Theo and the Lost Cat in the Stairwell

There was a cat in the stairwell.

It was a small grey cat. It was sitting on the third step, looking suspicious. Theo had seen it twice now.

Theo's mama had said, "Don't touch strange cats." Theo was six. Theo did not plan to touch the strange cat. But Theo also planned to do something.

He went upstairs. He came back down with a small bowl of water. He put it on the step, two steps below the cat. He went away.

When he came back, the water bowl had been sniffed. The cat was on the same step.

Theo went upstairs again. He came back down with a small dish of cat food, the kind his neighbour Mrs Krug fed her cat Hilda. He put it next to the water bowl. He went away.

When he came back, the cat food had been eaten. The cat was now on the second step.

Theo went upstairs and got Mrs Krug.

Mrs Krug was very old. She walked slowly. She came down with Theo, holding the rail, and she sat on the third step from the bottom and looked at the cat.

"That's not Hilda," said Mrs Krug.

"No," said Theo. "Hilda is in your apartment."

"This one has a collar," said Mrs Krug.

She read the collar. The collar said the cat's name was Pip and gave a phone number.

Mrs Krug rang the number from her phone. A worried voice answered. The voice said, "Pip? You found Pip? She got out two days ago!"

The voice came running down the stairs three minutes later. The voice was a young man with very tiredeyes. He picked up Pip and held her against his chest, and Pip purred, and the young man cried, just a little.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you, thank you."

Theo stood very still. Mrs Krug patted him on the shoulder.

"Quiet good deeds," she said, "are the best kind."

Theo nodded. He had nothing to say. He had done a small thing slowly. That was enough.

That night his mama heard the story from Mrs Krug at the door, and Theo got an extra piece of toast in the morning, but he didn't think about that. He thought about Pip. Pip was home now.