Nobody Can Say It’s You: A Hadley Pell Cozy Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

“And Granny Dilcie’s about the grandest lady I know from her neck of the woods.”

Chapter Seven
    W hen Hadley arrived home , dusk was just settling in. She unloaded her groceries, and set out on a search for Onus. Usually, the tabby would at least peek in the kitchen. But not today. He must be pouting, she thought.
    She flipped on the light to the dining room. Eureka! There he was.
    Onus sat squarely behind one leg of her dining room table. His eyes spilt the leg, peering out at her like a mystic with a long bar hiding his nose and forehead.
    “Big boy,” Hadley said, “you really are miffed. Did I stay away too long? I can’t believe you missed me that much. Oh, Onus. You’re such a big, bad, baby boy.”
    Then, it hit her. She was supposed to empty his litter box this morning, but with all of the things she’d had planned, and unplanned, that chore had totally slipped her mind.
    “Onus, old bird,” Hadley said, “you really must forgive me. I’ve been rushed all day. I simply forgot, old man. It just slipped my mind. Absentmindedness is a characteristic trait of an old lady, I’m afraid.”
    Onus did not move. He did not make a sound. He was really ticked.
    “Boy, you are irate. I can see that. Haven’t moved a muscle in the last couple of minutes. Let’s see if I can’t right this wrong, too. It seems like that’s all I’ve been doing all day.”
    Hadley cleaned out the cat’s litter box. She washed up and wiped off the counters. She did a little more cleaning, careful to keep an eye out for any “gift” the irate tabby might have left her. Such gifts illustrated his displeasure with her for forgetting to dump his litter box that morning. She found two small offerings outside the litter box, and she dutifully disposed of them.
    What was with that cat? Hadley wondered. It was like he had his own built-in clock or something. Hadley was convinced he knew the exact hour she usually emptied the litter box. Her routine was twice daily, but not today.
    “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit,” Hadley said.
    The instant the litter box was clean Onus came out from behind the table leg.
    “I guess that’s my signal that you want your dinner,” Hadley said.
    Her phone rang.
    “Hey, Anna.”
    She shoved the receiver under her ear, crunching her neck in a horribly awkward position to hold it in place, and continued to get Onus’ cat food can from the cupboard.
    “I’m thinking about running a competition for our students to encourage them to read,” said Anna.
    “That sounds like a big turnoff,” Hadley said.
    “I know,” said Anna, “but what if some of our locals, of any age, posted things online about books they’d read or wrote things for the others to read. I could do something like ‘encourage your friends who have written online.’ It could be poetry or short stories or essays about their favorite books. What do you think?”
    “I think that’s an excellent idea,” said Hadley. “It will give the kids a reason to read, and to write if they feel like it. And I just love contests.”
    “I know,” said Anna, remembering the many dishes she’d tasted when Hadley had won all that goat cheese. “But the prizes would be for the kids.”
    “I don’t care,” said Hadley. “A contest is a contest. You know I’m in. How are you going to run it?”
    “I don’t know,” Anna said. “I haven’t got all the details figured out. I just wanted to bounce the idea off someone to see if it was plausible.”
    “What if, we had a raffle to raise some money? Whatever we came up with, whether it is $20 or 200, we’ll use to fund the prizes for your contest.”
    “That would work,” said Anna. “If we could spark the parents’ interest and give them a sense that they are involved, we could make this thing work.”
    “I’ve got a quilt I could donate. I’m sure Maury’s got some things. Maybe Bill would donate one of his wood carvings. Hobie might donate a dulcimer. We could make