The Cat Who Liked Rain

Ten

It suddenly occurred to Lukas that he had almost stopped laughing.

How on earth could that be possible? He was always so cheerful, and could laugh at anything you like.

Obviously, it was because Night hadn’t come back. Lukas thought days were long, and hard to get through — as if every hour was a heavy boot with lots of mud clinging to its sole.

One morning he woke up feeling bitter and angry, and went to join his mum in the kitchen.

‘Good morning, Lukas,’ she said. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘I slept bloody awful.’

‘You mustn’t speak like that,’ said his mother sternly.

‘I slept bloody awful,’ said Lukas again, but even louder this time, as if he wanted everybody in Rowan Tree Road to hear him.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Beatrice wondered.

‘I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas.

‘Of course you’re going to start school,’ she said. ‘You’ve been looking forward to it for so long now.’

‘I can’t start school as long as Night is missing. How would I be able to look for him?’

‘I can keep an eye on the road while you’re in school.’

Lukas didn’t think much of that. It wasn’t enough simply to wander over to a window now and then and take a look at the road or the garden.

If you were going to find a cat that had run away, you would have to spend all your time searching and looking out of the window.

‘Anyway, I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas, and stormed out of the kitchen. He wondered if he ought to slam the door behind him, but he didn’t dare. His mum could sometimes get very angry — so angry that Lukas was sort of scared.

‘Aren’t you going to have any breakfast?’ asked Beatrice in surprise.

‘I’m not hungry,’ said Lukas. ‘Do we really have to spend all our time eating?’

Lukas got dressed and went out. There was a nip in the air, and he shivered as he trudged through the garden towards the fence. He looked round. None of his friends were out. The only living thing apart from himself was a magpie, wagging its tail up and down on a fence not far away.

Lukas went to the wild currant bush.

He stopped dead.

The letter! He’d forgotten all about the letter. And now it had vanished. There was nothing under the currant bush.

Somebody had been there and collected his letter.

He stared at the ground where the envelope had been lying underneath a lump of granite. No, his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Somebody had been there during the night, and fetched it. It was on its way to Rainy-Weather Land. Night would soon be holding it in his paws.

Lukas burst out laughing. There was a bubbling inside him, as if he was about to belch. And then the laughter came tumbling out, like a balloon of bubble-gum bursting. Nobody could laugh like Lukas, when he was really happy. It sounded like trumpets and neighing horses and clattering magpies.

The curious neighbour, who always seemed to be standing by his fence and keeping an eye on Lukas, couldn’t resist asking what was so funny. But Lukas didn’t reply. He just carried on laughing. He knew now that Night was safe and sound.

He still didn’t understand why Night had run away. But perhaps he’d get a reply from him? Perhaps Night was so remarkable that he could transform his miaows into a sort of words that Lukas would be able to understand. Maybe Night would be able to hold a pen in his paw and write letters. Why not? Were there any limits to what that remarkable cat could do?

Lukas decided on the spot to go home and write another letter. Maybe the secret postman would come back again tonight as well? He felt an urge to tell his mum what had happened. She would have to help him to write the next letter.

Now he could start thinking seriously about starting school, despite everything. It didn’t feel so bad, now that he knew Night would soon receive his greeting. He’d soon be sitting with the photograph of Lukas in his paws. Maybe he’d even regret having run away? Lukas wondered if it might be possible for him to create a sort of mini rainy-weather land for Night in his room. If he hung a watering can from the ceiling, it could create showers to fall on Night. Would that be enough?

He started running towards the gate. He was in a hurry. There was so much he needed to do! Now! Straight away!

Just as he was opening the gate, Whirlwind came speeding up on his skateboard. He had some of his friends with him.

‘Have you found the cat?’ Whirlwind shouted.

‘No,’ said Lukas. He didn’t want to tell him how he’d sent a letter to Rainy-Weather Land. Whirlwind and his friends might think that was a childish thing to do, and start asking awkward questions. It was best to say nothing at all.

‘We’re going to start building a skateboard track now,’ said Whirlwind. ‘Guess where it’s going to be!’

Lukas only liked guessing when he was sure he was right. But he had no idea where Whirlwind and his friends were going to build their track. So he said nothing.

‘There,’ said Whirlwind, pointing.

