A Tiger Tale Read online

  Molly leaned down next to Kate and patted her arm. “Kate, where’s your tiger?”

  Kate couldn’t answer her, but Molly had worked it out now, and she didn’t give up. “You’ve been carrying him around with you all the time since – since Granddad went. You only put him down when Mum made you, for dinner, and baths. And you’ve kept him hidden in your bag for the holiday club.” She pulled gently at Kate’s hand, trying to see her face. “Kate, where is he?”

  “They took him!” Kate gasped, looking up desperately at Molly. She was sure that it was true. Kate had been really horrible to Izzy. Even though she hadn’t quite meant to be. And they must have taken Amos to teach her a lesson. Maybe it had been Harry too, Kate didn’t know. “Those girls, they were upset with me. I didn’t really mean to be horrible, but I was. I just can’t be friendly now, I’m too sad!”

  “They took your tiger? That Granddad gave you?” Molly demanded angrily.

  “Think so…” Kate sniffed.

  “Is that why you were so upset when I picked you up?” her mum asked. “You’d just found that you hadn’t got him?”

  “He should have been in my rucksack,” Kate whispered. “Under my lunch box. I didn’t take him out, I know I didn’t. Molly said I looked like a baby cuddling him. I didn’t want anyone to laugh at me. I just kept him in there and went back and stroked him sometimes.”

  “Oh, Kate… You didn’t really look babyish.” Molly drew a pattern in some sugar that was spilled over the table. “I only said it because I was jealous. I wish I had something like your tiger, to remind me of Granddad.”

  Kate stared at her. “Really?”

  “It’s like you’ve got a special way to remember him,” Molly added sadly. “You’re lucky.”

  “But now he’s gone,” Kate gulped.

  “We’ll find him,” Mum told her firmly. “I can explain to the leaders at the holiday club. We’ll make sure you get him back.”

  Mum had promised. She even rang up the holiday club on her mobile, explaining what had happened, and asking them to look for Amos. She said if she had to she would make a huge fuss, until Kate had him back. But that didn’t help right now. Kate still had to go to bed without him.

  She sighed, and pulled the covers over her head, making a warm, muffled darkness.

  If only a tiger could have exploded out of her rucksack that morning, and bitten Ella and Izzy in half. But it didn’t seem to work like that. She only saw the tiger when she was on her own, and thinking about Granddad. Because Granddad had given her Amos, she supposed. He was hers and Granddad’s together.

  Kate pushed the duvet back a little and turned over, hunching it up around her shoulders. She was so tired, but she couldn’t sleep now for worrying about tomorrow. And remembering all those whispery voices in the lunch room. She really didn’t want to go back. Perhaps she could run away, she thought dreamily. She could run off to the forest reserve in India, and go and find the real Amos, the one they sent the money to.

  She yawned, and closed her eyes, imagining walking through the trees and seeing him all at once. He’d come padding towards her, camouflaged among the shadows. Or perhaps he’d climb up out of the river. There had been a photo of one of the tigers swimming in the last letter from the tiger charity. He’d been shaking the water off his ears as he stepped on to the bank, all his whiskers splashy and dripping. She and Granddad had imagined swimming with tigers – holding on to their furry ruffs, and floating down a great river, looking up at the trees far above. And then climbing out and drying off on a furry tiger like a towel. Kate had said that a tiger’s tail was the best way to dry between the toes. She smiled to herself. It could be true. She could swim with tigers…

  In her dream, Kate hurried through the forest – a strange half-painted forest, like the cafe, partly real and partly flat. There were even tables here and there, hidden among the trees, and Kate could smell coffee, mixed in with the sweet, wet scent of leaves.

  She was searching for Amos, of course. Not only her toy tiger but the real tiger he became. The tiger with big velvety paws who had wrapped her up tight and let her tears soak into his fur. He felt lost to her, the same way Granddad felt lost. But if she ran fast enough, she would catch him. He was just ahead of her, she was sure. There was a flash of dark orange fur, then it shimmered into the shadows again, the black stripes flickering away.

