The Neighbourhood Cat Burglar

Chapter 4

And so, the stakeout was taking place. Barnaby had met you behind Howdy's with the snacks you'd compromised on, but... it was late, and he looked less than wholly enthused as you seemed to be. Not angry, just tired.

A big, hearty yawn proved that. He smacked his lips dramatically and then reached for one of the snacks with a lot of sugar, probably hoping to wake himself up some.

"You know, whoever stole the apples did steal a lot of them, and it's only been a few days. How do we know they'll even want or need more right now?" He unwrapped the snack from its paper and popped the whole thing in his mouth, barely even chewing before he swallowed it. A finger pointed at you. "If nothing happens in a couple of hours, promise me you'll forget about this whole thing?"

"But--"

"No buts. Howdy's lost stock from wild animals who've gotten into his store before. I'm sure he would be able to prevent this from happening again, too."

You thought for a moment, realising Barnaby was right. You hadn't been told about any of the previous times this had happened, but it made sense. In a neighbourhood made out of eight puppets and a living house, where everyone knew everyone, you were still the odd one out of the group.

You looked up at Barnaby, ready to apologise, when you suddenly heard something from the front of the store, and Barnaby seemed to, too. He stood up from the grass, holding a paw out to signal, "Wait here." But he should have known you wouldn't listen.

Standing to your own two feet, you followed him, peeking around the side of the blue, fuzzy dog to see the front door.

Howdy was standing there with Wally, both of them staring at the door; Howdy was wearing a perplexed look on his face, his under eyes dark from what you assumed as being woken up, though there had been no sound, so maybe he just hadn't been to bed, yet.

"What's going on out here?" Barnaby asked, looking between Howdy and Wally, his eyes lingering on the smaller of the pair a little longer.

Wally was holding onto the clothes he'd given you, looking freshly washed and soft in his hands, thanks to Howdy.

"Could ask you two the same thing," Wally stated, the same calm intonation as always. He didn't look nearly as tired as Howdy or Barnaby. "But let me guess: Waiting to see if the new shipment of apples get stolen?"

"Yeah, actually." Barnaby nodded.

"Well, you're too late, I'm afraid. They disappeared just after I closed up," Howdy said, to which you groaned and walked out to look through the window. Lo and behold, the apple display was empty. "I was just in the back washing up Wally's painting clothes to be nice, and when I was done and went to the front of the store to phone him, they were already gone. I didn't hear nothing, either. It's like they're simply disappearing!"

His four arms crossed and he started to try and calm himself down with deep breaths.

Wally looked directly up at you. "So, you see, it couldn't have been me as I didn't get here until now."

"I'm sorry, Wally. I didn't mean to blame you so harshly." You looked away, feeling a little ashamed. "But... if it really wasn't you, then who?"

"We'll figure it out, neighbour. Don't you worry," Wally assured, his smile growing, but you weren't looking. He walked up to you, fiddling with the clothes in his arms for a moment so that he had a free hand and then patted you on the arm. "How about you get some sleep? You look exhausted."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Barnaby yawned again loudly from behind you, then placed a paw on your shoulder. "Come on, we'll grab the snacks and then I'll walk you home."