Chomps, Flea, and Gray Cat [That’s Me!] Read online

  “He won’t get any more practice. Mama will probably only let him out in the backyard from now on. She was worried about him. He’s too little to be very far from the house by himself.”

  “He wasn’t by himself. I was with him.”

  Callie flipped her tail. “I don’t think that Mama counts you.”

  I frowned at her. “But I took good care of him. I brought him home, didn’t I?”

  Callie didn’t answer. She walked to the door and lay down on the mat.

  Just then I realized that I had forgotten to bring a trophy home for Mama!

  CHAPTER 3

  It was evening before I saw Chomps again. When Daddy came home, and opened the door, I slipped inside between his feet. He never even noticed me. I searched the house looking for that dog. Mama had him in the bathroom. I could hear the roar of the hairdryer. The door was open just a bit. I pushed my cheek against it until it opened wide enough for me to slip in. Mama sat on the floor. Chomps shivered on a towel in front of her. His wet fur lay flat against his body. Mama tried to hold him with her elbows as she used the brush and the hairdryer to clean up the messy dog.

  “What are you doing, Gray? Do you want some of this?” She turned the air toward me.

  I jumped back and darted out the door.

  I had met the hairdryer before.

  I slid under the bed and started cleaning my fur. I already had most of the junk out, but I could still find little chunks of knotted hair around stickers.

  I perked up my ears when Mama took Chomps out of the bathroom. They headed for the front part of the house. Mama had put cardboard boxes between the kitchen and the dining room. The People could step over them, but Chomps wasn’t able to escape. I jumped over the boxes with one hop. The poor pup was sitting in the middle of a pile of dry towels.

  “Hey, pup. Sorry about the bath. I thought that we would get back without getting caught.”

  “She yanked most of my hair out! Am I bald?” The pup looked down at his fluffy fur. “She said I had a sack of trash connected to me. She said my curly hair grabbed every sticker in the field. What wouldn’t come out, Mama pulled out!”

  “You look fine. I don’t see any skin showing at all. We’ll have to be more careful the next time we go out.” I backed away from the pup when Mama stepped toward the sink.

  “Gray, what kind of mischief are you up to? Scat, I’m not very happy with you right now.” Mama shoved me toward the cardboard with her foot.

  I flipped my tail as I jumped over the boxes and strolled into the living room to take my bath on the couch.

  Mama stepped over the boxes and sat down at the table with Daddy. “Owen, what are we going to do about that car? Every time I think it can’t get any worse, something else happens to it!”

  “Maybe it just needs some new spark plugs.”

  “I don’t think that spark plugs are the answer this time!” Mama threw a towel at Daddy. “Didn’t Jim put new spark plugs in last month?”

  Daddy shrugged and nodded his head. “Yeah, I think he did.”

  Daddy sat there for a moment. Finally he smiled and reached out to hold Mama’s hand. “I guess that we do need to think about a new car. The old one has been pretty good, but it’s on its last legs. It costs as much to keep it running as new car payments would. We’ve had two good years with the wheat.”

  He stopped and scratched his chin. Then he looked at Mama. His smile got even bigger. “Do you want to go car shopping tomorrow?”

  Mama let out a little squeal. It made my ears perk straight up. I looked around. Mama grabbed Daddy and kissed him on the head. “Do I? I can’t wait!”

  “I think I can spare a little time tomorrow. Maybe all day. We need to get a better car for that road. There’s no guarantee they’ll get the work done soon.”

  All day? I got up from the couch and hopped over the cardboard to get to Chomps. The little dog was crouched in the pile of towels. I could barely see his black eyes under the mop of fur. “Hey, pup. Why are you being so still?”

  “I’m afraid that Mama will hunt for new burrs and stickers in my fur.”

  I tried to look him over. I didn’t see anything that Mama would want to mess with. “I think you’re safe for a while. We are going out again tomorrow when Mama and Daddy go to town. They said that they would be gone all day. We can hunt some more. I think you are going to be pretty good with practice.”

