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Chapter 6

The next day Tabitha got to the office before Rocky. She figured he probably had a rough night looking after Tibbs. Most likely ran out of food as well. As soon as she opened the door, the phone rang. She answered it, “DDDDC, can I . . .” She listened and answered, “I’ll be right over.” Tabitha grinned and headed out the door. Things were about it get interesting.

Tabitha made her way to the Cat Castle Hotel. She took the elevator up to the third floor as instructed and scratched at the door of room 345. She was a tad surprised to see ‘The Tail’ answer the door. She growled but recovered quickly when another Ginger Persian with unruly whiskers came to greet her.

“Come in . . . Come in! Would you like a saucer of milk?” The handsome, fluffy Tom offered.

“Sure.” Tabitha replied while giving nothing away.

‘Whiskers’ sent ‘The Tail’ off to retrieve the beverage. Then led Tabitha into the room. She followed but kept her distance.

“I like a feline who likes to indulge.” Whiskers chuckled.

‘The Tail’ brought in two saucers of milk and left the two to their discussion. “Here’s to plain meowing.” Whiskers grinned at Tabitha.

They both took a couple of licks, then Whiskers observed, “You don’t meow much.”

Tabitha twitched her ears and answered, “I like to meow. Just trying to figure you out.”

“Good . . . cause I distrust a quiet kitty. We’ll get along fine.” Whiskers sat in a cat bed and put a paw out for Tabitha to occupy the one next to him. She sat opposite him.

“Let’s meow . . .” Whiskers began.

“Shall we meow about The Blue Bird?” Tabitha got straight to the point.

Whiskers laughed and replied, “We will. We will. First I want to know if you’re here as Tibbs’ representative?”

“Not sure. It depends.” Tabitha intended to play this close to the bone.

“On what?” Whiskers wondered aloud.

“If I knew that, I could answer the question.” Tabitha remained enigmatic with her answers.

“Does it depend on Magic?” Whiskers asked.

He seemed to know all the players in this game. “Maybe?” Tabitha returned.

“I’m not sure . . . which one you represent?” Whiskers questioned just as cryptically.

“Maybe I just represent myself.” Tabitha shrugged her shoulders.

Whiskers laughed again and meowed, “Excellent. I like a feline who looks after themselves first.”

“Let’s get to the Bird.” Tabitha was tired of this cat and mouse game. Especially, when she was beginning to feel like the mouse.

“Yes. Do you know what it’s worth?” Whiskers asked.

“No.” Tabitha answered truthfully and took another lick or two of the milk.

“If I told you the half of it, you wouldn’t believe me.” Whiskers offered.

“Probably not.” Tabitha was bluffing and they both knew it. She drank some more to try to cover her ignorance.

“You don’t know what it is, do you?” Whiskers came straight out and asked.

“I know it’s a Bird.” Tabitha replied.

“Tibbs didn’t tell you?” Whiskers seemed surprised by this revelation.

“No.” Tabitha admitted.

“And Magic didn’t either!” Whiskers’ surprise continued.

“Nope.” Tabitha shook her head.

“What price did they ask for it?” Whiskers wanted to know.

“10,000 treats but Tibbs was lying.” Tabitha exaggerated the price she was offered.

“Unbelievable!” Whiskers shook his head. Then he commented, “Maybe they don’t know what it’s worth?” He thought for a moment.

“But you do?” Tabitha inquired. Just then ‘The Tail’ rejoined them and Tabitha hissed and bristled, “Get rid of ‘The Tail’. I don’t like him. He reminds me of an annoying brofur.”

“I can’t. Pumpkin is here for a reason.” Whiskers returned.

“I’m leaving! You’ve got until 5:30 this afternoon to decide whether you want to tell me about the Bird!” And with that bold statement Tabitha left the room and the Hotel.

********

Tabitha waited in her office and at exactly 5:15 pm, ‘The Tail’ entered the office. “Whiskers wants to see you.” ‘The Tail meowed unemotionally.

“I wasn’t expecting you until 5:25pm.” Tabitha teased.

“Keep tormenting me and you’re gonna pick my claws out of your backside.” ‘The Tail’ threatened.

Tabitha laughed but the two of them left the office and went back to the Cat Castle Hotel. ‘The Tail’ ignored all of Tabitha’s witty remarks on the journey back to see Whiskers. So, as they stood in the hallway outside room 345, Tabitha took it upon herself to pounce on the sandy coloured Persian. She wanted to know if she could take him, in the event this meeting went terribly wrong.

