Haunted Hamlet (Zoe Donovan Mystery) (14 page)

I tossed a fuzzy toy mouse onto the floor and watched as the boys bravely attacked it. They really were adorable. Returning my attention to the pile of mail in front of me
, I noticed that I had a pink slip from Mr. Hanover, letting me know that he had stopped in the previous Friday with a certified letter he needed me to sign for. It was most likely the operating contract the county had insisted on modifying, in spite of the fact that the old contract was perfectly fine. The slip said he’d attempt to deliver the envelope again today, and if I was still unavailable, I’d need to pick up the letter from the post office.

Mr. Hanover usually came by first thing in the morning
, so it was likely I’d be on site when he arrived.

“You’re here early,” Tiffany greeted
me as she walked into my office from the front of the building.

I motioned to the mess on my desk.
“I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so I decided to get an early start.”

“Did Tank leave already?”
Tiffany asked.

“Yeah
. I told him he could go ahead and take off since I was here. He was pretty excited about winning the pumpkin-carving competition yesterday. Talk about a good mood. He was still walking on air.”

Tiffany laughed.
“Yeah, well, just wait until Gunnar shows up tonight. I have a feeling we’ll be exposed to a different mood entirely.”

“It’s too bad for our sake th
ey both couldn’t win.” I smiled.

“It would make life easier.
I see you’ve freed Trick and Treat from their cages.”

“Trick and Treat?” I asked as I looked toward the kittens who were both sitting
on the windowsill, looking out.

“It seemed appropriate. It is Halloween
, and they
are
black cats.”

“Yeah, I guess Trick and Treat are appropriate names. Which is which?”

Tiffany shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I figure whoever adopts them will give them new names anyway. Although I do hope the little guys get adopted together. They’re from the same litter and really seem to have bonded.”

“Let me think about it. Maybe I can come up with someone to take them both.”

“I can’t have animals in my apartment or I’d take them myself. As soon as I can afford to, I’m going to move to a building that allows pets.”

“Be careful or you’ll end up with a house full like me.”

Tiffany laughed. “You’re probably right. I guess I’ll head back and start exercising the dogs.”

I returned to my paperwork as Trick and Treat continued to romp around the room.
If I was going to find someone to take the brothers, I was going to need to find someone who enjoyed the high energy two kittens created when allowed to play together. One kitten would more often than not spend a good part of the day sleeping, but two . . . two could be a fun and delightful handful.

Zak had taken both dogs for a run th
at morning but planned to bring Charlie and Bella with him when he came by later in the day to work on the new pens we were building. It seemed as if new pen construction was an ongoing event; our facility was becoming well known as the place to take wildlife in need of rehabilitation or temporary housing. The bear cubs we had been nurturing for almost a year were ready to be released into the dens we’d picked out for them. Hopefully they’d settle in and hibernate before the heavy snow arrived in a month or so.

“Mr. Hanover is here to see you.” Jeremy poked his head in the door
way shortly after Tiffany had left.

“I’ll be right out.”

I set the stack of mail I was holding down on my desk and stood up. I made sure the kittens were content and safely napping before I snuck out of the room, closing the door behind me. I would only be a few minutes, but I certainly didn’t want them to escape. The last thing we needed was Halloween kittens terrorizing the building.

“Mr. Hanover,” I greeted
as I walked into the reception area. “It’s so nice to see you. You have a letter for me?”

“I do
, but you’ll need ID and a signature to get it.”

“You’ve known me since I was a kid,” I pointed out.

“Rules are rules, and the rules say that I need to see some ID.”

“My purse is in my office. If you can wait just a minute
, I’ll get it.”

“I can come back to your office. I wouldn’t mind sittin
’ for a spell while we complete our business. My old legs don’t get around as well as they used to.”

“I’d be happy to have you take your break in my office
, but I have to warn you that I have kittens in there. Two of them. Lively little guys who might see fit to attack your feet while you walk or pounce on your head while you sit.”

Mr. Hanover smiled. “I love kittens. My Genevieve passed a while back
, and I’ve missed having a cat to come home to.”

“Okay, great. Come on back. Can I get you some coffee?”

“That would be nice.”

I escorted Mr. Hanover into my office before heading back to the lounge to pour him some coffee. I
’d been hesitant to introduce him to the boys, who could be rather rambunctious when they weren’t peacefully sleeping, but by the time I returned, he had both kittens sitting on his lap, purring away like the little angels I knew they weren’t.

“I sure do miss having a cat on my lap,” Mr. Hanover said again.
“I don’t suppose the boys are still available?”

I hesitated. “They are
, but we wanted to try to adopt them together, if possible.”

“I
’d be willing to take them both,” Mr. Hanover offered.

“Really? I know they seem all sweet and angelic at the moment
, but they can be a handful. Once they get to chasing each other around the room, it’s a total free-for-all.”

Mr. Hanover picked up one of the kittens and looked him in the eye. “You gonna give me any trouble?”

The kitten batted at Mr. Hanover’s long nose with his paw.

“I think the boys and I will be fine. If they
’re available, that is. I’m being forced to retire, even though I have a good ten years left in me. I could use the company.”

“Okay, then,” I s
aid. “We’ll arrange for a trial adoption. If you find they’re too much for you, we’ll happily take them back. If they work out okay, we can complete the paperwork in a week or two. You’ll want to have them neutered. I’ll make the arrangements when you’re ready.”

