Chez Stinky (8 page)

“Who are you kidding? You know I can’t afford a real mechanic.”

“You were making pretty good money here. Didn’t that help some?”

Cindy pointed down the driveway at the general direction of town. “I spent it all on Johnny. He needed new shoes. What can I say? The kid keeps growing.”

Joel looked down at the ground. “I guess I can give you a loan,” he said through clenched teeth.

“That would be great! You’re the best brother ever. But we need to go. Kat is going to take care of the dogs here, so I need to get back and start rustling up some new clients.” She smiled slightly at Kat. “Nothing personal. I need clients in town. I’ll come out for the walks and feeding tonight, but then I’m done.”

Joel frowned and glanced at Kat, who shrugged. Joel looked like he had been roused out of bed before he was quite ready for prime-time viewing. His sandy hair needed to be combed and his facial hair was in that awkward phase beyond “needs to shave” but before “trying to grow a beard.” Kat was unimpressed. Who was this guy? Had he just returned from a camping trip or something? When it came to beards, Yoda had it right: “Do or do not; there is no try.” Camping was the only excuse for the scruffy, rumpled look this guy had going. His personality seemed equally unkempt, since his idea of sparkling conversation mostly consisted of growling at his sister. On a positive note, he probably wouldn’t be back here since Cindy was off Chez Stinky duty now.

Larry walked up to the group and said, “I was just inside. Chelsey is in the basement and she doesn’t appear to want to come out.”

Cindy looked up and said, “Chelsey. I forgot about Chelsey!” She turned to Kat. “Can you walk her? It’s all on the note I gave you. I’ve really got to run. Come on Joel. Let’s go!”

Still looking annoyed, Joel climbed in the passenger seat of the Hyundai, looked up at Kat and mumbled, “It was nice to meet you. Good luck.”

Cindy dove into the car and with a sputter, it started and began its squealing journey down the driveway.

Kat glanced at Larry, “It looks like it’s just us. Let me look at this note and see what we’re supposed to do about Chelsey. Cindy said she’s the weird dog. I’m afraid to find out what weird might mean in this context.”

The pair went around the house to the basement door and went inside. Curled up on a large cushion under a table was a petite brown herding-type dog with a white stripe down her nose and a worried expression on her face. Her furrowed brow and the concerned look in her dark-brown eyes made her look like she had been pondering weighty matters deeply and come to no positive conclusions.

“Hi, Chelsey. Do you want to go outside for a walk?” the lawyer asked.

Chelsey glared at the lawyer and didn’t move. Apparently, that would be a “no.”

The dog did not seem to be particularly pleased to see the two humans in her space. Unlike the other dogs, she didn’t seem to be much of a people person. Maybe the dog was shy or maybe she had some type of physical problem. Kat studied the information sheet from Cindy. It said Chelsey could be a “little bit stubborn about things she doesn’t want to do.” That sounded like dog-walker speak for “willful little furry twerp.”

“All right Chelsey, here’s the thing. You need to go outside. We know you need to go outside. You know you need to go outside. It’s
really
time to go outside.” Kat reached down and handed the dog one of the treats Cindy had left behind. Chelsey’s eyebrows shot up and she snuffled down the kibble.

“Okay, so you like food. I can give you more food if you go for a walk.” Kat held out a treat and waved it around to encourage the dog to stand up and get it.

Chelsey wasn’t falling for that that old ploy. She curled her rear paws more tightly under her body and settled deeper into the dog bed.

Kat reached down with the leash and clipped it onto the dog’s collar. “Let’s go, Chelsey. I mean it.” Remembering the British dog trainer she’d seen on TV, Kat added, “Let’s go walkies!” in a high-pitched clipped voice while she tugged a bit on the leash.

Unmoved by Kat’s faux accent, Chelsey moved farther back on her bed and scrunched her head down between her shoulders. The determined look on her face suggested that the dog had no interest in visiting the great outdoors.

With a sigh, Kat sat down on the floor in front of the dog bed, still holding the leash in her hands. She gazed at Chelsey, considering her next course of action. Food, or more specifically the treats Kat had with her, didn’t seem to be enough of an enticement to get Chelsey to move. And she certainly wasn’t one of those dogs who yearned to please humans. Kat didn’t think the dog was scared, but she couldn’t figure out what was going on in that little furry brain.

Kat looked up at Larry, who was still standing, surveying the proceedings. “I’m running out of ideas. I’m not convinced I can ever get her out of there. Any thoughts?”

“I saw her a few times when Abigail was alive. She behaved quite differently then. Maybe something happened?”

“Abigail died, for one thing. Maybe Chelsey wonders where mom went. But it’s not like I can explain it to her.” Kat sighed again and faced the dog’s grumpy stare. “Maybe the poor dog is just really confused.”

Kat had read somewhere that exercise was supposed to be good for depression. “Maybe I can make the walk sound like more fun. If she’s sad, she should feel better after the walk.” Kat scanned the basement for something that might seem fun to an unhappy dog. She spotted an old towel hanging on a rack and reached over to grab it.

“Okay Chelsey, check this out!” she said in an overly happy voice, waving the rag in front of the dog. “It’s a big snake. Let’s play! Go get it.”

Chelsey raised her head, showing mild interest in the odd human behavior. Kat threw a treat down on the ground, which landed next to the bed. Chelsey reached her head over, ate the treat, and then stood up and grabbed the towel.

“Yay, Chelsey! Let’s GO!” Kat shouted with glee as she scooped up the leash and skipped toward the door. Apparently deciding that the human was losing her mind, the dog stepped out of her bed completely, dropped the towel, and looked up at Kat expectantly.

Kat tossed the dog another treat, tightened up the leash, and walked out the door with Chelsey trotting along next to her.

