‘I want him to come back,’ said Lukas, and could feel the lump in his throat.
‘Maybe it’s better for him to be living wild in a rainy-weather land,’ said Dad.
‘Cats don’t like rain,’ said Lukas.
‘But Night ran away when it was pouring down,’ said his dad. ‘Perhaps Night is an unusual cat who likes bad weather.’
Lukas needed to think about that. Maybe his dad was right? Maybe Night was the only cat in the world who liked rain? But in that case, where is this special rainy-weather land?
He asked his dad.
‘Nobody really knows where it is,’ said Axel. ‘But what I do know is that all the cats who live there put umbrellas up when it’s sunny and they sit outside in their gardens, and they are happiest when it’s raining. The raindrops are warm, and they give you a tan. Sometimes the rain is so warm that they have to find a place where the sun is shining so that they can find some shade and feel cool.’
‘That’s a very strange country,’ said Lukas. ‘Is it on the map?’
‘No,’ said his dad. ‘Only the very best and most remarkable cats ever find their way there. They don’t need maps. They follow the rain clouds, and they eventually get there.’
‘Is there food for them in that country?’ Lukas wondered.
‘There’s everything a cat could possibly want there,’ said Axel. ‘Cats couldn’t possibly find anywhere better to live than the rainy-weather land.’
Lukas didn’t really know what to believe. Obviously, what his dad was saying was a fairy tale — but it was a lovely fairy tale. It was easier to think about Night after having heard Dad talking about this strange country far, far away, where it rained all the time.
‘That’s why I took the day off,’ said Axel. ‘So that we could come out here into the forest and talk about Night.’
‘Will Night ever come back?’ Lukas asked.
‘Possibly not,’ said his dad. ‘But I’m quite sure that he’s thinking about you just as much as you’re thinking about him.’
‘Can’t we go and visit him?’ Lukas asked.
‘Where?’
‘In the rainy-weather land.’
‘There’s no way we could go there, neither walking or by car,’ said his dad.
‘How did Night get there, then?’
There was a long pause before Axel answered. Lukas had the feeling that his dad didn’t really know.
‘Cats have remarkable eyes,’ he said in the end. They can see much better than we can when it’s dark. Sometimes, when it rains at night, really big drops fall to the ground — as big as beach balls. Cats who want to go to the rainy-weather land creep inside those enormous drops. Then they start spinning round at tremendous speed and woosh! — They vanish; and when they’ve vanished they are there.’
Lukas didn’t know what to think. What his dad had told him sounded exciting — but could it really be true? Did raindrops as big as that really fall during the night?
‘I want Night to come back even so,’ said Lukas. ‘Even if he can only come to say hello now and again. Maybe it’s possible to write letters to that strange land?’
‘We’ll have to see if we can find out the address,’ said Axel, standing up. ‘Maybe all we need to do is to leave a letter under that wild currant bush where he used to lie and sleep? Maybe the cats have a secret postman who collects such letters?’
Lukas decided that he would write a letter to Night as soon as he’d learnt how to write and spell at school. Now he wanted to start school immediately.
‘I’ll write letters to him,’ said Lukas. ‘I’ll write every single day.’
They walked back through the forest. Lukas held his dad’s hand. When they got back to the lake shore, Lukas remembered something.
‘We didn’t see an elk,’ he said.
‘But perhaps there was an elk who saw us,’ said his dad.
Then they drove home.
That evening Lukas placed an envelope containing a photograph of himself under the currant bush. He thought it would be best for Night to have a picture so that he wouldn’t forget what Lukas looked like.
His mum had helped him to address the envelope.
The next morning it was still there under the bush.
But Lukas wasn’t going to give up. Sooner or later the cats’ secret postman would come and collect his letter. He was absolutely certain of that.
Ten
It suddenly occurred to Lukas that he had almost stopped laughing.
How on earth could that be possible? He was always so cheerful, and could laugh at anything you like.
Obviously, it was because Night hadn’t come back. Lukas thought days were long, and hard to get through — as if every hour was a heavy boot with lots of mud clinging to its sole.
One morning he woke up feeling bitter and angry, and went to join his mum in the kitchen.
‘Good morning, Lukas,’ she said. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘No,’ said Lukas. ‘I slept bloody awful.’
‘You mustn’t speak like that,’ said his mother sternly.
‘I slept bloody awful,’ said Lukas again, but even louder this time, as if he wanted everybody in Rowan Tree Road to hear him.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ Beatrice wondered.
‘I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas.
‘Of course you’re going to start school,’ she said. ‘You’ve been looking forward to it for so long now.’
‘I can’t start school as long as Night is missing. How would I be able to look for him?’
‘I can keep an eye on the road while you’re in school.’
Lukas didn’t think much of that. It wasn’t enough simply to wander over to a window now and then and take a look at the road or the garden.
If you were going to find a cat that had run away, you would have to spend all your time searching and looking out of the window.
‘Anyway, I’m not going to start school,’ said Lukas, and stormed out of the kitchen. He wondered if he ought to slam the door behind him, but he didn’t dare. His mum could sometimes get very angry — so angry that Lukas was sort of scared.
‘Aren’t you going to have any breakfast?’ asked Beatrice in surprise.
‘I’m not hungry,’ said Lukas. ‘Do we really have to spend all our time eating?’
Lukas got dressed and went out. There was a nip in the air, and he shivered as he trudged through the garden towards the fence. He looked round. None of his friends were out. The only living thing apart from himself was a magpie, wagging its tail up and down on a fence not far away.
Lukas went to the wild currant bush.
He stopped dead.
The letter! He’d forgotten all about the letter. And now it had vanished. There was nothing under the currant bush.
Somebody had been there and collected his letter.
He stared at the ground where the envelope had been lying underneath a lump of granite. No, his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Somebody had been there during the night, and fetched it. It was on its way to Rainy-Weather Land. Night would soon be holding it in his paws.
Lukas burst out laughing. There was a bubbling inside him, as if he was about to belch. And then the laughter came tumbling out, like a balloon of bubble-gum bursting. Nobody could laugh like Lukas, when he was really happy. It sounded like trumpets and neighing horses and clattering magpies.
The curious neighbour, who always seemed to be standing by his fence and keeping an eye on Lukas, couldn’t resist asking what was so funny. But Lukas didn’t reply. He just carried on laughing. He knew now that Night was safe and sound.