Copycat (18 page)

‘And, Sammy – do you ever think of our kittens?’

‘I never stopped thinking about them, Pinkie.’

Pinkie’s purring grew louder. ‘Goodbye for now, Sammy,’ she said.

‘Goodbye, Pinkie.’

The two cats met regularly after that, mostly by night. Usually Pinkie would be waiting on the towpath under the sign of the White Cat. Sammy never asked for food but Pinkie could tell he was eating very little. One day she asked him, ‘Do you ever catch a rabbit?’

‘No. Not rabbit,’ he answered. ‘I don’t like to go too far from here. I want to feel I’m close to where you are.’

Pinkie softened visibly. ‘That’s a kind thought,’ she whispered. ‘Sammy?’

‘Yes?’

‘Shall we see if we can catch one together?’

‘D’you mean it?’ Sammy cried. ‘Don’t you have to go back?’

‘No. Not if I don’t choose to,’ Pinkie replied.

‘Come on then, Pinkie! Race me!’

Along the dusky towpath near the railway bridge another animal had been out hunting. The pair of cats saw the beast limp away as they approached, its jaws clamped round its prey. There was no mistaking the animal’s gait. ‘Fox!’ they both cried.

The beast turned, dropping a fat lop-eared rabbit. ‘Well! Together again!’ he croaked as he saw his friends and wagged his tail mightily.

‘What are you doing here?’ Sammy asked. ‘Do you come so far to hunt?’

‘No.’ The fox grinned. He had lost another tooth. ‘Competition over there was too tough. I couldn’t cope. I need a bit of help when I want to hunt.’ He grinned again and stood panting.

The cats looked at each other. ‘But – the rabbit . . .’ Pinkie began.

‘Walked right into me,’ the fox explained. ‘Just like the last time. This makes a pair. It’s been loose a long time.’

‘Loose?’ Sammy queried.

‘It’s not a wild rabbit,’ Pinkie said. ‘I know where this came from.’

‘Well, do you want some?’ the fox asked.

Sammy’s eyes were nearly popping out of his head. ‘Look at him,’ said Pinkie with unmistakable affection. ‘You don’t have to ask!’

But Sammy said, ‘It looks as though we won’t need to hunt after all, Pinkie. Will you go back now?’

‘Back?’ she answered softly. ‘What, to that boring, humdrum sort of life? When I can be prowling the river bank with you two? You bet I’m not going back! Not ever!’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Colin Dann was born in Richmond, Surrey. His interest in natural history was fostered by studying the local wildlife in Richmond Park, and wildlife success came at the age of ten, when he won a London Schools Essay Competition set by the RSPCA. His prize was a copy of
The Wind in the Willows
. For many years he worked for Collins, the publishers. It was during this period that his concern for conservation led him to write his first novel,
The Animals of Farthing Wood
, which won the Arts Council National Award for Children’s Literature in 1980.

Colin has since published seven further books in his Farthing Wood sequence. These stories were made into a highly successful animation series for the BBC.

Also by Colin Dann

The City Cats Series

King of the Vagabonds

The City Cats

Copycat

The Ram of Sweetriver

The Beach Dogs

A Legacy of Ghosts

Rat Attack

Escape to the Wild

Through Battle and Storm

Just Nuffin

COPYCAT
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 19511 4

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2014

Copyright © Colin Dann, 1997

First Published in Great Britain

Red Fox 9781849415316 1997

The right of Colin Dann to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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