Spy Cat (7 page)

“If you don’t want to comb your hair,” Benjie said, “you could prick your finger and let me have the blood.”

“No way.” Alex ran a comb through his hair several times. Maybe this is a good thing, he thought. If it eases Benjie’s anxiety to feel prepared for a disaster, then let him go ahead and collect DNA.

Benjie held the
ALEX
envelope open while Alex cleaned the comb into it.

“Thanks,” Benjie said. “If you hadn’t come along, I was going to swipe your toothbrush. There’s DNA on a toothbrush, too.”

“I’m glad you didn’t do that. I’d hate to have you carrying my old used toothbrush around in your spy kit. It would probably get moldy.”

Benjie finally smiled. “Now all I have to do is brush Pete,” he said as he put five sealed envelopes into his spy backpack. “I already did Lizzy, but Pete ran away.”

“Good luck getting him to hold still for the brush. I never can.” Alex didn’t point out that burglars were unlikely to steal Pete under any circumstances. For one thing, they’d never catch him. Pete disliked strangers and usually hid until he was sure of their intentions. Also, Pete was not an expensive purebred; he was a mixed breed of unknown background whom Alex had adopted at the humane society—hardly a target for kidnappers.

Benjie carried his backpack out of the bathroom.

“
Forget it
,”
said Pete as Benjie approached him with the cat brush in one hand and an envelope in the other. Pete leaped to the top of the piano.

“
Get down
,
Pete
,”
Benjie said.
“
I need some of your fur for a DNA sample
,
in case the burglar kidnaps you.
”

“
Ha!
”
said Pete.
“
Let that burglar lay a hand on me
,
and the only DNA samples you’ll find will be HIS skin.” He crouched on the back corner of the piano
,
out of Benjie’s reach.

Benjie stood on the piano bench. Pete tried to jump down
,
but Benjie grabbed his collar and hung on with his left hand while he ran the brush across Pete’s back with his right hand.

Pete growled. He was tempted to give Benjie a scratch on the hand to teach him a lesson
,
but he restrained himself. Benjie was usually good to Pete
,
and Pete believed it was wrong to hurt someone except in self-protection. He didn’t like to be brushed
,
but he knew he would survive it. He held still and let Benjie finish.

After two swipes with the brush
,
Benjie let go of Pete’s collar. He carefully removed Pete’s fur from the brush.

“
Thanks
,
Pete
,”
he said.
“
This might save your life someday if the cat burglar comes here.
”

Pete watched as Benjie put the fur in an envelope and taped the envelope shut
,
then put it in his spy backpack.

As soon as Benjie left
,
Pete jumped down from the piano. He licked his shoulder vigorously to remove any trace of the hated cat brush. Then he walked to the kitchen for a second breakfast. Being brushed
,
even briefly
,
gave him a craving for crunchies.

After he ate
,
Pete went into Alex’s room and read the titles of the books on Alex’s desk. When he found the book he was looking for
,
he placed his paw on the spine and pulled. He had to tug three times before the fat red dictionary finally tumbled to the floor.

Pete turned the pages until he came to the word he
wanted:
“
cat.
”
He had decided to improve his family’s vocabulary. The only words he ever heard them say that began with
“
cat
”
were insulting.

“
Cat burglar
”
was the worst. No real cat would ever break into a house and steal what didn’t belong to him
,
but the news announcers on TV said cat burglar all the time when they talked about a thief. Even his own people had called the person who had stolen Mary’s computer a cat burglar because the robber had come noiselessly in the night.

“
Catnap
”
was another overused term. It implied that cats are lazy animals
,
forever catching a few winks of sleep here and there. While it was true that Pete liked a cozy bed as well as the next creature
,
no cat has ever been lazy.

Yesterday Mrs. Kendrill had said
“
catastrophe
”
when she told about the problems at her friend’s house. Pete had heard that word before. Whenever something really bad happened
,
people said it was a catastrophe. Nobody ever talked about a birdastrophe or a cowastrophe or a humanastrophe.