  “I don’t know. Mama wasn’t very happy when we got home today. She stuck me in a box until she gave me that bath. I’m afraid to move. I’m afraid she’ll get me again.” Chomps was still shaking.

  “Just be good for the rest of the day, and I think Mama will forget about what happened. You had fun today didn’t you?”

  Chomps peeked up at me. “I don’t know if it was that fun or not!”

  Mama scooped me up about that time. “Gray, you need some more outside time. Look at the furballs you left on the couch. I don’t have time to brush you right now.”

  All at once I was on the front porch. My whiskers blew back against my face as Mama shut the door behind me. I had time to get a trophy before dark. My tail in the air, I walked down the sidewalk toward the apple tree.

  I looked up at the place where the nest had been last year. Still no sign of Mama Mockingbird or Flea. I sharpened my claws on the trunk.

  The door to the barn was open just enough for me to get inside. I really wanted to see what was there, but something told me to stay away. I stepped carefully to the doorway and poked my head through the opening. My ears were up as I looked about. Shadows filled the spaces around the hay bales inside the barn. I crouched low as I listened for the sounds of mice and rats. Beady eyes blinked back at me. Then I saw the familiar shape of a big rat. Nora was eating grain in the corner. An evil glint of light came from her eye. She didn’t stop eating, but her yellow teeth glistened as she turned toward me. I remembered the time that the rats almost got Chomps and me.

  My legs suddenly felt wobbly as I tried to back out of the barn. I would return some other time. I looked back and the big rat gave me a sneaky grin. I shuddered as I hurried from the barn.

  I raced to the front door of the house.

  “MEOW! Let me in!” The air was getting warm, but I still felt a chill from being in the barn. I scratched at the screen door.

  “Gray! What’s going on, cat?”

  As soon as the door opened, I darted in and scampered to the safe place under the bed. I could hear Callie’s gentle breathing above me. I finally crawled out and looked up. I could see the tips of her ears. The old cat was asleep on a pillow. I leaped to the bed beside her.

  “Hey, Callie, are you awake?” I purred. “Callie?”

  “I wasn’t asleep. I was only catnapping. What’s the matter with you?” The old cat stretched out her front paws and began washing her face. I felt my fur ripple.

  “I’ve been out in the barn, and those creepy rats are still there. Don’t they go some place in the spring?”

  Without stopping her bath, Callie looked toward the door. “What rats?”

  “Those barn rats. The ones that nearly got Chomps and me when it was so cold. Remember, you brought the House People to get the puppy out of trouble.”

  Pulling her paws in under her chest, Callie shook her head. “Those rats. Yes, when the weather gets warmer, they begin to move around outside more. If they have a free meal, though, they’ll stay until they’ve cleaned the barn out.”

  I felt my heart drop. “Callie. I’m afraid of those rats, especially that big one called Nora. When she looks at me, all I can see are those big yellow teeth inside that sneaky grin. It makes me feel all jittery. I just want to run and hide.”

  “Where are you going to hide? Under the bed? You’ll get tired of being down there with all those dust balls. Think straight, Cat! Rats are sneaky and mean, but they are just wimps. They try to look tough, but inside they are just a bunch of cowards. If they don’t have control of the situation, they run. When they realize
that they might be in trouble, they don’t care who knows that they are afraid.”

  Callie puffed her chest out. She stood on the bed and looked at me. “You’re a cat. Cats have to stand up to them. Cats aren’t afraid of anything. Don’t ever let those rodents know that you are scared. Look them in the eye, just like you did the mice when you were stuck with Flea on your head. You’re getting bigger every day. You aren’t a little kitty cat anymore. Just remember, ‘Cats are afraid of nothing!’ ”

  CHAPTER 4

  Mama’s voice made my ears perk up. It was still dark outside, too early for breakfast. On her way from the bedroom, Mama stopped to scratch my ears. I stretched, then curled back into a ball on the couch. Mama carried Chomps to the back door and set him outside.

  “I’m ready to go car hunting,” Mama called to Daddy.

  “Got anything in mind?” Daddy’s voice came back from the bedroom.

