The Perfect Kitten. The Loneliest Kitten. The Mystery Kitten. The Saddest Kitten

41. THE PERFECT KITTEN

Abi stared at her mum and stepdad, her mouth hanging open. The cereal and milk slid off her spoon and Ruby giggled.“Look what you’re doing!” she said.

“Do you really mean it?” Abi asked her mum. “You’re not joking?”

Her mum and stepdad grinned at each other.

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“Of course we mean it,” Abi’s mum said. “We’re absolutely serious!”

“Oooh, your milk’s going everywhere,” Ruby said, and Abi quickly put the spoon back in her bowl.

“Didn’t you hear what Mum just said?” she asked her little sister, and when Ruby looked confused she told her, “We can get a cat!”

“Today?” said Ruby hopefully. Ruby was only four and she didn’t like waiting for things to happen.

Abi looked doubtfully at her mum and stepdad. She had a feeling that getting a cat would take a while, especially if they were going to an animal shelter to find one.

“No, Ruby, not today,” Chris, Abi’s stepdad, said gently. “But we can have a look at photos of the cats we might get, on the computer. There’s an animal shelter not far from here, Linfield Cats and Dogs. They put photos of the animals that need homes on their website.”

“I want a catnow.” Ruby sighed and her nose wrinkled the way it did when she was about to get upset.

“If you finish up your breakfast, we could look at the pictures now,” Mum suggested, and Ruby nodded and started to eat her cereal very fast.

Abi looked at her bowl– she’d almost finished anyway and she was too excited to eat any more. She’d been trying to persuade her mum and Chris that they should get a cat for ages. They’d always said Ruby was too little and she might chase a cat or try to push it around in her toy pushchair. Abi had tried telling them she’d watch Ruby like a hawk and make sure she didn’t do anything so silly, but they’d always said no – until today.

“Are there lots of cats on the website?” she asked, and Chris nodded.

“Yes! I had a quick look yesterday. There were loads.”

“Oh wow…” Abi murmured, clenching her fingers into her palms. She wanted to bounce up from the table and look at the photos straight away. What sort of cats would there be? she wondered. And what cat would she like, if she had a choice?

Black cats were beautiful and mysterious, and she loved it when they had little white paws. Or maybe they could get a tabby– all those gorgeous stripes. Then again, what about a tortoiseshell? Her friend Sky from school had a tortoiseshell called Wanda who was white with ginger and black splashes, and one ginger ear and one black ear. Even her whiskers were white on one side and black on the other. Wanda was the cutest cat Abi had ever seen.

In the end, Abi decided she didn’t mind. A cat of their own would be wonderful whatever colour it was, as long as it was friendly and didn’t mind being stroked. Maybe it would even sleep on her bed, or take turns between her bed and Ruby’s.

“Have you nearly finished?” she asked Ruby hopefully. She watched as her sister chased the last Rice Krispies round her bowl. As soon as she had finished, Abi jumped up eagerly.

“Let’s all go and sit on the sofa,” Mum suggested. “Chris, if you bring your laptop over, we can look at the cats together.”

Abi’s stepdad went to fetch the computer and they all snuggled up on the sofa. Ruby climbed on to Abi’s lap and Abi peered round her at the screen.

“Are you all right like that?” Mum asked doubtfully, and Abi nodded. She was a bit squished, but she didn’t mind as Ruby was so cuddly. Soon it might be Rubyand a cat sitting on her!

“Oh, look…” Abi whispered, and Ruby reached out to pat the screen. Staring out at them was a black cat with round green eyes, like marbles.

“She’s called Meg,” Chris said. “What a beauty.”

“I want that cat,” Ruby announced.

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“She’s lovely,” Mum agreed. “But don’t you think we should look atall the cats before we decide? And I’m afraid it says Meg needs a home without young children because she’s a bit nervous.”

Abi sighed but she understood why they couldn’t adopt Meg. A nervous cat probably wasn’t going to enjoy being loved by Ruby. They needed a super friendly cat. “Let’s look at some more, Ruby. Oh wow, kittens!”

“Kittens!” Ruby and Mum echoed together, and Chris laughed. “They’re very cute!”

The black kittens were curled up together in a basket, staring up at the camera. They looked surprised, as if the flash had woken them up.

“Aren’t they fluffy?” Abi said. She hadn’t even thought about getting a long-haired cat. This was so exciting! “I’m not sure how we’ll ever choose…” she said to Mum. “I want all of them.”

“I know.” Her mum laughed. “Once we’ve registered with the shelter, they’ll come over for a home visit to check we’re suitable. Maybe they can suggest some cats that will be just right for us.” Then she shook her head. “I should have said that the other way round. Some cats thatwe’ll be just right for!”

Abi nodded and smiled. It was the nicest thought. There was a gorgeous cat waiting for them at the shelter and they would be the perfect home for it.

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“Mum, do you think it’s OK for Ruby to be here?” Abi whispered, watching her little sister trailing a doll along the floor by her hair. The volunteer from the animal shelter was due to arrive any minute and Abi wanted everything to be just right. She had been worrying about the visit ever since Mum had registered with the shelter the previous weekend.

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“What do you mean?” Mum gave her a confused look.

“Just … maybe Chris could take her to the park? Or the shops? What if the people from the shelter think she’s too little to have a cat?” Ruby had been so excited all week but there was a chance that she might come across as really silly…

Mum smiled at her.“It’s OK, Abi. We said we’re interested in rehoming a cat that would be happy around a younger child, so we don’t need to pretend we don’t have Ruby. And we want to get a cat that will actuallylike living here. I think children aged nine and four should be fine for most cats.”

“Yes … we tidied up though,” Abi pointed out. “To make us look like better cat owners. Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No, it isn’t!” Mum looked around at the unusually tidy kitchen. “But I know what you mean. I don’t think cats care about mess. It’s the people from the shelter I was tidying up for.”

“They’re here!” Abi jumped as the bell rang and Ruby rushed to answer it. Luckily Chris got there first, and then Ruby went suddenly shy as she saw a strange woman on the doorstep and hid behind his legs.

“Hi! Come in – would you like some tea?” Mum asked.

But the woman– the name badge on her fleece said Maria – didn’t come any further in, even though Chris was holding the door open for her. She was standing just inside the gate, watching the road and looking rather worried. Then she turned to them and smiled anxiously.

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“Look, I’m really sorry…” she started to say and then glanced down at her feet as though she didn’t know quite how to go on. “It’s our fault. I should have realized before I came out to see you… I didn’t check the address.”

“What is it?” Chris asked, frowning. “Is there a problem?”

Abi slipped her hand into Mum’s. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she could tell it wasn’t good.

“It’s your road,” Maria explained. “It’s so busy, you see. There are a few main roads through town that are a problem and this is one of them. We rehomed a cat near here last year and she was hit by a car. After that we decided we wouldn’t let anyone along this road take one of our cats. It’s just too dangerous.”

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“I don’t think our road’s that busy,” Abi said stubbornly to Mum. Chris had taken Ruby out to buy some bread for lunch but it was mostly to give them something to do. Ruby didn’t understand why Maria hadn’t stayed to look around the house or why they weren’t getting a cat now, and shekept asking about it.

“I suppose we’re used to the road.” Mum sighed. “I didn’t think it was busy either, until she said. But she’s right.”

“Cats are clever though – I bet it would be OK. Couldn’t we just go to another shelter and see if the people there don’t mind about the road?”

“Wecould… But remember what Maria said about it being really difficult for cats to judge how fast cars are going, especially in the evening when it’s getting dark. That’s when they’re most likely to get hurt.” Mum turned round and gave Abi a hug.

“I know it doesn’t seem fair, I’m sad about it too. But what if we did get a cat and we all fell in love with her and then she was hurt? Wouldn’t that be worse than not having a cat at all?”

“No,” Abi said crossly. She knew Mum was right, really – but it didn’t mean she had to like it.

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“When are you getting your cat?” Sky asked, grabbing at Abi’s hands. She had dashed over to Abi as soon as she saw her come into the playground, wanting to hear her cat news. Abi had told Sky they were having a visit from the shelter and she was almost as excited about Abi getting a cat as Abi was.

Abi made a face.“We aren’t. The shelter said our road’s too busy – they can’t let us have one.”

Sky stared at her.“No! I didn’t even know they could do that. What did your mum and Chris say?”

“That the shelter is right.” Abi sighed. “And I know they are, really, but I was so happy, thinking we were going to have a cat at last. You’re so lucky to live on a quiet road.”

“I’ve never even thought about it,” Sky said. “Wanda goes out all the time. But there are people on your road who have cats, aren’t there?”

“Yeah. I suppose their cats are just really careful. And they haven’t come from shelters.” Abi slumped down on a bench. “I was so excited…”

“It doesn’t seem fair.” Sky sat down and put her arm round Abi’s shoulders. “You’d be such a good cat owner, Wanda loves it when you come over.”

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“Mum suggested we get some fish.” Abi shook her head. “It just isn’t the same thing.”

“You can’t stroke a fish,” Sky agreed. “What about a dog?”

“Nope. Mum thinks we’re all too busy to manage the walks and everything. And I like dogs, but not the same way that I love cats.” She giggled. “Chris said maybe we should get a lizard and Ruby thought that was a great idea. I’ve never seen Mum look so worried.” Then her smile faded and she looked miserably at Sky. “I don’t see how we can ever get a cat, not unless we move house.”

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“Look at these – oh, little sweethearts!” Maria peered into the box. “They’re tiny. Maybe six weeks, do you think? They’re early, we haven’t hit kitten season yet!”

The three kittens peered back up at her cautiously, eyes round and wary. There was nothing else in the box with them, not even an old towel, and they were huddled close together. Their mother was gone and they were cold and scared.

“Where did they come from?” Lily asked, coming to look. “Wow, theyare pretty. Gorgeous stripey tabbies– and we don’t often get a pure white kitten.”

Maria picked up the white kitten gently.“She’s a girl. Isn’t she lovely? And what blue eyes! They were left behind the wheelie bins outside the supermarket. One of the workers from the warehouse brought them in. He said he wished he could keep them but he didn’t think they’d like his dog.”

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“At least they weren’t dumped until they started eating solid food,” Lily said. “Poor little loves – they look really lost.” Then she laughed as the white kitten let out a loud, squeaky mew. “Was that because I mentioned food? Are you hungry?” She tickled her under the chin and the white kitten gazed at her in surprise and then mewed again. “Let’s get you three into a pen and then we can try you on a little bit of wet food. They don’t look too skinny, do they? Someone must have been looking after their mum pretty well. I guess they just didn’t want the kittens.”

The white kitten wriggled and squealed, struggling to get back to her brother and sister. She wanted her mother more, but the other kittens were the only thing that she knew in this strange place. They would have to do.

“Yes, it’s OK, here you go.” Maria slipped her back into the box with the others. “We’ll put the box in the pen with them for the time being, shall we? It might help them feel safe.”

The white kitten huddled gratefully with the others, letting them nuzzle her all over. Then the three kittens froze as the box was picked up again. They skidded a little on the cardboard, sinking in their tiny claws and mewing in panic. What was happening? Where were they going now?

“Do you think they’re big enough to get out, or shall we tip the box on its side?” Maria asked.

“Mmmm. Tip it over, I’d say. It will take them ages to climb out and they might not be able to get back in again. A box isn’t much comfort, but it’s all they’ve got at the minute.”

Lily reached in and gathered up the kittens in a furry, squeaking mass until Maria had turned the box on to its side, so the kittens could easily step out into their pen.“There! Now you can have a little look around.”

The two tabby kittens looked at the open side of the box, and then padded slowly towards it. They peered out and snuffled at the air, then they set off to explore the pen. The white kitten watched them but she took a while to follow. The box felt safe and she didn’t like the bright lights.

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But she didn’t like being left alone either, and at last she stepped out of the box and began to sniff her way around.

She was in the back of the pen, padding her paws on the soft basket, when she smelled food. She hadn’t noticed the dish being put into the pen and she dashed over to join the other kittens. Her tabby sister was actually standing in the food bowl. The white kitten had to eat around her but she was so hungry that she didn’t care.

“Did you see that?” Maria crouched down by the pen to watch the three kittens eating. “She took ages to notice the food. The other two heard me opening the door and they rushed straight up. The white one just kept looking at the basket.”

“Maybe she wasn’t as hungry?” Lily suggested, but then she shook her head. “No, look at her now, she’s eating like she’s half-starved.”

“Yeah…” Maria clicked her fingers and the two tabby kittens looked up at once, their ears twitching. It was obvious they’d heard her. When she didn’t do anything else, they went back to eating as fast as they could.

The white kitten didn’t look up.

“I suppose we should have guessed that she might be deaf,” Lily said, looking at the white kitten. “White cats quite often are, and I’ve heard that if they have blue eyes it’s even more likely. Poor little thing.”

“It doesn’t seem to bother her though,” Maria pointed out. “She’s just as big as the other two, so it hasn’t stopped her feeding.”

Lily nodded.“But it’s going to make it harder to find her a home.”

The white kitten licked around her bit of the food dish, and then licked her tabby sister’s paws too. She sat down by the bowl and yawned, showing tiny needle-sharp teeth.

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Then she looked over at the cat bed and stood up slowly. Her stomach looked a lot rounder than it had ten minutes before and she rolled a little from side to side as she stomped across the pen. The two tabby kittens gave the empty dish a last clean and then followed her, clambering into the squashy cat bed and slumping down together before falling asleep in seconds.

“Maybe it won’t be so difficult to rehome her,” Maria said, smiling. “She’s so sweet – they all are – but the blue eyes make her a bit special. And it isn’t all that hard to have an indoor cat. We just need to find the right person.” Then she looked thoughtful. “Actually, I might have an idea…”

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“Hang on a minute, Abi, that’s my phone ringing.” Mum put down Abi’s homework book and ferreted under Ruby’s pile of drawings for her mobile.

Abi went back to frowning at her literacy task and chewing her pencil, but after a moment or two she looked up and started to listen carefully to Mum’s end of the phone call.

“Oh yes, we’d definitely be interested. Yes, I do see that it’s harder if she can’t go out and I’ll have to talk it over with my husband, but we’d love to have a look.”

“I drew a cat!” Ruby announced, holding up her picture to show Abi.

“Nice! Shh a minute, Ruby, I want to hear what Mum’s saying.”

“Yes, I think we could come tomorrow. Is about half past four OK? I’m a teacher, you see. I can’t usually get back from school before then.”

Chris wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get the ingredients for dinner.“Who’s your mum talking to?” he whispered to Abi as he pulled out a bag of vegetables.

“I don’t know! But we’re going somewhere. And … and it sounds like it might be about a cat…” Abi grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, staring at Mum hopefully as she ended the call.

“You guessed who that was then,” she said, looking happily at Abi. “I can tell from your face!”

“Was it the shelter?” Abi gasped. “Have they changed their mind? Can we have a cat?”

“Yes! Well, maybe. Me and Chris need to talk about it first.” She glanced at him. “They’ve got a kitten – a lovely little white one. But she’s deaf, completely deaf, they think. She’d need to live indoors because she’d never be safe anywhere near a road. So … that was them ringingto ask if we’d like to have an indoor kitten.”

“An indoor kitten!” Abi breathed. “A white kitten? To be ours?”

“A kitten!” Ruby bounced up and down on her chair and banged a handful of pencils on the table. “A kitten!”

Chris laughed.“At least it wouldn’t matter that Ruby’s noisy, I suppose. I don’t know – how do you keep a cat indoors? I’ve never even thought about it.”

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“They said they’d make sure we know everything we’d need to, but we have to understand it’s a big commitment,” Mum said, looking seriously at Abi and Ruby. “I suppose we’d have to be really careful about opening the doors.”

“And keeping the windows closed,” Abi suggested.

“Yes…” Chris put the pan on the hob and reached for the oil. “We could do that, though, couldn’t we?”

“Let’s see what they say.” Mum glanced at Abi. “Try not to get too excited, darling. It sounds wonderful, but we need to know if we can look after an indoor kitten before we say yes.”

“We can go and see her though? And find out?” Abi looked hopefully from her mum to Chris and back again, and they nodded. Her mum was smiling.

They might really be able to have a kitten, after all…

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Maria led the way along a corridor lined with cat pens. Abi hadn’t thought there would be so many. They were almost all full too. Cats and kittens were lounging in baskets or standing by the wire doors looking back at her.

“Here we are,” Maria said, smiling at Abi and Ruby, who was hanging on to Mum’s hand and dancing up and down. “This is the white kitten we’d like you to meet.”

Abi looked through the door of the pen. There were three kittens in there. Two were tabbies who were rolling around on the floor playing with a toy mouse with a long string tail. The third was a white kitten who was lying in the basket and watching the others. She looked very grand compared to the scrapping tabbies, almost regal, Abi thought.

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“She’s beautiful,” Mum said, sounding a bit surprised.

“Isn’t she?” Maria agreed. “And she’s very friendly. We’ve only had them for a couple of days, but she’s settled in really well. She loves being stroked.” She looked at Abi’s mum and Chris hopefully. “So if it’s OK with you, I’ll bring her to one of our meeting rooms and we can have a chat about how to take care of a deaf cat.”

“That would be great,” Chris said. “We’d really like to know more about what we’d need to do. I’ve been thinking about it ever since you phoned, and so have the girls. If we can look after an indoor cat, it wouldn’t matter that we live on such a busy road.”

“Exactly.” Maria nodded. “Another thing that made us think of you was your registration form. We saw that Chris works from home. Indoor cats need to have someone around for company, you see.”

Chris looked pleased.“Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”

Maria nodded.“OK, if you go along to that room at the end there, I’ll bring her through.”

“Has she got a name?” Abi asked suddenly, looking back from the door of the cat meeting room.

Maria shook her head.“Not yet. They’ve only just come in and we haven’t decided on anything yet.” She smiled. “So if you adopt her, maybe you could name her.”

What would be a good name for a white cat? Abi wondered as she waited, perched excitedly on the edge of a chair. Snowball and Snowdrop were really cute but it would be nice to have something a bit different. Lots of white cats were called Snowball. She looked round hopefully as the door swung open and Maria came in with the white kitten cuddled in her arms.

“Here we are. Now, like I said, she’s very friendly but she’s still quite little, so be gentle.” Maria sat down on the floor with the white kitten standing on her lap. “There you go, little one,” she murmured. “You go and have a look around.” Then she smiled at Abi and her family. “I know she can’t hear me, but I keep forgetting and I talk to her anyway!”

The white kitten stood there, looking around curiously. She’s so pretty, Abi thought. Even prettier close up, when you could see how blue her eyes were and the shell-pink of her nose and ears. Even her tiny paws were pinkish.

“So does being deaf make a big difference to how we look after her?” Chris asked.

