Chez Stinky (13 page)

The next morning, Murphee stepped on Kat’s head to indicate that it was time for breakfast. As she opened her eyes, Kat had a disorienting moment when she had no idea where she was. All she could hear was the twittering of birds outside. There were no cars, no people, nothing. She rolled over on her side and stroked Murphee’s shiny black fur, contemplating the quiet. For most of her life she had lived in cities with their continuous hum of people going about their business. Even at the motel, the road noise and the people staying at the RV park generated a certain amount of racket. This was the first time Kat could remember lying in bed hearing nothing except the sounds of nature.

The peaceful silence was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing in the kitchen. Kat dislodged Murphee and jumped out of bed to answer it. She picked up the harvest-gold receiver from the wall and mumbled a greeting.

“Hello, this is Louise Johnson. We met the other day.”

“Yes, I hope your allergies are better,” Kat replied.

“I’ve been hearing that you are not taking good care of the animals, and I’m worried. Abigail, rest her soul, was extremely concerned that all of her babies get proper care after she was gone.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. Apparently news moved fast in Alpine Grove. “What did you hear from whom? I had a problem with a cat in the wall last night, but everything is okay now.”

Louise sniffed with disdain. “Well, word gets out, you know. I know people. And people talk. I heard that cats were fighting and dogs were running around all willy nilly. What in heaven’s name is going on there?”

“I don’t know what you heard, but everything is fine. There was a hole in the wall and a cat was curious and slipped down behind the wallboard. I couldn’t get in touch with Bud, who made the hole in the first place. So I called Cindy, who asked her brother Joel to come out to help me get the cat out because I couldn’t find any tools here. Tripod is completely unharmed and doing well.”

“I think I need to come by and see for myself. Abigail entrusted me to ensure her babies get proper care. She wants them all to be living in the house in harmony.”

“Well, one dog, Tessa, was staying outside when I got here. She has her own enclosure. The dog walker said it’s because of her behavior issues.”

Louise gasped daintily, “Oh my dear, that’s completely unacceptable! Abigail’s dogs are all house dogs. She wanted everyone to be a family.”

Sure. A dysfunctional family, maybe
. “Cindy didn’t tell me Tessa was supposed to be inside. The dogs and cats are all getting to know me. Yesterday I had some cleaning to do, but we’re all fine.”

“No, no. This isn’t good. Oh dear, I’m in a bit of a tizzy now. I must see for myself what is really going on there! I’ll be out later after I have my hair done.”

Kat envisioned Louise waving her hands frantically in her tizzy-state. As she hung up the phone, she had a bad feeling that Louise probably wasn’t going to be impressed with what she found here. However, now that Kat had moderately functional plumbing, if nothing else, she was finally going to take a shower.

Later that morning, Kat went to take the dogs out for their morning excursion into the forest. She decided to get Chelsey from her basement first, so they could all go for a walk as a ‘family.’ Apparently, this level of bonding was important to Louise, so if Kat wanted to get on the woman’s good side, she’d better start working on critter togetherness. As far as she could tell, the dogs seemed to like each other. Maybe pack harmony would reign supreme.

Again, Kat used her makeshift pack/harness arrangement and attached Tessa to Linus. The pair scampered off happily toward the forest trail with the slow human trailing behind with Chelsey. Because she spent so much time sitting on the floor with Chelsey convincing her the world was not the scary awful place she thought it was, Kat was starting to like the weird little dog. Chelsey was definitely a worrier, but once she was out on her walk, she seemed to relax a bit and start enjoying life. Kat could relate. At the moment, she had a few things to worry about, too.

Lori joined the group, trotting alongside Kat and Chelsey as they walked through the trees. Sunlight dappled the trail in front of them, and the wind whispered through the aspen leaves above. A whole lot of changes had taken place in just the last week. Kat’s apartment was going condo and her job was unsatisfying, to put it mildly. Although she liked writing, she didn’t actually get to do much writing at work. She’d always been a writer. It had been part of her identity for so long, it was difficult to imagine doing anything else.

