A Late Addition

Kyle and Mia hurried back to his house and created a flyer about the kittens. They made sure to add the clinic phone number. Then they printed out twenty copies.

“I hope this works,” Mia said.

Rex tried to follow along behind them when Mia and Kyle headed downstairs.

“I think he’s upset that we left him behind the past two days,” Kyle said. “He wants to come, too.”

Kyle grabbed Rex’s leash, and they headed out the door. They were halfway down the block when Mia suddenly stopped. “Look!” she said, pointing across the street. “The mother!”

Kyle looked where Mia was pointing. Sure enough, there was a skinny cat sneaking out of the shed.

“I can’t believe we forgot about her food!” Mia said.

“We’re only a little late. And only because we were thinking about the kittens,” Kyle said. “We can take her food first and then put up the signs.”

“Works for me!” Mia said. “We’d better go back and get the stuff.”

“Good idea,” Kyle said. “Let’s take Rex back to my house, too. We don’t want him to scare her off.”

They turned back down the street, and Mia ran to her house to get the cat food and water bottle for the mother. Kyle set the signs they’d made on a table on his front porch and put a rock on top of the pile so they wouldn’t blow away.

Then he took Rex back inside and hung up his leash. Rex whined unhappily when he realized he was being left behind again.

“Sorry, boy,” Kyle said. “No walk right now. We’ll come get you later.”

Rex still wasn’t happy about being left behind, but there was no choice.

A few minutes later, Mia came back out of her house carrying the cat supplies, and they hurried down the street. When they were a few feet from the shed, Kyle came to an abrupt halt.

“What?” Mia asked.

“I thought I saw something,” Kyle whispered.

“You did!” Mia whispered back. She pointed at the skinny tabby disappearing behind the shed.

“I bet she was waiting for her dinner,” Kyle said.

“Let’s put food in the dish and wait,” Mia said. “If we’re quiet, she might come to us.”

Kyle and Mia filled the dishes and set them outside the door. Then they sat down a few feet away and waited. A few minutes later, the cat came back. The kids didn’t move while she ate.

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Mia said.

“Why does everyone call cats like that?” Kyle asked.

“Because cats think it means they’ll get food,” Mia said.

After the cat ate, she drank a little water and sat down to wash her face with her paw.When she finished, she walked right up to Mia and rubbed against her leg.

“She’s not wearing a collar,” Mia said. “I guess that means she doesn’t have an owner. Looks like we have one more cat to find a home for.”