“Oh yes. I remember,” Savannah said. “Did you bring Koko?”

  Arthur nodded, then asked, “So have you brought Rags over here to see if he can solve the mystery?”

  “Yeah, he spent the night with us here recently and all he did was make friends with some of the cats. He wasn’t any help at all, well, except for when a neighborhood cat came in needing a healer. Rags was a real help in that situation.”

  “Yes,” Iris agreed. “It was super-impressive the way he was able to calm a snarling, out-of-control wildcat so Savannah could operate on her leg.”

  Arthur looked at Savannah. “Are you a practicing veterinarian now?”

  She shook her head. “All I did was remove some fishing line that was choking off the poor thing’s circulation. She was in a lot of pain.”

  Arthur thought for a moment. “But Rags hasn’t been able to solve the cat invasion mystery? That’s odd. Well, maybe two cat heads are better than one.”

  “Hey, you guys, I’m open to anything you want to try.” Iris said. “My next step will be to trap them and send them off to a shelter.” She cringed. “I really don’t want to do that, but I might have to in order to save my business.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Hi, Koko,” Savannah greeted the following morning when Arthur arrived with his Siamese cat on a leash. “So you brought her to play with Rags? He’ll be thrilled—well, as thrilled as a cat can get.”

  Arthur chuckled. “Do you think they’ll remember each other? It’s been a long time since they were together.”

  “Well, let’s see.” She stepped aside and invited, “Come in. Rags!” she called. “Come see who’s here. Rags, where are you?”

  Arthur pointed. “There he is. Looks like we woke him.”

  “Rags, Koko came to visit.” Savannah said. She laughed. “He does look sleepy.”

  Suddenly, Rags rolled out of his bed, stretched, and walked toward them. He stopped midway and looked up at Arthur.

  “Hi, buddy. How’s it going?” Arthur greeted. He kneeled and tried to entice Rags.

  Instead, Rags simply sat staring. When he caught sight of Koko, however, he perked up. He tilted his head to one side, then the other, and let out a meow. Koko walked up to Rags and rubbed against him. This startled Rags and he backed away and began sniffing the air. As if he suddenly recognized his Siamese friend, he rubbed against her, then lay down and batted at her with his paws. She patted him a couple of times, and sat down next to him.

  “Yup, they remember each other,” Arthur said, smiling. He asked, “Okay if she stays here with him while we go riding?” When Savannah hesitated, he said, “If not, that’s okay, too. I have her pack. She can go with us.”

  Savannah waved her hand. “No, she can stay. I’ll let Mom know she’s here. Be right back.”

  When she returned, Arthur was removing Koko’s harness. “Now be a good girl, okay?” he murmured.

  Savannah smiled. “You, too, Ragsie.” She addressed Arthur. “Want to ride Gypsy or Peaches?”

  “Doesn’t matter to me.” He grinned, adding, “Actually, I’d prefer the most challenging ride.”

  “Then that would be Gypsy,” Savannah said.

  “Okay. Lead the way.” He followed her out the side kitchen door through the landscaping project and toward the corrals.

  “Watch your step,” she warned. “Lots going on out here this week.”

  “This is going to be real nice,” he said, slowing his pace and looking around at the new plantings, the playhouse, and the gazebo in progress.

  Savannah smiled. “Yeah, we’re excited.”

  ◆◆◆

  The pair had been riding along the trails beyond the Ivey home for about ten minutes when something caught Savannah’s eye. She turned in her saddle and stopped her mare. “Oh no,” she groaned.

  “What?” Arthur asked, also turning to look. He started to laugh. “Well, I’ll be. Those two are still in cahoots, aren’t they?”

  “It appears so. Raaags!” she shouted through clenched teeth. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “They didn’t want to be left behind, did you, Koko?” Arthur faced his mare toward the two cats as they approached, then he removed his sweatshirt and dangled it toward the ground.

  “What are you doing?” Savannah asked.

  He grinned. “Watch.” Holding one end of the sweatshirt, he coaxed, “Come on up, girl.” When Koko leaped halfway up the sweatshirt and grabbed hold of it, Arthur lifted it slowly until he could get his hands on the cat. He then spread the sweatshirt in front of him on the saddle and she lay down there.

