Picture Dictionary & Books : Free for English Learner!

"Lock the door," Kate snaps.

"I keep it locked all the time."

Pop says he's going home to make some phone calls and try to figure out what's going on.

He takes down the name and address of Kate's brother and asks her if she's sure there are no other relatives.

She says she never heard of any.

Pop goes, and Kate insists that I lock the door after him.

She gets up and starts stirring around getting food out for the cats.

She buys fish and chicken livers for them, even though she hardly eats any meat herself.

She listens at the back door a moment to make sure no one's out there, then opens the door and puts out the garbage and wastebasket.

There goes the adventurous kitten.

You got to hand it to Kate.

She has no sniffling sentimentality about her cats.

Kitten's dead, it's dead, that's all.

She doesn't mope over the limp mite of fur.

In fact, anything to do with cats she's got sense and guts.

They're her family.

I don't know that I could have put that kitten out of its misery.

Just as long as the world doesn't throw any stray fortunes at her, Kate does fine.

But when people get in her way, she needs someone like Pop.

Mom says she'll stick around a while and tells me to take the two stray kittens home, just in case the landlord comes back trying to make trouble.

"O.K., great—Cat'll have some company!"

Kate sniffs.

"He'll hate it. Cats don't like other cats pushing into their house."

She's right, of course.

I put the kittens down at home, and Cat hisses at them and then runs them under the radiator in the kitchen.