Authors: Nancy Krulik
Witch Switch (11 page)
The tornado whirled around and around.
And then it stopped. Just like that.
The magic wind was gone.
Katie opened her eyes. Her face was stuck in a bowl of water, and she was lapping the water up with her tongue! She could see the floor between her four paws.
Oh, no. Had the magic wind forgotten to change her back into herself?
Then Katie looked again. Wait a minute. Those weren't her paws. They were her hands. She could tell, because her nails were painted black for the Halloween parade.
“Mew. Mew.”
Suddenly, Katie noticed the frightened little black kitten hiding behind the table. Not only was Katie back to her old self, the kitten was, too. And she seemed very, very scared.
Katie spotted a pad of paper on the table next to where the cat was standing. The address on top of the pad read: Cherrydale Animal Shelter. Now Katie knew where she was.
“Don't worry, little kitten,” Katie told the small black cat. “They will take good care of you here.”
The shelter was a good place for animals to stay, but a kid belonged in school. Katie had to get back thereâand fastâbefore anyone noticed she was missing.
But that meant she also had to sneak out of the shelter without anyone seeing her. There was no way she'd be able to explain how she got in here. No one would believe her, even if she told them.
Katie opened the door of the room very slightlyâjust enough so she could see out into the lobby. She peeked out and checked to see if anybody was out there.
The coast was clear. It seemed all the veterinarians and helpers at the shelter were working with the animals. This was the perfect time for Katie to sneak away without anyone seeing her.
“I've got to go,” Katie told the kitten. “But don't you worry. I'll be back.”
Chapter 21
“There you are, Katie!” Suzanne shouted as Katie raced back onto the playground. “Where have you been? You missed the whole parade.”
“Well, I . . . um . . .” Katie stammered. She didn't know what to say.
“It sure took you a long time to find that broom,” Suzanne noted.
Katie shrugged. “I know. I went into the classroom to look for it and I . . . well . . . I sort of got stuck for a while.”
“You mean the door locked all by itself?” Suzanne asked.
Katie sighed. That was as good of an explanation as any. “Must have been the wind,” she murmured.
That wasn't a lie. A wind did keep her away from the parade. A really big wind . . . the magic wind!
“It doesn't matter, anyway,” Suzanne assured her. She held up a little silver plastic trophy. “They gave out all different sorts of prizes this year, instead of just one. I won the prize for prettiest costume.”
“That is a really amazing fairy princess costume,” Jessica said, coming over to compliment Suzanne.
“No, she's supposed to be Gliâ” Katie began.
“I'm a
fairy princess
,” Suzanne insisted, shooting Katie a look. “That's what the judges said.”
fairy princess
,” Suzanne insisted, shooting Katie a look. “That's what the judges said.”
“Oh,” Katie said, nodding with understanding. She wouldn't tell anyone who Suzanne was really supposed to be.
“What happened to your witch makeup?” Suzanne asked Katie. “It's all smeared. It looks like you stuck your head in a big bucket of water.”
“It was a bowl of water, actually,” Katie said without thinking. Then she stopped herself. “Just kidding. Actually, I think the makeup's sweating off.”
“Oh, well, you can put more on before we go trick-or-treating tonight,” Suzanne told her. “Too bad we couldn't win an award together. But you can come over and look at
my
trophy anytime you want.”
my
trophy anytime you want.”
“Gee, thanks,” Katie said sarcastically.
“Oh, here comes Jeremy,” Suzanne sighed. “He's probably going to start bragging all about his trophy. I can't stand it when people do that. I'll see you later.”
As Suzanne walked off, Katie laughed. Suzanne bragged more than anyone else in the fourth grade.
“Hi, Katie,” Jeremy said, walking over to her. “Where were you? I didn't see you in the parade.”
“Oh, I've been around,” Katie told him. She looked at the gold trophy in his hand. “What did you win for?”
“Most original costume,” Jeremy told her proudly.
“Congratulations,” Katie said. “That's awesome!”
Just then, Jeremy's Aunt Sheila came walking over toward them with her car keys in her hand. At least, Katie thought it was his Aunt Sheila. It was hard to tell underneath the beautiful bird mask she was wearing.
“Hi there, Jeremy!” the woman in the bird mask called out.
Katie smiled. It was definitely Jeremy's Aunt Sheila.
“Hi, Aunt Sheila!” Jeremy greeted her. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to pick you up after the parade. I was dying to see if you won.”
