4c392a139708e5efb30cc267dbb0c768

The door swung open and five more‘patients’ stumbled in from the street. They all looked as grimy as their dozen colleagues. As soon as the door had closed, it opened again and five more walked in. This place was starting to look like Grand Central Terminal.

“Are you Dr. Tex?” asked one of the newcomers, a toothless older man.

“I am.”

“Oh, great. I have a pain in my nose, doctor.”

Tex studied the man’s nose. It was one of those narrow, veiny noses. It also had a safety pin stuck through the fleshy part. “Maybe you should take out that pin,” he suggested.

“What pin?” said the old-timer, feeling for his nose. “Oh, there’s a pin in my nose!”

“Oh, for Pete’s sakes.” He addressed the small crowd. “How did you all get here? Who told you to come and see me?”

“Scarlett O’Hara,” said the man with the pin in his nose.

“No, Scarlett Cannon,” said an old lady with a glass eye. “She said you would treat us for free. Day or night. Any time.”

Tex locked eyes with Scarlett, who was shaking her head.“I didn’t say nothing, Dr. Tex! I swear! I don’t even know these people!”

He had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly who this‘Scarlett Cannon’ was.

“What did the person who invited you look like?” he asked.

“A nice old lady,” said one man. “Little white curls. Looks like Estelle Getty. I met her at the bus station. I like to hang out at the bus station. It’s always nice and warm out there.”

“I met her at the train station,” said another man. “She even gave me your card.”

“Lemme see that,” grumbled Tex, and took the card from the man. It read, ‘Scarlett Canyon, Unlicensed Receptionist, Dr. Tex Poole,’ and even mentioned Tex’s home address and phone number. “Vesta,” he muttered under his breath, crumpling up the card.

“Hey, that’s my card!” said the guy.

“You’re going to treat us, aren’t you, Doc?” asked a cross-eyed woman.

“Yeah, a promise is a promise,” said another woman, who looked like a hobo.

In truth, they all looked like hobos. Probably because they were all hobos.

Scarlett was eyeing Tex with a knowing look.‘I told you,’ that look said. And she had. And even if she hadn’t, he should have known Vesta wouldn’t leave well enough alone.

“All right,” he said resignedly. “The first one come with me.”

And he returned to his office, determined to murder Vesta the moment he saw her.

Chapter 21

I was in Odelia’s bedroom when she finally arrived home that night. I had no idea where the others were nor did I care. After the bombshell Milo had dropped on me—the second one that day—I had a feeling I’d never really known these cats. They were like strangers to me. Except for Harriet, who apparently was my sister, even if she looked nothing like me, and Brutus, who was my son, and, again, looked nothing like me.

I had a hard time processing all these revelations, so for the rest of the afternoon I’d been hiding in Odelia’s bedroom, behind the bed, my only companions the dust bunnies Odelia had missed when she’d last vacuumed there. Or maybe she didn’t like vacuuming behind the bed, which was entirely possible, and those bunnies had been there forever.

Milo had come looking for me, but I’d managed to outsmart him by holding my breath. Tough, too, with those dust bunnies tickling my nose.

Finally, a familiar voice sounded.“Max? Where are you, baby?”

In spite of the sneaking suspicion I had that Odelia was prepared to get rid of me and exchange me for Milo, a big smile lit up my face and a warm tingle spread inside my chest.

My human was home, and she would help me make sense of a senseless world.

“Odelia?”

It was Milo’s voice.

“Yes, honey?”

“Can I have a quick word before the others arrive?”

“Sure. What’s wrong?”

“A lot. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been through today.”

“Oh, my God. What happened?”

“It’s Max and the others, though mainly Max. He hates me.”

“Hates you? What do you mean?”

“He’s been torturing me all day! Denying me food and water, telling me I should probably jump under a truck and rid the world of the ugliest feline it has ever known. It’s been awful. Awful!”

The bed shifted, and the box spring groaned. Odelia had taken a seat.“Jump up. Tell me all about it. This is not the Max I know, Milo. I don’t know what could have happened.”

I was too stunned to move an inch—or even to utter a single word. Instead, I just lay there, my ears pricked up, and listening to every horrible utterance from Milo.

“It all started when they held a meeting—Max, Dooley, Brutus and Harriet—and decided that from now on they won’t be helping you out anymore.”

“They won’t? But why?”

“Frankly they hate it. They never wanted to tell you this but they hate this whole sleuthing thing.”

“But I thought they loved it!”

“Trust me—they hate it. The only reason they went along with the scheme is because they got extra kibble when they caught a killer or provided you with a clue.”

“I didn’t know,” said Odelia, and she sounded distraught.