Mr Harrington, by Paul White

Something astounding happened yesterday that I have to tell you about.

I was standing at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes from lunch and gazing out of the window as I did so. In the corner of the kitchen, little Jack was playing with his favourite toy, a fabric clown. I could see Jack’s delight each time he made it squeak.

A flock of sparrows were devouring some crusts I tossed on the lawn earlier and I could see Mr Harrington pottering about in his garden which adjoined the end of ours.

It was pretty much an ordinary and uneventful day until Mr Harrington look my way. In fact, I am sure he looked directly at me. A strange type of challenging stare. It was most unusual for him to look at me in that way and most disconcerting too.

That was when he stood, stretched his back and began running towards me. With one flying leap he hurdled the back fence, continuing to run at full speed the length of our garden scattering the sparrows as he neared the house.

But Mr Harrington did not stop running, he came dashing through the kitchen door, ran straight up to little Jack and hit him on the side of his head with a vicious, swinging swipe before turning around and dashing off.

Jack spun across the floor and slammed into the cupboard doors. Jacks clown toy flew into the air, bounced on the floor with a pathetic little squeak before coming to rest under the kitchen table.

The entire act happened so quickly, I only had time to pull my hands from the suds and pick up a towel ready to dry them, by that time Mr Harrington was half way back down the garden and heading home.

Jack was far quicker than I. He scrambled to his feet and was after Mr Harrington like a flash, jumping on him and raking his claws along his back. The two cats tumbled and twisted, matted clumps of fur flying into the air and those piercing, high pitched, ear shattering meows resonating throughout the entire estate.

Catching up with them I clapped my hands, stamped my feet and shooed at them. Mr Harrington giving up the fight and running home, while Jack came and rubbed himself around my ankles, purring away as if nothing untoward had occurred.

Looking up, I saw Mr Harrington sitting on the fence between the two gardens. He was looking back at me, head slightly tilted and wearing an expression that said “This ain’t over yet”.

I know that this to-do it is mostly my fault. You see, until I brought Jack back from the sanctuary we had welcomed Mr Harrington into our house and garden, now Jack was here Mr Harrington was, understandably, most displeased!

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