Catboy (16 page)

“No, you don't understand,” I said. “We have to follow him. He's taking us to Hunter.”

Dr. Reynolds either didn't understand or didn't believe me—but why would he?

“Really, he is,” I exclaimed. “I have to follow him or we may never find Hunter. You have to believe me. You have to
trust
me.”

He let go of my arm. “I lead. You follow.”

“And I'll wait right here,” Simon offered.

I knew Simon wasn't convinced of any of this, but what could I expect? It didn't make much sense.

Dr. Reynolds started down a narrow path. Wherever Rocky had gone, he wasn't in sight. There were so many little side passages, nooks and crannies where he could have disappeared. We'd just have to search.

I was grateful Dr. Reynolds was with me. Not just because it meant another set of eyes, but it was a little scary to be in here following a gigantic raccoon. Just because I'd given him a name didn't mean he wasn't a wild animal—a big wild animal—and I was following him through a junkyard.

“There he is,” Dr. Reynolds whispered softly.

He was sitting in the shadows of a big truck piled on the top of a crushed car. And in the shadows, tucked beneath the car, was a hole. Was that Rocky's den? Was that his hole? Was he running in there to get away from us? It couldn't be his den. The opening was way too small to allow him in.

With his front paws, Rocky began digging at the little hole, kicking up stones and clumps of frozen dirt.

“What's he doing?” I asked.

“He's digging, but I don't know why. There's no way he can make that hole big enough for himself. Maybe there's food down there he's trying to get at,” Dr. Reynolds suggested.

Not food. Hunter. Hunter was down that hole.

Rocky stopped digging, but his face, his entire head, was in the hole.

“I have no idea what he is doing,” Dr. Reynolds said.

I did. Hunter was down that hole, and Rocky was talking to him. I knew it. I also knew I couldn't tell Dr. Reynolds that.

Rocky pulled his head out of the hole and looked me in the eye. He let out a little cry, nodded his head slightly, lifted up one front paw and waved. He then turned and ran off, vanishing between the wrecks.

“That was certainly strange,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I have never seen a raccoon do something like that. He is
incredibly
big.”

“And incredibly
smart
,” I added.

I rushed over to the hole and tried to peer down. It was too deep, too dark, to see down to the bottom.

“Hunter is down there,” I said. “In this hole.”

“You can see him?”

“It's too dark. I can't see anything, but I know he's down there.”

Dr. Reynolds didn't argue. But I didn't expect him to. I knew, despite all his scientific training, he believed me.

He came over, pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and shone it down the hole. It
was
deep. Dr. Reynolds moved the flashlight around so the beam would reach the bottom. Eyes reflected back! There were two big bright sets of eyes.

“They're down there!” I exclaimed. “It's Hunter and Miss Mittens!”

“It is,” Dr. Reynolds said. “And they're not alone.”

“Not alone. There's another cat?”

“Judging from what I can see, not another
cat
, kittens.”

“Kittens!”

At the bottom of the hole, surrounding Miss Mittens, were her kittens. I couldn't tell for sure, but I thought there were four of them. “How many do you see?” I asked.

“I believe there are three or even four little pairs of eyes.”

“How old do you think they are?” I asked.

“It's hard to tell for sure from this distance, but no more than a couple of weeks old would be my guess.”

“Are they okay?” I asked.

“I try not to do my examinations from ten feet away while staring down a hole, but they do look okay, from a distance. I see no reason why they shouldn't be fine,” Dr. Reynolds said. “She's a good mother, right?”

“The best,” I said proudly.

“Some cats are better parents than others,” he said.

“She was good with her last litter,” I explained. “I didn't even know she was pregnant again,” I added.

“You mentioned you hadn't seen her lately, so I wondered if this might be the case,” Dr. Reynolds said. “The mother often stays with them in the den until they're old enough to leave.”

“I didn't expect her to have another litter so soon. Her last litter can't be more than six months old.”

“Cats can have litters very often. That's why feral cat colonies get so large so quickly. And why we try to neuter them if we can catch them,” he added.

