by Ann Bryant
“I don’t think Mrs. P will let you interrupt us in lessons,” I said, thinking it through, “but let’s exchange mobile numbers, then you can text me.”
So that’s what we did.
“Thank you for…looking after me,” said Hannah, looking round us all, when we’d knocked on Mrs. Pridham’s door.
“That’s okay. Sorry we have to fly. See you next term!” said Sasha, giving her a quick hug, before rushing off to the library for English with Izzy and Nicole. Emily, Antonia and I aren’t in the top set, like the other three, and our lessons are in the English block, which isn’t quite such a trek from Forest Ash.
“Bye, Hannah!” said Antonia.
“Hurry along, girls!” interrupted Mrs. Pridham, appearing at her door. “I don’t want your teachers blaming me for making you late!”
Emily and Antonia went tearing off and I was about to follow, when Hannah grabbed my hand and looked me straight in the eyes. “Thank you for sharing a little chunk of your Silver Spires life with me, Bryony,” she said. “I feel so much happier now about coming here next term.”
I felt quite choked up when she said that and found that I couldn’t even reply, so I just nodded quickly and smiled. Mrs. Pridham was looking from one to the other of us with an expression on her face that I couldn’t work out. She put her hand on Hannah’s shoulder, and that seemed to prompt Hannah to let go of my hand. I turned and rushed after Emily, feeling my emotions swirling round inside me, all mixed up and heavy. I didn’t look back, because I didn’t want Hannah to see the tears in my eyes. She might not understand them. I didn’t understand them myself. I’d have to try to work them out later when I was lying in bed. But for now I just blinked them away, because I never cry. Never.
Chapter Eight
We have to switch our phones off during lessons and if we’re found with them turned on, they’re automatically confiscated. That’s the rule. And you don’t get them back for two days, so there’s no point in risking it, as the teachers do spot checks every so often. It’s okay to switch them on between lessons though, and that’s what I did when we were on the way to double ICT after English.
“Look, Ems, there’s a message from Hannah already.” I read it out to her. “Mrs. P def not animal person but v symp so shd b ok. Tx again. Luv Han.”
“What’s ‘symp’?” asked Emily.
I said the only word I could think of that started with “symp”. “Sympathetic?”
“Yes, sympathetic,” said Emily staring into the distance. “So Hannah’s saying that Mrs. P doesn’t particularly like animals but because she’s a sympathetic kind of person, she should react okay to Silver. Is that it?”
I nodded slowly. We all knew that Mrs. Pridham was kind and sympathetic, but I was thinking she’d have to be the most sympathetic person under the sun to forgive us for keeping Silver a secret and for actually encouraging her to stay at Forest Ash.
As soon as school had finished, the six of us made our way back to Forest Ash, planning when would be the best time for the others to get to see Silver and trying not to think about how we should break the news to Mrs. Pridham.
“We’d better go in pairs,” said Emily. “We don’t want to frighten her when she’s so close to giving birth. She didn’t seem to mind when there was just three of us, but six might be a bit much, and if she got traumatized the kittens could be stillborn.”
“Oh that’s terrible!” said Nicole, and I felt my heart beating faster at the thought.
“Just think, she might have had her kittens already!” said Antonia, brightening our moods.
“How long are cats pregnant for?” asked Nicole.
Emily pursed her lips. “I think it’s eight weeks. Nothing like as long as humans anyway.”
“I wonder what the father looks like,” said Sasha. “I hope he’s completely different from Silver, then the kittens will come out all patchy and fab.”
I was listening to my friends chattering away, but I couldn’t join in, because I kept thinking that I needed to tell Mrs. Pridham about the pregnant cat in our attic, but I was dreading her reaction. What if she made Mr. Monk get rid of Silver and her kittens? I was clinging like mad to what Hannah had said, and hoping that Mrs. P would at least let us keep Silver and then advertise the kittens so they would go to good homes. But I felt heavy inside, full of worry about what might happen.
“Look, isn’t that Mrs. P?” Izzy suddenly said as we neared Forest Ash. “Who’s that she’s with?”
