Strange images haunted her dreams. One moment Cat was high above the ground, flying toward the sky with Tyler, and the next she was fighting off Billy Joe. Her dream shifted and she saw twenty-four teddy bears smiling at her. Suddenly the smiles turned to tears, and they were all crying out to her, calling for help.
She awoke in a panic and then threw the covers back. There were noises outside, strange scurryings and desperate whispers.
She hurried to the window and peeked out. The circus grounds were shrouded in darkness, the cat cages and the elephants only inky shadows in the late-night blackness. Cat held her breath, watching. Nothing moved.
“I’m being silly again,” she said to herself, climbing back into bed where she fell into a restless sleep.
“Angel’s gone!” someone called, and Cat sat straight up, glancing at the windows. It was light out, and the sound of pounding footsteps mixed with the cry, “Angel’s missing! She’s run away!”
Cat bolted out of bed, grabbed her robe and ran toward her trailer door.
Larry Lanphere raced toward her, out of breath.
“Catherine, have you seen Angel this morning?”
“No. I just got up.” She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing. “What’s wrong?”
“I wish to hell I knew.” The circus owner drew his hands through his uncombed hair. “Mickey was out early this morning—you know how he is—and he discovered the baby elephant missing.” Larry took her arm and hurried toward the elephant enclosure. He had to elbow his way through the curious crowd of circus personnel that had already gathered.
Elmer and Elvira were standing in their chains, unusually docile. They didn’t even acknowledge Catherine when she approached. No purrs, no gentle nudges with their trunks. Nothing. Angel’s chain was empty.
Cat stared at the empty chain, disbelieving her own eyes. There was no way Angel would have run away. Her baby had been spirited away in the darkness.
She stared at the empty chain a while longer, grieving for her missing baby. Then Elmer feebly lifted his trunk toward her. She was spurred to action.
“They’ve been drugged,” she said, hurrying toward Elmer.
“How can you tell?” Larry asked, still outside the ropes.
“Training. But something else, too. Look.” She bent over and scooped the evidence out of the sawdust. “Somebody used a tranquilizer gun on my elephants.”
“That means Angel didn’t run off.”
“Angel would never leave her herd. She’s been stolen.”
“I’ll call the law.” Larry turned quickly and disappeared into the crowd.
Cat leaned against Elmer, weak with fear. Who would want to steal Angel? For what purpose?
“Everything will be all right,” she whispered to Elmer as she rubbed his trunk, and then she set to work trying to counteract the effect of the drugs on Elmer and Elvira.
o0o
The disappearance of Angel was the talk of the town. It made the morning news.
Tyler was standing in his kitchen, smiling at a mockingbird outside his window and feeling good about himself and life in general when he heard the news on the TV.
“Angel at large. A thousand-pound baby elephant is missing from the nearby circus. Circus owner, Larry Lanphere, says the playful pachyderm was discovered missing earlier this morning. Anyone sighting the elephant is requested to report it to the sheriff’s office. Catherine DeChello, the elephant’s trainer...”
Tyler didn’t wait to hear the rest. Catherine was in trouble. Feeling like one of the heroes in his novels, he climbed into his fastest car and headed toward the circus. He didn’t bother with scenery or speed limits. Heroes couldn’t afford to dillydally, especially fearless swashbuckling heroes intent on taking on the whole town.
And if Tyler knew Ocean Springs, he’d have to take on the whole town. The mayor and all his cohorts had predicted disaster when the circus came to town. What would they say now that a thousand-pound elephant was on the loose?
The hullabaloo was even worse than Tyler had expected. When he arrived at the circus the first thing he saw was a flatbed truck surrounded by a restless crowd. The Reverend Melvin Dunwoody was standing on the truck bed, megaphone in hand, preaching in his best hellfire-and-damnation voice, very much aware of the TV cameras trained on him.
“I warned against the circus. I told you it was nothing but the Devil and all his henchmen. I warned that a great evil would be let loose in this town. And I was right!”
The crowd began to murmur their agreement.
“I spoke the truth!” Reverend Dunwoody continued, pronouncing truth as if it were carved in stone with a capital T. “But nobody listened. Nobody cared. I was a voice crying unheard in the wilderness.”
Tyler made his way through the crowd toward the truck. He wished he had worn his white Stetson. His size gave him some advantage, but he was looking for a dramatic edge. He figured he’d need it to stop the voice crying in the wilderness.
“Woe unto us,” the Reverend Dunwoody moaned. “The evil is upon us. The Devil is in our midst. Somewhere out there is a wild elephant, waiting to devour us, waiting to crush our houses and our cars and our children. The Devil, let loose—let loose, I tell you, by a bunch of sleazy tent people out to take our hard-earned money!”
The crowd roared, but Tyler could be heard above them all.
