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Amy shook her head.“I don’t think so. I know it sounds hard but the best person to look after them is definitely their mum – she’s built for feeding them, cleaning them, keeping them warm. If we take them away from her, we’re giving the kittens second-best. Do you see what I mean? So if there’d been any chance that their mum was going to come back and care for them, it was better to let her.”

“Dad thinks she might have been run over,” Lily said, gazing down at the kittens.

Amy nodded.“It’s possible, I’m afraid. Or she may just not have been able to feed them. Either way, I think we have to assume she’s not coming back.”

She opened the travel box and gently reached in to pick up one of the tabby kittens. Hugo whined and Amy laughed.“You’re such a good boy, aren’t you? Are you taking over from their mum, Hugo?”

She put the kitten gently into the box and Hugo nosed at the cardboard flaps, clearly making sure that the kitten was all right.“We wouldn’t usually put foster kittens with a family who had a dog but this is a bit of an emergency. Now, I’ll come back to the house with you, if that’s OK, and help you set up a safe pen to keep them in.”

Amy picked up the other tabby kitten and Lily watched anxiously as the white kitten gave a feeble mew. The kitten looked so little, left all on his own.“Can I pick this one up?” Lily whispered. He was hardly moving.

“Sure.”

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Lily picked up the tiny kitten– he wasn’t much bigger than her cupped hands – and carefully moved him over to the box. He squirmed around and gave another squeaky breath of a mew but then he cuddled up next to the two tabby kittens again, snuggling against the warmth of the hot-water bottle.

Lily looked up at Dad with shining eyes.“Let’s take them home.”

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Amy came back to the house to help settle the kittens in. She brought in a big box of equipment from her car– special kitten formula milk and kitten bottles and a litter tray. She explained that the kittens would need feeding about every four hours. “It’s a lot of work,” she said, looking round at them all. “Are you really sure you can manage?”

Mum was reading the instruction sheets, looking rather anxious.“Oh my goodness, I hadn’t even thought about sterilizing,” she murmured. “But I suppose it’s just like feeding a baby. Have we still got the old sterilizer in the loft?”

Dad grinned.“Yes. Now aren’t you grateful that I never sorted all that stuff out to go to the charity shop? I’ll go and get it. We need to give them a feed as soon as possible, don’t we?”

“Yes, that would be great.” Amy looked pleased. “Having a sterilizer will definitely make things easier. Oh!” Amy turned round from the table. Hugo had nudged open the kitchen door and marched in, looking determined.

“Sorry, I’ll take him out again.” Mum shook her head. “No, Hugo. You need to stay away from the kittens. It’s going to be tricky keeping him out, he’s used to having his basket and his food bowls in here.”

“Wait a minute,” Dad murmured. “Look at him. He’s not at all bothered that they’re in his kitchen. Even though we’ve moved his basket away from the radiator and put the box there instead.”

Amy nodded.“I think you’re right. And I was going to say that I’d try and get hold of a special heating pad for you, to keep the kittens warm but I’m not sure you’re going to need it.”

The kittens were still in their cardboard box, curled up on the hot-water bottle but now Hugo lay down and curled himself around it, so that they had his warmth, too. The kittens were already pressing up against the side of the box next to him. Even though they were so tiny, their instincts were telling them to warm up.

“Hugo really loves them.” Lily smiled. She’d never have expected that Hugo would make a brilliant kitten nurse.

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“Right,” Amy continued. “I’ll show you how to mix the milk powder and feed the kittens. And then – well, for another week or so, until they’re old enough to do it themselves, I’m afraid you’re going to have to help them wee and poo afterwards.”

“That’s disgusting!” Carly said, making a horrified face.

Amy laughed.“I know it sounds weird. But mother cats lick their kittens after they’ve fed them and that tells their bodies to wee or poo, you see. When you’re hand-rearing kittens, you have to do everything their mum does. But with cotton wool, dampened with warm boiled water,” she added hurriedly.

“Thank goodness for that,” Dad murmured.

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The white kitten woke up and looked around the dark room. He still couldn’t see or smell his mother but at least he was properly warm. He remembered being fed, too, but now he was feeling hungry again. He staggered up on to his paws and mewed, calling for his mother. But instead of a fluffy tabby face, a large white nose came over the side of his box and nuzzled at him.