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“He’s a little shy,” Emily’s mum explained. “But he’s very sweet once he gets used to you. Look, there he is!” She smiled, and pointed to the pen, where a little white head was poking out under the fleecy blanket. “I’ll get him out.” She picked him up and tried to pass him to Maria, but Whiskers squeaked in fright and then hissed, his paws all sticking out rigidly, and his tail fluffed out to twice its usual size.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_023.jpg]

“Oh dear, don’t make him if he doesn’t want to,” Maria said worriedly. “Poor thing, he really is nervous. There are a lot of cats round where I live, and I’m not sure this little one would cope very well if he’s so shy. I’m sorry – I’m sure you’ll find lovely homes for them all.”

Emily’s mum followed her to the door, and Emily and Leah looked down at Whiskers, who was now huddled in Leah’s arms.

“Oh, Whiskers,” Emily muttered. “No one’s going to want you if you do that every time. It’s so stupid! He wants to be Mia’s kitten, I know he does.”

Leah nodded.“I know. But we can’t make her have him. Maybe she’ll come round to the idea.”

Emily sighed.“I wish she’d hurry up about it.”

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

A couple of weeks later, Mia and her gran popped in on the way home from school, and found that only Whiskers and Satin were left.

“I’m not surprised Whiskers didn’t like them. The two little boys were quite noisy,” Emily’s mum was saying to Gran. “They thought Whiskers was lovely, and they were all set to choose him, but it was just like with Maria. They tried to cuddle him, and he actually shot out of the kitchendoor, and went and hid in the cupboard under the stairs! So they decided they’d take the tabbies instead.” She laughed. “And they’re going to call them Molly and Polly. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to remember which is which!”

“So it’s only Whiskers now?” Mia asked, as Emily’s mum made Gran a coffee. Mia sat stroking the little ball of white fur curled up in her lap.

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Emily nodded.“At least he’s still got Satin to play with. But Mum’s determined we’re only keeping one. We have to find Whiskers a home, and no one wants an unfriendly kitten.”

“He isn’t!” Mia said indignantly. “He’s a sweetheart. He’s just shy.”But maybe that’s a good thing, she admitted to herself.I really don’t want him to go…

Whiskers yawned, and wriggled himself comfortable again. Mia and Emily had been rolling balls of newspaper for him and Satin to chase, and he was exhausted. The kitchen was covered in shredded paper, though. Whiskers and Satin had done a thorough job… He rolled over on to his back, all four paws in the air, showing off his fat pinkish tummy. He was liking solid food more and more now, and after he’d had a meal, he was practically circular.

“But he’s so different with you…” Emily sighed. “He doesn’t mind playing with me and Leah, and he’ll let us stroke him. But I don’t think he’s ever gone to sleep on me. And definitely not upside down! That means he really trusts you, you know.”

Mia nodded. She didn’t dare say anything, but she looked up at Gran. She was smiling, and nodding as if she agreed with Emily. Maybe she was being silly. Was it like Gran had said when the kittens were born, that she was still holding on to missing Sandy? Was she making herself sad on purpose? Maybe it was finally time to let Sandy go…

Chapter Seven [Êàðòèíêà: i_012.jpg]

“I’ll come and fetch you at about six then, Mia,” Gran said, one day after school. Gran gave her a kiss, and Mia waved goodbye. Whiskers was already weaving himself happily around her ankles, purring. His purr had definitely got louder as he got bigger, Mia decided. He was twelve weeks old now, definitely old enough for a new home. But no one seemed to want a rather shy, nervous little white cat. Mia didn’t mind. She was looking forward to spending lots of time with Whiskers over the Christmas holidays. It had even started to snow that morning, although the flakes hadn’t really settled. She was sure that Whiskers would look gorgeous if they took him out to play in the snow. He would be invisible, except for his round blue eyes!

Whiskers patted at her leg with his paw, asking to be picked up. Mia came to see him almost every day now, but he still missed her when she wasn’t there. One day maybe she would take him with her?

“Hello, Mister Whiskers.” Mia picked him up and cuddled him. “What shall we do, mm?”

“Homework!” Emily said, grinning and waving the sheet Mrs Jones, their teacher, had given them for the project they had to do over the Christmas holidays. It was the last week of term and neither of the girls really felt like working, but Mrs Jones was known as the scariest teacher at their school. The project had to get planned, even if it was only a little over a week till Christmas Day. “We have to sort this project out, remember? Come on, bring Whiskers with you.” She scooped up Satin, leaving Silky alone in the hallway, looking quite relieved. Whiskers and Satin were so much bigger now, and so bouncy that they wore Silky out.