by K. J. Emrick
I took the longer way as I knew she wouldn’t be able to cut through a lot of the places that I can. It only took a few minutes to reach the slit in the fence at the old warehouse. I turned to see if Darcy was there and saw nothing, just an empty street. I must have gone too fast for her. I should have known better; humans aren’t very fast without their wheeled metal box things that they call cars.
About to double back and find her I heard something that made my blood freeze. I turned my head slowly to look behind me and there was Kujo just about breathing down my neck.
He stood still like a huge black statue, his midnight black eyes locked onto me. My life flashed before my eyes. I was sure I was done for. He was too close and there was nowhere for me to run.
He started rocking backwards and forwards and an almighty racket issued from his mouth as he started barking furiously at me. I closed my eyes for a moment trying to center myself, hoping that Darcy would work out where I was and come rescue me.
The barking got louder and I could tell he was just toying with me. He knew he had me and I was a goner. Just as I sensed he was about to issue the death pounce headlights swung into the street and blinded me. The vehicle was in a hurry as it surged along the street but as it got near it slowed and pulled up with a screech of tires.
None of this registered with the dog. He was still barking furiously and I wondered why he hadn’t made the kill yet. I was afraid to look away from the dog as the door of the vehicle opened and I heard footsteps.
“Kujo!” The dog shut up almost instantly and cowered. “What have I told you about chasing cats?” The dog shrunk even further and I took this as a good time to scamper. Last I saw the dog was getting into the huge black machine that the man had gotten out of.
I took a quick detour into the building to check on Persephone and found Ernesto there with her. She seemed okay and I spent some time with them both getting to know them better. Then it was time for me to regroup and go find Darcy.
Before heading home, I decided to check the book store first. Darcy was heading there when I distracted her, so I figured she would have probably gone back there. When I arrived, I found her closing up and leaving the store. I guessed she must be on her way home then and followed her. But I was wrong. Instead of going straight home she turned down into an alley just up from the police station.
What was she up to now? And why wasn’t she worried about me? Hadn’t she heard that awful racket Kujo had been making? Wasn’t she worried he had eaten me?
She was skulking around behind the police station now fiddling with the door. What was she up to? I’d better go find out.
Just as she opened the door I slipped through unseen. She pulled out a small flashlight from her pocket and turned it on. I figured this was a good time to let her know I was with her so I jumped at her and then darted across the room.
“Smudge!” Uh oh, she sounded annoyed.
I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to get Darcy to do what I wanted until she’d solved Anna’s murder. She was just too preoccupied to see any of my signs.
So I figured that meant I needed to help her. I already knew who the culprit was I just needed to fast track Darcy’s investigation in that direction.
This meant that I would need to keep close tabs on what she was doing and lead her in the appropriate direction until she got to the conclusion.
A cat’s work is never done.
So that is why I am now sitting here watching Darcy who is spying on Pete Underwood through his living room window. It’s kind of embarrassing actually and I hope no one I know sees us.
We’ve been here for hours and nothing has happened. I’m so bored. I can’t take it. I have to move. It’s not natural for a cat to be still for so long.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Cat’s sleep a lot and they don’t move then but I’ve already told you that is a common human misconception. Really.
I sneak away while Darcy is still glued to the window. Not sure what is so fascinating about watching a man type. This would be a good time for me to go and check on Persephone.
I spend the rest of the day just hanging out with the gang and Persephone, keeping her company and her spirits high. I head back to Pete’s house in the late afternoon and find Darcy has already left.
I catch her scent on the breeze and know that she’s not too far ahead of me. I sprint in the direction of home and catch up with her quickly brushing up against her to let her know I’m there.
“Now where on earth did you get to Smudge?”
I answer with a cheery “meow” as we head home.
The next day I was kept busy with co-ordinating the roster for who stays with Persephone and when. I also needed to see how her stash of food was holding up and had Tony and Enzo go out and find food to replenish her stocks.
I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home that night and was looking forward to just chilling out with Darcy.
Of course, things don’t always go according to plan.
Darcy was very agitated and was pacing the length of her kitchen. She finally decided that she needed to go to Anna’s house and do a communication. I was worried about her. Whenever she does these communications she loses a little piece of herself.
But she feels that it’s the only option left for her to do and I don’t stop her. I go with her for support and I watch while she is in that other world state just to protect her and make sure she is safe.
Sometimes it takes a long time for her to come out of it but this time it didn’t take that long at all. It seemed like it may have been a success because she was mumbling something about them getting the time wrong. I hoped this was the piece of the puzzle she needed to solve it.
We headed back to our house and she collapsed into the rocking chair on the porch. I jumped up into her lap and purred to try and sooth her. But that didn’t last long because that annoying Jon person turned up.
I don’t like the man and I didn’t hang around. I did listen to their conversation though from the safety of the house. It seemed that Jon was trying to incriminate Jeff in the murder. I knew that was wrong but I also knew that Darcy would not be able to help herself. She would investigate Jeff.