“Well, you won’t be able to call her and she won’t hear food going into her bowl or anything like that. But she can definitely pick up vibrations.” Maria slapped her hand on the floor and the kitten looked round curiously. “You see? It’s not the noise she’s responding to, it’s the feel – the vibrations in the air. You can teach her to use hand signals too, like beckoning her to come to you, or maybe touching your mouth to say it’s food time. I’ve got a handout to give you with some ideas.”

“You mean, we can train her?” Abi asked. “Like a dog?” She slipped down off her chair to sit on the floor with Maria, and the white kitten watched her.

“Sure. Cats are really clever. And most cats will do anything for food. If she comes when you beckon and you give her a nice treat, she’s going to learn it’s a good thing to do.”

“Oh, sheis coming to me,” Abi whispered as the white kitten padded across the floor. “Hello, kitten.” Then she looked up at Maria. “It seems weird not to talk to her.”

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“I know what you mean. And of course you still can – just as long as you don’t get cross when she doesn’t notice. Actually, if you talk, she might understand your body language. Go big on the facial expressions,” Maria suggested. “Big smiles if you’re pleased with her and frown if she’s jumped up somewhere she shouldn’t.”

“Is it OK for Abi to stroke her?” Mum asked, and Ruby reached towards the kitten. “Me too!”

“Your turn in a minute, Ruby,” Chris said.

“It’s fine to stroke her – but just tap your fingers on the floor in front of her first, Abi, so you don’t give her a shock. She’s looking at you right now anyway but it’s a good idea to get into the habit of showing her you’re there.”

Abi tapped her nails on the floor and the kitten put her head to one side, obviously intrigued. She sniffed Abi’s fingers, and stood still while Abi gently stroked her little pink ears. Then she began to purr, a huge clickety purr that made Abi laugh.

“She’s so noisy!”

“Yes, that’s another thing about deaf cats – she can’t hear how loud she’s being. And it might be that she enjoys the feel of making a noise. She’s got a really loud meow as well.”

“Ruby, do you want to stroke her?” Abi suggested. “She’s so soft.”

Ruby nodded eagerly and scrambled down from Mum’s knee. “Shall I tap?” she asked Maria seriously, and Maria smiled at her. “Yes, that would be great. Well done.”

The white kitten looked round as Ruby banged the floor and Ruby gazed silently back at her. Abi couldn’t believe how good her little sister was being – it was almost as if the kitten had made her shy. Ruby reached out her hand slowly and the kitten padded forward and licked her fingers.

“Her tongue’s all rough!” Ruby whispered. Then she looked round at Mum and Chris. “When are we taking her home?”

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Abi had hoped they might be able to take the white kitten home straight away, once Mum and Chris had signed all the paperwork and paid her adoption fee. But they weren’t going to be allowed to have her until the weekend. There was a lot to do first, Chris pointed out as they were driving home. “We need to get her a basket – maybe one of those igloo ones. Litter trays, food bowls, toys. A scratching post.”

“Yes, and we need to walk round the house and think about what we need to do. Maria’s going to come back for a visit in a day or two, to help us get ready for an indoor kitten,” Mum said, turning round to look at Ruby and Abi in the back of the car.

Abi sighed.“Does that mean we have to tidy up again?”

Chris snorted with laughter.“Actually, Maria gave me a leaflet to read about indoor cats while your mum was signing papers. It says that they like a nice cluttered space with lots of stuff to hide behind. So our house should be perfect.”

“Can I have a look?” Abi asked, and Mum found the leaflet and passed it back to her. Abi glanced through it. “Wow. There’s a lot to learn, isn’t there? I didn’t know we had to give the kitten grass.”

“What?” Chris sounded surprised. “I missed that bit. Grass, really?”

“Yes. It says here that it helps them get the hair out of their stomachs. Why would they have hair in their stomachs though? Oh, I suppose it’s because they’re always licking themselves. We have to have a little pot of grass for her to nibble on!”

When they got back home, Abi finished reading the leaflet lying on her bed. Therewas a lot to do. Mum had already said they’d have to get some sort of screen to put over the windows – she hated the idea of keeping them all closed in the summer.

While Mum and Chris were making dinner, Abi sat at her desk and started making a list of everything they needed for their kitten. It was a long list but she didn’t mind. Every little thing she wrote down seemed to make the kitten more theirs. And in a few days’ time, they would be bringing her home.

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The white kitten sniffed anxiously at the sides of the box and mewed. She didn’t know what was happening but the last time she had been carried in a box she had been taken away from her mother. She had been well fed at the shelter and her brother and sister had been there to snuggle with, but it wasn’t the same. With her mother she had been safe and warm…

The box tipped a little and the kitten slid into the corner with a frightened squeak. She crouched there, huddled and mewing for what seemed like hours as the box swayed and tipped and lurched. And then it stopped– she was on solid ground again, she could feel it. She sat up and glared as the flaps at the top were opened.

There were faces peering inside and she crouched back into her corner miserably. She was somewhere new, she could smell it.

“She doesn’t look very happy,” Abi said. “I wish we’d got her one of those special carriers with a wire front so she could see out.”

“We will,” Mum agreed. “It was just getting a bit expensive, everything all at once. So when Maria said we could have this carrying box, it seemed like a good idea. But you’re right, she looks positively cross. Don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Get her out,” Ruby begged. “I want to cuddle her.”

The kitten squeaked again as Mum reached in to lift her out.“I don’t think she wants cuddling right now, Ruby. She’s a bit confused.”

“Shall we just let her look at her new basket and toys?” Abi suggested. “I thought she’d be happy to have a proper home. But I don’t think she understands that’s what this is yet.”

The kitten slunk across the floor, sniffed cautiously at the igloo basket and darted inside. Then she crouched down in the opening and peered out suspiciously at the family staring back at her.

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Chris sighed but he was grinning, and Abi frowned at him.“What are you smiling like that for?”

“I don’t know. I suppose I’ve just never seen a crosser-looking cat. She’s so tiny and sweet but every hair of her is cross.”

“Perhaps we should feed her,” Mum suggested, and Abi hurried to fetch one of the new kitten food pouches they’d stocked up with.

The kitten twitched as she saw Abi gently tilting the food bowl towards her. She could smell the food– the same kind that she was used to. She was quite hungry… Slowly, she put her nose out of the basket and eyed the people crowded around. There were too many of them.

“She isn’t just cross, she’s scared,” Abi said suddenly. “We should leave her alone.”

“But I want to cuddle her!” Ruby said, looking upset.

“Me too.” Abi sighed. “But we have to wait a bit. Look at her, Ruby. She’s really frightened. She doesn’t even want to come and eat her lunch.”

“She’s like you were, Ruby, on the first day of Reception,” Mum pointed out. “Let’s all give her some space.”

Ruby sniffed. On her first day of school, she’d had to be bribed with the promise of a new pot of bubble mixture to stop holding on to Mum’s legs, and she still had days where she didn’t want to go into the classroom. She tiptoed away from the kitten and sat down on a kitchen chair to watch.

The kitten stepped carefully out of the basket and went to the food bowl. For a little while she was more interested in the food than she was worried about this strange new place. But once the bowl was empty, she looked around and they were all still there, watching her.

The bigger girl was sitting on the floor with a feather toy in her hand. There had been one of those to play with before. The kittens had loved it, dancing and jumping and falling over each other to catch the feathers and twinkling ribbons.

The shiny ribbons caught the light as the girl shook the toy. The kitten padded closer, just to look. Then the feathers twitched again and she bounced, all four paws off the ground, to catch them. One paw came close, her claws just skimming the edge of the feathers, but the toy jumped away. She crouched down to stalk it across the floor, waiting until the moment was just right. Then she sprang straight up and thumped it hard with her paw.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_20]

She landed half in Abi’s lap, slipping down her knees. Abi put a hand out to catch her, gently scooping the kitten up. Abi was still holding the stick for the cat toy and the bundle of feathers was dangling next to her now. The kitten sat up on her hind paws and grabbed it, hugging it tight. She settled back on Abi’s lap to chew on the feathers and forgot that she was scared.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

“We need to decide what to call her,” Chris said, watching Ruby and Abi stroking the white kitten, who was stretched out between them on the sofa half asleep. They had danced the feather toy about for her all afternoon and she was worn out. She’d eaten another kitten food pouch and she’d worked out where her litter tray was. She’s doing amazingly, Abi thought. Especially since Maria had warned that it might take her days to settle in.

“It ought to be something to do with her colour,” Mum suggested. “Or her blue eyes. We could call her Sapphire.”

Abi made a face.“That’s not very easy to say.”

“Sky, then?”

Chris nodded.“That’s better.”

“My friend Sky would like that,” Abi said, tickling the kitten under the chin.

“Oh, I’d forgotten… It might be a bit confusing though. What about Blanche? It’s French for white.”

Abi wrinkled her nose.“I don’t think she looks like a Blanche. She’s like – she’s like…” Abi sighed. “I don’t know! She’s so pretty. And I love her pink nose – it’s like a flower petal.” She looked up at Mum and Chris suddenly. “We could call her Flower!”

Mum looked pleased.“That’s a lovely name.”

“Hey, Flower,” Abi murmured as she stroked the white kitten again. The kitten didn’t hear her, of course, but she began to purr, a purr so loud that Abi could feel Flower’s whole furry little body shaking under her fingers.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

On Sunday, Flower began to explore her way all through the house. It took her a while to get upstairs, as her legs were still a bit short for the steps, but she was determined and Ruby gave her a lift the last few steps to the top. She sat on Ruby’s bed and watched her play and then tried to climb inside the dolls’ house. Then she slept on Abi’s lap while she did her homework.

Sometimes she sat on the back of the sofa and watched the road outside through the front window, but she didn’t seem to mind that she was an inside cat. She didn’t know any different, Abi decided. Actually, even if they’d adopted a kitten whowasn’t deaf, it would have had to stay inside for a while, Maria had told them. Kittens couldn’t go out until they’d had all their vaccinations.

The leaflet had been right when it said that indoor cats liked things to hide behind. Flower went under the sofa, inside the pan cupboard and nearly got stuck behind the bookcase in the living room. She loved climbing too.

On Monday morning before school, Abi came into the kitchen to get her cereal and looked around to see where Flower was. She’d hurried down before she got dressed and found the kitten still curled up asleep in her igloo basket – but she definitely wasn’t there now. It was only when she heard a tiny meow that she realized where Flower was. She was perched on the curtain rail over the kitchen window and she looked abit worried.

“Mum!” Abi yelled. “You need to come and see this!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_21]

Flower mewed again and tried to stand up, slipping a bit.

“How did she get up there?” Mum said, stopping in the doorway to stare.

“I don’t know, but I think she’s about to fall off! Can you reach her?”

Mum unhooked the kitten and made a frowny face at her, wagging her finger like a cross mother in a cartoon.

“What are you doing?” Abi asked her mum. Then she giggled, watching Flower stalk across the kitchen floor to her water bowl, pretending she hadn’t been stuck at all.

Mum laughed too.“I was trying to do a big facial expression, like Maria said. So she understood I was cross.”

“Ohhh. I’m not sure it was her fault though. I was reading about deaf cats on the internet and one of the websites said they liked being high up because it makes them feel safe. Like no one could creep up on them.”

“Maybe. But she can’t get into the habit of climbing the curtains,” Mum said firmly. Then she turned, looking towards the front door. “Oh no, is that the dustmen? I haven’t put the bin out!” She hurried from the kitchen to open the front door. “Abi, make sure you’re holding Flower or watching that she doesn’t go out.”

Abi crouched down by the kitten but Flower hadn’t even noticed that the front door was open. Abi heard the door close and went to get her cereal. Flower finished her drink and padded out into the hallway.

“I nearly missed them!” Mum said, coming back with a relieved look on her face. Then her eyes met Abi’s and they both whirled round at the sound of the front door clicking open.

“It’s the bin lorry!” Ruby cried excitedly, waving to the man pulling the dustbin away from the front gate. “Hello! Hello!”

The bin man waved back and Ruby jumped up and down happily. Behind her, a curious white kitten hurried towards the door and Abi raced up the hallway.

“Ruby, don’t let her out!”

Ruby turned round, surprised and then horrified, as Flower slipped past her feet. Abi lunged forward, grabbing the white kitten just before she shot out of the door.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_22]

“Oh Abi, well done!” Mum gasped, hurrying down the hall after her. “That was close!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_23]

“I’d have been so cross with her,” Sky said when Abi told her about it later on.

“I was a bit – but Ruby’s only little and she was really upset when Mum explained what she’d done wrong.” Abi shook her head. “It’s so tricky! I never thought we opened the front door that much. But we do, loads. And in the summer we leave the back door to the garden open all the time. Or we did.”

Sky made a face.“Are you thinking an indoor cat’s going to be too much trouble?”

“No way! We’ll just have to be careful. Flower’s so gorgeous. She’s still a bit shy sometimes, but we’ve only had her for a few days. Ithink she likes us.”

“Of course she likes you,” Sky said encouragingly. “Or she should do. It sounds like you’re being perfect indoor cat owners.”

They were trying, anyway– but it was a lot more work than anyone had expected, even after all they’d done to get ready. After Flower had climbed the curtains for the third time, Mum and Chris decided she needed something of her own to climb. So on Saturday they went to the pet shop to choose her a cat tree – a sort of special climbing frame for a cat with scratching posts, a box to hide in and a little hammock to sleep in.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_24]

Flower loved it and the hammock was her new favourite sleeping place, much better than her basket. She lolled about in it with her paws in the air and her chin hanging over the edge so she could see what was going on.

Abi wasn’t sure if Flower was so nosy because of her deafness or if all cats were like that, but the little kitten hated to miss anything. She had to climb and sniff and probably scratch everything that came in the house. She loved Abi and Ruby’s room because it was full of toys and blankets and thingsto explore and snuggle under. Sometimes she slept on Abi’s bed, but Mum always came and got her before she and Chris went to bed. Mum wasn’t sure that Flower would be able to make it down the stairs when she needed the litter tray.

Halfway through Flower’s second week with the family, Ruby brought home a junk model from school. Junk modelling was her favourite thing about Reception but Mum had made a rule – one model in, one model out. Otherwise Abi and Ruby’s room would be completely full of cereal packets stuck to toilet-roll tubes.

The new model was a cat– actually it was Flower, or so Ruby said. Abi couldn’t quite see it, only that there were some soggy bits of white tissue paper stuck on.

“Flower knows it’s her,” Ruby said proudly, setting it down on the floor in front of the kitten and watching as she sniffed it and then tried to climb inside the tissue box that was her body.

“You know what,” Abi said thoughtfully, “there was something like that on one of the websites I was looking at about indoor cats.”

Chris looked at her in surprise.“What, making junk models for them to shred? Ruby, if you don’t want her to eat it, I’d go and put it somewhere high up in your bedroom.”

“Not to claw at. To get food out of.” Abi frowned, trying to remember. “It said that outdoor cats spend ages tracking and hunting, and even if they never actually catch anything it’s good for indoor cats to have something like that too. That you should make their food into a puzzle. There was a picture that looked just like one of Ruby’s models. It was all loo rolls stuck together, and there were cat biscuits hidden inside it. Like the biscuits Flower sometimes has for her tea now.”

“That’s a great idea.” Chris reached out to the back of the kitchen door, where there was a cloth bag hung on a hook. “There you go. We were saving these for Ruby to take into school.Loads of loo rolls.”

“Can I help?” Ruby asked, cuddling her junk cat protectively while Flower pranced around her ankles, purring with excitement.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

The pyramid of loo roll tubes was so huge it took ages for all the glue to dry. Abi and Ruby had made it very carefully. They cut extra holes in some of the tubes and blocked other ones off half way with milk-bottle tops so that it was like a kitten intelligence test. When it was finally dry enough to let Flower anywhere near, it became her new favourite toy.

She was asleep in her hammock when Abi gently shook the box of special dry kitten food close by and then tapped her fingers on the box. Flower’s eyes snapped open, bright blue against her white fur, and her ears twitched. Even though she couldn’t hear, Flower still used her ears for signalling. They twitcheda lot.

She hopped down the levels of her cat tree and hurried into the kitchen to her food bowl, which was empty. She sniffed at it, confused, and then turned round to stare accusingly at Abi. They had shaken the food box at her– Abi had touched her hand to her mouth too, the way she always did when there was going to be food. But there wasn’t any.

Abi was tapping her fingers on the floor though, and Flower could still smell cat biscuits. She sniffed curiously at the pile of cardboard tubes that Abi and Ruby had set down in front of them. That was where the smell was coming from, she was almost sure. She peered in. Yes, there was definitely a cat biscuit inside, but the tube was just a little too narrow to get her head in. She mewed and Ruby reached for the biscuit.

“No, don’t get it for her,” Abi said. “She needs to work it out.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_25]

With a confused little hiss, Flower stretched up, so she could reach in with one small paw. She scrabbled about a bit and then hooked out the biscuit, sending it bouncing on to the floor. Then she gobbled it up triumphantly.

“You see!” Abi yelped, high-fiving Ruby. “I told you she’d do it!”

“She’s finding more,” Ruby said, giggling as Flower nearly tipped over the pyramid by standing right up on her hind legs to claw out a biscuit from the top. “She likes it!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

The cat tree and the food-hunting pyramid were meant to help keep Flower busy inside, so she didn’t feel stressed because she couldn’t go outdoors. They worked – but not completely. The kitten still loved to sit on the back of the sofa and watch the comings and goings in the street. She was fascinated by cars driving up and down the road – Abi could see her following them, turning her head as they sped by.

She still wanted to see what was going on every time they went to the front door too. She couldn’thear the bell but Abi thought she could maybefeel it– their doorbell was quite loud and sharp. Flower always seemed to come running when it rang, unless she was upstairs.

Abi and Ruby had to pick her up every time the door was answered or she’d be trying to slip round Mum or Chris’s feet. Flower would wriggle eagerly in their arms, her whiskers twitching as she sniffed all those outdoor smells.

After the bin men, there were a couple of other near misses where Flower was just so wriggly that Abi couldn’t hold on to her. Chris had to shut the door quite suddenly on the postman to stop the little kitten dashing out.

That night at dinner he told Mum and Abi and Ruby that he was thinking of building Flower a catio– a cat patio out in the garden with wire sides and a roof so she could sunbathe and explore outdoors.

Abi giggled and looked down at Flower, who was sitting on her lap, hoping Abi would drop bits of sausage.“I bet she’ll still try and get out of the front door.”

“Of course she will.” Chris rolled his eyes. “But it’s better than nothing. She obviously really likes the idea of being outside.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

A couple of days after her near escape past the postman, Flower was dozing in her hammock, softly flexing her tiny claws in and out as she dreamed. She blinked and squeaked to herself, and half woke up as she felt Chris’s heavy footsteps going past the living room, where the cat tree was. She popped her head out, watching him walk into the kitchen, and wondered what he was doing. It didn’tfeel as if it was food time, but it might be…

She wriggled out of her hammock and hopped down on to the floor, meaning to follow Chris. Then she noticed the shopping bags that he’d left in the hallway. They were just by the living-room door – one big bag full of books and a couple of empty ones. They looked interesting.

