Once the elevator hit the garage level, we dashed to the car as fast as Kaye’s and Amy’s legs could get us there. Rather than showing off how much faster a four-legger could book it, I let Kaye carry me as she sprinted.
After shoving me into the back seat with little regard for my comfort or my pride, Kaye took the wheel, and we peeled out of the parking garage and straight into the nightmare that is Atlanta’s rush-hour traffic.
Amy programmed the GPS with the address that she and Kaye had lifted from the records of sale for that mantel clock, and we were off like… a snail.
“Seriously,” I said after at least five minutes of hardly moving. “We could walk there faster.”
“You’re right.” Kaye peered over the hood to see what the holdup was. “Maybe there’s an accident?”
Amy shrugged. “I don’t see anything, but who knows?”
Little by little, we progressed toward a red light, where we were finally able to get onto the expressway.
Traffic there was still a crawl, but anything beat those jammed city streets. I let the girls worry about the next steps as I curled up for a nap.
“We’re here. Let’s go see what we’ve got,” Kaye said as she threw open her door and startled me awake.
“What if they didn’t come straight home?” I asked as I lumbered out after her, stretching my limbs to wake them back up. “Or if they don’t live here?”
“C’mon,” Amy coaxed, tapping her hand on her thigh. “All we can do now is hope for the best.”
Kaye rang the bell while Amy beat on the door with her fist. I hung out between them, staring up and being a good, patient kitty. Honestly, I had no idea what use Amy and I could even be for this little trip. Kaye was the one with the right kind of magic for the job.
When no one answered, Kaye tried knocking.
“Yes, yes, I’m coming,” a frail voice called out. About a minute later, a small, elderly woman answered the door. “Oh, hello,” she said with a tight-lipped grin. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. How can I help you?”
“Hello. Sorry to bother you at home. Ma’am, did you purchase a clock from an estate sale today?” Kaye asked without preamble.
“I did, but how would you know that? And why does it warrant this visit?” The woman blinked sleepily at us, then noticing me, broke out into a sweet smile. “Oh, you brought a kitty!”
Amy picked me up and handed me to the woman, who readily took me in her arms. “His name is Moss,” she explained. “He can keep you company while we inspect that clock. We believe there’s something wrong with the ticking mechanism, which is why we came out to fix it for you.”
Apparently, my two companions had worked out a plan while I dozed in the backseat. I didn’t like that this plan involved handing me off to a strange old lady, but I would do my part now—and complain about it later.
“Oh, no. You didn’t have to come all this way,” the woman said, but stepped aside all the same.
“We want to make sure all the customers at our estate sale are happy,” Kaye explained with a wave of her hand. “And with that broken ticking mechanism, you wouldn’t be. It’s not quite as serious as when the tocking mechanism goes on the fritz, but still quite bad.”
“Oh, no. I had no idea.” The clock-buyer closed the door behind Kaye and Amy while digging her bony fingers into my sides. “Well, thank you for coming. I’ll hold your cat for you while you investigate the problem.”
I sucked in a deep breath and then began to hack. Judging by the foul smell inside, I was not the only cat in residence here. I scented several others, along with a litter box that sorely needed changing. What was this granny doing buying clocks, when what she really needed was to invest in some fresh kitty litter?
From deeper within the house, a clock chimed the hour, revealing that it was now much later than I’d thought. Practically lunch time.
“That’s the clock now,” the lady said, guiding us toward a back room. “Through here.”
Just as the clock finished its series of chimes, Amy and Kaye led the way into a room that had been overpacked with floral prints.
The woman carrying me stopped in front of a gaudy brass fireplace and studied Amy’s and Kaye’s faces as if she’d suddenly forgotten who they were.
“Okay, everything is?” Kaye asked her, then grunted in frustration and added, “Way that, that say to mean didn’t I.”
What in the world? Was my partner having a stroke or something?
Amy furrowed her brow and gaped at Kaye askance. “You with wrong what’s?” she asked sharply.
Oh, my whiskers. They were talking backward, but why? “Backward talking you are?” I asked, and even though I said my words in the right order, they came out wrong.
The old lady set me down on the sofa beside a chunky calico.
“This like me scare to trying all you are why?” she asked, her voice quavering. It took me a second to translate that, not that she was asking me.
“We aren’t,” Kaye insisted, shaking her head.
“Hey!” I exclaimed, jumping to my paws. “Right was that!” Oh. Nope. Still messed up.
Kaye shook her head again and spoke very slowly. “I’m… speaking… the… sentence…” She sucked in a deep breath and screwed her eyes shut. “In reverse, and… the spell is un-reversing it.”
“It fix you can?” I asked. I wouldn’t be putting in the extra work like Kaye, but if I stuck to short sentences, then everyone who was supposed to understand me would be able to figure out what I meant.
Amy watched us with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open in a continued state of shock. She patted the woman on the back. “It’s okay.”
“Soon over be it’ll,” I offered reassuringly, forgetting for a second that the lady couldn’t understand me. Eh, whatever.
Kaye inspected the clock. “Backward running it’s,” she mused.
The poor old woman sat on the sofa with her hand over her heart.
“Fast this fix better,” I warned.
Kaye understood me even in reverse.
Ignoring the woman, Kaye pulled out her wand and focused on the dial. Blue smoke poured out, filling the room. Within seconds, the room was totally engulfed. The smoke, however, held no weight, allowing us to breathe it in just as easily as fresh clean oxygen.
Also, it tasted and smelled a bit like lemons.
Another minute passed and the smoke disappeared, leaving the poor lady looking at us like she’d died and gone to the other place.
“It’s over now,” Kaye said reassuringly. “The clock is fixed.”
“Why were you all talking like that? Why did I?” A tear slipped down the woman’s cheek, and for a moment, I felt for her.
Kaye opened her bag. “Hang on, this will explain everything.” She found a black pouch and opened it, shaking out something into her hand. “Moss, Amy, please come stand behind me.”
We did as we were asked, Amy scooping me up into her arms.
“Okay, now,” Kaye said. “Look here and it’ll all be clear.”
As the woman looked up, Kaye blew gray powder into her face. The lady blinked, sucked in the powder, then relaxed onto the sofa.
“Okay, we’re all done here,” Kaye said in a soft voice. “The clock was broken. We came and fixed it for you. You don’t owe us a dime. Have a nice day.”
Kaye tapped it twice with her wand, and an identical clock sprang up beside it. She handed Amy the real clock, patted the lady on the leg, then led the way to the door. “There,” she muttered as we got back into the car. “Crisis averted. At least for now, anyway.”