What the Witch Left (8 page)

She tried to hurry, but the key was too heavy. Her teeth were beginning to ache from carrying it.

At last she came to the hole under the bathroom radiator. Nora wiggled through. She kept as far as she could from the trap. She didn’t want to stay under the radiator either. It would be a bad place to suddenly become large.

The bathroom door opened, and Mrs. Cooper came in with some clean towels. Nora moved as quickly as she could. She ran out of the bathroom and down the hall, keeping close to the wall. Her mother came out of the bathroom. “Tad!” she cried. “Here’s another mouse. Oh, I wish we could have kept that cat!”

Tad came down the hall. He bent over and took the key. Nora ran to her own room and hid in the closet. She could hear Tad saying, “It got away.”

“Did you see which way it went? I’ll
have to get some more traps.” Mrs. Cooper went downstairs.

Tad came into Nora’s room. “Nora,” he whispered, “where are you?”

“In the closet.”

Tad sat on the bed. “Come on out. The coast is clear.”

Nora came out. “Put me on the bed. I’m tired.”

Tad lifted her onto the bed. Nora burrowed under the covers. “Just don’t sit on me,” she said.

“Mother’s pretty mad at you for taking all that stuff from Maggie. She says some of it’s better than what she has herself. And she’s looking for you to set the table.”

“Couldn’t you do it for me? Please, Tad,” Nora begged.

“Will you take out the garbage for me?” asked Tad.

“Yes, of course,” Nora said.

“OK. I remember now you said you
were going to the library.” Tad went out of the room and downstairs.

Nora closed her eyes. It felt so good to be in her own bed. In a minute she was fast asleep.

Mrs. Cooper was angry. Nora had not come to the supper table at all. After supper her mother found her asleep in her bed. The supper was cold. Mrs. Cooper made Nora eat it anyway.

While she ate, her mother sat at the table across from her and scolded her for taking so many shoes and hats from Maggie Brown.

“But, Mother, she was
glad
to give them to me. They were just cluttering up her closet.”

“And now they’re cluttering up yours. Tomorrow you are not to go anywhere. I want you to stay home and tidy your room.”

“I’ll do it in the afternoon, Mother,”
said Nora. She had to go over to Maggie’s apartment and tidy
that
in the morning.

Mrs. Cooper got up from the table. “No, Nora,” she said, “I want you to clean your room before you do anything else.”

Nora’s room was quite small. It was full of all sorts of things. Nora almost never threw anything away. It would take her hours to clean up. She started right after supper, but by bedtime there was still a lot to do.

“Tad,” she said, “can you do something about Maggie’s place yourself?”

“Of course. What makes you think I need you? I’ll spray the rooms with some of that stuff that covers up smells, and I’ll hide the animals.”

“Sweep the floor, Tad, please,” said Nora.

Next morning after breakfast Tad took Maggie’s door key and a spray can and went next door. Nora worked in her room. She kept looking out of her window to see if the man from the Department of Health had come. It would be awful if Tad were still in the apartment when he arrived.

At last Nora finished straightening her room. She shoved a carton of treasures under her bed and jammed her dresser drawers shut. Then she went downstairs and out the front door.

A thin young woman stood on the stoop next door and rang the bell. Mrs. Hastings opened the door.

“I’m Miss Feldman from the Department of Health,” said the young woman.
“Are you the person who telephoned about animals in an apartment?”

Nora ran over to stand behind Miss Feldman. She had to make some excuse for Tad’s being in Maggie’s apartment.

Mrs. Hastings was talking. “Yes,” she said. “Come in. I’ll let you into the apartment upstairs.” She turned to Nora. “What is it?”

“I have to tell Tad to come home. He’s in Mrs. Brown’s apartment,” Nora said.

“What’s he doing there?” asked Mrs. Hastings.

Nora said the first thing she could think of. “Feeding the cat.”

“You see!” said Mrs. Hastings to Miss Feldman. “This woman’s business is taking care of people’s cats, but she has no time for her own.”

Nora felt that she had just made matters worse.

Mrs. Hastings led the way up the stairs. The woman from the Department of Health followed her, and Nora came after.

“Hello,” called Mrs. Hastings. “Is anybody home?”

Taffy ran down the hall barking. Miss Feldman took out a notebook and a pen and wrote something down.

