The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby

By Dawn Vogel

Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, girl detectives, investigate a break-in at their family's mechanical garden, and discover the culprit is a mechanical cat. After learning that the mechanical cat has only a limited power supply, they must find the cat to return it to its owner. But Dover is a big place, and there are Built Boys, a carnival, and a man called Solomon standing in their way. They'll need help from Inspector Gaspard Greymoor and his constables in order to rescue the mechanical cat before it's too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DefCon One Publishing
• Release date: Jul 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310517600

Dawn Vogel

Dawn Vogel has been published as a short fiction author and an editor of both fiction and non-fiction. Her academic background is in history, so it’s not surprising that much of her fiction is set in earlier times. By day, she edits reports for historians and archaeologists. In her alleged spare time, she runs a craft business, helps edit Mad Scientist Journal, and tries to find time for writing. She lives in Seattle with her awesome husband (and fellow author), Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats.

Book preview

The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby

by Dawn Vogel

Cover Illustration and Layout by Dawn Vogel

Copyright 2016 Dawn Vogel

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

DEDICATION

To Chloe, who accidentally invented the mechanical garden, and to Darci-Anna, Lila, and Paige, who might like to live there.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

About the Author/Artist

________________________________________

Acknowledgements

Writing a novel, even one as brief as this, is no easy task. Without a trip to the zoo with Jeremy Zimmerman and Nathan Crowder, I would never have gotten the idea to write it. Shirley Vogel (as both my mom and an early reader), Kath Nyborg, and Torrey Podmajersky helped me get it into good shape. My awesome husband, Jeremy Zimmerman, has helped me every step of the way, from the outline to the layout of the finished product. Without him, this book would not exist.

Chapter 1

Chrysanthemum awoke to scrambling sounds on the roof above her bed. She and her older sister, Marigold, had just gotten a bunk bed in their room, and Chrysanthemum, who was eight years old, had insisted on sleeping on the top bunk. But now, with a strange sound inches away from her face, she began to rethink her position. Gripping the edge of the top bunk, she lowered the top half of her body toward where Marigold was sleeping.

Marigold! she hissed. Wake up!

Marigold rubbed a hand across her eyes and blinked a few times. Why are you upside down, Chryssie?

There's something on the roof! Right above us!

It's probably the birds. Grandfather said he just activated a new batch yesterday. Marigold yawned and rolled over. Go back to sleep.

Chrysanthemum sighed. Marigold was twelve, and always had a logical explanation for the strange things Chrysanthemum saw and heard around their home in the mechanical garden.

All of Grandfather Brecht's creations in the mechanical garden were not only works of art, but also scientific marvels. He had recently begun fashioning clockwork animals to help out with some of the simple chores throughout the garden, to allow the Marsh family more time to pursue other interests. Chrysanthemum planned to catalog the various animals and observe the changes that occurred in them over time, while Marigold intended to study the ways in which the mechanical animals interacted with the photoelectric flowers.

Again, something or someone scrambled across the rooftop. Was that claws? Marigold squeaked, her voice muffled by her pillow.

It sounded like it, Chrysanthemum said. She climbed down the ladder from the top bunk, while Marigold got out of her bed. The two sisters tiptoed to the window.

Anyone who knew Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh would be quick to tell you that the girls might be sisters, but their first appearances were not much alike. Chrysanthemum was shorter and plumper, with curly light brown hair that never behaved. Marigold was tall for her age and thinner, with darker brown hair that barely curled. It was only when you looked closely at the girls' faces that you noticed the similarities--slightly upturned noses with a sprinkling of freckles, firm chins, and warm brown eyes.

Their personalities exhibited similarities and differences in much the same way. While both of the girls were interested in detective work and solving crimes, they took varied approaches to techniques. But at the moment, both of them were more frightened than proper detectives should be.

Chrysanthemum pulled back the curtain just far enough for her and Marigold to peek out their bedroom window. A chain of linked metal pieces, curled into a hook, hung down from the roofline.

That looks like a cat's tail, Marigold whispered.

You're right. But we don't have any cats or other predators in the garden. Grandfather said they would chase all of the other mechanical animals away.

Marigold nodded in agreement.

So how did it get here? Chrysanthemum asked.

I don't know. Marigold sighed. I guess this means we're going to investigate.

Chrysanthemum chewed at her lip before responding, thinking over the options. Yes, I suppose we had better. But I'd feel much better about the prospect if this cat thing would go away first.

A moment later, the claws again scraped across the rooftop, and whatever was attached to them leapt to the ground. The girls caught a glimpse of sleek bright metal, glistening in the moonlight that filtered through the high glass roof of the mechanical garden, but they did not get a good look at the shape of the creature.

Well, at least now we should be safe to climb out the window, Chrysanthemum said.

~

Gravel crunched underfoot as Chrysanthemum and Marigold made their way down the garden path in search of the strange cat. All around them, their grandfather's mechanical floral creations slept, programmed to react like normal flowers responded to the sun. Even the mechanical animals of the garden were quiet at night. The garden was still, except for the two girls.

Where do you suppose it is? Marigold asked in a whisper.

Chrysanthemum shrugged, frustration creasing her brow. She scanned the path ahead of them and the flower beds to either side, looking for clues. But the cat had left no trace of its passage, at least not on this particular path. A vast network of trails crisscrossed the garden, and the cat could have gone in any direction after it leapt down from the roof of the house.

Should we split up? Marigold asked.

No, I think it's best we stick together. Chrysanthemum reached for Marigold's hand, which her older sister gladly gave.

Oh, good, Marigold said. She was not afraid of being out in the garden at night most of the time, but with some sort of metal cat prowling the grounds, the prospect was more frightening. Now, if you were a cat in the garden, where would you go?

I'd look for somewhere warm, Chrysanthemum said. But I'm not certain which plant would be the warmest one at night.

"Grandfather's sunflowers absorb the most solar energy on sunny days. So