Alone In The Night

Chapter Eight

Star stared up at Jasmine, purring proudly. She was very pleased that Jasmine had found her – she wanted to show off her beautiful babies. And she was absolutely starving – she hadn’t eaten for a whole day now, and she’d been feeding her kittens, too. She had thought about going to find Jasmine, and some food, but she hadn’t wanted to leave her kittens – she knew they needed her. She had hoped and hoped that Jasmine would come, and now she had. She miaowed at Jasmine, who seemed to be holding a food packet.

Jasmine crouched down and poured some salmon treats out into her hand. “Oh, you must be starved, poor Star,” she murmured, gently scattering them in front of Star’s nose, without getting too close to the kittens. She didn’t want to upset Star. Luckily, Star didn’t seem to mind being found, but Jasmine knew she would be very protective of her little ones. She sat back on her heels, a little way away from the cupboard, and laughed to herself. “I thought I’d been feeding you too much, Star! I thought you were just getting podgy, but you were going to have kittens!”

Star licked her kittens’ heads fondly with her own little pink tongue. Jasmine’s eyes filled with tears. It was so grown up, such a mother cat thing to do, and Star was only a baby herself, really too young to have kittens.

“But I guess you didn’t know you were too young,” Jasmine murmured. “Wow. Andy and Helen have got three cats now; they’re so lucky!” She looked admiringly at the kittens. They were about as long as two of her fingers. One of them was a gorgeous stripy ginger, and the other looked like a tiny baby Star – only with slightly more grey in her tabby fur. Their eyes were closed, and their ears were almost invisible, still tucked against their heads.

Star gave her a slightly anxious look, and Jasmine smiled. “They’re beautiful. Beautiful kittens.” She couldn’t tell if they were boys or girls. Then she frowned slightly. She hoped Star was OK. Was there anything she ought to do for her? Did she need to go to a vet?

Jasmine carefully backed away from the cupboard, not wanting to startle Star or the kittens – although they were fast asleep and didn’t look like much could disturb them right now. “I’ll be back soon,” she murmured. “And I’ll bring you some more food and water, and – and a litter tray.”

Jasmine raced downstairs and back to her own house. “Mum! Mum!” she called excitedly.

Her mum rushed out of the kitchen. “Have you found her? Oh, you have, haven’t you? Well done, Jasmine!” She peered over Jasmine’s shoulder, expecting to see Star following her. “But where is she?”

Jasmine beamed, and hugged her. She’d almost forgotten how miserable and frightened she had been about losing Star, and now an incredible relief flooded over her in waves. She needed to hold on to someone. “You’re not going to believe it,” she said into her mum’s shoulder.

“What? Has she been somewhere really obvious all the time? What’s happened?”

“She’s in next door’s airing cupboard.” Jasmine grinned at her. “And she’s had kittens!”

“No!” Jasmine’s mum gasped. “You mean it? Star has? How could we not have noticed she was pregnant?”

Jasmine laughed. “I don’t know! I guess we just thought she was too young. There are only two kittens, so I suppose that’s why she wasn’t really that big. We did think she was fat, didn’t we? I need to go and find all my cat books, Mum, I need to know what we should do!”

Jasmine was very careful not to upset Star by fussing over her and the kittens too much. She knew now that Star had been grumpy because she was about to have the kittens, and her cat instincts were telling her she needed to hide away somewhere safe. But she was pretty sure that Star would still be touchy about anyone going too close. So she left kitten food – her books said that was what Star needed right now, as it was high in energy – and water bowls and a litter tray just outside the cupboard. She then strictly rationed herself to a five-minute visit every couple of hours. Her mum had rung the vet whose number the Murrays had left. The receptionist had said that it sounded like Star was doing brilliantly all by herself, but to ring if there were any problems and the vet would come out and see her.

It had gone from being the worst Christmas Jasmine could have imagined to the absolute best. She spent the time between her visits to Star and the kittens looking up kitten-care on the computer and nibbling her nails, wishing the time would go faster.

“I do wish we could stroke the kittens,” she said to her mum the next morning. “I know we shouldn’t, because they’re too little, but they look so soft and cuddly.”

“Mmm.” Jasmine’s mum wasn’t listening properly, as she was trying to work out exactly how long she had to cook the Christmas turkey for the next day. “Do you think we should have parsnips, Jasmine? I can’t remember if you like them.”

“I don’t,” Jasmine said. “Ooh, Mum, we’ll have to take Star some Christmas dinner tomorrow. Just a little bit. Please?”

Mum shook her head, laughing. “Poor Helen and Andy, coming home to find a cat eating Christmas dinner in their airing cupboard!”

Jasmine smiled. “They won’t mind,” she said. She knew how much the Murrays adored Star. “They’ll be so excited about the kittens. It’s going to be such a brilliant surprise. They’re so lucky, coming back to three cats instead of one!”

Mum looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. Three cats is quite a lot, all at once. But I’m sure they’ll be able to find good homes for the kittens.”

Jasmine blinked back sudden tears. She hadn’t thought that the Murrays might not keep the kittens – she’d been really looking forward to having three cats next door now! She didn’t notice that Mum was watching her, a strange, thoughtful expression on her face.

“I’ll just go and check on them all,” Jasmine muttered. “I’ll take Star some more of that special cat milk.” Mum had made an emergency rush to the pet shop yesterday to buy some kitten food and some milk that was made to be safe for cats’ stomachs.

She sat by the airing cupboard door watching Star, who was looking down at her feeding babies with a very contented look on her face.

