Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten

by Anica Mrose Rissi

  “I do,” she said. “Every day. Though in some ways I feel like he’s still right here with me.”

  Banana’s eyes went wide with surprise, and she took a small step backward. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. “You mean . . . like a ghost?”

  Mrs. Shirley laughed again. It was a nice laugh, one that bubbled and sparkled like fizzy ginger ale. “No, no. He doesn’t haunt me,” she said. “I meant it feels like he’s here because of all the good memories. I’m so often reminded of him in nice ways. Especially when I’m out here in his garden . . . although it doesn’t look nearly as beautiful as it did when he was alive. Edward loved taking care of his plants, but I’m afraid his green thumb never rubbed off on me.”

  Oh. So that was why the garden had changed so much. Not because of a witch. Of course.

  I was glad the garden made Mrs. Shirley happy, even though it also made her miss him. “He did make the garden beautiful,” I said. “Banana and I always liked it.”

  Mrs. Shirley looked pleased to hear that. “I think as long as the people who loved him remember him, in that way he’ll never truly be gone. He’s still right here in my heart.” She put one hand to her chest. “Does that make any sense?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “It does.” I often felt like Banana was with me, even when we were apart, because I was always thinking of her. Banana leaned her weight against my leg, and I knew she agreed.

  “Though I do get a little bit lonely now and then, so I’m glad you stopped to talk,” Mrs. Shirley said. “I’m Samuella Shirley, by the way.”

  “I’m Anna and this is Banana. We live on the next street.” I pointed.

  “Yes, I think I know your parents,” Mrs. Shirley said. “Well, Anna and Banana, you’ve cheered me up considerably. Do come say hello again sometime.”

  “We will,” I promised. Banana waved good-bye with her tail, and we headed toward home. We’d made a new friend, but not the small, furry one we’d set out to find.

  Chapter Twelve

  On the Same Page

  After dinner, Banana and I curled up on the couch for reading time. Banana doesn’t know how to read, of course, but she still loves books as much as I do, especially ones with pictures. Sometimes I read her a story out loud if I think it’s one she might like. But I wasn’t reading her the book about the witch. I knew it would be too scary. It was almost too scary for me.

  Banana rested her head on my right knee and I propped the book open on my left, and turned to the next chapter. The girl was trying to trick the witch into releasing her from the enchanted cage. The witch leaned in close and squinted at the girl’s face to test if she was lying. She put a bony finger under the girl’s chin. Just then, the phone rang. The sound shocked me so much that I jumped and scared Banana.

  “Anna, it’s for you,” Chuck called. I leaped off the couch and ran to answer. Someone might have found the kitten!

  I took the phone from Chuck and cradled it to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Anna,” a voice said, and my hopes went ka-thunk. It was only Sadie. “Any news about the kitty?” she asked.

  I pushed my disappointment aside. I was still glad to hear from my friend. “Isabel was right. He came back for more food. But I didn’t catch him.” I told Sadie everything else that had happened. I knew she and Isabel cared as much about the kitten as I did.

  “You’ll catch him tomorrow, for sure,” she said. She sounded so certain, it gave me hope she might be right.

  “Can you come over on Tuesday to practice for String Club?” she asked. “Isabel’s invited too. I’ll be at my dad’s.” I promised I’d ask my parents as soon as we hung up.

  The next morning, I got up early to search for the kitten before school. I looked and looked near all the places he’d been before, sure that any second now I would see him. I was wrong.

  By the time Chuck and I reached the school building, the first bell was ringing and Sadie and Isabel were waiting by the front door, bouncing on their toes. “No kitten,” I said. Their faces fell. “But Dad said I can come over on Tuesday.”

  Isabel hooked her arm through mine, and Sadie did the same on the other side. They steered me toward our classroom.

  “We’re sorry, Anna,” Isabel said. “But the kitten is out there somewhere. We’ll find him soon.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Oh, Brother

  “Did you finish that book yet?” Chuck asked as we walked home from school under the cloudy sky. “The spooooooooky one?”

