6: FLUFFY

 

   Salem and Roxanne were both very sociable kittens. Salem's father worked at the Catsville Town Hall, which meant that he was not only a very important cat, and knew all the Catsville rules and regulations, but also that he knew simply every cat in town, whilst Roxanne's father owned Catsville's biggest catfood business, and always had plenty of tasty tidbits for kitten picnics.

   Roxanne always asked Fluffy, her best friend, to help her organise the picnics, even though Fluffy was a rather lazy kitten, more given to making herself look pretty and flirting with boy kittens than working. But Roxanne was a very good organiser, and her father always made sure the tidbits were neatly packed into little kitten-sized parcels, so a little laziness was not really a problem.

   One day the two girl kittens were sunning themselves on a patch of grass outside Roxanne's home. They had just finished packing tidbit parcels into their bicycle baskets ready for a kitten picnic in the park. Fluffy stretched lazily and rolled over on to her back to let the sun warm the pale golden fur on her tummy. She was a pedigree tortoiseshell Persian, with a pert little nose, elegantly long whiskers, and little lynx tufts of fur rising out of her ears: a really very pretty kitten indeed. Grown-up cats stopped from time to time in the street to admire her, and a continual stream of compliments had rendered her rather vain.

   ‘I wonder if any of those good-looking young boy cats from Cat-tv will come to the park,’ she purred, half to herself.

   Roxanne made a disapproving noise, half way between a miaouw and a grumble. ‘You've agreed to go with Jeremy.’

   Fluffy made a pooh-poohing noise. ‘Jeremy's a bore. He spends all his time talking about chemistry lessons at school, and never pays me any compliments at all.’

   Roxanne was silent. The kittens had a rule that they always changed partners on every picnic, to prevent the boldest and prettiest kittens forever having first choice, and always planned picnic partnerships well in advance. Even Salem and Roxanne kept the rule strictly (though all the kittens knew they had a very special friendship).

   Fluffy rolled over again. ‘I think we're getting to the age where we should be able to pick and choose.’

   Roxanne twitched her tail a couple of times to show her disapproval. ‘It's a kitten picnic rule.’

   Fluffy got to her paws and arched her back. ‘Well, I think it's a very silly rule.’

   She stalked off, holding her big fluffy tail very high, and Roxanne wondered whether the picnic might be heading for trouble. She thought for a moment of having a quiet word with Salem, but then changed her mind. No boy kitten she knew would really agree, deep under his fur, about making Fluffy pair off with Jeremy, rules or no rules - they all thought him much too much of a swot.

   The kitten picnic started badly. Fluffy walked round and round in circles, holding her tail very high, and each time she began a fresh circle she drifted a little further away from the other kittens, who were sitting on the grass munching tidbits.

   Roxanne realised that she was drifting towards a young male cat taking photographs of a couple of girl cats posing on a little bridge over a stream. He looked like a professional photographer, and Fluffy obviously wanted to model as well.

   Roxanne called to her, but Fluffy pretended not to hear. She crossed the bridge behind the pair of girl cats, dancing along on her toes, and giving herself great airs and graces. Then she danced back, and Roxanne closed her eyes, because she knew just what was going to happen next.

   She opened her eyes again to see Fluffy perched on the bridge balustrade, blinking coyly, with the photographer making a great fuss of her. The two girl cats had moved a little to one side, and were both looking very jealous and grumpy. Roxanne wished for a moment that they would give Fluffy a good push, and tumble her into the water, because it would have served her right. But then she felt rather guilty, and pushed this very wicked thought right out of her mind.

   However she knew she had to do something, because the other kittens had begun to grow restless, and were whispering rude comments to each other, whilst Jeremy had buried his nose in his fur and looked quite miserable. So she gave Salem, who was sitting next to her, and watching with great interest, a good prod.

   ‘Go and bring her back,’ she hissed in a loud voice - loud enough to carry all the way to the bridge.

   Salem squirmed uncomfortably. ‘You go and bring her back - she's a girl kitten.’

   Roxanne hesitated for a moment, and then got to her paws and set off, looking very determined. She reached Fluffy just in time to see her hand something to the young male cat, but then Fluffy bustled her off the bridge with even more airs and graces.

   ‘I'm going to be a top model. Cedric says I have the best whiskers he has ever seen.’ She was walking on the very tips of her toes.

