Paw Power

by Kitty Wells

  “Ah . . . well, it is,” admitted Greykin, peering downwards. “I’m afraid we’re not quite so nimble climbing down trees as we are going up them.”

  Finally Maddy dropped the last couple of metres to the ground. Greykin had crawled under her collar, safely out of sight. She wished glumly that she could do the same, somehow.

  Her mother scooped her into a tight hug, and then held her at arm’s length. “Don’t ever do that again!” she exclaimed. “My gosh, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

  Maddy’s father was stroking his beard, looking bemused. “I thought you were afraid of heights,” he pointed out.

  “I . . . just thought it might be fun,” said Maddy. Her cheeks felt on fire. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

  Guiltily she crossed her fingers behind her back. But it wasn’t too awful a lie, she comforted herself. Her parents didn’t know that she was protected by cat magic.

  “Wow, you were right at the very top!” Jack bounced on his toes. “Will you teach me to do that? Please, Maddy? Please?”

  “No!” said their parents in unison. “Don’t even think of it,” added Mum with a shiver. “Now come on – back inside!”

  Maddy couldn’t sleep that night. The wonder of being chosen by the three cats bubbled through her, stronger than ever before. She was just herself, Maddy Lloyd – yet this amazing thing had happened to her!

  She crept out of bed and peered into her jewellery box. Greykin lay curled up on his rainbow cushion of scrunchies, his tiny sides rising and falling.

  “Greykin?” she murmured. She touched him gently with her index finger.

  “Mm?” he said drowsily, opening a single golden eye.

  Maddy glanced at her desk. She could see the black cat and the tabby shining in the moonlight. “I was just curious about the other cats,” she whispered. “What are they like?”

  The little cat stretched. “I shall refrain from quoting a rather tiresome maxim about curiosity and cats,” he said with a yawn. “The three of us are each quite unique – though of course we all have a cat’s grace and charm.”

  “Yes, but what are the other two like?” pressed Maddy.

  Greykin’s eyes squinted in a feline smile. “You’ll find out when it’s their turn to meet you. May I go back to sleep now?”

  “Just one more thing,” whispered Maddy eagerly. “You said that the magic powers the other two cats can give me are different from yours – what are they?”

  Greykin curled himself back into a ball, tucking his nose under his tail. When his voice came again, it was muffled. “Let’s just say I don’t think you’ll be disappointed when the time comes.”

  That week Maddy practised her new skills whenever she could, which wasn’t easy with Jack hanging about. But whenever he went to play with a friend, or was busy with something inside, Maddy leaped and climbed to her heart’s content – though she kept a careful eye on the house.

  On Friday afternoon, after a particularly energetic session, Greykin’s ears twitched as if he were listening to something. “That’s enough for now,” he said from his place on her hand.

  Maddy gazed at him in disappointment. “But I could go on for loads longer!”

  Greykin shook his head. “Yes, but—” He stopped abruptly, freezing in place as he became ceramic.

  “Who are you talking to?” said a voice.

  Maddy whirled round. “What are you doing here?” she snapped, tucking Greykin quickly in her pocket.

  Jack shrugged. He was hanging onto the wooden gate that led into the meadow, finishing off a choc ice. “Why are you spending so much time down here now? I bet you’re up to something!” Maddy clenched her fists. How was she supposed to practise with Jack around? Suddenly a wonderful idea came to her. Would it work, with Greykin in his ceramic form? She didn’t know, but it was definitely worth a try!

  She smiled sweetly at her little brother. “You’re right,” she said. “But it’s a secret.”

  “I can keep a secret!” burst out Jack, scrambling off the gate and sprinting over to her.

  “Well . . .” Maddy put on a doubtful look.

  “Please!” begged Jack, tugging at her sleeve. “Please tell me, Maddy, please, please, pur-leeease.”

  “All right,” she decided. “But you can’t tell anybody. Here’s the secret – I’ve found out how to jump really, really high! Do you want me to show you?”

  Jack nodded vehemently.

  “First, you sit like this.” Maddy sank onto her haunches in the grass. Jack squatted beside her, his eyes wide.

