The Secret in the Whiskers

by Patricia Fry

Margaret stood up and hugged Savannah, then Michael and each of the children, saying, “Have a wonderful trip.”

  Savannah let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I hope so. I would love a relaxing vacation, but with Rags along…”

  “I hear ya,” Margaret said.

  “And with that theft debacle,” Gladys added.

  “What?” Margaret questioned. “What’s going on, Vannie? Are you walking into a mess up there?”

  When Savannah started to speak, Michael took her hand and led her away. She called out as they exited the door, “Mom can tell you all about it—what we know about it, anyway.”

  Chapter Six

  This is a pretty drive,” Savannah said three hours later. She glanced back at the children. “Too bad they’re not enjoying the scenery. And they probably won’t remember much about this trip. That’s the problem with traveling with children when they’re so young; they aren’t making memories.”

  “That’s why you have a camera on your phone,” Michael said. “Take lots of pictures and show them to the children often. That will help them remember the trip.” He glanced briefly at Rags in the rearview mirror. “Your cat seems to be enjoying the scenery.”

  “Yeah, he looks quite contented there on the back of the seat watching the tall trees fly past.”

  “Watching for birds and squirrels,” he added.

  “Speaking of birds and squirrels, why don’t you find a nice place to pull over and we’ll stretch our legs and have some lunch. We have—what—another three or four hour drive?”

  He nodded. “Watch for a good place to stop.”

  “Okay,” she said, sitting forward a little.

  “No, Rags,” Lily complained from the backseat.

  “What’s he doing?” Savannah asked.

  “Licking my baby Alana’s hair. I don’t want him to do that.”

  “Okay,” Savannah said, unbuckling her seatbelt. She stretched into the backseat, unsnapped Rags’s harness, and lifted him onto her lap. She muttered, “You probably made me miss a good spot, Rags. Let’s watch for a pretty place to have lunch.”

  “I want lunch,” Teddy called.

  “Me too,” Lily said. “I want lunch.”

  Just then Rags became antsy. He turned around on Savannah’s lap a few times, then put his paws on the door and watched out the window.

  “I can’t see, Rags. You’re in the way,” she complained. She looked back behind them. “Michael, did you see that spot back there? That looked like a good place to stop.”

  “Too late,” he said good-naturedly. “There’ll be others.”

  “Settle down Rags,” Savannah said, attempting to control his movement. She pointed. “See up ahead there. That looks like a park or something. Pull in there. I think Rags may need to use the facilities.”

  “The facilities?” Michael repeated, chuckling.

  “You know, a dirt pile.” As Michael pulled closer and she could see the area more clearly, she said, “Oh yes, this is perfect. There’s room for the kids to run and Rags to roam, and there’s shade and sun. Okay with you?”

  “Sure,” he said. “I’m with the loud majority; I’m hungry.”

  “You just ate breakfast.”

  “Four long hours ago,” he reminded her.

  “I guess you’re right.” She snapped Rags’s leash onto his harness and opened the car door. “Okay, let’s go.”

  ****

  The family had been picnicking together on a large quilt for a while, when Rags became restless.

  “Oh, Ragsie,” Savannah crooned. “Have you had your fill of food and water? You went potty. What do you want now?”

  “He wants to interrupt your lunch,” Michael said. “He’s ready for his walk.”

  “You want to get some exercise?” Savannah asked. “Let me finish my apple and we’ll go for a little walk, okay?”

  “I want to walk,” Lily said. “Can I go for a walk with you?” she asked, shoving her half-eaten sandwich into the cooler.

  “Let’s finish our lunch first, okay?” Savannah said. “Everyone who finishes their lunch gets one of Grammy’s cookies.”

  “And a walk?” Lily asked.

  “And a walk,” Savannah agreed.

  “I eat,” Teddy announced. “I want cookie.”

  Savannah kissed his hand. “I know you do, you little cookie monster.” A short while later, Savannah let out a sigh. “I’m tired of holding this cat back. I don’t know what he’s so interested in. Ready, Lily? Grab a cookie and let’s find out where Rags wants to go.”

  Michael picked up Teddy. “I see swings over there. Want to swing, buddy?”

