Chapter Seven

 

Philip saw Angel at her living room window each day when he returned from school, and since Emery had to walk his dog first thing after school, Philip took time to talk to her. Every day she asked him whether he’d managed to raise the topic of the stray dog to his parents. Philip could only shake his head sadly and say no. He could still see the dog, a giant piece of meat in his mouth, tearing around the living room. He could still hear his mother screaming for him to chase the dog out the open front door. No. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible.

On the following Monday Angel made her mysterious trip to the hospital so Philip decided to join Emery on his dog-walk.

“How come you keep standing outside that house when you go home? You did it all last week.” Emery clicked the leash onto Hansel’s collar. Philip opened the front door for them, and they went out onto the pathway.

Philip hadn’t yet mentioned Angel to Emery. He’d told Emery it was his own idea to invite the stray dog home.

“Doesn’t that girl live there? The one who never goes to school?”

“That’s her. She looks out the window a lot and always says hello to me.”

“You always go up to the window, though. I wouldn’t stop to talk to a girl. I’d wave if I had to and keep going.”

“You don’t have to pass her house. I do. Besides, she talks to me.”

“What does she say?”

Philip looked at Emery. “Are you writing a book or something? I thought you went home to get Hansel for his walk. Why are you watching me?”

“I just see you when I take Hansel out. You’re there every day. How come you didn’t go see her today?”

Philip gave a disgruntled sigh. “She’s not there. Okay?”

“How do you know she’s not there? You came right to my house. You didn’t even go by there.”

“Why are you asking so many questions? You should get a job on the evening news. You’d be great.”

“I just want to know.”

“She not there on Mondays because she’s sick, okay?

“She’s only sick on Mondays?”

“No, not only on Mondays,” Philip snapped. “She’s sick every day, but she goes to the hospital on Mondays.”

“Every Monday?”

“Yes, every Monday.”

“Why?”

Philip stopped walking and glared at his friend. “Because they make her.”

“Okay, okay.” The boys walked a few steps in silence. “Will she be back tomorrow?”

“Yes, she’ll probably be back tomorrow. Sheesh. Why don’t you come with me and say hello?”

Emery shook his head. “Not if I don’t have to. Nope. No thanks.” They walked a few more steps. “You can tell her I said hi.”

“I’m not telling her anything! Oop, there he goes.”

The dog stopped and did what he had to do. Emery bent over with his little plastic bag and did what he had to do. Philip turned away until Emery finished.

“Having a dog isn’t always great,” said Emery as he folded up the bag and dropped it into a brown paper bag he took from his pocket. “Maybe you should get a cat. Then you wouldn’t have to do this. Look. There goes one now.”

Philip turned. A lone black cat pranced proudly across the street. As the two boys stood and watched, the cat disappeared into the clutter behind the supermarket. There were metal trash cans, a big dumpster full of junk, and a fenced-in spot full of cardboard ready to be picked up for recycling.

“Where’d it go?” Philip said.

“I don’t know. Let’s go see.”

The two boys crossed the street and poked around through the clutter.

“You better pick Hansel up,” Philip suggested. “He might not like cats.”

Emery complied.

Philip searched among the garbage cans, thinking the cat might be looking for something to eat.

“I think it went over here,” said Emery. “Yeah, here it is.”

Philip pointed to a black tail sticking out from between some pieces of cardboard. Philip gently pulled the giant pieces of cardboard apart and looked down.

“Ugh,” he said. He let the cardboard fall back together. “I think it killed a mouse or something. There’s a lot of fur down there.”

“Let me see. Here.” Emery handed Hansel to Philip.

Emery eased the cardboard apart. He looked closely. “Oh, wow!”

“Oh, wow, what?”

“It’s not a mouse. She has kittens down there.”

“Kittens?”

“Yeah, look.”

They exchanged Hansel again, and Philip took a look. The skinny cat lay on its side, two tiny kittens, one black, one gray, attached to her stomach.

“She’s feeding two of them,” said Philip is a hushed voice.

“Let me see,” said Emery.

“Hold onto Hansel,” Philip warned, and he moved the cardboard aside so he and Emery could squat down near the cat and watch.

“Only two are feeding,” said Emery. “I don’t think the other two . . .”

The mother cat noticed the two boys and the dog and showed all of her teeth through a tiny growl.

“Shhh,” said Philip, both to the cat and to Emery. He looked closely. Emery was right. Two of the little kittens, both striped, lay absolutely still. “She must have gone out looking for her own dinner.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“Shhh. You whisper, too. Don’t make her growl again.”

“Then let’s go before she really gets angry. I have to take Hansel home. He’s starting to wiggle ’cause of the cats.”

Emery and Philip stood up. Philip put the cardboard back in place, and the two boys walked away.

“You know,” said Philip, “if we leave them there, the people who come to pick up the cardboard aren’t going to know about them.”

Emery pulled Hansel away from a bush he wanted to smell.

“You take Hansel home, and I’ll meet you later.”

“Where are you going?”

“Never mind. I’ll see you later.” Philip ran down the street. He knew he couldn’t leave those two tiny kittens to be recycled along with the cardboard. He’d have to do something, but he didn’t know what. Angel would know what to do, and if she wasn’t home from the hospital yet, he’d wait for her. This was an emergency!