Sam Sanders ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve got connections in town. I know you told the police that my daughter broke in your house and stole your cat.”
Katherine began in a solemn voice. “I was upset about a number of things and made accusations I shouldn’t have made.” She thought, I was desperate to find Iris — and holding a gun on the serial killer until the chief got there.
“Do you know how I know it wasn’t my daughter who took your cat?” He waited for Katherine to answer, but when she didn’t, he said, “Much to my embarrassment, Barbie was out with her numbskull brother, egging the damn Mayor’s house. Now how stupid is that?”
Katherine shrugged, but didn’t offer what she was really thinking, which was Barbie didn’t seem to have too much in the brain department. “I was wrong. It is I who owe you an apology, to you, your family, and to Barbie.” Katherine started to walk to the truck, but Sam gently placed his hand on her right elbow.
“Let me finish and then you can talk to Barbie. Okay?”
“Yes, please go on,” she said with a slight edge in her voice.
“When that idiot Glen Frye dumped the motorhome in our trailer court, we got to it before the law did. The guy I hire to take care of the place lives in the first trailer. He wondered why the hell a Four Winds motorhome with New York license plates would be blocking most of the front entrance, so he investigated. He said when he went inside, a cat flew out and nearly knocked him down.”
“Did he chase after her?” Katherine asked, with renewed hope of finding Iris. “Does he have her?”
Sam shook his head and smiled. “I couldn’t see Homer chasing anything but the dinner roll basket down at the diner. Actually, he was more concerned about the dead man in the RV than chasing after a cat.” He paused, then continued, “Now here’s where my story gets interesting. After my eldest son bailed out Barbie and Bobby from jail, I called my daughter. I told her it would be best if she and her brother got out of town for a while and stayed at the cabin. But Barbie didn’t mention to me that there was a third party going to the lake.”
“What do you mean?” Katherine asked, anxious for Sam Sanders to get to the point.
“My daughter loves animals. She’s always taking in a stray cat or dog, fixing them up, and then adopting them out. The night Barbie got home and opened her front door, a freaked-out cat ran into her trailer. As soon as she could calm it down, she put it in a cage and headed up north to the lake. She told me it was love at first sight.”
“Was the cat a Siamese?” Katherine asked hurriedly.
Sam put up his hand. “I’m not finished yet,” he said firmly. “Like I said, my daughter took the cat with her. We didn’t know the cat was your cat until Barbie got home today. She saw the flyer outside the trailer court, and called me —”
Katherine interrupted. “Where’s the cat now? I want to see if it’s my cat.”
Sam motioned for Barbie to get out of the truck. Barbie slowly opened the door and climbed out. In her arms, she was holding something wrapped in a yellow baby blanket. Tears were flowing from Barbie’s eyes. She was so choked up, she couldn’t speak. Iris peeked out and made a joyous yowl. Barbie handed the missing Siamese to Katherine, then ran back to the truck, sobbing.
“So, are we good here?” Sam asked, touching Katherine on the shoulder.
“Yes,” Katherine cried. “How can I ever repay you? The reward … ,” she stammered. “It’s yours.”
“We’ll take care of that later. But for now, I do ask one thing,” Sam said softly. “Teach Barbie about that computer stuff and we’ll be clear.”
“Yes, of course. We’re clear. I’ll give her private lessons.”
“Good,” Sam said, starting to walk away. “You take care now,” he said, getting into his truck and driving away. Barbie had her head down, still crying.
Katherine cradled Iris and kissed her several times on the head. Scout and Abra were moving back and forth on the parlor windowsill, wanting to get out. When Katherine walked in the door, Lilac and Abby began me-yowling and chirping with excitement that Iris had been found. Scout and Abra joined them. She could hardly walk with the cats wrapped around her feet, darting in and out between her legs.
“Yowl,” Iris cried to the other cats’ caterwauling. She squirmed to get down, but Katherine held her tight.
“Not yet, Miss Siam. I’ve got to check you out to make sure you’re okay.” Katherine set Iris down on the marble-top curio cabinet and began examining her. Iris seemed to be all right. She smelled like perfume, but that was an easy fix. She seemed to be a little bit heavier. Katherine guessed Barbie had been over-feeding her. She extracted her smartphone and snapped a picture of Iris, then sent it to Jake and Colleen. Jake immediately replied with a selfie of himself smiling; Colleen texted back: “Happy dancing!” Katherine then called Dr. Sonny. Valerie, the receptionist, put the call straight through.
“Dr. Sonny, I’ve got Iris. Barbie Sanders had her and was taking care of her.”
“Oh, really,” Dr. Sonny said, mildly amused.
“She seems okay, but I really want to bring her in for you to take a look at her.”
“If she looks okay, I’d suggest you do that tomorrow. Let her get settled in. I’m sure this was a great shock to her. Maybe you should keep her away from the cats for a while.”
“Okay, sure thing. Tomorrow,” Katherine said, ending the call. Surprisingly, the once-noisy cats had become quiet. With Scout in the lead, they ran upstairs to their room in the back of the hall.
Katherine picked up Iris and cradled her in her arms. She walked back to the office and closed the door. “Miss Siam, have I ever told you the story about how you became royalty?”
