Oliver The Cat Who Saved Christmas. Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

We stayed there in the rain, with the wind whistling around our whiskers, for quite a long time after that, in case we saw the pictures of me again, but it didn’t happen. In the end we waited so long, we got drenching wet and cold, and didn’t bother with searching for my holiday home that day after all.

‘Let’s not tell the other boys what we saw in that shop,’ Big said quietly as we headed back to the yard. ‘They’ll think we’ve both been at the catnip.’

‘OK,’ I agreed. I was beginning to wonder if I’d dreamt it, anyway. It all seemed so unreal and unlikely. ‘But wedid see it, though, didn’t we?’

‘Yes.’ He turned to stare at me again. ‘And I’m still trying to make sense of it. The only thing I can think of is that you’ve got some kind of magic power – what with this, and understanding Human, and the way you were brave enough to come back and attack me, all on your own, that first day we met. It never did seem quite natural. Are you sure you’re really a normal cat?’

‘Yes, I am!’ I meowed, feeling a bit scared now.

I had no idea what had happened there. But if I’d really had magic powers, there was one thing I was sure of: I’d have magicked myself back to my human family by now and would be sitting on Caroline’s lap, purring into her ear, and not caring if she spent all day every day looking at strange moving pictures on the television, just as longas I never lost her again.

The following day, we were walking past the pub at the harbour when we saw another strange thing. Inside the pub window was a big piece of paper with a picture of a cat on it and some large Human writing underneath. This time it was Tail-less who noticed.

‘Blinking codfish, Charlie!’ he meowed. ‘That cat in the picture looks just like you!’

Big, still feeling spooked by what we’d seen on the television screen, immediately crept up for a closer look.

‘Itdoes look like you,’ he told me, almost accusingly, when he came back, ‘but I don’t think it is. That cat looks fatter, and more groomed, and it hasn’t got scars on its head or a nasty eye, like you.’

‘Right,’ I said. Even from a little distance, I could see it was true that the cat in the picture didn’t have my wounds.

Of course, I wasn’t sure exactly what I looked like, apart from what my humans, and other cats, had told me. Caroline had sometimes picked me up and held me in front of that shiny thing they call a mirror, and said things like ‘Ah, Charlie, look at you!’ – but all I could see was the little tabby kitten whoalways seemed to appear in the mirrors around the house, copying whatever I was doing. When I was very young, I thought he was another kitten who lived in the house, but Ollie soon put me right on that, explaining that he wasn’t real – he had no scent and if I tried to rub faces with him, all I’d get was the hard shiny surface of the mirror. I presume you all think the same as Ollie and I do – that the mirror cats are something like the pictures on television.

So the mirror cat in our house may, perhaps, have been a picture of me. If it was, then I had a good idea what I used to look like before I got lost and started living rough. Before I got badly beaten up by a gang of alley cats, almost lost the sight in one eye and apparently gained some scars that I supposed would last my whole nine lives. But I didn’t want to freak Big out any more than I’d done already.

‘OK. Obviously not me, then,’ I said.

We saw another picture, exactly the same, in the caf? window. Another one in the window of the fish and chip shop when we went scavenging that evening. Next day, there was one in the bookshop, one in the bread shop, and one in the window of the Chinese takeaway shop. When we walked back past the caf?, Shirley and Jean were sitting in their usual spot outside. I lingered behind the fence for a while to listen to their conversation, and Big waited for me. He didn’t mind me using my two friends as sources of inside information, as long as he was there to keep an eye on me and I didn’t venture too close.

‘It’s such a shame, isn’t it,’ Shirley was saying. ‘They must be so desperate to get him back. The pictures are going up everywhere.’

‘Yes. Well, of course, since it was on the News, everyone knows about that cat who chased the seagull away from the old lady. The family who put up the notices seem to be convinced it’s their cat, don’t they? They were staying here all through August, I heard – down at the Oversands end of the bay, in one of those rental cottages, apparently. The little girl’s inconsolable. There’s some story about her being very ill, and she seems to think it’s her fault the cat went missing.’

‘Ah, bless her, poor little love. And that’s her little cat in the picture, is it, Jean?’

‘Yes. Look, have you read it?LOST: CHARLIE. Young neutered male tabby. Last seen on 28 August in the Oversands area of Mudditon-on-Sea. Believed to be still in Mudditon. Microchipped. Reward for safe return. And it’s got a mobile number and email address. Apparently the girl’s father has been staying in Mudditon again since they saw the cat on the News – walking the streets, calling out for Charlie.’

‘Well, I do hope he finds him, for that little girl’s sake. If itis that same cat, of course. Tabby cats are two a penny, though, aren’t they? For a start, there’s our little friend who visits us here. He’s a tabby, and he looks about the right age, doesn’t he. And we did think he looked like the cat who was in the paper.’

‘Yes, but come on, Shirl – he’s much skinnier than this one in the poster, and so scruffy looking, poor little thing. He really doesn’t look like this cute kitten in the pictures, at all. To be honest, I wonder if the family are just clutching at straws. I’d be very surprised if the cat in these posters is the same one who chased the seagull.’

‘But then again, we’ve both been saying our little one doesn’t really behave like a feral, haven’t we. He seems too trusting.’

I’m sure you can imagine how I felt as I listened to all this! I was mewing to myself like crazy and twitching all over with distress.

‘What the dog’s bum is up with you?’ Big kept asking me, but I was too intent on listening, to reply. Julian was looking for me! It seemed that so much time had passed, my family must have actually gone home to Little Broomford, but they hadn’t forgotten me. Caroline was pining for me! Julian had come back specially to put up pictures of me, he was walking the streets calling me! If only he would walk past here right now, I’d run to him, and I’d be rescued. I’d be taken home, I’d see Caroline, I’d be back to my old life, to you, Oliver, and you, all my other old friends in Little Broomford.

But then I mewed again with a new bout of anguish. What if he never happened to walk along the same street or path or alleyway at the same time as me? What if he gave up, like Big had suggested I ought to give up looking for the holiday cottage? Then he’d go back home without me, telling Caroline I was nowhere to be found. The pictures would be taken down again, and all the humans around here would stop talking about me the way Jean and Shirley were doing now, and nobody would look for me, and I’d have lost my only opportunity of going back to my real life. How could I afford to take that chance?

I glanced at Big. He was looking at me with such concern, meowing quietly to me about calming down and not getting myself upset, and why didn’t I tell him what the humans were saying? And I felt yet another wave of distress as I realised how fond I’d become of him and the other boys, how they’d taken me into their gang and looked after me, despite the fact that I was so different from them, and despite them thinking I was weird and posh and possibly magic on top of everything else. They’d be upset with me for leaving them now. Or perhaps they wouldn’t – perhaps they’d just think that was part of my weirdness, and forget about me as quickly as they’d accepted me.

‘Well,’ Jean was saying, ‘even if it really is our little cat, Shirl, there’s not a lot we can do until we see him again – then we could have another good look at him. Now, shall we get the bill? I need to get back and start a bit of housework.’

So this was it. I had to trust those two females; trust them, and trust my own grasp of Human language, or my chance was gone. I poised myself, preparing to make a dash for it.

‘Where are you going, Charlie?’ Big said, but there was something in his voice that made me think he’d guessed this was goodbye.

‘I’m sorry, Big,’ I meowed. ‘Thanks for everything. Say goodbye to the boys for me. I’ll miss you all.’

‘Charlie!’ he yowled as I ran straight round the end of the fence and threw myself at the legs of the nearest of the two females. ‘For the love of bloody rats’ intestines, don’t do it! They’ll skin you alive! They’ll roast you and eat you with their stinky red ketchup!’

‘Goodbye, Big,’ I mewed back to him loudly, as Shirley, gasping with surprise and squawking to Jean about what a coincidence it was that I’d turned up at that very moment, bent down to pick me up. ‘I’m really sorry,’ I called back as he continued to yowl after me ‘But I’m going home.’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It wasn’t until I was being held tightly in the arms of this human female I’d adopted as my friend, that I realised just how much I’d changed since I’d been living rough with the feral cats. She was squashing me against her enormous chest with her big plump arms, she was so determined notto let me go, and I was having to clench my teeth, shut my eyes tight and force myself to lie still, so strong was my instinct to nip her sharply on her wrist, jump down and run away. But even while I was struggling with myself I was wondering how it was that I seemed to have lost my trust in humans. I’d never been frightened of them in the old days. Oliver had taught me that although there were definitely some bad ones in the world, most of them were kind to us cats and wanted to be our friends. Yes, I’ve always remembered that, Ollie, because I was impressed that you’d learned to trust humans again despite having had a horrible experience with a very cruel human when you were a tiny kitten.

I was thinking about this now, telling myself to remember Oliver’s wise words, as Shirley was holding me in her tight grip.

‘Isn’t this incredible, Jean?’ she was saying. ‘Just as we were talking about him, he turned up!’

‘Yes, it’s amazing,’ agreed Jean, ‘it’s almost as if he was sat behind the fence listening to our whole conversation.’

‘I wonder if heis the missing Charlie. You’re right, though, he’s not like the picture in the poster. His coat is in a terrible state, and he’s got a few battle scars. And I don’t like the look of that poor eye.’

‘Well, the poster says he’s microchipped, so there’s only one way to find out whether it’s him,’ said Jean.

‘Yes!’ I meowed urgently. ‘The only way is to take me to Julian! He’ll recognise me straight away! Call his number! You said it was on that notice!’

But instead, they were fussing around, paying for their tea, getting their handbags and suddenly I was being carried off, out of the caf? and along the road.

‘Where are we going?’ I squealed, struggling furiously, as they carried me further and further away from the yard and my new friends. Even now, they’d probably be talking about me, wondering together at my stupidity in running off with humans. Would they miss me? Or would they just be glad tobe rid of a nuisance and a liability?

‘Calm down, little cat,’ Shirley soothed me. ‘We’re not going to hurt you.’

‘Here we are,’ Jean said suddenly, stopping outside a house. There was a little car parked in front of it and she unlocked its doors. ‘You sit in the back with him, Shirley. He really ought to be in a basket of some sort, but it’s only a short drive. Look, I’ve got a little blanket there on the back seat that I use for my grandson. Let’s wrap him up in that so he can’t try to escape if he panics.’

‘No!’ I meowed, starting to wriggle frantically now as Shirley climbed awkwardly into the back of the car with me and proceeded, with Jean’s help, to wrap me up so that all my paws were completely immobilised. ‘Let me go!’

‘There,’ Jean panted. ‘Now just hold his head down so he can’t bite you. He’s getting upset, poor little thing.’

‘Of course I’m upset! You’ve taken me prisoner! I don’t want to go in the car with you! Where are you taking me?’

All my resolve to trust Jean and Shirley and to remember Oliver’s words of wisdom had flown out of the window. And as the doors were slammed shut, and Jean started the car running along, I’m ashamed to say I cowered on Shirley’s lap, growling quietly and letting out the occasional little mew of fear as if I was the kind of cat who’d never been used to humans at all.

‘It’s all right, little kitty,’ Shirley kept saying. ‘It’s all right.’

But it wasn’t. It was all wrong. I shouldn’t have trusted these humans. Why had they tied me up? What were they going to do to me? I should have listened to Big, after all, and stayed with him and the boys, where I was safe and being looked after. At the thought of Big, I mewed even more loudly. He’d been such a good friend! I’d remember him for my whole nine lives! I’d forget all about going back to Little Broomford, if only I could magic myself back with him and the boys right this minute!

Oh yes, you might very well look shocked, my friends. I can hardly believe it myself now. How appalling, how shameful that I was thinking like this, forgetting already where my real loyalties lay, forgetting how much I’d yearned for a chance to be back with my human family, to be cuddled by Caroline again and fed lovely cat food by Laura. But this is what fear does to you. It turns you from a sensible, reasonable cat – from a hero cat, in fact, one who has survived extreme danger, who has risked lives and limbs to try to protect his vulnerable and much-loved human kitten – into a snivelling wretch of a scaredy-cat.

I admit it, I was behaving like a scaredy-cat and I’m ashamed now to think about it. After everything I’d been through, you see, it seemed like just as happiness and reunion with my humans had been within my sight, I’d ended up making the wrong choice, a fatal mistake. And now I was so frightened and alone, I felt like giving up. I just lay there and cried. I cried for Big and the other boys. I cried for Julian and Laura and Caroline and even baby Jessica. I cried foryou, Oliver, andyou, my sisters and friends back in Little Broomford. But mostly, I cried for myself.

Thank goodness, though, it wasn’t very long before the car stopped again.

‘Here we are,’ Shirley said, still clutching me in my tightly wrapped bundle as Jean helped her out of the car. ‘Now, don’t start panicking, little kitty. Mr Caswell is a very kind man.’

Mr Caswell? Who the fox’s backside was Mr Caswell? I couldn’t imagine how he could be anyone kind. If these human catnappers had been genuinely on my side, they’d have been taking me straight to Julian! Anyone else could only be plotting to do me harm. Surely it couldn’t be true what Big had been screaming to me?Were they going to roast me and eat me with ketchup? Oh my ears and whiskers! I wriggled and wriggled, yowling and spitting at Shirley as she carried me up some steps into a building that smelt … it smelt like … whatwas that smell? What was the memory it was bringing back to me? It was making me shudder, would have made my fur stand on end and my muscles quiver, if only there was room for that to happen inside my tight bundle. We went through a door into an empty room with a bare floor and some hard empty chairs around the walls. The smell in here was almost overpowering. And just then, another door opened and out came a dog– -fortunately, attached to a human by one of those long straps they need to keep them under control – and immediately, it all came flooding back to me. I knew where we were! For catnip’s sake, they’d brought me to a vet!

Can you imagine how much I was wriggling and hissing and spitting now? Shirley almost dropped me twice, and Jean had to help her to hang onto me.

‘Let me go,’ I growled. And to the dog, who was sniffing around their feet, trying to jump at their legs to get a closer look at me, I shouted: ‘Bugger off, you big stupid snarling piece of rat’s poo, you!’

I know, I know, my language was pretty awful. It was the influence of the feral boys, you see, together with the terror of my situation. I couldn’t help it. But I don’t speak like that anymore, now I’m back in civilisation, obviously, so please don’t let the little kittens here copy me.

‘Down, boy!’ the dog’s human was trying to persuade him. ‘You’re frightening the poor cat. Sorry, ladies,’ he said to my captors. ‘That’s a feisty little feline you’ve got there!’

‘Oh, he’s not ours,’ Jean said. ‘We think he’s a feral, although we did wonder if he might be a stray – the one who’s been advertised in all the shops and caf?s. We’re hoping the vet can scan him, even if just to rule it out.’

‘No!’ I shrieked, trying to get my teeth into Shirley’s wrist. ‘I know what vets do – I’m not stupid! He’ll stick a needle in me! It’ll put me to sleep! I’ll never wake up!’

And just at that moment, the other door opened again and out came a tall male human in a white coat.

‘Hello,’ he said to the females. ‘Have you got an appointment?’

‘No,’ Jean said, still trying to help Shirley to hang onto me. She could hardly make herself heard above my yowling. ‘Sorry, Mr Caswell, it’s kind of an emergency.’

‘Has he been hurt or something?’ said the male, peering down at me. I spat in his face.

‘No, we’ve found him,’ Shirley said. ‘Well, he actually found us! We did wonder whether he might be the missing cat that’s in all the posters around town. I hope so, anyway, now we’ve gone to all this trouble,’ she added with a little laugh. ‘Although he’s been so feisty on the way here, I’m beginning to think he is a feral after all.’

‘Oh yes, I’ve got one of those posters up myself,’ the vet said, still staring at me. ‘His owner, a Mr Smythe, came in to tell me about him. The cat was on the BBC News, apparently – chased a seagull, or something?’

‘That’s right. Do you think it’s him, Mr Caswell?’ Jean asked.

‘I doubt it, to be honest. As you say, this cat seems half wild. Let’s have a look at him, anyway, shall we? Bring him through. I’ll get Ginny to help me hold him still. We’re going to need our gloves on, I think!’