  He was teasing, but I ignored it. “Not yet,” I said. “Almost.” I only had three more chapters to go, but I was almost afraid to read them. I wasn’t sure if it was going to have a good ending. Things were not going well for the girl and her brother.

  “I can tell it’s scary because you look like this when you’re reading it,” Chuck said. He bugged out his eyes and stretched his face into a ridiculous expression.

  “Yeah, well, you look like this when you’re not reading it,” I said. I pushed up my nose and let my tongue hang out the side of my mouth. Chuck laughed.

  “Hey, look,” he said, but I waggled my tongue and crossed my eyes, trying to make him laugh some more. He grabbed my arm. “Anna. Look.”

  I let my eyes go back to normal and pulled in my tongue. As my vision cleared, I saw what Chuck had been trying to show me. Off to our left, just a few feet away, the little white kitten was at the edge of the sidewalk, giving himself a tongue bath.

  I crouched down. “Psst-psst-psst,” I said, imitating the sound Isabel had made. The kitty looked up at me for a second, then returned to licking his leg. “Here, kitty kitty.” I kept my voice soft and friendly. I didn’t want the kitten to feel threatened and run. “Hey, pretty one. Are you lost?”

  “I’ll get behind him,” Chuck said. He crossed to the other side of the street and made a wide half circle around the kitten, being careful not to frighten him.

  “Psst-psst-psst,” I said again. The kitten ignored me.

  Chuck crept toward us, moving very slowly. Once he was only a few feet behind the kitten, he lunged and grabbed him around the middle. The kitty screeched and flailed his paws in all directions, scrambling to get away. Chuck screeched too, and let go. The kitten bolted out of Chuck’s grasp and leaped straight into my arms.

  “He scratched me!” Chuck said, shaking his injured hand.

  I cuddled the kitten close to my chest and held on tight. “Shhh, it’s okay,” I told the kitten and Chuck both. “I’ve got you, little kitty. You’re safe now.” The kitten nestled against me. He was even softer than he looked.

  Chuck glared at us. “That thing’s a ferocious beast,” he said. “A vicious monster! He scratched me with his extra-sharp talons!”

  I peered at the scratch on Chuck’s hand. It was long and pink but not bleeding. “I think you’ll recover. But you should wash that with soap.”

  “Hmph. Crazy attack cat,” Chuck grumbled.

  I stroked the kitten behind his ears, so he would know Chuck didn’t mean it. “Thanks for helping rescue him.”

  Chuck puffed out his chest. “You’re welcome.” He paused. “Now what are you going to do with him?”

  I looked down at the little kitten and up at the dark clouds. We heard a crack of thunder in the distance. Any minute now, a thunderstorm would start. We had to get moving, fast, or soon Chuck and I would be soaking wet, and so would the kitten.

  “I can’t take him inside,” I said. “Dad’s allergic. But I can’t leave him out here. It’s about to start raining, hard.” As if to prove my point, the sky rumbled again, and a few fat raindrops fell from the clouds, splatting onto our cheeks and the sidewalk.

  “Uh-oh,” Chuck said. “Let’s go.”

  Chuck turned on his heels and I followed behind him, moving as fast as I could without jostling the kitten. The kitten squirmed, but when I used one hand to pat his head, he relaxed.

  Poor little kitten. I had to keep him safe and dry—I just had to! “Maybe I can hid
e him in my room until I come up with another plan,” I said, thinking out loud. “As long as Dad doesn’t go in there, the kitten probably won’t make him sneeze.”

  “Probably not,” Chuck said, but he didn’t sound certain.

  “I’ll only keep him inside until the rain stops,” I decided. “Then he’ll be fine in the box outside. But how will I get him past Dad in the first place?” I asked.

  Chuck thought about it. “Tuck him under your sweater. You’ll run upstairs and pretend like you have to go to the bathroom real bad, and I’ll distract Dad until you come back down.”

  “You will?”

  Chuck nodded, and I felt a surge of gladness at having him as my brother. If I hadn’t been holding a kitten to my chest, I might even have hugged him. “Thank you,” I said.

