Vampires at Easter Diary of a Snoopy Cat Read online

  VAMPIRES AT

  EASTER

  DIARY OF A SNOOPY CAT

  R.F. KRISTI

  Illustrated by Jorge Valle

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  LEGAL NOTICE

  COPYRIGHT © 2017 BY R.F. KRISTI

  WWW.INCABOOKSERIES.COM

  NO PART OF THIS WORK MAY BE TRANSMITTED OR REPRODUCED BY ANY MEANS OR IN ANY FORMAT, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING RECORDING OR PHOTOCOPYING OR USING ANY FORM OF MANUAL REPRODUCTION, OR WITH ANY INFORMATION STORAGE/RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT OBTAINING PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER OF THIS WORK.

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  PUBLISHED BY: R.F. KRISTI

  (WWW.INCABOOKSERIES.COM) -

  FIRST EDITION

  Copyright © 2017 R.F. Kristi

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN:

  With thanks to

  My Editor

  Amithy Moragoda-Alles

  To Katski

  The Inspiration behind the story

  Contents

  Family Tree

  Take a Peek @ My Family

  Our Detective Agency, Inca & Company

  14 Days Before Easter

  13 Days Before Easter

  12 Days Before Easter

  11 Days Before Easter

  10 Days Before Easter

  09 Days Before Easter

  08 Days Before Easter

  07 Days Before Easter

  06 Days Before Easter

  05 Days Before Easter

  04 Days Before Easter

  03 Days Before Easter

  02 Days Before Easter

  01 Days Before Easter

  Easter Sunday

  My Family Tree

  Queen of Kitties -Inca, the Siberian Detective Cat

  Take A Peek

  @ My Family

  INCA (ME):

  I am a Siberian kitty, and we Siberians are a pretty good-looking bunch.

  I am the natural leader of the Troupe.

  There are several reasons for this. After all,

  I am the eldest and the BIG sis of the furry pack!

  I am a super smart kitty!

  I bet you, you wouldn’t find any kitty smarter than me, even if you swam all the way to China. Mom does not know it, but I AM the TOP STAR around here.

  CARA:

  Cara, a Siamese kitty, is my pretty sister. She, with the magnificent large blue eyes, is the prissy one in our family.

  She is always well-groomed, prim and proper and very attached to Mom.

  She is mom’s pet. She can do no wrong in Mom’s eyes. Yes, Cara loves to suck up to Mom.

  Ugh!

  FROMAGE:

  My brother Fromage is a Tabby-cat. He was named after the French cheese he adores, since fromage means cheese in French.

  Fromage loves cheese, any type of cheese, period. He also considers himself a great cheese expert.

  Fromage is the mascot of our cheese shop. He goes to the shop with Mom every day. He has built himself a following in the cheese-loving circles of London.

  He strongly believes that our cheese shop is a triumph because of him!

  Fromage is accident-prone and in the habit of getting into all types of scrapes. If you find something broken in our household, you can bet your bottom dollar that Fromage was behind it!

  CHARLOTTE:

  Charlotte is a Roborovski dwarf hamster and Fromage’s best buddy.

  She first met Fromage in our cheese shop in Paris and decided to come with us to London on hearing that we were moving there.

  Charlotte is devoted to Fromage despite the number of pickles he gets himself into. I don’t understand this friendship between Fromage and Charlotte. Charlotte is intelligent and sharp, whereas, Fromage is??? … Well, Fromage is Fromage.

  Fromage likes to yap non-stop and Charlotte likes to listen. This may be the main reason why they are good friends.

  Fromage gets jealous if anyone tries to become too friendly with Charlotte.

  MISSY (MOM):

  Mom is a humanoid jointly owned by us.

  The humanoids call her Missy, but she is Mom to us kitties.

  Mom runs our cheese shop. The cheese shop is situated in the heart of Kensington, London. It is modeled on our successful cheese shop in Paris.

  We let Mom get away with thinking that she owns us, although it is us kitties who actually own her.

  Our world revolves around Mom, but she has a bee in her bonnet about things that we kitties never care about.

  Our food

  Our diet is carefully controlled by Mom much against our wishes.

  No amount of twirling and meowing around her feet can change her mind when she prepares dinner. Even looking at her with adoring eyes gets us nowhere.

  Drat!!!! Drat!!!! & Treble Drat!!!

  Mom’s NO! NO! Food List for us Kitties

  No Cream

  No Bacon

  No ice-cream

  No Pizza

  No good stuff!!!!!!

  Our cleanliness

  Mom is a cleanliness freak! When we least expect it, out come our fur-cleaning brushes.

  Fromage tries to hide as soon as she gets these brushes out.

  But Cara puts on her prissy look and actually purrs when Mom brushes her, her blue eyes blinking like two glorious sapphires - aimed solely at Mom.

  Fromage usually snarls “traitor” at her as he dashes under the sofa. But does she care?

