Lost In The Storm

Chapter Four

Fluff stood still for a while, sniffing the air, hoping to catch a familiar scent that would lead her home. But the snow deadened the smells as well as the noises, and Fluff felt completely blind. What should she do? Had she gone past Ella’s house in the storm somehow? Should she be going back or forwards?

One thing was certain. She had to move somewhere. Sitting still wouldn’t keep her warm. She could feel the cold seeping into her bones – even her whiskers ached with it. The awful thing was, she might be going even further away from home! Miserably, Fluff forced her paws to keep plodding on through the deep snow. Without realizing, she slipped through a gap in a broken-down old fence at the bottom of a garden, and strayed into the old wood that ran along behind the houses on Ella’s street. It was even harder going. She was wading through drifted snow under tall and menacing trees. Fluff knew she’d never been anywhere like this before, and it made her shudder. The trees seemed to wave their dark arms at her, and their roots tripped her up. It felt as though they did it on purpose, sending her rolling into hollows of deep snow, so she had to struggle and fight her way out. Every time it happened, Fluff grew just a little bit more tired.

It was getting dark, and even harder to see. Fluff wished sadly that she had listened to Ella, and never gone out in the snow. She still didn’t quite understand how she had managed to get so lost. One minute she had known exactly where she was, and the next she’d had no idea. It had all happened so fast. Fluff shivered. There was nothing she could do about it now. She needed to rest, but where could she go? There were a few places under the trees, where the roots had made little burrows, but they didn’t look very warm. Fluff needed somewhere out of the biting wind.

Suddenly, something loomed up out of the gloom. Fluff peered forward doubtfully. It certainly wasn’t a tree. In fact, it looked more like a house.

With a fresh burst of energy, she trotted forward, picking her way carefully over the snow. It was a tumbledown old cottage, built for the gamekeeper who guarded the wood, but it had been empty now for years and years. The door was boarded up, but there were plenty of holes where a small cat could creep in. Fluff sighed with relief as she squeezed herself between the boards. Even just inside the door the difference was wonderful – no more freezing wind slicing through her fur.

Staggering with tiredness, Fluff headed further in, looking for somewhere comfortable to sleep. Gratefully she spotted a pile of old blankets in one corner. They were smelly and stained, but Fluff wasn’t feeling fussy. She burrowed in, wanting to be as warm as possible, and hollowed herself out a little nest in the rags. She closed her eyes, wrapped her tail round her nose, and let a warm tide of sleep wash over her. All at once she was back home, with Ella, being stroked, and fed cat treats.

But then she heard a noise. Fluff twitched in her sleep, fighting to stay in her lovely dream. Oh, she didn’t want to wake up, and be back in this cold, real adventure! Something was breaking into her dream – a mewing sound. Fluff sighed. It was no good, she wasn’t asleep any more. She poked her head up from her blanket nest, and gazed round grumpily. She couldn’t see anything, and the cottage was silent, except for the eerie shrieking of the wind outside. Was it that she’d heard? It must have been. Fluff was just settling back down to sleep when she heard the mewing again.

Something was crying for help!

Ella rushed home – as fast as she could in slippery wellies – full of news about her fun day. School had been all about snow – talking about snowflake patterns in science, writing snow poems in English, and lots and lots of playing outside in the snow at lunch and break.

“We had a brilliant snowball fight,” Ella told her mum happily, as she watched her make a mug of hot chocolate. “Oooh, can I have marshmallows, please? Excellent.” She took the chocolate and sat down, sipping it slowly. “Yum. It’s so cold out there, Mum, my fingers are freezing, even though I had my gloves on.” She gripped the warm mug tightly. “They’re only just thawing out.” Ella took a big mouthful of chocolate, and sighed happily. It was nice to be back inside. “It’s so cool that it’s Friday, and we’ve got the whole weekend free. Can we go sledging in the park tomorrow?” Then she looked round, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t seen Fluff since she got back. “Mum, where’s Fluff? She didn’t go out, did she?” Ella asked anxiously.

Her mum looked surprised. “But she’s got her cat flap now, Ella, she’s allowed outside! I saw her playing in the garden earlier.”

Ella looked worried. “I told her not to. I was scared she’d get lost in the snow again. I suppose it was silly to think she wouldn’t go out.”

