Misty the Abandoned Kitten

“Don’t bother Gran, you two. You know she needs to rest and get better.” The children’s mother was standing in the doorway now. “Do you want a cup of tea or anything, Mum?”

“No, no, Sarah, thank you. I’m just going to sit here with Jet to keep me company.”

“OK. Come on, you two. Don’t forget to shut the door – you know we need to keep Jet in here for the next few days.”

The children ran off after their mum, and the kitten relaxed. This place wasn’t home, but at least Mrs Jones was here.

“Oh dear, it’s a big change, isn’t it?” The old lady tickled her under the chin. “Still, Sarah’s right. I’m better off here where she can keep an eye on me.”

But Jet wasn’t listening. She’d tensed up again, the fur on her tiny black tail bristling. Millie and Dan hadn’t shut the door properly after all, and there was another cat here. A big Siamese staring at her with round blue eyes. She mewed anxiously. Did this house already belong to another cat?

Mrs Jones looked over at the cat. “Oh, there’s Charlie. Don’t worry, Jet. He’s friendly; Sarah told me he’d be no trouble. No trouble at all.”

“Come out into the garden!” Amy’s dad held open the back door, an excited expression on his face.

“The present is outside?” Amy asked doubtfully. Why would a kitten be outside? She stepped out, and looked round at her parents, who were beaming at her.

“Look at the tree!” Dad pointed up at the big chestnut tree at the end of the garden.

“Oh! A tree house!” Amy said, sounding rather surprised.

“Don’t you like it?” Her dad’s voice was suddenly anxious.

“Yes, I do, I love it.” Amy hugged him. It was true – she had always wanted a little private hideaway of her own. It was just that it wasn’t a kitten…

“Why don’t you go and explore?” said Mum.

Amy ran down the garden and climbed the wooden ladder that her dad had fastened on to the tree trunk.

The tree house smelled lovely, of new wood. Amy looked round it delightedly. There was a big purple beanbag to sit on, and on a tiny wooden table by the square window was a birthday cake, with pink icing.

Amy leaned out of the door, and smiled down at her parents. “It’s a brilliant present. Thank you!”

“We’ll cut the cake in about half an hour, OK?” said Mum, smiling.

Amy sat down on the beanbag, and sighed. She loved the tree house – but at the same time, she was secretly a little disappointed. “I should have known it wouldn’t be a kitten,” she whispered to herself. “It was just that I was really hoping…”

Chapter Two

On Saturday it was Amy’s birthday party. She and Lily and a couple of other friends from school were going to the cinema, and then to her favourite café for tea. She was really looking forward to it – but every so often something would remind her about kittens and she’d feel sad again.

“I can never decide whether to have sweet or salty popcorn,” said Lily, as she and Amy walked over to the food counter. “Or do you want to share some pick ’n’ mix instead? Amy…?” She turned to her friend. “Are you OK? You seem a bit quiet,” she whispered. “Is it about your present?”

Amy nodded. “My tree house is really cool. I can’t wait for you to see it.” She sighed. “Maybe they’ll change their minds about me getting a cat in time for my next birthday.”

Lily gave her a hug. “You can come and borrow Stella any time.”

Amy smiled at her gratefully, but it wasn’t the same as a kitten of her own.

Mrs Jones’s daughter, Sarah, had promised her that Charlie would be fine with having another cat in the house. She was really worried about her mum, who’d had a couple of bad falls, and she wanted to be able to look after her. And that meant her kitten, too. But Sarah just hadn’t realized how jealous Charlie would be.

“Come on! Auntie Grace says she’s made a cake!” The children were struggling into their coats, and Sarah was trying to hurry everyone up. It was Sunday, and all the family were going over to visit Mrs Jones’s other daughter.

Jet heard the front door bang, Mrs Jones’s stick tapping as she went down the front step and then the noise of the children growing fainter as they walked down the path. They were all going out! Jet shivered. She was hiding under a bookshelf in the living room. It was very low to the ground and she’d discovered that Charlie couldn’t chase her under there, as he was too big. It wasn’t a very nice place to stay – it was dusty and she had to lie flat to fit – but at least it was safe.

Now that she was allowed out of the living room and into the rest of the house, Jet spent almost the whole time hiding from Charlie. He kept pouncing on her, and he was a lot bigger than she was. They had been sharing the house properly for almost a week now, and he hadn’t got any better. He kept stealing her food, too, so she was hungry all the time. But he was sneaky enough only to do it when no one was looking. If the family were there he would just glare at her until she felt too scared to eat and slunk away from her bowl.