Mystery of the Disappearing Cat (2 page)

“This one over here,” said Miss Harmer, and she led the way to a smaller cage, like a very large kennel on legs. “Well, Dark Queen? Aren’t you a beauty? Here are some visitors to tell you how lovely you are!”

The big Siamese cat in the large, airy cage rubbed her head against the wire-netting, mewing loudly. The kennel-girl scratched her gently on the head.

“Dark Queen is our very, very special cat,” she said. “She has just won a prize of a hundred pounds. She is worth much more than that.”

Dark Queen stood up, and her dark-brown tail rose in the air, swaying gently to and fro. Bets noticed something.

“She’s got a few creamy hairs in the middle of her dark tail,” she said to Miss Harmer.

“Yes,” said the kennel-girl. “She was bitten by one of the others there, and the hairs grew cream instead of brown. But they will turn brown later. What do you think of her?”

“Well — she seems just exactly like all the others,” said Daisy. “I mean — they are exactly alike, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” said Miss Harmer. “They have exactly the same colouring, you see. But I can always tell the difference, even when they are all mixed up together.”

“Fancy being worth more than a hundred pounds!” said Fatty, staring at Dark Queen, who stared back with unwinking blue eyes.

“Could you get Dark Queen out?” asked Daisy, who was longing to hold the beautiful cat. “Is she tame?”

“Oh yes” said Miss Harmer. “They are all tame. We only keep them in cages because they are so valuable. We couldn’t let them roam free in case someone stole them.”

She took a key from a nail, and unlocked the cage-door. She lifted Dark Queen out, and held her. The beautiful cat rubbed against her, purring in a deep voice. Daisy stroked her, and to her delight the cat jumped into her arms.

“Oh, isn’t she friendly?” said Daisy joyfully.

Then there came a great disturbance! Buster suddenly rushed along the path and flung himself on Fatty, barking joyfully. Dark Queen leapt straight out of Daisy’s arms, and disappeared into the bushes. Buster, surprised, stared for a moment, and then, with a loud and joyful yelp, plunged after her. There was a terrific scrimmage.

Miss Harmer squealed. Luke’s mouth fell open and he looked frightened. All the cats set up a miaowing. Fatty called fiercely:

“Buster! Come here, sir! BUSTER! Do you hear me? COME HERE, SIR!”

But no amount of calling could get Buster away if there was a cat to chase. Miss Harmer ran in despair to the bushes. Only Buster was there, his nose bleeding from a scratch, his tongue hanging out, his eyes very bright and excited.

“Where’s Dark Queen?” wailed Miss Harmer. “Oh, this is awful! Puss, puss, puss!”

Bets began to cry. She couldn’t bear to think that Dark Queen had gone. She thought she heard a noise in some bushes right at the end of the path and she ran off to see, tears running down her fat cheeks.

Then there came another commotion. Someone walked up to the cages, came round them — and it was Mr. Tupping, the gardener! Luke stared at him in fright.

“What’s all this?” shouted Mr. Tupping. “Who are you? What are you doing in my garden?”

“It isn’t your garden,” said Fatty boldly. “It’s Lady Candling’s, and she’s a friend of my mother’s.”

It wasn’t a bit of good telling Mr. Tupping that it wasn’t his garden. He felt that it belonged to him. And here were children and a dog in his garden! He detested children, dogs, cats, and birds.

“You get out of here,” he shouted in an angry voice. “Go on! Get out at once! Do you hear me? And if I catch you here again I’ll box your ears and tell your fathers. Miss Harmer, what’s the matter with you?”

“Dark Queen is gone!” wailed Miss Harmer, who seemed just as much afraid of Mr. Tupping as Luke.

“Serves you right if you lose your job,” said Mr. Tupping. “What use are them cats, I’d like to know? Just rubbish, that’s all they are. Good riddance if one is gone!”

“Shall we stay and help you to look for Dark Queen?” said Daisy to the Kennel-girl.

“You get out,” said Mr. Tupping, and his big hooky nose got very red. His stone-coloured eyes glared at Daisy. He was an ugly, bad-tempered-looking fellow, with straw-coloured hair streaked with grey, and the children didn’t like the look of him at all.

They decided to go. Tupping looked as if he might hit them at any moment. They made their way to the wall. They saw that Bets was not with them, but they thought she must have run back and climbed over the wall in her fear of the surly gardener. Fatty called Buster.

“No; you leave that dog with me,” said Tupping. “A good hiding will do him good. I’ll give him one, then he won’t come interfering in my garden again.”

