Cats & Fish

Katy sat in her Nanny’s living room, itching to get out into the bright green of the huge garden and play in the bushes at the end. She had already drunk the horrid cup of tea from her special small Mister Men cup, even though she hated tea and everyone except Nanny knew it.

She had eaten three chocolate digestives, and a slice of coconut sponge which, as she thought about it, hadn’t been that bad. She liked the biscuits better than the sponge. She had sat on Nanny’s lap and listened as she told her what a big girl she was now she was seven, then admired her party dress and her shiny hair. She would much rather have worn her Mickey Mouse jeans that were faded and dirty with the patches and the dinosaur transfer T-shirt that Mum had ironed on. But it was Nanny’s birthday and that meant posh frocks.

Through the patio windows Katy could see the pond that Granddad had built before he died, with the wall behind it and a concrete statue lion spitting water. It was sunny out there and the cigarette smoke and Nanny’s rose perfume were reminding her of how carsick she had felt on the journey.

The TV was on loud and old people in white were rolling big black balls along the grass. Bowls. Nanny played it and had won prizes for being the best. Katy had her eye on the bending golden woman mounted on a square of marble, which sat on the shelf under the TV. It had Nanny’s name on it but she would definitely get something good for it if she swapped it at school. She looked thoughtfully at the wooden ginger cat brooch Mum had pinned to her dress. That had cost her three marbles and a small silky Chinese purse. She stroked the smooth, varnished surface. She liked how the cat’s eyes were shut and he seemed to be smiling.

Nanny’s ding-dong doorbell rang loudly and Katy jumped up. It must be Aunty Marion and Uncle Alan with the boys. She ran into the hall, past the grandfather clock and statue of the man with no clothes on. Uncle Alan picked her up and swung her under one arm, then he walked through to the living room, jiggling her about and laughing.

“Hello trouble. I’ve got something for you.” Katy giggled as he set her down on the carpet.

“It’s a nice, big…. bag of smacks.” He tickled her and ruffled her hair before walking over to her Dad and shaking his hand.

Aunty Marion came towards her and stooped to give her a kiss and a cuddle. The boys jostled over, pushing each other a bit and pulling faces.

“Come on Katy, let’s go out in the garden.” Daniel said, moving towards the patio doors.

“Not before you say hello to Nanny, Dan.” Uncle Alan said.

Both boys went over to kiss Nanny, and Katy remembered the powdered smell of her cheek when she had kissed it and the smudge of red lipstick on her plastic-looking teeth. When Nanny stayed at their house, she took the teeth out and put them in a pink cup with water in it and a fizzy tablet. Katy had peeped under the lid once and seen them floating there, asleep, she thought.

Finally they were allowed outside and they ran up and down the length of the garden. The grass felt long and spongy underneath Katy’s black, patent party shoes.

“Careful round that pond” Her mum shouted from the open door.

The boys had already disappeared up to the bushes at the end and Simon was busy attempting to climb up the horse chestnut tree, which had a flat bit you could sit on. Katy wandered over to the apple tree near the next door neighbours fence. Through the green wire diamonds see could see the cats. They circled round each other and walked over, placing their paws delicately down on the ground. Siamese they were called, like the ones out of Lady and the Tramp. Nanny had said that they bullied Fiver, her cat and had even ripped her ear open once. Not long after that Fiver had died. Katy hated them.

“Pssssssss. Go ‘way.”

She waved her hands and tried to get them to move away. When they carried on coming she ran up to the concrete stairs near the bushes to find the boys. Simon was sitting up the tree, swinging his legs and Dan was sat on the floor, next to the stone bench, picking the flaking white paint off the top.

“What shall we play?” Simon asked.” I’m bored now.”

“What about a game of football?”

“Don’t be stupid. Katy can’t play football, she’s too little.”

“Am not.” Katy said, sticking out her lip and frowning. Just because they were bigger and they were boys they thought they were better at everything. They got to wear trousers all the time too, although today they had shirts on, like one of her Dad’s. She fiddled with the hem of her dress, feeling silly.

“How ‘bout hide ‘n’ seek?” Dan said. “Bet I find the best place, bet you never find me.”

“Yeah, yeah, hide ‘n’ seek, hide ‘n’ seek.” Katy jumped up and down and started pulling on Simon’s shirt.

“You’re it Simon, me and Katy will hide first. Count to a hundred and say ‘elephant’ in between, else it’s cheatin’.”

Dan ran off before Simon had time to protest. He covered his face with his hands and turning into the tree trunk, began to count.

