Winston and the Marmalade Cat

by Megan Rix

  ‘The kitten has such a good relationship with you that I think it’d be best if you took him to Chartwell on your bike tomorrow,’ Mr Jenner said.

  Harry nodded but inside he was screaming: ‘No no no!’ He would never let Little Houdini go.

  ‘I’ll see you here about eight then when you come to pick him up,’ Mr Jenner told Harry, when one of the dogs started barking and then the others joined in.

  Little Houdini rubbed his face against Harry’s hands.

  ‘I’d better see what’s wrong in there,’ Mr Jenner said, and he hurried off to the kennels.

  Almost without thinking what he was doing, as if he were someone else doing it, Harry carried Little Houdini to the exit door.

  ‘Night, Harry!’ Mr Jenner called from the door to the kennels.

  ‘Night!’ Harry called back without turning round.

  Little Houdini miaowed as Harry ran to his bicycle and put the kitten in the basket. If Mr Jenner saw what he was doing he’d be in so much trouble. But Sir Winston Churchill couldn’t love the kitten as much as Harry would love him. No one could.

  Casting one final nervous glance behind him, Harry pushed down on the pedal and cycled out of the yard.

  Chapter 10

  ‘Hello, son,’ Harry’s dad called out as Harry tried to sneak into the house with the kitten. ‘You’re back early.’

  His dad was in the lounge, sitting in his usual chair.

  ‘Hello,’ Harry replied and Little Houdini gave a meow.

  Harry pretended to cough to disguise the sound as he ran up the stairs holding the kitten.

  He pushed open the door to his box room bedroom and went inside. As soon as he put him on the floor Little Houdini tugged with his sharp kitten teeth at the tassels on the edge of the threadbare rug in the centre of the room. When he’d had enough of doing that he went to explore under the bed.

  Harry was feeling sick. He knew he shouldn’t have taken the kitten but it was too late now. He’d done it.

  He tore out a page from one of his exercise books and scrunched up the paper into a ball and rolled it along the carpet. Little Houdini immediately came out from under the bed, chased after it and pounced on the paper before rolling on to his back with the ball in his paws. Harry couldn’t help laughing because the little kitten looked so funny but he laughed softly because he didn’t want his dad to hear.

  One of Harry’s jobs at the RSPCA was to refill the animals’ water bowls.

  ‘It’s very important that they have fresh water,’ Mr Jenner had told him. ‘Cats and dogs and birds can’t tell us when they’re thirsty so we need to make sure there’s always a drink ready for them where they are.’

  Sometimes Mr Jenner also let him help put the food in the animals’ food bowls.

  ‘A healthy appetite is a sign of a healthy pet,’ Mr Jenner always said.

  Most of all Harry liked stroking the cats and taking the dogs, especially Callie, for a walk.

  Harry bit his bottom lip as he thought that after today Mr Jenner probably wouldn’t let him help at the RSPCA any more and that made him sad. But Little Houdini needed him.

  ‘Back in a minute,’ Harry told Little Houdini as he headed out of the room to fetch him a bowl of water.

  When he’d gone Little Houdini looked at the door Harry had gone out of. He didn’t want to be left on his own. He wanted to play with Harry.

  Harry had pulled the door to but the kitten only needed a very small space to squeeze through.

  Once he was in the hallway he went into Harry’s parents’ room and jumped up on to the bed. Harry wasn’t there but the kitten found a ball of wool at the side of the bed to play with and for a few minutes he forgot all about Harry.

  ‘You all right, son?’ Harry’s dad asked him as Harry headed down the passage and into the kitchen.

  ‘Fine,’ Harry said.

  He took a bowl from the cupboard, filled it with water and headed back upstairs, but when he got to his room he couldn’t see the kitten anywhere.

  ‘Little Houdini,’ he hissed as he looked under the bed. ‘Little Houdini, where are you?’

  He searched all round his room and in the cupboard and the chest of drawers with a deepening sense of dread. The kitten had gone.

  Harry went out of his room and looked down the stairs. Could Little Houdini have got down them? The marmalade kitten was very small, but he was also very determined and brave. Harry was pretty sure that Little Houdini would have been able to get down the stairs if he’d wanted to. He bit his bottom lip. He shouldn’t have left the kitten alone.

