Scout the School Cat Read online

  She and Grandma ran out of their yard and through the streets, their black tails swishing. It was dark now, but Kitty and Grandma didn’t even need the streetlights, because their cat eyes could see perfectly, even at night.

  As they turned a corner, Kitty’s nose twitched. She could smell something coming—another cat! And she knew this cat’s smell very well. Her best cat friend, Misty!

  Sure enough, a silky gray kitten with darker gray stripes bounded along the street toward them. “Hi, Kitty!” called Misty, trotting up to bump heads with Kitty. This was the special, friendly way for cats to say hello. “Hello, Suki,” she added to Grandma. Suki was Grandma’s name. “Do you know what the meeting is about?”

  “Not yet!” replied Kitty. “Let’s go find out. I hope we can help, whatever it is!”

  Soon they were at the woods where the Cat Council always met. Kitty, Grandma, and Misty ran through the trees to a clearing where lots of cats were sitting in a circle, and more were padding in from every direction to join them. Kitty always loved seeing so many cats in one place! She meowed hello to an elegant white cat named Emerald and two excited twin kittens called Frost and Snowdrop. Then she spotted a big tomcat. This was Tiger—Mia’s cat!

  “Guess what, Tiger!” said Kitty, sitting down next to him. “I met your owner Mia at school this week. She’s so nice! We’re in the same class, and we’re even sitting next to each other.”

  Tiger purred happily. “I know, Kitty. Every day when she gets home from school, Mia rushes straight inside to give me a treat and tell me all about her day at school—and she talks about you more than anything else!”

  “Really?” asked Kitty.

  “Really!” meowed Tiger, chuckling. “She was a little nervous about starting in her new class, but once she met you, she decided she was going to enjoy it. Now, I think we’d better start the meeting, Kitty—everyone seems to be here!”

  Kitty looked around. The clearing was full of cats, some of them rubbing heads to say hello, and some of them slinking past one another to find a place to sit down, their collars glinting in the moonlight. There was a loud, low rumbling noise, which Kitty realized was the sound of lots of cats purring together.

  Tiger called the meeting to attention. “Thank you for coming, everybody!” he meowed, nodding around the circle. “Let’s start by saying the Meow Vow together, please!”

  The cats all went quiet for a moment, before chanting the special, serious words they all said at the start of every Cat Council meeting.

  “We promise now,

  This solemn vow,

  To help somehow,

  When you meow.”

  “Excellent,” Tiger said, purring as the vow ended. “Now, let’s find out why we’re all here! Who called this meeting, please?”

  A small white cat with black smudges stood up and stepped into the middle of the circle. Kitty recognized Sooty, who lived just a few streets away from her. She had thrown a surprise birthday party for Sooty not long ago, and they had been friends ever since. “Sooty, could you tell us what the problem is?” she asked encouragingly.

  Sooty nodded. “I wanted to ask for your help because I’m very worried about a new kitten in town,” she explained.

  “Oh dear. A kitten in trouble!” meowed Emerald, looking concerned.

  “Who is this kitten, Sooty?” asked Suki.

  “Her name is Scout,” explained Sooty. “She and her family moved into the house opposite mine over the summer. She’s quite shy and quiet, so we don’t talk much, but I used to see her every morning, exploring in her yard. She loves playing with a little red ball and chasing bees.”

  “So why do you need our help?” asked Evie’s gray cat, Coco, looking puzzled. “Scout sounds like a happy little kitten to me, even if she is a bit shy!”

  “Well, she was,” agreed Sooty. “But I haven’t seen her for a few days. Every morning this week, I’ve checked her yard, and she’s still not back in her usual spot. I think . . .” Sooty looked very upset now. “I think poor Scout might be lost!”

  There was a worried murmur around the clearing. Tiger was nodding gravely. “I’m afraid you might be right, Sooty,” he said. “If this kitten hasn’t lived in our town for very long, she won’t know her way around yet. If she wandered away from her street by accident, perhaps she can’t find her way back.”

  “How awful!” meowed Misty.

