Black Cat and the Accidental Angel (Black Cat Mysteries Book 3) (32 page)

John picked up the phone and dialed.

Thumper’s heart felt near to bursting, his joy of going home one minute bumping into sorrow about leaving the next. I want to go back to my home by the lake and live with Kimberlee and Amanda…but I love John and Cindy and I want to stay in the hills with all the good woodsy smells. What are we supposed to do?

“Hello, Mrs. Clarke? This is John Goldstein, from Nevada City. I’m returning your call about the cats… Yes. Big, black and white with a white bib and four white feet… Yes. He has lots of toes on each foot.” John chuckled. “She’s gold with lighter stripes and green-gold eyes… Yes…together.

“You lost them near Cloverdale on Highway 101? That’s not far from my mother’s ranch. That must be where they got into the truck.” John turned and winked at Cindy. “We thought we picked them up in Nevada City. We’ve been posting signs up here. We had no idea it was there, or I’d have—”

“Thumper and Noe-Noe? Yes. That’s what you said on the phone. We call them Black Cat and Angel.

“I could take a few pictures and e-mail them to you… Okay, if you’re sure. Of course, you can come. Oh, by the way, Angel had kittens. We found homes for two but there’s two left… No, if you don’t mind, I think my daughter would like to keep them.” John turned toward Cindy again, and grinned. He raised his eyebrow in a question. “He’s a cute little fellow…looks like Black Cat…
um
…
um
…Thumper. The female is a little tortoiseshell with an orange blaze on her nose.”

Rambo and Faith are staying with Cindy? What a perfect solution! Angel will be so pleased. Why didn’t I think of that myself?

Cindy sat up, and wiped the tears off her cheeks. A smile flashed across her face. She dashed across the room and sat on the floor where Faith and Rambo jumped at a blue pipe cleaner.

“Maybe you should wait a few days.” John glanced over at Angel, lying by the potbelly stove, the hoodie holding her head at an odd angle.

No! No. Don’t wait! Come now.
Thumper hopped off the coffee table and then back on again.

“We just got Angel…
uh
…Noe-Noe…home from the vet,” John said. “She has stitches in her head and she’s on medication…
uh
…I’d rather not go into that right now. Let’s just say, she met with an untimely accident. Perhaps you should wait until she’s off her meds… Okay, if you say so. Sure, your vet can follow up. We could e-mail her medical records.

“Tomorrow, then, about 11:00 A.M. A picnic lunch would be fine. We have a nice table under the trees. Sounds like fun. Let me give you my address…”

He gave her directions to the ranch, said good-bye and turned to Cindy. “I guess you heard. They want to drive over and pick them up tomorrow.” John stroked Thumper’s head.

She’s really coming! Tomorrow!
Thumper closed his eyes and sighed, seeing in his mind’s eye, the vineyard and the creek down back and the woods. Even the Emus didn’t smell so bad once you got used to them.

His thoughts switched to the old Victorian house beside the lake. They were both…home, each in their own way. Thumper scurried over to where Angel lay stretched out on the blanket, beside Rambo and Faith.

He lay down beside Cindy, leaned into her hip and looked up into her eyes. How can I be happy about something when the something I’m happy about makes someone I love unhappy? And, how can I be glad to leave and at the same time sad because I don’t want to leave? It sounded like one of those quiz show questions meant to trip up the contestant because there wasn’t an answer. That way, the quiz show didn’t have to award the big cash prize.

Angel was alive. Their family had found them and they were going home! It was all part of God’s plan.
I was wrong to doubt, thinking everyone was blessed but me.

John walked to the potbelly and stooped down beside Cindy. “What do you think about keeping Rambo and Faith? Would you like that?”

Cindy held Rambo and Faith nuzzled to her cheeks. Faith patted her hair and Rambo licked her chin. Cindy had roses back in her cheeks and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Rambo’s giving me kitty kisses.” She kissed the top of his head. “He thinks it’s a wonderful idea. They both said they want to stay with us.”

