The Kidnapped Kitten

“Bye, Charlie.” Tia gave him one last loving stroke. “See you tomorrow on the way to school!”

“You don’t mind that we can’t have a cat like Charlie?” her mum asked, as she unlocked the front door.

Tia turned round and hugged her.

“No! I just want a cat of our own, that’s all. Maybe a black and white cat, like Lucy’s? Will we be able to choose between lots of cats?”

“I’m not sure…” her mum said. “I’ll have to call the Cats Protection League. Lucy’s mum was telling me about Mittens, and I think she came from a lady who just had a few kittens living in her house. I don’t think the Cats Protection League has one big shelter.”

“That’s probably nicer for the cats,” Tia pointed out, as she took off her shoes.

“When’s our cat coming?” Christy asked. Christy was only four, and she didn’t really understand about the time things took.

“In a little while, I promise,” Mum said, and Tia gave a little sigh of happiness. Hopefully they wouldn’t have to wait too long…

“Tia! Tia!”

They were on their way to school, and Tia had been daydreaming about what sort of cat they might get. She jumped when Laura shouted after her.

Laura was at her front door, with Charlie weaving himself possessively around her ankles. “Oh, I’m glad I caught you! Is your mum around?”

“She’s a bit further up the road, chasing after Christy,” Tia explained.

“I don’t want to make you late for school, but I really wanted to let you know…”

Tia stared at Laura, not really sure what she was talking about.

“Sorry! I’ll start at the beginning. The lady who bred Charlie called me last night – I’d sent her a photo of him, and she was ringing to say thank you. And she mentioned she’s got a Bengal kitten for sale!”

“But we can’t—” Tia started to say. Mum was right. They really couldn’t afford a pedigree cat.

“Oh, I know, but that’s the thing. This kitten won’t be very expensive. She’s got a bent tail. She’s still gorgeous, but it’s what’s called a fault. It means she can’t be in a cat show, and no one would want her to have kittens, as they might have bent tails too. So I thought I’d tell you, just in case you want to go and see her. I expect lots of people will be keen to buy her – sometimes people wait ages for a Bengal kitten. I wrote it all down for you.” Laura darted back into the house and returned with a scrap of paper. “Here, give this to your mum. It’s the breeder’s phone number.”

Tia looked down at the piece of paper. Glimmershine Bengals, it said, Helen Mason, and a phone number. But somehow, for Tia, the scribbly writing seemed to say, Your very own kitten…

Chapter Two

“Are we sure about getting a Bengal kitten?” Dad asked, looking at the Glimmershine website. Tia had found it for him on his phone, so he could read it while he ate his toast. “It says here about them being very individual characters. That sounds like the kind of thing teachers say when they don’t want to say just plain naughty.”

Tia giggled. “Laura said Charlie’s a bit like that.”

“Mmmm. But he’s so friendly with you and Christy,” Mum said. “Some cats aren’t that keen on children.”

“Laura said Bengals can be naughty when they get bored and lonely,” Tia added. “But Mum’s around in the mornings, and we can play with the kitten after school.”

“I suppose so,” Dad agreed. “Well, there’s no harm going to see this kitten, anyway. What time did she say we should come over?”

“Any time from ten.” Mum looked at her watch. “We should probably get going, actually. It’s about half an hour away.”

Tia jumped up from the table, nearly tipping over her cereal bowl. Even though it was the weekend, she’d been up since six.

“Slow down,” Dad chuckled.

“Sorry…” Tia said. “It’s just so exciting!”

The car journey seemed to take far longer than half an hour. Tia was much too jittery to read a book or listen to music. They might actually be getting their kitten! She wriggled delightedly at the thought.

The house they pulled up at looked surprisingly ordinary – apart from a small sign, with a drawing of a cat on it. Somehow Tia had expected something different, although she wasn’t quite sure what. She followed her mum and dad up the path, feeling oddly disappointed.

Then Christy clutched at her arm. “Tia, look!” She was pointing at the window on one side of the front door.

The windowsill was lined with kittens. They were all sitting watching the girls walk up the path, their ears pricked up curiously.

“So many of them!” Tia gasped. They seemed to be different ages, too – some of them were much bigger than the others. She tried to count them, but Dad had rung the doorbell, and the kittens clearly heard it. They hurried to jump down from the windowsill – there had to be a chair or something underneath it, as they were all queuing to get down. Except that they didn’t queue very nicely, they were all pushing and barging into each other.

Someone had answered the door, but Tia and Christy hardly noticed – they were too busy watching the kittens.