And with those words, he whistled through his teeth, and as if responding to Pavlov’s signal, both Blizzard and Storm suddenly stood erect and tall. Then they hurried off in the direction of their human.

  “That’s what I don’t like about those two,” Minnie confessed. “One moment you’re chatting nicely about this and that, and the next—Mick whistles, and it’s like you don’t exist anymore and they’re gone! Every single time!”

  “At least they saved me the trouble of having to look for those spiders,” said Clarice. “And I’ll bet there are no piranhas either. What a disappointment.”

  Shanille and Kingman weren’t interested in any of these ruminations. The moment they saw their humans getting mowed down, they had hurried to the scene. And since we also cared a lot about those two men, we now decided to join them and see if they had sustained any permanent damage.

  Fortunately for them—and for Kingman and Shanille—they were already crawling to their feet, both looking a little embarrassed for having gone down so easily.

  “He’s very strong,” said Father Reilly.

  “Yeah, it was like hitting a brick wall,” said Wilbur. “Pure concrete.”

  “A wall is either brick or concrete, Wilbur,” said Gran. “It can’t be both.”

  “Well, in this case, it was,” said Wilbur. “That guy is tough!”

  “He sure is,” said Father Reilly. He looked behind him. “He’s gone. Where did he go?”

  We all looked where we had last seen Mick and Smilla, but Father Reilly was right: they were gone.

  “There must be a secret entrance,” said Gran.

  In the end, the passage turned out not to be all that secret. There was an opening behind a bush, and as we all filed in, in hot pursuit of Mick and his girlfriend, we had to watch where we stepped, as we now found ourselves inside a cave system.

  “We probably should have worn shoes,” said Harriet after a while. “I keep stepping on sharp stones.”

  “Cats don’t wear shoes,” said Kingman. “It would totally ruin our reputation.”

  “Shoes are for pussies,” said Clarice. She looked around. “Maybe there are spiders in here? It looks like the perfect place. Or bats, maybe? I like a nice bat. Would just hit the spot.” She sighed. “Oh, why did I come on this trip? There would be juicy snacks, Scarlett said. All kinds of exotic foods. Fat chance. Island or not, this is still New York. Good luck finding exotic foods here!”

  We had ventured deeper into the cave system, and it was a good thing our humans had brought along torches—or they definitely would have lost their footing and hurt themselves. As it was, we were in our element. We don’t mind dark spaces. Also, it was quite cool in there, which was a plus.

  “Oh dear,” said Scarlett.

  We had reached a fork in the road and were faced with a choice between two different corridors.

  “Which one to take?” asked Scarlett.

  “I’d say the right one,” said Ida. “Right is might, and Mick is very mighty, isn’t he?”

  Looked like even Ida had fallen under the spell of the muscular, newly minted detective.

  “I say we pick left,” said Father Reilly. “I once saw a documentary about being lost in an underground maze, and they said to always pick left. Left, left, left, and so on. You can never go wrong picking left.”

  “The same could be said about right,” said Wilbur. “Right, right, right, and so on and so forth.”

  “Why don’t we flip for it?” asked Scarlett.

  “Or why don’t we ask the dog?” Gran suggested. “Minnie must be able to smell where Blizzard and Storm went, right?”

  And so it was decided: we would put our fate in the tiny nose of Minnie Mouse.

  The teacup Chihuahua sniffed the entrance to Corridor A for a moment, then the entrance to Corridor B, and finally pointed to the second one.

  “There,” she said. “I’m one hundred percent sure.”

  “See?” said Wilbur. “Right is always right.”

  “I’m sure left would have gotten us there, too,” said Father Reilly, who hated to admit defeat. “Eventually all roads lead to Rome, right?”

  “They might lead to Rome, but we’re not going to Rome,” said Wilbur. “We’re trying to locate that treasure, remember?”

  “Wise guy,” muttered Father Reilly.

  “Huh!” said Wilbur.

