"The other she-cat was quite startling. Xeno was a little confused as to why he liked her."
“What you staring at?” Xeno asked Redmond curiously one morning, as he was gazing fondly out of the second-floor window.
“Not what, who,” he replied with a sigh, and continued to stare.
“Who is it?”
“Her.”
Xeno jumped up and placed his front paws on the window-ledge. As far as he could see, there was another cat atop the garden shed.
“Her?”
“Her, Xeno. Her.”
The other she-cat was quite startling. Xeno was a little confused as to why he liked her. Her burgundy-shaded flyaway hair covered some of her face, and freckles permeated just below her eyes. She was quite round and fat, and there was a large air of scruffiness about her tan-coloured fur.
“Seriously? The tubby one?” Xeno was disturbed.
“Speak for yourself, dog-o-lard,” Redmond retaliated on her behalf. “If you’d actually met her, I’m sure you would like her. She’s got a wild style, and she’s, well, a bit mental, to be honest. But it’s such an appealing and funny mental that I can’t stop thinking about her…”
“So, big shot, what’s her name, if you like her so much?”
“Hermyone.”
“That’s the one from Harry Potter, isn’t it?”
“It’s pronounced the same way, but it’s spelled differently. With a Y instead of an I.”
“Oh.” Xeno grinned. He could never imagine Redmond fancying anyone more out of his league. He started laughing, and once it started, he could not stop it.
“Fine, Xeno, laugh it up!” Redmond hissed, while Xeno rolled over and over on the bedroom floor, sides splitting with laughter. “But one day, when you’re all alone, you’ll be looking up to me!” With that, he stalked out of the room, leaving Xeno rofling.
Summoning all his courage, Redmond padded out into the garden to talk to Hermyone.
“Hermyone,” he called up to her, taking a giant leap up onto the shed.
“Redmond! I thought I’d see you today!” Hermyone said enthusiastically, wrapping her thick, chunky arms round his spiny back in an enormous hug. “Isn’t that odd? It’s like I’m psychic or something! Spooky…”
“Yeah, spooky,” Redmond said in reply, going along with it.
“Say,” Hermyone asked randomly, “are you hungry? Coz I know this brill place to get food that’s just down the street – Of course, you probably already guessed that just by looking at me, but I’ll be the one warm in Winter! Seriously though, are you?”
“Suppose,” Redmond said, actually agreeing a little, “I am a bit…”
“Whoa! Seriously!? You? HA!” She then randomly burst out laughing, and kept on pointing at him and saying, “you?!”
“C’mon, I’m not that thin…”
“Sure you are! Follow me, trust me, Mittens will be thanking me that you didn’t get a chill and die in Winter.”
Xeno was watching and listening to this whole conversation – And so was Mittens.
“Xeno,” Mittens quizzed her best mate’s son inquisitively, “you never told me about this. Surely Redmond told you?”
“Yeah, he did,” Xeno said, then thought on the spot, “but he didn’t want me to tell you.” Xeno wasn’t actually sure whether Redmond wanted Mittens to know or not. It was weird, talking to his best friend’s mum like they were best pals themselves.
“Well,” Mittens said, nodding inquiringly to Xeno, “he should know he can tell me anything! I’m going to go and get him from the garden, hold on.”
Mittens trotted downstairs and onto the yard – Then stopped. Something was wrong here.
A mysterious lime green van was parked outside the house, and Penny wasn’t inside the house…
“Bolt!!” Mittens ran back through the front door, yelling for Bolt. “Someone’s got Penny!”
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