So that’s why the next day when I saw Jeff at the café I had an opportunity to help. I watched as his keys fell from his pocket when he pulled out that money thing that men carry around with them. I sprinted over and scooped them up into my mouth.
I wasted no time in getting them to Darcy.
“What’s this, Smudge?”
I ran outside again. Making sure Darcy was watching me I ran right up to Jeff who was outside of the bakery and rubbed myself against his legs and then took off down the street secure in the knowledge that Darcy would know what to do with it. The sooner she proved Jeff’s innocence, the sooner she would move onto the real murderer, and the sooner she would finally help me.
I spent the day doing my shift keeping Persephone company only to come home and find Darcy and Jeff working together. Well that was quick. I’m not sure how much I like them working together though. But, I guess Darcy will solve it faster with help. Even if that help was Jeff.
That night Darcy had another of those dreams. Things were getting pretty tense around home. I did my best to try and keep things calm for her. But then things got even worse.
Jeff was also murdered.
After Jeff was killed Darcy started spending a lot of time with that Jon person. I don’t know what happened to change their relationship but I still don’t like him. I even saw them kissing in the bookstore after Darcy had tried to do a communication. It feels like she doesn’t need me anymore.
But at least he was helping her solve these two murders instead of accusing her of being involved, so I guess that’s a good thing. This was becoming very complicated and I didn’t feel at all well enough equipped to help her on my own.
I knew who the murderer was of course but not being able to talk sure limited me in what I could do to help. I c
ould only keep an eye on Darcy and try to steer her in the right direction whenever I could.
I still had my own problems to deal with. Persephone couldn’t stay down the hole forever. We’d each been taking it in turns to sit with her and I’d done a couple of shifts.
We needed a solution and it didn’t look like I was going to be able to get Darcy to help so we needed another plan. I just wasn’t sure what it was. We had a meeting at Persephone’s hole to try and work out what to do.
“We’a need to do something,” Ernesto said. I could see that the strain of not being able to rescue Persephone was getting to him.
“Yes we do. So do you have any ideas?”
“I’ve been’a wrackin’ my brain for something, anything… but nothing is a’comin’ to me.”
I looked at the others sitting in a circle around the hole in the floor. We were all here. With me was Twistypaws, Tony the Tiger, Rolo, Samson, Enzo, Paolo and Omar, Onyx, Mariel and of course Ernesto. They all had the same sort of perplexed expression that I was sure I had.
I knew we couldn’t keep sitting around doing nothing but I had no ideas. We decided to break for the day. It was Tony’s turn to sit with Persephone. I got home and found the house empty. I vaguely remembered Linda coming into the shop sometime today and she was talking about some memorial or something. I guessed that Darcy was at that.
I checked my bowl but it was still empty. Darcy had gotten a little absentminded about it over the last few days. Stomach rumbling, I settled down next to the bowl to rest for a while and waited for her to come home. I wanted to be sure to get the message across that I needed food.
How on earth was I supposed to think on an empty stomach?
I didn’t have to wait that long before I heard the key turn in the lock and Darcy was entering the house. She looked worn out, poor thing. She looked at me sitting beside my bowl and said, “Oh Smudge I’m so sorry.” She quickly filled the bowl for me and I was tucking in before she’d even finished.
Stomach full and feeling much better I followed her up to her bedroom and curled up next to her for a good night’s sleep.
Only I couldn’t get to sleep now. I felt agitated like something was going to happen.
What was that?
I pricked my ears up when I heard a faint noise downstairs. It sounded like there was someone in the house. I lay very still as I could hear someone creeping up the stairs.
There was definitely someone in the house.
The bedroom door slowly creaked open and I tensed, ready to pounce. Someone was here to harm Darcy and I wasn’t about to let that happen. The figure crept closer to the bed and I lunged upwards toward him yowling as loud as I possibly could.
Darcy woke up with a gasp and seeing the intruder beside her bed grabbed the first thing she could, a book, and hurled it at him. He ran away like a mangy dog with his tail between his legs. That was easy.
Yeah, too easy. What was up with that.
Shaking, Darcy grabbed her phone and dialled. I assumed she was calling the police. I rubbed up against her to let her know I was there and she smoothed a hand along my back.
As she talked to whoever it was on the phone I jumped off the bed and headed downstairs. I found the kitchen window open. Looked like the intruder was gone.
Darcy came downstairs and sat on the couch with her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms were hugging her knees. I could see she was shaking like a leaf so I jumped next to her to lend her some of my warmth.
A little bit later there was a knock at the door and Darcy jumped. She went over to open the door and that Jon person entered. I watched as he grabbed her and dragged her into his arms. My fur bristled. She was my human. He needed to go away. But I knew that with him by her side Darcy had a better chance of working this out so I kept my opinion to myself. I just headed back upstairs to try and get some more sleep.
