Disappearing Darcy Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Half Title Page

  Title Page

  Adventures at Tabby Towers

  Chapter 1: Hundreds of Cat Heroes

  Chapter 2: Sad News About Joy

  Chapter 3: Crying for J-O-Y

  Chapter 4: Darcy the Star

  Chapter 5: He’s Not Here

  Chapter 6: The Secret Plan

  Chapter 7: The Wrapped Surprise

  Chapter 8: The Purr-Fect Plan

  Is a Ragdoll the Cat for You?

  Explore More

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  It’s Time for Your Adventure at Tabby Towers!

  At Tabby Towers, we give cats the royal treatment. We are a first-class cats-only hotel that promises a safe, fun stay for all guests.

  Tabby Towers has many cat toys and games. We make personal playtime for every guest. And we have a large indoor kitty playground that will satisfy every cat instinct, including climbing and hunting. Also, your kitty will never tire of watching our cow and chickens from the big playground window.

  We are always just a short walk away from the cats. Tabby Towers is located in a large, sunny, heated room at the rear of our farmhouse. Every cat has a private litter box and a private, three-level “condo,” complete with bed, toys, and dishes. Of course, we will follow your feeding schedule too.

  Tabby Towers Who’s Who

  KIT FELINUS

  Kit Felinus (fee-LEE-nus) is a lifelong cat lover. She has worked for cat rescue and shelter operations much of her adult life. After seeing the great success of Hound Hotel — the dog hotel next door — she realized the need for a cat hotel in the area. So she started Tabby Towers. She now cares for cats all day long and couldn’t be happier!

  TOM FELINUS

  Tom Felinus is certain that his wife, Kit, fell in love with him because of his last name, which means “catlike.” He is a retired homebuilder. He built Tabby Towers’ kitty condos, cat trees, and scratching posts. He built the playground equipment too, which will keep your kitty happy for hours.

  TABITHA CATARINA FELINUS (Tabby Cat, for short)

  Tabby Cat is Kit and Tom’s granddaughter and a true cat lover. In fact, the cat hotel is named after her! She helps at Tabby Towers in summer. The 8-year-old daughter of two veterinarians, Tabby lives in the city and has her own cat. She’s read almost as many books about cats as her grandma has! Tabby will give your kitty all the extra attention or playtime he or she may need.

  Next time your family goes on vacation, bring your cat to Tabby Towers.

  Your kitty is sure to have a purr-fect time!

  Chapter 1

  Hundreds of Cat Heroes

  I’m Tabitha Catarina — Tabby Cat, for short. I L-O-V-E, love cats. Hairballs and all. Cats are my favorite animals in the world. I even have a cat of my own. She’s a beautiful Himalayan cat named Bootsie.

  Last spring, my parents gave me a choice. They said I could spend the summer on a big movie set with them or at my grandparents’ farm. (My mom and dad are veterinarians.

  They care for animals that appear in movies. That’s their job.)

  I decided against the movie set. There weren’t going to be any cat actors there, only horses. I chose to spend the summer with Grandma Kit and Grandpa Tom. They’re true cat lovers, like me. In fact, they run a cat hotel on their farm. It’s called Tabby Towers. So when I stay with them, I get to work and play with cats seven days a week!

  I’m such a lucky girl.

  There is a problem, though. And her name is Alfreeda Wolfe. Alfreeda is a girl my age who lives on the farm next door to my grandparents’ place. She wants to be good friends with me, but sometimes she can be so annoying.

  See, Alfreeda L-O-V-E-S, loves dogs. That’s okay, except she brags about them. All. The. Time. She puts down cats a lot too.

  One day last month, she said there were hardly any cat heroes in the world. She acted like every dog was born wearing superhero clothes. She even said a caring, brave cat named Darcy wasn’t a hero. (Darcy was a guest at Tabby Towers that day.) Alfreeda said that cats are too selfish to do great things — even Darcy.

  Well! That certainly made my “claws” come out. Do you think a “cat fight” broke out? Get cozy, and I’ll tell you all about it.

