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Kitty glared at the cat. There was no point trying to reason with her! Kitty edged forward, looking for the statue behind the pile of coins.

“Oh, don’t bother trying to find it.” Precious waved her paw airily at a metal box on the wall. “I locked it away in the safe. I shall take it out later and admire the diamonds before I take a nap.”

Kitty sprang over to the safe. It was shut tight, and it had a lock. Precious laughed again. Kitty swung around, asking,“Why does that dog steal things for you, anyway? Don’t you both know it’s wrong?”

“He does anything I say.” Precious beamed. “Everyone does, once they look into my eyes … including you!” She met Kitty’s gaze. Kitty felt the cat’s golden eyes drawing her in like a magnet. Precious spoke in a growly tone. “Listen very carefully! You will forget that you ever met me. You will not remember this pet shop. You will leave now and never come here again.”

Kitty’s head swam. For a moment she could hardly remember why she was there. Then she thought about how much she wanted to help Cleo, and her eyes focused again. “You may have hypnotized the springer spaniel, but I don’t think it works on me! Maybe it’s because of my superpowers.”

“Huh!” Precious flounced down from the coin pile and turned her back on Kitty, settling herself on a velvet blanket.

Kitty thought quickly. It was obvious that Precious was much more dangerous than she’d first thought. If no one stopped the golden-eyed cat, she could make the dog steal more and more treasure. She might even hypnotize other animals and force them to join in.

An idea popped into Kitty’s head. Maybe there was a way to use the stories about the statue! Perhaps she could scare Precious into giving back the treasure.

“There’s something you don’t know about the Golden Tiger,” she began. “Many say that the statue has a terrible curse.”

Precious stopped grooming and pricked up her ears.“Why would I care about that?”

“Because the curse says that if someone upsets the statue, it will send scary spirits to take revenge,” said Kitty.

Precious was silent for a moment.“Do you think it’s true?”

“I don’t know.” Kitty noticed the cat’s tail swaying uneasily. She tried to think how to make the story more believable. “But if itis true, I expect the spirits come in the dead of night and creep in through tiny cracks around the doorframe.” She shivered. That would be spooky if it were true!

Precious sat up straight, her tail flicking faster and faster.“Spirits? Door frames?”

There was a bang followed by a loud clatter from the front of the shop.

Kitty jumped. Maybe the cursewas real!

“What was that?” Precious leaped across the room, grabbing Kitty’s hand with both paws. “Save me, Kitty. I’m not a bad cat, really!”

“Stay close to me.” Kitty’s heart pounded like a drum as she crept toward the doorway. She could hear the pets squeaking and fluttering, disturbed by the strange noises. Kitty dodged as a box of treats toppled from a shelf. Then she leaped bravely though the door.

Chapter

6

A hamster ran under Kitty’s legs. “Someone’s opened all the cages!” she gasped. “The animals are escaping.”

The little hamster climbed the shelves, cheeping sharply. Then a pink-eared rabbit hopped across the shop counter. The green and red parrots flew out of their cage, squawking,“Stop, thief!”

“The curse is coming true,” moaned Precious. “I wish that horrible statue had never come here.”

Kitty spotted Cleo peeping out from behind a fish tank. Then the gray cat pushed a box of hamster food off the shelf. Kitty understood at once. Cleo had caused all this chaos to make Precious believe the story about the curse. The museum cat must have been listening the whole time!

Precious ran around in circles, her pointy ears swiveling from side to side. There was another crash as Cleo knocked a stack of dog leashes to the floor. Precious arched her back fearfully.“Kitty, the spirits are here to take revenge. Oh, save me!”

Cleo ducked behind the fish tanks as the golden-eyed cat ran around in a panic.

“Why don’t I take the statue back to the museum?” suggested Kitty. “That will stop the curse.”

“Yes, yes! I will give you the silly statue!” cried Precious. “I never want to see it again.” Running to the safe, she twisted the lock, and the door clicked open.

Kitty removed the Golden Tiger. It felt heavy in her hand.“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” she told Precious. “But to be really sure, you should tell the dog to return all the other stolen things.”

“I promise I will,” said Precious, her eyes wide.

“And never use your hypnotism on him, or anyone else, again,” added Kitty.

Precious nodded eagerly.“I’ll be good from now on. Please don’t let the curse get me!”

“Wait for me here. I’ll make sure everything’s safe,” Kitty told her before running back into the shop.

With Cleo’s help, she ushered most of the pets back into their cages.

There was a noise at the window, and Pumpkin’s face appeared. “Kitty, the dog is returning, and someone has switched a light on upstairs!” Pumpkin whispered.