“It’s Mr. Pridham, isn’t it?” Sasha answered. “But what are they looking at?”
We hardly ever see Mr. Pridham at Forest Ash because he works such long hours and isn’t anything to do with the school at all. He’s a very nice man, quite quiet and gentle. If he comes across any of us he always says, “Hello there!” and breaks into a big smile, as though he knows exactly who we are, but actually we’ve realized he hasn’t got a clue, he’s just being friendly.
“And look, there’s Mr. Monk walking round to join them,” said Nicole.
He was. And his head was tilted back, his hand shielding his eyes from the bright sun just like Mr. and Mrs. Pridham. My heart started pounding as I realized exactly what had grabbed their attention. “Oh no! It’s the attic window!”
“What about it?” asked Sasha.
“I opened it, remember. And they’ve noticed.”
We all stopped in our tracks about twenty-five metres away from where the three adults were standing, still staring up at the window.
“Just walk straight in to Forest Ash as though it’s nothing to do with us,” said Emily. “They probably won’t even notice us from round the side there.”
So that’s what we did, a stiff, silent group, walking slowly so we could eavesdrop.
“Fancy me not spotting it!” Mr. Monk was saying in a bewildered voice. “I must be going mad! I could have sworn I left it shut.”
I felt myself tensing up, and beside me Emily did an over-the-top gulping noise.
“Come on!” I hissed. “Go inside.”
“Oh, girls…” called Mrs. Pridham, spotting us. “Well done for making Hannah feel at home.” I noticed her eyes were on me, warm and kind. “You worked some real magic on her – she was such a frightened soul before she spent that time with you.”
“That’s okay,” Nicole called out brightly.
Then Mr. Monk suddenly said, “You girls heard any other noises from the attic lately?”
I shook my head and we all answered him together in a rushing torrent.
“No.”
“Nothing.”
“No.”
“Not a sound.”
“No we haven’t.”
“There can’t be anything there.”
The echo of our voices seemed to hang in the air. Our answers had come far too quickly. It was no wonder Mrs. Pridham was eyeing us suspiciously.
“Emily?” she said, her eyebrows raised.
I didn’t get why she’d singled out Emily, until I looked at my best friend and saw that she was bright red. Then my heart pounded even harder.
“Y-yes?” replied Emily shakily.
“You look a bit uncomfortable. Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” I know I didn’t imagine it – Mrs. Pridham’s tone was definitely harder.
“Well, I’ll be off,” said Mr. Pridham, darting round the back of Forest Ash, where there’s another entrance to their flat. I could tell he didn’t want to get involved with whatever was about to happen. I wished I could disappear too, because I was filled with dread. Everything depended on Emily keeping her cool.
“No,” she replied, turning her palms up as though Mrs. Pridham had accused her of stealing something.
“So none of you has heard any more noises coming from the attic recently?” Mr. Monk repeated clearly and slowly.
This time there was a pause before any of us answered. “No…we haven’t…” All the certainty had left our voices. And Emily hadn’t said a word, as though she didn’t tru
st herself to speak.
Mrs. Pridham walked over to us and we stood there silent and strained, waiting for the interrogation that was about to come. “Emily, do you know how this window managed to open itself?”
Suddenly I didn’t think it was fair that poor Emily was being picked on, just because she’s the one who goes red most easily. And I realized something else too. We were very close to being found out. So it would be better to tell the truth straight away. We’d known we’d have to tell Mrs. P in the end. And I had to be the one to do it. After all, I’m what I suppose you’d call the ringleader where Silver is concerned, so it was up to me to take responsibility and face the music.
I spoke quietly but kept my eyes on Mrs. Pridham. “I was the one who opened the window.” I could feel five pairs of eyes boring into me and stifled gasps like mini explosions going off around me.
Mrs. Pridham’s gaze left Emily and swung round to me. “You went up to the attic?”
I nodded.
“Why, might I ask?”
