Black Cat and the Accidental Angel (Black Cat Mysteries Book 3) (25 page)

Black Cat paid little attention to the sights and sounds as he trudged along, looking left and right, his heart as heavy as a thundercloud. How could he face Angel? What would Cindy say when she came home and found Faith’s body, torn and bleeding?

There! On top of John’s haystack, next to the burned-out stumps; a patch of gold and black. Faith’s body lay motionless, half covered with filthy straw.

Frantic to reach her, Black Cat clawed his way to the top of the haystack. His stomach turned at the stench of the excrement mixed with straw baking in the sun.

She lay with one leg outstretched, her chin resting on her paw.
She looks so peaceful, almost like a sleeping princess.
A smear of blood and feces matted her fur where the hawk’s talons had seized her by the ribs.
Oh, Faith. How I’ve failed you.
How he wished he could cry.

Black Cat drew in his breath and licked the blood from her side. Self-reproach washed over him, almost choking his breath away.
I’ll have to go away now. Away from the ranch.
Angel would never forgive him. He would never forgive himself.

Angel had asked one thing of him, only one thing—to help her watch the children—to protect his family. His heart ached with shame. Better get on with it.
He’d take her body home to her mother and then, tonight, when everyone was sleeping, he’d go. He couldn’t look Angel in the eyes ever again, knowing he was responsible for the death of their darling.
I’ll go before
…

What was that?
The barest movement in the straw.
Faith?

Her body trembled. She gasped and drew a breath. She moved her head.

“Faith! How…? You’re alive?” Oh, great Father of all creatures, thank-you!

“I fighted him, Papa. I fighted until he letted go.” Her voice a bare whisper. Her little head rocked. She struggled to hold it upright.

“You did. My little hero.” He licked her face, her eyes, her mouth, cleaning off the muck and soothing her fear. “Are you alright? Is anything broken?”

“I want my mama.”

“She’s back at the house with Muffins and Rambo. I’ll take you home.”

A shadow passed overhead. Black Cat looked up. The hawk circled and dropped lower over the haystack. Had he returned to claim his dinner?
Oh, no you don’t. Not this time.
Black Cat straddled Faith and fluffed up his fur, twice his size. From the bottom of his lungs, he brought forth the most hideous shriek he could muster. His heart thundered in his chest. Even his ears tingled from the sound.
If we fight again, this time, hawk, one of us is going to die.

The hawk passed over Black Cat and turned into the wind. Perhaps the tiny kitten wasn’t worth the battle. That small morsel of food would hardly be a snack for his squawking brood. The hunter struck off across the vineyard, perhaps to explain to his scowling wife why today’s hunt had been a total bust and he had returned empty-clawed. He disappeared over the treetops.

Black Cat grasped Faith by the nape of the neck, hopped down from the pile of hay and set her on the ground. “Can you walk, my darling?”

“My tummy hurts, Papa.”

“Then I’ll carry you.” He picked her up again, waddled back around the end of the Emu enclosure, down the path and onto the lawn. He laid Faith on the grass and searched the yard. “Angel?”

She was gone. The kittens were nowhere in sight.

His heart churned back into the danger zone.

“Angel! Where are you?” Black Cat sniffed the place where he’d last seen her, then scampered across the grass to check the bushes where the kittens had run. Had the hawk returned and carried off Angel and both kittens when he wasn’t looking?
Don’t be an idiot. It couldn’t carry off all three. Angel has taken the kittens back into the house
.

“Come, Faith.” He picked her up and carried her into the kitchen and set her on the floor. “Now, you wait right here beside the door. We’ll surprise Mama. I’ll bring her back.”

He found Angel lying on her blanket, scouring the smell of the yard off Rambo’s back until the kitten wailed from the grief she poured into each desperate lick.

“She’s alive, Angel. She got away. The fall knocked the breath from her, but she landed in the straw behind the enclosure. She’s going to be alright. She’s waiting for you in the kitchen. Run and fetch her.” Black Cat trod the floor with his front feet, so pleased was he to bring such good news.

Angel’s tongue stopped in mid-slurp over Rambo’s back.

The love-drenched kitten took advantage of her momentary lapse to scamper away and hide behind the kitchen table.

“She’s alive?” Angel jumped to her feet. “I should have known she’d be alright.
He
promised!

The tingle started at his ears and wiggled down Black Cat’s back. So, everything Angel said was true. St. Peter had planned it all in advance.
Nothing I do will change a thing.
The kittens were safe. His memory was coming back. The gold nugget would save John’s ranch. And, then…what?

Chapter Twenty-Six

N
evada City County Clerk. This is it.” John read the sign on the building, wiped his sweaty hands on his pants, cranked the wheel and backed the pick-up into a parking space in front of the Nevada City County Clerk’s office. He’d lain awake half the night wondering if he owned the mineral rights on his property. Without the mineral rights, the prior owner could swoop in and claim all the gold in the stream. Without the gold, Black Cat’s discovery wouldn’t change anything and the means for saving the ranch would disappear. “Come on, Cindy. Let’s get this over with before I have a heart attack.” He wiped the perspiration off his brow and stepped down from the cab.
Here goes nothing!

Inside, he smiled at the young woman at the counter. “Good morning.”

She twiddled a pencil and laid it on the counter. “May I help you?”

“I’ve found gold on my property. I have my father’s deed here.” He unfolded an old document and laid it on the counter. John’s stomach wrenched. “Does my deed include mineral rights? I…I don’t know how to read it.”

The clerk glanced at Cindy and smiled.

