Down a country lane full of flowers stood a cottage with a bird table and a few houses. Gertie the Magic Car lived next to the cottage. Squirrels and rabbits came into the cottage garden and there were many birds flying between the bird table and the woods on the hill.
The days were full of sunshine but at night the baby animals had to be careful when Sholto the ginger cat was on the prowl. Gertie the Magic Car often talked to Gran'pa and Gran'ma Rabbit near the entrance to their rabbit-warren in the hedge behind her. There were so many baby rabbits in the fields now and even more young birds learning to fly. Gran'pa Rabbit had been to meet the fairies in the woods to ask what could be done to stop Sholto the ginger cat frightening their babies.
The Queen of the Fairies agreed that the ginger cat was a nuisance. The songbirds, dormice and squirrels had already asked for her help. Since then the fairies had kept watch every night. There were many fairies in the woods. The Fairy Queen told Gran'pa and Gran'ma Rabbit that she would call in all the fairies to help but she was worried. The fairies
had jobs to do during the day as well and they had very little time to sleep.
The night watch was tiring as they could not shut their eyes for a minute. Whenever the cat's eyes appeared they made sure that the small animals went back to their holes in the ground.
The old man who owned Sholto slept in his chair all day on the porch
getting up only to make tea and food for himself and the cat.
Sholto slept all day as well so by the time the sun went to bed he was ready for
some fun. The ginger cat liked chasing small animals. He did not
know or care that they were frightened.
The animals realised it was not fair to ask the fairies to work both night and day. Something had
to be done about Sholto. Gran'pa Rabbit talked to Gertie the Magic Car
about the ginger cat. Gertie thought it would be a good idea to call
all the animals to a meeting to decide what to do.
The Fairy Queen told
Gertie that fairies are often able to help human children and sometimes to punish
them if they were naughty but to sort out a bad cat a wizard was needed.
Osbert the Wizard of the Woods was away in London.
Everyone understood that not even a fairy can work both night and day.
They would meet at the hole in the hedge shielded from the light on the
porch by Gertie's shadow to discuss what could be done.
As the sun went down O'lai the cream Burmese cat jumped up onto Gertie's roof
to catch the last of the warmth.
O'lai was beautiful and very clever.
He could open the door of the refrigerator when he was hungry.
O'lai chased birds and mice sometimes but he slept all night on a pretty blue
fluffy blanket in his house. As darkness fell O'lai went back to his house
down the lane. He knew about the meeting but had not been invited,
being a cat.
As soon as it was dark the animals gathered.
Gran'pa Rabbit stood guard.
The songbirds and doves could not stay awake.
The Crazybird had been sent to the meeting to find out how the birds could be
protected. This strange bird was owned by a human across the road.
The human had seen Crazybird in a pet shop when he was a chick.
Then he was pretty little creature with a soft voice.
No-one knew where he came from or what sort of bird he was.
He lived in the garden these days as he had grown much too big to
fit into his cage.
Crazybird always screeched. He could not help making loud noises.
The animals were sure that Sholto would hear him. Crazybird knew he
was a nuisance and had come prepared with a list on which to write and
a reel of tape. He held up the tape
with his foot and asked Gran'ma Rabbit to tie up his beak.
As he was the only bird awake he must hear what was to be done.
The animals talked for a long time but could not decide on a plan of action.
Then Gertie saw cats' eyes in the drive and Walter
Weasel whistled a warning.
Most of the animals had disappeared into holes in the hedge.
Sholto saw tape on the Crazybird's beak. Now here was a good game!
Sholto had often scratched or clawed at Crazybird but the bird pecked him or kicked the cat
with his big feet. The ginger cat saw a chance to get even!
Sholto jumped onto Gertie's roof and in one big leap
landed on the branch of the tree with his claws out. The bird
squawked but no sound came out.
Sholto lashed the air with his tail and sharpened his claws on the tree.
Then Sholto jumped onto Crazybird's branch.
The Crazybird lowered his head to butt the ginger cat with its large beak.
Sholto put out a claw and quick as a flash he pulled out the Crazybird's crested
feathers. Sholto lost his balance and he fell off the branch, taking
with him the bird's beautiful
blue top-knot. Sholto was enjoying himself. What a sight the bird
would look without a crest and completely bald!
The cat jumped again onto Gertie's roof ready to attack again.
Gertie saw Sholto's tail lashing the air through her wing mirror.
She opened her passenger door a little
way. As Sholto launched himself Gertie banged the door shut on the
end of the cat's tail. The night was filled with the most terrible noises,
Meow! Yow! Meow! Ooooh oooooow!
A voice was heard inside the house asking,
"What is the matter with poor
pussy?"
