Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

All this sounded awful to me, but Laura and Caroline were grinning away to each other happily.

‘Caroline has really taken it on board,’ Laura said. ‘She wanted us to go straight to the supermarket and stock up on all the right food, so that we can start today.’

‘Are you sure you’re up for this?’ Julian said, sounding worried again now. ‘It sounds like a lot of work, Laura – two different meals every night? I mean, you know I’d help, but I normally get home a bit late …’

Laura laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to learn vegetarian cooking, Julian.’

‘But I’m going to,’ Caroline said, sitting up a bit straighter. ‘That’s only fair, if I want to eat differently from you, isn’t it? And anyway I think it’s really interesting. I can cook stir fries with lots of nuts, and make lentil bakes, and …’

‘We picked up a recipe book in the supermarket too,’ Laura told Julian.

‘And I’m going to start on tonight’s dinner as soon as I’ve changed out of my school uniform,’ Caroline said, running off towards the stairs.

‘I do realise the novelty of cooking for herself will probably wear off after a while,’ Laura said, smiling at Julian. ‘And I’ll supervise anyway. But it won’t do her any harm. We can both learn, together. I don’t think it’s going to be as difficult as it sounds. We might even decide to join her, a couple of days a week. Too much meat is bad for you, you know,’ she added.

Really? I found that hard to believe. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could survive without eating meat. Even when I was living in such reduced circumstances with the feral cats, it was the scraps of horrible burgers and sausages from the bins, together with the occasional treat of fresh fish of course, that kept us alive. But to be honest I was just so very, very happy to hear that Caroline wasn’t really ill after all, I didn’t care what strange things she wanted to eat, as long as they made her feel better.

‘Dr Pearson also reminded me that she’s approaching puberty,’ Laura added quietly, ‘which, as well as the anaemia, would account for her having been so tired and emotional.’ She paused for a moment, and then smiled and said, ‘And moody, and bad-tempered!’

I was glad poor Caroline wasn’t in the room to hear that.

‘Really? She’s at that stage already? She’s only eleven!’

‘Coming up for twelve,’ Laura said. ‘It’s not at all out of the ordinary, Julian. I should have realised that myself, but I kind of expected that she’d have a slightly delayed adolescence, if anything, after going through her illness and the chemotherapy. But the doctor said that doesn’t necessarily happen.’

‘The trouble is, we’ve both been seeing all the signs, but thinking they meant something else. Something much worse. So we couldn’t see the wood for the trees.’

‘Yes, you’re right. Well – thank God, she’s going to be fine now.’ Laura reached out and touched Julian’s paw. ‘It’s such a relief, isn’t it?’

A relief to me too, of course. In fact I felt quite weak with it. I was going to have to have a lie down. But first, I needed to wind myself around Caroline’s legs until she picked me up, so that I could give her face a really good licking to show how happy I was.

Later that night, after Jessica had gone to bed and Caroline had gone back upstairs to do her homework, Nicky came round. Apparently she’d been desperate to hear how the doctor’s appointment went, too.

‘I’m so glad it’s nothing serious,’ she said after Laura had told her all about it. ‘So it’s nothing to do with the new school, either? I was a bit worried she was finding it too much.’

‘No, she absolutely loves the school,’ Julian said. ‘And we’re both completely certain now that we’ve done the right thing, aren’t we, darling?’

Laura nodded. ‘She’s so happy at Great Broomford High, going off on the bus with all her friends, and being in the same class as Grace. And it is a good school, so I’m sure she’ll do well there. Thank goodness there was still a place available for her there when we changed our minds.’

‘Yes,’ said Julian. ‘If only we’d sat down and talked to her about it properly, instead of just insisting we knew what was best for her. The private school might have a wonderful reputation, but what’s the point, if she was going to be miserable and resentful? Now she’s got her circle of friends here, after all that time of being lonely, it’s quite understandable that the most important thing for her is to be with them. No wonder she felt so cross and upset with us.’

‘But she’s happy now, and she’s going to be fine, that’s what matters,’ Nicky said gently. ‘What about the concussion, though? Did the doctor say that wasn’t causing her any of her symptoms?’