by Tom Watson
Grandma and Millie came back into the living room. She pulled her necklace inside and closed the window. After untying the other end of the necklace from the couch leg, Grandma sat down on the floor with her back against the big blue couch.
She cradled Millie in her lap—and in the folds of her flower-print dress.
She looked down at Millie, who fell fast asleep. She looked at Edith, who was asleep too. She reached out and scratched Stick Cat behind his left ear.
Stick Cat closed his eyes.
Before closing her own eyes, Grandma whispered to Stick Cat, “You’re a smart kitty.”
There were only two sounds in the room now.
Millie’s slow, quiet, deep rhythmic breaths.
And Edith snoring softly.
After a day filled with so much loud and disconcerting noise, those two sounds brought a sense of peace and calm to the room—and lulled Grandma and Stick Cat to sleep too.
Chapter 19
KEEPING WARM
Millie woke up first.
Stick Cat heard her stir. He didn’t move, but he opened his eyes to watch her.
Millie rolled off Grandma’s lap and onto the floor.
Grandma didn’t notice—and didn’t wake up.
Millie was on her belly. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees.
Stick Cat watched as Millie crawled—crawled for the very first time—across the carpet toward Edith. When she got to Edith, Millie rolled to her side right next to her. Millie nudged her just a little, stirring Edith enough that she opened one eye halfway. She saw—and felt—Millie snuggle in next to her.
Edith smirked—and then smiled. She closed that one eye. And Edith lifted her tail—her elegant, magnificent, fluffy tail—and wrapped it around Millie to keep her warm.
THE END
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COPYRIGHT
STICK CAT: TWO CATS AND A BABY. Copyright © 2018 by Tom Watson. Illustrations by Ethan Long based on original sketches by Tom Watson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover design by Honee Jang
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2018933357
Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-274119-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-274118-9
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1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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