The Great Cat Caper (7 page)

T
hey listened to the unhappy cats in the sheet-covered traps.

“I am so glad I smacked into the Cat Woman,” Vee said.

The girls gave her the stink eye.

“I mean, in a good way. She had the traps in the senior center closet. Weird.”

1. You need special traps to trap Dumpster cats.

2. You might not catch them all (one got away).

3. Dumpster cats do NOT think you are helping them.

4. Dumpster cats make scary monster noises when they are not happy.

5. Sheets are required.

6. When Frank gets mad, his face gets blotchy.

Sunny started to giggle. “The Cat Woman told us to cover the traps with sheets so the cats can begin to de-stress. Maybe we need to put a sheet over Frank.”

Frank had his head tipped back as though speaking to God. “I survived the first time with these four. Wasn’t that enough? Like I need the drama again?”

Vee wished the parking lot would swallow her up. How was she supposed to know that there was training involved to do this project?

Sunny swallowed her giggles and walked up to Frank. “Oh, Frank, I’m sorry. I think—” She paused and looked at Vee, who had a suspicious feeling Sunny was thinking Vee should be saying what she said next. “We didn’t think this through.”

Frank stomped into the senior center, passing Hermann who made a disgusted face at the traps, climbed into his car, and drove off.

“Frank is mad at us,” Aneta observed. “Hermann thinks our plan is terrible.”

Nadine finished inspecting the covered traps and approached the group. She blew out a breath. “I’m thinking you girls got carried away by your success in your first adventure.”

A rush of anger surged up from deep within Vee. She’d gotten her want-to ramped up to volunteer to save Dumpster cats nobody wanted. Hadn’t she offered her time when
everybody
—well, maybe not Nadine and Frank and Cat Woman and Hermann or Mrs. Sissy—but everyone
else
knew she was hitting the math books so hard they were hitting back. Not only that, she and the Squad—and
her
lists—were going to come up with ideas for the mayor’s beetle-y Helpful City Festival. The lists would be stellar, um, when she made some. Wasn’t that enough?

“We sure did,” Esther said. She shot a look at Vee. “I said we were rushing catching the cats.”

Cat Woman, standing like her spine was made of steel, snapped, “You got that right, and you still don’t have it right. You don’t
catch
community and stray cats. You have to
trap
them. What were you planning to do, sneak up on them while they were eating and invite them to jump into your pocket?”

Nadine held up her hands like a referee. “Okay, let’s get some perspective here. Would you girls agree that it would have helped the cats if you had thought this out better?”

Even while her mind was saying
yeah, but,
she heard her voice say yes along with the others. Her time to help was up for today. A piteous meow sounded from the curious kitten’s trap. She did want the curious kitten to find a spot.
With me.
The new, tiny thought jabbed her so hard she jumped.

Cat Woman humphed. “I’ve seen what do-gooders do. They don’t want to learn. They just want to do something fast and have people tell them they’re wonderful for helping the animals.”

Vee’s face warmed. “I have to go home now to meet the tutor. Then my dad’s picking me up for the weekend.”

Nadine appeared lost in thought, then as the girls started their good-byes, picking up messenger bags and backpacks, she began to walk toward her Toyota. “Sure, Vee. Good luck with your tutoring. Great job, girls. Be sure to keep Frank in the loop for the next step!” she called.

“Next step?” Sunny whipped her head to stare at Vee, mouth wide open. “Vee! She’s leaving.”

Aneta murmured something that sounded like, “Okay, God, now what do we do?”

Esther ran after Nadine. “Nadine! You forgot the cats!”

Nadine turned around and walked backward, her tanned face still smiling. “No, you’ve got all the plans.”

Yes, and that plan was to give the cats to Nadine and get home to Math Man
on time.
“Wait! Wait!” Vee chased after the two women. She had fifteen minutes to get home before Math Man showed up. “You can’t just
leave
them here with
us.
“

F
rank walked out the senior center door, glanced at the cat carriers and then at the girls. Esther stood, hands on hips. Aneta crouched by the traps, murmuring. Sunny bounced up and down, first looking at Nadine and Gladys, then at Frank and the girls. Frank watched his wife’s back. Suddenly he looked much more cheerful. Vee could not think why. This was
serious.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he passed each girl with a nod. “Let’s talk Monday on how it goes this weekend, okay? We still have to figure out what the other events are going to be.”

“Frank!” Esther was trying to sound bossy and only sounded scared.

