Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray

Author:Jennifer Gray [Jennifer Gray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: atticus_claw_breaks_the_law
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2012-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

The next morning, when Atticus came downstairs, Inspector Cheddar was crunching toast noisily. Atticus peered at him from the safety of the doorway. Michael was right. The Inspector was in a bad mood – terrible actually, if the thunderous expression on his face was anything to go by.

Atticus glanced around the kitchen.

Mrs Cheddar had already left for work.

The kids were sitting at the table looking miserable.

Mrs Tucker was standing beside the sink with a frying pan in her hand looking as if she was about to bash someone with it.

Atticus quaked at the sight of her. Mrs Tucker’s mouth was drawn in a tight line. Her forehead was wrinkled into waves. Her frizzy grey hair was standing on end and she was grinding her teeth unpleasantly.

She glowered at Inspector Cheddar.

Inspector Cheddar glowered back.

It was obvious the two of them had had a row.

Atticus wondered what it could have been about. They had seemed chummy enough yesterday over plankton-and-cod cookies. Perhaps Mrs Tucker had found out Inspector Cheddar had thrown away her fish tea.

Atticus slunk over to his bowl and stared at it hopefully. No one had thought to put anything in it. Not even the children. He waited. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The heavy silence was broken only by the sound of crashing crockery as Mrs Tucker banged down the frying pan and started to clear the table – slinging empty bowls and cups recklessly into the sink.

Atticus kept staring at the empty dish. Eventually he heard Mrs Tucker open a cupboard with a crash. She rattled round in a drawer. There followed an unpleasant scraping noise that set his teeth on edge. What was she doing? He didn’t dare look. Atticus’s stomach gurgled. Couldn’t anyone see he was about to starve to death?

Mrs Tucker bent down beside him.

Food! He thought. At last!

SPLAT!

A thick cylinder of evil-smelling wobbly pink goo landed heavily in Atticus’s dish and collapsed into a pile of lumpy sludge.

Atticus flinched as a dollop splattered on to his clean whiskers. He wiped it off with a paw. Tinned food? TINNED FOOD? Atticus couldn’t believe it. What had happened to his sardines? Or those yummy foil sachets Callie bought him? He hated tinned food. It was worse than the mummified rabbit poo the matador from Madrid used to feed him.

Atticus was about to walk away when Mrs Tucker’s hostile glare fell upon him. He stopped.

‘That’s all we’ve got, you fussy animal!’ she snapped. ‘Eat it up!’

Atticus tiptoed back to his bowl. Why was everyone in such a bad mood?! He didn’t dare leave it though. He chewed his way reluctantly through gristle and fat, trying hard not to burp. He hoped he wouldn’t get indigestion.

‘Bye, Atticus,’ Michael said dolefully, getting down from the table.

‘See you later.’ Callie gave his ears a stroke.

Atticus couldn’t purr. A piece of gristle was stuck in his throat.

The children went to put on their shoes in the hall. From the corner of his eye, Atticus saw Mrs Tucker give Inspector Cheddar

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.