And so, as the human with the dog went out, calling,‘Good luck. I hope it is the missing cat,’ I was carried through to the next room. In here, the smell reminded me so strongly of my previous experiences with vets that I nearly fainted. I was unwrapped onto one of those slippery, shiny tables, where I was forcibly held down by Mr Caswell on oneside, and a young female in a white coat on the other. I’d stopped yowling now. I was so sick with fear, I’d kind of retreated inside myself and just lay panting, waiting for the end of my lives.

‘He’s certainly quite a young cat,’ the vet said, having prised open my mouth and looked at my teeth. ‘A neutered male, probably only about a year old. Very malnourished.’ He was poking me around the ribs. ‘Covered in fleas. Coat dull and matted. One back leg injured – he seems to have had a bite down to the bone that hasn’t healed properly and it’s left him with an abscess.’ I flinched as he touched my sore leg. ‘Sorry, boy. Scabs on his head, one ear bitten, and a very badly infected right eye. Lucky not to have lost his sight. Been in a few fights, by the look of him.Well, ladies, I’d be surprised if this is our missing Charlie. I’d say he’s more likely to be a long-term stray who’s turned feral. But I’ll certainly scan him for you to make sure. If it’s not him, we’ll keep him here, treat his wounds, de-flea him and get him nursed back to health, and send him to Cats’ Protection. Hopefully someone will adopt him.’

I wasn’t listening anymore. His Human words were all running into each other, making no sense to me. I’d switched off. I was waiting for that needle, and just hoping the end would be quick.

‘Pass me the scanner,’ he said to the nurse, and the next thing I knew, something cold was being run over the back of my neck.Here comes the needle, I thought.Oh well, this is it. Goodbye, cruel world. Goodbye, Caroline. Goodbye, Laura, Julian… but before I’d even finished my litany of farewells, the vet was speaking again. I tried to concentrate this time, to tune in and hear what he was saying. It might be the last thing I ever heard, after all.

‘Would you ladies mind holding him on this side, while I check the computer?’

Jean and Shirley grabbed hold of me together. There was silence, apart from some tapping noises as Mr Caswell did something on his computer. And then:

‘Well I never! Thatis a surprise. You’re quite right, ladies. Well done – you have found our missing hero!’

Hero? Was he talking about me? Was he not going to kill me, then? I tried to lift my head to look at him. He was smiling.

‘Poor Charlie, eh! He must have really been through it these past few weeks to end up in this condition. Well, it’s good news. I’m going to give Mr Smythe a call right now. I think he’s still staying in one of the hotels down at the seafront. He told me he’s taken a week off work and was going to search the town day and night until he found this little chap. His daughter is inconsolable, apparently, breaking her heart over him.’

‘Oh, I’m so pleased we found him!’ Jean said, clapping her paws together.

‘Me too.’ Shirley looked like she was about to start mewing.

‘You’re in line for a hefty reward,’ the vet said to the two females as he picked up his phone, but they were both shaking their heads.

‘Oh, we don’t want any money, do we, Shirl?’ Jean exclaimed. ‘We just want Charlie taken back where he belongs.’

‘That’s right,’ Shirley agreed, as the vet started talking on his phone. ‘That poor little girl will be so happy!’

Poor little girl? Were they talking about Caroline? I tried to sit up, but they were still holding me firmly. Were they saying Iwasn’t going to be killed? No injection? No roasting and eating with ketchup? Could it really be true?

‘Am I going home?’ I meowed loudly. ‘Are you not going to hurt me?’

They all laughed.‘It’s as if he knows he’s going to be all right now,’ said Jean. ‘Look, he’s completely settled down. I think he trusts us now.’

‘I’ve spoken to Mr Smythe,’ the vet said. ‘He’s on his way.’ Mr Caswell came over to the table and started tickling me under the chin. ‘Yes, you’re a nice boy really, aren’t you, Charlie?’ he said very gently. ‘Not a wild cat at all, just a poor little tabby who got lost.’

To my surprise, I found myself purring. I’d misjudged him. He liked me! And the two females weren’t catnappers after all – they were my rescuers! I rubbed my head against their hands and purred at them too, and they all laughed again, sounding as happy as I was, now beginning to feel myself.

The young nurse lifted me down to the floor and put a bowl of lovely milk in front of me. I fell on it and lapped it all up.

‘That’s it, Charlie, now let’s get you some food too,’ she said, sounding like she was almost mewing too. ‘You’ve had a rotten time, by the look of you, and you must be starving. But it’s all over now. Your master’s coming to get you. You’re going home, Charlie. You’re going home to your little girl!’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I was asleep in a kind of cage thing in a back room of the vet’s when I heard Julian’s voice. I wasn’t very happy about being put in the cage, just when I’d made up my mind to trust Mr Caswell and Ginny the nurse, and thought they liked me. But I’d been well fed, and after all the trauma I’d been through, I was exhausted, so I gave in, let them shut the cage door and settled down on the mat inside the cage. I was just in the middle of a very satisfying dream where I was playing with a fat frog at the edge of the big pond at home, when I heard Julian calling me.

‘OK,’ I meowed in my dream, ‘I’ll just make this frog jump one more time, then I’ll come in …’, and then I woke up with a start, looked around me, and remembered where I was. Julian was smiling at me through the door of the cage.

I jumped up, purring at the top of my lungs. I’d never been so happy to see anyone! I put my front paws up to the cage door, trying to get out, trying to lick him through the bars, meowing and purring for all I was worth.

‘Hello, boy. What a welcome!’ Julian said. His voice sounded wobbly.

Ginny reached around him to unlock the cage and he took hold of me, hugging me close.

‘Look at the state of you,’ he murmured. ‘You poor little fellow.’

‘Mr Caswell says he must have been living rough, and he’s definitely got into a fight or two,’ Ginny said. ‘He was half wild with fear when the two ladies brought him in.’

‘Where are they?’ Julian looked around him as he carried me through to the vet’s room. ‘I wanted to thank them. I offered a reward.’

‘They said they wouldn’t accept anything,’ Mr Caswell said, turning round from wiping down the table. ‘They were just thrilled to bits to have found Charlie and that he would be going home safely.’

‘But Imust thank them, at least! And if they won’t accept the reward, I’ll send the money to a cat charity.’

‘Well, I’m sure Jean and Shirley would really appreciate that. They’re both cat lovers.’

‘Oh, you know them? They live locally?’

‘Yes. They both have pets registered here, and bring them in for their regular check-ups and so on.’

‘Would you be able to give me their phone numbers, then, or is that against your data protection?’

Mr Caswell was smiling.‘It’s fine, Mr Smythe. They actually asked me to give you their contact details. They asked if you’d be kind enough to update them on Charlie’s recovery.’

‘Of course I will,’ Julian said, taking a piece of paper from the vet and putting it in his wallet. ‘Now, what do I owe you?’

‘Nothingyet, because I haven’t actually started Charlie on any treatment. I was waiting to consult you about it. I’m sure you’re keen to take him straight home, but he’s going to need that abscess on his leg lanced as soon as possible. I could do it right now, but he’ll need to wear an Elizabethan collar afterwards to stop him licking and chewing at the wound.’

‘One of those big protective collars? Animals hate wearing them, don’t they?’

‘At first, yes, until they get used to them. But as you’ve got such a long journey it might not be a good idea to upset him any further today. What I’d suggest is, I’ll give Charlie a quick shot of intravenous antibiotic now, and after you get him home, see your own vet about getting the abscess treated. I’ll give you some antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops for that poor eye, too. And he also needs a flea treatment. Would you like me to do that now?’

And so I was put back on the shiny table and subjected to a needle after all, as well as a dose of flea stuff on the back of my neck. Then I had something dripped into my sore eye, which made me shake my head and twitch my ears madly. But this time I wasn’t screaming or quaking with fear, because my own human was holding me, whispering words of comfort in my ear and stroking me all the while it was happening.

‘He’s going to need some feeding up, poor little chap,’ Mr Caswell commented, feeling my ribs again. ‘And his coat’s going to need some attention.’

‘We’ll see to that ourselves,’ Julian said firmly.

‘Yes, I think that’s best. With a bit of grooming he’ll be back to his old self, and it’ll help him settle back at home and bond with the family again. Although,’ he added, watching as I climbed up Julian’s chest and tried to bury myself inside his shirt, ‘from what I can see, I suspect that’s not going to be a problem.’

Julian laughed, but Mr Caswell lowered his voice and added,‘Just a word of warning. Keep a close eye on him. There’s just a chance he might have picked up something more serious, if he was involved in any fights with feral cats. They can carry disease in their saliva, which can be transferred in a bite. I’m sure your own vet will advise you. He mightwant to check him over from time to time while he recovers.’

‘Thank you for the warning. We’ll take great care of him.’

‘I’m sure you will.’ He smiled at me. ‘He’s missed you, that’s obvious!’

‘And we’ve missed him. I know one little girl who’s going to be very happy tonight.’

Caroline. I purred with joy at the thought of seeing her. But there was still another ordeal to face yet: the long car journey back to Little Broomford.

In some ways the journey wasn’t quite as bad as the previous one, at the start of the holiday, because at least we didn’t have Jessica in the car mewing her head off, keeping me awake. It seemed so long now since that day, and strange to think that back then I’d still had no idea really what to expect from a holiday. Remembering that now, I realised again how much I’d grown up over the course of this summer. For one thing, up till then I’d never been away from my home village before, whereas now I was a well-travelled little cat with a wealth of experience. I’d seen the sea, and had eventually got quite used to it during my time with the feral gang. I’d had my first proper fight, lived to tell the tale and had got some sore places to prove it, and hoped I’d never have to fight like that again. I’d made new friends, learning to get along with cats who were quite frankly not the type we normally fraternise with. Most importantly, I’d learnt to survive. And after all that, the most important thing I’d learnt was that I loved my life with my human family and never wanted to leave them again.

Julian called out to me occasionally as he drove the car home.Are you all right, there, Charlie? AndNot too far now, boy. But most of the time, we were nice and quiet, apart from the music he’d got playing very gently to take my mind off the car’s growling and rumbling noises. I was actually asleep again when the car finally stopped outside our house. I woke up at the sound of the car door being pulled open and the voice I loved most in the whole world squealing:

‘Charlie! Oh, Charlie, you’re home!’

I was so excited to see Caroline’s face looking back at me, I jumped up and hit my head on the lid of the silly carrying basket. I meowed so loudly I couldn’t even hear what else she was saying, but as she carried my basket into the house, I realised she was crying.

‘Don’t cry, darling!’ Julian said as he followed us in. ‘We’ve got him back now!’

‘I know!’ she sobbed. ‘I’m crying because I’m so happy!’

That was a new one on me. Humans are very odd sometimes! But I didn’t care, Caroline could be as odd as she liked, just as long as I could jump into her arms, which I did as soon as she let me out of the basket. We sat on the sofa and I snuggled into her for a lovely long cuddle, purring fit to burst. It was probably the happiest moment of my life.

‘He’s so thin!’ she was saying to her father. ‘And what’s happened to his eye?’

‘He’s been in a fight or two, we think,’ Julian explained, as Laura came and sat next to Caroline, stroking me and inspecting me carefully. ‘He’s had a bad bite to his leg there, too – see? It hasn’t healed properly so it’s left a nasty sore. We’ve got to take him to our vet tomorrow or the next day, when he’s settled down. And the vet in Mudditon thinks he got clawed in his eye – that’s what caused the problem there, but we’ve got drops for him. He’s lucky he didn’t lose the sight in it.’

‘He’s got scabby places on his head, too,’ Laura said. ‘And his poor coat! It’s all dull and matted.’

Caroline started to cry again.‘Poor Charlie! It’s all my fault!’

‘We’ll soon nurse him back to health, Caroline,’ Laura said gently, putting an arm around her. ‘He’s young – he’ll mend. Just as you will,’ she added quietly, looking like she might cry herself.

I looked up at Laura in surprise. What did she mean by that? Was Caroline still not mended? Hadn’t they been able to fix her head at the hospital? All my worries about her while we’d been apart immediately came flooding back.

‘If Grace and I hadn’t been so stupid …’ she was saying, wiping her eyes.

‘What’s done is done,’ Julian said. ‘We’ve talked about this, haven’t we? Losing Charlie was more than enough punishment for you, to say nothing of you getting hurt yourself. I know Grace’s parents grounded her for the rest of the holiday, just as we did with you, but you’ve both learned your lessons, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, Charlie, I’m so sorry you got lost! I didn’t mean for you to run out of the house. It was dark … we didn’t see you … we were being so stupid.’

‘It’s all right,’ I meowed. ‘I’m home now, with you. That’s all that matters.’

Actually it wasn’t. What mattered even more was for me to find out whether she was feeling better. There wasn’t any blood dripping from her head anymore, and her finger wasn’t looking sore, but what about that horrible illness? Had it come back? Was that what Laura meant? I meowed to myself anxiously, but Caroline just carried on stroking me.

‘I’m still absolutely sure it was him, watching me being put into that ambulance, you know,’ she said to Laura.

‘Well, there must be lots of other little tabby cats just like him. We’ll never know for sure.’

‘Itwas me!’ I told them in Cat, but of course, none of them understood. ‘I ran to get help for Caroline! I got the woman from the beach caf? to come to her rescue!’

‘I bet he would’ve helped us, if he could,’ Caroline said. ‘I bet that was why he ran out after us – to try to look after us.’

‘Yes!’ I squeaked. ‘Why else would I have done it?’

‘Nice idea,’ Julian said, smiling at her. ‘And if he could, I’m sure he would have done, darling. He loves you very much, that’s obvious. But at the end of the day, he’s just a little kitten, isn’t he. Dogs have certainly been known to look after people, but I’ve never heard of catsdoing it.’

‘But hedid help a human, Daddy! He helped that old lady with the ice cream, when he jumped up at the seagull, didn’t he? That’s what got into the paper and onto the TV News, wasn’t it, and how those ladies came to think it might be him. Everyone in Mudditon thought he was a hero!’

And she cuddled me closer again, wiping her eyes.

‘My little hero, Charlie!’ she said.

I saw Julian and Laura looking at each other.

‘Well,’ Julian said. ‘Yes, wethink it was Charlie. And the publicity certainly helped to get him found and brought back, so that’s all good. But we can’t ever be completely sure. As Laura says, there are lots of little tabby cats around, and—’

‘But itwas him, Daddy. I knew it as soon as we saw him on the TV.’

They didn’t argue with her. Nor did I. I just purred in her ear, happy to be called her hero! But despite my worries about Caroline, I must say I was quite interested to hear this conversation. Because although I still didn’t understand it at all, it did at least prove I wasn’t dreaming when I saw myself in the newspaper and inside the television!

That first day I was home, I didn’t even see baby Jessica – she’d already gone to bed. Because of our long journey back from Mudditon, dinner was late and it was getting dark by the time they’d finished eating. Caroline was sent off to bed too then, as she had school the next day, but not before she’d given me another long hug and told me again how much she’d missed me and how much she loved me. I was hoping they were all going to keep up this extra love and attention, and not stop making a fuss of me once they’d got used to me being home again. I followed her upstairs to her room and, to my surprise, before she got ready for bed she picked up a phone from her bedside table.

‘Yes, it’s mine, Charlie,’ she said, waving it at me. ‘Daddy and Laura changed their minds! Cool, isn’t it!’

It was surprising, that’s what it was. I’d heard them with my very own ears, several times, saying she was too young and didn’t need one. Perhaps I’d been away so long, she was now old enough. That was a scary thought. But I sat on her bed and listened as she started speaking into it.

‘Hi Grace! Guess what – we’ve got Charlie back!’

I could hear Grace’s voice coming out of the phone, squealing with excitement. I have no idea how she got inside it.

‘Yes, Daddy brought him home today. We don’t know where he’s been all this time, but he’s been in a fight, and he’s skinny and he’s got a sore leg and a sore eye, but Laura says we can feed him back to health.’