I didn’t hesitate. And I didn’t look down at all, but kept my eyes on Mrs. Pridham’s, because I wasn’t scared of the trouble I was in. Only scared for Silver. “To see what was making the noise.”
My friends were completely silent. Waiting for the worst, I guessed.
“And what was making the noise, Bryony?”
“It was a cat!” chipped in Mr. Monk. “Cheeky thing. But I got rid of it, didn’t I, and fixed the catch so it couldn’t come back.” Over his face came a slow look of realization and with his next words, I saw his eyes widen even more. “I bet the pesky thing has come back!”
“And then you went up again and deliberately opened the window?” said Mrs. Pridham, entirely ignoring Mr. Monk but frowning hard at me.
Still I made myself keep my eyes on hers. “Yes, and I left food for the cat, because I felt sorry for it.”
“You went and fed a mangy old stray?” Mr. Monk spluttered, as though he couldn’t believe anyone would be so stupid.
I swallowed.
“You’ve been very deceitful,” said Mrs. Pridham, lowering her voice, which sent shivers down my spine. She looked around the rest of us. “You all have. The Year Nines have been insisting they’ve heard noises and I’ve just shrugged off what they said as over imaginative. They’ve been getting themselves all wound up thinking there’s a ghost up there. Do you realize how much your behaviour has upset them, Bryony?”
“Sorry.”
“Is that all?”
“Bryony’s not the only one. I’ve been up there too,” said Emily in a gabble.
“And they wouldn’t have gone in the first place if it hadn’t been for me being so scared,” added Izzy.
“Is the cat still there?” Mrs. Pridham asked, raising her voice again and fixing her sharp gaze on Emily now.
“Yes, she is,” I answered quickly. “The others all wanted to tell you, but I told them not to because I thought you might…get rid of her.”
“And you were right there, Bryony. I will most certainly get rid of her. We can’t have stray cats living in the attic at Forest Ash. It’s completely unhygienic and unacceptable.”
Emily threw me the subtlest of glances, her eyebrows raised. I got her message. She was wondering whether or not we should tell Mrs. Pridham that Silver was pregnant. In a way it might explain our behaviour. But in another way, it might make us seem even more guilty in Mrs. Pridham’s eyes, for not having reported something so important. I gave Emily the tiniest shake of my head when no one was looking.
Mrs. Pridham turned suddenly to Mr. Monk. “Let’s deal with it, Terry. Right now.”
“No, please don’t…” I blurted out as the two of them strode past us.
Mrs. Pridham pushed open the Forest Ash front door and called over her shoulder, “Go to your dorm! Now!”
We all trooped upstairs, Mrs. Pridham leading the way. But Mr. Monk couldn’t keep up with her. I could hear him puffing a bit, because he’s quite overweight. I looked round at my friends following meekly behind and thought how they seemed to have had the fight knocked out of them. They’d given in.
But I hadn’t. I was remembering Emily’s warning about not frightening Silver and I was determined to get to her before Mrs. Pridham did, so she wouldn’t be traumatized. The thought spurred me into action and I started leaping upstairs two at a time, to my friends’ amazement. Mrs. Pridham was pretty surprised too, as I overtook her on the last flight.
“Bryony, go to your dorm!” she repeated in an even sterner voice, as she followed me with brisk, firm footsteps.
I ignored her, because I was on a mission now, and I rushed on, dashing along the landing and round the corner into the cleaning room.
“Bryony!” I didn’t think I’d ever heard Mrs. Pridham use such a sharp tone of voice, but still I ignored her. All I could think about was making sure Silver was all right. I even ignored Emily’s worried call. “Bry…”
Running up the steep, narrow stairs to the attic I thought I’d managed to get quite far ahead of Mrs. Pridham. I was past caring about what might happen to me after this. The only thing that mattered was Silver and her kittens. I made myself slow down to walk across the loft, my head full of thoughts about how I’d stroke her and shield her from Mrs. Pridham and be like a human barrier, refusing to let anyone get near her, so no one could frighten her away. But then I turned the corner and stopped in complete amazement.
