The Rescue

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It had been raining for two days. The front yard was full of water. The back yard was full of water. And it was still raining!

Pixie and Bobby were bored. They wanted to go outside and play. Pippi was worried. She had not seen Franky since yesterday. He had gone outside and had not come back. Franky was missing.

Abby said, “I wonder where Franky could be. I haven’t seen him since yesterday. Has anyone else seen him?”

“I haven’t,” said Mom. “But I sure wish Franky would come home. It’s so wet outside!”

“I miss Franky!” said Tara. “He sits on my lap when I read.”

“I’m sure he’s all right,” said Dad. “Cats are very good at taking care of themselves.”

“Still, I’d feel better if he was not out in the rain. I hope he has found a dry place,” Mom said.

Pippi was thinking the same thing. She and Franky were together most of the time. They had been together every day since they were born! She didn’t like it when he wasn’t there.

Still, it kept raining. Late that night the house was quiet. The rain was not as hard. Pippi thought she heard a soft meow in the distance. “Is it Franky?” she wondered. She couldn’t tell. The meow was too far away.

In the morning the rain finally stopped. “I’m going to send the dogs out to play,” said Mom. “They will get very dirty, but they need to run around.” She opened the door. Pixie and Bobby ran out. So did Pippi.

“I’m going to look for Franky,” said Pippi. The dogs didn’t listen. They were having too much fun racing around.

Pippi looked high and she looked low. She looked in the big oak tree in the back yard. She look in the bushes in the front yard. Then she heard Pixie barking in the back. Pippi rushed to the back yard. Pixie was crouched down, wagging her tail. She was poking her nose into a hole on the side of the house. It was the crawl space. It went under the house. Inside this hole were all the pipes that carried the water for the house. Pixie stuck her head in and wagged her tail harder. She barked.

Pippi came running to see. It was very dark in the crawl space. The ground was covered with water. It was flowing along like a little river. Pippi stared into the darkness. Suddenly she heard a loud meow.

“Franky!” she cried. “Franky, where are you?”

“Meow!” came the reply.

Pippi looked hard. She saw two green eyes shining. It was Franky! “What are you doing in there?” called Pippi. “Come out!”

“I can’t,” said Franky. “I am sitting on a water pipe. There is water all around me. I am stuck.”

Did you know that most cats hate water? They don’t like to get wet. They never swim. They usually stay away from water except to drink it. Poor Franky had water all around him!

“We must get Franky out,” said Pippi.

“Can you swim in and carry him out?” asked Bobby. “Pixie and I are too big for that hole.”

“No,” said Pippi, “I am a lot smaller than Franky. I can’t carry him. And I can’t stand the idea of swimming! Oh, what can we do?”

The animals looked at each other. They looked around the yard. Pixie saw a flat piece of wood. It was just the right size for two cats to sit on. She picked it up in her mouth and dragged it over to the crawl space.

“I have an idea,” she said to Pippi. “You will rescue Franky on this raft. This wood will float. Bobby will push the raft with a stick. You can float to Franky and bring him out on the raft.”

“It sounds scary to me,” said Pippi, “but I will do it. We must get Franky out!”

Bobby ran to get a long stick. He carried it back in his mouth. Pixie and Pippi put the raft in the flowing water in the crawl space. Pippi hopped on quickly. “I am coming to get you, Franky!” she called.

Bobby pushed the raft with the stick. The raft floated along towards Franky. When it came close enough, Franky stepped carefully onto the raft. But now the cats had to make the raft go back to the opening. Bobby couldn’t push it any more.

“I don’t like to get wet,” Pippi told Franky, “but we must put our paws in the water. We must row with our paws so we can get out of here. You row on one side and I will row on the other.” So Franky lay on one side of the raft and rowed with his front paws. Pippi lay on the other side of the raft and rowed with her front paws. Slowly they moved ahead, toward the opening of the crawl space.

Finally the cats rowed their little raft right to the opening where Pixie and Bobby were waiting. When the raft came close enough, Pixie put her foot on it to hold it still. Quickly, Franky and Pippi jumped off. They got off just in time for the rain to start again.

All the animals ran to the door. The cats meowed, and the dogs barked. Mom came to see what was the matter. “Franky!” she cried happily, “Franky, you are soaked! But you are back, safe and sound!”

She dried all the animals with a towel and let them into the house. She made a fire in the fireplace, and Franky, Pippi, Bobby, and Pixie lay down in front of it to get warm.

“Thank you for helping me,” said Franky. “Thanks to each one of you, I am saved. It was cold and lonely under the house. It was scary. I am very glad to be home.”

“We are glad you are home, too,” said Pippi. “Now let’s all take a nap!”

So they all took a warm nap in front of the fire. And outside, it kept raining.

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