Cat Worries

“How could you lose a kitten?” Mia asked frantically. She dug through the towels in the box to make sure Tiger wasn’t hidden somewhere inside. But he was nowhere to be found.

“I didn’t lose him!” Kyle insisted. “I put him back in the box. He was just there a second ago.”

Kyle and Mia hunted under the chairs and behind the exam table.

“It’s like he just disappeared!” Mia said, standing up and looking around the room in disbelief.

“Well he can’t have gotten very far,” Kyle said. “He’s just a kitten. He has to be in here somewhere.”

Suddenly they heard a quiet purring noise. Kyle and Mia looked at each other. It sounded like it was coming from the doorway across the room.

Kyle and Mia hurried over to where Rex lay, still protectively guarding the entrance to the exam room.

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the source of the noise. Tiger was curled up against the dog’s side, sound asleep and purring happily.

“Looks like the kittens like Rex as much as he likes them,” Kyle said.

“I thought dogs and cats didn’t get along,” Mia said with a laugh.

After school, Kyle and Rex met Mia at her house. She came out the front door carrying a bottle of water and a bag of cat chow in her arms. They had decided to go back over to the shed and see if the mother cat had returned yet.

“I really hope the mom is okay,” Mia said to Kyle as they walked toward the shed. “I’m worried about the kittens, too. They need homes.”

“Maybe someone at school will want one. We should take pictures of the kittens with us tomorrow,” Kyle said as they hurried across the vacant lot.

“Good idea,” Mia said. “We should tell the whole class.”

“That’s a great plan!” Kyle said, grinning at his friend. “Do you think Mrs. Lockwood will let us do that?”

Mia shrugged. “We won’t know until we ask,” she said.

They stopped in front of the shed. Mia crossed her fingers. Kyle peered inside. He didn’t see any snakes or rats, so he reached in and pulled out the food dish.

“It’s empty!” Mia said with a smile. “That means the mom cat has been here.” She put more food in the dish and added, “I bet the cat will come back again, just like your mom said.”

Kyle poured fresh water into the other dish. “I just hope it was the cat and not something else,” he said.

“Uh-oh,” Mia said with a gasp. She looked really worried. “I didn’t even think about that.”