Freddy the Pied Piper (5 page)

“Nose itches,” said Jinx, and he took a paint rag and scrubbed his nose to hide the grin that kept pulling the corners of his mouth up towards his ears. When he took the rag down he had smeared yellow paint all over his nose, and that made Freddy laugh, so then Jinx was able to laugh too, and they both laughed hard for quite a long time. And then Jinx went to work with his brush and slapped on the yellow paint—swish, swish, swish—with quick sweeps, and in a very short time he had his picture finished. It really did look a little like a lion.

They hung the picture up on the outside of the cow barn and then invited all the birds to come and look at it. Dozens came, and they chattered and twittered and giggled and made bad jokes about it the way birds do, but none of them could say that they had seen any animal that looked like that—indeed several of them said they didn't believe there ever was such an animal. Freddy said: “I guess we'll have to wait till the bluebirds and robins begin coming up from the south next month. They're more likely to have seen Leo than the birds that stay around here all winter.”

But at last three chickadees came; they were from the southern part of the state and were visiting friends in Centerboro, and their names were Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel Spriggs and their daughter, Deedee. And when Deedee saw the picture she gave a weak little chirp and her eyes turned up and she fell right off her branch into the snow.

Mrs. Spriggs screamed and carried on like everything, and Mr. Spriggs tried to quiet her, but neither of them tried to help Deedee, and it was Jinx who waded out into the snow and picked her up in his mouth and carried her over to the back porch. He miaouwed and Mrs. Bean came and let him in, and he took the chickadee and put her in the cigar box under the stove where the mice slept. Mrs. Bean fed her milk with a medicine dropper, and by and by Deedee opened her eyes and said weakly: “Where am I?”

Well, Deedee came around all right and pretty soon she was hopping about the kitchen floor and picking up some crumbs that were left over from dinner, and the four mice watched her sharply with their beady little black eyes because the crumbs really belonged to them, but they didn't like to say anything because she was a guest. Freddy tried to ask her what it was that had scared her so, but Mrs. Spriggs said: “Oh, no questions, please! The child has had a dreadful shock. She must have complete rest.”

Freddy said: “Well,” doubtfully, but Jinx said: “Nonsense! What scared you, Deedee?”

So then Deedee told them. She and some of her little friends had been playing tag around through the back yards of the town where they lived—it was a place called Tallmanville, in the southern part of the state. And they saw a piece of suet hanging outside a back window of one of the houses. Naturally they supposed it had been put there for them, since a good many people put out suet for birds in the wintertime, and they all gathered around and began pecking at it. And all of a sudden, out of the open window beside which it hung came a big paw which scooped up three of the chickadees and pulled them into the house. The others shrieked and flew off, but as she went, Deedee caught a glimpse of a large yellow animal which looked a good deal like this picture. That, said Deedee, was why the picture had scared her so.

“Why, Deedee,” said Mrs. Spriggs, “you never told me about this!” And she began to scold her daughter.

“I was afraid you'd tell papa,” said Deedee, “and he's so brave—he'd have gone around there to beat up that animal and maybe got caught too. I didn't want that.”

“Child's making it all up,” said Mr. Spriggs. “Really, Deedee, a big yellow animal! No animal ever looked like that picture.”

“I'm not so sure,” Freddy said. “Tell me, Deedee; do you know who lived in that house?”

Deedee said sure she did; it was a Mrs. Guffin; she kept a pet shop.

“I know the place,” said Mr. Spriggs. “The front part of the house is the shop, with a show window with some dogs and cats and canaries in it.” He laughed. “You saw Mrs. Guffin, Deedee. She's a big woman with yellow hair; looks a lot like this—what did you call him, Freddy—a lion?”

Freddy said: “Yes.” He looked thoughtfully at Deedee. “I think your father's right, Deedee,” he said. “It could hardly have been a lion that you saw.”

“I should think not!” said Mrs. Spriggs crossly. “The child has just made the story up. She ought to be spanked.”

But Freddy said he thought that Deedee had been honestly mistaken, and shouldn't be punished for that, and Mrs. Spriggs agreed with him; and they comforted Deedee, who had begun to cry because she thought she was going to get spanked, and gave her some bird seed from a can that Mrs. Bean kept handy for just such emergencies.

But when the Spriggs had gone, Freddy said: “I don't know. It's best to let them think that she really didn't see a lion, because we don't want a lot of talk. But suppose that was Leo she saw?”

“Yeah, I've been wondering about that,” said Jinx.

“We'll just have to go down to that Tallmanville place and find out,” Freddy said. “Maybe it isn't Leo but something's happened to him or he'd be here by this time. We can't take a chance. Why, he might be a prisoner in that house.”

“Sure, sure,” said Jinx. “But how are we going to get there? It's two hundred miles.”

Freddy said: “We'll hitchhike. I'll wear one of my disguises—let's see, I guess that old dress and Mrs. Bean's big shawl over my head. I'll be a poor old Irishwoman. Nobody would refuse to give a poor old Irishwoman a lift.”

It didn't sound very good to Jinx, setting out on such a trip in the dead of winter. But though, like most cats, he liked the comforts of home, he was a good deal of an adventurer, too, and—well, this trip looked as if it might turn into a first class adventure. So he just said: “OK. When do we start?”

They started early next morning, and sure enough, as Freddy had predicted, they had not trudged along more than half a mile through the snow before a truck came rumbling up behind them and stopped, and the driver said: “Want a lift?”

“Ah, the blessings of the saints on ye, kind man,” said Freddy as he climbed in. “Would ye be drivin' south, now?”

“Only to Centerboro,” said the man. “Is that your cat?”

“Sure and whose else would it be? Come, kitty; hop in, me little darlin'.”