Fur flew and then yowls. The commotion brought Whiskers to the door immediately. The interruption startled both fighting cats and ‘The Tail’ took the opportunity to scoot into the room and lock himself in the bathroom.

“That ‘fluff ball’ shouldn’t be allowed out.” Tabitha expressed her opinion of ‘The Tail’ to Whiskers.

He chuckled and replied, “You Madam are a dame worth knowing. Have a seat.”

Tabitha sat across from Whiskers who was obviously expecting her as two more saucers of milk were placed in front of both cats. They had a drink before Whiskers began, “ I’m sorry that young Pumpkin has gotten under your fur . . .”

Tabitha interrupted him and meowed, “Let’s get to the Blue Bird.” She had had it with all this skirting around the issue. Tabitha wanted answers and NOW!

Whiskers sneezed and took a moment, eyeing her all the while. Finally, he inquired, “What do you know about the Order Of The Nip?”

Tabitha raised her fur brows and answered truthfully, “Nothing. What do they have to do with the Blue Bird?”

“Let me tell you. The Order Of The Nip was a secret society run by a dodgy feline, who became famous via Twitter. Well, when Twitter was sold, she had an artist make a statue of the Blue Bird in honour of its demise. It’s an expensive work of art. When others found out it’s worth, it was promptly stolen. Everyone has been looking for it.” Whiskers explained.

“And now?” Tabitha yawned yet wanted the tale to go on. She had more of the milk to try to remain focused.

“I heard that the Blue Bird had been stolen in a heist involving a Tom called ‘The Dude’. So, I set out to find this nefarious scoundrel. The Dude and Reginald are friends, the next thing I know, Reginald had the bird and was selling it to Tibbs for the phone number of his ex-wife. Reginald is a bit desperate for a love interest, you see. Luckily, Tibbs was working for me at the time and I persuaded him to pass it on to me. Unfortunately, Tibbs realized that the Blue Bird was worth some money and he disappeared with it. I’ve been trying to catch up to him ever since. The fool has double-crossed me, once too often.” Whiskers seethed.

“So, you want to buy the Bird, no matter what?” Tabitha yawned again.

“Am I boring you?” Whiskers asked.

“No, no . . . Only I’m very tired, for some reason.” Tabitha continued to yawn her head off.

“Can you get the Bird from Tibbs?” Whiskers asked all agog.

“I’m sure I can. But how much are you willing to pay?”

“When I sell it, we can share the profits.” Whiskers grinned.

“Sounds reasonable.” Tabitha put her head down and promptly fell asleep.

*********

Tabitha woke up hours later and no one was in the room. She knew right away that she’d been nipped up and that Whiskers and ‘The Tail’ were probably after Tibbs and the Bird, right now. (If he had it?) She staggered out of the Cat Castle Hotel and made her way to the Catchpole Hotel. If Tibbs didn’t have the Bird then Magic did. Tabitha was determined to get it before the others.

According to Bernee, Magic was not in, so Tabitha seized the opportunity to search his room again. The Bird was no where to be found. However, there a bit of newspaper left on the floor. Just before Tabitha was about to use it to relieve herself on, she noticed that an item was circled. The article entailed information about a ship arriving from Sydney that very afternoon.

She found the litter box, relieved herself and headed to the office. Once she entered the office, she sent Rocky out to check on the Order Of The Nip. Then she called the waterfront office to see if the ship ‘Muskrat’s Revenge’ had arrived. It had.

Rocky returned soon after and reported that the tale Whiskers had spun was all true. Which pleased Tabitha.

Rocky began incessantly licking his fur.

“What’s with all the licking?” Tabitha asked.

“It’s ash.” He answered. “When I was checking on the Order Of The Nip, I was by the docks. One of the ships was on fire!”

Tabitha’s ears twitched. “Did you happen to see the name of the ship that was fire?”

“I did. It was called ‘Muskrat’s Revenge’.”

*This story has more twists than a pretzel! 🥨. Hmmmm . . . I wonder if they have cat treat pretzels? Stay tuned for another exciting chapter next week.

*If any of my work entertains or amuses and you fancy being a patron of the arts, feel free to tip/donate. Your support is very much appreciated . . . https://thejoyofcats.wordpress.com/1896-2/