Холли Вебб - The Perfect Kitten

The shiny ribbons caught the light as the girl shook the toy. The kitten padded closer, just to look. Then the feathers twitched again and she bounced, all four paws off the ground, to catch them. One paw came close, her claws just skimming the edge of the feathers, but the toy jumped away. She crouched down to stalk it across the floor, waiting until the moment was just right. Then she sprang straight up and thumped it hard with her paw.

She landed half in Abi’s lap, slipping down her knees. Abi put a hand out to catch her, gently scooping the kitten up. Abi was still holding the stick for the cat toy and the bundle of feathers was dangling next to her now. The kitten sat up on her hind paws and grabbed it, hugging it tight. She settled back on Abi’s lap to chew on the feathers and forgot that she was scared.

“We need to decide what to call her,” Chris said, watching Ruby and Abi stroking the white kitten, who was stretched out between them on the sofa half asleep. They had danced the feather toy about for her all afternoon and she was worn out. She’d eaten another kitten food pouch and she’d worked out where her litter tray was. She’s doing amazingly, Abi thought. Especially since Maria had warned that it might take her days to settle in.

“It ought to be something to do with her colour,” Mum suggested. “Or her blue eyes. We could call her Sapphire.”

Abi made a face. “That’s not very easy to say.”

“Sky, then?”

Chris nodded. “That’s better.”

“My friend Sky would like that,” Abi said, tickling the kitten under the chin.

“Oh, I’d forgotten… It might be a bit confusing though. What about Blanche? It’s French for white.”

Abi wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think she looks like a Blanche. She’s like – she’s like…” Abi sighed. “I don’t know! She’s so pretty. And I love her pink nose – it’s like a flower petal.” She looked up at Mum and Chris suddenly. “We could call her Flower!”

Mum looked pleased. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Hey, Flower,” Abi murmured as she stroked the white kitten again. The kitten didn’t hear her, of course, but she began to purr, a purr so loud that Abi could feel Flower’s whole furry little body shaking under her fingers.

On Sunday, Flower began to explore her way all through the house. It took her a while to get upstairs, as her legs were still a bit short for the steps, but she was determined and Ruby gave her a lift the last few steps to the top. She sat on Ruby’s bed and watched her play and then tried to climb inside the dolls’ house. Then she slept on Abi’s lap while she did her homework.

Sometimes she sat on the back of the sofa and watched the road outside through the front window, but she didn’t seem to mind that she was an inside cat. She didn’t know any different, Abi decided. Actually, even if they’d adopted a kitten who wasn’t deaf, it would have had to stay inside for a while, Maria had told them. Kittens couldn’t go out until they’d had all their vaccinations.

The leaflet had been right when it said that indoor cats liked things to hide behind. Flower went under the sofa, inside the pan cupboard and nearly got stuck behind the bookcase in the living room. She loved climbing too.

On Monday morning before school, Abi came into the kitchen to get her cereal and looked around to see where Flower was. She’d hurried down before she got dressed and found the kitten still curled up asleep in her igloo basket – but she definitely wasn’t there now. It was only when she heard a tiny meow that she realized where Flower was. She was perched on the curtain rail over the kitchen window and she looked a bit worried.

“Mum!” Abi yelled. “You need to come and see this!”

Flower mewed again and tried to stand up, slipping a bit.

“How did she get up there?” Mum said, stopping in the doorway to stare.

“I don’t know, but I think she’s about to fall off! Can you reach her?”

Mum unhooked the kitten and made a frowny face at her, wagging her finger like a cross mother in a cartoon.

“What are you doing?” Abi asked her mum. Then she giggled, watching Flower stalk across the kitchen floor to her water bowl, pretending she hadn’t been stuck at all.

Mum laughed too. “I was trying to do a big facial expression, like Maria said. So she understood I was cross.”

“Ohhh. I’m not sure it was her fault though. I was reading about deaf cats on the internet and one of the websites said they liked being high up because it makes them feel safe. Like no one could creep up on them.”

“Maybe. But she can’t get into the habit of climbing the curtains,” Mum said firmly. Then she turned, looking towards the front door. “Oh no, is that the dustmen? I haven’t put the bin out!” She hurried from the kitchen to open the front door. “Abi, make sure you’re holding Flower or watching that she doesn’t go out.”

Abi crouched down by the kitten but Flower hadn’t even noticed that the front door was open. Abi heard the door close and went to get her cereal. Flower finished her drink and padded out into the hallway.

“I nearly missed them!” Mum said, coming back with a relieved look on her face. Then her eyes met Abi’s and they both whirled round at the sound of the front door clicking open.

“It’s the bin lorry!” Ruby cried excitedly, waving to the man pulling the dustbin away from the front gate. “Hello! Hello!”

The bin man waved back and Ruby jumped up and down happily. Behind her, a curious white kitten hurried towards the door and Abi raced up the hallway.

“Ruby, don’t let her out!”

Ruby turned round, surprised and then horrified, as Flower slipped past her feet. Abi lunged forward, grabbing the white kitten just before she shot out of the door.

“Oh Abi, well done!” Mum gasped, hurrying down the hall after her. “That was close!”

“I’d have been so cross with her,” Sky said when Abi told her about it later on.

“I was a bit – but Ruby’s only little and she was really upset when Mum explained what she’d done wrong.” Abi shook her head. “It’s so tricky! I never thought we opened the front door that much. But we do, loads. And in the summer we leave the back door to the garden open all the time. Or we did.”

Sky made a face. “Are you thinking an indoor cat’s going to be too much trouble?”

“No way! We’ll just have to be careful. Flower’s so gorgeous. She’s still a bit shy sometimes, but we’ve only had her for a few days. I think she likes us.”

“Of course she likes you,” Sky said encouragingly. “Or she should do. It sounds like you’re being perfect indoor cat owners.”

They were trying, anyway – but it was a lot more work than anyone had expected, even after all they’d done to get ready. After Flower had climbed the curtains for the third time, Mum and Chris decided she needed something of her own to climb. So on Saturday they went to the pet shop to choose her a cat tree – a sort of special climbing frame for a cat with scratching posts, a box to hide in and a little hammock to sleep in.

Flower loved it and the hammock was her new favourite sleeping place, much better than her basket. She lolled about in it with her paws in the air and her chin hanging over the edge so she could see what was going on.

Abi wasn’t sure if Flower was so nosy because of her deafness or if all cats were like that, but the little kitten hated to miss anything. She had to climb and sniff and probably scratch everything that came in the house. She loved Abi and Ruby’s room because it was full of toys and blankets and things to explore and snuggle under. Sometimes she slept on Abi’s bed, but Mum always came and got her before she and Chris went to bed. Mum wasn’t sure that Flower would be able to make it down the stairs when she needed the litter tray.