Zonked in the Zucchinis (Lovely Lethal Gardens Rewind #1)

Chapter 15

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N ow beginning to feel stressed with everything going on around her, Doreen quickly raced to Big Guy’s house. As soon as they pulled up, Thaddeus started squawking, “Big Guy, Big Guy, Big Guy.”

“Absolutely, buddy. If nothing else, let’s see if we can get you cheered up.” With all the animals in tow, she headed up to the front door, which opened immediately, and there was Jerry with Big Guy on his shoulder. Thaddeus started squawking and hopped onto Jerry’s shoulder.

He laughed. “I know that you have this one at your home, and I’ve got mine here, but, man, they sure do get along for two birds living apart.”

“They do, but only as long as Thaddeus agrees to get along,” she said, with an eye roll.

Jerry led the way to the kitchen and a fresh pot of coffee. She sat down gratefully, poured herself a cup, and muttered, “Boy, I tell you, sometimes these animals…”

“Yeah, sometimes , I agree. Now what’s going on with yours? You mentioned you had some husbandry questions.”

“I just don’t know what’s going on,” she began, “but I am concerned.”

“Okay, concerned is definitely worrisome.”

“Yeah, definitely worrisome,” she agreed, with a sigh. Then she explained about what had happened with Thaddeus at Milford’s farm and how all her animals had not been quite themselves ever since.

He nodded. “It does happen. I hate to say it, but I have seen that before.”

“What do you think happened?” she asked.

“It seems they got a smell of somebody who didn’t like them, and they made a judgment based on what they saw, what they felt. It sounds to me as if they didn’t like anything about this person, plus that cat of Milford’s, skulking around too.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “nobody liked that cat.”

“Because that cat was more of a hunter, the dog probably wouldn’t have been an issue, but Thaddeus would have been for sure. Plus, this feral cat might have picked a good fight with Goliath.” He eyed Goliath for a moment. “He does seem to be a little off.”

“They’re all a little off,” she declared, “and I’m quite frustrated and down about it all because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. It’s the first time we’ve ever had something like that happen. Mack was with me, and it should have been fine, but… I don’t know.”

“But?” he urged.

“It didn’t seem to be fine at all. They all went really quiet.”

“And yet they’ve been to crime scenes before.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “they’ve been to all kinds of different places before, but never with that reaction.”

Jerry nodded. “All I can suggest is that something about that location bothered them. Something about what may have happened or about the people there that your animals didn’t like. They didn’t like that spot or something about it. They will recover from it, but it may change how they react to other situations too.”

“Goodness,” Doreen muttered. “I don’t want to take them out if they’ll get so upset over what they see.”

“It’s not even so much what they see,” he pointed out. “It’s what they feel—or smell. The old man up there, Milford, do you think he was the kind to treat an animal badly?”

She turned to him and winced. “You and I would call it badly , but I don’t think Milford would.”

“Exactly,” Jerry confirmed. “So I’m sure Mugs picked up on that. Thaddeus was already picking up on the cat, and Goliath probably felt out of his depths and maybe threatened because of the other cat. It’s not uncommon for people to not really like you,” he explained pointedly, “but generally they have nothing against the animals—or it’s all of you at odds with someone.”

“Now that’s true,” Doreen muttered.

“And, in this case, I think everything was against them and not you, which was a different experience for your animals, and probably confusing.”

She sat back and stared at him. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“So, in a way, it’s their first time being rejected—in a big and confusing way.”

“Wow.”

“And maybe that rejection,” he pointed out, “was just because of what was going on there.” He hesitated before asking, “I don’t know why you were there, or what was exactly going on, but was it criminal in any way? Was it bad news, as in something you need to go back to, so you can try and figure out what’s happening?”

“I don’t know yet, but definitely something weird was going on.”

“Definitely weird,” Jerry repeated, “particularly the way the animals reacted, but that doesn’t mean criminal weird.”

“No, it doesn’t,” she admitted, staring at him with a nod. “I was just hoping that maybe a visit here would cheer them up and maybe would put them back to normal again.”

“They will go back to normal,” Jerry noted. “This definitely isn’t something that won’t be resolved, but clearly they were unsettled and lost their confidence in that encounter.”

“That makes sense,” she noted.

Jerry continued. “So, if you do have to go back up there, maybe don’t take them with you.”

“Right,” she said, with a nod. “That’s probably a smart idea. It’s a hard one to absorb, but good advice.”

He chuckled. “This guy seems to be doing better.”

And, in truth, Thaddeus kept up a steady conversation with Big Guy, who just looked at him, cleaning his beak every once in a while. That seemed to be enough for Thaddeus, continuing his storm of discussion.

“He’s not even slowing down,” Jerry said, with another chuckle.

“The amount of conversation he can maintain just blows me away,” she muttered. “He really is something.”

“He’s wonderful,” Jerry confirmed.

“Speaking of animals,” Doreen began, “this morning I had two young boys come by my place. I say young, but they were probably… eleven or twelve. They brought me a puppy they found in the river this morning. It was soaked and chilled to the bone.”

