The Case of the Clever Secret Code Read online

  “Dylan Federov,” Bogey murmured.

  “Wow,” Lil and I said together.

  Bogey gave the Princess a “paws up.” “That’s just crazy enough to work.”

  “But how do we convince Gracie to have this party?” I asked.

  Now the Princess stopped prancing. “Well, I haven’t exactly figured out that part.”

  Bogey shook his head. “There’s the rub.”

  I nodded. “And we have to do it in a way so we’re helping her to do it herself.”

  “So we have to make her think it was her idea,” Lil added.

  How in the world were we going to do that?

  That was the big question.

  Holy Catnip!

  CHAPTER 12

  Holy Mackerel!

  Lil and Bogey and I really liked the Princess’ idea of trying to get Gracie to throw a party. But that was the easy part. Now we just had to figure out how to pass that idea onto Gracie. Plus, we had to do it in a way so she’d think it was her idea. Then she could make up her own mind about whether or not she wanted to throw that party.

  Let me tell you, that’s where us cats were stumped. And I do mean stumped! I looked at the Princess, and she looked at Lil, and Lil looked at Bogey. But no matter how much we all looked at each other, or asked if anyone had any suggestions, well . . . we just couldn’t come up with an answer. So we ended our meeting and decided to think about it for a while. We decided to talk again tonight, to see if anyone had come up with any new ideas by then.

  Hopefully one of us would. Because we didn’t exactly have a lot of time to figure this out. The Fourth of July celebration was going to be on Saturday night. And here it was, already Tuesday! That meant we had to hurry!

  Bogey grabbed the bag of cat treats and stashed them under the base of the exercise wheel again.

  Lil pointed to the huge wheel. “So, have you boys taken it for a spin yet?”

  Bogey grinned. “Not yet. Would you like to do the honors?”

  Lil smiled back. “Sure, Detective Bogart. I’d be delighted.”

  And with that, she stepped up into the wheel. Then she reached up and grabbed onto the carpet with her claws. This made the wheel roll forward on the stand. She did it a couple more times, until she got that wheel rolling pretty nicely. Then she just trotted along, with that wheel going around and around.

  Bogey flexed a front paw and looked at his nails. “So, Lil, what’s the verdict?”

  “It’s not bad,” she answered. “But it would be better if it was actually going somewhere. Why don’t you come on in and give it a try?”

  Bogey grinned. “Sure, why not?”

  Then he jumped into the wheel beside her. Together they ran side by side for a few minutes.

  The Princess scooted closer to the wheel. “Mind if I join you two?”

  “Sure, Princess,” Bogey said. “There’s plenty of room. Come on in.”

  So the Princess gracefully leapt into the wheel and ran just behind Bogey and Lil. The three of them kept on running along together. And that wheel started to pick up a little more speed. The wheels in the base even started to make kind of a whuuurrrr sound.

  “Come on in, Buckley!” the Princess hollered to me. “Join the party. This is fun!”

  “Um, okay,” I told her. I scooted closer to the wheel and looked for an opening.

  Finally, I jumped in on one side, right behind Bogey and next the to Princess. But when I did, I felt that wheel start to wobble. Probably because I was so much bigger and weighed so much more than everyone else.

  “Uh-oh . . .” I said as I watched that wheel wobble some more.

  “We’re off balance,” Bogey yelled.

  Then for some reason, we all just started running faster and faster. To tell you the truth, I don’t know why. I guess it was just a natural reaction to watching that wheel start to tilt. Maybe everyone kind of thought we could get it back on track if we made it go faster.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t stop that wheel from tilting at all. Instead, it just kept on wobbling and zooming around with the speed of a racecar.

  “We’re going too fast,” Lil shouted.

  “Slow ‘er down, kid,” Bogey told me.

  But I couldn’t make it slow down. Because if I slowed down and the wheel was still going really fast, I knew I’d probably go flying off somewhere.

  “I can’t!” I hollered back to Bogey. “It’s going too fast! And it weighs too much!”

