Gary and Morris and the Thanksgiving Dinner Mystery

It was a lovely fall day over at The Hervey Foundation for Cats, and Gary and Morris were thrilled by the idea that Thanksgiving was just around the corner.

Thanksgiving is one of their favourite times of the year – not because of the colourful leaves blowing around, or the crisp autumn air, or all the people who come over to visit.

It’s the food. Lots and lots of food.

There’s pumpkin, cheese, creamy things, and best of all… turkey.

“You know, Morris, I consider myself a lover, not a fighter,” said Gary.

Morris rolled his eyes.

“But when it comes to turkey, I can’t help myself,” he continued. “I know we saved all those turkeys a couple of years back, and I would never hurt one, but every year I look forward to eating some turkey.”

“Marjorie cooks a mean bird,” said Morris, who agreed and giggled a bit. “But my favourite is pumpkin pie.”

Gary nodded enthusiastically.

“I could eat an entire pie covered in whipped cream. I’d just sit there lapping it up until I passed out!” Morris continued.

The humans were preparing a huge Thanksgiving dinner for the shelter. There were bowls of fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes and other delicious-smelling things being arranged on the counters. Someone had even brought in a turkey-shaped decoration wearing a tiny pilgrim hat.

Gary stared at it.

“I hope the real turkey isn’t wearing a hat like this,” he said, then turning his attention to the decoration. “Where’d the hat come from?”

Morris shook his head. "Gary, please don't interrogate the decorations.”

Before Gary could respond, a shelter worker walked into the kitchen carrying a large basket.

"Okay, Marjorie," she said, placing it on the counter. "These are the apples for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner."

Gary and Morris, being cats, had to jump over to give them all a sniff.

The shelter worker stood there for a moment and started petting the two cats while chatting with Marjorie. Gary and Morris were purring up a storm as they sniffed apple to apple, opening their mouths slightly to get a better sense of each one, turning a loud purring noise into almost a snort at times.

“Well, these pass the sniff test,” said Gary.

“I think I can smell Farmer Larry on these!” said Morris.

“That’s lovely,” said Gary.

Marjorie walked in with a box of groceries in her arms and set them down next to the cats.

“Hello, boys!” she said. “Happy Thanksgiving! Are you excited for tomorrow’s dinner?”

The cats walked over to her and rubbed up against her arms.

Marjorie started talking to the shelter worker about what she picked up from the store… and of course, Gary and Morris began sniffing all the groceries.

There were carrots, cabbage, eggs, potatoes, brussel sprouts, salad ingredients, and the big show – a large frozen turkey.

“There it is!” said Gary. “That’s the big bird!”

Morris laughed and came over to give it a sniff alongside his buddy.

“Looks like the humans are really going for it,” he said.

After a few more curious snorts, the purring cats jumped down onto the floor and made their way into the living room to catch a quick nap.

---

When Gary and Morris awoke from their nap, they stretched, yawned, then started licking their fur. It’s a whole routine.

Marjorie was in the living room talking to someone on the phone, and the two cats decided to go grab a bite to eat from the kitchen. This was also part of their routine. Wake up, stretch, yawn, groom, go eat something other than fur.

Once in the kitchen, they scarfed down some dry food, had some water, then stretched again, licked their backs, then decided to go sniff the Thanksgiving ingredients again.

Marjorie had left everything just as it was before they took their nap, save for the turkey that was now in the fridge.

“Hey Gary,” said Morris. “You noticed anything weird?”

“What’s that?” asked Gary.

“I think one of the apples is missing,” Morris replied.

“Maybe someone ate one?” said Gary.

“Yeah, possibly,” Morris said while pondering what may have taken place.

“Hey! Morris! Look at the hole in this bag of carrots!” said Gary.

Morris ran over to where Gary was standing, and lo and behold, there was a tiny hole on the side of the carrot bag.

“I can’t remember how many carrots there were before,” said Gary. “Do you think one is missing?”

“I don’t remember, either!” said Morris.

“Interesting,” Gary replied.

Marjorie came into the kitchen and gently put the boys back onto the ground from the counter.

“This food is for dinner tomorrow night, you silly kitties!” she said. “Wait a minute. This bread looks like it was eaten by someone!”

Gary and Morris looked at each other.

“Did you boys get into the bread?” she asked.

The cats went over to her and started brushing against her legs.

“I don’t think you guys like bread, do you?” asked Marjorie. “That’s not kitty food!”

The cats were off the hook, but they were still curious about all the missing food items.

“Bread, apples, carrots, what else could be gone?” Gary asked.

“I have no idea, but I think something is up,” Morris replied. “Let’s keep an eye on this.”

It was already getting late, so the cats decided to go lie down for the night and see if any more clues pop up in the morning.

--

The next morning, Gary and Morris got up, yawned, then stretched, then sat and blinked for a while, then groomed their fur. Again, it’s all a routine. The air smelled amazing. Marjorie had already started the turkey cooking in the oven, and its aroma filled the shelter.

After they finished up, they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Marjorie was standing and frantically searching the countertops.

