Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 'I didn't know London was so big!' said Toto, as they ambled down a side street near Whitehall, just by the Houses of Parliament. 'My dear, replied Catface, 'we've barely scratched the surface. We'll have to make this a regular outing. It would be my pleasure. As they turned into an otherwise quiet street, Silver noticed a lot of parked cars and men in uniform milling around.

'Where are we now, Catface?' he asked. 'This all looks pretty important.' 'Indeed,' said Catface. 'This is 10 Downing Street, the home of the human Prime Minister- the person in charge of the whole country! Before I take you home I want to introduce you to a dear friend of mine. Now, hop up on that ledge so none of these fine police officers see us. They get a bit funny about loads of cats around here!

The narrow ledge was about two floors up and ran the length of the houses in the street. For humans it would have been a big climb and a big drop- for cats it was a piece of cake. They walked along it till they were almost over the door of 10 Downing Street itself. Toto and Silver were working out how to jump down, when ahead of them Catface suddenly lost his footing and slipped, hurtling towards the ground. 'Toto!' Silver cried. 'Now would be a very good time to show off your ninj—' But his sister had already disappeared into the darkness below.

Toto knew that a) she was in a really bad mood with her brother for mentioning the NINJ word and b) she'd better hurry, as Catface was about to get squished. Luckily (although for a ninja, luck wasn't too necessary), she could just make out his shape, and more importantly, she could hear the almighty scream coming from his mouth. Toto caught up with Catface a metre or so off the ground and positioned her body so that she'd take the brunt of the fall.

Then, just as they were about to hit the ground, and the thought of Catface landing on her wasn't exactly top of Toto's wish list, she effortlessly pushed him off. He landed safely in a pile of leaves, while she landed nimbly on her feet.

'Well, that was rather SPECTACULAR,' said a white and grey tabby cat, who was leaning against the door of Number 10, a martini glass full of milk in his paw and a bowler hat at a jaunty angle on his head. 'Catface, my dear friend, you do know how to make an entrance!' Catface brushed himself down and tried to regain some composure. 'Just a slip, my good chum. Happens all the... er... time.' 'Hmm, just as well this young lady was on hand to save the day, hey? So, aren't you going to introduce us?' said the tabby cat. 'Of course! It's the reason we're here!' replied Catface. 'Allow me to present two young friends of mine, recently moved here from Puglia in Italy, from smashing families