  “Well, I can see this isn’t her first rodeo,” Savannah quipped.

  “No,” Arthur said. “We ride together fairly often. She loves it. How about Rags?”

  “Well, we’ve ridden together, but not usually by my invitation,” Savannah grumbled. She faced Arthur. “And we’ve never tried that maneuver you just did there with your sweatshirt. That’s classic.”

  Arthur studied Rags. “Well, he’s quite a bit heavier than she is; I don’t think I’d try it with him. How do you usually ride with him?”

  Savannah grimaced. “When it’s a planned ride, I’ve ridden with him lying across the saddle in a soft carrier. We also have a backpack he can ride in. Obviously today I’m not prepared, so I suppose I’ll do something similar to what you’ve done there.” She dismounted and removed her sweatshirt. “It’s getting warm, anyway.” She then pulled out a bottle of water and asked, “Do you see something we can use to give these rascals a drink?”

  “There,” Arthur said, pointing. “Cup that leaf in your hand and see if they’ll drink from it.” He then said, “Wait, it’s not a poisonous plant is it?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She remembered her trail mix and removed a snack-size plastic bag from her pocket. She popped the nuts, dried cranberries, and raisins into her mouth, then carefully formed the baggie in the palm of her hand so it would hold water. “Come here, Rags,” she urged. When he began lapping up the water, she cheered and so did Arthur.

  “You can lead a cat to water…” he quipped.

  “And sometimes they’ll even drink it,” Savannah added, laughing.

  Once Koko drank her fill of water, Savannah spread her sweatshirt across the front of her saddle for Rags, got him settled, and remounted. “Now be a good boy,” she instructed. She carped, “Darn it, anyway. They’ve already spoiled our ride. We probably won’t be able to go as far as I’d hoped. I’m sorry, Arthur. Probably these two sneaked out when Lily opened a door or something.”

  “Not a problem. Let’s ride for as long as they’ll let us. I’m okay. Are you okay there?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  After a few moments, Arthur turned to face Savannah. “You know, when I saw the look on your face back there when you spotted the cats, I was afraid you’d seen something else.”

  “Like what?” she asked. “A bear? A cougar?”

  “No,” he said quietly, “more like a stalker.”

  Savannah frowned. “Do you think someone has followed you here?”

  “I’m not sure.” He slumped in the saddle. “Savannah, I’m so sick of being targeted. I don’t have a minute of peace, and I’m worried about Suzette and the baby. Why can’t the authorities stop this madness? No one should have to live like this.”

  “I thought you said all that had stopped.”

  He dropped his head. “Yeah, I don’t want Suzette to know about this latest situation. Stress isn’t good for the baby, you know. I want her to have the best pregnancy possible.”

  “Oh, Arthur, I’m so sorry,” Savannah said. “So what’s going on now? More of the same?”

  He started to speak, then said, “I’m sorry to burden you with my troubles.” He waved his hand in front of his face. “Forget I said anything. It’s just that I don’t have anyone I can talk to. As I said, I don’t want to worry Suzette or my grandmother, and I’m not sure who I can trust.”

  “The police department can’t help?” she asked.

  “Yeah, once something has happened. But they don’t have a protocol for what’s going on with me. I have no text messages to show anyone, no recorded phone calls or notes…nothing.”

  “Then how do you know…?”

  “I know, Savannah. I just know.”

  “Do you believe your life is in danger?” Savannah asked gently.

  “Probably at least my lifestyle. Someone seems to be after the money my father left me. So I have to ask, what would they gain if they killed me?”

  “Who would your estate go to if something were to happen to you and Suzette?” Savannah asked.

  “If, God forbid, we don’t live to have this child, it’ll be various charities. But it’s preposterous to think the charities we support would do someone in to get an estate. I mean, it’s sizeable, but not that big.”

  Savannah thought about that for a moment, then said, “So you aren’t really concerned about being killed, right? You don’t feel that your life’s in danger, but you still must feel very much at risk.”

