Her Dad, who was also crying by   
now, told us about what had happened.  
His daughter had left her alone for    
only a few minutes in the back yard.   
“We spent two days looking for her     
everywhere. Thank God for people like  
you two,” he told us. By then, Beth and
I were also crying.                    
     We told them that the two boys,   
who had done this, had been caught, and
punished.                              
     Thankfully, he didn’t ask what    
that punishment was, because it        
probably would’ve pissed him off, just 
like it pissed us off.                 
     Their parents only had to pay a   
hundred-dollar fine, and that was it.  
     Even Beth got mad and went out    
behind the barn and didn’t come back   
until almost all her ammo was gone. For
* almost an hour, it sounded like the      
Fourth of July back there.             
     While listening to Beth laugh at  
something Rhonda said, I looked at the 
clock. It was after midnight, and      
officially Halloween.                  
     We wouldn't be going on our usual 
patrol tonight. Instead, we'd be out   
rescuing just one Cat, and I just had  
to hope that nothing bad happened while
we were doing that.                    
     Maybe we could do a quick drive   
around after, or better yet, just      
before. I’ll have to bring it up tomor-
row, when everyone comes over for our  
first secret meeting, ever, at our     
house. Minus the secret part, of       
course.                                
     I thought about that for the rest 
of the night, and by two in the        
morning, another successfully quiet    
patrol was in the bank.                



CHAPTER 12: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30th
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