Catboy (15 page)

“What happens to them all tonight?” I asked.

He closed the van door. “I'm going to give them all an examination, as best I can, give them their shots, make sure they have food and water, and possibly tranquilize some of the more agitated ones so they don't harm themselves.”

“That's a lot of work.”

“With any luck I'll be finished by midnight.”

“And then you'll come back here tomorrow morning?”

“Bright and early, but you know, this is why I became a vet. I really have to thank you,” Dr. Reynolds said.

“Thank
me
?” I questioned. “I have to thank
you
!”

“Doing this is my thanks. I never would have tried to move the cats if you hadn't been so insistent.”

“What choice did we have?” I asked.

“We could have assumed we couldn't do anything and just let the cats survive or not survive. Sometimes it's easier to turn away than act. Thanks for not letting me turn away.”

“None of this would have been possible without you, and your friends,” I said.

“And
your
friends,” he said. “It was great to have all that help.”

“They're all willing to come help tomorrow too.”

“That's great, but I think the best way they could help would be if they don't come tomorrow.”

“I don't understand,” I said.

“The noise and commotion of extra people is starting to work against us. Think about Hunter. The cats we haven't caught are the most reclusive or timid or careful ones. The fewer of us here tomorrow, the more likely we'll be able to catch the remaining cats.”

“That makes sense.”

“I'll ask Doris to come. The two of us, plus you and your mother, would probably be enough.”

“Could Simon come as well? He's been here from the beginning.”

“Okay, Simon too,” he agreed. “We probably couldn't keep him away anyway, could we?”

“Probably not,” I agreed. “I think my other friends are going to be disappointed though.”

“Tell them they can be there when we release the cats,” he suggested. “That's a lot more fun anyway.”

“They'd like that,” I said. “I'll call them when I get home.”

“And that should happen right now. I have a lot of things to do with the cats before I can call it a night.”

“Great. We'll be here bright and early tomorrow, right?” I said.

“How bright and early?” he asked.

“How about six?”

“How about eight?”

“Seven is in the middle,” I countered.

“And seven thirty is when it's light enough to see.”

“Okay, seven thirty. Deal.”

Twenty-Six

It hadn't just gotten colder overnight. It had snowed. It was more a dusting than a full snowfall, but it covered the ground with a fine layer. It actually made the alley and junkyard look fresh and pretty. If the junkyard was going to send a Christmas card, this would have been the picture on the front of it. Of course the junkyard didn't send Christmas cards, and by the time Christmas did arrive in three weeks, there wouldn't be a junkyard. I was willing to bet the condo development wouldn't send a Christmas card either.

I stomped my feet to drive the cold out of them. We'd agreed not to enter the yard until we were all here. So we were waiting for Dr. Reynolds. In fairness, we were early, so it wasn't like he was late. I wondered how late it had been when he finally finished with the cats the night before. I wished I could have been there to help.

Mr. Spence had mentioned to us more than once that you start preparing for your career when you're in grade school. I was thinking more and more that I wanted to be a vet, so I guess I was preparing.

“I hope he gets here soon,” I said, breaking the silence.

“I hope it gets warmer,” my mother added.

“That would be good. I'd like it if the snow melted,” Simon said.

“No, the snow is good,” I said.

“How do you figure that?” Simon asked.

“The cats will have left tracks, so we can see where they've gone.”

“That just means we'll be able to see what we can't catch,” Simon said.

“We'll catch them,” I said.

“We'll catch
some
of them,” he replied.

“We'll catch all of them, if we have to be here all day and all night,” I said.

“Count me in for the day part,” Simon replied.

“I'm sure that's all the time we'll need,” my mother added. “I'm sure we'll catch them all by then.”

The van came bumping slowly down the alley. Dr. Reynolds was at the wheel, and Doris was in the passenger seat. Before they even came to a stop, I could hear the other “passengers.” The cats didn't sound any happier than they had the previous night. Doris and Dr. Reynolds climbed out.

“Good morning!” Dr. Reynolds said. “How is everybody doing?”

“We're good,” I said. “How did the examinations go? Are the cats healthy?”

“Healthy and noisy,” said Dr. Reynolds. “Let's go in.”

We stepped over the remains of the fence and entered the yard. I checked the ground, looking for tracks, but there were no prints in the snow. If there had been any, they had already been covered by the snow.

“Do you think there'll be any in the traps?” I asked. We'd left the remaining nine traps baited when we went home the night before.

“We can only hope,” he said.

We didn't have long to wait. Two more cats were in traps. One of them was Alexander's Russian Blue, Kot! I wished Alexander were here to see it. He'd be so thrilled to release him later that day.

I'd given my friends a call after I got home the previous evening. Devon's dad was going to drive them to the place where the cats were going to be released.

“I'm sorry Hunter isn't one of the cats we caught,” my mother said.

“But still, we have two more cats,” I said.

“Do you think Hunter's even in the junkyard?” Simon asked.

“I don't know, but I didn't see any tracks leading out of here this morning.” I was trying to reassure myself more than I was trying to convince him.

“That could mean he didn't come back here last night. If I was him, or any of these cats, I'd be trying to find someplace else to live, and fast,” Simon said.

“Not likely,” Dr. Reynolds said. He picked up the cage with Kot in it. Kot hissed angrily at him. “Most animals retreat farther into their dens when they're threatened. So rather than running away, they retreat and wait it out.”

“So you think he's still here?” I asked.

“I guess we'll soon find out. Can you two bring the cats back to the van?” he asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“No problem,” Simon offered.

“You can leave them in their traps rather than transfer them to cages,” he added. “We'll have enough traps to finish up what we need to do.”