“You cannot leave! The cats!” Aneta’s voice had tears in it.

“You guys! Don’t go!” Sunny stood absolutely still.

Frank opened the door behind the driver’s side for Gladys. She stiffly bent and got in. Then he went around to open the door for his wife, who stood on her toes and whispered something in her husband’s ear. Then he was in the car. They really were going to leave them alone with the cats.

Vee ran to the car and pounded on the window. “Frank! Don’t leave us here.” Terror ramped up her want-to. “WE DON’T HAVE A PLAN!”

The girls pressed up against her. “Frank, you gotta help us!” Sunny yelled.

Frank rolled the window down.

Aneta whimpered.

“You sure you need help?”

“Yes!” the girls shrieked.

Frank said, “Go get the carriers. I will take them home with us
for one night.
“

The girls dashed off and returned carefully carrying the traps of the hissing, growling, unhappy cats. Frank got out of the car and placed the carriers around Gladys in the back and one on her lap. She clutched it, dipping her head to give the girls the stink eye. Nadine jumped out and took the last cage from Vee.

Now Vee had less than ten minutes to run home.

As soon as Nadine was in the car with the curious kitten in a crate on her lap, Frank put the car in gear. “Tomorrow. Meet here at ten in the morning. No excuses.” He said the last sentence staring right at Vee. Then he rolled up the window, and the Toyota rolled out of the parking lot.

“Frank and Nadine hate us,” Aneta said.

“The Cat Woman hates us,” Esther said.

“The cats hate us,” Sunny said.

“
Beetle!
” Vee said. And sprinted for home.

At ten the next morning, Nadine and Frank and the girls were already in the community center parking lot by the time Vee’s dad pulled his big SUV alongside the Toyota. Dad hadn’t been too happy about having to bring her all the way from his house this early. Thankfully, the Twin Terrors didn’t clamor to come since they were watching
Everything Animal
, their favorite Saturday show.

Frank and Nadine pointed to the senior center door. “Here we go,” Frank said, rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist. “Muahahaha!”

“Creepy,” Sunny commented, but she started to smile.

“Are we still in trouble?” Aneta asked, following behind Sunny.

“You’re not helping, Frank,” Esther said, hands on hips, falling in.

Vee shrugged and picked up the end.

Nadine took them to the room with the big-screen TV, turned out the lights, and started the video. While the narrator was explaining the concept of “trap, neuter, and return” as more helpful than simply exterminating the community cats, Vee took notes. At the end, she said, “You guys, I’m sorry I made such a mess of catching the cats. I just wanted to get it all done and get going so I could focus on my retest.”

“Trapping,” Esther said, “not catching. Cat Woman says.” But she smiled quickly.

Sunny said it wasn’t like Vee’s brain was the only one that was supposed to work. “None of us thought this out. We just wanted to work together like we did last time.”

“Last time was not good at first,” came Aneta’s voice. When the girls turned toward her, she was smiling with her head cocked and eyebrows raised. Sunny spluttered, clapping her hand over her mouth, Esther’s eyes crinkled up as she held back laughter, and Vee snorted. Yeah right. Their beginning had not been fun.

“For pizza sakes, we’ve got to help those cats,” said Sunny.

What about the retest? Vee licked dry lips. The weeks seemed suddenly very short. Could she keep her want-to ramped up to find her spot as the family smart kid? Find the curious kitten a spot? Find all the Dumpster cats a home? Could she do it
all
?

She sighed, thought of the curious kitten’s sad little meow yesterday. Thought of Dad’s less-than-happy reaction to the whole project. If only the project were more
important.
… Her brain began to buzz. Like if a
national TV show
filmed their wonderful Great Cat Caper Adoption Event? So what if that narrator guy sounded like community cats rarely became adoptable. Weren’t they the S.A.V.E. Squad?

The girls were waiting.

“The”—she thought quickly—“Great Cat Caper Adoption Event!” She stood, held out her arm with the Squad bracelet on it. “It will be for the cats. Agreed?”
And bring the kitten home.
That sad little voice was getting louder. Vee pushed it away. And
Everything Animal
would be there.
That should make Dad proud.

Three other bracelets joined hers until their fingers were intertwined.

“Agreed!” the girls chorused.

She would e-mail the show tonight. As soon as the answer came, she would tell the girls. She imagined their leaping and shrieking. Operation Catness was still a stellar plan.

