All this excitement had made me feel hungry and thirsty and my food was there for the taking.

Sure enough, after a little while one of the girls came into the kitchen, picked me up and took me into the front room. She sat me on the floor by the fire and played with me. I guess the man must have forgiven me, because later on he too played with me and stroked me.

We spent the rest of the evening watching television. Well, the humans watched TV., I just sat there plotting and planning how to get upstairs without being noticed.

It wasn't long before the three children got up and went to bed. Lucky me, one of them had left the door slightly open. I glided out and silently slid upstairs and made myself comfortable on the little boy's bed.

My bliss didn't last long, because his mother came in, saw us both fast asleep as snug as you like. It didn't make any difference, I got turfed out and locked in the kitchen. At least I had that nice warm boiler to sleep on even if it was hard and I could always get a drink of milk whenever I wanted to.

By the time I was some eight months old, the weather had got a lot warmer and most days were bright and sunny. Gone was the freezing cold, the snow and ice and horrible wet rain. Instead it was very pleasant and I could hear birds chirping outside. Even the two birds in the cage in the front room were continually chirping.

I used to sit on the window sill in the front room and watch the world go by outside. I would sit and watch as the birds flew down into MY front garden.

"I'd have them one day," I vowed to myself.

I used to go out into the garden as often as I could, mainly to try and catch those birds. After an unsuccessful foray I would go over to my favourite spot, sheltered from the wind and out of sight, to just soak up the lovely warm sunshine.

One afternoon on a particularly warm day, I lay there in the sun, totally at peace with the whole world. I even considered becoming friends with all the mice and birds. N0! that was going too far, I just wouldn't chase them today.

As I was dozing peacefully in the warm sunshine, I heard a rustling amongst the flowers and grass. Instantly I was alert and straining my eyes and ears to see what was making the noise. My eyes narrowed to mere slits in the bright sunlight and I waited with every nerve and fibre, tense and ready for instant action.

Through the grass there came a black cat, about the same age as me. When he saw me he stood stock still and I crouched there motionless. I didn't feel too happy about him invading MY garden. Anyway, I'd soon sort him out if he tried anything funny. I needn't have worried though, because he came up to me, touched my nose with his and then sat down to wash himself. I sat there for a short while and went up to him, touched his nose with mine and lay back down in the sun. He stretched out beside me and we introduced ourselves.

He was called Blackie and he told me that he had moved into the house next door with two humans and a little baby, just a few weeks ago. This was the first time that he had been able to get out, except into his back yard. He told me that he had no one to play with in the house as the humans always seemed to be busy with the baby. However they did treat him O.K. and he had a nice warm bed and plenty of food. He said that he missed being stroked and made a fuss of, like it used to be before the humans had got themselves a baby. At least he was well looked after, even if he was a bit lonely.

I told Blackie all about my adventures and how I had left my mum and brothers and sisters to come and live here. Blackie was very interested to hear me describe my meeting with a real mouse. He told me that he had never seen a mouse but there was a funny smell coming from a hole in the floor of his kitchen.

I told him that, that funny smell was the scent of a mouse and one day, especially when it gets cold again, he would probably see a mouse come out searching for food. In the meantime it was nice and warm, the sun was shining brightly and we both had a super place to just laze around.

With no one to play with him in his own house, Blackie would spend a lot of time in my house playing with my kids. In turn, when we wanted some peace and quiet, we would go into his house.

When my kids were at school, Blackie and me would explore everywhere. We went into other people's gardens, chatted up other people who lived on the same street and dashed along the back yard walls, chasing each other. It was all great fun and we both began to really enjoy living.

In one yard we met two rabbits in a large cage but they didn't seem to welcome us visiting them. Maybe they thought we would try to pinch their food. Can't think why, because us cats don't eat lettuce and things like that. Anyway, they weren't very sociable so generally we left them alone, except for occasionally teasing them.

Next door to Blackie's house there was a huge and ferocious dog and he was tethered by a long chain. He could roam all over his back yard but the chain stopped him from jumping over the wall. He was so big and had such huge sharp teeth that I am sure he would have killed us had he been able to get at us. Naturally, we took advantage of his inability to move very far and we teased him unmercifully. We would sit on the wall just out of his reach and stare at him. This used to drive him mad. He would bark and snarl and try to jump up at us, only for the chain to drag him back with a jerk. This would make him madder still. One day that chain would break and then we would be in trouble. However, we continued to torment this chained up killer and continued to run the gauntlet over his territory. Just out of reach.

