Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten

by Anica Mrose Rissi

  “Catch that cat!” I yelled to Chuck, who stood watching the commotion with his mouth hanging open and a half-chewed glob of potato chips inside.

  “Anna! Banana!” Dad thundered as he ran down the stairs.

  The kitten and Banana darted around me, just out of my grasp, and sprinted toward the front of the house. Just then, the front door opened, and Mom stepped inside. The kitten streaked past her, straight out into the pouring rain.

  “No!” I shouted, and threw myself at Banana to keep her from following after him. I grabbed her collar just in time, and held on tight. Mom shut the door and Banana gave up the chase.

  Banana licked my cheek as I caught my breath. We looked up at my parents and Chuck. Dad’s arms were crossed. Mom’s hands were on her hips. Chuck still hadn’t even closed his mouth.

  I was in big, big, big trouble.

  Worse, the little white kitten was gone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Little Kitty, Big Trouble

  My parents were so mad, they didn’t even yell at me right away. They just sent me upstairs to start cleaning the mess while they discussed what they should do with me.

  I didn’t try to defend myself. I knew I’d messed up big-time. I went straight to my room, threw myself onto the bed, and burrowed my face in the pillow.

  I wondered what my punishment would be. Maybe they’d lock me in an enchanted cage, or take away all my books, or throw me out into the storm. Whatever they decided, it couldn’t be anything nearly as terrible as knowing that not only had I disappointed them, I’d also scared the kitten away. Now he was outside in a thunderstorm, getting soaked by the rain, running as far from Banana and me as he could get.

  I didn’t blame him. I would run away from me too, if I could. I’d wanted to save him but I had only made everything worse.

  I felt a soft push against my hand that was dangling off the side of the bed. Banana nudged my palm with her nose and gave my fingers a little lick. I lifted my face from the pillow. “Oh, Banana,” I said.

  Banana sighed. She looked as sad and guilty as I felt. We both flinched as downstairs, Dad sneezed.

  I heard a throat-clearing noise and looked up to see Chuck standing in the doorway. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders up high by his ears. His eyes focused down at the carpet. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t have helped bring the cat inside. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. Or Banana’s, either. I’m the one who made the bad decision.”

  Chuck looked around my room, and his lips twitched into a grin. “For such a small cat, he sure caused a big mess,” he said. I almost smiled back.

  Chuck picked up my knocked-over laundry basket and threw a dirty sock inside. “C’mon, Annabean. I’ll help you clean up.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Unhappily Ever After

  “Bad news,” I told my friends on the playground the next morning. “I can’t come over after school today. I’m grounded for the rest of the week.”

  “Oh no!” Sadie said.

  “Yeah. I also have two extra spins on the chore wheel every Saturday this month.” I took a deep breath and confessed the worst part: “And I think I may have lost the kitten forever.”

  Isabel’s eyebrows pushed together with worry. “What happened?” she asked.

  I filled them in on the rescue disaster and the lecture my parents had given me after dinner. Mom said if I’d only told Dad about the kitten instead of sneaking him into my room, Dad would have helped set up a place for him in the garage. He’d have been safe there until we figured out what to do with him next. Instead, I’d put Dad in danger, and that had put the kitten in danger too.

  I hadn’t even thought about telling Dad, but of course he would have helped. In fact, after the lecture and the declaration of punishment, Dad had found four flashlights, and we’d all gone outside in our raincoats to search. Even Chuck went, and he hates the rain. But of course we hadn’t found anything. The kitten was long gone.

  “I bet he found someplace dry to spend the night,” Sadie said.

  “Yeah,” Isabel said. “Cats are smart. And he seems to have taken care of himself so far. But I still hope you’ll find him again soon.”

  I hoped so too. But I was worried.

  I worried about the kitten all morning long, from when Ms. Burland clapped twice to start

  the day, on through science, geography, and the spelling test. I worried about him more during String Club at recess, while Keisha showed us how to turn Cup and Saucer into the Star. Isabel and Sadie both got it right away, but I couldn’t focus. The worrying made my insides feel as tangled and knotted as my string.

