The Cat Who Liked Rain

‘You can tell me about your dream while we’re having breakfast,’ said Beatrice.

‘There’s nothing to tell,’ said Lukas. ‘It was all so very odd.’

When his mum had left the room, he sat down on his bed.

Before he started getting dressed, he wanted to think through that dream one more time. And as he sat there on the edge of his bed, he had the feeling that he understood what Night had been trying to tell him.

He knew that one of the first days, his teacher would ask everybody in the class to tell the rest about something exciting or funny they’d experienced.

He knew now.

He would tell them about the remarkable cat called Night.

His story would be the most remarkable of all.

Thirteen

It was clear to Lukas from the very first day that going to school was going to be fun. The thought that going to school for at least ten more years, nearly twice as long as he’d already lived, every day in the autumn, winter and spring, didn’t worry him in the least. He had the impression that life was really, really long. It was like a road that never came to an end.

His mum had accompanied him to school that first day. Lukas would have preferred it if his dad had been there as well, but Axel couldn’t take the day off work.

‘You can tell me all about it this evening,’ he’d said to Lukas. ‘I can hardly remember what it was like, starting school. But I might remember when you tell me how you got on.’

There was a chilly breeze, but the sun was shining on the day Lukas started school. As they passed through the garden gate, Lukas took a look at the skateboard track and the wild currant bush. But Night wasn’t there.

In fact, Lukas would have been surprised if he’d seen the tip of Night’s tail. After all, he knew that Night was in the strange land where umbrellas grow wild.

It seemed to him that Night was a clever cat. He hadn’t wanted Lukas to start school and at the same time be worried about what had happened to his missing cat.

As they walked to school, he wondered if, after all, it had been the piggy bank he’d thrown into the wishing well that had made Night come to visit him in that remarkable dream. He would have liked to ask his mum about it. But he’d told her that the wet secret was secret! He couldn’t tell anybody about the wishing well. Not yet, at least. If you’d managed to keep a secret for a few days, then maybe it didn’t matter so much if you told your mum about it — only her, mind you.

Then they came to the school, and Lukas couldn’t continue thinking about Night. It was exciting, starting school. Lukas knew that you only did it once in your life. And anything you only did once was important, something you would always want to remember. Not forget about it, as his dad had done.

‘Do you remember when you started school?’ he asked his mum.

‘Everybody remembers that,’ she said with a smile. ‘Except your dad, of course.’

‘Was it a long time ago?’ Lukas asked.

‘Yes,’ she sighed. ‘Far too long.’

‘How long?’

‘More than twenty-five years ago.’

Lukas couldn’t really imagine how long twenty-five years was. But then, it was good to know that time didn’t pass too quickly. That there was room to sleep and play and go to school. And think about your missing cat.

A thought suddenly struck him.

‘How old can a cat become?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know,’ said Beatrice. ‘Pretty old, I think.’

‘But how old?’

‘Twenty, perhaps.’

‘Not twenty-five?’

‘Yes,’ said Beatrice eventually. ‘I think there are probably cats who live to be twenty-five.’

Lukas giggled at the thought of Night growing so old that he needed to walk with the aid of a stick. How would that be possible? Would he need four walking sticks as he had four paws?

But he hadn’t time to think that thought to its conclusion. It was time to go to the classroom for real, the first time ever.

He was starting school now.

As early as that first day, their teacher told them all to go home and think about something interesting they’d like to tell their classmates about.

‘I’m going to tell them about Night,’ Lukas told Beatrice as they walked home together after the first day at school, which had been very short.

She frowned and looked hard at him.

‘But that wouldn’t be much fun,’ she said. ‘Telling everybody that you have a cat who’s run away. And made you so very sad.’

‘I’m not sad any more,’ said Lukas.

Beatrice paused.

‘You’re not? How come?’

‘I know that Night is doing fine,’ Lukas explained.

‘You mean you’ve seen him?’ she asked in surprise. ‘You haven’t said anything about that.’

‘I’ve dreamt about him,’ said Lukas. ‘And he’s doing fine. He’s just gone away. To another land. But I can’t tell you any more. The rest is a secret.’

‘That’s great news,’ said Beatrice. ‘Your dad will be pleased when he hears that. And Whirlwind as well.’

‘Not Whirlwind,’ said Lukas sternly. ‘He mustn’t know anything about that. If I say that Night has gone away, he’ll want a dog.’

‘Good God, no!’ said Beatrice. ‘No more animals in the house!’

‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘It’s enough with Night. He still lives with us. Even if he is away.’