by Holly Stacey –
Robby gazed down at his toes as his mother put the small kitten next to him. He’d wanted a dog. He’d told her forever how he’d wanted a dog and now she had picked out a kitten. He refused to look at it.
“C’mon, Robby. She’s lovely! Hannah let us have the pick of the litter – first choice.”
Robby stared at the brightly colored green shoelaces.
“Brrrrow?” The little kitten first nudged his ankle and then, without permission, attacked the laces.
“Hey!” Robby jumped, startling the kitten, and ran to his room.
“I’ll call her Tess!” his mother shouted up the stairs, “after Tess of the D’Urbervilles.”
“Whatever!” Robby shouted back. He had no idea what his mother was talking about, but he did know she’d always wanted a cat.
Over the next few days, Tess seemed to know that Robby didn’t like her. And she seemed determined to change his mind. Every morning at seven o’clock, she’d paw open his door and clamber onto his bed. The first thing he’d see would be her black and white face clawing her way up his quilt. Then she’d sit on his chest and purr, looking deep into his eyes.
“Go away!” he’d growl at her, and she would just purr more.
One morning, however, Tess didn’t appear like a haunt in the morning. Robby got up to get ready for basketball training.
Something kept bothering him all day. Why hadn’t Tess woken him up? Where could she be? Nobody had seen her since dinner the night before. Her breakfast had been gobbled up, but she was gone.
“She’s probably out chasing butterflies,” his mother said. “She’ll be back for dinner.”
It bothered Robby that she was gone, and it bothered him that it bothered him. “I don’t care about that silly cat,” he said, trying to convince himself he didn’t care.
Late that evening, Robby felt something pawing his toes. “Brrrroooww?”
“Tess!” Robbie reached down and scooped her up, cuddling her to his chin. He didn’t know how something so small could make such a rumbling engine noise; her purring was so loud. Something cold touched his skin, and he put her down.
“What have you brought me, Tess?”
It was too dark to see, but it felt like a long string of rocks. He reached over and turned his beside lamp on. It flashed against the string of diamonds, sending light bouncing over the walls.
Robby didn’t know what to do. It looked so beautiful, and he was sure it was worth a fortune. He supposed he’d have to take it to the police – he’d no idea how Tess could have stolen such a priceless object.
Tess fell asleep curled up next to Robby’s head, but he couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sure if he should take the necklace to the police or keep Tess safe. Did they have cat jail?
When morning finally came, Robby was exhausted. He still couldn’t stop thinking about the necklace. His father was watching the news on TV. Robby expected to hear about a jewellery robbery, but there were no reports on robberies at all. Tess gobbled down her breakfast and shot out of the new cat flap. Robby bit his nails. Where was she off to now?
Again, Tess came home late at night. And again, she’d brought him something shiny. This time it was a pair of glittering earrings – each had what looked like rubies surrounded with small diamonds. Robby’s heart was really pumping now. He stashed the evidence away in his secret place with the necklace and tried not to panic.
The next day, Robby tried to follow Tess, but his mother caught him before he could slip out the door. “Where do you think you’re going? It’s a school day. Hop in the car.”
Robby had forgotten! He normally loved school, but that day it felt like torture. All day he wondered what Tess was up to. What if she’d burgled a house with a dog? What if she was caught? What if….
Their history lesson was about The Great Train Robbery. Robby gulped. He shut his eyes, but all he could see was Tess wearing a bandana and holding train passengers at gunpoint.
He knew one of these days Tess would be caught. He had to find a way to stop her from thieving, and he had to find a way to get the jewels back to their owners without anybody finding out they’d been stolen.
“Hey, want to come to my house after school?” his friend Toby asked. Normally Robby would, but he knew he had to find a way to save Tess. He wanted to tell Toby what was happening, but getting his friend involved in diamond smuggling was probably a bad thing.
“I can’t, I’ve got… something important to do,” he said.
When he got home, Robby dumped his school things by the door and raced around the house, looking for Tess. She wasn’t around, which meant she was smuggling. He found it strange there’d been no news reports of the thefts, but perhaps the police were onto something and needed it to be top secret.
What if the police searched his room and found the gems? Would he go to prison, too? What if they said he’d been the one to teach Tess how to steal the jewels? His stomach churned just like it did before a big test… but this was a thousand times worse.
Robby went outside for some fresh air. He sat on the front porch and took several deep, slow breaths. Then he saw something black and white wriggling out of a small hole under the house. It was Tess, and she had something glittering in her jaws.
She walked proudly over to Robby and dropped the diamond brooch in his lap. Robby was shocked – not at the diamond brooch, but from where Tess had brought it from. Maybe the reason there had been no news reports was because there was hidden treasure under the house!
“Mom!” Robby couldn’t contain his excitement. “Mom! We’re rich! We have treasure under the house!” He waved the brooch at her, proving his point.
His mom laughed gleefully and took the brooch. “You found Grandma’s old chest of costume jewellery! Dad hid it last year under the veranda and forgot where. He was supposed to make a map – it was going to be your birthday treasure hunt. How on earth did you get to it?”
Robby was shocked and a little disappointed they weren’t real diamonds, but then he smiled. There was no way Tess would be going to cat jail now. And he was glad. The little costume jewellery diamond thief had grown on him—even if she did still attack his shoelaces.
the end.
Question Time
1. Why didn’t Robby like Tess?
2. What did Tess bring Robby?
3. Why was Robby worried?
4. Where did Tess find the jewellery?
