Claws!

  She screeched again. It sounded like a scream in a horror movie.

  Her eyes glowed brighter. I saw her teeth … saw her claws poke out from the furry paws.

  No time to move. No time to push her away.

  The cat swiped her claws down my chest—and slashed the front of my T-shirt in two.

  14

  “Owwww!” I let out a howl of pain.

  The cat dropped to the floor, landing on all fours. She took off running and disappeared down the hall.

  I staggered back against the fridge. I pulled apart my slashed T-shirt and examined my chest.

  “Did she cut you?” Amanda demanded. “Are you bleeding?”

  “N-no,” I stammered. My voice came out in a choked whisper. “I’m only scratched. She didn’t break the skin.”

  Amanda shook her head. “I don’t believe it. She ripped your shirt to rags.”

  “What was that about?” I said, trying to pull the two sides of my T-shirt together. My hands were shaking. I couldn’t get over my shock. “One minute she was enjoying her dinner. The next …”

  “Nervous, I guess,” Amanda said. “She’s just tense. A new house. New people. It must be very frightening to a cat.”

  I took a deep breath and held it. “She—she attacked me. Like a wild animal.”

  I followed Amanda to the back of the house. I saw the new Bella on the Caplans’ bed. She had curled into a ball on one of the pillows. Her eyes were closed. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Right at home.

  “Like a wild animal,” I repeated in a whisper.

  Amanda tugged my torn shirt hard. “She needs time to get used to everything. It’s a good thing the Caplans won’t be back for a few days. By the time they get home, Bella will be perfectly sweet and normal.”

  I gazed at the black cat curled up so comfy on the Caplans’ bed. “Amanda, I sure hope you’re right,” I said. I tugged her arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here—before she wakes up and attacks again.”

  “Mickey, you sure spend a lot of time at the Caplans’,” Mom said at dinner. “How are you and Amanda getting along with that cat?”

  I nearly choked on my chicken leg. That was the last question I wanted to be asked tonight.

  “Fine,” I said. “Everything is perfect.”

  I had a strong urge to tell Mom and Dad the truth. To tell them everything that had happened today …

  We left the Caplans’ front door open. Bella ran out and got run over by a truck.

  Then we stole a black cat from a store and just barely escaped. The cat looks a lot like Bella, so we’re hoping to fool the Caplans.

  But after we fed the new cat tonight, she went berserk and attacked. She leaped on me like a wild creature and raked her claws down the front of my shirt.

  But I was afraid to tell them the truth. And I definitely didn’t want them to tell the Caplans what Amanda and I had done.

  “If you enjoy this so much,” Dad said, “maybe you’ll want your own cat.”

  “Uh … maybe,” I said.

  Later, up in my room, I fed Zorro. I gave him some bits of lettuce and a tiny piece of apple. After his dinner, I tickled his stomach for a little while. He likes that a lot.

  He’s a very cute mouse. I love the way he gets excited when I come into the room, and he starts to wiggle his nose like crazy till I pet him.

  I fed my three goldfish, too. I named them Nick, Joe, and Kevin. Good names for fish.

  I did some homework. I texted some of my friends. I tried to call Amanda, but I got her voice mail. I didn’t leave a message. She never listens to her messages.

  Later in bed, I couldn’t get to sleep. I kept thinking about the old Bella and the new Bella. Could Amanda and I really get away with this trick we were pulling on the Caplans?

  Thinking about it made my throat tighten. I could feel my dinner churning around in my stomach.

  I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate on sleeping. But the harder you concentrate, the more awake you are.

  My bedroom window was open. The curtains made a rustling sound as they floated in a soft breeze. In the far distance, I heard a horn honk.

  Relax … just relax, I told myself.

  But I gasped and jerked straight up in bed when I heard the sound.

  A shrill cat yowl.

  From under my bed?

  15

  I grabbed the covers with both hands. Sat up straight and listened.

  Silence. Just the soft shifting of the window curtains.

  And then—another angry yowl. From beneath the bed.