Right at one end of the row of houses was a big house, much bigger than all the others. It also had a back yard and this too was much bigger. It had a lawn and flower beds and in one corner there was a shed. It was obvious that there were no pets in this house. I mean, no self respecting cat or dog would have allowed the garden to look so spick and span. Like all the others, this house too had an outhouse with a roof that reached up to the back bedroom. This roof was perfect for early morning sun bathing and battling with Blackie.

One morning, just as I was about to give Blackie a whack around the ear, I heard a tapping on the window. I turned and looked and saw a young girl sat by the window and it was she who had been tapping on the window. Blackie too had heard the noise and we stopped fighting and stared at her.

She opened the window and called to us. I looked at Blackie and he looked at me and we both looked at her. This young girl called again and we both eased our way towards her. Once near the window Blackie stopped but I kept going and jumped onto the window sill.

"Hello puss," said the young girl and reached out a hand to stroke me.

I had never seen this girl before so I approached with a lot of caution, ready to jump back if she tried to grab me. As I got closer I could see this girl trying to reach out a bit further.

I sniffed at her fingers and looked into the bedroom. She was sat in wheelchair and I knew right away that she couldn't walk. Here was someone who wouldn't try to hurt me.

I sensed Blackie behind me and we both went into the bedroom. The young girl stroked us both and laughed and we played. In the end we both sat on her lap and as she stroked us, we purred.

Blackie and me made a habit of visiting her whenever we could especially as there was always some sort of a tit bit waiting for us. I don't know why this girl was in a wheel chair, I guess she couldn't walk but she was always happy to see us. This was better than teasing that horrible ferocious dog.

One morning when we went for our daily visit, we got to the window and there was no one there. I looked through the window and I could see the bed and other furniture but somehow it looked empty. We went for the next few days but it was still empty so we forgot all about her. By then we had made another friend and he really did need me and Blackie.

Coming back from the young girl's house I stopped and looked down into the yard next to mine. There in the corner was a dog cowering and whimpering pitifully. I looked at this timid looking dog and my thoughts went to that big brute chained up a couple of doors away. This dog didn't seem like that one. This one seemed very frightened and certainly didn't look like it could bite my head off. For a start it wasn't all that big and one of it's ears wouldn't stand up. With a black and white face and body, there were times when it looked really comical and definitely not a killer. But now it just looked sad and lost and very lonely.

This dog still hadn't seen me and I decided that it was high time that I went down to meet him. He seemed very thin, I could see his ribs, and his coat was dirty and scruffy.

I jumped down onto a dustbin and even though I had landed very quietly, the dog raised his head and looked at me. There was a vacant and frightened look in it's eyes, but even so I froze and fixed my gaze on him, just looking for a sign that it was going to attack. Instead I saw the dog try to push itself even further into the corner.

"This dog is certainly frightened of everything and everyone," I thought "even me."

Although all my instincts told me that all dogs meant trouble, even this one, I couldn't help but wonder why this dog didn't run true to form. Cautiously I jumped down off the dustbin and crept up to this miserable hound. He didn't move, just stared at me with eyes full of sadness and pain. As I came closer he bent down as if to greet me and I could see in his eyes that here was one dog that wouldn't hurt a fly.

We came closer until at last nose to nose we greeted each other. After the first sniff he seemed to relax a bit and I realised that this dog could be a friend.

I tried talking to this dog and after a lot of coaxing I found out that he was a mongrel called Toby and he had come to live in this house, that very day. He still seemed very sad and obviously he didn't like it in the yard. At least he wasn't chained up so he could run away if he wanted to.

To try and cheer him up, I suggested that him and me could be friends. He looked at me as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"You! Me! Friends!" uttered Toby, "Never! We can't be, 'cos you're a cat and I'm a dog."

"Course we can," I threw back at him "and what's more I can find you another friend too. Mind you, he's a cat too, I haven't any dog friends so you'll have to make do with two cats as friends."

With that I told Toby to stay where he was and dashed off to find Blackie.

As usual, I found him stretched out on his shed roof sunning himself without a care in the world.

"Come on Blackie," I shouted, grabbing his left ear. "Follow me, I've something to show you."

