“Yeah?” the detective groused. “Just what is it you’re trying to say?”

  Craig focused on the detective. “Well, I tend to believe that all the money from that robbery was in the same spot the day the cat dug up those bundles.” When the detective looked confused, Craig said, “And now here it is in this room.”

  “Huh?”

  John screamed out, “Yeah, he’s crazy and so’s that cat!” He wheeled his chair to the other side of the room. “Tell him to get away from me!”

  Ignoring the eruption, Craig asked, “Detective, can you get a screwdriver in here or maybe a metal saw? I think we need to open that pocket in his chair and see what John has hidden inside there.”

  Shively thought for a moment, then said to the other officer, “Branson, go get a tool kit out of the equipment room and bring it back here as fast as you can.” He stood and walked toward the wheelchair.

  “See that?” Craig said, pointing.

  “Yeah, that is odd.” He looked at John, “And you’re acting rather odd, with your outbursts.”

  “Hey, if there’s somethin’ hidden in this chair, I sure didn’t know nothin’ about it. It was probably her or the guy who used the chair before I found it. I didn’t do it, I can tell you that.”

  “Oh, shut up!” Ed demanded. “You and your bright ideas. I should never have trusted you in the first place, you...” he started to head for John, his fists raised.

  When Craig saw a scuffle in the making, he scooped up the cat and handed him to Savannah. “Get back!” he shouted, grabbing Ed and holding onto him. Officer Branson returned in time to help Craig get Ed under control while Shively kept an eye on John. The officer cuffed both prisoners, then he and Detective Shively helped John out of the wheelchair and eased him into a chair across the room while Craig turned the wheelchair upside down and removed the metal plate.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Detective Shively said when two packets of large bills dropped from the chair. He picked them up and looked them over, asking, “Are there any other hidden compartments in that thing?”

  “No!” John shouted. When the others looked at him, he said more quietly, “Not that I know of. I never saw any. Hell, I didn’t even know about that one. The guy I got the chair from probably put it there. It’s not mine, that’s for sure.”

  Detective Shively stared at John, then ordered the deputy, “Tear it apart.”

  “No!” John cried. “I need that chair. I can tell you there’s no more money.”

  The detective looked at him, then said again to the officer, “Go ahead; tear it apart.”

  “Okay, okay,” John said. “Under the armrest on the right. That’s it, man. That’s all there was.”

  “Yup,” the detective murmured, counting the bundles of bills removed from the armrest. “It seems to all be here.” He glared at John and said, “Officer, take these two scumbags back to their cells, will you?” Once the others had left, he turned to Craig. “I don’t know what to say.” He stared at the cat, who Savannah now held in her arms. “How did you know?” he asked.

  “I didn’t,” Craig said. “I just followed the cat’s lead like I’ve learned to do.” He grinned. “Yeah, it was a bit of a dog-and-pony show. The truth is, the cat isn’t always right.”

  The detective smirked at Craig and took a deep breath. “Well, thank you both.” He petted Rags. “Mrs. Ivey, I don’t know what to...”

  “Never mind that,” she retorted.

  When Craig saw the detective studying Rags, he smiled and said, “He’s really something, isn’t he?”

  “He sure is.” He made eye contact with Savannah. “Again, forgive me for...”

  She looked away. “Just let me out of here. All I want is to join my family and get on with my life.”

  “Of course. Of course,” he said, opening the door for her.

  ****

  “It’s wonderful to be home again,” Savannah said the following evening as the Iveys and the Pettits lounged in the living room. “It seems like we were gone for so long.”

  “I think that’s because so much happened,” Holly suggested.

  “Right,” Keith agreed. “It was a jam-packed vacation.”

  “It’s the cat,” Michael complained.

  “What about the cat?” Savannah huffed.

  “You know, with him there’s never a dull moment. He keeps things lively and crazy. Think about it, hon, did you have even one quiet, relaxing moment these past two weeks?”

  “Sure I did,” she said. She gazed across the room at Rags, who lay sprawled out, sound asleep, under a corner table. “But you’re right. He did throw some wrenches into our vacation days—playing grease monkey, digging up that darned money, trying to steal a baby squirrel...”

