Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

by Sheila Norton

  In the morning, I woke up to a strange sound. It was a kind of laughing noise, but a gurgling and bubbling laugh, like a kitten might make, if only we could. I padded into the lounge, and there on the rug was baby Jessica, lying on her back with all her paws waving in the air, while Caroline, dressed in a very smart dark blue outfit with her hair neatly tied up, was tickling her tummy and making her … yes! She was making her laugh! I stopped in the doorway and stared in amazement. Up till then, I’d thought little human kittens like Jessica were only capable of one sound: that awful constant mewing. But there she was, grinning all over her face and bubbling with laughter, and Caroline was smiling at her as if she loved her almost as much as she loved me.

  ‘Look, Jessica!’ she said, catching sight of me standing there. ‘Charlie’s back! Charlie’s come to say hello to you!’

  I trotted a bit closer, wondering whether at any moment Laura would come rushing in to shoo me away from the baby. But Caroline picked me up and sat me on her lap so that Jessica could see me.

  ‘Here he is!’ she said. ‘Look, Jessica! Pussy cat!’

  And she took hold of Jessica’s tiny paw and stroked me with it. At first the baby blinked with surprise, but then she started to smile and make the gurgling noise again.

  ‘Ah, she loves you, Charlie,’ Caroline said, hugging me. ‘Not as much as I do, of course, but nobody ever could.’

  ‘And nobody could love you like I do, either,’ I meowed to her, rubbing my head against her arm. ‘But I’m worried about you. Are you ill again? Why did you say you’re so tired? What happened at the hospital?’

  ‘I’ve got to go to school now, Charlie,’ she said, instead of answering me. ‘Please promise me you won’t ever go wandering off again. I couldn’t bear it.’

  ‘I won’t if you won’t,’ I said.

  And I spent the rest of the day – in between sleeping in my comfortable bed, and eating my delicious food – pondering on the fact that this was what I’d longed for and dreamed of, all the time I was lost. I was home now, I was safe, I was back with my lovely family and I’d never leave them again. But I still couldn’t feel completely happy until I found out whether Caroline was all right. And nobody seemed to be telling me.

  CHAPTER

  SEVENTEEN

  Things definitely seemed to have changed at home while I’d been away, and there was still quite a lot that I didn’t understand. For instance, why was Caroline dressed in those smart blue clothes and going off to school carrying a huge bag of books? Why was everyone being so nice to each other? I was pleased about this, of course, but it was so different from the way they’d been behaving before the holiday, with all the arguments and slamming of bedroom doors. I did wonder whether it was all because of me – the excitement of having me back home – but nice though that idea was, I had a feeling there was more to it. I was frightened that Julian and Laura were being extra kind to Caroline because they’d found out she was ill again. Caroline was behaving better too – less cross and grumpy, although when she came home from school every day she looked so pale and tired I could hardly bear to think about it.

  From time to time, I was also still puzzling over the incident where I saw myself in the television in that shop window. When my family turned their television on in the evening, I tried to climb up to it, or sit on the shelf above it to stare down at it, trying to work out how to get inside it, but there was no way in. It just didn’t make sense. But at least I seemed to be making Caroline laugh, even while she was lying on the sofa with that pale face and those dark circles under her eyes that frightened me so much.

  Despite my worries, I can’t deny I was enjoying getting used to my home comforts again. Having had to grow up quickly, as I’ve already said, in order to survive my time of living rough, all I wanted to do now was revert to my kittenhood. Safe in the knowledge that nobody was going to throw things at me, jump on me and try to kill me, or swoop down from the sky and peck me to death, I could go back to playing outside in the sunshine. As far as my sore leg would let me, I could enjoy games like chasing leaves that fluttered down from the trees in the wind, jumping out at birds from behind bushes and leaping in the air just for the fun of it. Indoors, I was enjoying playing my old games like peek-a-boo with Caroline from inside an empty cardboard box, and chasing a wind-up toy mouse across the carpet, making both her and Jessica squeal with laughter. Then I would stretch out to rest on my favourite windowsill in the warmth of the sun, or curl up on the sofa cushions in the evening, dreaming happy dreams again.

