Max’s Adventures with His Loyal Friends. Marina Golomidova

Чтение книги онлайн.

      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!

      Chapter 5. The Walk

      Early the next morning, when the whole house was still sleeping, Matilda slipped softly into Max’s room, jumped onto his bed and delicately stroked his cheek with the tip of her tail. Max woke up at once.

      “Matilda, how are you, my dear? Is everything all right?”

      She told him about the night’s events with the foxes. Max grew thoughtful. “I wonder what we could do to help them. Perhaps ask Auntie Jane to leave food out for them, like she does for you?”

      “No, Max, I don’t know if there’s much point mentioning the foxes to Auntie Jane – humans don’t usually have a high opinion of foxes in general.”

      “Hmm, you’re not wrong. Not long ago she was cursing the foxes who got into our rubbish bins – she said they’re filthy creatures and that’s all they’ll ever be. There’s no way she’ll agree to feed them. How’s the garden looking, by the way – do you think Auntie will notice anything?”

      “Well, we tidied everything up as best we could, but if she goes for a walk round the garden she’ll know things aren’t quite right. We’ll have to think up some way of keeping her away!”

      Max thought for a while, then his eyes lit up: “I think I’ve got a plan!” He rubbed his hands together.