The Frightened Kitten

  For Lara

  For more information about Holly Webb visit: www.holly-webb.com

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the Author

  Other titles by Holly Webb

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  “Make sure you wrap it up carefully,” Kate told Maddy, stuffing an armful of bubble wrap into her best friend’s lap.

  Maddy nodded, smoothing it out and starting to wind it round the photo frame. “Ben looks gorgeous in this picture,” she said, her voice a bit wobbly.

  Kate nodded. “He always does. But that’s my favourite photo of him.”

  Maddy stared down at the photo – she was in it too. It had been taken last summer, and showed her and Kate, with Kate’s huge black cat Ben sitting on the picnic rug between them. He was almost as tall as they were, when the girls were sitting down.

  She laughed with surprise as a hard head butted her arm, and Ben stomped his way on to her lap to see exactly what she was doing. He’d been asleep at the end of Kate’s bed, but he’d obviously decided something interesting was happening. He was the world’s nosiest cat.

  “Do you think he’ll mind moving?” Maddy asked, watching Kate fill a big cardboard box with books and her ornaments, all carefully wrapped up.

  “I don’t know.” Kate shrugged. “The new house has got a big garden, but he likes it here. Like me.” She sighed miserably. “I keep hoping Dad’s going to come home and say it was all a mistake, and he doesn’t have to go and work in Yorkshire after all. But we’re leaving tomorrow. It’s getting a bit late for that.” She sniffed, and sat down next to Maddy and Ben on the bed.

  Maddy put an arm round her, and Ben bounced on to Kate’s lap, standing up on his hind legs to wrap his front paws around her neck. It was his party trick. Kate always told people she had a cat who hugged, although he didn’t do it to very many people. Mostly Kate, but he would do it to Maddy sometimes, especially if she’d given him a cat treat. He’d even done it to Maddy’s dad once, when he came to pick Maddy up and stopped for a cup of tea. Her dad had been taken by surprise, but Maddy had noticed that he always looked for Ben whenever he came to Kate’s now. As though he was hoping that Ben might do it again.

  Maddy had been working on her mum and dad to let her get a cat of her own for ages. She was pretty sure that Ben had won her dad over that day. Now she just had to persuade her mum…

  Kate sniffed again. “What if he doesn’t like the new house, Maddy? He might even try and find his way back here. You read in the papers about cats who do that.”

  “Yorkshire’s probably too far for him to try it,” Maddy said. It was meant to be comforting, but it didn’t work. She didn’t want to think about how far away her friend was going to be. And she was going to have to start a new school, of course. Maddy couldn’t imagine having to do that.

  Kate frowned. “I hope there aren’t too many other cats near the new house. Ben’s the top cat round here, none of the other cats would put a paw in our garden. But the new garden might be another cat’s territory already.”

  Maddy looked down at Ben, now sitting comfortably on Kate’s lap. He yawned and stretched, and then stared up at her with huge green eyes. He didn’t look like he was worried.

  “Even if the garden is another cat’s territory, I don’t think it will be for long,” Maddy said, stroking him.

  Kate nodded, laughing. “Maybe. He doesn’t fight very often, but when he does, I think he just sits on the other cats and squashes them.” She sighed. “I suppose I’d better get on with packing. Mum says I should have had it finished yesterday.” She pushed Ben gently off her knee, and he slunk away to hide among the boxes.

  Maddy went back to wrapping up the photo. She was going to miss Kate so much. She knew Kate would miss her too, but her friend was a bit like Ben, Maddy thought. She was so strong and bouncy and confident. She’d have a new gang of friends in no time – and she’d be showing off her famous hugging cat to them instead.

  “Pass me that tape, Maddy, so I can seal this box up.”

  Maddy handed her the parcel tape, and wrapped another photo frame. “Where did Ben go?” she asked, a few minutes later.

  “He’s under the bed, isn’t he?” Kate said, peering down.

  But he wasn’t. There was a sudden thumping and then a muffled yowl. “He’s in the box!” Maddy giggled.

