A SERIALIZED COZY CAT MYSTERY
She wasn’t caught. She arrived.
Meet Newsie: a curious, petite brown tabby with golden eyes, a soft voice, and a talent for finding the middle of every mystery. Along the river, the neighborhood cats trade observations, old stories, and theories about things that may be better left unexplained. New chapters are free to read on the RummageRunner blog, with new installments planned every two weeks.
Start Reading: The Free Chapters
Start at the beginning and follow the mystery as it unfolds. Each chapter is a complete free read on the blog. The story is best enjoyed in order.
Chapter 1: The Screen Door
A feral brown tabby arrives on a back deck, finds an open door, and makes a home of her own choosing. This is where Newsie’s story begins.
Chapter 2: Waiting for the Nightboat
The colony keeps watch as an unfamiliar light moves along the river. A rumor becomes harder to dismiss when the nightboat appears.
Chapter 3: The Stranger’s Story
A soaked newcomer named Drift brings a story of a crewless schooner to the colony. Newsie has questions, and the river isn’t telling everything.
Coming Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 9:00 AM Eastern.
Meet the Colony
The Newsie Chronicles follows a small cast of cats with very different ideas about how the world works.
- Newsie: A formerly feral brown tabby with gold eyes. Curious, affectionate, quietly chatty, and never far from a window or a good mystery.
- Tiger Tiger: A vocal tabby and self-appointed social director. She has opinions, shares them freely, and considers the daily walk to be an important public event.
- Bootie: A watchful black cat with two white rear paws. Quieter than Tiger Tiger, she notices the details others miss.
- Black Panther: An all-black mystery-seeker whose stories are intriguing, sometimes improbable, and not always easy to verify.
- Drift: A young newcomer whose arrival brings a new thread of river mystery to the colony.
The cats have conversations and theories of their own. Their world stays rooted in recognizable cat behavior, neighborhood life, and river lore. Legends are told as legends, and not every claim is the whole truth.
Read with the River
Some chapters include their own 10-minute ambient soundscape: a little dusk atmosphere for the porch, or the hush of a midnight dock. These are synthesized listening experiences, not field recordings or narrated audiobooks. Open a chapter and press play before you read.
Bring a Little of Newsie’s World Home
The chapters are free. The official chapter illustrations are available separately as digital wall-art printables for readers who want to keep a piece of the story.
Newsie at the Screen Door
The Chapter 1 illustration: a brown tabby at the screen door, between the porch and the world beyond.
The Nightboat
The Chapter 2 illustration: three cats, a midnight dock, and lantern light on dark water.
New here? You can also keep Chapter 1 as a free PDF keepsake.
Get Newsie Notes
Follow @newsiechronicles on Instagram for real-Newsie moments, character spotlights, comic mischief, and chapter announcements.
Want to know when Newsie’s next chapter arrives? Get free chapter announcements and occasional series notes from The Newsie Chronicles delivered to your inbox. This signup preselects The Newsie Chronicles. Confirm that topic is selected when prompted, enter your email, and click the confirmation link we send you. Unsubscribe at any time.
The Newsie Chronicles is an original serialized fiction series from RummageRunner. New chapters are free to read; selected artwork and other complete companion works are offered separately. Some story characters may use fictional names and locations.