  “Then you do some little baby hops.” Maddy hopped up and down in place, holding back a giggle as Jack did the same. “Then, you say . . . Ooga booga booga!”

  Jack stopped hopping. “Ooga what?”

  “Ooga booga booga,” said Maddy. “Like this!” Closing her eyes, she chanted, “Ooga booga booga! Ooga booga booga!” Cat, she thought to herself. Cat . . .

  The tingling sensation rushed through her, like cool water on a sizzling-hot day. Whoosh! All at once Maddy sprang nearly two metres into the air, narrowly missing Jack’s head.

  “Wow!” he burst out as she landed. He leaped up, punching the air.

  “Maddy, that was great!”

  Maddy nodded modestly. “But you have to practise loads before you can do it. And it has to be in secret,” she added. “So you can’t hang around me all the time, or it won’t work.”

  “I won’t!” gasped Jack. He squatted down again, closing his eyes. “Ooga booga booga,” he muttered. “Ooga booga booga.”

  Maddy strolled back to the house, feeling very pleased with herself. That should take care of Jack for a while! And best of all, if he did tell anyone, they’d never believe him.

  When Maddy got back inside, her mother was just hanging up the phone.

  “That was Rachel’s mum,” she said. “They’re back from Cornwall, but she says all Rachel did was mope about, missing you. Do you fancy having her round to stay the night tonight?”

  “Yes!” squealed Maddy, jumping up and down. Oh, how perfect. She could hardly wait to show Rachel her new powers!

  But when Rachel arrived later that afternoon, there was a group of older boys playing football in the meadow. The two girls went up to Maddy’s room, where she quickly filled her best friend in on what she had been doing over the break.

  Rachel gazed at the ceramic cat in wonder as he sat between them on the duvet. “Oh, Mad, I can’t wait to see! But I wish Greykin would come to life,” she added wistfully, touching his smooth back. “The whole time I was away, I kept thinking I must have dreamed it all.”

  But Greykin didn’t wake up again until after dinner. And when he did, he wasn’t pleased.

  “The powers are not to be used to play frivolous tricks on your little brother,” he scolded Maddy. He was sitting on her bedside table beside her ballerina lamp, as though the ballerina had a pet panther. “As I started to tell you earlier, the other two cats were tired out!”

  Rachel watched Greykin with shining eyes. “Oh, you really are real!” she whispered.

  The cat gave her a withering look. He turned back to Maddy, lashing his tail from side to side. “The other two have only so much ka at any given time – you’re not to waste it.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Maddy. Sitting on the bed, she glanced guiltily at the small black cat and the tabby with the white-masked face. “I didn’t mean . . .”

  Greykin sighed. Leaping across to her, he nuzzled her hand. “I know you didn’t. But they already have to provide the magic for me to come to life. When you use your cat powers, they have to work even harder. So you must always stop when I tell you to, or else your powers might vanish until they’ve had a chance to rest.”

  “All right,” agreed Maddy, relieved that he didn’t seem cross any more.

  “Greykin, look – I’ve got something for you!” said Rachel eagerly.

  She drew out some tiny scraps of hamburger she’d saved from dinner. Greykin purred
his approval. As he ate, Rachel hugged herself with delight. “Oh, Maddy, I can still hardly believe it. There really is magic!”

  Later, the mood became more sombre. Maddy told Rachel what Greykin had overheard – that she was due to be Sherry’s next victim once they got back to school.

  The two girls were in their nightclothes by then, perched on Maddy’s bed. “Oh, no!” breathed Rachel. “Maddy, what are you going to do?”

  “I should have thought it was obvious,” commented Greykin, curled up warmly on Maddy’s knee.

  Maddy frowned. Though she’d been practising her new cat powers whenever she could, she suddenly realized that she wasn’t the least bit certain how she was supposed to use them against Sherry.

  “Er . . .” She and Rachel glanced at each other. Maddy cleared her throat. “Actually . . . could you tell us?”

  The little cat stretched out his front paws, yawning. “It’s simple. You just need to use your superior strength to force Sherry into submission.”

