Alone in the Night (5 page)

Chapter Five

Star was feeling odd. She didn’t know why, but things felt different. She knew she needed to find somewhere quiet and warm, and just curl up and be on her own for a while. But no one seemed to want her to do that!

Star loved Jasmine, and usually she adored all the attention and cuddling she got at Jasmine’s house, but not 
right now. After breakfast that morning, she set off determined to find herself a quiet little nest.

But everywhere in the house seemed busy, and noisy, and full of people – which, considering only Jasmine and her mum were there, was rather strange. Grumpily, Star wandered back into the kitchen to see if there was any more food in her bowl. She was so hungry at the moment! Then she spotted the perfect place…

Jasmine’s mum had been looking for the red tablecloth she liked to use for Christmas lunch, and she’d left a drawer in the big kitchen cupboard half open. Star peered into it interestedly. It was full of hand towels, tea towels and tablecloths. Warm, soft, clean things 
that would be perfect to snuggle up and snooze on. Star wondered why she had never noticed it before – it was just right! She stepped in and curled up at the back of the drawer, yawning and closing her eyes.

Some time later, Star woke up to find herself in complete darkness. She opened her eyes very wide, her heart thudding, unable to think where she was. Then she remembered. Her soft, cosy nest. What had happened to it? Why had it gone dark? She edged forward to where the opening had been and pawed at the wooden walls. She was shut in a tight, dark box! Panicking, Star scratched and scuffled at the front of the drawer, and mewed frantically.

Jasmine and her mum were making 
cards at the kitchen table. “That sounds like Star,” said Jasmine. “I was wondering where she was. She’s shut in somewhere, Mum!”

“I don’t understand,” Jasmine’s mum muttered, opening cupboards. “Where can she be? Oh! Oh dear, the drawer!”

Star blinked and cowered as her nest moved sharply, bumping her head against the top of the drawer. She was pulled out into the light, huddling against the towels. 

“Oh, poor Star…” Jasmine lifted her out, and Star snuggled gratefully against her.

“What on earth was she doing in there?” Jasmine’s mum asked, sounding rather guilty – she had been the one who shut Star in.

“I suppose she was just looking for somewhere cosy to sleep,” Jasmine suggested. “It wasn’t your fault, Mum, you couldn’t have known she was there.” She stroked Star’s head gently. “I know we’re cutting back, but I think she really deserves a cat treat!”

Mum and Jasmine went back to card-making, and Star played
half-heartedly
with some pencils, but she couldn’t enjoy the game properly. She was still feeling the need to find herself 
a quiet place to rest, and she sneaked away to go searching again. This time she found a space under the stairs. It was quiet and dark, and it didn’t have a door that anyone could close on her by accident. There were lots of odd things stored under there: wellies, roller skates, and a big basket full of gloves and scarves and hats. Star scrambled up the side and turned round several times, purring throatily. This was just right. She would stay here.

But it didn’t last. Star was sleeping peacefully when she felt her hiding place shudder as Jasmine raced up the stairs over her head, calling for her. And then Jasmine’s mum hauled out the vacuum cleaner, which was right next to her basket bed. 

“Oh, Star, I didn’t see you. She’s down here, Jasmine!” Mum called. And Jasmine came dashing down the stairs again, thud, thump, thud, and picked Star up for a cuddle.

Star was still half-asleep, and she was grumpy. She didn’t
want
to be picked up. She wanted to be left alone. Crossly, she gave a loud hiss, lashed out with her claws and scratched Jasmine’s arm. 

Jasmine was so surprised she yelled and dropped Star, who hissed and shot into the kitchen. There she yowled at Jasmine’s mum until she opened the back door.

Jasmine clutched her arm, which was oozing a few spots of blood. She entered the kitchen just in time to see Star’s grey and brown striped tail disappearing round the back door. Then she sat down at the kitchen table and cried. Star had scratched her – and then Jasmine had scared her so much by shouting that she’d run away!

Star stayed out in the garden until it got dark, hiding under a clump of bushes. 
She was shivering from the cold and knew she couldn’t stay out all night. But she’d spent a long time trying to work out where she could go and hadn’t found anywhere good. Everywhere was too busy, too full of people.

She crept out from under her bush and sneaked over to the hole under the fence. She didn’t quite have the energy to climb over the fence right now. She dug a little with her claws, widening the hole, then squeezed herself underneath. She had been back to her own garden quite a lot while she was staying at Jasmine’s house, trying to make sure all the local cats still knew it was hers. Perhaps she could go and make a nest in the bramble patch? She shivered again. No, it was far too cold, 
colder than she’d ever felt it, and the ground was frozen hard. She needed somewhere really warm.

Her house! Of course. She had been back a few times since she’d been staying with Jasmine, to see if the Murrays had come back, but it felt strange and empty. Now the quiet house felt like just what she needed.

Eagerly, Star scurried over to the door and nosed at her cat flap, squeezing herself in.