  “But he didn’t steal anything,” Adam said. “I mean at the beach. He wasn’t being a klepto cat at the beach.”

  “That was a surprise,” Michael said. “It was sweet, quiet little Princess Pauline the whole time, creating chaos in the beach community.”

  Savannah chuckled, then said, “Gads, I hope everyone got their belongings back. And I hope Janet can find a way to keep the princess inside and safe.”

  Michael took a deep breath. “I’m just glad she’s no longer our responsibility.”

  “Well, I miss her,” Adam complained. “She was a good cat.”

  “I do too,” Savannah said.

  When most of the others agreed, Adam asked, “Don’t you miss her, Dad? Didn’t you like her at all?”

  “Sure, I liked her. I’ll miss her at night when my feet get cold. She was like a pair of slippers.” When the others looked in his direction, he became more serious. “Yeah, she’s a nice little cat. I wouldn’t mind keeping her, but I think she’ll be really happy with Janet, who has a lot more time to spend loving her, don’t you? And you saw how happy Pauline makes Cousin Janet.”

  “How nice, Michael,” Savannah soothed. “Of course that’s what’s important—the best possible home for sweet Pauline.”

  Everyone sat quietly with their thoughts until Cassie blurted, “Are we going riding tomorrow—on your horse?”

  “We sure are,” Savannah said, tapping the end of the child’s nose playfully.

  “But the horses aren’t home yet,” Adam reminded her.

  “That’s why we’re going riding at Bonnie’s stables. She has horses for everyone, and riding trails, too.”

  “Everyone?” Adam questioned. He asked excitedly, “Dad, are you going riding with us?”

  “Um...no. I think I have work to do.”

  “What about you, Uncle Keith?” Adam asked.

  “Sure, I’d like to go.”

  “Do you ride?” Savannah asked him.

  “Used to,” Keith said. “I had a 4-H horse when I was a kid.”

  Bethany pushed up against Keith. “Can you do tricks on the horse, Daddy?”

  “No. but I can stay on the horse. That’s a trick, isn’t it?”

  She looked confused, then said, “I hope I know that trick.”

  Savannah smiled at her niece, then asked, “So how many horses do we need? I’d like to give Bonnie and Barney a heads-up. Everyone who’s going riding, raise your hand.”

  “Dad, you’re the only one who didn’t raise a hand,” Adam complained.

  “No I’m not,” he grumped, “Rags didn’t raise his hand, Buffy didn’t raise her hand, neither did Lexie or Walter or Grammy or Lily or Teddy.”

  The children laughed and Bethany said, “Cats don’t have hands.”

  “And Lily and Teddy are in bed,” Adam reminded him. He turned to Cassie and Bethany. “Rags can ride a horse. Savannah, can Rags go with us?”

  “Oh no,” Savannah protested, “let’s not go there. No. I think we’ll do just fine without any extra animals along.”

  “Just horses, huh, Aunt Savannah?” Cassie confirmed.

  She nodded.

  Holly looked around the room. “I really love this old house. The décor, the paint and wall texture work, the size of the rooms, and that great wraparound deck porch out there. Oh, and the farmhouse kitchen. It’s wonderful. You say you bought it from your aunt, Savannah?”

  “Yes, Aunt Maggie inherited it from her late husband. It was built by his great or great-great grandparents.”

  Holly leaned in. “Do you live here alone?”

  “What?” Savannah asked.

  “It just seems to me that an older home like this might have spirit beings hanging out.”

  “Oh, Holly, you sound like Iris.”

  “Does Iris think it could be haunted?”

  Savannah grinned. “She thinks everyplace is haunted.”

  “I take it you don’t believe in things of the supernatural,” Keith said, chuckling.

  “Let’s just say I’m skeptical.” Savannah grinned. “Iris sure likes that stuff, though. She actually had a spirit—or so it seemed—last month. I sat in on a séance over at their house.”

  “You did?” Holly squealed. “Oh, you’ve gotta tell me the juicy details.” She jumped. “Oh, was that related to the guy who went missing and was reunited forty years later with his teen heartthrob?”