  Kate raced through the forest, fighting her way through branches and creepers, her breath heaving. But always he was just too far ahead of her. Once she thought her outstretched fingers brushed his fur, but then he slipped away.

  In the strange way of dreams, she suddenly understood that it wasn’t real, moments before she was awake. Kate lay there twitching, panting, worn out just as she had been in the dream.

  She reached out her hand to stroke the toy Amos, to make her feel better, but of course he wasn’t there. Her fingers trailed uselessly across the bedclothes, and Kate gulped.

  Then something nudged her hand – not the silky plush fur of her toy tiger, but a rougher, warmer coat.

  Kate cupped her fingers gently around the velvet of his muzzle, and felt his whiskers twitch against her hand, like thick wires.

  “You’re here!” she whispered in surprise. “I missed you. I thought I’d lost you. I didn’t think you could ever come back.”

  She wriggled herself to the very edge of her bed, and draped her arm around his huge shoulders. She could just see him in the dark – a long, powerful shape stretched out on the spotty rug beside her bed. His amber eyes were glinting, and his striped black-tipped tail swished from side to side as she stroked him.

  “Will you stay? Please?” Kate murmured sleepily. The tiger shifted beside her, and a deep, growly, loving voice answered her. The tiger sounded like Granddad, Kate thought, as her eyes flickered shut.

  “I’ll never leave you, Katey-kitten.”

  Kate woke up to thin streams of sunlight pouring between her bedroom curtains. The spotted fabric rippled gently in the breeze from the open window, and Kate could smell the freshness in the air. It was probably going to be a beautiful day. Except that she’d have to go back to the holiday club again.

  She wrapped her arms around her knees, and frowned, thinking about the day before. Somehow, the idea of the holiday club didn’t seem quite so bad this morning. Even though she didn’t have Amos. And even though Ella and Izzy would be there again, giving her those sideways looks.

  Because the tiger had come back.

  He had been there, even without Amos to bring him. It was all right!

  Kate lifted her head suddenly to look at the open window. Last night, he had come back, after her dream. He had been lying on her bedroom floor, next to the bed, purring in the darkness. He was probably longer than her bed was, Kate thought, grinning to herself. Not even counting his tail. He had come back to her – even though she didn’t have the toy tiger any more. He had lain there with her, she had felt his fur and that had not been a dream, she was sure. Almost sure. She leaned over to look for hairs on the carpet, but she couldn’t see any.

  He must have gone back out of the window again, to go hunting in the garden. He was probably out there now. Perhaps he was sleeping at the back of the flower bed. She could go downstairs and look, in a minute.

  Or maybe she shouldn’t. Perhaps it was cheating to look. She should just wait, and he would come, when she needed him. Then with the tiger curled around her, and his whiskers ticking her ears, it would be safe to remember.

  “Kate!” Molly banged on her door, and then stuck her head around. “Mum’s calling, didn’t you hear? Breakfast.”

  Kate blinked at her. “All right.”

  Molly swung on the door handle and glanced at Kate, and then quickly away again as though she was nervous. “Are you OK?”

  “Um. I think so…” Kate nodded slowly. It was like getting up after you’d fallen o
ver, and testing out if it hurt to walk. She was, mostly, all right. A bit battered…

  “Well, you’d better hurry up. We’ve got to go to holiday club again, you know.” That nervous look again. Then Molly added hurriedly, “You can stick with me and Erin, if you like.”

  Kate stared at her. “Thanks!” She smiled down at her knees. “I might for some of the time. But I want to do another painting.” Maybe the tiger sleeping on a tree branch this time. Or coming towards her out of the river. With the splashing – maybe she could flick the paint off a toothbrush for the water droplets. She was actually looking forward to it, she decided, feeling surprised. “I’m coming!” she told Molly, scrambling out of bed.

  “All right, well, I’m putting toast on for you, so hurry up.” Molly had gone back to her bossy older sister voice, but Kate didn’t mind. She pulled a cardigan on over her pyjamas, and followed Molly downstairs.