  “Don’t you think we need a sports utility vehicle to help us with these bad roads?” Mama walked to the kitchen and started fixing their coffee.

  Daddy’s bare feet made a plopping sound when he came in to give Mama a hug.

  “I’m not sure. If we could count on the roads being good when it rains, it wouldn’t matter. That creek needs a lot of work even if it doesn’t rain this spring. I don’t know why they haven’t built that bridge across it yet.”

  “It’s usually just a dry creek bed, though.”

  Daddy nodded. “Yeah, but if the water ever rises too much, it could really be a problem.” He sat down at the table. “Maybe you should check on the Internet and see if you can get some information about SUVs. I don’t think we can count on the county commissioner to fix the road before summer, and maybe not even then.”

  They sat down to drink their coffee. They only had a sip or two before Chomps started yapping and bouncing against the screen. Daddy picked up his cup and walked to the back door. Mama stepped up next to him. “That sunrise is beautiful this morning. Maybe we should get up early every day.”

  “It is a peaceful time of day . . . except for that dog!” Daddy opened the door, and the little fuzzball scooted in and ran around in circles on the kitchen floor.

  Mama scooped him up and headed toward her office.

  • • •

  When I woke up from my little catnap, I could hear Mama tapping on her computer. Callie was headed for the cat bowl. I hopped down from the couch and followed her to the kitchen. There was nothing in the dish. Callie flopped on the floor.

  “What’s going on, Gray? Mama should have my food ready by this time.”

  I jumped up on the cabinet to see if Mama had just forgotten to put our breakfast bowl on the floor. There was nothing but coffee. I hopped down.

  “Mama has Chomps in the office,” I meowed. “I think Daddy went out to the field. Maybe we should remind Mama that we are hungry even if she isn’t.”

  Callie and I headed for the office. The door was shut tight. The only sounds we could hear were the tap-tapping on the computer.

  “Meow!” Callie and I both called at once. “We’re hungry. Feed us!”

  Suddenly Chomps’s little black nose stuck out from under the door.

  “Hey, pup, get Mama to fix us some breakfast!”

  “She’s busy right now. I’m keeping her feet warm.”

  I pushed my paw under the door. I tried to rattle it so that Mama would notice us. “MEOW!”

  “Gray, stop that. I’m busy!” The door opened just a bit, and Mama let us in. Callie and I both stared up at her.

  “MEOW,” we both howled.

  “My goodness, what time is it? Just give me a few more minutes and I’ll get you fed.” Mama sat down and started to tap on the computer again.

  Callie curled up on the floor near the door. I wanted to see what Mama was doing. I jumped on the desk. Papers scattered. My feet slipped, but I managed to catch myself. Some of the papers fluttered as they fell to the carpet.

  “Gray! For goodness’ sakes, can’t I have just a few more minutes?” Mama picked me up and set me back on the floor.

  I rubbed my cheek against her leg. I really loved Mama and wanted her to know it. I guess I rubbed a little too hard because one of my teeth scraped across her ankle.

  “Ouch! Come on, Gray, give me a break. I’m almost done.”

  “Be patient, Gray. She won’t forget us now,” Callie purred.

  The sounds of Daddy’s tractor got Chomps excited. He jumped up from his place on Mama’s feet and scampered to the back door. Mama followed him.

  “Chomps, do you need out?” she called. We chased after Mama and Chomps. He bounced against the door, and she opened the screen for him. Chomps shot out as Daddy was coming in. He almost tripped over the little furball. Before Chomps could get turned around and charge back inside the house, Daddy closed the door.

  “Are you almost ready?” he asked.

  “As soon as I feed these animals, I will be. I have found the answer to our car problems.” Mama pushed the lever on the can opener.

  “Meow!”

  Callie and I got separate bowls of food. Yum!

  Mama fixed Chomps a little bowl of dry food and took it out to the yard. “Chomps will have to stay in the pen to keep him from running off like he did yesterday.”

  By the time Mama was ready to leave, I had already taken a quick catnap.

