Third part of children's story, Henry and Sam.

Henry was still banned from going indoors and was getting angrier by the minute. How shameful that a high class cat like himself was down to scavenging in the bins, when he was used to having the best of everything. It felt like someone dropping him from a great height! Meanwhile Sam had the run of the house for a change, but it had become boring. You must all know that familiar word, even mice use it.
One evening he squeezed his skateboard underneath the crack in the front door, nervously looking towards the kennel. It was empty. Now that posed a problem. Sam wondered if Henry was getting ready to pounce out on him. So taking his courage in both hands he shot down the drive on his skateboard and out of the open gate into the back alley to meet his friends. There was still no sign of that cat!
Casper, Freddie, Nick and Ned said all-together, "Hi dude, can we have a ride on your skateboard please?"
"I don't know if there is room for all of us," Sam answered dubiously.
"Oh! Go on," Ned pleaded. "I'll bring you one of my mother's buns covered in pink icing," he offered.
Sam was not to be bribed, after all his mistress left him all sorts of tit-bits on the table every night. "Not interested," he said.
Casper said, "How about some yellow sherbet, that is yummy!"
"Don't like it, "Sam said, "It's all sticky and horrible."
Nick was wracking his brains, until he hit on an idea. "I will let you sit by me at school," he suggested.
Sam laughed, "Sit by you? Not likely, especially when you make rude smells."
Freddie was the brains of the gang. "You must have heard of the famous footballer, Beckham mouse, well my dad got his autograph for me, will that do?"
"Wow! Wee! A Beckham mouse autograph," Sam cried. "Man, he is the greatest! You have a deal."
Sadly in was not to be, for guess who was sitting high above them on a chimney pot? Yes, you guessed right, our resident cat. Freddie heard a sound and saw Henry in the gutter getting ready to leap down on them. He thought his luck was in, five mice for supper!
"Get up on my skateboard," Sam shouted to the others. At first they were in such a hurry that they collided in a heap. Henry sprang! There was a wicked gleam in his eyes and he had sharpened his claws for just such an occasion.
The mice crowded on to the skateboard holding on to each other, Sam gave a mighty push and they began to roll down the alley, with Henry one paw step behind. "Where are we going?" Casper shouted nervously. Sam had no time to answer as he was trying to control the skateboard.
Out of the alley they rushed and on down the hill towards the village duck pond, with Henry every now and then stretching out a paw to dislodge them. He thought, 'Never mind, they will tire before I do being at the peak of my fitness.'
Sam lost control of the skateboard and it swerved off the road over the grass towards the pond. "I can't swim!" Casper squeaked in fright. "Neither can we!" the others joined in. The next moment they went flying through the air straight into the pond. The ducks loudly quacked then flew off at this shameful intrusion. However, luck was on the side of the five mice because they landed on a lily leaf.
On the bank Henry was patrolling back and forth, the truth was he did not like water, especially if it was dirty.
"Now what are we going to do?" Sam said, hoping someone would suggest something. No one answered. "If only we had an oar we could move this leaf towards the bank," he went on.
Henry spotted the branch of a tree was hanging out over the water just above the mice, he could scoop them up one by one. So he started climbing the tree, "I smell supper," he said to himself, licking his lips.
Sam suddenly realised what Henry was up to, how were they going to escape?
Down at the bottom of the pool lived a large pike, on hearing the noise he rose to the surface. "Don't you know mice aren't allowed in here?" he said. Then he noticed the cat perched above the mice and realised what was happening. He was the King of his domain and used to handling tricky situations. "Hang on," he ordered, and started pushing the leaf towards the bank. Henry went to lunge forwards, lost his balance and fell into the water. "Help! Help! Someone save me," Henry howled.
But no one was listening. Having delivered the mice safely to the bank the Pike sank back to the bottom of the pool, burying himself in the mud. He had done his good deed for the day.
Surprisingly the skateboard worked perfectly and away the five mice went to get changed out of their wet clothes.
And Henry? Well, he is a survivor. Fur dripping with smelly pond water he crawled back inside his dog kennel, and guess what? He had caught another cold! So, what does he do next, because cats can't help catching mice, so he was not going to give up that easy.

Augustine Nash.