Chapter Six: Raymond Gets to Fly
When Raymond woke the following day, the sun was shining like an orange ball in the sky.
‘A good day for it,’ said Smudge, lurking nearby.
‘For what?’ Raymond yawned.
‘The party. Do try to keep up.’
‘I’m not exactly sure what a party is,’ said Raymond, excited.
‘Put it like this,’ said Smudge, ‘when it’s finished, we will dine like kings.’
There was a lot of activity in the garden. Himself and Missus Daisy were rushing around setting out tables and chairs and there was a delicious baking smell coming from the kitchen. Smudge and Raymond stayed out of the way until the guests started to arrive with banging doors and the squeals of little people.
‘It’s someone’s birthday,’ said Smudge. ‘Probably one of the grandchildren.’
He could read the banner pinned to the front door which read HAPPY BIRTHDAY in large letters. Raymond was not sure he liked children. They were very noisy and ran here and there so quickly, in and out of the bushes, so that it was not easy to know where to hide. Loud music was blaring from a portable machine and there was laughter and the clinking of glasses. Raymond decided to scramble up the climbing frame in the garden to get a better view of the goings on. He scurried up the back and along the plank from which was suspended a swinging seat. He made it across to a little hut and peered through the bars at the gathering below. Little girls in party frocks and boys looking uncomfortable in new shirts and trousers were scattered on the grass. The adults were mostly standing chatting and trays of goodies were floating through the crowd.
Suddenly there was a puff of exasperation and a shuffling of shoes. Someone was coming up the little wooden ladder. Raymond crouched in the corner as a tousled head appeared at eye level. The boy saw Raymond immediately but did not scream or even speak. He just stared as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. He wore a birthday boy badge and he was looking at Raymond as if he was a birthday present. The boy was on his tummy now; they were lying nose to nose. Raymond sized up the boy, wondering whether he was friend or foe.
A high-pitched voice in the garden shouted: ‘Georgie! Georgie! Where are you?’
He and the child were invisible to the people below. Anything could happen in this enclosed space. Raymond decided not to wait around to find out what the boy intended to do with him. Just as Georgie reached out with a sticky fist, Raymond leapt onto a red ridge just above him but the surface was slippery and he could not get a grip with his claws. In full view of the parents and grandparents, Raymond slithered his way down a slide, gathering speed as he went, and shot across the grass, tumbling head over heels into a prickly rose bush.
‘Ouch!’ cried Raymond, trying to pull away from a huge thorn which had snagged his fur.
No one was listening to him, however, because just at that exact moment, Granny Daisy had emerged from the house carrying a platter on which perched a cake in the shape of a space rocket. It was probably top-heavy to begin with, but when Missus Daisy spied Raymond she let out a piercing shriek, threw her arms up in the air and the cake did a slow dive towards the ground. A gentleman managed to catch the spaceship’s nose but the rest plummeted to earth like…well, like a rocket falling from the sky. One of the ladies jumped onto a chair with her flowery dress gathered up round her knees.
In the commotion that followed, Raymond managed to sneak away, bruised but not broken.
He made it back to his den from where he could hear singing:
Happy Birthday, dear Georgie.
Happy Birthday to you.
Raymond thought he was the only one who heard Granny Daisy sobbing in the shed close by. He did feel a bit sad for her. It was a lovely cake. There were races and games to follow, but Raymond thought it all looked very silly, so he lay low.
The children had all gone round to the front of the house where they had disappeared inside a massive inflatable dome that had mysteriously popped up on the lawn. It was bright blue and yellow with fat steps leading up to its entrance which gaped like the mouth of a whale. Raymond sneaked round the outside, taking care not to be seen. Granny Daisy seemed to have recovered from her shock and disappointment and was slouched in a chair, knocking back red liquid in a round glass.
‘I want to see what’s in there,’ said Raymond.
‘No good will come of it,’ warned Smudge. ‘You’re on your own.’
The inflatable was secured to the grass by a series of ropes. Raymond was able to scale one of these and drop onto the shiny surface where the children were playing. He backed into a corner and watched them. Two girls dressed in identical frocks were clearly called Ruthie and Rose. Their excited mother stood outside telling them to jump.
Jump? thought Raymond. The girls were joined by another girl. This one was older. She was wearing red leggings and a green T-shirt with a huge hawk on it. Raymond shivered and resolved to stay away from her.
Without warning, the older girl started to jump up and down on the slippery surface.
‘Well done, Joy dear,’ called another mummy.
Ruthie and Rose joined in and before Raymond knew it the air was filled with bouncing bodies. His underbelly was pushing up into his spine and he could feel himself rising up from the floor. He wanted to get out but he could do absolutely nothing to stop the upward movement of his body. He was bouncing like a kangaroo.
It was not an entirely unpleasant experience. Raymond felt as if he was flying! He was weightless as he spun into the air but when he landed again he could not keep his balance. Nor could he keep watch. Once he managed to get the right way up, he realised to his horror that Georgie had climbed into the big mouth and was now jumping with his sister and cousins. When he saw Raymond, the look on the boy’s face was delighted glee. As Raymond soared up high, Georgie reached out and grabbed him by the tail.
‘Gotcha!’ he said.
