CATalyst for Clues (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 25) Page 14

  He looked inside the tote and pulled out a pair of cowboy boots. “I’ll carry these,” he said, racing up the stairs.

  “I take it she shares a room,” Gladys said. She looked at Allia. “…with you?”

  Tiffany shook her head. “With her twin sister. When you have a family of seven children, there are no rooms of anyone’s own,” she lamented.

  Gladys rolled her eyes. “Oh, I see. No wonder she’s excited.” She frowned. “I hope she doesn’t become afraid being all by herself.” She put her hand on Tiffany’s arm. “If she does, I’ll bring her into my room. She can sleep on the daybed.”

  “How nice of you,” Tiffany said. “But I doubt she’ll have that problem. The problem will be getting her to come back home with us Sunday evening.”

  Everyone laughed.

  As Savannah said goodbye to Tiffany and Allia, Adam and Kira raced back down the staircase into the kitchen. “Can we take Rags out with us?” Adam recognized the look on Savannah’s face and he lowered his head and his voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you were talking.” When no one said anything right away, he asked excitedly, “Can we, huh?”

  Savannah smiled at the boy. “Okay. Put the long leash on him and…” she made sure Adam was looking into her face before adding, “…do not let go of the leash.”

  “I know,” Adam said just before walking away. He turned to Kira. “We have to catch him first so he doesn’t know we’re going to put the harness thing on him. He’d rather go out without it.”

  “There he is,” Kira said when she spotted the cat sauntering into the room. “Hi Rags. Want to go out with us?”

  “You hold him and I’ll get him dressed.” Adam giggled. “That’s what Dad says when we’re putting on his harness—he’s getting dressed.”

  Both children laughed.

  ****

  By mid-morning, Savannah had fed Teddy and completed her grocery list. She stepped out onto the porch and called, “Hey kids, let’s get ready for our trail ride.”

  “Oh boy,” Adam said, taking the slack out of the cat’s leash. “Come on, Rags. Time to go inside. Our play date’s over.” He shouted to Kira, “Bring those things he found! I want to show Savannah and Grammy!” As the children and the cat entered the kitchen, Adam said, “Savannah, look what Rags found.”

  “Oh no, what now?” she complained.

  “Rad stuff,” he insisted. He removed Rags’s harness, draped it over a kitchen chair, then reached toward what Kira held in her hands. “Just look at all this stuff.”

  “Uh-uh,” Savannah said. “Put that harness where you found it.”

  “Oh, I was just going to show you…”

  “You can show me after you hang the harness up in the service porch, okay?”

  “Okay,” he said, grabbing the harness and leash and running to where it was supposed to hang. By the time he returned, Kira had dropped the items she’d carried into the house on the tabletop.

  “Oh my goodness,” Savannah said, moving the items around to get a better look at them. “Where did you find these things?”

  “Rags found them,” Adam said, wide-eyed.

  Kira nodded. “While we were working on the fort. He kept bringing us stuff. Every time we’d look at him, there he was…”

  “Yeah,” Adam said, “with something else in his mouth.”

  “Where’d he get it?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “We don’t know.”

  Savannah frowned. “How far did he go? Adam, you didn’t let him out of your sight, did you?”

  He hesitated and glanced at Kira. “Well, yeah, when we were down in the fort, we couldn’t exactly see where he was, but he didn’t go farther than the long leash reached. We do know that—right, Kira?”

  “Yes. He didn’t go anywhere. Just to the end of the leash. He didn’t even go off your property,” she insisted.

  “True story,” Adam agreed.

  Savannah exchanged glances with Gladys and chuckled. “True story, huh?”

  “So what do you have there?” Gladys asked, walking closer. “A stuffed tiger, a man’s wallet…” She picked it up. “Anything in it?”

  “No. It’s all new stuff.”

  “He’s right,” Savannah said. “They still have the price tags.” She shook her head. “Well, this is odd. You’re sure he didn’t get away from you and go into someone’s yard?”

  “I’m sure,” Adam said.

  Gladys laughed. “Looks like he went down town to the five-and-dime.”

  Adam looked at her. “What’s a five-and-dime?”

