Negotiating with Hostage-Takers
IT MADE NO SENSE TO Montgomery that a brilliant man, i.e. himself, couldn’t negotiate with the neighborhood bully for the release of his granddaughter’s kitten. Accordingly, he grabbed his favorite rake and a handful of plastic garbage bags and headed toward the delinquent’s house. Partway there, he turned to regard the footfall of the person following him. That awful kid was in pursuit. Montgomery hastened back to his toolshed for reinforcements.
It had been Granddaughter’s idea to rescue the roadside kitten. Based on its plaintive sounds, that juvenile was searching for its mother. Granddaughter insisted that she step in to care for the baby cat. Montgomery had begrudgingly agreed; the wee thing’s way of gnawing on Granddaughter's fingers made the old ma
