And Then I Found...

Diana Lynch stroked the soft fur of Reddy, the Belden’s loveable Irish setter.

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” she cooed, scratching the dog behind his ears. A happy Reddy  looked up, causing Diana to laugh.  “With your tongue hanging out, you look like you're smiling.”

She petted Reddy a bit longer until he seemed to have had enough attention.  The next time Diana saw the dog, he was bolting through the clubhouse door, a rare treasure clutched in his mouth.

“Guys!  Guys!”  Diana tried to get the attention of her fellow Bobwhites but nobody was listening to her.

“Guys!” she tried again. “Hey!” She waved her hands through the air.

On that particular sunny day, the group had gathered in their old clubhouse, a structure that had once been the gatehouse for the Wheeler Estate.  After claiming it back from the vegetation that had threatened the old structure, they had made it into a cozy gathering spot, including a stove for heating and a storage space for their unused sports gear.  Now with all the Bobwhites scattered at various colleges, the clubhouse sat vacant most of the time unless the group was holding a rare Bobwhite meeting or an impromptu get-together, as they were this afternoon.

“Guys!” Again, Diana’s shout was ignored.

Sagging down on her bench seat, she studied the extremely boisterous group, their voices raised in a deafening clamor.  To her right sat her boyfriend, Mart.  Across the table from Mart was Trixie, his sister.  The two, as usual, were locked in a fierce battle about something that was no-doubt totally irrelevant.  Diana watched as the two shouted at each other, their faces growing redder as their voices grew louder. “I wonder what they're arguing about?  No, I don’t.  I don’t really care.”  Diana just wanted them to be quiet so she could tell them what was so important.

Unable to get Mart or Trixie’s attention, Diana turned to Honey Wheeler. But Honey, instead of trying to rein in Trixie and Mart or get some degree of order among the Bobwhites was having her own disagreement with Dan.  Diana leaned over Honey’s shoulder and tried to listen in but only caught a few words:  horse, path and code red.  “Code red? That sounds serious.” Concerned, she tried to catch more of the exchange but couldn’t because of  Trixie and Mart’s shouting. “Maybe Jim and Brian know what’s going on.” Diana shook her dark hair off her face then turned to the older Bobwhites.

She opened her mouth to speak to Brian, but was suddenly cut off when he stood up and walked away from the table.  Jim followed and the two disappeared behind the wall that separated the clubhouse from the storage area.

“Guys!  Guys! This is really important.” But again, her words fell on deaf ears.

Diana’s hand slapped the old wooden table.  “Seriously!  Isn’t anybody going to listen to me?

By now, Trixie and Mart had both risen from their seats and were leaning into each other across the table.  In addition to shouting, they had added arm waving and foot stomping to their heated exchange.

“Mart.” Diana pulled at Mart’s arm in an attempt to settle him, but he shrugged her off and continued his tussle with his sister.

“Trixie!” Diana yelled across the table.

But Trixie, in a gesture full of impatience, waved her off.

Diana turned to her other side.  “Honey,” she began.

But Honey, instead of arguing with Dan, was now studying the table where Dan was attempting to draw some kind of an invisible map with his fingers. Diana watched as Dan, with a tapping motion, identified parts of his unseen plot.  As Dan’s fingers drew imaginary paths on the table, Diana watched Honey’s head bobbing in comprehension. As she listened, she concluded the two had been arguing about some trash Dan had found in the Wheeler Preserve and part of that trash included a bunch of empty Mountain Dew Code Red plastic bottles.  Diana sighed in relief. “At least there’s no big crisis brewing in the preserve. But still, can’t they stop for at least a minute and listen to me?”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Diana swiveled around to see if Jim and Brian had returned to the table.  

“Oh, great,” she thought, rolling her eyes.  “Now those two are examining the blades on all the ice skates.  They’ll be doing that all night.  I bet Jim is coming up with a plan to sharpen and recondition them while Brian is debating whether or not the skates are worth the attempt.”

