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Authors: Laurie Halse Anderson

Homeless (9 page)

BOOK: Homeless
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“Hey, where did his bowl go?” I point to the corner where Socrates usually eats from his special “Fat Cat” bowl.
“Gran put it away,” Zoe explains. “We were keeping it full of food for Socrates, but the dogs kept eating it. It’s in the cupboard.”
That makes it seem like he’s never coming back. I can feel the lump growing in my throat.
Don’t cry, don’t pout—do something. Be positive.
“Let’s put the bowl back where it belongs,” I say. “We don’t have to put any food in it, just leave it in the corner. It will make us feel better.”
Maggie smiles at me. “You got it.” She jumps up from the table to get Socrates’ bowl.
“Are you sure Dr. Mac said we have to check all of these files?” David groans as he pulls another from the pile. “This is going to take forever.”
“It’s not that hard,” I say. “We just have to stay organized. Don’t mix up the piles of what’s been checked and not checked. I bet we can get through the
C
s by the time we have to go home.”
“No way,” Brenna says. “Not if we go with Dr. Mac and Gary to release the cats.”
“Are we allowed?” I ask.
“Well, we all got a huge ‘You must follow directions or you’ll get hurt’ lecture from Gran when she got back from taking you to the hospital,” Zoe says. “But they said we can watch if we want.”
“Sorry about that, guys,” I apologize.
“Don’t worry about it,” Zoe says. “But what about your parents? Your mom seemed a little nervous when we saw you on Sunday. I didn’t know if she would let you come back to the clinic.”
I nod. “It took some convincing. I’ve got her reading all this stuff about cats to prove they aren’t the horrible beasts she imagines. Believe it or not, I’m still trying for a cat of my own. She said she liked my determination. Anyway, I really want to see the release. I bet the feral cats will be really happy to be outside again,” I say. “They’ve been cooped up here for a long time.”
“Wait a minute,” Brenna says, laying down her pencil. “I thought you were the one who said all cats need a home.”
A blush creeps up my neck. “I wasn’t thinking about what the cats felt like when I said that. Dr. Mac was right. The ferals belong outside, where they’re used to living.”
“Wow,” Brenna says. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“I hope we can capture Mittens this time,” Maggie says. “It would be great if we could find homes for her kittens.”
“Too bad Mrs. Frazier was so angry,” Zoe says. “Her kids would love a kitten.”
“Pigs will fly before that happens,” Maggie replies.
We sort through the files in silence, making lists of clients to contact about overdue vaccinations. Suddenly, Sherlock lets out a deep “woof!”
“Someone’s here,” Maggie says without looking up from her pile.
David peeks through the blinds. “It’s Gary. Time to release the cats.”
Chapter Twelve
C
at Land is quiet and peaceful when we arrive. We follow Gary and Dr. Mac to the clearing. When Gary opens the doors of the first two cages, the cats race out and disappear into the weeds.
“Later, dudes,” David calls to the cats.
“They sure look like happy campers, don’t they?” Gary says.
Dr. Mac grins. “You look pretty pleased yourself.”
Gary crosses his arms over his chest and studies the spot where the cats hurried into the underbrush. “Yep. I became an Animal Control officer because I wanted to help animals. I really like the way this is working out.”
I think we should be videotaping this. Lots of people think Animal Control officers are the bad guys, like the old-fashioned dogcatchers in cartoons. But Gary obviously cares about animals.
“Uh-oh,” Maggie says. “Here comes trouble.”
Mrs. Frazier is headed toward us, punching numbers on a cell phone. She looks even angrier than she did the first time I met her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demands with a red face. “You’re supposed to be taking the cats out of here, not bringing more in! Is that why this whole thing is taking so long? You take away a few cats to calm me down, then you sneak more back in? Well, I’m not feeling very calm, Mr. Snyder, not at all!”
“Mrs. Frazier, let me explain,” Gary says. “The cats we just released are vaccinated and spayed. They present no danger to you or your family. Mrs. Frazier?”
“Hello? Animal Control?” she says into the cell phone. “Get me the supervisor. We have an emergency.”
“Mrs. Frazier, this is not an emergency,” Gary tries again. “If you would just listen to me . . .”