She sniffed at them– so many smells! Food smells and people smells and others she had no idea about… Flower scrabbled her way up the side of the largest bag, trying to investigate – and then she realized that she could get inside. The bag of books smelled strange, but the plasticky stuff they were covered in was good for her claws. She flexed them in and out happily.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_26]

Then the footsteps thumped back and the bags swayed and lifted. There was a rush of cool air.

Flower didn’t know it, but she was outside at last.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_27]

“Chris – hi!”

The library books shifted under Flower’s paws as Chris set the bag down and started chatting to the neighbour who’d waved at him. The bag slumped open, revealing the pile of books and the little white kitten perched between them. Flower peered over the edge of the bag and then hopped out. Chris and the neighbour were too busy gossiping and complaining about someone dumping an old mattress on the grass verge down the road to notice her. Flower padded away, sniffing thoughtfully at the cars-and-lorries smell of the air.

She wandered along the pavement, flinching at the rumble of the cars’ wheels and the way the air moved as they sped by her. It ruffled her fur and her whiskers, and she knew that they were large and perhaps dangerous. A big truck went past, scaring her with its heavy rattling vibration and Flower crouched down by a gatepost, where it felt a little safer.

Then there was a sudden rush of air and movement as a car rolled past her into the driveway, so close that the ground shook under her paws and her ears and whiskers were blown straight back.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_28]

The kitten stumbled backwards with a mew of fright. She had never seen a car so close up– she didn’t know what was happening.

The car’s engine was turned off and the terrifying shake of the ground settled to an uneasy nothing. Flower stayed frozen for a couple of seconds and then raced away, desperate to escape the fearful rumbling thing that she was sure had almost flattened her. She dashed wildly along the pavement, shootinground a corner into a side road and then down a little alley.

The shuddering vibrations of the cars were a little further away now and her hammering heart slowed. She flung herself under a clump of scruffy bushes and crouched there among the dead leaves and dust, shivering each time another car shook the ground.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

Mum didn’t have any meetings after school that day so she brought Abi and Ruby home, rather than Chris picking them up as he usually did. They opened the front door in the careful, kitten-watching way they’d learned, peering round to make sure that Flower was nowhere nearby, and then bundling themselves in.

But Flower wasn’t anywhere to be found. They searched and searched, all over the house, in every cupboard and on top of every bookcase, in all the places they’d ever found her lurking.

“Perhaps she’s asleep and can’t hear us…” Abi said, even though she knew that couldn’t be true. Somehow Flower always knew when they were home. She would appear, padding eagerly down the hall and rubbing herself round their ankles until someone picked her up.

“Maybe she’s got out,” Mum said worriedly, looking about as though she expected to see an open window.

“She can’t have done.” Chris shook his head. “I checked before I went to the library and the shops. She was asleep in her cat tree – and even if she hadn’t been, I’d have noticed her sneaking out of the door. She’s got to be here somewhere. She just has to.”

But she wasn’t, even though they searched everywhere all over again, with Ruby crying and Abi trying very hard not to. At last even Chris had to admit that Flower wasn’t anywhere to be found. “We’d better go and look for her outside,” he said, sounding shaken.

“What if she’s gone in the road?” Abi whispered. She was thinking about what Maria had said – that the road in front of their house was too dangerous for a cat. Any cat, let alone a kitten who couldn’t hear and had never been outside before. Not since she was really tiny and been found ina box, anyway.

Mum swallowed.“I’m sure she wouldn’t… She’d be scared. I expect she’s hiding in someone’s garden. We’ll go and look.”

They went outside, peering around the front garden, looking under all the bushes and over the fence into next-door.

“Flower! Flower!” Ruby called, and Abi glared at her.

“She can’t hear you, Ruby! Don’t be silly!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_29]

Ruby sniffed loudly and began to cry again.“Abi’s being horrible to me!”

“You’re right, Abi, but you shouldn’t shout at Ruby like that,” Mum told her. “Actually, I wonder if thereis a way we can call her? Tapping isn’t going to work, not unless she’s really close.”

“I don’t think so. There’s too much noise and vibration from the road.” Chris shook his head. “And I still don’t understand how she could have got out. I’m going to walk down the street and look in all the gardens. Do you want to come with me, Abi?”

“Yes.” Abi nodded. She was so worried and upset that it was making her grumpy, and if she stayed searching their garden she’d probably snap at Ruby again.

They walked out on to the pavement just as a car raced past and Abi shivered. She tried to imagine what it would have felt like to Flower if she’d come out on to the pavement – the kitten would have been terrified. Abi leaned over the fence, trying to see round the bushes in next-door’s garden, while Chris did the same in the garden along.

“Are you all right?”

Abi looked up in surprise. She hadn’t noticed their neighbour, Annika, opening her front door. “We’ve lost our kitten,” she explained. “Sorry about leaning over your fence – I was looking for her. She’s meant to be an indoor cat, you see. She’s deaf.”

“Oh no – well you’re very welcome to come into the garden and see if you can find her.” Annika stepped out on to her front path and crouched down to look around. “What colour is she?”

“She’s white and she’s really tiny.”

Annika looked up, her eyes widening.“A really little white cat? I think I saw her this afternoon!”

“You did?” Abi felt her hands tighten on top of the fence. “Where was she?”

“Running down the pavement. She was further along the road, a few houses down from the supermarket.” Annika frowned. “And she was definitely going that way.”

Abi stared at her. The supermarket was right at the end of the road. She had been hoping that Flower would be in Annika’s garden or possibly the next one along. How could Flower have gone so far? She must have been terrified, with all the cars speeding by on the busy road. “Wh-when was that?” she asked, her voice shaking a little.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_30]

“Well, my shift finished at two,” Annika said. “So it must have been about half past, I guess.” She looked worriedly at Abi. “It might not have been her…” she added gently.

“Did she have blue eyes?” Abi asked, not sure whether to hope Annika would say yes or no.

“Ithink so… She was running, I didn’t see her for very long…”

“Thanks – I’d better tell Chris.” Abi turned to look for her stepdad but he was already walking back towards them.

“Did Abi explain, Annika? About our cat?” Chris asked.

“Annika saw her!” Abi burst out. “All the way down the road, going towards the supermarket!”

Chris turned round to look, and Abi saw him make a face without meaning to. He was thinking what she was thinking– that their road joined on to another one close by the supermarket, which was even busier. It definitely wasn’t somewhere a little deaf kitten wanted to be running about.

“Thanks, Annika. You’ve been really helpful.” Chris nodded to her. “Sorry to disturb you. We’ll go and look down there for her now.”

Abi slipped her hand into his as they walked along and Chris squeezed her hand.“We’ll find her, Abi,” he said firmly. “It’s going to be OK.”

Abi nodded. She wanted to think so too. But as the cars kept rolling by, she wasn’t so sure that her stepdad was right.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_31]

“There must be a better way of looking for her,” Chris said, running his fingers through his hair and looking down the street. “This just isn’t working.”

They’d been out for over an hour now. Mum and Ruby had helped to start with but then Ruby got tired and upset and Mum had taken her home for a snack. Abi and Chris had kept on searching. Abi had even nipped back into the house for the tin they kept the kitten biscuits in, as she was sure Flower felt the vibrations when they shook them at home. There was probably too much going on for her to notice it out here but Abi was going to try everything.

“Mum could put a post about Flower on the school parents’ online chat,” Abi suggested. “The one where people ask about which day is swimming and what to bring for trips. Loads of people from school live on this road. Someone else might have seen her.”

“That’s a good idea,” Chris agreed. “There are lost cat websites as well – we can add her to those. And if she’s still missing tomorrow, we’ll make some posters.”

“Tomorrow?” Abi heard her voice go high and squeaky. She’d been sure that they would get Flower back that day. They had to. She couldn’t imagine her tiny little kitten outside on her own all night.

“We need to go home and have something to eat, Abi,” Chris said gently. “It’s nearly six and we haven’t spoken to anyone else who’s seen her. We can come out again after that but it’ll be getting dark soon.”

“She’ll be easy to see in the dark,” Abi said stubbornly, thinking of Flower’s pure-white fur.

“I know – it’s just so hard when we can’t call for her.” Chris looked around, frustrated. “She could be right here, waiting for us to find her.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Sorry.” He gave Abi a hug. “Come on. Let’s go and get some dinner. Mum sent me a text to say it’s ready.”

“OK. But I’m coming out to look again afterwards.”

Chris nodded.“We will.”

In the end, Ruby wanted Chris to read her a bedtime story and she was so miserable about Flower being missing that it was easier not to argue with her. So after Abi nibbled a bit of pasta, Mum went out with her to look again instead. She got a torch from the kitchen drawer because it was just starting to get dark.

They walked down the street, stopping to tap on gateposts and stamp their feet outside each garden. But no little white shape dashed out to meet them and Abi’s heart seemed to sink a little bit more with every house they passed. It was sitting somewhere on top of her stomach now and she felt sick with worry.

“I wonder if we should call the shelter,” Mum said as they reached the supermarket at the end of the road. “Just in case someone’s found Flower and handed her in.”

“But then they’ll know we didn’t look after her properly,” Abi whispered.

“Oh Abi, love. I’m sure they won’t think that. We’ve done everything they said…”

“Except we let her out!” Abi gasped. She’d been trying so hard not to cry all this time, but now she couldn’t help it. “What if she gets run over? What if she already has been? They said it’s happened on this road before…”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_32]

“Someone would have seen and told us,” Mum said firmly. “And I think the shelter will be closed now anyway. So we can’t ring them tonight. But I think we’ll have to tomorrow morning, if we haven’t found her by then.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

Flower stayed huddled under the bushes. She had peeped out into the darkening alley a few times, but she could still see the blurred lines of cars shooting along the road at the end, and she remembered how one of them had come so close to her. She didn’t understand why that had happened, but she dreaded that rumbling rush and the blast of air through her whiskers. The bushes were safe, even if her fur was smeared with dust. Yes, she could just stay here…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_33]

But if she did that, she wouldn’t be able to get home. Abi and Ruby would have put food out for her to find, and she was hungry. She had sniffed around in the dead leaves for something to eat but all she had found was a beetle that was crunchy and tasted strange when she’d tried to eat it. She was so, so hungry. She wanted her food and to have Ruby dance a toy about for her, and then to be lifted up on Abi’s lap to sleep.

She had to get home. Even if meant going back to that road again.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

Abi lay in bed listening to Ruby’s snuffled hiccupy breathing. Ruby had been crying again, and she’d woken up when Abi came to bed and crawled in with her. She’d cried all over Abi’s pyjamas so Abi felt damp and even more miserable and she just couldn’t sleep.

“Are you OK, Abi, love?” Mum whispered from the doorway. “Are you awake?”

“A little bit,” Abi whispered back.

“We’re going to bed now,” Mum said, coming to crouch down by Abi’s bed. “Do you want me to put Ruby back in her own bed?”

“No, she’ll wake up. It’s OK.”

“I’m sure we’ll find Flower tomorrow.” Mum stroked her hair. “Chris will look for her while we’re all at school.”

“OK.” Abi didn’t know what else to say. She was sure she couldn’t spend the day doing literacy and maths while Flower was still missing. But her mum was a teacher – she was never going to agree to let Abi have the day off school to keep on looking.

Mum shut the door gently and Abi wriggled a bit, trying to get comfortable next to Ruby. Her little sister snuffled in her sleep and half rolled over so that she was up against the wall. She took most of the duvet with her and Abi sighed and pulled her old cuddly fleece blanket up around her instead. It smelled comforting, like washing powder, and she snuggled it up by her face, sniffing it sadly.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_34]

Then she stopped and sat up on her elbow, staring into the darkness.

Smell!

One of the websites she’d read had said deaf cats probably had better other senses than cats who could hear, because they depended on those senses more and practised using them. And Abi had definitely read somewhere else that one thing you could do for a lost cat was put their bed or their litter tray outside the house, because cats had brilliant noses and would smell their own scent and find their way home.

So Flower would be even better at that than an ordinary cat, wouldn’t she?

Abi slid carefully out of bed, trying not to wake Ruby, and wrapped her blanket round her shoulders. She hesitated on the landing outside Mum and Chris’s room – should she wake them? If she did, they’d probably go and put the litter tray outside and tell her to go back to bed.

But Abi wanted to be there– she wanted to watch, in case it worked. What if they put the litter tray outside and went back to bed, and then Flower came? She wouldn’t understand why her litter tray was there and nobody was waiting for her. She might go away again.

So Abi tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen to fetch the litter tray. Luckily no one had cleaned it out– it didn’t smell very much to Abi but she bet Flower would be able to smell it for miles. She hoped so anyway. This had to work. It had to.

She unlocked the front door carefully and couldn’t stop herself glancing round to make sure Flower wasn’t racing down the hallway to see what was happening. “Stupid,” she muttered to herself. Then she slipped outside, shivering in the night air, and set the tray down on the path.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_35]

She stood in the gateway, looking up and down the road, hoping to see a little white shape hurrying towards her through the darkness but there was no one around. It was eerie.

Abi retreated back indoors so she could watch from the living-room window. She sat down on the sofa just next to where Flower liked to sit. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness now and she was sure she could see a few of Flower’s white hairs against the dark fabric. She knelt up, leaning her elbows on the back of the sofa, and stared determinedly out of the window.

She was going to stay awake until Flower came home.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_36]

Flower stepped out from underneath the bushes and looked down the alleyway. It was fully dark now and she’d been getting colder and colder huddled there. She felt stiff, and slow, and she wasn’t sure she could run away if one of those rumbling things came near her again. But to get back home she supposed she would have to go along the road and risk it. She padded down the dark alley and then flinched as something ran in front of her. She had a moment’s glimpse of white teeth gleaming and a massive paw swept the air in front of her nose, cuffing her and knocking her sideways. She jumped and twisted and rolled over, landing half on her side as the creature loomed over her. Then it darted away.

Flower lay crouched and gasping in the dust, making herself as small as she could, wondering if the creature was going to come back. What was it? Another cat? It must have been. The smell seemed right, but it had been so much larger than she was. She wasn’t sure if she should stay still, or run, or try to hide. But the cat seemed to have moved on and even though there were scents of other animals around, there was nothing else nearby.

At last she began to move forward again, creeping cautiously along the alleyway to the road. And then she stopped, almost forgetting how much the larger cat had scared her. She had expected the road to be busy and frightening. She had been steeling herself for the speed of the cars and the way they made the air whoosh past her whiskers.

She hadn’t expected to be lost.

Which way should she turn out of the alleyway? Which way was home? Which way back to Abi and Ruby? Flower felt the fur rising along her spine again and her tail fluffing up in panic. She was lost and there were more cats around– she could smell them. She was in their territory. Her territory was the house, and her basket, and the cat tree, and Abi. She was in the wrong place.

Flower hurried out of the alley and stood on the pavement, sniffing anxiously for the other cats’ scent. She needed to get out of here. She had been lucky to be left alone all that time she was hidden under the bushes. But which way should she go now?

Her ears flattened against her skull as she realized that she needed to go towards the rumbling, shaking road, the busier road that she had run down. Home was that way, however much she hated the thought of it.

Whiskers bristling, she scurried down the street, darting along the innermost edge of the pavement in the shadow of the garden walls. When she came to the corner, she peered cautiously around at the cars speeding along the bigger road. Then she pressed herself against the wall with a mew of fright as a car turned into the side road towards her. But it rumbled on past without coming any closer.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_37]

Which way? Flower huddled against the wall, trying to stay calm and ignore the instinct inside that told her to just run and run, to get away from the cars. But that wasn’t going to get her back to Abi and Ruby. After a few moments, she grew a little more used to the cars, and her fur began to lay flat again. She turned her head, trying to scent the way back home.

There wassomething… Flower grimaced, opening her mouth and curling her muzzle back over her teeth to smell better. She could smellherself. Her home– her territory. She bolted along the pavement, following the scent blowing on the wind. She was getting closer, the smell was stronger and she could feel it – she was nearly home.

At last– there it was! Her litter tray. But outside the house, not where it was meant to be. Flower padded into the front garden, sniffing at the litter tray cautiously. What was it doing out here? And how was she going to get into the house? She went over to sniff at the door – this was the way she had come out, carried in that bag. But now it was shut fast and it didn’t move even when she scrabbled and mewed.

Flower sat down on the doorstep feeling cold and even hungrier now that she was so close to her food bowl. She mewed again, even louder, but still no one came.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_38]

Was there another way she could get in? Wearily, she turned and walked back down the path, looking at the big pot of flowers by the front door and the window up above. She knew that window– it was where she sat to watch the street and the people passing by. Except now she was on the other side, looking in…

She sprang up on to the edge of the flowerpot and made a scrabbly jump on to the windowsill. Then she peered through the glass. There was the sofa… Flower mewed loudly in frustration and then pressed her nose closer towards the glass.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_39]

Abi was there! She was asleep, her head pillowed on the back of the sofa, on the other side of the glass.

Flower stood up on her back paws, mewing and mewing, batting at the glass with her front ones. She couldsee Abi– so why wouldn’t Abi wake up and notice her?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

Abi was dreaming she was chasing down the road after her little white kitten, always just too far away to catch her before she disappeared. She was calling and calling, but all the time she knew it was useless– Flower couldn’t hear her. It was heartbreaking. Flower was so frightened. Abi could hear her mewing in the dream and the noise was frantic. Flower was racing so fast that her paws were thudding on the ground…

Abi blinked and sat up a little, dazed with sleep. She had been dreaming that Flower was lost. No… She swallowed miserably. That wasn’t a dream, her kitten reallywas lost.

She looked around, confused about where she was– and then she remembered. The litter tray outside. She had been trying to give Flower a scent to follow… Abi shook her head, trying to wake herself up properly. She hadn’t meant to go to sleep and she could still hear the mewing from her dream. It was even getting louder and she could hear the thumping paws too…

“Flower?” Abi stared. Her kitten was there on the other side of the window, paws scrabbling eagerly, her mouth wide open in a mew.

Abi jumped off the sofa, trailing her blanket, and raced for the front door, fumbling with the locks. At last she pulled it open and Flower darted in, purring. She stood up, patting at Abi’s knees with her little white paws until Abi picked her up and snuggled them both in the blanket.

Abi blinked as the landing light went on and the glow spread down the stairs.

“Mummy!” Ruby called from the top of the staircase. “Dad! Abi’s found Flower!” She stumbled down to hug Abi and stroke Flower’s nose.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_40]

“She came back,” Abi told her little sister. “She’s so clever – she followed her own smell. Oh, she must be hungry.” She tapped her mouth – the food sign they always used to show Flower it was time for a meal – and the white kitten stared back at her seriously. Then she lifted her paw and tapped it against her own mouth.

“She did the sign!” Ruby gasped.

“She can’t have done…” Abi looked at Flower and tapped her mouth again.