B
y Monday, the girls had decided the mom cat would be Sunny’s project, Aneta would take one of the adult cats, and Esther would work with the other adult cat. That left Vee the curious kitten—a male, they learned—and the second kitten the girls figured was the brother to the curious kitten. The two kittens seemed to do well in their trap together. Frank and Nadine had decided the cats would stay in an empty conference room at the Senior Center while the girls socialized them. When the Squad arrived, the Cat Room was already open.

The girls stood outside. “Frank told us we had to keep it closed for the people who have allergies,” Vee said, frowning.

The shuffling steps of Hermann sounded, and the old man approached them. “Wild kots to pets,” he said. “It vill never verk.” He shuffled into a nearby room and slammed the door.

Vee sniffed. Medicine-y mouthwash. Weird. Now there was no one but the girls in the hall. Hermann didn’t smell like mouthwash.

When Frank strolled down the hall a few minutes later, they made sure to tell him it had been open, but it wasn’t their fault.

On Tuesday, the girls raced each other to the lake and back and then spent time reading to the cats in the sheet-covered cages. Esther brought books from the children’s side of the library.

“All stories about cats who love people,” she said, passing out the books. Sunny read in funny voices and made everyone laugh. At first Aneta didn’t want to read until the other three got on their knees, clasped their hands, and begged her.

“You like people, you like people,” Vee told the curious kitten behind the sheet. “So does your brother.” The brother hissed. She wondered if Bill liked cats. She wondered about mouthwash and the box of rat poison by the senior center door. Fortunately, it was unopened, but why was it there? Frank was looking a little more serious about Vee’s report of mouthwash.

“I think it’s Hermann, trying to wreck our projects,” Esther said.

“That would be mean. He would not do that,” Aneta argued.

In the end, there was nothing left to talk about. Maybe these things were just mistakes.

That day, the moment Vee returned home from the cat training session, she headed for the family computer and checked her e-mail. None from
Everything Animal.
She finished her homework early, left Bill to his weird leftovers, and joined Heather and the Twin Terrors at Burger Mania. The Terrors bonded by sticking french fries in each other’s ears and spilling orange drink. Vee bonded to the idea that she didn’t want to do that again anytime soon.

On Wednesday, she checked her e-mail before leaving for school. Nothing. She survived learning how to reduce a fraction in math—again. After school, the first to arrive at the Cat Room, she surveyed the cages, smiling at the cats and in particular, at the curious kitten. Her smile died. The door to the curious kitten and brother cage was slightly ajar. Fortunately, the two kittens were sitting in the rear litter box, watching Vee.

Fastening the door as Esther arrived, Vee said, “Okay, I am not crazy, but this is the second time I’ve smelled super mouthwash and there’s been something not right with the Cat Room.” She told her about the door.

“You’re imagining things,” Esther said, going to her cat’s cage and checking the door. “Mine’s okay. Why would yours be special?”

Because the curious kitten was special?

After the other girls came, they sang silly songs to the cats. Puzzling over another strange occurrence, Vee trotted home and endured another session with Math Man.

On Thursday, she checked her e-mail before breakfast. Nothing from
Everything Animal
, and the days were melting away to the retest. At the senior center, Frank said they could take the sheets off, and they did. Momma Cat blinked. The two adult cats hissed and stayed in the farthest corner of their traps. Curious kitten and his brother sat side by side, twitching their tails in unison. The girls called it a great start. Vee wasn’t so sure. Aneta’s Gram and The Fam arrived on the brightly colored scooters they drove, placed a girl behind each driver, and headed to The Sweet Stuff. That night, Vee dreamed of the curious kitten swatting numbers as she held him.

Friday finally came. Operation Catness would escalate—picking up the cats and removing them from their cages.

Sunny bounded in. “I did some research online. Since Momma Cat used to be someone’s cat, if she had a good experience with people, she might be faster turning back into a pet. Yayness!” She looked at the girls. Aneta’s eyebrows shot up, and she clapped her hands.

“How do you know she was a pet?” Esther was skeptical.

“One of the ladies at the senior center thinks she remembers a family that moved from her street owning a cat like Momma Cat. We figure they left her behind. Ugh.”

Nadine and Frank entered the room, arm in arm. Vee hoped the curious kitten would leap into her arms and start to purr. She grinned. She could hope, couldn’t she?

Cocking her head, Nadine glanced over at Sunny, who was pulling something over her hands. She began to laugh. “Sunny, you nut. You’re prepared. But, slowly, Sunny. Very slowly.”

