Alone In The Night

Chapter One

“Jasmine! Hurry up! You’re going to be late for school!” Jasmine’s mum glanced at her watch – and then at all the other children wearing the same uniform as her daughter, who were streaming past the end of their road.

Jasmine looked up. “Oh, but, I was just saying hello to Tiger, Mum!” The marmalade tabby cat sitting on the wall ducked his head so Jasmine could rub his ears. Then he stood up and leaned over to bump the side of his head against her chin. Jasmine had read lots of books about cats and knew that he wasn’t just being cute. He was rubbing his scent glands on her. It was pretty cute, too, though. All the cats in the street loved Jasmine – which is why it always took her so long to get to school.

“Jasmine, we left the house ten minutes ago and we haven’t even got past next door!” Her mum sighed. “You’re going to be late.”

“Sorry, Mum.” Jasmine smiled at her apologetically. “Let’s run!”

She was just picking up her school bag when she stopped again. “Oh, Mum, look! In next door’s window!” She pointed across the garden.

“Oh, a kitten.”

“Mum! A gorgeous kitten! I haven’t seen her before. Did you know the new people next door had a kitten?”

The kitten was tiny, perched right in the middle of the big window sill, which made her look tinier still. Jasmine could just about make out her beautiful stripy brown tabby markings.

“No, I didn’t,” Mum said, leading her away. Jasmine walked backwards, still staring at the kitten, who stared back. “You know we haven’t really said any more than a quick hello while they were unpacking.”

“Poor little kitten. They must have left her all alone while they’ve gone to work,” Jasmine said sadly.

“Oh, Jasmine! Cats don’t mind being on their own,” her mum laughed. “Besides, how do you even know that kitten’s a she? It could be a boy.”

“She just looked like a she,” Jasmine said. “And cats do get lonely, Mum, especially when they’re only babies.”

“I’m sure they’ll play with her when they get home,” Mum comforted her. “Now run!”

Jasmine turned out to be right – the kitten was a girl. Her mum invited Helen, the new lady next door, round for coffee, and found out all about her beautiful cat.

“She’s called Star,” Jasmine told her best friend Lara, as they walked home from school together. “She’s got such cute tabby stripes; she’s really gorgeous.” Jasmine sighed. “She looks exactly my dream cat – you know, the one I’d really like to have for my own some day.”

“Oh, you’re so lucky having her next door. She might come into your garden,” Lara said enviously. “Do you know how old she is?”

“Nearly three months. They were given her by a friend whose cat had kittens. They were a bit worried she’d be upset by the move, but she doesn’t mind. Except she’s desperate to go out!”

“Can’t they let her out?” Lara asked.

“Not until she’s had all her vaccinations in a couple of weeks’ time,” Jasmine explained. “See you tomorrow!” she called, as they got to her gate.

Over the next few weeks, Jasmine watched for Star every time she walked past the house next door and always waved hello. Sometimes, if she was sitting on the window sill, the little cat would stand up on her back legs and scrabble hopefully at the glass with her paws, as though she hoped she might be able to slip through and come out for Jasmine to stroke her. Jasmine wished she could, too.

Star finished her wash and looked thoughtfully round the garden. She still wasn’t very used to being outside. In fact, today was the first day that her owners had left her in the house with the cat flap unlocked. She’d been allowed out all on her own a few times over the weekend, and they’d put out big bowls of cat crunchies to make sure she came back. Of course she had! She loved her house, and her basket, and her food bowls, and her people. Exploring was fun too, that was all.

She headed to the end of the garden. The brambles there were fascinating, full of nests and tunnels and hidey-holes. When she’d finally finished investigating and wriggled out again, her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She licked the fur round her mouth thoughtfully, trying to get rid of the rather strange taste of beetle. Beetles looked delicious, like walking cat crunchies, but they didn’t taste good.

Star sat down in the middle of the lawn, closing her eyes for a moment and feeling the warm autumn sunshine on her fur. Then she went and rolled around in a pile of dried leaves. When she’d got bored of that game, she stretched out her front paws and then her back paws, and looked for something to do next. There was a snail moving very slowly along a leaf just next to her, and she watched that for a little while, but she’d learned from the beetle, and didn’t try to eat it.

That was when she spotted the gap under the fence. Star didn’t really know what the fence was. She didn’t quite understand that there was a whole new garden on the other side of it. But she knew that the little hole looked interesting.

The gap wasn’t very big, and she had to scratch a little at the earth underneath to get through. Star still had little soft indoor kitten paws, with apricot-pink pads, and digging her way under the fence rubbed off a little of their newness. It felt good.

