“Do you think anyone heard us?” a voice whispered from the hall. It was the same one I’d heard last night, but who’s was it?
“Probably not, but we should be careful just in case,” a second speaker chimed in.
“Then we’re ready for the next phase of the plan?” Was this a third speaker? It was hard to tell with how muffled the voices were coming through that door.
“Yes, I think so,” one of them said, and then nothing.
“Hello?” I called out when the whispering subsided, but the speakers must have already left.
“Could you tell who that was out there?” I asked Paisley before setting her gently on the floor.
“No, I didn’t recognize those voices at all,” she yipped in apparent irritation with herself for not knowing. Sometimes she took her duty as watchdog far too seriously, especially since no one was ever afraid of the five-pound shivering fur baby.
“Well, let’s go see what all that fuss was about.” I strode to the door and pulled on the knob, but it wouldn’t budge. What the heck?
This was an old house with many updates and additions made over the years. Because of one such update, the door to Nan’s bedroom swung outward while most of the others swung in. I twisted the knob and pushed at the door, but nothing happened.
Okay, this was bad.
Paisley caught on to our current predicament and began barking, “Hey, everyone. We’re stuck! Help!”
I traced the room back toward the vanity and picked up my phone, but it was dead again. Okay, I definitely needed to upgrade to a newer model. This thing was not holding its charge at all lately.
Without a working phone, we were well and truly stuck. But surely someone would notice the bride was missing, right? Someone had to be coming to rescue me and Paisley.
“I don’t get it,” I told her after uselessly attempting the door again. “The knob won’t turn at all. It’s like we’re…”
A horrible realization hit me square in the gut. “Like we’re locked in.”
Nan had fished out the old skeleton key to her room and locked up last night after the disaster with the dress. “We can’t let the same thing happen to your gorgeous veil,” she’d reasoned, and I appreciated her so much for it.
She must have left the key in the doorknob, but who would have locked me in? And why the crash?
“Mags?” I called out hopefully. Perhaps she was still in her room working on the surprise she had for me. “Mags!” I shouted louder.
Well, if she was there, she definitely couldn’t hear me. She probably had music on her headphones as she liked to do when she worked.
“Christine?” I tried. “Christine!”
This time I received an answer, though it wasn’t from the person I was calling.
“What are you shouting about in there?”
“Octo-Cat!” I cried with relief. “Someone locked us in. Can you get help?”
“Just how is he supposed to do that, dear sweet child?” Grizabella interjected. “The only other person who understands us is currently unavailable. We just saw her drive away with the other old woman.”
“I’ve got it covered, my lovely fluffiness,” Octo-Cat said confidently. “Be back with help soon!”
I briefly wondered what my cat had planned, but it wasn’t long before a giant commotion sounded outside. I cracked the window open so I could better make out what was going on beneath the guise of the helium canopy.
“Eat my hairballs!” Octo-Cat shouted and then laughed maniacally.
Another cat meowed angrily, then hissed.
“Why aren’t you talking? Cat got your tongue?” Octavius teased.
Another low growl followed by a sharp hiss.
“You TV stars are all alike. Beauty without brains.” Now Octo-Cat hissed, and soon the enraged utterances of two warring felines filled the air.
“This is gold! Are you getting this?” one of the members of the film crew shouted as the chaos shifted from the backyard to the front.
The front door noisily flew open, then several pairs of feet stomped up the stairs. This was my chance.
“Help! Help! I’m trapped!”
“You, zoom in on the door. You, follow the cats.”
“Could you just unlock me?”
“Do you have the shot?”
Whoever he was talking to must have nodded, because at last the door unlocked and swung open.
“Are you okay? What happened?” the lead TV wrangler intoned dramatically, giving me no doubt that this crazed moment would be included in the final cut of their season finale.
“Someone locked me in,” I explained, grabbing the key from the lock, then shutting the door between myself and the crew. “Thanks for the help!”
I could still hear them chattering out in the hall. “The bride locked in? Clearly someone doesn’t want this wedding to happen. This is even better than I could have dreamed. You got all of that, right?”
The voices receded, and I slumped down to the bed to grab a moment’s rest from all the excitement. Paisley must have run out in the commotion because I now found myself completely alone.
Still, leave it to Octo-Cat. His plan had been genius. He must have known the film crew would be unable to resist a good cat fight, and so he picked one with Chessy and then brought everyone up here.
“Hey, let me back in,” Octo-Cat called from outside the room, his voice sounding strange. Oh no, I hope he wasn’t hurt in all that. I didn’t even think about the possibility that Chessy might be able to best him.
I pushed myself off the bed, already missing its comfort, then opened the door just enough to admit the two waiting felines.
Grizabella immediately took up the spot I’d just vacated while Octo-Cat stopped right in front of me and spit something onto the floor at my feet.
Not something. Two somethings.
The missing rings!
I bent down and scooped them up, ensuring they were no worse for the wear. “Octo-Cat, thank you! Where did you find them?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a satisfied smirk. “I’ve got your back. Nobody messes with my human’s special day.”
I didn’t point out how taxing his behavior had been just yesterday. Yesterday wasn’t the big day, and now today was. I loved knowing he was on my side against any further drama. And even though I still didn’t know who had locked me inside the room, I decided that it didn’t really matter in that moment.
I could focus on my wedding, or I could focus on this random mystery. And I chose to be truly present so I could remember everything about this day for years to come.
“Nice rings by the way,” Octo-Cat said slyly. “Grizabella and I will need something like that to mark our union as well. It’s time I made an honest cat out of her.”
I sat down on the bed beside Grizabella, and Octo-Cat jumped up too.
I stroked both of their purring bodies and smiled. “I’ll be sure to order you both gorgeous bejeweled wedding collars straight away. I’ll even let you help pick them out.”
The purring intensified, telling me I had gotten my answer just right.