dressed up as cats – I
ask you! I mean, it’s understandable that you are jealous of our sleek and alluring feline beauty, but as if dressing up as us could make you poor, skinny, furless creatures
attractive!’
He sat up tall and flicked his tail in a way that made me think he was getting very irritable indeed. I was still in shock and did not know what to say or think. I pinched myself hard on the
arm.
‘Ow!’ I cried. Not dreaming then.
‘Tell me this,’ said Kaboodle, considering me closely. ‘If I’m not here, as you seem to think – if you are only imagining this – then how do you
explain this conversation we are having?’
‘I – I don’t know,’ I said, blushing and feeling very stupid. What if Jazz came back? I decided to try and take control of the situation.
‘OK, so you’re real. How come you can talk then?’ I asked, pulling my shoulders back.
Kaboodle looked me straight in the face, cool as a salamander. ‘ I’ve always been able to talk. It’s you that has never bothered to listen properly,’ he said
carelessly.
‘ Excuse me? ’
‘That first time you took a close look at me,’ he continued. ‘Remember? Those occasions when we met on the street? And what about that time you were walking past, pushing those
leaflets through the door? I stared at you, and you knew exactly what I was trying to tell you.’
I thought back to that morning only a few days ago, when my life was a lot less complicated – no Pet-Sitting Service to hide from Dad, no talking kitten to hide from my best mate –
and a lot more boring, I realized, a grin spreading across my flushed features.
‘Yes, I do remember,’ I replied. ‘You we re sitting in the window of Pink . . . Ms Pinkington’s front room and I felt kind of – shivery. And, er, you looked . .
.’ I tailed off.
‘Go on,’ Kaboodle prompted.
‘Well, you looked a bit – lonely,’ I finished.
Kaboodle nodded slowly. ‘Then you did understand me.’
‘But how can you be lonely when you’ve got an owner who lavishes love and attention on you and feeds you all that yummy food and loves you so much she can’t bear to be parted
for you while she goes away for only two weeks?’
Kaboodle wr inkled his nose. ‘And how can you be lonely when you’ve got a best friend who sticks to you like glue? Not to mention a dad who works insanely hard to look after
you and loves you so much that he’s worried sick about you when he has to leave you on a Saturday to write an article for that newspaper he doesn’t even care two hoots about?’
‘How did you know about all that?’ I gasped.
‘You humans are so noisy,’ Kaboodle said, stretching out his front paws and sticking his bottom in the air ‘It’s all too easy to eavesdrop on conversations.’
I shook my head disbeliev-ingly ‘But you would’ve had to be inside our house to hear about that.’
Kaboodle smiled again. ‘No. You told Jazz all about it, and I was on the prowl in the bushes at the time You humans are always so caught up in your own lives that you never notice
what’s right under your nose.’
I bristled. Up until then I had thought kittens were joyful bouncy bundles who spent their days chasing butterflies and snoozing happily on cushions. In fact, if anyone had asked me to imagine
what a kitten would talk about, I would have said, ‘Oh, probably just cute things about flowers and cuddles.’
How wrong could a girl be?
Kaboodle had made an idiot out of me and Jazz, skulking about in the shadows while we charged around the place, yelling his name and getting our knickers in a twist about his whereabouts. I felt
my shoulders tense in annoyance.
Kaboodle laughed in that mewling way of his. ‘Are someone’s whiskers ruffled?’ he asked. ‘You even give away what you are feeling in your body language, my dear.
Don’t get so uptight. As it happens, I rather like you and I’m delighted that my little plan has worked out so well.’
‘What
ask you! I mean, it’s understandable that you are jealous of our sleek and alluring feline beauty, but as if dressing up as us could make you poor, skinny, furless creatures
attractive!’
He sat up tall and flicked his tail in a way that made me think he was getting very irritable indeed. I was still in shock and did not know what to say or think. I pinched myself hard on the
arm.
‘Ow!’ I cried. Not dreaming then.
‘Tell me this,’ said Kaboodle, considering me closely. ‘If I’m not here, as you seem to think – if you are only imagining this – then how do you
explain this conversation we are having?’
‘I – I don’t know,’ I said, blushing and feeling very stupid. What if Jazz came back? I decided to try and take control of the situation.
‘OK, so you’re real. How come you can talk then?’ I asked, pulling my shoulders back.
Kaboodle looked me straight in the face, cool as a salamander. ‘ I’ve always been able to talk. It’s you that has never bothered to listen properly,’ he said
carelessly.
‘ Excuse me? ’
‘That first time you took a close look at me,’ he continued. ‘Remember? Those occasions when we met on the street? And what about that time you were walking past, pushing those
leaflets through the door? I stared at you, and you knew exactly what I was trying to tell you.’
I thought back to that morning only a few days ago, when my life was a lot less complicated – no Pet-Sitting Service to hide from Dad, no talking kitten to hide from my best mate –
and a lot more boring, I realized, a grin spreading across my flushed features.
‘Yes, I do remember,’ I replied. ‘You we re sitting in the window of Pink . . . Ms Pinkington’s front room and I felt kind of – shivery. And, er, you looked . .
.’ I tailed off.
‘Go on,’ Kaboodle prompted.
‘Well, you looked a bit – lonely,’ I finished.
Kaboodle nodded slowly. ‘Then you did understand me.’
‘But how can you be lonely when you’ve got an owner who lavishes love and attention on you and feeds you all that yummy food and loves you so much she can’t bear to be parted
for you while she goes away for only two weeks?’
Kaboodle wr inkled his nose. ‘And how can you be lonely when you’ve got a best friend who sticks to you like glue? Not to mention a dad who works insanely hard to look after
you and loves you so much that he’s worried sick about you when he has to leave you on a Saturday to write an article for that newspaper he doesn’t even care two hoots about?’
‘How did you know about all that?’ I gasped.
‘You humans are so noisy,’ Kaboodle said, stretching out his front paws and sticking his bottom in the air ‘It’s all too easy to eavesdrop on conversations.’
I shook my head disbeliev-ingly ‘But you would’ve had to be inside our house to hear about that.’
Kaboodle smiled again. ‘No. You told Jazz all about it, and I was on the prowl in the bushes at the time You humans are always so caught up in your own lives that you never notice
what’s right under your nose.’
I bristled. Up until then I had thought kittens were joyful bouncy bundles who spent their days chasing butterflies and snoozing happily on cushions. In fact, if anyone had asked me to imagine
what a kitten would talk about, I would have said, ‘Oh, probably just cute things about flowers and cuddles.’
How wrong could a girl be?
Kaboodle had made an idiot out of me and Jazz, skulking about in the shadows while we charged around the place, yelling his name and getting our knickers in a twist about his whereabouts. I felt
my shoulders tense in annoyance.
Kaboodle laughed in that mewling way of his. ‘Are someone’s whiskers ruffled?’ he asked. ‘You even give away what you are feeling in your body language, my dear.
Don’t get so uptight. As it happens, I rather like you and I’m delighted that my little plan has worked out so well.’
‘What
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