Desperate Measures

“What is this big space on the wall?” demanded Marek the morning after he came home.

I lay at his feet where the sun fell in stripes over the drawing room carpet. My stomach was full. Marek and I had already eaten two bacon sandwiches for breakfast to celebrate his return.

“Julia,” Marek said again. “Where is your Uncle Sidthop?”

“He is not my uncle,” replied Mistress. “He is an ancestor and his name is Colonel Waldo Sibthorpe.”

“You no answer my question,” Marek went on.

I gave a sigh. Marek had been away for a whole week and though Mistress had shed a few tears in his absence, they were now bickering. How could she be so stupid? Marek was a special person. He understood the pug fraternity like nobody else in our street.

“Look, Marek,” Mistress said. “I’m running an art gallery in a difficult climate and I need funds. The recession has hit us big-time.”

She wouldn’t look either Marek or me in the eye. “I’ve put the painting up for auction,” Mistress whispered. “I had to do it.”

Marek flung his arms in the air. He was full of drama. Archie had told me some time ago that Marek’s parents had come through an iron curtain. They must have been very strong people, I thought.

“You sell your family down the river, Julia!” Marek snorted. “It is disgusting. What happens to your pride …?”

Mistress sat down with a bump on the sofa. “Please, Marek, don’t make my situation worse. I have no choice.”

Marek began walking up and down as if he had a fever. “We do something, Julia, if it is not too late. We do something to save your Uncle Sibthop. When is this auction?”

Mistress looked straight ahead. “Tomorrow,” she said, but I’m not retracting.”

Marek took a wad of cash out of his pocket and threw it down on the table.

“One hundred pound notes!” Mistress cried. “Where the hell did that money come from.”

Marek put a finger to his lips.

Well, I was wondering too, from my pitch on the carpet. Marek had come into cash from somewhere. The question was, where?

Follow my trail again and let’s find out!