  “I’m getting tired,” Lil yelled. “I can’t keep up this pace much longer.”

  So there we were, all four of us, running and running and running. For all we were worth. And at the same time, that giant wheel was wobbling all over the place. If this was Steele Bronson’s idea of exercise, well, he could keep it. Because I didn’t like it one bit!

  Finally, Lil yelled, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to jump!”

  “Lil, no!” I barely screamed before I saw her leap off to the side.

  Well, if I had thought that exercise wheel was off balance before, it was nothing like it was now. Holy Mackerel! That thing was wobbling and spinning like a tornado! And it was completely out of control.

  Seconds later, that big, heavy wheel came off its base and started rolling down the hallway and straight for the front door. The Princess flew out like she’d been bounced off a trampoline. I barely caught sight of her landing safely on a couch.

  But Bogey and I were still inside and still running. And that wheel just kept on rolling and wobbling down the hallway.

  “Abort!” Bogey yelled. “Abort, kid!”

  With those words, he stopped running and dug in his claws. He spun around one and a half times before he let go. The momentum of that speeding, spinning wheel just flung him right on out of there. I saw him go flying way up in the air before he grabbed onto the railing of our curved staircase.

  With him gone, the weight shifted again. I kept on running as the whole wheel started to shake and twist while it rolled along. I was ready to jump out myself, but I couldn’t tell which side would be the safest. Especially since I was pretty sure that gigantic wheel could tip over at any second. And I didn’t want to be on the bottom end of things when it went down. I was sure to get flattened if I did.

  So instead of jumping, I just dug my claws deep into that carpet and held on for dear life. Around and around, and side to side, I went. I watched our hallway go by in a blur. A blur that was sometimes upside down and sometimes sideways and sometimes right side up. And since it was going side to side, I even caught a glimpse of our ceiling every once in a while.

  Before long, I was pretty sure that huge, heavy wheel was going to crash into the front door. I wondered if it would stop, or if it would just go right on through that big, wooden door. Either way, I didn’t exactly like the options.

  Behind me, I could hear the other cats shouting. Probably giving me instructions on how to get out of there. The only problem was, I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. I just kept on going around and around, and side to side.

  And then I felt it. That whole wheel moved a little too far to the left, and I knew it was going down. It was only a matter of seconds.

  So I did the only thing an oversized cat like me could do. I leaned over as far as I could go, to make that thing fall over once and for all. Just as I felt it start to completely fall, I pushed off with my feet as hard as I could. Then I went soaring over the edge of that big, giant wheel, only a split second before it hit the ground. It landed in a really loud thunk-thunk-thunk! I’m pretty sure the whole house shook and the noise echoed through every single room.

  Once my feet were on the ground, I tried to walk forward. But my eyes wouldn’t focus and the room kept on bouncing around before me. And if I thought I’d had trouble making my feet go where I wanted them to go before, well, it was nothing like right now. Because, for some reason, they were just going all over the place when I tried to walk. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I could stand up anymore. And I starte
d to feel really, really sleepy. A nap suddenly sounded like a pretty good idea.

  The Princess was the first to reach me. “Oh Buckley! Are you all right? I was so worried!”

  She reached up and gave me a kiss on the nose.

  Well, it was more than I could take. I flopped down on the floor and onto my side. I let my eyes droop closed. Funny, but even though I’d quit moving, it sure felt like the room was still going around and around and around. In fact, I was pretty sure it was.

  From somewhere in the distance, Bogey’s voice floated down to me. “Here you go, kid. Have a couple of these. These’ll get you going again.”

  Suddenly I smelled turkey right in front of my nose.

  “Just open up, kid,” Bogey said. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

  I let my chin fall open, and the next thing I knew, someone had put a cat treat in my mouth. I munched away.

  “Dames,” Bogey whispered in my ear. “They’ll get you every time, kid.”

  “Dames,” I sort of mumbled under my breath.

