«Gosh.» Vera shook her head. «I didn’t know that. But I don’t feel that she needs my friendship.»
«No, she does!» Nina exclaimed emotionally. «I visit her often. She feels so alone.» She stopped short. «Look, I’ve been watching that for a few minutes, but I can’t figure it out. Is it an animal or just a plastic jug or something?»
Vera turned her head. The women looked hard at a white spot moving in the water not far from the riverbank.
«It’s a cat!» Vera gasped. Forgetting about everything, they ran to the river.
When they got close they saw a white cat. The current carried it, and the animal uttered plaintive meows. Despite their disgust for water, cats can swim well, and the women were surprised that this animal could not get out of the river.
Struggling through bushes on the bank, they ran along the water’s edge.
Nina noticed a few rocks led almost to the middle of the river, and she started to walk upon them carefully.
But her foot slipped. She lost her balance and fell into the water. Now, she was not afraid to get wet, so she just waded through the waist deep water towards the cat and grabbed it.
When she pulled the cat out, she saw its back leg was tangled in a net. This was why the animal was so helpless.
Nina struggled out of the water, and Vera helped her. She gave Nina her jacket, and the women ran back to the car.
* * * * *
Jeff Menard parked his police cruiser near an apartment building and checked the address. He got out and knocked. The door was opened immediately, and he went in.
He saw two young women and recalled that they were Russian. Then he looked around the apartment with curiosity. One woman started to talk, but he only understood the word «cat». Another woman was painting, and she put down the brush with visible displeasure.
Jeff’s eyes involuntarily stopped at her braid. It impressed the young policeman. He had never seen a white woman with hair so thick. The long chestnut braid went all the way down to her waist. Like some fantastic snake, it stirred with any movement of her body, emphasizing every curve.
The woman turned toward him, and her braid fell onto her chest, between her breasts. Jeff was afraid she would misunderstand his gaze and lifted his eyes. Her paleness and strange, severe beauty struck him like a gangster’s bullet. Jeff just stared at her face, barely realizing that the first woman was trying to explain something to him.
«We catch a cat!» she said.
«Found,» the woman with the braid corrected her. «Nina, you should say, „We found a cat.“»