Lulu and the Hamster in the Night Read Free Page A

tree!” said Mellie. “You should have brought your parrot, Lulu, instead of just that ha…”

    Splash!
    Lulu had climbed into the tree to have a closer look at the coconut. Now Mellie was suddenly much wetter and the coconut was bobbing in the pool. And on the far side of the tree, where Nan had spread rugs and cushions, three furry golden shapes were suddenly awake. Six bright green eyes were staring indignantly at the coconut.
    They belonged to Marigold, Nan’s enormous golden cat, and Dandy and Daisy, her two fat kittens.
    All at once Lulu remembered what it was that she had worried about in her dreams.
    Right out loud, Mellie exclaimed, “Lulu! We forgot about the cats! They’re good cats, though, aren’t they, Nan? They don’t go around killing things like some cats do.”
    â€œCertainly not!” said Nan.
    â€œNot even rats or mouses or hamsters or things?”
    â€œMice!” said Nan. “Not mouses! No, not even butterflies!”
    Lulu was so afraid of what Mellie would say next that she slid down the tree, put a cushion on Mellie’s head, sat on it, and changed the subject.
    â€œWhat made you think of an orange and lemon tree, Nan?”
    â€œOh,” said Nan. “First I wished I had an orange tree, and then I thought I’d make an orange tree! And then I thought, why just oranges? So I added the lemons and everything else. I thought you could help yourselves to fruit just as easily from the tree as you could from the fruit bowl.”
    â€œ Can we help ourselves?” asked Mellie, wriggling out from beneath the cushion and Lulu.
    â€œOf course. Shall I show you how to open up the coconut?”
    But Lulu and Mellie would not hear of that. There was only one coconut and they thought it would be a waste to eat it so soon.
    â€œLet’s hang it back up again,” said Lulu.
    Nan had hung the coconut by a string tied around its middle. It was not an easy job to tie the string without it slipping. Over and over the coconut splashed down into the paddling pool and either Lulu or Mellie had to climb the tree and try again. They enjoyed this very much, but the cats did not. Every time the coconut fell again, they looked more disapproving and moved a little farther away.
    It was amazing how quickly the morning went by. Paddling and coconut hanging. Learning how to make paper-plate butterflies. Bubble-blowing from the top of the tree. They had to take turns to do this because the tree was so small.

    â€œDo the cats like the bubbles?” called Mellie when it was her turn to climb.

    Lulu looked around. Where were the cats?
    â€œGone to get away from the splashes,” guessed Mellie.
    â€œGone to find some shade,” suggested Nan. “It’s getting hotter and hotter. I’ve opened all the doors and windows to get a breeze through the house.”
    â€œAll the doors!” repeated Lulu.
    â€œDon’t worry, I didn’t look when I opened yours,” said Nan.
    That didn’t stop Lulu worrying. She rushed upstairs and sure enough, there were Nan’s three cats.
    Nan’s cats were stay-at-home cats. It was true that they never went hunting. They liked sofas and cushions and large meals and sunshine. They had their own cat brushes and their own cat china bowls and at Christmastime they had their own cat Christmas presents under the Christmas tree.
    Lovely smelly cat treats, that’s what the cats had had, wrapped in Christmas paper. It was Lulu who had wrapped those parcels, and Lulu who had shown the three cats how to unwrap them, ripping the paper with their claws.
    Nan’s cats had not forgotten. And now they had found a parcel larger and smellier and more exciting than anything they had unwrapped at Christmas.
    When Lulu came into the bedroom, there they were, eagerly unwrapping the parcel that was Ratty in his cage.

    Mellie had followed Lulu when she ran. Now she looked around the little room,