Free Catch as Cat Can by Claire Donally

papers thing.” She grinned. “But his expression was so priceless.”
    â€œHe takes this stuff seriously. After all, he is a businessman.”
    â€œOkay, okay,” Val said. “I promise to be nicer to your boss.”
    â€œIt could be the difference between honey and vinegar in drawing the fly,” Sunny said.
    Silence fell as they devoted themselves to their sandwiches, until Val, putting her napkin down, said, “Speaking of honey, does this place do any good desserts?”
    Sunny smiled. Here was a person after her own heart. “Do you like whoopie pies?”
    â€œThose cookie things with the whipped cream?” Val asked.
    â€œIf you have to ask like that, you haven’t had a real whoopie pie,” Sunny told her. “But they have them here.”
    â€œOh, really?” Val purred. “You know I’ll have to test that.”
    Sunny nodded. “And maybe another cup ofchocolate.”

6
    Shadow glared down from his vantage point on top of the refrigerator, his tail lashing in aggravation. Usually, this was his place to look down on the world and those crazy two-legs. But today it felt more like a refuge.
    The Old One had come home all sweated up, something that always baffled Shadow. How did he manage to do that when it was freezing out? It had looked to be a typical day. The Old One had gone upstairs and washed himself off so that he didn’t smell so bad, sitting on the big chair and drifting off into a nap, which was fine with Shadow. He did the same.
    But when the Old One got up and fixed himself something to eat, he put the picture box on. Shadow hadn’t paid attention. He’d made a nice warm spot for himself, creating a sort of cave with a blanket. The last thing he expected wasfor the Old One to jump up and run to the box. The sound came louder, killing any hope of a continued nap. By the time Shadow got out to see what the trouble was, the Old One had already turned off the picture.
    Usually, the Old One only got this excited when the picture box showed gangs of two-legs running around and chasing a ball. Then the human would shout and shake his arms. This time, though, he sat down but didn’t go back to sleep. Instead he picked up the talking thing and began to poke at it.
    Shadow was close enough that he could hear some of the voices that came from somewhere inside the device. One sounded like Sunny, although the Old One didn’t talk to her. Another sounded like the Old One’s She, and they talked for a while. But Sunny’s father didn’t seem very happy when they stopped. He talked to other humans, male and female, and just seemed to grow more anxious.
    The Old One finally stopped talking, but he didn’t stay seated. Shadow wasn’t sure what to do. He and the human finally got along, but it was more like an armed truce than good feelings. Shadow didn’t trust the Old One not to misinterpret any friendly overture. He’d known some humans to kick him away when he’d tried to rub against them and make them feel better.
    So in the end, Shadow had tried to follow the Old One as he paced unpredictably back and forth around the room, sometimes looking at his wrist, sometimes looking out the window.
    Is he waiting for Sunny?
Shadow wondered as he scrambled to keep up with the longer legs. Finally he had to retreat to the kitchen to make sure he didn’t get stepped on.
    The problem was, the Old One had managed to transfer his anxiety to Shadow. Safely on top of the refrigerator, far away from voices and feet, the cat should have been able to compose himself for another nap, even if he didn’t have a blanket-cave anymore. Instead, his tail beat an uneasy time as he watched the shadow of the roving human shift around the hall.
    Annoyance made him want to leap down, charge down the hall, and pounce on it, even though he knew shadows couldn’t be hurt or even caught. And he certainly knew better than to try