“Don’t you dare to touch my dog!” cried Fatty at once. “He’ll bite you.”

Tupping made a grab for Buster and got him by the collar. He held him firmly by the back of the neck so that he couldn’t even snap. He jerked him off his feet into the air, and then, carrying him by the back of the neck, marched off with him. Fatty was almost beside himself with anger.

He ran after the gardener and pulled at his arm. The man hit out at the boy, and Fatty gasped. Tupping threw the dog into a shed, shut the door, turned the key and put it into his pocket. Then he turned to Fatty with such an ugly look on his face that the boy turned and ran.

Soon all four were over the wall, lying on the grass, panting and angry. They had left poor frightened Luke behind, and poor scared Miss Harmer. They had left Bets behind too, though they didn’t know it — and Buster was locked in the shed.

“Hateful man!” said Daisy, almost in tears.

“The beast!” said Fatty between his teeth. “Look at this bruise already showing on my arm. That’s where he hit me.”

“Poor old Buster,” said Pip, hearing an anguished whine in the distance.

“Where’s Bets?” said Larry, looking all round. “Bets, Bets! Where are you?”

There was no answer. Bets was still over the wall. “She must have gone indoors,” said Pip. “I say, what are we going to do about Buster? Fatty, we’ve got to rescue him, you know. We can’t leave him there. I bet he will whip the poor little dog.”

“Poor Buster,” said Daisy. “And poor Dark Queen. Oh! I do hope she is found. I wonder how Buster got over the wall.”

“He didn’t,” said Fatty. “He couldn’t. He must have thought hard, run down the drive, and up the drive next door and into the garden to find us. You know what brains Buster has got. Oh, golly! how are we going to rescue him? How I hate that man Tupping! How awful for poor Luke to have to work under him!”

“I’ll go and find Bets,” said Pip. “She must have gone to hide or something — maybe she’s scared.”

He went into the house to find her, and soon came out looking puzzled. “She’s not anywhere about,” he said. “I’ve called and called. Wherever can she be? I suppose she did come back over the wall? She can’t be in next door’s garden still, can she?”

But she was. Poor little Bets was hiding there, scared stiff. What was she to do? She couldn’t get over the wall by herself — and she didn’t dare to run down the drive in case Mr. Tupping saw her!

Luke is a Good Friend.

When Bets had run to the bushes to see if Dark Queen was there, she had found that it was only a big blackbird that had flown out as soon as she had got there. All the same, she went into the bushes and had a look round, calling, “Puss, puss, puss!”

Suddenly she saw two bright blue eyes looking down at her from the tree above. She jumped. Then she gave a cry of delight.

“Oh, it’s you, Dark Queen! Oh, I’m so glad I’ve found you!”

She stood and thought. It was no good getting Dark Queen down until Buster was safely out of the garden. The lovely cat was much safer where she was. Bets looked up at Dark Queen and the cat began to purr. She liked the little girl.

Bets saw that the tree would be easy to climb. It wasn’t long before she was up on the branch beside the cat, stroking her, and talking to her. Dark Queen simply loved it. She rubbed her dark brown head against the little girl, and purred very loudly.

And then Bets heard Mr. Tupping shouting, and she was frightened. Oh dear! the gardener must have come back. He wasn’t out after all. She listened to the angry yelling, and trembled. She did not dare to join the others. She sat quietly by the cat and listened.

She could not hear exactly what happened, but after a while she realized that the others must have gone back over the wall and left her. She felt very forlorn and frightened. She was just about to slip down the tree to try and find Miss Harmer and tell her where Dark Queen was, when footsteps came along the path. The little girl peeped between the leaves of the tree and saw Mr. Tupping dragging poor Luke along by one of his big ears.

“I’ll teach you to let children into my garden!” said Mr. Tupping, and he gave Luke such a slap that the boy let out a yell. “You’re paid to do work, you are. You’ll stay here and work two hours overtime for letting them children in!”

He gave Luke another blow, pulled his ear hard, then pushed him and sent him flying down the path. Bets was so sorry for Luke that tears ran down her cheeks, and she gave a little sob. Horrid Mr. Tupping!

Mr. Tupping went off down another path. Luke picked up a hoe, and was just setting off in the opposite direction when Bets called softly to him:

“Luke!”

Luke dropped his hoe with a clatter, and looked all if round, startled. He could see no one. “Luke!” called Bets again. “I’m here, up the tree. And Dark Queen is with me.”

