Jenny had a kitten called Matilda. She took very good care of her, gave her milk and fish and cream. But Matilda had to be good always. She could not play with the balls of wool and tangle them. She had to sleep on a cushion at night and wasn’t allowed to curl up on the sofa or on beds.
Matilda decided one day to run away. She would be free to eat whatever she liked and sleep anywhere. No one would give her orders. So one night, she crept out of the hatch when Jenny was asleep and ran away!
“I’m free at last!” she thought, as she looked at the stars in the sky and the open road. She took off down the road.
Down the road she found a lot of cans from which came lovely smells of food. Matilda upset one of the cans and a lot of garbage spilled out. There were fish heads and pieces of pie and cake. She had a wonderful time eating all the stuff she found there.
Just as she was finishing her feast, a voice said, “Hello! How are you?”
Matilda looked around and saw a large scraggy-looking ginger cat watching her.
“Hello,” said Matilda, “Who are you?”
“Who are you?” asked the cat, “I’m Ginger.”
“I’m Matilda,” she replied.
“Hmm…. You don’t seem to belong here. But come along,” said Ginger, “I’ll show you around.”
Matilda was happy she had found a friend and trotted off with Ginger. He showed her the baker’s kitchen from where they could get some cake and cream. Then he took her to the cold storage where fish were cleaned and prepared. There was a feast available! He showed her the barns and sheds where they could hunt mice.
For a few days, Matilda was very happy. Then one day when Ginger was fast asleep, three huge cats came. They were bullies. Before Matilda could do anything, they were using her like a little ball tossing her from one to the other. Ginger woke up hearing Matilda meowing loudly. There was a terrible fight with fur flying everywhere.
The bullies ran away. Poor Ginger had a scratch on his nose and one ear was torn. Matilda decided to take him home.
“Home?” thought Matilda. “Yes. Being with Jenny is home. I was very silly to run away.”
“Come Ginger,” said Matilda and they both went home. Jenny was delighted when she saw Matilda. She was so happy that she took in Ginger too. Matilda never ran away!
