Greta and Boris Read online

  As the two traveled across Cloud-Top Land, they were well-received by all and depended on the kindness of strangers to help them on their way. Despite the long walk, the whole journey had such a friendly and carnival atmosphere to it that Greta forgot to feel tired or afraid. She was just happy to listen to the talk of the birds, soak in the gorgeous scenery around her and enjoy the tasty food and drink on offer. Although she had felt it necessary to turn down the grub and worm stew cooked by the swallows (opting instead for some of her own emergency supplies) she ate well on fish caught fresh from the oceans and rivers – sardines, salmon, trout and cod; as well as the weird drink concoctions invented by the birds: dandelion and daisy juice, berry cordials and distilled sea water.

  Everywhere she went, Greta felt that as opposed to being on a dangerous rescue mission, she was on a happy and friendly holiday, exploring new landscapes and enjoying good food, drink and company.

  But where was it they were heading? Greta asked this same question to Kyrie a few days into their trip.

  ‘To the port,’ Kyrie replied.

  ‘Oh,’ Greta said. She paused. She was fairly used by now to Kyrie’s sometimes frustratingly short answers. ‘What port would that be?’ She fancied the reply was not going to be Liverpool, or Bristol.

  ‘The Port of the Milky Sea,’ was the next answer. ‘The Milky Sea is, unsurprisingly, the waters owned by the cats. Although, it isn’t water; the sea is made of milk. It links the Cloud-Top Land, where the birds live, to the Land of Mice. Beyond the Land of Mice we will find the Rat Kingdom. The Milky Sea is owned by cats, and shows the populations that surround it how we are in fact a peace-loving kingdom. Although the necessity of nature forces us to sometimes eat mice and birds, we would never dream of falling into conflict with their lands. The whole idea of nature is harmony.’

  Greta could see this being one of the times when Kyrie would share some of her famed knowledge and wisdom, and listened carefully.

  ‘Many humans have trouble,’ she said, ‘understanding the working of nature. It is for this reason that the human world, as they see it, is in trouble. That is what the birds meant when they talked about the polar ice caps. But we animals, we have a very different relationship with each other and with nature. We understand the necessity of harmony in living close to each other. For example, each animal in the non-human world appreciates the value of the food chain. This means that, although no bird would willingly give its life to be cat food, if it loses the chase, then it is understood that it dies without being waste. Similarly a plant understands that it is food for a rabbit, a grub understands that it is food for a bird. We do not invade the lands of our neighboring animals to feed. But on fair and neutral ground, hunting to eat is permitted. When I walk through the Cloud-Top Land, the birds are not afraid because we know that neither of us can attack the other on their own territory.’

  ‘But what about the rats taking Boris?’

  Kyrie sighed. ‘Not all animals obey the rules’ she said. ‘Just as in the human world many are good whilst some are cruel, so it is in the animal world. The rats are a greedy and wicked race that breaks the rules. But most animals are good and respect the balance of this natural harmony. If they didn’t,’ Kyrie here paused and shrugged. ‘If they didn’t, then the world would fall apart.’

  ‘So, what have the humans done wrong?’ Greta asked. She dreaded the answer, but was curious to know the animal world’s perspective. The more she knew, she decided, the more equipped she was to complete her rescue mission.

  ‘Greta, you are a human child, and you are brave and beautiful in spirit. Many men and women are like you. That is something you must bear in mind, as what I am going to say may otherwise seem cruel. But you must be able to appreciate that many humans are wicked. They do not understand nature’s harmony.

  ‘Here in our animal world, we see how food and energy must be shared between all of us, so that each breed and species can survive side by side. It is for this reason that we live happily together. But this is not the case with humans, all the time. So some humans go hungry, whilst others eat. And there is fighting and people feeling sad. In the animal world, this doesn’t happen.’

  Greta did not reply. She knew that what Kyrie said was true. Humans, despite thinking that they were better than the animals around them, had not found the harmony and balance that she had seen governing the lives of the creatures she had met. Humans all too often were not afraid to hurt and steal for no good reason.

