The Mystery of the Screecher Creature

By Karen Petit

Expensive items are disappearing mysteriously from homes in Ivy's neighborhood. The police are stumped. But Ivy puts her best paw forward to lead her gang -- a cat, other pooch pals, and even a canary named Marigold -- in tracking down the thief.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Letter Press
• Release date: Sep 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465796233

Karen Petit

Dr. Karen Petit (www.drkarenpetit.com) has written four books of poetry and four novels. She received an award from the Academy of American Poets and has a Doctorate in English from the University of Rhode Island. For over fourteen years, Petit has been the Writing Center Coordinator and an adjunct faculty member at the Community College of Rhode Island. For more than three decades, this author has been teaching courses at community colleges, colleges, and universities.

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The Mystery of the Screecher Creature

Karen Petit

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2011 Karen Petit

Original Copyright © 2006 Karen Petit

This is a work of fiction. Its events and characters are imaginary except for Ivy, who is very real.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of the publisher.

Published By

Red Letter Press

Columbia Charleston Atlanta

(RedLetterPress@Gmail

http://bit.ly/rnFUr8

To my mother, Helen Miller Leaman Petit,

whose love made so much possible in my life,

and...

Ivy, who healed my heart and inspired new thoughts.

The Mystery of the Screecher Creature

A Shandon’s Ivy League Mystery

Chapter One

Sugarplum Is Missing!

Shandon was shrouded in intrigue.

The neighborhood, with its eclectic mix of quaint bungalows and formal homes in the heart of Capital City, was hardly a haven for high crimes and misdemeanors. But on this summer morning, the dawn air was crackling with all the excitement of the Fourth of July fireworks that the neighborhood would set off in a couple of days.

Lea-Elise and her dog, Ivy, immediately sensed that something was seriously wrong as they left for their morning fitness spin around the neighborhood. The blaring of police sirens on a nearby street was not something that they had ever encountered on their walks.

After all, most people didn’t even have their eyes open when Lea-Elise turned the key to lock her door every morning precisely at 6:15. Not 6:14. And certainly not 6:16. It was always 6:15. You could set your watch by the click of the key, unless it rained. Lea-Elise, a perfectionist by nature and punctual to compulsion, would not walk in the rain.

It dampened her spirits for the day, Lea-Elise had explained to Ivy when she adopted her and had become her new Lady-Guardian. At that time, Lea-Elise, in her usual chatty way, had discussed with Ivy the minute-by-minute details of her daily routine.

It seemed that Lea-Elise walked to relieve the stress in her life and to keep her waistline from expanding. Ivy wasn’t quite sure she understood why her Lady-Guardian seemed to have so much distress and stress, but humans, after all, were a confusing bunch.

However, their walks were in line with Ivy’s Sweet PEAs, short for People Existing Among Animals. Ivy had created these rules to help her cope when the humans around her were out of control or to help her make sense of the human world.

Sweet PEA 8 was Run and Play Every Day. And her walks with Lea-Elise were a good way to start the day and to keep the two girls in good shape.

To Ivy, her Lady-Guardian was lovely and sweet. Lea-Elise’s hair was streaked with gold, and her green eyes sparkled when she laughed and, most importantly, when Ivy placed her head against Lea-Elise’s hand.

Ivy had been in her Shandon home for only a few months, and she still had so much to learn about her new Lady-Guardian and their neighborhood. However, Ivy had quickly realized that one of Lea-Elise’s little indulgences was the joy of snuggling under the covers of her big four-poster bed for a few extra minutes of beauty sleep on rainy

mornings. Ivy, too, had come to savor the wonderful tranquility of listening to the rain against their bedroom window. It was a time when the two of them, just the girls, would take comfort in a day off from their routine.

But on this summer morning, rain had eluded them, and Ivy and Lea-Elise had just left the cobblestone entrance of their townhouse when they saw blue lights flashing against the pink haze of the morning sky. The lights appeared to be just around the corner from their street, and rather than their usual quick turn to the right, Lea-Elise pulled Ivy to the left.

Come on, Ivy Girl, she beckoned.

Ivy didn’t know why Lea-Elise sometimes called her by that name. It sounded so California-ish, and Lea-Elise was clearly a lady of the South. But whatever, it had a ring of friendliness known only to the two of them that Ivy liked.

Ivy sensed that the lights worried Lea-Elise, so she walked as quickly as her paws and Lea-Elise’s Nikes would carry them. Suddenly, they came upon the spectacle.