“Yowl,” Iris cried softly, blinking her deep blue eyes.
Katherine sat down on the floor and put Iris on her lap. She began talking to the Siamese as she had when Iris was a kitten. Iris gazed up at her adoringly. “Once upon a time, in Siam, there was a little cat. Her name was Iris. She had a brown mask with big, dark blue eyes. She was a member of the royal guard that stood as sentries on the tall city walls. The royal princess of Siam didn’t like her because she said Iris had stolen her favorite ring. But Iris hadn’t. It was Chai-Lai, the wicked Siamese, who did it.”
Iris reached up with her paw and touched Katherine on the face.
“One night there was a fire and Iris saved the princess,” Katherine continued the story.
Iris was falling asleep; her eyelids were very heavy.
“After Iris saved the princess, there was a ceremony and Iris was crowned. Do you know what her new title was?”
Iris looked up sleepily.
“Miss Siam – Royal Guard to the Princess.”
Iris cuddled closer and fell fast asleep.
“I’m so glad you’re home, my darling. I love you so very much,” Katherine said, fighting back tears. “But you’re safe now – in my arms – so just sleep. I’ll hold you forever.”
The End
Dear Reader …
Thank you so much for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. If you liked, The Cats that Told a Fortune, I would be so thankful if you’d help others enjoy this book, too, by recommending it to your friends, family and book clubs, and/or by writing a positive review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
I love it when my readers write to me. If you’d like to email me about what you’d like to see in the next book, or just talk about your favorite scenes and characters, email me at: [email protected]
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Anne-Golden/e/B00H3KTH8Q/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
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If you’re not on my mailing list, please send me an email and I’ll let you know when the next book is available.
Thanks again!
Karen Anne Golden
The Cats that Surfed the Web
Book One in The Cats that … Cozy Myster
y series
If you haven’t read the first book, The Cats that Surfed the Web, you can download the Kindle version on Amazon at: http://amzn.com/B00H2862YG Paperback available.
Forty four million dollars. A Victorian mansion. And a young career woman with cats. The prospect sounded like a dream come true; what could possibly go wrong?
How could a friendly town’s welcome turn into a case of poisoning, murder, and deceit? When Katherine “Katz” Kendall, a computer professional in New York City, discovers she’s the sole heir of a huge inheritance, she can’t believe her good fortune. She’s okay with the clauses of the will: Move to the small town of Erie, Indiana, check. Live in her great aunt’s pink Victorian mansion and take care of an Abyssinian cat, double-check.
With her three Siamese cats and best friend, Colleen, riding shotgun, Katz leaves Manhattan to find a former housekeeper dead in the basement. Ghostly intrusions convince Colleen, a card-carrying “ghost hunter,” that the mansion is haunted. Several townspeople are furious because Katherine’s benefactor promised them the fortune, then changed her will at the last minute. But who would be greedy enough to get rid of the rightful heir to take the money and run? Four adventurous felines help Katz solve the crimes by serendipitously “searching” the Internet for clues.
The Cats that Chased the Storm
Book Two in The Cats that … Cozy Mystery series
The second book, The Cats that Chased the Storm, is also available on Kindle and in paperback. Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00IPOPJOU
It’s early May in Erie, Indiana, and the weather has turned most foul. We find Katherine “Katz” Kendall, heiress to the Colfax fortune, living in a pink mansion, caring for her three Siamese and Abby the Abyssinian. Severe thunderstorms frighten the cats, but Scout is better than any weather app. A different storm is brewing, however, with a discovery that connects great-uncle William Colfax to the notorious gangster John Dillinger. Why is the Erie Historical Society so eager to get William’s personal papers? Is the new man in Katherine’s life a fortune hunter? Will Abra mysteriously reappear, and is Abby a magnet for danger?
A fast-paced whodunit, the second book in The Cats that … series involves four extraordinary felines that help Katz unravel the mysteries in her life.
Acknowledgements
My appreciation goes out to my sister, Linda Golden, who has been a tremendous help throughout this process.
Thanks to Vicki Braun, my editor, who meticulously edited this book. Vicki also edited the first two books of The Cats that … Cozy Mystery series. Also, special thanks to Christy Carlyle, my book cover designer. Christy is a genius at taking a photograph and incorporating it into a fun cover.
Thank you Pauline Nicolaï, my beta reader from the Netherlands. If it weren’t for the Internet, I would never have met you. Thank you, Melissa McGee, for coordinating the other beta team readers: Catherine Scott, Tammy Richardson, Mona Kekstadt, Mary Hesselgesser-Wright and Debbie Perry. Melissa also read the book and made valid suggestions regarding paranormal investigations.
I want to express my appreciation to my family and friends. Thanks to my brother, Bob Golden, who showed me how to use a Glock.
Thanks to my friend Sandy and her late husband, Carl DeVault, who took me to my very first Covered Bridge Festival. Also to my late father, who introduced my husband and me to our first Hoosier fish fry.
I am grateful to my rescued cats, without whose antics I wouldn’t have a story. Special mention of Redmond, who can open many kinds of locks, and Rusty, who graces my Facebook pages with lots of pix of Rusty being Rusty.
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