  Kyrie smiled. ‘Greta, I don’t need to tell you that this is not all humans. Just as not all animals live according to nature’s balance. The mice are at war with each other as we speak. But we can learn from the different manners and behaviors of each other. That is how we grow and learn.’ She nuzzled Greta affectionately. ‘And here we are. The Port of the Milky Sea.’

  In which Greta visits the Port of the Milky Sea

  Greta looked up and caught her breath. The view was incredible. Lapping at the cloudy shores was a deep milky and silver ocean that stretched for miles around. As the sun shone up through the clouds beneath them, it illuminated the sea bright white, bathing everything around it in a deep, rich light. It tinted Greta, Kyrie and everyone at the port with a yellow glow. Everyone and everything was shining and beautiful.

  ‘It’s unbelievable,’ said Greta. Kyrie nodded in agreement, although her enthusiasm for her surroundings wasn’t as intense as Greta’s. Kyrie had seen most of these sights before, and many more wonders besides during her travels and adventures. She claimed that no landscape was as intense and amazing as the Russian mountains and the steppes and deserts of Siberia.

  But she understood how when seeing it for the first time, the sight of the Milky Sea was something special.

  It wasn’t just the sight of the ocean that was brilliant to Greta. She was standing in the center of one of the busiest ports in the world. Liverpool and Bristol – they had nothing on this. Scurrying past her came mice in uniforms boarding army and naval ships (‘the mice are at war,’ murmured Kyrie); albatrosses with their passengers of voles and shrews and other small rodents cruising into land; rabbits organizing boat tours to the Curdled Islands for holidaying hares; stores selling buttermilk and cream and yoghurt and cheese, as well as cafés selling milky drinks of every kind.

  ‘Some sustenance, I think,’ announced Kyrie, licking her lips delicately. ‘Then we had better find a boat.’

  The pair wandered through the hustle and bustle to an ice-cream parlor, ran by a very round and furry cat who hailed originally from Italy, and who was now known to be the proprietor of the most famous and delicious ice-cream parlor in the animal world.

  ‘Mamma mia! It is the warrior Kyrie! And you mia bella, must be the girl-child Greta! I welcome you three times over to my humble and unworthy shop! Whatever you order will be on the house. Now, I need to know! What is your pleasure?’

  ‘Giorgio, it has been too long!’ Kyrie said. ‘I’ve missed you. Greta, please let me introduce Primo Lorenzo Giorgio White, or Giorgio. He makes the best ice cream in the Kingdom of Cats. His ice cream is loved by the King and Prince, and today you will try it. What do you fancy?’

  Greta chose clotted cream in a cone, whilst Kyrie had Neapolitan. The two were treated as guests of honor in the parlor. Giorgio fussed over them and made it known to all the other customers eating there who his VIP guests were, much to Greta’s embarrassment.

  The delicious ice-cream never seemed to dribble and melt down its cone, and the last mouthful tasted as crisp and cold as the first. But there was no time to rest. As soon as they had finished eating, Kyrie leapt up and led Greta back out to the busy port, in search of a boat.

  Everywhere they went in the Port of the Milky Sea they were greeted with love and joy. The news of Boris’ cat-nap had spread, as had the news of the proposed rescue, and there was no shortage of offers of suitable transport. Eagles offered lifts high in the air, turtles offered their backs as floats whilst the rabbits suggested the use
of one of their chartered tour boats to make the journey. The warring factions of mice showed one thing they agreed on at least; they both wanted Greta and Kyrie to use one of their ships. But Kyrie politely refused all their kindnesses. She had, she told Greta, already someone in mind who would help them.

  At the end of the road that ran along the stretch of the port, there stood a small and slightly run down shack. It was made of wood. Each plank was at odds with the other; the windows were uneven and dusty and the roof looked like it had seen better days. But at the sight of it, Kyrie’s normally impassive face broke open into a huge beaming smile and tears lit up her clear and pretty eyes. She ran over to the door and knocked on it three times.