“So how do we get them out?” I asked.

“I don't know if we can,” Dr. Reynolds said.

“But we can't leave them there. There has to be some way,” I argued.

“I'm open to suggestions, but I don't know any way,” Dr. Reynolds said.

“Can't you reach them with the snare pole?”

“It's too deep for the pole. Besides, even if I was able to snare them, I'd only be able to get Hunter and Miss Mittens. The kittens are too small and too fragile. I'd kill them if I tried to drag them out.”

“What if we tried to dig them out?” I suggested. “We could get a shovel and start digging.”

“It's jammed under the wrecks. There's really no place to dig out.”

“I could get Mr. Singh to use the forklift to move the wrecks away. I'm sure he has a shovel or two as well.”

“I'm afraid moving the wrecks might cause the hole to collapse. Even if that didn't, I'm sure the digging would cause the sides of the hole to cave in and the kittens would be suffocated.”

“But if we don't get them out, what will happen to them?”

Dr. Reynolds didn't say anything. He just looked at the ground, which, in a way, was his answer.

Even if the wrecks being removed and the trucks rumbling around the yard didn't cause a cave-in, the cats wouldn't survive once construction started.

“But we have to do something,” I said softly.

“I wish there was something we could do,” Dr. Reynolds said. “We just have to hope the den can survive long enough for the kittens to become old enough to leave. Hunter will continue to bring them food, and then maybe he can move them elsewhere. From what you've told me, he's a capable cat. If any cat could do it, it would be him.”

Dr. Reynolds placed a hand on my shoulder.

I was trying hard not to cry, but I didn't know if I'd be able to hold the tears back.

“Do you think I could be alone?” I asked.

“Of course,” Dr. Reynolds said and walked away.

I stared at the ground and down into the hole. Somewhere in the darkness below sat the two cats and their kittens. I knew there was a chance we could catch Hunter. I was certain he was coming out to try to catch food. Maybe we could snag him when he came out next. But without Hunter, the kittens and Miss Mittens would never survive. And if we left them, they were all going to die anyway.

There had to be some way to save them. If only I could talk to Hunter, convince him to bring his family out. I needed to try.

I sat down on the ground. Dr. Reynolds was gone. Good. Talking to Rocky with Simon peering over my shoulder was one thing. Talking to Hunter with Dr. Reynolds listening in was another.

“Hunter, it's me,” I said quietly, my voice echoing down the hole. “I know you can hear me.”

I took a deep breath. I didn't know if he could hear me, but I wasn't sure what else I could do. I had to say something.

“We've gathered up most of the other cats already. We've got a spot to release all of you. Dr. Reynolds picked it out. It's a good place, but we can't reach you or the kittens. I'm really sorry, but I don't know what else to do.”

My voice cracked over the last few words, and I choked back the tears coming to my eyes.

“I don't want to leave you here. I feel awful. I want you to know that…to know I didn't abandon you. I'll come back tomorrow and the next day and the next day if I have to. But if the trucks come, the hole won't hold up. It'll collapse. You'll die. Miss Mittens will die, the kittens will die.” I took a deep breath. “We're not giving up. I want you to know that, that's all.”

I looked into the hole. I couldn't see anything. What did I expect to see? What did I expect to happen?

I got up and walked toward the clearing, where I knew everybody would be. They were all there, waiting. I brushed away any hint of tears. My mother looked like she might cry too. I guess Dr. Reynolds had told them what we'd found.

“We'll try again tomorrow,” she said as she put an arm around my shoulders.

I knew that was the thing to say. But if we couldn't get them out today, would another day be any different? Would the hole even be there tomorrow?

“Look!” Dr. Reynolds called out.

I spun around. Hunter was standing at the edge of the clearing and he was holding something in his mouth. Was it a mouse or a rat— “It's a kitten,” I gasped.

Twenty-Eight

Hunter crept into the clearing, the tiny kitten in his mouth.

