Colonel Higgins

“You’re kidding - she left you a monkey?”

I hesitated, searching my husband’s bewildered face.  Would he believe me?

“Well, technically it’s a lemur.”

“A lemur.  Great.  And where are we going to keep said lemur?” 

At least he believed me.

“His cage is part of the package,” I explained.  

“We can’t donate it to a zoo?” 

“Will,” I said firmly, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Gran loved this lemur.  Now we have to love it for her.”

He ran his fingers through his red hair and nodded, sighing.  

“When are you picking it up?” he asked finally.  

“This afternoon.  My mom made it clear she was keeping it only until the reading of Gran’s will.”  

“Well, the kids’ll be happy,” Will remarked, cracking a smile.  

“That’s for sure.”  

At three o’clock, I stood in our backyard as my brothers, Ike, Paul, and Andy, unloaded the lemur’s enclosure out of the bed of Paul’s pickup.  The cage would be right next to the kids’ playhouse.  In fact, it looked like there were two play sets side by side.  The lemur’s cage contained a network of towers and rope bridges, connected to its two-story wooden house.  This  lemur was nearly as spoiled as my kids, I realized.  With a few grunts and scrapes, the cage was out of the pickup and onto my lawn.  I put my hands on my hips, staring at it with a cocked head.  It would take a while to get used to the sight.  

“Annabeth!”

I nearly groaned aloud, but pasted on a smile and pivoted to greet my next-door neighbor.  

“Eileen.  How are you?”

“Oh I’m fine.”  Eileen was looking past her, at the truck in the yard. 

“That looks like quite the operation,” she commented. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, well, my grandmother passed away recently-”

“I heard.  I’m so sorry,” Eileen said bluntly.  I should have figured.  No one bothered telling Eileen anything; she found out about it one way or another. 

“She left me her pet,” I continued.

“A pet!” Eileen pretended to look pleased.  “Of what kind?’

I’d been dreading the question.

“Some sort of-”

“Annabeth!” It was Paul. “Your lemur’s on the backseat, in the cat carrier.”

“Did he say-”

“Yes, Eileen, it’s a lemur.  I haven’t seen it yet…” 

My voice trailed off as I left Eileen by the house and crossed the yard to the truck.  To be honest, I was more curious about the lemur than I was annoyed about inheriting it.  The cat carrier sat on the backseat, and I pulled it out by the handle.  It felt empty.  Panicked, I peered in through the bars.  Two yellow eyes stared back at me, as round as dinner plates.  

The lemur was tiny, not even close to what I was expecting.  Its little button nose twitched as it watched me.  At last it made a shrill, melancholy sound.  

“Oh!” Eileen gasped behind me.  I glanced back as she uncovered her ears. 

“Mom said it was shrieking like that the whole time she took care of it,” Ike told me. 

“Hey, little guy,” I cooed.  “I’ll bet you miss your mama.”

I carried the crate to the enclosure and opened the latch on its door.  I set the cat carrier inside.  After a minute, the lemur hopped out.  I gaped.  

“It’s barely the size of a rat,” Eileen remarked, suddenly at my side.  She was right, but I would never have compared the adorable creature to a rat.  

The lemur had big round ears.  Long whiskers surrounded its tiny nose.  It examined the enclosure, twitching the tail that was longer than its body, before scampering up a tower to make its way to the wooden house.  It disappeared inside.  

“Whoa!  Mom, was that a squirrel?”  

I turned around.  Eloise was bounding across the yard, her purple backpack swinging on one arm.  Aidan was on her heels. 

“No, silly,” he said, “it’s too small to be a squirrel.”

“Well, it could be a baby.”

“Mom, is it a squirrel?”

“No,” I replied.  “It’s a lemur, and it’s ours now,” I added before Aidan had the chance to fire an ‘I told you so’ at his sister.  

“It’s ours?” they echoed, their eyes nearly as wide as the lemur’s.

“Yep.  It was Great-Gran’s favorite from the zoo.”

“Our Great-Gran was a zookeeper,” Eliose informed Eileen. 

“I know,” Eileen replied, nodding.  

“What I don’t understand is how she ended up with it,” I said, turning to my brothers.  

“It was Gran’s favorite, and she was the only zookeeper it tolerated,” Andrew explained, shrugging,  “It may look like a stuffed animal, but those teeth are sharp.  A zookeeper had to get five stitches on her hand -”

I cleared my throat, jerking my head at the kids.  They were staring at their uncle, mouths hanging open. 

