The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

Then the wind came up, and it started to rain hard, and they returned to their respective condos - through the basement tunnel - to be with their pets, who would need comforting. The question of who-comforted-whom was a topic for Qwilleran to cover in his journal that night. He wrote:

Sunday - I daresay no one is sleeping tonight, least of all Koko and Yum Yum. The wind screeches; the rain slaps against the building. It stops for a while, and the cats crawl out from under the blankets, and then it starts again, with renewed ferocity.

During the lulls, Joe calls all of us to see if we're okay. He warns us that it may start again.

And it does!

I'm no radio-nut myself, but everyone else in the county tunes in WPKX newbites, especially on weekends and holidays, when the Something doesn't publish. The station calls their newsbites a public service, but I suspect they're just trying to scoop the newspaper. Furthermore, why should I listen to the newsbites, when all my friends are addicted and will phone me with the news of the latest fires, thefts, accidents, and other calamities?

It's the Moose County Grapevine.

All night a howling, blasting wind and a drenching, whipping rain took turns in tormenting the residents of the Willows. No one could get any sleep, least of all the six cats.

On Monday, the second day of the sporadic hurricane, Junior Goodwinter, the managing editor of the paper, called.

"The way it looks, no paper tomorrow, but a skeleton crew is on call, and we might put out a Hurricane Edition - just a few pages with emergency news. We see it as a collector's item, a sort of historical document."

"Is there anything I can do, Junior?"

"You might write a short ?Qwill Pen' piece about Cool Koko's reaction to the hurricane - something to make readers smile."

Judd Amhurst called from Winston Park. "Lucky to be out there, Qwill. Will you tell Polly that we rescued Dundee from the bookstore, and he's staying with Peggy? Rudy is with me, keeping his head while all the rest of us are losing ours."

Hixie Rice called. "Glad you made it back to the condo, Qwill. Most of us are sitting it out at the clubhouse." (He thought, Getting sloshed.)

He said, "Too bad about the parade."

Then Polly called to remark that the wind had quieted a little. Qwilleran told her the good news about Dundee.

"Wait a minute! There's a death notice on the radio!" In a minute she returned. "Doris Ledfield died tonight! Following a respiratory infection! I'll hang up in case they broadcast more details."

Before she could call back, Maggie Sprenkle phoned.

"Qwill, I feel awful! I was so elated yesterday after the auction, and now I feel terrible! First I heard about dear Doris's passing on the radio, and I couldn't believe it! No one knew she was that ill! But when I called the Old Manse to talk to Nathan, the nurse said he was quite ill himself and couldn't speak to anyone!" She stopped to sob. "Perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, Qwill, but I must talk to someone!"

"I understand, Maggie," he said. "Consider me a member of the family."

After a few more tears she felt the strength to go on.

"We were very close - the Sprenkles and the Ledfields - and Nathan once told Jeremy and me in our rose garden, when Doris was having one of her setbacks, that he couldn't live without her. And if anything happened to her, life would have no meaning. He could not go on alone.

"We mumbled words of sympathy and affection, but I have always been haunted by that recollection. I can't help wondering if he'll do something rash. . . ." She burst into tears again.

"It's understandable, Maggie. It was right to share it with me. Have a cup of tea, and remember what Jeremy would say."

"You're right, Qwill. Thank you so much." As she hung up, he could hear one more painful wail.

Koko had been listening, and he rushed around growling before throwing back his head and uttering what Qwilleran had come to know as his death howl.

Before the night was over, Qwilleran's phone rang frequently, as friends felt it their duty to keep him informed:

"The Road Commission is telling drivers to stay off the highway, Qwill."

"The worst is the Bloody Creek Bridge."