The Loneliest Kitten

“Oh, Charlie! Where’s your collar gone?”

“Not another one!” Mum turned round and Darcy held up the kitten to show her. Charlie nuzzled happily against her fingers.

“Look – no collar.”

“I don’t know how he does it.” Mum stared at Charlie and shook her head. “Monster,” she said lovingly. “It’s lucky I bought you a spare last time, isn’t it? Hold on to him a minute, Darcy, I’ll get the new one.”

The kitten had settled in well after his shy start. He was funny and clever and Mum was right that he would play with anything. He adored Dad too. He seemed to know that Dad wasn’t as much of a cat fan so he had to be the perfect pet. Whenever Dad sat on the sofa, Charlie would appear as if by magic. Then he’d try to climb up the side of his jeans so he could collapse exhausted on Dad’s lap. Dad pretended it was nothing, but Darcy could tell he loved it. He’d stroke Charlie over and over, running one finger all the way down from the top of his head to his tail.

They had argued for ages over what to call him. Will thought he ought to be called Mario, like the Nintendo character, but Darcy didn’t think he looked like a Mario. He needed something that was cuddly but showed his cheeky side too. Like the way he could get on to the kitchen table in less than ten seconds and drink the milk out of her cereal bowl before she was back from the fridge with a glass of juice.

It was actually Dad who came up with the name. He said the kitten reminded him of someone he’d been at school with – his friend Charlie was always getting into trouble, but then he’d look really innocent and sorry and everyone forgave him. Dad suggested it just after the kitten had been sick on his shoe.

Charlie’s worst trick was getting rid of his collar. “How did you do it this time?” Darcy murmured, tickling him under the chin. “I’ll look for it in the garden later, Mum.”

Ever since Charlie had been old enough to go outside, Darcy and Will had been finding collars in the flower beds and Hannah, who lived next door, had come round with one that had been in her lavender bush. Charlie seemed to have a gift for hooking his collar on things. The collars had special catches that came open if the cat was trapped or caught on something and Charlie had figured out exactly how to get rid of them.

He wriggled as Mum clipped on another collar and Darcy was sure he glared at her. He was probably working out how to get himself out of this one.

“Have you got your bag packed ready for tomorrow, Darcy?”

“No.” Darcy sighed. She was looking forward to going back to school and seeing everyone, but after seven weeks of holidays it was going to be hard getting up early every morning. And it was going to be even harder leaving Charlie behind after spending all those weeks playing with him. “Charlie’s going to miss us, Mum. You must promise you’ll make a fuss of him, even when you’re working.”

Mum laughed. “Yes, of course I will. I don’t think I’ll have a choice anyway. He’ll be up on my desk stomping about on my keyboard, I bet.”

“I suppose…” Darcy agreed. “I’ll go and sort out my stuff now, and I’ll take Charlie with me.”

Darcy carried the kitten up to her room and put him on her bed. She watched, smiling, as Charlie stomped up and down the duvet, his paws sinking in with every step. Then he peered thoughtfully over the edge of her bed and scrambled down the side to explore the bedroom.

Darcy got her school backpack out of the wardrobe. Mum had bought her new pencils and things a couple of weeks before but she had forgotten where she’d put them – her room was a bit of a mess. Charlie stalked a ball of paper across the carpet and went wriggling under the bed for a while. He came out with his white bits all covered in fluffy dust and Darcy had to brush him off.

“You’re so funny,” she whispered as she blew dust off his whiskers and he sneezed and nearly fell over. “I’m going to miss you but I promise I’ll come home straight after school.

We’ll spend ages playing with you then. And Emma’s going to come round too. You like her, don’t you?”

Charlie climbed on to Darcy’s lap and curled up there, batting sleepily at the ends of her hair. Darcy sighed. Even though Mum had promised to try, Charlie was going to be so bored without her and Will to play with.

