Холли Вебб - The Rescued Kitten

Edie shook her head as she crouched down beside her. She tickled Barbie’s cream-coloured tummy, and the ginger kitten gave up on the fish and came to nudge against Edie’s arm, rubbing the side of her head up and down Edie’s sleeve, and purring and purring.

“She really loves you,” Layla murmured, and Edie smiled at her.

“Dad says it’s because I’m the one who feeds her but he’s only being grumpy.”

“No, it’s more than that. Do you think the tortoiseshell kitten will love me, too?” she added shyly. “I’m going to be looking after her.” She reached out to run her hand over Barbie’s ears and the kitten purred for her as well.

“Of course she will. It looks like she already does in that photo.” Edie gathered Barbie up in her arms, gently combing her fingers through the kitten’s long ginger fur. “Imagine if we hadn’t stopped to find out what that noise was,” she said, looking round at Layla wide-eyed. “We’d never have found them all.”

“Best walk home from school ever,” Layla said seriously and then she laughed as Barbie wriggled in Edie’s arms so that she was snuggled in the crook of her elbow, on her back like a baby. Her pale ginger paws were folded on her chest, and she yawned, wide enough to show her needle-sharp white teeth. Then her green eyes closed slowly, and she breathed out a tiny, quiet purr.

Barbie batted a cautious paw at her new cat flap. She had only been allowed to go out for a few days, and she was still a bit confused by the flap – the way it sometimes opened and sometimes didn’t – and she didn’t much like the bang it made when it shut behind her. She usually jumped through it as fast as she could. She patted it again and then dived through, out into the garden.

It was sunny and warm, and there were butterflies. She loved butterflies. They were like the feathery toy that Edie waved for her – they bounced and fluttered, and she never knew which direction they would go in. She had tried chasing them, but they were hard to catch…

Barbie turned as she heard the back door open behind her, and Edie stepped out carrying a sandwich. Barbie eyed the plate hopefully. Edie was good at sharing, and her sandwiches often had ham in them, or cheese. She liked cheese. She padded over to Edie and started to weave around her feet.

“Layla!” Edie called across the garden. “Are you there? Is Amber out?” She hopped up on to the garden bench and looked over the wall.

“Yes! She’s chasing butterflies, I really hope she doesn’t catch one.”

“Barbie loves doing that, too. Oh! Hello, Barbie!”

Barbie was scrabbling at the wall, and Edie watched impressed as she climbed all the way on to the top, next to Edie’s elbow. The little kitten perched there looking proud of herself and Edie scratched her behind the ears.

“Aren’t you clever? Look, who’s that?” Edie whispered to her, pointing across Layla’s garden. “Can you see?”

Barbie’s tail fluffed up a bit and Edie watched her, a little worried. She wasn’t sure how Barbie was going to feel about another cat so close to her own garden.

Amber came pacing down the garden towards the wall. There wasn’t a bench on her side, so she couldn’t jump up, but she stood beneath the wall, gazing up at Barbie, her golden eyes round and curious.

The two kittens stared at each other, and Edie and Layla stood watching. Neither of them had been sure how their kittens would react when they met. Would they even understand that they were sisters?

Then Amber stood up, patting her front paws against Layla’s leg, asking to be picked up. Layla lifted her, and Amber leaned out of her arms, reaching forward curiously towards the wall.

Barbie leaned over, too, and the kittens sniffed at each other. Amber wriggled and Layla reached up to put her on the wall next to Barbie.

“Do you think they remember?” Edie whispered, as the sisters inspected each other carefully, sniffing and nudging. Then she smiled as Barbie stepped closer to Amber and rubbed her head all round Amber’s, nuzzling at her gently. “They do, look! They know they’re sisters!” Edie rested her chin on her arms, watching as Amber snuffled round Barbie, and smiled at Layla on the other side of the wall.

“We rescued them both,” Layla whispered.

“We’re never going to let anything happen to you,” Edie told them. Then she laughed as Barbie padded back along the wall to nuzzle a cold little nose lovingly against her cheek.

Zoe wandered along behind her dad, looking for daisies in the grass. She wanted the ones with the fat stalks and pink-tipped petals to make into a bracelet. There were just a few starting to open up, now that spring was coming.

She was gazing so closely at the grass around her feet that she was almost nose to nose with the dog before she saw it. She stopped, half crouching, staring into a curious, furry face. Zoe loved dogs and she thought she was good at recognizing what sort they were – she had a huge dog-breed poster on her wall. But she didn’t know this one.

It had thick soft fur that was mostly black on its head, but with a white muzzle going into a white stripe up its forehead. There was a splash of gingery-brown on the sides of its muzzle and it had the most gorgeous ginger eyebrows. They stood out against its black fur and made it look very surprised to see her. Its ears were fluffy and long, and a bit like a spaniel’s. Though it definitely wasn’t a spaniel, Zoe was sure.

Even though the dog was quite big, Zoe thought it must be a puppy. It had that teddy-bear look – cuddly and fatlegged, as though it hadn’t yet grown into its paws.

It was beautiful.

“Hello, sweetheart…” Zoe whispered, wondering if the puppy was a boy or a girl. She eyed the puppy sideways, trying not to stare too much into its eyes and make it scared. Her old dog Honey hadn’t minded – she even quite liked being hugged, which lots of dogs didn’t, but she had known Zoe forever.

The puppy leaned forwards – and licked Zoe’s cheek, making her giggle. Without even thinking, she reached out and stroked one of its fluffy black ears. Then she stared at it guiltily. She loved dogs, but her mum and dad had made her promise never to stroke one without asking the owner if it was OK first. Not all dogs were as friendly as they looked so it was always best to ask. Zoe hadn’t meant to break her promise, it was just that this cute puppy had licked her…

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured. “I wish I could make a big fuss of you! I’m sure you are friendly. Where’s your owner, hey?” She looked around. The puppy’s lead was tied to the playground fence, so perhaps it belonged to one of the families who were playing inside. The playground was busy, though, just after school pick-up time, and Zoe wasn’t sure who had brought the puppy.

“Zoe!” Her dad waved from the gate. “Come on!”

Zoe sighed and smiled at the puppy. “Bye, gorgeous! Maybe I’ll see you again sometime,” she added.

“Did you see that cute dog?” she asked her dad, as she ran up to him. “Look, over there by the fence.”

“Wow. Very cute,” her dad agreed.

“I don’t know what sort of dog it is.” Zoe said thoughtfully. “But I reckon it’s a large breed – it was really big already and I think it’s still a puppy.”

“I don’t know, either.” Her dad looked back over his shoulder. “Do you really think it’s a puppy?”

“Yes! Well … probably.” Zoe sighed, and slipped her hand into her dad’s, leaning her head against his arm. “I miss Honey.”

“Me, too.” Her dad sighed. “That dog reminds me of her a bit – I think it’s the fluffy ears.”

“Hers were even fluffier,” Zoe said loyally. “She was the best dog ever.”