It was lovely to hear Caroline chatting to her friend, sounding giggly and happy, making me think perhaps there wasn’t anything wrong with her anymore after all. But towards the end of her conversation, Grace must have asked her something about how she was feeling, because she sighed and said, ‘Oh, you know. The same. Just … tired, still, really, all the time.’ She looked at me, smiled and added, ‘But it’s cheered me up so much, having Charlie back.’ And then Laura called up to her to remind her to get herself to bed, and I scampered back downstairs to get some cuddles in with Julian and Laura before it was night-time. But even with all the extra attention, it was hard to forget my worries.

In the morning, I woke up to a strange sound. It was a kind of laughing noise, but a gurgling and bubbling laugh, like a kitten might make, if only we could. I padded into the lounge, and there on the rug was baby Jessica, lying on her back with all her paws waving in the air, while Caroline, dressed in a very smart dark blue outfit with her hair neatly tied up, was tickling her tummy and making her… yes! She was making her laugh! I stopped in the doorway and stared in amazement. Up till then, I’d thought little human kittens like Jessica were only capable of one sound: that awful constant mewing. But there she was, grinning all over her face and bubbling with laughter, and Caroline was smiling at her as if she loved heralmost as much as she loved me.

‘Look, Jessica!’ she said, catching sight of me standing there. ‘Charlie’s back! Charlie’s come to say hello to you!’

I trotted a bit closer, wondering whether at any moment Laura would come rushing in to shoo me away from the baby. But Caroline picked me up and sat me on her lap so that Jessica could see me.

‘Here he is!’ she said. ‘Look, Jessica! Pussy cat!’

And she took hold of Jessica’s tiny paw and stroked me with it. At first the baby blinked with surprise, but then she started to smile and make the gurgling noise again.

‘Ah, she loves you, Charlie,’ Caroline said, hugging me. ‘Not as much as I do, of course, but nobody ever could.’

‘And nobody could loveyou like I do, either,’ I meowed to her, rubbing my head against her arm. ‘But I’m worried about you. Are you ill again? Why did you say you’re so tired? What happened at the hospital?’

‘I’ve got to go to school now, Charlie,’ she said, instead of answering me. ‘Please promise me you won’t ever go wandering off again. I couldn’t bear it.’

‘I won’t ifyou won’t,’ I said.

And I spent the rest of the day– in between sleeping in my comfortable bed, and eating my delicious food – pondering on the fact that this was what I’d longed for and dreamed of, all the time I was lost. I was home now, I was safe, I was back with my lovely family and I’d never leave them again. But I still couldn’t feel completely happy until I found out whether Caroline was all right. And nobody seemed to be telling me.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Things definitely seemed to have changed at home while I’d been away, and there was still quite a lot that I didn’t understand. For instance, why was Caroline dressed in those smart blue clothes and going off to school carrying a huge bag of books? Why was everyone being so nice to each other? I was pleased about this, of course, but it was so different from the way they’d been behaving before the holiday, with all the arguments and slamming of bedroom doors. I did wonder whether it was all because of me – the excitement of having me back home – but nice though that idea was, I had a feeling there was more to it. I was frightened that Julian and Laura were being extra kind to Caroline because they’d found out she was ill again. Caroline was behaving better too – less cross and grumpy, although when she came home from school every day she looked so pale and tired I could hardly bear to think about it.

From time to time, I was also still puzzling over the incident where I saw myself in the television in that shop window. When my family turned their television on in the evening, I tried to climb up to it, or sit on the shelf above it to stare down at it, trying to work out how to get inside it, but there was no way in. It just didn’t make sense. But at least I seemed to be making Caroline laugh, even while she was lying on the sofa with that pale face and those dark circles under her eyes that frightened me so much.

Despite my worries, I can’t deny I was enjoying getting used to my home comforts again. Having had to grow up quickly, as I’ve already said, in order to survive my time of living rough, all I wanted to do now was revert to my kittenhood. Safe in the knowledge that nobody was going to throw things at me, jump on me and try to kill me, or swoop down from the sky and peck me to death, I could go back to playing outside in the sunshine. As far as my sore leg would let me, I could enjoy games like chasing leaves that fluttered down from the trees in the wind, jumping out at birds from behind bushes and leaping in the air just for the fun of it. Indoors, I was enjoying playing my old games like peek-a-boo with Caroline from inside an empty cardboard box, and chasing a wind-up toy mouse across the carpet, making both her and Jessica squeal with laughter. Then I would stretch out to rest on my favourite windowsill in the warmth of the sun, or curl up on the sofa cushions in the evening, dreaming happy dreams again.

On my second day back home, Caroline brought Grace to see me after school.

‘Oh!’ she said, her lower lip wobbling when she looked at me. ‘Poor Charlie!’

‘He’s getting better, though,’ Caroline said, picking me up and stroking me. ‘Daddy says we’ve got to keep feeding him lots of good food and milk, and brushing him so that his fur comes through nice and soft again.’

‘And will his eye get better? And his poor leg?’

‘Yes. We’re putting drops in his eye. And Laura’s taking him to the vet’s tomorrow to make his leg better.’

I flinched slightly at the mention of the vet. But my leg was still painful, so if he could make it better, I knew I had to be brave about it. As for the eye drops, it was horrible having them dripped into my eye, making me shake my head and bat my eye with my paw afterwards. But I knew Julian and Laura wouldn’t do that to me unless it was for my own good. I trusted them. It was a good feeling.

‘It’s all our fault, isn’t it, Caro,’ Grace said sadly. ‘If we hadn’t tried to run away …’

‘I know. It all seems so ridiculous now, doesn’t it? Sochildish.’

‘Especially now we know about my great aunt.’

‘Yes. Although you’d think your parents would’vetold you she’s an old battle-axe who doesn’t even like children!’

‘Well, to be fair, I suppose they couldn’t have known I’d decide it was a good idea for us to go and live with her. I feel really stupid now. Mum says she only sends us money at Christmas and birthdays to make herself feel better because she wants nothing whatsoever to do with the family. That one time she came to visit us, apparently she was supposed to be staying for a week, but she walked out after one day, because she thought Rose and I were badly behaved and made too much noise. We were only little! Mum and Dad were really cross about it. They said she was miserable and unreasonable and they felt insulted. Can you imagine what she’d have said if we’d actually turned up on her doorstep?’

‘God, it would have been awful, wouldn’t it? What planet were we both on, down in Mudditon, Grace? I mean, I know I was feeling fed up about Jessica getting all the attention, but now, looking back, I think I was just being a spoilt brat.’

‘You seem to like Jessica a lot more now!’

‘Well, yes, she’s getting more interesting now. She doesn’t cry so much, and she’s sleeping better at night so Laura isn’t so tired and ratty. I suppose it made me feel better when she started smiling at me more, and laughing and making thatga ga noise. It’s kind of cute.’

‘She’ll grow up into an annoying younger sister soon enough, just like Rose,’ Grace said with a shrug. ‘Although I suppose having a sister isn’tall bad. Rose isn’t irritatingall the time. We always used to get on together really well. I don’t know what changed.’

‘Perhaps it’s all part of this growing-up thing – finding people annoying. Now you and Rose go to different schools, and won’t be together so much, maybe you’ll get on with her better again.’

‘Yes.’ Grace smiled at Caroline. ‘High school’s not so bad, is it? The first week was pretty scary, but it would’ve been awful if we hadn’t been together. I’m so pleased your dad and Laura changed their minds about it.’

‘Me too. It was all so last-minute, we didn’t even know if they’d still get a place for me at Great Broomford. But when we heard it was OK, Laura didn’t even make a fuss about having to get me a different uniform. She said it was worth it, for me to be happy again. And I’m glad you’re getting used to it too. It was good you managed to talk to your mum and dad about how frightened you were, before we started.’

‘I had to, really, with Dad being so furious with me about the running-away thing. When he sat me down and made me spell out exactly what was wrong with me, it all came out, how they weren’t taking me seriously about how scared I was. He said afterwards that they weremortified. He said however busy they were, they’d always listen to me if I told them I was seriously worried about anything.’

‘Yeah. Dad and Laura have said the same kind of thing. You know, about me being frightened about the leukaemia coming back.’ I pricked up my ears, my heart racing, waiting to hear more. Had it come back or not? But she just shrugged and went on: ‘Dad said it’s always best to talk about yourfears openly rather than bottling them up and just getting cross and moody.’

‘It’s not always easy though, is it, talking to parents?’ Grace said, laughing. ‘They’re … well, they’re soold!’

‘Still, one good thing came out of it all,’ Caroline said more cheerfully. ‘Our parents gave in about us having phones.’

‘Yes. To be fair, Mum and Dad did used to let me use that old one of Mum’s, but I never took it anywhere because it was so old-fashioned and embarrassing. Anyway, the battery always went flat after about five minutes. It was just a joke! But now we’ve both got proper ones—’

‘—like everyone else!’

‘—they’ll always be able to keep in touch with us when we’re out. I suppose it’s fair enough. We did worry the life out of them, didn’t we?’

All through this conversation, they’d been stroking me and playing with me, while I listened carefully, trying to get the gist of it all. It seemed my human kitten and her friend had done some fast growing up recently, just like me. Perhaps their smart new blue clothes were making them feel less like children, and that was why they were now talking almost like proper grown-up humans. Nobody seemed to care that they still hadn’t told me what had happened to Caroline since we’d been separated. It was frustrating, but I decided eventually that worrying about it wasn’t going to help either me or Caroline. And as it happened I did have other things to think about.

First there was the trip to the vet’s to get my leg seen to. I can’t deny that, despite my more mature outlook on life and having been proved beyond all doubt not to be a scaredy-cat, I still cowered in the travelling basket mewing in fear when we set off in the car. And the smell of the vet’s room brought back terrible memories of my experience at that other vet’s. I knew I’d behaved really badly on that occasion. Already, I was finding it hard to believe how furiously I’d fought with the humans who were trying to help me. I supposed I really must have been turning into a feral cat at that point. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. This time, although I was frightened, I did try not to bite the vet’s fingers or struggle quite so much. Although Caroline couldn’t come with us because she was at school, and Julian was at work, it was at least reassuring to have Laura there, stroking me and saying calming thingsto me, while baby Jessica sat in the corner in her car seat waving her paws at me.

‘It’s all right, Charlie,’ the vet said, holding me gently. ‘This won’t take too long.’

It felt plenty long enough to me. He kept poking around on my sore leg, making me jump and growl, and kept up a running commentary to Laura and his nurse, saying things likeJust clipping his fur back andHere we go andRight, just cleaning it up again now. I was glad when he finally announcedOK, I think that’s going to heal nicely now, Charlie boy.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Before he allowed Laura to take me home, he took hold of me and fastened something round my neck. I shook my head from side to side, trying to get rid of it, but it was stuck tight.

‘What is it?’ I meowed crossly at Laura, but to my annoyance she was laughing at me.

‘Oh, look at him!’ she said. ‘Poor Charlie, he’s not going to like that one bit!’

‘I know. But it’s important that he doesn’t lick that wound,’ the vet said. ‘We don’t want any more infection. Keep it on for a week, and keep him inside. Then bring him back to see me – I’d like to check on him anyway – then we should be able to dispense with it.’

What on earth was it? I spent the whole journey back home tossing my head from side to side, knocking the thing against the edges of the basket.

‘Suffering codfish!’ I shouted at Laura as she carried me in from the car. ‘What in the name of bloody catnip …?’

I stopped, growling to myself unhappily. I really didn’t want to revert to the kind of language I’d picked up during my homeless period. But honestly, this was unbelievable! What were they doing to me? Hadn’t I been through enough? And when I saw the cat flap being locked before Laura had even taken me out of the basket, I yowled at her crossly.Even though I’d seen it locked with my own eyes, I went straight up to it to butt it with my head in protest, but the huge thing round my neck got in the way. Even if I’d been allowed out, I wouldn’t have been able to get through my flap. It was ridiculous! How was I supposed to live like this?

‘Oh dear,’ Laura said. ‘You’ll get used to it, Charlie. It’s only for a little while.’

Huh. I went to lie down in my bed and have a sulk, but have you ever tried lying down with a gigantic collar around your neck? And there was worse to come. Later on when Laura put my dinner down on the floor, I had to lean right over the dish, so that the collar was touching the floor all the way round it. I felt like I was cut off from the rest of the world while I was eating. Caroline came home from school just as I finished my meal, and she gasped with surprise when she saw me.

‘Oh! What’s Charlie got that thing on for?’

‘It’s to stop him trying to lick his wound. And he’s not allowed outside till I take him back to the vet’s next week.’

‘Ah, he won’t like that, will he?’

‘No. So we’re back to being careful about open doors, Caroline.’ Laura gave her a look, which I understood only too well.

‘OK. I’ll be careful, I promise,’ Caroline said. They both stood for a while, watching me as I tried unsuccessfully to wash myself after my meal.

‘I can’t even have a wash!’ I meowed crossly, shaking my head so that the stupid thing knocked against the kitchen units. ‘Do you want me to get even muckier than I was when I was living rough?’

‘And we’ll need to groom him,’ Laura told Caroline. ‘He can’t do it for himself while he’s in the collar. And the vet said that it’s best not to take it off, at all. He’ll get used to it more quickly if he wears it all the time.’

Well, that was just great, wasn’t it? I charged around the house angrily for a bit, trying to shake the thing off, but of course all I succeeded in doing was knocking everything over and falling over twice myself.

‘Charlie, calm down, you’re not helping matters!’ Caroline said, giggling. She bent down to pick me up. ‘You do look funny.’

I couldn’t believe it! I’d have thought I could rely on Caroline, at least, to be sympathetic, but it seemed I’d just become a figure of fun. But she was right, of course. By the next day I’d adapted to the collar and eventually even gave in with a good grace to the fact that I was locked indoors. And who did I have to thank for my acceptance of the situation? Well, the same sensible older cat who’d given me the benefit of his advice and experience all my life. Yes, my friend Oliver, of course.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I’ll tell everyone what happened, shall I, Ollie? Unless you want to take over? No? Oh, you think I’m doing a good job of telling my story, for a little kitten who’s never done any public meowing before? Well, that’s very kind, thank you. I learned from the best! Although I keep remindingyou, I’m not a little kitten anymore. Look at me. I’m fully grown, and you must admit now you’re hearing my story, I’ve got even more experience of life now than you have. But I suppose, to you, I’ll always belittle kitten, won’t I?

Well, everyone, as you know, Oliver has always taken a special interest in me and looked after me. I know I have a real father, but tell me– where is he, eh? Where’s old Tabby when I’m telling my story to the rest of the village cats? Exactly! He’s never around. He’s probably off somewhere chasing some young female. I don’t mind; that’s just the way he is, and it was nice that Oliver took on the role of mentoring me, andmy sisters here, instead. I’ve always looked up to him as an example of how to be a good cat. So when I disappeared, naturally Ollie was worried. Apparently he kept on coming to the Big House, looking for me, meowing around the outside of the house, but at first, of course, nobody was there because we were all at our holiday home in Mudditon. And then, apparently, one day he turned up at the house and found that the rest of the family were back home, but not me. He was more worried than ever then. One day Caroline heard him meowing outside, and let him in. As you know, my family love Oliver– almost, but not quite, as much as they love me. He’s told me that Caroline was crying as she stroked him, saying I’d got lost and it was all her fault. Ollie was very upset to hear this, and apparently he went back to the Big House several times after that, to see whether I’d returned.

That day, after my first uncomfortable night’s sleep wearing the horrible collar, I was eating my breakfast and having a moan to myself at the same time about the awkwardness of eating with that thing on, when I heard a familiar meow outside the kitchen door. I left my food for a minute and trotted over to look through the cat flap, and I nearly fell over with excitement. Ollie was outside, calling to me through the flap. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see him, and I think he was even more excited to see me because he proceeded to shout at the top of his voice and paw at the locked flap.

‘What on earth’s going on?’ Laura said, coming into the kitchen, because I was now making almost as much noise as Ollie was, and pawing at the cat flap from inside too. ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Hello, Oliver! I suppose you want to come in and play with your friend now he’s back. Hang on a minute and I’ll let you in.’

With which she picked me up and held on to me while she unlocked the flap. As Ollie jumped through, she put me back down and I was so excited, I ran around the room madly, knocking into two chairs and the side of the fridge with the stupid collar.