“Enough!” he yelled, jumping onto the flatbed truck. Reverend Dunwoody swung toward him, the megaphone at half-mast.
“Go home,” Tyler roared. “Go back to your houses and your businesses and let the authorities do their job.”
The crowd stopped shifting and murmuring to listen to him. He took his Man of Steel pose and became his own creation, taking on the town with both guns blazing. “What we have here is nothing more than a baby elephant, lost and probably scared. It’s a thousand-pound problem. That’s all. Don’t compound it with mass hysteria.”
The crowd settled back down, and he reined in his temper. Nothing would be accomplished by anger.
“There are no sleazy people in this circus,” Tyler said. “Only decent, hard-working people trying to earn a living. Go home. There’s nothing you can do here.”
The muttering crowd began to disperse. Reverend Dun- woody raised his megaphone to call his flock back, but Tyler interceded.
“It’s over, Reverend. You’ve lost.”
“It’s not over. As long as I have breath I’ll preach against the Devil and his cohorts, against that elephant-loving jezebel...”
Tyler clamped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard.
“Her name is Catherine DeChello, and don’t you forget it. Preach against the Devil all you like, but if I ever hear that you’ve uttered a word against her, I’ll see to it that all your breaths come mighty hard.”
“Is that a threat?”
“That’s a promise.”
Tyler jumped off the truck before the Reverend Dunwoody had a chance to reply, and hurried on toward the elephant compound.
An even bigger crowd had gathered, along with a second TV news crew. He recognized two aldermen, Clive Presley and Rafe Turner, whose opinions had arrived on the Mayflower and were routinely dusted off and brought out for the edification of the general public and the mortification of Tyler. Standing to one side were the sheriff and the circus owner, engaged in what appeared to be a heated debate.
He pressed farther through the crowd and spotted the mayor, his bowler hat shoved back, his bald head shining and sweating in the sun, and his fat arms wind-milling with angry gestures. The object of his anger was Catherine.
Tyler raced toward her as if somebody had fired rockets under his backside. Catherine seemed small and fragile beside the mayor. Small and fragile, but mad as a wildcat.
“Mayor Tittle,” he said, reaching out to grab the hand that was gesturing angrily toward Catherine. “I see you’ve come down to keep the peace.”
“Well, I...” The mayor shuffled his feet and turned turkey-red in the face. He and Tyler were old adversaries.
“As soon as I heard the news, I said to myself, ‘Mayor Tittle will go right down to the circus and make sure that justice is done.’ Am I right?” All the while he was speaking, Tyler kept a tight grip on the mayor’s hand, edging himself between the mayor and Catherine.
“Well, naturally I came.” Mayor Tittle finally got his voice back. “The welfare of Ocean Springs is always my major concern.”
“Naturally,” Tyler agreed with false cordiality. He could feel the heat of Catherine’s anger behind his back. He figured if she had been a cat, she would have been spitting. Grinning, Tyler released the mayor’s hand. Catherine probably didn’t need rescuing, but he was going to rescue her anyway.
“And I’m sure you’re equally concerned over the welfare of Ocean Springs’s guests?” Tyler continued smoothly.
“Ocean Springs’ guests, sir?” The mayor had an irritating habit of addressing all his male constituents as “sir.” He fancied it an astute political move. Tyler thought it was pompous and affected and had told him so on more than one occasion. “We have no guests that I’m aware of.”
“Indeed we do, Mayor.” Tyler gestured toward the circus wagons. “We have hundreds of guests who have come to this fair Southern city with nothing in mind except to provide some innocent entertainment for the townspeople.”
Tyler stepped closer to the mayor, using his height to intimidate. Where Catherine’s fate was concerned, no tactic was too underhanded or dirty.
“I’m sure I interrupted your kind reassurances to Miss DeChello that she and the circus have the town’s fullest cooperation and sympathies in the matter of the missing baby elephant.” Behind him, Catherine was tugging his shirt, but like all heroes, he planned to do the dirty work himself.
“Indeed!” The mayor cleared his throat and wiped the sweat off his brow and tried to think of his most politically expedient move. None came to mind.
Tyler saw his advantage and took it.
“I’m also certain that you want to tell Miss DeChello how sorry Ocean Springs’s leaders are that this tragedy has occurred in their jurisdiction.”
“Well, I was telling Miss DeChello that I thought it best if she took her elephants on to a safer place.”
“He was ordering me to leave.” Catherine stepped from behind Tyler’s back, her color high and her eyes blazing. “I will not leave this city while Angel is missing.”
“But Miss DeChello...”
“Don’t you ‘Miss DeChello’ me.” Catherine advanced on the mayor, shaking her fist as she talked. “Now that somebody bigger and meaner than you is here...”
“Meaner?” Tyler was so amused at her, he forgot about taking charge.
“Hush up.” She whirled to glare at him.
