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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ransom, Candice F., 1952- author. | National Geographic Society (U.S.)
Title: Terrier trouble! / by Candice Ransom.
Description: Washington, D.C. : National Geographic Kids, [2017] | Series: National geographic kids chapters | Audience: Ages 7-10. | Audience: Grades 4 to 6.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017010739 (print) | LCCN 2017029184 (ebook) | ISBN 9781426329012 (e-book) | ISBN 9781426328992 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781426329005 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Animal behavior—Juvenile literature. | Pets–Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC QL751.5 (ebook) | LCC QL751.5 .R36 2017 (print) | DDC 636.088/7–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010739
Ebook ISBN 9781426329012
v5.1
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Atticus paws at a box of cereal. Is he looking for a snack?Credit 2
A red truck pulled up in front of the animal shelter in Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. Candice and Frank stepped out. They were both excited. For the first time in 25 years, they were getting a kitten. All of their older cats had died, and they felt their house had grown too quiet. They wanted a lively kitten. They headed inside the shelter to find one.
In one of the cat kennels, Candice spotted a black kitten with a fluffy tail. She picked him up. The kitten licked her chin. When Candice set him down, he attacked her shoe. So cute! This kitten certainly seemed lively. Candice and Frank agreed he would be their new pet. Before they even left the shelter, Candice named him Atticus (sounds like AT-ih-cuss). It seemed like a dignified name for a cat.
Candice and Frank filled out paperwork. They could pick up their new kitten the next day. They learned that Atticus and his sister had been found near a Dumpster. They were only four weeks old. Someone brought the kittens to the animal shelter. A foster family raised the kittens until they were old enough to be adopted.
The next day, Candice went back to the shelter. She tucked Atticus in his carrier and put it on the seat beside her. As she drove, she told Atticus he was going to a cozy house. “There are lace curtains on the windows,” she said. “You’ll have lots of places to sleep and interesting things to look at.”
At home, Candice took the cat carrier inside. She unlatched the door. Atticus sprang out and started running on the wood floors. He ran and ran and ran. He ran upstairs and downstairs. He even clawed up Candice’s back to the top of her head! “Ouch!” she said.
Atticus weighed only five pounds (2.3 kg). Yet when he ran, he sounded like a herd of wild horses. When he raced around a corner, his feet flew out from under him.
Did You Know?
If a black cat spends a lot of time in the sun, its fur turns brown.
He skidded into the wall and kept going. Atticus ran so much, Candice wondered if he knew how to walk. He always seemed to be in a hurry. When she gave him some cat food, he gobbled it up. It was gone in two seconds flat.
That evening, Frank and Candice sat down to dinner. Atticus stared at them with round eyes. He smelled green beans and chicken cooked with mushrooms. Suddenly, he jumped straight up and grabbed a mushroom off Candice’s plate. “That cat just ate a mushroom,” Frank said in amazement.