Шейла Нортон - Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

I said goodbye to Ollie at the gates of my house and went wearily in to bed, our conversation still playing on my mind. After such a late night, I’d have appreciated a lie-in in the morning, but it wasn’t to be. Julian and Laura were up, dressed, and rushing around the house like cats being chased by foxes. They were folding clothes, picking up things and putting them in bags, calling to Caroline to get herself ready. I felt quite left out of it all, and was rather grumpy about having had to remind them three times about my breakfast. Then I noticed they’d left one suitcase open in their bedroom, with some nice soft clothes of Laura’s right on top. Well, it was as good a place as any to settle down for a nap and try to catch up on my sleep. I made a nice little nest for myself in a soft cardigan and pulled a dress over the top of me, and was just dozing off when Julian marched into the room again calling out to Laura:

‘Is this case finished? Can I close it up now?’, before slinging the lid of the suitcase down on top of me.

‘Help! Let me out!’ I meowed in panic – and the lid was opened again and the dress lifted off me.

‘Charlie!’ Julian said, and I wasn’t sure from his tone of voice whether he was cross or amused. ‘What on earth are you doing in there?’ He lifted me out onto the floor, just as Laura came into the room behind him. ‘Charlie was having a nap in the suitcase!’ he told her.

‘Well, I hope he hasn’t creased my new dress,’ she said.

I noticed Julian having a quick look at the dress, frowning and glancing at me before he closed the lid in a hurry and fastened up the case.

‘I’m sure it’ll be fine,’ he said. And then, to my absolute horror, he went outside to the garage and came back in with the dreaded Carrying Basket.

‘But I thought you said I wasn’t going to the cattery!’ I yelled.

They’d lied! How could they do this to me? I made a dash for the cat flap but even more horror – it was locked! There was no escape!

‘Sorry, Charlie,’ Laura said, picking me up and giving me a stroke. ‘But you’ll have to spend the journey in your basket. It’ll be fine. There you go.’

I tried to struggle, kicking my legs out so I couldn’t fit through the opening, but Laura pushed me in and clipped the metal door shut.

I cried mournfully as she carried me outside in the basket and loaded me into the car. I was put on the floor, just under where baby Jessica was sitting in her funny little seat. From the gaps in the top of my basket I could just see her back paws in their little pink socks. Caroline got into the other side of the back seat and bent down to talk to me.

‘Shush, Charlie, you’re all right, don’t cry. We’re going on a long journey so perhaps you’ll have a little sleep.’

It was only then that I realised I wasn’t going to the cattery after all but being taken on the holiday. I was so relieved, I did actually stop crying for a while – which is more than I can say for Jessica.

I hate being in a car. I don’t suppose I’m the only one, am I? No, I didn’t think so! For one thing, I’ve already learnt that it normally means we’re going to the vet. Then there’s the horrible noise cars make and the way they seem to quiver, as they go along, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. Even though I’d stopped crying, I couldn’t help myself from letting out little whimpers of fear. Caroline kept talking to me, but eventually she was getting drowned out by the noise of Jessica’s screaming.

‘Can’t I have Charlie sitting on my lap?’ she called above the din to Laura.

‘No. He might jump off and try to sit on top of Jessica.’

‘I won’t!’ I mewed.

‘He won’t,’ Caroline said. ‘Oh, please let him. He’s frightened. I’ll hold onto him.’

‘No, it’s not safe,’ Julian said. ‘Anyway, it’s the law – cats have to be in a carrier on car journeys. And if we had to stop suddenly he could get hurt.’

‘Not fair,’ I heard Caroline mutter to herself. ‘Poor Charlie.’

So I closed my eyes, told myself sternly to stop being a scaredy-cat, and tried to settle down and catch up on the sleep I’d missed the previous night. It was getting hot in the car with the sunshine coming through the windows and I felt cramped and uncomfortable in my basket. As we all know, even in extreme circumstances, sleep has to take priority. But have you ever tried to get to sleep with a human kitten wailing its head off just above you?

‘Shush, Jessica,’ Laura kept saying, turning round in her seat and trying to reach one of the baby’s paws to stroke. ‘All right, baby, all right.’

‘What’s the matter with her?’ Caroline asked irritably.

‘She’s probably tired.’

‘So why doesn’t she just go to sleep?’

Good question.

‘I don’t know. Perhaps she’s feeling unsettled because normally she’d be having a sleep in her cot or in the pram now. Babies don’t like things being different.’

‘Pity we didn’t stay at home, then,’ Caroline whispered in my direction.

‘Why don’t you talk to her, Caroline?’ Laura suggested.

‘What about?’

‘Well, just try to calm her down. Give her hand a little stroke. Make sure she’s got her dummy and her blankie.’

‘Oh, great! Now I’m being used as a child minder! Is this how it’s going to be on this holiday? Because if it is, I’m going out every day!’

‘Caroline, don’t talk to Laura like that,’ Julian said. ‘Please just give Jessica her dummy like you’ve been asked. Then perhaps we’ll all get some peace.’

It took a while, but eventually Jessica’s wailing died away and all I could hear was the funny sucking noise she made when that dummy thing was in her mouth. I often wondered what it tasted like and why, when she spent half the day sucking away at it, it never got any smaller. I quite fancied having a go with it, but they never left it anywhere where I could get it. Still, at least it was keeping her quiet. Caroline was quiet, too, apart from a faint tinny sort of noise, which I recognised as coming from the things she puts in her ears, connected to Julian’s little screen thing he sometimes lets her play with. It often made her nod her head and tap her feet. Humans are weird, aren’t they? If they’re not putting bits and pieces in their mouths they’re putting them in their ears. I don’t know why they can’t just leave themselves alone.

I finally managed to doze off, but a little bit later I woke up with a start. The car was standing still. Were we there, at the holiday? Could I come out of the basket now? I meowed loudly, just in case they were all going to get out and forget about me.

‘It’s OK, Charlie,’ Caroline said. ‘We’re just having our picnic.’

Picnic ? What on earth was a picnic? It’s amazing how many words there must be in the Human language. Almost every day I hear another new one. I definitely think they have more words than we have in Cat, hard though that is to believe, but then again, they only speak with their voices, whereas of course we use our whole bodies as well. How else are they supposed to communicate all the signals we give with our tails? Humans don’t even have tails! Or whiskers! And their ears don’t even twitch. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

I peered up through the top of my basket and could see Caroline in the back seat eating a sandwich. Well, it looked exactly like a sandwich but apparently picnic was a new name for it.

‘Can I have some?’ I meowed to her.

‘Aw, Charlie’s hungry,’ she said. ‘Can I give him some cheese? Can he come out and sit on my lap now ?’