Chapter 6
The black tomcat woke in the morning, had breakfast, and lounged in the study. It could be days before they could leave the house. Until then, he intended to stay out of the household's way as much as possible. This room was quite comfortable. Mr. Wendell didn't mind him being here as long as he stayed off the cloth furniture. A perfectly acceptable restriction, considering cat hair. Another plus to the room, the children weren't allowed in.
Becoming hungry again, Phileas wandered back to the kitchen. On the way, something caught his eye; a brown blur whisked along the baseboard in the hallway. Without thinking, the black cat set himself and sprang. A moment later, Phileas had a mouse in his mouth, not even realizing he had caught it. Mr. Wendell came into the hall, having seen him run by. He took one look at what Phileas had done and boomed out, "Good Cat!" The man of the house took the mouse away and carried his now proven mouser into the kitchen for a well-deserved saucer of fresh cream.
After his reward and listening to Mr. Wendell praise his hunting prowess to his wife, Phileas left the kitchen to look for Rebecca. Her dish hadn't been touched. He wondered if she and the child were still in bed. Or worse.
Is Rebecca being treated to a tea party? He ran up the stairs. Hazel was in her room playing with a doll. Phileas jumped up on the bed but didn't find his cousin. Now where is she?
"Becca is out for the day," Hazel said. "Becca is on a mission to find the evil wizard who turned you into a cat. Did an evil wizard really catch you spying for the queen and turn you into cats?" Hazel said, all excited. "Becca said to give you a message, but I don't know what it means."
"What was the message?" Phileas said, stunned by the news and the girl's growing understanding.
"Becca said to tell you… You snooze… You loose."
"Lose," Phileas said. "Darn!"
"That is a bad word," Hazel said. "Mommy says you should never say that."
Phileas blinked. Did she hear what I wanted to say?
"Your mother is right, I am sorry," he apologized, accepting the correction from the four-year-old. What Mrs. Pool said about watching himself came back to him. "When did Becca leave?"
"Becca left early this morning. I let her out my window." The child walked to the window waving to him to come, too. Phileas jumped across the room to sit on the windowsill. "Becca is a fantastic jumper. She jumped out to that limb and climbed down the tree. Becca promised to be back before dark to report. Until then, Becca said you would play with me. Don't worry. She told me about all the games you like to play. Let's start with dress up."
Hazel picked Phileas up off the windowsill before he could avoid her and carried him to the attic.
Becca and I are going to have a talk when she gets home.