Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

‘It was me!’ I told them in Cat, but of course, none of them understood. ‘I ran to get help for Caroline! I got the woman from the beach café to come to her rescue!’

‘I bet he would’ve helped us, if he could,’ Caroline said. ‘I bet that was why he ran out after us – to try to look after us.’

‘Yes!’ I squeaked. ‘Why else would I have done it?’

‘Nice idea,’ Julian said, smiling at her. ‘And if he could, I’m sure he would have done, darling. He loves you very much, that’s obvious. But at the end of the day, he’s just a little kitten, isn’t he. Dogs have certainly been known to look after people, but I’ve never heard of cats doing it.’

‘But he did help a human, Daddy! He helped that old lady with the ice cream, when he jumped up at the seagull, didn’t he? That’s what got into the paper and onto the TV News, wasn’t it, and how those ladies came to think it might be him. Everyone in Mudditon thought he was a hero!’

And she cuddled me closer again, wiping her eyes.

‘My little hero, Charlie!’ she said.

I saw Julian and Laura looking at each other.

‘Well,’ Julian said. ‘Yes, we think it was Charlie. And the publicity certainly helped to get him found and brought back, so that’s all good. But we can’t ever be completely sure. As Laura says, there are lots of little tabby cats around, and—’

‘But it was him, Daddy. I knew it as soon as we saw him on the TV.’

They didn’t argue with her. Nor did I. I just purred in her ear, happy to be called her hero! But despite my worries about Caroline, I must say I was quite interested to hear this conversation. Because although I still didn’t understand it at all, it did at least prove I wasn’t dreaming when I saw myself in the newspaper and inside the television!

That first day I was home, I didn’t even see baby Jessica – she’d already gone to bed. Because of our long journey back from Mudditon, dinner was late and it was getting dark by the time they’d finished eating. Caroline was sent off to bed too then, as she had school the next day, but not before she’d given me another long hug and told me again how much she’d missed me and how much she loved me. I was hoping they were all going to keep up this extra love and attention, and not stop making a fuss of me once they’d got used to me being home again. I followed her upstairs to her room and, to my surprise, before she got ready for bed she picked up a phone from her bedside table.

‘Yes, it’s mine, Charlie,’ she said, waving it at me. ‘Daddy and Laura changed their minds! Cool, isn’t it!’

It was surprising, that’s what it was. I’d heard them with my very own ears, several times, saying she was too young and didn’t need one. Perhaps I’d been away so long, she was now old enough. That was a scary thought. But I sat on her bed and listened as she started speaking into it.

‘Hi Grace! Guess what – we’ve got Charlie back!’

I could hear Grace’s voice coming out of the phone, squealing with excitement. I have no idea how she got inside it.

‘Yes, Daddy brought him home today. We don’t know where he’s been all this time, but he’s been in a fight, and he’s skinny and he’s got a sore leg and a sore eye, but Laura says we can feed him back to health.’

It was lovely to hear Caroline chatting to her friend, sounding giggly and happy, making me think perhaps there wasn’t anything wrong with her anymore after all. But towards the end of her conversation, Grace must have asked her something about how she was feeling, because she sighed and said, ‘Oh, you know. The same. Just … tired, still, really, all the time.’ She looked at me, smiled and added, ‘But it’s cheered me up so much, having Charlie back.’ And then Laura called up to her to remind her to get herself to bed, and I scampered back downstairs to get some cuddles in with Julian and Laura before it was night-time. But even with all the extra attention, it was hard to forget my worries.

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!’