Stages of Grey by Clea Simon

Author:Clea Simon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780105598
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2014-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY

Chris was waiting on the corner when she got there, ten minutes later, wool cap pulled low over his ears and a flashlight in his gloved hand.

‘I thought we might need this,’ he said, as they turned off Mass Ave. ‘Especially if we find any small spaces.’

‘Thanks, sweetie.’ Dulcie looked up at him. ‘I wonder if anyone else is coming?’

‘Jerry was here a few minutes ago.’ He nodded back toward the Square. ‘Trista sent him off to get some chicken fingers from the Hong Kong.’

‘What?’ This was too much. ‘He went out for food?’

‘For the trap.’ Jerry appeared, jogging around the corner, a white take-out container in hand.

‘What trap?’ Dulcie was at a loss. Jerry, pausing to catch his breath, only nodded.

‘This trap.’ Trista appeared, holding up a boxy wire cage. ‘Sorry I’m late. Chris filled us in on what was happening with that cat – Gus – and I remembered that they use these in the bio labs. Don’t worry.’ She saw Dulcie’s look. ‘It’s humane. See?’ With one hand she pushed the catch, so that the wire gate fell. ‘If we can’t find him, we bait this with the chicken. If he’s out here, he’ll be hungry.’

Dulcie opened her mouth, but Trista wasn’t done. ‘We’ll put it someplace sheltered – don’t worry, Dulce. Storm or no, we’ll get him.’

‘Thanks.’ Dulcie looked at her take-charge friend. ‘Really.’

‘No problemo, kid.’ Trista reached over with her free hand and hugged Dulcie. ‘We’re all in this together.’

For a while, it didn’t seem to matter. Working their way down the street in pairs, they looked under every loose bit of paper and into any crevice they could find where a scared feline might be hiding. The first alley, by the ice-cream shop, had been a mess, and with the late afternoon shadows already blanketing the narrow space, Dulcie had been particularly grateful for Chris’s flashlight. A slight vibration – the scurry of something fleeing – had briefly gotten her hopes up, but Chris had stepped ahead, pulling the vibrating sheet of soggy cardboard that had moved in such a promising way away from the brick wall. The tiny black eyes that stared back were nothing like a cat’s, and Dulcie had had to swallow her revulsion to keep looking.

‘Would a rat be here if Gus were here?’ she asked her friends.

‘I don’t think they’re afraid of anything,’ Jerry responded, a conclusion Chris supported with a nod.

Gritting her teeth, Dulcie moved down to the end of the alley. The large dumpster there had a closely fitted lid, but Dulcie lifted it anyway.

‘I don’t think a cat could do that.’ Trista, coming up behind her, nearly startled her into dropping it.

‘No, but people can be mean.’ Dulcie didn’t need to explain more. Trista, who’d also brought a flashlight, was shining it down into the corners of the cavernous metal bin. It was, Dulcie was happy to see, empty, and she let the lid back down with a bang.

‘Well, that should’ve woken anybody up.’ Trista was already on her knees, peering under the bin.

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