Cat Mummy (10 page)

‘I wonder why Miss Smith wants you, Verity?’ said Sophie.

‘I hope she’s not cross with you,’ said Laura.

‘I hope she
is
,’ said Moyra.

‘I hope she doesn’t keep you long. You’ve got to come up to the park today, you haven’t been for
ages
,’ said Aaron.

Miss Smith didn’t keep me long. She just smiled at me and asked me gently how I was.

‘I still feel really bad about Mabel,’ I said.

‘Of course you do,’ said Miss Smith. ‘Look, I’ve found you a book that tells you all about the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It’s full of magic spells and prayers for dead people.’

‘Is there one for dead cats?’ I asked eagerly.

‘I’m not sure. Perhaps you can make one up. You could write it out in your best handwriting and do a special picture of Mabel. Maybe you could make your own little book about her? You could stick in photos and
write
about all the happy times you had with her. It could be a special way of remembering her for always.’

‘I like that idea!’ I said. Then I added shyly, ‘And I like you, Miss Smith. In fact you’ve always been
my
special favourite.’

Miss Smith laughed and went pink and told me to run along.

I went up to the park with Gran and Aaron and Aaron’s mum and baby Aimee and Licky.

We passed some of the Mabel posters on the way. I hung my head and felt sad, but in the park Licky caught this little boy’s ball and wouldn’t give it back and we all had to play Chase the Dog and it was such fun that I almost forgot about Mabel.

I remembered her when we got home though. I went back into the garden and knelt by her grave and whispered to her. The earth was packed tight so it didn’t look as if her spirit had flown out of the box yet.

Grandad called me to come in but I didn’t want to. Grandad came out into the garden
and
kept me company for a bit. Then Dad got home and came and put his arm round me.

‘You’ve been early three days in a row, Dad!’ I said.

‘I’m going to try to get away early
every
day now,’ said Dad. ‘I think we need to spend more time with each other, Verity. You know it’s so stupid, I’ve spent such a long time feeling sad that your mummy died, and yet I should also be feeling so very glad that I’ve got you.’

He said it as if he’d been rehearsing what to say all the way home from work, but it still sounded good.

He asked if Miss Smith had said anything at school and I told him about doing a book about Mabel.

‘That’s a wonderful idea! Miss Smith is
so
clever. You’re very lucky to have such a lovely teacher, Verity,’ said Dad. ‘It’s Saturday tomorrow, so we’ll go shopping for a special notebook for Mabel.’

CHAPTER NINE

The Egyptian Book of the Dead Mabel

WE ENDED UP
buying two special big blank books. One for Mabel. And one for my mum.

‘You can do Mabel’s book all by yourself, Verity,’ said Dad. ‘And we’ll work on Mummy’s book together, just you and me. I want you to know all about her.’

‘Don’t you mind me talking about her now?’

‘I don’t mind a bit. I think we should talk. I was silly not to before.’

‘Can I talk about her to Gran and Grandad too?’

‘Maybe that’s not such a good idea. Gran still finds it too sad.’

‘Dad, did Miss Smith tell you to talk about my mum?’ I asked.

Dad went a bit red.

‘Well . . . we did sort of . . . yes, it was really her idea,’ he said.

‘She has great ideas, doesn’t she?’ I said. ‘I do like her. Do you like her, Dad?’

‘Mmm. Yes. I like her a lot,’ said Dad, and he went even redder. He smiled. I smiled too.

We worked on our books all weekend.

You will never guess what! I’ve got a kitten now!

Sophie and her mum and dad came round on Sunday and said I could choose one of their kittens. I wasn’t sure at first. I badly wanted a kitten but it felt as if I was being unfair and disloyal to Mabel.

‘I understand, Verity. But loving one cat a great deal doesn’t mean you can never ever love another one,’ said Dad. ‘I should say “yes, please” to a kitten if I were you.’

So I went back to Sophie’s house and we spent a long time playing with Sporty, Scary, Baby and Posh.

They were all so
sweet
. Sporty’s already started to climb the curtains! Scary is very bold and chases after the clockwork frog. Posh is probably the prettiest and seems to know it, stretching out elegantly as if she’s posing. But Baby is the cuddliest.

‘You can have whichever one you like,’ said Sophie. ‘Only I rather hope you won’t choose Sporty as she’s such a pickle. And Scary’s so funny. And Posh just looks so perfect.’

It was no problem at all choosing. I desperately wanted Baby.

So now I have my very own kitten and I love her to bits. I’m going to look after her properly and I shall never ever be cross with her. I hope she lives until long after I’m grown up. But I know one thing. I’ll never love Baby
quite
as much as I loved my Mabel . . .

About the Author

Jacqueline Wilson is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author who served as Children’s Laureate from 2005-7. She has been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including the British Children’s Book of the Year and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award (for
The Illustrated Mum
), the Smarties Prize and the Children’s Book Award (for
Double Act
, for which she was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal). In 2002 Jacqueline was given an OBE for services to literacy in schools and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. She has sold over thirty-five million books and was the author most borrowed from British libraries in the last decade.