On the other hand, listening to the sounds of the woods was peaceful. The setting here was one of the most beautiful patches of forest Kat had ever seen. The idea of never seeing a cubicle again gave her a little chill up her spine. What if she didn’t just take a vacation? What if she never went back? What would that feel like? Never seeing Chris or Mark again? Kat closed her eyes for a moment and imagined simply staying here in Alpine Grove. It was possible if she could get all the animals to get along. She’d have enough money to live for a while (well, assuming the place didn’t disintegrate any more than it already had). She also was starting to hate the idea of finding the dogs new homes. Even Tessa’s exuberance was starting to seem cute instead of obnoxious. Although she was still the out-of-control spaz dog, it was hard not to smile at the outpouring of pure joy that burst from Tessa’s furry golden body at the slightest provocation.

As Kat, Chelsey, and Lori looped back around toward the end of the forest trail, their tranquil walk was disturbed by a mighty “WOOF!” from Linus up ahead. He and Tessa had seen something and were heading toward the driveway at maximum speed.

Uh oh.

Kat chased after the galloping canines with Chelsey in tow. Chelsey obviously thought all the excitement and running was great fun and bounded alongside Kat with a level of glee that Kat hadn’t seen before.

Kat exited the copse of trees, dashing toward the house surrounded by dogs. Louise was standing in the driveway rummaging through her large handbag. Linus and Tessa were ahead of Kat, speeding toward Louise with the leash spread out between them. Kat wasn’t a big sports fan, but she’d seen enough football games to know what the term ‘clotheslined’ meant.

“Louise, get out of the way!” she yelled as loudly as she could.

Louise looked up from her purse and assessed the situation with surprising haste. She scampered toward a nearby tree and hugged it for security. Linus stopped in front of her, dragging Tessa to a halt with a whoosh of dust. Tessa started leaping on Louise, who had released her hold on the Douglas fir she’d been hugging and had her arms up in front of her face to ward off the canine onslaught.

“Linus! Come here!” Kat shouted.

Linus turned his head and started ambling back toward Kat, dragging Tessa off Louise in the process. Louise stepped away from her savior fir tree and began brushing the dust off her skirt. Kat could tell by the jerking strokes of her hands against the fabric that the older woman was not happy. Her body language oozed fury.

“Hi, Louise. I’m sorry about that,” she called as she grabbed hold of the leash between Linus and Tessa. “I’m going to put Tessa back into her enclosure now.”

Louise nodded her head in acknowledgment and returned to her ministrations. Kat walked Linus and Tessa slowly toward the outbuilding, dreading the upcoming conversation with Louise. Tessa was panting and jumping with delight and straining to get back to her outbuilding so she could get a drink of water. As they entered the Tessa Hut, Kat chastened the dog, “Tessa, don’t look so happy. You do realize we’re in trouble now, right?” Tessa wagged her tail and panted enthusiastically. Kat looked at Linus, “Try to look serious when we go back out there, okay Big Guy?”

Linus wagged his tail and gazed at Kat with a lighthearted glint in his eye. Kat giggled and bent down to give him a hug around his hairy ruff. “Oh my God, it was hilarious when she was hugging that tree, wasn’t it?” She started to laugh harder and turned her face into his fur in an attempt to muffle the sound. She kept telling herself no, it was
not
funny. Louise could have been seriously hurt.
Really!
It was
not
funny! But the vision of Louise clutching the tree overrode any sense of propriety.

Behind the chain-link fence of her enclosure, Tessa sprang around, happy to join in any silliness that might transpire. Kat tried pinching her own arm in an effort to try to control her hilarity. Her eyes were watering and a terminal case of the giggles returned every time she looked at one of the dogs. “Come on you guys, stop making me laugh!” Both dogs wagged and panted cheerfully.

