Шейла Нортон - Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

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 worried I 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 it was 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 called going 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 going viral 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 before they got here.

‘Who?’ I meowed. ‘Who are 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.’