Jeremy proudly held up his trophy. “I sure did!” he exclaimed. “I was afraid I wasn't going to, though. Especially after this black cat ran across the playground.”
“Oh, Jeremy, you know black cats don't cause bad luck,” his Aunt Sheila insisted. “I love them. There was a tiny stray black cat in the neighborhood that I used to feed when I was a little girl. She was just the cutest thing.”
“Did Jeremy's mom like the black cat, too?” Katie asked curiously.
“Oh, yes,” Jeremy's aunt recalled with a smile. “We both adored her.”
“What happened to her?” Jeremy asked.
His Aunt Sheila shrugged. “I guess she got adopted or something, because after a while, she stopped coming around for food. We really missed her.”
Katie began to smile. She was getting another one of her great ideas.
“You know, there's a really cute black kitten at the Cherrydale Animal Shelter that would just
love
to be adopted,” she told Jeremy and his aunt.
love
to be adopted,” she told Jeremy and his aunt.
Jeremy shook his head. “My mom would never go for it.”
“But maybe if she went down to the shelter and saw the kitten, it would remind her of the cat she and your Aunt Sheila used to feed,” Katie suggested. “Then she might feel differently.”
“I'll bet she would,” Jeremy's aunt agreed. “She was really crazy about that black stray in our old neighborhood.”
“It's worth a try,” Jeremy said.
“I'll call your mom and tell her to meet us over at the animal shelter,” Aunt Sheila said. She turned to Katie. “Would you like to come with us?”
“Would I ever!” Katie exclaimed.
“Great,” Aunt Sheila said. “You can call your mom from the car and let her know where you'll be.”
“I'm so glad you're coming,” Jeremy told Katie. “It's going to take all three of us to convince my mom to let me get that kitten.”
Chapter 22
“I'm not sure how you kids found out about the black kitten being here,” Dr. Bader, the veterinarian at the Cherrydale Animal Shelter, told Katie and Jeremy. “She was just brought in this afternoon.”
“Yeah, how did you know about the kitten?” Jeremy asked Katie curiously.
“I ... um . . .” Katie stammered, not sure what to say. “Well, you see, I've sort of been seeing her around the neighborhood for a couple of days, and I was pretty sure someone would have brought her here by now.”
“Oh,” Jeremy said. “That makes sense.”
Phew,
Katie sighed. That was a close one.
Katie sighed. That was a close one.
“Well, you were right,” Dr. Bader told Katie. “A nice woman brought her here earlier. And it was a good thing, too. This little kitty has been out on the streets for a while now, I think. She was very hungry.”
“And thirsty, too,” Katie added.
Everyone stared at her.
“I mean, I would guess that she was thirsty,” she said, blushing.
“Did you give her a saucer of milk?” Jeremy asked Dr. Bader.
“Oh, no,” the veterinarian told him. “Milk can actually give a cat an upset stomach. We gave her water and some cat food, though. Now all she needs is a good home where she can get a lot of love.”
“Oh, our home is a very good home,” Jeremy assured Dr. Bader as he followed her into the special room where the kittens that were waiting to be adopted lived. “And we all love one another. Don't we, Mom?”
“Now, Jeremy,” his mother reminded him, “I said I'd look at the kitten. I didn't say we'd be bringing her home.”
“Oh, you're going to love her, Mrs. Fox,” Katie told Jeremy's mother. “She's the sweetest kitten.”
“We'll see,” Mrs. Fox said. But she didn't sound very convinced.
“Ah, here she is,” Dr. Bader said. She stopped at a small cage in the back of the room. The little black kitten was huddled in the back of the cage.
“Oh, my, she looks just like the kitten we used to feed behind our house,” Jeremy's aunt said.
“She really does,” Mrs. Fox agreed. “She even has the same big green eyes. And look at her tiny pink nose.”
Katie smiled. Those did not sound like the words of someone who didn't want a pet.
Dr. Bader opened up the cage and gently reached inside. Slowly, she took the kitten out and held her up to Jeremy.
“Would you like to hold her?” she asked him.
“Oh! Can I?” Jeremy asked.
“Sure,” Dr. Bader said. She placed the kitten gently into Jeremy's arms.
Jeremy began petting the cat's fur. “She's so soft,” he said quietly. The kitten purred contentedly as Jeremy petted her.
“I think she likes you,” Katie said excitedly.
“I think so, too,” Jeremy agreed.
“Is this kitten healthy?” Jeremy's mother asked.
Dr. Bader nodded. “We've run some tests, and everything seems fine.”
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