Oliver The Cat Who Saved Christmas

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

I spent most of that day with Tabby again. He was feeling fed up because the pretty little Burmese he had his eye on wasn’t interested in him.

‘Why these pedigree females seem to think they’re too good for the likes of us, I can never understand,’ he complained. ‘They should realise they’d have healthier kittens if they mated with good strong moggies like us, instead of going in for all that inbreeding.’

‘I don’t think you’re going to be able to change the way of world just to suit your sex life, Tabs.’

‘More’s the pity. Anyway, how are things with you? Got over that business at the Big House now?’

‘Yes. I’m just disappointed all our efforts didn’t work.’

‘All your efforts, you mean. I didn’t even have a clue what you were up to, playing with bits of paper when we should have been legging it out of there.’

‘It just seems such a shame. She likes him, and he seems to like her, too. Why can’t they just get together and be happy?’

‘Perhaps one of them is a pedigree and the other one isn’t,’ he said morosely. ‘As you said, you can’t change the world.’

No, I couldn’t, and I was beginning to realise that.

We played together in Tabby’s garden for a while, but we were both getting cold, and then suddenly it started to pour with that icy stuff they call sleet. It’s the worst stuff of all, when it comes down hard, little Charlie. Drenches your fur and freezes it at the same time.

‘Quick, into the garage,’ he meowed at me. It was a lot closer than his cat flap. ‘There’s a gap under the door.’

I’d never been in there before. The gap where the door didn’t close properly was only just big enough – I was surprised Tabby could squeeze through – but once inside, it was nice and dry, even if not very warm. We both sat and washed ourselves and rubbed our faces with our paws to get the icy drips off.

‘Why have they got a garage,’ I asked Tabby, looking around, ‘if they haven’t got a car?’

‘They used to have one – a big old thing, it was. Very bad-tempered. It used to growl and cough a lot, and sometimes it refused to move at all. They got rid of it in the end. Said they were getting too old to drive anyway, and now they just go on the bus or walk. My man, Eddie, used to look after it really well, too. See all those tools, in those boxes at the back there? He was forever opening the car’s mouth and looking at its teeth or whatever was wrong with it. But he said he was getting too old to do that any more, too.’

‘Oh.’ A little idea was blooming in my head, as I’m sure you can guess. ‘So why has your man still got all those tools?’

‘Don’t ask me. My woman said ages ago he should get rid of them, but you know what male humans are like, Ollie – never get around to anything. She did say the other day she was going to write an advert out to sell them, if he wouldn’t do it.’

‘And did she? Did she write the advert?’

‘I don’t know, Ollie. There’s a bit of paper in the front window, but don’t ask me what it is. I might be clever but I’m not Wonder-Cat, I can’t read. Why are you so interested, anyway?’

‘Oh, just being curious,’ I said.

‘Careful. You know what they say.’

‘Yes, I do. And it hasn’t killed me yet!’

I saw the piece of paper when we walked round the front of his house later. It was just ordinary white paper with big black letters on. For all I knew, it could be a page out of a newspaper. But was it worth a try? Or would I just be wasting my time – again?

After school that afternoon, Rose went to play with one of the children in her class. Grace went up to their bedroom, and when she came back down she was holding the pink purse, the one she’d tipped the money out of before.

‘Mummy,’ she said, ‘can I ask you something? It’s got to be a secret from Rose.’

I couldn’t help letting out a little mew of anxiety. Was this it? Was this the point when they’d go and buy the new cat?

‘What is it, love?’ Sarah said, sounding amused. ‘Have you decided what to get her for Christmas?’

‘Well, yes, it could be her Christmas present. That would be good. But do you think I’ve got enough money yet?’ She unzipped the purse and tipped out the coins and the note again. ‘If Daddy gives me this week’s pocket money tonight…’

‘What is it you want to buy her? It doesn’t have to be something expensive, Grace. It’s the thought that counts.’

‘A new cat. I want to buy her a new cat that she can call Sooty again.’