  Kitty thought so too. A tiny little kitten, lost and alone, and probably feeling very frightened by now! She and the Cat Council had to help.

  “Sooty, when was the last time you saw Scout?” she asked.

  “I saw her on Monday morning,” Sooty explained. “I remember because my human, Sophie, was getting ready for her first day of school, and her dad was taking a picture just as she left. I glanced out of the window and saw Scout then.”

  “That’s really helpful,” Kitty told her. “Can you describe what Scout looks like?”

  Sooty thought for a moment. “She has tortoiseshell fur, a tiny black nose, and big blue eyes.”

  “Think hard, everyone,” Suki told the cats around the circle. “Have any of you seen a kitten matching that description since Monday morning? If you have, that might give us a clue to where Scout is now.”

  The clearing fell silent as the cats tried to remember—and so did Kitty. Tortoiseshell fur, black nose, blue eyes, she thought. Why does that seem so familiar?

  And then she realized. “I’ve seen a kitten like that!” she cried.

  The other cats meowed in excitement. “What? When, Kitty?” asked Suki.

  “On Monday, in the school playground! It was just after you dropped me off,” Kitty told her. “I ran toward school when the bell rang, with Evie and Jenny, and I saw something moving in the rosebushes. It was a tiny tortoiseshell kitten. I wondered what she was doing there, but before I could get closer, she ran off.” Suddenly she remembered something else. “Sooty, does Scout wear a bright blue collar?”

  “Yes!” meowed Sooty, nodding quickly. “The exact same shade of blue as her eyes.”

  “Then it must have been Scout I saw,” Kitty replied.

  “Monday . . . ,” murmured Suki, looking very thoughtful.

  “What is it?” Kitty asked her.

  “You saw Scout on Monday morning,” explained Suki. “Kitty, I think you might have been the last person to see Scout before she went missing!”

  Chapter 4

  A ripple of anxious whispers spread around the Cat Council.

  “But what was Scout doing in the school playground?” Sooty asked. “That’s a really long way from our street!”

  “It’s an especially long way for a little kitten,” added Shadow.

  “There are lots of garages and garden sheds on the way. Scout might have been exploring and got trapped in one!” squealed a cat named Sparkle.

  Emerald gasped. “There are plenty of busy roads to cross on the way there, too. I hope Scout hasn’t been in an accident.”

  Kitty thought back to that morning at school. “Oh, I just wish I’d done something!” she meowed sadly. “I thought it was strange for a kitten to be alone in the school playground. So why didn’t I catch her? It’s all my fault that she’s missing!”

  There were loud meows from around the circle. “It’s not your fault, Kitty!” Tiger told her firmly. “You know as well as anyone that kittens are very fast. Even if you’d tried to catch her, she would have run off.”

  “And remember, Scout doesn’t know that you’re a special human who can turn into a cat!” Suki added. “She wouldn’t have known she could trust you.”

  “Besides, we know you’ll help get Scout back, Kitty!” Misty told her, purring encouragingly.

  Kitty nuzzled her friend’s head gratefully. She felt a little bit better—but secretly, she still thought that she could have helped Scout. She had just been so wrapped up in her worries about her first day at school!

  “What do you think we should do?” asked Shadow.

  Al
l the cats looked at Kitty.

  “Tomorrow, let’s all split up into groups,” she said. “We can each search a different part of town. That way, we can make sure we’re not missing anywhere.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Emerald, her white ears perking up. “Where shall I look, Kitty?”

  “Could you, Frost, and Snowdrop search the park?” asked Kitty. “And Tiger, Misty, and Shadow, maybe you could cover the shops and the library.”

  “What about us?” meowed Coco. “Ruby and I want to help too.”

  “Why don’t you look by the swimming pool? And Sooty and Sparkle, how about you take the school playground?”

  “We’ll make sure we check all the rosebushes, just in case Scout has gone back there!” said Sooty.

