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  Pixie rubbed her head against Lily’s cheek, glared at Hugo and jumped back down to the other side of the fence. Hugo barked and wagged his tail excitedly.

  “Come on, boy,” Dad said gently. “Walk time. Off to the woods.”

  Hugo shook himself and loped out on to the pavement, Dad and Lily jogging after him. The little woods they were going to weren’t far away – just a short walk up the hill.

  “Ohhh, that’s nice.” Lily sighed happily, lifting her hair up off the back of her neck as they walked under the trees. “It’s so much cooler here in the shade. Look, Hugo likes it, too. He must be so hot with all that thick fur.”

  Dad nodded. “I think this is one of Hugo’s favourite places. So many good smells and all those squirrels.”

  “And sticks.” Lily grinned. Hugo loved it when they threw sticks for him to chase after. “Are you going to let him off the lead?”

  Dad looked around thoughtfully. Hugo was really good about coming back when he was called but because he was so big they had to be careful about letting him loose in case people were scared of him.

  “I can’t see anyone else… Yes, we’ll let him off for the minute. It’s more fun for him sniffing around in the bracken off the lead.”

  As Hugo ambled ahead, Lily and Dad chatted about what they were going to do over the summer. They’d gone on a brilliant holiday to a water park in half-term, so they weren’t going away.

  “I want to sort out the garden shed,” Dad told Lily. “It’s so full of junk, I can hardly get the lawnmower out.”

  “That’s not very exciting!” Lily said, laughing. “You’ll have to be careful though, Dad, have you seen the size of the spiders in that shed? I went in there yesterday to get the water guns and I’m sure I saw one the size of my hand.”

  “Mmm. I might wear gloves.” Dad wrinkled his nose. “I suppose we should head back, it’s almost time for lunch. Hugo! Come on, boy!”

  Hugo was a little way away, gazing curiously through the bracken, his tail wagging.

  “Has he seen another dog?” Dad wondered, hurrying over. “Oh! Honestly. That’s awful!”

  “What is it?”

  “Someone’s dumped a load of stuff here, instead of taking it to the tip.” Dad pointed to a pile of furniture – an old sofa and a fridge and what looked like some kitchen units. “What a mess! I’ll have to ring the council when we get home, see if they’ll come and take it away. I suppose the woods do back on to all those houses. Someone must have driven down the alleyway to the garages – yes, look, the fence is broken. It wouldn’t have been too hard to get the stuff through here.”

  “That’s really sad.” Lily looked at the mess, frowning. “Hey, Hugo. Where are you going, silly? That’s not a sofa for sitting on!” Hugo wasn’t supposed to sit on any sofas but it was his one bad habit. He would lie at Dad’s feet with his nose on the sofa, and gradually creep further and further forward until he could sneak his front paws on. He never got very far before he was pushed off – but he never gave up trying, either. He just wanted to be snuggled up with his family.

  “Here, boy, come on,” Dad called. “Hugo!”

  But Hugo didn’t come back like he usually did. He was sniffing at the old sofa, his plumy tail swishing really fast.

  “Maybe it smells of food,” Dad said, edging his way through the bracken to follow him. “It must smell of something, look at him, he’s really excited. Hugo, leave it, come on!”

  Hugo’s ears were pricked right forward now, and he was whining and grunting and sniffing at the tatty sofa cushions.

  Lily went after Dad, wriggling sideways through the undergrowth – she only had shorts on and there were nettles in among the bracken but she wanted to see what Hugo was so excited about.

  Hugo had his nose down the back of the sofa cushions now. Then suddenly he jumped back with a snort.

  “What is it?” Lily asked, leaning over – and then she gasped.

  Between the cushions and the back of the sofa was a squirming mass of fur. A litter of tiny, fluffy kittens!

  STRIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of the Little Tiger Group 1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2017

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2017

  Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2017

  Author photograph copyright © Nigel Bird

  eISBN: 978-1-84715-866-6

  The right of Holly Webb and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  www.littletiger.co.uk

  Excerpt From: Holly Webb. “The Homeless Kitten.” iBooks.