  Mum was darting about the kitchen, making the packed lunches, and finding her work stuff at the same time. She looked distracted, but she stopped long enough to give Kate a hug, and kiss both her ears. “Eat some breakfast,” was all she said, but Kate didn’t mind. She took the plate of toast that Molly had handed her, and stood by the kitchen window. She wasn’t really looking… But there might be a black-tipped tail wafting in those shadows where the long grass was.

  Mum peered over Kate’s shoulder, on her way to find the juice cartons. “Oh, look! Your lovely tulips, Kate! The ones you chose with Granddad.” She caught her breath a little then, but she still sounded happy when she went on. “They’re beautiful, those red and white stripes.”

  “Granddad was worried they might be a bit too bright,” Kate murmured. “But I think he’d have liked them really.”

  Kate pulled out her old jeans, ones that wouldn’t matter if she got paint on them, and sat down on her bed to put them on. Her curtains were still drawn, and they were flapping. She should shut the window, before they went out. But then the tiger might not be able to come in…

  “Where are you now?” Kate whispered. “I won’t come and look. I promise. Mum and Kate might see you, if I went and searched the garden. But – come back soon, won’t you? Please?”

  The soft hiss of her whispering echoed back to her across the room, making her blink and look up. Someone had answered her, in a whistling purr that deepened slowly into a roar. Someone was roaring in the garden. Actually, it sounded like someone was roaring just outside Kate’s bedroom window.

  He was there. He had come back for her! It was true, she didn’t need the toy Amos after all. Kate leaned eagerly towards the window, waiting to hear the roar again.

  Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

  “Is that you?” she asked, standing in front of the window, suddenly too nervous to pull the curtains open. A tiger couldn’t fit on her windowsill – even though there was a dark shape, silhouetted against the early sun. But she could hear the purring roar. It sounded close. Someone was there.

  Perhaps a small tiger? If he was curled up tight?

  Kate inched the curtains apart, holding her breath and peering out.

  Peering back at her hopefully was a huge, but far-too-thin, striped cat. He had broad shoulders, and his long back swung like a tiger’s as he prowled up and down her windowsill. The sun was shining on his stripes – he was tawny-brown under them, not tiger-orange, but Kate thought he was as beautiful as any tiger.

  “Was that you roaring?” Kate whispered to him. “I thought you were a tiger.”

  The cat edged his face around her window, and eyed her solemnly. He had a great, shaggy head, with a golden tigery ruff and glowing amber eyes.

  “Would you like to come in?” Kate asked, reaching out her fingers for him to sniff.

  For such a big cat, he was very graceful, she thought admiringly as he stepped round through the window. His long, heavy black-tipped tail swirled around the glass, and he stood there looking at her.

  Kate remembered a tail just like that, swishing back and forth on her rug. Could it have been a long, brown and black, striped tabby tail? And not a tiger’s, after all?

  “Was it you last night?” Kate murmured, running her hand down his long back. He was thinner than he should be, she could tell – the bony lumps on his back stood out. “What happened to you?” she wondered. “Are you a stray?” Then she caught her breath hopefully. “Do you need someone to look after you?” She stepped away from the window and sat down on the end of her bed, eyeing the cat sideways, hoping he’d be brave enough to follow her in.

  The cat looked at the bed as if he already knew how comfortable it might be for sleeping on, as if he had been here before, and then he jumped after her, landing with a thump. He padded at the rumpled covers, and seemed to approve. Then he set off and marched around her, lifting his paws up high, and all the time purring and purring.

  Kate looked at his velvety paws and smiled. “You’re my tiger… Was it you all the time? Even in the shed that first night?”

  The cat purred loudly again, and butted the top of his head against Kate’s cheek. A tawny, gingery hair floated on to the windowsill, and Kate felt laughter bubbling inside her. Laughter, and just a hint of disappointment. Granddad hadn’t sent her a tiger guardian – and Amos wasn’t anything more than her favourite, most treasured toy. There hadn’t been a tiger who had wrapped himself around her.

