Batcat and the Seven Squirrels Read Free Page A

black as the white cat was knocked off to the side! It had been hit by another cat. It was Batcat!
    The two cats hissed and screamed and snarled. Then the white cat jumped to its feet and ran away. Batcat chased after it for a few steps and then stopped as it leaped over the fence and was gone.
    Munchie was safe. Or was he?
    The little squirrel was bouncing across the lawn, right toward Batcat! The cat turned and sat down, and the little squirrel snuggled into him. Batcat raised a front paw and placed it on the back of the squirrel. He then leaned over and started licking the squirrel.
    Nathan couldn’t believe his eyes. Neither could his mother. Slowly the two of them inched forward until they were crouched above the two animals.
    “What’s happening?” Nathan asked.
    “I’m not sure, but I think Batcat has become a father,” his mother said.

CHAPTER SIX
    “Batcat!” Nathan yelled out. “Dinnertime!”
    The cat came walking toward him on the top of the fence. A row of five squirrels hopped along behind him. Nathan was happy to see five squirrels but worried about the two who weren’t there.
    “They say that seeing is believing,” his father said. “But I’ve been seeing it for four weeks, and I still don’t believe it.”

    Since the day Batcat saved Munchie, each of the squirrels had decided, one by one, that Batcat was its parent. They rubbed up against him, followed him around and climbed all over him when he lay down. It was all pretty amazing. The big old tomcat with the bent tail and the missing part on one ear had decided he was the mommy or daddy to a bunch of squirrels.
    Nathan put down a bowl for the cat, filled with scraps of meat from their meal. Then he put down a plate of nuts and seeds for the squirrels. All six animals came onto the porch and started eating.
    Nathan’s mother pulled out her phone and started to take pictures.
    “You have hundreds of pictures and dozens of videos already,” his father said.
    “I know, I know, but it’s like you said, it’s so hard to believe that I want proof after it’s over.”
    “Hello, Munchie, Scruffy, Fluffy, Rocky and Patches,” Nathan said.
    “I still don’t know how you can tell them apart so easily,” his father said.
    “I’m still not sure why you can’t . I guess I’m lucky I’m your only child, or you’d get me confused with the others,” Nathan joked.
    “Kids are a little different than squirrels.”
    “Not if you’re a squirrel…or Batcat. I wonder where Shiny and Bushy are?” Nathan said.
    “I’m sure they’re not too far away,” his father said.
    With each day, the squirrels had gotten bigger. And their world had gotten bigger too. Once content to just stay in the backyard, they had now started exploring the whole neighborhood.
    “This is the first time they haven’t all come home for dinner,” Nathan said.
    “It’s a good sign. They’re getting more independent,” his mother said.
    Nathan reached down and gave Batcat a scratch behind the ears. The cat pressed up against his hand and started with his loud, raspy purring. Nathan had come to realize that the old cat wanted to be pet almost as much as he wanted to be fed.
    As the squirrels had begun venturing farther away, it seemed like Batcat was moving in closer. He would come when he was called and had even let Nathan pick him up. Sometimes, if Nathan was sitting on the deck, the cat would jump up onto his lap. Before, there had been days when they didn’t see the old cat at all. Now he never seemed too far away and spent most of his time in their backyard or close at hand.
    The squirrels’ hotel had been moved out of Nathan’s room to the backyard. It sat on the corner of the deck. Each night as the sun went down, the seven squirrels would go into the box to sleep. Then Batcat would settle down, snuggled into a blanket placed on top. Nathan knew that with Batcat nearby, the squirrels were safe.
    As they sat there watching the animals eat, two more