Jessie’s cat was waiting for them outside. It was brown, and except for its large size, it didn’t really resemble the cat Sally had found the previous day. Also this cat had brown eyes, which made it seem more human than scary.
Yet Jessie didn’t seem to like her cat. One of the first things she did as they started down the block was kick it when it accidentally stepped in front of her.
“Hey!” Cindy shouted. “That wasn’t very nice.”
Jessie seemed surprised. “I didn’t think you liked cats.”
“Whether I like them or not is beside the point,” Cindy said. “I don’t go around kicking them.”
Jessie was annoyed. “Yeah, but you don’t mind pushing them to the floor or making them wait outside.”
“Did Sally tell you all this?” Adam asked, puzzled. It sounded as if Sally had told this perfect stranger every single detail of what had happened the previous day.
“Of course,” Jessie snapped. “Listen, you guys, I want to know, what are we going to do for fun today?”
“We’re going to the library,” Watch said. “There we’re going to study quantum physics and organic chemistry.”
Jessie frowned. “That’s boring.”
“Nothing fascinates us more than intellectual pursuits,” Watch said.
“Particularly after we’ve had milk and doughnuts,” Cindy added.
Jessie was obviously bewildered. “Well, I’m going to have to hook up with you guys later.” She turned away. “Come on, Sassy, let me find you a raw fish to munch on. I’ll see you later, Adam.”
The cat didn’t move, which annoyed Jessie even more.
“Come on,” Jessie said, getting ready to boot the cat. “Or you’ll get another stiff kick.”
Adam stepped in front of the cat. “You’re not going to hurt this animal.”
Jessie was frustrated. “Why do you like this cat and not Sally’s cat?”
“This one isn’t creepy,” Cindy answered.
“Who are you calling creepy?” Jessie snapped.
Watch spoke very softly. “Sally’s cat, not you.”
Jessie turned away. “You guys are not nearly as much fun as I thought you would be,” she said and took off, leaving her cat behind.
When Jessie was gone, Watch scratched his head and sighed.
“There is something very strange about that girl,” he said.
“Sally must trust her,” Cindy said. “She told Jessie everything about us.”
“No,” Adam corrected. “Just everything about yesterday.”
Watch crouched and studied the new cat. “Isn’t it funny that we should run into two interesting cats in the space of two days?” he asked.
“What’s unusual about this one?” Adam asked.
“It’s awfully big,” Watch said. “And it has a strange master.”
“But it doesn’t like its master,” Cindy pointed out.
“That’s curious in itself,” Watch said, scratching the cat on the top of its head. Then he stood and looked up and down the street. “I want to go to Sally’s house.”
“But she doesn’t want to see us,” Cindy said.
“Jessie said that,” Watch replied. “But I think Jessie tells lies.”
Adam nodded. “I didn’t believe a word that girl said. We should check out Sally, see how she’s getting on with her cat.”
When they got to Sally’s house, they found she wasn’t home. They waited around for a while but she never showed up. They decided she might be down at the beach, which was one of her favorite places to hang out as long as you didn’t ask her to get too close to the water. She still had a thing about all the sharks that were supposed to swim just off the shore of Spooksville.
But Sally wasn’t at the beach either.
Bum was, though, busily feeding the pigeons. Dressed as usual in shabby clothes and a four-day-old beard, he asked if they would buy him a turkey sandwich. Naturally they got him one, as well as a large Coke, potato chips, and a few chocolate-chip cookies. They sat with Bum not far from the jetty while he hungrily ate his sandwich. He even fed some of it to Jessie’s cat, which devoured the bread as well as the turkey. Bum laughed at the cat.
“This is a funny girl,” he said. “She likes bread as much as meat. Not many cats do. Give her one of these cookies. See if she eats it.”
Watch gave the cat a cookie and the animal promptly ate it.
“She must be hungry,” Cindy remarked.
Bum continued to stare at the cat. “Where did you get this cat?”
“It belongs to a new girl in town, Jessie,” Adam said.
“But she says she’s not really new,” Watch added. “She used to live here.”
“Describe her to me,” Bum said. When Watch was finished, Bum shook his head. “No girl named Jessie who looks like that ever lived here. I know everybody who’s lived here in the last sixty years.”
“Then she even lied to us about that,” Cindy said, disgusted.
“Watch,” Adam said, “tell Bum about the cat Sally found yesterday.”
“Before you do that,” Bum said, “tell me where Sally is. I never see you guys apart anymore.”
“We had kind of a fight yesterday,” Adam said. “She’s not speaking to us.”
Bum smiled. “That may not be such a bad thing for a few days. It gives all of you a rest.”
Watch described the cat to Bum, and then explained about the tree falling and the porch burning. Bum continued to eat while Watch spoke, yet Adam noticed he was paying close attention. When Watch was done Bum sat still thinking for a long time.
“I would really like to have a look at that other cat,” he said finally.
“When Sally shows up I’m sure she’ll show it to you,” Adam said.
Bum shook his head. “I don’t know if Sally is going to show up any time soon.”
Adam was stunned. “What do you mean? Do you think her cat has hurt her?”
“I don’t think her cat is a cat at all,” Bum said. “It sounds as smart as a person and is able to knock down trees and set houses on fire.”
“But the cat loved Sally,” Cindy said, worried. “I can’t see it hurting her.”
“The cat did not love Sally,” Bum said. “The cat was using Sally.”
Watch nodded. “It wanted to get her alone. I think I understand what happened.”
“I don’t understand,” Adam said. “Tell me.”
“Watch this,” Bum said, picking up the cat and carrying it over to the sand. There he set the cat down and said, “Write something. Use your paws.”
“What is this?” Cindy gasped.
“Shh,” Watch said. “Watch. This cat is smart, too.”
“But how do you know?” Adam asked.
The cat pawed at the sand. A moment later they realized it had traced out a name. The letters were wobbly and widely spaced but there was no mistaking what the cat was trying to tell them. The word in the sand was
SALLY
Cindy frowned. “How can a cat spell? How can it write?”
At last Adam understood. “Because it’s not a cat.”
“Of course it’s a cat,” Cindy protested.
Watch shook his head. “This cat is Sally. The other cat turned her into this cat.”
Cindy was shocked. “But where is the other cat?”
Bum put the final piece in the puzzle for her.
“The other cat is that new girl you just met,” he said.