Jinx jumped in and sat on Freddy's lap and the truck went on.

“That's a fine cat,” said the man. “Is he a good mouser?”

“Och, ‘mouser' is it?” said Freddy. “Sure there's not a mouse within ten miles dares show a whisker inside my house. You'd not think he was so ferocious to look at him, would you now?”

“You can't tell to look at 'em,” said the man.

“Ain't that the true word! Meek as Moses he looks, but a roarin' lion he is when wid mice!” Freddy gave Jinx an affectionate hug. “Ah, but it's a sweet ickle sing he is. He's his mama's ickle cutums, he is.”

Jinx, who disliked being made fun of, and specially when he couldn't hit back, unsheathed his claws and dug them quietly into his friend's shoulder. Freddy started violently, but the man didn't notice.

“How far you going, ma'am?” he asked.

“To Tallmanville.”

“That's a long ways,” said the man, and he thought for a while and then said: “It's a terrible year for mice. I expect it's because there's so much snow they've all come indoors, and they're educated mice, too—they kick the traps over and spring them and then eat the bait. Last night they ate all the soap out of the soap dishes. And of course you can't get a cat anywheres. All the kittens in the county are spoken for before they get their eyes open. So I tell you what I'll do, ma'am; I'll drive you right through to Tallmanville myself if you'll let me have the loan of that cat. Just for a couple of weeks.”

Well, it would have been an easy way to get down to Tallmanville, but Freddy knew that Jinx would never consent. So he said: “That's a fine generous offer and sorry I am that I can't be takin' it. For sure, what would I be doin' without pantry protection those two weeks? It's eatin' me little house right out from under me the mice would be.”

The driver was a reasonable man and he agreed that that was probably true. So he dropped them on the outskirts of Centerboro, where the road into the town crossed the main road going south. Freddy thanked him, and they went on southward. There weren't many cars on the road, and they walked several miles before one finally drove up behind them and stopped, and a woman's voice said: “Want a lift?”

Freddy recognized that voice, and he recognized the hand, glittering and flashing with many rings, that came out of the car window and beckoned. It belonged to his old friend Mrs. Winfield Church. He thought he would see if he could fool Mrs. Church with his disguise, so he pulled the shawl closer around his face and when the chauffeur stepped out and opened the door, he climbed in and said: “Oh, ma'am, sure you're very kind to a poor old widow woman. Hop in, kitty-my-love, and don't be messin' up the beautiful upholstery with your great clumsy wet paws.”

“Not kind at all,” said Mrs. Church. “Drive on, Riley. I like company and Riley here has been driving me for twenty years and we're pretty well talked out. How far are you going?”

“To Tallmanville,” said Freddy, “to visit me married daughter.”

“Why, we go through Tallmanville, don't we, Riley?” said Mrs. Church.

“We
can
” said the chauffeur over his shoulder. “But it's out of our way.” He glanced around. “What part of Ireland are you from, ma'am?” he asked.

“From Ballyhooblin, in County Mayo,” said Freddy quickly.

“Aha!” said Riley, nodding his head. “I thought so.”

“What do you mean, Riley?” said Mrs. Church, and Riley said: “I mean, I thought so because there isn't any such place.”

“My goodness, how could you think she'd come from there, then?” Mrs. Church asked.

“Look,” said Riley; “I'm Irish meself and I know Irish talk, and this person's imitation of Irish talk is the worst I ever heard, and I've heard some pretty poor ones and I know she ain't Irish. She ain't got the voice for it and she ain't got the face for it, for I've been watching her in the rear view mirror. And what's more, I think she's got an eye on your jewelry, and if I was you I'd tell me to stop the car and throw her out.”

“My goodness!” said Mrs. Church, and she turned around and looked hard at Freddy. And then she began to laugh. “Drive right on, Riley,” she said. “I know this old lady, and she's a friend of mine, and yours too.” And she reached up and twitched the shawl back from Freddy's face. “I thought that cat looked familiar—how do you do, Jinx?—but I certainly didn't suspect who you were. What on earth are you doing out here?”

Freddy was disappointed. He had thought that his Irish dialect was pretty good. He had better not use it again. On the other hand, his disguise had worked all right with Mrs. Church, who knew him; it would certainly work with strangers. As they rode along he and Jinx told Mrs. Church where they were going and why. They told her the whole story.

“Well,” she said, “I'll drop you in Tallmanville. I wish I could stay there with you and see what happens. But I'm going to a wedding in Washington and I have to be there tonight. I'm sure this would be lots more fun. But I'll be back in three days, and if your business is done by then I could drive you back home.”

It was beginning to get dark when they reached Tallmanville.

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” Mrs. Church asked.

Freddy said he hadn't thought about that. “But we'll find a barn door open somewhere,” he said, “and curl up in the hay. We're used to roughing it.”

But Mrs. Church said that wouldn't do, and she had Riley drive right up to the front door of the Tallman House, and she went in and engaged the best room for them. The hotel clerk was so pleased to have such wealthy guests that he didn't object when he saw that one of them was a cat, although there was a rule that no animals were allowed in the rooms. Mrs. Church went right up with them and punched the beds to see that they were soft, and looked out of the window to be sure that they had a nice view, and the clerk was so dazzled by her flashing jewelry that he blinked and bowed and rubbed his hands and promised that everything should be done to make them comfortable. Then Mrs. Church paid for their room and meals for three days, and said goodbye.

Chapter 5

As soon as the door closed upon Mrs. Church, Jinx jumped up on the bed and after trying both pillows with his paws, curled up on the softest one. “Boy, this is the life!” he said.

“You can sleep on that pillow later,” said Freddy; “but right now we ought to go out and do a little scouting around.”

“You go,” said Jinx, and closed his eyes.