Homeless

Table of Contents

• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• Chapter Twelve
• Chapter Thirteen
• Chapter Fourteen
• Chapter Fifteen
• Chapter Sixteen

Chapter One

Zoe still thinks Sunita needs a cat. As the kids ride the bus home to Dr. Mac’s Place, the veterinary clinic where they volunteer, Sunita insists it’s useless, since Mother won’t let her.

Sunita loves every kind of cat, long-haired, short-haired, tabby, Siamese, or stray, and could watch them for hours. Mother feels differently. Sunita suspects cats scare her, though Mother blames shedding and ruined furniture instead.

Maggie leans across the aisle, insisting Sunita is great with cats and deserves one. David notes a cat would clear the mice from the basement, and Brenna suggests listing all the reasons Sunita wants one.

Sunita shakes her head. A list won’t help, since Mother wants a cat without fur, claws, teeth, a litter box, or food. Maggie points out that Mother did surprise her by allowing her to volunteer at the clinic. Sunita expected the experience to cure her desire for a cat, but it only deepened it.

Dr. J.J. MacKenzie, Maggie and Zoe’s grandmother, runs the clinic and recruited Brenna, David, and Sunita to volunteer a month ago, the best thing to happen to Sunita. They see all kinds of animals, from cats and canaries to puppies and pigs, and the vets let them help during exams, learning about X-rays and blood tests.

Some jobs are boring and smelly, cleaning cages, mopping floors, but Sunita treats every task as important. She wants to be a vet, so she does whatever Dr. Mac asks and tries to learn everything she can about animals, especially cats.

That research probably explains why Socrates, Dr. Mac’s nearly twenty-pound cat, loves her. His fur blends orange, rust, and yellow. He acts aloof with others. Maggie says he won’t let her hold him, but he hops onto Sunita’s lap and greets her at the door. Dr. Mac credits her calm, quiet nature.

Sunita has her own theory: Socrates senses how badly she wants a cat and adopted her right back. He’s become her pet away from home.

Dr. Mac’s Place comes into view, a two-story brick house with dark green shutters and a matching door. The one-story clinic addition juts out on the left, with its own door and two windows facing the street. Socrates pokes his head from the flowers for petting, and Zoe points out another cat in the yard.

The newcomer, a very pregnant tuxedo cat with white paws and a white patch on her chest, steps onto the grass. Socrates stiffens, growls, and hisses, tail whipping and ears flattened, clearly warning her away.