  My heart pounding, I half fell, half leaped out of bed. Dropped to my knees. Pulled up the bedspread and peered under the bed.

  No. Too dark.

  I climbed to my feet. Fumbled for the lamp on my bed table and clicked it on. Blinking in the yellow light, I dropped back to the floor.

  No cat under there.

  I saw a lot of dust and a tennis ball and a sneaker I’d been searching for. But no cat.

  “I didn’t dream it.” I said the words out loud. “Where are you, cat?”

  Silence.

  I sat on the edge of my bed and waited for my heartbeat to slow to normal. My hands and feet were suddenly ice-cold.

  My pajama bottoms were twisted. I stood up to straighten them—and heard the cat’s shrill cry again.

  From across the room?

  I jumped up, gazing all around. No sign of a cat.

  Could the sound be coming from outside?

  I crossed to the window and peered out. Pale moonlight washed over the front yard. It made the bushes and lawn look silvery and unreal.

  I didn’t see a cat down there.

  I grabbed the bottom of the window and pulled it shut. The curtains fell back in place against the wall.

  I stood there for a while, frozen. Listening. Listening hard.

  Finally, I climbed back into bed. I didn’t turn out the light. I pulled the covers up to my chin.

  I shut my eyes—and heard the cat’s cry again.

  “No!” I shouted. “Where are you? Where?”

  Did Bella somehow escape the Caplans’ house? Did she follow me home?

  If she did … why couldn’t I see her?

  I climbed out of bed again. I searched the entire room. Everywhere. Under my desk. Under the pile of dirty clothes on my closet floor. I even opened the dresser drawers and peered inside.

  No cat.

  I was down on my hands and knees, searching under the bed again, when I remembered a totally scary horror movie Amanda and I had seen at the mall. It was about an evil cat that haunted a family from inside the walls.

  I was so freaked out by that film, I made my dad move my bed away from the wall.

  Yeeeeoow.

  I heard the cat again. So close. It sounded close enough to reach out and touch.

  I spun all around. No cat.

  I walked to the wall. I pressed my ear against the red-and-white-striped wallpaper. “Are you in there?” I cried in a trembling voice. I listened. “Are you inside the wall?”

  Silence.

  Was I going CRAZY?

  No. No way I was imagining this.

  I couldn’t stop shivering. My eyes darted around the room as I made my way back to bed. I pulled the covers up again.

  I clicked off the bed table light. I scooted down low in the bed. I started to shut my eyes.

  Yeeeeeow.

  “Oh, no!” A cry escaped my throat. Right above me on the wall … a shadow … a shadow reflected from the streetlight on the curb.

  The shadow of a cat.

  16

  I stared in horror. I don’t know how long I stared, not blinking, not moving. Finally, the cat shadow vanished.

  I stared at the wall where it had been. Chill after chill ran down my back.

  Then … I heard a soft splash.

  What could that be? The bathroom was across the hall. What could splash in my room?

  I reached for the lamp and clicked on the ligh
t. Across the room, I saw Zorro’s cage. Beside it—the fish tank.

  Even in the dim light, I could see the water in the tank washing against the sides. Tilting up and down.

  I squinted at it, trying to understand. Why was the water splashing in the tank?

  I took a deep, shuddering breath. Then I lowered my feet to the floor. I crossed the room and stepped up to the goldfish tank.

  Where were my fish?

  Too dark to see clearly. I moved to the door and clicked on the ceiling light. I returned to the fish tank …

  … and let out a cry of horror.

  The water washed from side to side. And floating on top of the water … floating on the top … pieces of orange and yellow.

  Little chunks of goldfish.

  “No!”

  I lowered my head over the tank and stared down in shock. I saw a goldfish head on its side with one black eye staring up at me.

  The head ended in a jagged yellow line. As if it had been ripped off its body.

  My three fish had been torn apart. Torn to little hunks.

  I saw slender pieces of fin. Tiny bones. Part of a tail. Chunks of yellow-orange washing back and forth in the tilting water.