The kitten patted her own mouth with her paw and then wriggled out of Abi’s arms. She jumped to the floor and dashed into the kitchen to stand by her food bowl.

Abi grabbed one of the pouches from the cupboard and emptied it into the bowl and the two girls crouched by the food to watch Flower eat. Abi could hear Mum and Chris coming downstairs, and then Ruby dash out to tell them about Flower signing back.

“I’m so glad you found your way home,” she whispered to Flower as the kitten licked the last bits of food from round the edges of her bowl. “You’re so clever. But please don’t ever do that again. And we’ll be so careful too.”

Flower padded towards her and climbed up into Abi’s lap, licking lazily at one paw and sweeping it around her whiskers. Then she looked up at Abi with her huge blue eyes and began to purr.

43. THE LONELIEST KITTEN

“Take off your trainers!” Mum yelped as Darcy and Will reached the back door.

“Sorry, Mum.” Darcy kicked off her trainers and held on to Will’s arm so he could do the same. Even though it was the beginning of the summer holidays, the weather wasn’t very summery.

“The garden’s really wet and it’s all muddy in front of the football goal…”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

“I can see that. Will looks like he’s been rolling in it.”

“I was the goalkeeper!” Will said enthusiastically.

Dad came into the kitchen and stared at Darcy and Will.“Wow. What happened to you two?”

“We were playing football.” Darcy frowned. “You’re home early.”

“That’s why I called you in,” said Mum. She had an ‘I’ve got a secret’ face on, Darcy thought. “You’d better go and get changed. And Will, I think you probably need a shower. We’re going on a trip, somewhere really exciting, but it’s a surprise.”

“I’m here so I can come too,” Dad added. “I wish I’d been here earlier, then I could have joined in your football game. I’m nearly as good a goalie as Will!”

“Nobody is better than me,” Will said smugly. “I saved almost all of Darcy’s shots.”

Darcy made a face over the top of Will’s head to say that he hadn’t really and Mum smiled. Will was actually very good for someone who was only six. He was tall too – not that much shorter than Darcy, and she was three years older.

“Go and get changed, Darcy,” said Mum. “And don’t worry, there’s no need to dress up. Shorts and a T-shirt are fine.”

“Come on, Will, I’ll turn the shower on for you,” Dad suggested.

Darcy could hear Will trying to quiz Dad as they went upstairs.“Where are we going? Will there be pizza? Can I wear my Batman outfit?” She was curious too. They did sometimes go on surprise days out in the summer holidays – the best one had been to the seaside, with fish and chips on the beach – but that was usually for the whole day, not in the middleof the afternoon.

She hurried into her bedroom and changed out of her muddy tracksuit bottoms and football shirt. Luckily Mum had put her hair in Dutch plaits that morning and it still looked OK, even after playing football. She just had to scrub away the mud from under her fingernails.

Will was back downstairs soon after, looking very clean and a bit damp.

“Where are we going?” he kept asking as Mum and Dad hurried them out to the car.

“Shh,” Darcy whispered. “It’s a surprise. Surprises are good. Don’t spoil it.”

“I want toknow,” her little brother muttered crossly. “I don’t like surprises.”

“Five minutes,” Dad promised from the driver’s seat.

Darcy and Will peered eagerly out of the car windows, trying to think where they might be going– Darcy thought they were quite close to where her friend Emma lived. Then a few minutes later Dad pulled up outside a long low building.

Darcy read the sign outside: Haven Animal Rescue. She unclipped her seat belt and reached over to grab Dad’s shoulder. “Are we … do you mean … are we really—” She swallowed hard and started again.

“Are we going to get a cat?”

“A cat!” Will squeaked.

Darcy had been trying to persuade her parents to get a pet for ages. She hadn’t been sure whether they should get a cat or a dog.

Emma had a dog and she kept telling Darcy about all the naughty things he had done. Buster had eaten two of Emma’s lunch boxes (not what was inside them, the actual box!) and her favourite flip-flops. Emma still loved him loads, but he was a menace.

Darcy and Will’s gran loved cats and she had two beautiful ones. When they went to see Gran, if Darcy was very lucky, Pippin or Smudge might get on her knee. Darcy loved it when they sat there and let her stroke them. It would be amazing to have a cat to make a fuss of all the time. A cat of their own might even decide to sleep on Darcy’s bed.

Mum loved cats too, but Dad wasn’t so keen – he said they would need a lot of looking after.

“I thought you’d said no!” Darcy wrapped her arms round Dad’s neck and hugged him.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

“Well, I realized it’s Mum who’s at home most of the time,” Dad pointed out. “She’ll end up looking after it, so she should be the one to make the decision.”

Dad was right, Darcy thought. Her mum worked from home in a little office under their stairs.

“But we’ll help,” she said eagerly. “We can feed the cat. And I can vacuum up the fur.” Cat hair all over the carpets had been one of the things Dad was concerned about. “I like vacuuming,” she assured him.

“Can we go and see the catnow?” Will begged and Dad laughed and opened the car door.

“Come on then!”

“We made an appointment to see a litter of kittens,” Mum explained as they went into the building. “There are four of them, and they’re old enough to be rehomed now. When you went round to Gran’s the other day, a lady from the shelter came to check the house to make sure we weren’t too close to any busy roads or anything like that. They rang me yesterday to say we can definitely have a kitten! But –” she gave Darcy and Will a serious look – “they only rehome pets to people who have older children, because you need to be sensible to be around a cat or a dog. So you must show them how sensible you can be. No arguing!”

Will’s eyes widened and he nodded seriously.

“We’ll be good,” Darcy promised. She and Will had got into a fight at Gran’s house once, because Will wouldn’t stop tickling her. She’d been really cross and yelled at him, and Pippin had run away and hidden under Gran’s bed. It was ages until she would come out and Darcy had felt so guilty. She couldn’t help arguing with Will sometimes, but she definitely didn’t want to upset a kitten.

“Hi, I’m Lucy Adams.” Mum smiled at the woman behind the reception desk. “We’re here to see some kittens.”

“That’s right, we’re expecting you. Wait here for a minute and Jesse will come and collect you – he’s one of our staff. We have a meeting room where you can get to know the kittens before you choose.”

Choose! Darcy looked around the reception area at the photos of cats and dogs on the walls. They were beautiful and all of them were staring hopefully out of the picture, as if begging to be taken home.

How were they going to choose which kitten should be theirs?

A young man in a green fleece with the Haven logo came in and grinned at Darcy and Will.“Hi – you’re here to meet the kittens?”

“That’s right.” Mum squeezed Darcy’s hand. “We’re really excited.”

“Great. They’re in our meeting room down here.” Jesse led them along a corridor lined with more gorgeous photos and opened a door. “It’s OK, they’re shut in,” he explained as Dad peered in, looking a bit worried. “They aren’t going to make a run for it.”

“Oh, look…” Mum said softly as she went in. “Aren’t they sweet, Darcy?”

But Darcy didn’t say anything. She was too busy watching. Jesse was unlatching a wire crate and three tiny kittens were starting to nose curiously at the door. They climbed and wriggled and stomped all over each other, trying to get out and see what was going on.

“Look at the ginger one!” Will gasped as a ginger kitten launched itself over the top of two tabbies, bouncing on to the floor. It sniffed nosily at Dad’s trainers and then batted one paw at the dangling laces.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

The tabby kittens stumbled out behind the ginger one and gazed thoughtfully up at Mum and Darcy.

“Do they know we want to take one of them home?” Darcy whispered to her mum.

“You’re actually the first family these kittens have met,” Jesse said, “so they probably don’t know what’s going on. We’ve had them for a few weeks, with their mum. We’re planning to rehome her with one of the kittens, and the others either on their own or together.”

“Just one for us!” Dad said anxiously. “We’re not very experienced pet owners. We only want one kitten.”

Darcy closed her mouth firmly. She’d been just about to say that maybe they should have two kittens, but she didn’t want to put Dad off.

“Aren’t there four of them?” she asked Jesse, looking around the room. There were definitely only three kittens out. The two tabbies were still by the crate, watching cautiously, and the ginger one was now trying to climb up Dad’s jeans.

Jesse nodded.“Look…” he murmured, and Darcy crouched down to look inside the wire crate. It was padded with a rumpled fleece blanket and peering out from under the folds was a small, worried-looking tabby and white face.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_6]

[Êàðòèíêà: img_7]

The kitten had the pinkest nose that Darcy had ever seen on a cat. It was such a bright pink that it almost looked like it would glow in the dark. The kitten stared back at Darcy with round, yellow-green eyes and then it stepped out from under the folds of the blanket. Now Darcy could see that it looked different to the other two tabbies. They were tabby all over, with grey-brown paws. This kitten was tabby with a neat white shirt front and sparklingly white paws. It had a very cute white chin too, as if it was white with a tabby mask over its eyes and ears.

“Oh, that’s a very sweet kitten,” Mum said and Jesse laughed.

“I know – I love his markings.”

The tabby and white kitten edged slowly out of the crate and then sat down in front of it. He still looked nervous– perhaps he was scared of the room full of people, Darcy thought. Will was so desperate to make Jesse think he was sensible that he hadn’t said a word, but even though they were being quiet, they were still very big compared to a kitten.

The kitten lifted one of his front paws, licked at it and passed it vaguely in the direction of his ears. Darcy had a feeling he wasn’t really trying to wash, it was just giving him something to do, so he could pretend he hadn’t noticed all these people staring at him.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_8]

Now that he was washing, Darcy noticed the underside of his paws– the pads were the same neon-pink as his nose. They stood out brightly against the white fur, like little pink beans.

“He’s gorgeous,” she said, looking hopefully at Mum to see if she felt the same way. Maybe she’d fallen in love with one of the others?

But Mum was looking at the kitten washing too, with the same sort of face that Darcy imagined she was making.“Isn’t he?” she agreed.

“He’s washing hisears,” Will said in a tiny whisper. “He’s so clever!”

Dad sighed.“I take it we’re having this one then?”

“Don’t you like him?” Darcy asked indignantly.

“Um… He’s definitely cute,” Dad admitted. “I’m just not a big cat person.”

“Sorry,” Darcy said to Jesse, hoping this didn’t put him off them.

“It’s OK.” Jesse grinned. “I’m pretty sure this one will win your dad over.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

They walked back to the car with the kitten in a cat carrier– it had been in the boot of the car the whole time, but Darcy and Will hadn’t known. Mum told them she had been to the pet shop and bought it the same day the shelter had done the home check. She’d bought a cat basket, some food bowls and kitten food too. They were all hidden in the shed in the garden.

“I haven’t got any toys or a collar yet, though. I thought you two would like to help choose those,” she said.

“What will the kitten play with when we get home?” Will asked, frowning.

“Kittens play with everything.” Mum laughed. “You saw that ginger one trying to eat Dad’s shoelaces. They like bits of string, balls of paper. Sunbeams even. Don’t worry, I expect our kitten will be too busy exploring to miss having any toys.”

Our kitten. Darcy smiled– it sounded so good. She watched as Mum settled the cat carrier on the back seat between her and Will. Darcy could just see the kitten through the spaces in the sides. He was huddled up in a little ball at the end and he didn’t look very happy.

“It’s OK,” Darcy whispered as Mum started the car. “I expect you don’t like being shut up in there. But we’ll be home soon and then you can get out.”

From inside the carrier, the kitten heard her whispering, but he didn’t know what she meant. He didn’t like this. The carrier had been swinging about and now it was moving strangely, so that his insides felt like they were being left behind. The car lurched to a stop and the carrier juddered. The kitten slid forwards with a little mew of fright.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_10]

The carrier had a soft blanket on the bottom, folded up like a cushion. He remembered a blanket like that from the crate back at the shelter. It was soft and warm, and inside it would be dark. He’d feel safe in there, he decided. He patted at the edge of the blanket with his claws, ruffling it up into a fold so he could sneak underneath. It made a cosy little cave and he crept inside.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

“I don’t think he liked being in the car,” Darcy said, looking worriedly at the small hump of blanket that was the kitten. “He mewed when we had to stop at the lights and then he hid in the blanket.” They had put the carrier down in the corner of the kitchen but the kitten didn’t seem to want to come out.

“Poor little thing,” Mum said, crouching down to look at the rumpled blanket. “I did try to drive as slowly as I could. But I suppose he’s never been in a car before. He’ll be OK soon. Right now, though, I think we need to be patient and just leave him alone.”

Darcy nodded. She knew Mum was right, even though she was desperate to play with the kitten. Jesse had told them that the kittens had been born at the shelter after their mum had been found abandoned. They’d never been anywhere else. Their kitten must feel like everything was different and scary. No wonder he wanted to stay wrapped up in a blanket.

“Maybe he’ll come out if we put down food for him?” Will suggested hopefully.

“He’s in a blanket!” Darcy pointed out. “He won’t see the food.”

“But he might be able to smell it,” Mum said thoughtfully. “It’s worth a try. We want him to like being here, so feeding him would be a good start.”

She fetched the bag of kitten food and shook some of the little biscuits into the kitten’s new bowl. It rattled as the biscuits fell in and Darcy saw the blanket twitch.

The kitten was thinking. He knew that noise and he was hungry. But outside the warm, safe cocoon of blanket there were different smells and the oddness of being away from his mother and the other kittens. Did he want to come out?

He wasvery hungry, though. He could smell the food now– the scent was creeping across the kitchen and it was making him feel even hungrier. His nose poked out from under the fold of blanket and he eyed the open door of the carrier. He could see the bowl right there, with the girl and boy sitting on the floor behind it.

When they saw him watching, the girl patted the boy’s arm and they edged backwards, leaving a bit more space between them and the bowl. That was better. It wasn’t quite as scary if they weren’t so close.

The kitten stumbled out over the folds of blanket and stood hesitantly in the doorway of the carrier. Then he crept over to the bowl and started to eat, keeping one eye on the children. It seemed ages since he’d last been fed and there was a good bowlful here. He had to go more slowly towards the end and he even left a few biscuits. He then sat down heavily and ran his paw over his whiskers.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_11]

He could see the children looking at him. They seemed a lot less frightening now that they’d been sitting still for so long and he was feeling much better after the food, although he was a bit sleepy. Thoughtfully, he padded towards them and sniffed at the girl’s hands. She was less scary than the boy since she kept so very still. The smaller boy wriggled. The girl didn’t move, even when the kitten licked at her fingers – she shivered a little, that was all.

The kitten sat down. He was very full and he was getting sleepy, and the girl’s foot was in just the right place for his chin to lean on. He slumped against her and then, seconds later, he let out a tiny kitten snore.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_12]

“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.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_13]

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.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_14]

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.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

“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.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_15]

“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.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

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.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_16]

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.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_17]

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?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_18]

Charlie could see the children were going to disappear the next day too– they had bags and coats and everything was a rush. When he tried to get on the table to drink the milk out of Will’s cereal bowl, Mum scooped him back down with a firm, “No!” and then she added, “Oh no, he’s lost his collar again! I’ll have to get him another one.”

Darcy made a fuss of him when she gave him his breakfast but she was dashing about and didn’t want to play. Charlie went to sit a little way up the stairs and watched as the children pulled on their shoes. Why were they going off again?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_19]

When Will ran back into the kitchen to fetch his forgotten lunch box, Charlie padded softly down the stairs and sniffed at his backpack, trying to work out what was happening. The zip was open and the bag smelled strange– musty, like leftover packed lunches. It was interesting… Charlie put one paw in, and then the other, and sniffed at the grubby crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Then he sneezed.

“Look at Charlie! He’s in my bag!”

Charlie looked up to see Will crouching over him, laughing.

“I think he wants to come to school!”

“Poor Charlie – he’s missing you,” Mum said. “You’d better get him out, Will. We need to go.”

Charlie wriggled as Will gently reached under his front legs and lifted him out of the bag. Taking him out only made him think that the bag was exciting…

He watched gloomily as the front door slammed behind them, and then stalked back into the kitchen to his basket.

Perhaps they’d play with him when they got home?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Darcy and Will did their best to fit in looking after Charlie with all their school stuff. But Darcy was really excited about being in the football team. She’d always loved kicking a ball about but now she was seriously trying to practise her football skills. And it wasn’t just practising – she got Dad to take her to the library to find football books too. If she wasn’t outside playing football, she was curled up on the sofa reading about it.

A couple of weeks after term had started, Charlie padded into the living room to see if Darcy would play with him. She and Will had just got back from school and he was so pleased to see them. He snuggled up between Darcy and the cushions for a while, but he’d been dozing for most of the day and he wanted to dash about and chase things, not help her read. He tried patting at the pages and even sitting on the book, but she just kept moving him. In the end he jumped down from the sofa and went to see what Will was doing.

Charlie could hear him growling as he came into the kitchen. Will was glaring at a worksheet on the table– then he started to rub out what he’d just written and ended up throwing the rubber halfway across the table so it bounced on to the floor.

A game! At last!

Charlie sprang at it, batting the rubber with his paw and enjoying the way his claws caught in it.

“Hey! I need that!” Will reached down and grabbed it back. “Sorry, Charlie. I hate homework, it’s the worst thing about Year Two.” He looked at Charlie again. “You’ve lostanother collar! I’d better tell Mum.”

Charlie sat under Will’s chair, hoping that he might throw the rubber again, but he didn’t. In the end the little kitten gave up on him and popped through the cat flap out into the garden. Perhaps today would be the day he caught a bumblebee?

He padded across the grass, twitching happily as he felt the hot sun on his fur. He sat down in the middle of the lawn and washed his ears for a bit– and then all of a sudden,there was a bee!

[Êàðòèíêà: img_20]

It zoomed wildly across the grass in front of him, swooping down to a patch of clover. Charlie went into a hunting crouch and tried to stalk it, but the bee lumbered away before he even got close. He hurried after it, chasing it over to the lavender bush by the wall until it disappeared over into next-door’s garden, buzzing happily.

Charlie stared after it, his tail twitching. He could still hear the buzzing. He’d been so close! Suddenly determined, he jumped up on to the garden bench and then made a wobbly leap on to the wooden back. He teetered there for a moment and then sprang for the wall, scrabbling hard and digging his claws into the branches of ivy. Then he was on the top of the wall, with the bee buzzing lazily across the flower beds below him.

Charlie made a rushing, scrambling climb down the other side of the wall and looked around for the bee. The fur on his back was rumpled up with the wild scramble down the wall and a little bit with fright. He hadn’t expected it to be quite so high. But now, surely, he’d catch that bee?

Except it had disappeared. It had completely, utterly gone. Charlie looked around in disbelief. It wasn’t fair!

A soft murmuring noise made his ears twitch– but it wasn’t a bee. It was someone talking. Whoever it was had a pleasant, gentle sort of voice, a bit like Darcy when she was stroking him.

Curiously, Charlie padded down to the fence at the end of next-door’s garden and saw that there were gaps along the bottom of it – quite big gaps. He could get through there easily, no scrambling needed. He wriggled through and hesitated in the bushes, watching an old lady watering her flowerpots. She was murmuring to herself about the weather, which was warm and dry now after the wet summer.

