AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One cat lady for all and all cat ladies for one,” Everly said as if this was completely obvious.
“But don’t you people have jobs?” Alanna sputtered.
“Not me,” Tess bragged. “I am gainfully unemployed.”
“I switched my shift at the pet store to the evening,” Everly responded.
All eyes turned to Willow who seemed to hunch under the weight of their stares. “I, uh, my job is flexible,” she mumbled.
“See? It’s all good,” Everly said.
“But you don’t even know me.” Alanna felt completely flummoxed. People didn’t just randomly help each other. In Los Angeles, if someone had a seizure on the sidewalk, people would be pissed by the inconvenience of stepping over a body.
“Of course we know you,” Everly said. “You’re one of the Crazy Cat Ladies, and we’ve got an AWOL cat to find.”
*
The hours passed. The women stayed. Alanna’s feet ached as the Crazy Cat Ladies spread out across the neighborhood stapling flyers of Petunia—mid-hiss—to telephone poles and street signs.
To Alanna, none of it made sense. Why were these women, these practical strangers, giving up their entire day to help her?
“Just accept the help,” Layla told her, reading her clear confusion.
After a few hours of searching, Layla reconvened the group at their mother’s house. The Crazy Cat Ladies were ushered out to the patio where Dede served a spread of turkey subs from a local sub shop, watermelon, iced tea, lemonade, and chips.
“Did anyone find anything?” Layla asked as the women hungrily filled their plates.
No one met Layla’s gaze. Finally, Tess raised a tentative hand.
“An old man walking an obese corgi told me he might have seen something,” the petite woman said. “He saw an animal run across a street right in front of a car yesterday. He thinks the animal made it to the other side.”
“Was it a cat?” Alanna asked. “Did he see a big white-and-orange cat?”
“And wait, hethinksit made it across the street?” Everly added.
Tess suddenly became very interested in pulling the tomatoes out of her sub. “He said it might have been a cat… or a squirrel… or a raccoon.”
Alanna slumped in her chair.
“He was wearing rather thick glasses,” Tess added.
“Obese corgi?” Alanna’s mom mused as she pulled up an empty folding chair. “That’s Mr. Stephanopoulos. Every year I put two little straw people on my porch for Thanksgiving, and he tells me my grandchildren are growing so big.”
Alanna groaned and let her head fall into her hands.
“Look, it’s just the first day,” Layla said. “These things can take time.” She placed a slice of watermelon on Alanna’s plate, then looked up at her mother. “I’m so glad you fixed the sliding door. It’s so much easier to open.”
“Sully did that,” their mother said. “Wouldn’t let me pay him. Such a sweet man.”
Alanna wanted to groan again. Yes, Sully was the best guy ever and she’d practically run him out of the house with a pitchfork.
“Really?” Everly perked up. “You’ve got a good handyman? I could use one. My sink’s been leaking for two months.”
“I thought you rented a condo,” Tess said between bites of her now tomato-less sub. “Doesn’t your landlord handle those kinds of things?”
Everly snorted. “Call that lumber jackass to fix my sink? That’s exactly what he’d want.”
The women looked at Everly, puzzled.
