Cat Found by Ingrid Lee Read Free Book Online Page A

clothes aren’t meant to be carpet cover. There’s a closet and a dresser for that stuff. You get in there and pick up your things. I opened that windowto let in some air.” She clomped back down the hall. “As if I haven’t got enough to do with my course work
and
looking after you and your father.”
    Billy closed his bedroom door behind her. His heart was twanging his ribs. It pumped so hard he lost his breath. “Conga!” he choked. “Conga, where are you?”
    He got down on his knees and looked behind the dresser. No cat. He looked under the bed. No cat. He checked the closet. Nothing. So he stuck his head out of the open window.
    The yard was empty.
    Maybe she had run away.
    “Conga,” Billy whispered. “Conga, please be here.” He pulled the sweaters out of the drawers. He dumped the garbage from the trash can. He yanked the sheets off the bed. He even checked the inside of his pillowcases. He was about to take to the back stairs when the sleeve of his bathrobe twitched inside the laundry bag.
    Billy swooped down and pulled Conga out of the pile of clothes. He wanted to hug her. He wanted to bury his nose in her fur. Only Conga was in no mood for cuddles. She wriggled out of his arms and jumped to the floor. Her tail slapped his leg. She was madder than a hornet’s nest.
    Billy let her go. He pulled the window down a little andput the garbage back in the can. He picked up his things. He straightened his covers. Then he crawled behind the dresser and tried to make peace. “Conga,” he whispered. “That was my mom. She doesn’t mean you any harm. She doesn’t even know you’re here.”
    Of course, after he said that, a new worry came to him. His mom was a smart woman. And she had a pair of sharp eyes.
    Maybe she knew he had a cat.
    If she did, she wasn’t saying.
    And he wasn’t asking.

TWELVE
    CLYDESDALE TOWN HALL MEETING
JULY 25
    T he town councillors held their monthly meeting. There were a lot of issues on the table. The town needed a better bus service to the big city. There were too many homeless people. And the garbage. Where was the town going to put all the garbage?
    Many of the townsfolk attended the meeting. Even the county reporters showed up. The shop owners had a petition. “We need to attract more people,” they argued. “If we make Main Street more attractive, it will bring in the Saturday shopping crowd.”
    Those shop owners expected the mayor to pull money from a hat.
    The mayor listened to the arguments. He saved the good news for last.
    “The town council has received a grant to restore the Main Street chapel,” he said to the crowd. “It’s an opportunity to honor our past. The fixed-up chapel can host local events and draw tourists. We’ll landscape the yard behind it, too.”
    It was great news for Clydesdale. The street tenants and property owners wouldn’t have to pay a dime. Even the reporters clapped.
    “What about the lost bell?” someone called out. “The chapel tower has been empty for generations.”
    “The bell is part of this town’s past,” replied the mayor. “But we’ve got to have faith in the future. We’ll see to the chapel first. Maybe one day, that bell will turn up.”
    The town meeting was opened up to the public for a discussion. The mayor took the chair. “Today’s public forum will be about the feral overpopulation. Clydesdale has too many stray cats. Every year the problem gets worse. Four citizens have asked to speak. We’ll have Mr. Close up to the microphone first.”
    Joe Close came to the podium. “Most of you folk know me,” he declared to the crowd. “The wife and I live down Haven Street by the arena. There’s a pack of wild catsthat hangs around the back of the trash cans. Those cats are nothing but vermin. One night my boy Johnny got too close to one of ’em. It scratched his hand and he had to have shots. If that ever happens again, I’m going to sue the town. I pay my taxes. My kid shouldn’t have to be afraid to