“Really?”

She told him a little bit about dropping off the puppy at the vet to figure out what he needed. “They’re supposed to call me with the results,” she added, “and I’m a little worried. I’m not sure what we do with puppies.”

“You can drop him off at some animal rescues in town, if nobody owns it,” Jerry suggested, “though they’re all strapped for money these days. Honestly, I think all animal rescues are strapped for money.”

“Right,” she muttered, with a sigh. “It seems to be a regular refrain.”

“Even when people do have money, they don’t necessarily share it.”

She nodded. “I’ve known lots of people with big money,” she shared, “and so many of them were fairly superficial in how much they gave away and to whom.”

“Exactly. And sometimes they do it as a tax break, and then, when the tax break’s done, they don’t do it anymore,” he said. “They don’t do it from the heart.”

“Right,” she noted, frowning. “This is embarrassing, but I wasn’t even aware most of these charities even needed people to support them.”

“Of course,” he said, “you’ve been one of those blessed people, living in the dark.”

She shook her head. “I was, but I can assure you that I’m not any longer,” she clarified.

“So, does that mean you’ll be helping out various places?”

“Yeah, I sure will, as soon as I get my finances sorted out,” she stated. “Then I’ll have to figure out how best to help some of these charities.”

“Keep Big Guy in mind,” Jerry noted. “We are a registered charity, or at least it’s in the works for birds,” he added, “like this one.”

“Interesting,” she replied, making a mental note to look into this further. “What would you suggest I do with the puppy?”

“You could see if the boys’ family would take it in for one,” Jerry suggested, “particularly if the kid is struggling. It would be a really good thing for him to focus on and to have something to love that would love him back.”

“I was wondering about that,” she replied, “though I’m not sure if the uncle could handle it.”

“Uncle?”

“Yes, the boy lost his mom, and now he’s living with his childless uncle, and, of course, that’s not ideal either, particularly given the boy’s rebellious behavior at the moment.”

Jerry winced. “No, it sure isn’t. So, that would be one option, but, if not, we do have several shelters that take in animals, and, once the animals are fixed, they’ll be adopted out.”

“Okay, that would be a good alternative.”

“First off is to see what the vet has to say about whether the puppy will make it,” Jerry explained. “No telling how long he’d been in the river or what shape he was in to begin with. Even in our modern world, the doctors can’t save everybody. If the puppy’s hypothermic, they’ll need to keep him, and that will add to his bill.”

“Right, and, for so many people, it’s the cost of pets that can be a major and unexpected expense, and they end up giving away the animal because they can’t afford to keep them any longer.”

“I know that, for you, based on what I’ve been hearing, your financial situation is looking up, and you’re doing okay, but a lot of people out there simply can’t afford to look after their animals.”

“Yes, that is so true.”

“So, what about your cold cases?” he asked, looking at her with a bright expression. “What case are you involved in now?”

“Looking at possibly a missing person’s case from about twenty-five years ago. I was up in the Joe Rich area, speaking to Milford, a farmer up there, because apparently one morning years ago he found an insane amount of blood all over one of his garden beds. He supposedly contacted law enforcement back then.”

Jerry snorted at that. “He might have made a phone call, but I highly doubt anybody did much about it. If there was no body and no proof that it was human blood,” he began, “then nobody would have been concerned enough to make the trip, especially if nobody turned up missing.”

Doreen grimaced. “That seems to be what happened, but Milford lost his wife recently, and one of her last orders was that he sort it out.”

“And this is the same guy who caused all your animals to react differently?”

She nodded.

“So, you started thinking that maybe he killed somebody,” Jerry suggested, with a laugh, “just because the animals don’t like him?”

“I have to admit that I was struck with that very thought,” she acknowledged, with a shrug, “which isn’t fair to Milford at all.”

“Or to his wife, who he’s trying to honor,” Jerry noted, with a smile. “On the other hand, it’s just the way that life works sometimes.”

She explained about the other two missing men, how Bartlet Jones went missing fifty years ago and Jack Mahoney around twenty years or so ago. She stayed and visited for a little bit longer. While Jerry had heard about the recent shooting in town, he didn’t have any information about any of the missing person cases she had shared.

“I didn’t realize that the poor woman was up here looking for her father who’d gone missing so many years ago. Good God. I don’t know how you do it, Doreen. I work with the animals every day, and while they bring me a lot of peace and joy, it’s still tough and can get me down,” he shared. “But to deal with broken people every day? No way,” he declared. “That’s more than I could do.”

She smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t have thought that I would be happy or comfortable working these cases either, but that’s where I’m at, and it’s something I can do, at least for now.” And, with that, she took her leave, as Thaddeus called out all the way to the car, “Bye, bye, Big Guy. Bye, bye, Big Guy.” She laughed when they got into the car, as he seemed to be much more his usual self. “Was that a good visit, buddy?” she asked him.

He nuzzled up against her neck as she drove toward Shirley’s home, finally getting to what she had been meaning to do all morning.