The Adventures of Blackcat
by Nikolaj Vigrim
Published by Nikolaj Vigrim
Copyright 2008-2012 Nikolaj Vigrim
‘Harry’s Pocket Book of Clouds’
‘Princess Rose’
‘Blackcat’s Big Book of Cats’
'Harry the Cloud'
'Lucy'
‘Cabo’
‘Strange Happenings at No 4’
‘Mr Farty Pants’
Look out for Nikolaj Vigrim on Facebook
Contact the Author
[email protected] Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Chapter 1 - Blackcat
Dad arrived home after a being away most of the year.
'Have you bought us presents?' chorused Zoe and Lulu as they drove back from the airport.
'Shhhhh,' said Carolina, 'Dad's only just got back.
'Presents, presents, presents!' chanted the girls.
'Just one each,' said Dad, reaching into his bag and passing them a little something.
They tore off the wrapping paper.
'Cool,' said Zoe, 'An iceberg!'
'A penguin,' shouted Lulu. 'Oh thanks Dad.'
'Well, he's not going on my iceberg,' said Zoe.
'Tis too,' said Lulu.
'Tis not,' said Zoe.
'Tis.'
'Not.'
'Tis.'
'Not.'
'Oh, do shut up!' said Dad, scooping into his bag and throwing a handful of penguins back over his head.
Lulu caught one and introduced it to her other one, 'P1 meet P2,' then tried to balance them on Zoe's iceberg.
'No, no, no. My iceberg, get off!' said Zoe, and knocked Lulu's penguins flying under the seat.
Lulu got sad.
'Zoe, give that to me,' said Sofie in a bossy boots voice as she reached over from the backseat and grabbed the iceberg, then happily played Penguin Pile Up with Sam leaving the young ones in meltdown.
When they got home, Lulu hunted around under the seat, amongst the sweetie wrappers and rotting apple cores, to find her penguins.
Dad slipped a little present to her pocket. 'This is a little something special,' he said, then added, 'He's Balinese.'
'Balinese?' said Lulu, between sniffles.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little wooden cat, painted bright pink with blue and yellow flowers. 'Blackcat,' she said.
'He doesn't look very black to me,' said Dad.
'Just wait,' said Lulu.
She vanished into her and Zoe's room.
Snip, snip, snip, paste, Sellotape.
Before he knew what was happening, Blackcat had a black tail, black ears and a fine set of black wings.
He wasn't too sure about being black, he liked being pink, but he did like the look of the wings.
Cool, he thought, I'll learn to fly and go exploring.
Chapter 2 - Penguins and Polar Bears
The Penguins, P1 and P2, were worried. The penguins that lived on the iceberg in the living room had heard Sofie talking about polar bears eating penguins.
'Pas vrai,' she said.
'Pas vrai,' whatever that meant. The Penguins, knew it was French. The French liked eating. The French liked sauces with their food. Pas vrai must be the sauce that polar bears dunked their penguins in before plopping them whole into their enormous mouths and scrunching them up, flippers and all.
The Penguins told Blackcat about the penguin munching polar bears with the pas vrai sauce.
'Pas vrai,' said Blackcat with a twinkle in his eye. 'Would you like to see a polar bear?'
'A polar bear, noooo!' chorused P1 and P2.
'Yes', said Blackcat firmly, 'Let's go see a polar bear. Jump on my back!'
Without thinking P1 and P2 hoped up on Blackcat's back. He spread his wings, launched himself off the desk, did a quick circuit of the room and zoomed out through the window and into the night sky.
Blackcat flew fast, very fast. He didn't even flap his wings.
Soon they were high up above the clouds with just the stars overhead, lots of them. P1 and P2 had expected it to be windy but there was only a faint breeze. It was a little chilly, but well, when was the last time you heard a penguin complain about cold toes!
'A swim?' asked Blackcat.
'A swim,' said P1 and P2 together, 'Yes!' They had swum once when Zozo had taken them into the bath. They had loved it in the water, really loved it, like felt right at home, like they belonged. The soap had hurt their eyes though.
