The Great Cat Caper by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online Page A

“Oh, no!” and then dashed across the lot, trying to catch up with the truck as it rumbled past her, the driver nodding his head to what Vee supposed must be the radio.
    “Hey!” she shouted, making it to the door and leaping up to pound on it. She heard the mayor’s horrified shriek and the girls’ screams. She knew the girls were on their way with the footsteps sounding behind her, but would any of them get there in time? The driver neared the bin where his claws of death would reach down, snatch the Dumpster with the curious kitten lost in garbage, raise it up, and—
    Putting on the speed her dad called “the Vee sprint,” she darted in front of the truck. As she passed its grill, she noted the dead moths in it.
I hope I’m not the latest decoration.
Flapping her hands wildly, she flung a desperate look at the driver whose eyes bulged at her presence. He jerked back in his seat. The brakes squealed. The truck continued to roll. Would she get to the Dumpster before the truck flattened her? A hard bump hit her right leg. It went numb. She slammed into the Dumpster.
    That would leave a mark.
    She reached up, grabbed the side of the Dumpster, and bounced on the good leg. Hard.
    Plan:
    1. Bounce
    2. Sling leg over rim
    3. Grab kitten
    4. Jump down
    Using the momentum, she hovered halfway over the Dumpster rim. In the next second, she knew to her deepest chagrin that the principle of momentum she’d learned this week in science was going to take her farther than she wanted to go. She was going Dumpster diving whether she wanted to or not. Head. First.
    Beetle!

Chapter 11

Operation Catness
    I t was crazy. The truck hits you, we scream. The mayor gets on the phone with 911.” Sunny was chattering as Vee sat with a blanket around her—sweating—and the paramedic shined a light in her eyes and asked her to follow his fingers. Frank had joined the bunch of people hovering around Vee. He was shaking his head. Vee knew what he was thinking:
drama.
    “The curious kitten!” She threw off the blanket. Ouch. That hip was sore.
I really raced a garbage truck. And lost. Unbelievable.
    Esther pushed her down gently. “That driver thought he’d mushed you. He didn’t see you dive into the Dumpster—” She leaned in and sniffed. “Yep. Pretty gross with it being a hot day and all.”
    Slimy.
Vee’s word for the day. Something glued her armpit together. And
sticky.
    Aneta finished the story. “We see nothing first. We do not know if you are, are … Then you put your arm up. The kitten is in it!” She reached forward and hugged Vee then ducked away with a face. “The kitten scratches you and runs away. You are safe. You smell bad.” She brushed something off her shirt.
    “You’re a hero,” Sunny said, flopping down next to her as the paramedic moved away to the mayor who was lacing and unlacing her hands. “And boy, can you run fast!”
    Vee glanced over at the mayor. Her Dumpster dive had ruined any chance of the girls returning to the senior center. Since the first day of school she’d been apologizing. Every plan that worked before wasn’t working now. Her eyes widened; she dropped the blanket and stood up, keeping the weight off her right hip.
    That crazy curious kitten was peeking at her from under the Dumpster the truck had just thudded down before it roared off. Right back into danger. Vee breathed out a pent-up breath. She approached the mayor.
    “I am so—,” she began, reaching up a damp hand—
what was that drooling down her arm?
It was green and not pretty. She sensed rather than saw the girls around her. “I want to save these Dumpster cats for my service-learning project. Give them a spot.”
    The mayor’s sister looked relieved. “That’s just fine. You do that.” An almost-smile crept across her face. “It will keep you out of my senior center.”
    “Yes! The S.A.V.E. Squad saving their catness. Operation Catness!” Sunny spun in circles with delight. Staggering a bit she continued,