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“Let’s see what we can find out about taming kittens,” Dad suggested. “Theywere very sweet. And I think it’s too late to put Emma off them. She’s already fallen in love with the little tabby. I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl? We didn’t get close enough to check.”

“I thought he was a boy, just because he looked like he was wearing a little white shirt. But I don’t know for sure.”

Emma’s dad looked over at her mum and she smiled.

“We’ll see,” Mum said. “I’m not promising anything, but perhaps you could do a bit of research. Find out what we’d have to do…”

“Yes!” Emma squealed. “Oh, Mum, this is so exciting! Please can we hurry up and eat lunch so I can look it all up on the computer.”

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“Hello, Ivy Bank Stables?”

“Hi, Liz,” Emma said, a bit shyly. She’d never rung up the stables before – usually Mum did it if they had to book a lesson.

[Êàðòèíêà: _17.jpg]

“Oh! Is that you, Emma? Is everything OK? How’s your ankle?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all now. I’m just ringing because I’ve been talking to Mum and Dad about the kittens. I asked if we could adopt one, but my mum’s not sure. She says maybe it ought to be somebody who’s more experienced with cats.” Emma frowned to herself, trying to remember all theinformation she and Dad had looked up that afternoon. “But the thing is, if they’re going to be rehomed, the kittens need to have lots of contact with people, so they’re not shy around humans like Tiggy and the others are. So I was wondering if I could come and spend some time with them.”

“Yes, that makes sense,” Liz said slowly. “And it’s lovely that you want to help look after them, Emma. Of course you can – if your mum and dad are fine with it.”

“Oh, they are,” Emma told her. She hesitated, and then went on, “I’m really hoping Mum will let me adopt one of the kittens, if I can help tame them. At the moment she’s a bit worried that they’ll be too wild. But we’ve found lots of ways to help with that. Me and Dad have been doing loads of research. It’s the little tabby one I really love.”

“He’s adorable, isn’t he? So, is there anything I should be doing? Or the others at the stables?” Liz asked.

“I think just try to spend some time with them. Would it be OK if I came to the stables after school sometimes, as well as for my lessons? The more the kittens get used to people, the better. I’m guessing you want to find homes for the others as well?”

Emma heard Liz sigh down the phone.“Yes, I need to think about that. Perhaps I’ll put a notice up on the board outside the stables.”

“Oh!” Emma suddenly remembered something she’d read on a website. “There’s a charity that’ll help with neutering the cats. They’ll even come and get them for you! They’ll catch them and neuter them for free, and then bring them back.”

“Really? That sounds amazing. Could you find their details for me, please?” Liz laughed. “You really are serious about cats, aren’t you, Emma?”

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Emma went to the stables whenever she could get Mum or Dad to drive her. She spent most of her pocket money on a cat care book, just in case she did manage to persuade Mum to take the tabby kitten home. The kitten wouldn’t be allowed to leave his mother until it was seven or eight weeks old, anyway. They had to give the kittens the chance to learn everything they needed from Tiggy. So she had plenty of time to read the whole bookand persuade her mum that the tabby kitten would be the perfect pet.

The first time she went, Emma just sat quietly by the door. Tiggy watched her suspiciously, her ears laid back and the tip of her fluffy tail twitching. It was obvious that she was making Tiggy nervous, but she had to get to know the kittens, Emma told herself. It was so important. She wrapped her arms round her knees and just sat listening to the squeaks and rustles in the straw. By the time Dad came to pick her up, Tiggy was lying down feeding the kittens as if Emma wasn’t there.

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On her next visit, Emma decided to bring Tiggy some cat treats. If Tiggy was distracted, she might let Emma near the kittens. Liz had told her that Tiggy had licked the bowl of fish spotlessly clean, so Emma decided to get fish-flavoured ones.

She crouched down a little way from the kittens and shook some treats out of the packet next to Tiggy. The cat sniffed at them curiously. Emma could tell she wanted the fishy treats, but that she wasn’t ready to eat in front of her. Emma sat with her chin on her knees, looking away from Tiggy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could just see her edging closer to the pile.

Tiggy made one last little hop and started to gobble down the treats. Then she sniffed cautiously at Emma’s right foot – the part of her that was nearest – and darted back to her kittens. Emma couldn’t stop herself beaming. It felt like a breakthrough.