  “We’ll meet back here tomorrow night and tell the rest of the Council what we find,” Kitty finished, once she’d paired each set of cats and given them a spot to search. “Hopefully, one of us will find a clue that will lead us to Scout. Or, even better, one of us might find Scout herself!”

  There was an enthusiastic purr around the clearing. Kitty watched as the cats sprang away and began running back home. Everyone was going to need lots of rest before the search began tomorrow!

  The next morning, Kitty bounced out of bed. “Time to start looking for Scout!” she announced, bursting into the kitchen.

  Grandma smiled. “How about some pancakes first, Kitty-cat?” she suggested, holding up a mixing bowl full of batter. “If we’re going to search the whole town, we’ll need energy!”

  Kitty slid into her seat at the table. “I was thinking,” she told Grandma, “every cat in town is going to be looking for Scout today, and they’ll be able to look in all the tiny nooks and crannies where a kitten might be. But there are also lots of places to look that a cat won’t be able to get to very easily that a person can! So I think we should search in our human forms.”

  Grandma nodded thoughtfully as she flipped a pancake. “That’s very true, Kitty. We can be more helpful searching as humans. We can also ask other people if they’ve seen a lost kitten. I could call the vet and ask if any kittens have been brought into the hospital this week.”

  “Yes, Grandma, that’s a great idea!” said Kitty. “Oh, wait—I’ve just thought of something else.”

  She jumped up from the table and rummaged in a drawer until she pulled out a pad of white paper and her colored pencils. While Grandma finished the pancakes, Kitty started to draw. Finally she held it up. “What do you think?”

  Kitty had sketched Scout, using as many shades of brown, black, and white as she could to show the kitten’s special tortoiseshell coat. With her brightest blue pencil, she had added Scout’s eyes and matching collar, and at the top of the page, in rainbow letters, she had written: LOST! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS KITTEN?

  “We can show it to people in town today,” she explained to Grandma.

  “Excellent, Kitty!” said Grandma, nodding. “You could start with Evie and Jenny, couldn’t you?”

  Kitty stared at Grandma. “I just remembered! I’m supposed to be hanging out with Evie, Jenny, and Mia today. How can I search for Scout?”

  But even as she asked the question, Kitty realized . . . four pairs of eyes were much better than one! “I bet they’ll want to help, too,” she said. “Don’t you think so?”

  Grandma’s eyes twinkled as she slid pancakes onto both plates. “I know so, Kitty.”

  * * *

  Kitty rode her bicycle over to Evie’s house as soon as she’d finished breakfast, with her picture of Scout rolled up carefully in her backpack. Jenny was already there, playing with Coco and Ruby in Evie’s bedroom. The cats ran over to nuzzle Kitty with their noses, and when Evie and Jenny went to fetch drinks from the kitchen, she bent down and whispered, “Good luck searching today!”

  Mia arrived soon after, smiling shyly as Evie opened the door. “Thanks for inviting me!” she said, flashing a wide grin at Kitty.

  “No problem! What should we do first?” said Evie as they all clattered back up the stairs to her room.

  “Actually,” Kitty said quickly, “I wanted to ask you all for your help.” She pulled the drawing out of her backpack and spread it flat.

  “A lost kitten?” said Jenny, her eyes wide. “Oh gosh, poor little thing!”

  Kitty nodded. “I noticed her hiding in a bush in the school playground this week. She ran away before I could get too close, but she looked like she might be lost. I was thinking we could go out and look for her.”

  “Definitely!” said Jenny. “Oh, I hope we find her!”

  “We should make copies of your poster, Kitty,” suggested Mia. “Maybe we can stick them up around town.”

  “Good idea! Here, we can use my coloring things,” said Evie, pulling a box from underneath her bed. Quickly, the girls made their own sketches of Scout, adding Kitty’s message at the top.

  “Finished!” said Jenny, holding hers up.

  “Me too!” said Mia. “Let’s go out on our bikes; it’ll be quicker that way!”

  “I’ll just go and ask my mom and dad,” added Evie. She ran downstairs to the kitchen, calling for her parents. A minute later, she reappeared. “Mom says it’s okay, as long as we all stay together. And we have to be back in time for lunch!”

