by Tom Watson
But Stick Cat did not answer. He wasn’t listening to Edith. And he wasn’t looking skyward. Something had caught his eye.
At the edge of the forest, a bunch of tiny pink spots reflected the bright pink lights from the big heart in the sky.
Do you know what it was?
I’ll tell you.
It was all the wet, shiny rib bones protruding from Mutt’s fur.
Stick Cat—with the keen eyes that all cats have—saw those reflecting, twinkling lights.
And he saw the dogs as they entered the forest.
He wondered if it would be the last time he saw them.
It wouldn’t be.
Because right then Goose made another announcement.
A very important announcement.
CHAPTER 14
CAKE?!
Just as Stick Dog began to lead his friends to his pipe, Goose’s voice—amplified by the speaker in the gazebo—traveled across the field and into the forest.
“It’s time for the wedding cake!”
And Stick Dog stopped.
Mutt, Poo-Poo, Karen, and Stripes stopped too. They all yelped the same thing at the same time.
“Cake?!”
Stick Dog turned, fell to his belly, and dragged himself over some sticks, twigs, rocks, and dirt back to the forest’s edge. He looked at the gazebo. He didn’t think anyone had seen them cross the field and enter the forest. He suspected that all the humans had been gazing at that final heart-shaped firework in the sky.
But he wasn’t taking any chances.
Not if there was cake involved.
“Did you hear that, Stick Dog?” Poo-Poo said. “He said there’s cake!”
“I heard it,” answered Stick Dog. “Try to stay down.”
Mutt, Karen, Poo-Poo, and Stripes scooched low and fast on their stomachs to join Stick Dog. They peered across that field and into the gazebo just like he did.
The wedding guests now stood around the table with the tall covered thing on it. Carefully, Goose and Tiffany lifted the cover to reveal a massive, four-tiered wedding cake.
“That’s a cake?!” Mutt asked in disbelief.
“It’s beautiful,” said Stripes.
“It’s massive,” Karen added.
And Poo-Poo said, “It’s time for dessert.”
Stick Dog squinted his eyes to sharpen their focus. He had never seen anything like that wedding cake in his whole life. Most of their food was just scraps. They found leftovers in garbage cans. They discovered food left behind from Picasso Park picnics—crumbs and morsels under the tables after the humans left. They knew what cake was. There had been plenty of birthday parties inside that gazebo over the years—and lots of birthday cake crumbs found under those tables.
Sure, some of their adventures had led to better, more complete things. They’d eaten whole pizzas and frankfurters and cartons of ice cream and mounds of spaghetti noodles.
But this was something different.
Way different.
This was the most magnificent and elegant food object they had ever seen.
And Stick Dog wanted to get it—and share it with his friends.
He just didn’t know how to do it.
Yet.
And there was something else Stick Dog didn’t know.
He didn’t know that Stick Cat was going to help him.
CHAPTER 15
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS WHOLE SHINDIG
At the edge of the forest, Stick Dog contemplated a potential cake-grabbing strategy.
Inside the gazebo, Stick Cat’s best friend, Edith, did the exact same thing.
“What are those two people doing on top of the cake?” Edith asked from the gazebo floor. She stared up at the gorgeous cake and licked her lips and whiskers.
“I think they’re supposed to represent Goose and Tiffany,” answered Stick Cat.
“Humph!” Edith replied. She didn’t like such an idea.
“What’s wrong?”
“And what about you-know-who?”
“Who?”
“Me, that’s who,” declared Edith. “Why isn’t there a beautiful cat on the cake too? A cat with a bow in her hair? A cat with a fancy collar? A cat with the most gorgeous, fluffy, and elegant tail in the world? I’m probably the most important part of this whole shindig.”
“You are?” asked Stick Cat.
“Without a doubt. I’m really quite remarkable when you think about it,” Edith said, and closed her eyes halfway for three seconds. She decided to pose a series of questions to get her point across. “Who’s the biggest cat here?”
“You are.”
“Correct. And who is the prettiest one here?”
Stick Cat knew how to answer this one. And he answered quickly. “You are.”
“Who rescued Mr. Music?”
“You did,” answered Stick Cat. In a lower voice, he added, “Although I did play a small role myself.”
“Emphasis on ‘small,’” Edith said, and went on. “Who saved Hazel, the bagel maker?”
“Umm, you, I guess. But, again, I had something to do with it too.”
Edith had already moved on.
“Who caught Tuna Todd?”
Stick Cat decided not to put up any further resistance. He just gave the answers that he knew Edith wanted to hear.
“You did.”
“Who ate the most barbecue ribs tonight?”
“You did.”
“Who ate the most mashed potatoes?”
“You.”
“Bread?”
“You.”
“And butter?”
“You.”
“Well then, it’s perfectly obvious,” Edith said as she wrapped things up. “I’m the most special one here. If anyone deserves to be on top of a cake, it’s me!”