  After recess, Sadie led the way to our favorite table in the cafeteria. When I opened my lunch bag, I saw that Dad had packed me an extra treat—both a box of raisins and a strawberry fruit strip. I knew it was a reminder that even though he’d been upset about what I’d done, he still loved me. I shared the raisins with Isabel and Sadie, and felt a little bit better. But then Ms. Burland walked by our table and I noticed her cute shoes. There was a puppy face on the toe of one foot, and a kitten face on the other. I looked away from the cat shoe and swallowed hard.

  At silent reading time, I took out my book, grateful for the chance to get lost in a story about something else. I’d been right to worry about how the book would end, though. It wasn’t a scary ending, but it wasn’t truly happy, either. After she saved her brother, the girl saved herself, too, by tricking the witch into turning her into a butterfly. She defeated the witch and flew away, but she’d never be a human girl again. I liked that the girl had been brave for her brother, but it still left me feeling sad.

  I closed the book and sighed. Isabel passed me a note. I opened it under my desk so Ms. Burland wouldn’t see. You okay? it said.

  Sad ending, I wrote back.

  Isabel drew a frowny-face next to her reply. Maybe you should write a new one.

  You mean, a new ending to the book? I asked. I tossed it onto her desk when Ms. Burland wasn’t watching.

  Isabel unfolded the note and gave me a shrug. Why not? she mouthed.

  Huh. It wasn’t a terrible idea. I took out my purple notebook with the three pony stickers on the front and grabbed my supersparkly rainbow pencil from its spot at the top of my desk. I tapped the pencil against my lip and thought about how to make things turn out better.

  Maybe that didn’t have to be the end of the butterfly girl’s story.

  Maybe there could still be a happier ending for the little lost kitten, too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pretty Please with a Kitten on Top

  When the school day ended, I watched Sadie and Isabel get on the bus to Sadie’s house. I knew my friends wished I could go with them too, but that didn’t change the fact that they would be having tons of fun without me. Being grounded was as stinky as stepping in dog poo. I hated feeling left out.

  I trudged down the sidewalk next to Chuck, stepping on every crack we came across. I didn’t even care if it gave me bad luck. My luck was already terrible.

  “Maybe the superstition is wrong,” I said. “Maybe it’s bad luck when a white cat crosses your path.” But as soon as I’d said it, I wished I could take it back. I knew none of what had happened was the kitten’s fault. It was all mine.

  Chuck shook his head. “Nope. It’s only black cats. But my teacher says sometimes you can choose to make your own luck.” I thought about Isabel’s idea to write my book a new ending, and how doing that had made me feel better. Isabel would probably like the teacher’s theory. I bet Banana would like it too.

  I jumped to avoid the next crack. Maybe it was time to change my luck, or at least snap out of being grumpy about it.

  I took the yarn loop out of my pocket and wove it through my fingers. “Guess what the word of the day was today?” I said. I love the word of the day. It’s one of my favorite things about being in Ms. Burland’s cla
ss.

  “Uh . . . ‘boogers’?” Chuck guessed.

  I leaped over another crack. “Nope. It was ‘fad.’ A fad is like a trend or a craze—something that gets really popular all of a sudden, out of nowhere.”

  “Like boogers?” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. My brother was so predictable. “No, like String Club!” That was Ms. Burland’s example.

  “Yeah, I guess boogers aren’t a fad because they’re always popular,” Chuck said with a smirk.

  “You’re disgusting,” I informed him.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  When we got home, I took Banana for a walk and ate my half of the peanut-butter crackers Dad had put out for our snack. I snuck a little bite of one to Banana, too. She licked her lips and stared up at me like I was magic. She loves peanut butter even more than I do.

