Six Dinner Sid - A Highland Adventure CBeebies Bedtime Stories

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Right, there now. That's everything packed ready to go tomorrow.

Just got to see where the...

Oh, hello! I'm Sue.

I'm getting ready to go on a holiday.

I packed my case with everything I need.

All that's left to do is leave some food for the cats.

Actually, can you see the cats? I haven't seen them and I need

to make sure they know where their dinner will be when I'm on holiday.

I'll put it down there, I think. There we are.

Well, the cat in tonight's bedtime story

always has to know where his dinner is.

The story is by Inga Moore

and it's called Six Dinner Sid - A Highland Adventure.

Sid ate no fewer than six dinners a day.

He wasn't called Six Dinner Sid for nothing.

He lived with six sets of owners, in six houses -

numbers one, two, three, four, five and six Pythagoras Place.

Apart from eating his six dinners, there was nothing Sid liked more

than going in and out of his six houses.

Most of them were fairly easy to get into.

Others were a lot trickier,

requiring a good deal of skill and agility.

Sid's owners would watch in amazement as he leapt

from one windowsill to another like a nimble mountain goat.

As for climbing, Sid was a natural

and he could always get himself out of a tight spot.

Like most people, every year Sid's owners went on holiday.

But one year there was a problem.

For some reason or another everyone wanted to go at the same time.

"Who will feed Sid?" they said.

They couldn't send him to a cattery because at catteries

having six dinners wasn't allowed.

The people working there were very strict about that sort of thing.

So, in the end, Sid's owners decided

they would all go on holiday together,

taking Sid with them.

And when holiday time arrived, Sid was put into a travelling basket

and taken to the station to catch the train.

Sid had no idea where he was going but he hoped it would be

more or less like Pythagoras Place, which was funny

because in one way it couldn't have been more like Pythagoras Place

and in another, it couldn't have been less.

Sid's owners had rented six wooden cabins in the Scottish Highlands.

Sid soon felt right at home.

Then he went into the forest to explore.

He hadn't gone far when a voice in a tree said,

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Sid!" said Sid.

"Well, hello, Sid," said the voice.

And down from the tree jumped the biggest tabby cat Sid had ever seen.

"My name's Jock," he said, "and this is my forest."

Jock, who was a Scottish wild cat, offered to show Sid round.

As they went along, Sid told Jock about his six dinners.

Jock said in the forest

you can have as many dinners a day as you liked.

"Of course," he added, "you have to catch them first."

He took Sid to a Highland stream.

Swimming in the water was Sid's favourite food.

Fish.

Jock showed Sid how to flip one out with his paw,

but instead of flipping the fish out of the water,

Sid flipped himself right into it! Splash!

So Jock took Sid down to the loch

and there, lying asleep in the pool, was a lobster.

"You'll catch that right enough," said Jock,

but all Sid caught was a big nip.

"Yeaow!" howled Sid.

As if this wasn't bad enough, when Sid chased a rabbit

and the rabbit ran down the hole, so did Sid,

and he got stuck!

How those rabbits laughed at Sid!

"Och, well," said Jock, digging him out,

"I suppose you are only a city cat."

On top of a crag there was an eagle's nest.

Jock said his favourite food was eagle's eggs -

at least he thought they were.

Actually he'd never dared to climb up and try one.

Sid couldn't think why. The nest looked no harder to get to

than the skylight at number two Pythagoras Place.

So Sid decided to show Jock what city cats were really made of.

"Come on, Jock," he said, and led the way up the steep crag.

They were almost at the top when...

Oh, dear! The owner of the nest spotted them.

The indignant mother eagle swooped down to defend her eggs.

Sid managed to hide, but Jock was not so lucky.

"Help!" he cried, as the eagle grabbed him.

Sid took a swipe at the eagle.

Then... Did he slip?

Or did he jump? Sid never knew,

but somehow he found himself on the eagle's back.

The eagle dropped Jock and with Sid on board she flew up into the sky.

She twisted and turned and looped the loop,

trying to fling Sid off.

Sid was in an extremely tight spot, but he'd been in tight spots before

and he managed to keep a cool head. No matter how hard the eagle tried

to fling him off, Sid hung on. He waited until the right moment,

then when the eagle was closest to the ground, he jumped.

Sid knew exactly how to land, so he wasn't hurt.

"Phew!" said Jock, "That was a near thing."

"Well done, Sid, you city cats are not so bad after all."

Jock saw Sid back to the cabins.

"Goodbye, Sid," he said. "Enjoy your six dinners!"

But with all that fishing and hunting

and climbing and flying in the fresh Highland air,

Sid had worked up an appetite.

He wasn't sure if six dinners were going to be enough tonight.

It was just possible he would have to find himself a seventh.

Now, there was a likely looking camper van!

That story was called

Six Dinner Sid - A Highland Adventure.

So, maybe I should take the cats on holiday with me.

Hmm, well...

While I sort that out, it's time for you to go to bed

and dream sweet dreams.

I'll see you soon for another bedtime story. Goodnight.

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