   Roxanne sniffed. She did not like Fluffy very much when she was in this sort of mood. She looked back at the young male cat. ‘Was that Cedric?’

   Fluffy put her nose in the air. ‘He's a top fashion photographer.’

   ‘What did you give him?’

   ‘None of your business.’

   Now Roxanne felt remarkably like giving Fluffy a good shove into the stream herself. But she kept her temper, because best friends should never fall apart.

   They walked back to the other kittens in silence. It should have been games time, when all the kittens would play hide and seek and other kitten games. But somehow Fluffy's bad behaviour had quite spoiled the afternoon. Jeremy left on his own, and the other kittens practised a little half hearted pouncing for a while, and then packed the baskets on their bicycles and rode off home.

   Fluffy pedalled with Salem and Roxanne, but she kept a little way behind them, and it was plain that she now considered herself a very smart kitten indeed.

   The next few days were very difficult. Fluffy walked around with her nose in the air at school, and spoke in class with a very posh accent. She more or less ignored Roxanne, and cycled home from school on her own. She also began backcombing the fur around her ears and under her chin, so that she looked for all the world like a baby owl, took to wearing very fancy ribbons out of school, and began going off secretly by herself for long periods of time, to come back looking very puffed up and pleased with herself.

   Roxanne decided that things were beginning to get out of hand, and asked Salem to help her find out what was going on. They followed Fluffy after school a few days later, staying well behind her so that she would not notice, and found themselves padding down one of the smartest streets in Catsville. Then Fluffy turned up a narrow alleyway. Roxanne and Salem stood wondering what to do next, and then saw three young girl cats come out of the alleyway, all with backcombed fur, all wearing fancy ribbons, all looking very posh.

   They waited for the three to stalk off, and then peeped round the corner. The alleyway was empty, but they could see a door at the end with a big sign. They crept a little closer, both feeling a little nervous, because the alleyway was only wide enough for one cat at a time, and had rather a spooky feel to it. The sign said 'Cedric's Smart Modelling Academy' in rather large gaudy letters. Underneath, in smaller print, it read: 'Pass through this door, and enter the world of top cat fashion models, admired by all the brightest, smartest, and richest young cats.

   'Let Cedric make a star of you in simple, easy stages, and Catsville will worship you. You will earn more than enough in your first few weeks as a top cat model to repay all your fees, and then you will be rich, rich, rich, and the whole cat world will value you for the very special beauty you are.'

   Salem pushed the door open a fraction, just so that he could get a whisker inside, and they both heard a loud purr.

   ‘Come in, come in, please do.’ The voice was very posh, and rather syrupy, the voice of a cat talking through its nose.

   Salem pushed the door opened a fraction wider, so that both he and Roxanne could look inside.

   A very smart black cat stood beaming at them and blinking in greeting. His fur shone as if it had been brushed and brushed, and he held out a paw circled with a very expensive looking emerald and diamond bracelet exactly matching the green sparkle of his eyes. ‘How nice to meet you. I'm Cedric.’ He lifted his chin a little, making a gold chain around his neck dance in the light. Roxanne was sure that he had practised the movement many times in front of a mirror.

   He danced up to her. ‘Would you like me to make you a top model?’

   Salem arched his back jealously, but Cedric's smile did not waver. He narrowed his eyes a little. ‘You too, I think. I could do with some male models on my books.’

   A cat miaouwed angrily in the background. It was Fluffy. She glared at Roxanne. ‘You followed me here.’

   Roxanne sniffed. She did not like the smell of Cedric. He was much too smooth to be true, with all the makings of a really untrustworthy cat. She looked around. They were in a studio with a lot of photographic equipment, but everything seemed to be in or on boxes, as though they were ready for packing.

   ‘How much will it cost me, and how soon will I become a top model?’

   Cedric's eyes narrowed until they were just gleaming green slits. ‘Fifty sardines before you start, then twentyfive before your first photosession, and twentyfive up front every time I take your picture. You can count on a couple of weeks.’ His elegant paw twitched, as though he expected her to count out a deposit there and then.

   Roxanne did some quick sums in her head and drew a deep breath. ‘You mean it's going to cost me about three hundred sardines?’ Her voice rose in disbelief. ‘Can't you take it out of the fees I'll be earning?’