It was so quiet. No one around. Quite warm, or at least warmer than the bramble bushes. Perfect. She looked round the kitchen thoughtfully, trying to think of a good place to go.

After her experience with drawers at Jasmine’s house, she didn’t want 
anywhere too small and tight. Star set off upstairs, and tried all the beds, but they weren’t right either – too out in the open. At last, in the smaller bedroom, she found the airing cupboard. The door was shut, but it only had a light catch, and the door itself was made of wooden slats that were perfect for claws to hook between.

Star pulled it open and crept in, sniffing delightedly at the clean, fresh smell. The floor was covered in a pile of old towels, and she curled up on them, closing her eyes peacefully. She was home. Just in time.

Chapter Six

It was almost bedtime. By now Jasmine was panicking. She couldn’t find Star anywhere. She’d even checked the kitchen cupboard drawer, just in case.

“She’s run away because I shouted at her!” Jasmine wailed. “It’s all my fault!”

“She’s probably just out exploring,” Jasmine’s mum suggested, trying to 
calm her down. “You know she likes to go off and sniff around in those brambles next door.”

Jasmine bolted out into the dark garden, without even putting on her coat, and raced down to the end. She climbed up her mum’s rockery – which she definitely wasn’t allowed to do – and peered over at the brambly bit at the end of the Murrays’ garden. A few tiny snowflakes drifted gently past her nose, and she shivered.

“Star! Star! Here, puss, puss…” She tried again and again, but no little stripy cat appeared out of the trailing branches, looking up at her lovingly.

Jasmine wandered sadly back up the garden. She looked so unhappy that her mum didn’t bother telling her off. 

“She isn’t there.”

“You don’t know that, Jasmine. She might just not want to come out.”

“But why?” Jasmine cried. “Why doesn’t she want to play any more? What have I done to make her not like me? I was supposed to be looking after her! She used to like me, I know she did, but she even scratched me! She’s never done that before.”

She slumped down in a kitchen chair, and her mum sat down next to her. “Jasmine, it isn’t your fault. You’ve looked after her really well. Cats are like that sometimes. They can get touchy and grumpy, just like people can. She’s probably stalking blackbirds in a garden a few doors down. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” 

Jasmine gave her a disbelieving look. “It’s starting to snow out there, Mum! It’s freezing! Star wouldn’t want to stay out in this weather – she likes being warm.” Jasmine looked over at Star’s bowl, which was full of food. “She hasn’t even come back for her tea and she must be really hungry by now. Oh, what if she doesn’t come back? What are we going to do? How will we tell Andy and Helen?”

Mum thought for a moment, then smiled. “Do you know what I think, Star’s probably gone back home!”

Jasmine’s mouth opened, then she grinned back at her mum. “Of course she has!” She hugged her round the waist lovingly. “Oh, Mum, you’re so clever, why didn’t I think of that?”

The house felt strange, rather cold and very quiet. Jasmine couldn’t help feeling guilty, as though she was trespassing. She was glad Mum had come with her.

She had hoped that Star would come out to meet her as soon as she opened the door, but no little stripy cat 
appeared, mewing in welcome. Then Jasmine had an awful thought – what if Star had accidentally got herself shut in somewhere like she had earlier? That was only because Mum had shut the drawer, of course, but Star could easily have got herself trapped if a door had swung closed. And no one had been here to let her out! Jasmine ran through the house, calling and calling for Star, until her voice hurt and Mum told her gently to stop.

Tucked away inside the warm airing cupboard, Star could hear Jasmine calling her name. She was tempted to mew and let Jasmine know where she was – she missed her soft stroking, the loving whispers, and the delicious treats Jasmine always had for her. But for now she needed to be alone. She wasn’t ready quite yet. Soon.

Mum had her arm round Jasmine as they walked back home. “She’ll turn up,” she told her, trying to sound encouraging. “You know Helen said she’d been wandering a bit.”

“Did you find her?” Dad opened the front door as they came down the path. 

Jasmine shook her head sadly, and Dad gave her a hug. “I’ll help you look for her tomorrow,” he promised. But he gave his wife a worried frown over Jasmine’s head.

“I don’t think we’ll ever find her!” Jasmine wailed.

“Oh, darling, you’re getting way ahead of yourself! If she isn’t back in the morning, then we’ll go and look for her. But she will be. You’ll see.”

Just before Jasmine went to bed that night, she went to draw her bedroom curtains and peered out at the
night-filled
garden. There were deep shadows everywhere and it looked frightening. Jasmine hated to think of Star out there somewhere all on her own. Last time Star had been out at night, 
Jasmine had rescued her. But now she wasn’t even sure Star would want to be rescued. Or at least not by her.

“If only I hadn’t shouted at her like that,” she whispered miserably to her reflection in the window.

Suddenly the dark sky filled with thick snowflakes, and Jasmine watched sadly as they began to cover the garden in frozen whiteness.