  Kate stared at the big cardboard box she’d just taped up. “He can’t be…” she murmured, but she didn’t sound very sure. She ripped off the tape, and the flaps came up, followed by a large black head, with cross, glowing green eyes. Ben scrambled out, hissing grumpily.

  “Well, you shouldn’t have been in there!” Kate laughed. “Nosy boy!”

  Maddy was laughing too. But even as she laughed, she was thinking, I’m going to miss them so much…

  Kate and her mum walked Maddy home – it was only five minutes away, and it was warm and sunny. Perfect Easter holiday weather. If Kate hadn’t been leaving tomorrow, they’d have spent loads of time in the park, or maybe gone out somewhere for the day.

  “Those cats that live next door to you are nearly as big as Ben,” Kate’s mum commented, as they came up to Maddy’s garden.

  “They’re sitting on Mum’s daffodils again,” Maddy sighed, as she hurried into the front garden and tried to shoo the two big ginger cats off the stone pot that her mum had planted full of bulbs. For some reason Tiger and Tom had decided it was a really good place to sit, and the daffodils were looking a bit squashed now.

  Maddy’s mum opened the front door. “I heard you coming, girls. Oh, no, not those horrible cats again!”

  Tiger spat crossly at Maddy as she tried to get him off the daffodils, and yowled. He was so different to lovely, sweet-natured Ben. At last, he jumped down, and the pair of them stalked away, glaring back at Maddy.

  As the mums chatted, Kate flung her arms round Maddy. “Promise you’ll call me every day! Tell me everything that’s happening at school, OK?”

  Maddy nodded. “And anyway, you’re coming back to visit at half-term.”

  “We’d better go,” Kate’s mum said. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow, and there’s still some packing to do.”

  And that was it. Kate and her mum went back down the path, waving, and Maddy was left on her own.

  “I’ve finished,” said Maddy, pushing away her half-eaten dinner. Mum had made her favourite pasta, but she just wasn’t hungry.

  Her dad leaned over and put an arm round her shoulders. “Do you think we could tell her the news? To cheer her up?” he suggested to Maddy’s mum, and she nodded.

  “What news?” Maddy sniffed sadly.

  “Do you remember me telling you that my friend Donna’s cat had kittens a couple of months ago?” Mum asked.

  “Oh, yes. You showed me a photo on your phone. They’re gorgeous. There were some tortoiseshell ones – my favourite kind!”

  “Good. Because one of them is going to be yours!”

  Maddy blinked. “I’m getting a kitten?”

  “You can choose which of the litter you’d like. Donna needs to find homes for them all, and we thought it would be nice for you to have a cat, as you’ve wanted one for so long. Especially as you’re bound to miss Kate – getting to know a kitten might make the Easter holidays a bit less sad.” Her mum looked at her anxiously. “We’re not trying to take your mind off missing her, Maddy. It’s a really sad thing for a friend to move away.”

  “It j
ust seemed like a good time,” her dad added.

  Maddy nodded. “It is a good time,” she whispered. She couldn’t help still feeling sad about Kate, of course, but at the same time, inside she was jumping about and squeaking. A kitten! A kitten! I’m getting a kitten!

  Chapter Two

  Maddy’s mum showed her some more photos of the kittens, but it was hard to see them in the pictures on her phone. Three of them were ginger and the other two were tortoiseshells, beautiful black, white and orange cats. They were all coiled and snuggled around each other and their mother, who was black like Ben. Maddy was pretty sure she would like a tortoiseshell kitten – Tiger and Tom had put her off ginger cats.

  “When can I see them?” Maddy asked the next morning at breakfast.

  Mum smiled. “I’ve arranged for us to visit them this afternoon. And if you’re sure which kitten you’d like, you can even bring it home today! We can go to the pet shop on the way to Donna’s house to get everything we’ll need.”

  As it turned out, they needed an awful lot of things. A basket, Maddy had thought of that. And a food bowl. But she hadn’t realized there was so much else. A collar. Grooming brush. Food. Special treats that were good for cleaning kitten teeth. Toys…

  They were just about to go and pay for everything when Mum stopped. “Oh, I’m so stupid! I forgot that Donna said to bring a cat carrier to take the kitten home in.”

