“Suppose a dog gets him?” Quin persisted. “There are dogs that roam around here.”
“Red would keep other dogs from him,” Cal reassured him.
“Honey, stop worrying. Let’s check the house first,” Ju- liana said, hurting for him because Quin looked terrified. “I’ll go open some cat food. If he’s in the house, he’ll come to the kitchen at the sound of the can opener.”
Quin nodded and Cal knelt in front of him. “Don’t worry, son. Cats are able to take care of themselves better than lots of animals in this world. Snookums is smart enough to look out for himself. He’s probably either asleep under a bed or outside enjoying a prowl right now. You know how much you like to be outside.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, so does he. And he’ll come home to eat,” Cal said firmly, and Quin nodded. Juliana prayed the cat was fine, it would crush Quin if something happened to him. She went downstairs as Josh dashed down ahead of her and disap- peared into the living room. Cal walked beside her.
“That damn cat is fine,” he said.
“But we need to get him back inside the house.”
“If he’s out,” Cal said. “Open the cat food and then you and Josh look around downstairs. I’ll get Stoddard to help me search outside. If Snooks is in the yard, I hope he can hear the can opener.”
Thirty minutes later, Cal had returned and the boys stood in front of Juliana. “He’s not in the house,” Chris an- nounced.
“I’ve looked outside and can’t find him. Stoddard came out and he’s still searching.” Cal let out a frustrated sigh before continuing. “The sappy cat could be a million places out there, just sitting watching me search for him.”
“What about Red?” Juliana asked.
“Stoddard said Gladys took Red home with her.”
“I’ll help you look for Snookums,” Chris offered.
“I want to go look,” Quin announced. “I don’t want to go to bed.”
“I know you don’t,” Juliana replied. She glanced at her watch. “It’s twenty after ten. We’ll go outside and search for him, let’s meet back here in an hour.”
“We’ll turn out the upstairs lights,” Cal suggested. “If someone finds him, come home and turn on all the lights upstairs so the rest of us can see to come back. Now, we need a buddy system. No one is to be out searching alone. Is that understood, guys?” he asked, looking at Quin and Josh.
“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison.
“Let’s get flashlights,” Cal suggested. “I have one in my car. Stoddard is already out searching for Snooks. Quin, you and Chris stay together. Josh, you come with me. Ju- liana, you stay here and let us know if he comes home. That’s as likely as anything.”
She nodded and started toward the kitchen. “C’mon. We’ll get more flashlights.”
Cal handed a flashlight to Josh as the two older boys left. “Here, Josh. Look in the bushes in the front bed, and I’ll be right out.”
“Yes, sir,” he said and scampered out of the house, banging the screen door behind him. Cal turned to her. “Quin will work off some of his worries and wear down. That cat will show up when he gets hungry.”
“I hope so. They’re independent creatures—”
“Like someone I know,” Cal said, touching her cheek.
“He’s never been out on his own before.”
“Don’t you start worrying. I’d bet my practice that he comes home or we find him sitting around enjoying the fu- ror. And don’t worry about Quin. He’s with Chris and he’ll be all right as soon as the damned cat comes back. You’ve got the difficult job, just waiting.”
He gave her shoulders a squeeze and left. The outside lights were on, and near the garage Cal saw Chris and Quin. Cal felt a tug on his heart as he watched Quin trudge into the shadows with his shoulders slumped and his head down.
Thunder was still a distant sound, and Cal hoped they didn’t get rain before they found the cat. A flash in the dis- tance revealed a cloud bank to the south.
An hour later as Cal headed toward the house, the up- stairs lights came on. “Hey, see, they found him,” he said to Josh. Josh gave a whoop and ran toward the house with a renewed spurt of energy. Relief filled Cal because the ap- proaching storm would add to Quin’s fears for the cat’s safety.
In minutes, Josh raced up the steps and disappeared in- side the house. As Cal approached the screened porch, Ju- liana, Chris and Josh came out. Stoddard was behind them. One look at her face and Cal knew something was wrong.
“What’s happened?”
“Quin got away from me,” Chris said, his face turning red and his voice filling with frustration and anger. “I told him an hour was up and we were to go back. He didn’t want to and we argued about it. He grabbed my flashlight and threw it. When I went to get it, he ran off and just disap- peared in the dark and I can’t find him.”
“He’s all right,” Cal said calmly, knowing they had a real worry now. “He won’t leave home because he wants to search for the cat, so he’s out in the yard. Does he have a flashlight?”
“No, sir, he doesn’t.”
“Okay. I think this guy is worn-out,” Cal said, pointing to Josh.
“Josh, you stay with me. We’ll go get everyone if Quin comes home,” Juliana said.
“Fine,” Cal replied. “Chris, you and Stoddard and I will search for Quin.”
Juliana nodded, looking at Josh. “You need to get your bath now.”
Cal turned to look at Chris. “Where did you last see Quin?”
“At the end of the property, down by the creek.”
Cal felt a chill of worry at the thought of Quin being in the dark along the creek by himself. He glanced around to see Juliana holding open the back door. He knew Juliana had heard Chris because fear was plain in her expression.
“I’ll head that way. Chris, you take the front half of the yard. Stoddard, you go to the
