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“I’d set them down if I were you, buddy,” said Tex, as he stepped into the shack. “She’s very cranky, on account of the fact that we’ve been walking for hours, and our feet hurt.”

“And we still haven’t found Odelia and her secret lover,” Scarlett grumbled, also joining us. Immediately, and without waiting for a personal invitation, she sank down on the cot and started massaging her painful feet.

“What is this?” said the man, shocked and dismayed. “Get out of here right now!”

“Oh, simmer down,” said Gran. “You haven’t by any chance seen a blond-haired woman with a billionaire, have you?”

“Who are you people?” the man demanded.

“My name is Tex Poole,” said Tex, introducing himself and holding out a hand.

“Very clever tactic,” I told Dooley. “Now he’ll be forced to put us down.”

Only the guy clearly hadn’t a polite bone in his body, for he blithely ignored Tex’s hand, and held onto to us instead.

“I’m a doctor,” Tex clarified, retracting the fin. “And this is my mother-in-law Vesta Muffin, and her friend, Scarlett Canyon.”

A normal person would have given his own name at this point, but this guy clearly wasn’t normal, for he said, “If you don’t get out of here right now…”

“Can you put those cats down already?” said Gran. “I mean, I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, and now I’m telling you a third time, and you’re still holding onto them.”

“Yeah, put us down,” I said. “I’m getting a pain in the neck.”

And he must have understood, for he did set us down.

“Finally!” said Dooley. “And now let’s attack, Max!”

“Let’s not,” I said, putting a paw on my painful neck and massaging it gently.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a cream for swollen feet, would you?” asked Scarlett. “Only I didn’t bring my walking shoes.”

“I told you to bring them,” said Gran. “But you wouldn’t listen, as usual.”

“Nice place you got here,” said Tex conversationally, as he inspected the stack of magazines. “And I like what you’ve done with… the decorations.”

“Can you just clear off!” said the man, still not falling into his role as the welcoming host.

“In a minute,” said Scarlett. “When I can walk again.”

“What were you doing with my cats, anyway?” asked Gran.

“We were hiding under his cot when he found us,” I explained.

“We thought he was an evil spirit, because the squirrel said so,” said Dooley. “But Max says evil spirits don’t exist, and he’s just an old bum.”

“So what’s your name, buddy?” asked Gran.

“Cyril Wellbeloved,” said Tex, having leafed to the first page of a book he’d picked up. “Have we met before, Cyril?”

“My name isn’t Cyril,” said the man gruffly. “And besides, what’s it to you?”

“Like I said, I’m a doctor,” said Tex, “and that welt you’ve got on your hand looks pretty painful. I could look at that for you if you want.”

The guy stared down at his hand, as if realizing for the first time that he had one, and in one fluid movement held it under Tex’s nose. The doctor frowned at the appendage, took careful hold of it, and examined the welt, which did indeed look pretty red and swollen.

“So what happened here, Cyril, if I may ask?”

“You may not,” Cyril growled unhappily.

“I’d say this is infected, Cyril,” said Tex finally. “Can you come into my office first thing tomorrow morning? We’ll clean this wound, and bandage this up nice and proper.” He patted the man’s shoulder. “Should be back in working order in no time. Now if you could show us the way back to town, I’d be much obliged.”

“We’re not going back until we’ve found Odelia and this Dexter fellow and have broken up their tryst,” said Gran stubbornly.

At the mention of the name Dexter, Cyril seemed to stiffen for a moment, but then he shook it off.

“If you head straight that way,” he said, “you’ll reach the road in about half an hour. Turn left, and follow the road and it will take you into Hampton Cove.”

“Gee, that’s so nice of you, Cyril,” said Tex, giving the man’s shoulder a squeeze. “And don’t forget to come into my office tomorrow? If that hand doesn’t get treated, it might get worse, and the infection might spread. And once that happens, you’re a lot worse off, I can tell you that much,” he concluded cheerfully.

“Tex has a great cotside manner, doesn’t he, Max?” said Dooley.

“He really has,” I said. “Though it seems to have the opposite effect on Cyril.”

“For the last time, my name isn’t Cyril!” said Cyril. “And now clear out, all of you, and take those damn cats with you!”

I didn’t need to be told twice, and was out of there like a shot. Gran was right behind me, and so was Tex. Scarlett took some more convincing, but finally she joined us, hobbling a little, and we were on our way in the direction indicated.

“Do cats really taste like chicken, Max?” asked Dooley.

“I don’t know, Dooley,” I said. “I’ve never eaten a cat. And I hope I never will.”

He shivered.“Good thing Gran came when she did. We would have been dinner otherwise!”

“So what were you doing out there, Gran?” I asked, hurrying to keep up with the humans, who were setting a brisk pace.