Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and Toto was even able to get a couple of hours sleep.

The cats woke to Catface knocking gently on their door, bringing them each a mug of warm milk. As the sun rose over the West Country fields, they felt the train start to slow and eventually it hissed to a stop. THEY HAD REACHED OTTERVIL! 'Righty-ho, my friends.' Catface slapped his knees. 'We must be hasty with our ablutions, our transport to the festival awaits!' Minutes later, the small felines and their friend hopped off the train, and it pulled away in a cloud of dust, leaving a platform full of animals of all shapes and sizes to file out of the quaint, red-brick station, where A FLEET OF SHETLAND PONIES decked in white and yellow flowers were waiting to

transport the festivalgoers to site. Jonny and the band had already been whisked away by his security and were making their way to the festival in true rock-star style, flown by air in woven baskets carried by serious-looking common buzzards. 'Now, our lift should be along any minute ...Ah, here we are, right on cue!' Catface took off his hat and waved at the strange sight coming into view. A huge powerful St Bernard dog was towing what looked like a BACK-TO- FRONT WHEELBARROW, ridden by an otter wearing a blue and white checked neck scarf. 'Lutra!' Catface cried. 'Over here!'

'Catface, my dear friend, so good to see you,' the otter called, as she dismounted the wheelbarrow. 'And, finally, I get to meet the two cats you've been telling me so much about. Toto and Silver, welcome to CATSTONBURY! It's such a pleasure to have you with us this weekend.' She hugged the cats warmly. 'SO THAT IS AN OTTER!' whispered Toto to her brother. 'I've never smelled a scent

quite like it... a little bit of fast-flowing river with a dash of earthy woodiness- lovely? Silver leaned in close to add quietly, 'Oh yeah, the hair, the fur, those eyes- she's really pretty. I think Catface might have the hots for her!' 'Let's get going, I don't want you guys to miss a thing.' Lutra helped the cats to clamber into the wheelbarrow and called out, 'Full steam ahead, Gregory!' 'All right, all right, I'll go as fast as I can. The long-suffering St Bernard winked at the cats. The guests settled into the cushioned barrow and felt the warm country breeze in their whiskers as they trundled along the lanes that led to the festival and- hopefully -a weekend of excitement.

Toto started to relax. She tried to put the incident on the train behind her. With all the crimes she had solved in the last six months there could be scores of baddies looking to get even. Maybe it had nothing to do with Jonny. She told herself to forget about the pampered rock star, and resolved to focus on having a couple of days of FUN. The annual animal music festival of Catstonbury had been held on the same site down in the West Country for nearly fifty years. Started by Lutra's grandad, her parents had picked up the baton and, for the last five years, the young otter herself had taken the reins. As otters had founded it, the festival had originally been called Otterfest. It was a place