  Harry went down the stairs and into the lounge. His dad was sitting in the armchair he always sat in, but now he had Little Houdini on his lap.

  When the kitten saw Harry, he jumped off the chair and ran to him, miaowing.

  ‘Is that the kitten you were telling me about?’ Harry’s dad asked him. ‘He’s so soft.’

  ‘Yes,’ Harry said.

  ‘But what’s he doing here? You know you can’t keep him.’

  ‘I know. It’s just … I couldn’t bear … Mr Jenner didn’t see me …’

  Harry’s dad’s face looked shocked.

  ‘You didn’t steal him?’

  ‘Yes,’ Harry choked out the words as the tears streamed down his face. His dad wouldn’t understand. ‘I’ll take him to Chartwell in the morning.’

  ‘Chartwell?’ His dad sounded confused.

  ‘He’s supposed to be Sir Winston Churchill’s birthday present.’

  ‘Oh, Harry.’ Now his dad sounded really disappointed. ‘He has to go to him then. Everyone owes him so much.’

  But Harry didn’t agree.

  ‘He’s the reason you’re blind,’ he said.

  ‘No, Harry. Sir Winston Churchill’s the reason Britain’s free,’ Harry’s dad said. ‘I don’t blame him for my injury. Death and injuries are what happens in war. But I’d go again. I’d fight for Sir Winston and Great Britain, even knowing that I’d be blinded I’d still fight for our freedom because freedom is more important than one person’s troubles.’

  Harry hadn’t thought about it like that before.

  ‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ he said. ‘I know it was wrong. It’s just that Sir Winston’s so old and Little Houdini’s so young and adventurous. But I’ll take him to Chartwell in the morning.’

  ‘Good lad,’ said his dad.

  But Harry felt miserable. He still didn’t want to give Little Houdini away.

  ‘You know,’ his dad said softly, ‘if he were my kitten, I’d give him so many cuddles tonight that it’d be enough to last him a lifetime.’

  Harry sniffed back his tears and looked over at Little Houdini who was trying to climb up the curtains.

  ‘He does love to play and have cuddles,’ he said as he lifted the kitten down.

  ‘I think we’ve got some leftover fish in the larder he can have for his supper,’ Harry’s dad said. ‘He’ll be a nice surprise for your mum when she gets home from the night shift in the morning.’

  ‘Do you like him, Dad?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Of course,’ his dad replied, looking sad for a moment. ‘But that doesn’t mean we can keep him. Or that what you did was right, because it wasn’t.’

  Harry gave Little Houdini to his dad and a moment later the kitten was climbing up his jumper and resting in his favourite spot – nestled into the crook of a neck.

  ‘I can feel him purring,’ said Harry’s dad and he smiled.

  Suddenly there was a knock at the front door and Harry froze.

  ‘It’ll be the police,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t have taken the kitten.’

  Chapter 11

  But it wasn’t the police. It was Mr Jenner standing there in his RSPCA officer’s uniform. He looked worried.

  ‘Little Houdini’s missing,’ he said. ‘I’ve looked everywhere for him.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Harry started to say. ‘I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean …’

  Harry’s dad came to stand behind him
in the narrow hallway. In one hand he held Little Houdini. He rested his other hand on Harry’s right shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  Harry hadn’t told Mr Jenner that his dad was blind.

  Little Houdini wriggled out of Harry’s dad’s hand to sit on Harry’s left shoulder, next to his neck.

  ‘Harry thought it’d be quicker if he took the kitten to Chartwell straight from here in the morning,’ Harry’s dad told Mr Jenner.

  Harry had never been to Chartwell, although everyone in this part of Kent, and probably everyone in the country, knew it was the home of the famous Sir Winston Churchill, when he wasn’t in London.

  Harry looked up at his dad covering for him and thought how lucky he was to have a dad that would do that.

  ‘I shouldn’t have taken him,’ Harry said to Mr Jenner. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Well, you are right. It will be less of a trip in the bicycle basket for Little Houdini from your house to Chartwell than from the RSPCA centre,’ Mr Jenner said. ‘I just wished you’d told me what you were planning.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Harry said again and he really was.

