Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Piercing feline screams interrupted Bob and Mary's welcome wagon. Merle, Pearl, and the Tennessee squirrels all turned quickly toward the ear-splitting sounds coming from the walnut tree outside Michael's window. Mr. Nemesis, with his right front paw held high, slipped off an upper branch and plummeted toward the ground. They say that cats always land on their feet. This is because cats have something called a "righting reflex," which allows them to turn their bodies in midair to point their paws downward. In the middle of his righting reflex, Mr. Nemesis struck a branch and was instantly unrighted. He twisted violently around and struck another thin branch. This time, however, he was able to grab hold of the twig with his right front paw (the one without the splinter). Mr. Nemesis hung on for dear life, hissing up a storm. "Larry!!! You okay???" Bob yelled frantically. "Who's Larry?" Merle wondered. "Hold on a sec." Larry's relieved voice sounded from high in the tree. "Where are you?!" Mary called out. "Hold on. Gimme a few." Then they heard a relieved- sounding sigh.

"What's going on?!" Bob demanded. "Can you just hold your horses?!" Larry replied, annoyed. The four squirrels standing on Michael's windowsill all looked at each other and shrugged. Finally, Larry appeared from behind the trunk high on the walnut tree. "Hey, everybody," he called down. "Feeling much better now." He spotted Mr. Nemesis holding on to the branch below. "Oh, hey, sorry about that, kitty. When you gotta go, you gotta go, am I right?" Mr. Nemesis let out a loud, angry growl. "What is happening here?" Pearl demanded. "This all looks really fishy."

该页暂无翻译

As the cat continued to dangle high in the air above them, Bob and Mary came clean about Mr. Nemesis's plot. "Why, that rotten cat!" Merle exclaimed. "We're so sorry we went along with it," Mary apologized. "But he was going to eat our friend." "And he wouldn't even give me a potty break!" Larry added from on high. Pearl gazed at the helpless, dangling feline. "We need to help him before he gets hurt." Merle, Bob, and Mary turned toward Pearl. they said in unison.

"We're not helping that cat!" Merle exclaimed. "He was going to eat us!" "Are you nuts?!" Mary said. "Merle," Pearl said calmly, "I think we need to show some mercy to Mr. Nemesis." "Mercy?! Mercy?!" Merle repeated. "Why in the world would we do that?!"