  Both men looked a little scraped and bruised but otherwise in fine fettle. They certainly hadn’t lost their fighting spirit, which was good news—because if things progressed the way I foresaw, the big showdown with Mick and Smilla over that treasure was yet to come.

  As we ventured deeper and deeper underground, the floor of the corridor began sloping down more and more.

  “It’s getting all slick and wet,” said Ida as she briefly touched the wall. “I don’t like slick and wet. There might be all kinds of bacteria here. Not to mention ancient parasites no human has come into contact with for centuries—or even millennia.”

  “Captain Quidd was here only two hundred years ago,” Gran pointed out, “so we should be fine.”

  At our feet, a pool of water had started to gather, and I had to admit I was in full agreement with Ida: who knew what we’d find in these caves? An underground river? Another waterfall? We could drown down there—or get bitten by a bat. The longer we walked, the less I felt like Indiana Jones and more like the scared extra who gets eaten in the first five minutes.

  CHAPTER 45

  “Maybe we should call Odelia and let her know where we are,” Scarlett suggested. “Just in case something happens to us, you know? That way she can send in the cavalry.”

  “We don’t need the cavalry,” said Gran. “Everything’ll be fine. We’re the Watch, honey. The Watch can handle itself.”

  “I don’t know about you,” said Wilbur, “but I got the impression that Mick outsmarted us back there.”

  “Nonsense,” said Gran. “Nobody can outsmart the Watch, for the simple reason that we have right on our side. Isn’t that true, Ida?” She looked around when no answer came. “Ida?”

  When I looked behind us, I saw that not only had Ida disappeared, but so had Minnie Mouse!

  “Uh-oh,” said Kingman. “Looks like the first rats have jumped ship.”

  “I wouldn’t call Minnie Mouse a rat,” said Shanille. “She’s a very nice little doggie, and I for one am very grateful to her for appeasing those two horrible dogs.”

  “They were really tame all of a sudden, weren’t they?” said Kingman. “The power of love, huh?”

  “They certainly looked smitten,” I said.

  “Okay, no panic,” said Gran, flapping her arms. “Nobody panic!”

  “Everything is fine, Vesta,” Scarlett assured her friend. Looked like the roles had suddenly been reversed. “Even if we’re down to four.”

  “Do you think Ida fled, or has she been grabbed by malicious forces lurking in these caves?” asked Father Reilly.

  “I hope she simply turned back to try that other corridor,” said Gran. “Otherwise she might have been taken.”

  “By whom?” asked Scarlett.

  “By the ghost of Captain Quidd, of course. Who else!”

  We all gulped and glanced around us with a touch of nervousness.

  “What a bunch of baloney,” said Clarice. “There are no ghosts. And there are no bats either, in spite of what I was promised. No spiders, no bats, no nothing. This is such a waste of time.”

  “Let’s just find the treasure,” I suggested, “and get out of here as fast as we can.”

  And so we continued our quest. The corridor was still sloping downwards, and the pool of water had become a small creek that ran along our paws.

  “It’s getting very wet down here,” said Kingman, who—like any cat—hates to get his paws wet. “If this keeps up, our humans will have to carry us the whole way.”

  So far so good, though, and so we kept tripping along.

  “Ida must have decided the treasure simply wasn’t worth the aggravation,” said Father Reilly. “And frankly, I hate to say this, but I see her point. Is it really worth risking our lives over a few old doubloons?”

  “Do you want that church of yours to have a roof or not?” asked Vesta. When the priest nodded in the affirmative, she said, “Well then. Let’s keep going, all right? If Mick can do it, so can we. We are the Watch, you guys! We’re unbeatable!”

  “Except by a retired hockey star,” Wilbur muttered, earning himself a scowl from Gran.

  It wasn’t long before we found ourselves faced with another choice. Only this time, there were three corridors. And we didn’t have the benefit of Minnie to pick the right one.

  “Where is Minnie when you need her?” asked Kingman with a sigh.

  “I’ll do this,” said Clarice as she stepped to the fore. “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can go home. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of this whole business already.” She stood before the three corridors and sniffed the left one, then the middle one, then the right one. In the end, she pointed to the middle one. “That’s where Blizzard and Storm went. That’s the right one.”

