Kitty and the Tiger Treasure

by Paula Harrison

  A spotlight shined down on the space where the Golden Tiger had been. Cleo paced around the empty pedestal, her tail swishing. “I should have noticed!” she muttered. “I should have been watching more carefully.”

  Kitty’s heart sank. The best treasure of all was missing, and everyone in Hallam City would be disappointed. Worst of all, what if the statue really did grant wishes? If bad guys got hold of the Golden Tiger, they might wish for something terrible!

  “Look—paw prints!” Pumpkin pointed at the prints leading away into the dark.

  They followed the paw prints, but the trail ended at the stairway.

  “I fear the trail has gone cold,” said Figaro. “This building is enormous. We have little hope of finding the scoundrel now.”

  “Wait, listen!” Kitty focused with her super hearing. She picked up the sound of paws padding on the floor above. “He’s upstairs! We can still catch him.”

  Her heart thumped as she rushed toward the staircase. The race to stop the thief was just beginning!

  Chapter

  4

  Kitty ran lightly up the spiral stairs, and the cats dashed after her. Cleo’s eyes narrowed when the group reached the top. Her gray tail swayed worriedly as she searched the shadowy room.

  Kitty heard a creaking sound. “This way!” she whispered.

  At the far end of the gallery, the dog was opening the window with his nose. Kitty crept nearer, her orange sneakers silent on the polished floor. The robber had put the statue down. Maybe, if they got close enough, they could snatch the Golden Tiger back.

  Pumpkin’s tail brushed against a display, knocking over a pile of old coins. They jangled as they rolled around and around in circles. The dog whirled around, and the moonlight gleamed on his patchy coat. His eyes were wide, and he had a strange, faraway look, like someone daydreaming.

  Kitty shrank into the shadows, raising a finger to her lips. Pumpkin looked like he was about to meow, but Figaro clapped a paw over his mouth. The thief gave a low bark before picking up the statue, pushing the window open, and squeezing through. Kitty raced to the window and looked along the wide ledge, but the dog had already vanished.

  Slipping outside, Kitty clambered to the roof. With her super night vision, she scanned the shadowy streets. Cleo and the other cats scrambled up beside her. Pumpkin twitched his whiskers nervously. Moonlight poured down, reflecting off the museum’s glassy dome.

  Cleo meowed impatiently. “How could I have been so silly! If I’d been paying attention instead of chatting with all of you, then this would never have happened.”

  “It’s not your fault!” Kitty spotted the dog running down an alleyway. The Golden Tiger gleamed in his jaws. “Look, there he is!” Scrambling to the edge, she got herself ready to leap across to the opposite roof.

  “Be careful, Kitty!” called Pumpkin.

  Kitty felt her superpowers tingling, and her heart skipped with excitement. She was determined not to lose sight of the robber dog. She sprang to the next house and kept on running, her feet barely touching the roof.

  Using her outstretched arms to balance, she leaped from one house to the next. Her cape flew out behind her, as black as midnight. The ground looked far away, but she wasn’t afraid. She trusted her superpowers. She could do this!

  The springer spaniel reached a row of shops. Kitty edged closer, ducking behind a chimney when the dog glanced around. A moment later, he disappeared from view. Cleo and Pumpkin scampered over to Kitty.

  “Where did he go?” whispered Pumpkin.

  Figaro puffed a little as he caught up. “He’s obviously a slippery sort of dog. He could be anywhere!”

  Kitty crept to the corner of the building and found a metal staircase. “We can use this fire escape to get down.” She tiptoed down the steps, and the cats followed her.

  The robber dog was hurrying down the street, the statue still clamped in his jaws. He stopped beside a shop, pushed the door open, and went inside.

  Kitty followed him. She stared up at the store sign, which was lit by a streetlamp. “The Happy Paws Pet Shop,” she read aloud. “Do you think he lives here?”

  THE HAPPY PAWS PET SHOP

  Pumpkin’s eyes were wide. “Maybe he’s stealing for his owner.”

  “Very odd!” said Figaro. “I haven’t heard much about this pet shop. I think it only opened a few months ago.”

