Here's a Penny (4 page)

Penny went through the rooms on the first floor calling, "Here, Truly, Truly, Truly!" No black kitten appeared.

Penny went upstairs. Really followed him slowly. The steps were high and Really was still very little.

"Mother!" called Penny. "Did you see anything of Truly?"

Mother answered from the bedroom. "Why, no, dear. I haven't seen him this afternoon. I know that Minnie gave them both their dinner at noon."

"Are you sure?" asked Penny.

"Yes, I'm sure," replied Mother. "Because I remember Minnie said that she thought they both ought to grunt instead of mee-u."

"Well, where do you suppose Truly is?" said Penny.

"Did you look on my best sofa pillow?" asked Mother. "That seems to be his favorite spot."

Penny went downstairs to look in the living room again. Really rolled down after him.

Penny looked on the best sofa pillow, but Truly wasn't there. Penny looked under all of the pillows and under the sofa and under all of the chairs. Truly was nowhere to be seen. He went through the house again, calling, "Here, Truly, Truly, Truly! Here, Puss, Puss, Puss!" But there was no black kitten.

"Do you think he could have gone out when Minnie went out?" Penny asked his mother.

"He may have," replied Mother.

Penny went outdoors. He went all around the house calling, "Here, Truly, Truly, Truly! Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!" There was no answer.

Really stood inside the door, meowing. He wondered what was the matter with Penny. Why didn't he play with him?

Penny went over to Patsy's to see if she had seen Truly. But Patsy hadn't seen him. She joined the search. The two children hunted for the kitten until dinnertime.

At dinner Penny told Daddy that Truly had disappeared.

"Well, now, don't worry about him," said Daddy. "He'll turn up."

"But he's very little," said Penny, "and maybe he doesn't know where he lives or how to get home."

"Oh, yes, he will," said Daddy. "He's a smart kitten. He'll know his way home."

All evening Penny kept opening the front door and then the back door. Each time he would call, "Here, Truly, Truly, Truly! Here, Pussy, Pussy, Pussy!" But when it was time to go to bed Penny only had one kitten to carry upstairs. He felt very sad.

Penny got undressed and washed his face and hands and brushed his teeth. Then he climbed into bed. When Mother came to hear him say his prayers, Penny threw his arms around her neck and cried. "Oh, Mummy!" he sobbed. "I can't lose Truly. I can't lose him. I waited so long for him and now he's gone."

Mother held her little boy close to her breast. "Darling," she said, "who gave Truly to you?"

"Why, you know," said Penny. "Grandaddy gave him to me."

"But what was it that made Grandaddy want to give him to you?" asked Mother. "What makes Daddy and me want to give you things that make you happy?"

"It's 'cause you love me," said Penny, gulping on a sob.

"Exactly," said Mother. "So it was love that really gave you the kitten, wasn't it?"

"Yes," answered Penny.

"And do you remember what you learned in Sunday school last Sunday?" asked Mother.

"Yes," said Penny. "It was 'God is Love.'"

"That's right," said Mother. "Now the love that gave Truly to you is taking care of Truly."

"And will bring Truly back to me again?" asked Penny.

"I'm sure of it," said Mother, as she kissed her little boy.

Then Penny said his prayer. When he finished, he said, "Mother, I said thank you to Grandaddy for Truly, but I didn't say thank you to God."

"Well, you can say it now," said Mother. "It's never too late to say thank you to anyone."

Penny closed his eyes and said, "Thank you, God, for Truly. And for Really, too. Mother, will you lie down beside me until I go to sleep?"

Mother lay down beside Penny. He snuggled up close to her. Soon he was fast asleep.

In the middle of the night he woke up. He thought someone had called him. Penny sat up. The full moon was shining in his window. It made the room very light. Then he thought he heard something that sounded like a very faint "Mee-u."

He sat very still and listened. There was the sound again. It seemed far away. He couldn't tell whether the sound came from outside of the house or inside.

Penny got out of bed. He went to the window. "Mee-u," he heard. He was sure now that it was Truly. But where was he?

Penny leaned out of the window. In a few moments he heard the sound again. "Mee-u." It seemed to come from overhead.

Outside of Penny's window there was a big tree. Penny wondered whether Truly was up in the tree. He listened for the sound again. In a moment he heard "Mee-u." Penny was sure then that the sound didn't come from the tree. He was certain it came from the roof.

Penny tiptoed down the back stairs. He unlocked the back door and ran around the house to the big tree. He had climbed the tree many times. Now he would climb up to the roof and rescue Truly.

Penny started up. Higher and higher he went. He had never been up as high as the roof before. He had always been a little bit afraid to go that high. But he didn't think about being afraid now. All he thought of was that his precious kitten had to be rescued.

