The Cat Who Liked Rain

‘But perhaps there was an elk who saw us,’ said his dad.

Then they drove home.

That evening Lukas placed an envelope containing a photograph of himself under the currant bush. He thought it would be best for Night to have a picture so that he wouldn’t forget what Lukas looked like.

His mum had helped him to address the envelope.

To:

Night the Cat,

Rainy-Weather Land.

The next morning it was still there under the bush.

But Lukas wasn’t going to give up. Sooner or later the cats’ secret postman would come and collect his letter. He was absolutely certain of that.

Ten

It suddenly occurred to Lukas that he had almost stopped laughing.

How on earth could that be possible? He was always so cheerful, and could laugh at anything you like.

Obviously, it was because Night hadn’t come back. Lukas thought days were long, and hard to get through — as if every hour was a heavy boot with lots of mud clinging to its sole.

One morning he woke up feeling bitter and angry, and went to join his mum in the kitchen.

‘Good morning, Lukas,’ she said. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘I slept bloody awful.’

‘You mustn’t speak like that,’ said his mother sternly.

‘I slept bloody awful,’ said Lukas again, but even louder this time, as if he wanted everybody in Rowan Tree Road to hear him.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Beatrice wondered.

‘I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas.

‘Of course you’re going to start school,’ she said. ‘You’ve been looking forward to it for so long now.’

‘I can’t start school as long as Night is missing. How would I be able to look for him?’

‘I can keep an eye on the road while you’re in school.’

Lukas didn’t think much of that. It wasn’t enough simply to wander over to a window now and then and take a look at the road or the garden.

If you were going to find a cat that had run away, you would have to spend all your time searching and looking out of the window.

‘Anyway, I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas, and stormed out of the kitchen. He wondered if he ought to slam the door behind him, but he didn’t dare. His mum could sometimes get very angry — so angry that Lukas was sort of scared.

‘Aren’t you going to have any breakfast?’ asked Beatrice in surprise.

‘I’m not hungry,’ said Lukas. ‘Do we really have to spend all our time eating?’

Lukas got dressed and went out. There was a nip in the air, and he shivered as he trudged through the garden towards the fence. He looked round. None of his friends were out. The only living thing apart from himself was a magpie, wagging its tail up and down on a fence not far away.

Lukas went to the wild currant bush.

He stopped dead.

The letter! He’d forgotten all about the letter. And now it had vanished. There was nothing under the currant bush.

Somebody had been there and collected his letter.

He stared at the ground where the envelope had been lying underneath a lump of granite. No, his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Somebody had been there during the night, and fetched it. It was on its way to Rainy-Weather Land. Night would soon be holding it in his paws.

Lukas burst out laughing. There was a bubbling inside him, as if he was about to belch. And then the laughter came tumbling out, like a balloon of bubble-gum bursting. Nobody could laugh like Lukas, when he was really happy. It sounded like trumpets and neighing horses and clattering magpies.

The curious neighbour, who always seemed to be standing by his fence and keeping an eye on Lukas, couldn’t resist asking what was so funny. But Lukas didn’t reply. He just carried on laughing. He knew now that Night was safe and sound.

He still didn’t understand why Night had run away. But perhaps he’d get a reply from him? Perhaps Night was so remarkable that he could transform his miaows into a sort of words that Lukas would be able to understand. Maybe Night would be able to hold a pen in his paw and write letters. Why not? Were there any limits to what that remarkable cat could do?

Lukas decided on the spot to go home and write another letter. Maybe the secret postman would come back again tonight as well? He felt an urge to tell his mum what had happened. She would have to help him to write the next letter.

Now he could start thinking seriously about starting school, despite everything. It didn’t feel so bad, now that he knew Night would soon receive his greeting. He’d soon be sitting with the photograph of Lukas in his paws. Maybe he’d even regret having run away? Lukas wondered if it might be possible for him to create a sort of mini rainy-weather land for Night in his room. If he hung a watering can from the ceiling, it could create showers to fall on Night. Would that be enough?

He started running towards the gate. He was in a hurry. There was so much he needed to do! Now! Straight away!

Just as he was opening the gate, Whirlwind came speeding up on his skateboard. He had some of his friends with him.

‘Have you found the cat?’ Whirlwind shouted.