The Case of the Bug on the Run Read Online Free
Author: Martha Freeman
a table with Nate, Lily, Mrs. Verity and four nice lunch ladies from Pennsylvania. Mr. Verity and Mr. Schott couldnât be there because they had business meetings.
Between dinner and dessert, Mom introduced Mr. Amaro, and he talked for a few minutes about how to add fruits and vegetables to school lunches.
âAnd in conclusion,â he said, âplease remember this simple equation: fruits plus vegetables times kids equals awesome!â
One of the lunch ladies at our table raised her handto ask a question, but Mr. Amaro wasnât taking any. Instead, he excused himself and left in a hurry.
Then it was time for dessertâsome kind of white ice cream with green sprinkles served in a crystal goblet. Mrs. Verity tried it first and announced, âI like it. The parsnips add zip.â
By this time, the event was almost over, and I had stopped worrying about the Ks. Probably, I thought, they had run away when all the people came in. Worst case? They were hidden in out-of-the-way corners, asleep.
Too bad I was wrong.
All through dinner, the kittens had been lying in wait for just the right moment to cause complete and utter cat-astrophe!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Itâs hard to know what goes on in the mind of a kitten. But considering what happened next, I have a guess.
Fluffy, formerly known as BK, was catnapping under a table when she woke up and saw a skinny, dangerous reptile threatening to bite the ankle of a poor innocent lunch gentlemen. What could she do? She pounced!
It wasnât her fault she was wrong about the reptile, which wasnât planning to bite any ankle at all because it wasnât really a reptile. Instead, it was the twisted shape of the gentlemanâs untied shoelace. Likewise, it wasnât Fluffyâs fault that the gentleman never expected a random furball with claws to fasten itself to his foot during a formal White House dinner, so that when it did, he sprang from his chair and kicked like an NFL playerâsending Fluffy sailing football-like across the room . . .
. . . to a crash landing in a bowl of sunflowers at the head table.
Yellow petals exploded everywhere and Fluffy, dripping wet and embarrassed, leaped from the table to a lunch ladyâs lap and then the floorâtaking two servings of parsnip ice cream and three water glasses with her.
By now the other five kittens were awake and wanting to get in on the action. Out from under the tables they shot, leaped onto chairs for a better look, then proceeded to the tabletops, which they used the way a frog uses lily pads, jumping from one to the next. Unlike lily pads, however, the tables were laid with rare, historic and breakable glassware.
There was a lot of noise, butâto their creditâthe kittens left several things unbroken.
By now the White House staff was mobilizing with mops, brooms and sponges to take back their territory. At the same time, the lunch ladies and gentlemen, used to dealing with food fights worse than this, were assembling to support their allies. In fact, the forces of order probably would have prevailed . . . except that now, from the State Dining Room door, came a truly scary sound, the bugle before the cavalry charge in some classic movie:
âAwh-roohr!â
Hooligan, worried about his little kitten buddies, had come to the rescue!
Quick as a wink, he did his frenzy thingâlunged forward, thumped his paws, sprang high in the air, then spun so fast he turned blurry.
There are not really English words to describe the effect of a big, clumsy, too-energetic dog on a roomcontaining lots of healthy food, well-dressed people and fancy china, but imagine a furry, dog-smelling blur of noise and destruction on top of six kittensâ worth of sharp claws, teeth and caterwauling, and you get the idea.
Lily thought she was watching the circus and kept trying to slip out of her motherâs arms to join the fun.
âMaybe if we stay out of the
Between dinner and dessert, Mom introduced Mr. Amaro, and he talked for a few minutes about how to add fruits and vegetables to school lunches.
âAnd in conclusion,â he said, âplease remember this simple equation: fruits plus vegetables times kids equals awesome!â
One of the lunch ladies at our table raised her handto ask a question, but Mr. Amaro wasnât taking any. Instead, he excused himself and left in a hurry.
Then it was time for dessertâsome kind of white ice cream with green sprinkles served in a crystal goblet. Mrs. Verity tried it first and announced, âI like it. The parsnips add zip.â
By this time, the event was almost over, and I had stopped worrying about the Ks. Probably, I thought, they had run away when all the people came in. Worst case? They were hidden in out-of-the-way corners, asleep.
Too bad I was wrong.
All through dinner, the kittens had been lying in wait for just the right moment to cause complete and utter cat-astrophe!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Itâs hard to know what goes on in the mind of a kitten. But considering what happened next, I have a guess.
Fluffy, formerly known as BK, was catnapping under a table when she woke up and saw a skinny, dangerous reptile threatening to bite the ankle of a poor innocent lunch gentlemen. What could she do? She pounced!
It wasnât her fault she was wrong about the reptile, which wasnât planning to bite any ankle at all because it wasnât really a reptile. Instead, it was the twisted shape of the gentlemanâs untied shoelace. Likewise, it wasnât Fluffyâs fault that the gentleman never expected a random furball with claws to fasten itself to his foot during a formal White House dinner, so that when it did, he sprang from his chair and kicked like an NFL playerâsending Fluffy sailing football-like across the room . . .
. . . to a crash landing in a bowl of sunflowers at the head table.
Yellow petals exploded everywhere and Fluffy, dripping wet and embarrassed, leaped from the table to a lunch ladyâs lap and then the floorâtaking two servings of parsnip ice cream and three water glasses with her.
By now the other five kittens were awake and wanting to get in on the action. Out from under the tables they shot, leaped onto chairs for a better look, then proceeded to the tabletops, which they used the way a frog uses lily pads, jumping from one to the next. Unlike lily pads, however, the tables were laid with rare, historic and breakable glassware.
There was a lot of noise, butâto their creditâthe kittens left several things unbroken.
By now the White House staff was mobilizing with mops, brooms and sponges to take back their territory. At the same time, the lunch ladies and gentlemen, used to dealing with food fights worse than this, were assembling to support their allies. In fact, the forces of order probably would have prevailed . . . except that now, from the State Dining Room door, came a truly scary sound, the bugle before the cavalry charge in some classic movie:
âAwh-roohr!â
Hooligan, worried about his little kitten buddies, had come to the rescue!
Quick as a wink, he did his frenzy thingâlunged forward, thumped his paws, sprang high in the air, then spun so fast he turned blurry.
There are not really English words to describe the effect of a big, clumsy, too-energetic dog on a roomcontaining lots of healthy food, well-dressed people and fancy china, but imagine a furry, dog-smelling blur of noise and destruction on top of six kittensâ worth of sharp claws, teeth and caterwauling, and you get the idea.
Lily thought she was watching the circus and kept trying to slip out of her motherâs arms to join the fun.
âMaybe if we stay out of the
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