The cat was a sorry sight. He spent the next week with
sticking plaster on his tail. The Crazybird was not badly hurt but his
poll feathers would take a long time to regrow. He wore a bobble cap
over the bald patch on the top of his head. Everyone was sorry for
Crazybird but he looked so funny they could not help smiling.
The Fairy Queen flew in from the woods the next morning, alighting on
Gertie's open door. She said that her girls could not keep watch at night
any longer. Perhaps Gertie could use a Magic Car spell on the
ginger cat? The Fairy Queen knew that Magic Cars had been known to put spells on
animals. Magic Car spells were not as good as Wizard spells but the Wizard was
not here, so would Gertie please try?
The very next day Gertie trying to think what the Osbert the Wizard might do
and was trying to decide the best spell to use when her humans came out of the house with
a bucket of car-wash and polish. Gertie was soon as bright as the sun
with her shining yellow body. She had fortgotten that her humans were
taking her to the midsummer meeting
of Magic Cars, two or three hours' drive away.
When the humans went inside the house Sholto jumped onto Gertie's roof and
made muddy paw-prints all over it. Gertie's humans came outside again with
a picnic box full of plates, cups and spoons. The next morning they
would put a hamper of food on top of the box and leave for the Meeting of
Magic Cars very early. Gertie saw her chance but knew
she would need help.
Just then O'lai the cream Burmese cat
came up the lane
and jumped onto Gertie's warm bonnet. O'lai stretched out in the sun
and cleaned his whiskers. Gertie and the cream Burmese cat were good friends.
Perhaps O'lai could help her get rid of the ginger cat.
Gertie and O'lai did not see Delf the elf
hiding in the hedge. 
Delf was always looking
for mischief. He could sense that something was going on here.
Delf was well-hidden by the bushes so he waited to hear what the Magic
Car and the cream Burmese cat had to say.
Gertie told O'lai what he must do. O'lai did not like the
ginger cat but he was worried about Gertie's plan. O'lai did not know
much about Magic Cars or spells. He was proud to be a tom
cat and the only Burmese cat for many miles. Gertie wanted to turn him into
a female cat for a short time. How could O'lai be sure that Gertie would be
able to undo the spell? He would like to help but this was very dangerous.
Delf heard Gertie remind O'lai that with Sholto gone the cream Burmese could be top cat and charm all Sholto's girl friends. O'lai was a young tom cat and was jealous of Sholto. There was a pretty tortoise-shell coloured female cat that O'lai really liked perhaps even loved but he could never get near her. Sholto had nineteen girl-friends, including the tortoise-shell cat and her sister. O'lai was trying to decide if he would take the chance when Delf jumped out of the bushes.
He had a high squeaky voice,
"I heard what you said! I want to help get rid of Sholto the ginger cat."
Delf's help was something Gertie could do without but O'lai could not
let one small elf be the hero of the story. Delf said he did not believe that Gertie could turn O'lai
into a female cat. Gertie put on her side lights and droned in her rusty old
voice,
"Fleas bees and knobbly knees
Mutantur this Burmese"
O'lai jumped down from the roof and saw himself in the shining door
panel that was as bright as a mirror. A pretty tabby female cat
with big eyes and soft velvet fur looked back at him. O'lai was
amazed. He could almost fall in love with himself!
Delf the elf
clapped his hands and wanted to know what he could do to help?
In a second the pretty tabby had gone; O'lai could see his cream coat
and amber eyes in the door panel. O'lai thought this was a good
game and if he could get rid of the ginger cat so much the better.
Delf asked Gertie how she could put a spell on Sholto if the fairies did
not have the power?
This had worried Gertie and now perhaps Delf could
help. She sent the elf to ask the Fairy Queen for a sleeping
potion to drop into Sholto's saucer of milk. Delf was off in a second
to see the faires, delighted to be one of the team and up to no good
as was usual for an elf. Gertie knew that this idea was a little crazy
but she could think of nothing else at short notice. O'lai said it was
worth the risk. What must he do now?
Gertie asked Olai to return at
5 o'clock in the morning when Sholto would be coming home after a night
in the woods.
The sun was peeping over the hill when Sholto came out of the woods.
Delf had put three drops of the potion given to him by the Fairy Queen into
the saucer just minutes ago. Sholto drank milk from his saucer then sat down to clean his whiskers before going into
the house. The humans were almost ready to leave. Sholto was
still cleaning his whiskers and in fifteen minutes time
Gertie and her humans would be on the road.
Gertie saw O'lai in the hedge. She opened the passenger
door as O'lai
came out from the shadows. The cream Burmese cat jumped onto
the back seat of the car.
