Creeeaaak. The rusty hinges complained as I tugged at the door of the old shed. It was pitch dark inside and smelled like moldy leaves. I probably shouldn’t be out here snooping around, but my curiosity got the better of me.

     “Luke?”

     “Aghh!“ I whirled when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Boy, Eric, you scared me!”

     “Your Dad’s talking to the real estate lady back in the house,” he said. Eric is my best buddy. He was with us as my dad and I looked for a new place to live.

      “What are you doing out here, Luke? It’s almost dark.”

     “This old shed is so cool,” I said. “There’s lots of stuff to explore around here. I hope we buy this place!”

     “Whew,” said Eric, stepping closer, “it smells all moldy.”

     We heard scurrying from inside the gloomy shed.

     “Think it’s a rat?” Eric whispered.

     “Nah,” I replied, “probably a cat.”

     “It’s pretty dark in there,” said Eric, “I’ll go ask your dad for a flashlight.” 

       “Aw, come on Eric,” I said. I thought there was still enough light so I pushed through the shed door and stepped further inside. “Kitty, kitty,” I called 

     Ka-thunk.

     “What’s wrong?” Eric called in alarm.

     “I tripped over a pail. I’m okay.” A blob of fur shot over my feet as Eric raced into the shed and fell on top of me.

     “Get off!” I yelled.

     “I didn’t see you,” he groaned. “You couldn’t wait for a flashlight?”

     “Did you see what just ran out of here?”

     “Yup,” he answered, “a big ol’ cat! ‘Course now we can’t see the door,” said Eric.

     “It slammed shut when you crashed into me,” I said. “I think it’s right behind you …” I stopped talking and listened. “Uh oh, do you hear footsteps?”

     “We are in so much trouble,” whispered Eric. “And it’s your fault!”

      “Shhh!” I hissed. I groped through the inky darkness, trying to grab onto him.

     There were more footsteps and then silence. A light whipped back and forth under the shed door. Something wasn’t right. If it was my dad he would have called for us. Then we heard a strange voice.

   “I think we’ve been found out, Libby,” said a deep, dark voice. 

    The light stopped moving and we froze. I couldn’t see Eric’s eyes, but I knew they were big as manhole covers. Next we heard the back door of the house open and the sound of running feet.

     “Luke! Where are you? Eric?”

     It was my dad. He was using his totally annoyed voice but I was never so glad to hear it! I jumped up and hit Eric’s elbow with my eye. “Ouch!” I yelled. The shed door flew open and light poured in.

     “What on earth are you doing out here?”

     “We think something’s going on,” I blurted. “There was this cat . . .”

     “Yeah,” Eric said. “And we heard a voice . . .”

     “Right!” I shrieked, “Real deep like that guy on Star…”

     “Okay, you two, let’s get going. None of your excuses,” said Dad.

     “But, Dad . . .” I protested.

     “Never mind,” he said. “This house is pretty nice and we need to do some serious thinking about it, Luke. Come on,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder, “we’ll go for ice cream.”

     In the car Eric and I discussed the case. “Doesn’t Maria live around here?” he asked.

     “Yeah, on the next block,” I said. “Maybe she knows something about this Libby and a stranger hanging around here.”

     We asked Maria about it in the school cafeteria the next day.

     “As far as I know that old shed has been locked up tight since the Brown’s moved out last fall,” she said. “Was the voice from a grownup?”

     Eric and I looked at each other. “Yes,” we said together. “It was a guy,” I added.

     “Hmmm . . . and this Libby, do you think that could be the cat?”

     “I don’t know,” I said. “When it shot past me it was going like a rocket and was probably over the fence by the time we heard the voice.”

     “Say,” said Maria, “if you guys come to my house after school, we could check it out.”

     Eric and I got the go ahead from home and showed up at Maria’s later that day. We headed for the old shed right away and noticed it was still unlocked.

     “At least we can check it out in the light this time,” I said.