The cats got frightened when we picked them up, and Kot hurled himself against the side of the cage, almost causing me to drop it.

“I wish we could tell them it's going to be all right,” I said. “That we're doing this for their own good.”

“If we could do that, we wouldn't have needed to do any of this,” Simon offered. “The cats could have left on their own.”

“I guess you're right,” I said.

We opened the back door of the van, triggering an avalanche of howls and cries from the cats inside. Most of them had calmed down overnight, but the drive had some of them upset again.

“Just bringing a couple of your friends,” I said as we placed the two traps in the van and closed the door.

“Look who's over there!” Simon shouted.

I spun around excitedly, expecting Hunter, but it was Rocky. The big raccoon was waddling down the alley toward us. He looked up and saw us, but he didn't slow down or change directions.

“Maybe we should get out of the way,” Simon suggested. “I wouldn't want to, you know,
frighten
him.”

I laughed. “I'm sure he's
terrified
of you!”

Rocky reached the place where the fence had been knocked over. He sat down and picked up a piece of the shattered fence with his front paws. He held it up as if he was examining it. His gaze shot back and forth from the piece in his hands to the larger pieces on the ground.

“He looks like he's trying to figure out what happened,” Simon said.

“He
is
trying to figure it out. Raccoons are very smart.”

“I read that, but if he was really smart he would have read the advertisement for the new condos and warned the colony,” Simon suggested.

“Maybe he did, but they didn't listen, because I know that Rocky is particularly smart.” I took a couple of steps toward him.

“Mr. Singh knocked down the fence!” I called out. “He used a forklift.”

Rocky looked at me. I didn't know if he understood, but he was listening.

“He did it so we could trap all the cats. We're not going to do anything bad with them. We're trying to relocate the colony,” I said. I thought he might need an explanation as to why all of this was happening. “You know, with the condos coming and everything, we have to move them.”

“I thought he'd already read that,” Simon said.

I ignored Simon and sat down on the pavement so Rocky and I were practically eye to eye, separated by only a dozen feet or so.

“Taylor, what are you doing?” Simon demanded. “He could bite you or something.”

“I'm okay,” I said over my shoulder.

Rocky stared at me intently. He studied me the way he'd been studying the fence.

“I wanted to talk to you about Hunter,” I said. “Maybe you don't know him by that name. He's the big black cat with the white patch on his forehead that looks like a star,” I said, pointing to my forehead.

Rocky looked thoughtful.

“You know him. He's your buddy, the cat you share meals with sometimes.”

I could have sworn Rocky nodded his head. I couldn't help but laugh, and in response I thought Rocky smiled.

“I need to find Hunter,” I said. “If he stays here, he might die.”

Rocky stopped smiling.

“If you can show me where he is, I can trap him and take him to the new place. He'll be safe. We need to bring him along.”

“Taylor, he's a raccoon,” Simon called out.

I turned around. Simon was looking at me like I was crazy.

“I know what
type
of animal he is,” I said. “And I also know we have to find Hunter. Do you have a better idea how to do that?”

He shrugged. “I guess not.”

I turned back to Rocky. “I know Hunter could probably survive, find another place around here to live. And I know you'd miss him, but those other cats, they're going to need him. Without him, some of them, especially the younger ones, won't make it.” I paused. “They need him, and I need you to help me find him. Please.”

Rocky didn't move. He sat there with a studious look on his face. If he were a person, I would have been sure he understood and was thinking about what I'd said, deciding if he should trust me, deciding whether or not to take me to Hunter. But he wasn't a person.

“Do you want me to try it in Korean?” Simon asked.

“What?”

“Do you want me to try to explain it to him in Korean?” Simon repeated.

“What makes you think he can understand Korean?” I asked.

“What makes you think he can understand English? Taylor, he doesn't understand
any
languages. He's a
raccoon
.”

“If he did understand a language, it would be English. That's the language that's all around him.”

“Maybe if he was a chubby guy in a fur coat with a mask he would, but he's an animal.”

“Are you saying dogs don't understand things? Commands, orders, things like
sit
or
come
or
fetch
or—”

Rocky abruptly got up and rambled into the junkyard.

“Where do you think he's going?” Simon asked.

“I guess there's only one way to find out,” I said.

Twenty-Seven

Rocky waddled quickly. We had to trot to keep up. I was surprised by how fast he was able to go. He was headed straight for the colony. I had to fight the urge to yell to Simon
I told you so
, but I knew it wouldn't have been very nice. Besides, it wasn't like Rocky had led us anywhere or to anyone, yet. He could be headed for the only part of the yard that still had cars and shelter.

He had almost reached the first of the remaining wrecks, so I picked up my pace. I didn't want to lose sight of him. Despite my best efforts, he rounded the wreck and vanished. Instantly there was a loud scream— my mother's.

I raced around the corner. She was standing on top of a car with a cage in her hands.

“That raccoon!” she exclaimed, pointing. “It almost ran me over!”

“Up there?” I exclaimed.

“No, no, down there. He ran right by me.”

“How did you get up there?” Simon asked.

“I jumped, one jump. It just came out of nowhere and—”

“I have to follow him!” I yelled, taking off after Rocky.

He ran through the center of the colony. Dr. Reynolds and Doris were on the edge of the clearing and saw him. He was hard to miss. With Simon at my side, I ran after Rocky, who had now reached the far side of the clearing and disappeared between two rows of wrecks.

Dr. Reynolds met us as we approached the gap Rocky had slipped through.

“That is one gigantic raccoon!” Dr. Reynolds exclaimed.

“That's Rocky,” I explained.

I started after him again, but Dr. Reynolds reached out and grabbed my arm. “I think we better give him a wide berth. Raccoons can be dangerous, especially when they're cornered.”