Catnapped (A Klepto Cat Mystery) by Patricia Fry Read Free Book Online Page B

yummy.”
    “You’re welcome; I enjoyed the company. Come by any time you’re in the area.”
    “I’d like that.” Margaret reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. “Here’s my number, in case you hear anything about the catnapping.” And then she said, “Do you think you could give me directions to the hoarder you mentioned?”
    “Sure,” Dora said while walking over to a small desk and reaching in for a pencil and paper. She had just finished explaining her crude diagram to Margaret when they heard a soft voice call out.
    “Hello.”
    The two women turned toward the door. “Oh hello, Charlotte. Come in. This is Ms…” Dora picked up Margaret’s card and looked down at it before continuing, “Ms. Forster. You passed her niece on the way in, I presume.”
    “Yeth, Mith Lipton. I thaw her outthide. Hello, Mith. Forthter,” she said as she walked over to her and held out her hand.
    Margaret extended a hand for a weak handshake. “So you help Ms. Lipton with the cats?”
    “I love the cath and Mith Lipton leth me help and payth me,” she said.
    Margaret observed the hint of Down’s in the girl’s face and structure. “That’s nice, Charlotte. I love cats, too.”
    Dora put her arm around the girl and squeezed her shoulders. “She’s a wonderful help. And she has learned to ride the bus here by herself…”
    Before she could finish, Charlotte chimed in, “Buth number five. Get off at Oak and walk two blockth.”
    Dora smiled at the girl. “And she doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to caring for the cats. She knows exactly who’s who, their favorite toys, where they prefer sleeping, what they like to eat, who needs to get up in the sink for a fresh-water drink. And boy can she clean.”
    “How old are you, Charlotte?” Margaret asked.
    “Almoth fifteen,” she announced proudly, while pushing back a wispy red curl from her face.
    “Savannah, this is Charlotte,” Dora said after Savannah had put the second bag of food in the pantry and walked up to the others.
    “Oh, hello Charlotte,” she said while shaking hands with the girl. “So you help take care of the cats?”
    “Yeth,” Charlotte said quietly. “Thith ith my job.”
    “Cool.” Savannah smiled.
    “Where do you live that you have to take the bus here?” Margaret asked.
    “Eatht Heighth Mobile Park, Thpathe 42,” she said, looking over at Dora for confirmation.
    Dora nodded.
    “Oh, that’s near where I live,” Margaret said. “…on the other side of East Heights on Cranberry. I walk up there a lot—when I’m not on crutches.”
    “I like to walk. And I like cath. Do you have cath?”
    “I sure do. Maybe you could come over and meet my cat sometime.” Margaret smiled.
    “Okay!” Charlotte said, looking to Dora for validation.
    Margaret nodded. “Very nice meeting you both. We really need to be going. I hope to see you again. Hugs to all of the kitties,” she said, as she turned toward the door.
    “Oh, watch it,” Dora said with a chuckle. “Charlotte takes everything quite literally, I’m sure she will be doing a lot of hugging today.”
    Charlotte’s smile broadened at the thought.
    ***
    “Well, what a nice lady,” Savannah said while starting the car and swiveling in her seat to see if she was clear to back out of the driveway.
    “Yes she is,” Margaret agreed. “Turn left here, would you?”
    “Left? But we came in from that direction,” she said nodding toward the right.
    “I know, Vannie, but I want to check something out. Left!”
    After using Dora’s map to direct Savannah, Margaret said, “That’s gotta be it! Stop here. She scrutinized the nondescript stucco house which was badly in need of paint and situated in the middle of a dry weed patch.
    “What is this place?” Savannah asked, turning up her nose at the sight.
    “It’s where the cat hoarder lives,” Margaret explained. “I think this is where Jim sent us and we happened upon Dora by mistake.”
    Savannah smiled. “It