In the second of his adventure series, Sheriff McRattripper meets his old friend Charlie Cashpaws who brings him a new mystery to solve.
It was a cool, sunny morning in Catnada Ranch. The crows were sitting on the rooftop of ‘Meow Meow Bakery’ and cawing more loudly than ever. The sun shone on all the houses and shops of Catnada, and also on Sheriff McRattripper office.
Inside, the Sheriff was usually sitting in his cosy red armchair, but today was different. He was pacing up and down as though he were expecting someone. And, he was right…
The door opened and there standing in front of the Sheriff was his old friend, Charlie Cashpaws. He was a plump, handsome young cat-lad who was a rich farmer and a gambler on the sly. Half of Catnada farm belonged to him. I mentioned him as a rich man, so he wore an expensive leather jacket with a pure white shirt. On his waist was a belt that held two rough revolvers.
“Late as usual…” said the Sheriff.
“Sheriff”, said Charlie, tipping his hat, “I need your help very badly!” “Okay then”, said Rattripper, “Elliot, go get our guest some fresh milk”. Elliot nodded and went scurrying along and came back with some white milk. The milk was as white as Charlie’s white shirt. Elliot put the milk carefully down on Sheriff’s desk and ran away.
The Sheriff gestured Cashpaws to sit and he obeyed. “So, what brings you here?”
“Sheriff, you know how much I love my farm. I always pay attention to every acre of my land, to the cows, to the horse and pigs. Last night, somebody had already milked my cows and stolen the milk. This morning when my cattleman tried to milk them, nothing comes! It was a catastrophe! Sheriff, I-I –I will be ruined! Please help me. Plea…”
“Now, now Charlie…” said the Sheriff, trying to help his best friend. “ Don’t worry, I will help you, and I promise that your thief will be caught within this day. Just one thing, in order to catch this thief, I must come to your farm and stay there, only then can we get our culprit. Do you agree?”
“I would give a paw and tail to get that thief”, yelled Cashpaws. “Now that’s settled, why don’t we go to the farm then?” Together they set out to Charlie’s farm.
They rode their horses towards Cashpaws’ farm.
The farm was in the heart of the ranch. It was a very pleasant place to live in as you could see the sunset perfectly like a giant ball of fire sinking down below. There was greenery all around. In the middle of the farm there was a big red barn which had bales of hay for the cows to eat. It also had some space for Charlie’s house.
“First off sheriff, let me give you a tour of the farm” said Cashpaws proudly. “Let us go to the pig pen first.” The pig pen was a small area bordered with a wooden fence. Inside it were pigs of all sorts of colours. They looked starved and very unhappy.
“Sheriff, let me introduce you to Cassidy Clementine. She looks after our pigs” said Cashpaws, pointing at a young cat-woman who wore pig tails. She was dressed in a striped red T- shirt and denim overalls. “Cassidy, I’d like you to meet Sheriff McRattripper. He will be staying with us.” “Hmmm…?” said Cassidy. She looked at them as though none of them existed “She’s always like that. Don’t bother”, sighed Cashpaws. “C’mon lets go to the stables”.
The stables were very unlike the pig pen. It was a big place with hay all around. The horses looked big and strong as though they were ready to race. “Sheriff”, said Charlie. “This is Norman Prowler, The man who takes care of the stables”. “Howdy Sheriff,” said Prowler. He was a tall man. His eyes were very alert. He wore a very suspicious look in his eyes. “He’s definitely the man for the job” said Cashpaws proudly.
“You see sheriff, our horses tend to be mischievous sometimes, but with Norman around, they can’t even get out of their stables. His eyesight moves here and there looking at every horse in the stables”. The sheriff nodded approvingly. “The last part of the tour is the cowshed.” Said Cashpaws. “You’re going to love this place, sheriff.”
The cow shed had a wooden roof and some thin pillars holding it. There were only four cows bending their necks to eat the hay lined in front of them. These cows were the makers of the famous E.L.E.F.P.N.M milk which was used to make cheese. The other cows were grazing in the fields nearby.
“Sheriff, this is Bill Floyd”, said Cashpaws. Bill Floyd was a plump man who looked very jolly. He wore overalls just like Cassidy Clementine and seemed to have no worries, he looked like he was going to sing Hakuna Matata any time.
“Ah, Floyd,” said the sheriff who at last decided to speak. “Did you notice anything suspicious happening while you were feeding the cows?” “Nope, I didn’t” said Floyd cheerfully. “But I’ll watch out for thieves!” “Alright then,” said Cashpaws. “C’mon sheriff let’s have some fun!”
Sheriff McRattripper and Charlie Cashpaws rode to a tavern where they drank the famous Catnada drink, Meer. It was a mixture of the E.L.E.F.P.N.M milk and some special ingredients. They horse-raced back to the farm and ate dinner which was Peanut soup, some fresh meat and for dessert was Meow Meow bakery’s scrumptious milk croissants. It had been a really fun day!
At midnight, in the cowshed, silent footsteps led to the cows. A shadowy figure was bending over the cows and milking them.
This was no doubt the thief at work, but his plan was about to be sabotaged by none other than Sheriff McRattripper. The alert cat detective was far from asleep and was waiting to see the thief come out of the shadows. The thief came out with a bucket of milk and the moon shone on the milk snitcher’s face.
The Sheriff went back to sleep.
The next morning, Sheriff called all the farm people including Charlie Cashpaws, Cassidy Clementine, Normal Prowler and Bill Floyd. They sat across a table in the barn and waited with anxiety as to what the sheriff was about to reveal.
“Last night, the thief again stole milk from the farm’s cows. I know who it is and why the milk was stolen. I saw you Cassidy Clementine!” Charlie and the others were shocked. Their faces turned pale. Normal Prowler yelled out, “I knew it!”
Cassidy looked as if a lion had roared with an open mouth on her face.
“No, of course not! Why would I even do this?”
“Because”, said the Sheriff, “I noticed the way you treated your pigs. You were careless and did not feed them. It was obvious that you hated your job. You have been trading the milk with the Mouse bandits to get money.”
Cassidy sighed and said, “I wanted to build my own farm one day and make my own cheese. I also want to breed a vast variety of animals. Because of you, snooping detectives, I can’t fulfill my dream at all. I traded the milk I stole with mouse bandits and in return they gave me gold. But not enough for building a farm.”
The Sheriff looked disgusted. “You are not going to be arrested…” he said. “But what you did what was a very bad thing, Cassidy. I expect that you will never do that again”.
“But I still wish I could run my farm!” yelled Cassidy.
“Ummm…I know of a way to solve that problem” interrupted Cashpaws. The sheriff and the others looked at him. “I will give her some money to start her own farm.”
“Thank you! Oh thank you!” said Cassidy. She burst into joyful tears, kneeling in front of Cashpaws.
The Sheriff smiled under his whiskers and said….
“The day at the farm was quite an adventure,
And Charlie gave Cassidy a graceful gesture.
Solving mysteries is very much fun,
But you know me, I’m always on the run.
Wonder what’s next!”
"I'm too fat and old to go out adventure shoppin'. Instead my enemies are bringin me the adventure!"
- Sheriff Mc.Rattripper.
Comments