Dad: I need to talk a little lower today. Dolce is going to try and bring her new brother, Baci, to the story chair. He is still pretty skiddish, but he does like to cuddle so I think he will right in.
Dolce: Dad! I'm here! And I brought Baci!
Dad: Dolce. We are trying not to spook your new brother. So please talk a little quieter.
Dolce: Well, I figured he gets used to me now or he gets used to me later. Either way... BACI! COME MEET EVERYONE!
Dad(shaking head): Dolce, Dolce, Dolce.
Dolce(shaking head): Dad, Dad, Dad.
Dad: Well, I think you spooked him again. I think he is hiding underneath the chair now.
Dolce: Don't worry. He'll come out. Especially when he sees all the fun cats and kittens that come for your stories.
Dad: All the refreshments ready?
Dolce: Yup.
Dad: So then lets find out what dastardly event has occurred in the Big Grey House, as Scooter McTabby takes on his first case...Case No. 1: The Tale of the Unattainable Temptations (Part 1)
Scooter tried to calm Persephone down. She was very upset. Her sides were moving in and out very rapidly; and her tail was switching from side to side.
“Persephone.” Scooter tried to sound very authoritative, but he was very excited and nervous, so her name came out in about four different octaves and only the vowels were coherent. “Tell me what has happened.”
Scooter looked over at Whatley Purrgood. Scooter’s bandit stripes on the side of his face turned up slightly and cast his face in a slight smile. Whatley’s colouring hide her smile but she felt very proud of her friend Scooter at this moment.
“They’re gone! All of them!” Persephone cried. “They’re all gone!”
“Please Persephone. Calm down.” Scooter’s initial nervousness had disappeared. “Now tell me. What is missing?”
“The Bean Mom is home today with the Icks.” Persephone stammered as she tried to get all the words out at once. “And I knew everybody would be in the sunroom for the Early Morning Nap. So I thought I would see if she would get some Temptations just for me.”
At the mention of the word Temptations, all the cats in the sunroom were suddenly interested in Persephone’s plight as it now seemed to affect them all. By nature, cats are somewhat selfish. Actually the word “Share” does not have an equivalent in the Cat language. It was imported from the Dog Language soon after Cats and Dogs began habitating together. Much like the word, “No”, which is obviously a strictly Bean only construct; and other words like “Fetch” and “Stay”, Cats have chosen to ignore these words altogether.
“What has happened to the Temptations?” Dartmore demanded as he stretched up onto his paws and strolled over to where Scooter, Whatley and Persephone were standing.
“Dartmore.” Richard the Lionheart spoke from his spot on the couch. “Scooter is in charge.”
Dartmore gave a quick glare at Richard and then at Scooter. He decided that it was not worth crossing Richard. Dartmore gave a short snort and then sat down on his haunches to let Scooter find out what had happened.
“So you asked for some Temptations.” Scooter ignored Dartmore and proceeded with his investigation. “Just tell us exactly what happened. Leave out no detail, Persephone.”
Persephone was sufficiently calmed down to begin licking her paw. She looked up at Scooter and realized that he had stopped talking.
“Sorry. I’m very flustered.” Persephone apologized. “It was shortly after the First Morning Breakfast. I was still a little peckish. So instead of following everyone else to the Sunroom, I waited by the Lesser Pantry to see if I could get something more.”
Several of the other cats in the Sunroom began to grumble. It was frowned upon for any of the cats to beg for food.
“Let her be.” Whatley chided the other cats. “Persephone, please explain.”
Scooter looked over at Whatley. He was a little perturbed, but since the rules between Lead Investigator and Sidekick had not really been established, Scooter could not get too upset. Whatley sensed Scooter’s dismay.
“Sorry.” She said sheepishly.
“Please continue.” Scooter asked and then he turned and looked at the other cats. ”There will be no more interruptions.”
“So I stayed by the pantry. Since the Bean Mom was suffering from the Icks, I figured she would need something from the Lesser Pantry.” Persephone began to explain the events of the morning. “Sure enough, she went to the Lesser Pantry and began digging around the upper most shelf.
I thought that since she was there, maybe she could pull a couple of treats for me to snack on. I’m still growing and I do love those Temptations. So I twirled and rubbed against her legs. She even asked me what I wanted so I tried to point out the Temptations on the third shelf. But I’m still too little to reach that high.”
“I see.” Scooter briefly interrupted. Persephone liked to milk her status as the youngest of the cats in the Big Grey House, but she was big enough to touch the third shelf if she really wanted to. “Sorry. Please continue.”
“So I tried to point out where the Temptations were.” Persephone continued her story. “I told her several times. I said ‘The Yellow Package, please. The Yellow Package.’ The Mom Bean just laughed at me. So I tried to tell her more forcefully.
It took her a bit of time, but she realized that I wanted some Temptations. She asked me if I wanted some Treats, and I said Yes. The Mom Bean then looked on the third shelf. She moved several things around, things I could not see. She then said that they were gone. Then she turned to me and said ‘I don’t know how that happened. But there are no treats, Sephie.’ That’s when I panicked. I tried to jump up onto the shelf to see if I could see them.
But there were no signs of any Temptations. There were no pink packages, no blue packages and definitely no yellow packages. Once I saw that all the Temptations were gone, I came running here. What has happened to our Temptations? Who could have taken all of them?” Persephone was getting agitated all over again.
“Don’t worry, Persephone.” Scooter reassured the young silver tabby, and then he talked loud enough for all the other cats to hear. “I, Scooter, of Scooter McTabby’s Detective Agency and All Round Adventure Company, shall, with my assistant, Whatley Purrgood, solve this heinous crime and bring the perpetrator to justice.”
“Justice?” Dartmore asked. “Is that like a Toothy Death?”
“No, my good, Dartmore,” Alastair Cunningworth instructed his old friend. “Think more of a good paw twacking. Or a good double rabbit kick to the stomach. I remember when that nasty ginger tom came to our back door. Now that was a good paw twacking we gave him…”
“Alastair.” Scooter interrupted. Scooter knew how much the dapper Alastair liked to talk about his past adventures. “There will be no Toothy Death or Paw Twacking or Rabbit-Kicks. Once we have identified the individual responsible for this act, we shall bring him or her before the cats of the house to face the appropriate punishment.”
Scooter briefly looked at Miss Marbles and Richard the Lionheart. They both gave Scooter a faint nod. The heads of the Big Grey House had given their agreement to Scooter’s plan. It was now up to him to deliver on his promises.
“How about just a little Paw Twacking?” Dartmore asked hopefully.
“Dartmore.” Richard said sternly, to which Dartmore just snorted again.
“Let us go, my dear Whatley.” Scooter stated to his new sidekick. “We must find who is behind this horrific theft. And our search begins at the scene of the crime.”
“The Lesser Pantry.” Whatley responded as she paused to nibble at a tuff of fur on her right paw..
“Yes. The Lesser Pantry.” Scooter said, as he adjusted his cap again. “That is where the trail of our first case will begin.”
