few days ago, actually. We found the stuff just today hidden behind a shrub in our yard.”
“I found it,” Misty said.
“Me, too,” Aaron added.
Carol looked at the children, then at the cat. “Good job. Well, this looks like my daughter’s flip-flop,” she said, picking it up. “This could be Alice’s grandbaby’s toy. I’m not sure.”
“Well, take them, if you want. Ask around and see if you can find the owners.”
Carol suddenly began to laugh.” She picked up a ragged stuffed raccoon. “Oh my goodness, this is Slugger’s toy.” She looked at the cat and shook her head. “How in the world did he get this from that killer dog? Slugger hates cats.”
Savannah winced. “He’s pretty sneaky.” She then asked, “Do you know who the jewelry belongs to?”
“No.” She looked past Savannah, into the distance. “Oh, Jim just got home. Let’s have him take a look.” She called, “Jim, can you come here for a minute?”
He waved. “Let me get the baby. I’ll be right there.” As the man approached carrying a baby in a car seat, he asked, “What’s all this?”
“This is Georgia…” Carol started.
“Savannah Ivey,” she corrected.
Carol laughed. “Oh, sorry. Word association, you know.” She turned to Jim. “It’s her cat who’s been robbing us blind.”
“That one?” he asked, staring down at Rags, who rolled around on the grass at the end of the leash Aaron held.
“Yeah, can you identify any of this stuff? Savannah found it today and she’s trying to return it.”
“We’re making the cat return it,” Misty explained.
Both Jim and Carol glanced at Misty, then at the cat before focusing on the items in front of them. “I think this is my daughter Crystal’s shoe and probably her toy,” he said, picking up the items. He stared down at the bracelet and one earring. “My wife said something about jewelry missing.”
“Well, take it,” Carol suggested. “If it isn’t hers, check with some of the other neighbors; we’re bound to find the owners.”
Jim nodded. He looked at Savannah. “You didn’t find a skateboard, did you? Or a small electric sander?”
“The sander was found,” Carol said. When Jim looked confused, she explained, “Yeah, Jerry told me this morning that it reappeared overnight.” She turned to Savannah. “Thanks for bringing the stuff back. I think we can take it from here, if you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” she said, letting out a sigh. “I’d be delighted if you’d take it off my hands.”
“Just keep that klepto under wraps, will you?” Jim said, grinning. “Is the orange cat yours, too?”
“No. I don’t know where she lives. She visits us sometimes. She might be a stray—she has the clipped ear indicating she may be feral.” When the couple appeared confused, Savannah added, “She was probably trapped, spayed, and released back into a colony.”
&nb
sp; “Well, maybe that’s what we should do—trap her and take her to a shelter,” Carol said.
“Oh, I’d try to find the owner first. She might have a home by now—she’s pretty friendly.”
“We’ve asked everyone around here,” Jim said. “No one has claimed her.” Savannah looked at her watch. “Well, we’re having a horse-safety lesson in a few minutes, we’d better get home. Nice to meet you both. Thanks again for taking care of this for us.”
Chapter 4
****
“Here they come,” Brianna said pointing toward the Crane home. “Gads, that’s a bunch of kids.”
Savannah nodded. “Yes. I’m glad Tiffany’s coming with them, in case I have trouble getting them to pay attention.” As they approached, she greeted them. “Hi, guys! Good to see you. These are my cousins, Misty and Aaron, and their parents, my sister, and my aunt. She glanced toward the house. “My mom’s here, too—she’s putting Lily down for her nap. As some of you know, I’m Savannah Ivey. Now remind me of your names, will you? Kira, I know you—wait…” she said, looking at her twin sister, “or are you Klara?”
The girl smiled shyly. “I’m Kira. She’s Klara.”
“And you girls are nine?”
They nodded.
“Nice to see you both.” She looked at the oldest boy.
“I’m Timmy.” He pointed. “That’s Tommy and Justin and Jacob. I’m almost twelve,” he said proudly.
“And Allia,” Tiffany said, referring to the baby in the stroller.
Savannah tweaked the baby’s toes and glanced around at the other children. “I’m glad you could all be here. I think this is important for everyone’s safety. Now, which one of you likes horses?” She grinned when all the children over the age of two raised their hand. “Okay then,” she said. “Follow me out to the corral and I’ll introduce you to Peaches.”
“Yay!” the children shrieked, running excitedly toward the corral. Some of them immediately climbed up on the railing.
Savannah cringed when she saw Jacob pick up a piece of straw and hand it to the horse.
“Okay, the first lesson,” Savannah said loudly, in an effort to be heard over the children’s voices, “never climb on a corral fence without permission.” When the children turned and looked at her, she continued. “You might run into a horse or a steer or a bull or even a pony that bites or kicks. And if the fence is a little rickety, you might break it and the animal can get out.”