“Oh, Star, I hope the Murrays will keep them,” Jasmine murmured. “I don’t want you to lose your kittens!”

But Star wasn’t listening. She was gently licking the ginger kitten’s ears, as if making sure they were perfectly clean was the most important thing in the world.

Jasmine woke up very early on Christmas morning. She smiled delightedly as she felt the heavy weight of her stocking next to her feet and sat up to see if she could feel what was in it.

Then she frowned. Was that mewing? Jasmine put on her bedside light and listened again. Star was safe next door, and she’d checked on her last thing the night before, but – yes, there it was again. Jasmine ran downstairs and unlocked the back door to find Star standing there, with the little tabby kitten held in her mouth. Star dashed inside – probably she was worried about the kitten catching cold, Jasmine thought, looking out at the garden as she closed the door. There had been another snowfall in the night, and the grass was covered in a fresh white layer, which looked weird and blue-grey in the darkness.

“Where are you going, Star?” she asked, following the little cat as she trotted through the dark hallway. She flinched as Star started to climb the stairs, determinedly heaving the kitten up each step. Jasmine desperately wanted to help, but wasn’t sure if Star would let her.

Eventually, they reached the landing, and Star made for Jasmine’s bedroom, where she stared meaningfully at the wardrobe.

“Oh!” Jasmine laughed. “You want to have your bed in my wardrobe?” she asked delightedly. She opened the door at once and quickly pulled out her trainers, then fluffed an old fleece blanket into a comfy nest for Star and the kittens.

Star scrambled in and dropped the kitten gently on the blanket, where it wriggled and made a faint, squeaky little mew. Then Star trotted off to go and fetch the other kitten.

By lunchtime, Star was well settled, with her food bowls next to the wardrobe. Mum had brought her little extra morsels of turkey, and Jasmine had even hung some tinsel over the wardrobe door, to make it look Christmassy.

Jasmine had wondered if she might have to go and sleep on the sofa, but Star didn’t seem to mind her being there – and so Jasmine was able to watch her and the kittens a lot more. They were so cute. She was sure that the little tabby one was going to open its eyes soon. They were both gorgeous, of course, but the tabby baby was so like Star, Jasmine couldn’t help loving it most of all. She was almost sure it was a girl kitten, it looked so like its mum.

It was rather a strange Christmas Day, but peeping in at the sleeping kittens, Jasmine thought it was the loveliest she’d ever had.

Two days later, the Murrays arrived home. They hurried next door to Jasmine’s house as soon as they’d dropped off their bags.

Jasmine answered the door, hugging her secret to herself and trying not to giggle.

“Come and see!” she told them.

“Is Star asleep on your bed?” Helen asked, as they followed Jasmine upstairs.

“Not quite,” Jasmine said mysteriously. She led them into her room, and stood back so they could see the scene in her wardrobe.

Star seemed to know she had visitors. She was posed like a queen, and Jasmine was sure she was eyeing the kittens anxiously to make sure they were looking gorgeous, too.

“Goodness!” Helen crouched down to look. “I had no idea she was pregnant!”

“Nor did we,” Jasmine explained. “She started behaving a bit strangely, and then she disappeared, and… We did wonder if it was because she was really missing you. But actually she was having babies in your airing cupboard! Mum cleaned it up,” she added.

“Clever little Star…” Helen murmured, and Andy shook his head in amazement. “Talk about keeping it quiet. So now we’ve got three cats!”

“You’re so lucky,” Jasmine sighed, and Helen looked at her thoughtfully. Leaving Jasmine to tell Andy the whole story right from the beginning, she beckoned Jasmine’s mum out of the room.

They came back a couple of minutes later, just as Jasmine was describing Star arriving at the back door on Christmas morning.

“Your mum’s agreed we’d better let them all stay here for the moment. Star probably won’t want to be moved,” Helen said. “As long as you don’t mind sharing your bedroom, that is?”

“Of course not!” said Jasmine. “What will you do when the kittens are bigger?” she asked. “Will you keep them all?” She wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the answer.

“Well, three cats is rather a lot…” Helen said, smiling at Jasmine’s mum. “I really love the little ginger one – I’ve a feeling he takes after Tiger, that handsome ginger cat down the road.”

Jasmine gulped. They didn’t want the tabby kitten! She couldn’t bear the idea of her special little Christmas kitten being unwanted. It was so unfair.

She almost didn’t hear Helen as she went on, “But I’ve had an idea. One way that she could have her own home and stay close to her mum.”

Jasmine looked up, her eyes full of hope. “You mean…”

Helen grinned at her. “Why not?”

Jasmine looked over at her parents. There was no way Mum and Dad would let her. Was there?

Mum smiled. “Would you like to keep her, Jasmine? You know your dad and I have never been keen on having a cat, but Star won me over. She’s so sweet. Your dad really took to having a cat as well – he was so upset when Star was missing. I’d been wondering whether we could keep one of the kittens even before Helen asked me,” Mum went on. “You looked after Star so well. Dad and I were really proud of you.”

“And as the kitten practically started her life in your wardrobe, I don’t really think we could say no!” Dad laughed.

Jasmine looked down at the little silvery kitten with new eyes. She could be hers! Star gazed at her lovingly, as though she approved of the idea, too.

“What will you call her, Jasmine?” Mum asked.

Jasmine thought for a moment. Something Christmassy. Then she smiled, remembering Star’s mum’s favourite game. “Tinsel,” she said, reaching out, very gently, to stroke her new cat.