Homeless
Chapter Eleven
Even though Sunita feels perfectly fine on Monday morning, Mother and Daddy insist she stays home. She spent two hours convincing them to let her keep volunteering at the clinic, so she’s not going to argue about staying home another day. They’re all tired of arguing.
After breakfast, Sunita begins her research. She looks for articles about why cats make great pets. She searches for feral cats, wild cats, and anything else she can find to help her case. She finds more information about rabies as well. It takes two days of typing, but by bedtime on Tuesday, her report is ready. It’s thirty-two pages long, complete with a table of contents, bibliography, and a cover page with fancy graphics. It’s titled “Why Cats Are Great.”
As Sunita kisses her Mother goodnight, she sets the report on the couch next to her. Mother opens it and scans the table of contents. She tells Sunita it’s not the time to ask for a cat again. Sunita asks her to just read it. Even after being bitten, Sunita wants a cat more than anything. They understand her, and she understands them. This means a lot to her, and it would mean a lot to her if Mother just reads it.
On Wednesday, Sunita is allowed to go back to school. Sunita loves school. People might think that’s strange, but she doesn’t care. She loves science experiments, doing math problems, learning history, and checking out big piles of books from the library. Gym isn’t her favorite class in the world, but you can’t have everything.
Wednesday flies by. Sunita has to repeat the story of what happened with Tiger about fifty million times to her classmates and teachers. It doesn’t help that Sunita’s parents made her wear a bandage.
After school, Sunita goes to the clinic. Maggie tells Sunita to go see what they’re doing in the recovery room. The others all head for their normal chores: cleaning, organizing, and making sure cupboards are stocked with supplies. Sunita sets her backpack behind the counter and walks down the hall to the recovery room. As Sunita opens the door, both Dr. Mac and Dr. Gabe are removing the thick mitts they use for handling the feral cats.
Dr. Mac says Sunita is just in time to say goodbye to their first TVSR graduates. Gary will be there soon to pick them up. Sunita asks if there’s any further news on Socrates. Dr. Mac shakes her head. It’s like he boarded a bus and left town. But they’re all keeping their hopes up. Tiger is being quarantined upstairs in Dr. Mac’s bathroom. Dr. Mac is the only person allowed near him. Dr. Mac says that his leg is healing quickly, and there are no signs of rabies. He’ll be ready for release as soon as the quarantine is over. In fact, given all of this hubbub about rabies, maybe the volunteers should go through Dr. Mac’s existing clients and look for any pets that are falling behind on their own vaccinations.
The kitchen is the best part of Dr. Mac’s house. It’s so big there’s a couch in it. There’s a giant fireplace at the far end of the table. Sunita hopes the fire will be lit in the winter because that would be really cozy. The five volunteers sit around the kitchen table with Sherlock dozing under, and Sneakers, Zoe’s puppy, trying to wake him. It’s almost perfect. They’re only missing one very important cat. The room feels cold without Socrates. Maggie says that Sherlock keeps sniffing all over the house looking for Socrates, but even he can’t find him.
The volunteers sit in glum silence staring at the pile of folders on the table. They can’t give up yet. Sunita is sure that Socrates can make it a few blocks to come home. In her research, she read about cats that traveled across the country to go back home. They have to be positive.
Sunita explains about the convincing that she had to do to let her parents let her come back to the clinic. Sunita says she got her Mother reading all the stuff to prove cats aren’t the horrible beasts she imagines. Believe it or not, Sunita is still trying to get a cat of her own. Anyway, Sunita really wants to see the release of all of the cats with the rest of the volunteers. The feral cats will be happy to be outside again.
Brenna is confused. Sunita was the person who said all cats need a home. A blush creeps up to meet Sunita’s neck. Sunita explains that she wasn’t thinking about what the cats felt like when she said that. Dr. Mac is right. The ferals belong outside, where they’re used to living.
Maggie says they hope they can capture Mittens this time. It’d be great if they can find a home for her kittens. The volunteers sort through all the files in silence, making lists of clients to contact about their overdue vaccinations. Suddenly, Sherlock lets out a deep bark. David peeks through the blinds, and announces that it’s Gary. It’s time to release the cats.