Sarah’s eyes went wide with surprise. ‘Oh, Grace, darling, that really isn’t a good idea,’ she said. ‘I mean, it’s sweet of you to think of it, but…’

‘Why not?’ Grace demanded crossly. ‘I want to, Mum. I want to make up for being a horrible sister.’

Sarah put both paws round Grace and pulled her close. ‘You’re not a horrible sister, not at all. Why on earth would you think that?’

‘I said that nasty thing to her, didn’t I, that day when we got the Christmas tree? About her being stupid for running into the road to save Sooty. I don’t know why I said it, Mummy. I was just feeling cross and impatient about decorating the tree.’

‘Sweetheart, we all knew you didn’t mean it. Even Rose knew you didn’t. It’s all forgotten now.’

‘I haven’t forgotten it,’ Grace retorted. ‘It still makes me feel horrible, knowing I said it.’

‘Well, that just shows you’re really a very nice sister, who wouldn’t normally dream of hurting Rose’s feelings. We all say nasty things sometimes, and feel sorry afterwards. But once you’ve said sorry, and been forgiven, Grace, you have to move on and forget about it.’

‘OK.’ Grace shrugged. ‘But I still want to buy her a new cat.’

‘We have Oliver now, don’t we?’

Phew. I started to breathe again.

Grace frowned. ‘But Oliver isn’t really ours, not to keep, is he. I know Rose loves him – so do I – but when he gets taken back by his real owner, she’s going to be even more upset.’

Sarah looked at her for a minute as if she was considering it.

‘Well, you have got a point there…’

Oh no, I thought. Here we go.

‘… and Daddy and I have already agreed we’ll get another cat of our own after Oliver leaves. But perhaps you’re right. Perhaps it should be before rather than after.’

She paused and glanced over at me, and I meowed loudly in distress.

‘But I don’t think it would be fair on Ollie,’ she went on, ‘to bring another cat into the house while he’s staying with us.’

I wanted to rush over and jump on her lap and lick her to death, but I was almost too weak with relief to move.

‘Oh, but Mummy…’

‘We’ll get a kitten instead.’

‘Oh! A kitten! Oh, yes, that’d be even better.’ Grace jumped up and punched the air as if she was one of those football people on the television. ‘Have I got enough money for a kitten, then?’ she added.

‘Put your purse away, Grace,’ Sarah said, laughing. ‘Daddy and I will buy the kitten, but not until after Christmas. Christmas isn’t the right time to bring a new pet into the house. No, don’t argue, or I’ll change my mind and we won’t get one at all. There’s too much excitement, and things going on. A kitten will need calm, and quiet, to settle down. After New Year, I promise you and Rose can both help to choose a kitten. So there’s no need to keep it a secret from Rose. It’ll be something for us all to look forward to. But why don’t we go to the shop now, while Rose is out, and you can choose a book or a puzzle for her instead, that you can wrap up for her for Christmas?’

‘OK. It will be exciting to have a new kitten to look forward to, won’t it? Will Ollie mind that, though?’

‘I don’t think so. A kitten won’t be a threat to him, like an adult cat might be, and it’ll be more likely to accept that Oliver is Top Cat while he’s here.’

They both looked at me. I was purring. A kitten! Oh, that would be nice. I could help to bring it up. It would be fun. And, most importantly, they obviously weren’t planning to send me packing. I’d be Top Cat. I jumped out of my chair, stretched, and gave a big yawn of contentment, and Sarah and Grace both burst out laughing.

‘It’s almost like he’s been listening,’ Grace said, coming over to pick me up. ‘Ah, Ollie, we still love you too, don’t we, Mummy?’

‘Of course we do,’ Sarah agreed, giving me a stroke.

So I was one very happy, very lucky, cat, after all.

I’d have liked to stay with them that evening, cuddled up on the children’s laps while they talked excitedly about our new kitten. But, of course, I had a plan involving Daniel next door, and now I was feeling more positive about life, I wanted to try it out, even though most of my plans seemed to be backfiring.

