Free Spy Cat by Peg Kehret

van.
    Fighting back tears, Benjie hesitated on the porch. Brave spies don’t run away, he told himself. I need to stayhere and get evidence against the bad guys. I need to make sure they don’t kidnap Lizzy or Pete.
    *   *   *
    Mrs. Sunburg put the last pan of snickerdoodles in the oven. She remembered that young boys are always hungry when they get home from school, and they like cookies, especially cookies that are fresh out of the oven.
    Mrs. Sunburg felt so fortunate that she and Mary could live in this lovely new house, with plenty of room for her foster animals.
    She was lucky to have neighbors who were friendly, too. When Mrs. Kendrill had come over Saturday afternoon with a loaf of banana bread to welcome her to the neighborhood, Mrs. Sunburg had been overjoyed.
    The women had shared a pot of tea and Mrs. Sunburg had told how helpful Alex and Benjie had been, carrying in all those boxes. She had offered to have the boys visit anytime.
    Mrs. Kendrill and Alex and Rocky had helped enormously after the burglary, too, so Mrs. Sunburg had been pleased to say yes when she’d been asked to watch Benjie for an hour after school today.
    Mrs. Sunburg inhaled the sweet cinnamon-sugar smell of the cookie and decided it wouldn’t hurt her diet too much if she ate one or two with Benjie.
    While the cookies baked she washed the mixing bowland the measuring cups. Then she set out a glass for Benjie’s milk and started a pot of coffee for herself.
    He should be here any minute.
    Rufus nudged her leg, an old sock in his teeth. The ends dangled downward on both sides of his mouth like a droopy mustache.
    Mary had tied a knot in the sock, and it had become Rufus’s favorite toy. He loved to bite the knot, shaking his head and growling furiously while someone tugged on the two ends of the sock.
    “We’re having company today,” Mrs. Sunburg told Rufus. “Benjie will play with you when he gets here.”
    While the coffee brewed Mrs. Sunburg looked out the window, watching for Benjie to come running up the driveway. She smiled, remembering when her own two boys had been that age. They never walked; they only ran, hopped, jumped, or skipped.
    A few minutes later, Mrs. Sunburg’s smile was replaced by a worried frown. He really should have been here by now. Had he forgotten that he was supposed to come to her house?
    Perhaps I should go next door, she thought. But the last pan of cookies still had six minutes to bake, and she didn’t like to leave the house when the oven was turned on.
    She dialed the Kendrills’ number and got an answering machine. She did not leave a message.
    She waited a couple of minutes and dialed again but hung up when the machine clicked on.
    The oven timer rang. Mrs. Sunburg turned the oven off and put the cookies to cool with the others.
    She stepped out to the front porch and listened for the sound of the departing school bus. She heard only the distant drone of a jet plane high overhead.
    The Kendrills didn’t seem like the kind of people who would make arrangements for her to watch their child and then not bother to call when she wasn’t needed. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became.
    Feeling both disappointed and apprehensive, she poured herself a cup of coffee and sampled a snickerdoodle. She would wait another five minutes. If Benjie still hadn’t come, she would go over there and look for him.
    *   *   *
    Benjie knew that he couldn’t let the bad guys see him. Mom and Dad and Alex had said the bad guys wouldn’t kidnap anyone, but Benjie wasn’t taking any chances. He decided to hide in the bushes until they left; then he would go in and call 911 before he ran to Mrs. Sunburg’s house.
    With his heart still pounding, Benjie jumped off the side of the porch. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled behind the laurel bushes that lined the front of his house. He had to lie almost flat because the laurel bushes weren’t very big yet. Mom had planted them