At last he reached the roof. The moon was so bright it lit up the roof almost as well as a flashlight. Penny could hear Truly crying, but he couldn't see him. He listened closely. Then he heard him again. The sound seemed to come from one of the rain pipes.

Very carefully Penny crawled over to the rain pipe. He looked. What did he see but a white spot and two round yellow eyes! It was Truly. He was stuck in the rain pipe. Penny could just poke his little hand down to lift him out. Penny hugged him very tight. "How did you ever get up here, Truly?" he whispered. Truly rubbed his head against Penny and said, "Mee-u."

Penny began to think about getting down off the roof. Now that he had to carry Truly it wasn't as easy as it had been to come up. In fact, Penny couldn't even crawl over to the tree. To crawl he had to hold on with both hands. But now one arm had to hold Truly.

Penny sat on the edge of the roof with his legs hanging over. He wondered what he would do next.

At last he thought of something. He stuck Truly back in the rain pipe. "Now you just stay there a minute," he said.

Penny proceeded to get out of his pajamas. It wasn't easy but he finally got them off. Then he tied one leg in a knot and then the other. Then he tied each sleeve in a knot. Finally he lifted Truly out of the rain pipe. He put him inside of his pajamas. It was just like putting him into a

hammock. Then Penny tied the legs of his pajamas together and the sleeves together and hung them around his neck. Now he knew that Truly would be safe.

With both hands free, Penny crawled over to the big tree. He climbed down very slowly. He didn't want to hurt Truly. At last he reached the ground.

He ran into the house and up the back stairs. No one had heard him. He took his pajamas from around his neck and lifted Truly out. Then Penny tried to unfasten the knots in the legs and sleeves of his pajamas but he couldn't budge them. Finally he threw them on his chair, picked up Truly, and climbed into bed. Soon he was fast asleep again.

In the morning when he woke up he found his mother leaning over him. He wondered why Mother looked so surprised.

"Penny!" she cried. "What happened to you?"

"What's the matter?" asked Penny.

Mother pulled the covers down. What she saw made her gasp.

"Why, you're black!" she cried. "Black from head to foot! How did you get so filthy dirty?"

"Oh! I don't know," said Penny. "Am I dirty?"

"Dirty!" exclaimed Mother. "I've never seen anything so dirty."

"Oh!" cried Penny. "I guess all that dirt came off the roof."

"Off the roof!" said Mother. "Penny, what are you talking about?"

"Why, I had to go up on the roof to rescue Truly," said Penny. "He was stuck in the rain pipe, Mummy."

"Oh, Penny!" cried Mother. "You didn't go up on the roof!"

"Yes, I did, Mother," replied Penny. "Truly was up there."

"But why didn't you call Daddy?" asked Mother.

"Oh, Daddy couldn't have gotten him, Mother," said Penny. "Daddy's hand wouldn't have been little enough to get down the rain pipe."

Every year on Penny's birthday his Aunt Mildred sent him a toy animal. When he was a year old, she sent him a white rabbit with pink eyes and long pink ears. His name was Pinky. When he was two, he received a black woolly lamb called Baa. On his third birthday a brown monkey arrived. Penny named him Little Fellow. When he was four, Aunt Mildred sent him a tawny lion with a big furry ruff around his neck and a long tail with a tassel on the end. To Aunt Mildred's great surprise Penny named him Mildred. The following year she sent him a black-and-white penguin. Penny named the penguin Waffles because he had just tasted waffles for the first time.

But on his sixth birthday Aunt Mildred sent the toy animal Penny was to love best. It was a dark-brown bear. As soon as Penny lifted him out of the box he decided to name him Chocolate. Chocolate had big round ears that stood out on each side of his head and a hard brown nose that looked like an acorn. Penny said it was just the nose for getting into honey.

When Patsy saw Chocolate she thought he was the loveliest thing she had ever seen. She came over to Penny's house every evening before she went to bed, just to give Chocolate a great big hug.

Finally Penny's mother wrote to Aunt Mildred and asked her if she could get another Chocolate.

After several days the big box arrived. Penny and Patsy were playing in Penny's room when Penny's mother carried it in. "What's in the box, Mother?" asked Penny.

"It's a package for Patsy," said Mother.

"It is!" cried Patsy.

Penny's mother put the box on a chair. "Here, Patsy," she said, "you open it."

Patsy's eyes were round with wonder as she untied the package.

"Oh, I know what it is! I know what it is!" cried Penny, hopping up and down on one foot.

"Now, Penny, don't tell," said Mother.

Penny's eyes were dancing in his head because Mother had told him about the bear for Patsy.