Шейла Нортон - Charlie The Kitten Who Saved A Life

‘Make sure the front door is closed behind us before you open the inside one!’ Julian was saying.

‘There’s not enough room for us all in this silly little porch,’ Caroline retorted. ‘Can’t you leave the pram outside?’

‘No, we can’t,’ Laura said. ‘I don’t want it getting wet if it rains, or damp from the sea spray overnight.’

‘No, of course not,’ Caroline muttered, her tone of voice a bit odd. ‘Can’t have Jessica getting damp.’

‘I told you this was a bad idea,’ Julian said crossly. I walked up to the glass door that separated the porch from the lounge and stared at them through the glass. They were all trying to cram into that tiny space, elbowing each other and almost falling on top of Jessica’s pram. What on earth were they playing at? ‘I told you we should have shut Charlie in the kitchen. That’s what we’ll have to do in future, so we can open the doors without having to worry about him getting out. This is ridiculous.’

‘I don’t think he wants to get out, Daddy. Look, he’s just sitting there watching us,’ Caroline said, squashing herself against the other side of the glass door as Julian struggled to close the outside one.

‘We don’t want to take that chance, do we?’ Laura pointed out.

‘But it was really hot in the kitchen! Poor Charlie will be boiled in there, without any windows open!’

Boiled? I didn’t like the sound of that! Just another worry to add to the list, although personally, I couldn’t think of anything nicer than being really hot.

Finally, the outside door was closed and Caroline opened the glass one, almost falling in on top of me.

‘Well, we’re certainly not doing that again,’ Laura said as she wheeled the little pram inside, and even Caroline didn’t argue this time.

‘We went for a walk along the seafront, Charlie!’ she said, throwing herself down on the floor next to me. ‘There’s a really nice beach. We’re going down there tomorrow. Daddy said it was too late today – for some reason,’ she added quietly, pushing her eyebrows up to the top of her head.

‘You know why, Caroline,’ Julian said sharply. ‘We need to settle Jessica down for the night. It’ll probably take a while, being in the travel cot and in a strange place.’

‘Yes, so everyone else has to suffer,’ she muttered.

‘Caroline,’ Laura said in a warning voice. ‘Don’t start. It’s been a long day, we’re all tired, and—’

‘No we’re not! I’m not! It’s not even late! I’d have liked to have a walk on the beach, and a paddle in the sea, but no, we have to come back because of Jessica . Jessica needs her sleep, Jessica needs her nappy changed, Jessica needs everyone running around after her like she’s the one in charge of this family!’

‘That’s enough,’ Julian said. But he said it in a quiet, sad voice instead of a cross one, and when I looked up at Caroline I saw a little drip of a tear running down her cheek. I rubbed my head against her legs and she curled around me where she sat on the floor, hiding her face against my fur.

‘ I still love you,’ I purred at her.

I’d have liked to ask her a few questions, like: What is a beach? What is a paddle? How can you walk on the seafront, if the sea is moving water? And: How did you stop the sea from getting at you? Wasn’t it dangerous? But even if I could have got her to understand me, now didn’t seem like a good time to try.

Laura carried Jessica upstairs and shut the door of their bedroom, and Julian went into the kitchen to make coffee. Then he turned the TV back on and sat in silence with Caroline, watching pictures of water on it. The water looked very deep and dark, almost worse than the sea outside our window. And then, suddenly, lots of little fish swam into the picture. That was a lot more interesting. I jumped off Caroline’s lap and strolled a little closer to the TV. I knew the fish were just pictures – not that I could see the point of it, the whole TV thing is too weird to take on board, if you ask me. But still, they were a definite attraction. I jumped onto the shelf where the TV sat, and put a paw out to the screen, patting a nice bright orange fish that looked like it ought to be tasty. Of course, it just felt hard and cold. But I liked watching the fish anyway, so I stayed on the shelf, aiming my paw out every now and then, to pretend to myself that I was trying to catch them.

Caroline was laughing at me. At least she’d cheered up a bit. Even Julian chuckled as he said, ‘Charlie, they’re not real! You silly little cat.’

‘I know! I’m just playing!’ I retorted, somewhat offended. I had a swipe at another, bigger one.

‘That’s a catfish!’ Caroline said, laughing again.

It didn’t look anything like a cat to me. Ridiculous name for a fish. But it was nice to hear her laugh, so I had another swipe – unfortunately, just as Laura came back into the lounge.

‘Charlie, get down from there!’ she said. ‘Julian, don’t let him do that. He’ll scratch the TV. It’s not ours, you know.’

I jumped down, chastised again, and slunk under Caroline’s legs, but not before I’d caught sight of her face. She wasn’t laughing anymore; she was scowling. And even Julian’s mouth was turned down at the corners. I wondered if this was how a holiday was supposed to be – everyone snapping at each other and being moody. If so, I was tempted to agree with Caroline that it wasn’t going to be much fun, and perhaps we should have stayed at home.

When I woke up the next morning, it took me a while to remember where I was. The sun was shining brightly through the little kitchen window and it was hot in there already. I could hear footsteps upstairs – the floor creaked when anyone walked on it – and Jessica was complaining as usual. I wondered what her problem was. She had an easy life, if you asked me. If she’d been a cat kitten, she’d have been weaned, toilet trained and be learning to hunt by now, but it seems human kittens need babying forever. I got up and had a good stretch. I was hungry, and as nobody had come downstairs yet I had to yowl at the top of my voice to get their attention. Caroline came bounding down from her bedroom, still in her pyjamas.

‘Charlie needs feeding, Dad! Shall I give him his breakfast?’

‘Yes please, Caroline,’ Julian called back. ‘We’ll be down in a minute.’

‘We’re going to the beach today, Charlie,’ she told me as she dished up my food. She gave my head a little stroke as she put down my bowl. ‘Daddy and Laura have promised. I hope you’ll be all right here on your own.’

I couldn’t stop eating to reply to her, and in any case what was I supposed to say? Now I was getting used to the cottage, I wouldn’t have minded being left alone so much if I’d had the run of the place. I’d be out in that garden for a start, sniffing out all the best places in the flowerbeds for my toilet, investigating any smells of mice, voles, rabbits and – always to be avoided of course – foxes. Chasing birds, climbing trees, playing in the bushes, to say nothing of facing any possible opposition from local cats, while I was establishing my position as territory holder. But no, I was apparently going to be a prisoner in this kitchen all day with just a litter tray for company. The only good thing about it was the fact that I couldn’t see the monstrous sea from in here. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we’d all survived the night without it getting into the cottage but from what I’d seen yesterday, it was unlikely to give up trying.