Page 52 - Book 8 Matty Hedgehog and the Paper Chase

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Matty Hedgehog and the Paper Chase
Early the next morning, two cats prowled around the chicken pen, prompting loud clucking and squawking. Alfie went to his front door to have a look. One of the cats was Phoebe, a Siamese, and the other was a white cat that often climbed the conifer trees to search for baby birds.
‘What are you up to, Phoebe?’ he called out. ‘Don’t you think that we have enough trouble having those birds in the garden, without you teasing them and making them holler like that?’
The Siamese jumped from the chicken coop to the top of the fence. Daintily, she edged her paws along the narrow strip of wood and gazed up at the squirrel in the conifer tree.
‘We’re only having a bit of fun, Mr Squirrel,’ she smiled coyly. ‘We’re bored aren’t we, Freya?’ she said to the white cat.
With a flick of their tails, the cats slipped down the other side of the fence into the meadow and disappeared around the front of the Westons’ cottage.
Adeline Hen almost fainted as she wobbled inside the coop. ‘Bring me my fan, Minnie, there’s a dear. I simply cannot abide cats: I am allergic to them.’
Minnie Hen dutifully went to Adeline’s box and took out a straw fan. She watched as the older bird flapped it with her eyes tightly shut.
‘Might I have a cold drink too? I don’t like this place. It has been made from scrap wood, not good enough for a pedigree creature like me.’
Minnie and her four friends had tolerated Adeline when