Cat by the Tail - Softcover

Verney, Sarah J.

3.66

35 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671023837 ISBN 13: 9780671023836

Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 1999

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"I urge you to worship me." -- Salem Salem is being terrorized! When Hilda brings home a tiny kitten she finds, Salem feels out-cuted and downright ignored. What's worse is that the "temporary" guest acts more like a permanent pet, sleeping in Salem's favorite spots, following him everywhere, and monopolizing Sabrina and her aunts. Salem doesn't like to share -- especially with a little furball -- so he does a few not-so-nice things and lets the kitty take the blame. But when a huge goon with a Doberman shows up, causing more commotion than a hair-ball, how far will Salem go to prove that he's the Spellman's top cat?

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About the Author:

Sarah J. Verney has been a writer for many years, working on everything from promotional materials for the prune industry to a manual on children's health care. In recent years she has focused almost entirely on novels for children, which are more fun to write than prune promotions. Sarah lives in Orange, Connecticut, with her husband, Robert Fink, their three children, Evan, Luke and Abby, and two cats, Misty and Avalanche. Avalanche keeps a low profile, but Misty feels it is her responsibility to be in the middle of everything. She helped write this book by perching on Sarah's shoulders as she worked, sleeping with her head on Sarah's hands while she typed, and walking on the keyboard at every opportunity.

Chapter One

"Ki-i-i-t-t-y!"

The loud squeal hurt Salem's ears. He moved as far back into the corner under the bed as possible. Two chubby little hands appeared under the bedspread, followed by a curly blond head.

"Ki-i-i-i-t-t-y!" the wet little mouth squealed again. The hands reached for him.

A small child! Ugh! How could Sabrina, his person and a teenage witch at that, do this to him? He tried to squeeze himself into a small ball. Not that he was that big -- he was a cat, after all. A black domestic American shorthair, to be exact.

One little hand swiped his fur. It was more than he could stand! "Sabrina!" Salem yelled. "Help!"

He wasn't supposed to talk in front of mortals, just witches like Sabrina. But this was an emergency! And besides, this mortal was too little to know that real cats did not talk.

"Wow!" The child shrieked in surprise and delight. "Da kitty talk!"

Oops. Maybe she wasn't that little. Oh well. At least no one would believe her if she tried to tell him he could talk. Not in a hundred years.

Salem suddenly smiled to himself. A hundred years! By the time a hundred years passed, he'd be a powerful warlock again! If only I had my powers now, he thought. This little tyke would be a dustbunny. Of course, if he had his powers back, he wouldn't be cowering under a bed. He'd be taking over the world....

No, no, no. I can't do that. Not right away, anyway. That was how he'd become a cat in the first place. Drell, the head of the Witches' Council, hadn't liked Salem's plan to put himself in charge of the world. So he'd sentenced him to a hundred years as a cat.

And now look at me! Trapped between a wall and a slobbery, babbling child!

"Ki-i-i-t-t-y!" The tiny terror wiggled on her belly, closing the space between them. She grabbed for him again, just missing. Salem hissed at her. The chubby little hand struck again, this time closing around fur. She pulled. Hard.

Ouch! That's quite enough of that! Salem thought. I'm outta here! He pushed past her. Dashing out from under the bed, he made a beeline for the door.

A wail of protest rose behind him.

Yikes! Salem skidded to a stop. The door is closed! How did that happen? He looked around, then launched himself onto Sabrina's dresser.

Salem watched warily as the toddler wriggled out from under the bed. She pushed herself into a standing position and wobbled toward him. "Kitty talk," she said.

"You bet I'll talk more," Salem muttered. "Sa-bri-na!" he yelled. "Open the door!"

The toddler advanced on him, hands out. Salem looked around in a panic. Where to now? He needed someplace high. But he couldn't reach the top of the bookcase from here....

The toddler poked him, then grabbed hold of his fur with both hands. "Niiice kiiitty," she said. She tried to lift him.

"Yeeow!" That's it! Salem thought. No more Mr. Nice Cat! He hissed and raised one paw up high, claws out, ready to strike.

"SALEM! Don't you dare. She's just a baby." Salem looked up and saw Sabrina in the open doorway. She held the hand of another small child.

"'Brina! " the toddler said happily. She let go of Salem's fur and toddled over to Sabrina.

"Baby! Hhmmph!" Salem snorted. He licked his ruffled fur. "Miniature terrorist, you mean." He looked at the small boy holding Sabrina's hand. He shuddered. "There are two of them?"

"Uh-huh," Sabrina said. "The Beaumont twins. From down the street."

"Tell me they aren't staying," Salem begged.

"Okay. They aren't staying," Sabrina said. "Their mother will be back any minute now. I'm just baby-sitting."

"Well, sit on them harder, would you please?" Salem nodded at the little girl. "That one escaped. I was peacefully contemplating important world affairs...."

"You mean you were sleeping," Sabrina corrected.

"Whatever. And then that...that...thing appeared out of nowhere and cornered me. Somehow, the door got shut. I was trapped."

"Sorry," Sabrina said. "Ryan went after Aunt Zelda's labtop. I had to get him away from it. And the minute my back was turned, Abigail wandered off." She sighed. "Babies are a lot of work."

"Kitty talkin'," the little boy said.

Sabrina looked nervous. "Maybe we shouldn't be having this conversation right now," she said.

"No problem, I'll gladly go someplace else," Salem said. He held his tail high and walked past Sabrina. "Someplace peaceful. Someplace where there are no babies."

"Kitty says me-ow, right, Ryan?" Sabrina said as Salem walked out the door.

"Uh-uh," Salem said under his breath. "Right now, Kitty says bye-bye." Babies! Ugh! he thought. Thank goodness we don't have any of those living here!

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