  And since we had absolutely no clue, and we trusted Clarice, we headed down the center tunnel and were soon going down even more steeply—so much so that our humans’ feet were getting wet, and we were practically submerged in water!

  So Scarlett picked up Clarice, Gran picked up Dooley, Father Reilly picked up Shanille, and Wilbur picked up Kingman. Which left me, Brutus, and Harriet.

  “Hey, who’s picking me up?” Harriet demanded. “I’m getting really wet down here!”

  “Oh, dear,” said Gran. “Looks like we’re three hands short.” She sighed. “Okay, I’ll take Harriet. Scarlett, you take Brutus. And then we need someone to take Max. A very strong someone.” When nobody volunteered, she added, “Anyone?”

  “I’ll do it,” said Wilbur. And so he grabbed me by my midsection and hoisted me up.

  “Cozy, isn’t it?” said Kingman. “Being carried like this? I could get used to this, you know.”

  “Not me,” I said. Wilbur’s hand was digging into my tender belly, and it wasn’t comfortable at all—more like dangling and jiggling while he walked. And judging from the huffing and puffing he was doing, Wilbur wasn’t comfortable either.

  Then again, he had clearly drawn the short straw, as he had to carry the two biggest and heftiest feline specimens all the way to wherever we were going.

  The further we descended, the higher the water rose, and after a while Gran said, “I don’t like this, people. I don’t like this at all!”

  “I told you,” said Scarlett. “We should have called Odelia. That way she could have sent the cavalry. And by cavalry, I mean Chase and Alec.”

  “Alec and Chase have fallen out—can you believe it?” said Gran. “Fallen out over that stupid Mick fellow. Never thought something like that would happen.”

  “They’ll make up,” said Scarlett. “You’ll see. They love each other, so it’s only a matter of time before they’re friends again.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Gran. “They’re both stubborn and won’t admit they were wrong. And that’s a crying shame.”

  “Is it just my imagination, or is the ceiling getting lower and lower, Max?” asked Dooley.

  “It isn’t your imagination,” I said. “Looks like we’re almost at the end of the line.”

  I was right. The corridor had gotten so narrow that our humans couldn’t walk upright anymore—they had to bend over. And then, all of a sudden, they stopped.

  “What’s going on?” asked Scarlett. “Why have we stopped?”

  “I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news,” said Gran. “The good news is that there’s a hole. But the bad is that it’s underwater. Or at least I think it is.”

  “Oh, no!” said Scarlett.

  “Looks like we’re going to have to swim.”

  “Oh, noooo!”

  “And so will the cats.”

  This time, we all yelled, “Oh, nooooooo!”

  CHAPTER 46

  Marge was in an exceptionally good mood. Despite the fact that her mother had taken off without telling anyone—taking the cats with her—and that her daughter and Chase were having some kind of beef with Alec, she felt pretty great about her life right now.

  And she had Margaret Samson to thank for it. If Margaret hadn’t told her to put some pep back into her married life, she never would have done it. And the initiative certainly wouldn’t have come from Tex.

  She was folding laundry on the deck and humming a pleasant tune when her attention was drawn by Marcie.

  “Yoo-hoo!” Marcie said, giving her a wave.

  “Hey, honey,” said Marge. She and her neighbor hadn’t always gotten along all that well, but she was in such a good mood right now that she could have kissed and hugged the woman out of sheer joy.

  She walked over to the hedge and gave her neighbor a radiant smile. “And how are things in the world of the Trappers?”

  “Oh, can’t complain,” said Marcie. “Just that Rufus escaped again last night, and according to Kurt, so did Fifi. And it can’t have been to go to the park with the cats, because I haven’t seen them around.”

  “No, my mother took the cats on a camping trip.”

  “A camping trip! How exciting!”

  “Isn’t it? They’re probably having a great time.”

  “Why weren’t you at yoga this morning?” asked Marcie. “Or Tex? Or Odelia and Chase? Is it because of Vesta’s camping trip?”

