Free Claws! by R. L. Stine Page A

that dead cat back here.”
    Gripping the cat carrier tightly, I turned and ran. My shoes slapped the asphalt parking lot. I ran without seeing, without thinking.
    I just heard those terrifying words over and over.
    Did I really have a dead cat in my hands?
    I saw Bella get run over by that truck. How could she be back?
    I could still hear the yowls of the cats inside the store. I reached the bus stop and glanced back. The three men were still standing in the parking lot, watching me.
    They wanted to make sure I left. Why were they so afraid?
    I had only questions. No answers.
    When the bus finally came, I climbed on and took my seat in the very back. I set the carrier down gently on my lap.
    The bus started up. I brought my face close to the screen on the carrier. Bella was sitting up, staring out at me calmly.
    “Are you really dead?” I asked her softly.
    She brought her face up against the screen and tried to lick my hand.
    Amanda was waiting on the front stoop of the Caplans’ house. “Where did you go?” she asked. “Why did you take the cat?”
    “We have to talk,” I said. “It’s too weird. It’s all too weird.”
    I set the carrier down. Bella let out a soft cry.
    Amanda squatted down to see Bella. “Is she okay?”
    “I—I don’t think so,” I said. “I mean, I don’t really know. I took her back to Cat Heaven.”
    “You
what?”
Amanda cried.
    “They wouldn’t take her back,” I said. “They’ve been searching for us all this time to tell us we can’t return her.”
    “That’s crazy,” Amanda said.
    “That’s not the crazy part,” I said. “Here’s the crazy part. They told me this cat is dead.”
    To my surprise, Amanda burst out laughing.
    “I really believed you for a moment,” she said. She slapped my shoulder. “You got me. You looked as serious as an artichoke!”
    “I
am
serious,” I told her. “It isn’t a joke.”
    “You’re saying there’s a dead cat looking outat us from this carrier case?” Amanda demanded. “Bella Two is a dead cat? Some kind of zombie?”
    I shrugged. “That’s what they told me. And they weren’t joking. They were totally serious.”
    “Do you have the Caplans’ key?” Amanda said. “Let’s go inside and talk about this.”
    I unlocked the front door, picked up the cat carrier, and followed Amanda inside.
    “Oh, nooo!” I uttered a cry.
    We both stopped in the doorway and cried out in shock.
    The living room was
filled
with cats.

31
    Two cats sprawled on the couch. One sat on the coffee table. Another cat had climbed on top of the TV. Two sat on the carpet in front of us.
    They were scrawny and mean looking. Hunched. Their fur ragged and patchy. One of them had only half a tail. The cat perched on the TV was missing an eye.
    Inside the carrier, Bella let out a screech. She began to claw furiously at the side. The door popped open—and Bella came shooting out.
    The cats tossed back their heads and began to yowl. They jumped off the furniture and began to circle Amanda and me. They eyed us menacingly. Bared their fangs and hissed.
    “Do you see them?” I cried.
    Amanda grabbed my shirtsleeve. “Yes. I see them. Where did these cats come from?” she cried. “What are they
doing
here?”
    “I—I don’t know,” I stammered. “Maybe—maybe they’re
all dead
!”
    Bella arched her back and screeched at the circling cats. The black fur on her back stood straight up. She screeched again and again.
    “Let’s get
out
of here!” I cried.
    Amanda and I spun away from them. We started for the front door.
    And the door swung open in front of us.
    “Hey!” I cried out.
    Mrs. Caplan came walking in.
    She wore a short-sleeved red T-shirt over a long-sleeved yellow T-shirt and a short purple skirt. She had her dark hair tied up in a purple bandanna. When she saw the ragged cats, her dark eyes bulged. She dropped the suitcase she’d been carrying.
    Mr. Caplan came in right behind her, lugging two suitcases. He wore a