adventure. Four girls with nothing in common but their differences. Now they were fast friends, even if they still sometimes disagreed. Ideas would come quickly. End of trouble.
As she approached the senior center and saw the girls streaming from different directions, converging toward the steps, she laughed. Operation Catness begins! Sunny rolled in on her knobby-tire bike with her messenger bag slung across her shoulders. Aneta lugged a canvas bag; Esther tipped off her blue backpack with her school’s name emblazoned across it.
“Are we ready?” Vee reviewed the list with the girls. “Let’s start Operation Catness!”
Aneta looked hesitant. “Do we need Frank to be here?” She glanced over at the Dumpster. So did Vee. Not a cat to be seen. That was okay.
“Once we open the cans of tuna, they will come running. It happens in all the cat food commercials.” Vee hoped the curious kitten would pick her can first.
Sunny shrugged. “I bet the mayor just wanted Frank to be in on the project so he could drive us if we need it. You know, because it’s a senior center project and all, and he’s the senior center driver.”
“What about the Cat Woman?” Esther stuck her hands on her hips. “I think we’re moving too fast. I think we should have her here to help us. I mean, what do we know about Dumpster cats?”
Vee felt her familiar impatience rising with Esther. That girl seemed to get going in the opposite direction every time Vee came up with a plan. Didn’t Esther remember Vee needed to study for this retest and couldn’t spend all day tracking down Frank? “What’s so hard about catching cats?” she asked. “I’ve watched the Cat Woman feed them a couple of times. She sets the food out and steps aside. Only this time, when they’re eating, we’ll slowly move in and pick them up.”
Unflapping her canvas messenger bag, Aneta withdrew several cans of tuna. Esther and Sunny did the same with their bags, giggling as the pile of canned tuna grew. Vee added hers to the pile.
“Okay, I think we should open the cans here and then put them on the plates like the Cat Woman does,” Vee said, inspecting the pile of tuna with pride. There was enough tuna to feed two cities’ Dumpster cats. Operation Catness was a great plan.
“Umm—” It was Sunny smothering a giggle.
Vee raised her gaze. “What?”
“Can opener? Pie plates?”
The
stellar
leaked out of her plan like air out of a balloon that had the misfortune to fall into the Twin Terrors’ hands. How could she forget to put those on her list? Lists were her specialty. She
thought
in lists. They were what got her into the accelerated class. She chewed the inside of her lip. Tutoring three times a week along with everything else was messing up her brain.
“There’s an opener in the senior center kitchen.” Aneta shoved her hands into her skirt pockets. “But I do not want to go in there.”
The girls looked at one another.
Finally Vee sighed. “Okay, I’ll go in and ask.” On the way in, she could feel the girls’ eyes boring into her and tried to make her steps jaunty, like she wasn’t afraid of (1) Mrs. Sissy, (2) the cook Aneta helped on the day of the fire, or (3) Hermann, if he found out the girls had cut short his plan to get rid of the cats.
Once inside, Vee blinked to adjust from the brightness. As she passed a tired-looking brown-and-gray-haired woman, the woman ducked away from her like Vee had reached out and bit her. A medicine-y mouthwash smell about blew Vee over as the woman passed, hugging the wall.
Whew.
In the kitchen she found a friendly face. “That’s a hard task you’ve given yourselves, and I don’t mean maybe,” the woman said. Vee smiled and took the proffered can opener, promising to bring it right back. She also accepted four pie pans and headed out the door with a light heart. Operation Catness was again proving stellar!
Two more steps, then
WHAM.
She ran smack into the Cat Woman. Since they
As she approached the senior center and saw the girls streaming from different directions, converging toward the steps, she laughed. Operation Catness begins! Sunny rolled in on her knobby-tire bike with her messenger bag slung across her shoulders. Aneta lugged a canvas bag; Esther tipped off her blue backpack with her school’s name emblazoned across it.
“Are we ready?” Vee reviewed the list with the girls. “Let’s start Operation Catness!”
Aneta looked hesitant. “Do we need Frank to be here?” She glanced over at the Dumpster. So did Vee. Not a cat to be seen. That was okay.
“Once we open the cans of tuna, they will come running. It happens in all the cat food commercials.” Vee hoped the curious kitten would pick her can first.
Sunny shrugged. “I bet the mayor just wanted Frank to be in on the project so he could drive us if we need it. You know, because it’s a senior center project and all, and he’s the senior center driver.”
“What about the Cat Woman?” Esther stuck her hands on her hips. “I think we’re moving too fast. I think we should have her here to help us. I mean, what do we know about Dumpster cats?”
Vee felt her familiar impatience rising with Esther. That girl seemed to get going in the opposite direction every time Vee came up with a plan. Didn’t Esther remember Vee needed to study for this retest and couldn’t spend all day tracking down Frank? “What’s so hard about catching cats?” she asked. “I’ve watched the Cat Woman feed them a couple of times. She sets the food out and steps aside. Only this time, when they’re eating, we’ll slowly move in and pick them up.”
Unflapping her canvas messenger bag, Aneta withdrew several cans of tuna. Esther and Sunny did the same with their bags, giggling as the pile of canned tuna grew. Vee added hers to the pile.
“Okay, I think we should open the cans here and then put them on the plates like the Cat Woman does,” Vee said, inspecting the pile of tuna with pride. There was enough tuna to feed two cities’ Dumpster cats. Operation Catness was a great plan.
“Umm—” It was Sunny smothering a giggle.
Vee raised her gaze. “What?”
“Can opener? Pie plates?”
The
stellar
leaked out of her plan like air out of a balloon that had the misfortune to fall into the Twin Terrors’ hands. How could she forget to put those on her list? Lists were her specialty. She
thought
in lists. They were what got her into the accelerated class. She chewed the inside of her lip. Tutoring three times a week along with everything else was messing up her brain.
“There’s an opener in the senior center kitchen.” Aneta shoved her hands into her skirt pockets. “But I do not want to go in there.”
The girls looked at one another.
Finally Vee sighed. “Okay, I’ll go in and ask.” On the way in, she could feel the girls’ eyes boring into her and tried to make her steps jaunty, like she wasn’t afraid of (1) Mrs. Sissy, (2) the cook Aneta helped on the day of the fire, or (3) Hermann, if he found out the girls had cut short his plan to get rid of the cats.
Once inside, Vee blinked to adjust from the brightness. As she passed a tired-looking brown-and-gray-haired woman, the woman ducked away from her like Vee had reached out and bit her. A medicine-y mouthwash smell about blew Vee over as the woman passed, hugging the wall.
Whew.
In the kitchen she found a friendly face. “That’s a hard task you’ve given yourselves, and I don’t mean maybe,” the woman said. Vee smiled and took the proffered can opener, promising to bring it right back. She also accepted four pie pans and headed out the door with a light heart. Operation Catness was again proving stellar!
Two more steps, then
WHAM.
She ran smack into the Cat Woman. Since they
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