  Chuck grabbed his baseball glove and left to play catch with his friend Erika. I wished for the millionth time that I had a friend in the neighborhood who lived in walking distance too. Not that I’d be able to play with one today anyway, since I was stuck at home being grounded. But still, it would be nice.

  I wondered what Sadie and Isabel were doing now. I wondered if they missed me or if they’d already forgotten I wasn’t there.

  I was just starting to get sad and grumpy again, when the phone rang. “I’ll get it!” I yelled. I ran to pick it up.

  “Is this Anna?” the voice on the other end asked after “hello.”

  “Yes,” I said, uncertain who it could be. The only adults who ever called me were Nana, Grumps, and Uncle Rob, but this didn’t sound like any of them.

  “This is Mrs. Shirley,” the voice said. “I saw your signs about the lost kitten. I think I might have just seen him out in my garden.”

  I gasped. “You did?” I looked down at Banana to see if she’d heard that. Banana lifted her ears to listen to whatever Mrs. Shirley said next.

  “He’s not there anymore, but it seemed like he was going in the direction of Maple Street,” Mrs. Shirley said. “Good luck, Anna. I hope you find him.”

  “Oh, thank you, thank you!” I hung up the phone and rushed after Banana, who was heading for Dad’s office. Normally we’re not supposed to interrupt Dad while he’s writing, but Banana was right: This was an emergency.

  “Dad!” I shouted as I pushed open the door. Dad looked up from his computer and raised both eyebrows at us. Banana was already spinning in circles. She was as happy as I was to hear the kitten was okay. “Dad, Mrs. Shirley saw the kitten!”

  A slow grin spread across Dad’s face, and I knew a pun was coming. “Well then surely you’d better go catch him,” he said.

  “I will,” I said. “But Dad . . . I don’t know if I can catch him by myself. It took two of us to corner him last time. And Chuck is at Erika’s and you’re allergic, but Sadie is with Isabel and Isabel is a cat expert.”

  “Hmm.” Dad frowned.

  I gave him my most pleading look. “I know I’m still in trouble, and I’m not trying to get out of being grounded. You can ground me for an extra month after this if you want. I’m just really, really worried about the kitten.”

  Dad sighed. “I know you are, kiddo. I know how much you care about all animals, not just Banana, and I’m proud of you for that.” I bit my lip and waited for the “but.” Dad put his hand on top of my head. “You start looking and I’ll call Sadie’s father to see if they can help. You’re still in trouble for what happened yesterday, but I’m willing to make a small exception for this.”

  I threw my arms around his middle and squeezed tight. “Thank you, Dad-o.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “Now go find that kitty.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Stringing It All Together

  “Psst-psst-psst,” I called as I walked past the Surely Shirley house and down the block toward Maple Street. I ducked to check under each parked car, looked up into all the treetops, and scanned every backyard I could see. No kitten.

  “Here, kitty kitty,” I said. “Good kitty. Don’t be scared.” I wondered if cats have as good hearing as dogs. Listening is one of Banana’s superpowers. She probably could hear me now, even all the way back at the house. Wherever the kitten was, I hoped he could hear me too.

  “Psst-psst-psst,” I repeated as I searched up and down all of Maple Street for the second time. I tried to sound cheerful but with each step I took and each minute that passed, my mood sank lower and lower. “Kitty, kitty, kitty!” My eyes stung with tears of frustration. It felt like I would never find him.

  Just as I was about to give up and head back, I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw Sadie and Isabel running toward me. My spirits lifted like a kite in a gust of wind.

  “Any sign of him?” Sadie asked when they got closer.

  “No,” I said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “We’re going to find him,” Isabel said. She gestured toward the notebook Sadie was clutching to her chest. “Sadie wrote down a plan.” But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Isabel’s eyes popped wide open and she pointed. “There!”

  I turned and saw a flash of white disappear under a bush. “You found him!” I cried. Of course, we still had to catch him. But luckily, Sadie knew just what to do.

