A flash of glass and a laugh caught my attention, and high up on the ridge of the hill, the three boys were sitting. One had binoculars and they were taking turns to watch TammyLee. Even though they were far away, my sensitive ears picked up a feeling of menace in their laughter, dark intention that rolled down the hillside like a rain cloud.
I looked back at the patch of sunlight where Diana sat in her wheelchair, her face lifted to the sky. My angel told me to go back to her, but first, I wanted to go up the river and explore.
So I pretended not to notice her. Only later did I get the message, for it was to be another terrible lesson. Never ignore your angel.
Under the dappled shade of trees, I followed the flowing water to a stream that joined the river. I trotted beside it, until I found a shallow fishing pool, where I sat, completely absorbed, waiting to see if any fish would come swimming into that clear water. I’d hook one out with my paw, and play with it as it jumped and flipped on the grass, and then I’d eat it, and catch another one.
My attention was so focused on the water that I ignored the footsteps and the loud voices coming down from the hillside.
‘Hey, guys, that’s TammyLee’s cat.’ It was the gruff voice of a young lad. ‘Puddy Puddy Puddy,’ he called, but I ignored him and wished they’d go away and leave me in peace. The tip of my tail was twitching with annoyance. If I’d been a human, I might have sworn at them.
‘I’m gonna get it,’ said one – Dylan.
‘Nah … leave it.’
‘Who are you telling what to do? It’s ’er cat, ain’t it?’
‘Whose?’
‘The girl in the pool, stupid. TammyLee. Spoiled bitch.’
The voices got louder and louder as they argued, but I continued staring into the water, waiting for a sardine to appear.
When the footsteps came right up behind me, I swung round and put my tail up, thinking Dylan was going to stroke me. Instead, he grabbed me by the scruff and held me up in the air.
‘Got ’im!’ he shouted. ‘D’you dare me to drop him in the river?’
‘Yeah. Drop ’er cat in the river. That’ll wind ’er up.’
The three of them were laughing loudly and egging each other on. They ran with me, and the boy had one hand clenching my scruff and the other gripping my back so hard his fingers were digging into my kidneys. I struggled and twisted, and flailed my claws, trying to scratch his cruel hands and make him let go of me. My nightmares came back in that moment. Joe chucking us in the hedge, Gretel throwing me out into the frosty night.‘That’s what happens to bad cats,’ she’d shrieked.
‘Drop ’im from the bridge,’ shouted one of the boys, as their shoes thudded and scuffed as they ran down to the bridge where I’d sat so happily in the sun. I was terrified. I couldn’t believe they were being so cruel to me. ‘Why? Why me?’ My only hope was that TammyLee might rescue me.
Now Dylan was holding me up in the air above the pool.
I looked at his crazy eyes and sent him a message:‘I saved your baby’s life. Don’t do this to me.’ But his aura had wine-red thorns like a rose in winter. He thought that dropping a cat in the river was going to cover his pain in glory. I glanced down, looking for TammyLee, but she’d gone and so had Max and Amber. My kidneys were hurting like fire, and all I wanted, as he held me over the water, was for him to let go of me – even if I was going to drown, I wanted the agony to stop. It hurt so much that I screamed and he let me go.
I fell down, down into the pool, hearing cheers and laughter and hands clapping. I hit the freezing water and went under, and the shock of it made my heart lurch painfully.
Icy water filled my mouth and rushed up my nose and into my ears. It was the worst experience of my life, even worse than the hot car. I forced my nose up and out of the water and kicked my paws the way I’d seen Amber doing. I didn’t know whether cats could swim, but I tried, even though my fur was full of water and my tail felt heavy as if it would drag me under.
I hated the noise those boys were making. They were laughing at me and chanting:‘The cat’s in the water! The cat’s in the water!’ And in the distance, TammyLee was screaming.
I swam in crazy circles, fighting the current, which was dragging me towards the weir. The pool looked vast; the banks with sun-warmed stones and grasses seemed far away. My paws got tired, I ached with the cold, my breathing was difficult as I coughed and spluttered.
I don’t know where Amber came from but she hurled herself into the water; the splash threw me all over the place, my neck straining to keep my head up. Then she was swimming vigorously towards me, her eyes bright with concern. She eased her warmth alongside me, and started to push me with her nose, nearer and nearer to the bank, until I crawled out and lay there, limp and shocked, my wet tail thin and shiny like a worm.
Amber crouched down beside me, licking and whining. I heard the boys escaping, the thud-thudding of their feet and the echo of their laughter.