Curiosity Killed the Cat

Rescue

1st February, 3016 (nearly one hundred years later)

Through the dense undergrowth a mighty warrior fought, hacking a path through the near impenetrable jungle with naught but her mighty, undefeatable… “Damn it!” Priane cursed holding one half of her broken ‘sword’ in her hands. The stick had been the perfect length and now it had snapped. She tossed it aside carelessly, she would have to find another one so she could continue her epic adventure to save the prince later.

But at that moment, the sound of rustling branches on a breezeless day startled her. She looked upwards towards the source of the sound, which seemed to be a large oak tree that looked perfect for climbing. She flitted behind another tree, circled around and approached it from the opposite direction. Peering short-sightedly into the branches she cursed herself for forgetting her glasses in the house. Determined to investigate the sound she pulled herself into the tree and saw an orange blob high above the ground. A cat! It meowed disgruntledly and Priane immediately came to the conclusion that it was stuck and needed her help, “I’ll save you kitty,” she mumbled, hauling herself further up into the tree. Scrambling upwards she realised just how high the cat was, and she stretched up and swung a little higher, absorbed in her mission.

Below her there was the sounds of twigs snapping and the light hum of conversation, although she could not make out the exact words. Peering down she saw the fabric of a camouflage jacket moving steadily. What were soldiers doing in the woods? Priane wondered, but she could not investigate, she had a cat to save!

The cat was perched on a branch clinging tightly on with all four paws. “Hey kitty,” Priane soothed, reaching up to stroke its ginger fur. The cat hissed a crept further away from her, but too late, Priane used her other hand to snatch the cat by the scruff of its neck. The cat nearly sent them both careering to the ground but her legs were wrapped firmly around the tree trunk and she balanced herself. The cat froze in her grip terrified of the drop, and Priane held the cat in her arms comfortingly, before stuffing the cat into her navy blue jacket and zipped it up so she could use all of her limbs for the climb down.

She jumped the last couple of meters and ran through the forest to the road. The road was occupied by people running and walking, hurrying and ambling. Children played games while their parents looked on tiredly, unable to match their boundless energy. Younger children pitter-pattered around in their woollen socks, some only just having managed the great feat of walking unaided. Loud howls and barks echoed down the street and dogs big and small ran their owners rugged and greeted each other with a sniff of the others behind. Other better trained or older dogs, stayed faithfully by their master and carefully watched the children ready to help them at the first sign of danger. Soldiers prowled up and down the street watching for signs of trouble. Priane emerged from the forest on one side of the road and stepped onto the dusty, pothole ridden track and began hurrying home. She zipped down her jacket some so the cat could breathe, avoiding the large unruly dogs.

Priane turned onto Oakgate Road and walked down the overgrown garden of house number eighteen. She opened the door and quietly tip-toed into the house, locking the door firmly behind her.

A woman in her early forties with short, dirty blonde hair appeared at the top of the stairs. She had laugh lines around her eyes but frown lines around her mouth, making her face seem intimidating at first. Priane however had lived with the woman for near eleven years and could easily recognise the twinkle in her one good eye. The other had been ruined when she had fell from her horse and had been replaced with a fake one. Immediately her beady eye focused on the now very bedraggled looking cat poking out from her niece’s jacket. “And what exactly have you got there little miss?” she asked pointedly.

“He’s a little tom cat who got stuck up a tree!” said Priane, already her heart was sinking, her aunt did not have a soft spot for cats and she was sure her aunt would tell her to put him outside at once. “Well who on earth does he belong to?”

“I don’t think he belongs to anyone, he doesn’t have a collar and he’s very thin,” explained Priane nervously. Her aunt raised an eyebrow, “Do go on dear.”

“Well, I was just going to give him something to eat,” Priane summarised and dashed down the hall and into the kitchen. She sighed with relief, her aunt discovering the little tom cat was not what she had planned. She filled a bowl with fish and Priane put it on the floor. The cat leapt out of Priane’s fleecy jacket and began to devour the food.

Meanwhile Priane half-filled a large bowl with warm water and grabbed a towel from the airing cupboard. The cat was filthy and after his meal Priane managed to subject him to the water with great difficulty. Afterwards he shook out his now shiny fur indignantly, covering her with dirty, luke-warm water. He leapt onto the counter top and Priane hastily put him back on the floor, “Don’t let Aunt Lily catch you doing that, else you’ll have to go for sure.” She wiped away his wet paw prints with her sleeve, then rushed up to her small box room, and grabbed an old china pig. It was a money bank, a hand-me-down from her aunt which in turn had been handed down to her. The pig was big, pink, and ugly with a few shiny coins rattling around inside. Priane scooped up all of them up and called out to her aunt, “Can I go to the shops?”

“Don’t be back too late!”

“Great, thanks!” Priane yelled as she dashed out of the house and returned to Aldhaven Street, the busy road that followed the edge of the forest. She wasn’t the only mucky twelve year old messing around outside - even in the fast fading evening light - but she was the only one who went into the pet shop and brought a selection of pet care related items, specifically for cats.

Several flop eared rabbits were housed in the centre of the shop, and Priane stood on her tip toes to reach their soft fluffy ears which she scratched - satisfyingly enough for the rabbits, who clamoured for her attention. Then she was off again with her supplies held tightly to her chest. She wasn’t intending on keeping the rescued cat, but on the other hand if her aunt was okay with the occasional visit from a feline friend, she wasn’t going to object.

When she got home her tea was on the table and she inhaled it as though it were air before clambering into bed.