Холли Вебб - A Kitten Called Tiger

“Hello,” Ava whispered to the kitten as he eyed her round the side of the photo frame. “Are you stuck?” The kitten looked so funny with his head sticking out one end of the frame and his tail the other. He mewed at her and edged a little further out from behind the photo. But there wasn’t much room and he nudged into a vase that was standing behind him, making it wobble dangerously.

“Oh!” Ava said worriedly. “Come on, kitten. You’re going to get squished in a minute.” She reached up to lift him out from behind the photo frame and then looked uncertainly at Rosie. Was it OK to pick the kitten up?

Rosie nodded at her. “Can you reach? Just lift him down from there.”

Ava slipped both hands round the kitten’s middle, hoping she wasn’t scaring him. But she thought he actually looked quite grateful to be rescued. He didn’t wriggle at all and she snuggled him against her cardigan, loving the feel of his warm fur and his squidgy kitten tummy.

“Oh, he’s very handsome!” Mum said, coming over to look. “So stripey!”

“He’s the stripiest cat I’ve ever seen,” Ava agreed, looking down at the kitten. He was a beautiful golden brown colour, with black stripes running down his sides and fat black rings all along his tail. Ava had seen tabby cats before, of course, but never one with such perfect stripes.

“He’s what’s called a mackerel tabby,” Rosie said. “Like the fish – they have stripes, too.”

“He looks more like a tiger,” Mum said. “The way his stripes match on both sides.”

Ava giggled as the kitten scrabbled his way up her cardigan and climbed on to her shoulder. She knew he was probably just trying to get up high, so that he could see what was going on with all these strange people in his kitchen but it felt like he belonged with her somehow.

“Mum,” she whispered. “Do you think… Could we have this one?”

Lucy stood up to see. She’d been trying to get the ginger kittens to look at her toy cat but they weren’t very interested. “What’s his name?” she asked Rosie.

“Oh, well, I tried not to name them, because I knew they’d be going to new owners,” Rosie explained. “But in my head I’ve been calling him Adventure Kitten.”

“He sounds like a superhero!” Ava said.

“I think he’s called Tiger,” Lucy said, nodding her head. “Let’s take him home now.”

“Oh, Lucy, we haven’t decided yet,” Mum said, but she was smiling. “And don’t forget, we need to go and buy a cat carrier and a basket and, oh, lots of things! Although he is lovely…”

“And Tiger would be a great name,” Dad said. “Bel? Ava? What do you think?”

Bel reached up to stroke the kitten’s tiny paws and smiled. “Even his paws are stripey.”

Ava nodded, just a little, so as not to shake the kitten around too much. “It’s perfect! He looks just like a tiger and he’s as brave as one, too.”

When the carrier was set down at last and the wire door swung open, Tiger didn’t move. He wasn’t sure what was outside the carrier but he knew it wasn’t his home. It smelled different. There was no comforting smell of his mother and the other kittens.

“Why isn’t he coming out?” Bel said, crouching down.

“He’s probably frightened,” Mum explained. “This is all really strange for him.”

“Should we try the cat treats? The ones Rosie said he liked?” Ava suggested, opening the kitchen cupboard.

Tiger took a step closer to the open wire door as he heard the crinkle of the foil packet. He could smell the treats, too – the delicious fishy ones. Even though he was still scared, he padded forwards another couple of steps and peered through the wire bars. Yes, there was the packet. His whiskers twitched and he eyed the girl holding the treats.

“Come on, kitten!” Lucy wriggled away from Mum and bounced towards the cat carrier. Tiger heard her voice and the thud of her footsteps and retreated back inside the carrier.

“Luuu-cy!” Ava snapped and then wished she hadn’t when her little sister’s face crumpled. “You have to be really gentle,” she added, but Lucy had already burst into tears.

“Maybe we should give Tiger some time to come out by himself,” Dad suggested. “I know you all want to play with him but he’s nervous. Why don’t we put on a DVD?” He picked up Lucy for a cuddle and led Bel out of the kitchen but Ava hesitated. Surely she could stay? Tiger liked her – he’d let her lift him off the bookshelf the day before and he’d seemed happy for her to hold him then. She looked pleadingly at Dad but he shook his head. “It isn’t fair otherwise, Ava,” he pointed out. “And there’ll be loads of time to play with him.”

Mum put an arm round her shoulders. “We’ll give Tiger time to explore a little by himself, then we’ll all go and see how he’s doing. Anyway, don’t you have to do your literacy homework, Ava? How long should that take you, twenty minutes? If you get it out of the way now then you’ll have the rest of the afternoon free to play with Tiger.”

Ava nodded and sighed. Mum was right about the homework. But why did Lucy and Bel always have to mess things up?

Tiger’s ears twitched as the kitchen door clicked shut. He could still smell those cat treats. He crept to the carrier door and peered round it. There was a scattering of treats on the floor and they smelled so good. He stepped out and then started to crunch up the treats, looking around carefully between each bite. But there were only a few and they were gone in seconds. He looked uncertainly back to the carrier. He knew he was safe in there but he didn’t like it much. Now that the kitchen was quiet, he wanted to explore.

He jumped up on to a kitchen chair and then the table. He liked to be high up, to see what was going on. He prowled across the table and eyed the window above the sink. The main window was mostly closed but there was a smaller window at the top and that was open. Just then, a bee looped in through the window from the garden. Tiger watched it with interest, not really sure what it was. He crouched down a little, wondering if he could pounce on the bee from where he was. It zigzagged round the kitchen and as it swooped back over the table he followed it, his tail twitching with excitement.

Tiger balanced at the very edge of the table, trying to swipe at the bee with his paw. But he just couldn’t get close enough. Then the bee stopped for a rest, perched on the kitchen wall. Tiger hopped back on to the chair and down to the floor. He would creep up on it and pounce! Stealthily he padded across the tiles and then he launched himself at the bee.

The bee flew away, buzzing frantically, and Tiger turned his head to watch. He’d missed it by miles. Then he looked down and flexed his claws rather worriedly. They were firmly stuck in the thick wallpaper. He was halfway up the kitchen wall and he wasn’t quite sure how he’d got there…

Ava peeped round the kitchen door, wondering where Tiger was. She had rushed through her homework – she was sure Mrs Atkins wouldn’t be impressed.