  Maddy smiled. Home! She loved the idea of their house being a home for a kitten.

  “If you get anything else, we won’t have room for the kitten in the car,” Dad muttered, but Maddy knew he was only joking.

  “Can we go to Donna’s now?” she said hopefully, as they stowed all the things in the boot a few minutes later.

  Mum nodded, and hugged her. “I’m really excited.”

  Maddy threw her arms round her mum’s neck. “I bet I’m more excited than you.”

  Dad got in the car and tooted the horn at them. “Come on. I’m so excited I actually want to go and see these kittens some time today!”

  “Oh, look at them!” Maddy breathed, stopping in the kitchen doorway and staring. The kittens were all asleep in a large basket in the corner of the room. It was by the radiator, and the floor had been covered with newspaper.

  “They’re doing pretty well with their house-training; the newspaper’s just in case they miss the litter tray,” Donna explained. “We’ve been keeping them in the kitchen up till now, but this last week they keep on escaping!”

  “How old are they?” Maddy asked. They looked so little. She couldn’t believe they were ready to leave their mum.

  “Ten weeks yesterday. I bought a book about raising kittens when we found out that Dilly was pregnant, and it recommended keeping them with their mum until then, so she can teach them what they need to know. Also, that way they get to spend more time with their brothers and sisters, and learn how to get on with each other.”

  “So did you mean for her to have kittens then?” Maddy’s dad asked.

  Donna sighed. “No, it was a total surprise. We were planning to have Dilly spayed, but we left it too late. As soon as she’s recovered from having these, we’ll take her to the vet. I love the kittens, but I don’t want any more!”

  “Are you going to keep any of them?” Maddy asked, as she knelt down by the basket. “I can’t imagine how you’re going to let them go, they’re so gorgeous.”

  Donna nodded. “I know. I’d love to keep a couple, and it will be sad for Dilly to lose them all, but we only ever meant to have one cat! We’ll have to see. Quite a few people seem interested in adopting one.” She smiled at Maddy. “But you’ve got first choice. Your mum booked you a kitten weeks ago!”

  Maddy looked up at her mum gratefully. “Thanks, Mum!”

  “Well, it seemed like a perfect opportunity – you’re old enough to help look after a pet now.”

  “I’ll be really good, I promise,” Maddy said. “I’ll even clean out the litter tray.” She wouldn’t mind, she thought, peering into the basket. The kittens had heard their voices, and were starting to wake up. Dilly was watching Maddy carefully, obviously guarding her babies.

  One of the ginger kittens popped its head up and stared curiously at Maddy. She laughed, and his eyes widened in surprise.

  “Oh, sorry!” Maddy whispered. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  All the kittens were awake now, gazing at her with big green eyes. Maddy sighed. “How am I ever going to choose one of you?” she murmured. She hadn’t thought she’d like a ginger kitten, but they were cute too – their pink noses clashed with their orangey fur.

  One of the tortoiseshell kittens put its paws up on the side of the basket, and nosed at Maddy’s hand. Its nose felt chilly and tickly, and Maddy stifled a laugh. She didn’t want to make the kitten jump.

  “Is this a girl kitten?” she whispered to Donna. She’d guessed that the ginger kittens were boys and the tortoiseshells were girls, but she knew it wasn’t always that way round.

  “Yes, she’s a sweetie. Very friendly, she loves to have her head rubbed.”

  The kitten looked at Maddy hopefully, and Maddy gently scratched the top of her head. Ben had always liked that. The kitten purred, and turned her head sideways, nestling into Maddy’s hand.

  “She’s lovely,” Mum said quietly.

  “Could we have her?” Maddy breathed. The kitten was still purring and cuddling up against her hand. She was so little and perfect. Maddy was desperate to pick her up, but she wasn’t sure she should.

