Santa Clawed

by a light cardboard sleeve, nestled inside.
    “Wow,”
Tucker exclaimed.
“That’s a lot of Ben Franklins.”
    “Why put the box here? All this money?”
The tiger was intrigued but confused, as well.
    “Why are there dead men’s faces on money?”
Tucker touched her nose to the money.
    “It’s supposed to be a high honor.”
    “Murphy, how can it be an honor if you’re dead? Benjamin Franklin doesn’t know his face is on a bill.”
    “I don’t know. Humans think differently than we do.”
Mrs. Murphy thought it was odd, too.
“Tucker, carry one of these packets back. I’ll put the lid down.”
    The corgi easily lifted out the packet. Mrs. Murphy pushed the lid down, and the tongue of the latch fit right into the groove. She didn’t bother to flip the U over the top of the latch.
    The two hurried back down the mountainside. Every now and then Tucker would stop and drop the packet to take a deep breath. She was getting a little winded and needed to breathe from her mouth as well as her nostrils.
    By the time they reached the back door, Harry’s 1978 F-150 sat in the drive. They burst through the two dog doors.
    “Where have you two been? I’ve looked all over for you.”
    Pewter sat beside Harry. The gray cat was as upset as Harry. Lazy as she could be, she didn’t like being left out, and they had taken off without telling her.
    “Busy,”
Mrs. Murphy replied as Tucker dropped the money.
    “What have you got?” Harry reached down and picked it up, her jaw dropping as she flipped through ten thousand dollars. “What the hell!”
    To hold ten thousand dollars in cash in her hand took her breath away. She sat down hard in a kitchen chair and recounted the money.
    “There’s more. You’ll be rich!”
Tucker wiggled her tailless rear end.
    “Think of the tuna that will buy,”
Pewter purred.
“Let’s go get the rest of it.”
    “We can’t do it without Mom,”
Mrs. Murphy advised.
“The rest of it is in a metal toolbox.”
    “You carried that. We should all go, and we have to hurry because a storm is coming. We could bring it here. Think of the food, the catnip!”
Pewter displayed a rare enthusiasm.
    Harry peered down at her friends. “Where’d you get this?”
    “I thought you’d never ask.”
Tucker walked to the door, then looked over her shoulder at Harry.
    Over the years, Harry had learned to pay attention to her animals. For one thing, their senses were much sharper than her own. Then, too, they had never let her down, even Pewter, who grumbled far too much. She’d followed Tucker and the cats before, so she knew the signs and, clearly, Tucker had a mission.
    “All right.” She rose, pulled her heavy coat off the peg, wrapped a plaid scarf around her neck, and took the cashmere-lined gloves from the pockets.
    “How far is it?”
Pewter inquired.
    “Walnut stand,”
Tucker answered.
    “Mmm, well, since she’s got the message, I’ll hold down the fort.”
    “Pewter, you are so lazy,”
Mrs. Murphy said.
“You were the one who said, ‘Let’s go get the rest of it.’”
    “It’s cold. And there really is no reason for all of us to go.”
With that, she turned and sashayed back into the living room, where Harry had restoked the fire.
    “Can you believe her?”
Mrs. Murphy was incredulous.
    Tucker laughed.
“Right, she volunteered to carry money.”
    “You’re talking about me,”
Pewter called from the living room.
    “Because I’m so fascinating.”
    Harry opened the door, then the screen door, and stepped out to see a rapidly changing sky. Clouds rolled lower now, dark clouds piling up behind the Blue Ridge Mountains. Wouldn’t be long before they’d slip over. She could just make out gusts of snow in some high spots. If only the dog and cat could talk, she’d take the truck. She started walking behind the two, who were already shooting ahead of her. The Thinsulate in her boots sure helped, as did the wool-and-cashmere-blend socks. Much as Harry refrained from spending money, she had sense to spend it on good equipment and warm work clothes.
    The remnants of the last snow crunched underfoot. By the time they all reached the creek, she followed the two over the narrowest place, her heel just breaking the ice at the edge. She didn’t get wet, though, so she smiled and picked up her pace, since the animals had started trotting.
    “Sure hope we can get up and back before this hits.”
Mrs. Murphy sniffed the air.
“It’s higher up there, so I bet the