A tingle crept up John’s neck and into his face. He glanced around the office. Rows of shelves were lined with large dusty binders bearing stick-on dates peeling off the spines. The blinds were drawn against the morning sun, casting a shadowy
don’t expect a miracle
mood throughout the office. A vase of shriveled roses sat on the counter. Could God be so cruel as to show him the gold and take it away in a heartbeat? He closed his eyes.
Oh, Lord, help me now.
He opened his eyes. “Please. Can you please look it up?”

The clerk picked up John’s deed. “1952. That’s not going to be on the computer. I’ll have to check the old records.” She glanced over the binders and pulled one off the shelf. “This looks right. 1949—1953.” She placed the large binder on the counter and began to flip through the pages listing recorded deeds. “
Ah
. Here it is.” She picked up the pencil and tapped the page. “John Goldstein, Sr. Filed in August, 1952. Let me see… Mineral rights…
Humm
…”

John’s heart pattered in his chest. His good fortune hung on the clerk’s answer. He held his breath.

The clerk ran her finger down the page, adjusted her glasses and peered at the faded page. “Here it is. The mineral estate of the land includes all organic and inorganic substances that form a part of the soil. It is the right of John Goldstein, Sr. to exploit, mine, and, or produce any or all minerals lying below the surface of the property. Congratulations, Mr. Goldstein. You can claim anything found on your property.”

“Yes!” John thrust his fist in the air and danced a little jig. “Oh! Excuse me.” His cheeks warmed.

The clerk grinned. “I understand. Now, there are some forms you’ll need to complete. Let’s get to this paperwork.”

Within thirty minutes, the paperwork was completed. John took Cindy’s hand. “Now that that’s done, let’s walk down to the General Store. It’s only a block. I’ll need some gold pans, hip boots and…and a gold scale! Hope there’s enough left on my credit card to…” Enough said. No need to go there with Cindy.

John and Cindy swung their hands as she skipped down the sidewalk. If he were ten years younger, he’d join her and skip alongside. He contented himself with letting his heart do the skipping.

John pushed open the door of the General Store. A bell tinkled overhead. He gazed around the store. Every time he came through that door, the sense of stepping back in time hit him again. Shopping at the General Store was almost as much fun as going to a museum.

Shelves on both sides of the room rose to the ceiling, piled high with boxes of merchandise. Work gloves, hammers, lengths of chain, oil lamp wicks—the very items one might find in a turn of the century hardware store. John glanced up at the wooden ladder attached to a rail near the ceiling, allowing the clerk to slide back and forth, to retrieve items from the high shelves. Years of wear on the original hardwood floor planking felt smooth underfoot.
How long has this store been in business, anyway?

A sign on the wall stated the 1863 store was as much of a
must see
to visitors as the stained glass windows in the church down the street.

John ran his fingers over the words
National Cash Register
carved into the back of an antique brass cash register sitting on the counter. It was polished to a golden luster and carved in high relief with leaves, ribbons and fleur-de-lis.

John tapped his fingers on the glass counter. “Hello. Anybody here?” He looked around the empty store. His gaze rested on a stack of iron skillets displayed near the door.

Strange. Where’s the clerk?

Cindy pointed to a large glass jar of peppermint sticks. “Look at the candy, Daddy.”

“Doesn’t it look yummy?” John walked to the end of the counter and stared down the aisle. “Hello?”

A curtain parted near the back of the store and a young man stepped out. “Sorry. Sorry. I was counting bolts in the back room. Didn’t hear the… Well, hello. John, isn’t it?” He strolled down the aisle, his hand outstretched, a smile crinkling his eyes.

John’s mouth dropped open. “Peter! What on earth? I thought you were an…
um
.”
Whoa. Don’t even go there.
He had tucked the paper indicating the date and the time they met, and the Bible verse in his wallet. After all, Peter
had
disappeared on the Reno highway. Anyone would think… He shook Peter’s hand.

“And yet…here I am!” Peter moved behind the counter. He smiled down at Cindy. “Hello, Cindy.”

Cindy nodded and looked away.

John stared at Peter. How rude he must look with his mouth hanging open. “I…I… You left your backpack in my truck. I came back, and you weren’t there. Where did you go?”

Just exactly how
had
he disappeared within ten minutes? The woman at the ranch house said… John raised an eyebrow.

Peter placed his hands flat on the glass counter and leaned forward. “You know what happened? You no sooner drove away, when I realized my mistake. It’s been years since I was on the ranch. We stopped at the wrong driveway. I must have been around the corner when you came back. Hey, I’m sorry. I can see why you’d wonder. Now, what can I do for you?” Peter reached across the counter, opened the jar of candy and pulled out a peppermint stick. “Do you like peppermint?” He handed it to Cindy.

She took the candy. “Thank you.”

John gazed around the store. “So, two days ago, you were in Reno, and now you’re working here? How did that happen?”
Am I still just a wee bit skeptical?
You bet I am.

“When I learned that I was needed here, I left the ranch and here I am. That’s about it, end of story. Now, what can I do for you? If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” Peter chuckled.

Cindy sucked on the peppermint stick and wandered over toward the humming bird feeders.

John shoved his thumbs in the top of his jeans and rocked back on his heels. “We have a small stream on the back of our property. I thought I’d show Cindy how to pan for gold. Who knows? We might get lucky.” John gazed up toward the ceiling and then looked down. His face warmed.
No need to spill my guts to this guy.

Cindy whirled around. “Daddy! Black Cat and Angel already found a gold nugget. I thought we were looking for
more
gold.”

John ran his hand over his mouth. He turned from Peter and glanced around the store. “We need to get some hip boots and gold pans and—”

Peter came around the end of the counter and touched Cindy’s shoulder. “Did you say Angel found a gold nugget?”