Amelia Bedelia & Friends #2

by Herman Parish

  Everybody agreed that was a good idea, and soon jackets and sweatshirts were piled at the base of the tree.

  “Mrrr—owwww—oowwwww!” The cat didn’t move.

  “My mom built me a tree house in the backyard,” said Dawn. “She nailed pieces of board to the trunk, like steps, so that I could climb up. If we had a hammer, we could do that.”

  But they didn’t have a hammer or nails.

  “We need a big trampoline!” said Joy. “Then we could jump high enough to grab her!”

  But they didn’t have a trampoline, either.

  “I have an idea!” said Penny. She began talking like a cat. “Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!”

  “Why are you meowing?” asked Amelia Bedelia.

  “If she thinks her friends are down here waiting to play with her,” said Penny, “maybe she’ll come down.”

  “Good idea!” said Dawn.

  “MEOW! MEOW!”

  Everyone meowed as loudly as they could.

  The cat turned her head and stared at them. She blinked. She meowed even more loudly herself. But she didn’t climb down. Instead, she sat back and started to lick her paw.

  That gave Amelia Bedelia another idea.

  The cat wouldn’t come down because of what she heard—but maybe she’d come down because of what she smelled.

  “Wait!” said Amelia Bedelia. “I’ll be right back!”

  Amelia Bedelia raced across the playground. She darted into the building. They weren’t supposed to go inside at recess, but she’d have to break that rule, or at least bend it a little.

  There was something in Amelia Bedelia’s locker that might just save the day.

  When Amelia Bedelia told Mr. Jack, the Oak Tree Elementary custodian, that she had to go inside for an emergency, he nodded and let her in.

  “Be quick about it,” he said. “Recess is almost over.”

  He did not ask her what the emergency was. That was good because Amelia Bedelia didn’t have time to explain.

  She raced to her locker, pulled her lunch box out of her backpack, then ran back outside.

  “Thanks, Mr. Jack!” she yelled as she sprinted across the playground. She skidded to a stop under the tree.

  “Lunch?” asked Joy. “Amelia Bedelia, it isn’t lunchtime.”

  “I know that,” panted Amelia Bedelia. “But maybe the cat doesn’t.”

  She opened up her lunch box and unwrapped her sandwich. She peeled off the top piece of bread. A certain smell drifted into the air. It was a smell that everybody recognized.

  “Tuna fish!” exclaimed Joy. “Amelia Bedelia, what a great idea!”

  “Definitely thinking outside the box,” agreed Skip.” The lunch box, that is.”

  “And outside the tuna fish can,” said Amelia Bedelia. She waved the open face of her sandwich in the air, then put it down next to the pile of sweatshirts and jackets. Everybody backed away, watching quietly.

  “Cross your fingers,” whispered Penny.

  The cat turned her head. Her nose and whiskers twitched. She seemed very interested in the aroma of tuna fish floating through the air.

  S-L-O-W-L-Y, almost in slow motion, the cat lifted one paw and put it down a little lower on the trunk. Bit by bit, she began to ease her way back down the tree.

  “Amelia Bedelia, you’re a genius!” whispered Penny.

  “She’s an inventor!” whispered Joy.

  Just then, the cat suddenly slipped, slithering several inches down the trunk with a tiny, frightened mew. Amelia Bedelia and her friends gasped. They all held their breath. If she fell, would she land on the soft jackets and sweatshirts? Would she survive such a drop?

  The cat didn’t land on the pile of clothing. She landed on a lower branch and crouched there. “Meee-ooow!” She put her nose in the air to smell the tuna fish again, but she didn’t move.

  And didn’t move.

  And didn’t move.

  “I think she’s more scared than ever,” Penny said. “It was a really good idea, Amelia Bedelia, but I don’t think it’s going to work. Maybe we—”

  “What is going on here? The bell rang three minutes ago!”

  Everybody jumped and turned to see Mr. Jack frowning at them.

  “What’s the matter—cat got your tongues?” he asked.

  Amelia Bedelia looked around at her friends. “Our cat doesn’t have anybody’s tongue,” she said. “Except her own, I guess.”