  “You know, a variety store.”

  When the children still seemed confused, Gladys said, “A smaller version of a department store.”

  “Oh,” Adam said. “No, he didn’t go shopping. He didn’t have any money, for one thing. And we never turned him loose. When I wasn’t holding his leash, we tied it to one of the orchard trees.”

  “So he must have found this stuff in the orchard,” Gladys said. She looked at the children. “Was it in a bag? Do you suppose someone dropped it on their way home from the strip mall?”

  “I didn’t see a big bag, did you, Kira?”

  She shook her head. “Only a little bag. That cigarette lighter was in a small bag.”

  “Oh,” Savannah said, “I was wondering how Rags could have carried a cigarette lighter.” She frowned. “Gads, do you suppose a neighborhood child has been hiding this stuff away for some sort of naughty purpose? That cigarette lighter is worrisome.” Suddenly, Savannah checked her watch. “Well, we don’t have time to figure out this mystery right now. Bonnie’s expecting us. Do you kids want to get washed up? Grab a hat and a light sweater or jacket…and put on your cowboy boots.”

  “My boots are in the laundry room,” Adam said, walking in that direction. He returned shortly and sat down in one of Lily’s little chairs to pull them on.

  “Did you say Bonnie’s bringing your horse back today?” Gladys asked.

  “Yes. This afternoon or maybe tomorrow morning. We’ll drive over this morning and ride Peaches from the stable, along with Wilson and maybe Delilah and Beulah.”

  Adam giggled. “Those names. They’re funny.” He then asked, “Isn’t Dad going with us?”

  “He sure is,” Savannah said. “He’s running a little late, so he’ll meet us at the stables. Oh, Adam, would you grab your dad’s boots and hat from the laundry room?”

  Shortly, Savannah picked up her backpack, which was filled with water and their picnic lunch. “See you in a few hours, Mom,” she said as she ushered the children toward the door.

  “A few?” Gladys asked.

  “Well, more like three or four, probably. Are you okay with that?”

  “Sure. I think your aunt’s coming over for lunch. We want to discuss the menu for the Sunday family and friends meal.”

  “How’d you get involved in that?” Savannah asked.

  “I want to help,” Gladys said indignantly. “I’m a member of the community again, you know. I want to participate.”

  Savannah hugged her mom. “Neat. I’m glad you feel that way.”

  ****

  “Are you going with us?” Savannah asked when she saw her friend Bonnie lead a dappled mare to the hitching post where Savannah was saddling Wilson.

  Bonnie smiled. “I thought I might. You keep asking and I keep having too much to do here at the stables.”

  “So this is a light work day for you?”

  “No. On the contrary, it’s been hectic this morning, which is why I decided to get away.” Bonnie grinned. “Sometimes you just have to run away from responsibilities and this is one of those days.”

  “Cool.” Savannah said. “We haven’t ridden together in a long time.”

  “Too long.”

  “Who’s riding that polka-dot horse?” Kira asked.

  “I am,” Bonnie said while brushing the mare. “She’s a dapple,” she explained.

&
nbsp; “You’re going with us? Rad,” Adam said. “I’ve only seen you ride around in those circle-pens.”

  Savannah laughed. “So you thought Bonnie just rode merry-go-round ponies, huh?” She called Kira over. “Let’s check the stirrups. Want to step up here on the porch so you can get on Mr. Wilson more easily?”

  “Here comes Dad,” Adam said excitedly. “Which horse is he riding, Bonnie?”

  “His horse is tied over there next to the trailer. That’s Kickaboo Star.”

  “Huh?” Adam said.

  Kira giggled.

  Bonnie pointed. “Yeah, look at his face when he turns this way and you’ll see the white stripe. Don’t you think it’s shaped like the back leg of a horse?”

  “Ohhh,” Adam said. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “I see it,” Kira said. “Kickaboo. That’s cute. Kickaboo,” she repeated. “I like it. Can I ride Kickaboo Star?”

  “Honey, not until you’ve had a few lessons with me.” Bonnie chuckled. “He likes to live up to his name and kick a little.” She gave both children a stern look. “So I don’t want anyone walking behind him, okay? He’s still a little spooky sometimes.” She smiled. “But we’re working on that.”