Blackcat stopped zooming and opened his wings out wide and glided down in wide circles. They passed through puffy, cotton wool clouds as they descended and skidded to a halt on what looked like a big piece of polystyrene, floating on the dark green sea.
'Oooowl!' exclaimed Blackcat, giving a little shiver, 'That's a bit chilly on my paws.'
The Penguins said nothing. They weren't ones to complain about cold toes!
The polystyrene they landed on scrunched underfoot and glowed pink in the predawn light. It bobbed about in the gentle swell.
'In you go,' said Blackcat to the Penguins. Not that they needed any encouragement.
'Lets!' they replied and dived in to the icy sea.
Blackcat didn't see them again until the sun had risen above the horizon, painting the ice orange and gold.
A couple of silver herrings flew through the air and flopped about at Blackcat's feet. Then P1 and P2 came rocketing out of the sea and did the same: did a couple of somersaults and lay flopping and gasping at his feet!
'Wow! Yippee!' they cried, 'Thank you Blackcat! We've bought you breakfast.'
Once they had finished their fishy breakfast, Blackcat flew across to a neighbouring ice flow. The Penguins swam across, exhilarated to be back in the cold water. They dived in and out of the water like little dolphins as they swam them jumped up on the ice flow and skidded to a halt beside Blackcat.
Blackcat dusted away the soft powder snow to reveal a little bundle of fluff. The fluff woke up with a yawn and stretched itself. It was the cutest little creature.
'It's a Polar Bear,' said Blackcat.
'It's cute.'
'Cute? Cute like a baby great white!' replied Blackcat.
'It is cute!' said P1 and P2 as they jumped on the little ball of fluff, which rolled about and fought with them.
They were so busy playing that they didn't notice Mama Bear climb onto the flow and shake herself. A dark shadow blotted out the sun and Mama Bear let out a mighty roar filling the air with a stinky, fishy smell.
The Penguins looked up in horror.
'Now that is a Polar Bear!' said Blackcat.
'Pas Vrai,' said P1 and P2
'Tis too. That is a Polar Bear.'
'Yikes!' cried P1 and P2 and dived into the sea.
They surfaced a few minutes later to sea Blackcat sitting on the ice busily chatting with Mama Bear.
'Oh, do come and meet my friend,' said Blackcat.
They were to find out over the next week or two that Blackcat had lots of friends. He had always done a little something to help them. It turned out that he had rescued Baby Bear when the flows had drifted out to sea in a blizzard and Mama Bear could not find her cub.
'But how did you know?' asked P1.
'Mariana tells me,' replied B
lackcat, 'She knows. She's a bit of a cripple with her legs all superglued together and she never leaves Louise's desk but she's very much in tune with the world. Ying and yang, zen. She has her finger on the pulse.'
Blackcat went back to his conversation with Mama Bear, and the Penguins to playing with the little ball of fluff. They stayed until the sun had risen high in the sky, bathing everything in dazzling white light.
'We must get going,' said Blackcat.
'Orrrrr,' complained P1 and P2, then P2 said, 'Mama Bear, can I ask you a question? Do polar bears eat penguins?'
'I'd love to,' said Mama Bear, licking her lips with a long pink tongue, 'You two look so tasty. But I don't!'
'Why not?'
'Because Penguins live a long, long way away, beyond the hot seas and the green lands in a place where it's even colder and icier than here. They live at the other end of the Earth, just as far away from penguin munching polar bears as they can!
Chapter 3 - Blackcat gets Cold Feet
'Blackcat, can we go see some other penguins?' asked P1 and P2.
'Lets!' replied Blackcat, 'Jump on.'
The Penguins jumped onto Blackcat's back and off they zoomed, waving goodbye to the bears as they rose up into the sky. Within seconds the polar bears were lost in the whiteness and Blackcat and the Penguins vanished into the clouds, off on their next adventure.
