Холли Вебб - Alone In The Night

She was just tearing at the foil pouch with her nails when she heard it. A loud piercing, demanding, very squeaky mew. From upstairs.

Star was here!

Although that didn’t sound quite like Star. Could another cat have got in?

Jasmine crept up the stairs, feeling half-hopeful, half-scared. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect – even if it was Star up there, would she be happy to see her? She’d been so grumpy the day she disappeared.

The strange mewing continued as Jasmine reached the landing. She opened one of the bedroom doors and peered round. It seemed empty. But then the squeaky mew came again, and she realized that there was another door, over in the corner, almost hidden by the wardrobe. And it was very slightly open.

“Star?” Jasmine whispered nervously.

There was a moment’s silence, and then Jasmine heard a very familiar purr. Star! It was definitely her, and she was purring in welcome. Jasmine wanted to race across the room and hug her, but she told herself to be calm and not get too excited. It was probably her being too enthusiastic that had made Star leave in the first place. She walked quietly over to the airing cupboard and very gently opened the door.

There was Star, lying curled on a pile of towels and purring delightedly at Jasmine.

And snuggled up next to her were two tiny newborn kittens.

Chapter Eight

Star stared up at Jasmine, purring proudly. She was very pleased that Jasmine had found her – she wanted to show off her beautiful babies. And she was absolutely starving – she hadn’t eaten for a whole day now, and she’d been feeding her kittens, too. She had thought about going to find Jasmine, and some food, but she hadn’t wanted to leave her kittens – she knew they needed her. She had hoped and hoped that Jasmine would come, and now she had. She miaowed at Jasmine, who seemed to be holding a food packet.

Jasmine crouched down and poured some salmon treats out into her hand. “Oh, you must be starved, poor Star,” she murmured, gently scattering them in front of Star’s nose, without getting too close to the kittens. She didn’t want to upset Star. Luckily, Star didn’t seem to mind being found, but Jasmine knew she would be very protective of her little ones. She sat back on her heels, a little way away from the cupboard, and laughed to herself. “I thought I’d been feeding you too much, Star! I thought you were just getting podgy, but you were going to have kittens!”

Star licked her kittens’ heads fondly with her own little pink tongue. Jasmine’s eyes filled with tears. It was so grown up, such a mother cat thing to do, and Star was only a baby herself, really too young to have kittens.

“But I guess you didn’t know you were too young,” Jasmine murmured. “Wow. Andy and Helen have got three cats now; they’re so lucky!” She looked admiringly at the kittens. They were about as long as two of her fingers. One of them was a gorgeous stripy ginger, and the other looked like a tiny baby Star – only with slightly more grey in her tabby fur. Their eyes were closed, and their ears were almost invisible, still tucked against their heads.

Star gave her a slightly anxious look, and Jasmine smiled. “They’re beautiful. Beautiful kittens.” She couldn’t tell if they were boys or girls. Then she frowned slightly. She hoped Star was OK. Was there anything she ought to do for her? Did she need to go to a vet?

Jasmine carefully backed away from the cupboard, not wanting to startle Star or the kittens – although they were fast asleep and didn’t look like much could disturb them right now. “I’ll be back soon,” she murmured. “And I’ll bring you some more food and water, and – and a litter tray.”

Jasmine raced downstairs and back to her own house. “Mum! Mum!” she called excitedly.

Her mum rushed out of the kitchen. “Have you found her? Oh, you have, haven’t you? Well done, Jasmine!” She peered over Jasmine’s shoulder, expecting to see Star following her. “But where is she?”

Jasmine beamed, and hugged her. She’d almost forgotten how miserable and frightened she had been about losing Star, and now an incredible relief flooded over her in waves. She needed to hold on to someone. “You’re not going to believe it,” she said into her mum’s shoulder.

“What? Has she been somewhere really obvious all the time? What’s happened?”

“She’s in next door’s airing cupboard.” Jasmine grinned at her. “And she’s had kittens!”

“No!” Jasmine’s mum gasped. “You mean it? Star has? How could we not have noticed she was pregnant?”

Jasmine laughed. “I don’t know! I guess we just thought she was too young. There are only two kittens, so I suppose that’s why she wasn’t really that big. We did think she was fat, didn’t we? I need to go and find all my cat books, Mum, I need to know what we should do!”

Jasmine was very careful not to upset Star by fussing over her and the kittens too much. She knew now that Star had been grumpy because she was about to have the kittens, and her cat instincts were telling her she needed to hide away somewhere safe. But she was pretty sure that Star would still be touchy about anyone going too close. So she left kitten food – her books said that was what Star needed right now, as it was high in energy – and water bowls and a litter tray just outside the cupboard. She then strictly rationed herself to a five-minute visit every couple of hours. Her mum had rung the vet whose number the Murrays had left. The receptionist had said that it sounded like Star was doing brilliantly all by herself, but to ring if there were any problems and the vet would come out and see her.

It had gone from being the worst Christmas Jasmine could have imagined to the absolute best. She spent the time between her visits to Star and the kittens looking up kitten-care on the computer and nibbling her nails, wishing the time would go faster.

“I do wish we could stroke the kittens,” she said to her mum the next morning. “I know we shouldn’t, because they’re too little, but they look so soft and cuddly.”

“Mmm.” Jasmine’s mum wasn’t listening properly, as she was trying to work out exactly how long she had to cook the Christmas turkey for the next day. “Do you think we should have parsnips, Jasmine? I can’t remember if you like them.”

“I don’t,” Jasmine said. “Ooh, Mum, we’ll have to take Star some Christmas dinner tomorrow. Just a little bit. Please?”

Mum shook her head, laughing. “Poor Helen and Andy, coming home to find a cat eating Christmas dinner in their airing cupboard!”

Jasmine smiled. “They won’t mind,” she said. She knew how much the Murrays adored Star. “They’ll be so excited about the kittens. It’s going to be such a brilliant surprise. They’re so lucky, coming back to three cats instead of one!”

Mum looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. Three cats is quite a lot, all at once. But I’m sure they’ll be able to find good homes for the kittens.”

Jasmine blinked back sudden tears. She hadn’t thought that the Murrays might not keep the kittens – she’d been really looking forward to having three cats next door now! She didn’t notice that Mum was watching her, a strange, thoughtful expression on her face.

“I’ll just go and check on them all,” Jasmine muttered. “I’ll take Star some more of that special cat milk.” Mum had made an emergency rush to the pet shop yesterday to buy some kitten food and some milk that was made to be safe for cats’ stomachs.

She sat by the airing cupboard door watching Star, who was looking down at her feeding babies with a very contented look on her face.

“Oh, Star, I hope the Murrays will keep them,” Jasmine murmured. “I don’t want you to lose your kittens!”