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“Oh, there’s the doorbell! Shall we go and answer it, or let Mum?” Olivia twisted her fingers together nervously. She so wanted to make a good impression.

“Mmmpfl.” Ben made a strange grunting noise, and Olivia stared at him.

He shrugged.“Well, you said not to talk!”

“That doesn’t mean make stupid noises! If she asks you a question you have to say something.”

“Something.”

“Fine, I’m keeping my pocket money.” Olivia marched down the stairs feeling furious. If Ben managed to mess this up, she was never going to forgive him. Ben followed her, sniggering.

Mum was just answering the door to a friendly-looking lady in a Rescue Centre fleece.

“Hi. I’m Debbie, from the Cat Rescue Centre.”

“Thanks for coming. I’m Emma and this is my husband, John, and this is Olivia and Ben.” Mum led Debbie into the living room, and Olivia and Ben followed behind. Dad went to put the kettle on.

“It seems like a fairly quiet area.” Debbie made a note on the sheet she was holding. “Not too many cars.”

“Lots of people around here have cats,” Olivia put in hopefully.

Mum laughed.“And Olivia is friends with all of them!”

Olivia perched nervously on the edge of the sofa. Ben was sitting on the sofa arm, and for once he didn’t look as though he was planning anything silly. Olivia crossed her fingers. “Are there really kittens at the Rescue Centre right now?” she asked Debbie shyly.

Debbie nodded.“Two litters, actually. One’s mostly ginger and white, and the other litter are a smoky grey. They’re all really sweet.”

Olivia’s eyes shone as she imagined sitting on the sofa, just like she was now, but with a tiny grey kitten purring on her lap.

Debbie went through a long list of questions, checking how much time the kitten would be left alone, and that Olivia’s mum knew they’d have to pay for vet’s bills. Olivia could see the list if she leaned over, and it mostly had ticks in the boxes. Hopefully Debbie would say yes!

Just as Debbie was handing Mum some leaflets about pet insurance and flea treatments, Dad came in with a tray of tea. He passed the cups round, then he sat down on the sofa next to Olivia. There was a sudden, very loud, very rude noise, and Dad jumped up, his face scarlet.

Ben practically fell off the sofa arm he was laughing so much, and Olivia pulled out a whoopee cushion from behind Dad.

“Ben!” Mum sounded horrified.

“I’d forgotten it was there, sorry,” Ben said, but he didn’t look very sorry at all.

Olivia looked over at Debbie, her eyes starting to burn with tears. Did having a stupid, rude big brother mean no kitten?

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But Debbie was giggling.“I haven’t seen one of those in ages. My brother used to do that all the time.” Then she looked serious. “A kitten really is a big responsibility, though. And everyone in the family has to be prepared to help care for it properly.” She was staring at Ben, who looked embarrassed.

“I will look after it, I promise,” he muttered.

Debbie nodded.“Right then.” She signed her name in swirly letters across the bottom of the form. “You can come and choose your kitten tomorrow!”

Chapter Two

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Olivia doodled on her reading record book, trying to think of the best name for a beautiful little grey kitten, or perhaps a sweet gingery one. She quite liked Esmerelda, herself. But then Dad had said at breakfast that it had to be a name that they didn’t mind yelling down the garden to get the kitten to come in for tea. Olivia giggled. She couldn’t really see Ben shouting, “Es–mer–el–da!”

Fluffy? Smoky? Whiskers? None of them sounded quite right. Olivia scowled down at the picture she was drawing. A kitten with big, sad eyes, just waiting for her to come and bring him home. She wished they’d been able to go to the Rescue Centre yesterday, straight after Debbie had approved them, but Mum said they needed to get everything ready first, and Olivia supposed she was right. They didn’t even have a food bowl!

Lucie elbowed her in the ribs.“Mr Jones has got his eye on you, Olivia!”

Olivia straightened up and tried to look as though she was listening. She loved history usually, but today she couldn’t think of anything except kittens. They were going to the pet shop after school to get everything, and then on to the Rescue Centre!

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The kitten finished his bowl of biscuits and licked his paw, swiping it across his nose and ears. Then he trotted over to the wire front of the pen and stood up on his hind paws, his front claws scraping on the wire. He scrabbled at it for a moment, hoping that someone might come and open it for him. Sometimes the Rescue Centre staff came to play with the kittens, when they weren’t too busy. But maybe they wouldn’t, now that it was only him.

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