  The kitten solved the problem by clambering over the side of the basket – it was a soft, squashy one, and the sides were so high that she looked like she was trying to climb over a bouncy castle. There was a lot of scrabbling, but eventually she landed on the kitchen floor, looking very proud of herself, and set to work mountaineering up on to Maddy’s lap.

  “Oooh, claws.” Maddy giggled, and carefully scooped a hand under the kitten’s bottom to give her a bit of a lift. The kitten finally reached her lap, looking quite worn out by the effort, but she purred delightedly when Maddy made a fuss of her.

  “Well, it looks like she wants to be ours too,” Dad said, reaching out a finger to scratch behind the kitten’s ears. “What are we going to call her?”

  Maddy looked down at the kitten, who was busily curling herself into a neat little ball. “See that orange patch on her back. It’s completely round. Don’t you think it looks just like a biscuit?”

  “Biscuit?” Mum laughed. “That’s a really cute name for a cat. It does look like a little ginger biscuit, against that white fur.”

  Maddy nodded. “It’s the perfect name for her.”

  Maddy had the whole of the rest of the Easter holidays to get to know Biscuit, and play with her. Her mum and dad were right – having her kitten did mean she spent less time worrying about going back to school without Kate. She also did a lot of reading – they’d bought a book on cat care at the pet shop, and she got a couple more out of the library, too.

  “Did Donna take the kittens to have their first vaccinations?” she asked Mum at breakfast, the day after they’d brought Biscuit home.

  Biscuit was sitting on her lap, looking hopefully at Maddy’s breakfast. The cereal looked quite like her cat biscuits, she thought, but it didn’t smell the same. She reached up, stretching her neck, and sniffed harder. Definitely not cat biscuits, but a very good smell all the same. She put her front paws on the edge of the table, and darted her raspberry-pink tongue at a drop of milk that Maddy had spilled.

  It was sweet and cold, and Biscuit gave a delighted little shiver. Maddy was checking her cat book and didn’t notice when Biscuit edged a little further forward, and stuck her tongue in the bowl to lap up her leftover cereal. She got in a good few mouthfuls before Maddy spotted her.

  “Biscuit! You shouldn’t be eating that! Oh, Mum, look, she’s got milk all over her whiskers!”

  Biscuit settled back on to Maddy’s lap, licking her whiskers happily. She li
ked her food better, but it was nice to have a change…

  “Oh dear! I suppose a little bit won’t have done her any harm. You’d finished, hadn’t you? And yes, Donna gave us the vaccination certificate.” Mum looked in the folder she’d left on the countertop. “She had them done about three weeks ago.”

  Maddy checked the book again. “Then we need to take her to the vet soon! She’s supposed to have the second vaccination three weeks after the first one. And then in another three weeks, she’ll be allowed to go outside.”

  “Actually, yes, that’s what Donna’s put in this note. She said we should probably have Biscuit microchipped at the same time.”

  Maddy nodded. Her book mentioned that, too. The tiny microchip went under the skin on the kitten’s neck, and it would have a special number on it, so that Biscuit could be easily identified by any vet if she got lost.

  “I’ll call the vet tomorrow, Maddy. They won’t be open on a Sunday.”

  Maddy nodded. “That reminds me! Can I call Kate, Mum? I have to tell her about Biscuit!”

  Luckily, the vet’s had a cancelled appointment on Monday afternoon. Maddy wanted to get Biscuit’s vaccinations done as soon as possible, so that she would be able to play with her in the garden. She knew that the little cat would love it. She was so adventurous inside the house. She kept climbing things, and she loved to tunnel under Maddy’s duvet and then pop out at her.

  For the trip to the vet’s, Maddy put the cat carrier next to her on the back seat, and Biscuit peered out at her worriedly. She had only been in the cat carrier once, and that was to come to Maddy’s house. Were they going back to her old home again? She did miss playing with her brothers and sisters, but Maddy was just as much fun to play with – and she didn’t jump on top of her and try to chew her ears, like her biggest ginger brother had done. Biscuit definitely preferred Maddy’s house. She let out a miserable wail as Maddy lifted the carrier out of the car – but then she realized that it wasn’t her old home they’d come to after all.