  Cleo sighed. Her gray fur was tinged with orange in the glow of the streetlight. “I should have done a better job. I wasn’t watching the museum carefully enough. I have to fix this!”

  “You were doing a good job,” Kitty told her. “Let’s check the windows and find the best way to get inside.”

  “Great idea! If we can take the thief by surprise—” Cleo fell silent as the door opened again.

  The robber dog darted outside, his eyes wide and glazed. He scampered down the street and vanished into the dark.

  “He doesn’t have the statue anymore,” said Kitty. “He must have left it inside!””

  “There’s a way in over there.” Figaro pointed to an open window.

  “You and Pumpkin should stand guard, ready to warn us if the thief returns,” said Cleo. “He may be a dangerous kind of dog.”

  “Very well!” Figaro nodded. “Be careful, won’t you?”

  “Don’t worry—we will!” Kitty scaled the side of the shop and peered through the window.

  It was dark inside, and there was a great deal of shuffling and squeaking as the animals moved about inside their cages. Kitty slipped through the window. Then she climbed onto a cupboard and dropped soundlessly to the floor, helping Cleo down after her.

  Moonlight reflected off the gray tiled floor. The shop was filled with dozens of cages—tall bird pens, guinea pig and rabbit hutches, and tortoise cages. Toward the back, shelves of pet food and bedding were hidden in darkness.

  “Where do you think he left the treasure?” whispered Kitty.

  Cleo sniffed the air. “It’s difficult to follow his scent. There are too many different animal smells in here.”

  “Then we’ll just have to search.” Kitty looked around for possible hiding places. She pointed to the shop counter. “I’ll look over here.” But as she turned, she got the strange feeling that someone was watching her.

  Kitty saw a pair of dazzling golden eyes studying her from behind the pet food shelves. Kitty’s night vision grew sharper, and she knew at once that they were cat’s eyes. Jewels winked on the cat’s collar.

  Kitty caught her breath. Who was this new cat and what did it know about the snatching of the Golden Tiger?

  Chapter

  5

  The cat with the golden eyes stared back at Kitty. Then it vanished, without a word, through a doorway into a back room.

  “Did you see that?” whispered Kitty. “We should ask that cat what it knows about the statue.” She turned to Cleo, but the gray cat was gone.

  Kitty hesitated. Had Cleo been scared away by the other cat? Or did she have a plan?

  A light came on in the back room. Kitty hurried along the rows of cages. She passed hutches full of sleeping bunnies, and wide-awake hamsters running in their wheels. Two parrots with beautiful green and red feathers were perched in a tall cage with their heads under their wings.

  Kitty stopped in the office doorway. Piles of shiny objects covered the desk, the chair, and the filing cabinets inside. Every corner of the room was filled with glittering treasures—silver plates, strings of pearls, and jewels in every color of the rainbow.

  Kitty gaped. All these treasures must be stolen! Was the robber dog really doing all this?

  “Purr-fect greetings!” trilled a high voice.

  Kitty jumped. The cat with the golden eyes lay on a pile of shiny coins. She had orange fur, and the name PRECIOUS was spelled out on her collar in diamonds. Her pointed ears pricked up as Kitty approached. There was an odd look in her eyes, as if she was trying to puzzle Kitty out.

  “My name is Kitty!” said Kitty. “
I’m looking for a tiger statue. The springer spaniel who stole it came through your door just a few minutes ago.”

  The cat’s tail flicked to and fro. “My name is Precious. You must be the girl with superpowers who I’ve heard so much about. I bet your talents are very useful indeed!”

  Kitty frowned. There was something strange about this cat. “I try to use my powers to help others. That’s why I’m looking for the Golden Tiger statue. It was taken from the museum tonight, and it’s very special! Did you see the robber dog that came in here?”

  Precious began grooming herself. “No, I didn’t see a thing.”

  “But he came right inside!” Kitty watched Precious lick her paws and clean behind her ears. Suddenly she had a thought. What if the dog wasn’t in charge of the robbery at all? Precious seemed like a sly sort of cat. She was definitely the type to organize a secret mission to steal the museum’s treasure.