Ivy easily counted 10 blue and white police cars parked in front of the big white house at the corner and saw police officers in dark uniforms all over the place. Men, women and children, some of them still dressed in their bathrobes, were gathering in the street. Ivy barely recognized some of her neighbors. They looked so different with their hair standing in so many different directions.

Wonder what it is, Ivy, Lea-Elise said.

Ivy wasn’t sure. So she barked, hoping to catch the attention of Spooky, a huge cat whose fluffy fur was as black as Ivy’s. Spooky was crouched next to the front step where police officers were walking back and forth.

He let out a soft meow, signaling Ivy to be quiet. He didn’t want anyone to see him, and Ivy was glad that Spooky was close enough to get the scoop on what was happening. Ivy didn’t quite know how to take Spooky’s sneaky ways, but she had to give the cat credit. He always had his paws on the pulse of Shandon.

Lea-Elise pulled on Ivy’s collar, and they moved a little way down the street to see Miss Darla, who lived in the big white house. Ivy was sure that Miss Darla had lived in Shandon forever because Lea-Elise always said, If you want to know something, call Miss Darla. She knows it all.

Miss Darla, a sight to behold in her long, flowing robe with pink flamingos and palm trees, was waving madly to them. Did you hear? Did you hear?

Hear what! Lea-Elise exclaimed as she walked quickly with Ivy toward Miss Darla.

We’ve been robbed! We’ve been robbed! I mean, I’ve been robbed!

Ivy couldn’t help but stare. Miss Darla looked so pale this morning. She was missing her very red blush, which Lea-Elise politely called Miss Darla’s beautiful rosy cheeks. And Miss Darla’s white hair, usually perfectly styled, was sticking up all over her head like hay in a freshly mowed pasture.

Ivy didn’t quite know how to take Spooky’s sneaky ways, but she had to give the cat credit. He always had his paws on the pulse of Shandon.

As Miss Darla waved her hands wildly in the air to explain what was happening, Ivy and Lea-Elise saw the same thing at the same time.

Ivy barked, and Lea-Elise screamed. Darla, darling, where is your Sugarplum?

At that moment, Miss Darla got very pale, and then more pale. She started trembling. And then she wailed. Oh, no! It’s gone. I thought I had it on last night. But I guess I took it off. Help me!

Ivy didn’t know if she should be concerned about Miss Darla fainting and crashing to the ground or the ring. But the magnificent pink diamond, big as the top of a salt-shaker, was gone from her hand. It was the ring that Daddy Arnold, Miss Darla’s fourth and final husband, had given her after his safari trip to Kenya. Miss Darla wore it everywhere, to the grocery store to church to the post office. If you saw Miss Darla, you couldn’t miss THE RING.

She called it Sugarplum, and, according to Lea-Elise, it was the last gift of jewelry Daddy Arnold had given Miss Darla. It was her favorite memory of him, Lea-Elise would say fondly, though Ivy had no idea why anyone would give a ring a name.

Humans could be so bewildering.

Worried about their friend’s swooning spell, Ivy jerked away from Lea-Elise and fell to the ground to protect Miss Darla from hitting the hard sidewalk. She closed her big blue eyes tightly, not wanting to know when she would take the hit. Lea-Elise, realizing her friend and her pet were in danger, let out a shriek so shrill that Ivy was sure that the red, white and blue stained-glass door at Mayor Bob’s house across the street must have cracked. Ivy halfway opened her eyes to look at Lea-Elise, and just as Miss Darla was about to fall, a man appeared from nowhere and caught the withering matron before she collapsed on Ivy.

Relieved, Ivy let out a heavy sigh, and Lea-Elise knelt down to put her arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Oh, Ivy! What a brave girl to try and help Miss Darla.

Lea-Elise was shaking as she held tightly to Ivy. But Ivy could tell that the man was calm, in spite of trying to hold onto Miss Darla whose extra pounds had to be a strain. Unlike Lea-Elise who always walked and always was on the newest diet, except when she went to parties or splurged on ice cream, Miss Darla hadn’t worried much about her weight. She always had a new box of Godiva chocolates wrapped in beautiful gold foil whenever Lea-Elise and Ivy visited. Although dogs aren’t supposed to eat much chocolate, Miss Darla would let Ivy choose one from the box. Ivy was partial to the white chocolate truffles filled with gooey dark chocolate.

It’s OK, ladies, the man said about the same time that a man from the ambulance came running over.