  “Sure I do. I don’t want to be hurt and I certainly don’t want anything to happen to Suzette and the baby. Plus,” he added, “something like this can actually drive a person crazy, don’t you think so? I just want peace. Savannah, as it is, I’m not experiencing peace. I don’t know who’s stalking me or how to make it stop. It’s a miserable way to live.”

  Savannah said more quietly, “You do a pretty good job of hiding your anxiety, Arthur.”

  “Yeah, I have to for Suzette and for my own sanity. There’s still a lot I need to learn about living in society after being locked away in that dungeon for so many years, but I do know that life is pretty much what you make it. We always have choices, and I choose to have a good life no matter what’s happening, especially if what’s happening is beyond my control.” He winced. “I just wish I could get a handle on what’s going on so I can address it head-on. Know what I mean?”

  Savannah nodded. She stopped her mare and tied the arms of her sweatshirt around the saddle horn in order to envelop Rags more securely.

  “Good idea,” Arthur said. “Koko was starting to slip on that incline.” He studied the way she’d secured her sweatshirt around Rags and attempted to duplicate it. “That’s better,” he said. He patted Gypsy on the neck. “This is a nice mare. She’s strong and she seems eager to please.”

  “Yes, she is. She’s just a little flighty at times, is all. I think riding her more regularly would help. I need to become more scheduled.”

  “With two small children and a busy life?” Arthur said. “You use the workout ring, don’t you?”

  “Yes, pretty often, actually. I can’t bear seeing these guys standing for too long in the corrals, although they’re pretty good-sized corrals. But yes, I lunge them almost every day—sometimes twice.” She glanced briefly at Arthur, then adjusted the cat on the saddle again. “So you don’t think the threats and stalking is being orchestrated by your mother or Mr. Peyton?”

  “I don’t think so. What would be their reason other than misplaced revenge? It’s possible, of course, but I don’t think so.”

  “What about your father’s family?” Savannah asked. “What do you know about them?”

  “Nothing, really. As far as I know everyone’s dead—my father, his parents…”

  “Did he have any brothers or sisters or any other children?”

  Arthur shook his head. “Not that I recall. I was pretty young when he died, and what I do remember of my early childhood isn’t all that clear.” Savannah waited to hear more, and he continued, “I’ve thought about looking into the family tree, but I’ve been so busy trying to avoid trouble with the stalker or whatever he is, that I haven’t taken the time. Hey, let’s come up with a more cheerful topic, shall we? I really didn’t mean to put a damper on our day. We came out here to enjoy the experience, and I am.” He ruffled Koko’s fur. “Aren’t we, girl?”

  Savannah smiled at Arthur and the beautiful Siamese cat, then ran her hand over Rags’s fur. “You’re being a good boy,” she murmured. She added, “Even though you escaped somehow, and that was naughty.” She announced to Arthur, “Coming up is that rock formation you thought was so cool last time we rode together.”

  “Yeah, I remember that. It impressed me so much I went home and painted it. I used a photo I took on my phone that day.”

  “Cool,” Savannah said. “So among your many talents is art? I don’t think I knew that.”

  “You might call it art,” he said. “I do a sort of abstract process I saw once in a book when I was living underground. I especially like putting little surprises in my paintings—something unexpected.” Secretively, he said, “That painting has a burrowing owl at the base of the rock formation. Very few people would even notice it, but then that’s how the owl wants it. It’s a kick to have a customer come back months later and say, ‘I just found the most interesting thing in your painting. Did you mean to put a bird nest in the branches of the tree or a human face in the cloud or a heart-shaped leaf on the rose bush?’ When I say, ‘Indeed I did,’ they’re pleased with the discovery, but wonder why it took them so long to find it.”

  “Clever,” Savannah said. “And what fun feedback from your admirers.”

  Arthur chuckled. “I don’t know if they’d be considered admirers, but I do enjoy the feedback.” He strained to look ahead. “Now where is that spot?”

  “Right around the next curve there.”

  “Oh yes, I remember now.”