“Point is, they decided to give Colonel Higgins to Gran as a retirement gift,” Andrew finished.  

“Colonel Higgins?”

“That’s his name.  Good luck, Bethy,” Paul told me.  He slammed the tailgate shut. 

“Let’s roll!”

My brothers jumped into the pickup and left me with two ecstatic kids, a snoopy neighbor, and a lemur named Colonel Higgins. 

“So, what’s in the cage in the backyard?” Will inquired playfully.  Dinner was over and he’d just finished a game of cards with the kids.  Eloise and Aidan had been chattering about the lemur all evening.  

“Colonel Higgins,” Eloise sounded exasperated. “It’s his house.”

“Let’s go out and see him, Dad!”

Aidan grabbed his dad’s hand and pulled him off the couch.  Will sent me an amused glance as he was tugged out the door.  Eloise followed, slipping on her rubber boots.  It was April, and in Maryland, spring meant mud. 

They returned a few minutes later they were back, tracking mud into the house.

“Wipe your feet,” I called from my dishwashing post. 

“Isn’t he cute, Dad?” Eloise asked, kicking off her boots.  

“He’s the cutest colonel I’ve ever seen,” Will replied. “But he was noisy.  I hope the neighbors don’t mind.”

“Miss Eileen won’t,” Aidan replied.  I arched an eyebrow. 

“Besides, he stopped crying when he saw us,” Eloise pointed out. “He just needs TLC.”

I laughed aloud, surprised at my six-year-old’s use of the term.  

“Maybe you’re right,” Will replied.  He joined me at the sink with a towel to dry the dishes. 

“I always thought lemurs had stripes on their tails,” he commented. 

“I’ll have to do some research about Colonel Higgins,” I answered.  “But we know what to feed it.  Paul sent his food with him.  It looks like it’s mostly dried bugs.” 

“Mom, can I feed him?” Eloise begged. 

I frowned, thinking of the high gate.  

“I don’t think you can reach the latch.  You’d need help,” I replied.  She pouted. 

“Hey, don’t trip over that lip,” Will called. “Aidan can help you.” 

Aidan looked smug.

“I can reach the latch,” he told his little sister.

“I can’t wait till I’m nine,” she huffed.

“What’d you find, Annabeth?” 

Will settled onto the couch next to me.  I had the laptop on my lap.

“Well, it looks like Colonel Higgins is a gray mouse lemur.  He’s nocturnal, eats insects and fruit, and he seems to be getting up there in years.”

“How long did your grandma have him?”

“Maybe ten years.  They can live to be around fifteen.” 

“Do you know why he makes that sound?” Will asked. “Eloise described it as ‘crying’, and I understand why.”

“It’s a distress call.  The babies make that sound when they’re separated from their mothers,” I sighed, shutting my laptop.

Will was silent for a minute, fiddling with the zipper on his sweatshirt. 

“So, do you think it misses your gran?” 

I shrugged.

“I don’t know. But we’re going to have to give Colonel Higgins plenty of attention.”

Every morning that week, the kids were up long before the school bus came to check on their new friend, the colonel.  And they spent their afternoons just outside his cage, watching him leap from tower to tower.  I’ll admit I brought him bits of fruit a few times, coaxing the lemur down to the grass.  He stared at me with those irresistible eyes as he nibbled on a strawberry one day, and I realized he was content living with us.  I hadn’t heard him 'crying' in quite a while.  

I’d only gotten a few questions about him from the neighbors, although just about everyone that noticed his cage in the backyard stopped and stared on the sidewalk.  I was considering posting a sign on the front of the enclosure that read ‘lemur exhibit’.  I wondered if we could charge people to feed him a treat.  

Eileen had only complained about his mournful cries once, over the phone.  

“Annabeth, something’s attacking your lemur,” she said, as soon as I’d (reluctantly) answered her call.  

“No, Eileen, the lemur is fine,” I’d replied. “Thank you for your concern, but-”

“Are you sure?  You might want to check on it.”

“I’m sure.” 

I’d been wary to let the kids touch it at first, after hearing Andrew’s grim story about the poor zookeeper.  But they were persistent, and Colonel Higgins looked so soft... Finally, I relented.  Besides, I’d seen photos of Gran holding the lemur like a furry baby.   

Aidan, being the oldest, got the first turn, sitting on the ground with Colonel Higgins on his lap.  The lemur gripped Aidan’s wrist with his tiny pink fingers, staring up at him.  Aidan’s grin stretched from ear to ear.  

