Page 26 of Burn Bag

I continued to gently coax them, using a soothing voice as I continued to guide them to my car. Yanking the door open, I started piling them inside just as the clinic door burst open and the owner ran out, yelling at me as soon as he spotted me.

“Shit!” I tossed a few more treats to keep them inside, then slammed the door and ran around to the driver’s side of my 1994 Volkswagen Golf. She was old, but she still got the job done.

“Come on, Delilah!”

I turned the ignition and pleaded as she whined before finally starting up. I shifted in reverse and hit the gas, narrowly avoiding hitting the man chasing me.

“Sorry!” I shouted, raising my hand in apology, though I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing for stealing cats from that wretched man. I had to get out of here, and fast.

I zipped through a yellow light, closing my eyes and squealing as it changed to red. Thankfully, I made it through with no issue and hit the gas, taking me farther and farther from the scene of the crime.

My car started clunking as I took a hard right, and I ran my hand over the dash, coaxing her along. “Come on, girl. I know you still have it in you!”

Delilah clunked again, but kept going, saving my bacon when I was so close to being caught. I pulled into the underground parking and found the closest spot I could to the elevator. As soon as I shut down the car, I closed my eyes and let the silence wash over me, sure I would hear sirens at any moment, coming to surround me and the police there to haul me in and arrest me.

Instead, all I heard were the little meows of the kittens as they climbed around the backseat, desperate for more food. One of them climbed up between the seats and stared up at me with his head cocked to the side, meowing loudly. Smiling, I bent over and nuzzled his head with my nose. The little guy was so cute.

“Alright, fellas. It’s time to go to your new home.”

I grinned as they all started climbing over the seats as if they understood me. Wrangling this many cats at once was going to be difficult, but well worth the effort. It took me fifteen minutes and thelast of my treats to get them into the elevator, but we made it. Now I just had to get them into the apartment.

Luckily, Emily was just leaving and held the door open for me as I darted toward her slack-jawed face.

“What is going on here?”

I winced, knowing I was about to get yelled at. “I had to do it?—”

“Stop!” She held up her hand, her eyes closed as she breathed through her anger. “Daphne, you say this every time?—”

“I know?—”

“And every time you come home with a new animal!” She quickly counted, then spun to me in horror. “Six!”

“Actually, seven,” I winced. “But I had to do it!”

“I can’t do this,” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I swear, I will find them homes as quickly as possible,” I said, rushing over to her as the door swung shut, locking us inside the apartment.

“Do you have any idea how stressed I am right now?”

Actually, I didn’t. I guided her over to the couch and rubbed her back. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I agreed to marry some random man!” she shrieked, surprising the hell out of me. “He’s just someone I met on the internet. I mean, who does that?”

I was shocked because this was not at all like her. This was actually something…well, something I would do. “Um…”

“I mean, I have to be out of my mind! I’ve only met him once!”

I winced, wondering if she at least let him buy her dinner first. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Fine?” she snapped, her head whipping to face me. “When has anything in my life ever been fine?”

I hated to point out that she lived a relatively normal life. She had a good job, she had hobbies and crafts that she did regularly…in general, she seemed pretty happy.

“Why would you agree to marry a man you’ve never met?”

She groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t know. Impulse.”

---