  “Yes. Same story.” Savannah glanced around at the others. “I don’t think the kids want to hear that love story. What do you say you children get ready for bed?”

  “Me too?” Adam complained. “I’m eleven, you know.”

  Michael and Savannah laughed. He said, “We know, Son. You’ve had a busy week. You have a big day ahead, and we have some other fun things planned while your cousins are here. Let’s get some good sleep, shall we? We don’t want any cranky tagalongs.”

  “Okay,” he complained. He then asked, “What things are we going to do? We’re going horseback riding tomorrow—well, six of us are. Are you going Grammy?”

  “Oh no, Adam. Not me. My riding days are over.”

  “Lily and Teddy aren’t going, are they?” Adam asked.

  “No, they’re staying home with me,” Michael said. “Someone’s gotta stay home with poor old dad.”

  “So what other fun things do we have planned while Cassie’s here?” Adam asked again.

  “Well, we’re having dinner here so your cousins can meet our friends and family that they haven’t already met. Peter and Rochelle are coming up for a visit and I think we’re going to that history museum while they’re here.”

  “Aunt Holly, when are you going home?” Adam asked.

  “Thursday,” she said.

  “Ohhh,” Cassie groaned.

  “I don’t wanna go home,” Bethany complained.

  “Don’t you think our kitty misses us? And what about Daddy’s patients? He’s needed back at his veterinary practice. And you girls,” she said, poking each of them in the tummy, “have a couple of camps coming up—your aerial camp...”

  “Oh yeah!” Cassie cheered. She looked at her mother. “What else?”

  “Well, you have three birthday parties to go to. Shannon’s having a birthday, and Lizzie, and Brannon next door.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “What about me, Mommy?” Bethany asked. “Can I stay here?”

  Holly laughed and hugged her. “I would miss you too much. Wouldn’t you miss me and Daddy and your sister?”

  “Yeah, I want you to stay here with me,” Bethany reasoned.

  “And miss our next story time at the library? You picked out the books to read for that day, remember?”

  “Yeah, Rags’s stories!”

  Savannah’s face brightened. “You chose some of Rags’s books for story time at your library?”

  Bethany nodded.

  Savannah offered the child a fist bump. “Way to go!”

  Holly smiled when her daughter participated in the gesture, then said, “Okay, let’s get you girls tucked into bed.”

  Before leaving the room, both girls wrapped their arms around Savannah.

  “Night-night, see you in the morning,” she said, hugging them back.

  “Thank you for having a horse,” Cassie said over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs.

  ****

  “What’s Rags doing?” Keith asked when he entered the kitchen the following morning.

  Savannah turned away from the stove where she was scrambling eggs. “What?”

  “Well, he’s lying on Bethany’s tummy and staring at her while she reads that book.”

  “I saw him doing that a couple of days ago,” Holly said. She chuckled. “I think he likes a warm place to nap, and she makes a good bed for him.”

  After thinking about it for a moment, Savannah said, “Actually, she seems kind of tired, lately, but we’ve had a busy few weeks in the sun. All the children have slowed down some.”

  “Not as much as Bethany,” Holly said, running her hand over the child’s hair. “I plan to take her to see Dr. Benson when we get home. I think she’s tiring more easily than a child her age should be.”

  “Oh, honey,” Keith said, “she’s just going through one of those growth spurts, and, like Savannah said, we’ve really been wearing the kids out these last few weeks.”

  “Is she running a fever?” Gladys asked while removing a pan of bacon from the oven.

  “Doesn’t seem to be,” Holly said. “She just doesn’t have as much energy as usual.” She chuckled. “And Rags is taking advantage of that.”

  “Soup’s on!” Savannah called. “Come and get it!”

  “Soup again?” Michael complained, carrying Teddy into the dining room and putting him in his high chair.

  Adam quickly surveyed the platters on the dining room table. “No soup, Dad; just eggs, bacon, toast...” he recited.

  “Come on, Bethany,” Holly called.

  “I can’t,” she complained. “Rags won’t let me up.”

