Саманта Сильвер - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

“Whatever you say, ma’am,” Sprinkles replied.

“Oh, you can just call me Angela,” I told him with a smile. He had always called me ma’am, even when I spoke to him at vet appointments.

Charlotte came over and gave him a pat. He nestled his head into her hand and when she stopped, rested it on her knee.

“Awwwwww, you’re just the sweetest thing ever,” Charlotte muttered to Sprinkles, earning herself a glare from Bee that she didn’t see. If I wasn’t mistaken, I had a feeling my cat was actually jealous of the attention Sprinkles was getting!

“Would you mind if I gave you a bath before bed?” I asked Sprinkles. “I’d like to be able to make sure that you’re not hurt, and it’s a lot more difficult when you’re covered in mud.”

“That would be fine, thank you. I do feel quite dirty right now,” Sprinkles replied. I just couldn’t get over how polite he was.

“Ugh, willingly taking a bath? What kind of animal are you?” Bee shot at him from the kitchen, and I glared at her.

“Ok, come follow me Sprinkles, I’ll take you to the bathroom,” I told him. Five minutes later he was in the tub and I was hosing him down with the removable shower head.

“Ohhh that feels good,” Sprinkles muttered as I massaged his skin lightly with shampoo. I couldn’t help but smile. I was so glad we’d finally found him.

“Do you want to talk about what you’ve been through?” I asked him gently, and I saw a flash of fear cross through Sprinkles’ eyes.

“Talk? No. No, I can’t talk. Absolutely not. Can’t talk. Sorry.”

“It’s ok, it’s ok, you don’t need to talk,” I reassured him quickly. As soon as I’d mentioned talking about what had happened to him, Sprinkles was obviously agitated. If he had anything to tell us about what had happened to his owner, it certainly wasn’t going to be now.

When he finished his bath and I ascertained that Sprinkles had nothing more than just a couple of scrapes on him, I dried him off, wrapped him up in a towel and put him on a couple of pillows that I covered with an old blanket for him in the corner of my bedroom.

“There’ll be a good breakfast for you in the morning. You’re safe now, Sprinkles. You don’t need to worry anymore,” I told him, giving him a kiss on the head, but the poor creature was already asleep. I watched him doze for a minute, smiled, and went out into the kitchen.

“I can’t believe this! I’ve been betrayed!” Bee cried when I made my way in. I rolled my eyes.

“You have not been betrayed . We rescued a dog who’s been lost and by himself for days after seeing his owner die. We’re being nice to him.”

“I know what you’re doing. You say he’s not yours, but you’re just saying that. He’s going to live here for good, and I’m going to have to tell all my friends I live with a dog. I’ll be the laughing stock of the whole town!”

I rolled my eyes. “Bee, you see like one other cat a month, and all you do then is howl at it to get off your lawn. You and I both know that you’re not going to be the laughing stock of the town. Besides, Sprinkles isn’t staying for more than a few days.”

“You say that now, but I’ve seen how you humans work. It’s only a matter of time before poor Bee is left out on the streets to fend for herself.”

“Well, at least we know we’ll be able to find you near the sushi restaurant if we ever want you back,” I sighed, exhausted. I really didn’t want to deal with my cat’s hatred for dogs right now.

“SHE JOKES. You hear that, people? The woman jokes of my plight.”

“Bee, go to bed. You’re not going to be abandoned. You’re not going to be replaced. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“You say that now,” Bee muttered, but she slowly made her way towards the far corner of the couch and lay down in it in a little ball. Two minutes later she was fast asleep.

I sat down at a stool at the breakfast bar and put my head in my hands.

“Oh man, what an adventure today was,” I said.

“Yeah, I’m so glad we found Sprinkles,” Charlotte said quietly, glancing over to make sure Bee didn’t hear.

“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Austin before dinner,” Sophie hissed.

“To be fair,” Charlotte replied, “I wasn’t actually sure your mom was dating anyone. I just kind of suspected.”

“Still. You’re the worst human being. Why would you not tell me? She’s my mom.”

“Because we knew you’d react the way you did.”

“And how was that?”

“You acted like a huge jerk.”

“Not before he did first.”

“No, he might have said a few things that weren’t the greatest, but you were a jerk right from the start.”

“Whatever. She’s my mom, I’m allowed to think what I want.”

I sat in the middle, completely exhausted, watching Sophie and Charlotte duke it out. I just didn’t have the energy to try and stop them anymore.

“What do you think, Angie?” Sophie asked, turning towards me, and I wanted nothing more than to melt into a pool of nothing in the tiles.

“I think we should worry more about Sprinkles and less about Austin,” I replied. “Who knows, they’ve only known each other for three months, it might not even last. I tried asking Sprinkles about what had happened to him in the bath, and he immediately had a little panic attack. I don’t think he’s going to be ready to tell us about what happened to him for a while.

“Awwwww, that poor little baby,” Sophie said. “He’s so sweet.”

“I thought I was going to melt when he rested his head on my knee,” Charlotte said. “I love him so much already. It’s so sad what he’s had to go through!”

I nodded. “I think I’ll wait at least a couple of days before I bring it up again. I’m going to let Chief Gary know that I found him in the morning, and then hopefully I can find out if it was murder or natural causes then. If it was natural, well then there’s nothing to be done about it. But if it was murder, there’s a chance that Sprinkles actually knows who killed Andrea Dottory.”

Chapter 8

The next morning I woke up to find Sprinkles still sleeping in his makeshift bed, but as soon as I got up and started moving around, even though I did it as quietly as I could, he began to stir. He opened his eyes and lifted his head, but didn’t make any move to get off the pillows.

“Hey, Sprinkles,” I greeted him, coming over and scratching him behind the ears. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m pretty tired, to be honest. Are you going to be taking me to the pound today?” Sprinkles asked, and the sadness he said that with broke my heart.

“No,” I told him. “No, you’re going to stay here with me. I’m going to go tell Chief Gary, and I’m sure he’ll say it’s fine. Then when you’re feeling up to it, we’re going to find you a new home, ok? But not before then.”

“I’m so glad you’re not taking me to the pound. I’ve heard stories. I don’t want to go there.”

My heart broke for Sprinkles. “You won’t. I promise you Sprinkles, you won’t.” I gave him a hug, then told him to sleep in my room in peace, that I’d come back when we left with food and water.

“Is this because of the cat?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah. It’s not her safety I’m worried about, it’s yours. She comes to work with me though, so when we leave I’ll give you free reign of the house, ok?”

“Can you tell her I’m sorry, I don’t mean to impose?”

“Of course I can,” I replied, smiling. I wished all dogs were as polite as Sprinkles. Every time he came in for a check-up at the vet clinic he just stood on the exam table and let me examine him. Of course, with his owner right there I couldn’t exactly have a conversation with him those times, but it was nice to see that he was the sweetest little dog ever.