Vee frowned. What was Sunny doing? Those things on her hands looked like … oven mitts?

Sunny spun around, holding up her pumpkin-decorated oven mitts. “Yes! My mom got a pair for each of us at the dollar store.”

On the table were three more pairs of oven mitts. Each girl took a set. Aneta slipped them on, holding them up like mittens. “Maybe I will try my cat today, too!”

Sunny began to dance around the chairs then, with a quick glance at the traps, made a
yikes
face and settled in the nearest chair.

“I want to go first,” Vee said. “The curious kitten has been looking at me since we took the sheets off. Okay?”

“Sure,” everyone chorused.

“Here goes.” Vee approached her curious kitten and brother’s cage. Very slowly and quietly. So far so good. No hissing. Sunny slid up the door, and Vee slid her mitted hands in. The brother skittered to the back, but the curious kitten remained on the blanket in the middle of the trap. He blinked at Vee. Vee blinked at him.

“Okay, kitten,” she said. “I’m going to put these mitts on you and take you out.”

Sunny giggled. Vee twitched.

Making a “sorry” face, Sunny whispered, “It just sounded funny to say ‘put my mitts on you.’”

Now the mitts were on either side of the kitten. The brother kitten growled. The curious kitten’s tail puffed up, and he darted backward, out of the mitts. Frank told Vee to back out. Crushed, she did as she was told. Sunny slid the door shut.

“Tomorrow,” Frank said. “You can try again tomorrow. Esther, go ahead.”

Esther approached her trap cage with her oven mitts in place. Sunny slid up the door. A growl that sounded more like a monster than a cat leaped out of the trap. Esther’s face fell, and she jumped backward. The gray-striped cat inside opened his mouth as wide as it would go and displayed every tooth in his head. The gurgling grunt increased in volume. The cat’s eyes were wide with the pupils narrowed to slits, whiskers flat against its head.

Creepy
, thought Vee.

“Wow,” Sunny said, sliding down the door. “Something that small can make a scary sound.”

Esther looked at Frank. “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing, Esther. It could be a stray, but if it was born in the wild, we can consider it
feral
, or wild.”

Even though she nodded and returned to her seat, Esther’s face looked like she was ready to cry. Vee knew that feeling. Esther was smart, and being smart meant you wanted to be smart in everything. Even cat taming.

Aneta’s round face was pink with excitement as she approached her trap. But before Sunny could lift the door, the horrific growling and grunting began. Aneta stood with her mitted arms up, her lower lip quivering.

Momma Cat was at the front of her trap, tail wrapped around her, squinting and eyeing the group.

Frank’s voice broke the people silence and interrupted the cat noise. “Sunny? You ready to try your Momma Cat?”

Hermann strolled through the door. “You kits should just give up.” The Cat Woman glided in behind him and told him to be quiet. They must have some sort of cat radar, Vee decided.

Sunny donned her mitts. Nadine slowly raised the end of the trap. Momma Cat sat still, watching everything.

“Remember, slowly, Sunny,” Nadine said. “If she begins to struggle, put her down, okay?”

Sunny nodded. “Help me help Momma Cat, Lord,” she whispered and ever so slowly put her mitts in the cage. Momma Cat’s whiskers shot forward, and her ears came up. Sunny reached the cat and carefully held her between the mitts, drawing her toward the open end of the cage.

“Um, God, it’s Vee. Let Momma Cat know Sunny’s okay.” The words were out of Vee’s mouth before she thought about it. The girls told her God created everything, so she figured He must know Momma Cat.

In another moment, Momma Cat was out of the cage and against Sunny’s chest. The cat didn’t exactly look happy, but not unhappy either.

Hermann creaked to his feet. “One kot. You vill never get dem all into pets.” Shaking his head and muttering about crazy children, he left.

“Now what?” Sunny whispered. “I want to spin, but I don’t want to scare her. I’m so excited!”

For a moment, nobody said a word. Momma Cat began to purr. Then a quiet whisper floated through the air: “Thank You, Lord.” It was Sunny, her face shining.

It’s Vee, again. Thanks, God. That was pretty cool.
Vee looked at the curious kitten. Yep. It was watching her.
Next time, it’s our turn.

A light tap sounded on the door, and Aneta’s grandmother entered. “Hey, girls. Is this a good time for The Sweet Shop?”

Is it ever.