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I get down on hands and knees, listening.
And there it is again, the faintest meow.
“Open all the cabinets,” I tell Ensley.
We swing all the doors, pushing aside pots and pans and plastic bowls. But no Sasha.
The noise, though, makes her cries louder.
“Is she in the dishwasher?” Ensley asks.
It’s improbable, but I open it anyway. Empty.
“Is she under it?” Ensley asks.
I lie flat on the floor. “There’s a gap here in the cover over the motor.” I fumble with the metal shield and finally pull it off.
At first I can’t see anything, then finally the barest light glints off a pair of wide, frightened eyes.
“How did you get back there, cat?” I ask. I reach in.
She can’t move, but I get to her scruff and pull her out.
She looks pitiful. Her white fur is smeared with oil and grease.
“Is she okay?” Ensley asks.
I feel along her neck and joints and belly. “She seems fine.”
She tries to lick herself, but I pull her head aside. “No cleaning this up,” I say. “That’s motor oil.”
“Do you have some Dawn soap?” Ensley asks. “That will get the grease out.”
“It’s going to take a while.”
She nods. “I’m up for it.”
And she is. She covers her gold dress with an apron, and I strip off my shirt and jacket. It takes both of us to keep Sasha in the sink as we wash out the grease, then rinse out the soap so that it’s safe for her to groom. The process takes hours as she keeps trying to escape, and her long hair is difficult to clean.
When we finally curl up on the sofa, the cat between us wrapped in a towel, it feels like we’ve been in battle.
“One cat can make a lot of trouble,” Ensley says. She rests her head on my shoulder.
“She’s definitely using up her nine lives.” I want to kick myself after saying it, since Ensley’s mom is dead, and this is her namesake.
But Ensley’s eyes are closed. I tilt my head to look at her.
She’s asleep.
I shift so that she’s resting more securely. Sasha stretches out a paw and lays it delicately on Ensley’s shoulder.
It’s definitely not how I expected the evening to go.
But it’s not bad.
Not bad at all.
Chapter 27