She covers the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand. “No, you listen to me! I will not have my kids put in danger in their own backyard. I’m going to have this place crawling with people. I’ve already called the police and the TV stations. And now I’m going to get your job taken away. Yes,” she says into the phone. “We have a problem here on Dorset.” She walks toward her neighbor’s house while she talks.
Dr. Mac’s right eyebrow is arched high. “Gary Snyder,” she says sternly, “please tell me you had that meeting with the residents, the one where you were going to explain the TVSR program to them.”
Gary looks ten years old all of a sudden. His face turns red, and his eyes look everywhere except at Dr. Mac’s face. In the distance, Mrs. Frazier punches another number on her cell phone and then yells into it. Gary may be a great Animal Control officer, but unfortunately, he’s an absent-minded one.
“You did have the meeting, didn’t you?” Dr. Mac asks.
He takes a deep breath. “Well, it’s just that we had some loose dogs, and then a deer was wandering around the new development, and I’ve had twelve skunk calls since Saturday, and—well . . . it slipped my mind,” he admits.
Dr. Mac closes her eyes like she’s got a headache.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“Exactly what we came here for,” Gary says. “These cats are safe. They won’t harm anyone. I say let’s finish the job. Release the cats, trap the next batch, and then go home. I’ll schedule an emergency meeting with the neighbors tonight, I promise.”
“But what if Mrs. Frazier does something to hurt them?” I say.
“You can’t ignore Mrs. Frazier,” Dr. Mac says. “She’s furious. Let’s take the cats back to the clinic and keep them there a few more days. We’ll release them after the meeting.”
The four caged cats still in the back of the pickup truck start to yowl. I bet they can tell they’re close to home. They want to get out.
Gary kicks a pebble toward the railroad tracks. “That wouldn’t be fair to the cats. They have been through a lot of stress being captured and treated. Let’s release them now, then we’ll set up the meeting. It will just take a minute.”
Dr. Mac studies the cats, then nods once. Gary jogs back to his truck to get two more cages.
“I think Gary’s right. The best thing for them right now is to set them free. There is plenty of space back here. I’ll talk to Mrs. Frazier and her kids about not leaving food out for the cats. If they stop doing that, then the ferals won’t stay so close to the houses. Now back to the van, everyone.”
“Dr. Mac,” I say, pointing to the road, “you might need to have that emergency meeting right now.”
A crowd has gathered around Gary’s truck. It is not a welcoming committee.
“What are you doing?” asks an angry man.
“Get rid of those filthy cats!” another man says. “I’ll do it myself if you won’t.”
“You said you were getting rid of them,” Mrs. Frazier says.
“Who’s protecting the children?” asks a concerned woman.
“Who’s protecting us?” asks the woman next to her.
Gary ignores what they are saying to him and carries the cages down to the clearing.
Dr. Mac walks into the middle of the crowd. “Please, if you will all just listen to me, I will explain,” she says loudly. “Let’s all calm down.”
A police car pulls up, followed by a TV news van and another Animal Control truck. What would Mother say if she were here? She’d say this is getting out of hand.
Maggie’s eyes get wide. “
Now
what’s going to happen?” she asks.
“This would be a great TV show, if it weren’t true,” Zoe observes.
Gary’s boss waves him over. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but it looks like a tense conversation. I think he’s in trouble.
The crowd in front of Dr. Mac grows louder and louder.
“Didn’t you read the article in the paper about that poor girl who got rabies?” asks one person. “That could happen to our kids, you know. We have a right to keep them safe!”
I hide my bandaged hand behind my back. No use making matters worse.
“The girl did not get rabies. She’s being treated for possible exposure,” Dr. Mac tells the crowd. “No one understands the risks of unvaccinated animals better than I do. We keep the cats who are being treated until we are certain they have no diseases they could pass on to people.” Her voice is strong and firm.
“Maybe we should walk back to the clinic,” I suggest quietly to my friends. “I don’t want anyone to recognize me. If they start up with the whole rabies thing, we’ll never be able to help these cats.”
“And leave all this?” Brenna says. “No way!”
“No one even knows we’re here,” Maggie says. “Don’t worry about it, Sunita.”
Gary turns away from his boss and starts to load the empty traps into the truck. He won’t look at us or say anything. Mrs. Frazier hurries over to the truck to talk to him some more.