  “Cat? What cat?” asked Mr. Jack.

  “That cat,” said Amelia Bedelia, pointing up at the kitten.

  Mr. Jack looked up. “Well, would you look at that!” he said. He smiled. “Poor kitty.”

  “We’ve been trying to get her out of the tree,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “But we can’t find a stick long enough and we don’t have a hammer or nails or a trampoline and she won’t even come down for tuna fish!” said Penny.

  Mr. Jack laughed. “Well, I don’t have a trampoline, either. I do have a hammer and nails, but I think there’s a simpler solution to this problem. I’ll be right back.”

  Mr. Jack returned a few minutes later with a long ladder balanced on his shoulder and their teacher, Mrs. Shauk, following behind him. Mr. Jack leaned the ladder against the tree trunk. He put both hands and one foot on the ladder and then hesitated.

  “I hate to admit it,” he said. “But when it comes to heights, I’m a real scaredy-cat.”

  Amelia Bedelia looked at Mr. Jack and frowned. He didn’t have pointy ears, long whiskers, or a tail. She didn’t see how he could be a scaredy-cat or a brave cat or any kind of cat at all.

  “I’m pretty skittish about heights myself,” said Mrs. Shauk.

  “I’ll do it!” said Amelia Bedelia. She didn’t mind heights. She liked climbing trees. And she loved animals.

  “Okay, up you go,” Mrs. Shauk said. “Climb up and get the cat if you can. Just go slowly and hold on tight!”

  Amelia Bedelia tucked the tuna-fish sandwich into her pocket and headed up the ladder.

  The first few steps were no problem. But then she began to see what Mr. Jack was talking about. She glanced down. The ground was pretty far away and getting farther with each rung. Even though Mr. Jack was holding the ladder steady, it still sagged and bounced a bit under her weight.

  Was she a scaredy-cat? Maybe so. She almost felt as if a tail were about to sprout from her spine, as if her ears were getting points and growing soft fur.

  “You can do it, Amelia Bedelia!” shouted Joy.

  “Keep going!” yelled Penny. “Our cat is counting on you!”

  Amelia Bedelia held on tightly and kept climbing. At last she reached the branch where the cat was crouched.

  Amelia Bedelia offered a tiny taste of tuna fish to the cat. The cat took a bite and licked her lips, looking at Amelia Bedelia as if to say, “Thank you.” Moving carefully and slowly, Amelia Bedelia reached out to pick her up. “Here, kitty kitty,” she whispered.

  The cat did not want to be picked up. It scooted along the branch, getting farther away from the trunk of the tree and farther away from Amelia Bedelia.

  “Don’t go out on a limb, kitty!” Amelia Bedelia pleaded. She held out a bigger piece of tuna fish.

  But the cat was no longer interested. She scampered back to the trunk and clawed her way up to a branch just above Amelia Bedelia’s head.

  Everybody on the ground below let out a groan. So did Amelia Bedelia. But there was nothing for Amelia Bedelia to do but climb back down the ladder.

  “What can we do now?” she asked when she was on solid ground again.

  “Back to the drawing board, I think,” said Mrs. Shauk.

  “I’ll go get mine,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “No, thank you,” said Mrs. Shauk, holding the back of Amelia Bedelia’s hoodie to slow her down. “When at first you don’t succeed, define the problem.”

  “The problem is that our ladder isn’t long enough,” said Joy.

  “Exactly right,” said Mrs. Shauk.

/>   “It’s the longest one I have,” said Mr. Jack.

  “Some people in this town have ladders that are much longer,” said Mrs. Shauk.

  The kids looked at one another and shrugged.

  Mr. Jack made the sound of a siren.

  “A fire truck!” said Penny.

  “Right. I think it’s time to call the fire department,” said Mrs. Shauk.

  “I’ll go pull the fire alarm!” said Wade.

  “No, I can!” said Joy.

  “I’ll do it!” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “I think a phone call will do,” said Mrs. Shauk. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. This situation is not an emergency.”

  “It is for the cat!” said Penny.

