Hazel was gone.
“No!” Stick Cat yelled.
Edith hung her head.
Stick Cat hung his head.
For three seconds.
And then Hazel rose up through the batter—and up through the hole in the middle of that bagel sign. She pushed her arms through the hole, hooking her elbows securely over the sign.
And she floated.
The gooey batter fell from her face and hair in slow gluey clumps. It took a minute or so for most of it to drip off Hazel’s face. She struggled to open her eyes. Her eyelids had batter on them too.
When she got her eyes open, she stared up at Stick Cat and Edith.
A thick clump of batter fell from her chin. Stick Cat could see Hazel’s mouth now.
She grinned at him.
“Wow,” Edith said next to Stick Cat on top of the ladder. “I had no idea my plan was that good.”
“It’s not over yet,” Stick Cat said. He knew Hazel was relatively safe for the time being. But there was still work to do. She wasn’t going to sink now—but Hazel still wasn’t out of the pot.
“My plan’s not over yet?” Edith asked.
Stick Cat shook his head. He was much more at ease now that Hazel was safer. He looked back into the pot. The desperation had left Hazel’s face for now. She floated comfortably in her bagel-sign life-preserver.
“Don’t you know the second step of your plan?” Stick Cat asked after turning back to Edith. There was the slightest hint of teasing in his voice.
“Of course I know,” Edith responded, and then paused. Then a sly, momentary grin came to her face—as if an idea had suddenly occurred to her. “I just want to see if you know.”
“Well, I think I do,” Stick Cat answered, impressed with her cleverness. “You tell me if I’m right or not.”
“Okay.”
Stick Cat said, “I’m going to turn the hose on and put it in the pot. As the water fills the pot, Hazel will float higher and higher. When she floats high enough, she’ll be able to pull herself out and climb down the ladder.”
Edith waited to see if Stick Cat was done. When she was certain he was, she said, “That’s my plan exactly, Stick Cat. Way to figure it out!”
“And filling the pot with water provides an extra benefit for Hazel,” added Stick Cat.
“It sure does,” Edith said slowly. She couldn’t quite hide the puzzled look on her face even though she tried. “Let’s see if you know what that is too.”
Stick Cat nodded and answered, “When we fill the pot with water, the thick bagel batter will be diluted and she’ll be able to move around more freely. That will help her climb out of the pot too.”
“‘Diluted’?” Edith asked. It was clear she didn’t know the definition of the word. “I know what that word means. But let’s see if you know what it means.”
“It means the batter will get thinner—less heavy and sticky.”
Edith nodded at Stick Cat. “I’m so proud of you,” she said. “You really figured out my plan! Wow! How’d you do it?”
“Just a lucky guess, I suppose.”
“That makes sense,” Edith confirmed. “Just lucky.”
Stick Cat hung the hose over the rim of the pot, ensured that it was not aimed at Hazel, and then turned the nozzle. Water began to pour out.
Edith and Stick Cat both peered down into the pot.
“Is it working yet? Is she floating higher?”
“I can’t tell,” Stick Cat answered. “It’s a big pot. It will take a few minutes to see.”
While they waited, Hazel talked to them.
“There are the two good kitties,” she said. Her voice sounded slightly stronger now. “Two smart kitties, I should say.”
“I don’t know about ‘two,’ Edith whispered just loud enough for Stick Cat to hear. “It really was my plan.”
Hazel looked at the hose as water poured from it. She seemed puzzled by it.
“I don’t know what you two are up to now,” she said, and sighed. “But I know someone is looking out for me somewhere. I’m not sure you two even exist. Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating? Am I just imagining you? I don’t know.”
Hazel closed her eyes and shook her head.
“This bagel sign is real, I know that,” Hazel said, and lifted her head to look at them again. “It’s like a life preserver in an ocean of bagel batter. You know what? I always liked this sign. It used to hang outside my shop over the sidewalk. Then we got a new sign. I didn’t want to just get rid of this old one. Too many memories. That sign hung there for more than thirty years. I hung it up here so I could see it every day—so I could think about all the good things that have happened for me and my shop. We need to take care of the old things, don’t you think?”
Stick Cat nodded at her.
Hazel smiled at him. “It’s almost like you understand me,” she said.
And then Hazel stopped talking altogether. She turned her head left and right quickly. She wriggled her shoulders in the bagel sign.
She looked confused—sort of happily confused—about something. Hazel shifted her head to stare at the water pouring from the hose.
Then she looked up at Stick Cat and Edith.
“I’m floating!” she exclaimed. “I understand now. You two are so smart!”
Edith whispered, “It was really my idea only.”
Stick Cat turned to Edith then.
“We can go now,” he said. “She’s going to be okay. We need to get back before Goose and Tiffany get home.”
“What about the lox?!”
“She’s not going to be out for a while. I think we better get back.”
“But what about the LOX?!”
“You’ll get some Saturday.”
“I will?”
“Of course,” Stick Cat said. “Today is Friday. You said Tiffany always gets bagels and lox on Saturday morning, right?”
“Right,” Edith said slowly. She didn’t seem very convinced. “But I don’t want to wait that long.”
“It’s Friday afternoon right now, Edith,” Stick Cat said. “Tiffany brings bagels and lox on Saturday morning. That’s not a very long wait at all.”
“It’s days and days, Stick Cat!” Edith said, sounding exasperated. “I can’t wait that long!”
Stick Cat understood now. Edith didn’t know the days of the week—or the order of the days of the week anyway.
“Today is Friday, Edith,” Stick Cat explained. “Saturday comes after Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday. Tiffany is bringing lox tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?” Edith asked. She was a little frustrated, but she also seemed to like the idea of getting lox so soon. “Why do you have to make things so complicated?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Stick Cat said, and glanced away. “Can you wait as long as tomorrow morning?”
Edith stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. After that pause for consideration, she answered, “I suppose so.”
“Great. Then let’s—” Stick Cat said.
But he was interrupted by Edith.
“Wait!” she said loudly. “Did you say today is Friday?”
“That’s right.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Edith. She slapped her paws together in a muffled clap. “Today is Fondue Friday! I love fondue!”
Stick Cat had no idea what “fondue” was, but he was happy to see Edith’s excitement. “Good,” he said. “Now let’s get back.”
He dashed to the open window, jumped to the ledge, and looked across the alley. Edith leaped up next to him.
Stick Cat saw the problem immediately.
There was no way to get home.