It hadn't gone
far this time, only as far as the ground in front of the cottages where it sat
waiting hopefully for someone to appear with food. Eventually it was Mr. Reece
who, while his wife was busy washing up, brought out a basinful of meat scraps
and bread soaked in gravy. He made a great show of putting down the basin where
he could be certain Miss Coker would see him doing it. But he did not wait to
see the food consumed. He had been sternly ordered not to stay out in the cold.
The kitten had
eaten no more than a mouthful before it was set upon by the gulls, who had now
been joined by a company of rooks and jackdaws. Buffeted on all sides, twice
knocked off its feet and terrified by the savage pecks aimed at its eyes, the
kitten ran off to its old retreat under the wall. Here it crouched and watched
while the squawking quarrelling gang emptied the basin and flew off.
After wandering
aimlessly about for the rest of the day it went back to the shed. Having been
homeless for a fortnight it was content to have found at least a dry sleeping
place.
The Reece
children had seen the rooks and gulls attacking the kitten and would have run
out to chase them away, but by the time they had changed their shoes and put on
their coats and mufflers the birds had gone, leaving nothing but an empty basin.
`Are there any
more scraps?' Jinny asked her mother.
'No, there
aren't. Not till tomorrow.'
'The birds took
it all, Mum.'
'They're hungry
too.'
'The kitten's
awful thin, Mum.'
'So are other
creatures. 'Tis hungry weather.'
'Any bread, is
there?'
'Not to spare, or
you'll get none for your supper.'
'I don't mind.'
'Speak for
yourself, child. The others will.'
'Mum, couldn't
we, please -'
'No.'
Mrs. Trim's two
cats, from their vantage point between the flowerpots in the parlour window, had
also watched the skirmish in front of the cottages. When it was over they
yawned, jumped down, settled into an armchair on a pile of knitting and washed
each other's ears.
The kitten,
curled on the old potato sack, dozed away the afternoon. With twilight and
darkness came something that compensated for hunger, loneliness and cold, a
jewel that shone for it alone. Hour after hour, with its head resting peacefully
on its paws, it gazed at Miss Coker's golden window.
It tried twice
more to snatch a meal against vicious competition, and then gave up and did not
leave the shed at all.
MORE MEMORIES
Miss Coker made
it a rigid rule not to allow her mind to dwell on the past. It was a closed
book, never to be opened. But having been reminded so sharply of her father that
morning she could not stop thinking about him. And from him her thoughts
wandered to other members of her family - to her mother, her dear mother, and
her sister Lorna who was a schoolteacher and had just become engaged to a
merchant navy officer.
She even found
herself thinking about the cat, which had saved her life by running away before
the fire. How extraordinary that it should have run off like that! Did it know
what was going to happen? Had it had some mysterious warning? Cats were
strange creatures. She remembered the day her sister brought it home from the
local pet shop, just six weeks old and black as a coal. It was a time when they
were going through some trouble, she couldn't recall exactly what.
'His name is
Sooty,' Lorna said. 'He's going to bring us luck.'
And so he did, it
seemed, for many years until - until the morning when her mother said 'Have you
seen Sooty? He didn't come in last night. I'm a bit worried. He's never stayed
out so long before.'
The day wore on
and still he didn't appear. They all went into the garden and called and called.
After tea Miss Coker went out to search the streets. Lorna said, 'I'd come with
you, but I've got some papers to correct.'
She walked a long
way, asking in the local shops if anyone had found a black cat or reported an
injured one. And then there was the glow in the sky, and the fire engines, and
everyone running - a gas explosion they said, in the basement. She jerked her
mind back to the present, sat for a moment with her eyes closed and her hands
tightly clenched; then rose and put on the kettle for her tea.
NO GIVING IN
WHAT'S
NEW? 