  “It’s a catastrophe!” said Amelia Bedelia.

  Amelia Bedelia had seen the town fire truck in a parade before, but she had never seen it at her school. The firefighters did not turn on the siren because it wasn’t an emergency, but it was still exciting to see the bright red fire truck pull up to Oak Tree Elementary. While Mrs. Shauk and Mr. Jack explained the problem and kids in other classrooms watched out their windows, Amelia Bedelia and her friends raced back across the playground. They waited for the fire truck as it circled around to the street nearest the maple tree.

  Finally the truck pulled up beside the fence that separated the playground from the street. One of the firefighters came over to the fence. “Please keep the kids at a safe distance for now,” she told Mrs. Shauk. “And later on, we’ll let them take a look in the truck if they want to.”

  “We want to!” yelled Clay. He darted toward the fire truck and began climbing the fence. Mrs. Shauk pulled him back. “It’s like herding cats!” she said.

  “I can see that!” said the other firefighter, who was driving the truck. Maybe Mrs. Shauk needs a lasso, thought Amelia Bedelia. And a cowboy hat. She started to giggle. The legendary Hawk, herding cats on the prairie!

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Johnson,” said Mrs. Shauk. “I’m sure my class would love to see the fire truck—if they can listen to directions now.”

  Amelia Bedelia reached over the fence and offered Lieutenant Johnson what was left of her tuna-fish sandwich.

  “No, thank you,” the firefighter said. “I already ate lunch.”

  “It’s for the cat,” said Amelia Bedelia. “To lure her down. She likes tuna fish.”

  “Ah-ha! Got it!” Lieutenant Johnson grinned and took the sandwich. “Great thinking—you’re the cat’s meow!”

  “Oh, I tried that,” said Amelia Bedelia. “It didn’t work, but I can try again.”

  Amelia Bedelia walked over to the maple tree. “Meow,” she called softly, looking up at the cat. “Meow, meow?”

  “Amelia Bedelia,” said Penny. “What are you doing?”

  “Lieutenant Johnson told me to,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Really?” said Penny. “But we tried that.” Penny shrugged. “Okay. I’ll help!”

  “Meow, meeee-ooowwwww! MEEE-OOOOWWWW!”

  Amelia Bedelia and Penny meowed together. Soon Joy, Dawn, and Skip joined in.

  “Hey, kids, what are you doing?” asked Mrs. Shauk.

  “We’re the cat’s meows!” said Amelia Bedelia. “Meeee-OW!”

  From high in the tree, the cat replied. “Meeeeowwwww!”

  “Look, the ladder’s going up!” yelled Cliff.

  The big ladder on the back of the truck began to unfold and stretch toward the tree. It inched closer and closer to the branch where the cat was sitting. Once it was locked into position, Lieutenant Johnson began to climb. She reached the cat’s branch, and Amelia Bedelia held her breath.

  Lieutenant Johnson pulled Amelia Bedelia’s sandwich out of her pocket and offered it to the cat. The cat inched toward her. She put her nose in the air and sniffed. Then she began to nibble the tuna fish.

  The firefighter let the cat eat for a few seconds. Then she quickly scooped her up, tucked her under one arm, and headed back down the ladder.

  When they reached the ground, the class clapped and cheered.

  “What an excellent rescue operation!” said Mrs. Shauk. “Thank you, Lieutenant, very much.”

  “You’re welcome!” said Lieutenant Johnson. “Now, who wants to see the fire truck?”

  The cat seemed really happy to be out of the tree. At least as happy as a cat can be. While Amelia Bedelia’s friends toured the truck, Amelia Bedelia cuddled the cat and fed her bits of tuna. The cat purred so loudly that her whole body trembled. Amelia Bedelia wondered where the cat lived. Did she belong to a family? Was someone searching for her right now?

  Everybody got a chance to look in the back of the fire truck, to see the uniforms and hats and hoses and pump controls, and even to sit in the driver’s seat up front. Then they thanked the firefighters and watched as the truck pulled away.

  “That was so cool!” said Clay. He gave Cliff a high five.