     Eric stood lookout while Maria and I went inside. There were some old crates, a rusty rake and the pail I’d tripped over in one corner. “Hey, look at this,” said Maria. “There’s an old blanket here and—fresh cat food!”

     I came up beside her. “Yeah, it looks like it was just put here.”

     “Somebody’s coming!” called Luke. He flew through the shed door and crashed into us.

     “You’re supposed to warn us, not kill us!” I said.

     “What are you kids doing in here?” It was the voice. We looked up from our dog pile on the ground, a real disadvantage I thought. Now what?

     A huge shadow blocked the door. The voice sounded like Darth Vader, only closer and a whole lot scarier.

      Maria shot up from the floor. “Run everybody!” she yelled.

   Eric and I didn’t waste any time trying to figure out how to get past Darth, we just scrambled up from the floor and tore after her. To our surprise Darth stepped back and let us through.
     “Crazy kids!”

     We got to Maria’s house faster than rabbits fleeing the hounds and all three of us tried to squeeze through her kitchen door at once. Maria busted out first, and Luke and I hit the floor together.

     “Holy cats! That was close.” Maria slammed the door and pulled the curtains shut.

     “I’ll say,” said Eric. “That guy was huge!”

     “I’ve heard that voice before,” said Maria, catching her breath.

     “Re-runs of Star Wars?” I said.

     “That’s it!” Eric whispered.

     “No, no,” Maria answered back, “I was too scared to try to see who it was, but I recognized his voice.” She thumped a finger against her chin.

     “Did you notice the weird smell in the air while he stood in the door?” I asked.

     “Yeah,” said Eric, “like when my uncle Tobias visits and smokes cigars, but something else too.”

     “Chocolate chip cookies!” we all said at once.

      “This makes no sense,” said Maria, “a Darth Vader who smells like cigars, chocolate chip cookies and hangs out in an old shed. Hmmm—there’s only one thing to do.”

     We stared at her.

     “We’ve got to go back.” 

     I straightened my shoulders. “You two stay here,” I whispered.  I felt like this was almost my shed since Dad and I were going to make an offer.

     “I’m not afraid,” said Eric. “I’ll go, too.”

     “Hey,” Maria hissed. “I’m no chicken. Lead on!”

     Back at the yard we crept to the open shed door. Then we smelled it—cigar smoke drifting from the open door.

     Suddenly a fat white cat shot past us and disappeared inside the shed.

     “Libby! There you are,” said the voice.

     “Mr. Watkins?” Maria ran forward.

     A tall old man with a cigar in his teeth stepped outside with the white cat draped across his arm.

     “What are you doing here?”

      “Well, hello there, Maria,” he said. “I’ve been taking care of Libby here. The Brown’s left her behind.”

     “Mr. Wilkins has lived around here for thirty years,” said Maria, sighing.

      “This is private property,” I said. “It might even be mine, uh, ours soon.”

     “I know,” said Mr. Wilkins. “But this poor cat was abandoned, and I can’t take her home until I convince my wife we need her.” He stroked the purring cat. 

     “You sure had us scared,” said Eric.

     “That was you last night with the flashlight?” I asked

     He smiled. “So, that must have been you out here then?” He’d turned the question around on me.

“My dad and I want to buy this place,” I said. “Maybe he’d let me have the cat.”

     “I don’t know,” said Mr. Wilkins. “Libby and I are pretty close.”

     “Let’s go and talk to Mrs. Wilkins,” said Maria. “She probably doesn’t know what a great cat this is.”

     “Good idea,” said Mr. Wilkins, “its cookie baking day, too, chocolate chip.”

      We slapped our foreheads. So he did smell like chocolate chip cookies.

     “Chocolate chip cookies always help us to make a better argument, for keeping abandoned cats that is,” I said.

      Then we walked down the street to his house, and I thought of how nice it would be to live in the same neighborhood as Mr. Wilkins. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Dad.