  “Hey, Dad,” Adam called as Michael approached, “you’re riding Kickaboo and you’d better watch out, ’cause he kicks. Bonnie said so.”

  Michael stopped and glared playfully at Bonnie. “Oh, he does, does he? And you want me to ride him? I’m probably the least-accomplished rider here.”

  “Oh, Dr. Mike,” Bonnie said, “you give him his shots and you treated that abscess on his leg a month ago without any trouble. You’ll do just fine.”

  “Yeah, he seems to like me when I’m on the ground, at his level, but will he let me sit on his back?” he complained light-heartedly.

  “Ready?” Bonnie asked, once everyone had mounted their animals.

  “You’re guiding us today, Bonnie?” Michael asked from atop the bay gelding.

  “Yeah, Dad,” Adam said, “Bonnie’s going to tell us some old Indian stories.”

  “Folklore,” she explained. “There are quite a few legends living in these hills.”

  “Legends live here?” Adam asked. “What’s a legend?”

  “A story…a myth…” Michael said.

  “Folklore,” Savannah added.

  “Come on, Bella,” Bonnie called. She whistled and the Queensland heeler dog raced after her and began walking along next to her horse.

  They’d ridden for several minutes talking about the scenery, the squeaky sound some of the saddles made, and the fact that some horses like to walk slower than others, when Bonnie said, “See the giant lying on top of that mountain?”

  “Where?” Kira asked, wide-eyed.

  “Yeah, where?” Adam asked. “A giant?”

  Bonnie chuckled. “If you look real carefully, you’ll see the shape of what looks like a huge giant resting against that peak up there.” She pointed. “See his hat and the outline of his body and his feet?”

  “Yeah, I see it!” Adam shouted.

  “Uh-oh,” Bonnie said quietly, “you don’t want to wake him.”

  “Wake him up?” Kira asked. “What do you mean?”

  Still staring at the figure on the mountaintop, Adam asked, “Yeah, what would happen?”

  “Well, for starters, some believe he’s the keeper of the volcano.”

  “Volcano?” Kira repeated. “There’s a volcano up there?”

  “Yeah, according to an American Indian legend, that volcano exploded one night.” She raised one hand dramatically. “Just imagine the sky filled with fiery colors of red, yellow, and orange and this mountain spewing bright red lava.”

  “Sounds pretty,” Kira said, “like the fireworks at Disneyland.”

  Bonnie frowned. “Yeah, except that there was an Indian village at the foot of the mountain, just about where we are right now. And everyone in the village was asleep. They didn’t know they were in danger.” When Bonnie noticed the children’s intense interest, she continued, “Outside the village, on another part of the mountain, lived a lonely giant.”

  “Why was he lonely?” Kira asked.

  “Well, no one wanted to make friends with him because he was so big and loud and actually a pretty scary-looking guy.”

  “He didn’t have any friends at all? What about the animals—you know, the wild animals?” Adam asked.

  Bonnie and Savannah exchanged smiles and Bonnie continued, “Yes, Adam, you got that right. He had a whole lot of animal friends. They crawled all over him when he sat down or lay down to sleep. In fact, if you look carefully at the giant up there, you may be able to see some animals around him right now. Sometimes, when the sun’s in the right place, I can see a bunny there near his elbow and a chipmunk leaning against his knee. See the bear shape just below his feet there?”

  “Yeah, I see the bear!” Kira shouted.

  “Shhh,” Adam said. “You might wake him up.” He looked at Bonnie. “How’d he get up there, anyway? Did he die up there and someone carved the giant in the mountain like the presidents on Mount Rushmore?”

  “Well, the thing is, Adam and Kira,” Bonnie continued, “when he saw that the villagers—you know the men, women, children, and their animals—were in danger, he became worried. You see, he was a kind giant and he didn’t want any harm to come to the people. So he ran up the mountain as fast as he could and he blew and blew and blew until the fire inside the mountain went out, then he lay down and went to sleep, forever guarding the volcano so it would never again erupt and harm anyone in its path.”

  “Wow,” Kira said quietly. She and Adam continued staring up at the mountain top.

