Witch Switch (12 page)

“Do you want to hold her, Mom?” Jeremy asked, holding the kitten out to his mother.

“Well, I don't know ...” Mrs. Fox began.

“Oh, go ahead, Emily,” Jeremy's Aunt Sheila suggested. “We were never allowed to hold the stray cats around our house.” She looked at Katie and Jeremy. “Our mother wouldn't let us,” she explained.

“Well, all right,” Mrs. Fox said, taking the kitten from Jeremy's arms. She held her just like a baby. “My, she is soft.”

“Your mother was right not to let you touch stray cats,” Dr. Bader told Jeremy's aunt. “Some stray cats can have diseases. And others can be pretty mean—especially if they're afraid. This happens to be a very gentle kitten.”

“That's a good kind of kitten for a kid to adopt, isn't it?” Katie asked Dr. Bader hopefully.

“The best kind,” the veterinarian agreed.

“Look how sweet she is, Mom,” Jeremy said.

“Oh, she's cuddling up to your neck,” his aunt added. “You have to admit you like that.”

“I can help Jeremy take care of her,” Katie told Mrs. Fox. “I have lots of experience with animals.”

Mrs. Fox sighed. “Well, I can't fight all three of you,” she said slowly.

The kitten purred.

“Make that all
four
of you,” Mrs. Fox corrected herself with a laugh. She turned to Jeremy. “And you'll be sure to feed her and give her water?”

Jeremy nodded. “I'll even clean her litter box.”

“Wow,” Aunt Sheila said. “That's pretty impressive.”

Mrs. Fox sighed heavily and handed the kitten back to Jeremy. “Well then, I guess we have a new member of the family,” she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. “I'd better call and warn your dad. I don't want him to be surprised when he walks into the house and finds cat toys in the living room.”

“Make sure you get a scratching post,” Katie suggested, remembering how good it had felt to scratch at the tree in her front yard. “I know the kitten will love that.”

“So, what are you going to name your new friend?” Dr. Bader asked Jeremy.

Jeremy stared at his kitten for a while. “I think I'll call her Lucky,” he said finally. He smiled at Katie. “Because she and I are so lucky to have each other.”

Katie smiled broadly. “That's perfect!” she exclaimed.

Chapter 23

“Lucky has got the softest fur,” Jeremy told the other kids that evening as they walked around Cherrydale trick-or-treating. “I didn't want to put her down to eat dinner. But my mom made me.”

Katie smiled as she listened to Jeremy telling everyone about his new kitten. He had wanted a pet for so long. And now he had one. Katie knew how wonderful that could be.

“I can't wait to introduce Lucky to Pepper,” Jeremy said to Katie. “I'll bet they'll be best friends, just like we are.”

Katie tried not to laugh. She knew that wasn't going to happen. At least not right away.

“I don't know,” she told him. “A dog and a cat can be trouble together. Pepper will probably start barking. And Lucky will get upset and climb up a tree or something.”

“Oh, I don't think so,” Jeremy insisted. “Sure, some cats and dogs fight. But not Pepper and Lucky. They're different.”

Wanna bet?
Katie thought. But she didn't say anything.

“Well, I can't believe you adopted a black cat,” Suzanne said as she lugged her bag of candy down the block.

“And I can't believe you took seven pieces of candy from Mr. Brigandi's candy bowl,” George told her.

Suzanne shrugged. “He said ‘Take whatever you want,'” she explained. “So I did.”

“I think it was very brave of Jeremy to adopt a black cat,” Becky told Suzanne. “Even unlucky animals need homes.”

“Lucky is not unlucky,” Jeremy told her angrily.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Becky said. “I'm not afraid of Lucky. I can't wait to meet her!” She smiled at him as she fixed her football helmet and pads. Becky had dressed as a football player for Halloween. “Come on, let's go to the next house.” She ran up the steps and rang the doorbell.

“I'll bet Lucky won't like
her
,” Jeremy groaned. “Why can't Becky just leave me alone?”

George laughed and lifted up his one-eyed monster mask. “We sure collected a lot of candy tonight,” he told the others. “Much more than I ever would have gotten back in my old neighborhood.”

“I'm never going to be able to eat all this candy,” Emma W. admitted. She smiled through her white bridal veil. “Good thing I have so many people in my house to share it with.”

“I guess a big family can come in handy sometimes,” Katie said. “I can't share my candy with Pepper. Candy is terrible for dogs. Especially chocolate.”

“Cats too,” Jeremy said. He smiled at Katie. “That's something else Lucky and Pepper have in common!”

Katie nodded. Jeremy really wanted their pets to be friends. Well, maybe they could. Pepper could change his mind about Lucky. After all, stranger things had happened ... lots of times!

“Okay, let's fly over to Mrs. Hamilton's house,” Mrs. Carew suggested. Katie's mom had used the extra black material from Katie's dress and cape to make herself a bat costume. She waved her arms up and down so her bat wings looked like they were flying.

“Yeah!” Kevin cheered from underneath the white sheet that was his ghost costume. “I can't wait to see those jack-o'-lanterns!”

“Especially the one of the cat,” Jeremy added.

Suzanne groaned. “Are you going to talk about that kitten the whole time we're trick-or-treating?”

Jeremy smiled at her. “Yep!”

Suzanne sighed. “It's going to be a long night.”

“There's Mrs. Hamilton's house,” George shouted, running up to the door. “Wow! Those pumpkins are so cool!”

“I'm glad you like them, George,” Mrs. Hamilton said as she walked out onto her porch.

Katie stared at her in amazement. Mrs. Hamilton was dressed in a long, flowing dress. She was wearing a blond wig and lots of makeup. “Wow,” Katie told her. “You look like a movie star.”

“Yeah,” George agreed. “You don't look like a witch at all!”

“George!” Katie exclaimed. “That's not nice!”

But Mrs. Hamilton laughed. “I hope not,” she told George with a grin. “Now, I'll bet you kids want something, don't you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kevin said. “I almost forgot.” He held out his bag. “Trick or treat!”

As Mrs. Hamilton placed a chocolate bar in Kevin's bag, Katie began to feel a cool breeze blowing on her neck.

Oh, no!
she thought nervously.
Not now. Not tonight when I'm having so much fun. I don't want to be switcherooed tonight. I just want to be Katie. Well, Katie dressed as a witch. But Katie just the same.

“Oh, my, it's getting a little windy,” Mrs. Hamilton remarked. “I think I'm going to have to get my shawl.”

Katie breathed a sigh of relief. If Mrs. Hamilton felt the wind, then it couldn't be the magic wind. It was just a regular old, everyday, run-of-the-mill kind of wind.

Katie had nothing to worry about. She could concentrate on what was most important on Halloween night.

She held out her bag and smiled at Mrs. Hamilton. “Trick or treat!” she said happily.

About the Author

NANCY KRULIK
is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults, including three
New York Times
bestsellers. She lives in New York City with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their children, Amanda and Ian, and Pepper, a chocolate and white spaniel mix. When she's not busy writing the
Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo
series, Nancy loves swimming, reading, and going to the movies. Halloween is Nancy's favorite holiday—she just loves filling her apartment with skeletons, ghosts, goblins, and sticky spiderwebs. But Nancy's apartment isn't really haunted . . . or at least she doesn't think so!

About the Illustrators

JOHN & WENDY'S art has been featured in other books for children, in magazines, on stationery, and on toys. When they are not drawing Katie and her friends, they like to paint, take photographs, travel, and play music in their rock-n-roll band. They live and work in Brooklyn, NY.