  “Let’s go, Gray. You and Callie can get some sunshine while we are gone.” She scooped me up and set me outside. Callie was already on the porch swing. I crawled under it to roll in the concrete dust.

  Mama and Daddy closed the door and walked toward the driveway.

  The old car roared, sputtered, and chugged away.

  As soon as I couldn’t hear it anymore, I strolled to the end of the driveway. The car was nowhere in sight. I walked back toward Callie.

  I put my paws on the swing. “Hey, Callie. How long does it take to hunt a car? Do you have to be quiet like when you hunt mice? Do you have to sneak up and pounce?”

  Callie opened one eye. “No. It’s a different kind of hunting.”

  I frowned and tilted my head to the side.

  Callie opened the other eye, then blinked. “Okay, Gray. Remember back at Christmastime, before all the people came. Mama went hunting for things at the store. She calls it shopping. When she finds things, it makes her just as proud and happy as we feel when we catch a mouse.”

  “Does it make Daddy happy, too?”

  “No, it just makes him grumpy.”

  “So? Will they be back really quick?”

  Callie shook her head, then closed her eyes once more. “No, shopping for a car is like big-time hunting. They’ll probably be gone all day.”

  My whiskers sprang up on both sides of my face. “Oh, boy!”

  Callie peeked down at me. “What are you up to Gray?”

  “Just going on an adventure,” I purred.

  “You better not take that dog with you. You were lucky that Mama and Daddy didn’t lock you in the cat carrier. They were very upset when they couldn’t find Chomps yesterday.”

  “Relax, Callie. That little fuzzball needs a few hunting lessons. He’s doing great—for a dog. We’re just going for a little practice.” I hopped up on the swing.

  “Go ahead. But remember, I warned you!”

  “Okay, but I need a little help.” I curled up near the old cat.

  “Forget it, Gray. I’m too old to teach a dog how to hunt.” Callie blinked sleepily.

  “That’s not it. I need help getting him out of that pen in the backyard.”

  Callie’s eyes opened wide. “Forget it, Cat! I’m not going to have anything to do with this.”

  “I just need a little help. He can squeeze through the yard gate if I can get him out of the little pen.”

  “Sorry, Gray, you’re on your own.” Callie flipped over and curled up the other way.

  I hopped off the swing and headed for the backyard. I’d figure out something on my own.

  I lo
oked at the little pen the dog was trapped in. The sides were held up with metal posts. The doghouse was the only back that it had. If we could just squeeze that little pup through the tiny space between the wire side and the doghouse, we were ready to go.

  “I’m trapped,” Chomps moaned.

  “Don’t worry, you can get out of there.” I tried to encourage the little dog. “All you have to do is shove against this side. You can push this nail loose pretty easy. I don’t think that Daddy did a very good job on the pen. He must have been in a hurry.”

  The little dog tried to shove his way out. He bounced against the side, but nothing happened. He yapped at it but it still wouldn’t work. Finally I decided that we would have to dig him out. I started on the outside, while he dug from the inside. At first, he wasn’t a very good digger, but he was having so much fun that the hole got bigger and deeper anyway. It wasn’t long until his dirty little nose pushed up to meet the hole that I had made on the outside.

  As soon as he squeezed his body out, we headed for the gate opening. The place where the gates swung together was easy to push through. We ran for the field. Chomps bounced and hopped around as we trotted past the apple tree. I made him stop while I climbed up to see if I could spot any sign of my bird friends.

  I scampered down, clunked the mutt on the head with my paw, then shot up the trunk of the tree once more. Crawling to the end of the first limb, I looked at Chomps.

  “You can’t get me!” I flattened my ears as I teased the pup.

  “Quit playing, Gray. I want to go hunt.” Chomps barked at me.

  I climbed down the tree and headed for the hayfield. Chomps ran and yipped behind me. The early morning sun seemed to move between the fluffy white clouds in the east.

  “Remember, Chomps, you have to follow some rules. You have to be quiet and let me hunt first. You watch, then you will have your chance.”

  CHAPTER 5

  We walked across the pasture, heading for the hayfield. Chomps raced around and jumped as we got close to the road.