A series of puzzling cat thefts, along with the kidnapping of District judge Marshall, sends Beth Merryman, Betty Singletary and Howdy Harper south to East Tennessee and thence to the big cat show over 4th of July in Nashville on a rescue mission. Along the way, BhuFan and Hawkeye join up with the white tom, Star Sapphire. Her Highness indulges in some shaman shop talk with the unlikely seer, H.E. and Tree Harper's very proper Boston-bred Aunt Augusta learns the awful truth about one of her Harp ancestors. Meanwhile, back in Maine, Shere Khan & Co. have their paws full finding more stolen show cats and then find themselves, along with game warden Merryman and shelter boss, Armstrong, having to round up a half-dozen wild African cats loosed by fleeing poachers. And then comes Halloween...