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Barbie batted a cautious paw at her new cat flap. She had only been allowed to go out for a few days, and she was still a bit confused by the flap– the way it sometimes opened and sometimes didn’t – and she didn’t much like the bang it made when it shut behind her. She usually jumped through it as fast as she could. She patted it again and then dived through, out into the garden.

It was sunny and warm, and there were butterflies. She loved butterflies. They were like the feathery toy that Edie waved for her– they bounced and fluttered, and she never knew which direction they would go in. She had tried chasing them, but they were hard to catch…

Barbie turned as she heard the back door open behind her, and Edie stepped out carrying a sandwich. Barbie eyed the plate hopefully. Edie was good at sharing, and her sandwiches often had ham in them, or cheese. She liked cheese. She padded over to Edie and started to weave around her feet.

“Layla!” Edie called across the garden. “Are you there? Is Amber out?” She hopped up on to the garden bench and looked over the wall.

“Yes! She’s chasing butterflies, I really hope she doesn’t catch one.”

“Barbie loves doing that, too. Oh! Hello, Barbie!”

Barbie was scrabbling at the wall, and Edie watched impressed as she climbed all the way on to the top, next to Edie’s elbow. The little kitten perched there looking proud of herself and Edie scratched her behind the ears.

“Aren’t you clever? Look, who’s that?” Edie whispered to her, pointing across Layla’s garden. “Can you see?”

Barbie’s tail fluffed up a bit and Edie watched her, a little worried. She wasn’t sure how Barbie was going to feel about another cat so close to her own garden.

Amber came pacing down the garden towards the wall. There wasn’t a bench on her side, so she couldn’t jump up, but she stood beneath the wall, gazing up at Barbie, her golden eyes round and curious.

The two kittens stared at each other, and Edie and Layla stood watching. Neither of them had been sure how their kittens would react when they met. Would they even understand that they were sisters?

Then Amber stood up, patting her front paws against Layla’s leg, asking to be picked up. Layla lifted her, and Amber leaned out of her arms, reaching forward curiously towards the wall.

Barbie leaned over, too, and the kittens sniffed at each other. Amber wriggled and Layla reached up to put her on the wall next to Barbie.

“Do you think they remember?” Edie whispered, as the sisters inspected each other carefully, sniffing and nudging. Then she smiled as Barbie stepped closer to Amber and rubbed her head all round Amber’s, nuzzling at her gently. “They do, look! They know they’re sisters!” Edie rested herchin on her arms, watching as Amber snuffled round Barbie, and smiled at Layla on the other side of the wall.

“We rescued them both,” Layla whispered.

“We’re never going to let anything happen to you,” Edie told them. Then she laughed as Barbie padded back along the wall to nuzzle a cold little nose lovingly against her cheek.