Lukas followed the direction indicated by Whirlwind’s finger — and had a terrible shock.

Whirlwind was pointing straight at the old currant bush.

‘It’s a good place,’ said Whirlwind. ‘We’ll pull down that old bush. Then we can build our track.’

‘But you can’t,’ said Lukas, and he felt a lump in his throat, growing bigger and bigger.

‘Why can’t we?’ asked Whirlwind. ‘Just wait and see. We’re off now to get some of the wood we need for making the track.’

And they raced away.

Lukas stared after them. Now all his joy had vanished again. Why did they have to build their track in the very place where the currant bush was standing? Surely that wasn’t possible? It was Night’s place, and nobody was allowed to touch it.

Lukas didn’t know what to do next. How could he explain to Whirlwind that they would have to build their track somewhere else?

What should he do? How could he defend his currant bush. All by himself? Night would never come back if the currant bush was no longer there.

He tried to think of a solution. The currant bush was wild. That must mean that nobody owned it. Maybe he could buy it for the thirty-two kronor he’d saved up. But who should he pay if nobody owned the bush? Could you say that it was Night’s bush because he was the only one who used it? But Night was missing, of course. And Night was only a cat. No, that was no good. He must think of something else.

He walked slowly over to the currant bush. There were only a few dried up, half-rotten currants left, on the end of one of the branches.

‘It’s not possible,’ he said to himself. ‘Whirlwind can’t be allowed to pull down the currant bush. If he does, Night will never come back.’

Although it was damp on the ground, Lukas sat down. How would he be able to defend the currant bush? When he was on his own, and up against all Whirlwind’s gang?

Dad, he thought. He’ll understand. He’ll have to help me. We’ve been out in the forest together, and talked. He knows what it’s like to love a cat more than anything else in the world.

Lukas stood up and went indoors.

‘Do you still not want any breakfast?’ asked his mother.

‘I’m not hungry,’ said Lukas.

It wasn’t true. He was hungry. But he didn’t think it was right to eat when somebody was going to destroy Night’s currant bush.

‘Are you ill?’ his mum wondered.

‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘I just want to be left alone.’

Beatrice looked hard at him, but she didn’t say anything. She left him alone with his thoughts.

Lukas sat down on a chair by the window and looked out. He hadn’t bothered to take his boots off. There was a pool of dirty water on the floor, but he didn’t care.

I hope it takes a long time, he thought. I hope it takes ages and ages for Whirlwind and his friends to collect all the wood they need for the skateboard track. I hope they don’t have enough money to pay for it all. I hope, hope, hope... But most of all he hoped that they wouldn’t have time to dig up the bush before his dad came home for his evening meal.

Lukas was so nervous that he had stomachache. He couldn’t sit still on the chair any longer, and went to the kitchen.

‘Is Dad coming home for dinner tonight?’ he asked his mum.

‘Haven’t you taken your boots off?’ she said. ‘Look, there’s dirt all over the floor!’

‘Is Dad coming home for dinner?’ Lukas asked again.

Beatrice looked at him and frowned. Lukas couldn’t tell if she was angry or worried.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ she wondered.

‘Nothing,’ said Lukas. ‘I just want to know if Dad’s coming home for dinner tonight.’

‘He’s coming home for dinner as usual,’ said Beatrice. ‘Why ever shouldn’t he?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Lukas. ‘But I need to talk to him.’

‘Can’t you talk to me just as well?’

‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘Only Dad understands this.’

To avoid having to answer any more questions, he went back to the chair by the window. But first he took his boots off in the hall.

Whirlwind and his friends still hadn’t come back. But there was a long time to go before his dad would drive his lorry back home for dinner.

Would he get back in time?

Lukas waited. And waited. And waited.

Nothing happened. He occasionally went to ask his mum what time it was.

Nothing happened.

Then everything happened all at once.

First, Lukas saw to his horror that Whirlwind and his friends had arrived, pulling a barrow laden with planks of wood. Then he saw his dad’s lorry approaching from the other direction. He shouted out loud and jumped up from the chair. Then he ran out into the garden to welcome his dad. He forgot to put his boots on. But all that mattered was the currant bush. Would his dad understand that it had to stay? Or would Whirlwind get permission to pull it down?