  Yeeeeeow.

  The cat cry made me jerk straight up. I spun away from the fish tank. My eyes frantically swept over the room.

  “Where are you?” I screamed. “What’s going on?”

  I couldn’t see the cat. I could only hear it. And I could see what it had done to my goldfish.

  “Where are you?” I screamed again. “Show yourself. Show yourself! What are you doing in my room? What do you want?”

  17

  The next morning, Mom and Dad left for work early. So I couldn’t tell them about the cat cries and what had happened to my fish. Mom left a box of cereal and the milk at my place at the table. I choked some of it down. But I didn’t feel like eating.

  I felt groggy. My head weighed at least a hundred pounds. It nearly dropped into my cereal bowl. I kept shaking my head, trying to wake up.

  I’m the kind of kid who needs his sleep. Amanda is always bragging about how late she stays up. But if I don’t get seven or eight hours, I feel totally weird. Like I’ve been hit by a truck.

  I don’t think I had ten minutes of sleep. I was too afraid to close my eyes.

  I stayed awake and alert. Waiting for more cat cries. Waiting for the terrifying shadow to appear on my wall again.

  Amanda met me on my front stoop and we started across the lawn to feed Bella. The sun hurt my red, tired eyes. I couldn’t stop yawning.

  “I—I have to tell you something,” I said. “Something scary.”

  “You won’t believe what happened to me last night,” Amanda said. “My cousin Reeny came over. You met Reeny, right? Well, she brought this new Wii game. It’s a horseback-riding game. It’s totally awesome. And the two of us …”

  I couldn’t get Amanda to stop telling me about the game. I kept opening my mouth. But she didn’t take a breath. I couldn’t get a word in. And I was too tired to shout or clap my hand over her mouth.

  “I have something to tell you later,” I said, my voice hoarse and weak.

  I don’t know if she heard me or not. She was still telling me how totally awesome the horseback-riding game was.

  We stepped into the Caplans’ house—and we had a problem.

  We couldn’t find Bella.

  She wasn’t in the living room, waiting to greet us. She wasn’t in the kitchen. Amanda and I scrambled around the house, calling her name.

  Of course, that was dumb. Her name wasn’t really Bella. She didn’t know her name yet. But we shouted it anyway. And I kept asking if she was hungry. But maybe she didn’t know that word, either.

  We found her right where we started. She had squeezed under the living room couch. Curled up under there, acting innocent, as if she didn’t know two people were frantically running everywhere trying to find her.

  Amanda reached down and gently pulled the cat out. She didn’t try to resist. Amanda held her in her arms for a few moments. The cat seemed to like it.

  “She’s getting calmer,” Amanda said. “I can tell she’s getting used to this house.”

  “I hope so,” I said.

  Amanda petted her. “You look so much like Bella,” she told the cat. “I’m just going to forget the old Bella ever existed.”

  I sighed. “We’re going to be late for school. I’ll give her breakfast.”

  I walked to the kitchen, pulled the bag of cat food from under the sink, and filled Bella’s bowl. “Breakfast!” I shouted. “Are you hungry?”

  No cat.

  I hurried back to the living room. Bella was still in Amanda’s arms. “Let her down so she can eat her breakfast,” I said. “We have to get out of here.”

  “She’s in a cuddly mood,” Amanda said. But she set the cat down on the floor.

  Bella stretched, bending from her middle, poking her tail straight up in the air. She made a soft sound like a yawn.

  “Hungry?” I asked her. I motioned to the kitchen. “Hungry? Breakfast? Chow time?”

  To my surprise, the cat turned and darted back under the couch.

  “She doesn’t understand,” Amanda said. “Go back in the kitchen and rattle her food dish so she hears it.”

  I started back for the kitchen—but stopped when I heard a loud noise behind me. “What’s that?” I asked Amanda.

  Amanda was staring under the couch.

  Bella let out an ugly screech. She was on her back. It took me a few seconds to realize what she was doing.