  Kitty grabbed her backpack and put the rolled-up posters inside it. Then the girls put on their bike helmets and set off.

  Kitty was pleased to notice Coco and Ruby slipping out of the cat flap at the same time, and darting down the street in the direction of the swimming pool. The human search and the cat search had both begun!

  The girls stopped every person they passed to ask if they had seen a small tortoiseshell kitten with blue eyes and a blue collar. Most people just shook their heads, although an elderly lady with thick glasses looked at Kitty’s poster very carefully before deciding she couldn’t help them, and a friendly teenage girl promised she’d look out for Scout.

  They bent down to check under cars, and stood on tiptoes to peer over hedges. Mia even climbed onto Jenny’s shoulders to look in the branches of the trees, just in case Scout had scampered up a trunk and hadn’t been able to get down. They almost slipped a couple of times, and Kitty wished she could turn into a cat and leap up there with her strong back legs and sharp claws. Some things were so much easier as a cat!

  When they reached the shops in the middle of town, Kitty and Mia popped into the post office to ask if they could stick one of their posters in the window.

  “Is that you, Kitty?”

  Kitty turned to see a smiling lady in the line to mail a package. “Ms. Babbitt!” she said, recognizing her new teacher.

  “It is you! And Mia too! How lovely to see you two spending time together outside school. What are you both up to this morning? You look very busy!”

  Kitty explained that they were searching for a lost kitten, and showed Ms. Babbitt the poster. She studied it carefully. “I’ll certainly keep an eye out,” she promised the girls. “I’ll make sure I let the other teachers at school know, too, as the kitten was last seen in the playground. I’m sure she’ll turn up!” She looked thoughtfully at the poster again. “Funny that the town isn’t covered in these! Perhaps the cat’s owner just didn’t have the bright idea to make a poster, unlike you girls.”

  Once they headed back outside, Evie was looking anxiously at her watch. “I’m really sorry, but I told my parents we’d only be out for a couple of hours,” she explained. “They said to be back for lunch at one o’clock.”

  “That’s okay. We’ll ride back to your house and keep looking on the way,” Jenny told her. “I can’t believe we haven’t spotted any sign of this kitten yet! It feels like we’ve looked everywhere!”

  “I’m sorry it’s taken the whole morning,” Kitty said, looking at the others. “I really thought we could find her.”

  “We wanted to help!” said Evie.

  “That’s what friends are for, right?” added Jenny.

  Kitty felt a
rush of affection for her friends.

  “And even though we didn’t find the kitten, we’ve told lots of people about her, and shown them our posters,” pointed out Mia. “Although . . .”

  “What?” asked Kitty, as Mia frowned.

  “It’s just something Ms. Babbitt said,” Mia explained. “It got me thinking. She said it was odd that the town wasn’t covered in posters. Well, she’s right, isn’t she?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Evie.

  “If Scout really is a lost cat, wouldn’t her owners be out searching for her?” said Mia. “And wouldn’t they have put up posters all around town? But it feels like the only people looking for Scout are . . .”

  “Us,” finished Kitty, nodding.

  Mia was right. Kitty couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before. Why weren’t Scout’s owners out looking for their kitten? Was Scout really a lost kitten—or was something else going on?

  Chapter 5

  An owl hooted in the trees as Kitty and Suki ran back to the clearing that night, their ears pricked up and their tails swishing.

  Kitty had spent the rest of the day searching for Scout, even after she’d had to say goodbye to Evie, Jenny, and Mia. She had had no luck. She was keeping her paws crossed that another cat would have better news.

  But when the Cat Council was gathered in a circle, a quick scan of her fellow cats told Kitty that none of them had seen Scout either. Everyone looked disappointed, their heads hanging. As Tiger asked each cat to step forward and report what they had found, she heard the same story again and again. “Not a whisker!” said Coco, shaking her head sadly. “We sniffed every corner of our little patch so carefully, but we didn’t find any smells that might lead us to Scout.”