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Authors: Anjali Banerjee
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on the floor and allowed her to explore. “She may not have an owner. She may be a stray.”
“Either way, she’s not mine. Can we do only the basics? How much will all this cost? I mean, this is the last thing I expected—”
“We’ll do our best to accommodate your financial constraints.”
Her face flushed.
Financial constraints?
Who did he think he was? She imagined picking up the glass jar of pet treats and whacking him over the head. “I have no financial constraints,” she said, a lie. “But her owners will have to reimburse me. They’re probably looking all over for her. If you can’t keep her, I guess I have to take her to the shelter.”
His expression didn’t change, but a muscle twitched in his jaw. He jotted something in the chart. “It’s your decision. However, you could keep her for now and post flyers. If she’s lost, and someone tries to claim her, they should be able to identify her.”
“I wish I could do more for her, but I’ve got a lot on my plate. I’ll pay to get her brushed and cleaned up, and then I’ll take her to the shelter.”
“Fine. Suit yourself. I’ll be a few minutes.” He scooped up the cat and went out into the hall without looking back. The door slammed behind him. So this was a good plan. The basics and no more, and then she would be done with the cat.
Chapter Twelve
Kitty
On the drive back to the shop, we stopped in at Meow City, where I cringed in the carrier until Lily hurried me back out to the car. She couldn’t bear to abandon me among the imprisoned. It took the entire journey, with a stop at the pet supply store, for the alarming smells and sounds to fade from my mind.
Back in the cottage, the spirits have concentrated into a dense mass. A young woman, who died in a violent accident, clings to a floral dress that belonged to her daughter. How can she know that her child long ago passed into the next realm?
Lily shivers a little. She turns up the thermostat, then tries to confine me to the kitchen, but my voice and my claws scratching at the door prove too much for her.
“This situation is temporary,” she says as she opens the kitchen door again. I run out into the hall. The spirit of her former mate slides along next to her shadow, occasionally blending into the darkness and then slipping away. Another spirit hides out of sight, the one that has lingered here for eons. Lily stops and looks around, her brows furrowed, then rubs her arms and shivers again.
“Cold pockets,” she says to me. “Maybe the place is haunted. Wouldn’t that be my luck? And what am I going to do with you?”
I sit on a threadbare rug and watch her while she calls one shelter, then another, and then another one farther away—trying to find a way to get rid of me.
“Everyone’s full. Unbelievable. Oh, stop staring at me that way, as if I’m betraying you. How am I going to get anything done when I have to watch you?”
I turn away and trot up to sit in the empty front window. Fascinating, the commotion in the shop across the street. After a while, Lily drags a statue, clad in a soft orange dress, toward the window and props it on the wide ledge next to me. She places a pair of glittery shoes and a handbag next to the statue, then arranges anotherplastic woman on the ledge, this one wearing a shiny blue gown.
“Who can resist vintage silk?” she says, grinning. “I can do this, can’t I, kitty?”
I lick my paw.
She peers outside and frowns. “What are they doing over there? How did they come up with that? A mannequin lying on her side in a winter coat? The Newest Thing, my foot.” She looks at her own display. “Maybe I need a winter scene, too. How do I find a mannequin that can lie on its side that way? But this is what people are dreaming of, right? A summer night on the town?”
Someone is shuffling up the sidewalk, stopping to peer in at me. Oh no, it’s Ida. She’s coming this way. I run to hide beneath a rack of black dresses.
“Could
“Either way, she’s not mine. Can we do only the basics? How much will all this cost? I mean, this is the last thing I expected—”
“We’ll do our best to accommodate your financial constraints.”
Her face flushed.
Financial constraints?
Who did he think he was? She imagined picking up the glass jar of pet treats and whacking him over the head. “I have no financial constraints,” she said, a lie. “But her owners will have to reimburse me. They’re probably looking all over for her. If you can’t keep her, I guess I have to take her to the shelter.”
His expression didn’t change, but a muscle twitched in his jaw. He jotted something in the chart. “It’s your decision. However, you could keep her for now and post flyers. If she’s lost, and someone tries to claim her, they should be able to identify her.”
“I wish I could do more for her, but I’ve got a lot on my plate. I’ll pay to get her brushed and cleaned up, and then I’ll take her to the shelter.”
“Fine. Suit yourself. I’ll be a few minutes.” He scooped up the cat and went out into the hall without looking back. The door slammed behind him. So this was a good plan. The basics and no more, and then she would be done with the cat.
Chapter Twelve
Kitty
On the drive back to the shop, we stopped in at Meow City, where I cringed in the carrier until Lily hurried me back out to the car. She couldn’t bear to abandon me among the imprisoned. It took the entire journey, with a stop at the pet supply store, for the alarming smells and sounds to fade from my mind.
Back in the cottage, the spirits have concentrated into a dense mass. A young woman, who died in a violent accident, clings to a floral dress that belonged to her daughter. How can she know that her child long ago passed into the next realm?
Lily shivers a little. She turns up the thermostat, then tries to confine me to the kitchen, but my voice and my claws scratching at the door prove too much for her.
“This situation is temporary,” she says as she opens the kitchen door again. I run out into the hall. The spirit of her former mate slides along next to her shadow, occasionally blending into the darkness and then slipping away. Another spirit hides out of sight, the one that has lingered here for eons. Lily stops and looks around, her brows furrowed, then rubs her arms and shivers again.
“Cold pockets,” she says to me. “Maybe the place is haunted. Wouldn’t that be my luck? And what am I going to do with you?”
I sit on a threadbare rug and watch her while she calls one shelter, then another, and then another one farther away—trying to find a way to get rid of me.
“Everyone’s full. Unbelievable. Oh, stop staring at me that way, as if I’m betraying you. How am I going to get anything done when I have to watch you?”
I turn away and trot up to sit in the empty front window. Fascinating, the commotion in the shop across the street. After a while, Lily drags a statue, clad in a soft orange dress, toward the window and props it on the wide ledge next to me. She places a pair of glittery shoes and a handbag next to the statue, then arranges anotherplastic woman on the ledge, this one wearing a shiny blue gown.
“Who can resist vintage silk?” she says, grinning. “I can do this, can’t I, kitty?”
I lick my paw.
She peers outside and frowns. “What are they doing over there? How did they come up with that? A mannequin lying on her side in a winter coat? The Newest Thing, my foot.” She looks at her own display. “Maybe I need a winter scene, too. How do I find a mannequin that can lie on its side that way? But this is what people are dreaming of, right? A summer night on the town?”
Someone is shuffling up the sidewalk, stopping to peer in at me. Oh no, it’s Ida. She’s coming this way. I run to hide beneath a rack of black dresses.
“Could
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