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This time we both hopped up to take a peek inside, and found ourselves looking into a smaller room, where a lone woman was nervously pacing the floor. I immediately recognized her from the pictures we’d seen as… Angel Church!

“She’s still alive, Max!” said Dooley happily. “The aliens didn’t kill her!”

Those aliens had looked remarkably human, so I told Dooley,“I think you’ll find that the kidnappers aren’t very alien at all, Dooley.”

“Oh?” he said, sounding disappointed. “So… no aliens?”

“No aliens,” I said decidedly.

Angel must have heard us, for she now approached the window and gave us a frantic wave. I gave her what I sincerely hoped was a reassuring wave in return, and said,“Hang tight, Angel. The cavalry is here to save you!”

All she could hear was me producing mewling sounds, of course, but she still seemed to draw strength and reassurance from my performance, for she gave us a watery smile, and then went right back to pacing the floor. I saw the remnants of breakfast scattered on the floor, and it looked as if a fight had taken place in there. At least she didn’t look hurt.

We hopped back down, and hurried to the front of the cabin, where Odelia was banging the door in a rhythmic fashion now, and yelling,“Hey! I need to use your phone! And, um—the bathroom, too!” She gave us a helpless shrug, and whispered. “I’m improvising here!”

“She’s in there, Odelia,” I said.

“Oh, thank God.”

“And she looks fine,” Dooley added. Harriet, Brutus and Shanille had also returned from their expedition, and Harriet said, “There’s plenty of people in there.”

“Yeah, looks like they’re in a meeting,” Shanille added.

“How many?” asked Odelia, bringing her phone to her lips.

“Um…” I thought for a moment, counting in my head. “Well, I saw… eight.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Harriet confirmed.

Odelia softly spoke into her phone, apprising her uncle of the situation at the cabin.

Her mission was now to distract those people, and make sure that they didn’t harm Angel, or take her hostage when the operation was finally set in motion.

I could see police officers approaching from all sides now, weapons out, and it was obvious that the situation could turn extremely volatile very quickly.

“We have to prevent them from taking Angel hostage,” I said.

“But how?” asked Shanille. “She’s in there and we’re out here!”

I glanced up at the roof, and saw that there was a small chimney. I gestured to the chimney, but Brutus grunted, “That probably leads to a wood stove, Max. Do you really want to get stuck inside a wood stove?”

“It won’t be lit,” I pointed out. “And it’s our only way in.”

I relayed my makeshift plan to Odelia, and moments later she was helping five cats onto the roof, which wasn’t as arduous as it sounds, since the roof was pretty low.

“And now what?” asked Harriet annoyedly as we sat around that chimney. “I can tell you right now that I’m not going in there. Can you imagine what that soot would do to my nice white fur? No way!”

“But Angel’s life is at stake, Harriet,” said Shanille. “We have to protect her!”

“I’ll go,” I said, but immediately Brutus held out a paw.

“You’ll get stuck, Max. Have you seen how tight that chimney is? I’ll go.”

“Wuggle bear!” Harriet cried.

“It’s fine, sweet peach. A little bit of soot won’t hurt me. It might even complement my natural color.”

“Oh, twinkle toes, you’re so brave!”

“I know, tootsie roll,” said Brutus with distinct lack of modesty.

“I want to go, too,” said Dooley after careful consideration. “I’m small and I’ll fit.”

“Okay, so why don’t you go first, Brutus?” I suggested. “And when you land safely you give us a sign, and then Dooley can go next and you can catch him.”

And so it was decided. Harriet looked on anxiously as her mate crawled on top of that chimney, looking butch and brave, then gave his lady love a little wave.“Wish me luck, buttercup.”

“Good luck, hot stuff!” said Harriet. “And do be careful!”

Luck’s got nothing to do with it,” Brutus growled. “It’s skill, hotcakes—pure skill!”

And then he was zooming down that chimney. There was a soft poof as he hit the wood stove and then his voice sounded,“I’m all right, you guys!”

“Dooley, you’re up next,” I said.

Dooley gulped a little, but then crawled on top of that chimney, to follow in Brutus’s pawsteps. “Any last words, Max?” he asked.

“Yes, Dooley. Aim for the eyes,” I said, my voice hard. Those people in there might not all be hardened criminals, but frankly I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for them. They had abducted Angel, and I now surmised they had a very nasty ending in mind for her.

Dooley zoomed down, and landed with a soft thud, and finally Shanille said,“I’m going in, too. Angel is my human, and I owe it to her to do what I can to keep her safe from harm.”

And then it was just me and Harriet on that roof, and I have to confess that the tension was killing me. Harriet must have been affected, too, for moments later she was crawling onto the top of the chimney, and I blinked and said,“Harriet, what are you doing?”