Chapter 7

7 The Plan where we would Lure Mean Cat out of the House with Her Favourite Food and which I, Dave Pigeon, called 'The Most Brilliant Plan- Part 2' Even though it was actually my plan that worked in the end!

'It's the only way,' I said. 'We need to get Mean Cat out of the house. We don't have any cheese but we do have me.' I pulled Dave over to the window. My wings wouldn't stop trembling. I took a breath. 'Once she's out of the house, you need to jam the cat flap shut with the broken flowerpot so she can't get back in.' 'We still have the Rain Plan,' he suggested, gripping my shoulder with his good wing. 'The rain isn't coming,' I said. Dave stared up at the clear blue sky. He looked at me, his beak all straight and serious. 'Are you sure about this?' I nodded. 'OK, Skipper. I believe in you.'

Dave removed his Medal of the Brave. He peeled the tacky chewing gum from his chest, and fixed the medal on to mine. It gleamed in the sunlight. 'Once she's out, I'll lock the cat flap from the inside and she'll be trapped in the garden. Dave adjusted the medal on my chest. 'I'll let you in through the upstairs window and we can come up with a plan to get rid of her once and for all,' he said. Our feathers will be the last pigeon feathers she'll ever snatch, and we will

live with the nice Human Lady and eat biscuits all day.' We headed back across the lawn. My throat was as dry as a cheese-mayo sandwich without the mayo. My stomach churned and twisted. Dave hid by the cat flap, ready to jump into the house and wedge it shut, his foot clutching a broken piece of flowerpot. He nodded at me and blinked twice: my signal to fly up to the window ledge. As soon as Mean Cat spotted me she

sprang from her bed, baring her razor- sharp claws. She ran for the cat flap. She was coming outside to get me. As she pounced out, her nails clipped the edge of Dave's left foot. 'Ow,' Dave squawked, hopping on one foot and wedging the flap shut before he could jump into the house.

Mean Cat stopped. Dave gulped, holding his good wing tight over his beak. It was too late. She'd heard him. And he was trapped on the wrong side of the cat flap. Mean Cat turned, dragging a single claw round on the paved patio, until she'd almost drawn a complete circle in the dark stone. She blinked slowly as she spotted him quivering in the shadows of a tomato plant. 'Hissssss!' 'Help me!' Dave screamed. I dived at my friend, grabbed him and soared away from Mean Cat as she leapt for Dave. Her hot breath blazed my bottom.