Without waiting to see if he was following I dashed off back to Toby's yard. By the time Blackie had got to us I was sat in front of Toby and he didn't seem quite as nervous as before.

Blackie came over the wall like an express train and as soon as he saw me, just a short bite away from a dog, he skidded to a halt and stared down at me. I could see that Blackie was about to get into a panic, so I went to him to explain. Once I had reassured Blackie that Toby was a nice friendly dog he came down and we both sat down to listen to Toby's tale of woe.

Toby told us that he had only one sister and that he didn't know where she was. He also told us that before coming to this house, he was with lots of other dogs in what he called a kennel. This kennel place was for dogs that didn't have a home with humans. No dog stayed there for very long.

He used to have a nice home but once he had stopped being a puppy, he had been taken for a ride in a car a long, long way from home and left by the roadside. Somehow he had found his way to some other houses and a man in another car had come to take him to the kennels.

Toby also told us, that at the kennels, people would come to look at the dogs and occasionally they would choose one and then that dog would go home with them. Nearly every evening a man in a white coat would come and choose a dog and take it away.

Toby said, "The man had a funny smell about him and we never saw the dog again. We never heard the gates slam shut nor did we hear cars driving away. We seemed to know," carried on Toby, "that when this man in the white coat came round, the dog he chose was to be killed."

Toby went on to tell us that he only ever had one real friend and that was at the kennels. This friend was a big powerful Alsatian called Butch.

Toby and Butch had shared the same compound and Butch had arrived the day before Toby.

A lot of people had come to look at both of them but nobody seemed to want a big powerful dog or one that was skinny and scruffy with an ear that wouldn't stand up.

Toby went on with his sorry tale and told us that late one evening the man in the white coat had come and had chosen Butch. Even though he knew where he was going, Butch said goodbye and walked away with his head held high. Butch was a very brave dog.

"Luckily," said Toby, "the next day, very early in the morning, this man came and took me away from the kennels and brought me here. I wish I was back," wailed Toby, "even if it meant following Butch."

"Look here Toby," yelled Blackie, "stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're quite a big dog, a bit skinny but with a few good meals inside you, you'll soon look great. Anyway you've got two friends now, even if we are just cats. A friend is a friend no matter who they are."

Toby sighed, "Yes you're right I suppose, but I wish I had something to eat, I'm hungry, very hungry. I haven't eaten since yesterday and that wasn't very much."

Blackie and me looked at each other, wondering what we could do when the back door opened and a big fat man came out. Before you could blink, Blackie and me were on the shed roof. I don't think the fat man even saw us.

Toby saw the fat man and ran up to him, wagging his tail. Fatman didn't respond, instead he kicked Toby aside and said, "Stay outside mutt and stop anyone getting in. Here's some food for you."

Fatso put the food down and went inside, leaving Toby more miserable than ever. At least he had some food now, but it didn't seem very much for a dog. I could have eaten that.

Me and Blackie sat and watched as Toby ate every single morsel, he sure was hungry! When he had finished eating, Toby started to look around as if he had lost something.

"What have you lost?" asked Blackie.

"I'm thirsty," replied Toby "and Fatso hasn't left me any water."

We all looked around and sure enough the big fat slob had forgotten to leave Toby some water.

It was Blackie who saved the day. He remembered that there was an old tin on the shed roof and he went to see if there was any water in it. There was and it looked like it would taste horrible but that was better than no water at all. Blackie came back and told us that there was water in the tin.

Somehow we managed to coax and persuade Toby to try and jump up on the shed roof for a drink. It took a lot of encouragement, but after a few tries Toby was on the shed drinking as if his very life depended on it. Maybe it did?

By now it was beginning to get dark so me and Blackie had to say goodbye so that we too could go and get some food. We promised to come back in the morning.

The next few days were no fun for Toby, locked in the yard day and night, with not much food and even less water, with only me and Blackie for company. We did all we could to cheer him up and even managed to scrounge the odd bone for him but there is a limit to what two cats can do. Toby needed the company of a nice human or even another dog. There was only one dog around here and he was a real brute. Anyway, he was always chained up.

I tried to get the little boy and his two sisters to help but they didn't seem to understand. Once I had very nearly enticed the oldest girl to climb onto the wall after me so that she would see Toby but her mother came out and told her to get down. It was hopeless really.