Katy looked around. Dan had already disappeared. She had to find the best place; the boys always found her first, every time. It was all right for them, they could climb up trees or go over the back gate and down the alley next to the garage. She moved towards the big bush with the squishy white berries on it. They popped like bubblegum when you pressed your foot down on them. She wasn’t allowed bubblegum, so it was the next best thing.

Pushing the branches apart, Katy stepped though so that she was in the middle of the bush. The branches scratched her bare arms and caught in the folds of the dreaded party dress. She had hidden here before though, she needed to go further in if she was going to be really hard to find.
Getting onto her hands and knees, she crawled under the lowest branches and headed away from the sound of Simon counting.

She could see the back fence now, wooden and covered with bright yellow moss. It looked so soft. She reached out to touch it and poked her tongue out, frowning at the damp, cool fuzziness. As she moved her hand away, the wooden slat moved slightly and peering at the bottom, she saw it was loose. She slid the plank left with all her might. It was heavy and she was scared she might get a splinter but even if she did it would be worth it. It went as far as it would go, and turning around so that she was back to front, she wiggled her bottom through first and then put her left leg though, then her right, and let the board slide back into place.

On this side of the fence the garden was overgrown. Plants were brown instead of green and under her patent shoes the ground was muddy and the grass was dead. A big old black car was parked by the side of the house under a plastic roof on four wooden legs and smoke was coming out of the chimney. Katy smiled; she always drew smoke on her pictures at school. A square box house with a pointy roof, two windows, a red door and a chimney with big black swirling smoke coming out. Drawing was her favourite lesson.

She could hear Simon shouting over the other side, back in Nanny’s garden. She covered her mouth and giggled. She would definitely win. She could explore this new place for a while, until Simon gave up and then she would go back and smile as they all admitted she was the best hider. She crept up to the nearest window, mud splashing onto the shoes and splattering on her frilly white ankle socks. She peered through the grimy window, gripping onto the wooden sill.

It was a kitchen. In the far corner an old woman sat in a tapestry armchair with her eyes shut. She had long grey hair in a scruffy bun, different from Nanny’s neat, blondish curls. Her face was red and her legs were propped up on a stool, like the one Katy had in the bathroom to reach the sink and brush her teeth. The legs were covered in bandages, and the bandages had ugly yellow stains on them and in some places, a dark red. Next to her, the fire was dying out and the table beneath the window was covered with crumbs and jam pots with the lids off on a checked blue and white tablecloth.

The lady opened her eyes and tried to get up. Her legs must have been too sore though because she moaned loudly and as Katy looked closer, she saw the old lady was crying. ‘She must want her Mum’, she thought. When Katy hurt herself, Mum put Savlon on it and gave her a plaster and a sweet and kissed it better. Katy suspected nobody wanted to kiss this lady’s legs better. It made her feel funny, looking in the window like this, she knew she was being bad and if she got found out she’d be told off. Suddenly, the lady looked up and directly at Katy. Her face creased into a frown and she began to shout. She was shaking and crying and reaching for a walking stick propped next to the chair.

Katy backed away, frightened; maybe the lady was a witch. She ran back to the fence and hurried to remember which plank moved. It was harder to slide from this side. Her small fingers scrabbled at the wood, and moss caught under her nails. Finally it gave way and she pushed urgently through and back into the berry-bush. She was sure she could hear the lady coming and wanted to be back in the safety of the flowery sitting room with its knick-knacks and bright lamplight.

When she emerged, hot and dishevelled, Katy noticed Dan and Simon standing by the pond. No one had even been aware of the fact that she had disappeared for what had seemed like hours. She moved slowly towards the pond, stopping to pull up her ankle socks and rub the mud off her shoes with a bit of spit.

“There you are Katy,” said Simon, “ We thought you’d gone back inside with the grown ups.” “Where have you been?” asked Dan.

Katy didn’t answer and instead, looked down to the water to see what they had been staring at. On the surface, lying on their sides were three huge goldfish. Their eyes gazed blankly up to the blue sky and their mouths were open. They bobbed slowly back and forth from the ripples created by the lion fountain. Their fins were tattered and their bodies bloated. Their usual glittering orange skin had faded to an ugly yellow.

“ I heard Nan say its fin rot.” Dan said thoughtfully.

Katy looked up and noticed the Siamese cats had slipped over the fence and were sitting in the apple tree. One was washing behind its ears with its paws and the other was looking straight at the pond. Somehow she knew, that one way or the other, the fish wouldn’t be there much longer, just like the old lady in the house with the chimney.

As she stepped into the bright warmth of the living-room she heard her Mum.

“Katy! Look at the state of you! What on earth have you been up to?”

Katy didn’t reply, but noticed for the first time that her wooden ginger cat brooch was no longer attached to her dress and silently, she started to cry