Шейла Нортон - Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

‘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, lunch or 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.

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 what is 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 diet instead of meat. And that is my fault. I’ve been too busy trying to get Caroline to eat what I 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 really want 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 …’