‘You’re back,’ he meowed at me. ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’

‘I know, I’ve been lost, and living rough, and – oh my tail and whiskers, it’s so good to see you! I’ve got so much to tell you about.’

‘So it seems.’ He stared at me. ‘I’d like to rub faces with you, but what you’re wearing makes that a tad difficult. And I have to say, you’re not looking too good. You’ve lost weight, haven’t you? And what’s happened to your eye?’

‘It’s a long story. But first, can you tell me how I can get this dratted thing off? It’s driving me mad. I keep bashing into things, and they won’t let me go outside. Maybe if you could chew the edge, there, or get your claw in between the collar and my neck …?’

Oliver looked at me seriously for a moment.

‘Did the vet put it on you? Have you had some kind of operation done?’

‘Well, yes, he did something to my bad leg, see? It’s still a bit sore but I think it’s getting better now.’

‘Exactly, Charlie. It’s getting better because of whatever the vet did, and they only make us wear those collars to help us get better. So you need to keep it on.’

‘Whose side are you on?’ I said sulkily. ‘I thought I could rely on you to help me.’

‘No. You can rely on me to tell you what you need to know. Don’t you trust your humans anymore? Was it their fault you got lost, or what?’

‘No. It was … well, it was partly Caroline’s fault, I suppose, but I don’t blame her, she’s still only a kitten really and she made a bad mistake. I suppose Idid forget how to trust humans, for a while, but now I’m back home, of course I do trust my family.’

‘So stop fighting against them, Charlie! They’re only making you wear the collar, and keeping you indoors, until you get better. And looking at you, quite frankly you do need a period of convalescence. I hate to think what you’ve been through.’

‘Just you wait till I tell you all about it,’ I said. Then I sighed. ‘But I suppose you’re right, I’ll just have to give in and put up with this till they say it can come off.’

‘That’s my boy. Be sensible. Now, finish your breakfast and then I’ll give your face a wash, shall I, as it doesn’t look as if you can do it yourself.’

‘Thanks, Ollie. It’s so good to be back with you. Afterwards we can lie in that sunny corner of the lounge together while I tell you my story.’

‘Charlie, I’d love to, but if it’s a long story it’s going to have to wait till another day. I’ve got to go and visit Nicky today.’

‘Nicky?’ I lifted my head from my food bowl to look at him as well as I could round the edge of the collar.

‘Yes. I’m really worried about her. Not quite as worried as I was about you, of course, but now that I know you’re back, and safe, I want to try and help her. If only I could work out how.’

It was so typical of Oliver. He’s spent half his life helping the humans in the village. No wonder they all think he’s a special kind of cat.

‘What’s happened to her?’ I asked him. As you know, I’m very fond of Nicky myself, so I didn’t like to think of her being in some kind of trouble.

‘She’s just so unhappy these days. And it’s all her stupid male’s fault.’

‘Daniel? Why? What’s he done?’ I had a sudden memory of Nicky and Laura chatting on the sofa of our holiday home. ‘Oh, is it something to do with him going to the pub? Nicky mentioned that when she came to Mudditon. I suppose as you live at the pub, you must see him in there?’

‘Yes, I see him every single night! And he doesn’t just have one quick drink of beer and then go home. He’s there for ages. I pop in to see Nicky most days, and quite often she’s crying, Charlie, because he’s leaving her on her own all the time with their human kitten and she’s told me she thinks he doesn’t want to be with her anymore. It’d be different if she were a cat, wouldn’t it. Our females expect to be left with the kittens while their males go off hunting and … um, well …’

‘… and philandering. I know all about it, Ollie. You don’t need to be coy with me. I’m grown up now, I keep telling you, and I might be neutered, like you, but I’ve been living with some guys who spent most of their lives talking about either stealing food or mating with females.’

‘Really?’ He looked a bit shocked.

‘Yes. Let me tell you—’

‘I do want to hear all about it, Charlie, but at the minute I can’t think straight for worrying about Nicky. I seem to be the only one who can cheer her up.’

‘Oh, all right then.’ I felt a bit let down. What about cheering me up? I had a bad leg and a bad eye and wasn’t allowed out, after all. ‘Go off and cheer her up. Don’t worry about me.’

‘Don’t be like that. I’ll come back, all right? I promise. Meanwhileyou promiseme you’ll be a sensible kitt … sorry,cat… and stop complaining about wearing that collar and staying indoors. I want you to get better.’

So we both kept our promises. I settled down, accepted that my life was going to be severely restricted until the vet allowed me back my freedom, and tried to be patient. And Oliver duly came back to see me again the next day.

‘So what’s the news with Nicky?’ I asked, but he just shook his head sadly and said there was no change.

‘I keep hanging around Daniel every evening in the pub, meowing at him, trying to persuade him he ought to go home, but he’s so stupid when he starts drinking beer, he just thinks I’m being friendly. I’m going to have a word with Tabby. He’s helped me in the past when I’ve wanted some support with a difficult human. He sometimes needs a bit of persuasion, though!’

‘Good luck with that, then,’ I said, knowing what my father’s like. And as I expected, the next couple of times Oliver came back to see me, it was to report that he’d had no luck finding him.

‘Probably taken himself off somewhere for a few days,’ I said. ‘He’ll be back eventually.’

‘I know. I’m not worried about him – Tabby can look after himself. I was just hoping he could help me think of a way to do something about Daniel.’

I sat up, suddenly excited. So excited, I forgot about my collar for a minute and nearly knocked Ollie over with it.

‘Never mind about him,’ I meowed, ‘I’ll help you.’

‘You?’ Oliver looked startled. ‘But you’re only—’

‘Don’t you dare say I’m only a little kitten. If you’d only let me tell you what I’ve been through recently …’

‘I’m sorry, Charlie. I realise you’re dying to tell me your story, and I haven’t been very good company, have I? You know how I worry about my favourite humans.’

‘Yes, I do. But I’m trying to tell you, I’ve become a very brave and very resourceful cat since I went away. And, well, you’ve done such a lot to helpme, when I was growing up, I think it’s time you let me help you, for once, instead of trying to rely on my unreliable father.’

Oliver purred at me thoughtfully.

‘That’s all very well, and I appreciate the offer. But for one thing you’re not allowed out. And even if you were, you wouldn’t be much use in a crisis while you’ve got that thing stuck on your neck.’

‘So wait a few more days, can’t you, for mewing out loud? What’s the rush? If he’s in the pub every single evening …?’

‘I suppose you’re right.’ He got up and flicked his tail anxiously. ‘I just hate seeing Nicky so upset.’ Then he glanced back at me and added, ‘And to be honest, I’m having a hard job thinking of you as a grown-up cat. You’re still not looking all that well, either. Are you sure you’d be up for whatever it is we have to do?’

For the love of catnip! Over the course of the summer, I’d been lost in a strange town, rescued two human kittens from an accident on the beach, been violently attacked by feral cats, persuaded their leader not only to submit to me but to adopt me into their gang, learned to survive by scavenging and sleeping rough, and saved an old lady from vicious seagulls. And Oliver was asking if I thought I could manage a little bit of persuasion of a friendly human?

‘I think I can cope,’ I said, trying to toss my head at him but once again getting unbalanced by the stupid collar.

‘Well, I guess I need to start accepting that you’re not such a little kitten anymore,’ he said. ‘OK. I don’t suppose it’ll be long now till they take you back to the vet, so let’s say that as soon as they let you outside again, you come and meow for me at the pub after dark. Daniel’s bound to be there. You’ll have to follow me and do what I tell you.’

‘Fine,’ I said, feeling a bit patronised, as you can imagine. ‘But when you hear what I’ve been up to—’

‘Yes, I know, I know – I’ll hear all about it, Charlie, don’t worry, just as soon as we’ve sorted out this problem, all right?’

And with that, he meowed for Laura to let him out again, and with a wave of his tail, he was gone.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER NINETEEN

When the day finally came for the vet to take the collar off me, I nearly jumped off his table with joy. I felt light and free and frisky as a … well, frisky as a little kitten, I suppose.

‘He certainly seems to have cheered up a lot since last week,’ the vet said, and Laura laughed.

‘He hasn’t been very happy about being kept indoors. It’s just lucky his friend Oliver has been visiting, to keep him company.’

‘Oliver, the pub cat? He’s a very unusual cat, that one, isn’t he? Seems to understand humans, somehow – and befriending another cat, too? That’s unusual in itself.’

‘No it isn’t!’ I meowed at him. ‘You humans justthink it’s unusual becauseyou don’t understandus. We often make friends with other cats actually.’

But, of course, even vets don’t bother to learn Cat, do they, although you’d have thought it should be part of the job. So he completely ignored me, and busied himself instead with checking my leg and my eye, and putting a nasty, cold hard object into a very personal part of my body to take my temperature.

‘Well, I’m pleased to say that he’s on the mend,’ he said eventually. ‘The leg’s healed well, his eye has cleared up, and he seems to be putting some weight back on. He should be fine to go outside again now and get back to normal. Just bring him back in if you’re at all worried, won’t you.’

‘Of course. Thank you.’

‘I’m just glad it’s been a happy ending for the little fellow,’ he said, giving me a stroke. ‘Hard to imagine how he survived while he was missing, but I reckon he lost a few of his nine lives in the process.’

‘No, I didn’t!’ I protested. I’m pretty sure I would have known about it if I had!

‘Come on then, Charlie,’ said Laura, picking me up and putting me in the horrible basket to drive me home. ‘You can go off and play with Oliver now, to your heart’s content.’

Play? We had business to attend to! But of course, in the meantime, I was certainly looking forward to a run around outside. I’d noticed from the kitchen window that there was quite a layer of fallen leaves now on my lawn, and I was itching to get out there and dance around in them. I really wanted Caroline to come outside and play with me, but as usual, after school she was too tired to do much apart from lying on the sofa. I hadn’t told Ollie yet of my worries about her, but I knew he loved her too. At the moment he was far too concerned about Nicky to think of anything else, but I decided that as soon as I’d helped him with that situation, I’d ask his advice about Caroline.

After my dinner that evening, I trotted off down the lane into the village, as arranged, to meet Oliver at the pub where he lives. I jumped up onto the windowsill, pleased to find my injured leg was working so much better now, and meowed through the glass until he saw me.

‘Is Daniel in there?’ I asked when Oliver appeared from his cat flap in the back yard.

‘Yes, as usual. Thanks for coming. You look more normal now.’

‘I should hope so, without that thing round my neck. So what are we going to do? Leap on his lap and yowl in his ear till he goes home?’

He stared at me.‘That’s a bit aggressive, isn’t it?’

I blinked. Was it?

‘Not where I’ve come from,’ I said, thinking back to some of the tactics the feral boys used.

‘Charlie, wherever you’ve been recently, please remember you’re back in polite cat society now,’ he admonished me. ‘We don’t go in for jumping on humans and yowling at them, around here – not unless they’ve hurt us, of course.’

‘No, all right, fair enough,’ I said, duly chastised. ‘So, what do you say we should do? Sing to him? Blink him kisses?’

‘No need for sarcasm, either. I thought perhaps we should bring Nicky to the pub and let him see how upset she is.’

‘How’s that going to work? She’ll be looking after her human kitten, Benjamin.’

‘I know. She can bring him with her. When he sees her with the baby he’ll remember his responsibilities and feel ashamed of himself.’

I didn’t want to argue with Oliver, but it sounded pretty unlikely to me. For a start, I wasn’t convinced we’d be able to persuade Nicky to bring the baby out to the pub at night, and even if she did, I suspected Daniel wouldn’t be impressed.

‘What’s wrong?’ Oliver said, as I hadn’t replied. ‘Are you not up for it after all?’

‘Of course I am. Come on then, let’s give it a go,’ I said.

I followed him down the road to Nicky and Daniel’s house, and once again I showed off the strength of my newly healed leg by jumping up onto the nearest windowsill. Oliver jumped up beside me and we put our noses up against the cold glass.

‘She’s there, sitting on the sofa,’ Oliver said. ‘Come on, let’s make a noise and get her to let us in.’

‘Hang on, who’s that?’ I said. A tall, thin male with lots of facial fur was sitting next to Nicky on the sofa. ‘Is it her father?’

‘No, I don’t think so. I think it’s the male who lives next door. Put your ear against the glass, Charlie,’ Oliver said, doing the same himself. ‘Let’s try to hear what they’re saying.’

In fact I could only hear the male’s voice at first. Nicky didn’t seem to be saying a lot.

‘I prefer Thai food myself,’ he was saying. He had a peculiar kind of smile on his face, and he seemed to be leaning too close to Nicky. She didn’t look very comfortable and was edging further along the sofa. ‘I know a nice little Thai restaurant in town. The food is delicious, and it’s areally nice atmosphere in there. Do you like Thai? I think you’d enjoy it. Maybe I could take you there one of these evenings when you’re all on your own.’

Nicky gave a funny little laugh that didn’t sound quite right. ‘I’ve got Benjamin asleep upstairs, remember.’

‘Can’t you get a babysitter? We wouldn’t have to be out late. I’d drive you.’

‘No, Kevin, I can’t. It wouldn’t be right.’

‘So is it right that he spends every evening at the pub? You’ve already told me you’re fed up with being left on your own.’

‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it. I’m glad you felt you could confide in me, Nicky. Glad to be here for you, as a friend, you know, someone you can talk to. You obviously need that, and God knows you deserve it. You work so hard, looking after Benjamin all on your own, as well as minding other people’s children.’

‘It’s my job. It’s what I do. Dan works hard too.’

‘Yes, but he’s not being fair to you, is he? You deserve to have a bit of fun in your life too. You need someone to take you out, treat you a bit special and show you some attention. Everyone needs that, don’t they?’

He reached out a paw to take hold of one of hers, but she moved it away, staring straight ahead of her, going a bit red in the face.

‘Don’t, Kevin,’ she said. ‘I … look, I’ll go and make us both a cup of tea, shall I?’

She got up, but as she did he reached out for her paw again, giving it a little stroke.

‘I’m not here to upset you in any way, Nicky. I’m just trying to be a friend to you.’

‘I know, and I appreciate it.’ She shifted from one back paw to the other, still looking uncomfortable. ‘So: tea or coffee?’

‘I’ve heard enough,’ Oliver said, jumping down from the windowsill. ‘It’s bad, Charlie, very bad. Worse than I thought. They’re on the verge of mating, I’m afraid. It’s the same as what happens with unneutered cats when they’re getting randy.’

‘Really?’ It was nothing whatever like the kind of mating I’d witnessed among my feral cat friends. There was no long drawn-out meowing and paw brushing involved in that, unfortunately, although I think their females might have liked it a bit better if there had been.

‘Yes. I can’t expect a little kitt—cat … like you to understand such things, but I can assure you we need to move fast.’

‘What are we going to do, then? Rush in and jump him? Go for his throat?’

He gasped.‘Charlie, what in the name of all that’s warm and cosy has come over you since you went missing? We don’tgo for the throat of a human, even if we don’t like what they’re doing.’

‘Sorry. I keep forgetting myself.’

‘Yes, well, the sooner you remember yourself the better. No, what we’re going to do is go back to the pub and persuade Daniel to come straight home, right this minute, before it’s too late.’

‘How are we going to do that? Jump on …?’ I stopped quickly, seeing the look he was giving me. ‘Whisper in his ear?’ I tried instead.

‘We have to walk backwards and forwards to and from the pub door,’ Oliver said, as we started to run back down the road. ‘Watch me, and do what I do, OK? I taught Daniel to understand a bit of Cat body language when there were some important issues last year. It’ll soon come back to him. Aslong as he hasn’t had too many of those drinks of beer. It seems to make humans extremely forgetful.’

In no time at all, we were jumping through the cat flap into the back room of the pub.

‘Follow me,’ Oliver said, striding ahead of me into the main room where everyone seemed to be talking very loudly or laughing and lifting their glasses of drink to their mouths. ‘There he is, by the window. Now remember, watch me and do what I do.’

‘OK.’ I followed him to where Daniel was sitting with a couple of other males. They had drinks on the table in front of them and were deep in conversation.

‘I still say West Ham should’ve been allowed that goal,’ one of the other males said.