Frustrated, Diana reached across the table and refilled her glass of lemonade from the large thermos that sat in the middle of it.  She picked up a chocolate chip cookie, still warm from Mrs. Belden’s oven.  Sitting back, she took a bite of the cookie, then a sip of her lemonade. “Yum.  Mrs. Belden’s cookies are always so delicious. She can make anything taste good.” Diana assessed the Bobwhites.  “I bet she could even make them shut up without even saying a single word.”  As Diana took another bite, Jim and Brian returned to the table.  Seizing the opportunity, Diana eagerly looked at them.

“Jim. Brian.”

But the two were still locked in their own debate which had shifted from the condition of their ice skates to whether or not they should invest in new skis.  

“Guys!” Diana pounded the table a bit harder.

In response, Brian gave her a quick glance then held up his index finger.

“Wait a minute?” fumed Diana inwardly.  “He wants me to wait a minute while he and Jim debate the purchase of new skis.  Even I can answer that.  No.  Those two never have time to ski so why would they buy new ones?”

Next to her, Mart had taken his seat and was glowering at his sister.  

“Mart?” Diana tugged firmly on his arm.  

Mart looked at Diana, but before she could say anything else, Trixie stood up, leaned over and thumped him on the head.

“Ow!” cried Mart who, in turn, reached across the table and pulled Trixie’s hair.  “That’s what you get for using up the printer cartridge.”

“Printer cartridge!  Is that what those two were arguing about?” Diana shook her head.  “I swear, Trixie and Mart would argue about whether or not the sky was blue.”

“Hey, guys!”  This time, Diana pounded the table harder,  her delicate amethyst bracelet clinking sound against the wood. But nobody paid any attention to her.

Diana poked Honey in the side.  “Honey, I think you…”

But Honey, without even turning her head, patted Diana’s hand.  “Just a minute,” murmured Honey, immediately returning her attention to Dan.  

Diana moved slightly so she could catch the conversation between the two.  When she did, she sat back, her head shaking in disgust.  “Really?  Honey and Dan are debating whether or not a pineapple and ham pizza has the right to be called a pizza?”

“Guys!” yelled Diana, this time standing up in order to command the floor.

But even that did not work,  The conversations and debates continued around her.  Diana sank back down on her seat and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. Suddenly, her violet eyes took on a devious glint.

“And then I found a hundred dollar bill,” she said quietly.

In an instant, the room stilled.  Mart, his mouth open, turned around and stared at her.  Trixie slowly lowered herself into her seat, her eyes wide and wondering.   Honey, her mouth formed into a silent “o”, looked at her in amazement.  Dan’s head snapped up and a look of interested expectation crossed his face. Jim and Brian’s discussion ceased and the two sat up.

“You what?” questioned Mart.  “Where? When?  Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

Diana shrugged.  “I didn’t really find a hundred dollar bill.  I just guessed that if I said that, you all would stop talking so I could tell you something important.”

“What’s so important?” asked Brian.

Diana motioned toward the small shelf that sat behind them.  “You know that extra bag of cookies that was sitting by the window?”

In perfect synchronicity, six heads turned and looked at the empty shelf where Trixie had placed the treat earlier. Then the six sets of eyes flickered back and stared back at Diana.

“I don’t see any cookies,” said Mart.

“That’s because Reddy ran off with them.”

“What?” Mart darted to the door and looked out, his face again red in anger. “Why didn’t you tell anybody?”

Diana sighed in exasperation “Really? I’ve been trying to get your attention since we sat down but couldn’t cut through all the bickering and debating.”

“But...the cookies,” whimpered Mart.  “They’re gone.”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Diana took another bite from her own cookie. “What can I say?  I tried to tell you.”

Sitting back down at the table, Mart dropped his head onto his hands.  “The cookies are gone,” he moaned quietly.

With a slight roll of her eyes, Diana studied the stunned group around the table and realized that now it was the silence inside the clubhouse that was deafening.

 : *************************

Author notes:  This story was written in response to the CWC #28, a picture prompt.  Thank you to the Jix group who came up with this challenge.  Also, a big thank you to my sister for her editing and suggestions.

Code Red-a cherry flavored, highly caffeinated soda drink.

word count-1532