“Hey.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m the guy in the white hat.”
“He called me a she-cat, and I called him a puffed up old toad. Now I’m Miss DeChello... and all because there’s another man around.” Catherine turned back to the mayor, her eyes sparking fire. “Now you listen to me, Mayor Toad...”
“Tittle...”
“I will not leave Ocean Springs until Angel is found. If she’s anywhere near here, she will try to come back to her herd. I have to be here when she comes back.”
“Impossible, young lady.”
“I’m not a young lady, I’m a she-cat from hell, and my baby’s missing, and I’m not leaving.”
“Well said, Catherine.” Tyler turned toward the mayor. “You heard what she said. She’s not leaving.”
“Well, she can’t stay here. The rest of the circus is leaving.”
“Only because of you, you pompous ass,” Cat said. “I can stay and I will!”
Tyler had never seen a more stubborn look on a woman’s face, nor a more beautiful one. Catherine DeChello in a rage was a woman to be reckoned with, a magnificent woman who could bring kings to their knees.
The mayor wiped his face again, then looked off into the distance as if he were seeing visions. When he turned back toward Catherine, he was gloating.
“Well, Miss DeChello, as much as I would like to accommodate you and the rest of your elephants, I’m afraid I won’t be able to.”
“What do you mean?” Catherine asked.
“You see... the man who owns this land happens to be my second cousin. If I tell him it’s in the best interests of the people of Ocean Springs that you leave when the rest of the circus goes, I’m sure he’ll be willing to see the wisdom of my advice.”
Tyler had never wanted to hit a man as much in his life. He was trying to decide whether to use diplomacy or intimidation when Catherine saved him the trouble.
“He seemed like a nice man when we negotiated to use his pasture. I’m sure he’ll grant me permission to stay.”
“Not after I’ve finished with him,” the mayor said. “He owes me a favor.”
Tyler had a revelation. The solution was so simple he could have kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.
“Miss DeChello and her elephants are going to stay with me.”
Catherine put her hands on her hips and stood on tiptoe so she that could see him nose to nose.
“Miss DeChello can take care of herself.” She was so close he could see the gold tips on the ends of her long dark eyelashes. He wanted to kiss her, and probably would have if she hadn’t guessed his intentions and stepped out of reach. “I’m staying right here. If anybody feels man enough to evict me with an angry seven-ton elephant looking on, let him try.”
With that, Catherine marched toward her trailer.
“Bravo. I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Tyler said.
If Catherine heard him, she gave no indication. She continued moving toward her mobile home like a battleship under full power.
She had had the last word, and it had been glorious. As a writer, Tyler almost envied her. As a suitor, he admired her. As a potential lover, he lusted after her.
The mayor was dumbfounded. He stood with his mouth gaping and watched as Catherine slammed her trailer door.
“Well, Mayor Tittle. The lady stays.”
“If she’s a lady, I’m a toad frog.”
“She’s a lady, all right. A magnificent one.”
Tyler turned toward the trailer just as Catherine emerged, still in pajamas and robe and carrying a sleeping bag. As he and the mayor watched, she crossed the ropes and spread her bag in the sawdust beside her elephants. Then she sat down and crossed her arms on her chest. She didn’t have to say a thing. Everybody within seeing range got her message.
“She’ll leave,” the mayor said. “I’ll see to that.”
“I’m here to see that she stays.” Tyler clamped one hand on the mayor’s shoulder. “If anybody in this town harasses Catherine DeChello, he has me to answer to. Is that clear?”
“It’s clear, West, but I’ve taken you on before. I don’t mind doing it again.”
“Then prepare to lose.”
Tyler left the mayor and approached the elephant enclosure. Catherine was sitting on her sleeping bag, as stiff and angry as a bristled cat. Only when he got close did Tyler see the dampness on her cheeks.
“Don’t cry, my sweet,” he said.
“I’m not crying.” A big tear rolled down her cheek, but she refused to wipe it.
“I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“Then I’ll be your friend.”
“I’m going to need all the friends I can get. Larry wanted to stay and fight the eviction notice, but a circus this size can’t afford to cancel bookings. I told him I’d stay till Angel is back. He’s already ordered the roustabouts to take down the Big Top.”
“I won’t leave, Catherine.”
“Mickey volunteered to stay, but I wouldn’t let him. The circus is heading south toward Biloxi. They usually have a good audience in a tourist town. I couldn’t let them go without their best clown. It’s bad enough that the circus has to do without its elephants. I don’t need anybody, Tyler.”
“I want to help you, Cat.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know. You have a wonderful, peaceful life, and I don’t want to be the one who turns it upside down. Just go home. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”
“You misjudge me. I may be many things, but I’m not the kind of man who leaves a woman in distress.”
“Don’t say that. I’m not in distress.”
