Kate and the Missing Cat

By Sofie E. Dalton

Kate Sally McDonald was an eleven year old rising 6 th grader who
had a job. Her job was to babysit the people across the streets cat Bengy
while they were in Florida. Kate felt lucky that the Spencers (the people
across the street) were paying her $20.00 for one week. Bengy is their
pride and joy. But something sort of went wrong, and here it is.

Kate woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing on a Saturday

morning. Kate groaned and rolled over. Then she remembered her job for
the Spencer’s. So Kate reluctantly got up and went downstairs for
breakfast. Her mother Mrs. McDonald was making fried eggs. “Hi sweetie”,
she said turning. “Hi mom”, said Kate sounding tired. “I made you a nice
breakfast”, she continued. “Thanks,” said Kate.

“You have a big day ahead of you”, Mrs. McDonald continued. “I

know”, said Kate, then she sat down on the little wood table with 3 chairs
for 3 people. She heard the eggs sizzling in the pan as she looked around
the kitchen with its buttery yellow walls. Then her father Mr. McDonald
walked into the room. “Hey Katie- cat”, he said taking a copy of the
Washington Post and giving Kate and her mother both a kiss then sitting
down. “Hey Dad”, said Kate. “Remember you have to be at the Spencer’s
house by 8:00”, said Mr. McDonald. “I know”, said Kate.

“Here’s your breakfast “, said Mrs. McDonald putting a plate of fried

eggs and bacon in front of Kate. “Thanks mom”, said Kate with a smile.
Kate devoured her breakfast then went upstairs to get dressed and brush
her teeth. After she was done with that, she said goodbye to her parents
and walked out the door.

It was a beautiful day in Arlington, Virginia where Kate lived. She

could hear the birds chirping and laughing from happy children playing.
Kate was enjoying her walk down the block. When she was at the corner
she crossed the street. Then Kate walked down that side of the street. Kate
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stopped at the Rock-Chester’s house. In that house lived Tommy Rock-
Chester and his parents. Tommy was a rising 8th grader and the hottest,
coolest kid in the middle school Kate was going to. Tommy lived right next
door to the Spencers so Kate only had to walk next door and she arrived at
the Spencer’s house.

Kate walked up the walkway and up the steps to the front door. She
reached in her pocket and pulled out the key the Spencers had given her,
opened the screen door, and inserted the key in the key hole and opened
the door. Kate walked in the house and called out “Bengy”! This always
made Bengy come to people. But Bengy didn’t come. So Kate looked for
him. She looked everywhere calling Bengy’s name, but Bengy was no
where to be found.

“Oh no,” thought Kate, “if Bengy isn’t here when the Spencers get
back they’ll kill me”. Kate began to panic. So she decided to ask some
neighbors. Kate walked next door to the Rock-Chester’s house. She
knocked on their door. “Coming”, said a women’s voice. Then Mrs. Rock-
Chester opened the door. “Oh hello Kate,” she said. “Hello Mrs. Rock-
Chester”, said Kate “I just wanted to know if you happened to see Bengy”?
“No I haven’t, though Bengy is an indoor cat so if he is not home that is a
problem”, said Mrs. Rock-Chester. “Are you taking care of him while Mr.
and Mrs. Spencer are in Florida”? “Yes, and he is missing” answered Kate.
“Oh dear, oh dear, well I’m sorry Kate, I don’t know what to do”. “It’s OK, I’ll
just ask some more people or call the police”, said Kate turning around and
sulking away. “Wait”, called Mrs. Rock-Chester. Kate turned around. “I think
I might have a solution”.

Kate had never thought once in her life that Tommy Rock-Chester
would help her find a cat. But Mrs. Rock-Chester had insisted that Tommy
would help her find Bengy. That was when Mrs. Rock-Chester had called
Tommy. He was even cuter then Kate had remembered. Tommy had light
brown hair and nice light brown eyes. Kate knew Tommy played soccer but
it turned out he also played football. Tommy had a red shirt that said
Hilston Middle School Football on it. “Hey”, said Tommy, “let’s find that cat”.
Kate was speechless.
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 First, when Kate could speak, she told Tommy about when she had
walked in that there had been no unusual sounds. “OK”, said Tommy “let’s
look for clues”. “Right”, said Kate dreamily. Kate opened the front door.
When she walked in the house it looked the same as always with its blue
walls and blue shades. “Lets split up, if you find anything just say so”, said
Tommy.

So Kate looked for clues. Soon she came across an open window.
“Tommy!” called Kate. Tommy came running into the room. “Look”, said
Kate gesturing to the open window. “Nice,” said Tommy. “Yah”, said Kate,
“this probably means that Bengy jumped out the window”, said Tommy.
“Then he could be any where right now”, said Kate sounding discouraged.
“Don’t worry, will find him” said Tommy putting his arm around Kate who
looked up surprised.