Tad came to the top of the stairs and
opened the gate. When he saw Nora, he grinned and made a funny rumbling noise in his throat. He clenched and unclenched his hands and scratched them against the bannister.

“Is Mrs. Brown here?” asked Mrs. Hastings. “Miss Feldman would like to see her.”

“Maggie’s still out cat-sitting,” said Tad.

Mrs. Hastings turned to Miss Feldman. “Why don’t you take a look around while you’re waiting for her?” she said.

“I suppose I might as well,” said Miss Feldman. “Where shall I start?”

Nora noticed that the whole apartment smelled of the stuff from the spray can. She thought she liked the zoo smell better.

Mrs. Hastings took Miss Feldman into the living room. Henry the cat met them
at the door with a loud meow. Miss Feldman looked at him and made another note in her book.

Suddenly Nora saw Lew. He was standing quite still on one side of a row of books, which was propped up on the other side by an iron elephant. The big lizard didn’t even blink.

Miss Feldman looked around the room and then went out. She looked into both bedrooms and the bathroom. When she
reached the kitchen, she said to Mrs. Hastings, “I don’t see anything but a cat and a dog. Where are the rats and snakes you called about?”

“They must be hidden somewhere in the apartment,” said Mrs. Hastings. She went from room to room, searching in closets, opening drawers, and looking under the furniture.

Nora felt sure Mrs. Hastings would find the other animals, no matter how well Tad had hidden them. Tad was still making that noise in his throat. He stood beside Nora in the kitchen. Now he put his head on one side and rubbed it against Nora’s shoulder. Miss Feldman tapped her pen against her notebook. Nora could hear Mrs. Hastings in Maggie’s bedroom slamming drawers.

Nora noticed a pan of fudge on the kitchen table. The fudge had been crisscrossed with a knife and cut into pieces.
Nora saw that three pieces were missing. So that was what was wrong with Tad!

Nora looked at Miss Feldman. There was no time to lose. Any minute Mrs. Hastings would find the kittens or the sparrow or brush up against Lew. Nora pointed to the pan of fudge. “Mrs. Brown makes the best fudge in the world,” she said.

Miss Feldman smiled at Nora. “It looks delicious,” she said.

“It sure is delicious,” said Tad. Before Nora knew what he was up to, Tad took a piece of fudge and put it in his mouth.

Nora was afraid Tad would bite her if she tried to take the fudge out of his mouth. Before he had time to swallow it, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him out of the kitchen.

“I know Mrs. Brown would want you to have a piece.” Nora held up the pan to Miss Feldman.

Suddenly Nora heard a cackle. Miss Feldman jumped.

Maggie was standing in the kitchen doorway. “Please take a piece,” she said. “Then you can tell me why you’re here.”

Miss Feldman took a piece of fudge and ate it.

The next moment Mrs. Hastings rushed into the room holding a striped yellow cat by the nape of his neck. At the sight of Maggie Brown she stopped short and dropped the cat.

“What a beautiful cat!” said Miss Feldman.

“Do have a piece of fudge, Mrs. Hastings,” said the witch.

For a minute Mrs. Hastings couldn’t speak. Then she looked at Nora. “I’m on a diet,” she said.

“Just one piece,” said Nora. “One piece never hurt anybody.”

Maggie smiled. She looked at the
yellow cat. “Nora,” she said. “You haven’t had any of this batch of fudge. Don’t you think you should take a couple of pieces?”

Nora took two pieces of fudge and ate them.

Maggie held up the pan to Mrs. Hastings.

Mrs. Hastings looked at the fudge and at Maggie and the yellow cat. She reached for a piece of candy and bit into it. “Delicious!” she said, putting the rest of the fudge in her mouth. She licked her fingers. “That’s a handsome cat. Could I have him?”

Nora stooped down and picked up the cat. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hastings, but he already has a home. I’d better take him back there.” She slipped out of the kitchen, then ran down the stairs and out the front door.

Nora sat down on her own front steps with the cat on her lap. Tad wagged his tail. “Why did you have to leave just
as things were getting interesting?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” said Nora. “What did you do with the rest of the animals?”

“I put the kittens in a shopping bag and hung the bag by a rope out the kitchen window. I was afraid the kittens might jump out. I ate some fudge so I could talk to them. They promised to stay quiet till Maggie could take them back into the house.” Tad stretched his neck and looked pleased with himself.