Alan MacDonald - Oscar and the CATastrophe

For Jack Jenkinson, who has already written a book

AM

For Harry and Thomas H

SH

First published in Great Britain 2018

by Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright © 2018 Alan MacDonald

Illustrations copyright © 2018 Sarah Horne

The moral rights of the author and illustrators have been asserted

First e-book edition 2018

ISBN 978 1 4052 8724 1

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1797 7

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Dedication and Copyright For Jack Jenkinson, who has already written a book AM For Harry and Thomas H SH First published in Great Britain 2018 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Text copyright © 2018 Alan MacDonald Illustrations copyright © 2018 Sarah Horne The moral rights of the author and illustrators have been asserted First e-book edition 2018 ISBN 978 1 4052 8724 1 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1797 7 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet. Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

CHAPTER 1: Moving In

CHAPTER 2: Uppity

CHAPTER 3: Wall Games

CHAPTER 4: Diamond and Carrots

CHAPTER 5: Stop Thief!

CHAPTER 6: Dangerous Dogs

CHAPTER 7: Counting Cats

CHAPTER 8: Short Cuts

CHAPTER 9: Paw Prints

CHAPTER 10: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Cat

CHAPTER 11: The Bottom of the Matter

CHAPTER 1

MOVING IN

On the first floor of 18 Beach Road a boy and his dog stood looking out of a window. The boy was wearing blue patterned pyjamas while the dog wasn’t wearing anything, apart from a collar and a worried frown. The dog’s name was Oscar and his boy was called Sam. Anyone passing by on the road wouldn’t have suspected there was anything out of the ordinary about them.

‘It’s okay, Oscar, it’s only a furniture van,’ said Sam. ‘I think someone’s moving in next door.’

Oscar pressed his nose closer to the window. He didn’t trust vans, not since a black one had carried off two of his friends and they’d had to rescue them from a dog pound. This van, however, was large and blue with Heaver and Sons Removals written on the side. It was parked outside number 20, the house next door that had a SOLD sign in the front garden. The workmen were unloading the furniture onto the pavement.

‘Look, there’s a pet basket,’ said Sam. ‘You never know, they might have a dog.’

Oscar gave him a look as if to say there was only one dog in the neighbourhood and that was him.

Downstairs a heady smell of coffee, toast and sausages filled the kitchen as Mr Shilling made breakfast. The coffee was for him, the toast for everyone, and the sausages were for Oscar, who claimed tinned dog food was not fit to eat.

‘It looks like someone’s moving in next door,’ said Sam, pouring himself some cereal.

Dad nodded. ‘Yes, I saw the van,’ he said, closing the kitchen door. He lowered his voice. ‘Before your mum gets down, you haven’t forgotten, have you?’

‘Forgotten what?’ asked Sam.

‘Her birthday of course – it’s next Saturday. I wrote it on the calendar so you wouldn’t forget.’

Sam had forgotten. He rarely looked at the calendar because most of the time it recorded things like ‘dentist appointment’ or ‘parents evening’. Saturday still gave him a week to get a present but he had no idea what to get. As it was almost the end of the summer holidays, he’d spent most of his pocket money too.

‘What are you giving her?’ he asked.

‘Me? I’m working on a little idea,’ said Dad. ‘I’ll show you when it’s ready.’

Sam nodded. He hoped it wasn’t one of his dad’s less successful inventions like the Hercules Speedy Pop-up Toaster, which had almost set fire to the kitchen.

Dad set Oscar’s food bowl down on the floor. ‘There’s a birthday list on the fridge,’ he said.

Sam read the list, which he obviously hadn’t noticed.

A holiday – anywhere hot

A new car!

Swimming costume

Beach towel

Slippers

He was pretty sure he couldn’t afford a holiday, unless his mum wanted a bus ride to Winklesea. They hadn’t gone away this summer because his parents had been busy running the beach cafe, which Dad had bought after selling one of his inventions. Originally it was called The Toast Cafe, but then Sam and Oscar had the genius idea of turning it into The Waggy Dog Cafe – the only cafe in Little Bunting to welcome dogs.

Oscar barked loudly, interrupting his thoughts. Usually this meant someone was coming and a few seconds later the doorbell rang.

It was Mr Trusscot, their busybody neighbour, who was known in Sam’s family as Mr Fusspot. As leader of the town council, Trusscot had once tried to turn most of the town into a dog-free zone, so he and Oscar were old enemies.