  It was the middle of June, on a warm, rainy morning. Alfreeda, Grandma Kit, and I were in my grandparents’ living room. We were getting ready for a magic show.

  The show was going to start at four o’clock, right there in that big room. Lots of people had said they’d come. I was going to be the magician. I even had an amazing costume.

  My sweet cat, Bootsie, was going to help with the tricks. Bootsie is a super-calm cat. She doesn’t mind a room full of strangers. I knew she’d do a great job.

  I’d already painted the inside of the Magic Disappearing Box black. (Grandpa Tom had built it.) Now I covered a small table with a red cloth. I set three metal cups upside down on the table and hid a tiny metal bell under one of the cups.

  “I know that trick,” said Alfreeda. She was busy painting the outside of the Magic Disappearing Box. “You show Bootsie where the bell is. You cover the bell with a cup. Then you move all the cups around. She watches while you move them, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Bootsie’s really good at this trick. She tracks the bell with her eyes. And ears. No matter how many times I move the cups, she touches the right cup with her paw when I stop.”

  “A lot of dogs are great at that trick,” said Alfreeda. “They do a super job, especially when you put a treat under the cup. A dog’s sense of smell is way more powerful than a cat’s.”

  I wanted to say, “You’ve only been here fifteen minutes, and you’re already bragging about dogs?” But I kept my mouth shut. Grandma Kit was giving me “the look.” She gave me that warning look a lot when Alfreeda was around. It meant, Tabitha, be nice. We’re neighbors.

  “You girls are my heroes for putting on this fund-raiser,” Grandma Kit said. She sat on the couch, sewing a button on my costume. “I love that the magic-show money will go to the cat shelter. Lots of homeless cats will be helped because of you two.”

  “Oh, I’m not a hero,” said Alfreeda. “This fund-raiser was Tabby Cat’s idea, after all.”

  “But you’re helping so much,” Grandma Kit said. “You’re making Bootsie’s disappearing box look so… magical. Look at those stars!”

  “Thanks,” Alfreeda said, beaming.

  Grandma Kit was right. Alfreeda was a great artist. I really needed her skills for the magic show. But I didn’t need to hear her talk about dogs today.

  Grandma Kit stood up and hung my costume on a hanger. “That’s done,” she said. “Tabitha, we have a new hotel guest coming soon, a ragdoll cat named Darcy. Please let me know when he gets here.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Grandma Kit headed through the kitchen toward Tabby Towers, at the back of the house.

  I began to set up a ticket-sales table by the front door. “I can’t wait to meet Darcy,” I said.

  Alfreeda laughed. “I don’t get it,” she said. “What’s a ragdoll cat? You mean, a floppy, stuffed doll that looks like a cat?”

  I shook my head. “Darcy’s not a toy,” I said. “A ragdoll is a type of cat. They’re born being able to do a special trick. They go limp in your arms when you hold them — just like a rag doll. Their bones seem to melt like butter.”

  Alfreeda laughed again. “You’re kidding me,” she said.

  “No,” I said. “Just wai
t. You’ll see.”

  I set up rows of chairs at the far end of the big room. Alfreeda painted more stars on the disappearing box.

  “Maybe we are a little herolike,” Alfreeda said. “But you know who the real heroes are?”

  I rolled my eyes. I knew exactly what she was going to say next.

  “Dogs,” she said. “There are so many dog heroes in the world. They save people’s lives all the time. They pull people from raging fires. They pull them from deep water. They find people in snowstorms. They save them from deadly snakes, from alligators…”

  Mm-hmm. And there was more.

  “But cats?” she said, waving her paintbrush in the air like a magic wand. “You never hear about cats saving people’s lives. Do you? Cats don’t do great things. Know why? Because cats are selfish. They care only about themselves.”

  “That’s not true!” I cried. “There are hundreds of cat heroes!”

  I really wanted to give Alfreeda a long list of cat-hero stories to prove her wrong. But I was so mad, I couldn’t think of one story.

