Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

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!’