Mr. Hanover smiled. “That’s wonderful. I guess I
was
able to pull a little magic out of my last day on the job.”

“This is your last day? I didn’t realize.”

I felt bad for the guy. On one hand, the man should have retired years ago. On the other, the post office was his life. I hated to think of him home alone with no purpose. Of course, now that he had Trick and Treat to keep him company, his days would be filled with kitty shenanigans.

“I have your letter right here.” Mr. Hanover handed it to me.

“Do you still need to see that ID?”

“Naw. Guess I never really did. I just wanted an excuse to sit for a spell. Can I come back for the kittens after my shift?”

“Certainly. I’ll get some supplies together for you. I should be here most of the day, now that the Haunted Hamlet is over, but if I’m not here for some reason, either Jeremy or Tiffany can help you get loaded up.”

“I
took a spin on that hayride that was substituted for the haunted barn. It was a lot more fun than I expected, though I’m not sure it will work as a permanent option due to our finicky weather.”

“Yes
, the committee thought of that. We knew the weather was supposed to hold through the weekend, but I hear we have a storm coming in later today. I’m sure we’ll look for another indoor venue next year. We’ve had to cancel the haunted maze several times in the past, so we can’t risk having a second outdoor event. We got lucky with the hayride after what happened.”

“I heard about the man who died in the house,” Mr. Hanover commented. “I’ve been in that house
, you know.”

“You have?”

“Yup. When I was younger. A couple of friends and I snuck in to check out the secret room when that spooky old owner was away for a few days.”

“Secret room?”

“There’s a panel leading to a room at the back of the attic. Most folks don’t even know it’s there. You really don’t notice it unless you’re looking for it, and then you can’t open it unless you know the secret.”

“
The secret?”

When Zak showed up with Charlie and Bella, I filled him in on everything Mr. Hanover had told me about the secret room. I had to admit I was intrigued. I wondered if the room somehow played into the mysterious deaths thirteen years earlier. After a bit of a discussion, Zak agreed to accompany me to check it out. At least this time, I figured, it would still be totally light, and we had two brave guard dogs with us.

The problem with that scenario
, I quickly realized, was that the storm had already blown in, bringing not only a heavy darkness but rain, thunder, and lightning as well.

“If I was watching a movie where a couple and their dogs were on their wa
y to a haunted house in a lightning storm four days before Halloween, I’d think they were nuts,” I commented as Zak swerved to avoid a large tree branch in the road.

“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Zak asked as he slowly maneuvered his truck th
rough the obstacle course created by the heavy wind and pounding rain.

Was
I? It made more sense to wait until the storm passed. “We’re almost there. We might as well go in and check it out. If we don’t find anything, we’ll still have a funny story to tell our grandchildren.”

Zak glanced at me. “Grandchildren?”

Saying that we’d have a story for our grandchildren was a commonly used phrase. I didn’t mean that we’d necessarily have grandchildren together. Did I? If we married, then having children would be the natural progression of things, and children more often than not led to grandchildren, but I didn’t think I was quite ready to have this particular discussion with Zak.

“Metaphorical grandchildren,” I answered. “L
ook out for that dog.”

Zak swerved to avoid a small dog
that had run in front of us and then cowered behind a large evergreen shrub.

“Pull over,” I directed.

Zak pulled the truck to the side of the road.

“I’m pretty sure we missed him. I think he ran into those bushes.” I started to open my door.

“Stay here,” Zak directed. “I’ll get him.”

Zak pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head as he dashed into the rain. It really was coming down. The poor guy was going to be drenc
hed by the time he convinced the frightened dog to come back to the truck with him.

Bella whined as she looked out the window at Zak. It was sweet that she had already bonded with him to the point where she was concerned about him. Of course
, what I took for concern might just have been discontent that he’d gotten out of the truck and hadn’t taken her with him. In spite of the fact that she was a big dog and not all that young, she followed Zak around like a puppy.

I was just about to get out and assist
Zak when he started back toward the truck with the pup in his arms. At first glance, I thought the dog was older, of a small breed, but upon closer examination, I could see he was clearly a puppy.

“Poor baby,
” I cooed as Zak placed the puppy in my arms and Bella greeted Zak with wet doggie kisses.

A large lightning strike flashed through the sky.
“Maybe we should just come back tomorrow,” I suggested. “This poor little guy seems to be scared to death. I’d like to get him home, fed, and settled in for the night.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea,” Zak agreed. “The secret passage isn’t going anywhere. If there are clues there now
, they should still be there tomorrow.”

The drive back to the house was tricky
; Zak had to swerve to avoid pinecones and small branches that had broken away from the trees that lined the road. Lightning streaked through the dark sky, followed by claps of thunder that echoed off the surrounding mountains. Then, as we approached the highway, the sky opened up, making driving impossible.

Zak pulled the truck over to the side of the road until the downpour let up. The puppy in my
arms was shaking in fear as lightning streaked around us. Charlie climbed over the seat and snuggled up next to me. Bella was too big to fit in the front, so Zak scratched her head where she rested it on his shoulder and spoke softly to her as we waited out the worst of the storm.

After
we arrived at the house, I dried and fed the dogs while Zak built a fire in the large stone fireplace in his cozy kitchen. Once the puppy realized he was safe with us, he began to explore. When the dogs were settled in front of the fire, Zak and I changed into warm, dry clothes.