The water drops glinted and sparkled in the sunshine and he padded a little closer. The old lady didn’t see him, she just kept watering, and Charlie couldn’t resist the pattering of the drops any longer. He pounced, springing at the glittering water, trying to catch the drops with his white paws.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_21]

“Oh! Where did you come from?” the old lady gasped. “Oh dear, are you all wet now?”

Charlie had water droplets covering his whiskers, up his nose and in his ears. He shook his head briskly and then looked hopefully up at her. Was she going to do it again? He reached up one paw and tapped at the watering can.

“You liked it?” Laughing, the old lady tipped up the watering can and let another shower of droplets fall down on the plants – and the kitten. Charlie batted his paws eagerly, but still he couldn’t catch the water.

“I wonder where you came from?” the old lady asked thoughtfully. “I haven’t seen you before, I’d remember that lovely tabby pattern.” She reached down and gently stroked the top of the kitten’s head. “You don’t look like you’re lost. You’re definitely someone’s pet, you’reso friendly. But you don’t have a collar on…”

Charlie tapped the watering can again and she sprinkled a little more water on her patio, laughing as he danced about and tried to catch the water. At last she set it down by an outside tap and walked slowly back inside. Charlie padded after her. He liked this lady. She was fussing over him just the way he wanted and the water was a lot of fun.

“Oh no, I don’t think you should come inside, little one,” she said gently. “You’re someone else’s kitten and they wouldn’t want you coming in, would they? You go on back home now.”

She closed the glass door and stood just inside it, watching him. Charlie stared back and then stood up, putting his front paws on the glass and peering through. He mewed sadly and saw the old lady put her hand on the sofa and try to crouch down to look at him. Then she shook her head firmly, stood up and walked away.

Charlie sat down on the patio and wailed. He wanted her to come out and play again.No one would play with him. He was so lonely…

Five minutes later Charlie was inside the old lady’s living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa and nibbling a little cube of cheese.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_22]

“Yes!” Darcy ran back to high-five Bella, who’d set up her goal. “Three-one!” She waved jubilantly at Mum and Emma, who were standing at the edge of the pitch. Emma was jumping up and down. Mrs Jennings was trying to make sure everyone got a go at playing, especially as this was their first real match, but Darcy felt a bit bad that Emma hadn’t got to play for longer. She didn’t seem to be upset about it, though.

Darcy had been really worried when Mrs Jennings told them about the match– after all, they’d only been a team for three weeks and they definitely needed more practice. But Mrs Jennings promised it would be really good experience, even if they lost. And now they were winning! All that skills training Darcy had been doing in the park after school had made a difference. When the final whistle went, the score was four-two and the Willow Primary team just couldn’t stop talking about the match.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_23]

“Shall we go to the supermarket and get a celebration cake?” Mum suggested as Darcy got into the car. “I noticed the other day that they had some with footballs on.”

“Yes, please!” Darcy leaned back in the front seat, exhausted but beaming. She loved the idea of a special celebration tea. “I can’t wait for Sunday,” she added happily. Mrs Jennings had arranged another match – a friendly with a local school – for that Sunday afternoon.

“Can we get Charlie some cat treats too?” she asked as they took the cake to the tills. “I think we’re out of them.”

“Sure – I think they’re in that aisle.” Mum pointed, and Darcy hurried off.

“They were on three for two, so I got all the flavours,” she explained as she came back and put them in the basket.

When they got home, Darcy went to have a shower and then came down for a piece of cake. She opened the bag of cheese-flavoured cat treats and shook them. That always made Charlie come running– he knew exactly what the noise meant!

Nothing happened and Darcy shook the bag again, this time next to the open kitchen window. She expected to see a little tabby and white blur come dashing down the garden to bang the cat flap open, but still nothing. She stood in the middle of the kitchen with the bag, looking rather lost.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_24]

“Mum, where’s Charlie?”

Her mum looked up from cutting the football cake and glanced round the kitchen.“I expect he’s in the garden. I should put his food down actually. I forgot we haven’t fed him yet.”

“So … he hasn’t had any tea?” Darcy said, frowning. No tea and he wasn’t coming for his favourite cat treats? That was definitely strange, and worrying…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Darcy looked all round the house for Charlie– she wondered if Mum had accidentally shut him in one of the bedrooms. But she couldn’t see him anywhere. She stood in the garden and called for him, but no kitten appeared.

Mum went to look up and down the street at the front of the house. Charlie had wandered down the side path of the house before, and Darcy had found him sunbathing on the front wall. Will searched upstairs again, even going through all his toy baskets.

“I wonder where he can have got to,” Mum said as she came back in. “He’s usually good at turning up for meals, although…”

“What?” Darcy asked anxiously. “Although what, Mum?”

“Have you noticed that Charlie hasn’t been around as much over the last week? And he hasn’t been climbing on me while I’m working.”

Darcy shook her head.“No. He’s always here when we get home from school.” Then she was silent for a minute.Was he? Would she definitely have noticed? She’d been so busy with after-school football training and all the extra practice she was doing. “Mum, do you think something’s happened to him?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” her mum said encouragingly, but there was still no Charlie.

Darcy was just starting to get really panicky when the kitten appeared, popping in through the cat flap and strolling calmly across the kitchen. He looked quite surprised when Darcy swooped down and picked him up for a hug.

“We didn’t know where you were!” she murmured, rubbing his ears.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_25]

Charlie blinked at her and nudged her chin with his chilly little nose.“Are you hungry?” Darcy asked him. She kept him cuddled in one arm and used the other hand to reach the bag of kitten food out of the cupboard.

Mum took over and poured biscuits into Charlie’s bowl. Darcy had expected him to leap down at once and start eating but he didn’t seem very interested. He just sniffed at the bag as she got it out, that was all. When she put him down next to the bowl he only nibbled a couple of mouthfuls and then he sat next to the food and started to wash. He didn’t seem to be hungry at all.

“Perhaps he doesn’t like it,” Will suggested, looking down at the cat biscuits. “I wouldn’t. It smells horrible.”

“He’s liked it until now,” Darcy said. “Why would he suddenly change his mind?”

“Actually, I’ve noticed he hasn’t been eating the whole bowl, recently,” Mum said. “Perhaps we should cut down on how much we’re giving him. If he’s not growing quite as fast now he’s a bit older, maybe he’s not as hungry.”

“Maybe…” Darcy sighed. She couldn’t help feeling there was more to it. But at least it was Friday and she could keep a really careful eye on Charlie over the weekend. They didn’t have much planned until her football match on Sunday afternoon so she could spend loads of time with him.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

“Darcy, whatare you doing?” Mum called out of the kitchen window.

“I’m trying to teach Charlie how to be a stunt cat,” Darcy yelled back. “He high-fived me! Did you see?”

“I can see him eating a lot of cat treats,” Mum said, a minute or so later.

“That’s how the training works. You reward them every time they get it right. Or almost right. He’s very clever,” Darcy said lovingly, holding out her hand for Charlie to tap. He sniffed at her hopefully, looking for another treat.

“OK… Just don’t feed him the whole bag!”

The website she’d been reading had said only to do five-minute training sessions, Darcy remembered. She didn’t want Charlie to get fed up. “You’re a very good boy,” she told him, putting the treats in her pocket. “What shall we do now, hmm?”

She’d been trying to keep an eye on him all day but she was beginning to think that they’d been worrying about nothing. Charlie had eaten almost all his breakfast and then she’d played with him, rolling a jingly ball up and down the hallway. He’d snoozed on the arm of the sofa for a bit. Then he’d stalked a feather round her bedroom floor while she’d done her homework. Will had taken him downstairs and played with the cat dancer and then Charlie had sat under the kitchen table looking hopeful for the whole of lunch. Hemight have got the end of a cheese sandwich.

Everything was fine.

Darcy turned as she heard footsteps behind her, and saw Will coming out on to the patio.

“Play football with me?” Will asked coaxingly. “Please, Darcy? I’m bored.”

“Not right now. I’m trying to play with Charlie.”

“You aren’t. You’re just sitting there.”

“Is that my football you’ve got?” Darcy asked suspiciously. “That’s my new one!”

“It was behind that flowerpot.” Will shrugged. “You should put it away if it’s so special.”

“You’re not playing with it,” Darcy said firmly. “I’m serious.”

“Don’t be so mean!”

“Will, that’s my new ball, go and get your own!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_26]

Will didn’t answer. He smirked at Darcy and started to kick the ball against the garden wall.

“Mum!” Darcy yelled. “Make him stop playing with it!”

Will looked round to see if Mum was in the kitchen, listening, and lost control of the ball. It went flying over the back fence.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done,” Darcy said furiously. “We’ll never get it back.”

“Sorry…” Will said shamefacedly. “I’ll go round and ask for it.”

“It’s no good,” Darcy snapped. “It didn’t go next-door into Hannah’s, it went behind – that’s the garden for the flats. And we don’t even know which flat it belongs to.” Then she stopped scowling at Will and turned slowly. “Where’s Charlie?”

Will looked round the garden.“I don’t know.”

“But I was trying to watch him. I don’t believe it – this is all your fault, Will!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Charlie wriggled underneath the fence into the old lady’s garden. He adored Darcy, especially when she was playing with him or he was snuggled up next to her in a fold of duvet at night-time – but loud voices and shouting made him nervous and twitchy. He didn’t like it when Darcy and Will argued. Every time they had a spat, the fur would start toprickle up along his spine and his tail lashed. The old lady’s basement flat was always peaceful – there was no shouting. And she had cat treats now too.

He padded up the garden and nosed hopefully at the glass door. It was shut but one of the windows next to it was open a crack. He could definitely fit through there. He sprang up on to the windowsill and wriggled his way in, stepping carefully around the photo frames and the vase on the inside. There didn’t seem to be anyone at home but there was a patch of warm sunlight on the rug so he sat down in it and started to lick his paws. He’d stay a while and then maybe he’d go back and see if Darcy wanted to play again. In a bit…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_27]

[Êàðòèíêà: img_28]

“He’s been gone for ages,” Darcy said miserably. “Hours, Mum. He never stays away this long. It’s teatime and usually he’s starving. He’s always sitting around looking hopeful long before we feed him.”

Mum frowned.“Not for the last week or so, Darcy. Like I told you, he just doesn’t seem as bothered about his food any more. That’s why I cut down how much I gave him for breakfast this morning.”

Darcy stared at her. She vaguely remembered Mum saying something about that the day before when Charlie hadn’t turned up in time for tea, but she’d been more worried about where Charlie actually was and she hadn’t really been listening. Clearly she should have been.

“And you said he hadn’t been around as much,” she murmured. “He wasn’t bothering you while you were working… That’s why I was trying to keep an eye on him today.”

Her mum nodded.“I’ve missed him,” she admitted with a worried smile. “I used to moan when he walked across the keyboard – he wasn’t that helpful when I was trying to get people’s accounts to balance, but actually he did make it a lot more fun…”

“And then he stopped doing it?”

“Yes… I assumed it was because he was getting a bit older and less playful. I just thought he was sleeping more.” Mum nibbled her bottom lip and glanced at the cat flap as though she hoped Charlie might just pop through it.

He didn’t.

“That makes sense, though,” Dad said helpfully. “Cats sleep more when they’re older, don’t they?”

Darcy sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, her heart thumping fast. Charlie kept disappearing and he wasn’t as bothered about his food. It was almost as if… She looked down at her fingers, twisting them over and over. It was almost as if he didn’t think their house was home any more. He was going somewhere else. “Do you think he’s got another home?” she blurted out.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_29]

“What?” Will shook his head. “He couldn’t.” He sounded almost angry. “Don’t say that, Darcy.”

“Someone else who’s feeding him and playing with him…” Darcy went on unhappily. She felt really guilty. She’d been so excited about getting their own kitten, and she and Will had made such a fuss over him those first weeks. They’d loved Charlie and played with him all the time. They’dcarried him about, they’d built him adventure playgrounds out of pillows and comfy beds whenever he’d looked the tiniest bit sleepy. They’d followed him anxiously once he was allowed out and started to explore the garden.

Then school had started again and Darcy had been chosen for the football team– and suddenly there were more exciting things than kittens to think about.

But she’dhad to practise, a little voice protested inside her. It was important! Well, yes, it was– but she didn’t need to have donethat much practice, Darcy admitted to herself. And all those football books she’d borrowed from the library, because she had to be the best in the team…

Darcy winced as she remembered putting Charlie down on the floor because he would keep sitting on the exact diagram that she was trying to look at. He’d only wanted to play with her, she thought now. He hadn’t understood – there had been so many weeks in the holidays when she’d wanted to do nothingbut play. And he’d thought they would carry on as before and she’d been annoyed with him. She’d told him to stop it. Darcy felt tears pressing up behind her eyes and she sniffed.

What about Will, though? There had been Will for Charlie to play with, the little voice inside her tried to point out. Except Darcy knew quite well that Will wanted to do everything she did, because she was his big sister and he wanted to be just as grown up as she was. And because Darcy was spending all her time on football, Will was too. That’s why he’d taken her ball and tried to play with it. Then while she was shouting at him about it, their kitten had given up on them and gone to find somewhere nicer to live. Somewhere people actually wanted him around.

The tears spilled over and Darcy gasped out,“I don’t think he wants us any more!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Mum and Dad had tried to convince Darcy that she was wrong and that Charlie loved their house, but it was harder and harder to do that when he still hadn’t come home. And he didn’t … all night.

“He hasn’t even got his collar on,” Darcy sobbed at bedtime. “We never remembered to go to the pet shop and get him a new one. It’s been days since he’s had a collar. If he has found another home, the people probably think that he’s a stray because they’ve never seen him with one.”

“I wish he was better at keeping them on,” Mum said, sighing.

Darcy gave a damp sort of laugh.“It isn’t that he’s bad at keeping them on, Mum. He takes them off on purpose. He’s too clever. He rubs them against the chair legs until they come off.” Her voice shook with tears again and Mum hugged her tight. How could their clever, gorgeous, perfect kitten not want to be theirs any more?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_30]

Later that night she heard Mum and Dad talking when she went downstairs to get a drink of water. They were in the living room and they didn’t know she was there. Darcy sank down on the stairs and listened, peering through the banisters.

“Do you think Darcy’s right?” Dad was asking. “Someone else has adopted him?”

She heard Mum sigh.“It’s possible, isn’t it? We have neglected him a bit – I just hadn’t realized… But to be honest, Dave, I’d rather he’s being fussed over by someone than… Well, people go so quickly along this road and he’s only little. Cats are terrible with roads, they can’t tell how fast the cars are.”

“Someone would have come and told us if he’d been hit, surely. Oh – except he hasn’t got his collar on.”

“Exactly,” Mum said grimly. “But hopefully anyone who picked him up would have taken him to the vet and they’d scan his microchip. They’d ring us.”

“Mmmm. I suppose he could be shut in somewhere… A shed, maybe, or a garage.”

Darcy didn’t want to listen any more. She crept slowly back upstairs to bed, but after that it took ages for her to get to sleep. She lay there, imagining Charlie trapped in a dark shed, mewing and mewing for her to come and let him out. Or frozen in the headlights of a car… That was too horrible. She buried her head in her pillow, trying not to think about it.

She still woke up early the next morning, though. They all did. Last night they’d walked up and down the road, peering over fences and walls and calling for Charlie. They’d asked all the neighbours they’d seen, but no one had spotted a kitten. They just had to keep trying, Dad said firmly. He had to be somewhere.

“We ought to find a photo of Charlie and make a poster,” Mum suggested.

“Oh! Can we do it now?” Darcy asked, jumping up. She’d been trying to eat a piece of toast because Mum had said she must eat something, but it just wasn’t going down.

“You hardly ate anything last night…” Mum started to say, but then she shook her head and sighed. “Actually, I’m not very hungry either. All right. Let’s look through my phone for a good photo.”

Darcy and Will peered over Mum’s shoulder, looking at photos of Charlie. There were so many – Charlie splayed out on the sofa, legs everywhere; Charlie sitting in a cereal bowl Mum had left on the table; Charlie asleep with his nose in his food dish. Darcy felt her eyes prickling with tears again – she had to stop! It wasno use crying, it wasn’t going to help them find their kitten. She sniffed hard and pointed to a photo of Charlie staring out hopefully. He must have been waiting for his tea or maybe a treat. It showed off his lovely big yellow-green eyes and his tabby and white colouring.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_31]

“Yes, that’s a good one,” Mum agreed. “I’ll download it on to my computer and we’ll make it into a poster.” She went to turn on the computer and Darcy followed her.

“What are we going to say?” she asked Mum. “I mean, if we think someone might have adopted Charlie, what we really want to say is ‘Give us our cat back!’. But I suppose we can’t…”

“We don’t know for sure that is what’s happened,” Mum pointed out. “Though it does seem likely. What about this?” She typed quickly and then leaned back so Darcy could see.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_32]

“It’s perfect,” Darcy agreed.

Mum added her mobile number and printed out twenty copies.“We’ll start with these. If we don’t hear anything, perhaps we should do some little ones to put through all the neighbours’ doors.”

Darcy nodded, swallowing hard. It had just hit her that they were really going to put up these posters– people were going to look at them and think,Oh, I must keep an eye out for that poor little cat. Of course that was a good thing, but it was horrible they had to do it. She had walked past so many posters just like this one and felt sorry about the poor lost cat and the sad owners, and nowthey were the sad owners.

“We’re going to keep looking as well, though, aren’t we?” she said to Mum. “We only did our road yesterday. We ought to go round to Thirsk Way too, and the one where our gardens back on to theirs – Barrett Close, isn’t it?”

“We will, don’t worry,” Mum said. “We can look all morning, but then we’ve got to take you to your football match.”

Darcy stared at her. She had completely forgotten about the football match! She shook her head.“I can’t! Not when Charlie’s missing, Mum. I just can’t. Please will you tell Mrs Jennings I can’t go?”

Mum looked at her worriedly.“I’m not sure we should do that, sweetheart. You’re part of a team. You’ll be letting everyone else down.”

“I won’t – it will just mean Emma gets more of a chance to play. Honestly, she’ll be really pleased. Don’t you see? I stopped looking after Charlie properly because I was so caught up with the football team. I was practising all the time and not bothering to play with him. But now I don’t care if I never get to be in the team again, if only we can find Charlie and he’s safe.”

Mum sighed.“OK. Maybe I won’t tell Mrs Jennings exactly that, but hopefully she’ll understand.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_33]

Charlie had meant to go home– after a little while. After he’d given Darcy and Will time to calm down and stop shouting. When they were arguing it made the fur on the back of his neck rise up and it hurt his ears. He’d never bitten Darcy or Will, he’d never wanted to, except sometimes when they were yelling at each other and the anger seemed to be in the air all around them. Then it made him want to nip their ankles. It was better just not to be there.