Silver was too occupied even to look up. Or maybe she recognized my tread and knew she was safe. She was licking a little slimy ball with a thin black and white coat, and I realized that this kitten had only just been born. Then my eyes widened as I saw that there was another little kitten nestling in the crumpled, messy pile of dust sheets. It had slightly more fur than the one that had just been born, and its tiny face was utterly beautiful. Its eyes were closed and it seemed so peaceful and serene.
“Oh, Silver! You clever girl!” I whispered in my gentlest voice, as I crouched down. “You clever, clever girl!”
Then from behind me came loud footsteps and I turned to see Mrs. Pridham striding over.
“Shh!” I told her strictly, as though I was the housemistress and she was the disobedient student. I softened my voice even though I really wanted to yell at her. “She’s having kittens!”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such confusion on someone’s face as that confusion I saw on Mrs. Pridham’s just then. All the colour seemed to drain from her face and her hand shot out behind her in a signal to Mr. Monk to come no further. Then, as she took off her shoes and tiptoed barefoot across the loft, gliding and serious, I caught a glimpse of the others hovering behind Mr. Monk. They hadn’t gone back to the dorm after all.
“See,” I whispered when Mrs. Pridham was right beside me. “See what a clever cat she is?”
Mrs. Pridham kneeled down, her face still pale, her eyes on the newborn kitten, who had somehow found where to suckle.
“Good girl, Silver,” I murmured. “Good girl.”
“Good girl, Silver,” came Mrs. Pridham’s gentle voice beside me. And in that moment, the words of Hannah’s text came back to me…
Mrs. P def not animal person but v symp so shd b ok.
How right those words had turned out to be. It had taken an outsider to point out something none of us had fully realized: Mrs. P was sympathetic.
But would it be okay? Or put another way, would Mrs. Pridham let Silver stay?
Come to think of it, would she let me stay?
Chapter Nine
“Amazing!” said Sasha in a hushed whisper.
A fifth kitten had just been born, and Silver had an audience of seven people all encouraging her with gentle words. Earlier on Emily hadn’t been happy about the audience. She’d suggested I should be the only one to stay with Silver, but, while Mr. Monk tiptoed off, the others simply couldn’t tear themselves away. Even Mrs. Pridham. And we’d all watched the third kitten being born, keeping the deepest silence out of respect for Silver,
but mainly out of sheer wonder at what we were lucky enough to be witnessing. The kitten had been dripping wet and very slimy around its mouth and Silver had spent ages cleaning it up until it looked as lovely as the other two. Then, just like those other two, the third one had started to suckle its mother.
When Emily had explained that we might have to wait another half-hour or even an hour for the next one to be born, the others had crept away, and so had Mrs. Pridham, leaving just Emily and me. We’d looked at each other wide-eyed and filled with two sorts of wonder – the wonder of nature and a fearful wondering about what the future held for Silver.
“How do you know if there are more kittens to come?” I’d asked.
“I can just tell from the shape of her,” Emily had answered. “I’ve seen farm cats having kittens.”
And now it was about an hour and half later and Mrs. Pridham and the others were back, watching the fifth kitten suckling its mother. This one was beautiful.
“Look! It’s totally black,” said Izzy. “That means it’s lucky!”
“Isn’t it sweet, Mrs. Pridham?” said Antonia, beaming like mad.
Mrs. Pridham nodded. When she didn’t speak I glanced sideways at her, but I couldn’t read her expression. Maybe she was thinking about the punishment she was going to give me as soon as she’d dealt with Silver and her family.
“The black one’s my favourite!” said Nicole. “Why don’t we call him Lucky?”
Then the others each said which was their favourite, all choosing a different one. Except Emily, who was quietly concentrating on the birth.
“What about you, Bry?” Sasha asked me. “Which is your favourite kitten?”
“I…don’t really have one,” I answered, as I watched Silver’s limp body being prodded and pushed by her little kittens, who had nearly all scrambled their way to a teat now and were sucking away. It was true, I didn’t have a favourite. Well, apart from Silver herself. She meant so much to me. I would do anything I could to help her.