2 That really horrible cat

CHAPTER TWO That really horrible cat This is Princess Buttons. She was a cat. A really horrible cat. The story goes that a few years ago, Princess Buttons lived in a huge mansion. Her owner was a rich old lady who wore very fancy clothes, even if she was just going to the corner shop to buy some of the posh cat food her pampered pet liked. Princess Buttons went everywhere with her, carried around in a large purple handbag so that she never got her precious paws dirty. Her life was perfect.

But then one day, the old lady choked on a gherkin and was taken away in an ambulance. Princess Buttons lay on the satin sheets of the old lady's bed and yowled. Many days passed, and eventually she knew in her bones that the old lady was never coming back. Princess Buttons would have to make her own way in the big, bad world. She roamed the streets, hungry and lost. But then one day she sniffed a waft of something fabulous. 'Gnnnnnnnnf!' said Princess Buttons, and she licked her lips. She trotted towards the smell, expecting to see a grand department store, or maybe a fancy restaurant. But instead she found…

SPEEDY CHiCKEN Well. It certainly wasn't fancy, but to Princess Buttons it looked like heaven. She darted down the alley next to the shop, her tummy rumbling. She scaled the brick wall, tumbled over the top and saw…

Foxes. So many foxes. They were tearing apart the Speedy Chicken bin bags that had been piled high throughout the day, snaffling all the greasy, gooey food inside. Princess Buttons could just about make out three massive bins, each the size of a small car. Cats, rats, pigeons and mice were hopping around too, chewing on bits of gristle and half-eaten pitta bread.

Princess Buttons skulked along the ground and pounced on some leftover fried chicken. Oh, it was delicious! She'd never tasted anything like it, and she gnawed the bones clean in seconds. 'Ooh, may I?' said another cat, pointing at the leftover bones. 'What?' snapped Princess Buttons. 'Don't you want the bones?' asked the cat gently. 'No,' said Princess Buttons, who was used to eating soft, delicate morsels of meat. 'Great!' said the other cat, who began to suck and chew on the chicken bones. 'You must be new around here,' he said cheerfully, after a while. 'I'm Bingo! Nice to meet you. Word of advice– you don't wanna let anything go to waste. There's just about enough food to go around. But only just. There's a system, you see.' And he returned to his bone-crunching.

Princess Buttons frowned. 'What do you mean… "a system"?' she asked. 'Well,' said Bingo, licking his lips. 'It's simple really. There are three bins. The foxes eat out of the blue one, the cats have the green one, and the rats, pigeons, mice and everyone else have the red one.' Princess Buttons wrinkled her nose. 'You… you mean you share?' she said, barely managing to get the word out. 'MMmm-hmm!' nodded Bingo. Princess Buttons felt her hackles rising. SHARE? She had never had to share a thing in her life. She growled and wrinkled her nose. It all sounded VERY WRONG. Something would have to be done.