Fur Magic Boxed Set: Talisman, Sage, Fawn, Lola: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (5 page)

Chapter 8

“Miss Jessie. That was the most delicious pie I’ve ever eaten,” Harry said. “You’ve outdone yourself this time.”

What? No blustering. No insults. No evasion. Jessie still had her fingers laced around the back of Harry’s thick neck.

Ah … now all was right with the world.

Penelope could breathe a sigh of relief, and we could get to working on
her
True Love’s Kiss. With Dr. Luke. I looked at Sage to see if he could do that again, this time pushing Penelope straight in to our favorite veterinarian, but he’d already returned to his perch, scared that Bianca was going to make him the next victim of her latest curse. The way that witch carried on, you’d think she’d lost her whole crowning glory instead of just a couple of strands.

“Bianca,” Damian said. “I think it’s time to leave. I’ve had enough of this three-ring circus. Penelope, I’ll call you. We’ll go out.”

Her number’s disconnected. Maybe not right at this moment, but by the time you call, it will be. I’d take her cell phone, burry it in my litterbox and piss all over it before I’d let Damian call Pen. Human form, here I come. I know how to get rid of her contacts when I have deposable thumbs. The ones I don’t like and never will.

In this century, you don’t have to make excuses or apologize for doing good deeds in this town. I won’t and neither will Sage. Pen’s spell might have been ill-conceived, but it was also well-intentioned and now as Air Supply would say, “There’s two less lonely people in the world.”

Jessie took Harry by the hand and led him over to the cages where the cats were located, determined to have him help her pick out her new family member.

“I’d be happy to oblige, Miss Jessie,” he said as he followed.

Wow. In all the years I'd known those two, that was the first time I'd ever heard Harry use her given name and not call her
woman
in his derogatory tone. It was a testament to the power of True Love’s Kiss.

Penelope stood and grinned, highly satisfied with herself and the final outcome of the spell. With a little help from her friends, that is. The creative juices continued to flow, and I had psychic flashes of ways that I could get Dr. Luke and Pen together. I was just about to call to Sage when Elias Stout blew through the door with his notepad in one hand and pencil stub in the other. Why would he be here on business? This was purely a social evening.

“Ah, there you are, Penelope,” he said as he adjusted his spectacles on his hawk-like nose. The appendage so narrow, it didn’t provide much stability for his eyewear. “I have a few questions for you about the shelter. I thought I’d mention it in my client newsletter.”

Penelope was about to answer when Jessie and Harry came up to say goodbye.

“Penelope,” Jessie said. “I want that orange tabby with the kind eyes. I’ll be back tomorrow to pick her up.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow to pick her up,” Harry interrupted. “Come on Miss Jessie, let’s go get some of that fancy chocolate mocha frap stuff that you love so much.”

As the new couple left the shelter, Elias’ eyes narrowed and he glared at Penelope. “I thought you said you didn’t have any cats right now?”

Dr. Luke saw the conversation headed straight south of the border toward Tijuana, complete with sombreros, tequila and the corrupt Mexican police interrogation.

“That one’s new, Elias,” Dr. Luke said, jumping in to save the day. Like Mighty Mouse with his yellow and red leotard and steroid-induced rodent biceps. A blast from my former life cartoon watching past. “Someone dropped her off at the clinic yesterday, and I brought her here to Penelope as soon as I knew she had a clean bill of health.”

Pen shot Dr. Luke her grateful look, and he must of seen that as a subtle invitation, because he used it to step closer to her. So close they were within an inch of touching each other. Then, like a movie in slow motion, Dr. Luke reached over and pulled a leaf that had nestled in Pen’s long, black hair. He held it up to the light and then let it slip through his fingers to flutter down to the cement below. They both stared at it laying there. Then, looked up at the same time as both blushed the color of a Red Maple in the fall.

The tender moment proved a distraction for Elias, because he forgot all about the cats. Or, lack thereof.

“Elias,” Pen offered with a bemused smile, basking in the afterglow of her interlude. “I'll make sure I call you as soon as another cat comes in to the shelter. Please be patient. Lately, we’ve seen our fair share of dogs, but not much else. It might be the season for canines.”

“Okay, Penelope,” he replied. “You do that. By the way, where’s Miss Amelia Foley this fine evening? I still need to talk to her about the library. We have that in common and I wanted to ask her about that new antique volume of Shakespeare's sonnets they just got in. My favorite is number seventy-three and I’d like to know which one she holds most dear to her heart.”

