Chapter 7
?
Doreen phoned Nan immediately and gave her an update.
“Oh my,” she replied a little too dramatically. “I had no idea Birdie had that kind of influence. She told me that she would make the call, but that was awfully fast.”
“Well, apparently she does have some pull, and I need to talk to her.”
“That will thrill her to no end,” Nan said.
“It’s not the best circumstances though,” Doreen pointed out.
“No, obviously not, child. However, in this case, I think it’s probably a good thing. She’s not been the closest to her family, so if she could do something to help them at this stage, I think she would be happy.”
“I need to know what that means too,” she muttered.
Nan suggested, “Come on down, dear.”
“I will. I’m just going through the case notes right now.”
“I’ll call the team together, and we’ll do what we can.” And, with that, Nan hung up.
Doreen quickly made a few notes, not wanting to bring the entire file with her because she didn’t want to share those details with everyone.
As she got out the leashes, the animals raced to her. “How about we walk to see Nan?” she asked them. “You guys okay to go for a visit?” And, with that, Mugs barked cheerfully. “You are always up for a visit with your beloved grandmother, aren’t you?” she said, chuckling.
And, with that, she headed for the back door. Almost as if they understood, every one of them bailed out the door, heading to the river. She called out to them because she lost her hold on the leashes as soon as they went out the door, but nobody was listening to her.
Groaning, she headed out along the river, hoping her animals wouldn’t get too far ahead of her.
As it was, they’d all stalled out at various spots, with Mugs going right to the water’s edge to sniff along the rocks.
Thaddeus was busy crowing and flapping his wings in the air, as he perched on a branch caught up in debris.
Goliath was stretched out on the pathway, just waiting for her, his tail flicking, as if bored.
“Well, thank you for waiting for me, Goliath,” she muttered.
He gave her a look, then got up and sauntered forward a bit, then collapsed back down again, twitching his tail impatiently, as if waiting to lead her, step by step.
She groaned. “It’s really not that bad, guys. We do go see Nan on a regular basis.”
But, for them, a regular basis wasn’t quite regular enough.
As soon as she reached them along the river path, they all fell into line and quickly raced toward Nan’s patio.
There wasn’t too much snow, so she didn’t mind cutting across the lawn at Rosemoor and through to the patio, even while knowing that she was leaving tracks that would likely get her in trouble.
Even as she scooched inside, she saw Nan laughing, crouching to give Mugs and Goliath both big cuddles.
“We don’t have any gardeners out there in the winter.”
Doreen considered that, then grinned. “That’s good news,” she noted. “The last thing I want is for them to be mad at me.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Nan replied, trying to straighten, but Mugs wasn’t done getting what he considered was his fair share of cuddles.
“I don’t think that’s exactly at the top of their minds right now.
If anything, with you patting down the snow, it’s just water for the garden, and it’ll melt slower in the grass. ”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Doreen noted, raising an eyebrow.
Nan shrugged, finally standing upright. “It means they won’t be able to plow it off right there because you’ve packed it.”
“And again I’m not sure that’s a good thing.” She frowned, glancing back at the very obvious tracks she left behind her.
“Too late to worry about it now,” Richie called out from the couch.
Doreen walked over to him and sat down. “How are you doing, Richie?”
“I’m doing great now that we have another case,” he declared in anticipation, stroking Mugs’s big floppy ears.
Then the front door opened, and a tiny white-haired woman, maybe only four-and-a-half-feet tall, walked in, looked over at Doreen, and smiled. Mugs waddled over to the new arrival, sniffed her for a moment, then returned back to Doreen. She didn’t know if that was acceptance or indifference.
“I’m Birdie,” announced the newcomer. “That’s what my friends call me.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Birdie,” Doreen replied, standing up to greet her.
Immediately the other woman sniffled. “I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry, but it’s hard.
I didn’t even have much of a relationship with Devon.
When you get old, … so many people don’t want anything to do with you.
They have such busy lives that they don’t even think about it.
Yet he was still my grandson,” she noted, “and he never did drugs.”
Doreen frowned. “And yet you just shared how you didn’t really know him well, and you didn’t spend much time with him.”
Birdie frowned at Doreen. “My daughter and my grandson never did drugs.”
Doreen just nodded and didn’t say anything because that was coming from a mother and a grandparent who wanted to believe what she was saying but didn’t have any facts to back it up.