‘Don’t talk rubbish, man,’ Daniel said, laughing. Then he glanced down and said, ‘Oh, there you are, Ollie. And who’s this you’ve brought home with you? It’s little Charlie Kitten, isn’t it?’

‘I’mnot a little kitten now!’ I meowed crossly, but Oliver gave me a look and hissed:

‘Stay focused on the job, Charlie!’

‘We heard he’d been found. He looks a bit skinny, doesn’t he?’ one of Daniel’s friends said, bending down to stroke me.

I could sense that Oliver was getting frustrated.

‘Never mind about all that!’ he meowed. ‘Daniel needs to come with us.’ And he proceeded to stalk across to the main door of the pub, his tail waving in the air. ‘Come on!’

I copied him, meowing as I went, waving my tail.

‘What’s up with them?’ the other friend asked. ‘Do they want to go out? George!’ he called across to Ollie’s owner, who ran the pub. ‘What’s up with your cat? Has he been fed?’

‘Oh, for mewing out loud!’ Oliver said to me. ‘They’re so slow to catch on. Come on, do it again.’

We turned round, ran back to Daniel’s table, meowing loudly, and once again walked towards the door, looking back at him. Suddenly, he put down his glass, staring at us.

‘I think they want me to go with them,’ he said.

‘What? Are you serious? Did they talk to you, or what?’ one of the others laughed.

‘In a way, yes. Oliver’s done it before. He has … some kind of strange powers.’ Ignoring the sniggers from his friends, he pushed back his chair and got up. ‘It might be an emergency,’ he said, suddenly looking a bit frightened. He threw some money down on the table. ‘Sorry, lads – got to go.’

‘See?’ Oliver meowed to me as he opened the pub door and we all ran out into the night. ‘I told you we could do it.’

‘Yes. Well done.’ We started to run, ahead of Daniel, leading him back along the road to his own house.

‘What is it, boys?’ he panted, running after us. ‘It’s not … not Nicky, is it? Oh my God, please don’t let it be something wrong with Benjamin? God, no, please, don’t let anything have happened to them, while I was …’ He broke off, and when I looked round I saw him wiping his facewith his paw. In the light of the street lamps he looked white and scared. ‘What the hell have I been doing?’ he muttered. ‘I’ll never forgive myself if …’

But he didn’t get any further, because by now we were at his front door and he’d already got his key in his paw. He opened the door and was just about to charge in, when we all heard the sound of voices coming from the lounge. I glanced at Oliver. Kevin with the furry face was obviously still here. Danielfroze where he was on the doorstep, listening.

‘But why not?’ Kevin was saying in a soft, wheedling kind of voice. ‘We’re getting along so well together, aren’t we? And let’s face it, your marriage is … well, it’s pretty much on the rocks, isn’t it? You can’t deny …’

I heard Daniel gasp. He took a couple of steps into the hallway, but stopped dead again as we heard Nicky interrupting Kevin. This time her voice was a lot louder than before, and a lot crosser.

‘That’s enough, Kevin! I think you’d better go.’

‘Oh, come on, Nicky! You know you want to …’

‘No, I don’t! I don’t know how I’ve given you the impression that I was interested in you in that way, but if I have, I’m very sorry. Idid think we got on well, as neighbours, as friends perhaps, and I’ve enjoyed your company in the evenings. It’s true Daniel’s been neglecting me recently—’

Daniel gasped again, and put his paw to his head. He looked like he was going to fall over.

‘—and yes, it has made me sad, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving him. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into the arms of another man, just because you’ve told me about your divorce, and let me confide in you. I shouldn’t have done that. Daniel and I will sort out our problems. I don’t want you to come round anymore.’

‘Oh, surely there’s no need to be like that,’ he said. ‘I think—’

But we never found out what he thought. Because at that point Daniel suddenly seemed to burst into life again and, throwing his keys on the hall table, he raced into the lounge and skidded to a halt within nose-touching distance of furry-faced Kevin, who staggered backwards away from Nicky with a look of surprise.

‘You heard my wife,’ Daniel said in a growly voice like an angry dog. ‘Go.’

‘No need for that, mate,’ Kevin protested, waving his paws in front of him as if he was smoothing something down. ‘Nicky and I have just been having a nice friendly chat over a cup of tea. While you wereneglecting her. As she said.’

‘Dan, I didn’t say … well, I didn’t mean …’ Nicky was saying. ‘Don’t! Dan, leave him alone. Don’t hit him! It was my fault, I must have given him the wrong impression.’

I felt my fur standing on end. Daniel had got hold of Kevin by his jumper and had his paw screwed up into a fist, like a weapon. Kevin’s eyes were wide with fear, and he was making a stuttering noise that sounded like ‘Uh … uh … uh …’

‘Dan!’ Nicky squealed more loudly. ‘Don’t! It won’t help! Please don’t do something you’ll regret.’

‘Sparrows alive!’ I meowed.

I wasn’t going to wait to see what happened. Nicky was one of my favourite humans, and Daniel was making her upset, even more upset than she’d been with Kevin. I wasn’t going to stand for it. I wasn’t a timid little kitten anymore, I was a fighter, a rescuer, a cat who sorted things out and got things done. Just as Daniel was raising his paw to hit Kevin right in his furry face, I leapt up onto the sofa, threw myself at Daniel and clung to his jacket by my claws, yowling in his ear.

‘Stop it, for the love of catnip!’ I shouted. ‘No fighting! Nicky doesn’t like it.’

‘Ouch! Bloody hell, Charlie, what the hell are you doing? Get off me, you crazy kitten. For God’s sake!’ he cried, struggling to loosen my claws from the cloth of his jacket. The fight seemed to have gone out of him, because even though I’d shocked him, he was being gentle with me now. ‘There you go. Get down,’ he said, putting me back on the floor. ‘Stay there! What’s the matter, woman?’ he added, turning to Nicky, who seemed to be trying not to laugh.

‘Sorry.’ She reached out and put both paws round his waist. ‘He didn’t hurt you, did he? I’m sorry, Dan, but that was so funny. It was … as if he knew someone had to stop you. Are you all right?’

‘Yes.’ Daniel stared back at her. ‘I’m OK. I’m sorry. I lost my temper, and you’re right, it would only have made things worse.’

‘Yes. He’s not worth it. He was just trying his luck. I shouldn’t have let him get so close to me. It was stupid of me.’

‘No. Stupid ofme, leaving you on your own every night, without giving a thought to how you felt. I’m such an idiot, such a selfish idiot! God, Nicky, if you ever left me I don’t know what I’d do.’

‘I’m not going to leave you, you fool. I knew we’d sort things out eventually. And I know you’re working so hard, I can understand you want a drink with your mates sometimes, but …’

‘But not every night. It’s not fair, and I shouldn’t have been doing it. I should be coming home to you and Benjamin. Can you forgive me?’

‘Of course. Don’t be daft.’

‘And you won’t see Kevin anymore?’ He turned to look around the room. ‘Where is he?’

‘He sneaked out quickly when Charlie threw himself at you,’ Oliver meowed. Oliver was looking at me in a very strange way. ‘I think … I have to say … I think you saved the day just then, Charlie boy.’

‘I don’t think we’ll be seeing much of Kevin now,’ Nicky said, laughing again. ‘You and Charlie have both scared the life out of him.’

‘Good. What a creep! I suppose I should feel sorry for him. He’s probably lonely, and wishes he had a lovely wife like you to come home to.’

‘Yes, well, he’ll have to find one of his own.’ She cuddled up to him and they started to kiss each other.

‘I think we should make ourselves scarce now,’ I meowed at Oliver.

‘Let those two cats out, will you?’ Daniel muttered at the same time.

‘Did you bring them home with you?’ Nicky asked him as she went to open the door for us.

‘Um, well, actually they broughtme home,’ he said. ‘I know you think I’m mad, but I’m telling you, Ollie here has some kind of strange powers. He told me there was an emergency.’

‘Right.’ She giggled. ‘Well, if that’s the case, I reckon little Charlie has the same powers too. He saved you from your own temper just now.’

‘Yeah.’ He was watching us both as we trotted to the front door. ‘In fact they might well have saved our marriage. Amazing.’

‘Job done!’ I said to Oliver, and we started to walk home together.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER TWENTY

It must have been late at night by the time we said goodbye outside Oliver’s pub. People were coming out of the door, calling out goodnight to each other.

‘Closing time,’ Ollie said knowledgeably. ‘Will you be all right walking home by yourself, Charlie?’

‘Of course I will,’ I meowed. I was beginning to feel impatient with his fussing over me. ‘I’ve been used to going out at night scavenging for food.’

For a minute he didn’t reply, but just looked at me, his head on one side.

‘You reallyhave got a story to relate, haven’t you?’ he said eventually.

‘Yes! I keep telling you I have.’

‘And now we’ve got Nicky and Daniel sorted out, I’m looking forward to hearing it.’

‘Good. I’m looking forward to telling you, too. Come to my place tomorrow?’

‘Definitely.’ He stared at me again. ‘You’ve certainly changed, Charlie. Youare more grown up, and more confident, somehow. I couldn’t believe the way you stopped Daniel from hitting that Kevin, back there.’

‘I’m sorry if it wasn’t very … polite behaviour.’

‘Nonsense. You’re quite right, sometimes a situation calls for quick thinking and bold action rather than politeness. What you did back there saved the day. And you heard Daniel, we’ve probably saved their marriage too. Well done, Charlie, my little prot?g?! I’m proud of you.’

He rubbed his face against mine.

‘Thanks, Ollie. But you taught me all I know,’ I said.

‘That used to be true, but it’s not anymore. You’ve learned a lot more since you’ve been away. Things I could never have taught you.’

Yes. I knew I’d learned a lot from the feral cats, and I’d never forget them, or the time I spent with them. But I hoped my dear, kind friend Oliver would never need to learn about any of those things. In a funny kind of way, I almost felt more grown up than him now, even though it was me who was always going to belittle kitten.

The next morning I woke up early, looking forward to finally being able to tell Ollie the whole story of my time in Mudditon. But first I needed to talk to him about Caroline.

‘So have they actually said her illness has come back?’ he asked, when I brought the subject up as soon as he arrived through the cat flap.

‘Not exactly. But when I first came home I heard Laura saying to Caroline that I’d get betterjust as she would. And then Caroline told Grace that the reason she was moody and cross before was that she’d been frightened about being ill again. But apart from that, nobody’s saying anything.’

‘And is she not being moody and cross anymore?’

‘No – well, not most of the time, anyway. But she’s really, really tired and her face looks white, and when she comes home from her new school she just lies on the sofa.’

Ollie meowed in distress when he heard this, and walked round and round on the spot for a minute, obviously thinking it over.

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ he admitted. ‘That’s how she looked when she was ill before. And has her fur come off her head?’

‘No. Well, not yet, anyway. If anything, it’s grown longer. She ties it up so it looks like a horse’s tail.’

‘And she hasn’t had to go off to the hospital place?’

‘Not as far as I know. Not since we were in Mudditon, anyway – the holiday town. She was in hospital there because … well, that’s another story. But nobody’s told me what happened while she was there.’

‘I don’t know what to think, then, Charlie. Perhaps it’s the new school that’s making her tired? I was outside Grace’s house the other day when she came home carrying such a big bag of books, she was almost bent double. I don’t know why humans make their kittens carry so many books. Surely they can only look at one at a time?’

‘I know, it’s weird, isn’t it? But what can I do, Ollie – you’re the clever one – how can I find out what’s wrong with her?’

‘I’m afraid you’ll just have to keep listening to their conversations. Or you could show Caroline how worried you are about her by jumping on her lap and mewing a lot.’

‘I keep trying that. I get lots of cuddles, but no answers.’

‘Oh dear.’ Poor Oliver looked as worried now as I was. ‘Well, the only other thing I can suggest is, I’ll make lots of extra visits to Grace and her family, as well as to Nicky and Daniel, and listen carefully to alltheir conversations. If Caroline is ill again, they must be really worried too, and they’re bound to talk to each other about it. I’ll report back to you as soon as I find anything out, all right?’

With which he turned round and headed back to the cat flap.

‘Aren’t you staying to hear my story?’ I called after him, disappointed.

‘No, Charlie, sorry,’ he meowed at me. ‘Not now you’ve told me this about Caroline – I won’t be able to concentrate until we’ve found out what’s wrong.’

‘No, of course not,’ I said, feeling guilty now for even suggesting it. How could the story of my time in Mudditon possibly compare in importance with Caroline’s health? ‘You’re quite right. Thanks for your help, Ollie.’

When Caroline came home that afternoon, I spent ages sitting on her lap mewing sadly in her ear. But in the end I had to stop because she called out to Laura that she was worriedI was ill because I kept crying.

‘I’m fine,’ I purred at her. ‘It’s you I’m worried about.’

But she still didn’t tell me anything.

The next day must have been a Saturday, as nobody was going to school or work, and I could tell straight away that something was going on with my family. They were all talking at once, excitedly, like there was going to be something different happening. I listened carefully, hoping it wasn’t going to be another holiday!

‘How did they find out he was back home?’ Caroline was saying.

‘Well, it was a series of things, really,’ Julian said. ‘You know I wrote to the two ladies in Mudditon who found him and took him to the vet there?’

They were talking about me! I sat up, listening even more carefully.

‘Yes, I know, you said you were letting them know how well he was recovering, and that you’d given their reward money to Cats’ Protection because the ladies didn’t want to accept it.’

‘That’s right. Well, coincidentally, it seems it was the niece of one of those two ladies who had put that original video on YouTube—’

‘The one of Charlie that was on TV?’

‘Yes.’ He hesitated. ‘Presuming itwas Charlie, of course.’

‘Dad, it definitely was!’

‘Yes, it was, Julian,’ Laura agreed. ‘I was convinced, the moment you brought him back home. He had the same injuries as the cat in the video!’

‘Yes, that’s true. Well, as you know, when these things are popular on YouTube, they escalate—’

‘It’s calledgoing viral, Dad,’ Caroline said. She seemed to know a lot more these days. It must have been because of her new school.

‘Right.’ Julian and Laura exchanged a smile over the top of Caroline’s head. ‘Yes, it went viral. Well, it seems people in Mudditon were still interested in what happened to Charlie, because of the bit on TV, and because everyone was saying on social media that he was the same cat who was in the “Missing” posters I put up around the town. When our two ladies got my letter, the niece updated her Facebook and Twitter accounts, telling people Charlie had been brought back home and was making a good recovery. Apparently loads of people were following the story, and commenting on it.’

‘Ah. That’s nice,’ Laura said.

I was pleased, too, to hear people in Mudditon were interested in me, but I just wished my feral cat friends could know I was safe and well. They probably had even less idea than me what Facebook or Twitter were, though. Twitter sounded like something to do with sparrows so I couldn’t quite see the relevance.

‘Well, because of it all goingviral again,’ Julian went on, ‘it got picked up once more by the local paper in Mudditon. They ran a cute story about how the little cat who saved the old lady from the seagull was found and returned safely home.’

‘And that’s how the BBC’s got hold of it again,’ Laura finished.

‘Yes.’ Julian paused. ‘Although there’s a bit more to it than that, apparently. Something new has come up. The guy who called me said he’ll explain when they get here.’

‘They’re coming here?’ Caroline squealed. ‘Really?’

‘Yes! They’re on their way. They’ve asked if they can talk to us, and take some footage of Charlie at home.’

‘We’d better lock the cat flap again!’ Laura said, jumping up. ‘In case he runs outside and isn’t here when they come!’

‘Good thinking,’ Julian said, although needless to say I didn’t agree. Wasn’t it bad enough that I’d been locked inside all that time I was wearing the collar? And did they really think I wouldn’t come back indoors as soon as these people came – whoever they were – to see me? If I was supposed to be the centre of attention, I was going to want to be here, after all!

‘Wow, this is so cool!’ Caroline said. ‘We’re going to be on TV. Can Grace come round?’

‘Yes.’ Laura smiled at her. ‘Of course.’

Caroline rushed off to talk to Grace on her new phone.

‘So what do you think the new development is?’ Laura asked Julian.