“Now”, said Tommy breaking away from Kate, “let’s go in the back
yard”. “OK”, said Kate. So she and Tommy walked quickly into the back
yard. They walked to the spot near the window. “Look”, cried Kate who had
just seen two pairs of footprints. “Cool”, said Tommy, “but why are their two
pairs of different foot prints?” “I don’t know”, said Kate. “Oh no”, said
Tommy. “What?” asked Kate. “The first pair of footprints belongs to Moka”.
“Who’s Moka?” asked Kate. “A big chocolate lab that lives in the house
behind my house”, answered Tommy. “Oh no Bengy is afraid of dogs, what
do we do now?” wailed Kate. “Simple, we talk to Moka’s owners”, answered
Tommy.

Moka lived with Mr. and Mrs. O’Conner and their twin daughters
Frances and Lucy. Kate and Tommy walked to the O’Conner’s front door
and knocked. Then the door opened and a pretty teenager with light, light
brown hair and a shirt with red and white stripes and old jeans was
standing there chewing gum. “Hey Karen”, said Tommy, “are you
babysitting Frances and Lucy”? “Yep”, answered the girl called Karen.
“How do you know her?” asked Kate. “Her mom and my mom are in the
same book club”, answered Tommy.

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 “Hello, I’m still here, “said Karen. “Yah, right OK, listen Karen do you
know if Moka has been straying anywhere because the Spencer’s cat is
missing and me and my friend Kate saw their footprints next to each
others?”said Tommy. “You’ve seen a sign of Moka?” asked Karen franticly.
“Yah, why?” asked Tommy. “Moka’s gone missing”, said Karen. “What!”
exclaimed Tommy.

Kate not wanting to be left out of the conversation asked “how long
has she or he been gone”? “It’s a she and since the day before yesterday”,
answered Karen. “Wow”, said Tommy. “Yep”, said Karen. “Well call me if
you see the Spencer’s cat Bengy”, said Tommy. “Same with Moka”, said
Karen. “Bye”, said Kate, “nice meeting you”. “You too,” said Karen. “Bye
Tommy”, said Karen. “Bye”, said Tommy, then Karen closed the door. “Well
it’s getting dark, I better take you home,” said Tommy. “Yah, and thanks for
everything”, said Kate. “No problem”.

So Tommy walked Kate home. Once they were at Kate’s house

Kate’s mother thanked Tommy and once he walked away Kate told her
mother everything. “It’s OK honey, keep looking and if he doesn’t turn up in
the next few days I’ll call the police”, said Mrs. McDonald. Kate gave her
mother a hug and ate a quick dinner, brushed her teeth, put on her PJs and
went to bed. Her father was not home yet. Kate had a hard time falling
asleep. Questions were buzzing inside her head. What if we don’t find
Bengy? What if he got hurt? What if Moka hurt him? What if he and Moka
are both hurt?

Again, Kate woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing on a

Sunday morning. As soon Kate woke up she remembered all her troubles
about a cat and a dog. Kate got dressed and went downstairs. Mrs.
McDonald was making breakfast in the kitchen as usual. “Hello sweetie
pie”. “Hi mom,” said Kate. “Today your father is going to drive you to the
library to return some books and then he is going to drive you to the Rock-
Chester’s house on his way to work”, explained Mrs. McDonald. “OK but
what about church?” asked Kate. Kate and her mother went to church
every Sunday. “You’re going to have to skip it today”, said Mrs. McDonald,
“I’ve already made plans with Mrs. Rock-Chester for you and Tommy to
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solve the mystery, unless you don’t want to”. “No, I do”, said Kate. Mrs.
McDonald smiled, “you’re such a brave girl”.

Just then, Mr. McDonald walked into the room. He did his regular
routine of “hey Katie- cat” and kissing Kate and her mother and picking up
a copy of the Washington Post and sitting down. The family ate in silence,
which wasn’t very normal for the McDonalds.

After they were done eating, Kate asked her father “Dad, can we go
now”? “Of course,” said Mr. McDonald after a moment of silence. So Kate
said good bye to her mother, got her books, and left the house.

Kate climbed into her dad’s little white Honda and sat in the back
seat. Kate was surprised that she and her dad rode in silence. He was
usually so talkative. Kate wondered what was wrong. She hoped it would
also explain breakfast.

When Kate got to the library it was 7:45. She hoped out of the car
and returned her books through the return slot. Then she climbed back into
the car. Mr. McDonald was still very quiet.

When Kate and her Dad arrived at the Rock-Chester’s house it was
7:55. “Bye Dad”, said Kate as she opened the car door to get out. “Bye
honey”, said Mr. McDonald, his head down. Kate closed the car door and
walked away. “What’s wrong with him?” thought Kate, but she just
shrugged and kept walking.