   Cedric made a face. ‘Doesn't work like that, dear.’ His voice shed its posh edge, and now he was talking like a market cat selling fish heads. ‘I've got all my expenses to pay. I need the cash.’

   Salem looked fierce. ‘I think it's a rip-off.’

   Cedric bared his teeth, and the hair stood up on his back. ‘Oh, do you, kitten? Well, take your thinking somewhere else a bit sharpish, or you'll find yourself on the sharp end of a nasty claw.’

   Suddenly he seemed very big and fierce. Salem and Roxanne beat a hasty retreat. They were retreating back down the alley at speed when they heard the sound of a kitten weeping behind them.

   It was Fluffy. The fur under her chin was all tearstained, and she was sobbing bitterly. ‘It's all your fault. He threw me out, because you're friends of mine. Why did you both have to go and spoil it all for me?’

   Salem stopped. ‘How much did you pay him?’

   Fluffy stopped weeping to do some sums. ‘I gave him my pocketmoney at the bridge, that was ten sardines.’ She hesitated, and then spoke in a rush. ‘And I borrowed more from my mum and my aunt Sibyl, and told them I was going to buy a special present for my gran. It must have been a hundred sardines in all.’

   Roxanne held out her handkerchief. ‘That was a bit dishonest.’

   Fluffy mopped at her eyes. Her whiskers were all damp and draggly. ‘I know.’ She snuffled her words. ‘But Cedric told me I was going to be so rich I thought I could pay mum back out of it.’

   They had now reached the smart shopping street. Salem looked at his watch. ‘Wait here.’ He rushed off like a cat running across hot bricks.

   Fluffy twitched. ‘Where's he gone?’ She had lost all her pride, and her airs and graces, and now she was just a frightened young girl kitten.

   Roxanne patted her paw. He's gone to get help.’ She had no idea what Salem intended, but she knew he would think of something good.

   The two girl kittens waited, huddled together near the alleyway entrance. They seemed to be there for ages, but it could not have been very long before a car raced up and stopped by them, and Salem tumbled out, followed by his father, to rush away up the alleyway.

   They were only gone for a few minutes. Salem came back, looking very pleased with himself, followed by his father, who looked very stern. He handed Fluffy an envelope. ‘This is for you.’

   Fluffy looked inside, and burst out weeping again. She passed the envelope to Roxanne. Inside were two fifty sardine notes.

   ‘Dad asked Cedric if he had a licence to run a model school, and told him he was a crook,’ Salem explained. ‘Cedric wasn't fierce any more when Dad showed him his Town Hall card, he just handed over the money without a word.’

   ‘I told him we'd close him down for breaking trading regulations,’ Salem's father explained. ‘He'll probably be gone in the morning, he seemed pretty much packed up to leave.’

   ‘What about the other girls?’ Fluffy was really a very good-natured kitten, even if she sometimes seemed rather self-centred, and she was horrifed at the thought that she might be the only one not to lose out.

   ‘I don't suppose they'll have much luck.’ Salem's father sounded as though he was sure they would lose their money. He shrugged. He was a grown-up cat, and like a lot of grown-ups plainly thought that people who behaved in silly ways deserved a good deal of the things that happened afterwards.

   Cedric left Catsville that night. The Catsville Gazette had a front page story next morning reporting that some girl cats had arrived for their evening modelling class to find his studio quite deserted, and Cat-tv showed a queue of sad girl cats stretching up the alleyway on its lunchtime news programme. The Cat-tv reporter said that Cedric had taken several thousand sardines with him, and that he had been a dreadful liar, because he had never found modelling jobs for any girl cats at all.

   Fluffy repaid her mother and her aunt, and also confessed what she had done. Her mother was rather angry when she heard what had happened, because Fluffy had lied to her. But she also knew that too many compliments had turned Fluffy's head, and Fluffy promised to change her ways and be a model kitten.

   She kept her word. She never wore fancy ribbons again, and gave the ones that she had to charity. She also stopped giving herself airs and graces, though once or twice Roxanne did spy her dancing on the tips of her toes, when she was feeling very pleased with herself, and from that day on she not only joined in all the games at the kitten picnics, but even helped Roxanne pack tidbit parcels. She was even nice to Jeremy when she was paired off with him, even though she still thought him rather a swot, because now she understood that kittens only really enjoy themselves when they make other cats and kittens happy - and she never backcombed her fur again.