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“Oh, Pixie, no!” Lily stared at her anxiously. What was she going to think of Stanley? She’d been in Lily’s room a couple of times since they’d got the kittens but Lily had quickly shut her door so Pixie didn’t go downstairs. This was the first time Pixie had seen one of them.

Lily dithered, not sure whether to grab Stanley or try to shoo Pixie out. She didn’t want to push her back through the window, in case she slipped. Pixie came further in, climbing on to Lily’s windowsill and hissing loudly, her tail fluffing up.

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“No!” Lily said sharply, seeing Stanley cower back against the teddy bear, his own fur starting to stand up, too. “Pixie, out! This isn’t your house!”

She sat up, trying to grab Pixie. Perhaps she could take her downstairs and put her out of the front door.“I know you’ve been in here before, I’m sorry, Pixie. Ow!” Pixie had swiped her paw down Lily’s arm, leaving two bright red scratches. Then she hissed again, spat angrily at Stanley and darted back out of the window.

Lily shut the window, rather shakily. Pixie had never scratched her before. Then she glanced round at Stanley. He was huddled into a tiny white ball on her bed and he looked terrified.

“Oh, Stanley, I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s OK. She’s not coming back in.” Gently, Lily lifted him up in her cupped hands and snuggled him up against her T-shirt.

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“It’s all right, I’ll look after you, shh. I wish I could just look after you always,” she added sadly. The shelter had called Mum that morning to say a lady had seen the kittens on their website and wanted to come and visit them. She was interested in the two tabbies but Lily knew it wouldn’t be long until someone wanted to take Stanley, too.

Stanley huddled against her, his heart thumping. He didn’t understand what had just happened. He had been enjoying playing with Lily by himself, without his sisters climbing all over her, too. He loved it when she fussed over him and played with him and then let him snooze on her lap when he was tired out. But suddenly the other cat had appeared, one that Stanley had never seen before.

Hugo nosed his way round Lily’s door and padded across the room.

“Did you hear Pixie?” Lily murmured. “She was really cross. Oh, you can smell her, can’t you?”

Hugo’s ears had flattened back and he was sniffing at Lily’s bed. Then he nudged Stanley gently. The white kitten rubbed his head against the huge dog’s muzzle and then stepped back with a squeak as Hugo licked him, his big pink tongue practically covering the tiny kitten.

“Hugo!” Lily giggled. “Look at him, you’ve flattened his fur!”

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“They’re so beautiful… I wish we could take all of them but I think three cats might be too many.” Candace smiled at Lily and Carly and their mum. “You’ve done so well, hand-rearing them. They’re so big and healthy-looking. You did an amazing job!”

Mum put her arm round Lily’s shoulders. “To be honest, it was mostly Lily. She’s worked really hard – she even did some of the night feeds. I can’t believe how big they are now. Seven weeks old! The time’s gone so fast.”

Far too fast, Lily thought to herself.

“I suppose if they were still with their mum, it would be too early for us to adopt them,” Candace said thoughtfully. “It’s very lucky for us, getting to have such small kittens. We’re really grateful. Aren’t we, Jack?”

Her little boy nodded. He had Bella on his lap and he was running one finger carefully down her back all the way from the top of her head to her tail, over and over. Bella was nuzzling his hand, purring, and Jack looked as though his dream had come true.

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Even though Lily hated the thought of someone else taking her lovely kittens home, she could see that Candace and Jack were going to be amazing cat owners. At least they were only taking Bella and Trixie, she thought sadly. She wondered how Stanley would feel all on his own.

Stanley watched, confused, as the strange people put his sisters into a cat carrier. They were mewing, not sure what was happening, and he squeaked back anxiously. Where were they going? And why wasn’t he going, too?

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He hurried to the edge of the plastic box as the kitchen door opened and they all started to walk out– those people were taking his sisters away! Panicking, he clawed his way up the side of the box, his paws slipping, and scrambled out on to the floor to chase after them. But the door closed before he was halfway there, and he sat under the table and mewed frantically.

He jumped up when the door opened again and Lily let Hugo in. The big dog came nosing under the table and lowered his head to Stanley. He licked the kitten with one great swipe of his huge pink tongue and then slumped down to the floor next to him, resting his muzzle between his paws.

Stanley patted at one of Hugo’s long white paws, nibbled it and then snuggled wearily into the kitten-sized space between Hugo’s paw and his nose, curling up into a sad little ball.

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