“I swear, I put it here last night! I had a bag of croutons that are just plain missing now!”

Gary and Morris were very curious about this. What was going on?

“I think something is actually going on here,” said Morris.

“What are you thinking?” asked Gary.

“I think we have a thief somewhere,” said Morris.

Marjorie was still moving back and forth, trying to find her bag of croutons, but to no avail.

“Well, I swear I bought some, but I am going to have to go get more from the store,” she said, as she picked up her keys and headed out the front door.

Gary and Morris knew this was their chance. They slowly crept back into the kitchen, then hid beneath a pile of hand towels that needed to be folded.

“Let’s see if the thief returns to the scene of the crime,” said Gary, in an old noir 1930s detective voice.

The cats sat and waited… and waited… and waited. Nothing.

“I wonder if we should just-”

“Shh! Look!” said Morris, cutting off Gary mid-sentence.

Just then, a tiny little mouse crawled out from behind the coffee maker and started sniffing around the countertops.

“It’s a mouse!” said Morris.

“Wait! Stay quiet. We don’t want to scare it!” said Gary.

The little mouse was obviously scared as it was in a shelter home with a bunch of cats – right in the lion’s den – but it was motivated by purpose. It ran around sniffing things and then eventually found another apple, then rolled it behind the coffee maker.

About 5 minutes passed after the mouse went behind the coffee maker, so Gary and Morris jumped up to see if it was still there. When they got to the coffee maker, they looked behind it and found a small hole in the wall, two apple cores, the end of a carrot, and scraps from the crouton bag that had apparently been dragged into the wall by the mouse.

“I think we have a mouse problem,” said Morris.

“Even with all these cats here?” Gary asked.

“Yeah. That is strange, isn’t it?”

As the two cats stood there chatting, they heard a tiny little shriek from inside the wall.

“What was that?” asked Morris.

Gary stuck his head right up to the hole and looked in.

There was a small family of mice right there. A dad, a mom, and three babies.

“Are you guys okay?” asked Morris. “My name is Morris. This is my friend Gary.”

The mice were so scared, they stood there in silence.

“Why aren’t you running away?” Gary asked.

The dad mouse, the one they’d seen earlier, stepped forward and said, “Please don’t hurt us! We are hungry and have nowhere else to go. There is no exit from here!”

Gary and Morris felt so sad hearing that.

“Please!” said the mouse. “It’s getting colder outside, and my wife and I came in here to have our babies, but there is no way out from this spot except through this house, which is full of cats.”

“So, you were the ones taking food from the kitchen,” said Gary.

“We are sorry; we were just trying to survive,” said the mama mouse.

Gary and Morris looked at each other.

“We have to help them,” said Gary.

Morris nodded back.

“I have an idea,” he said. “We have a great place out in the garage. You guys can stay there as long as you want; it’s warm, and Gary and I can bring you food to eat for you and your babies!”

The mice looked at each other. They seemed scared and nervous, but they didn’t have many options left.

“We don’t want you in the house because the humans are more afraid of you than you are of us,” said Gary. “They will want you out any way possible.”

“You can trust us,” said Morris.

The mama mouse looked at the dad and their babies, and they nodded in agreement.

“You promise not to hurt us?” asked the dad.

“We would never!” said Gary. “Let’s go! We’ll keep you safe.”

Morris, who was slightly larger than Gary, knelt down, and the tiny little mouse family all transferred onto his back.

“Hang on now!” said Morris, as he leaped to the floor.

The baby mice were loving the excitement – it was like a roller coaster ride – while mom and dad looked a little queasy.

Gary and Morris then walked through the house, Gary out front, parting the cats who were now watching everything going on, and Morris in the back, carrying the precious cargo.

The shelter cats stood in awe of the interspecies companionship they were witnessing, and some of the ones who lived outside for a while before coming to shelter licked their lips.

As the cats got to the back window, they slipped outside and into the nice, heated garage. They found a nice quiet spot where the mice could get in and out of the wall to stay out of sight.

“Thank you so much!” said the mice. “We were worried we’d have to spend the rest of our lives in that kitchen wall!”

Gary ran back into the house for a moment while Morris chatted with the mice. Only a few minutes later he returned with a care package – some apples, vegetables, and a bunch of croutons.

“Thank you! Thank you!” The mice were so pleased. “This is all too much. You two are the kindest cats we’ve ever encountered. We were worried you were going to eat us!”

Gary and Morris looked back and laughed at them.

“Trust me, we aren’t those cats,” said Gary. We saved a bunch of turkeys a couple years ago at Thanksgiving.”

“I guess it’s becoming a bit of a tradition, isn’t it?” Morris said with a laugh.

The cats looked back at the mice.

“You guys have a nice evening, and when the turkey comes out of the oven, we’ll steal a piece to bring back to all of you,” Gary told the group.

“You got it!” said Morris.

“Happy Thanksgiving, you two! Thanks for everything!” said the mice.

Just then, they heard Marjorie’s car pull up into the drive.

“That’s our cue!” said Gary. “Off we go!”

“See you soon!” said Morris. “And a Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!”