The Cat Who Liked Rain

It seemed to Lukas that it wasn’t easy to understand what went on inside a cat’s head. Lukas knew how he behaved when he was angry or upset or happy. But he wasn’t at all sure how Night reacted in such circumstances. Lukas knew that Night’s tail would be upright when he was pleased and contented, and that he would rub up against Lukas’s legs, and that he would purr. But what would Night do when he was upset?

Lukas didn’t know the answer to the questions he asked. And when he asked Beatrice, she didn’t know either.

‘You ask such difficult questions,’ she said. ‘I don’t think anybody can answer them.’

‘Not even Dad?’ Lukas asked.

‘Not even Dad,’ said Beatrice.

‘How come that there can be questions without any answers?’ Lukas wondered.

‘You tell me,’ said Beatrice. ‘That’s something I also ask myself at times.’

Lukas went back to his room, and continued thinking. There was another possibility that he preferred not to think about. Somebody might have stolen Night, bundled him into a box and run off with him. But who could be so nasty as to steal a cat? Who could possibly do anything like that?

Lukas had no idea what to do. He didn’t think he’d have the strength to start school if Night didn’t come back. He wondered how on earth he’d be able to live a whole life, become an adult, and later on an old man, without knowing what had happened to Night.

That night, when he’d gone to bed, he decided to ask Whirlwind to help him. Perhaps the pair of them might be able to work together and find out where Night was? Lukas wasn’t at all sure that Whirlwind would want to cooperate. But he’d been unusually quiet since Night had disappeared.

Perhaps he would help to search, despite everything?

The thought of talking to Whirlwind made Lukas feel a bit calmer. He curled up under the covers, and tried to imagine Night lying next to his face.

Seven

The next day, it had finally stopped raining.

Whirlwind was just about to go out with his skateboard when Lukas entered the hall.

‘My cat didn’t come back last night either,’ said Lukas.

‘So I noticed,’ said Whirlwind. ‘But I’ve heard of cats being lost for several years and then suddenly turning up again.’

‘I don’t want to wait for ten years,’ said Lukas.

Then Whirlwind said something that astonished Lukas.

‘I thought we could help you to look for the cat,’ he said.

So Whirlwind had actually been thinking the same thing as Lukas! That he should help to look for Night!

It dawned on Lukas that he hadn’t realised until now that he had the best big brother it’s possible to have. He wasn’t so difficult and troublesome as Lukas had thought after all.

‘Of course we shall look for the cat,’ said Whirlwind again. ‘We’ll start looking this very day.’

‘Who’s we?’ wondered Lukas.

‘My mates,’ said Whirlwind. ‘We’re going to search every single garden, every single place where he might have hidden himself away.’

Whirlwind had four or five friends who all had skateboards. They used to go skateboarding together, practised together, and competed against each other. Whirlwind was the leader because he was the best skateboarder. Lukas could imagine them rushing along on their skateboards, pausing to look for Night, then racing along to the next garden. The thought of Whirlwind and his friends helping Lukas to find his cat filled his heart with warmth. He felt an urge to hug Whirlwind, but he didn’t. Whirlwind didn’t like it when their mother sometimes gave him a hug. He was sure to be angry if Lukas tried to do the same.

‘I’d like to join you in looking,’ said Lukas.

‘You don’t have a skateboard,’ said Whirlwind. ‘But you can be our mechanic.’

Lukas didn’t really know what a mechanic did. And he didn’t want to ask because Whirlwind didn’t like being asked silly questions. He’d have to try to find out by other means.

‘Of course I’ll be your mechanic,’ he said. ‘Shall I start right away?’

‘Fetch a bucket and a rag and some washing powder,’ said Whirlwind. ‘You can clean our skateboards when they get dirty. We’ll be meeting at nine o’clock in the street next to the playground.’

He was in a hurry now. As soon as his mum had left the kitchen, he opened the door of the cleaning cupboard and took out a bucket, a scouring cloth and a packet of washing powder. Then he opened the window and dropped them down onto the ground. He half-filled the bucket from the tap outside the house — it would be too heavy if he put in any more water. Even so, he had trouble in carrying it as far as the playground. He wondered how much washing powder he ought to add. He eventually decided it was better to use too much rather than too little, so he used the whole packet. He stirred it with a piece of wood, and soon the foam had piled up like a steeple on top of the bucket. He was afraid he’d used too much. But the first of Whirlwind’s friends was approaching already. Lukas began cleaning his skateboard with the cloth after dipping it in the frothy water.

‘Have you found Night yet?’ he asked.