She emerged in next door’s garden and gave herself a quick wash. Then she looked round with interest.

Suddenly she caught sight of Jasmine. Her eyes widened – as Jasmine was so quiet she’d thought she was alone. But she didn’t dive back under the fence. Star recognized the girl – she was the friendly one who always waved when she walked past the house.

It was the middle of the half-term holiday. Jasmine was in the garden putting the leftover toast crusts from breakfast out on the bird table when she caught a little greyish-brown flash in the corner of her eye. She turned her head slowly, hoping to see what sort of bird it was. But it wasn’t a sparrow hopping about in the bushes. It was a cat.

Not just any cat… The cat. It was little Star, from next door.

She was squeezing herself under the fence, wriggling and scrabbling, with such a determined expression on her face that Jasmine had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling – she didn’t want to scare Star away.

The kitten finally popped out from under the fence like she’d been pushed and twitched her tail crossly. Then she sat down to have a wash, brushing her paw thoroughly round her ears in case she’d got them grubby fighting her way through.

Jasmine perched on the garden bench and watched her, not even wanting to breathe too deeply in case she frightened the tiny creature. She’d been hoping to meet Star properly for so long, and the kitten was only a few metres away.

Now Star had obviously seen her. She stood up daintily and padded over to Jasmine. No one had stroked her since Helen and Andy left for work, and even though exploring was fun, she wanted someone to fuss over her. She stopped a little way away, just far enough to make a run for it if Jasmine turned out not to be friendly, and gave a hopeful little mew.

Jasmine reached out her hand slowly. She couldn’t believe Star had come this close – she’d thought that such a little kitten would be too nervous. She could almost touch Star’s nose, but she didn’t. She just held her fingers out, and whispered, “Here, puss, hello, Star…”

Star’s ears pricked slightly. The girl knew her name! That had to be good. She pranced a few steps closer and rubbed her head affectionately against Jasmine’s leg.

Jasmine laughed and stroked Star’s ears, and Star made a big leap and sprang on to the bench next to her, then climbed into Jasmine’s lap. There she gave a contented little sigh and closed her eyes, massaging Jasmine’s jeans with her little needle-sharp claws. Good. Proper stroking.

Jasmine smiled down at her, wishing she had a beautiful kitten of her very own. It was such a pity her mum and dad weren’t really pet people. But maybe gorgeous little Star could help convince them?

From then on, Jasmine always looked out for Star in the garden, and Star soon worked out what time Jasmine got home from school. If she was bored, or wanted someone to play with, she would wriggle under the fence – she’d had to make the hole quite a lot bigger by now – and jump from the bench on to the kitchen window sill. Then she would mew plaintively for Jasmine to come out and see her.

Jasmine’s mum thought it was funny at first, but then she got a bit worried. What if the next-door neighbours minded about Jasmine spending all this time fussing over their kitten?

One day the kitchen window was open – Jasmine’s mum had been cooking chilli for dinner and wanted to let the smell out – and when Jasmine came into the kitchen she saw Star nosing curiously around the gap, obviously wondering if she was allowed to step in through the window.

Jasmine didn’t even think. She just held out her hand and made puss-puss noises to Star, tempting her in. She couldn’t imagine anything nicer than cuddling Star in her own kitchen. Unless it was in her bedroom, of course…

Jasmine’s mum was horrified when she came up to see how Jasmine was getting on with her homework. “Jasmine! What’s that cat doing in here?” she cried.

Star gave a nervous little squeak and disappeared off Jasmine’s lap under the desk.

Jasmine glared at her mum and crouched down to try and coax her out. “You frightened her!”

“She frightened me!” her mum retorted. “She’s not meant to be in our house, Jasmine, she’s next door’s cat!”

“I bet they wouldn’t mind,” Jasmine muttered. She knew she shouldn’t really have let Star in, but she’d been so lonely, mewing on the window sill. “They don’t get home till later, Mum; she just wanted a cuddle!”

“Jasmine, she’s not ours. She’ll end up getting confused about where she lives – she’s only little. Put her out!” her mum said firmly. And Jasmine had to gather Star up and take her back downstairs.

“Sorry, Star!” Jasmine murmured, as she slipped the kitten out of the back door. Her mum was watching, her arms folded sternly, and Jasmine knew she’d be pushing her luck if she went outside too. But it was getting dark and had started to rain. She felt so guilty putting Star out in the cold and wet.

Star watched the door close, looking up at it sadly. Why hadn’t Jasmine’s mother wanted her? She didn’t understand. She shook her whiskers, feeling confused, then slunk across the garden, under the fence and back through her cat flap.