Why were cats blamed for everything? Humans get themselves into far worse messes than cats do. Cats don’t start wars or drop bombs on one another or hijack airplanes. Cats know it’s important to help other creatures, even when they’re different than we are. Many humans hadn’t learned that yet.

There must be other
,
better cat words
,
Pete thought
,
and
,
it was time to find out what they were.

His eyes scanned the page of the dictionary after the word “cat.”
Some words were long and hard to pronounce. Others had such complicated meanings that Pete would never be able to work them into an ordinary conversation.

He was pleased to find
“
cat’s eye
”
and learn that it referred to various gems
,
but dismayed to discover that
“
cat-tail
”
was defined only as a plant. Pete’s own dark tail was both handsome and useful—certainly worth as much of a mention as a plant. Of course
,
humans had written the dictionary
,
so it was bound to be slanted in their favor.

Finally Pete found exactly the sort of word he had hoped for
—“
catapult: a device for launching an airplane at flying speed
,
as from an aircraft carrier.
”
Pete read on. The second definition made the word even better.
“
To throw or launch as if by a catapult.
”

Pete trotted downstairs and into the family room. His people had finished breakfast
,
and Mr. and Mrs. Kendrill were watching the news on TV. Alex was clearing the table. Benjie was trying to sneak cookies out of the cookie jar and put them in his backpack without his mother hearing the jar lid clink. Lizzy was asleep.

Ordinarily Pete would have chosen a time like this to have a cat fit. Today he planned something even better.

Pete crouched on the floor. His tail flopped back and forth.
“
Watch this!
”
he yelled. His hind feet gave a mighty shove and he leaped to the top of the piano.
“
Did you see me?
”
Pete said.
“
I catapulted! I am a catapulting cat!
”

No one paid any attention to him
,
so Pete jumped down. Next he crouched in front of the entertainment center
,
which was considerably higher than the piano. The television set was in the middle
,
with bookshelves on both sides and above it and cupboards below.

“
Look at this!
”
Pete shrieked
,
and he flew past the television screen to the top of the bookshelf.

“Mercy!” Mrs. Kendrill said. “Did you see that? Pete jumped up there as if he’d been shot from a cannon.”

“
I catapulted!
”
Pete said.
“
I launched myself at flying speed!
”

“Wow!” said Benjie. “Look what Pete did!”

“Maybe he has worms,” Mr. Kendrill said. “Is he due for his checkup at the vet?”

Pete growled. Not the vet!
“
I won’t go
,”
he said.
“
You’ll never catch me.
”
He catapulted to the floor
,
raced across the family room
,
and ran up the stairs. He would practice his catapulting in Alex’s bedroom
,
where his behavior could not be misinterpreted.

“You’d better catch him, Alex,” Mrs. Kendrill said, “before he tears the house apart. Perhaps there’s a splinter in his paw.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him,” Alex said. “He’s having a cat fit because he’s bored.”

“Maybe he saw a flying green panther out the window,” Benjie said, “and he’s trying to warn us.” He went to the
window and peered out. “I think I hear one,” he whispered. “It’s probably landing on our roof.”

Lizzy, awakened by Pete’s hollering, raced into the family room, jumped on the couch, ran across Mr. Kendrill’s lap, slid down his pant leg, and climbed halfway up the drapes. “Mrowr,” she said as she clung to the fabric.

“Get down, Lizzy,” Mrs. Kendrill said. “No, no.”

Mr. Kendrill clicked off the television. “This house is a zoo,” he said.

“The news is too depressing to watch anyway,” Mrs. Kendrill said.

“Was there another burglary?” Benjie asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” Mr. Kendrill said. “With all the commotion going on, I couldn’t hear a word.”

“There weren’t any more burglaries,” Alex said as he started up the stairs to check on Pete.

“I think Pete’s giving Lizzy lessons in how to have a cat fit,” Benjie said. “This morning they both ran across my bed. That’s what woke me up so early.”