When the old lady came home with a couple of shopping bags, she’d laughed to see him curled up and snoozing on her rug. She crouched down with an effort, rubbed his ears and spoke softly to him, telling him how beautiful he was and what nice company.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_34]

“There I was feeling quite lonely and now you’ve come to see me,” she murmured.

Charlie sat up and purred, pushing his head affectionately into her stroking hand and twining himself around her.

“It’s a good thing I picked up a few more of those food sachets, isn’t it? Are you hungry, little one?” She stood up and Charlie followed her eagerly into the kitchen. Hewas hungry. And after he’d eaten he was sleepy and it was so nice to curl up on the old lady’s lap on the sofa. He would go back later on, under the fence and over the wall, back to Darcy and Will… But the flat was cosy and quiet and somehow, he just didn’t.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Darcy listened to Mum’s end of the phone conversation with Mrs Jennings – she sounded very apologetic. She kept saying how much Darcy loved football, it was just that this was important and everyone was very upset.

At that point, Darcy put one of the sofa cushions over her head. It was too weird listening to Mum describe how miserable she was. It made her feel even sadder. The more people who knew that Charlie was missing, the worse it felt. And now loads of people were going to know, Darcy thought, sighing into the dusty fabric of the cushion.

Dad thought putting small versions of the poster through people’s doors was a very good idea. The neighbours would have a copy of the flyer with their number on if they spotted Charlie, he pointed out, and Darcy knew they wanted as many people as possible to look for Charlie. But when everyone in the street was getting a little photo of Charlie through theirdoor, it made him seem a lot more missing.

She and Dad took turns to do the houses on their side of the road, while Mum and Will did the other side. Will was enjoying it, Darcy noticed sadly. He thought it was exciting, getting to post the little notes through the letter boxes. If it had been anything else they were posting, Darcy would have liked it too. But she seemed to keep catching the photo of Charlie at just the wrong angle– he looked so sad as she squashed him through the flaps, his nose wrinkling up, his whiskers drooping. He looked like a Lost Cat.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_35]

They worked their way down the street to the side road, Thirsk Way, which led on to Barrett Close– a mirror image of their road, with its gardens joining on to theirs.

“We definitely need to deliver notes along here,” Darcy said to Dad. “Charlie was out in the garden – he could easily have gone over the back fence into one of the gardens here.”

“Do you think so?” Dad said doubtfully. “Our back fence is pretty high. I’m not sure he could get over it, to be honest. I’d have thought he nipped up the side passage and out through the front garden.”

Darcy shook her head. She’d seen Charlie scrambling up the side wall before and shooting up a tree as if it was a little cat ladder. He was an amazingly good climber.

“But maybe you’re right,” Dad said. “And it’s not that far away – he could even have walked down the road and round the corner like we did. Have we got enough flyers left or do we need to go back and print some more?”

“Just about enough,” Darcy said, showing him her handful. “Except there’s the little block of flats that almost backs on to us. I don’t know how many people live there.”

“Well, let’s see how far we get,” Dad said, heading up the path of the nearest house.

They still had a few flyers left when they got to the flats at the end of the road, and Darcy looked at the main door uncertainly. It didn’t have a letter box – should they go in and put the flyers in the pigeonholes just inside?

“Do you think we should put them under the doors of the flats?” she asked Dad. “There’s no post on Sundays, is there? No one’s going to come down and check those.” She pointed at the pigeonholes. “We want them to look in the garden for Charlie today… I wonder which flat has the garden? Or maybe they share it?”

“Probably that one.” Dad held the main door open and walked over to the door behind the staircase. “Put a note under here, Darcy.”

But as Darcy crouched down to post the flyer under the door, the lock clicked and the door started to open.

A friendly voice said,“Hello! I heard you talking – are you delivering something?” But Darcy wasn’t listening because right there, almost nose to nose, was a small tabby and white cat, staring curiously at her with round yellow-green eyes.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_36]

Darcy was so surprised that she half fell over backwards.“Charlie!” she cried loudly, and the tabby and white cat turned tail and raced back into the flat.

“Was that Charlie?” Dad exclaimed. “Are you OK, love? Did you hurt yourself? I didn’t see – was that him?”

Darcy only nodded. She couldn’t speak. She was quite sure it had been Charlie, but he had taken one look at her and run away!

“Charlie?” The old lady looked anxiously between Darcy and her dad. “I’m sorry, I don’t quite… Oh!” She stared in surprise as Darcy scrambled up and raced away, pushing past Dad and out of the main door, running for home.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Charlie was in the kitchen of the flat, hunched up in a little ball under the table. His ears were flattened back and his tail was double its usual size. He was confused. He hadn’t expected to see Darcy here – she belonged in his other house. He had been missing her. He’d wanted to go back, but the windows had been closed overnight and there wasn’t a cat flap here, like there was at home.

He hadn’t minded all that much, since the old lady had made such a fuss of him and kept giving him little treats. She’d even bought a ball that rattled when he batted it and a litter tray to go in the corner of her kitchen. But he’d kept thinking of Darcy and Will, and how good it would be to snuggle up on the end of Darcy’s bed. He’d sat on the windowsill looking out at the dark garden and mewed a little, but the old lady had stroked him and tickled under his chin and he’d forgotten…

Then to see Darcy when the door opened, that hadn’t been right. He didn’t understand – and she had shouted! He didn’t even understand why he’d run… But Darcy was gone again and now he wished he hadn’t dashed away from her…

The old lady hurried into the kitchen, calling,“Puss! Come on, little one. Oh dear…”

Charlie eyed her, confused. She didn’t sound right either – she wasn’t shouting, but her soft voice was high and anxious now.

The old lady sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and sighed. Then she leaned over and peered at him under the table, looking between him and the piece of paper in her hand.“This is you, isn’t it, puss? The little girl dropped it when she fell over. Oh, this is awful. I was so sure you were a stray when you kept coming back, and you seemed so hungry… I suppose I just wanted you not to have a home so you could stay with me.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_37]

Charlie crept closer, nudging the piece of paper with his nose.

“Yes, that’s definitely a picture of you. Well, we’d better take you back. That poor girl, she was ever so upset. They’re from the house over the fence, I’ve heard them in the garden, the girl and her little brother.”

Charlie put his front paws up against the old lady’s knee and tried to nibble the paper, but she scooped him up, cuddling him against her shoulder and rubbing the soft velvet of his nose. “I really must take you back. Oh dear…”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_38]

Darcy raced down the road towards home. She wasn’t thinking very clearly – she was too upset to think. She just wanted to get away. That old lady had stolen Charlie! She had shut him up in her flat and made him her cat instead. “She stole him! She stole him!” Darcy whispered shakily to herself as she ran.

But the problem was, even though she was upset, Darcy knew that wasn’t really what had happened. It was only what she wanted to believe. If that old ladyhad shut Charlie up and kept him there when he hadn’t wanted it, he would have raced away as soon as she opened the door. He hadn’t been trying to escape when Darcy saw him – he’d just wanted to see who was at the door. It had been Darcy who’d upset him. He’d actually run away fromher.

The old lady had adopted him. She’d probably thought he didn’t have a home because he’d kept turning up in her garden and he had no collar on. They had neglected him, all of them, but especially Darcy, and Charlie had gone looking for someone to love him.

Darcy sniffed hard. He’d found someone and he’d chosen them instead.

She shoved the front gate open and stumbled up the path. Then she realized that of course the front door was locked and Dad had the keys.

Darcy sank down on the doorstep, the last copy of their flyer in her hands. She stared at it and a fat tear splashed on to the photo of Charlie, blotching his beautiful pink nose. How could they have been so stupid and forgotten how special he was?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_39]

“Darcy!” Dad came hurrying down the path with Mum and Will close behind him.

“What happened?” Mum demanded. “We saw you running along the road! What’s wrong? Did you find him? Oh, he’s not…” She stopped herself, but Darcy knew what she had been going to say – she was worried that Charlie might have been hit by a car.

Darcy sniffed. If that had happened, it would be so much worse. She felt a tiny bit more cheerful– at least Charlie was safe.

Dad reached over her to unlock the front door.“Come on, we’ll explain.” He pulled Darcy up gently and led her inside.

“Did you find him?” Will asked. “What happened? Why’s Darcy crying? Where’s Charlie?”

“At the flats,” Darcy sniffed. “With an old lady. He doesn’t want to be our cat any more.” She pressed her hands against her eyes. “But at least he hasn’t been run over, like Mum thought.”

“What?” Mum put an arm round her. “Oh Darcy, were you listening to me and Dad last night?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Darcy muttered shakily. Then she jumped as the doorbell rang shrilly, just behind them.

Will opened the door and stood staring at the old lady on the doorstep– Charlie was clutched tightly in her arms.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_40]

She held him out, looking anxious, and Charlie wriggled.

“I’m so sorry. I’m Rose Macaulay, and I think this must be your cat.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

Charlie nibbled at the little pile of cat biscuits he’d left in his food bowl the day before, but the old lady had fed him that morning and he wasn’t very hungry. He padded around the kitchen, inspecting everyone’s feet approvingly. They were all home, just where they should be. He nuzzled against Will’s trainers and Will leaned down to stroke him. Charlie let Will pet him for a minute and then sprang up on to Darcy’s lap, expecting to be stroked. Darcy always fussed over him.

But she only stared at him, her hand lifted uncertainly as though she wanted to stroke him but wasn’t sure if she should. Charlie gazed back at her, remembering the way she’d yelled at Will the day before and then shouted at him when he peered round the door. Perhaps she didn’t want him after all? He laid his ears flat and crouched a little, wondering if he should jump down.

Slowly, hesitantly, Darcy reached to rub his ears, and Charlie nudged his chin against her hand. No, it was all right. She was just the same as before. He closed his eyes and lifted his chin blissfully to the ceiling as she scratched him underneath. That was the exact place– no, there… He began to purr.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_41]

“I’m so, so sorry,” Rose was explaining. “He didn’t have a collar on, you see, and he looked so hungry.” She sighed. “Of course, I’m sure he wasn’t hungry at all. I expect he’s just a very good actor. I never should have let him in that first day…”

“It’s our fault,” Mum said guiltily, turning round from filling the kettle for tea. “Everyone’s been so busy since Darcy and Will went back to school. I should have realized that Charlie was wandering off. But I was occupied with work and we just didn’t pay him enough attention.”

“Well, of course I won’t feed him any more. And if he comes into my garden again I’ll shoo him away,” Rose said, looking down at Charlie, who was curled up on Darcy’s lap now, a little tabby and white bundle. Darcy saw her face twist sadly.

“You don’t need to do that!” she said in a whisper, so as not to disturb the dozing kitten, and Rose looked at her in surprise. “I mean – Charlie likes you. He’s allowed to have friends…” Darcy shrugged, looking embarrassed. She knew what she meant, but it sounded a bit silly.

“Darcy’s right,” Dad said, smiling. “If you don’t mind him inviting himself in, that is.”

Rose smiled rather shyly.“That’s very kind of you. I still feel dreadful about accidentally stealing your cat…”

“You should be,” Will said, glaring at her accusingly. “We were very worried about him!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_42]

“Will!” Darcy gave him a shocked look. “Don’t be so rude!”

But Rose shook her head, smiling.“Will reminds me very much of my grandson, Louis. He’s seven.”

Will looked pleased.“I’m only six, but I’m really big. Does Louis go to the same school as us? There’s a Louis in Year Three, isn’t there, Darcy?”

“No.” Rose shook her head sadly. “He lives in London, I’m afraid, quite a long way away. But I get to chat to him on the phone every week.”

Darcy looked down at Charlie and stroked the fine puffs of fur just at the bottom of his ears. She couldn’t help wondering if Rose was lonely as her family didn’t live close by. It felt as if she needed Charlie almost as much as they did.

“Charlie’s very bad about keeping his collar on,” she explained to Rose. “Do you think we could give you a spare collar, in case he comes over to you and he hasn’t got one on?”

“Oh, of course!” The old lady nodded delightedly. “I’ll make sure to check.” She leaned over to look at Charlie on Darcy’s lap. “He really is a little beauty, isn’t he?” she murmured admiringly.

Darcy nodded.“The most beautiful cat ever.” She wasn’t sure if Charlie heard her but he made a littleprrp noise in his sleep and turned over on her lap, so he was lying on his back with his perfectly pink paws in the air. His tummy was all white fluff, with just a few patches of tabby spots around the edge.

“Oh, the angel,” Rose said, laughing, and Darcy smiled down at Charlie, heavy and saggy and warm in her lap. Charlie was their cat – but she didn’t mind sharing him, just a little.

44. THE MYSTERY KITTEN

It was a very strange way to start Christmas, Elsa thought. School had finished the day before and she felt like they should be making cards or doing Christmassy cooking. Instead she was dashing about trying to remember which box she’d put her purple cardigan in and where her tiny china cats were.

The whole house felt empty– just boxes and boxes waiting to go in the removal van later that morning. Her bed was still in the room she shared with her sister Sara, but she’d slept in a sleeping bag last night because all the sheets and duvets and pillows were packed.

It was exciting, but scary too. The new house was a long way away– two hours’ drive. Dad was starting a new job after Christmas and Elsa and Sara would be going to new schools.

Everything was new.

“Elsa, how are you doing? All packed?” Dad put his head round the bedroom door. He looked so happy, Elsa thought. Though maybe a bit stressed too. The last few days had been really busy.

“I think so.” Elsa turned round slowly, inspecting the odd, bare bedroom.

“Are you looking forward to having your own room at the new house?” Dad grinned. “No more moaning about Sara’s clothes being everywhere.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

Elsa nodded. She’d wanted her own room for ages. But now it was finally happening, she didn’t know how it would feel to sleep on her own every night. When Sara went to sleepovers it was always really weird without her.

“Come on downstairs, sweetheart,” Dad told her. “You need to have some breakfast. It’s going to be a long day.”

Elsa followed him, but as Dad headed down the stairs she stopped for a moment in the doorway of her room, looking back.“It will be good,” she told herself, crossing her fingers. “It will…”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

The kitten stumbled over the dusty floorboards mewing crossly. He was hungry and he didn’t know where everyone had gone. He’d fallen asleep half wrapped in an old dust sheet in the far corner of the attic. He liked it there – his four brothers and sisters squirmed and stomped and wriggled so much that sometimes it was good to sleep a little further away.

Usually his mother came and shooed him back to the nest she’d made for them in a box of old clothes, but this morning he’d woken up on his own. The attic was freezing and the kitten shivered miserably as he wandered around looking for his family. He stumbled and sniffed and mewed, but there were no kittens hiding behind the boxes, or waiting to leap from under the battered old armchair.

Everyone had gone.

The kitten stood gazing at their old nest– he could smell his mother and the other kittens. He could even see the dips and hollows where they’d snuggled down the night before. He scrambled unhappily over the torn edge of the box and squirmed into a ragged jumper, trying to warm himself up.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_5]

One of his brothers or sisters had dropped a bit of cooked chicken that their mother had carried upstairs for them, and he could smell it. He nosed it out eagerly and gobbled it down. Then he lay curled up in the jumper and waited for his mother to come back to him. He knew she would come back soon. He was sure.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Elsa sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed, looking around her new room. It was so big! When they’d come to view the house, the room had been full of furniture. It had been hard to imagine what it would be like with her things in. Dad had promised she could help him paint the walls, but there was a lot of other stuff that needed doing first.

“I think your room might be bigger than mine.” Sara put her head round Elsa’s door and squinted, obviously trying to measure it in her head.

“I’m not swapping,” Elsa said swiftly. She loved her room already and she wasn’t letting Sara have it. She had plans for it. Purple paint instead of the faded old wallpaper, and maybe some fairy lights. She could have those now if Dad gave her an advance on her pocket money.

“It’s OK.” Sara grinned. “I like mine. It’s got loads of shelves and an old fireplace. It’s cool.”

“Have you done any unpacking?” Elsa asked, looking at the pile of boxes in front of the window. She’d put some of her clothes away, but that was all.

“The lot,” Sara said smugly and Elsa sighed. She ought to get on with unpacking her things, but every time she opened a box, she started thinking about their old house and her friends…

“The garden is great,” Sara said, threading her way between the boxes and going to look out of Elsa’s window. “We could definitely have a dog now we’ve got a proper garden. I’m going to keep working on Dad.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_6]

“You can’t see the garden, it’s dark,” Elsa muttered. Sara really wanted a dog, but Elsa wasn’t sure. She had a feeling that if they got a dog her sister would always be dragging her out on long walks before school. But she did like the idea of snuggling up on the sofa with a gorgeous furry puppy.

“I can see bits of it,” Sara insisted. “And next door’s got a trampoline – did you notice? So they must have children too.”

Elsa nodded hopefully. Maybe they would go to the school she was starting at. She was in Year Five, but Sara was eleven and at secondary school, so Elsa wouldn’t have her sister with her. She couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like, walking in on her own. She shook herself and got up to open a box. It was harder to worry about things when she was busy.

“Help me put this lot away?” she asked Sara pleadingly, but her big sister rolled her eyes.

“Not a chance. Sorry.” She smirked at Elsa and whisked out of the room.

Elsa sighed and unfolded the top of a box. It was actually quite fun, working out where to put everything. She just had to think of it as a new start.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

They had pizza for dinner, but Dad had nearly finished sorting out the kitchen and he said they’d start cooking normal meals again soon.

“When we’ve found the cookie cutters you could make some of those gingerbread stars to hang up,” he suggested. “And we need to get a Christmas tree.” He smiled at Elsa. “That’ll be fun, won’t it? We could have it in front of the living-room window.”

Elsa nodded and tried to smile back. She’d been really upset when Dad had first told them they needed to move, for his work. She hadn’t wanted to leave her friends – it just didn’t seem fair. She was mostly used to the idea now, but Dad was still worrying about her.

“You’re falling asleep,” Dad said a few minutes later, taking a drooping slice of pizza out of Elsa’s hand. “You go on up. I’ll come and say goodnight in a minute.”

Elsa yawned and nodded, but once she was out in the hallway, the pleasant sleepy feeling seemed to fade away. This house was so much older than their last one. It had odd creaky boards and patches of shadowy blackness that the lights didn’t reach. As she put her foot on the first step, she heard a weird little noise, like scrabbly claws…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_7]

She scurried up the stairs in a sudden panic, feeling as though something might be behind her. Was something watching her? Then she hurled herself through her bedroom doorway and scrambled into bed, panting and hugging her knees. If she was curled up small, whatever was following her up the stairs might not see…

After a minute or two, Elsa shook herself. Of course there hadn’t been anything behind her. But there was something about this house. Something strange – as though she and Sara and Dad weren’t the only ones here.

Elsa flinched a little as she heard voices downstairs, and then there was a rush of footsteps and Sara called,“Night, Elsa!” as she came past. Elsa caught her breath, and then giggled and went out to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was tired, that was all. She’d been half asleep and not thinking straight. Everything was fine. It would all be fine.

By the time her dad came up to check on her, Elsa was fast asleep.