  Then I heard Lil from above me. “Excellent work, Detective Buckley. That was very brave of you. If you hadn’t leaned that thing over like you did, it probably would have broken through the front door.”

  I heard Bogey chuckle. “Yup, kid, and you would’ve rolled straight into the street. And probably kept on going until you hit the downtown.”

  Well, I had to say, I think I liked going downtown in our Mom’s car much better.

  I opened my eyes and leaned up on my side. I wasn’t sure I was going to be moving anytime soon. And that nap idea was sounding better and better all the time. I was just about to close my eyes when the doorbell rang.

  That’s when I almost jumped to the ceiling. So did Lil and the Princess. Bogey sat on his haunches, ready to spring.

  Holy Catnip! I’d had more than enough surprises for one day already. My heart was still pounding really loud inside my chest when the doorbell rang again.

  Let me tell you, us cats can do many things. But answering the door is not one of them. So even though the person on the other side of the door kept ringing the bell, it didn’t make any difference.

  At least not until I heard our Mom and Gracie come in through the garage door. Then Gracie came running through the house to the front entryway. Her footsteps thudded and echoed on the hardwood floor. She was making a beeline to the front door, probably to open it. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the big wheel on the floor. Then she saw us.

  Her eyes went really, really wide. “Oh my goodness! What happened here, kitties? Are you all right?”

  Our Mom wasn’t far behind. “Oh no,” she said when she ran in and saw the whole scene. “That cat exercise wheel that Steele Bronson sent over must have come off its base. Gracie, why don’t you make sure the cats are all okay? I’ll get the door and let the caterers in. After that, I want you to set the table, okay?”

  Gracie kneeled down to where the four of us cats were gathered. “Okay, Mom. How many places should I set?”

  Our Mom glanced into the dining room. “I think eight should cover it. Since I really have no idea how many people he’s planning to bring with him. But his hairdresser will probably show up. And Nadia, his assistant.”

  “And Frank,” Gracie added. “That writer.” All of a sudden she sounded so sad.

  “So if you set the table for eight, we’ll have an extra place in case he brings someone else,” our Mom told her.

  “Got it, Mom,” Gracie said.

  While our Mom opened up the front door, Gracie turned her attention to us. “Okay, kitties, I’m going to check you over and make sure no one is hurt. That big round thing looks pretty heavy. I sure hope it didn’t land on one of you when it fell.”

  We all purred up to her. She petted each of us and looked into our eyes. Then she put her hands around the Princess’ ribcage and lifted her into a standing position.

  Gracie gently ran one hand down the Princess’ back and tail, and over her hipbones. She finished by running her hand down all four of the Princess’ legs.

  Then Gracie gave the Princess a kiss on the head. “Well, Lexie. It looks like you’re all right.”

  Next she moved onto Bogey and did the same thing. Then she repeated this with Lil. Gracie wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up. And one thing was for sure, she was going to be a really good one!

  “So far so good,” Gracie said softly. “Though I sure would like to know what happened here. I didn’t even know Steele Bronson sent over an exercise wheel. I don’t like him sending over something that could be dangerous to my cats!”

  That’s when I realized she’d already been in bed last night when Steele Bronson had it sent over.

  She kissed Lil on the head and moved on to me. She was about to put her hands around my ribs, too. But I knew my big body wasn’t hurt. Not physically anyway. And I sure didn’t need to be checked out.

  But I did know what I really needed. Especially after all the drama of that exercise wheel! I needed a nice hug.

  So before she could grab me, I reached up and put my arms around her neck. Then I climbed into her arms and gave her a kiss on the nose.

  She giggled and hugged me tight. “I guess you’re okay, too. Huh, Buckley?”

  I was now, anyway. It seemed like ever since Steele Bronson had come into our lives things had gone haywire. And now he was coming to our house for dinner, too. I sure hoped nothing else would go haywire tonight.

  I turned to watch people in black pants, white shirts, and black bow ties walk in and out of our house. They were all carrying food in metal pans to our kitchen. It sure looked like they were bringing in a lot of food for only eight people.