“Yes, you are.” He struck a pose, hoping to make her smile. “You’re a damsel in distress and I’m your knight in shining armor.”
When she grinned, he knew she was going to be all right.
“You’ve let your imagination get way out of hand. Please, just leave. It’s bad enough here already, without you goading that pompous mayor.”
Tyler propped one boot on the wooden stake that held the ropes and leaned toward Catherine.
“I’m going now, but not for long. I’ll find your baby elephant. I promise you that.”
“I wish I could believe you.”
“Believe me. Believe in me.”
Catherine watched him go. She didn’t need a knight in shining armor. Anyhow, she didn’t believe in that romantic myth anymore. But it was just like Tyler to use such a ploy to get what he wanted. After all, he was a novelist, a teller of tales, a spinner of fantasies. He probably imagined himself the hero with every woman he chased. And she guessed he had chased plenty.
What she believed was his promise to find Angel. He was very convincing. But then, she supposed it was the job of a writer to be convincing. His books were certainly evidence of that. When she had read Man of Steel she had believed that one man in a white Stetson and steel-toed boots could take on a whole town.
Tyler had worn steel-toed boots and a white Stetson when he’d come calling with his guitar. Come to think of it, the hero in that book hadn’t been able to carry a tune, either. Tyler West was acting out a role, one that he had created.
Sitting on her sleeping bag with her arms crossed, chuckling at Tyler’s outrageous antics, Cat realized he’d saved her from worrying about Angel for the past fifteen minutes. Maybe he was a hero.
o0o
From: Bea
To: Catherine, Clemmie, Molly, Janet, Belinda, Joanna
Re: TV News
Dang, Cat! You’re TV’s latest reality star! Calling that stupid mayor a pompous ass on TV has made you a bigger celebrity than Angelina Jolie! Of course, it helped that you made those cute pajama slacks and that tee shirt with Big Bird on the front look like the latest fashion craze!
A sit-in! Absolutely brilliant, girlfriend! I wish I were there to join you!
Bea
From: Molly
To: Catherine, Clemmie, Joanna, Janet, Belinda, Bea
Re: Sit In
OMG, Cat! You’re famous in Florence! Everybody’s talking about your sit-in to save the elephant, and there’s a run on Big Bird PJs! And that Tyler West is a hunk! I’m dying to join you!
Molly
From: Joanna
To: Catherine, Clemmie, Janet, Bea, Molly, Belinda
Re: Organize
Cat, you were PRICELESS on TV. I nearly fell off the sofa laughing when you called that ridiculous mayor a TOAD! And Tyler West is TO DIE FOR!!!
Bea, you HAVE GOT to organize a Dixie Virgin Sit-In Brigade. We all need to be there with Cat!
Joanna
From: Belinda
To: Catherine, Clemmie, Janet, Bea, Molly, Joanna
Re: Ready to Pop
Cat, you were magnificent on TV, and Joanna, that’s a very good idea, but I’m so big I can barely get out of the bed without assistance. I’d never make it in a car to Ocean Springs, and even if I did they’d mistake me for the elephant!
Belinda
From: Clemmie
To: Catherine, Joanna, Janet, Bea, Molly, Belinda
Re: Brigade
Cat, I think that mayor is just plain mean! And that poor baby elephant – oh, I hope he comes back to the herd soon. You’re so brave to be staging a sit-in, and I’m so glad you have that very handsome Tyler West to help you. The way he stood up that silly preacher was impressive! Everybody in Peppertown is talking about you and Angel and Tyler West. It’s better than a soap opera!
Bea, if you organize a Dixie Virgin brigade, I’m all for it!
Clemmie
From: Janet
To: Catherine, Clemmie, Joanna, Belinda, Bea, Molly
Re: Dark Ages
Reverend Dunwoody is from the Dark Ages, and that mayor is not much better! I’m so mad at the way that town is refusing to rally around the circus to find Angel that I’ve fired off hot letters to the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce.
I’m sorry you’re having to fight this battle, Cat, but you’re more than equal to the task. If the TV keeps up it’s coverage of you and the indomitable Tyler West – and I’m certain they will – the tide of public opinion will sweep everybody in Ocean Springs out of office, including the mayor you so correctly called a pompous ass!
Joanna, I’m not sure racing down for Cat’s sit-in is the answer, but I do think we can bring pressure to bear with letters and phone calls!
Janet
From: Bea
To: Clemmie, Janet, Molly, Catherine, Belinda, Joanna
Re: Publicity campaign
Ditto, what Janet said! Furthermore, we can stir up a firestorm of publicity by giving interviews about Cat and the great work she’s doing as a circus veterinarian! It’ll make good press, and start such a groundswell of support for Cat and Angel, that Neanderthal throwback of a mayor won’t know what hit him!
Hang in there, Cat! Email when you can.
Bea