Misty Hollow Cat Detective (Darcy Sweet Mystery) (A Smudge the Cat Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

tree!  Not Smudge's tree!"
    " Corvin, I don't have time to argue this with you," I said to him, hunching down and fastening my claws into the branch just below the knothole full of stuff.  "I need something out of your stash."
    "Mine, mine!" he cawed , flapping closer to me.
    "Well.  If that's how you want it."
    I swiped my claws at him and hissed.  I'm not proud of acting like an animal, but when it's needed, I do what I have to. 
    Corvin flew away, terrified that I was going to rip his tail feathers out.  Possibly because I told him that was what I was going to do.  Not that I would.  I just wanted to scare him away for a little bit so I could get something out of his tree.
    I don't even need a lot of his things.  Just one thing in particular.
    Just in time, too.  I could see Darcy and Sue walking this way, down a path that will take them directly under this tree.  Perfect.
    "Are you sure you were over here when you were reading it?" Darcy asked Sue.
    "Yes.  Right over there."
    As Sue pointed , I reached up to the knothole and dragged the thing out with my teeth.  I know what it is.  Like I said, I've read Darcy's before.
    Down to the ground dropped the little red diary with its big, flashy lock.  Shiny things attract crows.  They love to steal anything flashy or sparkly.  And I've never known any crow more prone to stealing a pretty bauble than Corvin.
    When the diary fell softly to the grass below it didn't even make a s ound.  Sue almost stepped on it before she noticed it there.  When she bent to pick it up she cried out with excitement, "Here it is!  Oh, awesome.  I would have hated for someone to find this and read it.  Or worse, throw it away!  I've got all my dreams and plans in here."
    "You mean," Darcy asked her, "like working at a small town book store?"
    Sue laughed.  "Well, that, and hopefully one day I want to go back to college for advanced courses in Literature.  I want to be a teacher someday."
    "Really?"   Darcy turned them back towards that Deli with all the turkey.  "I think that's great.  You know, I took Lit in college.  We should have a lot to talk about…"
    From up in the tree branches, I watch them go, and sigh.  It's nice to see things work out, but there's still one more detail to go.
    A cat's work is never done.
     
    ***
     
    Twistypaws was very grateful to me for saving her home.  Which is to say, she didn't immediately start ignoring me when I came sauntering up on her front lawn.
    She w as lying out on the front porch in the bright sunlight.  She looked really pretty.  I blinked, and blinked again, and I'm pretty sure I was staring.  When she saw me standing there with my tail swishing, she yawned lazily and stretched.  It made my heart skip a beat. 
    Jumping down off the porch she came right up to me and pushed her face up against mine.  "Thanks, Smudge," she said.  "You're a little odd sometimes, but you really came through for me."
    Not the compliment I was hoping for, but I decided to take it.
    "Your tuna is on the porch," she informed me, pointing with a sniff of her nose at three cans laid out in a row.  "You earned it."
    Okay, decision time.  I can be the guy working for her and just doing a job, or I can be the friend she can always turn to.
    I picked the obvious choice.
    "Keep the tuna," I said, even though my stomach growled at me angrily in protest.  "I didn't do it for the food."
    "Oh?  So what did you do it for?"
    "You," I ventured, trying to look cute and coy.
    My reward for being a friend instead of some guy doing a job was another face rub from her.  A longer hug than she had given me before.  "Thanks, Smudge," she whispered in my ear, making me shiver and flick my tail.
    Then she turned to leave.
    "Hey, Twist," I say, scuffing my paws against the grass as she turned away.  I figured if I didn't ask her now I'd never get my nerve up.  "Would you maybe want to go down to this spot I know in the woods sometime?  It's incredible