“I don’t think you need to worry, Ella,” her mum said reassuringly. “Fluff ’s not a baby any more. I know she’s still tiny, but she has grown! She’s definitely old enough to be out there.”

“But it’s been snowing really hard today, Mum! And Fluff always comes back to see me when I get home from school. Always.” Ella got up to peer out of the kitchen window. “The snow’s really deep in the garden. She could easily have got confused about where she was going. Oh, why didn’t I just lock the cat flap?”

“Ella, it’s not fair to lock it, unless we really need to. Fluff wouldn’t understand why she couldn’t go out. She’d just get upset.” But Ella’s mum came to join her at the window. “You’re right though, it is odd that she isn’t back yet. I wonder where she’s got to.”

“We should go out and look for her,” Ella said, heading for the hallway to put all her outdoor things back on.

“Oh, Ella, no, I’m sure we don’t need to. Sit down, finish your hot chocolate. Honestly, Fluff was having a lovely time out there earlier on. She was playing with the snowflakes. She’s probably just got too caught up with exploring. I’m sure she’ll be home in a minute.”

Ella trailed reluctantly back to the table. She knew Mum was right, but something was still niggling at her. Fluff had never missed meeting her before.

Ella’s mum didn’t sit back down, but stayed thoughtfully staring out of the window. She wished she was as sure as she was making out to Ella. She didn’t think Fluff was lost, but she was worried. Fluff should have been back – was she hiding out somewhere, waiting for the snow to stop? She just couldn’t help feeling that it was an awfully cold day for a small kitten to be stuck outside…

Fluff stood up, her whiskers twitching. Usually hearing another cat would have made her fur stand on end, and she’d be wanting to fight and defend her territory. But there was something about that cry. She didn’t think that the cat making that noise was going to be putting up much of a fight. She picked her way out of her blanket nest, and stood still, listening carefully. She’d been so sleepy when she heard the mewing that she wasn’t quite sure where it had come from.

There it was again. So quiet. So weak. Fluff listened anxiously. The other cat wasn’t in this room, she was almost sure. She picked her way over the rubbish and fallen bricks, and peered through the doorway. The cottage was tiny, only two rooms. The inner room was full of broken furniture, and Fluff leaped up on to an old chair to try and see what was happening. The room was silent, and she looked around worriedly. She was sure she hadn’t imagined it. Although – the mew had seemed to be part of her dream at first…No! There it was again. The cry was coming from a battered cupboard on the other side of the room. Fluff wove her way carefully through the junk, and nosed at the door. It swung open slightly, and cautiously she stuck her head inside.

Staring back at her out of the gloom was an enormous pair of green eyes.

The mew came again, and Fluff watched in horror as a tiny white kitten struggled to its feet, desperately trying to reach her.

The kitten could hardly stand, and at once Fluff jumped into the cupboard, nosing the little creature gently. She towered over it. This kitten was far too young to be on her own! She looked as though she was only just old enough to eat food, rather than milk from her mother. Where was her mother? Fluff could smell that at least one other cat had been here. Maybe this was where the kitten had been born. Cats often chose odd places to have their kittens – she had been born in a stable, and the horse it belonged to hadn’t been happy at all.

But the mother cat’s scent was fading. This kitten had been alone for a while, Fluff thought. She had to be starving. She was nuzzling hopefully at Fluff, as though she thought Fluff might have brought her some food, but eventually she gave up, and collapsed down again. The cupboard was lined with rags, like the nest Fluff had made, and the white kitten lay down, curling herself up tight. She looked cold. Fluff lay down gently, curling herself around the kitten, like her own mother used to snuggle up to Fluff and her brothers and sisters.

The kitten mewed again, an even smaller sound this time, but she sounded pleased. Fluff purred comfortingly. Go to sleep. Maybe we can find your mother, she thought. But she had a horrible feeling that the kitten’s mother was far away. Somehow they’d been separated.

Fluff rested her head gently next to the little white ears, watching anxiously as the kitten twitched her way to sleep. Fluff ’s tummy rumbled, but at least she’d had breakfast, which was more than she guessed the kitten had. She could feel the tiny body warming up, and her own eyes began to close.

Curled around each other, the two cats slept, alone in the snowy night.