“It’s still a bit boring.”
“So what do you want to do instead?” Miss Smith grinned. “How about a sponsored silence?”
Lots of people groaned, and Helena twisted her fingers in her hair, trying to think. They needed to come up with a good idea and quickly, before people lost interest. Already a couple of the boys were suggesting a sponsored parachute jump. It would just get silly in a minute. She put her hand up, looking hopefully at Miss Smith.
“We ought to do something that’s about pets. Since that’s what we’re raising money for.”
“Like a dog show!” Alice suggested, but Miss Smith looked rather horrified.
“Sorry, I don’t think Mr Brown would let us have a dog show in school,” she said firmly.
“But we could have a sort of competition,” Helena said slowly. “With videos of our pets, instead of bringing the actual pets in! Like a funniest pet competition. We could ask the whole school if they wanted to enter. And the teachers! Mr Brown’s got a really cute dog, hasn’t he?”
“I could borrow my mum’s phone and film Charlie skateboarding,” Katie yelped excitedly. “He’s not very good at it, but he loves trying. It’s really funny to watch.”
“And people could pay a little bit to enter,” Helena said, still trying to think it through. “Then we could show all the videos one lunch time. And sell tickets – oh, and have cakes and biscuits for sale, too,” she added to Katie.
“I’ll ask Mr Brown about it at break,” Miss Smith said, as the whole class tried to tell her about their pets’ funniest tricks at once. “And then maybe we can use your IT lesson this afternoon to make some posters.”
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Helena hopped impatiently from foot to foot as her mum unlocked the front door. Gran had sent Mum a text saying that Caramel had been fine at lunch time. But Helena was desperate to see for herself that he was all right. She rushed in as soon as Mum got the door open, making for the kitchen.
“Oh! Listen!” she told her mum, stopping in the hall. “He’s mewing… And I can hear him – he’s got out of his basket, he’s coming to see us!” There was definitely a thumping noise coming from behind the kitchen door, as Caramel limped determinedly towards them. Helena giggled. “Maybe I can film you doing your pirate walk for our competition,” she told Caramel, as she carefully opened the kitchen door. “Whoa! No dashing out…” She caught him gently. “Sorry, Caramel-cat. You have to stay in here.”
Caramel half climbed into her lap, and rubbed his chin against her school jumper.
[Êàðòèíêà: _32.jpg]
“Is he purring?” Mum whispered.
Helena looked up at her and nodded. She actually hadn’t dared to say anything. It was only the second time she’d heard him purr. And that first time at the vet’s he had only purred for a second or two, very faintly. Now Caramel was purring properly. A deep throaty purr that Helena could feel as well as hear. He was quivering all over with purrs.
“He’s glad to see us,” she whispered to Mum. “He’s actually happy!”
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“He’s definitely looking better,” Katie said after school the next day, watching Caramel trying to investigate the fridge. Helena had opened it to get out the butter, and Caramel could smell the ham for her packed lunches. It smelled delicious – and very close to his nose.
“He is, isn’t he,” Helena agreed happily. “No, you can’t climb in there!” She nudged Caramel back with her toe and closed the door. “Sorry. Am I mean, puss?”
Caramel stalked away with his tail in the air, as though he wasn’t bothered, but his plastered leg made it a bit tricky. He was still feeling wobbly.
[Êàðòèíêà: _34.jpg]
“He looked quite sad in that photo you brought in,” Katie said. “But now he’s cheered up a lot, I think. It’s lovely to finally meet him in person. Caramel! Puss, puss, puss…” She made kissy noises, and Caramel padded cautiously across the floor towards her, sniffing her outstretched fingers, and letting her rub his head and tickle his ears.
“He’s much more friendly now,” Helena said happily. “I don’t think he’d have done that on Saturday when we brought him home. When you think that it’s only Wednesday. He’s got ever so much better, and in such a short time. When he was still at the vet’s he was so shy and miserable.He’s quite nervous sometimes, though,” she added. “He hates loud noises.”
“He walks really well, doesn’t he,” Katie said, watching Caramel prowl round their ankles as they weighed out the ingredients for their biscuits.
“He’s putting weight on his bad leg a bit more now. Before he was sort of hopping, as if he was trying not to put it down to the ground. He’s got another two and a half weeks, and then hopefully he can have the plaster taken off. Oh, please can you pass me the sugar?”
The two girls were making cat-shaped biscuits to sell at the Funniest Pet Show. Mr Brown, the head teacher, had said it was a great idea, very creative. He’d told them to go ahead and arrange the show for Friday when he’d be able to judge.
“Did you send in a video of Caramel with his plaster on?” Katie asked. “I’ve done Charlie – he was brilliant. The skateboard went out from under his paws and he just sort of stared at it as if he didn’t understand what had happened.”
[Êàðòèíêà: _35.jpg]
“Yes, I sent it, but I don’t think he’ll win,” Katie said, shaking her head. “Some of the others are so funny. Bella’s cat trying to drink out of the taps in the washbasin is the best, I reckon. It’s the way she turns her head upside down, and then shakes all the water off her whiskers. It makes me laugh every time.”
Helena and some of the others in her class had been watching all the videos with their teacher during break and lunch to find the best ones that would be in the show– they’d meant to put them all in, but there were so many, there wasn’t time to let everyone watch them all. They had already made more than eighty pounds, just from people paying a pound to send in a video. Then they were selling tickets for the show, and everyone in the class was supposed to be bringing some cakes or biscuits in to sell, too.
“We should have got orangey-gold icing for the eyes on these biscuits,” Katie said, peering down at Caramel, who’d gone to sit in his basket under the counter, since they clearly weren’t going to feed him anything. “I hadn’t noticed before what a lovely colour his eyes are.”
“I know,” Helena agreed proudly. “Mum and I talked about doing the eyes gold when we made the shopping list, but we decided green ones were more usual. Caramel’s just extra-specially beautiful.”
“He looks like he’s sulking,” Katie said. “Is he OK? He’s got his nose tucked away inside his basket.”
[Êàðòèíêà: _36.jpg]
Helena looked down under the counter and sighed.“I think that now he’s walking better, it’s making him cross being shut in the kitchen. Every time we open the kitchen door, he’s there, trying to slip round our legs. He never scratches or bites, but you can tell he’s annoyed. His ears go all flat, and his tail’s twitchy. He wants to go and explore.”
“Couldn’t you let him out?” Katie asked. “Why does he have to stay in the kitchen?”
“Molly – that’s the vet – she said that if he tried to climb or jump he could jar his broken leg and stop it healing. Even if it was just trying to climb the stairs, he might trip and fall because of the plaster. There’s nowhere in the kitchen that he can reach to jump up to, but there’s enough space for him to exercise his leg muscles. Otherwise his leg’s going to go all thin and weak inside the plaster.”
“Oh, I see.” Katie nodded. “That’s sensible.”
“Mmmm, Caramel doesn’t think so, though. He thinks we’re just being mean.” Helena sighed. “Little grumpy-face,” she told Caramel lovingly.
Caramel heard her, and looked up. He gazed at her for a moment and then yawned hugely, showing all his teeth and his bright pink tongue.