Then Luke saw the little girl up the tree and the Siamese cat beside her. Bets slipped down and stood beside him.

“Help me over the wall, Luke,” she said. “Well, if Mr. Tupping sees me I’ll lose my job, and my stepfather will belt me black and blue,” said poor Luke, his big red face as scared as Bets’ little one.

“Well, I don’t want you to lose your job,” said Bets. “I’ll try and get over by myself.”

But Luke would not let her do that. Scared as he was, he felt that he must help the little girl. He lifted Dark Queen down from the tree, and together the two of them walked softly up the path, keeping a sharp look-out for Mr. Tupping.

Luke slipped Dark Queen into her cage and shut the door. “Miss Harmer will be glad she’s found,” he whispered to Bets. “I’ll tell her in a minute. Now, come on — sprint for the wall and I’ll get you over.”

They ran for the wall. Luke gave Bets a leg-up, and soon she was sitting on the top. “Buck up!” called Luke in a low voice. “Old Tupping is coming!”

Bets was so frightened that she jumped down at once, falling on hands and knees and grazing them. She rushed to the lawn, seeing the others there, and flung herself down beside them, trembling.

“Bets! Wherever have you been?” cried Pip.

“Were you left behind?” said Fatty. “Oh, look at your poor knees!”

“And my hands too,” said Bets in a trembling voice, holding out bleeding hands. Fatty got out his hanky and wiped them. “How did you get over the wall by yourself?” he asked.

“I didn’t. Luke helped me, though he was terribly, terribly afraid that Mr. Tupping would come along and catch him. Then he would lose his job,” said Bets.

“Jolly decent of him to help you, then,” said Larry, and the others agreed.

“I like Luke,” said Bets. “I think he’s very, very nice. I do wish he hadn’t got into trouble through letting us come over the wall and see the cats.”

A distant whining came on the air again. Bets looked puzzled. She looked all round.

“Where’s Buster?” she asked. She had not heard him being dragged away and locked up, though she had heard the noise of the commotion. The others told her. The little girl was indignant and upset.

“Oh, we must rescue him; we must, we must!” she cried. “Fatty, do, do go over the wall and get Buster!”

But Fatty didn’t feel at all inclined to run the risk of meeting the surly Mr. Tupping again. Also he knew that the gardener had the key of Buster’s shed in his pocket.

“If Lady Candling wasn’t away I’d get my mother to ring her up and ask her to tell that fellow Tupping to set him free,” said Fatty. He rolled up his sleeve again and looked at the big bruise on his arm, now turning red-purple. “If I showed my mother that, I bet she’d ring up a dozen Lady Candlings.”

“It’s going to be quite a good bruise,” said Bets, knowing how proud Fatty always was of his bruises. “Oh dear, there’s poor darling Buster howling again! Let’s go to the wall and peep over. We might see Luke and get him to peep in at the shed window and say a kind word to Buster.”

So they tiptoed cautiously to the wall and Larry carefully looked over. No one was about. Then there came the sound of someone whistling. It was Luke. Larry whistled too. The distant whistling stopped, then began again. It stopped, and Larry whistled the same tune.

Presently there came the sound of someone coming through the bushes and Luke’s face appeared, full and red, like a round moon. “What’s up?” he whispered. “I daren’t stop. Mr. Tupping’s still about.”

“It’s Buster,” whispered Larry. “Can you peep in at the shed window and just say, ‘Poor fellow,’ or something like that to him?”

Luke nodded and disappeared. He went towards the shed, keeping a sharp look-out for the gardener. He saw him in the distance, taking off his coat to do a bit of work. He hung it on a nail outside one of the greenhouses. He caught sight of Luke and yelled at him.

“Now then, lazy! Have you finished that bed yet? I want you to come and tie up some tomatoes.”

Luke shouted something back and went into the bushes nearby. He watched Mr. Tupping walk off to the kitchen-garden, unravelling some raffia as he went. The gardener disappeared through a green door let into the wall that ran round the kitchen-garden.

Then Luke did a very brave thing. He ran swiftly and quietly to Mr. Tupping’s coat. He slipped his hand into the outer pocket, took the key of the little shed, and raced off with it He unlocked the shed, and Buster rushed out. Luke tried to catch him in order to bundle him over the wall, but Buster escaped him and tore off down a path.

Luke locked the door quickly, ran back to the gardener’s coat and slipped the key back into the pocket. Then he went to join Mr. Tupping in the kitchen-garden, hoping to goodness that Buster had had the sense to shoot off down the drive.