  “Oh, no!” I cried. “No! Stop her!”

  The cat was scratching frantically on the couch bottom. Screeching like a trapped animal and ripping the bottom of the couch with her claws.

  Ripping and clawing faster … harder.

  “Do something!” I shouted to Amanda.

  She turned to me, pale, her eyes wide. “Do what? I’m not going to try to pull her out.”

  Riiiip rippp ripppp.

  “She’s pulling all the stuffing out!” I screamed.

  Pieces of white foam rubber came flying out from under the couch. And the cat kept scraping out more.

  “She’s crazy!” I cried. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Riiiip rippp ripppp.

  Clawing frantically, the cat kept screaming like a maniac.

  I dove for the couch and dropped to my knees. I started to reach under the couch with both hands.

  What was I thinking?

  The cat clawed at my hands. She turned her head toward me and, eyes glowing bright yellow, she snapped her teeth.

  “Owwwwww!”

  I jerked my hands away.

  Pain shot up my hand and arm. My palm had dark red claw marks down the middle.

  I jumped to my feet and backed away. “I—I can’t do it. I can’t get her out.”

  Clawing furiously, like a machine out of control, the cat was ripping out the whole bottom of the couch.

  “We’re going to be really late,” Amanda said. “Let’s go. Give her time to calm down. Maybe she’ll be better if we leave.”

  “But the mess —” I started.

  Riiiip rippp ripppp.

  “We’ll clean it up after school,” Amanda said. She tugged my T-shirt sleeve. “Come on. I can’t stand this.”

  “What’s her problem?” I said.

  Amanda didn’t answer. She was already heading out the front door. I followed her and closed the door behind me.

  We stood on the stoop, catching our breath. I could still hear the cat’s wild screeches from inside.

  I shifted my backpack on my shoulders and started down the steps. I stopped when I saw the three men walking along the sidewalk.

  Three men in gray uniforms.

  I pulled Amanda off the stoop and behind a tall shrub.

  “Look —” I pointed. “He followed us. The guy from Cat Heaven. Lou. And two pals.”

  We hunched down behind the thick bu
sh.

  “It’s too late. I think they saw us,” Amanda whispered.

  18

  Peeking through the needles of the evergreen shrub, I watched the three men approach. They were walking slowly, studying each house. I felt my throat tighten. I tried to duck lower. My legs were trembling so hard, I almost fell into the bush.

  Amanda squeezed my arm. “Why did they follow us?” she whispered. “Why did Lou bring two other guys?”

  I couldn’t answer her questions. I just shook my head.

  I stood very still as they came nearer. They were on the sidewalk, staring up at the Caplans’ house.

  I realized I was holding my breath. I let it out in a long, silent whoosh.

  Please don’t see us. Please keep walking.

  “They have hundreds of cats in their store,” Amanda whispered, her mouth right in my ear.

  “What’s the big deal that we stole one little cat?”

  “Shhh.” I pressed a finger to my lips.

  But she ignored me. “Okay,” she whispered. “So we did a bad thing. We stole a cat. But what’s the big crime?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t know the answer.

  I only knew I didn’t want to be caught. I didn’t like the grim looks on the faces of the three men. And I didn’t like the way they were staring at the Caplans’ house.

  Were they coming up the front walk? Did they know the stolen cat was inside?

  If they came up here, we were dead meat. They would see us hiding behind the bush.

  I held my breath again. And watched them through the prickly evergreen needles.

  They squinted up at the front window. Then they started walking again. They walked slowly, side by side, gazing at the next house.

  And as they moved on, I heard Lou talking to the others. His words sent a chill down my back:

  “We have to find them,” he said. “They have no idea the trouble they are in.”

  19

  Amanda and I waited behind the bush till Lou and his two partners turned the corner. My face was drenched with sweat. My backpack felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

  Finally, we crept out and began to walk to school. We stayed behind hedges and walked through backyards. I kept glancing behind us. I was sure the three store clerks would sneak up and grab us.