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“Lucy, I know you want to keep looking, but it’s really late. You have to go to bed – you’ve got school in the morning. We’ll search outside tomorrow, even though I still don’t see how Sky could’ve got out.” Lucy’s mum looked anxiously out of the window into the darkness.

Lucy stared out of the window as well, and shivered. It was so dark and cold now. Sky had only been outside the house that once when she’d slipped through the front door. She couldn’t stop imagining poor little Sky out there on her own, perhaps hiding under a bush, cold and frightened.

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She hugged her mum sadly, then slowly climbed the stairs to her room. Was it only this morning that Sky had woken her up by licking her face? It seemed so long ago. She got into bed, and lay there wishing she hadn’t been so stupid. If only she’d told her parents sooner that she’d changed her mind, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

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Sky was determined to wait until everyone had gone to bed before she came out. Then she would go and see if they had put her things back in their proper places. If they hadn’t, well, she would go back into the cupboard until they did! But she would find something to eat first.

As the noise in the house died down, she cautiously crawled out of her woolly nest and perched at the edge of the basket, her paws on the rim, listening carefully. Could she sneak out and look around yet? Was it safe? Perhaps she could creep up the stairs and see Lucy, too. She missed her so much!

Sky threaded her way carefully across the cupboard, avoiding a pile of umbrellas, and squeaking with disgust as she bumped into Kieran’s muddy football boots. Here was the door – she could see a line of light shining from the hallway.

But shouldn’t that line be bigger?

Sky was horrified as she realized that the door to the cupboard was closed. Confused, she scrabbled desperately at the wood, hoping to make the door open again. This door had definitely been open before. Why was it shut now? She yowled in frustration and fury, her tiny claws leaving long scratches in the paint.

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Eventually, Sky’s howls turned to frightened cries. She was trapped. She couldn’t get out. What if shenever got out?

Lucy! Come and find me! Please! she mewed.

But everyone else in the house was asleep, tired from searching and crying and worrying, and no one heard.

Eventually, Sky clambered back into her safe little nest. She wriggled under Lucy’s hat and fell asleep, her paws sore from scratching.

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A little later Lucy woke up with a start. She’d been half-dreaming, half-worrying. What if Sky hadn’t just slipped out because she spotted an open door? What if she’d run away on purpose?

Lucy knew she had been behaving oddly, playing with Sky one minute, and ignoring her the next. Maybe Sky had given up on her. After all, she had been taken away from her home and her mum, too, and everything had been different and strange, just like it had been for Lucy.

I drove her away, Lucy thought miserably, certain now that this was what had happened. Suddenly she threw back her duvet.“I made her go, and it’s up to me to go and find her,” she muttered to herself. “I can’t leave her out there, thinking I don’t love her. This is all my fault.”

It was past midnight, and Lucy was pretty sure everyone was asleep. She grabbed her torch, which luckily was on top of one of her boxes, and sneaked down the stairs. She wasn’t going to bother getting dressed – her pyjamas were fleecy and warm. She’d just put on her big dressing gown, and her fluffy hat and scarf. She was pretty sure Mum had unpacked them, and they were in that cupboard under the stairs.

Inside the cupboard, Sky was in a restless half-sleep. Then all at once the door opened, and a beam of light cut into the gloom of the cupboard, dazzling Sky for a moment before her eyes adjusted. It was Lucy! Sky was about to run to her, when she remembered the way her basket and food bowl were piled up on the kitchen counter. Did Lucy still want her? She peered out from under Lucy’s hat, her eyes big and round and hopeful in the dark.

“It’s my fault,” Lucy whispered to herself. “Poor Sky. All because I was so stubborn.”

Sky heard her name, and Lucy’s sad voice. But what did it mean?

Lucy spotted the basket, and flashed the torch over the top, looking for her hat and scarf. It was cold outside and she might be out searching for a while– she wasn’t coming back until she’d found Sky and brought her home!

Then she stopped with a gasp. Peering out from under her hat was a tiny creamy-white head. Big blue eyes blinked at her uncertainly.

“Sky!” Lucy breathed. “There you are! Mum was right, you didn’t get out after all! Oh, Sky, we’ve been looking for you all night.” She crouched down next to the basket, and looked closely at her. “Are you all right? Were you stuck in here? Why didn’t you call?”

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