  “Encourage him to play on that slide too,” Savannah said. “He needs to exercise his little legs.” She yelped when Rags leaped at the end of the leash toward a wooded area.

  “Wait!” Lily shouted. “I want to take baby Alana. Can I take my Alana doll, Mommy?”

  “Sure. Go get it. I’ll wait.” Savannah tugged a little on Rags’s leash. “Settle down. Be patient.” She watched Lily return to their quilt and pick up her doll, then she looked across the grassy area where Michael was pushing Teddy in a swing. She smiled. Then she noticed something going on beyond them. What are those people doing? She wondered. They look kind of frantic. When Lily caught up to her, she glanced once more at the small group of people and took Lily’s hand. The two of them accompanied Rags into a dense area of forest. “You’re not going to get us lost in here, are you, Rags?” she muttered.

  Lily looked up at her mother. “We won’t get lost, Mommy. Will we? Will we get lost?”

  “I hope not, honey-bun.”

  “We can throw breadcrumbs,” Lily suggested. “Like in that story you read me in my book. The children threw breadcrumbs so they could go home.”

  “Yes, that was Hansel and Gretel,” Savannah said. “But what happened to those breadcrumbs?”

  Lily looked up wide-eyed and exclaimed, “The birds ate them!”

  “Rags,” Savannah complained. “Lily, can you keep up? Rags wants to go faster.”

  “Why’s he going so fast?” Lily asked, skipping to catch up.

  Suddenly, Savannah stopped. “Did you hear something?”

  “I hear birds,” Lily said. “I hear…” she paused, then laughed. “I hear Rags. Meow. Meow.”

  “Yes, he’s crying isn’t he? I wonder why.” She tightened her lips, contemplating. “Let’s follow him, shall we? Stay close to Mommy, now.” After a few moments, Savannah said, “I’m sure I heard something. Maybe it’s an injured animal. Listen, Lily. Do you hear that?” She held tightly to the leash and commanded, “Hold on, Rags.” She looked around. When Rags began pulling on the leash again, Savannah took Lily’s hand and continued following along behind the cat.

  “Someone’s crying, Mommy,” Lily said.

  Savannah nodded. “I hear it. Rags, is that what you hear? Show us, Rags. Where’s it coming from?”

  “There, Mommy!” Lily exclaimed. “Rags found a baby.”

  Savannah gasped. “Oh my gosh.” Still holding tightly to Lily’s hand and Rags’s leash, she walked forward, glanced around, and kneeled next to a small child who sat behind a fallen log, sobbing. “Hello,” Savannah said. “Are you lost? Where’s your Mommy?”

  The little girl looked up at Savannah, then at Lily. She smiled and reached toward Lily.

  “I think she wants to hold baby Alana,” Savannah said.

  Lily clutched the doll to her. “No.”

  Savannah said gently, “Honey, the little girl’s scared. How about letting her hold baby Alana for a minute? I think it will make her feel better.”

  Lily stared at the child, then looked down at her doll. “Okay.”

  The child smiled and hugged the doll to her.

  “What’s your name, honey?” Savannah asked.

  “Eve.” The toddler held up three fingers. “I’m three.” She wiped at her eyes and looked around. “Where’s my doggie?”

  “Did you lose your doggie?” Savann
ah asked. She gazed around, looking for a stuffed toy, when suddenly she heard something crashing through the thick bed of pine needles. “What’s that?” Savannah asked, not expecting an answer. When she saw a large black dog charging toward her, she grabbed Lily and sheltered both children with her body. “Scat!” Savannah shouted. “Git!” she said. Just then she realized she’d lost her grip on Rags’s leash and he took off at a dead run toward the dog. “No, Rags! Rags!” She grabbed for Rags’s leash, but wasn’t fast enough. “Oh my gosh,” she moaned. “Stay here with Eve,” Savannah said, pushing Lily down behind the log next to the toddler. “Stay there,” she repeated, as she started to run toward the large dog and the clueless cat.

  Before she’d gone far, she heard Eve say, “My doggie.”

  Savannah looked back at her. “That’s your doggie? What’s his name?”

  “Star,” she said. “Doggie Star.” She called, “Star! Star!”

