THIRTY- EIGHT

Ms. Lucy was sneezing uncontrollably and I asked sadly,"You're allergic to cats, aren't you?"

"What? Me? No, I just got a serious cold from one of the directors of my latest movie, that's all, why?"She said in a voice without her nose.

"Can we keep this cat?"

"Is it a stray?"

"Oh no no, it belongs to me but went missing."

"Oh okay, then you can keep him, or her, I'm going for a nap."

I felt sorry for her as she made her, cute, quiet sneezes so I decided to do something for her.

I was in the kitchen, pouring spices into a saucepan, throwing in veggies, then I heard a shout...

"What are you doing?!"

I looked back to see François, the head chef if the mansion and I said,"I'm making chicken soup for Ms. Stone."

"That isn't soup! That looks like lake Michigan flooded the state! Let a real chef work his magic."

"After you."

I stood aside while he did the cooking and when he was done, he fetched a bowl for me. I was taking it to Ms. Lucy but felt to use the bathroom.

When I came back, I saw Ash had licked three quarters of the soup and my eyes widened in horror.

"Ash!"I said, throwing him away,"What did you do?! Deep breaths, nevermind, there's more soup."

I went to fetch more in a different bowl and dropped it the moment I entered the living room.

Ash was lying down on the mat, upside down, with all his legs apart and his tongue sticking out of his widely opened mouth.

I ran to him and yelled his name.

I wanted to call for help but he stood up on his feet the moment I touched him.

My eye twitched...

Ash was flattened on the window and fell down, then jogged after me, with great difficulty.

How on earth are those thin legs supporting so much weight?

And where did the weight come from?

I fetched another bowl of soup and was walking towards Ms. Lucy's room but Ash started claiming me and I tripped and fell and the bowl of soup shattered on the floor.

I stood up and looked at the foot long, grey animal as it lay on my feet.

I rolled my eyes...

This cat will never let me take that soup, will he?

I got it!

Ms. Lucy saw me hemmed within four huge, hefty guards as I slowly brought a bowl towards her.

They dispersed when we entered the room and I brought the soup to her.

"Aww, Tommy, you shouldn't have."

"Come on, you've taken care of me with no catch and payed my tutoring fees, it's the least I can do."

She took a spoon and her pretty face twisted, though it was still very beautiful...

"It's cold."

"What?"

I tasted it and half closed my eyes then sprinted to the microwave. When I got back with the hot soup, at long last, the guards dispersed and I saw Lucille by her mom, reading her a card.

"Thank you honey..."She sniffed,"I feel a lot better already."

I took the soup to her and she took a spoon and smiled at me...

"Thank you Tommy."She said with a clearer voice.

She blew her nose and took a deep, suffocating breath.

The thing I forgot to say was that Lucille and I were wearing nose masks.

I left to study. Though I looked intently at the book, I couldn't remember anything, I was too focused on how I would rescue Mark, without being in danger.

The only way is to get Oleh and Mr. Nelson arrested, but we didn't have any proof... or did we?

Mark could be a key witness and the camera feed from Mark's mansion could reveal some of the workers of Oleh, who, when interrogated enough, could reveal the fact that they worked for Mr. Nelson and Oleh.

I had to get back to the mansion...

I went out with my skateboard and started sidewalk surfing through the city.

I went to the police station and reported the news and they helped!

Just kidding, they didn't believe me.

"But I'm serious! You can send a small squad with me to the mansion that was just exploded, please!"

The cop looked at me with everything but patience and trust in her eyes and said,"Listen kid, if you want to prank us, you could be sent to Juvenile detention."

"Okay and I accept it, please?"

She slowly picked up the phone and ordered a squad for me.

I was so excited as the cops drove with me in their car.

Mark was going to be free!

Finally!

We got to the house and the cops connected one of the cameras to a laptop and...

Static.

They tried the others, frowning more deeply with every camera they tried.

I had my fingers crossed for the last one and...

It didn't work.