A/N: ya'll don't realize just how lucky you are. A friend of mine suggested I leave a bit out at the end of the last chapter, stop it right were the Colonel says "And?" before Janet replies. I was thinking about it, honestly, would have been deliciously evil... But after all the evilness in the past few chapters, for those of you that didn't run away screaming, this is your reward for sticking it out with me.

The bit on finding the body of a cat the looked like Sam was inspired by a story told to me by my Aunt Gini and Uncle Phil. They had a cat named Spider (who was actually the daughter of Sam, that old smelly cat I told you about in previous chapters) Spider was a striped brown tabby. Not long after moving, Spider was allowed outside, and liked to roam far and wide. One night, Spider didn't come back. Worried, my aunt and uncle went looking for her. On the side of the road was a body, it had stripes and was about the right color, but little was recognizable. It did have a large tail, and they decided that poor Spider must have gotten very scared before getting hit, and her tail had grown large and fluffy. Sadly, they took the little body home and buried it. So you can imagine their surprise when later that night, glowing eyes appeared, and Spider came home! They had buried a raccoon!

Daniel recovered first, and spoke the question that was running through all their minds. "If that's not Sam," he said, pushing up his glasses, "Then where is she?"


Chapter 39

Charles Roberts looked behind him, watching his wife's sure progress over the field. Checking on the fields was something he and Mary always did the morning after any storm. The low fields had a tendency to flood when the streambed overflowed. And sometimes one of the smaller calves would wander too far into the strong current or stumble on the weakened embankment.

He smiled at his wife as she joined him where he'd paused, the small rise giving a good vantage point of the low lying fields. Charles' heart skipped a beat as his wife smiled back. In his mind she was just as beautiful as the day she'd first smiled at him, over 50 years ago. It had taken him nearly two years to convince her of his love, and she had been his ever since. As they grew older, and their bodies aged, he simply decided she had grown more beautiful.

Mary caught him watching her and smiled in the quizzical way she had. "What are you staring at me like that for? Did I forget to button my blouse again?" Mary jokingly looked down at her shirt. She was smiling though, her cheeks pink in the cool fall morning air.

"I'm just admiring how beautiful you looked in the morning sunlight. A man can admire his wife right?" Charles looked tenderly at his wife as he took her hand.

Mary only laughed. "If you think this body is beautiful, you must need stronger glasses! Come! Lets finish and get back inside where it's warm. These old bones prefer the fireside to the field these days!" Mary paused as something caught her eye.

Catching her sudden change in posture, Charles looked in the direction his wife was looking but he couldn't see anything. After so many years together, Mary sensed his unasked question, and pointed. Charles still didn't see anything but mud and rocks, so Mary just shook her head, and led him down to the streambed by the hand he still held.

As they approached, Charles began to see what Mary had seen from further back. At first he'd thought it was just a bit of mud or rocks, or bit of debris. There was always plenty of that after a storm. But as they neared, he could tell there was something different about it.

The little thing was stretched out, it had obviously struggled to pull itself out of the stream and was covered in mud, making it hard to recognize. Charles realized what it was as his wife spoke. She'd always been quicker at things than him.

"Oh my, Charles, poor little kitty. The poor thing, it must have fallen in the stream and drowned last night, all alone." Mary's tone held a not of sadness. She'd always felt for the little creatures. She still refused to be present during any of the butchering, although she'd help after the animal was taken care of.

Charles was too busy examining the small creature to reply. He'd made a rather startling discovery. Briefly he debated not telling his wife, she had a tendency to want to adopt all the strays, mend their broken wings and things. The cat looked too far-gone to survive much longer, and he knew it would just break her heart all over again. But he wasn't the type of man to drown kittens, nor was he the type to leave an animal hurting. He sighed.

"It's not dead Mary, I don't know how, but its still breathing." He looked up in time to see the expression of hope cross her face. God she was beautiful.

"Oh Charles, we have to help it, we can't just leave it here to die cold and alone. We just can't." Mary clutched her husband's arm.

Charles knew his wife's mind was made up; there would be no arguing and no turning back. Sighing, he shrugged off his thick warm over shirt, and stooped, carefully gathering the filthy animal and wrapping it securely in the flannel. It didn't even stir or make a sound as he moved it. Up close, he could see something was wrapped about its head and mouth, but through the mud he didn't know what it was. Whatever, it could wait until they were all inside and warmed up. He used a corner of his shirt to make sure the cat's mouth and nose were clear of mud, before speaking to his wife again.

"Let's get it inside Mary, and we can give Bill a call, see if he can come over if he's not too busy at the vet clinic." Bill was their youngest son, and while he hadn't followed in his father's footsteps and gone into farming like they'd hoped, he had still made them proud by working his way through veterinary training and had been running his own local practice for the past few years. Bill was always willing to stop by the farm for them if they needed it. Charles held the small bundle close as his wife looked on in concern, a worried frown creasing her brow. Together, they headed back to the house.