Catboy - Eric Walters [51]
“We have to leave, now,” Dr. Reynolds exclaimed.
“That is what I am telling you,” Mr. Singh yelled excitedly. “You must leave, quickly, so you are not caught!”
“Ladies, grab the empty traps,” Dr. Reynolds ordered. “Simon, you get the snare poles. I’ll take the mother and kittens, and Taylor, you better pick up Hunter.”
We all sprang into action. I raced over to Hunter, trapped in his cage. He looked anxious and alert but not scared.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “You did the right thing. You saved everybody. Now we have to save us!”
I picked up the cage, and he edged away, rocking the cage, but I held firm.
There was a loud hiss as Dr. Reynolds picked up the other cage. Miss Mittens was hissing and snarling as she batted at the cage, trying to strike Dr. Reynolds’s hands, desperate to defend her kittens.
“She’ll be okay,” I said to Hunter. “He won’t hurt her.”
Hunter let out a howl. It was so loud and plaintive it startled me. Miss Mittens’s hissing continued, but she stopped trying to swat at Dr. Reynolds.
Doris and my mother had already reached the van and opened the back doors. The sound of the other cats was overwhelming. We loaded in the remaining empty cages, and Simon practically tossed the poles into the vehicle.
“Get in!” Dr. Reynolds yelled over the noise of the cats, and they raced for the doors. Dr. Reynolds loaded Miss Mittens in the back. “Give me the other one,” he said.
I handed Hunter to him, and he started to put his cage on the other side of the van.
“No,” I exclaimed. “He needs to be right beside her, where she can see him.”
He didn’t answer, but he did what I’d asked. He slammed the door closed and raced to the driver’s door, while I ran to the other side and climbed in. My mother, Doris and Simon were hunched in the back, crammed among the cages.
“We made it,” Doris said. “We made it.”
“We would make it if I could find my keys,” Dr. Reynolds said. He was trying to sound calm. “They can’t be too far away,” he said as he searched through his pockets. “There they are!”
He pulled them free, and the van roared to life. Dr. Reynolds pulled out of the junkyard and into the alley.
“We’ve made it!” Simon exclaimed. “And I won’t have a criminal record to explain to my parents!”
“You better hold off on the celebration for a second,” Dr. Reynolds said.
I looked out through the front windshield. A police car had turned into the alley and was coming toward us. It stopped directly in front of us, blocking our way. The doors opened, and two police officers got out.
“Let me do all the talking,” Dr. Reynolds said.
That wasn’t going to be a problem. I was too scared to think about speaking.
Dr. Reynolds rolled down his window as one officer came up beside him. The second officer stood off to the side.
“Good afternoon, officer,” Dr. Reynolds said, trying his best to sound friendly and casual. “Is there a problem?”
The officer poked his head slightly into the van.
“It certainly sounds like there’s a problem in here. What have you got in here?”
“I’m a vet,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Here’s my id.”
He pulled out a couple of pieces of id from his wallet and handed them to the officer. He looked at them.
“And what are you and these people and these cats doing in this alley?” the officer asked. “How many cats are in there?”
“Quite a few,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I am…I am transporting them, and these people are assisting me.”
“And who is this boy?” the officer asked.
“He’s my son!” my mother called from the back. “And I can give you some identification to show who I am as well.”
“That would be good,” he said.
My mother passed forward her identification, and he took that as well.
“Now, would somebody like to explain to me why you have…how many cats do you have in there?”
“About forty,” I said without thinking.
“Thank you. Can somebody explain why you have forty cats in the back of this van?