“He won’t be there,” said Riley.“We closed the door right away.”
“So the door was open when you let him out?”asked Sarah.
“Not for very long,” said Riley, looking to Sally for confirmation.
“No, not for very long,” agreed Sally, though she looked less certain than Riley on that point.
Simon shook his head and walked to the back of the studio—and returned a few minutes later, holding an unrepentant Dash next to his chest.The kitten looked at them as if to say, “I won at hide and seek!”
Sarah smiled in relief.“Where did you find him?”
“Curled up in a bowl on one of the lower shelves near the kiln, fast asleep.”
“Thank goodness,” said Sarah, reaching out to take the kitten.
“He’s probably thirsty,” said Simon to Riley.“Do you think you can give him a drink of water and put him into his carrier?”
“Yes, sir,” said Riley, reaching up to take the cat from Sarah, contrite for the moment.
“Well, that’s one way to spend an hour,” said Simon.
Sarah laughed.“Let’s hope we don’t have to do it again anytime soon.”
“Did you have dinner plans?”he asked.“I’m thinking of ordering some Chinese food tonight.You and Riley are welcome to join us.We can go over the cat rules again.”
Sarah considered declining, but she was hungry and, after the past hour, had to agree that going over the rules again, all together, wouldn’t go amiss.
“Let’s do that,” she said.“I just need to go home for a few minutes to change.”
“Is forty-five minutes enough time?”
“Perfect,” she said, ushering Riley out of the room ahead of her.“And thanks for finding Dash.”
Simon shook his head and gave her a lopsided grin.“It could have been much worse.I could have lost someone’s treasured mug.”
Sarah smiled back, waved a small goodbye and headed home, feeling just a little too excited about the prospect of Chinese food at Simon’s place.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” said Riley.
“You need to take care of Dash,” said Sarah.“He’s a little kitten and could have been hurt today.”
“I know, but?—”
“No buts.I told you kittens are a huge responsibility, and you promised me you were ready to take it on.”
“I know, but…”
“But what?”
“I didn’t know he would take off like that and hide.”
Sarah stopped at a stop sign and turned toward Riley.“Really?You’ve never had to hunt for him at home when he ran under furniture?”
“Well…”
“Riley, when you asked me to get a kitten, you told me you would take responsibility for the kitten’s care.Being responsible doesn’t mean finding excuses when things don’t work, or blaming things on Dash.”
“But—”
