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“I-I can’t take this anymore, Max,” said Dooley all of a sudden, as I could see his legs quaking. “I’m going down.”

“No, Dooley!” I cried, and tried to stop him from buckling under the pressure by sticking out one paw, and balancing on three paws as a consequence. But it was to no avail. Dooley’s legs couldn’t carry him anymore, and I could see him sinking further and further, just like the Titanic on that auspicious night to remember.

Just then, and much to my elation, a familiar male figure rounded the corner and came within view. It was Chase Kingsley, and he was whistling a happy little tune.

“Chase!” I cried. “Help us, please! We’re drowning!”

Chase, even though he couldn’t actually understand what I said, must have understood immediately that the situation was a precarious one, and rushed to our aid. Without hesitation, he stepped into the pool, then bodily lifted Dooley with one hand, and me with the other, and carried us both to safety! And when he set us downon solid ground, both Dooley and I collapsed onto the grass, and panted with relief.

“Chase, you saved us!” I cried, and gave the intrepid cop’s hand a heartfelt lick.

“You saved our lives, Chase,” said Dooley, much chastened by this horrifying experience, and gave the cop’s other hand a lick.

Chase merely smiled, and petted our heads affectionately.“There, there,” he said. “You fellas really don’t like the water, do you?”

“No, we certainly do not,” I said, then shivered at the sight of that inflatable pool. “And now even less than before!”

“You’re all right now,” Chase said, and got up, leaving Dooley and me to recover from our terrifying ordeal.

“Never again, Max,” said Dooley, shaking his head. “Never again am I setting paw in that horrible pool.”

“Me neither, Dooley,” I said. “No amount of Cat Snax in the world will induce me to repeat this experience.”

Cats simply aren’t made for going out on the water, and our most recent brush with death had brought that simple truth home to me once more in all its starkness.

Chase must have told Odelia what happened, for she now came rushing out of the house, and when she crouched down next to us, she was the picture of solicitousness.

“Oh, you guys—were you still in that pool?”

“We were,” I announced, a little stiffishly.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I forgot all about you.”

“I know,” I said, with more than a touch of froideur.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Never let us go near the water again,” I said.

“Oh, dear,” she said, much chastened. “I really blew it, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did,” I said. But since I can’t watch my human beat herself up for too long, I soon relented and said, “Those Cat Snax would go down really well right now.”

She smiled.“Come on inside and you can have all the Cat Snax you want.”

And so there was a silver lining to our adventure after all: we may have almost drowned, but we didn’t. And once more it was brought home to us that Chase Kingsley is the closest thing to Jesus Christ this world has ever seen. At least to us cats he is.

And we were just snacking happily from that welcome dose of Cat Snax when Marge and Gran and Tex came rushing into the house, brandishing some species of miniature figurine depicting a goatherd, and started screaming to Odelia.

I didn’t have the faintest idea what they were on about. All I know is that it had something to do with a fella named Otto Spiel. But since I was too busy recovering from my recent ordeal by eating my body weight in tasty cat kibble, I paid scant attention.

There’s a time for paying attention to the affairs of men, and a time to snack on Cat Snax, and just such a time to indulge in my favorite treat had now come, so I wasn’t going to let it pass me by because of a girl and her goat.

Chapter 4

“What is it?” asked Chase, casting a curious glance at the object under inspection.

“It’s a priceless work of art,” said Marge with tremulous voice.

“Anobjet d’arse,” Gran chimed in, just as excitedly.

“Objet d’art,” Odelia corrected her.

“Whatever,” said Gran. “It’s worth a fortune, and since it was found in my cupboard, it belongs to me.” When the others all looked up at this, she added magnanimously, “But you can have a share of the profits. A finder’s fee, if you will.”

“Ma, this thing was found in my cupboard, in my kitchen, so if there’s anyone who can be called its rightful owner it’s me,” said Marge.

“Depends how you look at it,” said Gran with a shrug.

Odelia studied the object carefully.“It’s pretty,” she said.

“Yeah, very pretty,” her mother concurred. “It’s porcelain,” she added affectionately.

“So how did it get into your cupboard?” asked Chase, voicing the most pertinent question.

Mom shrugged.“I have absolutely no idea. I’ve never seen it before.”

“Which is why it belongs to me,” said Gran. “It was found on top of my best dishes, so it must have gotten mixed up with them when I moved in.” She added, musingly, “Maybe Jack got it for me as a present, and I never noticed because of the strain from the divorce and all.”