Blackcat travelled fast, very fast. P1 and P2 couldn't quite figure out how he flew as he never flapped his wings. He just like glided, very fast. They flew along mostly above the clouds but Blackcat sometimes dipped down to see a landmark and get his bearings. Sometimes he flew just, just above the top of the clouds so that his feet were in the clouds up to about his knees. Other times he skirted around big thunder storms or flew just underneath the clouds.
He stopped once to talk to a small puffy cloud. 'Harry, Harry, is it you?' he called out, but got no response. After all, how do you tell one cloud from another when they change shape all the time?
They passed jet planes. Jet planes that went so slow they appeared stopped in the sky. Blackcat was fast, very fast!
Maybe P1 and P2 were so engrossed in flying that they lost track of time because it didn't seem long at all before they descended through broken cloud and glided down towards an icy, mountainous land. The ice was so thick that it almost covered the mountains and flowed towards the sea ending in a sheer cliff hundreds of meters high. As Blackcat descended lower the Penguins could see that he was heading for an island. It must have been an old volcano as it had a large crater now filled by the sea, its surface dotted with small ice flows.
Lower still and they could see that the white surface of the island was covered with black dots. Black dots that wore smart black suits and had feet and flippers. Penguins, thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them, quadzillions of them! P1 and P2 couldn't get over how many there was. It wasn't like they could just saunter up to a penguin and say 'Hi.' There was just a great big mass of penguins, all squawking and shuffling, biting and squabbling. Blackcat sensed their apprehension and glided about just above the rookery then across the bay to land on a small flow where there were just a handful of penguins, two big ones and some motley young ones with patches of baby fluff giving way to bright new feathers.
Blackcat introduced himself to the surprised penguins. The two big ones were called Monsieur Herring and Mademoiselle Anchovy. They were just starting swimming lessons for the young penguins.
'Can we join in too?' asked P1 and P2.
This caused much laughter and amusement amongst the group and after some discussion Monsieur Herring said that it would be their pleasure to give P1 and P2 some pointers.
M. Herring gave P1 and P2 a quick briefing on penguin protocol.
Rule 1: 3 fin slaps means leopard seal. Get out QUICK!
So the first lesson was getting out. P1 did think that this was a bit daft. Surely it would be better to learn how to get in first or how to swim fast. But no, lesson number one was getting out!
P1 and P2 dove into the deep green sea with the young penguins and swam about awaiting the triple fin slap. Bang! Bang! Bang! Following the other penguins they dived down deep then turned and swam towards the surface as fast as they could. Reaching the surface they shot into the air. Yippee! Then splat! P1 landed head first in the soft snow leaving just his feet sticking out.
P2 went straight up in the air, stopped then came back down in the same spot. Great fun but not much use if a leopard seal is on your tail. The Antarctic penguins hadn't fared much better, some had stuck in the snow. Others had hit the sides of the flow and slipped back into the sea.
'Well, not bad for a first attempt,' said M. Herring, 'But half of you would have been eaten and the other half frozen into the Antarctic icecap for the next 10,000 years! Now watch me and I'll demonstrate.' M. Herring dove into the water and half a minute later come rocketing out of the sea, flew through the air and landed neatly on his belly, sliding to a halt amongst his pupils.
'Now, follow me,' he said and dived back into the icy water. The little penguins lined up behind M. Herring about 100m from the ice flow. Mlle. Anchovy gave the 3 fin slaps and M.Herring dove first out of the water then down, down, down into the gloom, his class struggling to keep up. He then turned upwards, his feet kicking so fast that they left a trail of bubbles as he sped towards the surface then shot out towards the ice flow, opening his flippers just a little to steady his flight. He landed perfectly on the ice, his students crashing and somersaulting around him.
'Let's do 10 more,' he said.
And they did.
And then another 10.
After a quick stop for sardines they made another 10 practice runs, M. Herring giving each penguin individual attention to perfect their technique. By the end of the morning M. Herring was satisfied and P1, P2 and the young penguins lay exhausted on the ice flow.
