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“She’ll probably just be in the garden somewhere,” Dad said. “Let’s go and look. Don’t get upset, Zara.”

Amina and Zara hurried out into the garden, both of them calling anxiously,“Pixie! Pixie, where are you?”

Zara was hoping that a small black-and-white cat would come darting out of the bushes. Pixie had never been in the garden– they’d been so careful to make sure they kept the doors and windows shut all this time. But someone had forgotten in the excitement of the party.

“Zara, look.” Zara turned. Amina didn’t sound angry any more – she seemed to be as worried and frightened as Zara was. “The gate. If Pixie was out here, she could have gone round the side of the house to the front.”

Zara stared at the side gate– it was one of those fancy metal ones, all twirly bits stuck together. It would be the easiest thing in the world for a little kitten to slip through one of those holes. Thirty seconds later, Pixie could be out on the road.

Zara glanced round to see that Mum and Dad had come up behind them and they were staring grimly at the gate too.

“Right.” Dad let out a slow breath. “Right. OK. We’d better go and look up and down the street.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_34]

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Pixie burrowed into the pile of softness. She was still trembling, the fur along her spine standing up in spikes. She didn’t understand what had been happening – why Zara and Amina had felt so different. There had been something in their voices, a sharpness that had frightened her so much she’d wanted to bite and scratch. And then Zara had squeezed her and she’d panicked… She had lashed out, desperate to getaway.

But now she was safe. It was quiet in here, and calm, and warm. The soft things smelled of Zara and Amina, which would usually have been comforting– mostly it still was. There was just that little edge of worry. She was so tired. So much had happened…

Pixie yawned and kneaded her paws against the soft pile. She slept.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Zara dashed along their street, stopping to look under every parked car. She hated to think of Pixie out here all on her own. Their kitten seemed so tiny– she just wasn’t big enough and grown-up enough to cope with cars and people – and what about dogs? Zara stopped, breathing hard. She hadn’t even thought about that.

“Zara, don’t go too far!” Mum called. “Stay where we can see you.”

Zara dug her nails into the palms of her hands. She knew that Mum and Dad were just as keen to find Pixie as she was but it felt like they were going so slowly.

“She could be hiding in any of these gardens,” Dad said gently, catching up with her. “We need to call her and give her a chance to come to us.”

“What if she tried to cross the road?” Zara asked, her voice shaking.

Dad looked across at the other pavement, chewing his bottom lip.“The road’s not that busy…” he said at last, but Zara could see he was worried.

Mum and Amina were further up the street, talking to one of their new neighbours. Dad had mentioned that both sets had popped round to say a quick hello, but they’d hardly seen them since then and it wasn’t as if they knew them.

Mum smiled and waved at the elderly man and hurried to catch them up.“Ben says he hasn’t seen her. He’s been working in his front garden all afternoon, but he might not have spotted her if she’d run past quickly.”

“We have to keep looking,” Zara said, flinching as a car drove by – so fast.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_35]

“Mmm.” Mum glanced up at the sky and Zara realized that the streetlights must have come on in the last few minutes. It was getting dark. What were their chances of finding a mostly black kitten in the dark?

“Let’s go along the road one more time and call for her,” Dad suggested. “We’ll cross over and do that side. Stay with me, Zara, OK? I don’t want you running ahead now it’s getting dark.”

They called and called. Zara’s heart jumped inside her when there was a rustling from under a clump of bushes. She thought for a second that they’d found Pixie but instead a curious tabby cat came prowling over and jumped up on to the garden wall. It was so friendly and it wanted Dad and Zara to stroke it, but Zara just couldn’t bear to.

“If you see our Pixie, you tell her to come home,” Dad murmured to the cat. Zara thought he was trying to cheer her up, but it didn’t work.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_36]

There were only a couple more houses now– surely they couldn’t have gone all the way along the road already?

“Shall we go round the corner?” Zara suggested to Dad, but he looked at his watch and shook his head.

“I don’t think we’re going to find her, Zara. We’d better head back.”

“We can’t just leave her out here!” Zara cried. But Mum and Amina were crossing over to them now and Zara could tell from Mum’s face that she was going to say the same thing.

“That book we got from the library said that if your cat got lost you should put their litter tray outside,” Amina suggested sadly. “It helps them follow their own scent back home.”