The Frightened Kitten

Chapter Six

Biscuit didn’t go out on her own at all for the rest of the week. Maddy took her out into the garden a few times, as she was pretty sure Tiger and Tom wouldn’t come into the garden if she was there. But as soon as she put Biscuit down, the little tortoiseshell would race for her cat flap. And even when she was inside, she spent most of her time hiding under Maddy’s bed. She even weed on the floor a couple of times, which made Mum cross.

“I know it isn’t her fault, Maddy,” Mum told her on Friday morning, as she scrubbed at the landing carpet. “But the smell is horrible!”

“You don’t want us to give her back to Donna, do you?” Maddy asked anxiously.

Mum shook her head. “No… But we need to sort this out. Anyway, we’d better get off to school now.”

Biscuit watched them from under the bathroom towel rail. She liked it there. It was warm and dark, and the bathroom didn’t have any windows she could see other cats from. She hadn’t gone downstairs to eat yet. She wasn’t sure she was brave enough. What if Tiger and Tom came back into the kitchen again?

As the front door banged behind Maddy, Biscuit crept out to the top of the stairs. She was so hungry, she would have to risk the kitchen. She hurried down the stairs and peered round the kitchen door. No sign of any strange cats. Gratefully, she hurried in, and started to gulp down her food, stopping every few seconds to glance around worriedly.

About halfway through her bowl, she began to relax a little, and slowed down enough to enjoy the food.

Then the front door banged and she leaped away from the bowl in fright. Was it Tiger and Tom again? Panicking, Biscuit shot into the corner of the kitchen, trying to hide. She was so frightened that she weed all over the floor.

“Oh, no! Biscuit!” Maddy’s mum said crossly, as she got back and saw the mess. “What on earth did you do that for? It’s only me.” She went to the cupboard under the sink to get some spray and a cloth. “Go on, shoo. I’ve got to wipe it up now.” She flapped the cloth at Biscuit grumpily.

Biscuit was so jittery that the flash of the white cloth scared her, and she shot out of the cat flap to get away from it. Maddy’s mum had gone to fetch the mop, and she didn’t notice that the kitten had gone.

Biscuit sat on the back step, staring around the garden. She hadn’t been outside for a week, and there were so many tempting smells. And there were bees, buzzing about by the lavender bushes. And butterflies… Cautiously, she padded out on to the lawn, shivering deliciously as the sun hit her fur.

She didn’t even see Tiger before he leaped out from under the fence, and spat at her. She turned to race for the cat flap, but he chased her, knocking her sideways and clawing her ear. Biscuit looked around for Tom, wondering if he was about to jump out at her too, but Tiger seemed to be on his own for once. Not that it mattered – he was still more than twice as big as she was and horribly fierce. Biscuit mewed with fright as Tiger pounced at her again. She was never going to be able to get away. Unless… She tried to scratch him, shooting out a sharp-clawed paw, and he retreated a little, hissing. It gave her time to think.

If she couldn’t beat him running, perhaps she could go up over the fence? Anything was worth a try. She jumped at Tiger suddenly, clawing him again, and then raced past him, heading for the fence. She scrambled up it, scrabbling and fighting for the top.

Then she perched there, wobbling, and looked down at Tiger, who stared back up at her.

Biscuit gave a frightened little squeak, and jumped off the other side of the fence…

“Mum, where’s Biscuit? I thought she’d be under my bed, but I can’t find her anywhere. I’ve looked in all the places she usually goes.”

Mum frowned. “I haven’t actually seen her much today. She weed on the kitchen floor this morning… But I’m not sure when I saw her after that. I had to go and do some shopping, and then I came straight back from town to pick you up.”

Maddy looked at Biscuit’s bed, as though she might suddenly appear from underneath it. Then she noticed the cat flap. “Oh! You moved the chair!”

“I had to,” Mum said grimly. “I was wiping up cat wee round it. I see what you mean though, she might have gone out. But that’s good, Maddy! We want her to start going outside again.”

“Not if those two thugs from next door are around,” Maddy muttered. “I’m going to check outside for her.”

But there was no sign of Biscuit in the garden either, even after Maddy called and called.

“Can’t you see her?” her mum asked, leaning out of the kitchen door. She was looking slightly worried now too.

“No, and we normally feed her about now.”

“I’ll look upstairs again, perhaps she got shut in somewhere,” Mum said.

Maddy knew she’d already checked everywhere, but she nodded anyway. “Biscuit! Biscuit!” she called again.

“Have you lost your kitten?”

Maddy jumped. She hadn’t realized Josh was out in his garden. “Yes, you haven’t seen her, have you?”

“Nope.”

Maddy sighed. “Could you look out for her? Please?”

“Yeah, all right.” But he didn’t sound very bothered, Maddy thought.

She ran back inside. “Mum, do you think we should go and look for her? Oh, but we can’t!”

“Why not?” Her mum looked confused.