For the love of God and all that was holy. That sounded like the old skinny, avian man had a thing for Amelia. Gross and unacceptable. He had to be at least forty. Secondly, where in the heck
was
Ami? She’d never miss one of Pen’s events for the shelter. I hadn’t seen her for quite some time and by the look of concern that flashed across Pen’s visage for a split second, my concern was warranted. What if the black witch had done something to Ami? Just as she was siphoning off Penelope’s powers. Ami was a mortal and didn’t possess any powers that could counteract any curse or spell that was cast her way.

Dr. Luke stood there, looking confused. And thwarted again. I knew he wanted to ask Pen to the movie, so I had to get rid of Elias and give those two lovebirds some alone time. I mentally called to Sage to see if he knew anyone who could distract Elias.

Hoot. Hoot.

Everyone within a few feet of Sage turned to look at him as he spread his wings as if to fly, but instead was calling out to his bird friends in the night. Since the evening air was cool but not too chilly, Pen had left the windows open a crack and in flew a Canyon Towhee. The elusive bird flew right by Sage and landed right in the middle of Elias’ bald head. A gasp rang out in the crowd as they crept closer to Elias to view the beautiful bird. Most natives of Arizona had never even seen one.

Sage, nicely done.

Anytime, rodent catcher.

“That is a beautiful little bird,” Pen observed. “I’ve never seen one up close before tonight.”

“Neither have I,” Dr. Luke replied. “My dad and I would see one on occasion when we’d hike in the foothills. My dad used to laugh at me because I was always looking in the trees. Finally, he told me that the Canyon Towhee liked to hang out in the low brush. Once I knew where to look, occasionally, I’d spot one.”

Sabrina came over to Elias and engaged him in conversation about the bird, which had now flown to rest next to Sage on his perch. Elias beamed as he realized he had a female victim willing to put up with his brand of ennui. They stepped away from Pen and Dr. Luke to get closer to the Canyon Towhee and Sabrina leaned into Elias as she gestured toward the bird.

Pen turned to face Dr. Luke. “Do you miss your dad?”

“Every day,” Dr. Luke replied. “Back when I was in college, I found his pushiness annoying, and I just wanted to express myself and test my new found freedom. But now … now that he isn’t here, I find that I wish the phone would ring and he’d be on the other end advising on how I could do things better. My dad had a heart of gold. All he wanted was to help as many animals and people as he could.”

“I wish I could have known your dad,” Pen sighed. “I miss my parents too.”

I might have to lighten the mood with some kitty theatrics. I’m all for the getting to know you better convo routine, but couldn’t they start with their favorite foods and movies? This subject was headed straight off the cliff into the morose. Dr. Luke reached out to lightly caress her hand, and she didn’t pull it away. Now we were getting somewhere.

“I wish I could have met your parents before they passed.” Dr. Luke’s voice poured over us both like a wave of support. I lent mine as well, by weaving in and out of her legs in a kitty embrace. “It must have been so hard to lose them both in such a tragic accident.”

Tragic
accident
my foot. I mean … paw. Pen suspected the Chokecherry’s were responsible for the car accident that had taken both her parents when she was four years old. Someone had tampered with the brakes of their sedan before they’d set off on a drive through the red rocks from Phoenix to Las Vegas for a long weekend. After they’d been missing a few days, the authorities had found their car at the bottom of a cliff, the bodies burned beyond recognition.

Of course, Dr. Luke was a mere mortal and he didn’t know about the Chokecherry’s and their evil doings. How they came from a long line of hedge witches that were stripped of their rights by the Shadowkeep council of witches and warlocks. Because of their past use and continued use of necromantic magic and curses. It had been said around town that Bianca and Damian’s mother, Lucinda, had been ill of late and losing her powers.

Losing her powers.

Why hadn’t I thought of it before? Maybe Lucinda put the curse on Pen before she got sick. The curse that was clearly siphoning off Pen’s abilities. Maybe Bianca and Damian were helping their mother. Those Chokecherry's stuck together, thick as thieves and would stop at nothing to save Lucinda. The leader of their motley crew. Including raising wicked spirits from the dead to help them with their cause.

Huh? I sucked in a kitty sized breath and hissed it out. What if Lucinda had done something to Ami? I had to get out of here without drawing attention to myself so I could get out on the street. Boots on the ground and all that. Pen and Dr. Luke’s budding romance would have to wait. Now that I had an idea of what might be going on, I needed to enlist Sage and my other friends for some investigative work.

“I know,” Pen replied, her eyes welling up with tears. “You would have loved them both. I don’t have many memories, but my grandma talked about them so much, I felt like they were still with us in the house while I was growing up.”

I gave Pen’s calf one final massage with my limber back in response to her sadness and then trotted off to talk to Sage.