She woke up much later, clutching her duvet in panic. The room was so dark– much darker than the room she and Sara had shared before, where there was a street light right outside. This room was velvet-black and she couldn’t see a thing.

What had woken her? Elsa peered around, her breaths coming fast, as if she’d been running. It was like that weird moment on the stairs all over again.

“Dad’s only across the landing…” Elsa whispered to herself. She could wake him up in seconds. She just had to get out of bed…

Above her head something scratched and pattered– and then cried out.

Elsa burrowed down under her duvet, pulling it over her head to make a safe little tent. She wasn’t goinganywhere…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_8]

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Sara said, rolling her eyes.

“How do you know?” Elsa glared at her. Sara always thought she knew everything. Elsa wasn’t sure she believed in ghosts either, but there was definitelysomething going on.

“Because it’s nonsense! You were just having a nightmare, that’s all.”

“Dreams can feel very real when you’re in them,” Dad agreed. “But the house doesn’t seem spooky now, in daylight, does it?” He was looking worried. He and Elsa and Sara had talked a lot about people dying, as the girls’ mum had died when Elsa was two. Dad definitely didn’t believe in ghosts. He’d told them so.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]

“What about when I was going up the stairs?” Elsa pointed out. “I wasn’t asleep then. How could that weird noise have been a nightmare?”

Sara yawned and stretched.“It was probably the floorboards squeaking. Or the water pipes.”

“That’s quite likely.” Dad nodded. “The houseis a bit old and creaky.”

Elsa jabbed her fork at her scrambled eggs. Sara sounded right, but Elsa still wasn’t sure. There had beensomething, she knew it. Something watching… waiting. Creaky boards were all very well, but somebody had to walk on them to make them creak, didn’t they?

Sara glanced up suddenly, her face worried.“You don’t think it was a rat, do you?”

“It could have been.” Elsa wrinkled her nose. Maisie, her friend from school – her old school, she reminded herself – had two pet rats. They did scrabble and scratch around. She loved Maisie’s rats – they were cuddly and funny – but she wasn’t sure about the not-a-pet kind. Not living in her house.

“Dad! Rats!” Sara was looking horrified now. She really didn’t like rats or mice. Elsa had tried suggesting that rats would be good pets after she’d met Maisie’s, but Sara had flat-out refused to ever, ever, ever have them in their bedroom. Dad hadn’t been very keen either, but he’d said he’d think about guinea pigs, once they were settled.

“I’m sure if there were rats, the previous owner would have told us,” Dad said. “Don’t panic, you two. It was probably just a creaky board or the water pipes, like Sara said.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

The kitten woke up from his nap and poked his nose out from under the old jumper, looking hopeful. Was his mother back? Was there more food? His whiskers shivered and twitched as he waited for his brothers and sisters to leap on top of him and lick him and nibble his ears. He wouldn’t mind, not this time. His ears pricked up as he listened, ready to jump out and run to his mother…

But there was no one else in the attic.

The kitten’s ears flattened slowly and he sniffed, trying to follow the fading scent of his mother and the rest of the litter. He scrabbled frantically at the old clothes, nuzzling under the layers as if he might find them at the bottom of the box. But there were only jumpers and scarves, and the box was cold.

Whatever the noise was that had woken him, it had come from downstairs. The kitten wriggled out of the clothes again and stumbled over the side of the box on to the floor, padding over to the doorway.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_10]

Whenever he’d tried to go through the door before, his mother had always shooed him back. Sometimes she’d even picked him up in her mouth, dragging him to the safety of the box nest. But his mother had been gone for so long this time, he was starting to think she wasn’t coming back.

The kitten stood there, listening and sniffing the air. He could hear footsteps and voices coming from somewhere. Would there be food too? He was now so hungry that his stomach hurt. He was sure he could smell food. He edged forward a little and looked out on to the tiny landing at the top of the attic stairs. The smell was even stronger out here. There was definitely food down there.

Determinedly, the kitten padded across the landing to the top step and eyed the mountain of stairs below.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Elsa went back upstairs after breakfast to finish her unpacking– it was better than helping Dad get all the kitchen plates and mugs out of their bubble wrap.

She stood by the window for a few minutes, looking into the garden and wondering if she might see the children from next door. But it was a bit cold to be out on the trampoline, she supposed.

She’d started arranging the pinboard from her old room yesterday, pinning on photos of her old friends. The board was on the floor with photos scattered all over it, as well as cards and notes from Maisie and Lara and the others. She sat down in front of the board and picked up the little box of pins – Maisie had given her some cute ones as part of a goodbye present, with stars and flowers and hearts on the top.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_11]

Elsa sniffed. She missed everyone so much already. Even if the trampoline did mean there were children living next door, it wasn’t ever going to be the same as her and Maisie and Lara. They’d been friends since nursery.

Then she frowned down at the board– it looked different. The photo of her and Maisie and Lara that she’d had in the middle was pushed off to the side, and the card from her teacher was on the floor under her desk.

For a minute Elsa thought it must have been Sara, but her sister wouldn’t do that. Sara knew how upset she’d been about moving schools – Sara was sad about leaving her own friends too. She and her sister argued loads, but they were never mean to each other.

Elsa shivered. Dad and Sara had almost convinced her at breakfast. Rattly water pipes and squeaky boards, that’s all it was. No ghosts. Now she wasn’t so sure.Something had come in and messed up her board. Elsa looked over her shoulder at the door. She could hear Sara playing music in her room and Dad was downstairs– everything seemed so normal. There couldn’t be a ghost moving things around in her bedroom.

Could there?

Something scuffled under her bed and Elsa yelped, scrambling back towards the door. She was expecting some kind of monster to come leaping out at her, or a greyish misty presence, or maybe a spookily pale girl in a nightie…

Instead there was a squeak. A tiny, frightened sort of squeak.

Whatever the ghost wanted, it sounded even more frightened than she was, Elsa decided. Very, very slowly she crouched down and peered at the space under her bed. She was tense, ready to spring up and run if there was some horrible creature under there– or even a cornered, angry rat.

Staring back at her were two glowing yellow-green eyes. In the shadows under Elsa’s bed it almost looked as though they were floating. For a tiny fraction of a second, Elsa remembered a scary story that Lara had told on their class sleepover about a yellow-eyed goblin that climbed on your back in the middle of the night and stole your breath away – and then she blinked and her eyes got used to the shadows and she saw what it was.

There was a kitten under her bed. A tiny, furry, frightened black kitten.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_12]

[Êàðòèíêà: img_13]

“Where did you come from?” Elsa breathed. “Oh, don’t be scared…” she added as the kitten flinched back into the shadows. “It’s OK. I’m friendly. I wonder who you belong to.” Then she frowned. “Maybe you don’t belong to anyone. Was it you making all those strange noises?” It would make sense – the scratching and scrabbling could definitely have been kitten claws, and the squeaky little cry too. “Oh, kitten, we thought you were a rat…”

The kitten peered out at her anxiously, its eyes all black in the darkness now, with just a hair-thin rim of gold. It was very small and skinny, Elsa realized. So small that she wasn’t sure it should be out on its own.

“Where’s your mum?” she murmured. Then she nibbled her bottom lip. The kitten must have belonged to the previous owner of the house, an old lady. She’d told them she was moving because she couldn’t manage the stairs any more. She’d seemed so nice. Elsa couldn’t imagine her abandoning a kitten, but how else could the poor little thing have been in the attic?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_14]

“You must be starving,” Elsa whispered, wriggling backwards and getting up slowly so as not to scare the kitten. “Just stay there a minute, OK? I’m going to get you something to eat.” She slipped out and tiptoed downstairs, wondering if Dad was still in the kitchen. He’d said something about trying to mend the dripping tap on the sink. She wasn’t sure she could argue for a snack, not just after breakfast, and she really didn’t want to tell Dad there was a kitten in her bedroom. Not yet anyway.

Luckily, her dad was unpacking books in the living room and didn’t hear her creep past. It looked like he’d got distracted and started reading, which was good news. He wouldn’t be coming to check on her for ages.

Elsa opened the fridge as quietly as she could, holding her breath as the door creaked, but there was still no sound from the living room. She grabbed a slice of ham, although that didn’t seem enough for a hungry kitten. A cat wasn’t going to want grapes, or a yogurt… Then she remembered Gran telling them that her cat Poppet’s favourite food was cheese. Elsa broke off a chunk and grabbed one of the plates that Dad had been unpacking, then she padded silently back past theliving room. The stairs gave a huge groaning creak when she was halfway up and Elsa froze, but nothing happened – Dad must be deep in his book.

At last she slipped back into her room and crouched down to look for the kitten again. It was still huddled against the wall under her bed, and when it saw Elsa it shifted worriedly and pressed itself even further back.

“Are you hungry?” Elsa whispered. “Look what I’ve got. Do you like cheese? Or ham?” She showed the plate to the kitten and then tore off a bit of ham and held it out. Was she imagining it, or did the kitten’s huge black ears flicker with interest?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_15]

“You probably don’t want to come out just yet,” Elsa said thoughtfully. She lay down on her front, and then slowly, slowly crept her hand under the bed. The kitten gave a breathy little squeak of fear.

“It’s OK. Just leaving this for you.” She dropped the bit of ham about halfway under the bed – not too close to the kitten. The poor thing was scared enough already. Then she squirmed back and watched hopefully. Was the kitten brave enough to come and get the food?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

The kitten eyed the ham suspiciously for a moment, but he could smell it and it smelled so good. He measured the distance between him and the food and the girl. She was very close… But even as he was thinking it, he found himself creeping forward. He was just too hungry to wait. He gobbled down the scrap of ham with one eye firmly on the girl – if she moved, he could dart back. But she didn’t, she was absolutely still and quiet. And she had more food. He could see it on the plate right in front of her. More meat and something else…

The girl moved her hand and the kitten scuttled back, but she wasn’t reaching out to grab him. All she did was tear off another piece of ham and drop it gently, just at the edge of the safe space under the bed. Closer to her this time.

The kitten took a little longer to decide what to do, but the smell of food was so enticing it made him forget that he was frightened. He padded forward, step by slow step, and gulped down the second piece. Then he sat, almost out in the open, peering forward at the plate. There was a lot more ham left– more than he’d had already. And whatever the other stuff was smelled just as good – rich and salty and delicious.

The girl whispered something, her voice gentle, and she reached for the food, crumbling the good-smelling stuff and scattering it on the floor right in front of him. He’d only have to set one paw out beyond the shelter of the bed. Just one paw.

He edged out, pressed low to the ground, his shoulders hunched up into nervous points. His pink tongue darted out, sweeping up the scraps of cheese, and his eyes widened delightedly at the taste. Was there more of it? He stared hopefully at the girl and then laid his ears back a little as she held out her hand to him, the delicious stuff right there in her palm.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_16]

So now he had to go close…

He put out another paw and shook himself as he came into the light of the room. The girl was just there, with the food so temptingly on her hand. If she moved suddenly, he could dash back to the bed, couldn’t he? He crept all the way over to her and began to lick up the crumbs of cheese.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Elsa swallowed her giggles– the kitten was tickling her, its tongue working carefully over her fingers, making sure to find every tiny crumb. “Is the cheese good?” she murmured, wishing she could stroke it. The fur was a soft, fluffy sort of black, not smooth and shiny like some black cats. But perhaps that was only because it was so little. Its tongue was bright, bright pink against the black of its fur.

“What about the rest of the ham?” she whispered gently. “Shall I tear it up?” She reached out her other hand and picked up the half slice that was left, but the kitten didn’t wait for her to make nice bite-sized pieces. It scrambled up on to her knee and grabbed for the food, trying to gulp down the whole lot in one go.

Elsa sat like a statue. She hoped the kitten wasn’t going to make itself sick, gobbling like that. It must be so hungry. When it had finished, the pink tongue worked thoroughly round its muzzle and whiskers to make sure it hadn’t missed anything. Then it stopped and eyed her cautiously, as though it had just worked out it was sitting on top of her.

Elsa decided it was thinking about making a mad dash back for the bed. It padded its paws up and down thoughtfully on her knee, but it didn’t move. Instead it lifted up one front paw and began a careful wash, swiping its paw around its muzzle and ears, still with one eye firmly fixed on Elsa.

Elsa let out the breath she’d been holding, very slowly. What was she going to do now?

She was just wondering if she dared try stroking the kitten when the doorbell rang, loud and shrill, and the kitten leaped off her lap and shot back under the bed again. Elsa sighed.

There was a faint yell from downstairs.“Girls? Can one of you get that? I’m under the sink – it’s leaking!”

Elsa listened hopefully for Sara but her sister still had her music playing, so she dashed downstairs and wrestled with the unfamiliar lock on the front door. When she finally got it open, there was a girl about her own age standing on the step, looking nervous. She smiled when she saw Elsa.

“Er … hi. I’m Lilly. From next door. I saw you looking out of your window a bit earlier and thought I’d come and say hi.” She twisted her fingers together and gazed at Elsa shyly.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_17]

“Oh! I’m Elsa. We just moved in yesterday. Um, do you want to –” Elsa stopped suddenly. She’d been about to say “Do you want to come in?” but then she’d remembered the kitten in her bedroom. The secret, mysterious kitten that nobody knew about. Elsa’s eyes widened in sudden horror. The kitten that was in her bedroom with the door open! She turned to peer up the stairs, hoping that she’d closed it after all.

She hadn’t.

She turned back to Lilly, biting her bottom lip. She had to get rid of her, before the kitten decided to make a run for it. What if it disappeared off somewhere and she never saw it again? Or it wandered into Sara’s room?

“Um, I’m really sorry, I have to go,” she gabbled, starting to shut the door.

“Oh … OK…” The other girl looked really hurt, Elsa realized as she closed the door. She supposed she had been a bit rude. Well, very rude actually. But she couldn’t help it. “It was the girl next door come to say hello,” she yelled to Dad, and then she raced back upstairs and flung herself down next to the bed.

The black kitten was nowhere to be seen.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_18]

Had the kitten got out of her room? Elsa sat up, looking around anxiously. Perhaps it had dashed through the open door, back upstairs to the attic. She wasn’t supposed to go up there – Dad said the floor wasn’t safe – but she could go and put her head round the door…

A tiny rustling made her turn and look at the pile of boxes, and she let out a soft sigh of relief. There were two black twitching ears poking out of the nearest box.

“What are you doing in there?” Elsa asked, going to peer in at the kitten. Now she looked, she could see delicate scratch marks on the cardboard where it had scrambled its way up. “Are you still hungry? Are you looking for more food?”

The kitten stared back at her and Elsa was sure it looked hopeful.“I can go and get some more,” she suggested. “Oh, except Dad’s in the kitchen now. We might have to wait a bit.” She eyed the kitten’s tufted ears and golden eyes and added, “I wonder if you’re a girl kitten or a boy kitten… I don’t like calling you ‘it’. Um… I’m going to guess you’re a boy. But if I called you Pepper, that could be a boy or a girl, couldn’t it?”

The kitten clambered up on to Elsa’s folded jumpers and made a friendly sort of squeaking noise. He was definitely a lot less shy since she’d fed him, Elsa decided.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_19]

“I probably shouldn’t have named you,” she told him with a sigh. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to stay here, Pepper kitten. Dad doesn’t want a cat and neither does Sara. She’s been begging to get a puppy for ages, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I might nearlyhave persuaded Dad to get guinea pigs, but he’s still only thinking about it.”

The kitten wobbled across the jumpers so he was a bit closer to Elsa and then leaned over, bumping his head against her hand.

Elsa’s eyes widened. Had she just imagined that? She hadn’t dared to stroke him – he seemed far too nervous and jumpy. But he had touched her! All on his own!

“Thank you,” she whispered, wondering if he’d do it again. He was looking up at her, his eyes almost all golden now in the winter sun that was pouring through her window.

“I don’t care if Dad and Sara don’t want a cat,” Elsa muttered. That tiny, quick touch of his velvet-soft fur had made all the difference. She still didn’t think the kitten was her cat, but she definitely felt as if she washis person.“I’ll just have to persuade them somehow.” She wrinkled her nose. “Only – maybe not yet… Dad’s still a bit stressed about the move and I bet he’s not happy about that leaking sink either. It’s not really a good time to tell him we’ve got a cat.” She held her hand out a little closer to the kitten, watching him hopefully. Would he do it again?

There was a moment’s pause and then the kitten rubbed the side of his chin against her hand, his eyes closed. And – yes! There was a tiny breathy rumbling sound. Elsa could feel it too, shaking the kitten all over.

He was purring.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Elsa decided that she needed to keep Pepper hidden for a few days, at least. During lunch, she told Sara and Dad that she was working on a Christmas surprise and please could they stay out of her room? Dad had looked really pleased, as if that meant she must be settling in.

Actually, Pepper would be quite a good Christmas surprise, Elsa thought to herself in bed that night. She could put some tinsel on a cat collar… She shifted her feet very slightly, just to feel the weight of a kitten on her toes again. She hadn’t expected Pepper to sleep on her bed – she had taken the box of jumpers off the top of the stack and put it down on the floor, to make it easier for him to climb into.

She’d done her best to make her bedroom into a proper kitten home. She’d spread some newspapers on the floor in the corner of her bedroom, hoping he’d know to use those instead of a litter tray, and she’d told Dad she was starving and needed an extra cheese and ham sandwich at lunchtime. She’d borrowed one of the plastic picnic plates and a little bowl for Pepper’s water. It was going to be tricky sneaking food upstairs, but Dad was still busy sorting everything out. Sara was more likely to spot what she was doing than he was.

Elsa had spent the afternoon trying to get to know the kitten better. She spent ages feeding him the sandwich bit by bit, although he turned his nose up at the crusts. Then she rolled a ball of paper around for him to chase, and waved the piece of curly ribbon that Maisie had used to wrap up her goodbye present. It bounced up and down in a long shiny coil, and the kitten darted after it with huge leaps– Elsa reckoned some of the time he jumped his own height, or even higher.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_20]

“Did you have kitten brothers and sisters?” she’d asked him, laughing as he stomped away from her with the ribbon in his sharp little teeth. He probably missed having them to play with. He must miss them all the time, she’d realized sadly. And his mother, too.

When she’d gone to bed, she’d lifted Pepper into the box of jumpers, but he’d clambered straight out again and stood by her bed. When Elsa got in, he scrambled up after her, digging his claws into a trailing bit of duvet, and padded around curiously for a while before curling up by her feet.

Elsa sat up in bed, trying to see the kitten. His black fur settled into the shadows so completely that she could only see a faint round shape, but she could feel him.“How did you end up in the attic on your own?” she wondered again, but the only answer was faint kitten breathing.

Elsa lay back down, thinking over the day. The only thing that spoiled it was the hurt look on Lilly’s face when she’d said she had to go. Perhaps Elsa should have explained? But she couldn’t really, could she? She’d only just met Lilly. She couldn’t tell her an enormous secret, not when she didn’t know her.

