Free Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl by Daniel Pinkwater

adopted."
    "What were the mysterious circumstances?"
    "It was said that she had come in a flying saucer."
    "They knew about the flying saucers back then?" I asked.
    "More so than now," Chicken Nancy said. "There
was more flying saucer activity in the nineteenth century than there is today. People had a lot of theories about them, and there were books written and articles in the press. Even Mr. Lincoln used to tell a story about flying saucers."
    "Abraham Lincoln?"
    "Yes. He told a story about a flying saucer that landed in New York City and broke a wheel. The captain of the flying saucer went into the nearest open shop, which happened to be a bagel shop.
    "'Give me one of those flying saucer wheels,' the saucer captain said.
    "'Those are not wheels,' the shopkeeper said. 'They are bagels.'
    "'Bagels?' the saucer captain said. 'What are bagels? What do you do with them?'
    "'We eat them,' the shopkeeper said. 'Here, try one.' He handed the saucer captain a bagel.
    "The flying saucer captain took a bite of the bagel. 'Not bad,' the saucer captain said. 'You know what would go well with this?'
    "'What?' the shopkeeper asked.
    "'Lox, and cream cheese,' the space man said."
    "Abraham Lincoln told that story?"
    "Abraham Lincoln knew about lox and cream cheese?"
    "And flying saucers?"
    "Well, he told a lot of stories," Chicken Nancy said. "And he was president of the United States, so he knew about everything, lox and cream cheese included. As to knowing about flying saucers, some think he came from another planet himself."
    "I love history," Molly said. "It's my favorite subject. But what about Elizabeth? Do you know more about her?"
    "My mother said she was a nice girl, kind and pleasant, and aside from her special powers, normal in every way."
    "Her special powers?"
    "Yes, she seemed to know when the flying saucers were going to appear, and some thought she could communicate with them—but the really unusual thing about her was that she seemed to have some kind of relationship with the Wolluf."
    "The Wolluf?" I asked.
    Weer whimpered under the table.
    "The Wolluf is a rare animal," Chicken Nancy said. "Either it is the last great wolf here in the Hudson Valley, or it is supernatural—maybe a werewolf. It is almost never seen, and very large and wild. People were very much afraid of it."
    "You said it
is
—present tense," Molly said. "It doesn't still exist, does it?"
    "Some say it doesn't—those who remember it at all," Chicken Nancy said. "I say it does. There are a lot of stories about it, including the belief that anyone who sees it will go mad. Of course that is not true—I saw it once when I was a young girl, and nothing happened to me. I was frightened, of course, but it didn't cause me to lose my mind. Anyway, Elizabeth Van Vreemdeling was quite chummy with it, and for that reason people feared her and thought she was a witch."
    "You saw the Wolluf?" I asked. "What was it like?"
    "Well, let's say that compared to seeing the Wolluf, meeting the Muffin Man is like a birthday party," Chicken Nancy said. "I see you have finished your tea. Pass your cups to me and I will read the leaves."
    "Read the leaves?"
    "At the bottom of your cup, the little fragments of tea leaves will have made a pattern. I can tell what they mean."
    I looked into my cup. I didn't need Chicken Nancy to tell me what the pattern meant. It was more of a picture than a pattern—a shaggy, scary, four-footed picture. I passed her the cup and she looked into it.
    "Oh, my," she said. "What a coincidence. The Wolluf."
    "What do my tea leaves say?" Molly asked.
    "Another coincidence," Chicken Nancy said. "A castle."
    "Why is that a coincidence?"
    "Because the only castle around here is on Pollepel Island, and Pollepel Island is said to be the best place to run into the Wolluf."

CHAPTER 26
Destiny

    "What became of Elizabeth Van Vreemdeling?" I asked.
    "She disappeared one day," Chicken Nancy said. "Nobody knew where she went. Do you girls