  She grabbed my hand. “Let’s spread out in a circle around the bush, so wherever he runs out, one of us will be there to grab him.”

  “Good idea,” Isabel said. “And if he doesn’t come out on his own, we’ll lure him with this.” She pulled a can of tuna from her pocket.

  We approached the bush slowly, so the kitten wouldn’t feel threatened. When we were positioned all around it, I crouched and peeked inside. The little white kitten blinked back at me. He was sitting in the center of the brambly bush, surrounded by sticks and leaves. He was too far in for us to reach in and get him. He would have to come out on his own.

  Sadie called to him softly and held open her hands, so he could see there was nothing scary in them. The kitten didn’t move.

  Isabel pulled back the lid on the can of tuna. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “I brought you something tasty.” The kitten’s ears twitched, but he stayed put.

  “Maybe you should hold out a taste of it,” Sadie said. Isabel dipped her finger into the tuna and reached her hand slowly toward the kitten. The kitten sniffed a few times in Isabel’s direction, but didn’t accept the treat.

  “Should we leave it and see if he comes out for it while we’re not there?” Sadie asked.

  I shook my head. “Then we might lose him completely.”

  Isabel agreed. “I wish there were a way to reassure him that we’re friendly.” She put down the tuna can. “We don’t want to hurt you, little kitty. We just want to play!”

  Play. That gave me an idea. I dug into my pocket and pulled out the string I’d been using earlier for String Club. Cats love playing with string, right? I dangled it near the bush to catch the kitten’s attention. He suddenly looked very alert.

  “Look, kitty,” I said. I looped the string around two fingers, letting most of it dance back and forth through the air. The kitten stuck his head forward, watching. “Wanna play?”

  I jiggled the string inside the bush, and the kitten swiped his paw toward it. Isabel laughed. “It’s working!” Sadie whispered.

  I moved the string back and forth again. The kitten batted at the loose end. He moved closer, and I dragged the string along the ground, making it move like a mouse’s tail.

  The kitten jumped out of the bushes and pounced on the string. I didn’t grab him—I knew I didn’t need to. He was happy to keep playing with the string. I teased him with it, yanking it just out of his grasp, and he darted after it, making Isabel and Sadie say, “Aww.”

  I pulled the string toward myself and the kitten jumped into my lap, sticking his claws into the yarn. He tugged on one end while I tugged at the other and laughed. “He wants to join String Club!” I scooped him up into my arms and stood.

  “It
’s a new string trick—Catch the Kitty! You’ll have to teach everyone at recess,” Sadie said.

  “That was way cooler than Cat’s Cradle,” Isabel agreed. “Great trick, Anna.”

  I grinned at my friends. They beamed back. “Thanks,” I said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The Tail End of the Tale

  I held on to the kitten tightly and we walked back to my house, where Dad had set up the cat bed and a saucer of milk in the garage. When the door was shut firmly behind us, I put the kitten on the floor and sat cross-legged beside him. Sadie and Isabel plopped down to play with him too.

  “He’s so sweet,” Isabel cooed as he lapped up the milk. “I wish I could take him home with me. Mewsic would never get along with another cat, though.”

  “I know,” Sadie said. “I can’t believe neither of my parents will let me have a pet. I’ve begged and begged, but they both say no.” Sadie’s parents usually give her whatever she wants, but her dad travels too much for her to have a pet at his house, and her mom claims to only like animals “from a distance,” though she’s always been nice to Banana.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Isabel said. “He can’t stay here.”

  Sadie ran her hand along the kitten’s back. He turned and pushed under her palm to demand more patting. “Should we take him to Happy Homes?” she asked.

  “Maybe,” I said. It wasn’t a bad idea. Happy Homes Animal Shelter was where I got Banana. It was a good place for animals to find new homes with families that would love them. But I didn’t want the kitten to have to wait for the right person to find him at the shelter after he’d been on his own for so long. I wanted him to have a new home right away. Preferably one where I could visit.