  Kitty gave Precious a stern look. “I think you know a lot more about the statue than you’ve said. Tell me where it is!”

  Precious laughed. “Why should I? The Golden Tiger is mine now. It makes an excellent addition to my collection. I do like shiny things!” She stretched out on top of the gold coins and gave an exaggerated yawn.

  “But everyone’s coming to see the new exhibit tomorrow!” said Kitty. “They’ll be so disappointed not to see the Golden Tiger—it’s a very important statue.” She stopped herself from telling Precious that the statue could grant wishes. A cat like Precious might wish for something very selfish—something that hurt others!

  “They’ll just have to be happy with the other things in the museum,” snapped Precious. “Humans are such whiny creatures! All I’ve taken is one tiny statue. Can’t they manage without it?”

  Kitty glared at the cat. There was no point trying to reason with her! Kitty edged forward, looking for the statue behind the pile of coins.

  “Oh, don’t bother trying to find it.” Precious waved her paw airily at a metal box on the wall. “I locked it away in the safe. I shall take it out later and admire the diamonds before I take a nap.”

  Kitty sprang over to the safe. It was shut tight, and it had a lock. Precious laughed again. Kitty swung around, asking, “Why does that dog steal things for you, anyway? Don’t you both know it’s wrong?”

  “He does anything I say.” Precious beamed. “Everyone does, once they look into my eyes . . . including you!” She met Kitty’s gaze. Kitty felt the cat’s golden eyes drawing her in like a magnet. Precious spoke in a growly tone. “Listen very carefully! You will forget that you ever met me. You will not remember this pet shop. You will leave now and never come here again.”

  Kitty’s head swam. For a moment she could hardly remember why she was there. Then she thought about how much she wanted to help Cleo, and her eyes focused again. “You may have hypnotized the springer spaniel, but I don’t think it works on me! Maybe it’s because of my superpowers.”

  “Huh!” Precious flounced down from the coin pile and turned her back on Kitty, settling herself on a velvet blanket.

  Kitty thought quickly. It was obvious that Precious was much more dangerous than she’d first thought. If no one stopped the golden-eyed cat, she could make the dog steal more and more treasure. She might even hypnotize other animals and force them to join in.

  An idea popped into Kitty’s head. Maybe there was a way to use the stories about the statue! Perhaps she could scare Precious into giving back the treasure.

  “There’s something you don’t know about the Golden Tiger,” she began. “Many say that the statue has a terrible curse.”

  Precious stopped grooming and pricked up her ears. “Why would I care about that?”

  “Because the curse says that if someone upsets the statue, it will send scary spirits to take revenge,” said Kitty.

  Precious was silent for a moment. “Do you think it’s true?”

  “I don’t know.” Kitty noticed the cat’s tail swaying uneasily. She tried to think how to make the story more believable. “But if it is true, I expect the spirits come in the dead of night and creep in through tiny cracks around the doorframe.” She shivered. That would be spooky if it were true!

  Precious sat up straight, her tail flicking faster and faster. “Spirits? Door frames?”

  There was a bang followed by a loud clatter from the front of the shop.

  Kitty jumped. Maybe the curse was real!

  “What was that?” Precious leaped across the room, grabbing Kitty’s hand with both paws. “Save me, Kitty. I’m not a bad cat, really!”

  “Stay close to me.” Kitty’s heart pounded like a drum as she crept toward the doorway. She could hear the pets squeaking and fluttering, disturbed by the strange noises. Kitty dodged as a box of treats toppled from a shelf. Then she leaped bravely though the door.

  Chapter

  6

  A hamster ran under Kitty’s legs. “Someone’s opened all the cages!” she gasped. “The animals are escaping.”

  The little hamster climbed the shelves, cheeping sharply. Then a pink-eared rabbit hopped across the shop counter. The green and red parrots flew out of their cage, squawking, “Stop, thief!”

  “The curse is coming true,” moaned Precious. “I wish that horrible statue had never come here.”

