These were the thoughts Nystagmus thought.
Why was he so frightened of the adult in the house? No-one would be that scared of their parent.
Maybe the tall person isn’t his parent!
Maybe that child needs to be rescued too.
And I had better go to rescue Tiger from the cat shelter.
Back at Saba’s place, Snoth remembered the night visit of the Cat Doctor. It was bright daylight but Snoth had nightmares just thinking about what might happen.
The doctor had written:
I know where you live.
Snoth decided he would bring Bruce into his bedroom at night.
He decided he would visit the cat shelter and see if he could find Tiger. Maybe that would satisfy Dr Scary.
All three members of the Threefold Cord had decided to take Tiger back, back to the house of mystery and terror.
(Would you be brave enough to carry the cat – with its terrible, catchy disease – back to Dr Vandersluys? What is scarier – the terrible disease or the strange doctor?)
Chapter Thirteen
When the three friends arrived at the Pet Shelter the door was closed. Snoth pulled the handle: it was locked.
Nystagmus rang the bell. Silence. Nothing.
Then Jennifer saw a notice. She read it aloud:
Notice – this shelter is closing for a while.
All our animals have gone to good homes.
I am going pearl diving in Broome.
Jennifer looked at Nystagmus, Nystagmus looked at Snoth and Snoth looked at Jennifer. “Tiger’s gone!” the cry came from three throats.
Snoth knocked on the glass door. Nothing moved, there was no sound.
He knocked again, louder, longer, harder. His hand hurt but he kept knocking.
“Wait a minute Snoth!” Nystagmus leaned his face against the glass. “I think I heard something.”
Snoth stopped knocking. He rubbed his sore hand. He wondered if he’d broken some bones.
Nystagmus shouted: “There is a sound! We’ve heard that sound before …”
All three now looked hard into the empty shelter. They heard a soft crying sort of mewing and in the dark far corner they saw a small striped cat.
Snoth pulled again at the door. It stayed very shut.
Then Jennifer saw the name of the shelter. It read:
Puss in Boots Cat Shelter
Beneath the sign were some words written in very small handwriting:
Proprietor, Ima Paradox, Cat Expert: 0414 524 942
Jennifer wrote the number on the back of her hand. She said, “My house is closest. I’ll run home and ring the number and try to save poor Tiger – again.”
At home, Jennifer dialled the number. It rang for a long time. A man’s voice said: Sam’s Sewers and Dan’s Dunnies. Dan and Sam are out. If you have a blocked toilet please leave a message.
Jennifer’s toilet was not blocked; she had dialled too fast and made a mistake. She tried to calm herself. She dialled again, slowly and more carefully.
This time she dialled accurately. A lady’s voice said: “Hello, Ima Paradox speaking.”
“Hello, Mrs Paradox. It’s Jennifer in Melbourne.”
“Hello, Jennifer. I’m in the furthest place from Melbourne. I’m working on a pearl ship in Broome.”
“I’m ringing about a ginger and black striped …”
“We don’t need any ginger, thank you.”
“No, not the ginger you cook with. It’s a cat. The cat is a stripey ginger and black cat, a kitten. Like a tiger. Tiger is locked up in your shelter!”
“What? Are you sure? All our cats went to new homes. All except the little orangey-black-coloured one we couldn’t find.”
“That’s Tiger! That’s the cat that we saw in the shop. She can’t get out and we can’t get in, and she’s got the bad Poison Virus and she’s hungry and thirsty and lonely and sad and … and she’s crying …”
Jennifer’s voice stopped working. She was crying.
Ima said: “You mean Tiger is that little lost kitten? Tiger, the one that was too shy to go near the other cats? The one that wouldn’t even let me stroke or cuddle him. I’ll tell you something – Tiger isn’t a she but a he. There’s a difference.”
The voice had a smile in it. “Some lovely children rescued Tiger from a cruel home and brought him to my Puss in Boots shelter.”
Jennifer’s voice returned. “That’s us, I mean that’s me, I mean I’m the lovely children. Please, Mrs Paradox, help me to save her, I mean him.”
“Paradox. It’s hard to say my name unless you know how. It rhymes with “parrot box”. Old French, William the Conqueror, 1066 and all that. Also, First Fleet, Governor Phillip.
“Anyway, I’m on a ship, on the sea, very far from Puss in Boots. I’ll call my sister Sheeza. She has the keys. Can you meet her at the shelter in ten minutes?”
“Yes, oh yes. Thank you, thank you so much, Mrs Para Dox.”
“Goodo. And one more thing, Jennifer. Your boy cat couldn’t have caught his virus in our shelter. He hasn’t let any cat – or me – anywhere near him. Did you say he has the dangerous Poison Virus?”
“Yes, it was in the paper.”
“Well, I think the paper was wrong. Tiger is a very healthy cat. He ate like a hungry lion … Goodbye, Jennifer … You can call me again if Sheeza doesn’t arrive. She is a doctor in a hospital. She’s an expert in intestines. She’ll be there in ten minutes – unless someone has a bad tummy upset and she can’t make it.”
Ima hung up. Jennifer hung up and ran back to the shelter and told the boys the news: “… and Dr Sheeza Para Dox will be here very soon unless diarrhoea stops her.”
Soon a skinny lady carrying a little baby in a sling came around the corner. She swung a bunch of keys and jingled them for her baby. The baby gurgled and laughed. The skinny lady said, “I’m Sheeza. This is Ruby. Are you Jennifer?”
“Yes. And this is Snoth and this is Nystagmus. We are the Threefold Cord. We’re the ones that brought Tiger here.”
“Goodo. Now you can take him back. I’ll put him in a little cat carrier. It’s like a cubby made of cardboard. He’ll feel safe in that.”
The friends thanked Dr Sheeza and took Tiger to Nystagmus’ place. Tiger cried the whole way there. While Nystagmus went to the shop to ask Yaya for some fish scraps, Jennifer fed Tiger breast milk from her syringe. Tiger drank the whole fifty drops. Nystagmus came back holding a brown paper bag. Jennifer said: “Tiger has stopped crying.”
(Is Tiger infected or not? Will the three friends catch the virus? Will Ima the cat lady catch any pearls? Would you like to see a photo of Ruby? She’s very cute.)
Chapter Fourteen
Three