  ‘But what about food for him?’ Mr Jenner asked.

  ‘We’ve got some fish from last night,’ Harry’s dad said and Mr Jenner nodded.

  ‘He’ll like that.’

  ‘Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?’ Harry’s dad asked Mr Jenner. But Mr Jenner said he had to be getting back.

  ‘Another time maybe. I’m always here,’ Harry’s dad said.

  ‘Yes. I will,’ said Mr Jenner. ‘I expect Harry’s told you I used to train guide dogs before I worked for the RSPCA.’

  ‘He didn’t mention it, but I’d be very interested to hear about it,’ Harry’s dad said. ‘I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a guide dog and how much difference one would really make.’

  Harry stared up at his dad in amazement. He’d never mentioned guide dogs before.

  ‘Oh, believe me they make an incredible difference. We’ve got a dog at the RSPCA centre, Callie, who’d be just perfect.’

  Mr Jenner turned and headed back down the path, but then he stopped.

  ‘Oh – before I forget – I brought this for you, Harry.’ He pulled a badge from his pocket. ‘I meant to give it to you this morning when you came before school. You certainly deserve it for saving Little Houdini.’

  He handed Harry an Animal Defenders badge.

  Harry stared at the badge, feeling guilty, and not sure if he really deserved it or not. The badge had a silver cat, dog and a horse embossed on the front and the words ‘Animal Defender’ engraved around it. He’d never be allowed to be an Animal Defender again if Mr Jenner knew he’d meant to kidnap Little Houdini. But he’d definitely been trying to defend an animal.

  ‘Th – thank you,’ Harry said.

  He gave the badge to his dad to feel.

  ‘Careful of the pin.’

  His dad turned the badge round and round in his hands, a gentle smile on his face, before he gave it back to Harry.

  ‘Thank you, Mr Jenner,’ Harry said.

  ‘You’ve got a fine boy there, Mr Jones,’ Mr Jenner told Harry’s dad.

  ‘Yes, I have,’ his dad said, smiling. ‘Make sure you come back for that cup of tea.’

  ‘I will.’

  Little Houdini licked at Harry’s neck with his raspy tongue and yawned.

  Chapter 12

  It was dawn when Harry woke up and looked over at Little Houdini asleep on his pillow. As if he knew he was being watched, the little kitten opened his bright blue eyes and stared back at Harry.

  ‘Harry,’ Harry’s mum said from the other side of the door. ‘Harry, can I come in?’

  Harry jumped out of bed with Little Houdini right behind him. He picked the little kitten up before he opened the door in case he went running out.

  ‘Oh, isn’t he adorable,’ Harry’s mum said when she saw the kitten, and she gave Little Houdini a stroke.

  Little Houdini purred and then wriggled out of Harry’s hands and quick as a flash jumped on to Harry’s mum’s shoulder and sat purring next to her neck.

  ‘He loves doing that,’ Harry said.

  ‘And I love him doing it!’ Harry’s mum squeaked.

  After breakfast it was time to take Little Houdini to Chartwell. Harry wasn’t looking forward to it, but it had to be done. He pinned his new RSPCA Animal Defender badge to his coat lapel.

  His mum handed him her woolly scarf.

  ‘Put this in the bicycle basket with Little Houdini so he won’t get too cold on the journey,’ she said. ‘And make sure you wrap up well too and be careful on your bike. It’s icy out there.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ Harry said, as he and Little Houdini headed to the door.

  ‘Say happy birthday to Sir Winston from me,’ his dad called after them.

  Harry didn’t answer because he didn’t think he could do that. His mum kissed him on the top of his head and gave Little Houdini one last stroke.

  ‘See you later,’ she said.

  Harry wished he could keep pushing the squeaky bicycle pedals up the steep incline of Hosey Hill for ever and never reach Chartwell. Little Houdini curled up on the scarf in the bicycle basket and barely moved during the icy-cold journey.

  But all too soon they’d reached the trees at the edge of the estate and Harry was cycling through the huge wooden gates. Ahead of him lay a grand red-brick mansion – Sir Winston Churchill’s home.