The first time Eloise touched the lemur, she squealed in delight.  Colonel Higgins didn’t seem startled, and he allowed her to stroke his head.  I watched, smiling, silently thanking my gran for passing her beloved pet onto me.  She must have known how much joy he would bring to my kids. 

“Where’s Eloise?” I asked crossly, peeking into the living room.  It was getting late, nearly past her bedtime.  

“She wanted to say goodnight to Colonel Higgins,” Will called from the kitchen.  It was his turn to wash the dishes. 

Just then, the kitchen door opened and slammed shut.  I entered just as Eloise slipped off her second boot, beaming.  She opened her mouth to speak, displaying her missing front teeth.

“Eloise, it’s time for bed,” I reminded her.  She shut her mouth and her smile disappeared.  I immediately felt guilty.  

“Why do I have to go to bed before Aidan?”

“Because he’s older than you are,” Will replied.

“But I can do lots of things that he can do.  I should get to stay up until nine o’clock, too.”

“Not yet, pumpkin,” Will said. 

“Now, up to bed,” I added firmly.

Head down, Eloise marched upstairs.

“Where did that come from?” I asked Will.  

He shrugged.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that argument, too,” he said.  

It was odd - we usually heard more protests from Aidan.  Why was Eloise in such a hurry to grow up?

The next morning, I was outside early, making my way to the lemurs’ enclosure under the shelter of an umbrella.  It was pouring sheets of rain.  I peered out from under the umbrella’s lip and froze.  The door to the enclosure was open.  I shook myself and ran to the cage, splashing through the icy puddles of water on the grass.  The latch hung unlocked.  The door was open only a crack, but there was plenty of room for a gray mouse lemur to slip through.  

I flung the door open and stepped inside, my heart racing with dread.

“Colonel Higgins?” I called.  I peeked inside the house - first the top floor, then the bottom.  Nothing.  He was definitely gone.  

I raced back to the house, sliding on my way, and dashed into the kitchen, sopping wet.  In  my panic, I’d left my umbrella in the enclosure.  

“Annabeth!” Will stood up at the table, his chair legs squeaking on the floor. “What’s wrong?”

The kids stared from their seats. 

“Colonel Higgins,” I gasped.  “He’s missing.” 

Eloise burst into tears and we all stared at her. 

“It’s my fault!” she bawled. “I wanted to show you that I could open the latch like Aidan!  I opened it but I heard Mommy calling me inside, so I left, and I - I-”

“You left it unlocked,” I finished.  “Eloise, honey, it’s okay, but we’re going to have to talk later.  Right now, we have a lemur on the loose.”

I began the search by calling Eileen.  If anyone had sighted a strange critter in their backyards, she would know about it.  However, she had no news.  

“But I’ll spread the word,” she promised.

Next, I printed images of a gray mouse lemur and, as soon as the rain stopped, Will and the kids walked around the neighborhood, handing them out to everyone they met.  I stayed home, waiting anxiously to hear back from Eileen, and maybe even hoping that Colonel Higgins would return on his own.  

Finally, there was a knock on the door.  Eileen stood on the front porch, beaming proudly next to a middle-aged police officer.  I gasped. 

“Eileen, that wasn’t necessary,” I began.

“Why not?  The Murrays called an officer when their son went missing.”

“There’s a bit of a difference -”

“Ma’am, do you or do you not need me to organize a search party?” the officer cut in. 

“No, officer, thank you,” I said hastily.  “But if you would keep an eye out for a lemur, I would appreciate it.”

“Lemur?”

I nodded. 

“Right,” the officer said with a funny smile.  He nodded to me and Eileen in turn, pivoted and left.  

“He was no help,” Eileen said crossly.  I sighed and invited her in.  

Before long, Will and the kids were back, faces downcast.  Eloise burst into a fresh round of tears.  I glanced back outside to Colonel Higgins cage, and a swift movement caught my eye.  A flash of gray fur scampered across the monkey bars on the kids’ play set.  I laughed aloud, flooded in relief.  

Everyone filed outside with treats in hand, even Eileen.  We coaxed Colonel Higgins down from his perch on top of the playhouse.  He hopped onto Will’s head.  I reached up and grabbed him gently.  Eloise squealed as I set him back inside his cage, locking and double checking the latch before I turned away.  

“He must have been tired of his own play set,” Aidan remarked sagely.  I smiled.  

“I hope Colonel Higgins satisfied his wanderlust,” Will sighed. 

“Maybe for now,” Eileen commented, “but I’ve heard lemurs are very forgetful.”