  Kitty spotted Cleo peeping out from behind a fish tank. Then the gray cat pushed a box of hamster food off the shelf. Kitty understood at once. Cleo had caused all this chaos to make Precious believe the story about the curse. The museum cat must have been listening the whole time!

  Precious ran around in circles, her pointy ears swiveling from side to side. There was another crash as Cleo knocked a stack of dog leashes to the floor. Precious arched her back fearfully. “Kitty, the spirits are here to take revenge. Oh, save me!”

  Cleo ducked behind the fish tanks as the golden-eyed cat ran around in a panic.

  “Why don’t I take the statue back to the museum?” suggested Kitty. “That will stop the curse.”

  “Yes, yes! I will give you the silly statue!” cried Precious. “I never want to see it again.” Running to the safe, she twisted the lock, and the door clicked open.

  Kitty removed the Golden Tiger. It felt heavy in her hand. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” she told Precious. “But to be really sure, you should tell the dog to return all the other stolen things.”

  “I promise I will,” said Precious, her eyes wide.

  “And never use your hypnotism on him, or anyone else, again,” added Kitty.

  Precious nodded eagerly. “I’ll be good from now on. Please don’t let the curse get me!”

  “Wait for me here. I’ll make sure everything’s safe,” Kitty told her before running back into the shop.

  With Cleo’s help, she ushered most of the pets back into their cages.

  There was a noise at the window, and Pumpkin’s face appeared. “Kitty, the dog is returning, and someone has switched a light on upstairs!” Pumpkin whispered.

  “Goodbye, Precious!” called Kitty. “Remember what you promised.”

  Kitty and Cleo hid in the shadows as the springer spaniel trotted into the pet shop, then darted out the back door.

  Kitty held the Golden Tiger tightly. “We did it!” she whispered. “Cleo, you’re the best guard cat a museum could ever have! You were so clever making all that noise so that Precious would worry about the curse.”

  Cleo puffed out her chest. “I could tell that cat wouldn’t give the statue back easily, so I made it as noisy as possible! I couldn’t have done it without you, Kitty. I wish I had someone as kind and loyal as you helping me all the time.”

  Pumpkin and Figaro ran over to join them, and Pumpkin eyed the statue worriedly. “I know the curse is just a story . . . but maybe we should take the Golden Tiger back to the museum as quickly as we can!”

  “Well said!” Figaro yawned and stretched. “All this excitement is exhausting. Besides, my stomach is empty and I need a nice big supper.”

/>   They climbed back up the fire escape to the roof. Running along the edge of the rooftops, they jumped from building to building. The moon rose higher in the sky and the stars glittered.

  Leaping to the top of the museum, Kitty stopped for a moment to look across the city. The night wind swirled, making her cape flutter.

  “Oh, no!” cried Cleo. “Stan must have discovered that the statue is missing.”

  Kitty peered through the glass dome. Two men were leaning over the pedestal where the Golden Tiger had been. One was wearing a dark-blue guard uniform. The other man had a bald head that gleamed in the moonlight.

  “Who’s that other man?” asked Kitty.

  “That’s Mr. Martinez, the head of the museum,” Cleo told her.

  “What do we do now?” cried Pumpkin. “We can’t put the statue back without them seeing us.”

  Kitty frowned. “I suppose we could explain everything . . . but they might blame the owners of the pet shop for what Precious did, and this wasn’t their fault at all.”

  Figaro twirled his jet-black whiskers. “I may have an idea! Follow me.”

  They followed Figaro through an upstairs window. Their steps echoed as they climbed down the marble staircase. Ducking behind a pillar, they watched more museum staff run toward the exhibit room.

  “So many people—it feels like the whole city will be here soon.” Cleo flicked her tail. “We’d better be fast!”

  “This way!” Figaro scampered into the museum restaurant and stopped beside a row of mouthwatering cakes, each displayed inside a glass cake stand.

  “What’s your plan, Figaro?” asked Kitty.

  Figaro waved his paw at a beautiful vanilla and strawberry cake with sugar frosting. “As we cannot return the statue to its rightful place, we need to put it somewhere it will be found immediately in the morning. If we place it here, people will spot it right away. I suggest using the empty chocolate cake stand.”