Doreen took her usual place on the single open chair and waited for Goliath to jump up and stretch out on the fat arm of the chair.
He flicked his tail in a sharp motion, while staring at Birdie.
Goliath apparently didn’t do well with strangers.
Nan looked over at her. They all got the message on exactly how the facts of this case would go in Birdie’s protective mind. As soon as they were all seated, Richie pointed toward the basket on the coffee table.
Doreen chuckled. “Don’t tell me. The cooks made something extra good today.”
“They’re always making something good down in that kitchen,” Birdie stated, as she leapt forward and lifted the tea towel over the top. “Oh my,” she muttered, turning to Richie, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “I was looking for one of these at breakfast this morning.”
“You already had two,” he declared, glaring at her. “The least you could do is let Doreen have one.”
“Ooh, ouch,” Doreen replied. “We are not getting into fights about taking food for Doreen, thank you. Doreen is doing just fine on her own.”
“Of course you are,” Richie confirmed. “That’s got nothing to do with it.
” Still, he handed her the basket first. Doreen wasn’t quite sure what to do, so she quietly snagged one.
Mugs wandered over to see what she had. “Thank you.” She murmured, holding the treat high enough for Mugs to lose interest.
Richie nodded, giving her a beaming smile.
“You’ve got to keep up your strength. It’s all about brainpower, and your brain needs to work on this,” he declared, with a sigh.
“Ours are already fried.” That nearly made her snort out her tea, and he grinned at her.
“See? Now you feel much better already.”
“Good gosh,” she muttered, “I just hope I still have a sense of humor by the time I’m your age.”
“Well, if you don’t, you’ll be dead,” he stated. “It’s our sense of humor that keeps us all alive and happy.”
“And, Doreen,” Nan interjected, but just then came a knock.
Maisie walked in, and, before anyone could say anything, she stared daggers at Richie and Nan. “Did you start without me?”
“Not intentionally,” Doreen replied, holding up her treat. “Apparently these are highly desired, so I figured, if I wanted one, I better grab it.”
“Ooh,” Maisie cried out, as she reached into the basket to snag the last one. “I tried to get one of these at breakfast.” She again glared at Richie.
Doreen sighed. “Apparently that’s a common theme,” she noted, with a stern look. “Richie, you really need to leave food for everybody else too, you know?”
“They all eat constantly,” he stated, waving his hand. “It’s really not a big deal. They’re just making it one.” He turned to Maisie and explained, “Doreen’s got a new case, and we need her brain to be working.”
Immediately Maisie looked down at the treat in her hand and then offered it to Doreen.
“Oh dear.” Doreen sighed. “Maisie, my brain is just fine. You go ahead and enjoy that.”
She smiled at her and asked, “Are you sure? Because we really need to see that Birdie here gets answers.”
“And we’ll do it together,” Doreen stated firmly. “So, go ahead and eat.”
Immediately Maisie popped a bite of the treat into her mouth and grinned. “I’m really glad you said that,” she added, “because I was really looking forward to these.” She turned to Richie. “Somebody apparently got there ahead of me.”
He shrugged and shook his head. “I got them straight from the kitchen, so I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe somebody else is taking them from the dining room.”
“I wonder,” Nan muttered, as she sat here with her own treats. “You know that is possible.”
“It is possible,” Richie declared. “I’m not the only one who goes down there.”
“No, you’re not, but you’re just the one who’s there the fastest,” Birdie declared, her eyes squinting. “And we just never really manage to get there ahead of you.”
He shrugged and shook his head. “That’s your problem.”
That started an argument, and, as voices rose around Doreen, Mugs woofed, then Doreen let out a sharp whistle. Immediately everyone fell silent and turned to her.
In an admiring voice, Nan stated, “Dear, I didn’t know you could do that. That was wonderful,” she cried out. “I need to learn how to do that. It’s such a great way to keep everybody on target.”
“Oh no, no, no.” Doreen laughed at her. “No way I am teaching you that.”
“Why not?” she asked, shooting her a disgruntled look.
“Because you would use it constantly, and you would boss everybody around, and they would get no peace at all.”
At that, Richie howled with laughter. “Oh my, she sure knows you, doesn’t she?”
Nan snorted at him, then shrugged complacently. “Yeah, she does.”