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yelled.
    Dawn blinked hard. “All right.”
    They started back.
    They had to go slowly.
    “Ouch, my poor feet,” Stacy kept saying.
    Mr. Arrow was waiting for them. He had a pile of big papers.
    He had a bunch of crayons.
    He smiled when he saw Dawn. “I have an idea.”
    “To find my cat?” Dawn asked.
    “It might help,” said Mr. Arrow. “I’m not sure.”
    He called Emily out of the pool. “Dry off,” he said. “We need everyone.”
    Stacy shook herself. “I’m drying off too.” They sat down at the table: Dawn and Stacy, Jason and Alex, Emily and Mr. Arrow.
    “We’ll make signs,” said Mr. Arrow. “We’ll let everyone know. Someone may have seen Powder Puff.”
    “Good,” said Stacy. “I’ll write my name.”
    Mr. Arrow shook his head. “We’re going to write Powder Puff’s name.”

    Stacy frowned. “I don’t know how to write Powder Puff. You forgot. I didn’t start school yet.”
    Emily looked as if she were going to laugh. She didn’t though. “Just make a cat. I’ll write the words.”
    Everyone drew a picture of Powder Puff.
    Dawn drew a fat Powder Puff.
    He had one white ear.
    He had a white tip on his tail.
    Emily drew a skinny Powder Puff.
    Jason drew a long one.
    Mr. Arrow watched. “Terrific,” he told Dawn.
    “Mine’s terrific too,” said Stacy.
    Mr. Arrow nodded. “Now,” he said. “Write LOST on top.”
    Jason wrote a red LOST.
    Alex wrote a yellow LOST.
    Stacy wrote a blue LSTO.
    They wrote Dawn’s name underneath.
    They wrote her address too.
    Mr. Arrow helped Stacy with hers.
    Then he stood up. “Now put these signs all over the place.”
    Dawn piled the signs up. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll bet we’ll find him now.”
    “Hey,” said Jason. “What time is it?”
    Mr. Arrow looked at his watch. “Lunchtime.”
    Dawn put the signs under her arm. “I’ve got to hurry. Noni will be looking for me.”
    She started down the driveway.
    “Wait,” yelled Emily Arrow.
    She rushed after Dawn.
    She had a pack of thumbtacks.
    “Thanks,” Dawn said again.
    She started down the street.
    “Come for a swim,” Emily called. “Come when you find Powder Puff.”
    Dawn waved back with one hand. “Don’t worry. I will. I’m dying of the heat.”
    She stopped at the corner.
    She tacked Jason’s sign to a pole.
    On the next street she put another sign.
    She kept going. She passed the house with the ladder. She stepped around it.
    By the time she reached home, the signs were gone.
    She stood there.
    Suppose the lady with the mousetail didn’t live near here?
    Suppose she didn’t see the signs?
    Dawn would have to do something else to find Powder Puff.
    But what?

CHAPTER 4
    D AWN SAT AT THE kitchen table. “I’m not hungry.”
    Noni pinched her cheek. “Maybe the cat will find his way back.”
    “Maybe he won’t,” Dawn said.
    “Eat some egg salad,” said Noni. “Have a potato chip.”
    “I can’t,” Dawn said.
    Noni sighed. “You want to look like a skinny little toothpick?”
    Dawn gave Noni a kiss.
    She went outside.
    Powder Puff wasn’t in the yard.
    He wasn’t in the street.
    Dawn sighed.
    How could she find him?
    Jason came along. He was dragging a stick on the ground.
    “What’s that for?” Dawn asked.
    Jason raised one shoulder. “It’s a sword.”
    “Don’t poke anyone in the eye.”
    “Uh-uh.” Jason dropped the stick. “I have nothing to do.”
    “Help me find Powder Puff.”
    Jason sat on the curb. “How?”
    Dawn looked up in the air. “We could look for the car. The red car.”
    “It’s hot,” Jason said. “Too hot to walk all over the place.”
    Dawn looked worried. “Maybe Powder Puff is thirsty.”
    “You’re right,” said Jason. “I’ll help.”
    He grabbed his stick.
    They started down the street.
    Dawn looked back at the house. “I’m going for a walk,” she shouted.
    Jason looked back. “I don’t think Noni heard you.”
    Dawn raised one shoulder. “Just as long as I said where I’m