  Harry had never even seen a house as big as this one before. It was much larger than his school and that could fit more than 200 children and the teachers in it.

  ‘Well, you’ll have lots of places to explore in there,’ he told Little Houdini.

  Little Houdini looked up at him and gave a miaow.

  ‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ a man on a bicycle behind him said and Harry nodded.

  He hadn’t expected to find other people there waiting with gifts for Sir Winston Churchill’s birthday. But there were. Lots of people wrapped up against the cold and lots of gifts.

  ‘I’ve made him one of my cakes …’

  ‘Cyclamen from the garden.’

  Little Houdini stood up on his back legs with his front paws resting on the front of the wicker basket and looked out.

  ‘Can’t beat an apple pie made with the best Kent apples from the orchard …’

  ‘Did you hear about the boy who brought Winston some goldfish one year? They’re still in the pond now. Grew to be huge.’

  The postman arrived with a bulging sack full of birthday cards.

  ‘Parcels are coming in the other van,’ he said. ‘Including a case of champagne.’

  Harry and Little Houdini joined the end of the queue of people with presents. As they waited Harry imagined how impressed William would be when he told him he’d been to Chartwell to deliver Sir Winston Churchill’s birthday present. But then that thought made him sad because Little Houdini wouldn’t be his kitten any more.

  A woman arrived with a miniature black poodle puppy and it started to bark excitedly at the people who were waiting. Not that anyone was frightened. The puppy was very small. But Little Houdini didn’t like the barking. It was like the scary dogs that barked at him before. He jumped out of the bicycle basket and went running off across the frosty grass.

  He was so fast that for a second Harry didn’t realize he’d gone.

  ‘No, wait! Come back!’ Harry shouted, as he went running after the kitten. ‘Little Houdini!’

  Chapter 13

  The kitten hid under a large rosemary bush close to the footpath. Harry didn’t see him when he ran past, but Little Houdini saw Harry’s legs. He gave a miaow but Harry didn’t hear him.

  ‘Little Houdini, Little Houdini!’ Harry called out in panic as he carried on running. If he didn’t find the kitten then Mr Jenner and his mum and dad would be so disappointed in him. Not to mention Sir Winston Churchill!

  Little Houdini came out from his hiding place and head
ed after Harry who was running towards a small cottage where an old man with a bald head was working in the front garden.

  ‘Have you seen a kitten?’ Harry gasped when he reached the man. ‘He ran off when a puppy started barking and I can’t find him. But he’s only little and he can’t have gone far. Although he’s very fast.’

  The old man grinned, showing the space where his dentures would go once he’d put them in. Harry thought grinning was a bit rude considering how worried he was.

  ‘Would it by any chance be a marmalade kitten?’ the old man asked him.

  ‘Yes. How did you know?’ Harry said.

  The old man gave a soft chuckle and pointed at the ground.

  Harry looked behind him and there was Little Houdini looking up at him.

  The kitten gave a miaow and Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he scooped him up.

  ‘I’m so glad I found you,’ he whispered.

  ‘Looks like it was the other way round and that kitten found you!’ the old man said, laughing. ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘Little Houdini,’ Harry told him.

  ‘Ah-ha. Good name. I’m Ned by the way. Most people call me Old Ned nowadays although I started off as just Ned.’

  ‘Harry,’ said Harry. ‘Harry Jones.’

  ‘That’s a fine badge you’re wearing, Harry Jones.’

  Harry told Old Ned how he’d rescued Little Houdini from the pipe. ‘And now he’s going to be one of Sir Winston Churchill’s birthday presents.’

  ‘Is he indeed? Sir Winston will be pleased. He’s got a soft spot for marmalade cats and has had a few of them over the years. Me too. You can be sure your kitten will have a good life here. Sir Winston loves all animals and he couldn’t bear for any of them to be mistreated. Now, how about some tea and a bit of breakfast?’

  Harry bit his bottom lip. ‘I should be taking Little Houdini to the main house,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about that yet. They’ll still be bringing cards and presents for Winny long after you’ve eaten. I expect you’re hungry. Growing boys are always hungry and I bet Little Houdini wouldn’t mind a second breakfast either.’