“If your cat gets lost, it’s best to leave someone they know in the house – otherwise they might not think it’s their home if they come back. My book said so.”

“Really? OK, well, if she’s not back when Dad gets home, you and I can go and look for her then.”

The hour before Maddy’s dad got home seemed to crawl past. Maddy kept searching the same places over and over again, just in case she’d somehow missed Biscuit the first five or six times she’d checked.

As soon as she saw her dad at the gate, Maddy was out of the front door and running down the path.

“Biscuit’s lost! We’re going to look for her, you have to stay here!” she gasped.

Her dad stared at her, and then at Mum, dashing down the path after her.

Maddy’s mum looked at him worriedly. “I said we’d go and look round the streets. I don’t think she could have gone far.”

Maddy was already hurrying down the road, peering under the parked cars. “Come on, Mum!” she called.

Biscuit peered miserably out at the strange garden. As she’d jumped off the fence, she’d been trying to look behind her at the same time, and she’d landed badly, jarring one of her front paws. It hurt, and so did the scratches. But she’d kept going, desperate to get as far away from Tiger as she could. She’d crawled under fence after fence, hurrying on and on, until at last she felt as if she might be safe. She’d smelled several other cats and even seen a couple, but none of them had chased her yet.

Eventually she’d stopped to rest behind a garden shed. She didn’t feel like she could go any further, her paw hurt so much. She’d huddled there for the rest of the day, unsure what to do. She couldn’t go home, could she? Tiger would chase her again. She’d have to wait until she was sure Maddy was back, then it would be safe.

They searched for ages. Maddy kept looking at the road and hoping that Biscuit hadn’t been so scared she’d run out in front of a car. I should have taken more care of her. I ought to have made Josh do something about Tiger and Tom, she kept thinking. When I find Biscuit, I’m going to tell him!

They were halfway down the next road and Maddy was hanging over a garden wall staring into some tall flowers, when a surprised voice said, “What are you doing?”

Maddy jumped. She hadn’t even noticed anyone approach. Becky from school was standing behind her, while her mum locked up the car. She was wearing a cardigan over ballet clothes, and peering over the wall to see what Maddy was looking at.

“Oh! Hi, Becky. I’m looking for my kitten.” Maddy gulped and swallowed. “She’s lost…” It was so horrible to say it.

“Oh no! The cute little tortoiseshell one? You’ve got her photo in your locker, haven’t you?”

Maddy nodded. She was surprised Becky had noticed.

“Want me to help look? Can I, Mum? We were just coming back from ballet,” Becky explained. “This is our house. I didn’t know you lived so close to us.”

Maddy went red. “Sorry about looking in your garden,” she said to Becky’s mum.

“Don’t worry,” she replied with a smile. “You can help Maddy look up and down our road, Becky. But only until it’s dark – you’ve probably got another half an hour, that’s all.”

Maddy looked around anxiously. Biscuit had never even been out at night! She hated the thought of her being all alone and scared in the dark.

The two girls went on up the road, calling for Biscuit, and Becky’s mum joined in too, asking their neighbours if they’d seen a kitten. But no one had.

“We have to stop, it’s too dark,” Maddy’s mum said eventually.

“We can’t!” Maddy said pleadingly.

“I’ll come and help you look first thing tomorrow,” Becky told her, giving her a hug. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”

At last, as it was starting to get dark, Biscuit decided she could leave her hiding place. Maddy must be home by now. As long as she could get back in through her cat flap before Tiger spotted her, she would be safe.

She crawled out of the dark space behind the shed, wincing as she tried to put her weight on the hurt paw. It seemed to be getting worse. She limped across the garden, and squeezed under the fence, only to see a pair of glinting amber eyes, glaring at her from under a bush. She backed away nervously. Her first thought was that it was Tiger, but it didn’t smell like him. It was a strange smell – strong and fierce. And the creature it belonged to was big…

The fox darted forward, and snapped at her, his teeth huge and yellow.

Biscuit ran blindly. She didn’t know where she was going – just away. She darted down the side passage, under a gate and out on to the pavement, where she stopped and glanced quickly behind her. The fox wasn’t following. But now she had even less idea where she was, and her paw was throbbing after her panicked dash. She limped on, hobbling down the kerb. She needed to rest, and there was a garden on the other side of the road that looked like a good hiding place, overgrown, with bushes spilling over a low fence. Biscuit set off across the road, not understanding the low growl of the car turning the corner.

She was halfway across when she noticed it – the huge machine that seemed to be towering over her, its lights dazzling her. The car braked sharply, its tyres squealing on the tarmac. Biscuit wailed as she dived forward out of the way, her injured paw collapsing underneath her, so that she half-dragged herself across the road. She struggled through the gate of the overgrown garden and flung herself down under the dark bushes, her breath coming in terrified gasps. She was so tired, and everything seemed to hurt.

Biscuit lay there, gazing into the dark night. She had no idea where she was, or how to get back to Maddy. What was she going to do?