Клэр Донелли - Catch As Cat Can

“Hey,” Mike spoke up in defense, “she barely let me touch that thing.”

They smiled at the happier memory. Then the phone rang.

“Safely arrived,” Will reported. “Although I don’t know how long I’ll be here. The weather forecast is getting rougher, and there’s a good chance the sheriff will call everybody in while they can still get to headquarters.” He paused for a second. “But I didn’t want you to worry.”

“No problems,” Sunny told him. “And look on the bright side. Overtime.”

“Yeah. When I get a day off again, we’ll have a nice evening out somewhere—without any tagalongs.” Will sighed. “Till then . . .”

“I know.” Sunny was silent for a moment. “Be careful out there, and good luck.”

They said good-bye, and she hung up the phone. When she turned to Mike, he was struggling to contain a mighty yawn. “Overtime?” he said. “Is he going out in this weather?”

“Not yet,” Sunny said. “But he expects to be called.” She put a hand over her mouth as she yawned, too. “Nothing much we can do about it. I vote for B-E-D.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Mike got up from the couch and stretched. Then they headed up the stairs, with Shadow trailing behind them.

*

Patrolling the housein the dark, Shadow pricked his ears. He knew it was just the wind outside, but it howled like some huge, angry beast. And the stuff from the skies rattled against the walls as if that beast were scratching at them, trying to get in.

He trotted over to the stairway and began leaping up the steps two at a time, trying to work off his unease. Upstairs, he made his way down the hall to Sunny’s room.

Might as well check things out, he thought, easing his way through the slightly open door.

Sunny lay on her side, unconsciously hunched up against the noises from outside. Shadow lightly jumped up onto the bed and daintily made his way over the hills and valleys of the covers to where Sunny’s head rested on the pillow. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed evenly. Fast asleep. Outside, the howl rose in intensity. Shadow shot a worried glance at the window. But it was closed, and it wasn’t too cold in here.

He could feel the warmth rising from Sunny’s body, and carefully edged his way under the covers to share it. Shadow crept into her arms. Even in her sleep, Sunny made a pleased noise and ran her fingers over his fur.

Shadow snuggled closer. Well, if it makes her feel better . . .

The howling outside seemed to fade a bit as he closed his eyes.

*

Sunny opened hereyes, surprised to hear a faint mew as Shadow stirred beside her. “What are you doing here?” she asked him as he pushed his head against her, looking for a scratch between the ears. Sunny obliged, but she frowned. On a good day, she could manage to get her eyes open just before the alarm went off. She’d gotten to bed early last night, so maybe she was up a little earlier than usual. But dim as her room was, it was brighter than her normal wake-up hour. She looked at the clock-radio—no digital display.

Rising from bed, she shivered as she got her cell phone from the bedside table. An hour past her usual time. She tried the lamp—nothing. Sunny walked to the window, finding the air even colder the closer she came. And there really wasn’t a view. Flying ice had frozen in place, creating a sort of pebbled glass effect.

She went to the closet, got out her heaviest robe, and headed downstairs. The house was definitely chillier than usual, but as she reached the front hall, she heard voices in the kitchen. Sunny paused for a second, getting a brief head-butt in the back of her right calf. Shadow was sticking pretty close to her this morning.

After a moment, Sunny realized it was the news radio station and walked in just as the kettle began to wail. Mike rose from his seat at the table, took the kettle, and poured the boiling water into a teapot. “No coffee maker this morning,” he said. “The power’s out.”

He pointed to the old transistor radio on the table. “Lucky we still have that around, and plenty of batteries. Matches, too, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to light the burner.”

Sunny stepped over to the kitchen door. This side of the house must have been sheltered from the wind, because she could see through the glass storm door. The backyard had been transformed into a winter wonderland, gleaming even in the dull light thanks to a coating of ice on everything: bushes, tree trunks, the patio fence—even a couple of holdout leaves glittered in the glaze.

It was as if everything in the world had been carefully preserved under glass . . . except for the tree limb that had broken off and landed on the ground.

That, and probably hundreds more, Sunny thought, turning back to the table and taking a seat. A moment later, she had a steaming cup of tea in front of her and had woken up enough to make sense of the reports coming from the radio. Foreign wars, politics, and pestilence were all shoved to the back of the line this morning, as the news anchors talked about car accidents and local power outages.

“You don’t have to worry about work,” Mike told her. “The sheriff’s told everybody to stay in because basically there’s nowhere to go. They’re still trying to clear the bridges to Portsmouth and the interstate. Any of the other local roads are either skating ponds or have downed trees across them.” He glanced over at her. “Looks like we’re in for a siege.”

He rose and went back to the stove. Sunny realized he’d replaced the kettle with a pot of water. “Looks like oatmeal instead of toast today—unless you figure on grilling the bread outside on the barbecue.”

Sunny shuddered, looking at the frozen landscape. “Oatmeal sounds fine to me. Nice, warm oatmeal.”

They spent the day hunkered down, reading as the clouds cleared away and the light got better. Shadow was in his glory, enjoying an unexpected play day with Sunny. Apparently his nighttime nap left him bursting with energy, which he used to race around the house, flying into Sunny’s lap and in numerous vigorous games of Pounce on the String.

The landline telephones worked, and Mike insisted on calling Helena Martinson.

Sure, Sunny thought, it’s the Kittery Harbor Way. And she is his girlfriend or whatever.

After a low-toned conversation with Helena, Mike turned to Sunny. “Abby would like to speak to you.”

Helena’s daughter seemed in a pretty good mood. “Now I really remember why I moved to California,” she joked. “We were on the phone with the power company. Mom spotted a downed line from our upstairs window. And thank heavens you guys called. Mom was about to dispatch me over there to make sure you were all right. It wouldn’t have been too bad getting down our driveway—Mom had me salting that last night. But the rest of the way, I’d have to see if I still fit into my high school ice skates.”

Sunny felt a pang of guilt, remembering how Mike had urged her to go out and enjoy herself the night before.

At least he wasn’t lugging around bags of ice melt, she thought.

“How are you guys fixed for supplies?” she asked.

“We also did an end-of-the-world shopping expedition before the weather got too bad—and the stores got too crazy,” Abby said. “So if you need anything, we probably have a couple weeks’ supply of it. Afterward we crashed. Talk about an exciting night.” She paused for a moment. “Mom mentioned you were going out.” Abby sounded a little wistful. “How was it?”

“Fine, if you don’t mind having your boss tag along.” Sunny cut herself off there. Yes, she was annoyed that her father had gossiped about her evening with Will. On the other hand, Abby had a boss she definitely didn’t mind going out with. “I guess it was all right, but getting home was sloppy and it was beginning to get dangerous.” She sighed. “And speaking of salting, I guess I have to go out and play catch-up now.”