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She watched Isla stumble down the path and then Hailey turned away from the door and buried her face in the coats hanging from hooks on the wall. Her shoulders were heaving. Silky eyed her for a moment and then slipped out of the open door into the front garden. She could hear Isla’s footsteps on the pavement and she darted after her. She peered round the edge of Isla’s front wall just in time to see the door slam as Isla ran inside.

Silky looked back along the street, wondering what to do. Right now, she didn’t want to go back to Hailey’s house. Pickle was there, and so was Hailey, and at the moment Hailey just made her think scary and loud.

Isla, though– Isla had rescued her from Pickle and then held her so gently, stroking her and whispering until Silky’s heart had stopped hammering inside her. Silky padded into Isla’s garden, stepping carefully over the crunchy gravel, and looked thoughtfully at the door. There was no way in there but there was a little path round the side of the house.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_32]

Silky went to investigate, pressed close against the wall, tail held low. She wasn’t sure if there was another cat here, ready to jump out at her. She made it all the way to a small, sunny garden and her ears pricked forwards. The sunny patches looked so inviting and there was a butterfly swooping low over the grass. Silky forgot about Isla and Hailey and the shouting, and dashed after it, making a ballet-dancer leap in the middle of the lawn. But the butterfly twirled away over the fence, leaving the small kitten far below.

Silky shook her whiskers crossly and then stopped dead still, staring at the house. The back door was open and there were good smells coming out. Perhaps Isla was in there and would make a fuss of her like she had the day before.

The back door led into the kitchen, which Silky thought was empty– it was certainly very quiet. Cautiously, she pattered up to the back step and hopped inside. She stood there, eyes wide and ears swivelling. She froze as someone began to whistle quietly on the far side of the kitchen – Isla’s dad was making dinner. But he was looking down at the vegetableshe was chopping and didn’t see a small, striped kitten pad quietly across the room and into the hallway.

There Silky stood, looking around uncertainly. She could go upstairs but that would take a lot of effort. She knew about stairs and she much preferred to have someone carry her up and down. Otherwise there were a couple of doors she could try. One sounded rather noisy– she could hear giggling and banging and some sort of squeaky toy – and she wasn’t sure about that at all. The other room was quieter. But as she stood there, listening, she caught a strange hiccupy sort of noise, muffled and sad.

What was it?

[Êàðòèíêà: img_33]

Silky crept round the living-room door and saw Isla, half sitting, half lying, on a big beanbag. Her face was buried against her arm and she was crying quietly into the soft cover of the beanbag.

Silky stood watching her for a moment and then jumped on to the sofa– she liked to be high up and looking down, it made her feel safer. She walked along until she was just next to Isla on the beanbag and then she mewed.

Isla didn’t notice – or didn’t seem to at first. Then the heaving gasps she was making stopped and she turned to look round at the sofa. Silky gazed back hopefully and Isla laughed. “Silky? What are you doing here?”

Isla sat up, wriggling round on the beanbag.“Did you follow me home?” she asked the kitten. She rubbed Silky’s ears and smiled as the tabby kitten began to purr. “I should take you back,” she murmured. “Hailey won’t know where you are.” But then she shivered. She didn’t want to go back to Hailey’s, not just yet.

Slowly, so as not to scare the kitten, Isla got up from the beanbag and sat down next to Silky on the sofa. She stroked her ears again and then ran her hand gently all the way down Silky’s back. The purring grew louder.

“You’re nearly shaking with purrs,” Isla said, starting to laugh. “I don’t know how someone as little as you can make that much noise.”

Silky marched firmly up on to Isla’s lap and stomped round in a circle, as though she was trying to knead Isla’s legs like dough. Clearly she wanted them just the right shape for a kitten. Then she curled herself into a tiny striped ball and yawned.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_34]

“Oh… You shouldn’t go to sleep,” Isla said. “I have to take you back.” But she didn’t say it very loudly.

“What’s that?” a small voice said, and Isla started. Sienna was standing by the arm of the sofa, staring down at the kitten in Isla’s lap. Within seconds, Chloe had appeared too and the pair of them gazed accusingly at Isla.

“You got a cat!”

“Is that your cat, Isla?”

“No,” Isla whispered sadly. “She’s Hailey’s. Do you remember me telling you about her? She’s called Silky. I think she must have followed me home. I have to take her back in a minute.”

“I want to stroke her!” Sienna announced, and Chloe chimed in, “And me!”