9780008390662

Boots snaps her fingers. “Wait, you have a cop car, right?”
“Yes, I have a vehicle, ma’am,” says the officer. “But the way the roads are
looking, probably not for long.”
“Okay,” says Boots, “so we evacuate. We evacuate every last dog and cat and
gerbil we can get in your car.”
The officer purses his lips. “And take them where, exactly?”
“Shelter at the high school. That’s where we’ve been sending people. They’re
not really set up for it, but once we started flooding and the elementary
school stopped taking pets, they agreed to do what they can.”
The officer grumbles, considers, goes for it.
The three humans load cats and dogs, parakeets and hamsters, one after
another, into the police car. Some are in cages, and some, including a couple
of unhappy cats, are on tug-of-war strings. Finally, it’s our turn. Looks like
there are nine of us left.
“Car’s full and then some,” the officer reports, struggling to shut the shelter’s
front door against the rising water. “We are officially out of room.”
Cowboy looks at us, his eyes teary. “Don’t worry, fellas. We’ll be back.” He
sniffles. “I promise.”
“You think we should leave the cages open, at least give ’em a fighting
chance,” asks Boots, “in case . . . you know?”
“Sure. But they couldn’t handle this current. I can barely stand up.” Cowboy
shakes his head. “Look, I’ll borrow my brother’s bass boat. We’ll come right
back. Hopefully the water won’t get much higher than this.”
“Okay, then.” Boots gives a grim nod. “Stay calm, friends.”
Like that’s an option.