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Gertrude looked out the window and up at the lights of the two-story motel. “Wow, that looks fancy.”
Calvin chuckled. “I assure you, it is not. But all we need are clean beds and hot showers.”
“Right.” She’d thought they could simply sleep in the camper, but Calvin had insisted they get a motel room. She would have argued, but he’d offered to pay.
She had done quite well wheeling and dealing with ’Merican Diggers, but she’d spent most of her fortune on the camper behind them.
“You can stay here if you want. I’ll go check us in.”
“But you’re getting two rooms, right?”
“Yes, Gertrude. You’ve made that clear.”
“Good.” She watched him walk away and then decided to go check on the kitties. She got out of the truck and went to the camper door. It was difficult to see, so she opened the door very slowly in case one of her babies tried to escape. None of them did, though, and she slipped inside and turned on a light.
“Hello, dearies.” Most of them glared at her. A few of them ignored her, and Hail came straight for her and wound his body around her legs, purring. She stooped to picked him up. “Hey, Hail.” She kissed his cheek. “You sure are a handsome devil. Good thing you had that little procedure a while back, or the ladies would be all over you.” She set him on the counter and looked around the small space. She saw one mess on the floor and grabbed some paper towels. Not bad. A thousand miles and only one baby got sick? Not bad at all. She checked the litter boxes, which she had tied into place with bungee cords. They were still secured. She should freshen them up. She looked more closely at Rain, who didn’t look so good. She ran a hand down his back. “Oh honey, you’re the one who’s sick, aren’t you?”
He didn’t reply, but he didn’t have to.
“I’m sorry I made you endure all this motion. I’m not really enjoying it either. But when we get to where we’re going, it will all be worth it.” She petted him and then moved on to check on Sunshine. “Oh sweetie pie, did you know they call South Dakota The Sunshine State? You’re going to feel right at home there. A whole state named after you!”
“Gertrude?” Calvin sounded concerned.
“In here!”
He ripped the door open, and she shouted at him, “The cats!”
“Sorry!” He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “Oh ugh, it stinks in here!”
“Well, they’ve been cooped up in here for hours, Calvin. What do you expect?”
“You know, they make scented litter?”
“My cats don’t like scented litter. It’s not good for them.”
He laughed. “All right, well, hurry up. I’ve got your room key. I can’t stand in here and wait.”
“It’s true, you know! That perfumed stuff gives Hurricane a headache!”
He shook his head on his way out.
She looked at her friends. “I’ll be right back for you. Let me go and investigate.” She carefully stepped down out of the camper and pulled the door shut.
Calvin stood there with her walker.
“Thank you kindly.”
“You’re welcome. I was a little worried when I saw you were gone and your walker was still here. Thought maybe you’d been kidnapped.” He laughed.
“Anyone who kidnapped me would be sorry.”
“Indeed.”
“I’ve been kidnapped before, you know. I got away.”
“I know, Gertrude. I remember. I’ve also heard the story a hundred times.” He handed a card to her. “You’re in room one-twenty. They didn’t have any rooms near each other. I’m all the way down in one-fourteen. You going to be okay?”
“Yes, Calvin. I think I can handle it.” What was he so worried about?
He shrugged. “All right. I’m going to go take a hot shower and go to sleep. If you need anything, just come pound on my door.”
“I won’t need anything.”
“All right.” He stared at her.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to go to your room?”
“Yes, I just need to grab a few things.”
“Okay, well, I’m locking the truck.”
“Oh darn, would you grab my walker pouch?”
He nodded, reached into the truck, and grabbed it. “Goodness, what is in this thing, lead?”
“I rolled some of my quarters.”
He handed her the pouch and locked the truck. “All right, good night.”
“Good night.” She watched him walk away and then opened the camper door and stepped back inside. She picked Rain up. “Okay, Rain, this isn’t going to be easy, so don’t try to escape. I don’t want to have to chase you around Pennsylvania.” Rain blinked his agreement. Gertrude stepped back outside and down to her walker with the cat half-tucked into her armpit.
She looked both ways across the dark parking lot and then made her way toward room one-twenty.
It was slow going, but she made it. She made sure Rain was secure in her left arm and then eyed the lock on the door. Interesting. She looked at the card in her hand. For a second, she was concerned about the complexities of the situation, but then she saw the arrows on the card. Oh good. She stuck the card in the slot, a green light flashed, and she opened the door. Rain meowed.
“Shhh.” Gertrude gently put a finger over his mouth. She stepped inside and looked around. “Wow, this is nice!” She set Rain on the bed. “Make yourself at home, Punkin’. I’m going to go get your brothers and sisters.”
One by one she transported the kitties into her motel room. It was a good thing she’d slept most of the way to Pennsylvania, or she would’ve been too exhausted to continue.
She bagged up the used litter and then dragged it across the parking lot to the dumpsters. Oddly, the bag got lighter as she went. She figured her muscles were getting stronger. But when she went to toss the bag into the dumpster, there was no litter left in it. How peculiar!
She turned to see a neat, gradually narrowing trail of kitty litter stretching all the way back to her camper’s door.
Oh dear. This wasn’t good.
She went back to the camper and got one of the three brooms she’d brought. Then she went back outside. She was not happy. This was going to take a long time. She scanned the parking lot for a suitable vehicle to frame.
A truck sat nearby. It had a sticker in the rear window that said naughty things. Yes, that guy would do. Carefully, looking up every few minutes to make sure she wasn’t being watched, she swept the last quarter of the trail toward that truck. This wasn’t easy to do with the walker, so she left it sitting beside the camper.
Luckily, this end of the kitty litter trail was fairly thin, and her evidence manipulation didn’t take as long as she’d feared it might.
Out of breath, she stopped and surveyed her work. A trail of litter clearly led from that naughty truck all the way to the dumpster. It wasn’t even close to a straight line, so anyone who saw it would wonder why the offender had taking a giant curving route to the dumpster, but at least she and her camper wouldn’t be blamed. She put the broom away, fairly proud of herself. If she hadn’t thought of this plan, she would have had to move the truck and camper, and she wasn’t sure that would have gone as well. Finally, she grabbed a litter box and a fresh bag of litter, balanced them both atop her walker, and slowly made her way back to room one-twenty.
When she got inside her room, the clock by the bed read 2:20. Oops. Her little chore list had taken a long time.
Rain meowed from above, and she looked up to see that he had climbed the drapes and now balanced precariously on the curtain rod. She shook her head. “Rain, get down from there. You too, Snow.” Snow was on top of the television. She set up their new litter box and then fell into bed.
She was asleep in seconds.
