Read That Christmas Feeling for Free Online

to their game now. Warily eyeing the enemy, they crouched with skinny muscles coiled and sharp claws dug in, ready to bolt. The two firemen had managed to put out the fire, and Claire was forced to shut the windows in order to prevent more animals from escaping. Even with doors and windows closed, it was going to be no easy matter cornering the malnourished, flea-bitten cats.
    While Rob and Claire stalked a small yellow creature that looked as cute and innocent as a baby chick, Bill attempted to examine the handcuffed Flossie. His two compatriots held her gently but firmly in place while he looked into her ears, nose, mouth and hair, then studied her arms, fingers and toes. Aunt Flossie was busy calling the poor paramedic every name in the book when Claire and Rob finally nabbed the little yellow cat. Though it fought tooth and claw, they dropped it into the pet carrier and shut the metal door.
    “Animal rescue here!” a heavyset woman announced, barging into the room. She put her equipment on the floor and immediately began setting out traps. Baited with food, the small cages would capture the cats alive and unharmed.
    “About time we did this,” the woman offered as sheworked. “Hey, Miss Ross, how you doin’ this morning? Gettin’ a medical exam, I see. Good, good. We’re gonna round up some of your spare kitties, take ’em over to the shelter and see that they get baths, tags, shots, worm medicine. It’s just one of those things we need to do. We’ll bring you back one or two, how’s that? Make sure they can’t start any new litters, and you can have a couple of ’em. There you go—I thought that’d cheer you up! Hey, Chief, looks like you caught one already. And is that Claire Ross? Well, I’ll be jiggered. You don’t look a thing like you did in high school. Remember me—Jane Henderson? I didn’t think so, ’cause I was a grade or two younger, but I do recall you giving your senior assembly speech about how Buffalo was important in the Civil War. That was a good speech, and I never forgot it. Okay, let’s get to work, how ’bout?”
    “Hey, I helped make that presentation,” Rob spoke up. “That was my project, too. Mine and Claire’s.”
    Jane eyed him for a moment. “You gave a speech about Buffalo?”
    “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “For your information, Miss Henderson, the town of Buffalo, Missouri, was founded in 1841 on Buffalo Head Prairie, which was named for a buffalo skull landmark erected by the first settler, Mark Reynolds. During the Civil War, Dallas County was pro-Union, which made it the target of many guerrilla raids. In October 1863, Confederate troops under the command of General Joseph O. Shelby burned down the county courthouse. And inJuly 1864, Confederate raiders burned the Methodist church, which was being used as the courthouse.”
    Claire began to clap. “Well done, Chief West. I award you an A plus for excellent memory skills.”
    “Told you I was smart,” he said. “And look at that.”
    They followed his pointing finger to a cat that had already ventured into one of the traps. As it leaned toward the bowl of food, the cage door fell shut.
    “Voilà!” Jane Henderson cried. “Cat number two is down for the count! Tell you what. You two head on outside and see if you can catch any of ’em in the yard. I spotted a few under the porch. I’ll work in here, me and Miss Ross. Huh, Miss Ross? You and me.”
    Flossie glared, red eyed and pinch lipped, at Jane Henderson. “You’re planning to kill my cats.”
    “No, I ain’t. Now, who’s this over here in the trap? This one got a name?”
    “Betsy.”
    Rob slipped his arm around Claire’s shoulders and bent down to whisper in her ear. “Betsy? Betsy and Oscar?”
    Momentarily disconcerted by the nearness of the man, Claire couldn’t come up with a witty response. All she could think was that to Aunt Flossie these creatures were not wild, stray cats. They