‘I really can’t imagine.’

‘But you’re sure this is a good idea – the TV thing? For Caroline?’

‘I don’t think it’ll hurt, do you? They’ll want to talk to her, but I’ve warned the guy on the phone that I don’t want her upset. We’re not going into the fact that the girls were trying to run away.’

‘Good. And I suppose it might be quite educational for her and Grace to see how the filming’s done. And a bit of excitement for them too.’

So, you see, Oliver, that was why my cat flap was locked again when you came round to see me. We meowed to each other from either side of the flap, but when Laura saw you, she said,‘Oh dear, sorry, Oliver, I don’t think we’d better have you in here today, not with the television people coming round, with their cameras and everything. An extra cat will just add to the confusion.’

And eventually, of course, you gave up and went off, probably wondering if they were keeping me indoors because I was ill again. I wasn’t. I was excited, although I wasn’t quite sure what I was excited about yet. Grace turned up, and she and Caroline sat in the kitchen with me, talking and giggling together and looking at their watches all the time and wondering how much longer it would be beforethey got here.

‘Who?’ I meowed. ‘Whoare these people who need me to be shut in the house till they get here?’

The doorbell rang, and everyone seemed to jump. Julian marched to the front door with Caroline and Grace running behind him, and Laura took off her apron and picked Jessica up from the carpet. I scampered after everyone and Julian called to Caroline to hold me and stop me running out when he opened the door.

‘Oh, hello!’ He held the door open and Nicky walked in as we all stared at her as if she was a stranger. ‘It’s just Nicky,’ he called back to Laura.

‘Who were you expecting, then?’ she said, laughing. ‘The queen?’

‘Not quite!’ he said. ‘Come in. Laura’s in the lounge.’

‘We’re waiting for the TV people,’ Caroline told her. ‘They’ve come to make a film about Charlie.’

‘It’ll just be a little piece for the News, Caroline,’ Julian warned her. ‘Don’t get too carried away.’

‘Really? How exciting!’ Nicky said. She smiled at Laura and Jessica as we all walked through to the lounge. ‘It’s actually Charlie I’ve come to tell you about,’ she added as Caroline put me down on the sofa. ‘You’ll never guess what happened last night.’

‘What?’ Laura looked alarmed. ‘He didn’t get into a fight or anything, did he? He’s only just been allowed out again. I didn’t think he’d start going out at night so soon.’

‘Nothing like that. He was out visiting Oliver at the pub, apparently – Dan saw them in there. And … well, this is going to sound really weird, but he says they made him come home.’

‘Made him…?’ Julian glanced at Laura, who glanced at me, frowned, and looked back at Nicky.

‘How do you mean?’ she said.

‘I don’t know. I think it must be Oliver. Daniel always did say he thought that cat had some special power to make him do things. But the thing is …’ She sat down next to Laura, went a bit pink, and went on quietly, ‘Well, the thing is, my next door neighbour had come in for a chat.’

‘Not Kevin the Creep?’ Laura said, laughing.

‘Yes. Only it wasn’t quite so funny anymore.’ Nicky looked at Caroline and Grace now, then looked back at Laura, raising her eyebrows like it was some kind of code. ‘He was being a bit too friendly. If you get my meaning.’ The eyebrows again. It must have been human body language.

‘What, was he coming on to you, Nicky?’ Caroline said, nudging Grace, and they both started giggling.

Nicky went even pinker, and looked down at her lap.

‘Oh my God,’ Laura said. ‘And Daniel came home just in the nick of time?’

‘Yes, with the two cats! And as you can probably imagine, he was pretty upset.’

‘Not with you, though, Nicky?’ Julian said.

‘No. He told me afterwards he’d overheard me telling Kevin to back off, that I wasn’t interested. But Kevin started to argue the toss, and … well, Dan got hold of him and nearly hit him.’

‘Oh my God!’ Laura said again, putting her hand to her mouth. Even Caroline and Grace had their mouths open wide with surprise, while Julian was trying to look serious.

‘But he didn’t, I hope?’ he said.

‘No.’ Nicky glanced down at me again. ‘But only becausethis little chap stopped him. It was unbelievable, honestly, you should have seen him. He threw himself at Dan and clung to his jacket by his claws, yowling at him. It brought Dan up short, and by the time he’d lifted Charlie off himself, he’d calmed down.’

‘Oh my …’ Laura just stopped herself from calling the God person yet again. She shook her head, and everyone in the room stared at me. I felt a bit self-conscious.

‘Sorry!’ I meowed. ‘It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Ollie was proud of me.’

But it seemed like Ollie wasn’t the only one.

‘That’s amazing,’ Laura said, reaching for me and giving me a hug.

‘Clever little Charlie,’ Caroline said, coming over to stroke me. ‘Isaid he was a hero, Daddy, didn’t I?’

‘Oh, come on! It was probably just a coincidence,’ Julian said, shaking his head. ‘He might have simply jumped up at Daniel to get a cuddle from him, and clung on with his claws to stop himself from falling.’

‘You weren’t there, Julian, with all due respect,’ Nicky said quietly. ‘You didn’t see him.’

‘And we should all know by now, catsdo look after humans and try to help them,’ Laura said. ‘After all the things Oliver did last year to help our village. And particularly our family, Julian.’

They all went quiet for a minute, looking at each other. I knew what they were thinking about, of course, because I’d heard all about it from Oliver himself – how he’d visited Caroline, before I was born, when she was poorly and lonely because she had no friends. And also how he made Christmas better for everyone in the village.

‘Yes. OK, Oliver did … somehow … seem to turn things around for us, didn’t he,’ he admitted. ‘Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps there’s more goes on in a cat’s mind than we can ever understand. But look at Charlie. He’s only a little kitten, who ran away and got lost! I just can’tquite believe …’

‘I amnot a little kitten anymore,’ I said crossly. ‘Even Ollie admits that now.’

‘Well, as far as I’m concerned,’ Nicky said, ‘Charlie and Oliver have saved my marriage. Daniel needed a sharp shock like that, to make him realise he was neglecting me and Benjamin. He got up early this morning to make Benny’s breakfast, and as soon as he got back from doing a bit of work this morning, he’s taken him out to the park in his buggy. He says he’s going to advertise for another mechanic to work for him, and in the meantime he’ll let the apprentice help a bit more where he can, so he’s not so exhausted. He’s been so focused on making the business a success, taking on all the work he could, and getting so tired, he admits he couldn’t face coming home and helping with his own son. He just fell into the pub every night and then couldn’t summon up the energy to come home. He knows he needs to make some changes and try to get some balance.’

‘Good for him,’ Laura said gently. ‘I’m so glad you’re going to work it out together.’

‘Thanks to Charlie and Oliver,’ Nicky insisted.

And before there could be any further discussion on the matter, at that moment the doorbell rang again– and this time, yes, it was the television people. And so we come to another chapter in my story!

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

It’s getting a bit late. Is anyone too tired to hear the rest of my story now? No? Good, because we’re almost up to date. We’re nearly at the point where I found out all the answers. Not all the answers to everything in the world, of course, as I suppose that even for someone who isn’t a little kitten anymore, there will always be things in the world that I don’t understand. But after the television people came, I understoodsome things, at least. And later on, I understood a lot more.

I was shut in the lounge while they came into the house, in case I was daft enough to try to run off before I’d even been allowed to star in my own story. I listened from behind the closed door as the voices greeted each other, and finally the door was flung open and someone gasped:

‘And is this our little hero?’

‘If you say so!’ I meowed, trotting up to the strangers to have a good sniff around their legs and see if they smelt friendly. A couple of them bent down to stroke me, and Caroline was being very jumpy with excitement, answering questions like was she pleased to have me back home, and how much did she miss me while I was gone? Then Julian took over, suggesting everyone sat down so they could talk properly, and Laura went to make tea and coffee.

‘Charlie’s story has really caught people’s imaginations,’ said a man called Andy who seemed to be in charge. ‘They loved the fact that a little cat like Charlie was brave enough to chase away a seagull and save an elderly lady from possible harm.’

‘So everyone agrees it was definitely Charlie in that video?’ Julian said.

‘I think we can assume it,’ Andy said. ‘There were lots of witnesses, don’t forget. And the two ladies … um …’ He glanced at a piece of paper in a folder that was open on his lap, ‘Jean Francis and Shirley Benson, who found him, have said they’re quite sure it was him. The cat in the video Shirley’s niece made had the same bad eye and the same sore place on his leg and everything. Well, as you might know, there’s been considerable nuisance in the Mudditon area recently from some particularly aggressive seagulls, and since Charlie’s story broke, there’s been a lot more discussion in the local press there, and on social media, about how to combat the problem to prevent their tourist industry suffering. It seems it’s made local people, and holidaymakers, more aware of the need to dispose of food rubbish properly and not to feed the gulls with food meant for humans.’

‘Let’s hope it works, then,’ Julian said. ‘We were all very sorry to hear about tourism suffering in Mudditon.’

‘Well, that’ll be mentioned in this little follow-up film,’ Andy said. ‘It’s been pointed out, too, that the local feral cats help the situation by keeping down the food waste themselves. And some of the witnesses to Charlie’s little episode say there were feral cats hanging around behind him at the time.’

‘Probably waiting to attack him, poor Charlie!’ said Laura, who’d come back in now with the tray of coffee.

‘No, we were working as a team!’ I meowed, but as usual nobody was listening to me, even though I was supposed to be the hero.

‘I don’t know about that, of course,’ Andy said. ‘But according to our interviews with local people, gangs of feral cats had been seen chasing seagulls on several occasions around that time. It’s quite unusual behaviour! But it seems there’s been a change of attitude towards the cats inthe town. They’re being tolerated more, on the whole, and a couple of local fishermen even went on record saying they’d taken to throwing them the occasional fish.’

I was delighted to hear this. I purred happily to myself at the thought of Big and the others getting free fish at the harbour and not being shooed away so often by the humans.

‘So what we’d like to do today,’ Andy went on, ‘is have a little chat with you all about Charlie – the background of how he went missing and how he was found. And of course we’ll film some footage of him being happy back at home here with the family, so that everyone – all his fans! – can see how much better he’s looking and how well he’s settled back down with you. We’ll add our own commentary with a recap of the seagull incident, reminding everyone about how he came to be so famous in the Mudditon area. And we’ll include the interview with the woman and boy from the beach caf?, of course.’

There was a silence.

‘What woman and boy?’ Julian said.

‘Which beach caf??’ Laura asked at the same time.

‘Um …’ Andy rummaged through his papers again. ‘Stella Parkin, who runs the Seashells beach caf? at Salty Cove, just outside Mudditon – and her nephew Robbie who helps her … did we not tell you about this?’

‘No.’ Julian shook his head. ‘Was this thenew development you mentioned on the phone? You said you’d fill us in today about it.’

‘Sorry, yes, so I did.’ He smiled around at us all, pausing as he looked at Grace, who I’d noticed had gone a bit pink in the face and was nudging Caroline and whispering to her.

‘Is she the lady who helped us when Caroline got hurt?’ Grace asked quietly. And when Andy nodded, she said, turning back to Caroline, ‘You remember, Caro. She got the boy to call an ambulance, and persuaded us that you needed to go to hospital. She was really kind.’

‘I don’t really remember that,’ Caroline said. ‘It’s all a bit of a blur.’

‘Of course it is,’ Laura soothed her. ‘So what have these people got to do with Charlie’s story, Andy?’

‘She’s convinced it was Charlie who alerted her to the accident,’ he said.

‘What?’ Julian said, looking surprised. ‘I can’t see how. Charlie was found in the harbour area at Mudditon, not at Salty Cove. Sorry, but it could’ve been any little tabby cat, couldn’t it?’

‘But, Daddy, I told you I thought I saw him, didn’t I?’ Caroline yelled, so loudly that baby Jessica, sitting in her little bouncy seat next to the sofa, jumped and started to cry. ‘Iknew it was him. It’s the only clear memory I’ve got, of that day, until I got to the hospital.’

‘Yes, darling, but honestly, it isn’t very likely, is it?’

As you can imagine, by now I was meowing for all I was worth, trying to tell them it was true, it was me, I’d been there, I’d tried to help!

‘Actually, Mr Smythe, there are photos,’ Andy said. ‘Would you like to see them?’

‘Well, yes, of course, but how …?’ Julian was saying, looking confused, as Andy rummaged through his folder again.

‘Robbie from the caf? took some pictures of the cat on his phone. His aunt apparently took the cat in to give him some food and milk, after the girls were taken to hospital,’ Andy explained. He chuckled. ‘Stella said in our interview that he’s never off the phone, using Twitter and WhatsApp and so on while he’s supposed to be working. Well, he shared these photos on his social media accounts as usual. Apparently he told Stella he was doing it to try to find the cat’s owner. But instead he made a joke of it, saying his aunt thought this cat had told her about an accident on the beach. He thought it was funny, said he thought she was barmy. But a couple of weeks later, when the networks started buzzing with pictures of the incident in Mudditon with the seagull, he looked at them and thought it could actually be the same cat. He showed his aunt, and she was convinced it was. After we ran our first news story, she contacted us to tell us abouther experience.’ He held out a couple of pictures to Julian. ‘Printouts of the nephew’s shots,’ he said. ‘What do you think?’

Well, everyone in the room now nearly fell over each other to get to the pictures. I tried to get a look myself, but they were all in my way.

‘I remember the boy holding his phone up at me,’ I meowed. I knew this made pictures appear. Were these the pictures? Were they pictures of me?

‘Let me see!’ Caroline was squealing.

‘Is it him?’ Laura said, looking excited.

‘Oh my God, Caro,’ Grace said. ‘Maybe it really was Charlie!’

Julian was the only one staying quiet. He held the pictures, staring at them, one after the other, with Caroline leaning on the back of the sofa, looking over his shoulder.

‘It’s him, Daddy, I know it is,’ she said. She sounded like she was about to start mewing. ‘Charlie came to my rescue! He saw me getting hurt, and went to get the lady from the caf?.’

‘Itcould be him,’ Julian said, sounding a bit less doubtful now. ‘What do you think, Laura?’ He passed her the pictures, and she looked at them with Nicky.

‘I think it is him,’ Laura said. ‘It’s how he looked before, Julian – before he got into the fight, or got attacked, or whatever, and got the injuries. Before he lost weight and everything.’

‘But why would he have been at Salty Cove?’ Nicky said.

‘He must have followed us,’ Grace said.

‘Yes, he must have done,’ Caroline agreed. ‘If he ran out of the house when we opened the door, then he must have trailed us all the way we walked that night, Grace, without us seeing him.’

‘Yes, and … oh my God, he must’ve seen us go in the beach hut, and … waited around outside all night,’ Grace said. ‘And then he saw what happened on the beach in the morning.’

‘Yes!’ I meowed. I jumped off Caroline’s lap and scampered around the room, doing a few little jumps of excitement so that they all laughed at me. ‘That’s what happened. But what Idon’t know is what happened after you went off in the ambulance. Nobody’s told me.’

And it looked like nobody was going to, either. They were much too busy discussing the mystery (to them) of how I ended up back at Mudditon. Hello? I walked! It wasn’t very far, along the coast. Shouldn’t they have known that, if they were so clever? And then they were listening to Andy telling them how the film was going to be put together, with the caf? lady’s story, and Jean and Shirley’s story, as well as my family talking about me and their relief about having me back home.

When they were all ready, Andy held up a thing called a microphone and started talking to Caroline and Grace, while his friend Sandeep was filming them on his huge camera. By then, I’d finally begun to understand how I got inside the television that first time, because Sandeep had spent a while showing the girls the camera, playing back a bit of film to them. Because I was sitting on Caroline’s lap at the time, I could see that it did the same thing as their phones did when they filmed each other. And Sandeep explained that these moving pictures would eventually appear on people’s television screens. I can’t say it makes sense to me, any more than lots of the weird things humans do. But now I see there is some kind of connection between cameras or phones, and televisions, so maybe it isn’t actually magic.

It was nice being cuddled on Caroline’s lap while Andy talked to her about what happened in Mudditon. Because Julian had already warned him that the girls had been punished enough for running away, and he didn’t want it brought up again, Andy just referred to it as theirlittle adventure that went wrong.

