“As our scene opens,” Bones said, “we find Joe Fur and Lucy Fur –although she is not known by that last name as yet, Catson – in the desert. They are near death, like so many have been before them. Suddenly!” And here he waved an arm in the air as if calling the vision in his mind into sight. “On the horizon, a thunderous cloud of dust approaches!”

“Will they die in a dust storm?” Puppy #2 asked, sounding fearful.

“That would be disappointing,” said Puppy #5, exhibiting what I now suspected to be his very bloodthirsty nature. “I was hoping for a murder, possibly two, to kick things off.”

“I’m afraid to disappoint you, my young friends,” Bones said. “But at this juncture, there will be no deaths by dust or otherwise. Rather, the dust storm is the prelude to their salvation!”

“Salvation?” Puppy #5 made a face. “That doesn’t sound like very much fun.”

“Perhaps not for you,” Bones said. “But for Joe Fur and Lucy, it is a wonderful thing. Coming towards them are ten thousand living people, some on horseback, some in wagons, and many on foot. There are men, women, and even children in their numbers.”

“Did he say ten thousand?” Puppy #4 said, incredulous. “That would be like a whole town!”

“I did indeed say that,” Bones said, “and it was like a whole town, as you so brilliantly put it.”

Puppy #4 preened with pride. I doubted he had had anyone in his life to compliment him on his brain power before now.

“Because,” Bones said, “these ten thousand were heading west for that very purpose: to start their very own town.”

“But why?” Puppy #2 asked.

“Oh, I could list all sorts of reasons, all having to do with either politics or what-have-you.”

Personally, I was curious about the what-have-you.

What can I say? Politics tends to bore me. Perhaps one day, if they ever allow a cat to hold elected office – Prime Minister Catson, perhaps? – I’ll change my mind. But until then, give me what-have-you over politics any day.

Bones gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “That part really doesn’t matter. For our purposes, it is enough to know that their purpose was to find their own little place in the world. I will tell you, though, that there are some people who believe that only people who think like them are right and that everyone else is wrong. The people heading toward Joe Fur and Lucy were those kinds of people. They all had like-minded beliefs on certain subjects and they only wanted to live among those who shared those beliefs.”

“Kind of like their own private Utah,” I said.

“More or less,” Bones said.

“No, I mean really,” I said. “We’ve finally arrived at Utah, haven’t we?”

“Just about,” Bones said. “Now, this group of ten thousand … I can’t keep calling them ‘this group of ten thousand.’ It’s becoming cumbersome. Nor do I want to use their real name, for I know some of you,” and here he cast a glance at me, “have trouble with certain names from time to time. So we need to pick a new title for them.”

I resented this.

“How about,” Bones suggested, “if we simply refer to them as the Group?”

The puppies looked at each other, then at me. I looked back at the puppies before we heard a loud “Ahem!” Then the puppies all exchanged looks with Mr. Javier before Mr. Javier exchanged looks with me. I can safely say that by the time we were done exchanging looks, we were all dizzy from spinning our heads every which way.

Speaking for the room, I said, “Works for us.”

“Splendid!” Bones said. “Now, back to my story. So, a thundering herd was approaching Joe Fur and Lucy!” Again with the arm gesture as though creating a real vision.

As he set the scene, describing the thundering hordes of people and animals coming Joe and Lucy Fur’s way, he made it all seem so realistic that I saw Puppy #2 slip down from the sofa, slink around the edge of the room and leap up onto the comfy cushion in front of the bay window, curling up beside Mr. Javier for comfort. One wouldn’t think that a hard-shelled reptile could function as a security blanket, but there you go.

“And who do you think was the man at the very front?” Bones asked.

Honestly. He expected us to guess? Right now? But we were all still so dizzy!

“Stangerson!” Bones cried triumphantly.

We all stared back at him blankly.

“Come on!” Bones cried, a little less triumphant now; a little more desperate. “You know who I’m talking about!”

We really didn’t.

“The Secretary!”