Mother gets a shock
It was then that Jack heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. Jack felt trapped, he knew that it would be just a matter of moments that he had to confront Mother and admit that he had overfed the cat.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by a sharp intake of breath from the doorway.
"Jack!" gasped Mother. "What on earth!"
Jack turned around and stared into the shocked face of his mother, standing at the door.
"Jack!" his mother repeated, "What on earth have you done?"
Jack fumbled to find the right words to explain what had happened. He struggled to admit that it was he who had caused the mammoth growth spurt of the cat.
"I ... I ..." Jack stammered. "It ... it ..."
"I just knew it!" his mother exclaimed, "You've overfed Gobbles! How much did she eat today?"
Jack's head sunk to the floor.
"Six bowls," he confessed.
"Six bowls!" exclaimed Mother, "Jack, I told you not to overfeed the cat!"
Jack continued his gaze to the ground. He knew that Gobbles had only just eaten the six whole bowls of Kibbles and so she would most certainly grow a little bit more during the day.
"We can't leave her in the house. Soon we'll never get her out." Mother groaned, "You'd better run and get the fire brigade!"
Jack was glad for a chance to escape this awkward situation. He scampered down the stairs, out into the street and towards the fire station. Surely, they would come to the rescue.
Within minutes, the local fire brigade was alerted to the plight of Jack's gigantic cat. With bells a-ringing and crowds a-cheering, they sprinted through the streets of the city, to the residence of the small boy and his mother.
Unfortunately, although they made as much haste as they were able, the fire crew were hampered by the transit of their fire cart. They had no horses to draw the vehicle along the cobbled streets and so the whole journey took much longer than expected. By the time that they had reached Gobbles, she had grown even larger.
"Your cat will never fit through the doorway," the fire captain declared. "We'll have to remove a window and then winch her into the street."
Jack's mother sighed. This whole episode was turning into a dreadful fiasco.