  “I’ll take care of him,” Keith said, lifting the cat and ruffling the fur around his neck affectionately before putting him down on the floor. He then took Bethany’s hand and helped her up.

  ****

  “Well, there are the cowboys and cowgirls,” Michael greeted later that afternoon when the others returned from their ride. “How’d it go?”

  “Yeah, did you have fun?” Gladys asked, joining them in the kitchen.

  “Lots of fun,” Adam said, smiling brightly.

  “Yeah, really fun,” Cassie said. She glanced at Keith and announced, “Dad fell off his horse.”

  “I did not,” Keith insisted. “I was just a little clumsy dismounting, and my cinch was loose.”

  Adam tried to hide his laughter. “You landed on your back.” He pulled out his phone. “Look, Dad, I have a picture of Uncle Keith on the ground.”

  After looking at the picture, Michael said, “Now that right there’s the reason I stay off horses. There can be equipment malfunctions, or the horse decides he doesn’t like you. Every time I get around a horse, that’s how I end up—on the ground, flat on my back.”

  “Oh, Michael,” Savannah soothed, “that isn’t true.”

  “I won the horse race!” Cassie blurted. She looked at Savannah. “Me and Aunt Savannah. We had a tie.”

  “Wow!” Michael said. He gave her a high five. “Congratulations. I hope you didn’t break any speed limits.”

  “Nooo,” Cassie insisted.

  Michael picked up Bethany. “How’d you do, Beth-Beth? Did you ride a big horse or a little pony?”

  “I rode with Savannah on her horsie,” she said. She added, “Peachy.”

  “Peaches,” Cassie corrected, giggling.

  “Wow!” Michael exclaimed. “So you won the horse race too, huh?”

  “No. I was riding with Daddy then.”

  Adam pushed up against his dad and said quietly, “It wasn’t actually a real horse race. It was a trotting race.”

  Michael tousled Adam’s hair. “And you didn’t win the trotting race?”

  “No,” he complained. “That’s one thing Beulah doesn’t do very well. I don’t think she ever learned to trot. She can walk pretty fast, though.”

  “So you rode the Beulah horse, did you?” Michael asked.

  “Yeah,” Cassie said, “and he kept laughing at her name. I didn’t think her name was so funny.” She giggled again, saying, “Dad rode Pee Biscuit.”

  “Pee Biscuit!” Michael exclaimed. “Where did they get a name like that for a horse?”

  “Who knows?” Savannah said. “There are some crazy names out there.”

  Adam snickered. “Uncle Keith said the horse probably peed on a biscuit when he was a little colt, so that’s what they named him.”

  “Does anyone want a tall glass of lemonade?” Gladys offered.

  “How nice,” Holly said. “Sounds good.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been squeezing lemons all afternoon,” Michael carped.

  Gladys grinned at him. “Yeah, I squeezed the lemon juice out of a can and mixed it with water.”

  “Hi, Rags,” Adam greeted when the cat strolled into the room.

  Everyone laughed when they saw him sniff the air. Keith remarked, “I’ll bet we stink, don’t we, buddy?”

  Rags walked up to Bethany, who was playing with Teddy by then and reached his paws up her legs, almost knocking her over. “Hi Rags,” she said, petting him.

  “Dinner’s in an hour,” Gladys announced. She fanned the air in front of her face and added, “In case you’d like to wash off the horse smells before eating.”

  “Thanks for the not-so-subtle hint,” Holly said, laughing.

  Keith sniffed his shirt sleeve. “I rather like wearing the aroma of a cowboy.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said. “Horse smell isn’t stinky. I like it too.”

  “Well, we’re going to wash it off us before dinner anyway,” Savannah said.

  “Bethany,” Holly said gently, “why don’t you come up to our room and lie down for a bit before supper? You look tired, honey.”

  “Okay,” the child said, walking up the stairs with her mom.

  Rags trotted after them.

  ****

  “Is she running a fever?” Savannah asked, when she noticed Bethany lying on the sofa after breakfast the next day. Rags lay alongside her, his paws on her chest.