  That’s when the doorbell rang.

  I frowned at Alfreeda and marched across the room. I threw open the front door and forced myself to smile.

  “Hi!” I said to a very sad-looking woman holding a cat carrier. “Welcome to Tabby Towers. My name’s Tabby. Please, come in!”

  Chapter 2

  Sad News About Joy

  The woman stepped into the living room. “Good morning,” she said. “I’m Ms. Jackson. I’m dropping off our cat, Darcy.”

  A man and a girl were waiting in the car outside. The girl covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook.

  “Is everything all right?” I asked Ms. Jackson.

  “Not right now,” she said. “But it will be. We’re headed to the hospital. Our daughter, Joy, has to get her heart fixed.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Will she be okay?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Ms. Jackson. “But Joy’s terribly sad that Darcy can’t be with her at the hospital. Darcy and Joy are best friends.”

  I nodded. “My cat, Bootsie, and I are best friends too,” I said. I kneeled down and looked through the carrier’s door. “Wow,” I exclaimed. “Darcy, you are beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” said Ms. Jackson, smiling for the first time. “He’s a good cat.”

  Darcy was a large cat with a round face. He had big blue eyes, a pink nose, and a little pink mouth. His long, fluffy hair was almost all white. There was just a bit of gray on his face, ears, and tail.

  “I’ve read a lot about ragdoll cats,” I said. “Does Darcy really get all floppy when you hold him?”

  “Yes, he does,” Ms. Jackson said.

  “Weird,” Alfreeda said, standing behind me. “Why do they do that?”

  “No one knows for sure,” Ms. Jackson said. “That floppiness makes ragdolls extra special. Some of them do stop acting floppy as they get older though.”

  “Can I hold him?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Ms. Jackson said. “Darcy is very relaxed, even around new people. But first, would you please tell Kit we’re here? We are in a bit of a hurry.”

  “Sure,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

  I ran into the kitchen and opened the door beside the refrigerator. It led to Tabby Towers. My grandparents had turned their big family room into the cat hotel. I opened the door just a crack so no kitties could leap out. Guests at Tabby Towers had to stay in the hotel at all times. Safety first!

  “Grandma Kit?” I called. “Ms. Jackson’s here with Darcy!”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” she called. “Right after I get the cats into their condos.”

  A row of kitty condos lined one wall in Tabby Towers. Grandpa Tom had built them. Each condo was a little three-level apartment. We never left the guests outside their condos if we weren’t there to watch them.

  I hurried back to the living room and couldn’t believe my eyes. Alfreeda was holding Darcy. Alfreeda! That made my hair stand on end, like the fur on an angry cat. I wanted to hold him first!

  “He’s so heavy,” Alfreeda said.

  “Ragdolls are big cats,” Ms. Jackson said. “They’re strong too.”

  “And he is floppy,” Alfreeda said. “It’s like he has no bones at all.”

  I crossed the room and ran my fingers through Darcy’s hair. It was so soft. Petting him made some of my anger melt away.

  Grandma Kit came in and gave Ms. Jackson a hug. “Hi, Annie,” she said. “Good to see you. I’m sure all will go well at the hospital. And don’t worry about Darcy. We’ll take good care of him while he’s here.”

  “Thank you,” Ms. Jackson said. “Being apart from Joy will be hard on him too, I’m sure. They’re together all the time, night and day.”

  “I’m not surprised,” said Grandma Kit. “Ragdolls are great with children.”

  “We’ll give Darcy lots of love,” I promised.

  “Thank you, dear,” Ms. Jackson said. “We’ll see you again in a few days.” She kissed Darcy and left.

  “Let me hold him now,” I told Alfreeda.

  “Sure thing, Tabby Cat,” she said, putting Darcy in my arms.

  “Wow,” I said. “You are one big, floppy ragdoll, Darcy boy. A handsome one too.”

  Alfreeda watched the Jacksons’ car leave the driveway. “I know Joy from school,” she said. “She’s a grade behind me. I didn’t know she was sick. I wonder what’s wrong with her.”