  After a wait, the latch clicked and the door opened, revealing a very old and yet still handsome mi-ke cat – the same breed as Kyrie herself.

  Kyrie flung herself at his ancient frame. ‘Grandpa!’ she shouted, as she started to cry. ‘I knew I’d find you here!’

  ‘Kyrie,’ he said, patting her gently as he held her close to him. ‘My little Kyrie!’

  ‘Greta,’ she said, pulling back. ‘Let me introduce to you my grandfather, Uchida Haruki Samurai Mi-ke, or Sam, as he is more commonly known. Grandpa, this is Greta.’

  ‘I know who you are my dear,’ he said, laughing merrily. ‘Why, all of us cats know your name!’

  ‘I’m pleased to meet you,’ Greta replied, shaking him by the paw. ‘It is always an honor to meet someone who is a friend of Kyrie’s.’ (Greta was beginning to pick up the way cats spoke to one another).

  ‘Come in, come in,’ he said, smiling all the while. ‘I’ll warm some milk.’

  The three made their way into the tiny little house. As they entered, Greta saw it was decorated with all kinds of fishing objects, from rods and ropes to models of boats; interspersed with Japanese artefacts that she recognized from her father’s museum.

  ‘We cannot stop long, Grandpa,’ Kyrie said, sipping her warm milk. ‘We have to press on with our journey to rescue the Prince Marmaduke Nikolai Boris Blue.’ (Greta was also getting more used to hearing Boris referred to in this way.) ‘We came to ask if we could borrow your boat.’

  At her words, the old cat started to rock with laughter. He giggled and chortled, until Kyrie began to look rather cross. ‘Grandpa-san! Please appreciate the seriousness of this matter! The Crown Prince is in danger, we need to cross the Milky Sea, and we hoped to borrow your boat! Why are you laughing?’

  ‘Oh my sweet child, Kyrie! Borrow my boat indeed! Have you forgotten our family honor and laws? No-one borrows the boat of Uchida Haruki Samurai Mi-ke – san. I will captain you myself. Let not my frame or age deceive you, young agile one. I will captain my boat and take you safely across the sea. I will catch you fish and bring your milk, and together we will travel to the warring Land of Mice. With me as your captain, you will have no fear of threat or injury, however old or frail I may appear.’

  Sam seemed to grow in strength and grandeur as he spoke, his pride for his boat and his sailing ability shining in his face.

  ‘Very well,’ Kyrie replied. ‘Forgive me for any doubt I may have had. But let us go now, we have delayed long enough.’

  If Sam’s house had seemed rather rickety and rackety, then his boat was its complete opposite. The wood shone like burnished gold and the sail fluttered in the wind, bright and clean. It was spick and span and built with such obvious love and attention that Greta felt compelled to stroke its shining and glowing sides.

  ‘She’s beautiful,’ she said.

  Sam nodded proudly. ‘Sayuri was built by me many, many years ago, as soon as I came of age. She has served me well ever since, as she will today.’

  ‘My grandfather is one of the world’s greatest fisherman,’ Kyrie added, the pride in her voice evident.

  Greta smiled warmly in response, and with his help, boarded the boat. They were off!

  ‘It is a long way across the sea,’ said Sam, as he pulled the boat out of the harbor and into the open water/milk. ‘But I will guide you across it safely. First, however, I must ask my beautiful granddaughter to tell me where she has been all these years. Come, sweet child, I want to hear it all. You have kept an old tom waiting too long. Where have you been? What have you seen?’

  ‘Yes, do tell us, Kyrie,’ Greta said. ‘I would love to hear of your adventures!’

  Kyrie smiled. ‘Okay. I will begin.’

  In which Kyrie tells many stories

  ‘I left the Kingdom of Cats when I was barely grown up, the cat age of eighteen. Which in your human years, Greta, would have made me around three years old. In my youth I had proven my bravery many times over. I was a champion, winning prizes and respect in tournaments. With my strength and intelligence it was only natural that I went into the Battle Cats division of the Protective Actions Warriors’ Society (also known as “PAWS”, for short).