  Maddy’s mouth dropped open. “You mean . . . you want me to fight her? But, Greykin, I can’t do that!”

  His golden eyes blinked up at her. “Why ever not?”

  “Because – because she’d get into all sorts of trouble, that’s why!” spluttered Rachel. “Besides, it’s wrong to fight.”

  Greykin flexed his tiny claws. “It’s how we cats solve things. And I must say, I’ve always had the impression that it was rather a human trait, as well.”

  “Maybe it is – but that doesn’t mean it should be,” said Maddy firmly. “We’ve got to think of something else, Greykin.”

  “Hang on – I know!” Rachel bounced up on her knees. Her glasses slid down her nose, and she straightened them impatiently. “Maddy, what’s Sherry’s favourite thing in the world?”

  Maddy lifted a shoulder. “Being horrible?”

  “Besides that!” Rachel’s face was lit with excitement. “She loves winning, doesn’t she? No matter what she’s doing, she always has to win!”

  Greykin nodded slowly from Maddy’s knee. “Ah, I see. Yes, it has definite possibilities.”

  Maddy stared at them in confusion. “What does?”

  “Don’t you get it?” Rachel clutched Maddy’s arm. “What if you challenged Sherry to a contest, in front of everybody? Like, running or jumping or something?”

  Maddy caught her breath as she suddenly saw what Rachel was driving at. “Oh! And then I’d beat her—”

  “By a considerable margin,” chuckled Greykin.

  “She’d be completely humiliated!” finished Rachel, throwing her arms out triumphantly. “Oh, Maddy, she’d back right off then, I know she would. Problem solved!”

  The three of them sat up for hours, planning. When they finally went to bed, Maddy lay awake for a long time, smiling up at the ceiling. She’d never have believed it last Friday, but she was actually looking forward to going back to school. Beating Sherry would be the most amazing thing in the world!

  Chapter Seven

  WHEN MADDY ARRIVED at school on the first day after half-term, she saw Jessica standing in the centre of the playground, with an excited group from Maddy’s class clustered around her.

  “Jessica, tell us about how you stood up to Sherry!” pleaded a girl called Beth.

  “Yeah, it was brilliant,” said someone else. “How did you ever dare?”

  Edging through the crowd, Maddy thought that Jessica looked a bit panicked by all the attention. “I – um – I don’t really remember,” she mumbled, her cheeks reddening as she hunched into her jacket. “It just sort of came over me . . .”

  She spotted Maddy then, and smiled in relief. “It was all because of Maddy!” she exclaimed.

  Maddy felt her own cheeks catch fire as the crowd turned and gaped at her.

  Hurrying forward, Jessica linked her arm through Maddy’s. “Maddy helped me do it,” she announced to everyone, her eyes shining. “She’s not afraid of Sherry – not one bit! Isn’t that right, Maddy?”

  The crowd gazed at Maddy in respectful silence. Maddy swallowed. “Um . . . well . . .”

  “Ooh, here comes Sherry now!” squealed a dark-haired girl. Spinning round, Maddy saw Sherry and her gang heading straight towards them, looking grim.

  “Maddy’s not scared, though,” Jessica told everyone confidently. “Are you, Maddy?”

  Rachel had arrived, hovering at the edge of the group with a worried frown. Maddy caught her eye in a panic. This wasn’t how they had planned it at all!

  “Oi, Maddy,” called Sherry, stopping a couple of metres away. “C’mere – now!”

  Maddy cringed, her heart thumping wildly. She had never seen Sherry so angry. Oh, what had she done?

  Sherry put her hands on her hips. “Ha!” she sneered. “Too scared to even talk to me, aren’t you?” The two Jos sniggered.

  “Of course she’s not!” burst out Jessica. “Go on, Maddy,” she whispered fervently. “Tell her off, just like you helped me to!”

  Caught in a nightmare, Maddy walked slowly forward. The crowd parted for her, wide-eyed. When she reached Sherry, she gulped. Sherry towered over her – she was as big as some of the secondary school girls!

  But she didn’t have Greykin.

  Maddy stood as tall as she could. “Sherry, I – I challenge you!”