As they had agreed and in no time the O'lai had opened the catch on the
picnic box with his paw. Holding the lid of the box with one paw, O'lai flicked out half
the plates and cups
and Gertie pushed them into a hole in the hedge. The cream cat settled
down inside the picnic box. Gertie droned,
"Fleas bees and knobbly knees
Mutantur this Burmese"
At that moment Sholto came up the lane to see the pretty tabby female sitting in the car.
The tabby had large glowing eyes and a white ruff around her neck with the
tiniest paws. She was the most beautiful thing Sholto had ever seen.
He jumped onto the car seat. The tabby cat purred and looked at him
lovingly. As the ginger tom cat looked down at the tabby female cat
he saw two of her and then three. After that he remembered nothing.
The sleeping potion had worked at exactly the right minute. O'lai pushed
the ginger cat into the picnic box and closed the lid with a flick of his paw.
The humans brought out the hamper of food and put it on
top of the picnic box. As the humans drove away in their yellow Magic Car
with Sholto sleeping in the box on the floor Gertie sang,
"Pussy cat, pussy cat oh! What a pity
Soon you will be in Manchester City!"
The humans drove for two hours to the field where the Magic Cars were
meeting. Gertie was the only yellow car as usual. This year most cars had
been resprayed
with new striped paint. It was so good to see everyone again and for a while Gertie forgot about
the cat. There were Magic Cars flying and hovering over the crowd like
aeroplanes and helicopters. Many Magic Cars were carrying balloons and
banners. They looked very smart
with orange or red tyres on which humans had spent a lot of money this year.
There was
the fairground wheel where lots of small cars like Gertie were giving
rides to human children. The big cars were trying to knock each other
out at Dodgems. Gertie was now fitted with a mobile phone.
Since the meeting of Magic Cars last year they all had them.
Gertie had sent a text message to her friend Vulcan, a big black Magic Car
from Manchester. Vulcan was to take Sholto back to Manchester after
the picnic boxes had been swapped. Gertie looked again at the Dodgem
cars trying to knock out the others playing in the ring.
She could not believe her eyes. Vulcan was on his side. A green and
yellow striped Jaguar car was revving up to bash him again.
Wallop!
Bang!Crash!
Vulcan took the blows on his passenger side and all the air escaped from
his back tyre.
The Jaguar roared and crashed into Vulcan pushing him out of the ring.
Gertie slipped across the grass to find Vulcan upright again.
He was looking glum and battered with his flat tyre and the dent in his side.
Gertie was cross with Vulcan. Had he remembered what they were
doing today to save the animals in the wood?
Vulcan had forgotten in the excitement of the moment.
He said without looking at Gertie,
"Yes, all right, please don't go on at me. Can you pump up my tyre?"
Gertie realised she had left her magic pump kit behind at the house.
She could hear Sholto snoring softly. She did not know for how long
the ginger cat would sleep. Gertie told Vulcan they would
have to work retro-injection.
She parked next to him leaving room to open the doors.
Then she slid the picnic basket full of cat onto Vulcan's seat as he pushed
the picnic box full of plates behind her driver's door. With a short
length of pipe attached to her back wheel valve Gertie transferred the air
from her tyre into Vulcan's tyre. Then she told him to round up his humans and get
moving! The humans from Manchester had come down the day before and were
due to leave at any moment.
Vulcan gave a little toot and drove off with his humans and the sleeping cat in the
box. They arrived in Manchester at midnight. When Vulcan's
humans heard strange noises coming from the picnic box they thought that Sholto
must be a stray cat that Vulcan their Magic Car had picked up for a reason only
known to Magic Cars. Their ginger-headed son
adopted the ginger cat. And so Sholto became a town cat,
now only dreaming of chasing small creatures and baby rabbits in the woods.
Back at the Magic Car festival, Gertie's humans were ready to eat.
When they opened the picnic box it
was full of bright flourescent orange plates, the colour everyone was buying
this year. They didn't remember buying new ones but perhaps they had.
Gertie's human children giggled. They guessed it was a really cool
thing that Gertie herself had done but they did not know how.
The children asked Gertie if she would like to be resprayed with striped
paint? Gertie muttered,
"Fashions will change next year.
I am a yellow Magic Car and yellow I will stay, thank you very much."
After that day at the Magic Car Festival the animals
around Gertie's house and the cottage next door lived happily and in peace.
O'lai became top cat and father to many beautiful half-cream and rainbow
coloured kittens. A few were red, white and blue striped. O'lai became
a very famous cat and a champion. Once upon a time there were
cream or brown, blue or tortoiseshell, chocolate or red
Burmese but the red, white and blue gene was pure magic.
That was Gertie's way of saying "thank you" to O'lai for saving the
animals from the stress caused by Sholto chasing their babies.
O'lai and his humans now have an email address for enquiries about striped
red, white and blue
kittens.