  ‘Yet, once there, I was unhappy. I was a strong fighter and a good sports player. I was smart and bright and I was a highly skilled warrior. But the life didn’t suit me. I found it too regimented. The generals were in constant fear of attack from human or rat, yet they were unwilling to look closely at how to create peace. After winning the respect of the royal family and other leading cats, I left PAWS and began to travel. I wanted to take the skills I had learnt in fighting and tournaments to pursue an understanding of peace.

  ‘This began with my travels to the northern points of Scotland, where I was aware that there was a conflict between hawk and falcon.’ Here she paused. ‘Greta, I told you earlier that we animals all try and live together in a natural harmony. Most animals succeed, but sometimes things go wrong, as we are now seeing in the battle between Brown and White mice, or even with the cat-napping of our Prince. So it was with the hawk and falcon.

  ‘The hawks and the falcons were fighting because the hawks felt that the falcons were trying to invade the neutral feeding ground, depriving the hawks of their food. It was nonsense of course, as most arguments are. So I decided to try and offer my own opinion with the hope that I could end the battle. And after much talking and no more killing, it was decided that each day they would take it in turns to hunt and then share their bounty, so that neither side would lose food.

  ‘This was my first experience of using peace and conversation to solve a problem and end a battle, and I was successful. This spurred me on to travel further abroad.

  ‘I continued going north until I reached a harbor and jumped on a ship to America. It took me to New York where I went sight-seeing, before I hitched lifts on a variety of cars and trains across the country. Eventually I had gone right from the east coast of NYC to the west coast in California. I headed to Hollywood to see what all the fuss was about, and lived the wild life for a few months. I worked as an extra in the movies, and got to see the glitz and the glamor of the town. But it meant nothing to me. It was fun, no-one could deny that. But I felt there something missing. So I decided it was time to move on.

  ‘After Hollywood I decided to try and discover something about my cat roots, so I took up with a troupe of desert cougars. They lived in Arizona, and I learnt about the delicate balance that exists between humans and animals. With the cougars I saw how people and cats should live side by side and that danger only occurred when one species invaded another ’s space. When humans tried to destroy the cougars’ home and fighting broke out, I decided it was once more time to move further on. I still had much to see and learn.

  ‘And so it was that from America I ended up on another ship, heading to South Africa. It’s a country that is considered a great place of learning for cats. I was excited. And the continent of Africa! The homeland of our Queen’s family, and the home of lions and leopards and cheetahs – these animals would surely teach me so much. And I was not disappointed.

  ‘On the vast plains in that beautiful country, I met all the creatures I had heard so much about. The lions taught me the wisdom of hunting, the balance between predator and prey. I learnt from them abou
t the respect between all animals that forms the natural harmony of the food chain. I traveled north, until I reached Kenya. Here I met the cheetahs who taught me how to use my body for strength and speed. I learnt how to control my muscles and heart to increase my ability to chase and hunt. I found a speed and strength I never realized I had. From the leopards I learnt stealth – how to stay hidden and how to observe the rest of the world from the treetops. These days were some of the greatest I have ever spent.

  ‘When I felt that I had learnt all I could from this vast continent, it was once more time to continue my travels. I continued heading east, until I arrived in India. What a place! Here I met the tigers and lived with them for a while, and discovered the lore of the jungle. I learned about the history of the tigers, and in the forests I discovered more about nature’s harmony.

  ‘But once more I was learning, as I had in Africa and America, about the differences between humans, between rich and poor, between fighting and peace. In search of more information about peace, I traveled north to the stillness of the mountains where the Buddhist cats lived, and I stayed with them for a year or so. They taught me about the harmony that must exist between all living things. They showed me how peace is achieved by us all working as one and not against each other. They live in quietness surrounded by beauty, they hurt nothing and quarrel with no-one. I learnt from them that whilst it is okay to be angry at injustice; that anger can quickly lead to hate, a hatred that is destructive. I discovered instead how to be calm and how to listen.