Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

‘You know why, Caroline,’ Julian said sharply. ‘We need to settle Jessica down for the night. It’ll probably take a while, being in the travel cot and in a strange place.’

‘Yes, so everyone else has to suffer,’ she muttered.

‘Caroline,’ Laura said in a warning voice. ‘Don’t start. It’s been a long day, we’re all tired, and—’

‘No we’re not! I’m not! It’s not even late! I’d have liked to have a walk on the beach, and a paddle in the sea, but no, we have to come back because of Jessica. Jessica needs her sleep, Jessica needs her nappy changed, Jessica needs everyone running around after her like she’s the one in charge of this family!’

‘That’s enough,’ Julian said. But he said it in a quiet, sad voice instead of a cross one, and when I looked up at Caroline I saw a little drip of a tear running down her cheek. I rubbed my head against her legs and she curled around me where she sat on the floor, hiding her face against my fur.

‘I still love you,’ I purred at her.

I’d have liked to ask her a few questions, like: What is a beach? What is a paddle? How can you walk on the seafront, if the sea is moving water? And: How did you stop the sea from getting at you? Wasn’t it dangerous? But even if I could have got her to understand me, now didn’t seem like a good time to try.

Laura carried Jessica upstairs and shut the door of their bedroom, and Julian went into the kitchen to make coffee. Then he turned the TV back on and sat in silence with Caroline, watching pictures of water on it. The water looked very deep and dark, almost worse than the sea outside our window. And then, suddenly, lots of little fish swam into the picture. That was a lot more interesting. I jumped off Caroline’s lap and strolled a little closer to the TV. I knew the fish were just pictures – not that I could see the point of it, the whole TV thing is too weird to take on board, if you ask me. But still, they were a definite attraction. I jumped onto the shelf where the TV sat, and put a paw out to the screen, patting a nice bright orange fish that looked like it ought to be tasty. Of course, it just felt hard and cold. But I liked watching the fish anyway, so I stayed on the shelf, aiming my paw out every now and then, to pretend to myself that I was trying to catch them.

Caroline was laughing at me. At least she’d cheered up a bit. Even Julian chuckled as he said, ‘Charlie, they’re not real! You silly little cat.’

‘I know! I’m just playing!’ I retorted, somewhat offended. I had a swipe at another, bigger one.

‘That’s a catfish!’ Caroline said, laughing again.

It didn’t look anything like a cat to me. Ridiculous name for a fish. But it was nice to hear her laugh, so I had another swipe – unfortunately, just as Laura came back into the lounge.

‘Charlie, get down from there!’ she said. ‘Julian, don’t let him do that. He’ll scratch the TV. It’s not ours, you know.’

I jumped down, chastised again, and slunk under Caroline’s legs, but not before I’d caught sight of her face. She wasn’t laughing anymore; she was scowling. And even Julian’s mouth was turned down at the corners. I wondered if this was how a holiday was supposed to be – everyone snapping at each other and being moody. If so, I was tempted to agree with Caroline that it wasn’t going to be much fun, and perhaps we should have stayed at home.

CHAPTER

FOUR

When I woke up the next morning, it took me a while to remember where I was. The sun was shining brightly through the little kitchen window and it was hot in there already. I could hear footsteps upstairs – the floor creaked when anyone walked on it – and Jessica was complaining as usual. I wondered what her problem was. She had an easy life, if you asked me. If she’d been a cat kitten, she’d have been weaned, toilet trained and be learning to hunt by now, but it seems human kittens need babying forever. I got up and had a good stretch. I was hungry, and as nobody had come downstairs yet I had to yowl at the top of my voice to get their attention. Caroline came bounding down from her bedroom, still in her pyjamas.

‘Charlie needs feeding, Dad! Shall I give him his breakfast?’

‘Yes please, Caroline,’ Julian called back. ‘We’ll be down in a minute.’

‘We’re going to the beach today, Charlie,’ she told me as she dished up my food. She gave my head a little stroke as she put down my bowl. ‘Daddy and Laura have promised. I hope you’ll be all right here on your own.’