Kitty kisses, indeed. He’s licking the salty tears off your cheeks. Thumper curled his front feet under his chest and blinked. I love you, Cindy.

Angel rolled over on the blanket and laid her head down with the plastic hoodie spread out across her shoulders. She put her paw on Cindy’s lap. She seemed pleased with John’s decision. Rambo and Faith’s future was finally settled in the most wonderful way.

“Are you in pain, dear?” Thumper snuggled closer to Angel’s side. She’d spent most of the time since she got home asleep, from the medicine John gave her.

She closed her eyes. “Just a little woozy. I think I’ll nap for a bit, if you don’t mind.”

“Angel. Don’t worry about a thing, now that Faith and Rambo have a home. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have…”

Angel’s little snort left no doubt. She didn’t hear a word he said.

Chapter Thirty-Five

I
t’s Kimberlee. She’s here!” An SUV crunched to a stop outside the house.”

Thumper raced from the front window to the blanket where Angel lay cuddled with Rambo. “That’s Brett’s SUV. I’d recognize that sound anywhere. Come and see.”

Angel stood, waddled into Cindy’s bedroom and crawled under the bed.

Thumper followed and peeked under the bed. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be thrilled. Aren’t you coming out to greet the folks?”

“I really don’t want to be bothered. My head aches.” She closed her eyes and turned away.

Thumper crawled out from under the bed and sat on his haunches. What on earth was going on? She should be overjoyed, now that Kimberlee had found them and they were going home. Hadn’t they talked about
going home
for months?

Car doors clunked outside. Voices from the yard carried into the house as his two families introduced themselves. Kimberlee was here. He was torn between running to greet her at the door and staying with Angel. Something was terribly wrong. He turned from the bed to the living room.

The front door squeaked open.

Kimberlee!
Thumper ran to greet his family. He jumped from Kimberlee to Brett to Amanda. Between kisses and squeezes, happy tears flowed. Even Brett blinked back a few. Why, Jack was also there with Chance!
My old
frenemy,
Chance. On a day like this even dealing with a dog was a pleasure. Thumper knocked
happy-heads
with the pup.

The reunion reminded him of the story of the Prodigal Son. The father said …
celebrate and be glad, for this son was dead and is alive
…
was lost and is found
…
He didn’t think he quite fit the description of a
prodigal
, but there was a parallel
.
He was lost and now he was found.

“You don’t know what we’ve been through all these months.” Kimberlee took Thumper by the ears and shook his head back and forth. She dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

“Please, have a seat.” John gestured to the sofa. “I’ve made coffee and I have a few cookies. Can I get you a cup, Jack? Brett?”

“Thank you. That would be nice.” Kimberlee and Brett sat.

“None for me, thanks.” Jack shook his head and stood next to the sofa. “I’ve been sittin’ for three hours. I’ll stand for a bit, if ya don’t mind.”

“This is our daughter, Amanda.” Kimberlee gave her a nudge toward Cindy.

“I’m Cindy. Come see our kittens.” Cindy took Amanda’s hand and led her over to the blanket by the stove.

Thumper cruised against Kimberlee’s ankle, leaving black hairs and his scent on her dark slacks, marking her as his personal property.
There! Now she smells better!
His heart swelled with memories and love as he listened to his
persons’
voices.

John poured coffee and handed a cup to Kimberlee and another to Brett. “Sugar?” He set the coffee pot and plate of cookies on the coffee table.

“No, thank you. This is wonderful.” She took a sip.

Where is Angel? She’s missing it all.
It was hard to think of her as
Noe-Noe
after calling her Angel for so long.

John pulled a kitchen chair from the table and sat. He glanced from Kimberlee to Brett, cleared his throat and fidgeted in his chair. “So, how did you happen to lose the cats?”

Kimberlee leaned forward. “We were in an automobile accident near Cloverdale. The cat carrier was thrown out and fell over the embankment. My cousin’s dog’s carrier stayed in the car—”

“Jack’s your cousin?” John nodded toward Jack and reached for a cookie.

