Batcat and the Seven Squirrels by Eric Walters

CHAPTER ONE
    Nathan looked up from his meal and out the window. There was something pressed against the screen of the door. It was pinned there, moving as the wind blew it back and forth, back and forth. He thought it was very strange how it was moving. Was it a black plastic bag or a piece of paper or…no, it was furry, and it had a tail, and—
    “It’s a squirrel!” Nathan yelled as he jumped up from the table.
    He ran across the kitchen. His father and mother were right behind him. He skidded to a stop at the thin screen door standing between him and the squirrel. His parents stood beside him.
    “It’s just a baby,” his mother said.
    Instead of running away, the little squirrel continued to cling to the screen. It tilted its head to the side and looked in at them as they looked out at it.
    “He’s so cute,” Nathan said.
    “He is cute, but what’s he doing here?” his mother asked.
    “Maybe he wants to come in and join us for supper,” his father joked.

    “Could he?” Nathan asked. “I’d share my salad with him.”
    “He should go back and join his family for dinner,” Nathan’s mother said. She looked at her husband, and he nodded in agreement.
    “Time to go home, little guy,” his father said as he gently tapped one of his fingers against the screen.
    Instead of running off, the squirrel climbed up the screen until it was at the spot where he’d been tapping. His father moved his finger and tapped at another spot on the screen, and the little animal followed after his finger.
    “So what do we do now?” Nathan asked.
    “We could close the door, and he might go away,” his father suggested.
    “That would be rude,” Nathan said.
    “But it’s not like we can bring him in.”
    Nathan leaned in a little closer to the squirrel. “He’s crying.”
    “I don’t think squirrels cry,” his mother said. “But I do hear something… it’s squeaking.”
    “He’s probably calling for his mother to come and get him,” Nathan said.
    Nathan’s father went to close the door and hesitated. He knew Nathan was concerned. “It’ll be okay, Nathan. I’m sure his mother will come and get him as soon as we close the door.”
    Nathan wanted to believe his father, but he was worried. He nodded his head ever so slightly in agreement.
    His father slowly started to close the door and—
    “Wait!” Nathan called out. “Look!”
    His father stopped. He hoped he’d see the mother squirrel. Instead, he saw what his son had seen.
    “It’s Batcat,” Nathan said.
    Batcat was a stray cat that roamed the neighborhood. Nobody owned the cat, so he didn’t really have a name. But Nathan had started calling him Batcat because while he was mostly black, the lower half of his face was white. It looked like he was wearing a mask—just like the comic-book character.
    “Do cats like squirrels?” Nathan asked.
    “Not in the way we’d like,” his father said.
    The big old cat sat on the fence. He was staring right at them—and at the little squirrel. His tail was swinging ever so slightly. There was a little kink in it where it had been injured at some time. His ears were pressed down. His left ear had a chunk that was missing.
    Slowly Nathan’s father opened the door. The squirrel clung to the screen as it swung out. His father walked across the deck toward where Batcat sat on the fence.
    “You have to leave now,” he said to the cat.
    Batcat didn’t move. This wasn’t a cat used to being told what to do by anybody.
    “Scat, cat!” Nathan’s father said and gestured with his hands.
    Batcat’s tail swished a little bit harder, and his green eyes blazed angrily. For a second Nathan’s father felt a bit uneasy, like he was walking toward a tiger instead of an alley cat. He knew that was silly, but still, the cat was staring at him so intently. What would he do if the cat didn’t leave?

    Then, as he got closer, the big tom turned and started walking away, carefully balanced on the top of the fence.