  Noooo!

  I pretend to protest too, but I can’t help liking the brush strokes on my fur. In any case, you can’t stop Mom when she gets into her “clean the kitties” mood.

  So why not enjoy it?

  AUNT FLORENCE:

  Aunt Florence is Mom’s humanoid Aunt.

  I am not shy to say that Aunt Florence dotes on me.

  She is the only family Mom has apart from us. Aunt Florence used to live in the cottage we occupy in Kensington, London. Aunt Florence now lives in Provence, a city in the South of France.

  She is an art historian by profession.

  Inca and Company, my Detective Agency

  I am a super-duper cat detective. Inca & Company is the detective agency that I head. The team has already been involved in solving detective mysteries.

  Our fame has spread through London, the rest of England and even reached France.

  NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD A

  PEEK AT MY FAMILY AND MY

  DETECTIVE TEAM - LET’s GET TO

  THE EXCITING STUFF!!!

  Queen of Kitties

  Inca, the Siberian Detective Cat

  14 Days Before Easter

  Sunday, Evening

  What was all the fuss about?

  The word ‘Transylvania’ had come up several times. Mom was on the phone about Transylvania and there were papers strewn around the dining table about Transylvania.

  From glancing at the colorful leaflets, I could make out that Transylvania was a province somewhere in Europe.

  The word ‘Transylvania’ had a nice tone to it - But we, Mom’s family, wondered what was going on.

  We had never heard of Transylvania before Mom started getting all excited about this place.

  My first instinct was to romp over to Monk’s place and have a pow-wow with him and his buddy Terrance. They both lived in a mansion owned by Solo the world-famous detective.

  Monk was a dig
nified Blue Russian cat always sporting a nifty bow-tie.

  Terrance was a well-travelled doggy detective. He always accompanied Solo when he was on a case.

  If Terrance had not heard about this place, no one else would have.

  I was sure of that!

  I dashed over to Monk’s place with Cara and Fromage trailing after me.

  Sunday, Late Evening

  We found Monk and Terrance basking in the warmth of the roaring fire in their enormous library.

  It was a cold winter’s evening.

  Solo and his good friend Inspector Reid were hunched over the chess board. They were so engrossed in their game that they hardly noticed us softly slinking into the library.

  In any case, they were used to seeing us around as Missy our Mom was a good friend of these two gentlemen.

  Fromage had already pushed himself near the fireplace and was stretched out besides Monk whom he hero-worshiped quite unashamedly.

  Terrance wagged his tail in greeting, his mouth stretched in a big smile.

  I never knew a doggy who smiled like Terrance.

  “Woof,” said Terrance politely when he saw us.

  What he actually meant was that it was nice to see us, and his tail wagged furiously. He tends to do this when he sees us.

  I am aware that he liked us even though we are kitties.

  I got down to business immediately.

  “Where on earth is Transylvania? Have you heard of this place before, Terrance?” I asked, my whiskers tingling with inquisitiveness.

  I was impatient to get to the bottom of what Mom was all excited about.

  She had announced to Aunt Florence on Skype that we would move to Transylvania for Easter.

  She had been hired by a wealthy client to cater for an important event in a castle in Transylvania.

  Aunt Florence usually spent Easter with us.

  I had a habit of eavesdropping on all of Mom’s conversations. I had heard Mom inviting Aunt Florence to spend Easter with us in Transylvania, instead of coming to London.

  Hearing this, I had broken the news to Cara and Fromage.

  I am the nosey one in the family, and I made it my business to know everything that went on in it.

  They don’t call me ‘SNOOPY’ Cat for nothing!

  Terrance and Monk both looked up in interest and Terrance cocked his head to one side.

  “Ah…ha!” he said.

  “A very fascinating place though somewhat somber.

  “Transylvania is in central Romania. It’s known for medieval towns, mountainous borders and castles.”

  “Why do you ask, Inca?” chimed Monk.

  “Mom has a gig in Transylvania during Easter,” I responded.

  “She has a wealthy client who wishes to celebrate his birthday party with a Monster theme.

  “He has selected Transylvania as his destination.

  “We are planning to spend Easter Sunday and a few days before Easter Sunday, in Bran Castle.”

  Terrance sat up, his pink tongue gasped and he looked very attentive all of a sudden.

  “Bran Castle!

  ‘‘Solo once had a case in Transylvania and we had a chance to visit Bran Castle.

  “It’s a Gothic fortress associated with the legend of Dracula.”

  “Who is Dracula?” Fromage asked before I could pose the same question.

  Monk piped in quickly –

  “Haven’t you heard of Count Dracula?

  “The story goes that he was a centuries-old vampire, and a Transylvanian nobleman.

  “Unlike the vampires of Eastern European folklore, who are portrayed as repulsive creatures, Count Dracula had been an elegant and charming aristocrat.

  “He had also been a scientist and was said to have been very clever with a mighty brain.

