Misty the Abandoned Kitten

Every time she went up to her tree house, Amy watched out for the kitten, but she hadn’t seen her for a couple of days. Maybe she had a home after all?

It was just as Amy was admitting to herself that the kitten might not come back, that she saw her again. She was walking carefully along the fence that ran across the back of Amy’s garden – almost underneath the tree house. Amy caught her breath. She watched as the little creature padded along the narrow boards of the fence, like a tightrope walker. She smiled proudly to herself, noting that she had made the kitten’s eyes exactly the right colour.

“Puss, puss, puss…” she called, very gently and quietly.

The kitten looked up, startled. She had been watching a white butterfly and hadn’t seen the girl at all. She tensed up, ready to run. This girl was calling her like Millie had – was she going to try and pull her about, or dress her up in dolls’ clothes?

But the girl didn’t move. She was sitting up in a strange little house in a tree. Her voice was different too. Quieter. She didn’t make the kitten feel nervous, like Dan and Millie did.

The girl moved, and the kitten stepped back a pace, wondering if she should leap down from the fence and race across the garden to safety – although she wasn’t quite sure where that was, now that Mrs Jones wasn’t hers any more.

But the girl didn’t try to grab her. She just shifted herself so that she was perched on the ladder, her arm trailing down. The kitten looked up. If she stretched, she could just brush the girl’s fingers with the side of her face. She could mark the girl with her scent. Her whiskers bristled with surprise at the idea that she might make this girl belong to her. She took a step closer, and then another, so that she could sniff the girl’s fingers.

Swiftly, daringly, the kitten nudged the girl’s hand. Then she leaped down from the fence and dashed back across the garden.

Chapter Four

Amy laughed delightedly to herself, as she watched the little kitten scurrying away. She could still feel the cold smudge of its nose against her hand.

“She came back!” she whispered happily to herself. She gazed down at her drawing and sighed. Misty was so much prettier in real life. Amy was sure she was a girl kitten, she was so delicate looking. Her fur was midnight-black and glossy, not the dull black of a drawing. She was very thin, though. Amy thought that she might even be thinner than when she’d seen her last week. If Misty was getting thinner, did that mean she didn’t have an owner? Perhaps she’d got lost – Amy couldn’t imagine anyone abandoning such a beautiful kitten. How could they?

If she was a stray… Amy played with her hair thoughtfully. She knew her mum and dad had said she was too young to look after a cat, and that if she told them she’d found a stray kitten, they would want to take it to the cat shelter. But now she had the tree house. Her own special, secret place. A perfect little house to hide a kitten in.

Amy shook her head and sighed. It was only a silly dream. But dreaming was fun…

“Guess what happened yesterday!” said Amy to Lily, as soon as their mums had said goodbye at the school gates. She grabbed her friend’s hand and towed her over to a bench in a quiet corner of the playground.

“What?” Lily’s eyes sparkled excitedly.

“The kitten came back again and I touched her! She came walking along our back fence when I was up in the tree house. She was really shy, but she sniffed my fingers, and sort of nudged me, you know how cats do?”

Lily nodded. “Stella does that, it’s really sweet. Oh, I’m so glad I’m coming to your house tonight, maybe I’ll see her too.”

“The thing is, I definitely think she’s got thinner since I last saw her.” Amy sighed. “I’m really worried about her.” She looked up at Lily. “Do you think I should feed her? I know she might belong to someone else, but I just don’t see how she can. She’s awfully thin.”

Lily was practically bouncing up and down on the bench. “You should! You have to! But what are you going to feed her on?”

Amy smiled. “When you come home with me tonight, do you think you could ask to stop at the pet shop so you can buy some cat treats for Stella? I’ve brought some of my birthday money.”

Lily nodded eagerly. “Of course. Stella really likes the salmon ones, we should get those.”

Amy laughed. “I’m not sure this kitten would care about the flavour as long as it’s food.”

“I’ll tell your mum I need a couple of extra tins of cat food, too,” Lily added. “You can’t just feed her on the treats.”

“That would be brilliant,” Amy told her gratefully.

“I can’t wait to see her – can we go up in the tree house tonight and wait to see if she comes?”

Amy nodded. “I thought maybe if I put some food out, she might smell it.”