Noah with bedtime book and Isla on living-room sofa look towards kitchen door; Mum puts down mug; nighttime outside.

The Night Visitor

Shared Reading Books · Stories · Year 3
Narrative

Noah was halfway through his bedtime book when something scraped outside the kitchen door. He stopped reading. Isla lifted her head from the sofa. “Did you hear that?” Mum put down her mug. The scrape came again, followed by a soft thump. “Probably the wind,” Noah said, rather quickly.

Noah Isla and Mum look through glass kitchen door at lit covered porch, tipped flowerpot and small damp paw prints; no animal visible yet.

Mum switched on the porch light. Through the glass, they could see a tipped flowerpot and a trail of damp marks. Isla pressed closer to the door. “Footprints.” “Paw prints,” Mum said. Noah pictured an enormous creature with muddy feet. “How enormous?” Isla asked when he told her. He spread his hands apart.

Mum opens door and Noah Isla stand beside her on dry covered porch, old outdoor chair with faded cushion, branch touches fence in background; cat hidden.

They stayed beside Mum while she opened the door. The covered porch was empty. A branch tapped the fence at the far end of the garden. “Wind,” Noah said again. Then something rustled behind the old outdoor chair. Mum bent to look, but the chair’s faded cushion hid whatever was beneath it.

Ginger cat with white chin and two white front paws peeks below faded cushion under outdoor chair; Noah points while Isla and Mum observe nearby.

Noah noticed a white paw sticking out below the cushion. He pointed without speaking. A second white paw appeared. Then a ginger face peered round the chair leg. “Your enormous creature,” Isla whispered. The cat blinked at them and tucked its head back under the chair.

Noah and Isla crouch with Mum beside ginger cat under porch chair; shut garden gate visible behind, no carrier yet.

“That looks like Marmalade,” Mum said. “Mrs Dean’s cat.” Noah crouched beside her. “Why doesn’t he go home?” Mum glanced towards the gate. It had blown shut. “He may have come in earlier and decided this was a good place to wait.” Isla looked at the cushion. “It does look comfortable.”

Mrs Dean arrives with a cat carrier as Marmalade stretches out beside the same dark wooden porch chair with its faded green and leaf-pattern cushions. Mum and the children watch.

Mum rang Mrs Dean, who lived next door. A few minutes later, she came through the gate carrying a little cat carrier. “There you are,” she said. “I’ve been checking every room.” Marmalade emerged slowly, stretching one white paw, then the other. He looked in no hurry to leave.

Marmalade ginger cat with white front paws steps into Mrs Dean’s open carrier; Isla picks up tipped flowerpot, Mum holds gate, Noah watches.

Mrs Dean crouched beside the carrier and called him. Marmalade walked over, brushed her hand with his cheek and stepped inside. Isla fetched the fallen flowerpot while Mum held the gate. “Sorry about the mess,” Mrs Dean said. Noah shook his head. “He was quieter than an enormous creature would have been.”

Noah and Isla sit close together on sofa, Noah reads bedtime book, Mum sits nearby; branch faintly visible beyond kitchen-door glass at night.

Back on the sofa, Noah opened his book again. Isla tucked her feet beneath her. A small tapping sound came from the garden. They both looked at the kitchen door. “The branch,” Mum said. “I know,” Noah replied. He turned a page, then moved just a little closer to his sister.

The Night Visitor

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