Shirley Murphy - Cat On The Edge

He hardly attended as Wilma said, "I'm glad to have Dulcie home, I missed her." She was speaking to Clyde, but she seemed almost to be speaking to the cat. "I bought her a new silk pillow, and a little Dresden supper bowl, after I cracked hers with my shovel.

"I thought I'd start taking her to the library, it's quite the thing among libraries now, to have a resident cat. I think she'd like to do that. A good many librarians say that a library cat has increased their book circulation."

Harper had known Wilma a long time, he knew when she was putting him on. He grinned and winked at her.

But she looked back at him dead serious. "It's true, Max. Cats do increase library traffic, children and old people particularly will come in to pet the cat, and will stay to do a little browsing, end up with a stack of books. And cats are wonderful at story hour, a loving little cat can calm the children, and keep them from fidgeting. There's even a Library Cat Society. I think Dulcie will fit right in. I think she'll find the experience-entertaining."

Max patted Wilma's hand. "I'm sure she will," he said, trying to imagine the city fathers allowing a cat in the library. He guessed Wilma was getting a bit dotty. He didn't understand the sense of strangeness that gripped him. After all, Wilma was just another cat nut.

He finished his coffee and rose. He needed to get back to the station. Needed to ease down into the normal confusion of routine police work, shake off the weirdness.

But on his way out of the alley, when he turned to look back, both cats were watching him. He could swear they were laughing.

SHIRLEY ROUSSEAU MURPHYhas received seven national Cat Writers’ Association Awards for best novel of the year, two Cat Writers’ President’s Awards, the “World’s Best Cat Litter-ary Award” in 2006 for the Joe Grey Books, and five Council of Authors and Journalists Awards for previous books. She and her husband live in Carmel, California, where they serve as full-time household help for two demanding feline ladies.

www.joegrey.com

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