Kat wiped her eyes and attempted to get herself under control before going back outside to face Louise. “Okay Linus, remember: we’re serious now. This is
serious
.” Linus closed his mouth, pausing his panting for a moment. Apparently, this was his serious look.

After clearing her throat several times and smoothing her rumpled hair, Kat strode out of the kennel, trying to look composed and not like she’d just collapsed into a laughing fit. With Chelsey by her side and Linus and Lori trailing behind, Kat walked over to the driveway where Louise was standing.

“Louise, it’s nice to see you again.”

Louise’s face was somewhat flushed and her lips were pursed together, giving her a pinched expression like an angry yellow raisin. “Hello, Kat. As you know, I am here to evaluate how you are doing. It’s just as I feared. Dogs running everywhere. And the whole town is talking about the cat in the wall incident. I’m too ashamed to tell anyone that I’m supposed to be evaluating your fitness to take care of Abigail’s lovely home. She’s probably rolling over in her grave right now.”

Kat paused for a moment to consider her response.
Lovely home? She had to be kidding. Maybe 30 years ago, but now?
“Louise, I know I haven’t seen my aunt in a long time, but she had a good sense of humor. She’s probably laughing her ass off right now.”

Louise gasped. “Don’t you dare use that type of language with me, young lady!”

“You told me that I have to walk the dogs together. I did. Even Chelsey here. Look how happy she is!” Kat patted the dog’s head, and Chelsey wagged in agreement. “She wouldn’t come out of the basement a few days ago. Cindy told me that and I saw it first-hand.”

“Well, yes, but the dogs are running around everywhere!”

“They have a doggie door. Obviously my aunt let them run around. I know Linus and Lori don’t go anywhere. Tessa is too strong for anyone except Linus to walk, so I’ve given him that responsibility. He’s being a very good boy, too. Aren’t you, Linus?” Kat patted his huge head for emphasis. Linus looked up at her and wagged his tail in response.

Louise brought her brows together. “Well, they do seem to like you, anyway. I’m just worried.”

“I’ve only been here a couple of days. It has been challenging because the house may not be in as good shape as you remember. I had some…ah…cleaning to do.” (That was putting it nicely.)

“All right. I must see the cats, though. Where are Butch and Sundance?”

Kat eyes widened. “There are more cats?”

“There are supposed to be five cats here. Have you lost some? That’s not good.”

“I have met Dolly Mae, Louie and Tripod, who was the one in the wall. I haven’t seen Butch and Sundance in the house anywhere.”

“No, they are barn cats. They were dumped here a few years ago and were a bit wild. Abigail trapped them and got them fixed, but they don’t like the indoors at all.”

“Okay. Where is their food?”

“Cindy knows. I can’t believe she didn’t tell you! Oh, she is just so forgetful. But she’s such a darling girl. Everybody loves her.”

Kat considered what Joel had said about his sister and her own reactions. ‘Everyone’ might be a bit of a stretch, but it seemed like Cindy had a vocal fan club here in Alpine Grove. “I can give her a call and ask. She didn’t mention outdoor cats on the information she wrote up for me. But I think she was in a hurry.”

“All right. Well, I have to go. Mitzi rescheduled my hair appointment.” Louise patted her cap of blue curls tenderly. ”I must get back to town now. I’ll check in again when I have more time.”

“See you then.”

Louise climbed into her yellow Buick station wagon and slowly picked her way down the driveway, attempting to avoid the most treacherous pot holes.

Relieved that Louise’s anger level seemed to have dropped somewhat since the near death-by-clotheslining episode, Kat stood and stroked Linus’s head as he leaned against her thigh and waved his tail back and forth companionably. “What do you think, Big Guy? Is she going to throw me out?” Linus gazed up at her face with a questioning look in his eyes. “Yeah, I don’t know either. But I’m pretty sure everyone at Mitzy’s salon is going to hear about how you and Tessa almost killed her.”