Six Cats A Slayin'

I took a detour to the living room to let Stewart and Haskell know that company was arriving soon. They acknowledged my announcement but didn’t look up from their work. The second frame was complete, and they were now stapling the wire mesh into place.

Diesel met me in the kitchen. While I rinsed the coffeepot and prepared the maker for another round, he disappeared into the utility room. I heard crunching noises when I turned off the water.

By the time the doorbell rang to announce Melba’s arrival, the coffee was ready. Diesel scampered ahead of me to the door to greet the visitor.

When I opened the door, Melba looked at me with a frown. “I just saw the weirdest thing. I thought I saw a child’s head sticking up out of the shrubbery.”

NINE

I stepped past Melba to get a clear view of the front of the house. “Which side?”

Melba pointed to my left. I stepped onto the lawn and began searching the shrubbery. I continued around the side of the house and into the backyard, but with no results. The child had disappeared.

Melba and Diesel waited for me at the door. “Did you see him?” she asked.

I shook my head, frustrated. “No, not a sign. Come on in.” I stopped to look at the door, having remembered the note I had left there. I was not surprised to see that it was gone, tack and all.

I motioned for Melba to precede me. Once we were all inside I shut the door and led the way into the kitchen. “I made us fresh coffee. Let’s have some, and you can tell me exactly what you saw.”

“All right.” Melba chose a chair while I poured coffee for us. Diesel settled on the floor by her chair. I knew she liked cream and sugar in her coffee, and I set those on the table.

While she stirred her coffee, she said, “It was when I was pulling in to the driveway. I happened to glance over toward the front of the house, and I thought I saw something moving in the shrubs. I stopped the car a moment, and then this head popped up. I blinked, and then it was gone. The kid must have realized I was in the driveway and ducked down.”

“Anything descriptive you can tell me about the head you saw?” I asked.

“Darkish hair on the short side,” Melba said. “Looked like a girl’s cut to me, but I can’t be sure.” She sipped at her coffee. “This is good. Are you going to check for footprints?”

I laughed. “I’m not Sherlock Holmes. What would I do with footprints?”

Melba shrugged. “That’s what they used to do in old mystery movies. You could make a plaster cast.”

“If I had plaster on hand, I could,” I said. “But I’m not in the habit of keeping it in stock.”

“It was just a suggestion. You don’t have to sound so snarky.” Melba scowled at me. “You’re the one who goes around solving mysteries, not me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, penitent. “I didn’t mean to make fun of you. It simply struck me as funny. Can you really see me getting down in the dirt in the flower bed, pouring plaster and whatever else you do to get a cast?”

Melba laughed. “Well, no, I reckon not. I bet your knees aren’t any happier than mine doing that kind of thing.”

“No, they’re not.” I grimaced at the thought. “Okay, dark-haired child, probably a girl. Did you get any impression of height or age?”

Melba considered my question while she drank her coffee. She shook her head. “No, not strong enough to be helpful. I didn’t see enough of her to judge. I couldn’t tell whether she was crouching at the window or standing upright.”

“How about the size of the head?” I was grasping for anything that could help identify the child.

“Wasn’t real big, so I’d say a younger kid maybe.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I figure ten years old at the most.” I told her about the note I had put on the door for the child. “She had obviously already taken it down, but if she was looking in the window of the living room, she might not have read the note yet.”

“Does it matter?” Melba said.

“No, I don’t suppose it does. She’ll read it at some point.”

“Have you thought of rigging up a camera there by the living room windows? You could probably get video of the kid and be able to identify her from that,” Melba said.

“I hadn’t really considered it,” I replied, “though I suppose I should think about it. I wouldn’t have a clue how to do it myself.”

“I bet you Frank would know how. Sean might, too. They both know a lot about computers and wiring and things like that.”

“True.” I drained my coffee and set the cup aside. “They’ll both be here at ten to put up Christmas lights on the front of the house.”

Melba got up to refill her cup. “You haven’t done that before. Why’d you decide to do it this year?” She returned to her chair. “Surely not because most of your neighbors do it every year.”

“Certainly not for that reason.” I had never gone in for competitions with neighbors over holiday decorations. “The family suggested it because we used to do it in Houston when Laura and Sean were young. I guess now that they both have children of their own, they want to revive the tradition.”