Runaway Ralph - Beverly Cleary [24]
Garf looked as if he were tempted, but he said almost regretfully, “No, you might run away, and I want to keep you.”
“Aw, come on, Garf,” coaxed Ralph.
“Nope,” said Garf, “and I’ve got to get out of here. Aunt Jill just left to give me a chance to return that watch, and I don’t have it. I don’t have it, and I don’t know where it is.”
Ralph saw an opportunity for bargaining. “I do,” he said. “I know where the watch is.”
“Where?” asked Garf.
“Let me out, and I’ll tell you,” said Ralph.
“No,” said Garf. “I’m going to take you home with me.”
“Your mother won’t like it,” said Ralph. “She’ll make you get rid of me.” He knew by the look on Garf’s face that he had struck a sensitive spot so he continued. “She will say I am messy, and she will say I—smell.”
Garf looked uncomfortable.
“Let me out of here, and I’ll show you where the watch is,” persisted Ralph.
Garf looked as if he might be tempted. He thought awhile, and said, “My mother might let me keep a mouse. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. And I don’t want to know where the watch is. If anyone saw me trying to return it, they would say I stole it and I didn’t.”
Ralph’s hopes dwindled. “I know you didn’t steal it,” he said, “because I know who did.”
“Who?” Naturally Garf was curious to know the name of the real thief.
Ralph considered. Should he tell or should he not tell? He decided that telling might convince Garf that he was trying to help him. “Catso,” he said. “Catso the cat took it.”
Garf gave Ralph a look of disgust. “Now I know you’re lying,” he said. “What would a cat do with a watch?”
Ralph was beginning to feel frantic. “Pretend it’s a mouse. Play with it. Toss it around. You know how cats do.”
Garf grinned. “For such a little fellow you sure have a big imagination.”
“I’m not imagining it,” said Ralph. “Catso took it. I saw him. Honest.”
“Aw, you just don’t like cats,” said Garf, and started to leave.
Ralph sat miserably back on his haunches. “Well, even if you don’t believe me, don’t forget to feed me.”
“Glad you reminded me,” said Garf, and gave Ralph a generous supply of food before he left the craft shop. He paused by the bamboo where he had found the motorcycle, stirred the leaves with his foot, and uncovered the thistledown-lined half of a Ping-Pong ball, which he picked up and examined. He glanced back in Ralph’s direction before he put the helmet in his pocket and went to his lodge.
In a few moments Aunt Jill returned, glanced at the shelf beside Ralph’s cage, and frowned slightly as if she were puzzled about something. Ralph settled greedily at his food dish. I’ll show that Garf, he thought, as he crammed seeds into his mouth with his paws. As soon as I get out of this cage I’ll show him.
When Ralph’s stomach was comfortably full, he took a long nap. By the time he awoke the craft shop was empty, the camp strangely quiet. A few chickens scratched under the walnut trees, and the kittens tumbled about trying to catch one another’s tails. A horse whinnied in the pasture, but there was no one in sight. “Where is everybody?” Ralph asked Chum.
“They’ve all gone down to the river for a swim and a picnic supper,” answered Chum. “Peaceful isn’t it? I finally got some sleep in the daytime.”
In the distance Sam barked and campers shouted and laughed. Ralph felt so stodgy from overeating that he went for a run on his wheel before he scuttled around the edges of his cage. His search was futile. Garf had replaced the bottom and fastened the door securely.
Suddenly the hair along Ralph’s spine began to tingle. Catso! Ralph huddled in the corner of his cage and tried to make himself invisible. Catso squeezed through the hole in the screen and landed with a soft thud on the workbench beneath Ralph’s cage. Ralph squeezed himself into a tighter ball. He felt as if the beat of his heart was as loud as the tick of the missing watch. Why couldn’t Sam stay home and guard the camp the way he was supposed to? This time there was no watch to distract Catso. Catso stood with his front paws on Ralph’s shelf and