Шейла Нортон - Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

‘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 of me , 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 brought me 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.

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 really have 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. You are 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 protégé! 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 be little 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 better just 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 all their 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?’