A Night full of events

Kitty finished her food and headed toward the street. She wanted to give herself some time to think. She hadn’t taken more than a few steps from the house when Ralphy came rushing toward her and called out excitedly, “Kitty! Kitty!” He was panting, as if he had flown there in a single breath. Speaking in bursts and out of breath, he said, “Kitty, Shooper agreed! Tomorrow, all of you can come. The top floor of the cinema—on the rooftop!”

Kitty nodded and kept walking. She gave a low purr and said to Ralphy, “I’ll see you later.” She headed toward the park. It was getting late in the afternoon, and the air had turned a little chilly. The streets were crowded. She wandered through the alleys, rubbing herself against trees. The smell of food filled the air, but she was full. She strolled aimlessly, and suddenly found herself near the Pettioles’ house.

She wanted to see Lucy. She walked toward the tree across from the house, climbed it slowly, and from up there, looked toward the house. She caught sight of Hugo’s shadow through the fence bars. Disappointed not to see Lucy, she climbed down from the tree, stretched, and curiously crawled under a car. In the darkness, her eyes suddenly locked with another pair glowing back at her.

Both of them screamed and jumped out from under the car. Kitty quickly scrambled up the tree.

Kitty saw a shadow from up the tree that was limping away. She was panting, the hairs on her body had stood up, and her ears were twitching. As she kept watching more closely, she gradually recognized Lucy. She came down from the tree and called out to her: “Lucy, Lucy!”

But Lucy didn’t respond. What if she was mistaken? She tried to get closer. She called her again. That moment, Lucy turned around and stopped.

Kitty greeted her and said, “Lucy, what happened?”

It was then that she noticed Lucy’s appearance. That normally clean look had become severely dirty. In some spots, there were visible wounds with dried blood over them. Bruises could be seen on her body.

Kitty stared at her in confusion. In that moment, a thought flashed through her mind. She looked at Lucy, whose eyes had filled with tears, and said, “Hugo…”

Lucy nodded.

Kitty thought for a moment and said, “We’ll deal with him at the right time.” Then she added, “For now, let’s go and treat your wounds.”

With difficulty, she helped Lucy get to Margaret’s house. The door was closed. As always, there was a bowl of milk left by the door. She told Lucy, “You drink the milk—I just ate.”

Then she pressed herself against the door, started clawing at it, and meowed. But really, she was moaning, calling Margaret.

After a few minutes, a light came on. Kitty looked toward Lucy and realized she had fainted.

She panicked and started scratching the door louder. Gradually, she heard Margaret’s voice approaching. Kitty was flustered and prayed for Margaret to open the door soon.

Finally, the door opened. Margaret recognized Kitty, sat on the ground, and whispered, “Oh my poor thing, what are you doing here at this hour?” and hugged her.

Kitty barely managed to hang from Margaret’s arms and started whining, then leaped toward Lucy. Margaret finally noticed Lucy.

“Oh, who did this to this poor child? My God,” she said.

“I hope she’s still alive,” she added, and then took both of them inside.