Холли Вебб - The Kitten Nobody Wanted

“But what about the lady who rang? Miriam?” Mia murmured. Her mind was whirring, trying to take all this in.

“Emily’s mum called her to explain. She was very sympathetic, apparently. She lost a cat recently too; she said she knew how hard it could be.”

“So Whiskers is really ours?” Mia looked down at the kitten, who was sniffing the cat blanket interestedly, his whiskers looking remarkably white against the navy blue fleece. She reached out, and tickled him under the chin, with just one finger. She didn’t dare do more. She felt like there was a dream kitten in her bedroom and if she touched him, he might disappear, like a bubble.

But he didn’t. He purred loudly and gazed up at her with big blue eyes. He looked very, very pleased with himself.

“Yes, you are a clever little cat, finding your way up here,” Gran said, smiling. “I thought I’d shut him in my sitting room, Mia, I didn’t want him wandering all over the house, feeling lost. But he obviously found a way out. He wanted to come and find you.”

Mia nodded. “He’s sitting on Sandy’s blanket,” she whispered suddenly, a strange sharp feeling clutching at her chest.

Gran nodded. “Yes.”

Mia took a deep breath. Whiskers nudged her knee with his nose and stood up, turning round a couple of times before settling himself into the perfect position, nose touching tail tip, like a little white fur cushion.

Mia let the breath out again, shakily. There were white hairs on the blanket now, mixed with the ginger ones.

Whiskers opened one eye and yawned, showing a raspberry-pink tongue. Then he snuggled down further into the blanket, and went to sleep.

Just like he belonged.

Mia yawned and rolled over, and felt Whiskers sigh in his sleep beside her. She’d had to move the fleece blanket now, to the side of her bed. Whiskers liked to sleep jammed between her and the wall, even though Mia sometimes worried that she would accidentally squash him.

She buried her head in her pillow and sighed happily. It didn’t feel like time to get up yet. Then her eyes snapped open. It was Christmas Day!

“Whiskers! Look, my Christmas stocking.” She sat up, and eyed the bulging red-and-white striped stocking happily. She could see a packet of her favourite toffees sticking out of it. “And cat crunchies, look! Your favourite fishy ones!”

Whiskers purred with pleasure. He didn’t know why Mia wanted to wake up early, but he would do anything for fishy crunchies. He patted happily at the ribbons as Mia unwrapped her stocking presents.

“It’s nearly seven o’clock,” Mia said at last. “I wonder if Mum and Dad would mind being woken up yet? Or Gran?”

She climbed out of bed, and shrugged on her dressing gown, then padded out on to the landing, with Whiskers following her. She peeped in her mum and dad’s bedroom door, but they were both still fast asleep. Dad had said last night that his best Christmas present would be a lie-in, so she scooped Whiskers up before he could go and leap on to the bed. He’d only been with them a week, but already he had a thing about Dad’s feet. He liked to pounce on them, and Mia thought that probably wouldn’t be Dad’s ideal way to wake up.

She crept down the stairs. Gran always woke up early; she said it was to do with being over seventy – she didn’t need as much sleep any more.

“I can hear you, Mia! Happy Christmas!” Gran called, as Mia hesitated outside her door.

Mia slipped into Gran’s little annexe. “You’re up already!” she said, in surprise. Gran was sitting in her armchair, with a magazine and a cup of tea.

“Yes, and I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got a special present for you.” Gran reached over to her little table and picked up a flat, rectangular parcel, wrapped in shiny Christmas paper with a big ribbon bow. Gran liked wrapping presents.

“‘For Mia, with lots of love this Christmas – and for being brave,’” Mia read from the gift tag. “I don’t understand.”

“Open it, Mia, you’ll see.” Gran nodded eagerly.

Mia put Whiskers down on the floor, then started to undo the bow, and peel off the paper.

“Oh, Gran! It’s lovely!” It was a sort of box, with a beautiful painting of a cat on the lid.

“Ah, you haven’t seen inside it yet, open it up.”

It wasn’t actually a box, Mia realized, as she opened it. It was a hinged photo frame, made to take two photos, one beside the other.

As though it was made for two very special cats.

Mia smiled, her eyes blurring a little with tears, but only happy ones. On the left was Sandy, staring out at her, with his ears pricked up. Gran must have taken it just as he spotted a butterfly to chase, Mia thought. Sandy loved to hunt butterflies…

And on the right was a picture of her little Whiskers, sitting on Gran’s windowsill. The winter sun was shining on his gorgeous whiskers, so that they sparkled.

“Thanks, Gran, it’s the loveliest present.” Mia hugged her, and laughed as there was a sudden rustling sound. Whiskers had jumped on to the discarded wrapping paper, and was pouncing backwards and forwards, chasing an imaginary something. Maybe when he was bigger, Whiskers would chase butterflies too…

Holly Webb started out as a children’s book editor, and wrote her first series for the publisher she worked for. She has been writing ever since, with over sixty books to her name. Holly lives in Berkshire, with her husband and three young sons. She has a pet cat called Marble, who is always nosying around when she’s trying to type on her laptop.

Lost in the Snow

Lost in the Storm

Alfie all Alone

Sam the Stolen Puppy

Max the Missing Puppy

Sky the Unwanted Kitten

Timmy in Trouble

Ginger the Stray Kitten

Harry the Homeless Puppy

Buttons the Runaway Puppy

Alone in the Night

Ellie the Homesick Puppy

Jess the Lonely Puppy

Misty the Abandoned Kitten

Oscar’s Lonely Christmas

Lucy the Poorly Puppy

Smudge the Stolen Kitten

The Rescued Puppy

The Kitten Nobody Wanted

The Lost Puppy

The Frightened Kitten

STRIPES PUBLISHING

An imprint of Little Tiger Press

1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,

London SW6 6AW

Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2011

Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2011

First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.

eISBN: 978–1–84715–279–4

The right of Holly Webb and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.