At last Charlotte stood up. "I better go," she said.

Beside me, Logan stood up, too. "Same here." (I think he was getting cold. I was.) I sighed. "Okay." Charlotte ran off, and Logan jumped on his ten-speed and pedaled away.

I scooped up Tigger. "Come on, Bigger Tigger," I said. "Time to go inside. I have a meeting of the Baby-sitters Club and you've been outdoors long enough." But Tigger struggled and mewed. He did not want to leave the yard. So finally I let him stay outside. As I ran across the street to Claudia's house, I could see him pouncing on invisible things in the grass.

Chapter 4.

"Hi, Tigger, wherever you are!" I called. "Come see me!" Our meeting was over and I was at home again. It was time to start dinner. Dad and I like to eat pretty soon after he returns from work, and he returns between six and six-thirty most nights. So as soon as I'm home from club meetings, I get busy.

That night I set a huge pot of water on the stove. At breakfast that morning, Dad and I had decided we wanted spaghetti for dinner. And with that, I thought, a salad and some garlic bread. I'm not much of a cook, but I can throw a meal together.

I was busy getting vegetables out of the refrigerator when I realized something. Tigger wasn't running between my feet like he usually does at this hour of the day. I always feed him while I'm making dinner - and he knows it.

Where was he? He hadn't come when I'd called. I checked to make sure that his special cat door was open. Sure enough, it was. I was surprised that he hadn't come inside while I was at Claudia's. He knew it was getting to be dinnertime . . . didn't he?

Well, wait a second. Maybe he was inside. He has an awful lot of good hiding places.

"Tigger, Tigger, Tigger!" I called as I got his food out.

I chose a can of King Kat Liver 'n' Beef. I spooned a quarter of it into his bowl. Then I poured in a little milk and stirred it up. Can you believe it? Milk actually isn't very good for cats, especially male cats, but it isn't bad for kittens. And Tigger is so little that I need to mix the grown-up cat food with something to make it mushier.