  On my second day back home, Caroline brought Grace to see me after school.

  ‘Oh!’ she said, her lower lip wobbling when she looked at me. ‘Poor Charlie!’

  ‘He’s getting better, though,’ Caroline said, picking me up and stroking me. ‘Daddy says we’ve got to keep feeding him lots of good food and milk, and brushing him so that his fur comes through nice and soft again.’

  ‘And will his eye get better? And his poor leg?’

  ‘Yes. We’re putting drops in his eye. And Laura’s taking him to the vet’s tomorrow to make his leg better.’

  I flinched slightly at the mention of the vet. But my leg was still painful, so if he could make it better, I knew I had to be brave about it. As for the eye drops, it was horrible having them dripped into my eye, making me shake my head and bat my eye with my paw afterwards. But I knew Julian and Laura wouldn’t do that to me unless it was for my own good. I trusted them. It was a good feeling.

  ‘It’s all our fault, isn’t it, Caro,’ Grace said sadly. ‘If we hadn’t tried to run away …’

  ‘I know. It all seems so ridiculous now, doesn’t it? So childish.’

  ‘Especially now we know about my great aunt.’

  ‘Yes. Although you’d think your parents would’ve told you she’s an old battle-axe who doesn’t even like children!’

  ‘Well, to be fair, I suppose they couldn’t have known I’d decide it was a good idea for us to go and live with her. I feel really stupid now. Mum says she only sends us money at Christmas and birthdays to make herself feel better because she wants nothing whatsoever to do with the family. That one time she came to visit us, apparently she was supposed to be staying for a week, but she walked out after one day, because she thought Rose and I were badly behaved and made too much noise. We were only little! Mum and Dad were really cross about it. They said she was miserable and unreasonable and they felt insulted. Can you imagine what she’d have said if we’d actually turned up on her doorstep?’

  ‘God, it would have been awful, wouldn’t it? What planet were we both on, down in Mudditon, Grace? I mean, I know I was feeling fed up about Jessica getting all the attention, but now, looking back, I think I was just being a spoilt brat.’

  ‘You seem to like Jessica a lot more now!’

  ‘Well, yes, she’s getting more interesting now. She doesn’t cry so much, and she’s sleeping better at night so Laura isn’t so tired and ratty. I suppose it made me feel better when she started smiling at me more, and laughing and making that ga ga noise. It’s kind of cute.’

  ‘She’ll grow up into an annoying younger sister soon enough, just like Rose,’ Grace said with a shrug. ‘Although I suppose having a sister isn’t all bad. Rose isn’t irritating all the time. We always used to get on together really well. I don’t know what changed.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s all part of this growing-up thing – finding people annoying. Now you and Rose go to different schools, and won’t be together so much, maybe you’ll get on with her better again.’

  ‘Yes.’ Grace smiled at Caroline. ‘High school’s not so bad, is it? The first week was pretty scary, but it would’ve been awful if we hadn’t been together. I’m so pleased your dad and Laura changed their minds about it.’

  ‘Me too. It was all so last-minute, we didn’t even know if they’d still get a place for me at Great Broomford. But when we heard it was OK, Laura didn’t even make a fuss about having to get me a different uniform. She sai
d it was worth it, for me to be happy again. And I’m glad you’re getting used to it too. It was good you managed to talk to your mum and dad about how frightened you were, before we started.’

  ‘I had to, really, with Dad being so furious with me about the running-away thing. When he sat me down and made me spell out exactly what was wrong with me, it all came out, how they weren’t taking me seriously about how scared I was. He said afterwards that they were mortified. He said however busy they were, they’d always listen to me if I told them I was seriously worried about anything.’

  ‘Yeah. Dad and Laura have said the same kind of thing. You know, about me being frightened about the leukaemia coming back.’ I pricked up my ears, my heart racing, waiting to hear more. Had it come back or not? But she just shrugged and went on: ‘Dad said it’s always best to talk about your fears openly rather than bottling them up and just getting cross and moody.’