  Chuck shrugged. “No problem. But that bloodthirsty little puffball owes me one.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Scratch That

  When we got close to the house, I unbuttoned my sweater and tucked the kitten inside. I redid all the buttons except the one near his face. I wanted to keep him hidden but also make sure he could breathe.

  Just as we reached the front door, the rain came pouring down. I shrieked and ran inside after Chuck. He shut the door quickly behind us, and we shared a big grin—that had been close, but we’d made it home just in time.

  Banana danced at my feet, then stopped and sniffed at the air. Uh-oh. Of course she could smell the kitten.

  “Hello?” Dad called from his office on the other side of the house. Banana put her front paws up on my leg and pushed her nose closer to the kitten. I shoved her back down.

  “Hi, Dad!” Chuck called back. To me, he whispered, “Go!”

  “Hey, kiddos,” Dad said as he came toward us. “I’m glad you’re inside. It’s raining cats and dogs out there, huh?”

  By now Banana was running in excited little circles. She barked twice and tried to jump on me again.

  Inside my sweater, the kitten twisted around. Luckily, my T-shirt was protecting me from his claws, but I had to get out of there before Dad noticed the lump. “Shhh, shhh,” I whispered to the kitten and Banana, trying to keep them both calm. “I’ll be right back!” I said. I stepped over Banana and ran up the stairs, clutching the kitten to my belly. Banana followed, yelping at my feet.

  “Banana, no!” I said, as sternly as I could while keeping my voice at a whisper. “Be quiet!”

  Banana stopped barking, but she was still going crazy over the kitten. I knew she wanted to say hello to him, but of course I couldn’t let her do that. I went inside my room and shut the door, pushing Banana out. “Banana, stay.” Right before the door closed, I saw her ears go flat and her eyes look up at me, full of sadness and confusion. My heart lurched. “It’s okay, girl,” I said through the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  I unbuttoned my sweater and released the kitten onto my floor. He shook himself off, glanced at the door, then strolled over to Banana’s basket where she sleeps beside my bed. He curled up on the soft, thick pillow inside it. For a second I felt guilty, knowing Banana wouldn’t like the idea of the kitten taking her bed, but I had to admit he looked adorable there. And I was just so relieved he was safe.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I told him. I slipped out the door, being careful not to let Banana inside, and ran to the bathroom to flush the toilet, so Dad would think that was what I’d been doing.

  I walked downstairs, shrugged off my backpack, and gave Chuck a thumbs-up behind Dad’s back. Chuck winked.

  Dad turned around. “Where’s Banana?” he asked, and I realized at that moment that she hadn’t followed after me like usual. I heard her whine and scratch at my bedroom door. Dad’s eyebrows shot up, and I knew he’d heard it too.

  “She must, uh, want to take a nap in her basket,” I said, even though we both knew what Banana always wanted was to be wherever I was. “Maybe I’ll go up there with her. To read. And do homework.”

  Dad looked at me strangely. “Hey, about that kitten,” he said. All the air whooshed out of my chest and my heart stopped beating as time held still. How did Dad know?

  “Yeah?” I barely managed to squeak the word out.

  “Two people called about it while you were at school,” Dad said. “One person saw him running through a backyard on Antelope Ave, and another thought she might have seen him near Rosie’s Bakery. But your kitten is white, right? It sounded like the bakery one was more gray.”

  “Oh,” I said. So I hadn’t been caught. I took a deep breath and exhaled my relief. But I still didn’t dare look at Chuck. “Yup, he’s white.”

  “He’s unlikely to still be in either of those places now. But if you want, I’ll help you look once the thunderstorm passes,” Dad said. “I can’t touch or go near him, but I can offer an extra set of eyes.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. I hoped it didn’t show on my face that I knew exactly where the kitten was now: in my room. Dad wouldn’t be smiling so kindly if he found out I’d snuck the kitten up there. I’d be in big trouble for breaking the rules.