Bang! Bang! bang! A real alarm sounded; there was a leopard seal about! Penguins shot out all over the place, most landing on the ice by the main rookery but some crashing up onto the little ice flow with P1 and P2. One came through so fast that he sent the little penguins flying like skittles then shot off the other side of the ice flow back into the water. Splash, munch, yum yum penguin lunch for Mr Leopard Seal.
'P1, P2 we really must get going.' said Blackcat. 'My paws are frozen'.
P1 and P2s' penguin toes felt fine. They thanked Monsieur Herring and Mademoiselle Anchovy and said goodbye to the young penguins, vowing to be back soon. Then jumped up on Blackcat's back and were off heading for the clouds.
Chapter 4 - Splat Cat!
Blackcat stepped over the edge and fell into the darkness. The Penguins, P1 and P2, looked at each other in alarm. Mariana covered her eyes.
Then woomph! Blackcat opened his wings. He almost touched the floor at the bottom of his dive as then swooped up and glided around the room, flying low over the sleeping Louise and Zozo. He made a couple of orbits of the solar system, using the sun's gravity to gain extra speed and headed straight for the window.
SPLAT! Blackcat crashed into the window at full speed and ricocheted back into the room knocking over the animals on Louise's desk as if they were dominos. P1, P2 and Blackcat ended up in a snotty heap on the floor.
Louise jumped up and turned the light on. Zozo stirred.
'What's going on?' said Louise, rubbing her eyes. She picked up P1, P2 and Blackcat and set them back up on the desk, straightening out the animals and dolls. 'You naughty animals, you're at it again,' she scolded as she shuffled off to jump into bed with Mum and Dad.
'Oooops,' whispered Blackcat.
'Oooops,' said all the animals together.
'Any more carrying on like that and we will all end up in the flea market,' said Mariana.
'Ooops,' said Blackcat.
'Why not?' asked P1 and P2,' Why not open the window next time.
'I can fly through glass,' whispered Blackcat.
'Like yes,' said P1 sa
rcastically, then added, 'Let's open it first, then you fly through.'
Him and P2 jumped across onto the window sill and pushed the window open.
Blackcat launched himself off the desk, did a quick circuit of the room and zoomed out through the open window and out into the darkness.
'I wish I could fly too,' said P1 to P2.
There was a moments silence then P2 said to P1, 'Let's try'.
'A one, a two, and a three', said P1 and they jumped into the darkness
Crash! Bang! Ouch! They landed on the floor.
Zozo stirred in her sleep.
In the morning Louise fished Blackcat in off the window sill. 'What are you doing out there?' she asked, 'Look at you, you are a mess, your wings are all broken.'
She carefully cut out a new set of wings, coloured them black and stuck them on Blackcat's back with lots of sellotape.
'Do behave!' she scolded as she picked the Penguins off the floor and rearranged the animals on her desk.
That evening as soon as Louise and Zozo had stopped stirring and there was nought but zeds floating up from the beds, Blackcat said, 'I'm off,' and launched himself off the desk.
'We'll open the window,' called P1 and P2, but it was too late...
Blackcat did a quick lap of the room and was going full speed aiming at the glass.
SPLAT! Blackcat bounced off the glass, hit the wall and ended up at P1 and P2s' feet, a ring of little penguins and stars circling his head.
P1 and P2 shook their heads.
Blackcat was out cold.
Mariana threw a bucket of water over him.
He stirred, groaned, struggled to his feet and fell over again. A sorry looking sight he was.
'I've lost my mojo, I've lost my mojo, I've lost-,' he kept repeating.
P1 and P2 went looking for it. They searched high and low, under the beds, in the drawers and behind the desk. They even looked in the laundry and Zozo's little yellow box where she hid her dinosaurs.
All night they searched for Blackcat's mojo. Dawn was breaking when they finally sat down.
'I give up', said P1.
'What does a mojo look like?' said P2.
'I don't know,' said P1, 'I thought you knew.'