  “Oh no,” Savannah said. “What’s Rags going to do?” Someone’s bound to get hurt, she thought. “Rags!” she shouted again. She took off running toward the two animals, hoping to thwart a collision or worse, when suddenly Rags stopped and so did the dog. Star panted excitedly, then lay down and rolled over in front of Rags. Rags sat down and watched the dog, then the two of them trotted back to where the children waited. Savannah followed behind them shaking her head and seriously wondering what had just happened. “You know, Eve,” she said, “I believe your family’s looking for you. Want to come with me and Lily and Rags? We’ll take you back to your family, okay?”

  Savannah slipped her hand through the loop on the end of Rags’s leash and picked up the three-year-old. “Lily, hold onto my sweater,” she instructed.

  “Like this, Mommy?” Lily asked. “Mommy, can I have my Alana baby back?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. Just be patient.” Savannah looked around to make sure Star was following them. When they reached the grassy clearing, Star burst ahead of them and ran straight for the group of people Savannah had seen earlier. She noticed that a policeman had joined them.

  Meanwhile, Michael and Teddy had returned to their picnic blanket and were eating cookies. “Who’s this?” Michael asked when Savannah emerged from the wooded area with Eve. “Where did you get her?”

  Savannah looked beyond him. “I believe she somehow got separated from her family. That’s probably them over there beating the bushes trying to find her.” She said to Lily, “Stay with Daddy, okay? I’ll be right back.”

  “Mommy,” Lily said frantically, “my baby Alana.”

  Seeing that Eve still held tightly to Lily’s doll, Savannah said, “Let me take the baby back to her family, then I’ll bring Alana to you, okay?”

  “That’s my doll, Mommy,” Lily called.

  “I know, honey. You wait there with Daddy.” When she looked up she saw people running toward her. Someone snatched the child from her arms and began smothering her with kisses. Someone else hugged Savannah.

  “Where did you find her?” an older woman asked.

  A teenager ran up to her. “Yeah, where was she? We looked everywhere.”

  “Oh, well, our cat led us to her,” Savannah explained.

  “This cat?” a woman asked, leaning over and petting Rags. She stood up and asked, “You say the cat found her?”

  “How did Star get out?” a man asked. “I put her in the car when Eve went missing. Who let her out?” When no one spoke, he asked Savannah, “Where’d you find the dog?”

  “Well, I think she followed Eve into that stand of trees,” Savannah said. “She showed up shortly after we found the child.”

  “Sounds like it was a group effort,” the policeman said.

  Savannah nodded.

  A woman of about fifty approached Savannah with her hand out. “I’m her grandmother. I just want to say how grateful we are.” She choked up and wiped at one eye. “You just don’t know.”

  Savannah smiled. “I’m awfully glad she’s okay.” When the family started to walk away with Eve and Star, Savannah said, “Um…the doll…”

  “Yes, I didn’t know she took her doll with her,” the child’s mother said.

  “She didn’t,” Savannah asserted. “That’s my daughter’s…”

  Another woman spoke up. “Yeah, I think I saw Eve carrying it just before she disappeared.”

  “I don’t think so,” someone else said. “I saw the doll in the car.”

  “It’s my daughter’s…” Savannah started again.

  When it appeared that no one was paying attention to her in their jubilance, Savannah turned quietly to leave, wondering how she would explain this to Lily. “Come on, Rags,” she said, gently tugging on the leash. She walked toward him and started to pick him up when he trotted away toward where the family had taken Eve. “Let’s go, Rags,” Savannah called.

  At that moment, the child appeared to lose her grip on the doll and it dropped to the ground. Rags tugged against the leash. When Savannah saw what had happened, she loosened her grip on the leash and followed as the cat ran to the doll, grabbed it in his mouth, and trotted back to where Lily waited.

  “Thank you, Rags,” Lily said. “Mommy, he brought me my baby Alana.”

  Savannah laughed. “He sure did.” She picked up Rags and looked into his eyes. “You crazy cat.”

  ****

  “You made it!” Jeannie shouted when she and Pam greeted the Ivey family later that afternoon out in front of their house. After embracing both women, Savannah said, “This is my husband, Michael. Hon, this is Jeannie and Pam.” She looked around. “Where are the children?”

  “Evan’s napping and Shari’s resting with a video game,” Jeannie said. “We had a kind of…” she glanced at her sister, “…harrowing day.

