Philip and the Angel (9781452416144) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
paper plate back a little. The mother cat got to her feet and
stepped toward the food. She sniffed and licked it again.
    “ Go on,” whispered Emery. “Back
further.”
    “ Shhhh.” Philip wanted to tell Emery if
he knew so much about how to do it, why didn’t he do it himself,
but he didn’t want to start an argument in front of the mother cat,
who slowly followed the paper plate of food nearer and nearer to
the cage. The door of the cage opened flat onto the ground, and
Philip slid the paper plate into the cage.
    “ Don’t move,” he whispered to
Emery.
    “ I have to go to the bathroom,” Emery
whispered back.
    “ Oh, great! Just hold it,” Philip
ordered. “Don’t move.”
    The cat stuck its head into the cage and
sniffed the food again. It put one foot into the cage and started
lapping up the food. Slowly, Philip reached behind the cat and
pushed it into the cage.
    “ Get the door,” Emery
ordered.
    Both Emery and Philip reached for the door.
The startled cat meowed once. Emery dropped the door. Philip pushed
the cat’s head back inside the cage. Emery grabbed the door and
lifted it. Philip hooked it shut.
    “ Meooww,” the cat said. It looked at
the two boys and returned its attention to the plate of
food.
    “ Wow!” said Emery. “That was
tense.”
    “ Do you still have to go to the
bathroom?” Philip asked impatiently.
    Emery waited a moment before saying, “No. It
went away. I guess I was nervous.”
    “ Get a small box. There’s a million of
them. We’ll put the babies inside.” Philip remembered what Angel
had said. “Get two boxes.”
    Emery scurried around the hodge-podge of
cardboard and junk and came back with two small boxes.
    “ Hold it closer,” said Philip. He
lifted the gray kitten carefully and put it inside the box. Then he
lifted the black kitten and did the same. “Give me the other box.”
He put the box alongside the two striped kittens and, using a flat
piece of cardboard, pushed them into the box.
    “ What are you going to do with them?”
Emery asked.
    “ We are going
to bury them.”
    “ In the ground.” Emery sounded
amazed.
    “ No, in a chocolate pie. You carry
these two boxes and I’ll get the cage.”
    “ Chocolate pie,” Emery grumbled under
his breath.
    The two boys went a block out of their way so
they wouldn’t meet anyone they knew. Philip didn’t want his parents
asking him why he was carrying around a caged cat. When they
reached the house behind Angel’s, Philip led Emery past the house
and into the backyard, hoping the owner was out or watching
television. He and Emery ducked into the bushes behind Angel’s
house.
    “ Leave it,” whispered Philip, pointing
to the box with the two dead kittens.
    Emery put the box down and crept along behind
Philip to the edge of the bushes.
    “ Wait,” said Philip. “Her again.” He
pointed and waited until Mrs. Beebe stepped back inside her kitchen
door. “Okay. Come on.”
    Philip led the way to the shed and opened the
door. The two boys ducked inside, and Emery pushed the door shut.
An old faded blue blanket lay stretched out on the floor.
    “ Where’d that come from?” Emery
wondered.
    “ I’ll bet Angel did it,” said Philip.
He lifted the two wiggling kittens from the cardboard box and
placed them on the warm blanket. “Open the cage.”
    “ I hope the mother cat’s not mad at
us,” said Emery.
    “ If she doesn’t eat cows, she won’t eat
us,” said Philip.
    Emery opened the cage door. The black cat
looked around before stepping out.
    “ She ate all the food,” said
Emery.
    “ I’ve got more.” Philip took the can
out of his pocket. “Give me the plate.” He scraped out the rest of
the food onto the plate and put it near the kittens. The mother cat
went over to the two kittens and began licking them. Then she
flopped down beside them.
    “ When do they open their eyes?” Emery
asked.
    Philip didn’t answer. The two kittens had
already felt their way to the mother’s