The Great Cat Caper by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online

kind that old people drive, pulled into the community center parking lot. Hermann slowly climbed out, slamming the door. Two Dumpster cats shot past his feet.
    “Kots!” He said. He looked at the girls. “Kids!” he said.

    Moments later, they stood outside the senior center director’s door.
    “You knock on her door.” Sunny nudged Esther.
    Esther backed up. “No, you. She likes you better.”
    Are you nuts? She doesn’t like any of us.
Vee hung back.
    Sunny whispered, “Yeah, but she didn’t see Esther do anything.”
    Aneta frowned. “We didn’t
do
anything. It all just
happened.
“
    “True,” Vee said. “Esther, you knock on the door.”
    “I’m glad I’m good for something, since you guys got me in trouble.”
    “We didn’t mean to get you in trouble,” Sunny said, giving Esther a quick hug and darting back. “You just stuck your head out the door and
wham—
“
    “Yeah.” Esther tapped on the office door then rubbed her shoulder. “
Wham.
I’m injured for life.” No answer. She knocked again, harder.
    The door swung inward. The director, a tall, dark-haired woman who looked as if she would schedule when to smile into her monthly to-do list, looked down at the girls. “I am in a meeting with the mayor.” She moved to close the door.
    Good
, thought Vee.
The mayor likes us.
She brushed past Esther. “Hi. We came to apologize for the um … things … that happened.”
    The director’s sour-candy-sucking expression didn’t change. “You girls certainly know how to disrupt an entire building. We’ve never had such volunteers.”
    “Girls?” said a familiar voice from behind her. The short mayor, who only came to the director’s shoulder, peered around the larger woman. “Why, hello, S.A.V.E. Squad! Sissy was just telling me about the mishap.” She broke into a wide grin. “You certainly shook things up around here!”
    Sissy?
Vee started to grin. The director so did not look like a Sissy. A tall dwarf, like Grumpy, maybe, but not a Sissy.
    “We are not in need of being shook up,” Mrs. Sissy said between her teeth.
    The mayor stepped around her and out into the hall. “My sister isn’t a big fan of change.”
    Sister?
Weirder and weirder. The two ladies didn’t look at all alike. Kind of like herself and the Twin Terrors.
    Vee seized her chance. “We’re here to ask if we could still finish our service-learning project here at the senior center.”
    Behind the mayor, the director seemed to swell. “To cause more trouble? I don’t think so.” She waved her arm at them. “I accept your apology, but returning is not an option.”
    The mayor, however, patted Vee on the shoulder and began to usher the girls toward the door. “Of course, Sissy.”
    “Don’t call me Sissy. It’s unprofessional.”
    The mayor escorted the girls out of the building and onto the steps in the sunshine. There she stopped and folded her arms across her ample chest.
    “So what’s your plan, girls? My sister is pretty tough to convince.”
    “I—we—” Vee tripped over her tongue and flung an agonized look at the girls. They opened their mouths with the same result.
    She didn’t need this in combination with studying for the all-important math retest. A simple job, please. One to make her mom and dad and Mr. Tuttle happy. Her gaze flickered over at movement out of the corner of her eye. The curious kitten was back! Hermann hadn’t succeeded yet. The mom cat and curious kitten were back; the kitten was wavering on the corner of the opened container.
    As Vee watched, listening to the girls suggest projects like
yard work—ew
—the kitten wobbled fiercely, uttered a tiny squeal Vee heard across the parking lot, and, scrabbling for a foothold, fell into the Dumpster.
    In the next breath, Vee heard the roar of the garbage truck as it pulled into the parking lot.

Chapter 10

Diving In
    A string of cats streaked for the bushes.
    Vee sort of saw the mayor and the girls’ faces when she screamed,