Timmy in Trouble

Chapter Six

Katie’s mum came downstairs on Sunday morning, and found them both curled up together, Katie with her head on Timmy’s cushion, and him snuggled under the duvet with her.

“Katie! I thought you were still in bed! Actually, I was surprised you weren’t up and playing with Timmy already.” Mum sighed, as she poured Katie some juice and filled Timmy’s food bowl. “I should have known.”

Katie grinned. “Sorry, Mum. He was so lonely. I listened to him whining and crying for ages, and then I just couldn’t bear it any longer.”

“The thing is, now he’ll expect you to do it again tonight.” Mum watched as Timmy wolfed down his breakfast. “You can’t sleep on the kitchen floor every night, Katie!”

Katie wriggled her shoulders. “I know, this floor’s really hard. Honestly, Mum, I won’t do it again. I think he was just miserable the first night, that’s all.”

Katie was right. Timmy had never been left alone before, and he hadn’t been sure that anyone would ever come back for him. Now he knew that Katie and the rest of the family weren’t far away, and he’d see them in the morning, he didn’t mind being alone so much.

In fact, on Sunday night, he was so worn out from playing in the garden with Katie for most of the day, that he curled up on his cushion and fell asleep almost as soon as she went to bed. He didn’t bother with even one little howl.

A couple of days later, Katie’s parents decided that Timmy had settled in so well that they could let him explore a bit further.

“Just downstairs, mind,” Dad said. “There’s so much stuff he could accidentally damage upstairs. Imagine if he started chewing your mum’s shoe collection. She’d never forgive him!”

Katie nodded, though she wished she could have Timmy in her room. Still, she was really looking forward to curling up with him to watch TV in the living room.

“Come on, Timmy,” she called, standing by the kitchen door and patting her knees. “Come on, boy!”

Timmy looked at her with his head on one side. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening. He wasn’t allowed out of that door, was he? He’d been told no when he tried before. He pattered slowly over to Katie, then turned and looked at her mum, waiting to see if she’d tell him off.

Mum laughed. “It’s OK, Timmy. Go on, go with Katie.”

Timmy woofed with excitement, and trotted happily into the hallway. New things to smell! He worked his way curiously along Katie and Jess’s school bags and wellies, which were by the front door, then poked his nose into the living room. Jess was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine, with Misty on her lap.

Over the last couple of days, Katie and Jess and Mum and Dad had very carefully kept Timmy and Misty apart. They wanted to give Timmy time to settle down, and Misty needed to get used to the idea of a dog in the house.

Misty spent as much time as she possibly could in Jess’s room, only coming into the kitchen to bolt down her food – with one watchful eye on the utility room door the whole time. She would then shoot out of the cat flap, and rely on Jess letting her in the front door when she wanted to come in again. Now she looked up at Timmy, and hissed.

“Oh, Misty!” Katie sighed. “Don’t be so grumpy.”

Timmy had almost forgotten his first meeting with the cat. He was only very little, and he was naturally friendly. He assumed everyone else was, too. He bounced over towards Misty and Jess, his tail wagging, and yapped excitedly at her. Misty shot on to the arm of the sofa and growled, her back arching.

Timmy’s tail drooped, and he looked round at Katie. He was only trying to be friendly. Why doesn’t she like me?

“Keep him away from Misty,” Jess said irritably. “He’s upsetting her.”

“Mum said we could watch TV,” Katie said. “There’s a safari programme on; I thought Timmy could watch it with me. Anyway, Misty and Timmy have to learn to get along. If we can just get them used to being in the same room, that would be really good.”

“I suppose…” Jess muttered. “Just keep an eye on him, though!”

For the next half-hour, Misty glowered from the arm of the sofa, her tail twitching warningly, and Timmy shot her curious, sidelong glances from the armchair, where he was curled up on Katie’s lap.

Gradually, Misty started to relax, and after a while she dozed off on the sofa arm, with one eye half open.

Timmy sat quietly for a while, but soon he began to feel restless. He slipped down from Katie’s knee, and went exploring. This was much more exciting! Katie was half-watching him, but the little lion cubs on the programme were so cute!

Timmy sniffed his way round the room, investigating behind the Christmas tree and sneezing at the dust under the big bookcase. He even managed to wriggle under the sofa. It was dark, and it smelled interesting. He could pop his head out from underneath as well, and then hide again, which made Katie giggle. It was a good game.

He crawled the whole length of the sofa, and poked his nose out at Jess’s end. There was an interesting fluffy thing there, dangling down, and twitching gently.

Timmy was mesmerized. It went to and fro, waving at him. The fluffy thing was like one of the toys Katie had given him, a furry rat that squeaked. Maybe this one would squeak, too, if he bit it? He wriggled a little further out from under the sofa, just as Katie realized she hadn’t seen him for a minute or so.

“Where’s Timmy? Is he behind the sofa? Oh, Timmy, no!”

And Timmy pounced on Misty’s tail…