CHAPTER 4

Stay Calm, Tabby Cat

I landed in the ditch on my hands and knees. Water splashed against my face. Mud squished between my fingers.

“Tabitha!” Grandma Kit cried. “Don’t get a drop of that water in your mouth. It could make you very sick!”

“I won’t,” I said. “Just. Get. Me. Out of here!”

“Stay calm, Tabby Cat,” Alfreeda said.

Grandma Kit reached out her hand. “You’ll be okay,” she said. “Just take my hand.”

I looked at her, but I couldn’t see her very well. “Oh! My glasses!” I cried. “They fell into the water.”

I slowly started moving my fingers over the muddy bottom of the ditch. I felt in front of me and beside me. I touched small rocks, shells, and plants. I think I even touched a soda can. My knees sank deeper into the mud. Bugs buzzed around my face and neck.

Then my fingers touched something hard and smooth. “Found them,” I said.

I pulled my glasses out of the mud, swished them in the water a bit, and stood up.

“Okay, Tabitha, now try taking my hand again,” Grandma Kit said.

I couldn’t reach. “Come closer,” I said.

“I can’t,” she said. “I’ll fall in too!”

I tried to climb up the bank. But my shoes kept slipping, and I kept sliding right back into the water.

Alfreeda carefully walked to the edge of the ditch. She stood between me and Grandma Kit. “Take my hand, Tabby Cat,” she said. “You hold my other one, Mrs. Felinus. On the count of three, Tabby, your grandma and I are going to pull you out. One… two… three!”

It worked. But boy, I sure looked and smelled horrible.

“Thank you,” I said. “That’s the grossest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“You’re just like a cat — not a fan of getting wet,” Alfreeda said.

“I like getting wet. If the water’s clean, that is,” I said. “But Frankie wouldn’t care if it’s dirty. I bet he’s in the drainpipe.”

“Go wash off that mud and slime, Tabitha,” Grandma Kit said. “Alfreeda and I will keep looking.”

“I just want to peek in the other end of the pipe real quick,” I said.

First Grandma Kit shook her head. Then she said, “Okay. This time, though, lie on your stomach, on the road, and look down into the pipe from the top. Alfreeda and I will hold your feet so you don’t fall.”

I did what Grandma Kit said. I carefully leaned over the edge of the road and looked into the dark pipe.

“Frankie?” I called. “Are you in there, buddy? Say something!”

Still nothing. Just frogs.

“He’s not in there,” I said over my shoulder.

Alfreeda helped me up, and the three of us walked back to the farmyard. I needed a long, hot shower. But for now, I just washed myself off with the cold water from the garden hose. We had to find Frankie.

“Where else might Frankie go for a swim?” Grandma Kit asked.

“Cheesecake’s water tub?” I said.

We hurried to the cow’s large drinking tub.

“Not here either,” I said.

Grandma Kit groaned. “This is not good, girls,” she said. “Tabby Towers could be in big trouble. If we lose Frankie, no cat owner will want to use our hotel ever again. They won’t think it’s safe.”

“Wait,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Bengal cats love playing in water, and they love fishing.”

“No way,” Alfreeda said. “Cats don’t like getting their paws wet. At all. And they’d never want to do anything really fun, like go swimming or fishing. Not like dogs.”

I wanted to shout, “Wrong!” But I didn’t. Instead I said, “The lake. Lake Dee-Oh-Gee. Cats have a strong sense of smell. I bet Frankie could smell the fish in it from here.”

“Yes!” Grandma Kit clapped her hands. “C’mon, let’s hurry, girls. We have to get to Lake Dee-Oh-Gee and find Frankie!”