Шейла Нортон - Oliver The Cat Who Saved Christmas

Sarah laughed. ‘All right, I’ll talk to Brown Owl about it, and perhaps we can take you together. We could go on the train, during the Christmas holiday.’

‘Bye, Ollie,’ the girls called out as they trooped off to their homes.

I slunk back out to the kitchen and lay down in my basket, curling up with my tail over my head. Even the Foxes didn’t need me anymore. Pretty soon the family were going to replace me with another cat, and then there’d be nobody left who cared about me. Oh, if only that fire had never happened. If only I were still in the pub with George. I mewed myself quietly back to sleep.

I didn’t really cheer up until the following evening, when Sarah was rushing around the house excitedly, moving extra chairs into the lounge and tidying up, because it was her turn to have the WI ladies there.

‘Nicky next door is going to come tonight,’ she told Martin, who had put on his old coat and was going out to the shed, with a mug of beer in his hand, to make himself scarce. ‘I’m really glad I’ve persuaded her. It will do her good to meet some of the other women.’

I was glad too, and I felt sorry then for thinking I’d have nobody else in the world if Sarah and Martin didn’t want me. Although their cottage was cold, Nicky and Daniel were lovely humans and I know they liked me too. If it hadn’t been for Daniel, I might still be up that tree in the wood, or in the fox’s tummy, I reminded myself sternly with a little shudder.

When all the females started arriving, I sat in my hammock on the radiator so that I could listen to them chat. To my surprise, they started off by standing up in a row and singing a song about some place called Jerusalem. Some of them had loud screechy voices and I thought I’d better join in, to try to keep them in tune. I lifted my head and yowled as loudly as I could. They all started smiling and as soon as the song was finished there was a loud burst of laughter from everyone and they turned to me and clapped their paws. Believe me, Charlie, you’ll find female humans can be even stranger than the males at times.

After that, they all sat down, apart from one, who stood at the front reading things out to them about money they needed to pay and trips they might be going on.

‘And as we all know, ladies,’ she went on, ‘the Christmas party is cancelled this year but Sarah has kindly offered to have us all back here on the Saturday after Christmas, for a buffet lunch. Some of you have offered to bring cakes or sandwiches – you know who you are – and please all bring your own drinks, or all you’ll get is a glass of water.’

They all laughed again. They seemed a cheerful bunch. Nicky was sitting next to Sarah, smiling and appearing to enjoy herself.

‘Finally, I have a plea for help from Louise.’ The female in charge nodded at her. ‘If anyone knows of a qualified child minder who could work part-time, please let her know. She’s absolutely desperate for someone to look after Freya and Henry after Kay finishes. She’s had no luck with adverts in the paper…’

‘There’s a notice about swapping kids on different days, on the board,’ someone at the back of the room called out.

‘I know.’ Louise turned to face her. ‘But it’s no good for me. I work five mornings a week. I’m on the waiting lists of two nurseries in Great Broomford, but it could take ages to get a place.’

There was a murmur of sympathy around the room.

‘I could help you out for the odd morning, love,’ one of the older women said. ‘Not that I’m qualified or anything, but I’ve brought up my own kids and helped with the grandkids.’

‘Well, me too,’ said Sarah. ‘I only work part-time from home, so I could help out sometimes.’

A couple of others joined in, offering help on odd mornings here and there.

‘That’s really kind of you all,’ Louise said, ‘but I really need definite, reliable cover for the whole week. My mum might come and stay for a few weeks, but I can’t expect…’ She tailed off, shaking her head. ‘I’m going to lose my job if I can’t sort something out.’

I saw Sarah glance at Nicky, who was looking at the floor. Later, after one of the other women had stood up and talked to them all for a long time about her trip to Peru and shown them her photos, and they were all milling around chatting to each other, I followed Nicky out to the kitchen where she’d gone to help Sarah make tea and coffee.

‘You should talk to Louise, you know,’ Sarah said.

‘What’s the point? Daniel told me he saw her advert on the notice board. She only wants someone for twenty hours a week, and she won’t be able to pay me what I need.’

‘But Nicky, you won’t want to work more than twenty hours, once your own baby’s arrived. Trust me, you’ll probably even struggle with that. I know – I know you need the money, but perhaps, if things are that bad and Daniel isn’t earning enough, you’ll need to think about claiming some benefits. I’m sorry to be so personal,’ she added more quietly, ‘it’s only because I’m concerned about you.’

‘If my parents thought we were on benefits,’ Nicky said in a tight voice like she was being strangled, ‘they’d go mad. They’d say we were letting them down, and they’d blame Daniel.’

‘Or perhaps they’d help you out a bit,’ Sarah retorted.

No. They’d rather I left him and went back home to them.’

They poured tea in silence for a minute, then Nicky started carrying cups into the lounge.

‘You’ve upset her now,’ I meowed at Sarah.

‘Oh, Ollie.’ She looked down at me, shaking her head. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything, should I? But I just want to help her. What shall I do?’

‘ Don’t ask me,’ I said, rubbing against her leg in sympathy, ‘I make a mess of everything . ’

‘It’s no good.’ She picked up the last two cups, ready to go back to the lounge. ‘I’m going to have a quiet word with Louise myself. Call me interfering, but if I don’t say anything I might always regret it.’

Perhaps she was a bit like me – trying her best to help people, but not always succeeding.

I don’t think Nicky noticed Sarah and Louise chatting quietly in the corner, or Louise glancing in Nicky’s direction with interest – because by then she was talking to someone else herself. I was eavesdropping as usual, of course, and I’d gathered from the conversation that this was the wife of Tony, who’d had the sick car, and her name was Cath.

‘I’m so glad I’ve met you, dear,’ she said, beaming at Nicky. ‘You have no idea how grateful Tony and I were to your husband for charging the battery up for us. We are both so useless with car problems.’

‘He was just glad to help, honestly, Cath, and to be fair it was an easy thing for him to sort out. And I should be thanking you, for the wine, and the Christmas pudding.’

‘Oh, nonsense, you’re welcome. But listen, I was telling Sarah earlier about how Daniel helped us, and, well, I didn’t realise he’s actually looking for work in that field. He didn’t mention that to Tony.’

‘Oh!’ Nicky gave a little laugh. ‘No, that’s not quite true, he isn’t, not really. I don’t know what Sarah said to you, but you see, he wanted to be a car mechanic – he’s very good, his dad taught him – but, well, he has a full-time job in London now.’

‘Oh.’ Cath bit her lip. ‘Oh dear, I hope haven’t put my foot in it, then. I’ve sent Tony a message on my mobile, asking him to ring our son-in-law and tell him we know someone who might be able to help him. He’s a farmer over the other side of Great Broomford, and he’s looking for someone to sort out his old truck. I thought your Daniel might be able to help.’