Spy Cat Read Online Free Page B

to pay anything.”
    “Ha!” said Mr. Kendrill. “Fat chance.”
    “She’s beautiful,” Benjie said.
    Alex looked at the kitten. She was two shades of brown, with black stripes. Alex had seen many cats who looked exactly like her. She was cute because she was so tiny, but Alex doubted she would ever be beautiful. He didn’t say that, though.
    “Kittens are a lot of trouble,” Mr. Kendrill said. “Remember how Pete climbed the drapes when he was little? He walked on the piano keys at night and woke everyone up,and he ran through the house all the time like a crazy thing, leaping on the furniture and knocking all the throw rugs out of place. Come to think of it, he still does that sometimes.”
    “
Only when I have a cat fit
,”
Pete said.
    “For the most part, he grew out of all that wildness,” Mrs. Kendrill said. “Pete’s a wonderful cat now. He never climbs the drapes or walks on the piano keys anymore.”
    “I vote to keep the kitten,” Benjie said.
    “So do I,” said Mrs. Kendrill.
    “It’s okay with me,” said Alex.
    “
She can’t eat any of my food
,”
said Pete.
    “I can see it doesn’t matter how I vote,” Mr. Kendrill said.
    “I’m going to name her Elizabeth Van Lew,” Benjie said.
    “What?” said Mr. Kendrill.
    “Elizabeth Van Lew was a spy during the Civil War. She took food and medicine to the prisoners, and they told her secrets about the Confederate Army, and then she told the Union Army what she knew. Elizabeth Van Lew was a hero.”
    Mrs. Kendrill looked dubious. “Elizabeth Van Lew,” she said.
    “That’s quite a mouthful for such a small cat,” Alex said. “I can’t quite imagine calling her to come.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Here, Elizabeth Van Lew. Here, Elizabeth Van Lew.”
    Benjie giggled. “That will be her real name,” he said, “but I’ll call her Lizzy.”
    “Could I hold her?” Rocky asked.
    As Alex watched Rocky pet the kitten, he realized it was the first time today that his friend had smiled. Even when they had played “horse” with the basketball, Alex could tell that Rocky’s heart wasn’t in the game. The terrible knowledge that strangers had broken into his house and taken his family’s personal property had hung over Rocky like a black cloud all day.
    “If you had decided not to keep her,” Rocky said, “I was going to ask if I could take her.”
    “You should have spoken up,” Mr. Kendrill said.
    “It’s too late now,” Benjie said.
    Benjie no longer looked worried about the burglars, either. In fact, he was grinning as if it were his birthday.
    Alex rubbed Pete behind the ears. “You’re a good boy, Pete,” he said, “to wash the kitten and not fight with her.”
    “
She needs a role model
,
and who could do a better job of that than me?
”
    “He is a good boy,” Mrs. Kendrill agreed. “Some cats refuse to accept another cat in their house. My friend Annette tried to take in a stray, and it was a disaster. For weeks, her cat did nothing but hiss and run away. Then the cats began fighting, and they both ended up at the vet with abscesses from scratching and biting each other. Talk abouta catastrophe! Annette finally had to find a new home for the stray.”
    “The perfect word,” Mr. Kendrill said. “Cat-astrophe.”
    “
I liked disaster better
,”
Pete said.
    “Kitty num-num for you tonight,” Alex told Pete.
    “
I’ll need it
,”
Pete said.
“
Being a substitute parent will take a lot of energy.
”
    “Oh!” Mrs. Kendrill gasped. “I just thought of something!”
    “What?” Mr. Kendrill asked.
    “We need to take the kitten to the vet as soon as possible,” Mrs. Kendrill said. “We don’t know where she came from or whether she might have a disease that Pete could catch.”
    Alex picked up Pete and carried him away from the kitten.
    “Kittens are usually immune to disease when they’re this small,” Mr. Kendrill said, “especially if the mother cat was