  ‘It’s not always easy though, is it, talking to parents?’ Grace said, laughing. ‘They’re … well, they’re so old!’

  ‘Still, one good thing came out of it all,’ Caroline said more cheerfully. ‘Our parents gave in about us having phones.’

  ‘Yes. To be fair, Mum and Dad did used to let me use that old one of Mum’s, but I never took it anywhere because it was so old-fashioned and embarrassing. Anyway, the battery always went flat after about five minutes. It was just a joke! But now we’ve both got proper ones—’

  ‘—like everyone else!’

  ‘—they’ll always be able to keep in touch with us when we’re out. I suppose it’s fair enough. We did worry the life out of them, didn’t we?’

  All through this conversation, they’d been stroking me and playing with me, while I listened carefully, trying to get the gist of it all. It seemed my human kitten and her friend had done some fast growing up recently, just like me. Perhaps their smart new blue clothes were making them feel less like children, and that was why they were now talking almost like proper grown-up humans. Nobody seemed to care that they still hadn’t told me what had happened to Caroline since we’d been separated. It was frustrating, but I decided eventually that worrying about it wasn’t going to help either me or Caroline. And as it happened I did have other things to think about.

  First there was the trip to the vet’s to get my leg seen to. I can’t deny that, despite my more mature outlook on life and having been proved beyond all doubt not to be a scaredy-cat, I still cowered in the travelling basket mewing in fear when we set off in the car. And the smell of the vet’s room brought back terrible memories of my experience at that other vet’s. I knew I’d behaved really badly on that occasion. Already, I was finding it hard to believe how furiously I’d fought with the humans who were trying to help me. I supposed I really must have been turning into a feral cat at that point. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. This time, although I was frightened, I did try not to bite the vet’s fingers or struggle quite so much. Although Caroline couldn’t come with us because she was at school, and Julian was at work, it was at least reassuring to have Laura there, stroking me and saying calming things to me, while baby Jessica sat in the corner in her car seat waving her paws at me.

  ‘It’s all right, Charlie,’ the vet said, holding me gently. ‘This won’t take too long.’

  It felt plenty long enough to me. He kept poking around on my sore leg, making me jump and growl, and kept up a running commentary to Laura and his nurse, saying things like Just clipping his fur back and Here we go and Right, just cleaning it up again now. I was glad when he finally announced OK, I think that’s going to heal nicely now, Charlie boy.

  But that wasn’t the worst of it. Before he allowed Laura to take me home, he took hold of me and fastened something round my neck. I shook my head from side to side, trying to get rid of it, but it was stuck tight.

  ‘What is it?’ I meowed crossly at Laura, but to my annoyance she was laughing at me.

  ‘Oh, look at him!’ she said. ‘Poor Charlie, he’s not going to like that one bit!’

  ‘I know. But it’s important that he doesn’t lick that wound,’ the vet said. ‘We don’t want any more infection. Keep it on for a week, and keep him inside. Then bring him back to see me – I’d like to check on him anyway – then we should be able to dispense with it.’

  What on earth was it? I spent the whole journey back home tossing my head from side to side, knocking the thing against the edges of the basket.

  ‘Suffering codfish!’ I shouted at Laura as she carried me in from the car. ‘What in the name of bloody catnip …?’

  I stopped, growling to myself unhappily. I really didn’t want to revert to the kind of language I’d picked up during my homeless period. But honestly, this was unbelievable! What were they doing to me? Hadn’t I been through enough? And when I saw the cat flap being locked before Laura had even taken me out of the basket, I yowled at her crossly. Even though I’d seen it locked with my own eyes, I went straight up to it to butt it with my head in protest, but the huge thing round my neck got in the way. Even if I’d been allowed out, I wouldn’t have been able to get through my flap. It was ridiculous! How was I supposed to live like this?

  ‘Oh dear,’ Laura said. ‘You’ll get used to it, Charlie. It’s only for a little while.’

  Huh. I went to lie down in my bed and have a sulk, but have you ever tried lying down with a gigantic collar around your neck? And there was worse to come. Later on when Laura put my dinner down on the floor, I had to lean right over the dish, so that the collar was touching the floor all the way round it. I felt like I was cut off from the rest of the world while I was eating. Caroline came home from school just as I finished my meal, and she gasped with surprise when she saw me.