Edith then hopped up from the gazebo’s concrete floor to the nearest bench.
“Where are you going?” asked Stick Cat.
She jumped from the bench to the tabletop and answered, “I’m going to take my rightful place on top of the cake, that’s where!”
“What?!”
During this entire conversation, the guests had been watching Goose and Tiffany cut the first several slices of wedding cake from the largest layer at the bottom. They set each slice on a separate plate on a nearby table.
The guests were gathered around them, chatting and laughing—and waiting for Goose and Tiffany to finish cutting the cake. You could tell they were anxious—just like Stick Dog and his friends—to taste it too.
They were all too busy waiting, watching, and anticipating to see anything else.
That’s why they never saw Edith coming.
CHAPTER 16
SO BRIGHT—SO DARK
“What are we going to do, Stick Dog?” asked Karen. “How are we going to get that cake?”
“There are too many humans,” Poo-Poo said. “We’ll never get any of that magnificent cake.”
Stripes agreed. “It’s no use.”
Mutt reached into his fur, retrieved one of those rib bones, and gnawed on it.
Stick Dog raised his head and stared into the black night sky. He was deep in thought. The moon cast a dull-gray light across Picasso Park. He had to think of something. Anything. He dropped his head and looked across the field at the gazebo. The humans were all gathered around that tall, fancy, multi-layered cake.
“It’s so bright in there,” he whispered. The brightness stung his eyes, and he looked away. “And so dark out here.”
It was then—right when Stick Dog looked away from the brightly lit gazebo and into the dark night sky—that the moon began to disappear behind a thick cloud.
The night got even darker.
And Stick Dog got an idea.
He jerked his head down to look at the gazebo.
“So bright in there,” he whispered. “So dark out here.”
Stick Dog stared into the gazebo. He followed that cord from the speaker. He found where it plugged into the o
utlet.
It wasn’t the only thing plugged in there.
There was another cord. He followed it with his eyes from the outlet, across the grass, and into the gazebo. He saw that the second cord led to the first string of white lights. And that string of lights plugged into the next string.
And the next string.
And the next string.
And all the other strings.
“What are you mumbling about, Stick Dog?” asked Poo-Poo.
Stick Dog turned to his friends. They had seen this look from him before. One eyebrow was raised slightly. The tiniest grin began to take shape.
“What is it, Stick Dog?” Stripes squealed. She, like the others, suspected that Stick Dog had an idea. She began to hop up and down. “What is it?!”
“It’s so dark out here,” Stick Dog said. “And so bright in there.”
He stopped and looked at his friends one by one. He was determined. He was confident.
“It’s so bright in there,” he repeated. “But not for long.”
CHAPTER 17
EVERYTHING GOES DARK
It took less than one minute for Stick Dog and his friends to race back across the field. They ran in complete darkness, and nobody saw them. They stopped just short of the light shining out of the gazebo.
Mutt, Stripes, Poo-Poo, and Karen listened closely as Stick Dog whispered.
“See those slices of cake?” he said, and pointed toward the table where Goose and Tiffany had placed more than a dozen cake slices on small plates.
His friends nodded.
“I’m going to unplug the lights,” Stick Dog said. He pointed to the outlet where the speaker and light strings were plugged in. “As soon as the lights go out, it will be completely dark. You guys grab a slice of cake each. Don’t eat it here. Bring it back to the forest. It won’t take the humans very long to get the lights back on.”
Mutt whispered a question. “Won’t the humans see us?”
“I don’t think so,” Stick Dog said, and shook his head. “It will be pitch-black. There’s even a cloud covering the moon right now. And I think the humans will hold still until the lights come back on. You should be able to work your way to the cake without being detected.”
Everybody nodded their understanding again.
And began to drool.
Stick Dog scurried on his belly toward that outlet. He thought he could get there and unplug the lights without being detected. He would only be in the light for a few seconds. And even if he was spotted, he hoped he could unplug the cord before anyone got to him. In the darkness, he’d be safe.
He was five feet away.
And still in darkness.
He paused to look into the gazebo a final time. He was right at the edge of the light now. One more inch and he would be exposed.
Nobody looked his way. The only unusual thing Stick Dog saw was the chubby gray cat on top of a table. She looked like she was about to leap off the table. From that angle, the gray cat would be able to see him perfectly when he moved into the light.
But, thankfully, her back was to him.
And nobody else was with her.
Stick Dog looked back and eyed the outlet. He got up on all fours, inhaled deeply, and scurried out of the safety of darkness—and into the danger of light.
Just as Stick Dog scrambled toward the outlet, several things happened quickly.
Stick Cat jumped up to the table to try to stop Edith.
Edith began to push off against the table with her back legs.
Stick Cat saw Stick Dog lunging toward the outlet.
Stick Dog reached for the plug.