Brett shook his head. “Jack’s our neighbor.” He stirred sugar in his cup and took a drink. “Jack used to own Thumper, before… Long story, yesterday’s news.” He set his cup on the coffee table and stabbed the air with the cookie. “These are good.”

John held the plate of cookies toward Kimberlee. She shook her head.

“So, go on. About the cats?” John set the plate back on the coffee table.

Kimberlee smiled at Amanda and Cindy, playing with Rambo and Faith. “We put an ad in the local paper, but no luck. After a while, we gave up. Then we saw the television broadcast.” Kimberlee looked around the room. “Where is Noe-Noe? You said she was at the vet? She didn’t…” Her face went a little pale.

John shook his head and glanced toward the stove. “I’m not sure where she is. She’s usually there, with her kittens.” His brow wrinkled. “Cindy? Where’s Angel?” He turned to Kimberlee. “We call her Angel. And, we’ve been calling this one, Black Cat.”

“That’s odd.” Jack reached for another cookie. “We used ta call him Black Cat, before Kimberlee came and Amanda changed his name ta Thumper.” He wrinkled his brow and glanced between Kimberlee and Brett.

The stories I could tell you when I was called Black Cat. Why, I remember once—

“Cindy. Run to your room and see if Angel’s in there. Maybe she was frightened when everyone came in. She’s…
um
…been through a lot lately.” John bit his bottom lip. His face flushed.

Thumper reached up to the coffee table and sniffed the cookies.
Angel’s under the bed. She’s having a feline female moment.

Cindy went into her bedroom “Angel, here kitty, kitty. Where are you?”

“So, John, how did the cats get all the way over to Nevada City with you guys?” Brett glanced around the room, his gaze pausing by Amanda playing with the kittens.

Thumper turned to follow Brett’s gaze.
They are beautiful, aren’t they? Our children, yours and mine.

John set his cup down. “We found the cats in the truck when we got home from Cloverdale late one night. We thought we’d picked them up at the grocery store down in Nevada City. We’ve been putting up posters around here. Then Angel had kittens, so we started looking for homes for them. Cindy and I are quite fond of…of Thumper and…and…”

“Noe-Noe.” Kimberlee wrung her hands. “Oh, dear. We never even thought of that.” She turned toward Brett. “Of course, you’d have become fond of them.”

Amanda giggled and waved an Emu feather in front of Rambo’s nose. “Look at the baby, Mama. “Doesn’t he look just like Thumper?”

Kimberlee stood and walked to the blanket. She knelt to pet the kitten. “Isn’t he a darling?”

Cindy came through her bedroom door with Angel cradled in her arms.

There she is, my darling. Isn’t she beautiful? Even with a bandage on her head and the hoodie collar around her neck.
Thumper hurried over to Cindy, stood on his hind feet, reached up and patted Angel’s foot.

Kimberlee gasped. “Noe-Noe! You poor thing! What’s happened?” She took Angel from Cindy.

Angel tipped up her head, her eyes wide. She trembled.

“There, there.” Kimberlee stroked Angel’s back. “You remember me, don’t you?”

Angel relaxed under her gentle touch. She must have remembered Kimberlee from when they’d met in Texas.

“Now your name is Angel? I like that.” Kimberlee glanced at Brett. “I never did much like the name,
Noe-Noe
. It always made her sound so naughty. I think we should call her Angel from now on.”

Then Angel it is. Good decision. I like that better, too.

Kimberlee turned to John. “What happened to her head?” She ran her finger lightly over Angel’s stitches.

Color rushed to John’s cheeks. “Cindy? Take Amanda and the kittens outside. We grown-ups want to talk for a while.”

Cindy wrinkled her nose and picked up Faith. “Come on, Amanda. They always want to talk grown-up talk. Bring Rambo. We’ll sit on the porch swing.” The girls got up from the blanket, each carrying a kitten.