  Gracie put me down. “Okay, kitties, I’ve got to go to work now. I’ve got to help get ready for this dinner tonight. On top of that, I’ve still got to figure out what to do about the essay contest.”

  She let out a very big sigh and stood up. Funny, but yesterday she had been so excited about meeting Steele Bronson. And she had been so excited about the contest.

  Now it all just seemed to make her tired. And very, very unhappy. She was dragging her feet as she left the room.

  But the Princess sure didn’t seem tired. Not at all. She suddenly jumped up and started to prance around. Her green eyes were almost dancing. Of course, I made sure I didn’t look directly into those beautiful, green eyes. I’d had about enough spinning for one day.

  “I think I’ve got it!” the Princess chirped. “I think I figured out how to help Gracie!”

  My jaw practically hit the floor. “You did?”

  She smiled her pretty, little smile. “I think so. But I will tell you for sure later. First I’ve got to check out some things.”

  Then she turned to Lil. “Could you please help me for a few minutes?”

  Lil got to her feet. “I’d be most happy to.”

  Then together they ran off for the family room.

  Bogey grinned and shook his head. “Dames. You just never know what they’re up to.”

  He handed me another cat treat and took one for himself. It looked like they were from the bag he kept stashed behind the table in the entryway.

  I smiled and munched on my treat. “Dames. I sure hope the Princess is right. And I hope she did figure something out so we could help Gracie.”

  That’s because I hadn’t been able to come up with any answers yet myself. Not that I’d even had a second to think about it.

  Bogey passed us each another treat. “I hear ya, kid. But tonight we’ve got bigger issues. We’ve gotta keep a tight lid on security. We could probably use Lil in on the detail, too.”

  I tilted my head. “Um . . . really? But not the Princess?”

  Bogey glanced around the room. “Nope, kid. We need to keep the Princess hidden. There’ll be a bunch of people over tonight. And you can bet Steele Bronson will bring in reporters. It wouldn’t be safe for the Princess if her picture turned up in the paper. We don’t want her ol
d owners to catch wind of where she is.”

  I gulped down the rest of my treat. “Do you think they might try to find her?”

  Bogey nodded. “That would be my guess, kid. Even though they’re in prison, you never know about their type. They’re pretty slippery. They might just fool the guards and break out.”

  The idea of that made me sort of scared and mad all at the same time. I remembered how horrible the Count and Countess Von De Meenasnitzel had been to the Princess. I sure didn’t want them to get their hands on her again. Not when she was safe and happy living at our house.

  Bogey passed us each another treat and stashed the bag back into its hiding place. “So we’d better make sure the Princess stays out of sight tonight, kid. She’ll be fine upstairs in the sunroom with Miss Mokie.”

  I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Since our Mom and Dad always keep people downstairs when they have them over for dinner anyway.”

  Bogey glanced around the room. “You got it, kid. And it’s a good thing, too. Because we’re gonna have a lot more on our plate tonight.”

  I raised my brows. “Our plate? You mean we’ll be eating at the table?”

  Bogey shook his head. “Nope, kid. I mean, we’ve got big things to worry about.”

  I sure didn’t like the sound of that. It seemed to me like we had plenty to worry about with keeping the Princess safe and hidden.

  I gulped. “Like what kind of things?”

  Bogey glanced into the dining room where Gracie was setting the table. “Don’t know exactly yet, kid. But something still smells fishy to me. And I think this Bronson character is up to something. So we need to keep our eyes on him. And his crew. The whole time they’re here.”

  I felt my own eyes go really, really wide. “We do?”

  Bogey flexed the nails on one paw. “Yup, kid. Think about it. Are you watching all that food being hauled into our kitchen? If you ask me, Bronson’s got bigger plans than just a little dinner party. And you can bet he never bothered to mention those plans to our Mom. I’m telling ya, the guy’s got something up his sleeve, because none of this adds up. So we’ll have to be on our best guard tonight.”