Paws and Whiskers Read online

  When they were got out of the house, Jane said, ‘What, have you two baskets, young ladies, full of good things, to carry to old Martha? Well, I am very glad; for she is a good and pious old woman.’

  Soffrona coloured, but did not answer, and Sophia smiled, and said, ‘She has not got any thing for the old woman in her basket: she has only got Muff, wrapped in flannel, in it.’

  ‘O, Miss!’ said Jane, ‘how can you think of doing such a thing? What a trouble it will be to you to carry the kitten all the way! And we have two miles to walk, and most of it uphill. Please to let me carry the kitten back to the house.’

  ‘No, no, Jane,’ said Soffrona, ‘no, you shall not.’

  ‘Shall not, Miss!’ said Jane: ‘is that a pretty word?’

  Soffrona looked very cross, and Jane was turning back to complain to the lady: but Sophia entreated her not to do it; and Soffrona submitted to ask her pardon for being rude, and promised to behave better, if she would permit her to carry the kitten where she was going. So that matter was settled, and Jane and the little girls proceeded.

  I could tell you much about the pretty places through which they passed in going to poor Martha’s cottage, which were quite new to the little girls. They first went through some dark woods, where the trees met over their heads like the arches in a church; and then they came to a dingle, where water was running at the bottom, and they crossed the water by a wooden bridge; then they had to climb up such a steep, such a very steep hill, covered with bushes; then they came to a high field surrounded with trees, and in a corner of that field was old Martha’s thatched cottage. It was a poor place: the walls were black-and-white, and there were two windows, one of which was in the thatch, and one below, and a door, half of which was open; for it was such a door as you see in cottages, the lower part of which can be shut while the other is open. There was a little smoke coming out of the chimney, for Martha was cooking her potatoes for her dinner.

  ‘Do you think Martha has any milk in her house?’ said Soffrona; ‘for poor Muff must be very hungry by this time.’

  ‘I fear not,’ replied Jane: ‘but come, young ladies, we have been a long time getting up this hill, and we must be at home by three o’clock.’

  So they went on, and came close to the door, and stood there a little while, looking in. They saw within the cottage a very small kitchen; but it was neat, and there was nothing out of its place. There was a wide chimney in the kitchen, and in the chimney a fire of sticks, over which hung a little kettle. Old Martha was sitting on a stool within the chimney. She was dressed in a blue petticoat and jacket, and had a high crowned, old-fashioned felt hat on her head, and a coarse clean check handkerchief on her neck. Before her was a spinning-wheel, which she was turning very diligently, for she could not see to do any work besides spinning; and by the fire, on the hob, sat a fine tortoise-shell cat, which was the old woman’s only companion. ‘O!’ cried little Soffrona, ‘there is a cat! I see a cat!’

  ‘Dear, Miss,’ said Jane, ‘you can think of nothing but cats.’

  ‘Well, Jane,’ answered Sophia, ‘and if she is fond of cats, is there any harm in it?’

  Jane could make no answer, for by this time old Martha had seen them, and came halting on her crutch to meet them, and to offer them all the seats in her house; and these were only a three-legged stool and two old chairs.

  Sophia then presented the old woman with what she had brought from her mamma, and Jane gave her a bottle of medicine from her pocket: and the old woman spoke of the goodness of Almighty God, who had put it into the lady’s heart to provide her with what she needed most in this world.

  Now, while Sophia and Jane and Martha were looking over the things which the lady had sent, the old cat had left the hob, and had come to Soffrona, and was staring wildly, and mewing in a strange way round the basket; and at the same time the kitten within began to mew. ‘Puss! Puss! pretty Puss!’ said Soffrona, for she was half afraid of this large cat, yet at the same time very well inclined to form a friendship with her.

  At length, those that were with her in the cottage saw what was passing, and Martha said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Miss; Tibby won’t hurt you. Poor thing! She is in great trouble, and has been so ever since yesterday.’

  ‘What trouble?’ said Soffrona.

  ‘Some rude boys came in yesterday, and stole her kitten,’ replied Martha. ‘I was in the wood, picking a few sticks, and left the door open; and the boys came in, and ran away with the kitten; and the poor cat has been moaning and grieving like a human being – poor dumb thing – ever since. The cruel lads! I saw them go down the hill!’

  ‘O!’ said Soffrona, ‘and I do believe—’

  ‘And I am sure,’ said Sophia.

  ‘And I am so glad!’ said Soffrona.

  ‘And how happy she will be!’ said Sophia.

  And Soffrona immediately set down her basket and opened it, and put the little kitten on the floor, for the kitten was indeed poor Tibby’s kitten.

  It was a pretty sight, an agreeable and pleasant sight, to behold the joy of the old cat when she saw her kitten. The poor creature seemed as if she would have talked. Martha took up the kitten and laid it on a little bit of a mat in the corner of the chimney, where it used to be; and the old cat ran to it, and lay down by it, and gave it milk, and licked it, and talked to it in her way (that is, in the way that cats use to their kittens), and purred so loud, that you might have heard her to the very end of the cottage. It was a pleasant sight, as I said before, for it is a pleasure to see anything happy; and Soffrona jumped and capered about the house, and knew not how sufficiently to express her joy: and as for little Sophia, her eyes were filled with tears; and poor old Martha was not the least happy of the party.

  And now, when it was time to go, Soffrona took up her empty basket, and giving the kitten a kiss, ‘Little Puss,’ she said, ‘I will rejoice in your happiness, though it will be a loss to me, for I must part with my little darling. But I will not be selfish: Mamma says that I can never make myself happy by making other things miserable. Goodbye, little Puss: if God will help me, I will try never to be selfish.’ And she walked out of the cottage, wiping away her tears.

  ‘But you will let her have Muff, won’t you, Martha,’ said Sophia, ‘when her mother has brought her up, and can part with her?’

  ‘To be sure I will, dear Miss,’ replied Martha, ‘for I was delighted to hear her say that she knew she never could make herself happy by making others miserable.’

  When Muff was a quarter old, she was brought to Soffrona, and became her cat, and lived in her service till her yellow and black hairs were mingled with grey.

  VARJAK PAW

  by S. F. Said

  When you write children’s books and become reasonably well known, journalists sometimes want to interview you for their newspapers or magazines. This is mostly enjoyable, because it’s fun to talk about your own book, but you have to be quite wary. Sometimes a few unscrupulous journalists try to trick you to come out with all kinds of comments and then twist what you say.

  I think my most delightful and interesting interview ever was with S. F. Said. He knew so much about children’s books and we found we had all sorts of things in common – we even shared a passion for gothic silver jewellery. He told me that he’d written a children’s book himself and so I asked him to send me a copy when it came out.

  I was thrilled when I read Varjak Paw. It’s new and contemporary and original, and yet it already reads like a true classic of children’s literature.

  VARJAK PAW

  Varjak awoke at the foot of the wall. His head was pounding, his paws aching. It wasn’t quite light yet, but the night was almost over. The fall from the tree must have knocked him out. What a dream! He wondered if he’d ever have another like it.

  He shivered. It was cold out in the open, and the grass beneath his body was wet. He stood up, shook the moisture from his fur, and looked around.

  The view cleared his head instantly. Outside