Still, Lilly had looked so upset. And it had been really nice of her to come round and say hello. Elsa sighed. Perhaps she could go and explain? It would be weird, but if she didn’t do something she’d have to live next door to somebody who thought she was mean for years and years. Lilly probably went to her new school as well. What if she told everybody that her new next-door neighbour was horrible and unfriendly? Elsa’s stomach twisted with horror.

“I’ll have to do something,” she muttered sleepily into her pillow. “Tomorrow. I’ll think about it tomorrow. Night, Pepper.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

The kitten snuffled and opened one eye. The girl kept on wriggling about, but she was very warm– and not as wriggly as a box full of kittens. It was good to be full of food, even though he missed his mother’s milk and the comforting feeling of sucking and snuggling up against her. He still wondered where she was and where his brothers and sisters had gone, but the strange lost feeling wasn’t quite as bad as it had been before.

He stretched out to his full length, padding his paws against the duvet, and then stomped along the bed, wobbling over the lumps and bumps of the bedding. The girl was fast asleep, breathing softly, her long hair spread over the pillow. He tapped at it with one paw and she mumbled something in her sleep but didn’t wake.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_21]

The kitten peered thoughtfully round the top of the duvet, drawn up close over her shoulders. Under there it would be properly cosy. He nudged the duvet up a little with his nose and crept inside the soft darkness, snuggling close up against the girl.

Warm. Full. Sleepy.

It was good.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_22]

The next morning, Elsa woke up deliciously cosy. They were still working out how to use the radiators in the new house and it seemed to be icy or boiling, and nothing in between– her bedroom had been freezing on their first night. Obviously Dad had found out how to make the radiators do as they were told, she thought blissfully, still half asleep.

Then something wriggled next to her chin and there was a small purry snore.

Pepper was under the duvet with her, lying on his back with his paws on his tummy and his eyes closed tight. Elsa had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself laughing and waking him up.“You’re the best hot-water bottle,” she whispered, gently tickling him under his furry chin. “I’m so lucky. Yesterday morning when I woke up I hadn’t a clue that soon I’d have a kitten in my bedroom.”

Then she sighed. She’d just remembered Lilly next door. She was going to have to do something – maybe go round and say sorry? But that would mean telling Lilly about the kitten and she still wasn’t sure she wanted to do that… What if Lilly told her parents and they told Dad? Elsa wriggled until she was half sitting up and Pepper gave a whistling sigh, half opened one eye and glared at her.

“Sorry,” Elsa whispered. “It’s OK. Go back to sleep.” Under the duvet the kitten scrambled up on to her tummy and curled himself into a tiny black knot with his back to her.

“That’s me told,” Elsa murmured. “Sorry, kitten. But I still don’t know how I’m going to sort things out with Lilly. Maybe I could get her to promise not to tell first? But I’m not sure I want to go round there. It would be too weird…”

Elsa sighed and stared vaguely around her room, thinking about getting dressed. It was a bit too early to go visiting anyway. Then she blinked, peering over at her noticeboard, still only half done, with letters and photos scattered around it.“I could write Lilly a letter,” she said, brightening up a bit. “I could write and explain that I didn’t mean to be unfriendly, it was just that I was in the middle of unpacking…” The kitten turned to look at her over his shoulder, yawned hugely, and went back to sleep again.

Elsa rubbed his ears.“Yes, I know it’s not a great excuse. But it’s the best I’ve got…”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

It was all very well deciding to write to Lilly, Elsa discovered, but it didn’t make the letter easy to write. How was she supposed to explain to someone she’d only spoken to for a minute that she was sorry if she’d sounded rude, but she had a really important secret and she wasn’t sure who she could trust? In the end, she wrote:

Dear Lilly,

This is Elsa from next door. I’m sorry I was a bit weird and unfriendly yesterday. I’d really like to talk to you again. I had to go because I was worried about getting all my unpacking done. I’d like to be friends if you would?

From Elsa

Elsa read the note back and sighed. Either Lilly would read her letter and she’d come round so Elsa could talk to her properly – or she’d never want to talk to that odd girl next door ever again. She helpfully took a pile of packing paper that Dad had finished with out to the recycling bin, and nipped next door to stick her envelope through the letter box. She heard itbump on to the floor and crossed her fingers hopefully.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_23]

“How’s your Christmas surprise going?” Dad asked as she came back in. Elsa stared at him blankly for a moment before she remembered her excuse for spending so much time in her room.

“Um … it’s OK,” she murmured. “I’m not sure if you and Sara will like it, though…”

“I’m sure we will.” Dad put his arm round her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so glad you’re feeling a bit happier, Elsa. I really am.”

Elsa hurried back upstairs to her room feeling guilty. It was great that the mystery in the new house had turned out to be a kitten, but she wished she didn’t have to lie to Dad about it. And when was she going to tell him the truth? She had meant it when she’d told herself she’d show Pepper to Dad “when he wasn’t so busy with the move” but it was hard to see when that was actually going to be.

Pepper came running towards her looking hopeful and Elsa laughed. He danced round her feet, padding at her legs with his front paws and putting on a show of being the hungriest kitten who’d ever lived.

“You probably are hungry,” Elsa sighed, frowning at him. “I guess your mum was feeding you whenever you wanted. Growing kittens need lots of food – and you’re definitely growing. I’m sure you’re bigger than you were yesterday. Plumper round the middle anyway. It’s OK, look, Dad madeus bacon sandwiches as a treat.” She pulled out the half sandwich she’d wrapped in a tissue and hidden in her pocket. “Dad put ketchup on before I could stop him, so I hope you like it.” But the kitten didn’t look worried. His huge gold-green eyes were fixed on the sandwich as if he’d never seen anything so exciting.

Elsa fed it to him slowly, in bits, worried that otherwise he’d wolf down the whole thing and be sick. But just as she was about to hand him the last piece, the kitten turned away from her, his ears twitching.

“What is it?” Elsa whispered. “Can you hear something? It’s probably just Sara next door.”

The kitten was looking towards Elsa’s window, though, as if he thought there was something happening outside. And now that she thought about it, Elsa could hear something – a tapping sound. Maybe a bird hopping about on the roof? She looked out curiously, but couldn’t see anything. Then the tapping sound started again, sharp and distinct. It was coming from the house next door, she realized – from the window. Someone was tapping on the glass.

Elsa opened the window, struggling a bit with the stiff handle, and leaned out to look. The two houses weren’t built exactly the same, so where her window faced out to the garden, and had a little slope of roof underneath it, the next house stuck out further, and there was a window in the side wall instead. There was a piece of paper pressed up against it, and she could see Lilly behind it, peering at her.

I got your note. You were really horrible yesterday! the piece of paper said.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_24]

Elsa flinched. So much for trying to make friends. Then she tore out a piece of paper from the pad on her desk and scribbledI’m really sorry in big letters. She held it out of her window to show Lilly, and then ducked back inside and wrote,Didn’t mean to be on the back.

She looked across at Lilly, still framed in her own window. The other girl didn’t look very impressed. She was chewing her bottom lip and frowning back at Elsa as though she didn’t really know what to say.

Elsa was so busy watching Lilly and worrying that she almost missed the scratching, scraping noises by her elbow. There was a whisper of soft fur against her hand, and a curious black kitten put his front paws on the window frame and leaned out, wobbling as he sniffed the winter cold.

Elsa yelped and Pepper glanced round at her in surprise, his paws suddenly scrabbling against the slippery frame. His ears flattened back and he hissed in panic, clawing wildly at the painted wood.

“Pepper!” Elsa yelped as she grabbed at him. It was like trying to catch a handful of water, or sand. He wriggled and twisted and Elsa scraped her wrists against the roof tiles trying to catch hold. But at last she stepped back from the window, panting. Pepper was snuggled against her cardigan and she could feel his heart hammering against his skinny little ribs. “It’s OK,” she whispered shakily. “It’s all right. Oh, wow. I thought you were going to slide all the way down.” There was a frantic tapping from the window opposite, and Elsa’s eyes widened. So much for her secret.

The sign in the window now read,Are you OK? But Lilly was wrenching at the window catch and as Elsa watched, she pushed it open at last.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“Um. I’m a bit scratched. Not Pepper – the tiles.”

“Is that his name? Pepper?”

“Yeah – but please don’t tell your mum and dad. He’s not mine. I mean, not really. He’s a secret, a bit like a mystery… Oh, and don’t shout too loudly either – my sister’s room is next to this one.”

Lilly frowned again. She hesitated and then she said,“OK… Look, can I come round?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Pepper lay slumped in Elsa’s lap, exhausted. He’d been chasing bits of ribbon and a bouncy feather all morning with Elsa and the other girl, and then Elsa had built him an obstacle course out of boxes after lunch. Now he needed a nap. Elsa was tired too, he thought. But happy. He could feel it in the way she was stroking him, slow and soft, all relaxed.

He yawned, a yawn so huge it stretched the muscles around his jaw, and then padded his paws up and down on Elsa’s jeans to get them properly comfy. He sagged down, slumping on to Elsa’s leg. She was so soft and he was so sleepy.

Then his eyes popped open and his ears flattened back, and Elsa squeaked as the door banged open.

Pepper shot off her lap in fright, darting under the bed to hide in the safe shadows. There was a second of silence and then a yell from the doorway. He cowered back even further.

“What was that? Was it a rat?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_25]

“No, Sara! Don’t be stupid!”

“You have, you’ve got a rat in your bedroom. I knew there was something. I thought I heard scratching noises!”

“It isn’t a rat!”

Pepper pressed himself against the wall as he heard footsteps. He didn’t like this noisy, screechy person. The girl who’d played with him earlier had been quiet and gentle, like Elsa. And they’d both given him cheese, which was definitely his favourite food. He watched anxiously as the strip of light at the edge of the bed darkened and two faces leaned down to peer in – Elsa and the loud person.

“Elsa … where did you get a kitten?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_26]

Elsa wriggled back from the bed and sighed.“We’d better leave him for a little while. You scared him, screaming like that!” She looked accusingly at her big sister and Sara rolled her eyes.

“You can’t blame me, Elsa! I only saw it for a second and it really did look like a rat darting under your bed. You know I hate them.”

“Since when are rats black with furry tails?” Elsa demanded. “He doesn’t look a bit like a rat. And don’t call him it. He’s a boy kitten. Or I think he is.”

“But Elsa, where did you get him?” Sara frowned. “Is he the secret Christmas surprise? Because Dad is not going to want a kitten for Christmas, I’m telling you now!”

“I didn’t get him on purpose,” Elsa said slowly, trying to think how she could explain. “You know those weird noises I said I heard? All the scrabbling around in the attic?”

“That was a kitten?”

“Uh-huh.” Elsa nodded. “And then I found him under my bed. He likes it there, I think he feels safe.”

“You’ve been hiding him in your room?” Sara sounded a bit shocked.

“Only since yesterday after breakfast.” Elsa smiled at her sister. “He slept on my bed last night. Oh, shh, I think he’s coming out.”

They watched, holding their breath, as the black kitten crept forward. He paused at the very edge of the bed, eyeing Sara suspiciously.

“Don’t be scared,” Elsa whispered. “Come on… Come on, Pepper…”

“You named him!” Sara shook her head. “Oh, Elsa. Dad isnot going to let you keep him…”

“He might,” Elsa said stubbornly as Pepper rubbed his head cautiously against her jeans. “You don’t know.”

“He is very cute,” Sara admitted. “Can I stroke him?”

“I don’t know…” Elsa looked at Pepper doubtfully. “I had to tempt him out with food, but he’s a lot less shy than he was. Maybe if we sit on the floor and keep still he’ll be brave enough to come closer.”

Sara nodded and the two girls sat down, leaning against Elsa’s bed. Pepper watched them for a moment, then he clambered up on to Elsa’s jeans and looked at Sara thoughtfully.

“Maybe we smell sort of the same, to a kitten?” Elsa whispered.

Sara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and when Pepper put one cautious paw on to her leg, she beamed. The tiny kitten sighed and then collapsed across their outstretched legs like a saggy furry toy.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_27]

“You’re going to have to tell Dad,” Sara said, tickling the sleepy kitten under the chin.

“Can we wait a bit?” Elsa pleaded. “What if he says we can’t keep him? I’ve had a kitten less than two days. I can’t give him up yet.” She leaned across to stroke one finger over Pepper’s velvet head. “Wouldn’t you like to keep him?” she added coaxingly.

“Well … yeah… He’s gorgeous,” Sara admitted. “I’ve been asking Dad about getting a dog again, but I don’t think he’s going to say yes. He doesn’t want to leave a dog alone at home while we’re at school and he’s at work. A kitten wouldn’t mind that so much, would he?”

“No. Exactly!” Elsa said eagerly. “He’d be a perfect pet. So, will you help me persuade Dad, then? Pepper would be the family’s cat, not just mine.”

Sara glanced over at the bedroom door and Elsa could see her thinking it through– there were tiny frowns and then flickers of a smile. At last she gave a slow nod. “OK. But I think we ought to tell him straight away. The sooner the better. I don’t think he’s going to be happy that you kept Pepper a secret.”

Elsa sighed. She’d been hoping to wait a bit longer – until they were really settled in the house, and Dad wasn’t so stressed about the move. But she knew Sara was right.

“Let’s go downstairs,” she said slowly. “Dad said he was going to do stuff online – changing addresses and that sort of thing. He said it was going to be really boring. He might like a break.”

“You take him.” Sara gently scooped Pepper off her lap. “He was yours first. But I’ll definitely tell Dad I think we should keep him.”

The two sisters walked slowly downstairs, with Elsa cradling Pepper against her cardigan. She just hoped Dad was in a good mood.

“You can’t be after a snack already,” Dad muttered as they came into the kitchen. He was glaring at his laptop and Elsa almost backed out of the room, thinking it might be better to come down again later.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_28]

“We don’t want a snack,” Sara said, putting a hand on Elsa’s back and pushing her forward a bit. “Elsa found out what was making those weird noises.”

Dad looked up.“Oh no – not a rat?” Then he saw Pepper, blinking at him sleepily from Elsa’s arms. “A kitten?”

“He must have been in the attic,” Elsa explained.

“You didn’t go up there, did you?” Dad asked worriedly. “That floor’s dodgy, Elsa, it’s dangerous.”

“No, honestly. Pepper came downstairs. I found him under my bed.”

“Pepper?” Dad frowned. “I’m guessing you haven’t just found him, then, if he’s got a name.”

Elsa looked at the floor and murmured,“It was yesterday morning. You were busy… I didn’t want to bother you…”

“Oh, Elsa…” Dad sighed. “He must be starving.”

“I fed him bits of sandwich, and cheese. He loves cheese – remember Gran said how Poppet really liked cheese? That’s where I got the idea.”

“She also said that if Poppet had too much she threw up all over the sofa,” Dad pointed out grimly. “At least you’ve been feeding him, I suppose. But where did this kitten come from? That’s what I want to know. He can’t have been in the attic by himself.” His eyes widened. “Are there more of them up there? His mum, maybe?”

“I haven’t heard them,” Elsa said, shaking her head. She hadn’t thought of going to look. “I think he was all on his own.”

Dad stood up.“I’d better go and check. You two stay here, please. I don’t want you anywhere near those holes in the floor.”

Elsa made a face at Sara as Dad disappeared off upstairs.“Dad sounds really grumpy. We shouldn’t have told him now, it was a really bad idea.”

“He hasn’t said no,” Sara pointed out. “It might be OK.” She reached over and tickled Pepper under his chin. “You need to put on your best cute face for when he comes back,” she said. “Come on, kitten. Time to charm Dad.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_29]

Dad came back down saying that there were no more kittens upstairs, but he thought he could see where Pepper had been sleeping.

“It’s a bit smelly up there, too,” he said, frowning. “I suppose he isn’t house-trained.”

Sara made a face but Elsa shook her head.“I put down newspaper in my bedroom, Dad. He weed on it like he understood he was meant to. And he did a poo on the paper, too. I took it all out to the wheelie bin this morning and put some more down.”

“I suppose that’s something.” Dad sighed. “But we need to find out who he belongs to, Elsa. We can’t just adopt him.”

“Can’t we?” Elsa asked pleadingly. “He’s really good, Dad. He’s so friendly and sweet. Sara likes him too.” She elbowed her big sister and Sara nodded.

“I think we should keep him. He’s cute, Dad. You should try stroking him.”

“I thought you were desperate for a dog!”

Sara sighed.“I know. But you’re right, it wouldn’t be fair when we’re out all day. Cats don’t mind being left as much as dogs do. We could look after a cat, no problem.”

Dad shook his head.“We’ve only just moved, Sara. We’ve got enough to worry about without a cat as well.”

Elsa swallowed hard. She’d really hoped Dad would like Pepper – that he’d at least think about keeping the kitten. How could he just say no, straight away?

Dad sighed.“I’ll get in touch with Mrs Bell, the lady who used to live here, and see if she knows anything. Someone must be looking for him. He could have owners who really want him back.”

Elsa tickled Pepper under his chin and didn’t say anything. If they’d let such a tiny kitten wander off and get stuck in an attic all on his own, Pepper’s owners shouldn’t be allowed to have him back.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_30]

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Lilly leaned further over the edge of Elsa’s bed and bounced the feather toy she’d made for Pepper. She’d turned up with it that morning and shyly asked if she could give the kitten a present. Elsa had said of course. She liked Lilly a lot and she was so glad she’d put that letter through her door.

Lilly had promised that she and her mum and Taylor, her little brother, would come and call for Elsa and Dad on the first day of term, and that she’d make sure everybody knew who Elsa was. She said Elsa could sit with her and a couple of her friends at lunch too. Elsa was feeling a lot less worried about the new school already.

“What was Mrs Bell like?” Elsa asked. “My dad phoned up the place she’s living yesterday, but she was sleeping. They’re going to get her to call him back so he can ask about Pepper.” She sighed. “At least it means we get to keep him for another day.”

“She was nice,” Lilly said slowly, looking at Elsa. “I mean, she wasn’t around that much. Mum said she was fragile and not very well. But if we saw her she always said hello and smiled, and she remembered my name and Taylor’s.”

“So … she didn’t seem like the sort of person who’d leave a kitten in an empty house?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_31]

“No! Definitely not.” Lilly looked horrified. “Is that what you think happened?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know how Pepper got in, if he came from somewhere else – he’s such a little kitten, I’m amazed he even got down the attic stairs. How could he have got into the house on his own?”

Lilly nodded.“I suppose you’re right. Though Mrs Bell did have a cat, actually. We hardly ever saw her – she wasreally shy. But she was out at the front of the house once and Mrs Bell told us she was called Jemima and she was a stray cat who’d turned up in her garden. Maybe Pepper was Jemima’s kitten!”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Elsa looked puzzled. “But I don’t see how somebody so nice could leave a kitten behind. If Dad phones her and she says she wants him back, I’m not sure we should let her have him.”

“What are you going to do?” Lilly asked, wriggling round to stare at Elsa worriedly.