  Pam said, “Yeah, so Jeannie and I needed some down time.”

  “What happened?” Savannah asked.

  Before they could respond, Michael released Lily from her car seat and removed Teddy, taking him to where the women were talking together.

  “Aren’t your children adorable?” Jeannie gushed. “Shari and Evan are going to love having kids to play with. We’re so isolated out here.”

  Michael looked around. “Yes, you are.” Enthusiastically, he said, “What a great house!”

  “Are you an architect?” Pam asked, then corrected, “No, you’re a veterinarian, right?”

  He nodded.

  “He’s a weekend renovation warrior,” Savannah said. “We live in a turn-of-the-century home, and he has done some wonderful renovations.” She looked at the house behind the sisters. “This is… well…” she hesitated, “it’s like from a fairytale.”

  Pam chuckled. “Yeah, not my style, but when the trouble started we decided to stay here and catch our breath before trying to sell it.” She frowned. “It’s too ornate for me, but this was Mama’s dream, to live a, as you said, a fairytale. When Grandpa died, she poured her inheritance into this dream of hers. I just hope we can sell it.”

  Jeannie nodded. “Yeah, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.”

  Savannah giggled. “It’s an entire Alice in Wonderland tea party.”

  Jeannie nodded. “The children sure love it.”

  “I imagine,” Michael said, attempting to take in the ornate details.

  “I just hope there’s someone else in the world who wants to live like a princess,” Pam said.

  “Maybe the Disney family would be interested,” Michael suggested.

  The sisters laughed, then Jeannie asked, “Where’s Rags? You brought him, didn’t you?”

  “Right here,” Savannah said, reaching into the car and removing him from his seat.

  “Oh, there you are, Rags,” Jeannie said. She petted him and touched noses with him. “Good to see you, old boy. I sure hope you’ll be able to help us with our latest problem.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah said. “We want to hear more about that and how you think Rags can help.”

  “Well, come on in,” Pam said, leading the wa
y toward the house.

  Before reaching the porch, Savannah said excitedly, “Hey look, there’s beautiful Angel in the window. Oh, guys, she looks wonderful!”

  “An angel?” Lily squealed. “Where, Mommy? I don’t see an angel.”

  “Angel is a kitty. See the pretty Ragdoll kitty-cat in that window there? That’s Angel.” Again she said, “She really looks good.”

  Jeannie smiled. “We’ve managed to bring her back to full coat. She truly is a magnificent cat.”

  “That’s his mother?” Michael asked, peering at the cat in the window as they walked up the narrow steps to the house. He petted Rags. “Gosh, boy, you sure didn’t get her beauty, did you?” He chuckled. “Beauty and the beast.”

  “He’s not a beast,” Savannah objected. She snuggled with Rags. “Oh my,” she said wide-eyed when they stepped through the front door. “This is…well, rather overwhelming. Your mother really had fun with this place, didn’t she?” Savannah giggled. “She must have been young at heart.”

  “That she was,” Pam said, smiling.

  Lily pulled on Savannah’s sleeve. “Mommy,” she whispered loudly, “is this Disneyland?”

  “Almost,” Savannah said. She looked at Teddy as he took it all in from Michael’s arms. “Even he’s overwhelmed.” She giggled. “Look at his big eyes.”

  “Well, let us show you your room and you can get settled, then we’ll give you the grand tour before tea and crumpets, or in case we go down the rabbit hole,” Pam said, laughing.

  “Well, hi there, Shari,” Savannah greeted when the little girl came into the room.

  “Hi,” the child responded quietly. She looked at everyone, then her eyes rested on Lily. “Is this your little girl?” She walked up to Lily and asked, “What’s your name? How old are you?”

  “I’m Lily,” she said. “I’m four and a half.” She looked at Savannah for confirmation.

  “Punkin,” Savannah said, “this is Shari. Are you still eight?”

  The child nodded, then asked Lily, “Want to come see my room?”

  “Do you have dollies?” Lily asked. When Shari nodded, Lily looked at Savannah, then Michael. “Can I?”

  “Sure, honey,” Savannah said. She added, “Shari, stay with her, will you? I’m afraid she could get lost in this big house.”