“I knew it was a mistake to keep that kitten,” Mr. Kendrill said. “All we need is two of them screeching and racing through the house.”

“We can’t take her back,” Benjie said. “We don’t know where she came from.”

“We aren’t taking Lizzy anywhere,” Mrs. Kendrill said. She had plucked the kitten from the drapery and was petting her. “She’ll calm down when she gets older.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Mr. Kendrill said. “Pete seems to think the family room is a trampoline.”

“It’s supposed to rain this afternoon, Benjie,” Mrs. Kendrill said, “so if you want to play outside today, you’d better do it now.”

“I’m going to my spy hideout,” Benjie said as he collected his binoculars and his backpack.

“If you see anyone drop off a box,” Mr. Kendrill said, “leave it there.”

Benjie didn’t see any more boxes. He didn’t find any more kittens. He didn’t even see a flying green panther. Of course, he wasn’t looking for panthers now, he was looking for burglars. He was the only spy on his block; it was up to him to watch for anything suspicious.

*   *   *

The next morning at breakfast Mrs. Kendrill said, “Remember, Benjie, this is an early dismissal day for you because of conferences, so I won’t be here when you get home from school. You’re to go to Mrs. Sunburg’s house until Alex or I come for you. She likes little boys and says she’s happy to have you anytime I can’t be here after school.”

“Okay,” Benjie said. “I’ll play with Rufus.”

Alex was glad to hear his brother say that. Benjie had spent most of yesterday watching the street with his binoculars. When Lizzy was awake, he played with her, but kittens sleep a lot, and Benjie had spent the rest of his time looking for “bad guys.”

When Benjie had first started pretending to be a spy, his family had encouraged him. Benjie was an imaginative child, and the spy games gave him a way to playact. But since the burglaries, Benjie’s pretending had solemn undertones of fear. It wasn’t a game for Benjie anymore, Alex thought. It was real.

Alex had overheard his parents discussing Benjie and knew they were concerned about him, too. Last night Benjie had awakened in the night crying from a nightmare, and when his parents asked him about the dream, he had said, “The bad guys came and stole Pete and Lizzy.”

“The bad guys would never do that,” Dad had said, but Alex knew Benjie was unconvinced.

This morning, Benjie had his binoculars around his neck while he ate breakfast.

“Spread the jelly with your knife, Benjie,” Mrs. Kendrill said, “not with your fingers.”

“If Mom isn’t home when you get here,” Benjie said to Alex, “you should come to Mrs. Sunburg’s house, too.”

Alex started to say he was old enough to be home by himself, then realized that Benjie was worried about him.

Alex smiled at his brother. “I’ll do that,” he said.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Alex grabbed his lunch bag, stuffed it in his backpack, and started for the door. “See you tonight,” he called as he
dashed for the school bus, which was already rumbling down Elm Lane.

Benjie’s bus came an hour later in the mornings than Alex’s did. Mrs. Kendrill reminded Benjie, before he got on his own bus, that he was to go to Mrs. Sunburg’s house that afternoon. “Go straight there as soon as you get off the bus,” she said.

“I will, Mom,” he said.

But he didn’t.

T
he telephone woke
Pete from his afternoon nap. It rang until the answering machine clicked on
. Whoever was calling did not leave a message.

Moments later
,
Pete heard a noise at the front door. He padded into the living room
,
jumped onto the window ledge
,
and looked out. A van had backed into the driveway and was parked facing away from the house.

Pete’s tail thumped against the wall. Was it the same van that Pete had seen at Mary’s house Saturday night? Pete wasn’t sure. It had been a dark night
,
and he had looked at the burglar and Pearly rather than the vehicle
,
but he thought this one was the same color.

“
Mrowr?
”
said Lizzy
,
who had followed him into the living room. She reached up and batted at Pete’s tail.

It had been a disappointment to discover that Lizzy could not understand what the people said
,
nor could she speak any language other than Cat. Pete hoped to teach her English
,
but so far his efforts had been in vain.