The Secret Kitten

“Oh!” Lucy nodded and smiled. “Yes. But sort of sad. There’s a big bit about shelters. And it says not many people choose the black cats. I was just thinking I definitely would.”

“Oh, me, too,” the other girl agreed.

Lucy thought frantically, trying to remember her name. There were loads of girls in her class, but she thought this one was called Sara. “Our cat’s mostly black, but he’s got a white front and white paws. My mum says he looks like he’s wearing a penguin suit.” She leaned over and looked at the article. “What’s that about National Black Cat Day?”

Lucy looked at the bubble down near the bottom of the page. She hadn’t got there yet. “The Cats Protection League invented it! To show everyone that black cats are special. It’s in October – oh, the same day as Halloween. I suppose that makes sense. But black cats aren’t all spooky.”

Sara giggled. “They’re good at appearing out of nowhere, though. I’m always tripping over Harvey.”

“Aw, that’s such a cute name for a cat.” Lucy smiled.

“He just looks like a Harvey,” Sara explained. “Even when he was a kitten, there was something Harvey-ish about him. Have you got a cat?” she added, looking at Lucy sideways. There was something hopeful about the way she asked it, as though she wanted someone to share cat stories with. A friend who had a cat of her own – what could be better than that?

It was the first time someone had really seemed interested in her at school. If she said no, Sara would shrug and smile and walk away, Lucy was sure of it. And she was just as sure that she didn’t want that to happen. So she nodded, slowly, trying to think about what to say. “Yes. We’ve got a kitten.” She slipped her hand under the magazine and crossed her fingers. She hated to lie, especially to someone as nice as Sara, but she had to. “We’ve only just got her.” It was almost true, wasn’t it? She wanted that little black-and-white kitten from the alleyway to be theirs, so much…

“Oh, you’re so lucky! Is she gorgeous? What does she look like? How old is she?”

Lucy swallowed. “She’s black and white, like Harvey. And she’s very little, only just old enough to leave her mother. She was a stray.”

“What’s she called?” Sara demanded eagerly.

Lucy blinked. She couldn’t think. Not a single name would come into her head. What was a good name for a kitten?

Then she smiled at Sara. She knew the perfect name, of course she did.

“She’s called Catkin.”

Chapter Four

“What’s the matter, Lucy?” Gran looked up from her book and peered across the table at her granddaughter’s pile of books. “You haven’t written anything for ages.”

“It’s a project.” Lucy sighed. “It’s difficult. It’s about Egyptians and we can make the project about whatever we like – that’s what’s so hard about it. I can’t choose, even though I’ve got all these books out of the library.”

And, of course, only half her mind was on her project. The rest of it was worrying about having lied to Sara two days ago. Especially as Sara was really, really excited. She kept asking about Catkin, and she obviously really wanted to come and see her. But she was too nice – or maybe too shy – to ask straight out if she could come round. Lucy had a feeling that she was working herself up to it, though.

The awful thing was, Lucy would have liked Sara to come round. She’d love to have a friend home for tea. Gran and Dad kept gently asking if there was anyone she really liked at school and if she wanted to invite somebody over. William had had Harry round and been back to his house, too. And he’d been invited to a birthday party already.

But if Sara came round, then she’d know that Lucy had been lying about Catkin and she’d hate her. She might even tell the entire class that Lucy was a liar.

“I went to Egypt, you know,” Gran said thoughtfully, breaking into Lucy’s thoughts. “It must have been, oh, goodness, eight, ten years ago? Yes, just before you were born, Lucy. We went to see the pyramids, me and one of my old schoolfriends. Auntie Barbara, you remember her?”

Lucy didn’t, but she nodded as if she did. “You really went there? What was it like? Did you go and see the Great Pyramid?”

“We certainly did. We went inside it, as well. It was quite frightening,” Gran added slowly. “Very shadowy and hard to breathe. I didn’t like it much, Lucy, I have to admit, but I’m glad I saw it. And from the outside, they were incredible to look at. Wait a minute.” She smiled and got up, walking through into the living room. Lucy could hear her opening drawers in the big display cabinet that had most of her precious, ever-so-breakable ornaments in it.

Gran came back in, carefully unrolling a piece of brownish paper. “Look, this is what I brought back as a souvenir of the holiday, Lucy. It’s a papyrus. Like paper, but made out of reeds.” She held it out. “You can take it, have a look.”