‘Mr Plume was very slow to pack the car this morning, so we’ve left some things there that I’m sure will make Cleopatra feel more comfortable and perform at her best,’ she says.
The television crew agree to follow the Plumes back to Mum’s surgery for a screen test. If Cleopatra performs well, they’ll invite her to do the ad at their studio!
When we get back to Mum’s surgery, we all watch as the cameraman sets up. Chelsea fetches Princess so she can see Cleopatra perform.
When the filming begins, Cleopatra sniffs at the bowl of Queen’s cat food on the table and turns her nose up at it.
‘Perhaps it’s because she’s used to smoked salmon, dear?’ suggests Mr Plume after a while.
‘What would you know?’ snaps Mrs Plume.
I think the television crew are starting to see that Mrs Plume is not the easiest person to work with.
‘Um, I think we might have to leave it,’ says the director of the television crew. ‘We have some phone numbers for other cats from the show that we can use.’
‘No!’ says Mrs Plume. ‘It has to be Cleopatra! She was Best in Show.’
When nobody says anything, Mrs Plume seems to realise it’s not going to happen. ‘Come on, Cleopatra. Mummy won’t force you to eat that yucky canned food.’
Mrs Plume snatches Cleopatra off the table and heads for the door. ‘Gerard!’
Mr Plume pauses for a moment then turns to look at Chelsea and me.
‘Thanks for your help, girls. Cleopatra looked the best I’ve ever seen her.’
He mumbles an apology to everyone, hands Mum a cheque with a small sigh, and follows his wife to their van.
‘Will you look at that!’ says the director.
We all turn around to see Princess running round and round in circles trying to catch a moth.
‘That is one very cute kitten,’ says the cameraman.
‘Do you think she’d like to be in our ad?’ the director asks.
‘Um . . . I guess we could try,’ says Chelsea. ‘Princess isn’t always perfectly behaved though.’
‘Well, let’s just give her a chance, shall we?’ says the director. ‘Could you lift her onto the table in front of the food so we can do a screen test?’
Chelsea is all smiles as she lifts her little kitten onto the table. I notice she gives her a quick hug as she does it and whispers, ‘You can do it, Princess.’
Princess wastes no time at all tucking into the food. She gobbles it down happily and then she sticks her little paw into the bowl as if she’s checking it’s all gone.
We all laugh and the director is delighted. ‘She’s a natural,’ he says. ‘I’ll be in touch to organise a studio time for the real filming.’
‘This is way better than winning a ribbon!’ Chelsea giggles. ‘Princess might not be perfect for cat shows, but right now she is the queen!’
‘I wouldn’t like to be in the Plumes’ lounge room when that ad comes on,’ I say.
‘Come on, girls,’ says Mum, laughing. ‘We’ve got a cheque for a thousand dollars to deliver to the Mercy Street Home for Lost Dogs.’
I have only ever owned one cat and, to be honest, for the first sixteen years of her life she didn’t like us very much! We tried to cuddle her and pat her and feed her everything we could think of that she would love, but she just ignored us most of the time. Then, in the last two years of her life she decided we could be quite useful and was very happy for us to cuddle her and look after her. Her name was Felicity, but she was snooty enough to be called Cleopatra.
As a little girl, I always wanted to be a vet. I had mice, guinea pigs, dogs, goldfish, sea snails, sea monkeys and tadpoles as pets. I loved looking after my friends’ pets when they went on holidays, and every Saturday I helped out at a pet store. Now that I’m all grown up, I have the best job in the world. I get to draw lots of animals for children’s books and for animated TV shows. In my studio I have two dogs, Jed and Evie, and two cats, Bosco and Kobe, who love to watch me draw.
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2015
Text copyright © Rebecca Johnson, 2015
Illustrations copyright © Kyla May Productions, 2015
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover and text design by Karen Scott © Penguin Group (Australia)
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ISBN: 978-1-76014-069-4
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Cat Show Queen Page 3