Chapter 9

After I discussed my suspicions with Sage, we decided to wait until after midnight to go out in search of any word about the recent movements of Lucinda Chokecherry. A time of the night when our brethren in the animal world would be more active and likely to talk to us. If we could find some in the refuse bin outside of Once Upon A Bottle, that would be even better. The drunk never lie.

Penelope’s even breathing indicated that she’d fallen asleep. After her upsetting conversation with Dr. Luke about her parents and their untimely demise, she’d tossed and turned for thirty minutes until I wondered if I’d be able to leave the house undetected tonight for my mission with Sage.

Crash!

I heard a strange thump coming from the shelter where the adoptable cats were housed. Since Pen slept so lightly, she heard it too and shot straight up in the bed.

“Did you hear that, Tali?” she asked. “It sounded like it was coming from the kitty condo. I’d better go down and check it out.”

Grab your baseball bat first. Or, your hand gun.

Did you people really think I was serious? Pen doesn’t have any weaponry in the house except for a medieval broadsword handed down from her grandfather that currently hung in a place of honor above the fireplace mantle. A historian said it had been used in the Medieval Crusades. Pen thought Papa's spirit protected her through that old relic, and knowing Papa DeLacroix, he'd infused it with some positive magic to do just that.

But that damn thing was duller than Garrison Keillor in an episode of Prairie Home Companion. Or watching paint dry. Or reading the dictionary.

I digress.

If she could even lift it, what with it weighing close to thirty pounds. My razor sharp claws and pointed teeth were probably the most effective defense we had at the moment, so I trotted off after her.

Pen kept her lithe body close to the wall as she crept down the hallway to the stairs. I noticed she’d forgotten to grab her glasses in her haste to get to the shelter. Great. Blind and weaponless. Since the shelter was attached to the house by an addition Nana DeLaCroix had built years ago, only a flimsy wooden door protected us from what danger lurked on the other side. I prayed that danger wasn’t a Chokecherry or some other kind of evil demon, because there wasn’t any place that I could morph without being detected between where I stood and the breezeway.

About half-way down the stairs, Penelope stopped dead in her tracks. Another crashing noise permeated the silence. Then, it started in earnest. The howling, the caterwauling, scratching and barking. Whoever or whatever was down there had awakened the entire shelter and the animals were letting it be known that an intruder was present.

I trotted ahead of Pen in case I needed to create a diversion in order to distract the attention of whatever it was away from her. After all, I had more lives, and I was more limber and possessed excellent reflexes in case of a sneak attack.

As soon as I reached the door to the shelter, I heard it. The voice. The door was ajar and someone was on the other side, swearing.

“Damn it!” the voice was raised in anger or frustration and there was also a thumping, like someone’s beating heart had been ripped from their chest and thrown on the cement floor.

I stretched my neck out to peer around the door and came face to face with … a cat. A long haired, Seal point, mitted, Ragdoll cat. A
female
cat. I stood there in stunned silence. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever beheld. Then, she coughed. A great heaving cough and snot flew out her nose.

What are you looking at, beefcake? She asked between hacks.

Nothing.

Nothing? That’s all you can say to the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen in your life. I needed help. Serious help. I needed to grow a pair. I’d tried to tell Penelope that the neutering thing wasn’t for me.

“Tali, is that you?” Dr. Luke asked as he limped toward the door. “I stubbed my big toe on Penelope’s desk because I didn’t want to turn on all the lights. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

So the thumping had been Dr. Luke trying to take the pressure off his minor injury as he hopped around on one foot.

“Dr. Collier?” Pen had caught up to me and must have recognized Dr. Luke’s deep baritone. She squinted into the room and followed his voice with her eyes.

“I’m so sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night Penelope, and I hope you’ll forgive me. Someone surrendered this beautiful purebred Ragdoll at the clinic because its owner passed away. I’m so overloaded with patients, we didn’t even have a portable crate we could keep her in. She has a bit of a dry cough right now, but it’s nothing contagious. I was hoping that I could just put her in your kitty condo without disturbing you.”

The knockout was staying? Right on. Maybe I could talk Pen into letting her
stay
stay.

Nancy boy.

Shit. I hadn’t noticed Sage on his perch as he surveyed the entire situation.
All
of the situation, obviously, including my lack of eloquent discourse with my new crush. Leave it to him not to keep his rude thoughts to himself.

What’s your name, beautiful?

Lola.

Ah, Lola. Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl. Yellow feathers in her hair and her fur cut down to there. His name was Tali, he wore a pendant. He was escorted to his lair. He saw Lola standing there …

Hey, beefcake. I heard that. What do you think I am, some kind of object for your amusement? By the way, you should keep your day job.