  But this cat had still kept her from missing Granddad. He had been there when she needed him. And the cat had come because of Granddad, Kate was sure. The brown tabby had smelled the packet of treats that Granddad kept up on the shelf in the shed. He’d come sniffing for cat treats, and found a girl instead, a girl who needed something to hold on to. He’d curled up with her, and given her a way to remember.

  Kate laughed. “Oh, if only Granddad could have seen you.” She stopped for a moment, and took a deep breath, but it was all right. It was good to talk about Granddad. “You’d have been just the sort of cat he’d like,” she went on determinedly. “He loved big cats, and stripy ones were his favourite. He’d have given you all his cat treats. I’ll go and get them for you in a minute, out of the shed.”

  The cat stopped circling and stared up at her with golden-amber eyes. He had enormously hairy ears, Kate noticed, just like Granddad, and the tiger. And the same white whiskery eyebrows. But he was himself, and that was all. That was quite enough.

  Look out for more by

  HOLLY WEBB

  Everyone thinks Penguin is a silly name for a cat, but Alfie thinks it’s perfect. To Alfie, he’s the best cat in the world.

  Penguin loves to play in the overgrown garden next door. But when a new girl moves in and reclaims it, Alfie worries she might think Penguin belongs to her too!

  What’s living in Ben and Cassie’s garden?

  There are strange rustlings coming from the greenhouse, and something has eaten all of the sausage rolls they left out. It could be a bear… Everyone knows that bears love sausage rolls.

  Can Ben and Cassie catch it? Or at least see it for real? They’re definitely going to try.

  Amy wriggled. Choc had his nose in her ear again. “Ow, Choccie, don’t.” She leaned away from him, giggling. “It’s cold.” They’d been in the car for ages, four hours at least, and the heat was making Choc’s chilly nose feel icy. He’d been licking the bare part of her shoulder or sticking his nose in her ear every few minutes since they’d left the house.

  Choc hated being stuck in his dog crate in the boot of the car. He saw no reason why he couldn’t sit next to Amy and Lara in the back seat. He knew that was where he was meant to be – right in the middle of the two girls, so they could both make a big fuss of him. He stared through the wire of the crate with mournful chocolate-brown eyes, and slobbered down the back of Amy’s vest top.

  “Uurgh, Choc…” Amy squashed sideways so he couldn’t dribble on her neck any more, and peered through the wire at him.
“I know you’re bored, but please stop licking me…”

  Choc’s eyes were round and soulful like Maltesers now, and Amy smiled. She could never resist that look. She pushed two fingers through the wire of the crate and scratched him behind the ears. He sighed with delight, leaning his head up against the side, eyes closed, shivering happily. Behind the ears was the best place. A really good behind-the-ears scratch could have him on the floor with all four paws in the air. He slumped gradually down to the floor with a long sigh.

  Amy eased her hand back from the crate. Choc had fallen asleep, she thought, blinking as the air in the car slanted suddenly green. The trees were arching over the road, pushing against each other so close that the car was driving through a green tunnel, a tunnel with strange dappled patterns of sunlight here and there. Amy wondered if anyone else had noticed. Dad was only looking straight ahead. That was probably a good thing, if you were driving, Amy thought sleepily. It was the middle of the afternoon, and it felt like they’d been driving all day. Her little sister, Lara, looked like she was about to melt into her pink car seat, and their mum was fanning herself with a paper fan Amy had made her at school.

  Amy leaned her head against the car window and sighed. She was hot, and half-asleep like Choc, and the car seat was sticking to her legs. She took a breath, about to ask Mum if they were nearly there, and then caught Dad’s eye in the mirror, and didn’t. Everyone was grumpy, and Mum had been grumpy all week. The baby wasn’t due for another month, but Amy was already feeling fed up with it, and the way it was making Mum so tired and cross.

  Lara did it instead. “Mum, are we there yet?”

  “No.” Mum’s voice was tight and tired. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as though she was just as sticky as Amy. And about four times the size. She was enormous.