The Cat Who Spent Nine Lives Saving Me Chapter 03
I told her to loosen the leash and follow the golden retriever.
He sniffed his way to the apartment entrance. Out in the snow, a tall man was tacking a lost-dog flyer to the notice board. He had apparently shouted himself hoarse.
“Ollie, if somebody stole you, how am I supposed to explain it to your late grandma?”
The golden retriever tore free of the leash and knocked him down like a cannonball.
[Dad! Look at Dog! Your eyes can’t be empty of Dog!]
The man hugged him and checked that he wasn’t hurt, then gave his rump an exasperated swat.
“You only went through one row of bushes. How did you manage to disappear for two days?”
The red-haired woman, Maeve Quinn, turned scarlet. Once we explained the misunderstanding, Ollie’s owner, Rowan Blake, thanked me over and over.
“Without you, I might have spent another week circling the lake.”
“Without you, I would’ve taken someone else’s dog to get microchipped tomorrow.” Maeve covered her face.
Rowan later brought over two boxes of cat food and canned food, and Maeve added me to her contacts.
Domino solemnly inspected every piece of our spoils.
[This is only enough for Cat. Cat still has to hunt for you.]
“Did you lead me to Ollie on purpose?”
He lifted his chin haughtily.
[How can Cat feed a human without hunting?]
Then he set a paw on my phone. A post had been bumped to the top of the apartment residents’ app: Was anyone available to feed cats and walk dogs over Christmas? Seventy-five dollars per home visit, paid the same day.
Rowan vouched for me in the comments, telling everyone I had found Ollie.
I accepted one job, then a second and a third. In less than a week, I had earned enough for the rent and three months’ worth of canned food for Domino.
Mom called again that night.
I watched her name flash across the screen, remembering how I used to transfer money before she even finished asking.
Domino placed one paw over my hand.
For the first time, I let the call go unanswered.
I could live on cold sandwiches. My baby was not going hungry.
But just as I was about to buy him freeze-dried fish, I found Domino sitting unusually quiet by the window.