But … am I handsome? A strapping dreamboat that makes your heart go pitter-patter?

My mind raced and I couldn’t keep my feelings to myself. Better she find out about my sarcastic sense of humor right out of the gate. Before Lola could respond with the answer that had the ability to rip my world apart, our little interlude was interrupted by the arrival of Penelope and Dr. Luke to stand underneath Sage’s perch. Lola and I had already wandered over to the area where we now sat, facing each other. My green eyes gazing deep in to the azure depths of hers.

“Tali?”

What? Can’t they see that we don’t want to be interrupted? Maybe just I don’t want to be interrupted, because Lola took that opportunity to wrap herself around Pen’s legs like a pair of well-broken in Uggs. She was lucky I liked her or I might have to take her out at the knees for moving in on what rightfully belonged to me.

“I’m sorry, Penelope,” Dr. Luke said. “Now, you’re going to have light-colored fur all over your flannel pajamas.”

Why couldn’t she have worn something more appropriate? As in more revealing. Negligee, bra and panties, even a tank top and shorts would have been better than the worn out pink and grey plaid flannel pajamas Pen had on for this impromptu date with Dr. Luke. Worse yet, she felt naked without her glasses so she had the already high collar clutched in her fingers and wrapped around her neck.

“What? These old things,” she replied. “It’s fine. I just want her to feel safe here so she can rub my legs all she wants.” Then she paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to grab a robe. Tali and I heard a crash and we raced down here to investigate.”

“It’s totally my fault, Penelope,” Dr. Luke rushed to explain himself. “When you gave me a spare key to the shelter in case I needed to look after the animals, I’m sure this wasn’t what you had in mind. Me, coming here in the middle of the night to scare you and all the sleeping critters.”

“Does this gorgeous girl have a name?” Pen asked.

Her name was Lola. She was a … Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

“It’s Lola,” Dr. Luke said. “Her owner, Mrs. Maplegate, lived in a small apartment over on Lewis Street, and she passed in her sleep yesterday. The family didn’t know what to do because Mrs. Maplegate only had one daughter and she’s highly allergic. I had to take her in, she’s so sweet and pretty.”

You think?

“It’s no problem,” Pen said as she lifted Lola and rubbed her silky fur. “Jessie still needs a cat, and she’s stopping by in the morning. She loves Tali, so she’s not afraid of the long hair. I’ll call her tomorrow to tell her about this gorgeous girl, Miss Lola.”

Once the new queen was up there in Pen’s arms, she looked out over the shelter like she’d smelled a fart and sucked on a lemon. High maintenance. I might have to re-think my school-boy infatuation.

Talisman, pull your head and heart away from the new wench. We must go and find information about Amelia post haste. Say, Cheerio and let’s get on with it.

In this case, Sage was right. We had to get rid of Dr. Luke, get my new woman in a cage and get the heck out of here so we could look for Amelia.

“Okay,” Dr. Luke said. “I’ll leave you to it then and stop back tomorrow and check on her. By the way, Penelope, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

Oh no, Dr. Luke. You don’t ask your true love out on a first date when she’s in her comfy pajamas with no make-up and bed head. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but I think he got his dating advice from an autobiography about Bill Gates. Complete with snort and pocket protector.

“Yes?” she asked as she glanced in his direction.

“You know that movie that’s playing at the Science Museum? I really want to go.”

As he spoke, his words came out faster and faster until the ending was nothing but a jumbled mess of syllables. Ireallywannago.

“Me too,” she exclaimed.

He blushed and kept rubbing the sole of his tennis shoe along the cracks in the cement floor. Thank God Pen didn’t have her glasses on and couldn’t see him acting like a third grader with his first crush. Then again, she’d probably like it since she’s a sappy girl. Sage leaned over his wooden perch and peered down on the entire scene as if he couldn’t believe his gigantic, black owl eyes. The he gave me an owl version of the thumbs up with his wing tip.

“Maybe we could go together … this Friday night?” He stammered the question. “Then grab a bite to eat at The Hayhouse?”

“I’d love to, Dr. Collier … I mean Luke,” she replied with Lola still nestled in her arms. “Let’s touch base when it gets closer and work out the details.”

“Thanks again for taking Lola without advance notice,” he called as he opened the exit door. “I’m really looking forward to our date on Friday.” Then he slipped through back in to the night.

The shocked look on Pen’s face gave me a kitty chuckle. I don’t think she thought of it as a date but a date it was. She looked down at me with her huge blue eyes.

“Tali, did Dr. Collier say ‘date’?”