After the excitement of the night before I decided I’d better keep tabs on Darcy. But I wasn’t the only one. Mister super detective man slept on the couch overnight. I could tell that he was going to be trouble. He got this look in his eye when he was turned in Darcy’s direction and I knew what that meant.
It had been me and Darcy for years now and we didn’t need anyone else. He had better not be getting any ideas about moving in on my territory.
I’d found out that they’d wrongly arrested Aaron while I was off dealing with the Persephone in the hole issue. How had they gotten so far off track?
Poor Aaron had nothing to do with any of this. How was I going to get Darcy on the right track? Steve Nelson needed to be stopped before he ended up killing my human.
I watched Jon and Darcy chasing their tails. And then they arrested Helen. Of all people. How could Darcy think that Helen was a killer? I just kept shaking my head. Of course, the book “And Then There Were None” that Helen was reading was a vital piece of evidence. It had been Anna’s book. So I suppose they could be forgiven for getting it wrong. But still… Helen. Really.
I watched Darcy now as she sat at the kitchen table fidgeting. She was trying to read a book but I could tell she wasn’t being very successful. The rhythmic tapping of her foot against the leg of the table was lulling me into a kind of trance.
When I suggested a walk by scratching on the door she was all for it. I needed fresh air to wake up. I wasn’t sure where we were headed when we left the house but I soon worked out we were walking in the direction of Helen’s house. Darcy must have worked out that her agitation had something to do with having the wrong suspect.
Great!
But Helen’s house was also Steve’s house and Steve was the murderer. I sure hoped he wasn’t home. As luck would have it the house was all in darkness indicating that there was nobody home. Darcy tried the door but it was locked.
I watched Darcy climb through one of the back windows. I was going to follow her in but my intuition told me to stay outside and watch the front. I’m glad I did because not long after Darcy had entered, a luxury sedan pulled into the driveway and Steve Nelson got out. I watched in horror as he went to the front door and opened it, slipping inside.
With Darcy.
I didn’t think, I just raced for the center of town and the police station. I hoped that Jon would be there and then realized that he was probably still interrogating Helen. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life, even when Kujo was chasing me the other day. I had images in my head of what was happening to Darcy that spurred me on even quicker.
I was out of breath by the time I got to the police station. Just as I skidded up to the door it opened and a young officer exited. I didn’t stop I just kept going right through the open door.
“Hey!” The young officer yelled but I kept going. I sprinted over to the counter and leapt up and over. Running deeper into the police station I found Jon in an office, hunched over some papers on his desk. Without breaking stride, I leapt from the floor and skidded across his desk sending the papers flying in all directions.
“What the… Smudge! What do you think you’re doing?”
I didn’t have time for useless questions and I nudged him hard. “Hey… stop that.” I kept doing it until he jumped out of his chair. I leapt from the desk and ran to the door, skidded to a halt and looked back at him. I sent him my most intense stare and then I let out the loudest and most mournful yowl I could summon up.
He frowned at me and I could see the exact moment it registered that something was wrong. He followed me without any more hesitation.
When we got to the Mayor’s house Jon wasted no time in smashing in the door. It looked like we only made it just in time. Darcy was on the floor and the mayor was standing over her with a gun. I figure he was seconds away from pulling that trigger and killing my Darcy.
I raced over to her and skidded to a stop. I arched my back and bared my teeth hissing at Steve to get away from her. Just then Jon tackled him and I knew she was safe.
It took several more days for all of the excitement to die
down. Misty Hollow had become a media circus as the story of our murdering mayor broke across the country. It also came to light that Jess O’Connor had been the shadowy intruder in our house the other night. She had been having an affair with Steve and wanted to scare Darcy off his trail. No such luck for her.
Poor Persephone was still down the hole but was doing well and in good spirits. Now that all of the excitement was over I figured it might be a good time to try and get Darcy’s attention again.
But just in case I couldn’t I hunted and killed a rodent for Persephone’s lunch. I waited for the perfect moment just hanging around in the town center. I knew that Darcy would look out of the window sooner or later and then I could put my plan into action.
This time I was determined not to fail.
I didn’t have to wait too long and when I saw her look out I made sure she saw me acting suspicious. I needed to get her attention so that she would follow me.
I could see it was working when she left the bookstore and started to come in my direction. That’s when I sprang into action. I raced away toward the industrial end of town and I knew she would follow. I paced myself today though as I didn’t want to lose her like I had that other time.
Of course, the best laid plans don’t always run smoothly. As I turned into the street where Persephone was, I saw Kujo hanging around further down the street. I knew the exact moment he spotted me as he started up that awful racket again.
I could see him speeding toward me and I knew I wasn’t going to make the hole in the wall. I sprinted through the slit in the fence and straight up the sloping wall of the building. I’d had to use the route a couple times before because of Kujo but it wasn’t the safest way to get in.
I stopped just before the broken window and looked down. Sure enough the dog was going ballistic down there. I shook my head. He’s such a dumb dog. Think he would have given up by now. I’m just too good for him.
