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Don did go with me to see Miss Nancy that afternoon. I had a feeling Don would like Miss Nancy once he got to know her and saw that she wasn’t a charlatan. For me, Miss Nancy had always been a source of common sense, good advice, and comfort. How could anyone object to that?
Miss Nancy was thrilled that I brought Don, and she fussed over and cuddled Bridger until I was afraid Don would have trouble getting him back from her. The three of us sat around Miss Nancy’s kitchen table, and in honor of the occasion she got out her nice tea set.
“Now, honey,” she said, as we waited for the tea to steep. “Tell me about the new presence in your life.”
“It’s funny, Miss Nancy. There’s more than one.”
She raised an eyebrow so high it almost disappeared under her tie-dyed turban.
“Well, there’s Bridger, of course.”
“Honey, Bridger doesn’t count. Bridger is a new presence in Don’s life, to be accurate.”
“Well, there’s Boo.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“He’s this big black cat who’s started coming around. It’s the strangest thing. It’s like he’s a person, almost, we just don’t speak the same language. Or at least, I don’t speak cat.”
I told them about the evening Boo had brought the lady cat, and how Boo had kept Bridger from trying to follow her out the window. Miss Nancy agreed that this was exceptional behavior, but didn’t have an explanation for it.
“This is all mighty interesting, honey, but please get to the point.”
“The point?”
“You know what I’m talking about. I was there when you bought that ‘Bring Love to Me’ candle. And I know you probably ran straight home and lit that thing.”
Don stifled a snort.
“Okay, fine. Yes, I lit it.” I told her about Petreski, and how he had come over. I told her about Tom Wilton and how I thought he might like me and that Petreski was jealous.
Just like always, Miss Nancy sipped her tea and let me talk. Miss Nancy didn’t have to even try to be a psychic with me – I always told her everything. But she could piece things together and see connections and patterns better than I could. This was what Don had never understood. I didn’t go to see Miss Nancy for psychic advice. Going to see Miss Nancy was how I cleared my mind.
Miss Nancy put on her thinking face and stared at the ceiling.
“What –”
“Shh.” I told Don in a whisper. “She’s thinking.”
After a minute Miss Nancy straightened herself, took a sip of tea and asked, “Jake, honey, did that squirrel ever tell you anything of interest?”
“Just his name.”
“His name?”
“Yeah. It’s Raymond. I’m afraid I offended him, but we’re past that now.”
“And that’s all?” she asked with a smirk.
“Yeah. And that he loves sunflower seeds. They’re his favorite.”
“And that’s really all you got out of that exchange?”
I looked over at Don, and he had the fingers of one hand over his mouth, like he knew the answer to this question and was trying to keep himself from blurting it out. What was I missing?
“Dude...” Don looked over at Miss Nancy, and she nodded. “Dude, think about it. How do you know these things? I mean, think about how you found out.”
“Raymond told me.”
“And Raymond is...”
“Raymond is a – shit. I don’t mean Raymond is a shit. Sorry, Miss Nancy. I mean, Raymond is a freaking squirrel. Yeah, right. I had a meltdown over it the night it happened. It was when Petreski came over and he kind of forced me into figuring out what I am.”
“And Detective Petreski didn’t seem shocked by what happened?” Miss Nancy asked.
“No. He had told me – that day we all walked over to the bridge. He told me that he has a high tolerance for the unusual. I figured he meant because he’s a cop he’s seen all kinds of crazy stuff in his work. Maybe that’s not exactly what he meant.”
“Maybe you should ask him.”
“Maybe, but I can’t. At least, not until the case is solved.”
“Are you frightened?”
“Frightened?”
“When we talked about this the last time you were here, you wondered whether the things that were happening were your fault.”
I heard Don make a surprised noise, but I didn’t take my eyes off Miss Nancy. “I’m not worried about that anymore.”
“No. And we talked about how most people find out about this kind of thing when they’re younger.”
“Petreski had a theory about that. He thinks I’ve always had a connection with animals, but it was never able to develop because I never had a pet when I was a kid, or formed a bond with an animal until I started feeding Raymond.”
“That makes Raymond very special, you know.”
“It does?”
“Yes. I think, the more you develop your bond with Raymond, the more you’ll learn about what you are and what you can do.”
“Maybe. It can’t hurt to try.”
“And ask your Detective Petreski. He may know more than he’s told you so far.”
We all sipped our tea, thinking.
“What about Boo, Miss Nancy?”
“I don’t know... There’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. I need to think on him some more.”
After another minute of silent tea drinking, Don finally spoke up.
“Did you... did you really think all this stuff might be your fault?”
“I didn’t know... was I dreaming something that had already happened, or was stuff happening because I was dreaming it? I didn’t know what was happening, and I was scared.”
“What about now?”
“I still have a lot of questions, but I’m not scared. And I’m still having dreams, but they’re not scary anymore. No one’s gotten killed in them. And Boo’s been waking me up when they start.”
“I don’t know that that’s such a good thing,” said Miss Nancy.
“What do you mean?”
“Some of these dreams might be important. There might be things in them you need to know. This might sound crazy. But try asking him to let you sleep through your dreams unless they get really bad and you’re in distress.”
“But, he’s a cat.”
“He’s not a normal cat.”
“No, he’s not. I’ll try.”
We took Miss Nancy to the market and botanica after that. I bought a Road Opener candle for Don, and I think he appreciated it even though he rolled his eyes. Miss Nancy picked out some herbs and mixed up a tea blend for me. It was supposed to help me think clearly and make decisions. I told her about my disastrous attempt to smoke the, um, herb she had given me the last time, and about how Petreski had smoked the rest of it, and she laughed so hard she had to wipe her eyes. At least someone was amused.
