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“My girls,” said Francine. “I don’t want them to see me like this.” She threw Odelia a pleading look, and Odelia quickly searched around, found a scarf, and helped Francine tie that around her neck.

Then we all left the bedroom, and Francine announced to her girls,“We’re going on a little trip, girls. Do you want to come?”

They both cheered and said,“Yeah!”

Then they caught sight of us, and turned their attention to the two‘pussy cats.’

I must admit that being fondled by a three-year-old did not become me. They poked us, and they prodded us, and pulled our ears, all the drive down to the doctor’s office!

When finally we arrived at our destination, and Odelia helped Francine out of the car, followed by her two girls, Dooley turned to me and said in a shaky voice,“Max, maybe when that stork finally arrives, we’ll simply pretend like we didn’t see it?”

I smiled at my friend.“Had enough already, have you?”

He nodded emphatically.“They pulled my ears, they pulled my tail, they poked my belly, they even tried to poke my eyes, wanting to know if they were real! Max, I don’t want babies. Ever!”

“That’s fine, Dooley. Neither does Odelia—at least for the time being.” I glanced down the street, and said, “And now let’s solve this other little matter, shall we?”

“What other little matter?”

“The big rift.”

Chapter 33

Shanille was walking down the street, on her way to the General Store to talk to Kingman and ask him to join her effort to oust Harriet from the group once and for all, when suddenly she was accosted by Max and Dooley.

“Hey, you guys,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here.” She grinned, indicating this was one of her little jokes. Unfortunately Max wasn’t smiling, and neither was Dooley, for that matter.

“Shanille, we need to talk,” said Max.

“Just what I was thinking. We need to have a nice long talk about Harriet.”

“Of course,” said Max, gracious as ever. “And we will. But first I would like to talk to you about the new cat choir Dooley and I are starting.”

“The new cat choir?” she asked, much surprised.

Max nodded.“Frankly Dooley and I have had it with these fights between you and Harriet, so we’ve decided to start our own cat choir, and I’m sorry to tell you that you are not invited, Shanille. And neither,” he added when she opened her mouth so speak, “is Harriet, for that matter.”

“This will be a choir without you and without Harriet,” Dooley said, making matters perfectly clear.

“But… you can’t do that!” said Shanille.

“We can and we will,” said Max. “And I’ll have to be honest with you, Shanille, we’ve been talking to a lot of the other cats about this, and they’re all very excited about this new project. In fact every single cat we’ve talked to so far has agreed to come on board.”

“They’re all fed up with all the fighting,” Dooley said.

“Yeah, this will be non-fighting cat choir. A cat choir where all the members join up strictly to have a good time, to sing together, have fun together, and to shoot the breeze. To gossip and to crack jokes and enjoy the kind of warm friendship that we all like.”

“And you’re not invited,” Dooley repeated, “and neither is Harriet. Right, Max?”

“Absolutely. So far we’re looking at, oh, eighty-five to ninety percent of the cats?”

“You’ve already talked to ninety percent of my members?”

“Something like that. And all of them—”

“That’s one hundred percent,” Dooley added.

“All of them have signed up. So it looks like very soon now there will be three cat choirs: the one run by me and Dooley, the one run by you, which will have only one single member, and the one run by Harriet which also will have but a single member.”

“Too bad, but that’s just the way it is,” said Dooley.

“But that’s not fair!” said Shanille. “I want to have a cat choir where cats get together to have a good time, and sing and have fun together!”

“Well, I guess you had your chance and you blew it,” said Max with a shrug.

“But Max, please—you can’t do this!”

“I’m afraid we just did,” said Dooley.

“But… can’t I join your cat choir, Max? Please?”

Max looked at Dooley, and Dooley looked at Max, then Max said,“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Shanille. Because if we let you in, we also have to let Harriet in, and you know what that means.”

“There will be fighting,” said Dooley. “That’s what Max means.”

“I won’t fight, I promise. It’s Harriet who’s the trouble. She’s the one who’s always fighting. Undermining my authority and picking fights.”

“See?” said Max to Dooley. “This is why I told you not to allow Shanille in.”

“You told me this would happen,” said Dooley, nodding sagely.

“Exactly. So no, Shanille, we won’t let you in. I’m very sorry.”

“But…” She thought hard. “But what if I make up with Harriet? What if I talk to Harriet and the two of us make up and promise to be friends? Would that work?”

“I’m not sure,” said Max dubiously.

“I’m not sure either,” said Dooley. “Would it?”

“You’d have to make up with Harriet first,” said Max. “And you’d have to convince us that you mean it.”

“I will—I promise you I will!”

“Do you believe her, Dooley?” asked Max.