‘Charlie must have come with us, and followed us,’ Caroline said into the microphone. ‘We didn’t realise.’

‘But it seems it was a good thing he did,’ Andy said. ‘And when you and Grace got lost, he seems to have stood guard over you all night.’

‘Well, to be quite honest I fell asleep under a bench,’ I meowed. But Caroline stroked me and said yes, I must have been protecting them, which made me feel a bit guilty.

‘So can you tell us what happened the next morning?’ Andy asked, and Grace explained how the seagull swooped on their sandwiches and bit Caroline’s finger.

‘I tried to run off, and I must have tripped on the rocks,’ Caroline said. ‘I don’t really remember it very well.’

‘She hit her head, cut it open, and knocked herself out,’ Grace said.

‘That must have been very frightening,’ Andy said. ‘And it seems that’s when Charlie managed to get the attention of Stella at the caf?.’

‘Yes, that lady was very kind, and she said the boy had called an ambulance,’ Grace said.

‘And what a good job you were taken to hospital, Caroline,’ Julian said, sounding very serious.

I looked around the room. Everyone was much more serious now. Caroline was looking down at the floor and Laura reached out to put a paw on her arm.

‘Perhaps your dad would like to explain what happened, Caroline,’ Andy said, and the camera turned towards Julian.

‘Well, we’d been frantic with worry, of course,’ he said, ‘so when we got a call to say the girls were at the hospital, we – and Grace’s parents – rushed straight there. And Caroline—’

He broke off, swallowing hard. I looked up at him. Caroline what?

‘She looked dreadful,’ he said very quietly, ‘and there were doctors all round her. We … well, as you can probably imagine, we didn’t know what to think.’

‘We feared the worst,’ Laura said. ‘She’d been very ill, you see, and we were still waiting for results of a biopsy, to see whether there was a recurrence of her illness. So we were very, very worried at that point.’

‘They told us she’d had an accident, and at first all we could see was a wound on her finger,’ Julian said. ‘But she was so pale, and she kept complaining of a headache and feeling sick and dizzy.’

‘And she seemed quite confused,’ Laura added. ‘She wasn’t too sure where she was, or what had happened.’

‘And then, of course, the doctor showed us where she’d hit the back of her head when she fell, and that Grace had told them she’d been unconscious, so they were treating it as concussion,’ Julian said. ‘But when we told them about the leukaemia, and the fact that we’d been worried abouther health recently, they obviously took that very seriously. And, well, to cut a long story short, if she hadn’t been taken straight to hospital, the concussion could have been missed, which could have had really serious consequences in itself. We might have thought her symptoms were linked to the … other health worries, you see.’ He shook his head. ‘It really doesn’t bear thinking about.’

‘So it seems your little cat actually saved the day!’ Andy said, beaming at me.

‘If it really was Charlie who alerted someone to call an ambulance, then I’d say …’ Julian was looking at me too now, with a strange expression on his face, ‘to be honest, he could have actually saved her life.’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Finally, they believed me. I’d rescued the girls! And not only that, I’d saved Caroline’s life. This called for a celebration. With a little meow of happiness, I hopped up onto Andy’s lap, knocked the pen out of his paw (I do like a nice pen to play with), and jumped back down after it, batting it along the floor withmy paws and leaping around, pretending it was a mouse. For a minute, everyone stayed quiet, watching me – and then they all burst out laughing at once, with the man called Andy going into a real frenzy of excitement.

‘Did you get that?’ he demanded of Sandeep, who’d now turned off the camera for a moment. ‘And the looks on all their faces? Great! This is fantastic. What a story! It’s even better than I thought it was going to be. It’s going to go national. The human interest factor – the kitten who saved a life! I mean, it’s like, wow!’ He waved his paws about, grinning all over his face. I stared at him. He was talking in that funny way Caroline did when she was with her friends!

But then, all of a sudden, he stopped, went very quiet, and said:

‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. How very inappropriate of me. I mean, in view of Caroline’s condition …’ He glanced at Caroline and lowered his voice even more. ‘The leukaemia?’

‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ I meowed. I mean – were theyever going to tell me whether she was all right?

‘Oh sorry,’ Laura said. ‘We didn’t finish explaining.’ She paused for a moment, as if she was thinking about what to say, then went on, ‘You see, when we told the doctor at the Mudditon hospital that we were still waiting for biopsy results from London, he got straight on the phone to them, and then came back saying it was negative. No abnormal cells found. It seems there’s no recurrence of the leukaemia.’

‘Phew,’ Andy said. ‘I’m very glad to hear that.’

Me too! At last, I’d found out what I needed to know. Caroline wasn’t ill after all. Everything was all right with the world! I’d got back on her lap by now, bored with the pen, so I gave her face a good licking, making her giggle.

But then I thought again about how tired and pale she looked, how worried Julian and Laura still looked when they kept asking her if she was OK. Something didn’t seem right. What were they still not telling me? Or were they justpretending to Andy that she was OK? I mewed to myself a bit, feeling anxious all over again.

I looked at Julian and Laura now, and felt even more anxious when I saw they were frowning at each other, and Julian was shaking his head like he didn’t want her to say any more. As usual, humans, with their rubbish body language, made it impossible to understand what they were thinking. Surely, I told myself, Laura wouldn’t have said Caroline didn’t have the illness, if she did? Surely, if she did have it, she’d be going back to the hospital, instead of going to school? I just had to believe what Laura said, didn’t I?

By now Andy and Sandeep had turned off the camera and the microphone things, and all the adults were just carrying on chatting, so it seemed I wasn’t needed anymore. Perhaps it would be best to try to take my mind off my worries. I jumped down from Caroline’s lap again and went over to have a sniff around some of their equipment.

‘We’ll pack up and get away now, then. Thanks for everything,’ Andy said after they’d chatted for a while longer. It was a bit embarrassing, because I’d somehow got myself tangled up in some leads for the camera. At first I thought it was good fun, playing with their stuff while they weren’t looking, but when they wanted to start packing things away I couldn’t get myself out of the mess I’d made, and they had to unravel me. Andy wasn’t cross though.

‘He’s such a cute little cat,’ he laughed. I couldn’t help thinking about how I used to get told off if I got tangled up in Laura’s washing. Although that was before I went missing. She didn’t seem to get so stern with me these days.

‘This is going to be such a great little story,’ Andy said again as they finally headed for the door.

‘Good. And if the publicity helps the campaign in Mudditon – getting people to alter their behaviour with regard to the seagulls – it’ll be worth it,’ Julian said.

‘Yes. Nothing wrong with seagulls in their place, is there, but their place isn’t being fed human food and attacking people to get it,’ Andy agreed. ‘Well, Charlie, you’re already a hero to the people in Mudditon, and now you’re a hero to your family as well,’ he said, giving me a stroke. ‘They must be so proud of you, little kitten.’

‘Not a little kitten!’ I meowed crossly at him. ‘For mewing out loud, look at me, I’m a grown-up cat now.’

Although, to be fair, I suppose if I’d been so very grown up I might not have got tangled in the wires.

Nicky stayed for a while longer after the television people left. Caroline and Grace went off to play in her bedroom.

‘It was good to see Caroline looking happy and excited,’ Laura said after the three of them had sat in silence for a while.

‘You’re still worried about her, aren’t you?’ Nicky said. ‘I must admit, she does still look pale.’

‘Oh, Nicky, we just don’t know what to think!’ Laura sounded like she was almost mewing, and Julian, who was holding her paw now, was staring at the carpet. I’d been washing myself in a corner of the room, but as you can imagine, I sat up and listened again. ‘We keep telling ourselves it’s just tiredness, you know, because of the new school,’ she went on.

‘Or even the after-effects of the concussion,’ Julian put in. ‘They did warn us at the hospital that she might still suffer from headaches, dizziness and difficulty in concentrating – for as long as three months after the accident.’

‘And are those the sort of symptoms she’s complaining about?’ Nicky asked quietly.

‘Well, she’s not really complaining much at all, bless her,’ Laura said. ‘Not since Charlie came home, anyway – she’s so thrilled to have him back. But she does admit she’s really tired all the time. And you’ve seen how she’s looking, Nicky. You can understand why we’re finding it so difficult not to be worried still.’

‘Perhaps it’s only natural that you’ll always worry about her? After what she went through before,’ Nicky said.

‘Maybe. But … well, I’m thinking we should take her back to our own doctor. Just to make sure,’ Julian said, glancing at Laura as he said it.

‘It can’t hurt, can it? Just for your own peace of mind?’ Nicky said.

‘Julian’s worried they might have got the biopsy result wrong,’ Laura said, in such a soft little voice I almost missed it. She had her paw over her mouth, as if she didn’t really want the words to come out. ‘I keep telling him how unlikely that is, but …’

‘But we need to be sure,’ Julian said in a much louder, firmer voice. ‘I can’t go on like this, Laura, on edge all the time, wondering. If there’s been a mistake, we need to know.’

‘I’m sure there hasn’t,’ Nicky said, a little wobble in her voice. ‘But I agree, if you’re that worried, you should get her checked out again.’ She got up and gave them both a hug. ‘Please let me know, won’t you? Dan and I are worried too – about all of you.’

By now I was pacing the floor back and forth, mewing to myself, with all the excitement of the day forgotten. It was all very well being told I’d saved Caroline’s life – but if it still turned out that she was seriously ill, then perhaps I hadn’t done enough life-saving, after all.

*

I didn’t sleep very well that night, and when Oliver came to see me the next morning, to tell me that he’d actually managed to get some news about Caroline, at first I couldn’t quite take in what he was saying.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, still thinking about what I’d heard the previous day. ‘You’re not a human doctor, all of a sudden, are you?’

‘Human doctor?’ He stared at me. ‘What are you talking about, and why are you being so tetchy? I promised you I’d listen in on Nicky and Daniel’s conversations, didn’t I?’

‘Oh. Yes, sorry. What have you heard?’

‘Well, please don’t get too upset. But I heard Nicky telling Daniel that your owners are going to take Caroline back to the doctors because they’re still worried she might be ill again.’

‘Oh, yes, I know that.’

‘You do?’

‘Yes, it came up yesterday when Nicky was here.’ I rubbed my face against his. ‘I’m sorry, Ollie, I’m so worried about Caroline myself now, I can’t think straight.’

‘I know. I was pretty worried when I heard the news. Is there anything I can do? Shall I stay and play with you for a while to cheer you up?’

‘If you don’t mind, I think I’d rather be on my own with the family.’

‘Of course.’ He looked so sad, it made me feel guilty, but it was no good – I just couldn’t get myself back out of the black mood that had come over me. It wasn’t until he’d gone that I realised I hadn’t even told him about the TV people, and about being called a hero and a life-saver. It just didn’t seem so important or clever anymore.

Julian told Caroline that evening about going back to the doctor’s in the morning. I was lying on the rug next to baby Jessica, tickling her with my tail and my whiskers to make her giggle. Even the fact that Laura wasn’t telling me off anymore about the possibility of germs, was making me sad, because she looked so anxious and distracted, it felt like I could have sat right on Jessica’s head and she still wouldn’t have reacted. Not that I was going to do it, of course. I really loved little Jessica these days.

‘Oh,’ was all Caroline said about the doctor’s. We all waited for her to start protesting and complaining about it, but she didn’t, and in a way that was worse.

‘It’s just a precaution, Caroline,’ Laura said. ‘We’re sure there’s nothing to worry about, but you must admit, you’ve been so tired all the time.’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘It’s probably the after-effects of the concussion,’ Julian said.

‘Or even just the new school,’ Laura joined in. I got the impression they were both trying to sound cheerful. ‘You know, the longer day, the extra work, carrying all those books …’

‘Yes.’

‘So that’s probably what the doctor will say,’ Laura went on.

‘But we just thought we’d make sure,’ said Julian.

There was a long silence, during which Caroline came and lay down on the floor next to me, and started playing with me and Jessica.

‘OK,’ she said eventually. ‘Can you make the appointment for after school? Otherwise I’ll have to have a note.’

I worried all the next day. I almost couldn’t eat my lunch. When Laura finally came home after the doctor’s appointment I was so relieved that Caroline was with her, and hadn’t been taken straight to the hospital, I purred all round her legs for ages while she sat at the table having milk and biscuits. But it wasn’t until Julian came home from work that I found anything out.

‘Dr Pearson says the bone marrow biopsy looks conclusive,’ she said. ‘He’s sure there’s no mistake. I asked him whether he thought we ought to repeat it just in case.’ She glanced at Caroline. Again, I was expecting her to howl in protest, but she just sat there, listening, playing withthe thing that turns the TV on and off.

‘And?’ Julian asked anxiously.

‘Well, he said he’d like to get a couple more ordinary blood tests done first, to check for other possible reasons, before we go down that road.’

‘What sort of other reasons? Did he agree that it might be because of the concussion?’

‘He did seem to consider it. But he said there could be any number of reasons – it was like he didn’t want to commit himself until we’ve got the results of the blood tests. So I’m taking Caroline to the health clinic in Great Broomford for those, first thing in the morning. Dr Pearson will have the results by Wednesday.’

Those next two days seemed twice as long as normal. I almost couldn’t eat my breakfast, lunchor dinner. I tried to keep myself busy by amusing Jessica, by chasing birds in the garden and playing in the fallen leaves, but nothing seemed to work. When Oliver called round I was almost too anxious to meow with him at all, let alone start telling him the story of my time in Mudditon. When Caroline came home from school on Wednesday afternoon, Laura was waiting for her with Jessica already in her car seat, to take her straight back to the doctor’s. They went off without even saying goodbye to me. I meowed at them from the window as Laura drove away, but I knew it was because, like me, they couldn’t think of anything apart from the test results. They were gone for so long, Julian got home from work before they returned.

‘Why are they taking so long, eh, Charlie?’ he asked, bending down to stroke my head.

‘I wish I knew,’ I meowed.

‘I’ll try calling Laura’s phone,’ he said, and I sat up straight in my bed, watching him as he held the phone to his ear. Laura must have answered quickly, because the next thing he said was: ‘Where? The supermarket? Why the hell… Laura, I’m sitting here worrying myself sick, waiting for you to come home. At least tell me what the doctor said.’

Then he frowned, said‘OK. Yes. See you in a bit, then.’ And, turning to me, he added, ‘She can’t even talk to me right now, because she’s at the checkout. Honestly, Charlie – women! What a time to choose to go shopping.’

I agreed. I mean, I realised it was obviously necessary to stock up on my cat food, but I’d have thought it could have waited till the morning. Julian made himself a cup of coffee and we both settled down to wait. And I tried not to wonder whether Laura had taken Caroline shopping to cheer her up – because they’d had bad news.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

It was only a little while before we heard Laura’s car pull up outside. Julian got up and went to the front door. He was so agitated, he was doing a little dance from one foot to the other on the doorstep, and I walked round and round his feet, feeling exactly the same.

‘Hello!’ Laura called out cheerfully as she carried Jessica out of the car.

She didn’t sound at all upset. Or was she just pretending to be cheerful for Caroline’s sake? But then Caroline came bounding up to the door behind her, smiling and saying she was hungry. That was a good sign, surely? I never looked forward to the arguments and sulks at dinnertime, or Laura’s sighs and downturned mouth when Caroline left half her dinner on the plate. Perhaps if she was saying she was hungry, she might eat it all up and everyone would be happy. Just as long as she wasn’t ill.

‘What took you so long?’ Julian asked as we all went through to the kitchen. ‘I’ve been on edge here for ages, waiting to hear what the doctor said.’

‘Sorry. We needed a few bits of shopping,’ Laura said, putting a bulging carrier bag on the kitchen table. ‘Have you got the other bag, Caroline?’

‘Yes, here you go.’ She deposited another bulging carrier bag next to the first one, and they smiled at each other.

‘What’s going on?’ Julian said, looking bewildered, and I didn’t blame him. It was beginning to look like the shopping was more important than the visit to the doctor.

‘We’ll explain in a minute. Just put the kettle on first, would you? I’m gasping for a cup of tea. And Jessica’s nappy needs changing. I’ll do that while you make the tea.’

