Winston and the Marmalade Cat by Megan Rix

Author:Megan Rix
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141385730
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2017-05-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Harry looked over at Old Ned sitting in the worn armchair. He wasn’t sure if the elderly man had fallen asleep or not. Old Ned’s bald head was lowered to his chest and Harry couldn’t see if his eyes were open or closed.

But then Old Ned muttered to himself, clearly half-asleep. ‘Winston’s school report said he would never amount to much. How wrong could they be!’

Little Houdini went over to the old man, hopped up on to his lap and pushed his head against his hand for a stroke.

‘Oh, hello there,’ Old Ned said sleepily. ‘Must have dozed off a bit.’ He gave the kitten a stroke. ‘You remind me of a kitten I used to have called Sergeant Tommy.’

‘Crumpets are done,’ Harry told him.

‘Good. Put lots of butter on them,’ Old Ned said. ‘They’re best with lots of butter.’

Harry spread them with lots of butter and smiled as he bit into his crumpet. Old Ned was right. Lots of butter was best.

‘I’d better be getting back up to the main house,’ Harry said when they’d finished eating. He didn’t want to keep Sir Winston waiting.

‘People will be arriving with presents for Winny all day,’ Old Ned said. ‘One year he was given a lion that he called Rota and another year an albino kangaroo was sent all the way from Australia. Winny wanted to keep the kangaroo in the orchard here but it just wasn’t practical.

‘When he turned eighty though, now that was a big birthday year. Present after present. Everyone wanted to say thank you for his part in the Second World War. But Winny wouldn’t take all the credit. He said the whole nation had the lion’s heart but he had the luck to be given the roar. He meant that the whole country had been very brave.’

Harry thought about his dad. He’d been brave, very brave. He’d fought in the war and said he’d fight again even if he knew he’d be blinded by it. His dad had a lion’s heart and Harry was proud of him.

‘Winston’s presents over the years would fill all the rooms in Chartwell ten times over,’ Old Ned continued.

Harry thought that Sir Winston got given so many presents that he really didn’t need to have Little Houdini as well.

Little Houdini tried to push his paw under the stove to catch the mouse.

‘I’ll come with you to the main house,’ Old Ned said, standing up and putting his cap on.

Little Houdini looked back at the stove and miaowed as Harry picked him up.

‘Winny bought the farm next to here, you know, so he could keep pigs, and other animals. But the pigs were his favourites. “Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. But a pig looks you in the eye,” he used to say.

‘The pigs we kept here were more like pets than farm animals. They’d follow me around when I was doing my work. Curious about what I was doing. I’d talk to them all the time and they’d make little grunting sounds as if they could understand every word.

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