Stick Cat reached for Edith.
Edith leaped for the top of the cake.
Stick Cat just missed her.
Stick Dog pulled the plug.
Edith flew through the air.
And everything went dark.
CHAPTER 18
EVERYONE GETS TO WORK
One second after Stick Dog pulled the plug, two distinct sounds emerged from the darkness.
The first sound was this: SHH-er-PLAKSH!
The second sound was this: THUMP T-T-T GLOOSH! GLOOOSH!! GLOOOOSH!!!
The first sound was Edith as she landed belly-first on top of the wedding cake. The second sound was that cake toppling over—and its layers landing in different places.
Now, there was nothing scary about being in the dark. It was a bunch of grown-ups—and they knew everything was fine. And even the noises were not alarming or anything. They were just kind of strange—and wet sounding.
But when it is very bright one second and then very dark the next second, it can be startling.
A couple of the guests gasped. But most of them laughed. Nobody moved. They weren’t frightened. But it was dark. And people don’t see very well in the dark.
But do you know who does see well in the dark?
Dogs.
And cats.
And Stick Dog used that to his great advantage.
And so did Stick Cat.
“Hold still, everybody,” Goose called out in the quiet. “The plug for the lights probably came loose. I’ll get it. Everybody, just stay where you are.”
Everybody held still.
Well, almost everybody.
Goose stumbled, bumbled, and tripped his way toward the electrical outlet.
Poo-Poo, Karen, Stripes, and Mutt darted into the gazebo. They wove in and out of the humans’ legs—never brushing against a single one. They each reached up to that table and grabbed a piece of cake with their mouth. Karen had to hop up to the bench first. Then they headed straight back to the woods.
Stick Dog stalked his way to the edge of the gazebo. He watched his friends hurry down the hill with huge slices of cake in their mouths. He decided to give them a head start—just in case a human saw his friends and chased after them. If that happened, Stick Dog would try to trip that human.
That’s what the dogs did.
The cats were busy too.
Edith took giant bites and gulps of the cake that was smashed around her—and smooshed beneath her.
And Stick Cat turned his head from side to side—he was looking for something in the dark.
Goose got closer to the outlet—and closer to plugging the lights back in.
Edith licked white frosting from her whiskers.
And Poo-Poo, Mutt, Karen, and Stripes ran across the field toward the forest—they were halfway there.
Stick Dog decided his friends were a safe distance away—and worked his way silently down the hill and across the field to join them.
As all that happened, Stick Cat found what he was looking for.
You see, when Edith lunged, leaped, and landed on top of that elegant wedding cake, it broke apart. The cake went this way and that way and every other way. Frosting splattered everywhere. The layers tumbled and rumbled and rolled all around.
Well, except for the top layer. It collapsed straight down to the table—with Edith squished delightfully in the middle of it.
It was then that Stick Cat saw an opportunity.
And he took it.
He knew who had unplugged the lights. Stick Cat had seen him reaching for the plug right before it went instantly dark.
It was that dog.
That hungry dog.
Stick Cat used his keen feline night vision to scan the gazebo floor. And he found exactly what he sought.
An entire circular layer of that cake.
It was smooshed a bit on one side, but it was mostly intact.
Stick Cat knew he had very little time. Goose would turn those lights back on any second.
And Stick Cat knew three other things too.
First, he knew Goose and Tiffany would not eat that cake after it had fallen to the gazebo’s concrete floor.
Second, he knew those dogs were hungry.
And, finally, Stick Cat knew he could do something about it.
He took two quick bounds to reach that cake layer.
Stick Cat tilted the cake on its side—and took a moment to balance it. He knew how to do this—he had done it once before with a bagel sign back in the big city.
When the cake was balanced, Stick Cat did one more thing.
He pushed it.
Down the hill.
Toward Stick Dog.
CHAPTER 19
STICK DOG SEES TWO THINGS
When Stick Dog reached the woods, Mutt, Poo-Poo, Karen, and Stripes had their heads down. They were biting, chewing, and gobbling their wedding cake portions.
He smiled at them, knowing they were enjoying a sweet dessert.
He could smell the sugar in the frosting. It smelled scrumptious. He wished he could have gotten some cake for himself.
But he wasn’t jealous. He was happy for his friends.
That’s when the bright white lights inside the gazebo flashed on. It caught Stick Dog’s attention. He snapped his head around.
And couldn’t believe his eyes.
Stick Dog saw two things.
First, he saw Stick Cat standing at the edge of the gazebo at the top of the hill. He stared right at Stick Dog—and smiled.
Then Stick Dog saw the second thing.
An entire circular layer of that huge cake was rolling down that hill.
Right toward Stick Dog.
Stick Dog looked back up that hill.
But Stick Cat was gone.
CHAPTER 20
EDITH IS BUSTED
The lights flashed on inside the gazebo.