She carried Jessica off upstairs, and Julian, shaking his head, turned to put the kettle on and get out mugs and tea bags, while Caroline rummaged in the cupboard for a biscuit.

‘You know Laura’s rules,’ Julian warned her. ‘No snacks just before dinner. You leave half your meals, as it is.’

‘I won’t tonight, though,’ she said, grinning.

Julian sat down opposite her at the table, staring at her.

‘Is there some kind of secret going on that I’m not being allowed to share?’ he asked her, a bit crossly. ‘All I want to know is what the doctor said about the blood tests, and whether you’re OK.’

‘Sorry, Dad.’ Caroline reached across the table and touched his paw. ‘I know you’ve been worried. So have I. But it’s OK. I don’t need another bone marrow biopsy. It’s nothing serious.’

‘So whatis it?’

‘Anaemia,’ Laura said, suddenly reappearing in the kitchen doorway. ‘That’s what’s been wrong with her, Julian, and it’s all my fault.’

‘No it’s not,’ Caroline said. ‘It’s my fault, Laura. If I didn’t want to eat meat, I should have researched it myself, shouldn’t I, to find out what I should eat, instead of just having tantrums about it like a baby.’

‘It’s because she hasn’t been eating meat?’ Julian said, looking from Caroline to Laura and back again, his eyebrows right up to the top of his head. ‘That’s why she’s been so tired and unwell?’

‘No. Not exactly.’ Laura sighed and sat down at the table next to him. ‘It’s not the lack of meat in itself – Dr Pearson says a vegetarian diet can be very healthy if it’s done properly. No, it’s the lack of anything sensible in her dietinstead of meat. And thatis my fault. I’ve been too busy trying to get Caroline to eat whatI wanted her to eat, to think about what nutrients she might be missing. And I’m a nurse! I feel so stupid.’

‘Laura, you’ve been really busy since Jessica was born,’ Caroline said quietly. ‘And I know I was being difficult about it. The thing is, I just really hate the whole idea of eating dead animals! I’d been feeling like this about it for a long time, ever since I was ill I suppose, but I didn’t reallywant to be awkward and difficult. I did keep trying to eat some meat, but then it started making me feel really sick.’ She shrugged. ‘Perhaps you’re right, Laura – it might just be a phase, maybe I’ll get over it.’

‘It doesn’t matter anymore, Caroline,’ Laura said. ‘I’m just glad we’ve found out what’s wrong.’

‘So what does Dr Pearson suggest? Iron tablets?’ Julian asked.

‘Not unless we can’t correct it ourselves with diet.’

‘What sort of diet?’

‘Look in the bags, Dad!’ Caroline said, sounding quite excited as she started to unpack the two carriers, describing each item as she put it on the table ‘Lots of green veg. Dried apricots. Lentils. Soya beans. Tofu. Oatmeal. Cashew nuts. Sunflower seeds—’

‘And lots of oranges, strawberries, blackcurrants and so on, for vitamin C,’ Laura put in.

‘Because, did you know? We need vitamin C in order to absorb iron,’ Caroline said, sounding quite excited about it.

‘And plenty of cheese of course, and yoghurts and eggs. For protein.’

All this sounded awful to me, but Laura and Caroline were grinning away to each other happily.

‘Caroline has really taken it on board,’ Laura said. ‘She wanted us to go straight to the supermarket and stock up on all the right food, so that we can start today.’

‘Are you sure you’re up for this?’ Julian said, sounding worried again now. ‘It sounds like a lot of work, Laura – two different meals every night? I mean, you know I’d help, but I normally get home a bit late …’

Laura laughed.‘Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to learn vegetarian cooking, Julian.’

‘ButI’m going to,’ Caroline said, sitting up a bit straighter. ‘That’s only fair, if I want to eat differently from you, isn’t it? And anyway I think it’s really interesting. I can cook stir fries with lots of nuts, and make lentil bakes, and …’

‘We picked up a recipe book in the supermarket too,’ Laura told Julian.

‘And I’m going to start on tonight’s dinner as soon as I’ve changed out of my school uniform,’ Caroline said, running off towards the stairs.

‘I do realise the novelty of cooking for herself will probably wear off after a while,’ Laura said, smiling at Julian. ‘And I’ll supervise anyway. But it won’t do her any harm. We can both learn, together. I don’t think it’s going to be as difficult as it sounds. We might even decide to join her, a couple of days a week. Too much meat is bad for you, you know,’ she added.

Really? I found that hard to believe. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could survive without eating meat. Even when I was living in such reduced circumstances with the feral cats, it was the scraps of horrible burgers and sausages from the bins, together with the occasional treat of fresh fish of course, that kept us alive. But to be honest I was just so very, very happy to hear that Caroline wasn’t really ill after all, I didn’t care what strange things she wanted to eat, as long as they made her feel better.

‘Dr Pearson also reminded me that she’s approaching puberty,’ Laura added quietly, ‘which, as well as the anaemia, would account for her having been so tired and emotional.’ She paused for a moment, and then smiled and said, ‘And moody, and bad-tempered!’

I was glad poor Caroline wasn’t in the room to hear that.

‘Really? She’s at that stage already? She’s only eleven!’

‘Coming up for twelve,’ Laura said. ‘It’s not at all out of the ordinary, Julian. I should have realised that myself, but I kind of expected that she’d have a slightly delayed adolescence, if anything, after going through her illness and the chemotherapy. But the doctor said that doesn’t necessarily happen.’

‘The trouble is, we’ve both been seeing all the signs, but thinking they meant something else. Something much worse. So we couldn’t see the wood for the trees.’

‘Yes, you’re right. Well – thank God, she’s going to be fine now.’ Laura reached out and touched Julian’s paw. ‘It’s such a relief, isn’t it?’

A relief to me too, of course. In fact I felt quite weak with it. I was going to have to have a lie down. But first, I needed to wind myself around Caroline’s legs until she picked me up, so that I could give her face a really good licking to show how happy I was.

Later that night, after Jessica had gone to bed and Caroline had gone back upstairs to do her homework, Nicky came round. Apparently she’d been desperate to hear how the doctor’s appointment went, too.

‘I’m so glad it’s nothing serious,’ she said after Laura had told her all about it. ‘So it’s nothing to do with the new school, either? I was a bit worried she was finding it too much.’

‘No, she absolutely loves the school,’ Julian said. ‘And we’re both completely certain now that we’ve done the right thing, aren’t we, darling?’

Laura nodded.‘She’s so happy at Great Broomford High, going off on the bus with all her friends, and being in the same class as Grace. And it is a good school, so I’m sure she’ll do well there. Thank goodness there was still a place available for her there when we changed our minds.’

‘Yes,’ said Julian. ‘If only we’d sat down and talked to her about it properly, instead of just insisting we knew what was best for her. The private school might have a wonderful reputation, but what’s the point, if she was going to be miserable and resentful? Now she’s got her circle of friends here, after all that time of being lonely, it’s quite understandable that the most important thing for her is to be with them. No wonder she felt so cross and upset with us.’

‘But she’s happy now, and she’s going to be fine, that’s what matters,’ Nicky said gently. ‘What about the concussion, though? Did the doctor say that wasn’t causing her any of her symptoms?’

‘Oh, he did say it might be adding to the problem, yes,’ Laura said, ‘although the anaemia is the real issue. But I must say, he agreed with what they told us at Mudditon Hospital – if Caroline hadn’t been taken to hospital, it could have been a different picture altogether. Can you imagine what might have happened if she and Grace had carried on wandering off on their own like that – while she was suffering from concussion, not to mention the bleeding from her wounds? It could have been … well, a catastrophe,’ she finished in a very quiet voice.

‘Thank God she went to hospital. So it looks like Charlie reallydid save her life,’ Nicky said.

‘Yes.’ Laura looked at me and smiled. ‘He did.’

‘It feels like we’ve got our Caroline back now, in more ways than one,’ Julian said, and I thought I could hear a funny wobble in his voice. Laura must have heard it too, because she put her paws round him and hugged him. He smiled at her and added, ‘Andyou’re so much happier too, darling, aren’t you? Now the baby’s started to settle down.’

‘Poor Laura was tired out, Julian,’ Nicky said. ‘What on earth did you expect?’

‘You were worried I might have had postnatal depression, weren’t you?’ Laura said, turning to Julian. ‘But Nicky’s right, I was just completely exhausted.’

‘Men just don’t get it,’ Nicky said, shaking her head. ‘Dan was absolutely useless too, after I had Benjamin.’

‘I know, I know,’ Julian said, smiling. ‘Well, we don’t like to admit we’re worried, you see …’

‘Excuses, excuses.’ Nicky laughed. ‘You’re all the same. If you don’t like us being tired and ratty, you should be looking at how you can help us. And honestly, Julian – I’m glad we’re close enough friends that I can say this to you now – it really wasn’t the most wonderful ideain the world, taking the family to Mudditon for a whole month and leaving them there to get on with it.’

Oh, at last, somebody was saying what we’d all been thinking right from the start! I rubbed my head against Nicky’s legs and purred.

‘I know,’ Julian said. ‘I think I realised I’d messed up, even before we got there, but I was trying to convince myself it was going to somehow make everything better. Instead, I’ll admit it, it was just a bloody disaster!’

‘Oh, come on, there were some good things about the holiday,’ Laura said, nudging Nicky and doing that thing with her eyes that humans call winking. ‘It was quite fun really apart from the girls running away, Charlie going missing, Caroline getting herself concussed and carted off to hospital, and … oh, well, none of us being able to relax on the beach because of the seagulls. But that pales into insignificance compared with the rest!’

‘Next year,’ Julian said, when they’d all stopped laughing, ‘you choose the holiday, right? That’s a promise.’

‘And Charlie can stay with us,’ Nicky said firmly. ‘Wherever you go, you’re not going to risk taking him with you again and letting him get lost.’

‘You’re on,’ Laura said. ‘Thank you. The cattery is supposed to be very good, though.’

‘No!’ I meowed. ‘I want to stay with Nicky. I’ll be really, really good! I won’t mess up her washing or get inside Benjamin’s cot or anything.’

‘I think he’s saying he’d rather stay with us,’ Nicky said, stroking me. Perhaps she actually did understand a bit of Cat!

‘Well, next summer’s a long way off,’ Julian said, ‘but we might take you up on it if Laura wants us to jet off somewhere exotic and expensive.’

‘Good idea!’ Laura said, and she did the winking thing to Nicky again. ‘Although to be honest, I can’t imagine exotic holidays being quite so easy with a baby in tow. And it’s funny, but despite everything, I’ve developed a kind of affection for Mudditon-on-Sea.’

‘You’re joking!’ Julian said.

‘No, I’m not. But we’re only going back if they’ve got a grip on the seagull problem. And as long as it’s only for a week or two,and you stay with us.’

‘Perhaps we could stay in a hotel next time instead of self-catering,’ Julian said. ‘And we’ll see if Grace can come along for Caroline.’

Nicky was laughing at them both as she got to her feet.‘Well, I’d better get back or Dan’s going to start complaining thatI leavehim on his own too much with Benjamin! I’ll leave the pair of you to mull over your plans for next year, then – although I can hardly believe you’re already talking about going back to Mudditon again.’

And neither could I. After everything that happened, here they were already discussing going on another holiday! What on earth is wrong with humans? Why can’t they just enjoy playing in their own safe territories all the time, like we do? Although I must admit, just for a tiny moment, I allowed myself to imagine going back to Mudditon and somehow being able to catch up with my friends, the feral cats, again. But sadly, I knew it wasn’t really going to happen. I’ll never forget those boys, but they’re not part of my real life, my life here in Little Broomford with my family and friends. I’m a home-loving domestic cat at heart, and always will be.

After Nicky left, I took myself off to my bed in the kitchen to settle down for the night, but I couldn’t sleep for thinking about all the things I’d overheard. Suddenly there was a rattle of the cat flap and there was Oliver looking through it. I jumped up at once and dived outside to join him.

‘What have you been doing?’ he complained. ‘I’ve been meowing outside for you for ages, but you’ve obviously been too busy to hear me.’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘It’s been a very worrying day. Caroline went back to the doctor to find out whether she’s ill again.’

‘Oh yes! What happened?’

‘She’s OK.’ I felt almost too tired to explain. ‘But she has to eat strange things like nuts and eggs and oranges.’

‘Yuck. Poor Caroline.’

‘I know, but we’re all really happy because she’s going to be fine.’

‘Of course. I’m happy about it too.’ He rubbed his face against mine. ‘It’s really good news. Thank goodness she’s not ill. So – now we know that, if I come back tomorrow perhaps you’ll finally tell me your story?’

‘Yes. And I didn’t tell you the other day about the television people coming—’

‘What?’

‘They want to put me into everyone’s televisions again. They’re calling me a hero.’

He gave me a funny look.‘Really? Don’t start getting big ideas about yourself, Charlie. You’re still just a little kitten to me, you know.’

And although it usually annoys me now, there was something quite comforting then about Ollie calling me a little kitten‘Don’t worry. I won’t get big-headed. But it turns out they’re saying I saved Caroline’s life.’

‘Wow. Really?’

‘Yes, and in Mudditon where we went on holiday, the humans think I was a hero because I saved an old female from being attacked by seagulls.’

‘I can’t wait to hear about all this. And of course, Charlie, we’re both heroes for saving Nicky and Daniel’s marriage as well.’

‘Yes. I’m getting a bit tired actually, doing all this heroism and saving. I was just about to go to sleep before you turned up.’

‘Oh, well, if you’re too tired to talk to me …’

‘Of course I’m not. Anyway, I couldn’t get off to sleep. I was too excited about Caroline not being ill. And too busy puzzling about things my family have just been saying, as well.’

‘Tell me about it!’ he meowed. ‘Humans puzzle me all the time. They’re just not like us, you know.’

‘I realise that. But whatever possesses them to want to go away on holidays? It’s crazy. Once you start wandering away from home, trust me, Ollie, I’ve discovered life is fraught with dangers and difficulties. Personally, nothing will ever tempt me to do it again. Oh, unless, of course, I should ever be needed for another rescue of Caroline.’

‘I can understand that. Adult humans should be able to look after themselves, but human kittens are pretty vulnerable. Especially when they’re very small, like your Jessica, for instance.’

‘Oh my claws and whiskers, that’s a point! You’re right, Jessica’s areally tiny human kitten. So far, she can hardly move at all on her own. Everyone got all amazed and excited the other day just because she rolled over on the carpet, can you believe? She certainly won’t be going anywhere far like that! But if she starts wandering when she’s big enough, I’ll have to start looking out for her, too, for sure. My work as a life-saving hero is obviously going to be an ongoing occupation. I feel exhausted just thinking about it.’

‘Well, you’d better get your rest while you can, you poor exhausted life-saving hero!’ he said. He sounded just a little bit sarcastic, I have to say, although not in a nasty way. Ollie would never be nasty to me. He just keeps me in my place, and I suppose that’s fair enough.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to stay and hear some of my story now?’

‘No. Tomorrow will be better. Quite frankly you look worn out. And anyway, I’ve been thinking. Some of the other cats in the village keep asking me if I know what happened to you while you were missing. Why don’t you tell us all, together? I’ll spread the word tonight, and we can meet by the dustbins round the back of the shop early in the morning.’

‘You really think they’ll be interested?’

‘Oh yes, definitely.’ He gave me a friendly rub with his face. ‘I’m absolutely certain they’ll all be agog to hear about the exploits of our local life-saving hero!’

And perhaps he was being a bit sarcastic again. But judging by the way you’ve all hung around to hear this story right to the very end, you know what? I think he might have been right. What’s that, Tabitha? You don’t want the story to end? Well, I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure it must be nearly dinnertime again. And even heroes like me need to eat, you know. We all need to keep our strength up, just in case.

Just in case what? Well, who knows? Who knows when you might be called upon to save someone’s life, just for instance? If it can happen to an ordinary little kitten like I recently used to be, well, it could happen to any cat, anywhere. Be warned. Be prepared. Humans need us! Even if they don’t realise it, they do, because let’s face it, we’re the superior race by far.