  “Is that a true story?” Adam asked.

  Michael rode up next to Adam. “Now, what do you think, son?”

  Adam stared at the mountain for a few minutes, then looked at Bonnie. “Is it?” he asked her.

  She winked at him. “It’s an honest-to-goodness folk story.”

  “What’s a folk story, anyway?” Adam asked. “Is it like fiction? That sounds like fiction to me.”

  “Well, it’s whatever you want it to be. Folklore is passed down through the generations and it’s pretty much honored as true…” she grinned. “…as long as you take a little grain of salt with it.”

  When the children seemed confused, Savannah asked them, “Have you ever played the game Secret? I think it’s also called Chinese Secret or Communication. It’s where you whisper a secret to someone in a circle and they whisper it to the next person and so forth.”

  “Yeah, I’ve played that,” Adam said.

  Kira nodded. “Me too.”

  “And what happens at the end of the game?” Savannah asked.

  “The secret is way different than when it started,” Kira said.

  “Yeah, like a rumor,” Michael said. “That’s why you can’t always believe a rumor, because it changes with the telling of it.”

  Adam squinted. “So folklore is like a rumor?”

  “Kinda,” Savannah said. “And the story Bonnie told us is the rumor or folklore that everyone in this generation believes.”

  “So a long time ago, the story was different?” Adam asked.

  Savannah nodded, then asked, “Hey, is anyone hungry? Grammy made us a nice picnic lunch.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said.

  “Me too,” Kira agreed.

  “Shall we stop here under this shade tree and eat?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Michael said. “Come on, Kick-me-to-the-loo.”

  Adam and Kira giggled. “That’s not his name, Dad.”

  “Oh, Kick-a-looney-tune?” he joked.

  “Nooo.”

  “How about Kick-it-around-the-zoo?”

  “Daaad,” Adam said, laughing, “it’s Kickaboo.”

  After they started eating the sandwiches Gladys had packed for them, Adam asked, “Hey, Bonnie, do you know anymore rumor stories?”<
br />
  “You like folklore, do you?”

  “Yeah, I’m going to tell that one to Grammy and Lily tonight.”

  ****

  “Hi, Grammy!” Adam shouted when he burst through the kitchen door and found Gladys cradling Teddy in her arms. Lily sat at her little table pounding wooden pegs into a toy cobbler’s bench. “We had a rad time on our ride. Bonnie told us fake stories.”

  “Folklore,” Kira corrected, “about a giant who saved a village.”

  “Yeah, and now you have to be quiet when you go near the volcano so you don’t wake the giant.”

  “Oh really?” Gladys said, looking at Savannah and Michael.

  “Yeah, but the story might have been different a long time ago, because rumors can change sometimes,” Adam said.

  “Boy, is that the truth,” Gladys agreed. She smiled. “It is fun to hear those old legends, though, and imagine how things were back then.”

  “So is this the stuff you guys found today?” Michael asked when he saw the items on the countertop.

  Adam ran to where Michael stood. “Yes. Rags found it out by the fort.”

  Michael picked up the wallet and examined it. Then checked out the cigarette lighter. “And you don’t know where he got it from?”

  “The kids haven’t had a chance to go out and look around,” Savannah explained. “It’s still light out. Mom, do they have time to go exploring before dinner?”

  “Sure. It’ll keep until they get back.”

  “Great,” Adam said. “Come on Kira, let’s dress Rags and go see if he’ll show us where he found that stuff.” He looked at Michael. “Wanna go, Dad?”

  He nodded. “Sure do.”

  Savannah smiled. She moved closer to where Gladys sat, caressed Teddy’s little face, then slipped out of her shoes and headed for the bedroom. “Good. While you do that, I’m going to take a shower.”

  ****

  “Well?” Savannah questioned when Michael and the children returned to the kitchen. “What did you find?”

  “Nothing,” Michael said, slipping out of his lightweight jacket and hanging it in the service porch.

  She watched as Adam removed Rags’s harness and Kira hung it on the hook. “Rags didn’t lead you to the stash?” She nodded toward the items the kids had found earlier. “Or is that all there was out there?”