  Sherry burst out laughing. “You what?”

  “To a contest,” clarified Maddy, her face burning. “To see who the better athlete is. And – and if I win, you have to leave me alone. Leave all of us alone, for good! Right, everyone?” she added hopefully, glancing over her shoulder. Class 5A stared back at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  “A contest – yeah, right!” scoffed Sherry, crossing her arms over her chest. “Everyone knows I’d win anyway. What’s the point?”

  “What’s the matter, are you scared?” demanded Maddy.

  A deadly silence fell. Sherry scowled ominously. “Scared? Of you?”

  Maddy tried to sound calm. “Well, if you’re not scared, then . . . why won’t you do it?”

  Sherry’s face reddened, and she clenched her fists. “I am not scared!” she shouted. “If you want a contest, you’ve got one!”

  “And if I win, you’ll leave us all alone from now on, right?” added Maddy, her heart thudding.

  “Fine,” snapped Sherry. Her eyes narrowed. “And what do I get, when I win?”

  Maddy bit her lip. She hadn’t thought about this.

  “I know!” piped up spiky-haired Jo with a nasty grin. “Maddy will have to do whatever you say – like, for ever.”

  “Ooh, my own personal slave – brilliant!” cackled Sherry. “OK, Maddy, you’re on. Afternoon break, behind the school. And you’re going to wish you’d never started this!”

  Maddy swallowed as the bell rang. She was wishing it already.

  She watched as Sherry and her gang sauntered off towards the front door, laughing and giving each other high-fives. The other children began drifting away as well, avoiding Maddy as though her insanity were catching.

  Jessica looked more worshipful than ever. “Wow, Maddy,” she breathed. “You must be really good at sport – she’s twice your size!”

  “Um . . . sort of,” said Maddy weakly.

  Rachel appeared at her side and squeezed her arm. “Don’t worry, you’ll win!” she whispered in Maddy’s ear. “You’ve got magic powers, remember? Sherry hasn’t got a chance!”

  “What if they don’t work, though?” Maddy hissed back as Jessica walked away. “What’ll I do then . . .? Rachel!” Her voice rose to a shrill squeak. “I’ll have to be Sherry’s personal slave for ever!”

  “Calm down,” soothed Rachel. “Of course they’ll work. Why wouldn’t they?”

  Maddy didn’t know, but suddenly she had an awful feeling. Grabbing her school bag, she quickly found her pencil case and took Greykin out. Though the playground was deserted by now, he remained in his ceramic form, his small body cold and stiff.

  She and Rachel stared down
at him. “OK, this doesn’t mean anything,” said Rachel finally. “You said yourself that you don’t need him to be awake for your powers to work. It’ll be fine, Maddy. Trust me!”

  Maddy nodded dully, and put the little cat in her pocket. But it didn’t make her feel any better.

  Class 5A stood clustered around in the small yard behind the school, watching silently as Sherry paced off two giant steps and then marked the distance between them with sticks.

  “There,” she said, turning to face Maddy with a sneer. “We both have to jump that far. And . . .” She looked around, considering. “And do twenty chin-ups from that branch!” she decided, pointing to the horse chestnut tree that grew in the corner. The branch was more than a metre over Maddy’s head.

  Maddy shrugged, trying to look unconcerned. Greykin still felt cold and stiff in her pocket. “There should be three things,” she said. “What else?”

  “Maddy gets to choose the last one,” put in Rachel. “It’s only fair, Sherry.”

  Sherry smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Go ahead.”

  Let’s see who can climb the highest, Maddy started to say – and then stopped, remembering how awkward climbing down again had been! “A race,” she said. “From the wall to the end of the yard.”

  Running wasn’t really a cat skill – not like jumping and climbing were – but Maddy still ran much faster than usual when she had her cat powers. If she still had them, that was. Her palms felt clammy, and she wiped them on her trousers.

  “Easy-peasy!” sang Sherry, flipping back her dark blonde hair. “Come on, then – jumping first. I’ll go.” Striding across to the stick that marked the starting line, Sherry crouched down. Her forehead creased as she eyed up the second stick, preparing to leap.