“Mum! Mum! Guess what!” Darcy came flying out of school that first afternoon with Emma dashing behind her. She flung herself gleefully at her mum.

“I can’t guess,” Mum said, staggering backwards. “What’s happened?”

“Mrs Jennings is organizing a girls’ football team – and me and Emma are going to be in it! It’s in a schools’ league and everything! There’ll be practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and matches too. That’s OK, isn’t it? I can do it, can’t I? There’s a form you have to sign. Mrs Jennings even showed us the kit – it’s green – it’s so cool, Mum!”

“Wow! Yes… That should be fine, I think. Luckily it doesn’t clash with swimming on a Wednesday. You’re going to be busy!”

“I can do it, though, can’t I, Mum?” Emma asked her mum hopefully, and she nodded.

“Of course. Well done, you two!”

“It’s going to be amazing!” Darcy hugged Emma and they danced around until Will came across the playground, looking a bit tired and grumpy.

“We’re going to be in the football team!” Darcy told him excitedly.

“Oh – great. Can we go home and see Charlie now?”

Darcy blinked. Just for those few minutes since Mrs Jennings had come to their classroom at the end of school, she’d completely forgotten about Charlie – on the very first day they’d left him alone. She suddenly felt guilty.

“Was he OK today, Mum?” she asked anxiously.

“I think so. He played with the cat dancer toy and then he slept on my knee while I was working. Still, he’ll be pleased to see you two.”

Darcy nodded. “We’ll play with him for ages when we get home.”

“Don’t forget your football practice,” Emma reminded her. “Mrs Jennings said we need to practise at home too.”

Charlie hopped down the stairs a step at a time as he heard them coming up the path. He’d spent most of the day asleep, with spells of wandering around the house looking for Darcy and Will. Their mum was in her little office under the stairs, but she just kept typing around him, even when he tried to catch her fingers to nibble. It wasn’t much fun.

As the front door opened he galloped across the hallway and twined lovingly in and out of Darcy’s and Will’s legs. They crouched down and fussed over him and Darcy stroked his ears just the way he liked it. Charlie purred and purred – he’d missed them so much.

He followed the children eagerly as they went into the kitchen and accepted a little bit of Darcy’s cheese sandwich. Where had they been all day? They’d never gone away for so long before. Charlie bounced around excitedly as Darcy waved the cat dancer toy. It was his favourite – he loved stalking it up the hallway, but every time he pounced, Darcy would whisk it up out of the way, so that his paws just grazed the dancing feathers. He had more of a chance when he played with Will, as sometimes Will wasn’t quick enough and Charlie managed to get a mouthful of feathers.

But after they’d played for a little while, Darcy disappeared upstairs and came down in different clothes. She was going into the garden, Charlie realized, and he hurried out of the door after her. He loved being outside. There were so many good hiding places and interesting smells in the garden. Sometimes there were bees too, and butterflies. Charlie was desperate to catch a fat furry bumblebee. They blundered about just in front of his nose but somehow he’d never managed to nab one.

Whatever Darcy was doing was probably even more interesting than a bee, though. He followed her down the lawn and sprang delightedly on the football when she tapped it with her foot and it rolled across the grass. She laughed and tapped it again and he raced after the ball, flinging himself on top of it and then rolling off on to the grass. He sprang up and lunged again as Darcy shimmied the ball across the grass, and this time as the ball rolled he went with it, nosediving to the ground.

Darcy crouched down next to him. She looked at him worriedly as he shook his whiskers. “Sorry, Charlie. Did it squish you? Are you OK? Maybe I’d better take you inside, kitten. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She scooped him up and slipped him back inside the kitchen door, and then she flipped the switch on the cat flap so he couldn’t follow her back out again.

Charlie glared indignantly at the cat flap. Darcy had been away all day and now he wasn’t allowed out to play with her! He stalked across the kitchen and sat down grumpily in his basket. Why had Darcy stopped him playing? He’d only wanted to be with her. What had he done wrong?