“Help!” Dooley cried. “Help!”
“I can’t believe this,” the woman said, sounding annoyed, and just hung up!
“I don’t think she understood us,” said Dooley.
“I think you’re right,” I said.
There was only one thing we could do, and that was to get help.
So we both ran from the room and down the stairs, then out through the cat flap and into the backyard. First destination: Marge. She wasn’t home, of course, having gone to the library. So we ran out into the street, on our way to the library. Marge would understand. She would call 911 and tell that silly woman that there was an emergency.
We hadn’t even run a hundred yards when a strange sight greeted our eyes: Uncle Alec, Tex, Marge and Gran all came huffing and puffing around the corner, as if they’d just run a marathon. When they saw us, they all started talking at the same time, and so did Dooley and I.
Finally, I managed to shout,“It’s Odelia! She took a nasty fall and she looks dead!”
That urged them into action, and soon they were galloping towards the house.
“It’s the man in the yellow parka,” Gran huffed as she passed us. “He’s done it again!”
I hadn’t seen any man in a yellow parka. Just Odelia slipping on the rug. But Gran seemed sure of herself, and there was no time to argue, so I kept my mouth shut.
At the house, they all stomped up the stairs, and so did we.
Tex sank down on his knees next to his daughter, pressed his fingers into her neck and quickly said, his voice quaking with emotion,“She’s alive. She’s alive!”
They all laughed with relief, and so did Dooley and I. Funny how your life can change in the blink of an eye, and how a few words can bring you from the depths of despair back to the surface.
“She just had a nasty bump,” Tex said, examining her further. “We need to get her to a hospital, though, just in case. She might have a concussion.”
Soon the humans in the room took control of the situation, an ambulance was called in, and moments later a car screeched to a stop in front of the house, and another heavy body came stomping up the stairs. It was Chase. The moment he saw an inert and pale Odelia, he bellowed,“Odelia, no!”
“She’s fine,” said Tex, putting a hand on the cop’s arm. “She slipped and fell but she’ll be fine. I’ll stake my reputation on it.”
Chase sank down on the floor next to Odelia and took her hand. He now looked as pale as she did, and I wondered why that was. Low blood pressure, maybe. Or blood sugar? Someone should probably have offered him candy. He looked like he was about to faint.
The sound of an ambulance reached my finely tuned ears, and moments later the humans picked up the sound, too, for they all looked very much relieved.
Then Gran turned to me and Dooley.“There’s one thing I need to know from you guys,” she said sternly. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”
I saw how Chase was watching on, a puzzled look on his face.
“Was the man in yellow involved in this ‘accident?’” She used her fingers to make air quotes.
“There was no man in yellow,” I said.
“There was a yellow carpet, though,” said Dooley. “It made Odelia slip and fall.”
Gran narrowed her eyes at us.“You’re sure about that?”
We both nodded.
“Huh,” she said, as if she hadn’t expected that. “How weird is that?”
Chase shook his head. Luckily Gran has a reputation for being slightly unhinged, so he probably didn’t think much of her talking to us. Besides, he had other things to deal with, now that the paramedics came galloping up the stairs, a stretcher dangling between them. They quickly scooped Odelia up, then carried her down the stairs, with some grunts and groans. And as we watched on, she was loaded into the waiting ambulance, Marge and Tex joining them while Chase jumped into his pickup and took off after the ambulance.
“What a morning,” said Alec once they were gone. “What. A. Morning.”
“You can say that again,” I said, even though Alec couldn’t understand.
Chapter 33
Brutus had heard the commotion, but he’d opted not to get involved. He had enough problems of his own to contend with to get mixed up in the ongoing human drama that seemed to be an important part of life at the Pooles. He was sitting in one of his favorite spots in the world: the rosebushes at the back of Odelia’s backyard. It washere that he and Harriet had always used to sit. Here that they’d spent some of the best moments in their love affair, and it was here that Brutus decided to come to cherish those sweet memories.
Also, he’d had three brushes with death already, and wasn’t looking for a fourth.
So no more ponds for him, or high places where all he could do was stumble off and hope there was someone to break his fall. This time he was going to stay in his beloved rosebushes and dream of his beloved Harriet.
And as he dreamed, he thought he could almost hear her voice. He’d closed his eyes and imagined things could go back to the way they were before the incident. And as he thought about Darlene, he suddenly had a sinking feeling.
And then he realized that he was actually sinking. For real.
He opened his eyes and realized the ground was swallowing him up!
He was sinking faster and faster. Nearby, he thought he could hear Harriet shouting,“Brutus!” But that was just his imagination, of course. Why would Harriet be shouting his name like that? Not in anger, as she had for the past two days, but in anguish, almost as if she were watching him sinking deeper and deeper.
And even as the ground kept swallowing him up, he thought that this was probably the way it had to be. Life seemed adamant on casting him into these dangerous situations, so maybe this was the punishment he deserved.
“Brutus!” Harriet shouted.
This time it sounded even closer.
“Hold on! I’m going to try something!”
“Harriet? Is that you?”
But it couldn’t be. She wasn’t talking to him.
“Don’t give up, Brutus!”
“Is that really you?”
The muddy muck he was sinking into was up to his chest now, and he was starting to make attempts to keep on floating. It was hard going, though, as the crud seemed to suck him down like quicksand. Practically his whole body was now caught in the sticky stuff.
“Watch out!” Harriet shouted.
Suddenly he felt something bubbling underneath his butt. And then he was flying, a powerful stream of water propelling him into the air. He flew up and away, and finally landed on the lawn, rain spraying him. Only it wasn’t rain, as there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But water was still raining down on him. And then he saw what was going on: Harriet had opened the sprinklers, a part of which was installed in the rosebushes. She must have opened them all the way, for they’d propelled him right out of that puddlehe was caught in.
He blinked as water soaked him. And then suddenly Harriet rose into his field of vision. She looked at him with such an expression of concern he didn’t mind getting wet.
“Are you all right, snookums?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.
“I’m fine,” he said. “You saved me.”
“I realized something last night, snuggle pooh,” she said softly.
“What’s that?”
“That I love you too much to let this thing between us be over.”
“Oh, Harriet,” he said, a catch in his voice. “I’ve been such a fool. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I talked to Darlene. Last night in the park? She told me the truth. That you were a real gentlecat. And that you were never anywhere near her butt.”
“She said that?”
“Not willingly. I may have mentioned slashing her throat.”
He laughed.“Oh, honey muffin.”
“Oh, love bug.”
“You saved me!”
“That’s something else I realized. Ever since we broke up you keep getting yourself into these dangerous situations. At this rate you’re going to run out of your nine lives.”