Holly Webb - Sammy the Shy Kitten

“I don’t think I rode him at it straight enough,” Emma said, wincing as she tried to stand. “Ow, my ankle…”

Liz gently felt the ankle through Emma’s boot. “I don’t think it’s swelling up. Do you want me to call Alex and get him to bring you an ice pack?”

“It’s OK. Sorry I messed up…”

“No, you were doing really well. It looked like Sparky just decided against that jump. Can you put any weight on your ankle?”

“I think so.” Emma blinked, trying not to cry.

Liz helped her up. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Emma nodded. “It was just a bit of a shock…”

“Look, sit down on the bench. We’ll tie Sparky up to the fence, and I’ll come and check on you again in a bit.”

Liz went back to schooling the others over the jumps, and Emma watched from the side of the arena, gently rubbing her ankle. It was starting to feel a bit better already. She clapped as Keira jumped Jasmine clear, and her friend waved at her.

Emma stood up and leaned on the fence, testing the weight on her ankle. It was definitely feeling better. She was just thinking about asking Liz if it was OK to untie Sparky again, when she heard a strange squeaky noise behind her. She glanced round. The outdoor arena was next to a shabby old barn that Liz was planning to get rid of, so they could make the arena bigger. It was divided up into stalls for horses, but they weren’t used any more. The noise was definitely coming from in there, though. Emma limped curiously over to the door – that was falling apart, too, a couple of the boards had rotted away at the bottom.

She lifted the latch, pushed open the door and looked round it cautiously. Maybe a bird had got trapped inside – she didn’t like the idea of it flapping out at her. But there was no bird, only the raspy creak of the door – and then that tiny, breathy little squeak again. Emma walked in slowly, following the noise. It sounded like it was coming from the stall at the end.

Emma stopped and peered round the open half-door. There was still some straw on the floor, piled up in the corner. The squeaking was coming from over there, and for one horrible moment Emma wondered if it was a rat.

Then a dark head looked up over the straw, and Emma laughed in surprise.

“Tiggy!” she said, keeping her voice low. “Liz is really worried about you, you know. What are you doing in here?”

Tiggy eyed her cautiously, her ears flickering, and Emma frowned. She’d never heard Tiggy squeak like that before, she realized. And there was something else in the straw – something small and wriggly and dark. Actually there were several somethings…

“Oh! Tiggy, have you…?” Emma stepped closer, trying to lean over the door just a little so she could see without scaring the cat. She’d completely forgotten about her twisted ankle now. “You have! You’ve had kittens!”

The kittens were so sweet, squirming around over each other in the straw and nuzzling at their mother. Tiggy glared suspiciously at Emma for a moment. Then she obviously decided that it was safe to ignore her and went back to licking her babies all over. Emma tried not to giggle. It looked as though Tiggy was determined that they would be just as beautifully groomed as she was.

“So that’s why you were really hungry. It’s OK, Tiggy. I won’t come any closer.” Emma hung on to the door post, counting. “It’s three, isn’t it?” she whispered. “Two black kittens and one grey tabby. I ought to go and tell the others…” But she didn’t want to leave just yet. The kittens were so little Emma wondered when they’d been born.

“I’d better go and tell Liz,” she said at last, slowly backing away. “Don’t go anywhere, will you…” She had read about mother cats picking up their kittens in their mouths to move them if she thought they weren’t safe. She hoped she hadn’t scared Tiggy into doing anything like that. But Tiggy didn’t look too worried. “I’ll get Liz to find you some food, too,” Emma added, her eyes widening. “Oh, Tiggy, you must be starving!”

As soon as she was out of sight of Tiggy, Emma whisked round and limped out of the barn as fast as she could.

Liz waved when she saw her and hurried over. “Emma! I just noticed that you’d disappeared. How’s your ankle? It doesn’t look like it’s swollen.”

Emma shook her head, grinning at Liz. “No, it feels nearly better now. And I’ve found Tiggy.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant! Where was she? Is she all right?”

Emma giggled. “She’s more than all right. You have to come and see!”

“I need to watch the others. Can you show me at the end?” Liz glanced between Emma and the rest of the class, and Emma realized that of course she couldn’t leave them riding without an instructor.

“It’s OK. I don’t think Tiggy’s going anywhere.” Emma folded her arms and glanced back at the barn.

Liz sighed. “I hope this is worth all the suspense, Emma! Come on, you’d better catch up with the others. Sparky looks very sorry for himself.”

Sparky did seem to think that he’d been missing out. He brightened up as he saw Emma and jumped two clear rounds with her as soon as he was allowed back into the ring.

“You monster!” Emma told him affectionately, as she patted his nose afterwards. “You can have a Polo – here. But I don’t think you deserve it. Why didn’t you do that first time round, instead of tipping me off?” Sparky whiffled up the Polo from her hand eagerly, and Emma smiled. “I suppose if I hadn’t fallen, I wouldn’t have found the kittens. Oh, look, Liz is waving. It’s the end of the lesson now – I can’t wait for her to see them.” She hugged Sparky round the neck and started to walk him back to the gate where the others were waiting. “I’m not showing you, though. I wouldn’t trust you not to put your massive great clumpy feet on those kittens.”

“What are you so excited about?” Keira asked, as she led Jasmine over towards Emma and Sparky.

“I found Tiggy! Liz hadn’t seen her for a couple of days – she was getting worried. You have to come and see!”

Keira looked at her doubtfully. “Sorry, Emma. You know I’m scared of cats.”

“I forgot! Sorry, I was just so excited.” She bit her lip, not wanting Keira to miss out on the secret. But she knew her friend was especially frightened of the half-wild cats at the stables. “Come here.” She leaned over to whisper in Keira’s ear. “Tiggy’s had kittens. In the old barn! Don’t tell Liz yet, OK?”

Keira smiled. “Now I get why you’re so excited. Are they cute?” She sounded a little bit wistful, as though she wished she wasn’t so nervous around cats.

“I only saw them from a distance, but they were gorgeous. Are you sure you don’t want just a little look?”

Keira shook her head. “Tiggy’s so jumpy…”

Liz came up behind them. “Are you going to show me this big secret now?”