  “Oh no,” said Marge with a laugh. “I guess Tex and I got up late.” To be honest, she had completely forgotten about yoga.

  Marcie studied her for a moment, then said, “I don’t know what it is about you, but you look positively radiant, Marge. Did you do something to your hair? You have this glow.”

  Marge touched her hair and shook her head. “It’s not the hair, no. It’s…” She hesitated only a moment. Then she thought, what the heck—why not spread some of that joy? “You know that Margaret Samson was recently reunited with her old flame, right? And how we all helped with that?”

  “Of course! We all read Odelia’s story in the Gazette. About that painting that was stolen from the police station safe. What a story, huh?”

  “Well, Margaret was at the library, and she told me all about her and this old-and-new boyfriend of hers.” She lowered her voice and got a little giddy. “She actually told me all about how exciting her love life has suddenly become, which is when I found this book.”

  Marcie’s eyes widened, her lips forming a perfect O. “What book is that?”

  “One Hundred Tips for a Happy Time Between the Sheets,” said Marge. “So I’ve been reading it and…” She giggled.

  “Oh my God,” said Marcie as she clutched the sides of her face. “You mean you and Tex…”

  Marge nodded emphatically. “Tex and I are working our way through the book, chapter by chapter, and I have to say, Marcie—it is amazing!”

  “Oh my God!” Marcie squealed. “I need that book!”

  “You won’t regret it. You and Ted⁠—”

  “Me and Ted have been having issues,” Marcie confessed. “So this sounds like the kind of lifesaver we need, Marge.”

  “The same happened with Tex and me. When you’ve been married as long as we have⁠—”

  “The rut.”

  “The rut is real. And it’s brutal.”

  “It is brutal. So this book…”

  “You have to try it. Don’t wait. Get it now. It will change your life!”

  “Oh, I will get it,” said Marcie, letting out a giggle of her own. “Give me the title again?”

  Marge did, and when Ted stepped out of the house and into the backyard and saw the two women giggling and checking something on their phones, he gave them a curious look.

  Marge raised her voice. “Ted, you’re going to be so happy!”

  “I’ve got a surprise for you, honey,” said Marcie.

  “Ooh, I love surprises,” said Ted. “What is it?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” said Marcie.

  “Have you eaten, Ted?” asked Marge, giving Marcie a conspiratorial wink. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day—didn’t you know?”

  “What Ted needs is a power breakfast,” said Marcie. “I’m going to feed you a proper meal, Ted, honey.”

  “I like this surprise already,” said Ted, though he still looked quite puzzled. As Marcie led him inside—after giving Marge a wink—he added, “It’s not Disneyland, is it? We already did Disneyland for my birthday last year, remember?”

  “It’s not Disneyland,” said Marcie. “It’s something much, much better.”

  Just then, Odelia and Chase arrived, both looking extremely glum.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Marge, suddenly feeling a little guilty. Here she was, thinking about her personal happiness and satisfaction, and all the while her daughter was going through a crisis.

  “Uncle Alec offered me my old job back,” said Chase.

  “That’s good, right?”

  “It is good, but then Charlene said he couldn’t offer me my old job back, since he’d already given it to Mick, and they couldn’t demote him so soon after the town council pushed the chief to make him detective. So I told her that I’m a shoo-in for the job of police chief in Hampton Keys.”

  “And are you a shoo-in for the position?”

  Chase shook his head. “I’m not. I don’t even know if I’m on the list of potential candidates yet. I’ve put my candidacy in the hat, but I won’t know until after the deadline—which is a month from now.” He sighed. “So looks like I’m out of a job.”

  “Charlene is playing a really mean game,” said Odelia. “I hadn’t expected this from her, Mom.”

  “Charlene isn’t the only one involved in this decision,” said Marge. “Probably she’s got a lot of different people putting a lot of pressure on her.”

  “But it’s so not fair.”

  “Life isn’t fair,” Marge pointed out. “But you’ve got to roll with the punches, honey. Isn’t there anything you can do?”