  ‘Oh! What’s Charlie got that thing on for?’

  ‘It’s to stop him trying to lick his wound. And he’s not allowed outside till I take him back to the vet’s next week.’

  ‘Ah, he won’t like that, will he?’

  ‘No. So we’re back to being careful about open doors, Caroline.’ Laura gave her a look, which I understood only too well.

  ‘OK. I’ll be careful, I promise,’ Caroline said. They both stood for a while, watching me as I tried unsuccessfully to wash myself after my meal.

  ‘I can’t even have a wash!’ I meowed crossly, shaking my head so that the stupid thing knocked against the kitchen units. ‘Do you want me to get even muckier than I was when I was living rough?’

  ‘And we’ll need to groom him,’ Laura told Caroline. ‘He can’t do it for himself while he’s in the collar. And the vet said that it’s best not to take it off, at all. He’ll get used to it more quickly if he wears it all the time.’

  Well, that was just great, wasn’t it? I charged around the house angrily for a bit, trying to shake the thing off, but of course all I succeeded in doing was knocking everything over and falling over twice myself.

  ‘Charlie, calm down, you’re not helping matters!’ Caroline said, giggling. She bent down to pick me up. ‘You do look funny.’

  I couldn’t believe it! I’d have thought I could rely on Caroline, at least, to be sympathetic, but it seemed I’d just become a figure of fun. But she was right, of course. By the next day I’d adapted to the collar and eventually even gave in with a good grace to the fact that I was locked indoors. And who did I have to thank for my acceptance of the situation? Well, the same sensible older cat who’d given me the benefit of his advice and experience all my life. Yes, my friend Oliver, of course.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHTEEN

  I’ll tell everyone what happened, shall I, Ollie? Unless you want to take over? No? Oh, you think I’m doing a good job of telling my story, for a little kitten who’s never done any public meowing before? Well, that’s very kind, thank you. I learned from the best! Although I keep reminding you, I’m not a little kitten anymore. Look at me. I’m fully grown, and you must admit now you’re hearing my story, I’ve got even more experience of life now than you have. But I suppose
, to you, I’ll always be little kitten, won’t I?

  Well, everyone, as you know, Oliver has always taken a special interest in me and looked after me. I know I have a real father, but tell me – where is he, eh? Where’s old Tabby when I’m telling my story to the rest of the village cats? Exactly! He’s never around. He’s probably off somewhere chasing some young female. I don’t mind; that’s just the way he is, and it was nice that Oliver took on the role of mentoring me, and my sisters here, instead. I’ve always looked up to him as an example of how to be a good cat. So when I disappeared, naturally Ollie was worried. Apparently he kept on coming to the Big House, looking for me, meowing around the outside of the house, but at first, of course, nobody was there because we were all at our holiday home in Mudditon. And then, apparently, one day he turned up at the house and found that the rest of the family were back home, but not me. He was more worried than ever then. One day Caroline heard him meowing outside, and let him in. As you know, my family love Oliver – almost, but not quite, as much as they love me. He’s told me that Caroline was crying as she stroked him, saying I’d got lost and it was all her fault. Ollie was very upset to hear this, and apparently he went back to the Big House several times after that, to see whether I’d returned.

  That day, after my first uncomfortable night’s sleep wearing the horrible collar, I was eating my breakfast and having a moan to myself at the same time about the awkwardness of eating with that thing on, when I heard a familiar meow outside the kitchen door. I left my food for a minute and trotted over to look through the cat flap, and I nearly fell over with excitement. Ollie was outside, calling to me through the flap. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see him, and I think he was even more excited to see me because he proceeded to shout at the top of his voice and paw at the locked flap.

  ‘What on earth’s going on?’ Laura said, coming into the kitchen, because I was now making almost as much noise as Ollie was, and pawing at the cat flap from inside too. ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Hello, Oliver! I suppose you want to come in and play with your friend now he’s back. Hang on a minute and I’ll let you in.’