“I'll get the snare,” Dr. Reynolds whispered.

“No, don't, please.”

“But this might be our only chance to catch him,” he said.

“We
can't
catch him,” I said. “Without him, the kittens won't survive. Miss Mittens won't survive.”

“But what is he doing?” my mother asked.

“He's moving the cats someplace safe,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Cats will do that when they're threatened. Somehow he's figured out they have to leave.”

Hunter had heard and understood me. He knew what had happened. He walked around the edge of the clearing, staying close to the wrecks and as far away from us as possible. It was important we stayed still and tried not to scare him.

Hunter stopped in front of one of the traps. He obviously remembered being in the trap before. I hoped that experience hadn't spooked him so much he wouldn't do what he needed to do.

“It won't hurt you,” I whispered. “Just go around it.”

“Oh, my goodness,” my mother said.

“I can't believe what he's doing,” Dr. Reynolds gasped.

Hunter stepped partway into the trap. Not far enough to trigger the door, but far enough to drop the kitten in. He retreated, leaving the kitten, a little ball of black fur, in the trap! It stumbled around, meowing, too small to try to climb out of the trap.

“You don't think that Hunter is, is…He
can't
be,” Dr. Reynolds said.

“Yes,” I said, answering his unfinished question. “He
is
.”

Hunter disappeared. Was he going for a second kitten? He had to be. This wasn't an accident or a mistake.

“This is unbelievable,” my mother said. “If he's actually doing what we think he's doing, it's just, just… amazing!”

The words were barely out of her mouth when Hunter appeared with another kitten in his mouth. He walked directly over to the trap, dropped the second kitten into the cage and quickly turned around. The two little kittens huddled together and Hunter disappeared once again.

“I feel like I'm in a Disney movie,” Simon said.

“Have you ever heard of anything like this happening before?” my mother asked Dr. Reynolds.

“I've read about wild animals moving their babies out of danger, like away from a forest fire,” Dr. Reynolds said. “But this, putting them into a cage…well, I'm seeing it and I hardly believe it.” He shook his head. “I'm going to make a point of not telling anyone what I'm seeing today.”

“You can tell anybody in the Feral Cat Association,” Doris added. “We
all
would believe it.”

“Maybe I should go and examine the kittens,” he suggested.

“No, not yet,” I said. “You don't want to spook Hunter. Wait until he's brought them all out.”

“Do you think he's going to bring all of them?” Simon asked.

“I'm counting on it,” I said.

Hunter arrived with another kitten in his mouth, and right behind him was Miss Mittens. She was carrying the fourth kitten. She hesitated at the edge of the clearing, but Hunter didn't. He moved straight toward the trap. He dropped the kitten in with the other two. The three of them curled together, crying loudly.

Hunter doubled back to where Miss Mittens was waiting. They touched noses and she followed him back toward the cage.

The kittens' cries became even louder. They sounded desperate. Miss Mittens picked up her pace and trotted straight to the trap. Hunter pressed up against her and sort of nudged her toward the opening.

“Do you see what he's doing?” I whispered.

“I see it, but that doesn't mean I believe it,” Dr. Reynolds said.

Miss Mittens stopped beside the cage. I had an image of Hunter giving her a shove. But the kittens had become even louder. She jumped into the cage and the door slammed shut!

“We got her!” my mother exclaimed. “We got the mother and the kittens!”

“Now if we can just get Hunter to…,” I said.

A blur of fur shot out of the wrecks—it was King! He charged across the clearing toward Hunter. Hunter leaped to the side as King, all fangs and fury, slammed into the cage holding Miss Mittens and the kittens, knocking it backward.

Hunter pounced on King. King screamed and jumped forward, trying to fight back, but Hunter had hit and run, leaping out of striking distance.

King scrambled forward, trying to get at Hunter.

“We have to do something!” I screamed. “We can't let him hurt Hunter or chase him away or—”

Hunter dashed around King and ran straight into one of the remaining traps. The door slammed shut, sealing him inside and King outside.