Читать книгу Max’s Adventures with His Loyal Friends - Марина Голомидова - Страница 5

Spring had arrived. In Auntie Jane’s garden the new grass was a rich emerald green and the crocuses were in bloom. This year, they’d come through in numbers untold and formed a beautiful carpet of violet and yellow on the ground. Whenever the cats were playing in the garden, they had to take extra care not to tread on the flowers – one sudden move and those fragile stalks could break! Auntie Jane would walk out through the tall glass doors to the garden to watch Max and the cats playing – and would get very cross indeed if she caught them spoiling her garden’s perfect order!

One day Jane went out into the garden as usual – and was horrified by what she saw. Nearly all her beloved crocuses had been broken, the grass had been trampled and several ugly holes had been dug out on the lawn.

“All of you come here at once! Who’s responsible for this?!” Auntie Jane was quite beside herself. Her face was flushed with anger, her hands trembling.

Max and the cats had only just woken up, but came running as soon as they heard her voice – and they looked at the garden with such astonishment that anyone could tell they were seeing the damage for the first time. Deep down Auntie Jane knew they’d had nothing to do with it, but she was still struggling to come to terms with the destruction – and decided to ask Max and Hunter a few questions just in case.

“Who was out in the garden last night and left this disgraceful scene? Was it you playing hide-and-seek? Or playing soldiers?”

Max was hurt. “Of course not! How could you even think we’d do something like this? Hunter, Matilda, Tom, Sienna – tell Auntie it wasn’t us!”

The cats lifted their tails in unison, then shook the tips ever so slightly to confirm what Max had said.

Feeling terribly upset, Auntie Jane started to collect the flowers that were scattered on the ground – while Max, along with his team of furry helpers, brought fresh earth to fill the holes and spread seeds to grow new grass.

Sadly, despite all their efforts the garden didn’t really look much better – the dark bare patches glaring in the bright green lawn made it a sorry sight.

“Well, we can’t let ourselves get downhearted – we’ll just have to wait until the new grass comes through. And we mustn’t forget to water, that’s crucial – we can’t let the seeds dry out.”

After a few days the first tiny blades of grass started to show, and the crocuses bloomed thicker and brighter than before, as if to make up for the ones that were lost. The garden’s old beauty and harmony returned. But one morning the house woke up to find the flowers broken and trampled again, and in the middle of their beautiful lawn… an enormous black hole.

This time Auntie Jane couldn’t hold back the tears. She ran into the house in despair and threw herself onto her bed, stricken with a terrible migraine.

“Poor Auntie Jane!” said Hunter. “That does it, we have to help her – and that means catching the louts who’ve been wrecking our garden! Well, I’ve got a plan, and I’d like to hear what you think of it.”

Gathered by the fire in the sitting room, the friends had a meeting.

“We need to set up a rota,” said Hunter. “We’ll take turns watching the garden.”

And Max had an idea: “We can build a treehouse – that will make the perfect observation post! We’ll be hidden by the leaves, so nobody will know we’re there.”

Right at the end of the garden, beyond the strawberry beds, there was a grand old tree with a thick trunk. It wasn’t that tall but it was very wide, with big strong branches that were thick with foliage. The tree had an unusual name – it was a eucalyptus. They said it was planted by one of Auntie Jane’s ancestors some three hundred years ago.

That was the tree where Max planned to build their hideout.

“It’s going to be quite the job,” he said. “Let’s sketch out a plan first, then get building. I say we lay down a deck on the thickest branch to make the floor, then make the walls out of rope and tie them to the branches up above.”

Max took a piece of paper and drew a sketch of the treehouse. It looked so good that the friends couldn’t wait to get started.

“Hunter, if you can find boards for the floor, I’ll put them together. Sienna and Matilda, you can make the walls – just don’t forget to leave holes for the windows. And Tom, climb the tree and find the thickest branch that’s suitable – so the treehouse is stable, but out of sight.”

They set to work without delay. Hunter found a pile of sturdy wooden boards in the shed. Max joined them together with wooden slats and tied on the rope walls on three sides. Then he fixed his new deck to two of the tree’s main boughs, tying the tops of the walls to the overhanging branches. And just for himself, Max strung together a rope ladder – just what you need if you haven’t got sharp claws for scaling tree trunks.

Max and the cats climbed up into their hideout. It was dark up there, and only snatches of light – broken rays which managed to steal through the leaves – played across their happy faces.

“I’ve got some biscuits and a flask of milk,” said Max. “Let’s have a treehouse-warming party!”

The friends tucked into the biscuits, washing them down with the milk – that well-known favourite of all cats, and children too. And they decided that – just for now – Auntie Jane didn’t need to know about the treehouse.

