"Hi!" I called back.

Jamie's family lives nearby, so the members of the Baby-sitters Club, especially Claudia, sit for the Newtons all the time. Jamie is four and has a baby sister named Lucy.

Jamie ran across the lawn. "Oh, goody!" he exclaimed. "There's Tigger." Tigger looked like he might be tiring out. He was sitting in the grass - very neatly, with his tail curled around his front feet. But he wasn't doing anything. Nothing I knew about, anyway. Maybe he was doing some secret cat thing.

"Can I play with Tigger, Mary Anne? Please?" asked Jamie.

"Sure," I answered, "but carefully. I'm not sure he wants to play right now." Jamie lay on the ground near Tigger. He and Tigger looked at each other.

I glanced at Logan. Usually Logan and I would have turned to each other at a moment like that and smiled. But Logan was staring into the distance.

"Earth to Logan, Earth to Logan," I said, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Come in, Logan." "I am in, Mary Anne," he replied, without bothering to look at me.

I felt stung.

In the grass, Jamie inched closer to my kitten. "Tigger, Tigger, Tigger, Tigger, Tigger," he whispered. He swept one hand from side to side.

Tigger immediately fell into a crouch position. His head moved back and forth, following Jamie's hand. Suddenly - POUNCE! Tigger landed on Jamie's hand. (Luckily Tigger's little claws are only about as sharp as pine needles.) Jamie burst into giggles. "Tigger!" he squealed. He rolled onto his back and put Tigger on his tummy.

I glanced at Logan again. This time at least he was smiling. "Pretty cute," I commented.

"Boy," said Jamie, "I sure do wish I had a pet. I'd get a ... dog. No, a rabbit. No, a - a chicken. No, a cat. I mean, a kitten. That's it. I'd get a kitten just like Tigger. Gray and white. And pounsive." "Pounsive?" said Logan and I at the same time. I elbowed Logan as a way of telling him not to laugh. He didn't.