Free Miranda the Great by Eleanor Estes Page A

and unusual snowstorm, Miranda had chased sixteen dogs off their street. They were trotting along happily through the deep and snowy ravine in the middle of the street where men and animals had worn a path. Suddenly Miranda had leaped into the ravine and chased the sixteen dogs away. None of them had the courage to turn around and fight the fierce and terrible cat. Their flight was a disgrace to the dogs of Rome and one of the first of Miranda's great triumphs.

    "You are a great cat," Zag had said to her admiringly.
    "Oh-woe," said Miranda modestly.
    And no cat was allowed on her street either. The cats of Rome knew this by now. However, there had been one cat who came in the night. This was the great and awful lizard cat with the broken tail who had come from Barcelona in Spain to Rome. He had been driven out of
Barcelona by the terrible rooftop cats there because of his tyrannical ways. He had made his own way over the high Pyrenees, not snuggled up closely to some warm human under a warm toga as Zag had been. But by himself, all by himself, he had come to Rome, and he sang in the nighttime of his wanderings. Sometimes Miranda joined in the singing, and these duets were her first great singing. However, she told him he must stay off her street, to come no nearer than the high wall at the end of the alleyway behind their house and to sing there.
    All cats minded Miranda and did what she said.

2. Flight

    Today was Punka's birthday. She was one year old. Claudia had given her a dish of cream to celebrate, and now Miranda was washing her face. Miranda was telling Punka that she was going to have some more kittens soon, any day now. She purred happily and Punka purred, too. Punka promised to mind them sometimes so that Miranda could have some free time and keep the cats and dogs chased away.
    All was peaceful in the garden. Claudia was writing her lessons on her tablet, learning the rules of the ablative absolute. Zag was lying at the garden gate waiting for Marcus. Lavinia was playing the lyre. Both cats rolled over on their backs, closed their eyes, and listened blissfully to the music.
    Suddenly Miranda turned over. She sat up, turned her ears back, and narrowed her eyes. She scanned the sky. She began to clean one of her back legs, the better to think. Between licks, holding her leg stiff and stationary and ready for the next lick, she carefully sniffed the sunny air. She fastened her unblinking glass-green eyes on something she saw high up in the air ... a cloud? Smoke?
    Miranda closed her eyes, the better to smell. She drew in deep sniffs and with each sniff gave a little nod. She did smell smoke! Punka, because of the old bee-bite, smelled nothing. Anyway, she was used to having her mother tell her all the news, what to watch out for, what dog might be coming into their alleyway, and she did little thinking for herself. She continued to listen in ecstasy to the plucking of the strings of the lyre.
    Zag had not smelled anything either. Her
nose had never been very good because of the mean cats of Barcelona. That made two pets in one family that had poor noses, and it was lucky that Miranda's was so excellent. Miranda went over to Zag and told her that she smelled smoke. "You must warn the people," Miranda told her. "Say, 'Ai-ooo! Ai-ooo! Smoke! Fire!'" Zag was a brilliant dog, but she did not smell the smoke, and so she was not going to say, "Ai-ooo!"
    Then a cinder flew into Claudia's eye. She dropped her tablet and leaped up. "Mother!" she cried. "I smell smoke!"
    Her mother quickly laid aside her lyre. "You are right, Claudia," she said. "I smell it, too."
    At this moment Marcus raced up in his chariot. His toga was awry. He was covered with ashes. His horse, Hamilcar Barca, was neighing in terror. "Wuh-huh-huh-huh!" he said. "Wuh-huh-huh-huh!"
    "Come!" shouted Marcus. "Rome is burning. The barbarians are sacking the city. The wind is rising, fire is spreading in every direction, and we must flee! I'll take you to