This Is Dedicated
PROLOGUE: Top Ten
LC
Smokey, the Siamese cat, eyed AM’s open bowling bag on the floor and began to circle behind the couch to investigate when LC opened her sister’s bedroom door, saw the moving curtain, and said, “I see you!” The cat came out of hiding, fluffed her tail, and arched her back in her best Halloween cat pose. LC advanced on the cat. The cat scrambled back behind the couch with L C in hot pursuit. Around the couch they went; each enjoying the game—a diurnal ritual they played throughout the house.
“Lillian Clarice, dinner is ready.” The game ended abruptly, as LC left with a sinister tone, “I’ll get you later, my pretty.”
Smokey returned to her investigation of the bowling bag. She peeked into the bag, touched the ball with her nose, and jumped back! The ball glowed in the dark bag. The cat cowered on the floor, eyes wide, ears back. She stared intently at the ball. A face appeared on the globe. The cat bolted out the door and thundered down the steps.
“Now, what’s got into that cat? Ever since your sister left for nursing school, that cat has been acting crazy.”
The cat scrambled through the doorway and into the kitchen. Her fur was bristling. She brushed up against LC’s leg. LC reached down to scratch between her ears and knocked the envelope from St. James School of Nursing onto the floor. That envelope had held her sister’s future—a Doris Pepperidge full-tuition scholarship. LC picked up the envelope and rubbed it against the cat. Smokey’s paw swatted at it. “That’s more like Smokey,” LC thought. “I wonder what scared her so much.”
Upstairs, Madame Z looked out into the world of Smokey the cat and the Anderson clan.
more coming soon…