Spy Cat by Peg Kehret

Author:Peg Kehret [Kehret, Peg]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101661741
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2008-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

10

Benjie heard the bad guys come out of the house. Lying on his stomach, he peered cautiously between the laurel branches, trying to get a good look at the burglars without being seen himself.

Two men crossed the narrow porch toward the steps. The taller of the two wore a red-and-black plaid shirt. He closed the door of the house; Benjie heard it click. The other man’s T-shirt protruded out over the top of his pants, which rode low on his hips. He had what Benjie’s dad would call “a serious case of beer belly.”

Details, Benjie told himself. Remember the details. They both wore faded jeans. The tall one had on a floppy brown hat; the chunky one had a stubbly beard. Both wore sturdy work boots that laced.

The bearded one carried a large cardboard box. Benjie couldn’t see what was in it, but he could tell from the way the man moved that it was heavy.

“Be careful with those dishes,” the tall one said. “They’ll be worth more if they aren’t chipped.”

Mom’s Buttercup, Benjie thought. Those mean men were stealing Mom’s good dishes.

The men moved out of Benjie’s line of sight, but he didn’t dare shift position to keep watching them. He heard a van door shut and knew it was the rear door, where they had loaded everything in. He waited to give them time to get in themselves, but he didn’t hear the other doors close.

As he thought about the van, he realized that he had forgotten the most important thing. He needed to get the number from the license plate. Then, as soon as the bad guys drove away, he could go inside and call the police and report what the van looked like and the license number, and the police would find it for sure.

I should have looked at the number right away while the bad guys were still in the kitchen, Benjie thought. Well, it wasn’t too late. The van was still here.

Benjie eased his head from behind the bush, far enough so he could see the truck’s license plate. 0 9 4 X C L.

Benjie found a twig and began scratching the numbers in the dirt under the laurel bush. If it was written down, he wouldn’t forget it. 0 . . . 9 . . . 4 . . . As he worked, a dog barked somewhere in the next block. Benjie wished Rufus would come here and bark at the bad men and alert Mrs. Sunburg.

He formed the numbers carefully. He could hear the men talking as he worked, but he concentrated on his printing and didn’t pay attention to what they said.

As he started to print the X, the twig snapped. Benjie held his breath, fearing the men had heard it and would come to investigate, but they didn’t.

* * *

Pete finished the hamburger, tried one more time to open the glove compartment, and then jumped on the back of the seat. He needed to wash his whiskers, but he would do that after he got outside.

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