“All in good time,” I said. “We’re next.”
“So you did remember this place?” I said as Prunella flicked a toy rubber ball.
“Oh, sure. Like I said, I’m in here all the time. Upstairs and downstairs. From time to time Opal takes me to the lab, so they can prod and poke me for a while. They tell me I’m their proudest achievement. I was one of the first pets to be cloned, and successfully, too.”
“Well, I’m just glad it all turned out so well for you,” I said.
“And for Opal,” said Prunella. “When I died she was devastated, and when the lab people brought me back to life it was as if she’d been given a new lease on life herself.”
“I wasn’t kidding before. I want to be cloned, too,” said Harriet. “How about you, Max?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It’s a little weird to think about that kind of thing.”
And frankly I preferred not to think about it until I had to, which, I hoped, wouldn’t be for a very long time to come.
“You know who comes in here all the time, too?” asked Prunella as she dug her claws into one of the huge climbing poles.
“No, who?” I asked.
“Kurtz.”
“In the spa?”
“No, not the spa. They have the cloning facility, but they also have a clinic for humans here, where they do all kinds of surgical procedures.”
“You mean like plastic surgery?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Maybe Kurtz had his nose done?” Harriet suggested. “People in Hollywood have their noses done all the time.”
“I know, Opal had her nose done last year,” said Prunella. Now that she wasn’t acting crazy anymore, she had turned into a real blabbermouth.
“Her nose? What was wrong with her nose?” asked Harriet.
“No idea. I liked it just the way it was, but apparently she didn’t. It’s much slimmer now. She had her boobs done, too, by the way.”
“Bigger cup size?”
“Smaller cup size.”
“Huh.”
And while Prunella was spilling all of her human’s most intimate and embarrassing secrets, Dooley came prancing up, then showed us his new and improved nails.
“Max!” said the girl responsible for Dooley’s new nails. “Your turn, honey.”
And then it was my turn to sit in the chair and have my nails done.
It felt strangely soothing, to be pampered like that, and I wondered if Odelia felt the same way. Probably she didn’t. Odelia isn’t the kind of woman who likes to be pampered. She’s more the tough-as-nails reporter type. And tough-as-nails reporter types hate to be pampered.
“I love to be pampered!” Odelia cried, as she checked the pink-with-silver-sparkles gel nails her own nails had been outfitted with.
“Looking good, Odelia,” said Opal, who was having her hair colored and curled.
“Now let’s do your toenails,” said the girl who’d talked her into getting the gel nails.
“Oh, yes, please,” said Odelia. “This is so much fun,” she admitted.
Though a tough-as-nails reporter like herself shouldn’t enjoy this kind of thing, she actually did.
“Ooh, I want,” said her mother when she spotted her new nails.
Mom had just had her face scrubbed and looked ten years younger.
“Tex isn’t going to recognize you,” said Gran. “You look like a new woman.”
“I know, right!” said Marge, admiring her new look in the mirror.
Gran, meanwhile, was having her hair done. She’d hated the perm she’d been getting from her regular salon in Hampton Cove, and had been dying to try something new.
“You have to do Botox,” said Opal now. “If you think you look younger now, wait until you get your first Botox treatment. It works wonders for your face.”
“Oh, no, thank you,” said Marge. “I’m afraid of needles.”
“It’s just a tiny little prick,” said Opal. “You hardly feel a thing, and the results are astonishing. I’m not getting any today, as I just had a couple of shots last week, and I can’t have too much Botox on account of the fact that I have a slight allergy to the active ingredient, but you should definitely have it. My treat!”
“Opal is right,” said Marilyn, who was having her eyebrows done. “It’s a miracle cure.”
“Okay, maybe I’ll try it just this once,” said Marge, suddenly sounding giddy like a girl.
“Me, too!” said Gran, who seemed to have momentarily forgotten all about Hank.
“Odelia, I’m only doing this if you are, honey,” said Marge.
“I’m not having Botox,” said Odelia. “No way.”
“Oh, come on, live a little,” said Opal.
“You won’t regret it,” said Marilyn. “I promise.”
“My treat!” Opal repeated. “Make that man of yours bug his eyes out.”
Odelia giggled. She could just imagine the look on Chase’s face when he saw her, all Hollywooded up. “Oh, all right,” she said. “Why not?”
“That’s the spirit,” said Opal with satisfaction.
“Remember when we got our first Botox, darling?” said Marilyn.
“As if it was yesterday. I walked in this haggard, old person, and walked out a fresh young blossom.”
“Well, not a young blossom, maybe, but looking damn good!”
“And now if you’ll excuse me,” said Opal as she relaxed in her chair. “I’m taking a nap.”
A weird-looking device had been placed over her face, radiating a reddish light.
“Infrared lamp,” Opal said, catching Odelia’s quizzical look. “Works like a charm, but always makes me fall asleep.” And to prove she wasn’t kidding, soon she was softly snoring, eliciting snorts of laughter from the rest of the company.
Before long, Marge was having her first-ever Botox treatment, while Gran and Odelia relaxed in the hot tub. And Odelia was just thinking she could get used to this kind of thing when suddenly a loud scream pierced the laid-back atmosphere of the spa.
They both got out of the tub as fast as they could, slung towels around themselves and were already running in the direction of the screams when a second, louder scream startled them.
“That’s Opal!” said Gran. “I’d recognize that voice anywhere!”
They hurried into the beauty parlor section of the spa, and found Opal writhing on the floor in visible pain.
“I’m so sorry!” a girl was saying, a needle still in her hand. “You should have told me you were allergic!”
“Get Dr. Kavorkjan! Get him now!” Opal yelled.
The girl hurried off in the direction of the clinic.
“What happened?” asked Odelia, kneeling next to the talk show host, who was clearly in a lot of pain. Her face was bloodied and swollen, and she looked as if she’d been attacked by a swarm of mad bees.
“Botox!” she managed between severely swollen lips. “They gave me Botox while I was asleep!”
Before Odelia’s eyes, her face continued to swell, and her eyes swiveled wildly. Foam had appeared on her lips and she was making horrible choking sounds.
“Out of my way!” a man yelled and knelt down next to the stricken Opal. “She’s having an attack,” he muttered. “Call an ambulance. Call an ambulance now!”
And as he worked on Opal, Odelia did as she was told.
“She’s going to die,” said Gran. “This is it, Odelia. We lost our client.”
Chapter 26
We were all at the hospital, waiting for news about Opal. Even Uncle Alec and Chase had arrived, and Tex, of course, to see what could be done. In truth? Not much. Opal’s fate was in the hands of the doctors now, and only they could save her, or not.
“Terrible, isn’t it?” asked Harriet.
What was especially terrible was that the pedicurist working on Harriet had only finished three paws, which now left her out of balance, at least according to her.
“How could this happen?” asked Brutus.
“Apparently Opal has a Botox allergy,” I explained, “and she had an overdose of the stuff, which caused her throat to swell up and her heart to stop.”