  “I think that’s enough problem-solving for one day,” said Mrs. Shauk. “It’s time to head back.”

  Everyone groaned. Even Mr. Jack.

  “But, young lady,” said Mrs. Shauk to Amelia Bedelia, “you can’t bring that cat with you!”

  Amelia Bedelia looked down at the purring cat. The cat’s eyes were tightly closed, and she sounded like a tiny motor.

  “But I can’t just let her go!” Amelia Bedelia said.

  “Does she have a tag on her collar?” asked Mrs. Shauk.

  “She doesn’t even have a collar,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “She’s probably a stray, then,” said Mrs. Shauk. “We’ll have to call the animal shelter.”

  Amelia Bedelia did not like that idea one bit. She’d been to the animal shelter once before, when she adopted her dog, Finally. She knew that the people there really cared about animals, but still, it was not like living in a home with a family.

  “The cat really likes you, Amelia Bedelia,” Penny said. “You should take her home with you.”

  “Thanks, Penny!” said Amelia Bedelia. “That’s the perfect solution!”

  After the last bell rang, Amelia Bedelia rushed to get the cat from Mr. Jack, who was cat sitting her. Then Amelia Bedelia cuddled the cat against her sweatshirt and carried her home.

  When she opened the front door, her dog, Finally, bounded to greet her, just like always. But this time Finally skidded to a stop and stared in astonishment at the cat in Amelia Bedelia’s arms.

  “WOOF-WOOF-Grrrr.”

  “Finally, this is our new cat,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Be nice!”

  She put the cat down on the floor. Finally barked again. It was as if she was saying, “What is that? And why did you bring it to my house?”

  The cat didn’t seem one bit scared. She shook herself a little. Her tail was very high and quivering. She took a few steps forward and sniffed at Finally’s nose. Then she started to purr. Finally put her nose down and sniffed the cat’s head and all along her back.

  The cat arched her back. She put her head up and rubbed it against Finally’s face.

  Finally’s tail started to wag—slow at first, then faster.

  Purr, wag. Purr-rrrr, wag, wag, wag.

  Amelia Bedelia smiled. Her two pets were going to be friends!

  Just then Amelia Bedelia’s mother came into the front hall. “Amelia Bedelia, what’s that?” she asked, pointing to the cat.

  Then she sneezed so loudy that Amelia Bedelia, Finally, and the cat all jumped.

  Kids do not always know everything about their parents. Amelia Bedelia did not know that her mother had been the school spelling bee champion when she was in third grade or that her mother had once dyed her hair bright blue in college. And she did not know that her mother was allergic to cats.

  Amelia Bedelia apologized for bringing home a cat without asking. Her father drove to the drugstore to get some allergy medicine. And her mother said that Amelia Bedelia could keep the cat for five days.

  “But no longer than five days,” said her mother. “AHH—C
hoo!”

  Five days was not a very long time to find a perfect home for the cat. Amelia Bedelia knew that she was going to need some help.

  The next morning, Amelia Bedelia hurried to Mrs. Shauk’s classroom as soon as the bell rang. They always began their class with announcements and sharing, and Amelia Bedelia’s hand shot up right away. She squirmed in her seat and wiggled her fingers, hoping to catch the Hawk’s eye.

  “Amelia Bedelia, you’re acting like a cat on a hot tin roof!” said Mrs. Shauk. “Did you have something to share with the class?”

  Amelia Bedelia nodded. She told everyone about her mother. “I need to find a new home for the cat,” she explained. “Who else can take her?”

  “I will!” said Penny.

  “Yes!” said Angel.

  “Sure thing!” said Skip.

  Amelia Bedelia beamed.

  Her friends were the best! She hadn’t thought that finding a solution to her problem would be this easy.

  “Very well, class,” said Mrs. Shauk. “If you are interested in taking the cat, have your parents contact Amelia Bedelia’s parents. And now, it’s time for your vocabulary quiz.”

  All that evening, Amelia Bedelia waited for Angel or Penny or Skip to call. But the phone didn’t ring once. Not once.