Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander

Author:Lloyd Alexander [Alexander, Lloyd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Childrens, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781627656481
Google: MVwSswEACAAJ
Goodreads: 822630
Publisher: Puffin Books
Published: 1963-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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11. Ser Piero Sees a Picture

When Jason and Gareth climbed out of bed, Leonardo was already awake—or else he hadn’t slept at all. Jason found him still sitting at his table. The lights had all gone out of his face, and in the early morning he merely looked like a sleepy boy who has stayed up most of the night and needs a haircut.

The squirrel exercised frantically in its cage. Gareth jumped up and pressed his nose to the bars, studying the little animal racing as fast as it could, spinning its wheel and always staying in the same place.

“Have you decided what to paint?” Jason asked.

Leonardo only grunted. He tossed over Jacopo’s board.

“You straightened it!” Jason said. “And it’s all smooth and white.” He examined the board. Leonardo must have spent hours working on the surface. It would be perfect for painting.

“But there’s nothing on it,” Leonardo sighed. “First, there were so many things I wanted to paint I couldn’t decide which to do. Then, they all flew out of my head and I couldn’t think of anything. I wanted to do something—I don’t know—different. Now there’s nothing,” he added glumly. “All the pictures are gone.”

“You’ll find something,” Jason said. “There’s no hurry.”

“I want to do it now,” Leonardo said with irritation. “My father’s gone to Florence. He’ll be back tomorrow or the next day. I want it ready for him.”

The squirrel had stopped its racing. Chattering and scolding, it jumped at Gareth. Surprised, the cat bristled and pulled back.

“That’s what I want!” Leonardo cried, snapping his fingers. “That’s my picture! I should have thought of it before. Yes, yes,” he went on excitedly, “a picture of a cat. They’re the most beautiful animals in the world—and the hardest to paint, if you really want the picture to look like a cat.

“Remember yesterday, when we all scared each other up in the mountains? He looked the same way then. That’s the idea I want.”

“Are you going to paint the cave, too?” Jason asked. “And me hanging on the rocks?”

“Of course not,” Leonardo said impatiently. “I’m just going to paint your cat.”

“But I thought you said …”

“I said that’s the idea I want,” Leonardo explained. “It doesn’t mean you have to show everything else. The cat’s the main thing. But when somebody looks at the painting, it should make them think of all the rest. They should look at it and say, ‘Now, here’s a cat; he’s angry and frightened and ready to fight, something must have scared him.’ Then they’ll wonder what it was.

“Maybe they won’t use those words,” Leonardo went on, “but if it’s any good, a painting should make you think about a lot of other things. In a painting there’s always more than what you see….” Leonardo stopped and frowned. “He doesn’t look bristly any more. Make him do it again.”

“I can’t make him,” Jason said. “He only does it when he feels like it.”

“I could think up something to scare him,” Leonardo suggested. “Nothing serious.

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