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Isla looked at them worriedly. Silky was so tiny… and Sienna and Chloe could be rough sometimes. But then Mum had said she thought they were maybe old enough to get a cat and Silky didn’t seem to be scared of them. She’d given up on sleeping and was now standing up in Isla’s lap, gazing curiously at the two small girls.

“You can stroke her,” Isla said. “But you have to be really, really gentle. You mustn’t hurt her or scare her, OK?”

“Yes!” Chloe said, bouncing on to the sofa beside Isla.

“I want to be next to the kitten,” Sienna demanded. “It was me said first!”

Isla wriggled so there was space either side of her, hoping that Silky wouldn’t get fed up and leap away. But she just balanced like a little kitten surfer. “There, now there’s room for you both,” Isla said. “You can stroke her but you have to take turns,” she added hurriedly. “And not too hard on her head.”

“She’s soft,” Chloe whispered.

“Softer than a teddy,” Sienna agreed. “So soft.”

Isla watched, surprised, as Chloe and Sienna took turns stroking, each one waiting patiently. She hadn’t expected them to be so good. “You can tickle her under the chin too,” she suggested, showing them what she meant. “She likes that. Listen, can you hear her purring?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_35]

“Like a car!” Chloe said, giggling.

“Yeah, or the lawnmower,” Isla agreed. Then a tiny noise from the doorway made her look up and she realized that her dad was standing there, watching them. Isla looked down at the kitten in her lap, eyes closed and purring with delight, and wondered how she was going to explain.

“So why do we have a cat?” her dad asked, coming to sit down next to Chloe.

“She’s Hailey’s,” Chloe told him. “Her name’s Silky. Isn’t she nice, Daddy?”

“Very nice,” he agreed. “But why is shehere?”

“I think she followed me home,” Isla said. “Honestly, Dad, I didn’t bring her with me on purpose. I was in here and then I just looked up and Silky was on the sofa staring at me! I don’t even know how she got in.” Then she sighed. “I was just about to take her back.”

“Aww, not yet. Can’t we stroke her a little bit more?” Sienna pleaded. “We’re being good like you said.”

“You really are,” their dad murmured, watching them with his eyebrows raised. “You’re being very good. Well done, Isla.” Then he added, “Can I have a go?”

“You have to take turns,” Chloe told him sternly. “Like we are. Tickle under her chin like this, Daddy.”

“Wow, she likes that, doesn’t she?” Their dad laughed as Silky suddenly began to purr louder. Then she stood up and gave a stretch that arched her back and made her almost twice as tall. She looked around thoughtfully and marched straight over Chloe’s lap and on to Dad’s. She sat down again, padded thoughtfully at his trousers and then collapsed over on to her side, showing off her white spotted tummy.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_36]

Dad shook his head.“Well, she knows which side her bread’s buttered,” he murmured, cautiously scratching Silky’s tummy fur with one finger.

Chloe and Sienna scrambled round him on the sofa so they could snuggle up close and pet the kitten too. Isla watched them, smiling sadly.

Mum had said that they needed to convince Dad about getting a cat. She reckoned Silky might just have done it for them.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_37]

Isla glanced up– was that a knocking on the door? It was very faint. Dad had told her that Mum had gone out for a run, so Isla decided she’d better answer it. When she opened the door, Hailey was standing on the step, her face blotchy and tear-stained.

“Oh!” Isla didn’t know what else to say. She just stared at Hailey, hoping that she wasn’t going to yell again. And how was she going to explain that Silky was in her living room?

“I came to say I’m sorry,” Hailey said. She sounded sniffly. “I should never have shouted at you and I know you were only worried about Silky.”

“It’s OK—” Isla started to say, but Hailey hadn’t finished.

“I think I only got upset because I knew you were right.” She glanced up at Isla. “My mum said the same thing in the car on the way home. That she was really worried about Pickle and she wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to cope with another cat living in his house. That we have to take Silky back. She said Pickle seems sad all the time and she’s sure he isn’t eating as much. Mum thinks he’s even lost weight!”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_38]

“Oh wow…”

Hailey sighed.“At least the vet will be pleased. She said he was getting a bit fat. But Silky’s not happy either. I know that really. She hides all the time because she’s scared of Pickle. We can’t even find her right now. She’s so tiny she can squeeze herself into all these little spaces and we don’t have a clue where she’s got to.”

“Um, actually I was just about to come and see you.” Isla gave an apologetic shrug. “I know where Silky is.”

Hailey looked relieved.“Is she OK?”

“Come and see.” Isla led Hailey down the hallway to the living room. “You have to be quiet…” she whispered, pointing through the door.