Up in Smoke

This is Part 2 of Freckles the Mysterious Cat

Tippner finished his glass of cool, sparkling water and put his hand in his jeans pocket to get some change out  for a tip.

“Dig down deep!” Cara called out to him as she headed his way to wipe down the tables.

With triumph shining in his eyes, he held up the coin.

“Look at that, a shiny nickel for you.”

“It better have some greenbacks with it, or who knows what your sandwich may look like tomorrow.” Giving him a smirk, Cara walked over to the customer in the far back corner booth.

“Hi! My name is Cara. may I help you?”

SuzyLoo smiled, “Yes, please, I will have the Number 4 special with a side of tuna salad for my cat.”

That was when Cara noticed the cat  under the table. She didn’t know what to say. Pets weren’t typically allowed in the diner, but no one was here now, so maybe Mason wouldn’t mind. Plus, the lady was in the back corner of the restaurant. There shouldn’t be a problem.

Crash! Cara turned her head right in time to see four juice glasses fall from the tray that Mason was holding.

‘Whoa! Looks like Cara isn’t the only one with butterfingers around here.” Tippner patted Mason on the shoulder  as he passed by. Then he helped him pick up the glasses.

“Anyone can drop something once,” replied Mason. “I am fine.”

He put the glasses back on the tray and headed to the back room to get the mop to mop up the sticky orange juice.

Tippner was heading out the door when he felt something strange come over him. He headed back to his table and put some more bills on the table. Then he started whistling as he headed for the door, knowing Cara would be happy.

Ouch! Tippner looked across the diner and saw poor Mason bang his knee on the mop bucket when he tripped over the little rug in front of the register.

“It’s okay. Anyone can trip over a rug.” Tippner quipped, struggling to hold back his laughter.

Mason shot him a look as Tippner made a quick exit from the restaurant.

Later that night, SuzyLoo was relaxing at the Doolally Hotel. The friendly owner of the bike shop had recommended it. It was a weird name, but the hotel was charming and comfortable. Tomorrow, she and Freckles would check out more of the town and maybe she would have to buy the bright orange bicycle that had caught her eye.

The next morning, SuzyLoo made a stop at Sarah’s Flower Shop. The flowers were beautiful and the plants looked so green and healthy. It was hard to decide which ones to buy. Though she didn’t know why she was buying any,  they would all probably die.

SuzyLoo didn’t have a green thumb anymore. Not since Freckles had arrived. Hmm…. that was yet another strange thing that had happened since Freckles came to live with her.

“Oh dear!” Suzy heard Sarah shout in dismay. Her plants seemed to be wilting in front of her eyes.

SuzyLoo looked in her pet carrier. Freckles was gone. Where was he?

“Noo! Not my hydrangeas.”  Sarah was standing by the purple hydrangeas, which had been looking so pretty a few minutes ago but not now.

SuzyLoo saw Freckles close by Sarah. She moved as fast as she could to retrieve Freckles without Sarah noticing. It didn’t take long to grab him and put him safely back in the carrier. Sarah was too distracted by her dying plants, which SuzyLoo was beginning to feel a little guilty about. Did Freckles really have magic powers??

For lunch later that day, SuzyLoo went back to Mason’s diner. Cara’s homemade pies were delicious, and Freckles was more than happy to stay under the table with his tuna platter.

Cara’s tray was piled high with dishes that she had cleaned off the tables. SuzyLoo didn’t know how she managed to walk holding the tray in one hand and coffee pot in the other, without spilling anything. Quite agile.

Crash! The same couldn’t be said for the guy named Mason. He seemed to drop things every time Suzy was here. Though he sure wasn’t bad on the eyes with that great hair! It was so wavy, and it had a shiny glean to it. Guess one couldn’t have both. Great hair and coordination.

SuzyLoo bent under the table to get Freckles platter.

She handed it to Cara, “No need to wash that dish, Freckles licked it clean, not a spot on it.” SuzyLoo said with pride.

Cara thanked her while biting her tongue. If SuzyLoo ever moved here, Cara would make sure to bring her own plates for any meals at her house.

“I turn at the Cherry tree and go straight for ten  miles, and then Mr Fuzzywhistle’s farm will be on my left?” SuzyLoo asked.

“Yes, and I am sure you will enjoy it there. There are ducks in the lake and a pair of swans, sheep, and you may even be lucky enough to see Betsy, the cow.”

SuzyLoo didn’t think there was anything specifically special about cows, but she was polite and smiled.

Leaving Cara a generous tip, she and Freckles left the diner and headed down the road.

Cara couldn’t believe it. Tippner had  left another generous tip, a crisp $10 bill. She didn’t know what had come over him but she hoped it didn’t stop!

What a pleasant drive through the country. Mr Fuzzywhistle’s farm had been easy to find, and Mr Fuzzywhistle was as kind as Cara had said. He and the Mrs. always enjoyed having company. They were proud to show SuzyLoo around the farm. She made sure to keep a tight hold on Freckles, who was in her arms.

Mr Fuzzywhistle scratched his head. “That’s strange. Why are the ducks turning around? They were headed to the lake.”

Sure enough, Mama duck was leading her little ones in a big circle away from the lake to the pasture.

“Oh dear! Honey, look!”

Mrs Fuzzywhistle pointed to the little lambs heading for the lake about to jump in.

“What in tarnation is going on?” Old man, Fuzzywhistle ran to the lake and waded in to grab the two baby lambs.

SuzyLoo thought that perhaps this would be a good time to go look for Betsy, the cow. It appeared that Mr and Mrs Fuzzywhistle had their hands full.

Walking towards the pasture, she saw the cow in the distance.  She walked over to it and couldn’t say she was overly impressed. It was only an ordinary brown cow.

Ooh, but when Betsy turned her head, SuzyLoo saw the shiny, sparkling cowbell. She had never seen such a fancy cowbell. Never being able to resist shiny things, she reached out and touched it. It rang once and then twice, and on the third ring, Freckles almost jumped out of her arms. It didn’t know what to think of the flume of pink and purple smoke around them.

“Uh-oh! Do you think we should have warned her about Betsy?” Mrs Fuzzywhistle asked her husband when they saw the smoke billowing in the sky.

Old man Fuzzywhistle patted his wife’s hand. “Who knows? She and Freckles may be in for the greatest adventure of their lives.”

They walked up to the rockers on their porch and watched Mama duck lead her little ones back to the lake, and the lambs frolic in the meadow. All was well.

The next day, Cara sighed as she picked up the shiny nickels and a couple of dollars. Unfortunately, it looked like Tippner’s generous streak had ended.

Where was SuzyLoo? She hadn’t come for lunch. Cara wondered how her visit to the farm had gone.

Tippner was talking to Mason at the register when, Crash! Mason cringed at the sound of glass shattering. They turned to see Cara’s red face.

“Looks like things are back to normal, pal.” Tippner chortled as Mason groaned.