‘Hello, Ollie!’ Nicky said brightly when she opened the door to my usual chorus of meows. I’d tried to time it right so that they’d had their dinner but not settled down for the evening yet. ‘Come in, out of the cold.’

‘No!’ I meowed. ‘You come out here.’

‘Come on, boy,’ she insisted. ‘Quickly, we’ve got the fire lit and you’re letting in the cold.’

I paraded up and down, my tail erect, looking back at her.

‘What’s going on?’ Daniel called from inside the cottage.

‘It’s Ollie. He’s behaving really strangely. He won’t come in – he keeps pacing up and down outside.’

Daniel appeared behind her, watching me over her shoulder.

‘He did that to me once before,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Remember? That time I told you I had the distinct impression he wanted to lead me to the notice board.’

‘Yeah, right!’ She laughed. ‘What are you, now? The cat whisperer?’

‘Maybe.’ He shrugged, but he was still watching me. I flicked my tail harder and walked a few paces towards the corner of the road. ‘OK, I might be losing my marbles, but I’m going to follow him, Nick. I’ll just get my coat.’

‘If I didn’t know you better, Dan, I’d say you were using Ollie as an excuse to pop off down the pub,’ Nicky said, still laughing.

‘If there was even a pub to pop down to.’ He kissed her quickly on the cheek. ‘Won’t be long.’

Nicky shut the door behind us, shaking her head.

‘Come on, then,’ I told him, leading the way. Thank God he was getting better at understanding cat body-language.

We were soon at Tabby’s house. Fortunately there was a lamppost right outside, and the white sheet of paper was still glaring from the window. I stopped outside the gate, turning round and round on the spot, meowing.

‘What is it, Ollie?’ Daniel said, staring around him. ‘What’s wrong?’

For mewing out loud, I thought. I’m going to have to lead him by the nose!

I hopped up onto the low front wall and over onto Tabby’s front path, and up to the window. Did I really need to jump up onto the windowsill? No. When I turned back to Daniel, he was staring at the paper. Hooray! Now I just had to hope it wasn’t just a Happy Christmas decoration or a sign I’d heard about, saying No Cold Calling – whatever that meant.

‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Daniel muttered to himself. ‘That could be interesting.’

Could it? Well, I hoped so. He certainly seemed keen. He opened the gate and marched up the path, gave a firm rat-a-tat to the door knocker and waited, looking at me and shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite work me out.

‘Hello?’ Eddie, Tabby’s human, stood in the doorway, staring at him. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Hello. I’ve just seen the notice in your window,’ Daniel said. ‘Garage contents to be disposed of? Tools? Um, I just wondered what kind of tools you’re selling.’

‘Selling?’ Eddie laughed. ‘Just clearing them out, mate. Well, my wife is – it was her that put the notice up. She’s sick of me hoarding stuff I don’t need. Can’t blame her really. We haven’t even got a car now, so why would I want to hold onto all the gear I used to work on the old banger with?’

‘Tools for car maintenance?’ Daniel squawked. He glanced at me again, his mouth open. ‘Sorry, it’s just such a coincidence. I could really do with some. Can I have a look? And would you by any chance take a cheque?’

Eddie clapped a paw on his shoulder, laughing. ‘I told you, lad, I don’t want anything for them. Take the lot, if you like – you’ll be doing me a favour. They’re not new, mind. The wife was all for throwing them out. But if they’ll do you a turn, so much the better. Come and have a look. Live in the village, do you? Haven’t seen you around.’

And they disappeared round the side of the house to the garage, Daniel starting to tell Eddie where he lived, how recently he and Nicky had moved in, and how he’d got the offer of the work on the farmer’s truck. By the time Daniel returned home, whistling, telling Nicky he needed to take the car round the corner because he’d got a box of heavy tools to bring back, I was on the chair next to Nicky, pretending to be asleep.

Mission accomplished. For once I’d been a success. What a good day. Suddenly I was feeling much better about myself.