“Psst! Sunita! Over here!”
A bush is calling my name.
“Sunita!”
The bush rattles and the face of Jamie Frazier briefly appears, with Katie next to him. “Over here,” he repeats. “Hurry!”
I glance at the crowd. All the grown-ups are busy yelling at one another, and my friends are watching them. No one else heard Jamie.
I scurry over to Jamie’s hiding place. “What are you doing out here?” I ask quickly.
“We need help,” Jamie whispers.
“Can’t it wait?” I ask. If Mrs. Frazier sees her kids out here while Gary is releasing the ferals, she’ll flip out.
Jamie shakes his head. “This is really important. That black cat you were looking for, Mittens—she’s having her babies.”
“Really? That’s great!” I shout—then clap my hand across my mouth. I don’t want to call any attention to us. “So what’s the problem?” I whisper.
“She started having the kittens yesterday,” Jamie says. “I think it’s taking too long. She doesn’t look good. Can you come look? Please.”
I look back at the crowd.
The police officer is talking to Dr. Mac. The crowd seems a little calmer now, but some people are still frowning. The television crew is pointing its cameras at the crowd.
If I interrupt Dr. Mac, everyone will notice and someone might recognize me as the girl from the newspaper story.
“All right, here’s what we’ll do,” I say. “Take me to Mittens. First, I’ll see how she’s doing, then you two go back inside your house and wait. Where is she?”
“Follow me!” Jamie says.
Keeping one eye on the crowd, we quickly cross the railroad tracks and dash across the clearing.
“She’s under there,” Jamie says, pointing under the boxcar.
I crouch down to see. Jamie and Katie kneel next to me. Mittens is under the boxcar, right at the front edge. There is one kitten on the ground near her, but it’s dead. I shudder.
“Stay back, Katie,” I say. I don’t want her to see this. It’s kind of gross and scary.
Mittens is pushing hard, trying to make the next kitten come out. She meows in pain. I can’t tell what’s wrong, but I know we should get her to the clinic.
“OK, listen to me,” I tell Jamie. “I want you to take Katie home. There’s no use getting you in trouble for this. I’m going to get Dr. Mac. Mittens needs to go to the clinic right now.”
Jamie nods. “Can’t you just pick her up and carry her?” he whispers.
Katie pokes me in the back. I ignore her—I’m too worried about Mittens.
“I’m afraid I might hurt her,” I say. “We don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never seen a cat have kittens before.”
Katie pokes again. “Su-Sunita,” she says anxiously.
I turn around to find a raccoon trapping us against the boxcar. “Look out!” I cry.
The raccoon’s teeth are bared, and saliva drips from its mouth. My heart starts to pound. Raccoons are nocturnal animals. They rarely come out in the day unless . . . they have rabies.
Chapter Thirteen
M
ommy!”
Katie screams.
The crowd around Gary’s truck stops yelling and arguing, and turns to look across the tracks at us.
“Stay back,” I tell Katie and Jamie. I grab their shirts and pull them behind me.
Mrs. Frazier starts to run toward us, but two men stop her. “Let me go!” she screams. “Jamie! Katie!”
“Everyone, stay where you are,” the police officer orders, walking slowly toward the rail bed. He puts his hand on his gun. “I won’t fire until I have a clear shot.”
The raccoon steps closer and glares at me with poisonous yellow eyes. This is what full-blown rabies looks like. The disease has infected the raccoon’s brain, and it’s not afraid of anything. All it wants to do is attack—attack us!
Jamie struggles to break free.
“Don’t move,” I tell him.
“We have to get away!” he says in a panicked voice.
“No,” I say firmly. “The raccoon is too close. If we try to run, it’ll catch us. Don’t move.”
“We can’t stay here!” Jamie says.
“I’m scared,” Katie cries.
The train whistle blows in the distance. In a minute it’s going to cut us off from our escape route. I have to think of something—fast.
“Shhh, it will be OK,” I say, sounding more confident than I feel. I reach behind me to the open door to the boxcar and fumble around for something—anything—I can use to protect us. My fingers close around small bits of something. Gravel? Cat food! Maybe I can throw it at the raccoon, then we can run.
BOOK: Homeless
10.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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