  Upstairs, Banana whined once more. “I, uh, have a lot of homework to get done,” I said. “We can look for the kitten tomorrow.” Misleading Dad like this felt terrible, but I was in too far now to turn back.

  “Hey, Dad, can I show you this thing I learned in school today?” Chuck said. He tipped his head toward the staircase and mouthed, Go!

  “Of course.” Dad turned toward Chuck.

  I mouthed Thank you to my brother and ran up the stairs as fast as I could.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Claws Out

  Banana wagged her tail quickly and let out a yip when she saw me coming toward her. She really wanted me to let her visit the kitten.

  I opened the door just wide enough to slide through it, and shut it firmly behind me, leaving Banana in the hall. I hoped she understood why I had to keep her out. I didn’t want her to think I was choosing the kitten over her, but it wouldn’t be fair to let her frighten him. I promised myself I would make it up to her later.

  “Hi, kitty,” I said softly. The kitten purred and wove around my ankles in a figure eight, lifting his back to rub it against me. I smiled and plopped down on the rug beside him. He was so skinny, I could feel the bones beneath his fur as I ran my hand across his back. I wished I could think of a way to bring some tuna to my room without Dad getting suspicious, but it was too risky. The kitten would have to wait until I could sneak him dinner.

  The whole time I was petting him, Banana whined outside the door. I thought if I ignored her, she might give up and be quiet, but the whining only got worse.

  I couldn’t blame her. Banana wasn’t used to being kept out of my room. We always did everything together. I would feel sad and jealous if she locked me out too.

  “It’s okay, Banana,” I called in my most soothing voice. Banana whined harder and scratched at the door.

  I panicked. If Banana kept this up, Dad would hear the noises and know something was wrong. If he came to investigate, the kitten would be discovered.

  Even though the kitten was afraid of Banana, I had to let her in. Maybe they’d get used to each other and everything would be fine. Surely it would be better than all the scratching and whining.

  I opened my bedroom door just a crack. Banana immediately stuck her nose in as far as it would go. “Okay, Banana, I’m letting you in,” I said. “But you have to promise, promise, promise to be good.”

  Banana blinked her agreement and dashed inside the room the second I opened the door a little wider. I heard a hiss behind me and realized my mistake: I should have gotten the same promise from the kitten.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Yip, Yap, Yikes!

  The kitten hissed. Banana growled. “Shhhhhhh!” I warned them. “We have to be quiet!”

  But Banana and the kitten didn’t listen. They were frozen nose-to-nose in a supertense standoff. Their whiskers twitched and their fur stood on end. It lo
oked like any second now, either one of them might pounce. I had to do something before the fur started flying.

  “Banana!” I stepped toward them. Banana kept her nose to the kitten’s but glanced my way for just a second. The kitten seized his chance. He swiped at Banana’s snout with his paw, then turned and dashed under my bed, meowing all the way.

  Banana yelped and pulled back in surprise. It didn’t look like the kitten had hurt her, but she’d definitely been startled. She shook her head, ears flapping, and ran to the bed to stick her nose underneath.

  The kitten howled. Banana barked. This was a disaster.

  “Banana, please! Kitty, hush!” I cried, but it was too late. I could hear Dad’s footsteps coming swiftly up the stairs.

  “What’s going on in there?” Dad said.

  “Nothing!” I said. But the doorknob was already turning.

  Banana barked again as the door swung open and the kitten shot out from under the bed. I reached out and tried to grab on to Banana’s collar but she moved too fast, chasing after the kitten as he leaped around my room, as crazy and springy as a bouncy ball on the loose. He jumped onto my dresser and scrambled across my desk, knocking over everything in his way. He sprang onto the laundry basket, spilling dirty clothes across the floor, and bolted for the door in a streak of white, escaping right between Dad’s legs. Banana followed close behind.

  “What on earth?” Dad said.

  “Banana!” I screamed, pushing past Dad to run after them. Banana and the kitten flew down the stairs, boinged across the living room, and raced full-speed toward the kitchen. I had to catch them before they tore the whole house apart!