The Cats that Stalked a Ghost Read Online Free

chief got into his cruiser, and drove east on Lincoln Street. 
    Katherine turned to go back inside the house, but two Siamese looking out the parlor picture window caught her attention.  Inside on the windowsill, Abra stretched tall on her rear haunches, and with her front paws dangling, assumed her new Meerkat pose; Scout was sitting next to her, clearly agitated.  Both wore troubled expressions on their brown masks.
    Katherine went inside to comfort them, and was amazed at how quickly the Siamese made it to the door.  “Back, back,” she said, putting her foot up in case Scout flung out.  She hurried in and shut the heavy oak door.  “You two are fast.”
    “Waugh,” Scout cried, rubbing against her leg.  Katherine picked her up and kissed her on the head.  Abra reached up to be held.  “Okay, how about I sit on the floor for a group hug.”  She set Scout down, and hugged the two cats.  “It’s okay,” she comforted.  “We’re safe here.  No one is going to try and hurt us.”  She mouthed the words, but was worried.  A distant memory ran through her head. 
    When she was younger, and lived with her parents in Brooklyn, the attic floor of their townhouse caught on fire.  She’d remembered waking up to the blaring alarm, the smell of smoke, and her parents rousing her from her bed.  Her father carried Katherine downstairs, while her mom opened the front door to safety.  Even though the firefighters had quickly put out the flames, Katherine couldn’t extinguish the memory. 

Chapter Four
    Katherine walked into the cat’s playroom and gazed happily at the cats.  Scout and Abra were sharing a cozy bed on the perch of a cat tree.  Nearby, Lilac, Abby and Crowie were snuggled in another bed, while Iris and Dewey cuddled in the third. 
    “Ahhh,” she cooed.  “You kids are way too cute.”  She reached in her back pocket and extracted her cell.  She clicked several pictures of her cats, planning to use one for her monitor’s desktop background. 
    Scout jumped off the cat tree, stretched, and sharpened her claws on the sisal-covered post.  Abra did the same.
    Katherine said to Abra, “I need to borrow your sister for a minute.”
    “Raw,” Abra protested.
    Katherine gathered Scout in her arms, walked downstairs, and carried her to the front door.  Abra followed, voicing her displeasure in a loud, catly way. “Next time, Abra, but Scout gets to go first.”  Earlier, Katherine had placed the nylon harness on Scout, so she’d get used to it before the walk.  She was amazed that Scout didn’t mind wearing it.  She attached the leash and walked out the door.  Abra ran out, too.
    “No, you can’t come.”  Holding Scout with one hand, she caught Abra with the other, and set her inside the house.
    Walking down the porch steps, Katherine could hear Abra having a complete, royal Siamese cat fit behind the door.
    Katherine leaned down and set Scout on the sidewalk.  The seal point trotted several feet, then collapsed on her side.  She began rolling back-and-forth. 
    “Scout, what are you doing?  We’re taking a walk.”  She slightly nudged the Siamese with the toe of her sneaker.  Scout jumped up and walked several more feet. Then Scout spotted a grassy area, and she lunged for it. 
    “Enough,” Katherine reprimanded.  “I know this isn’t your first rodeo, so get moving.”
    “Na-waugh,” Scout cried, snatching a blade of grass and chewing on it.
    Katherine admitted to herself that Scout’s first walk on the leash was proving to be a challenge.  Scout alternated between trotting a few feet, and collapsing on the grass with her blue eyes slightly crossed in pure feline ecstasy. 
    “Scout, this is killing my back having to reach down to pick you up,” Katherine complained.
    The Siamese totally ignored her and rolled on her back.  Kicking her back legs, she cried a loud series of Siamese complaints.
    “Okay, that’s it.  We’re going back inside.”  When