Холли Вебб - The Rescued Kitten

“She’s really nervous, Dad. I don’t think she’s going to be easy to catch.”

“I know, but we’ll bribe her. I’ll bring a cat cage and some good snacks. Your mum’s going to wonder what’s happened to the contents of the fridge. We just need to find out what she likes. I’m betting on cheese. Lots of cats can’t resist cheese. But you never know, it could be cold baked beans! I’ll bring those, too, just in case.”

Edie laughed shakily. She could tell that her dad was being funny on purpose, to try and calm her down.

“Don’t worry, Edie. We’ll manage. And it’s wonderful that you and Layla found them. I honestly didn’t think that you would. See you in ten.”

“Bye. Thanks, Dad.” Edie handed the phone back to Layla with a sigh of relief. “He’s going to come and catch them, and take them to a shelter.” Then she glanced around, pulling a face. “And then he’ll know we went inside this falling-down old shed. Maybe he won’t mind because we were so clever and found the kittens.”

Layla rolled her eyes. “I know… I’ve probably lost all my pocket money for about a month. But it was worth it.”

Barbie stood up with her paws on the side of her box, mewing hopefully at Edie’s dad. It was only a little while since she’d been fed, but she was wide awake and wanted to get out of the box. She could hear him moving around, opening and shutting the door that led into the garage, and then the squeak of the door to the fridge.

She mewed again, a sharp, demanding squeak. If Edie had been there, she would have come running to see what was the matter. She would have picked her up, and petted her and let her play on the kitchen floor, patting bottle tops around and climbing all over her lap. Edie’s dad was ignoring her.

Barbie scrabbled at the side of the box and sank her claws into the thick cardboard. It was a new box, bigger than her first one, and it had taller sides. But if she tried hard enough… Determinedly, she hopped and hauled herself up to the edge and mewed, half-scared, half-triumphant as she wobbled on the side of the box.

Edie’s dad looked round and saw her, just as she scrambled and jumped to the kitchen floor. “Perfect,” he murmured, scooping her up and popping her back in. “Just when I have to go and rescue the rest of your family, you decide it’s time to learn how to escape from your box. Brilliant timing, kitten. Sorry, but I’m not taking you with me. No, don’t just climb out again!”

But Barbie was already climbing up the side of the box and Edie’s dad looked around the kitchen, trying to work out if there was anything she could hurt herself on if he left her. There weren’t any gaps she could get stuck in and there was no way she could get out of the doors. With a sigh, he grabbed a piece of paper and some Sellotape and scribbled a quick note to warn Edie’s mum:

Free range kitten!

Then he closed the kitchen door behind him and taped it up where she’d see it before she opened the door.

“Dad!” Edie waved as she saw the car bumping down the lane that led the long way round back to their house. She pointed to the overgrown yard in front of the sheds, but her dad stopped the car in the lane instead.

“I’ll leave it here, I don’t reckon anyone’s going to be coming past and I don’t want to scare the cat any more. Where is she?” he added, as he got a wire crate out of the back of the car and a bag of food to bait it with.

“They’re all inside this shed.” Edie pulled him into the yard and across to the doorway.

“This isn’t the kind of place you two should be exploring,” Edie’s dad pointed out, glancing around and then eyeing the two girls.

“I know – and we never would usually…” Edie said apologetically and Layla nodded.

“We only meant to look round the door…” she said.

“And then we saw the kittens,” added Edie. “They’re gorgeous, Dad, look.”

Edie’s dad peered cautiously through the doorway and smiled. “Three of them, right? They’re all walking around now. I can’t see the mum, though.”

“I know, after we called you, we went on watching them from the door – the mum kept picking the kittens up in her mouth and putting them down again, and then she disappeared into this pile of old boxes and stuff at the back of the shed. That was a few minutes ago. Now the kittens are starting to wake up and mew, and one of them’s wandering round the shed crying for her but she hasn’t come back.”

“There are lots of holes in the walls,” Layla put in. “She could have gone without us seeing her. Maybe we just scared her off and she’s left.”

Edie swallowed hard. “What if we made her leave all her kittens behind?”

Behind a pile of old wooden crates, the black cat sat shivering. She didn’t know what to do. She was desperately hungry and she could smell food, just there, so close… But her kittens! The talking and scuffling and banging must mean danger for them, and she couldn’t get close enough to pick up even one of them and run. She would wait. She had to, even though it made her whiskers itch with fear.

And all the time there was that delicious smell of food. If only she could eat, she would be able to feed the kittens better. She could even bite off some little bits of food for them, too. It was time they were learning… Perhaps she could just get close enough to snatch the food and run? But she could still hear the voices, rising higher. Her ears flattened back and she squirmed away, closer to the wall.

“I don’t think the mother cat would leave her kittens,” Edie’s dad said gently, putting his arm round Edie’s shoulders to hug her. “She’s probably just a bit spooked by you two turning up. Don’t panic.”

“Should we put the kittens in the cage?” Edie asked. “Maybe that would tempt her to come and look, too… Or it might just scare her off.” She sighed.

“It’s tricky to know,” her dad agreed. “Show me where you think she went.”

Edie and Layla crept back into the shed, and Edie’s dad laughed at the three kittens. The ginger boy was sitting on the sacks, making loud squeaky mews, obviously wanting his mother to come back and feed him. But the two tortoiseshell girls were stomping about the shed, batting at bits of straw. Then they both decided that they wanted the same tiny piece of stick, and pounced on it. One of the kittens whipped it from her sister, who jumped on top of her, trying to wrestle it away.

“Typical.” Edie’s dad shook his head. “Naughty torties.”

“What?” Edie stared at him.

Her dad laughed. “I don’t know if it’s really true but tortoiseshell cats have a reputation of being … um … determined? Stubborn? What your grandma would call a bit of a character. So, naughty tortie.”

“I think they’re gorgeous,” Layla said indignantly. “They’re only babies.”

“Shh, look!” Edie grabbed her dad’s arm. “I just saw her, the mum! She’s behind those wooden crates.”

“OK. Let’s try putting the cage over there then, with a trail of food to tempt her…” Edie’s dad suggested. He opened the bag he’d brought and pulled out a packet of cocktail sausages that were meant for Edie’s packed lunches. “I knew you wouldn’t mind,” he said, showing her the pack. “If she doesn’t go for these we’ll try cheese.”

“She looks hungry enough to eat anything,” Edie whispered. “Oh, I hope this works.” She watched eagerly as her dad laid a couple of sausages close to the boxes where the cat was hiding and then a few more inside the cage.

“I need to stay fairly close because I’ve got to shut the door once she goes in,” her dad explained. “If this is no good I’ll get the local cat shelter out, they’ll have a trap cage we can use. But I shouldn’t think they’ll be able to come today.”