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Kitty sat down on the rooftop next to the kitten. The streets below were dark and silent. Stars glittered overhead like diamonds scattered across the sky.

“Where do you usually like to sleep?” she asked him.

“I like to find somewhere warm and bright. The thing is …” The kitten twitched his ears shyly. “I’m a little bit scared of the dark.”

“Sometimes I feel like that too, especially when the clouds cover up the moon and there are lots of shadows.” Kitty looked from her friends to the beautiful night sky. She smiled, remembering what her mom had told her. “But the nighttime isn’t as frightening as I thought. When the moon comes out, you can feel magic in the air.”

The kitten nodded. His eyes were wide.“Where will you go now?” Figaro asked the kitten. “I’m afraid my humans won’t let me bring visitors into our home. I tried it once, and it caused such a kerfuffle!” The kitten’s shoulders drooped. “I don’t know. Sometimes I sleep outside the seafood store and the shopkeeper gives me some fish when the shop opens in the morning, but the doorstep is cold and hard.”

“You must come with me!” said Kitty firmly. “Everyone in my family loves cats. You can sleep in my room, and I’ll make you a delicious breakfast in the morning.”

The kitten perked up.“Really? I can come with you?”

Kitty smiled.“Of course you can! And tomorrow you can meet my family.”

The kitten bounced up and down with happiness.“I’ve always wanted to see inside a real home. Thank you, Kitty!”

Kitty led the cats down from the roof and back through the square. When they reached the park, the kitten began to tremble. He yowled at a spiky bush and jumped into Kitty’s arms.

“What’s wrong?” asked Kitty.

“It looks like a monster!” squeaked the kitten.

“Don’t worry—it’s nothing to be scared of.” Kitty set him down, but a moment later he hopped back into her arms when a tree branch rustled in the wind.

Kitty carried him through the park and he yowled at the gate, the pond, and the swings. At last his head began to droop. He gave one final squeaky mew at a park bench before closing his eyes. His head rested on Kitty’s shoulder.

“Poor thing!” whispered Pixie. “It must be awful finding everything so scary.”

Figaro rolled his eyes.“Things are certainly quieter now that he’s asleep. For goodness sake, don’t wake him up again!”

Kitty and her friends hurried out of the park and climbed back to the rooftops. They darted along, skipping neatly around the chimneys. At last Kitty spotted her bedroom window at the end of a row of houses. She had left her lamp on, and it glowed behind the curtains.

“Thank you for helping me with my very first adventure,” she said to Figaro, Katsumi, and Pixie.

“It was our pleasure,” said Katsumi with a bow.

“You did a fantastic job! I expect now you’ll want to go on more,” said Figaro with a wink.

“I expect I will!” said Kitty, laughing.

The ginger kitten woke up and waved his paw sleepily.“Goodbye, everyone, and thank you!”

“Goodbye! See you again soon,” said Kitty.

Kitty watched Figaro, with his handsome black coat and white paws, scamper away across the rooftops. Katsumi followed him, her honey-colored fur pale in the moonlight. Pixie left last, her bright white fur gleaming in the darkness.

Kitty sighed happily. It really had been an amazing night!

She set the kitten down on the windowsill and climbed into her bedroom.“I hope you like my room. I have lots of comfy pillows and blankets. Would you like to come and see?”

The kitten’s whiskers shook. “I … I don’t really know! I thought I wanted to see a real home, but … what if I get trapped inside?”

“You won’t! And I promise I’ll look after you,” said Kitty, surprised.

The kitten backed away to the corner of the windowsill.“I can’t go in! Please don’t be mad!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad!” Kitty reached out and stroked the kitten between his ears. “I just don’t want you to be cold.”

“I’m quite warm here.” The kitten lay down on the windowsill and curled his tail around his body.

Kitty fetched her pillows and a blanket and brought them over to the window seat. She left the window open and settled down on the wide, cushioned seat so that she could be close to the ginger kitten. She could see his striped tummy rising and falling peacefully as he slept.

Kitty hoped he was having happy dreams. At last she closed her eyes too, and the stars twinkled above them in the velvet-black sky.

Chapter

6

When Kitty woke up the next morning, her mom was pushing the hair out of her face. She sat bolt upright, puzzled to find herself on the window seat and not in bed. Then she remembered everything that had happened the night before. She peeked through the open window, but the kitten wasn’t asleep on the sill anymore.

“Morning, Kitty!” said Mom. “You look like you had an adventure last night.”

Kitty glanced down at her superhero outfit.“It was amazing! A cat named Figaro came here looking for you. It was an emergency, so I went to help instead.”

“Shall I make us some breakfast? And then you can tell me all about it,” said Mom.