Puss 'N Cahoots Read Online Free PDF Page A

pawprints. They stopped at the bleacher bench on the eastern side of the practice arena. For many, watching the horses work gave them clues as to how they might fare in their classes.
    â€œWho are those men hopping out of the back of the van?”
Tucker, eyes good in the dark, watched the back of a white horse van with green trim.
    Mrs. Murphy walked closer. Tucker followed.
“They’re young.”
She strained to hear, ears forward, but the only sound was their boots tiptoeing into the oldest barn.
“They’re Mexican.”
    â€œWhat are they doing? Maybe they’re going to steal horses.”
Tucker knew humans to be a noisy lot, so if the human animal, especially in numbers, was silent, no good would come of it.
    â€œYou don’t need that many people to steal a horse.”
Mrs. Murphy wondered what was going on, too.
“Come on.”
She sprinted toward the barn.
    Tucker, bigger than the cat, worried that she’d attract attention. She followed but looked for places to duck away.
    Mrs. Murphy sauntered into the barn as though she lived there. She checked out the stalls, and as all were wood she could climb up to get out of the way. Just in case.
    However, there were barn cats, who immediately tore after her. She ran, because four cats against one is not a pleasing prospect.
    â€œScram!”
the biggest ginger cat screeched.
    Mrs. Murphy shot past Tucker, and the corgi turned to keep up with her friend as the barn cats puffed up, stopped running, and whooped their victory.
    â€œSee anything?”
    â€œThe men are lined up along the wall. Charly Trackwell gave a roll of cash to Ward Findley. Booty Pollard, with Miss Nasty, is there, too.”
    â€œGuess it doesn’t concern Kalarama or us,”
Tucker said.
    â€œGuess not. Odd, though.”
    â€œTwenty men in the back of a horse van?”
Tucker was surprised.
    â€œThey looked tired and hungry.”
Mrs. Murphy wished those barn cats hadn’t appeared. She could have listened to what the men were saying.
    Harry was glad to see the cat and dog once they were back at Barn Five. “Where were you?”
    â€œInvestigating,”
Tucker replied.
    Harry shot Mrs. Murphy a hard glance. “See if I let you off your leash again.”
    â€œPooh,”
Mrs. Murphy said but thought worse.
    Once Harry and the animals had driven off, Jorge briskly trotted to the old barn, just as the big diesel fired up to back out.

W hat a gorgeous hair dryer.” Harry laughed as she and Joan drove along the back roads of Shelbyville in Joan’s new Jaguar with its all-aluminum body.
    Joan, like Harry, fretted over money. Owning a sports car seemed frivolous, but one day Joan drove into Louisville to run errands and drove out with a richly appointed Jaguar. It was one of the few impulsive things she had ever done. True to form, she suffered a wave of buyer’s remorse the next day, which vanished the moment she slid behind the wheel, inhaled the leather scent, and cranked the motor.
    â€œI lost my mind.” Joan giggled.
    â€œI need to take a lesson from you.” Harry could take being practical to extremes.
    â€œYou know what, when you need to let fly, you will. After all, you remarried Fair this spring.”
    â€œAnd look how many years it took me to do it.” Harry turned as they passed the back pastures of a farm, the tobacco barns well situated to capture the breezes. “I’m surprised he waited.”
    â€œHe loves you.”
    She turned to face Joan. “I have no idea why.”
    â€œYou’re lovable.” Joan smiled. “And men want a challenge.”
    â€œI provided that.” Harry inhaled the thick honeysuckle scent as the long slanted rays of early-morning light reflected off the ground fog in swales over creeks and ponds. She changed the subject. “Did you go to the sheriff about your pin?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œMom know?”
    â€œNo.” Joan