  “He had studied black magic and it is said that he was no common man.

  “He was dead and buried in a great tomb in the chapel of his castle, but according to legend, Dracula had returned from death as a vampire.

  “A vampire who sucks blood off humans!”

  Monk’s meow had gone deep and hushed while he told us about Count Dracula.

  Our collective blood had curdled at his story.

  Cara gave a whimper and stuttered –

  “vampires suck the blood off humans!!!

  “What if he sucks the blood off Mom and Aunt Florence?”

  “It’s only a story, isn’t it Monk?” I yowled, alarmed.

  Fromage stood up from his comfortable position and puffed out his chest –

  “Even if it’s not a story, neither you gals nor Mom have to worry about any old vampire.

  “I will deal with any vampire who dares to come near you.”

  Fromage means well, but he is a podgy little soul, full of goodwill but with far too much bravado.

  I looked at him sternly –

  “Thank you Fromage, your help would be welcome.

  “Don’t forget, I am the eldest and the leader of the Troupe.

  “I will take care of Mom, Aunt Florence and all of us and you will be my second- in-command.

  “Got it?”

  “Right you are sis,” he said as he gave me a salute.

  “We will deal with any vampire that dares to show his face around us.”

  Fromage, the brave and heroic army officer he thought himself to be, saluted his commander after he took his orders.

  Fromage had a vivid imagination which more often than not got him and us into trouble.

  But he did mean well.

  As he accepted that I would be in-charge, I let it pass.

  So that was that!

  We returned to our cottage. Mom had lit a very nice fire and we wanted to enjoy the heat and take a good snooze.

  We were also very interested to hear what Mom had to say about our pending trip to Transylvania.

  That evening Monk joined us. Terrance was on duty and had left on a case with Solo.

  13 Days Before Easter

  Monday, Morning

  The news of our departure had spread like wild fire around the neighborhood.

  While Mom packed, we had several of our friends dropping in. They wished to say goodbye and wish us ‘Bon Voyage’.

  I had decided to hold a meeting of Inca & Company - our last meeting before Easter.

  Monday, Evening

  We met that evening at our usual meeting place – Monk and Terrance’s library.

  We held our meetings in the Library as it was always warm and silent after Solo went to bed.

  Hobbs, Solo’s manservant always lit a fire in the great fireplace because he knew that Monk and Terrance spent the night in the Library.

  But this evening, the large house was well lit and bright.

  Solo had invited Mom over for dinner.

  Present at the dinner were Inspector Reid from Scotland Yard - Solo’s great buddy; Raoul and his dear wife, the Señora – Polo’s Mom and Dad.

  It was therefore a full house that evening with the humanoids having dinner in the large dining room while the members of Inca & Company sat together in the Library.

  Terrance had some good news. He had heard that Solo, Raoul and the Señora had also been invited to the party in Transylvania.

  Whoopee!

  The whole group would arrive in Transylvania a few days before the party with the rest of the guests.

  All the guests would be housed at Bran Castle.

  How thrilling!

  I looked forward to meeting my fellow detectives in Transylvania.

  Not to solve a crime but to enjoy Easter forgetting all about nasty vampires.

  We would have an Easter Egg Hunt!

  At Easter, we always ran around our cottage and garden as we searched for the Easter Eggs hidden by Mom.

  12 Days Before Easter

  Tuesday, Morning

  We cats don’t generally like to travel.

  Actually, the thought of travel gave me the heebie-jeebies.

  But I
had got used to travelling.

  During my short life, we had travelled frequently by car from London to Provence to visit Aunt Florence.

  Moreover, as our original home was in Paris, we were used to travelling from Paris to Kensington, London when Aunt Florence lived where we now live.

  Cara however detested to travel and had to be calmed down at the thought of it.

  Mom had arranged for her two assistants to take over all the specialized cheese and wine that she would need for the party before we arrived.

  Jacques and Genevieve, a young French couple, were not only Mom’s assistants but also owned shares in Mom’s cheese business.

  They would prepare the rest of the food for the party, fresh from local produce.

  Aunt Florence would come up to London and fly over with us to Bucharest where Mom would hire a van for us to reach Bran Castle.

  That was the plan of course, but all good plans tend to have some hiccups.

  This was our first plane ride.

  Charlotte imagined our first plane ride. She whispered to me –

  “Inca, you and I will ride on top of the plane while the rest of the family sits inside.

  “I want a chance to have my head really in the clouds.”

  Little did we know that we would be locked up the whole journey in our small carriers – separated from each other.

  Cara who cuddled up to Mom or me when she was nervous, protested loudly all the way from the airport to inside the plane.

  Some people in the plane gave Mom dirty looks.

  Mom in return glared back and I thought that we would cause a mini uproar in the plane.

  Finally, to calm Mom down, Aunt Florence took Cara into the miniscule toilet in the plane and gave her a good talking to.