Холли Вебб - Smudge Тhe Stolen Kitten

A large raindrop landed suddenly on his nose, and he jumped back in surprise. It was followed by another and another, and in seconds Smudge’s fur was soaked and clinging to him. The rain was followed by a strange eerie flash that seemed to split the dark sky and then a rolling boom of thunder. Smudge shot across the alley to the tumbledown garages, looking for a place to hide. They were all locked up, but he spotted a hole, where a brick had come loose, and squeezed himself inside. There was another crash of thunder. Startled, he jumped back, bumping into a pile of boxes and paint tins, which fell clattering all around him.

Smudge scampered away with a terrified squeak. When he looked back, he saw that a heavy wooden box had fallen right in front of his hole. He was trapped.

He sprang forward, frantically mewing and clawing at the box, but it was far too heavy for him to move.

At last he stopped scrabbling, and sat back, exhausted. He wove his way through the dusty darkness, round the piles of boxes and bikes and all sorts of rubbish that was stored in the garage, hoping to find another hole. But he couldn’t find even the tiniest gap.

Miserably he settled down on a pile of old dust sheets. It was cold, and he was starving, and he wanted to be on Olivia’s lap on the sofa. Sadly, he snuffled himself to sleep.

“Look at the rain,” Olivia whispered, peering out of the living-room window.

Mum came up behind her, and hugged her. “I’m sure he’s tucked himself away somewhere safe. We’ll find him tomorrow.”

“He’s only ever been out in the garden with us.” Olivia turned to look at Mum, her eyes wide and worried. “He’s never been out in the rain! And the thunder’s so scary, he must be terrified.”

“Like you,” Ben muttered from her doorway. But he didn’t seem to be putting much effort into teasing her. He sounded too miserable to bother. He came over to the window, and stared at the rain. “Rob’s dad phoned just now. He’s asked all the neighbours to look out for Smudge, but he had to stop looking and come back inside – he said he couldn’t see anything, it was raining so hard.”

Their dad came in, carrying the phone. “Olivia, it’s Lucie on the phone for you.”

Olivia took the phone reluctantly. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to talk to Lucie or not. She desperately wanted to tell someone how angry she was with Rob, but at the same time she didn’t want to have to say that Smudge was missing.

“Hi, Olivia! Mum says I can come round to yours tomorrow, if you like. Would that be OK with your mum?”

“I don’t know…” Olivia whispered, her eyes prickling with tears.

“Oh, are you going out?” Lucie’s voice was disappointed. “I was hoping we could play with Smudge. I really want to see him!”

Olivia sniffed, and then sobbed. “He’s gone!”

There was a confused silence on the other end of the line. “You mean, he had to go back to the Rescue Centre?” Lucie said at last.

“No. You know Rob was coming for tea with Ben – he took him.”

“Rob Ford stole your kitten?” Lucie sounded as though she didn’t quite believe it.

Olivia gave a cross little laugh. “I know it sounds stupid, but he really did! He even owned up to it. But then Smudge tried to get away from him and climbed out of his bedroom window, and now we don’t know where he is!”

“What are you going to do?” Lucie whispered in horror.

“We’re going to look for him tomorrow – Mum says it’s too dark to go round there now. But he could be anywhere, Lucie. And it’s a horrible night.”

“Can I come and help you look? I bet my mum will come too. The more people the more chance there is we’ll spot him,” Lucie suggested.

For the first time since she’d realized Smudge was gone, Olivia felt a little bit better. “Would you really help look?”

“Call me tomorrow and let me know when,” Lucie told her firmly. “We’ll find him.”

“OK,” Olivia whispered. “Thanks, Lucie. See you in the morning.” She put the phone back in its cradle. “Lucie’s going to come over and help us look,” she explained to Mum and Dad.

Dad nodded. “That’s nice of her. Look, I think you should go to bed. You’re only sitting here making yourself feel worse. And we want to get up early and go and look for Smudge.”

Olivia nodded, and went up to her room, but she didn’t think she’d be able to get to sleep. And when she did, she was sure she was going to dream about Smudge all night. Smudge lost and all alone, and wondering why she hadn’t come to find him.

She lay in her warm bed, listening to the rain drumming on the roof outside her window, and hoping that Smudge was tucked away somewhere safe. But he could be anywhere, she thought worriedly, turning over, and huddling under her duvet. What if they never found him? What would they say to the people from the Rescue Centre? Debbie had said they would call in the next few days to see how they were getting on, and whether Smudge was settling in. They would have to tell her that they had lost him! Or actually, that a stupid, selfish, idiot boy had stolen him.

Olivia thumped her pillow. At least being angry with Rob had stopped her wanting to cry. She wondered if someone could be sent to prison for stealing a kitten. Rob certainly deserved it. Dreamily, she imagined Rob in handcuffs, and herself standing there, with Smudge purring in her arms, watching as the police led him away.

It seemed so real. For a moment, she could hear Smudge purring, she was sure. But it was only the rain, beating against her window.

Chapter Eight

Smudge woke up, shivering. Although he had huddled himself into the pile of dustsheets, it was freezing inside the garage. He felt so cold he could hardly move. At last he stood up gingerly, stretching out his paws and fluffing up his fur to keep himself as warm as possible. He was sure that he was colder because he was so hungry. The last food he’d had was the sandwich in that boy’s bag yesterday afternoon, and now he felt horribly empty.

It was getting light. There were dirty, greyish windows at the top of the walls, just under the roof, and a little watery sunshine was fighting its way in. Somehow it made Smudge feel more cheerful, even if it wasn’t making him much warmer. In the light he could see that the garage was full of piles of old junk – bits of cars and bikes, piles of pots of paint, and lots of dust. Last night it had just been strange shapes that wobbled when he scurried past them. It was all a lot less scary in the daylight.

He jumped down from his pile of dust sheets, his legs still stiff and achy from the cold, and started to search for a way out. Last night, with the rain pouring down, the garage had at least been a shelter. Now it was stopping him going home to Olivia, and he was determined to escape. Surely now it was lighter he would be able to find another hole somewhere? Smudge made his way along the wall, sniffing and nudging at the concrete blocks.

Edging round the side of a large box, his whiskers twitched hopefully as he spotted a little light coming through a crack at the bottom of the wall. He nosed at it eagerly, and then his whiskers drooped again. It was such a very small gap. But he had to try. The rest of the walls were made from solid concrete blocks, but here one of the blocks seemed to have broken, and it had been patched up with a metal sheet on the outside. If he wriggled into the dark gap between the blocks, there was a tiny hole. Perhaps if he clawed at it for a while, it might give way?