Ivy looked at the man in jeans and a blue T-shirt. He was handsome in a rugged sort of human way with salt-and-pepper hair and big brown eyes. He had a shiny badge hooked to his belt and a gun, and Ivy figured that he must one of the policemen. Or maybe he was a special agent for the government, she thought, like the ones she and Lea-Elise had seen on their favorite TV mystery shows.

Then, another man from the ambulance came running over with a stretcher for Miss Darla, and for a few moments people and police were running around in a hurried state of confusion. Ivy and Lea-Elise stayed put quietly and watched the men put Miss Darla on a stretcher. They took her over to a shady area of her garden.

The man with the badge knelt down next to them and stroked the top of Ivy’s head.

You’ve got a pretty great dog, here, he said, looking at Lea-Elise.

Ivy is the perfect dog, and I am the luckiest person in the world to have her, Lea-Elise said proudly as she looked into the man’s friendly eyes.

The words surrounded Ivy with such warmth and love that she snuggled closer to her Lady-Guardian’s leg. Ivy felt so special to have been adopted by Lea-Elise when her first Guardians, Miss Jane and Mr. Greg, had to move. They were very cosmopolitan people who jetted back and forth across the ocean lots of times. Miss Jane would sit on the floor with Ivy and show her pictures of the fabulous cities where they had visited. Ivy had learned all about the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tower of London, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Running of the Bulls in Spain, and so many other wonderful places and adventures. Miss Jane and Mr. Greg lived a life of great romance and travel, Ivy thought.

At times, Ivy wished that she could go, too, but she wasn’t sure that flying in an airplane was something that she wanted to try. In the end, Ivy decided, having all paws securely on the ground was probably best for her.

But one day, Mr. Greg got a really terribly important job in another city – the president of something very major, like the president of money – and he and Miss Jane made plans to move. Ivy didn’t understand all of it, but she fully understood that she would have to go to a new home.

Miss Jane had told her all about the move one morning over biscuits and bacon strips. Ivy couldn’t feel too bad because she knew that Miss Jane was so worried about leaving her behind. But when tears fell from Miss Jane’s blue eyes and ran down the cheeks of her sweet face, Ivy couldn’t help but be sad, too. Sometimes she felt as though it were raining in her heart.

Then, right when Miss Jane was packing all of those boxes to move, a woman named Lea-Elise, who worked in an office near Miss Jane’s, heard about the Ivy dilemma and said she would like to meet Ivy. So Miss Jane arranged a play date for Ivy and the possible new Lady-Guardian.

In spite of the many brown boxes stacked to the ceiling, all of which hindered Ivy’s ability to run and show off for Lea-Elise, it was friendship at first sight for both of them. Ivy considered it a good sign, too, that Lea-Elise had arrived with honey-flavored dog biscuits just for her. Clearly, this was a human who could be trained in the way of proper petsmanship.

Sure, Ivy had been a little scared at first about moving to a new neighborhood. But Sweet PEA 4 was Accept change. It happens every day. And Ivy had learned that change could be good, even when it shook up her life a bit.

Lea-Elise had explained while driving through the traffic that Ivy would have lots of dogs living close by who would be new friends. She promised to love Ivy as much as Miss Jane and Mr. Greg had.

A true Lady-Guardian, Lea-Elise had kept her promises, and now she and Ivy were facing the challenges of a real mystery, too. Together! It was a new experience for Ivy, and one that seemed nearly as exciting as all of those adventures that Miss Jane and Mr. Greg had had on their trips.

My name is Dave, the man said eventually, and I’m the head of the detective unit for Shandon.

The Number One detective! How very special, Ivy thought, exactly like their favorite TV show, Law and Order! She and Lea-Elise watched faithfully every Wednesday. They had detectives on that show, too. But Ivy had never known a real detective.

I’m Lea-Elise. And this, of course, is Ivy.

The man over there said that you are the president of the neighborhood association and that you know the victim pretty well, he said.

No, I’m only the president of the College Alley Home Association over there, Lea-Elise said, pointing down College Avenue in the direction of their home and the other 20 townhouses around them. But I am a very good friend of Miss Darla’s – Mrs. Darla Norman, that is. All of this is so upsetting. What happened?

Ivy got a close look at Detective Dave. He seemed nice enough. He was taking notes, but he kept looking awfully close at her Lady-Guardian, and Ivy had to wonder what he was thinking. She wished that Lea-Elise had on her makeup and one of the colorful swirly skirts that she liked to wear. Instead, she had on the same boring white T-shirt and gray shorts that she wore every day to