  The riders had just followed the bend in the trail to where the formation was when Peaches suddenly shied. She sidestepped so far to one side that she almost stumbled into a deep ravine. In the process, Rags slipped off the saddle and landed on the ground right in front of Gypsy. When he saw the horse’s hooves coming at him, he leaped to the other side of the trail and cowered behind a shrub.

  Meanwhile Arthur took quick control of his mare and held fast to Koko. He glanced at Savannah to make sure she was okay, and then he realized someone was holding tightly to Peaches’s headstall.

  “Let go!” Savannah shouted. She tried to nudge Peaches forward. When the man held fast, she swung the long end of the reins at him.

  “Settle down, little filly,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you—that is as long as you do as I say.”

  “Who are you and what do you want?” she demanded.

  The man motioned toward Arthur. “All I want is for him to sign a waiver and I’ll be on my way.”

  “No!” Arthur shouted. “Leave her alone.”

  “I will,” the man said calmly, “once you sign. Just one little signature and we’re done here. You can go on up the trail and get on with your life, only considerably lighter of course. Without the burden of all those millions that don’t belong to you anyway, you little imposter.”

  “What are you talking about?” Arthur demanded.

  “The way I hear it, you stole that fortune you’re sitting on and I aim to help the rightful owner get it back.” He looked Arthur in the eye. “So are you ready to sign today, or…”

  “Who are you?” Arthur demanded. “And who do you represent?”

  “Finally, you want to talk to me. But it really doesn’t matter, you see, because once you sign on the dotted line—and you will—you’ll be little Mr. Nobody.” When the man pulled a folded document from his pocket, Savannah took the opportunity to coax Peaches ahead. This time she knocked the man off balance, but he recovered quickly and grabbed Savannah’s wrist. Before he could yank her off the horse, however, he screamed out in pain and fell to the ground. “Get that wild animal off me!” he shouted.

  Savannah watched as Rags jumped aside, then leaped onto the downed man again. Aghast, she nevertheless had the foresight to edge her phone out of her pocket and snap a picture before sliding off her mare and reaching for Rags. The man kicked at her, however, tripping her, and Rags darted away.

  Arthur shouted to the man, “Get up and get the hell out of here!”

  The man stood up, and, with a wicked scowl on his face, grabbed for Rags. As Savannah scrambled to her feet, she heard the man scream again. She turned to see Koko riding around on his neck as he writhed in pain. Arthur dismounted and grabbed Koko, quickly handing the cat to Savannah. She moved away with Koko and searched the area for Rags. “No, Arthur,” she cried when she saw him approaching the man.

  Both Savannah and Arthur were surprised at what happened next. The man stumbled around for a moment, seemingly disoriented, blood trickling from his head and neck. He looked at Arthur, then shook his head, saying, “I quit.” He threw the document on the ground in front of him. “Here, sign it if you want. This job sure isn’t worth no five-hundred bucks to me. No way. Keep your fortune, for all I care,” he muttered as he walked alongside the rock formation, dabbing at his wounds with a handkerchief. He continued to mumble, “Missie will have to take care of this herself. I’m out.”

  Savannah and Arthur stared after the man as he disappeared behind the formation, then they looked at each other. “You okay?” he asked her.

  “Yes,” she said, reaching for Peaches’s and Gypsy’s reins. “How’s Koko?”

  “Seems to be okay.” He turned her toward Savannah. “Can’t you see the look of satisfaction on her little face?”

  Both of them laughed guardedly and she said, “Here, take the horses. I need to find Rags.”

  Arthur pointed. “There he is.”

  “Oh, Rags. What a brave boy. Are you all right?” She checked him over, announcing, “He seems to be okay.” She chuckled. “These two are such rabble-rousers.”

  “Good thing they are; it didn’t appear the horses were going to be any help,” Arthur joked.

  Savannah picked up the document the man had tossed and handed it to Arthur. “What is this he wants you to sign? Do you know?”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid I’ve seen that before, but I never heard the name of the person behind all of this. Did he say, Misty or Miss T?” he asked. “Maybe it was Missy.”

  “Or Mitzi?” Savannah said. “He was kind of mush-mouthed.”