The Crabby Cat Caper
Read The Crabby Cat Caper Online
Authors: Beverly Lewis
Beverly Lewis Books for Young Readers
P
ICTURE
B
OOKS
Annika's Secret Wish ⢠In Jesse's Shoes
Just Like Mama ⢠What Is God Like?
What Is Heaven Like?
T
HE
C
UL-DE-SAC
K
IDS
The Double Dabble Surprise
The Chicken Pox Panic
The Crazy Christmas Angel Mystery
No Grown-ups Allowed
Frog Power
The Mystery of Case D. Luc
The Stinky Sneakers Mystery
Pickle Pizza
Mailbox Mania
The Mudhole Mystery
Fiddlesticks
The Crabby Cat Caper
Tarantula Toes
Green Gravy
Backyard Bandit Mystery
Tree House Trouble
The Creepy Sleep-Over
The Great TV Turn-Off
Piggy Party
The Granny Game
Mystery Mutt
Big Bad Beans
The Upside-Down Day
The Midnight Mystery
Katie and Jake and the Haircut Mistake
www.BeverlyLewis.com
The Crabby Cat Caper
Copyright © 1997 by Beverly Lewis
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwiseâwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-6073-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Cover illustration by Paul Turnbaugh
Story illustrations by Janet Huntington
For Janet Huntington,
who draws the pictures
in these books
and
who lives with
two very crabby catsâ
Nancy and Little John.
CONTENTS
ONE
“Yucko,” said Dee Dee Winters. “Thinking up riddles is hard.”
She stared out her bedroom window. She tapped her pencil on the desk.
It was almost summer. The last day of May.
Two weeks till summer vacation.
Two days till the school carnival.
Meow.
Mister Whiskers curled against Dee Dee's legs.
“I have to write a riddle for school,” she told him. “Any ideas?”
Merrrt.
Mister Whiskers shook his furry body. His name tag jingled.
“Don't tell me no,” Dee Dee said. “You haven't even tried.”
Mister Whiskers found a sunny spot on the floor. He licked his sleek, gray coat.
His whiskers wiggled. They waggled.
Purrr.
The sound was like a motor boat. A soft, distant one.
“Is that all you have to say?” Dee Dee rolled her dark eyes. “You're no help.”
Mister Whiskers stretched his soft body against the carpet.
“So . . . just like that, you're takin' a nap?” Dee Dee said.
The long whiskers twitched. Dreamland was on its way.
What can I expect?
she thought.
He's a cat. A crabby little cat.
She was right. Mister Whiskers was definitely crabby. Sometimes worse than crabby. Sometimes he took risks.
Big ones!
Daring thrills and certain chills.
Potted plant spills from windowsills.
Sometimes he set off fire drills.
That's what Mister Whiskers was all about.
Dee Dee picked up her pencil. She decided to try to write the riddle again.
“Everyone in class has to write one,” Dee Dee explained to her sleepy cat. “The riddle is due Monday.”
She checked her kitty calendar. The May border had cat paws along the side.
“This is Friday afternoon,” Dee Dee said. “I better hurry.”
Mew.
Mister Whiskers opened one droopy eye.
“You agree with me? Well, it's about time.” Dee Dee laughed.
She picked up her pencil. She wrote:
A Riddle
by
Dee Dee Winters
She stopped. “Now what? What comes next?”
Mister Whiskers didn't open his eyes this time. The cozy cat was somewhere in snooze land. Probably dreaming about his supper. Or his next adventure.
Dee Dee made kissy noises. She did it three times.
No response.
“Fine and dandy,” she whispered. “Sleep your life away.”
But Dee Dee didn't want Mister Whiskers to sleep. Not at all. She wanted his eyes wide open. She wanted his tail jerking.
Dee Dee wanted company. Someone to talk to. Even if it was only cat chat!
TWO
Dee Dee started to write again. But her pencil was dull. She went to her pencil sharpener. All the while, she was thinking about her riddle.
“I've got it!” she said at last. “I know what I'll write!” Dee Dee hurried to her desk.
Neatly, she printed these words:
I am green.
I make a certain cat hiss.
I have blinky eyes and eat flies.
Who am I?
Hint: My name starts with C.
She put her pencil down and read the riddle and the hint. She thought about it.
Then she read it again. This time out loud.
Dee Dee wasn't sure if she liked it. “Everyone will know the answer,” she said. “It's too easy.”
She thought about Jason Birchall's frog, Croaker. The bullfrog made her cat go crazy. Totally goofy.