“We’d find the killer,” Brutus said. “Pretty clever, buddy.”
“Max followed the pizza boxes,” said Dooley. “Just like Aurora Teagarden.”
We all laughed. Dooley was right. The pizza boxes had led us to the killers.
“The real hero is, of course, Big Mac,” I said. “He’s solved the whole thing.”
We all looked in the direction of the big red cat, who was gobbling down the hamburger patties Tex kept feeding him. Finally, he waddled over in our direction. He was too big to jump up onto the swing, so he stayed where he was, then heaved a soft burp.
“And? How do you like the taste of a real burger?” I asked.
Big Mac shook his head sadly.“It’s not the same, you guys.”
“But these are real burgers—not the junk food you usually eat.”
“Yeah, but junk food tastes so much better,” said Big Mac. “Honestly? There’s no comparison. No offense,” he added for Tex’s sake.
“He can’t understand you,” said Harriet. “Only Odelia, Marge and Vesta can.”
“Weird. What about the buff dude?”
“Nope. Chase doesn’t understand us either.”
“Or the sheriff?”
Harriet shook her head.“Only the women in this family speak feline.”
“Huh. Too bad. Would be so easy if the whole world could understand us.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” said Clarice, who’d joined us. She’d been coming and going these last couple of days, trying to get accustomed to having her own home. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last, though. Once a feral cat, always a feral cat. Odelia had tried to domesticate her once before and it hadn’t worked. Then again, Clarice probably wouldn’t be the same if she became like the rest of us. That was part of her appeal. And the reason I liked her.
“What are you guys talking about?” she asked now.
“Humans,” said Big Mac.
“Oh, don’t get me started on humans,” she growled, darting a cold look at the humans gathered in the backyard. At that moment Odelia offered Clarice a piece of raw burger. She swallowed it down whole. Odelia laughed and fed her another piece.
“These humans aren’t so bad,” said Big Mac.
“I guess not,” said Clarice grudgingly.
Clarice and Big Mac stalked off, to gobble up some more burger, and Brutus and Harriet followed their example, only to abruptly change course and disappear through the hedge into the next garden. Brutus probably wanted to show Harriet his lack of spots.
“Do you think Clarice will be part of the gang from now on, Max?” asked Dooley.
“Pretty sure she won’t. She’s a street cat, Dooley. What’s more, she rules those streets.”
“I don’t get it.”
“We think Clarice should be saved from her dumpster-diving ways but that’s not how she feels about it. She’s free out there, the queen of the urban jungle. Sometimes I think it’s she who pities us, and not the other way around. Pities our sedentary, domesticated lives.”
“I don’t get it,” Dooley repeated.
“Have you never wanted to roam the streets as a wild cat, Dooley? Not knowing whether you’re going to find food or not, but happy with every morsel you do find? Give those old hunting instincts free rein? Become wild and free once more, like our ancestors?”
Dooley stared at me.“Is this a trick question?”
“Haven’t you ever wondered if there’s another world out there? A world beyond the safety of our houses, our backyards, the humans who protect and feed us, even this town?”
He chewed on that for a moment.“Actually, no,” he said. “I think we’re blessed, Max. Only sometimes we lose sight of the fact. We forget how lucky we are. And it takes events like the ones that transpired last week to bring that truth home to us. It takes Brutus almost dying from his spots and Odelia and Gran almost being shot and the sky almost falling down on us and the earth opening up and swallowing us whole to remember how lucky we are.”
I stared at him.“You figured that all out on your own?”
He leveled a funny look at me.“I’m not as dumb as I look, Max.”
“I guess you’re not,” I agreed.
“The thing I’ve realized this past week is that I’m probably the luckiest cat alive,” he said musingly. “I have the best humans, who love me very much—one of them is Jesus, even though I still haven’t found his sheep—I have the best buddies, in Harriet and Brutus. But most of all, Ihave the best friend in the whole wide world. You, Max. I love you, buddy.”
“I… love you, too,” I said, surprised. My eyes were suddenly moist. I wiped at them.
“Darn cold,” Dooley muttered, wiping at his own eyes.
“Yeah, darn cold,” I said, sniffling.
We sat in silence for a moment.
Then Dooley held up his fist.
I bumped it.
Boom.