Larry, who had been largely motionless while watching Kat leap around the room, said from behind, “That was intriguing. I thought the dog was scared and might bite you.”

Kat looked back and said, “I didn’t think of that. Maybe this is one situation where the old saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ comes in handy.”

Kat, Larry, and Chelsey walked toward the trail into the forest behind the house and were soon joined by Linus and Lori. Where did the dogs disappear off to? They seemed to be allowed to roam wherever they pleased. That was one of those mysterious canine things she’d have to figure out. Now that Chelsey had been mobilized, she seemed content to walk and relieve herself like any other normal dog. Maybe this was part of the routine Aunt Abigail had gone through with the dog every day. There was no way to know.

Kat’s canine ruminations were interrupted by Larry, who said, “This is pretty back in here.”

“Yes, I remember walking on this trail with my aunt when I was a kid. She knew all about all the plants that grow around here. I wish I could remember what she said. It all just looks like a bunch of green stuff to me. Speaking of things I don’t know, is there a library around here? I need to get some books about dogs and training if I’m going to be able to stay here and deal with Tessa and Chelsey. They seem like serious canine problem children. I need to get a book on canine aberrant psychology.”

“Yes, there’s a library on the way back to the Enchanted Moose, past the Kmart.” Larry cleared his throat. “I was wondering, after you’re done here one evening next week, if you’d like to meet me for dinner.”

Kat’s jaw dropped and she glanced at him quickly. Was he asking her out? Okay, it had been a while since anyone had been interested, but she didn’t think she was
that
out of practice and clueless to the signals. But maybe he was just being nice, since she didn’t know anyone in town. “If I’m still at the Enchanted Moose, I’ll have to feed my cat there after I’m done here, but after I do that, I’m free.” Feed her cat? Kat cringed internally. Could she sound like any more of a loser?

“Wonderful. There’s a restaurant I think you’d like. It’s much better than the one at the Enchanted Moose.”

Kat hadn’t noticed a restaurant there, but she doubted that anything the Moose would be offering up would count as haute cuisine, since RV parks weren’t generally noted for their fine dining establishments. “Sounds good.”

“I also was considering the state of affairs regarding the rehabilitation that may be necessary for the roof of the house. I know Mr. Fowler is working on the smell situation, but he may be able to help with the roof issues as well. He has some construction experience, I believe. You might consider giving him a call.”

“Did you talk to him? How is he doing with the stink? When we were in the basement with Chelsey, I could smell it, but it wasn’t as bad down there as it was in the living room.”

“Yes, he has isolated the problem and it is upstairs. I believe he is working on it.”

Kat pressed her lips together and then said, “You can spare me the details. I just hope he gets it done soon. I’d like to be able to stay in the house and get a feel for what’s it’s truly like to live here. I’m not sure I can handle being so far away from everything, but I won’t know until I stay.”

After returning Chelsey to her nest in the basement and checking cat-food levels, Kat said goodbye to Larry and the dogs and went off to the library and Kmart before returning to the Enchanted Moose. After the exhausting morning, she really wanted to change her clothes and read about how to deal with dogs before heading back out to Chez Stinky for the afternoon animal-care activities. She had checked out a book from the library with the title
Happy Hound
. Since Chelsey was so obviously unhappy, Kat figured it couldn’t hurt.

Back in her hotel room, she picked up the phone and dialed Herbert Fowler’s number.

“Hiya, this is Bud.”

“Mr. Fowler, this is Kat Stevens. I’m the owner of Abigail Goodman’s old house. I talked to you the other day.”

“Oh yeah, you’re the lady with the place with the bad stink. Hey, isn’t there some leftie musician with that name? You aren’t a Commie are you?”

Kat rolled her eyes, “Yes, that’s my house, and no I’m not a Commie. Or a musician. How are you progressing in fixing the problem?”

“Well, I think I have found the varmint in the wall that done died there. I gotta cut out some wood and some drywall and investigate a little more. Then I can get him outta there.”

“That would be nice. When can you make that happen? Also, I’d like to talk to you about repairing the roof. Larry said you might have experience with that?”

“Yep, I got lotsa experience doing roofs. I like ladders. It’s like being a squirrel up there. You can see everything. So does that mean you want me to do up an estimate then? You know roofs, they’re mighty expensive. This is gonna cost ya.”

“Yes, I understand. Just please do an estimate. And when exactly will the smell be gone?”

“I can git out there tomorrow. I needed to get some special tools that I got here in my shed.”

“Okay, I’ll expect you then.”

After Kat hung up the phone, she wrapped her arms around her waist. She didn’t have a good feeling about Bud’s roofing skills. Or any other skills. At least it was only an estimate. Maybe she could find someone else to do the rest of the work after the smell was gone. She picked up Murphee from the floor, placed her on the bed next to her, and curled up to read her new book. “What are we gonna do, Murph?” The cat responded with a quiet purring sound and snuggled up closer to Kat for her mid-afternoon nap.

Chapter 3

T
he next morning, clad in uncomfortably stiff new blue jeans and a markedly non-stylish (but cheap!) teal T-shirt, Kat headed back to Chez Stinky. She had finished the
Happy Hound
book and was now armed with tips for dealing with a wide range of bad canine behaviors, including but not limited to jumping, barking, and “inappropriate urination.” Between Tessa and Chelsey, it looked like she’d need to try out pretty much everything she’d read. It was the first time she was going to be dealing with the animals by herself and her stomach was a little jumpy. She straightened a bit in her seat. Why should she be anxious? It was just a bunch of dogs, cats, and falling-down buildings. Yet she couldn’t shake the nervous feeling that gripped her as her car bumped down the driveway.