  “Her heart isn’t working like it should,” said Grandma Kit. “It’s beating too fast. The operation will fix it, we hope.”

  My own heart beat a little faster just thinking about it.

  “That sounds really scary,” Alfreeda said. “Too bad Darcy isn’t a dog. A dog would make Joy feel better. A cat couldn’t care less if its owner is sick.”

  My mouth dropped open. My fingers spread far apart, and my fingernails seemed to grow into claws. I wanted to shout, “That’s not true!” Why couldn’t Alfreeda just take all her dog talk and go home?

  Chapter 3

  Crying for J-O-Y

  I think Grandma Kit could see I was about to say something mean. She took my arm and led me toward Tabby Towers.

  “I think you’d be surprised, Alfreeda,” she said in a cheerful voice. “Cats can be quite loving too. Now, let’s all get Darcy settled, shall we?”

  I took a bunch of deep breaths and tried to calm down. I wanted to talk with Grandma Kit about Alfreeda — alone. But Alfreeda followed us right into the cat hotel, like an annoying puppy that wouldn’t stop bugging me.

  I set Darcy in the middle of the indoor kitty playground. “Look at all the fun things,” I said. “Cat trees and ladders to climb… a kitty highway that you can zoom around on by the ceiling… a kitty swing and seesaw… lots of scratching posts too. Time will fly by. You’ll be together with J-O-Y again before you know it!”

  I knew better than to say Joy’s name out loud. But Darcy seemed to be a very smart cat. The second I said “J-O-Y,” he started to cry. Not quiet, little meows either. They were loud, high-pitched cries, one after another.

  And Darcy didn’t want to play with any toys. He started to walk around the room really fast. He looked behind the cat trees, behind the seesaw, behind a plant, behind Grandpa Tom’s rocking chair…

  “Oh dear,” Grandma Kit said. “He’s searching for his lost friend.”

  “J-O-Y?” I mouthed.

  She nodded. “Some cats get very upset when their person leaves,” she said. “How on Earth are we going to cheer him up and keep him happy while he’s here?”

  I watched Darcy search for Joy. I listened to his super-sad meowing. I felt worse for him by the second.

  Then I got an idea.

  “I know what might cheer him up,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Come he
re, Darcy. I have something to show you.”

  Chapter 4

  Darcy the Star

  I picked up Darcy and carried him back to the living room. Alfreeda and Grandma Kit followed.

  I set him beside the star-covered Magic Disappearing Box.

  “Look, buddy,” I said. “We’re having a magic show today. My cat, Bootsie, was going to fool the crowd in this trick box. But you can take her place. You’ll be the star!”

  Darcy hung his head and meowed sadly. He didn’t even look at the box.

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Tabitha,” Grandma Kit said. “It will help take his mind off you-know-who. I’ll lock the front door. Don’t open any doors until Darcy is back in the hotel,” she warned. “I’ll block Scruffy’s door too. If you need me, I’ll be in the hotel.”

  “Thanks, Grandma Kit,” I said.

  Scruffy was Grandma Kit’s indoor-outdoor cat. He had a small door in the kitchen that led to the farmyard. He was the only cat at Tabby Towers that was allowed to go outside.

  I heard Grandma Kit push a heavy basket of potatoes across the kitchen floor. She always used it to block Scruffy’s door when she wanted to keep him inside.

  “Okay, buddy,” I said to Darcy. “This is how the box works. We open the little purple curtain in the front, like this. We put you inside the box, like this.”

  I set Darcy gently inside. He stared at the black wall, then at the black ceiling.

  “The inside is painted all black to fool the people watching,” I explained in a soft voice.

  He’s acting so calm, I thought. Terrific! My plan’s working!

  “See how far away the chairs are?” I asked him. “That’s on purpose. The people watching can’t tell that the ‘wall’ behind you isn’t wood. It’s black cloth.”

  “Meow,” Darcy said. He really seemed to be listening to me and forgetting about Joy.