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“Please. Your uncle is out of town for a couple of days, so I could use a hand.”

Odelia’s uncle, a widower, had recently met a woman. She worked for Dos Siglas, the famous beer company, and traveled the country handling the company’s PR and overseeing the shooting of their equally famous ‘Most Fascinating Man in the World’ commercials.

“I know. He told me. He and Tracy are going hiking in the Appalachian Mountains. Tracy’s company owns a cabin out there, where they often put up executives and guests.”

“For some reason I never pictured your uncle as the hiker type,” said Chase, and Odelia could hear the smile in his voice.

“He’s not,” said Odelia, also smiling. Uncle Alec was easily three times as big as she was, and had probably never worked out a day in his life. In fact he’d smoked like a chimney until only recently, and his cholesterol levels always made his brother-in-law, Odelia’s dad, who was a doctor, give him that unhappy look doctors like to give their worst patients.

“He must like that woman a lot, to give up a lifelong habit of being a couch potato.”

“Yeah, he’s smitten,” said Odelia, who was happy that her uncle, whose wife had died years ago, was finally ‘playing the field’ again, as they said. Even if there was only one woman on that field as far as Alec was concerned. “She’s nice,” she added. “I like her.”

“I like her, too,” said Chase. “So are you game, Poole?”

“Count me in, Kingsley,” she said.

“Pick you up in five. Oh, and you better bring a clothespin,” he said before hanging up.

Chapter 3

Watching Kit Katt and Koh and their adventures was all fine and dandy, but doing it under duress was not. For one thing, Milo clearly wasn’t familiar with the etiquette involved in watching a TV show as a family. He kept getting up and moving about, then returning and sitting in a different place each time. And what was more, he kept accidentally stepping on the remote and pausing the show or even switching the channel. And the worst thing? He wasn’t even doing it on purpose I didn’t think. It was almost as if he couldn’t help himself.

“Sorry, dude,” he muttered when he suddenly planted his butt on my tail, then, when I extracted myself, started drumming his paw against my back for some reason!

His behavior was frankly driving me up the wall. So when he’d stepped on my toes for the third time, I snapped, “Will you just sit still for a second?”

He merely grinned up at me, then said,“Chill, dude. It’s only a stupid show.”

I gasped in shock, and so did Harriet, who was a big fan of Kit Katt and her handsome sidekick Koh.“Only a stupid show!” I echoed. “This is Kit Katt we’re talking about, Milo!”

He shrugged, now lying on his back and balancing his paws in the air.“Whatever.”

“It’s only the best cat show ever!”

“Yeah, it’s not like there are a ton of great cat shows,” said Brutus. “Dog shows? Too many to count. But cat shows? Nah. Almost as if Hollywood doesn’t care about us cats.”

“Yes, you’ve got your Lassie, you’ve got your Boomer and you’ve got your Benji, but no cats. What’s that all about?” Dooley added, clearly also aKit Katt& Kohaficionado.

“Simple,” said Milo, now sticking his butt into the air and wiggling his tail. “Cats can’t act. Dogs, on the other hand, can.”

There were collective gasps of shock now, all of us staring at Milo like he’d just committed sacrilege, which he had. “Take that back,” I said.

“Take what back?”

“That cats can’t act.”

“But it’s true! Dogs can be taught to perform all kinds of tricks, which makes them the perfect actors. Only cats aren’t so easy to instruct. Hence the lack of cat shows.”

I was shaking my head. This was crazy talk.“You’re wrong,” I said vehemently.

“Actually he kinda has a point there, Max,” said Brutus. “Cats are difficult actors, and we all know how Hollywood feels about difficult actors. They get sidelined.”

I couldn’t believe this. Cats are a superior species. Everybody knows that. Compared to cats dogs are nothing. We have the better reflexes, the bigger brainpower, the greater charm, the works! “What aboutTom and Jerry?” I said. “That’s a lot more popular than Lassie ever was.”

Milo gave me a strange look.“Tom and Jerry is a cartoon, Max.”

“So?”

“So there are no actual cats involved,” he said slowly.

“Oh,” I said, never having given this minor little detail a great deal of thought. “Well, I likeTom and Jerry,” I said stubbornly. “Even though Tom is something of a loser.”

Well, he is. What cat worth its salt keeps getting bested by a silly little critter?

The doorbell rang and immediately Milo jumped from the couch, where he’d been counting his belly hairs, and streaked off in the direction of the door.

“Poor Milo,” said Harriet. “He probably thinks it’s his human, here to pick him up.”

“He doesn’t,” I scoffed. “He probably thinks it’s the pizza guy with fresh food.”

Harriet gave me a slightly critical look.“Why are you being so mean to Milo, Max? He means well. And it’s not his fault he’s here, having to miss his home and his human.”