That evening Hunter and Max headed out for the first shift. They sat still up in the tree, until they heard Auntie Jane calling out, “Max, where are you? Time to get washed and then it’s off to bed!” Max climbed down and ran into the house. He had a quick wash, said good night to his auntie, got into bed – and pretended to fall asleep. Auntie Jane kissed Max on the forehead and went to her room. Max waited a while longer and then, with the sausages for Hunter that he’d kept ready in his bedside table, he crept softly to the door that led out into the garden. And seconds later he’d climbed up to the treehouse then pulled up the rope ladder and thrown it over the nearest branch.

When Hunter saw that Max had brought some provisions, he was happy beyond any words! He’d had to wait some time without a bite to eat, and was getting really hungry.

Sitting up in the treehouse, the two friends tried to stay perfectly still as they peered out into the dark of the night. All was quiet. A few times that night Max’s head started to droop and he slept a while – but rather than waking him, Hunter just kept watch more vigilantly than before.

And as soon as dawn had broken, Max returned to the house to get some proper sleep in his own bed.

The next night it was Tom and Matilda’s turn to go on duty. At the very stroke of midnight they heard strange, piercing voices – and saw an old mangy fox along with two smaller foxes who must have been his cubs. One of the cubs had a black left ear, the other a black right ear. The foxes had just climbed into the garden – over a low stretch of fence by the thick tall bushes in the depths of the garden – and were heading toward the house. Then the older fox stopped short. He looked to the right, then to the left, sniffed – and suddenly started digging, throwing up dirt as fast as he could with his big paws.

Tom and Matilda didn’t know what to do. They realised they’d be overpowered in a fight – the foxes would eat them right up! But brave Matilda stayed calm: “We need to do the job we came to do – we can’t let those foxes ruin the garden! I’ll coax the smallest cub over here. If we can snatch him up into the tree with us, the older fox will have to do as we tell him.”

She climbed down from the tree and stole up to the fox cub, who was sniffing at something behind a bench. Then she leapt out in front of him, yelling “Catch me if you can!” – and made a run for the eucalyptus. The fox cub took after her. But once beneath the tree she spun round and threw herself under his feet. The cub toppled over sideways, and straight away a bundle of rope – thrown down by Tom – fell right on top of him. Taking the end of the rope in her teeth, Matilda trussed up the little fox’s legs – so fast, and so tight, that before he even knew it he’d been taken captive by these fearless cats. They hauled him up to the top, and Matilda shouted out, “Hey, old Mr Fox! We’ve got your son! If you want us to let him go, stop wrecking our garden!”

The foxes stopped digging and came toward the tree. From above, the little cub whimpered pitifully, “Help me!”

“Release my son, cat. We will leave your garden.”

“You need to promise that you’ll never come here again!”

“I give you my word.”

While Matilda was negotiating with the old fox, Tom asked the cub, “Why have you been digging holes in our garden?”

“We’re looking for an underground passage – the one leading to the ancient mansion by the river.”

“Is that the big house where the Prince of Transylvania lives?”

“Yes, Prince Georgius. And he’s got a big hen house there. We wanted to sneak in there and steal his hens.”

Tom was shocked. “Don’t you have your own food that’s meant for foxes? Our owner gives us tasty cat food every day, and on top of that she treats us to soup, meat, fish, even prawns!” (Here Tom stopped to lick his lips as he was particularly partial to prawns.)

The fox gave a melancholy sigh. “Nobody gives us any food at all. Humans take over our forests to build houses and roads, and we’re forced to look for food in rubbish dumps and gardens. Humans hate us, they hunt us and poison us. But a house pet like you wouldn’t know anything about that. You’ve got it all on a plate.”

Tom was offended. “I might be a ‘house pet’, but I know how to catch a mouse! Matilda, listen. These foxes aren’t villains – they’re just really hungry. Humans have taken their home and left them with no food. Maybe we ought to help them.”

Matilda, who knew well enough about injustice, replied thoughtfully: “It could be a good idea. But we’ll need to discuss it with the others first. What’s your name, little one?”

“I’m Kay. My sister’s called Juna.”

Tom and Matilda carefully lowered the fox cub to the ground, then jumped down from the tree themselves. Sullen-faced, the old fox watched as they loosened the ties around his son’s paws. Matilda told him, “Come to the garden tomorrow when it gets dark. We’ll think what we can do to help you. In the meantime, take our sandwiches and burgers – it’s lucky we never got a chance to eat them.”

Tom climbed quickly up to the treehouse and brought down the provisions that Max had laid on for the night watch. Before a minute had passed, the foxes had gobbled everything down – and afterwards they helped Matilda and Tom tidy things up in the garden. Luckily they didn’t have to replace too much soil, since the foxes had only had a chance to dig a single hole – and it wasn’t even in that noticeable a spot.

The foxes left, but the cats spent the rest of the night in the garden – after all, it’s rather exciting to sleep in your own little shelter, especially high up in a tree!