When Kate got to the Rock-Chester’s front door she rang the door
bell. “Coming”, said Tommy. Then he opened the door. “Oh, hey Kate”,
said Tommy once he saw Kate. “Hey”, said Kate. “So, you ready to find a
cat?” he asked. “And a dog”, Kate added with a laugh. “Tommy, be back for
dinner!” called Mrs. Rock-Chester. “OK mom, don’t worry!” called Tommy.
Kate gave a little laugh and then she and Tommy headed out the door.

Kate enjoyed listening to Tommy as they walked to the Spencer’s

house. He was also so fun to talk to. He would talk about anything, school,
football, soccer, vacations he’d been on, vacations he wanted to go on, his

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future plans, even his cat Leelee when Kate didn’t even know he had a cat.
Any questions Kate asked Tommy he could answer. He was so smart!

“So, have you ever lost Leelee?” asked Kate. “Nope”, answered
Tommy, “not once”. Kate and Tommy talked liked this for a while because
they had decided to walk around the block. Then they arrived at the
Spencer’s house. They walked in, did another search through the house,
and again had no success in finding Bengy. “Maybe we should go to
Moka’s house again and look for clues”, suggested Kate. “OK, then let’s
go”, said Tommy. So the two continued to talk as they walked to Moka’s
house.

Once Kate and Tommy got to Moka’s house they saw two little girls
playing hop scotch on their walkway. One had curly hair and the other had
straight hair. “Hi Frances, hi Lucy”, said Tommy. “Hi Tommy”, said Frances
and Lucy together. “Are they Frances and Lucy?” asked Kate. “Yep”. “Hey
Tommy guess what”, said the girl with curly hair. “What Frances?” asked
Tommy. “We found Moka”! “That’s great”, said Tommy.

Just then Mrs. O’Conner opened the door. “Oh hello Tommy dear,
would you and your girl friend like to come in”? Ummm, OK, and she’s not
my girlfriend,” said Tommy (who was turning red) in the politest way he
could. “Well OK, then just come right in”, said Mrs. O’Conner. Mrs.
O’Conner was a very beautiful woman. She had straight light red hair that
went a little bit past her shoulders and was wearing a nice red shirt and
dark blue skinny jeans and light blue eyes. Now that was nothing compared
to the house.

The O’Conner’s house had nice shiny wood floors with a yellow
carpet and squiggly designs. There was a green couch, and an end table
with a lamp and a coaster. There were pictures everywhere mostly with Mr.
and Mrs. O’Conner, Frances, Lucy and Moka. Kate was still amazed at how
shiny the floor was. But Tommy acted like he saw this kind of house every
day.

“We just got the house cleaned”, said Mrs. O’Conner blushing seeing
Kate’s awe of the house. “So, can we please see Moka?” asked Tommy.
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“Yes, of course follow me”, said Mrs. O’Conner. Mrs. O’Conner led them
outside, through the front yard, and into the shed.

But, when Mrs. O’Conner opened the shed door, a huge surprise
came over everyone. There was Moka and Bengy! Together, and they
weren’t fighting, they were licking each other instead. “Bengy!” cried Kate
who immediately ran over and scooped up Bengy. “I was so worried about
you”, said Kate burying her face in Bengy’s fur. “I guess Bengy isn’t afraid
of ALL dogs after all”, said Tommy. “No kidding”, said Kate looking up from
Bengy.

After all that Kate and Tommy took Bengy home. Kate went to her
mother and told her the good news. Kate’s father came home from work
early and took Kate aside for a moment.

“Kate, if you are wondering why I was quiet before, it’s because,” Mr.
McDonald took a deep breath and leaned down then kept talking, “I don’t
want you to get hurt; I don’t want you to turn into Nancy Drew”. “Dad” said
Kate, “I’m not going to be Nancy Drew, I’m just solving little mysteries, you
know, I’m just taking baby steps, you know”. Mr. McDonald smiled tears of
happiness slipping down his face. “You’re such a brave girl”, he said
hugging Kate. And Kate was happy everything had turned out just right.

Epilogue
When the Spencer’s got back from Florida on Friday, they were not
mad a bit when they found out Bengy had been playing with a dog. In fact,
they were laughing, happily laughing.

“I can’t believe Bengy would like a dog”, said Mrs. Spencer. She, her
husband, the McDonalds, the Rock-Chester’s, and the O’Conner’s and of
course Moka and Bengy were all at the Spencer’s house for lunch.
“Same here”, said Mr. Spencer. Mr. O’Conner raised his glass, “to Kate and
Tommy, true detectives”. “Woo”, said every one raising their glasses.

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 “Kate and Tommy, will you be solving any more mysteries?” asked
Mr. Rock-Chester. Kate and Tommy looked at each other. “Oh yeah”, they
both said together. Another “woo” went up through the crowd. Kate felt
happy. Right now she and Tommy were sitting on bean bags drinking
Coke, and Kate felt happier than ever mostly because she found a new
hobby - solving mysteries.