The Cat Who Liked Rain

Needless to say, Whirlwind had argued about where Night’s litter tray ought to be. At first, Lukas had thought that the best place would be in the kitchen, where it would be easy to clear up any sand that Night had scratched and kicked onto the floor. But then Whirlwind started complaining about the smell being so awful that he couldn’t eat. Lukas hadn’t noticed any smell at all, and neither Axel nor Beatrice had mentioned any such thing until Whirlwind started going on about it. Eventually, Axel grew annoyed and said that Lukas should have the litter tray in his room. That was when Lukas resolved to teach Night to hiss every time Whirlwind spoke. But the main thing was that Night should grow up a bit. He was still only a kitten that jumped and scampered around, climbed up the curtains and played around with all the shoes in the hall.

For some time after Night had arrived on the scene, he wasn’t allowed out. Axel said he needed to get used to his new home first. Otherwise there was a risk that he might run away. And Lukas was scared that somebody might steal his cat if he showed itself outside the house. Several times when Lukas shouted for Night and he didn’t appear, Lukas was afraid that the kitten might somehow have found its way out and vanished. Then his heart started pounding, exactly like when he’d woken up out of a nightmare. He shouted for Night, searched the whole house, but there was no sign of him.

Lukas soon discovered where Night used to hide away when he wanted to be left in peace and go to sleep. He would often lie on the laundry basket in the bathroom. Sometimes he would be hiding in Axel’s wardrobe. Occasionally he would jump up and lie on top of one of the highest cupboards in the kitchen. But sometimes, Lukas couldn’t find him anywhere. When Beatrice noticed that Lukas was so upset that his lower lip started trembling, she would help him to look. And they would eventually find him. On one occasion Night had managed to get into the garage, and bedded down in a box full of rubbish. But every time Lukas found Night, he was so pleased that all he could do was to sit absolutely still, gazing at his very own cat. That was something quite new for Lukas — being so happy that the only thing it was possible to do was to sit quite still. Before that, being happy meant shouting out loud, or jumping for joy. But now that Night had entered Lukas’s life, something totally new had happened.

The big problem was Whirlwind. Lukas was soon absolutely sure that Whirlwind really was jealous because his little brother had a cat. Whirlwind sometimes pulled Night’s tail. Not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to make Night squeal. That made Lukas so furious that he started punching at Whirlwind, who naturally did nothing but laugh. If Axel was at home, he sometimes became so angry that it all ended by Lukas taking Night into his room and shutting the door. He had noticed that Whirlwind was careful to annoy him and Night when their father was at home, and preferably when Dad was tired or in a bad mood. Lukas suspected that Whirlwind hoped Dad would become so fed up with all the messing about that he would refuse to allow Night inside the house.

That was a horrible thought. Lukas didn’t know what he could do about that, apart from always keeping a little parcel of food in the fridge. If Night wasn’t allowed in the house, Lukas wouldn’t want to be there either. They would go off together.

Once, when his dad had been in a really bad mood and complained about all the arguments taking place every day, Lukas had asked his mum if Dad now regretted having given Lukas Night as a present. Mum calmed him down and said that of course, they would never even dream of taking the cat away from him. Lukas thought that was probably right. But then again, he wasn’t quite sure. Every day he made up his little parcel of food, and hid it behind the milk at the very back of the fridge.

The best thing would have been if Whirlwind had been given a cat of his own. Or perhaps even better, a different animal. A dog probably wouldn’t be a good idea. But some goldfish, perhaps, or canaries? Lukas wondered how he could be cunning enough to fix things so that he could give Whirlwind an animal as a birthday present. One day when he was out shopping with Beatrice, he persuaded her to take him into a pet shop. But he was depressed when he saw how expensive an aquarium was, even though it was the smallest one in the shop. And he’d never be able to afford a bird cage, complete with birds.

But Night was giving Lukas more than enough to think about. Every new day brought with it a new problem. Even so, every day made Lukas think that his cat was the best thing that had ever happened to him.