“But we could put a litter tray in the corner of the kitchen,” Jasmine suggested eagerly. “I bet the Murrays have got one, and if not, I’ll buy one with my pocket money.”
Mum smiled. “I thought you were saving up for my Christmas present!”
Jasmine grinned at her. “Oh, I bought your present ages ago, when you let me go Christmas shopping with Lara. Please, Mum,” she added. “It’s only for three weeks. I promise you won’t have to do anything – I’ll look after her all myself. I’ll even do the vacuuming, in case Star sheds hairs on the carpet. Oh, pleeease! She’ll be so miserable all on her own…”
Mum and Dad exchanged a look. “Well, I suppose we could ask Helen and Andy what they thought,” Dad said, rather reluctantly.
“Yes!” Jasmine flung her arms round his neck. “This is the best Christmas present ever!”
Star sniffed thoughtfully at the pile of bags in the hallway. What was going on? Her owners seemed to be very excited, and kept running up and down the stairs.
“Oh, Star! I nearly put that on top of you. Careful, pusscat!” Helen picked her up and stroked her. “We’re going to miss you. But Jasmine will look after you so well. We’d better get your things together.”
Next door, Jasmine was watching the clock anxiously. “It’s nearly eight o’clock. Oh, I hope they hurry. I really want to spend some time with Star before we have to go to school! There’s the doorbell!” She leaped up from her chair and rushed to answer it.
Ten minutes later, the Murrays were on their way to the airport, and Jasmine was showing Star where her bowls and her litter tray were. It was so exciting watching her sniffing round the kitchen, her whiskers twitching delicately as she investigated all the interesting corners. Jasmine picked her up and stroked her lovingly, and Star rubbed her ears against Jasmine’s cheek.
“Come and see my bedroom,” Jasmine told her. She laughed. “You can read my cat books while I’m at school.”
“Oh, I thought we’d keep her in the kitchen for now,” Mum said.
“But she’d hate that, Mum! It’ll be all right. Helen said she’s good about using a litter tray – she won’t make a mess.”
Mum frowned. “Are you sure? Won’t she be worried about being in a new place?”
Jasmine looked down at Star, who was purring in her arms. “She doesn’t look very worried…”
Mum nodded, a little reluctantly. “I suppose not. Come on, then. We need to get to school.”
Jasmine sighed. “I hope she won’t be lonely without me…” she murmured.
Star sat in the middle of Jasmine’s bed. She was rather confused. She’d been told off for being in this house before, she remembered. But she was definitely supposed to be here now, because her owners had brought her round that morning, and they’d brought her bowls and her bed too. Her bed was downstairs in the kitchen, but Jasmine’s was nicer.
Star sniffed. The bed smelled like Jasmine, which was comforting. She had stayed in the kitchen for a while, but Jasmine’s mum kept watching her and looking worried, and it had made Star feel worried, too. Then Jasmine’s mum had gone into another room, and she hadn’t liked it when Star tried to play with the wires on her computer. Helen always laughed when she did that.
Star had wondered if she’d done something wrong, if her owners didn’t want her any more, but they hadn’t seemed cross. They’d held her and stroked her and made a big fuss. Star was quite sure they were coming back. And meanwhile she had Jasmine, who was almost as good. Star stretched out her front paws, yawned and curled up to sleep. She hoped Jasmine would come home soon.
“Oh, Jasmine, she’s gorgeous! You’re so lucky!” Jasmine’s friend Lara had come home from school with her to see Star. The girls had gone straight upstairs, and found the kitten snoozing on Jasmine’s bed. She was lying on her back with her paws folded on her soft cream and brown tummy, making a funny little whistling noise – a very small cat’s snore.
Lara was only whispering, but Star opened one eye thoughtfully, and then bounced up, purring delightedly at Jasmine. She was back!
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Jasmine said proudly. Then she sighed. “It’s almost like having a cat of my own.”
Lara nodded. “Three weeks is ages. Oh, I wish someone wanted me to cat-sit! I’m sure your parents will get to like her – how can they resist! You never know, then they might let you have your own cat.”
Jasmine nodded, sitting down on the bed and hugging Star close. “That’s what I’m really hoping, but I’m not sure it’ll work. Mum was really fussing this morning, about not wanting Star to get into her office and mess up her paperwork. She wanted to keep her in the kitchen all day, but I persuaded her it wouldn’t be fair. I think they only let me look after Star because they wanted to help out the people next door. Neither of them are really keen on having pets. They’ve said I can have a gerbil or a hamster, but I’d much, much rather have a cat.”
Lara and Jasmine looked down at Star. She was purring blissfully to herself as Jasmine stroked her, in just the right itchy spot down her spine. She looked up at them, then nudged Jasmine’s chin lovingly. Lara and Jasmine both sighed. Who wouldn’t want such a gorgeous cat?
Over the next week, Jasmine wondered if Star had been listening to what she and Lara had said. She seemed to be doing everything she could to charm Jasmine’s parents. Perhaps it was because Star felt lonely while Jasmine was at school, or perhaps it was just that she was a natural people-cat, but she put on her best manners.
On Monday afternoon, Jasmine rushed home from school and let herself in, eager to see Star. But today Star didn’t come to say hello. After looking in the kitchen and her bedroom, Jasmine went to her mum’s office to see if she knew where the cat was. She put her head round the office door and found Star and her mum, watching the gleams of rainbow light from the glass prism her mum had hanging in the window. Her mum was laughing as Star leaped around the room, chasing the coloured flashes on the wall.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” she asked her mum sternly.
Mum looked guilty. “Yes. But Star came in, and she seemed to want making a fuss of. She’s so funny, Jasmine – and so athletic. Look at her jumping!”
Star looked up at Jasmine lovingly, and then mewed hopefully at Jasmine’s mum.
“Oh, do you want me to swing it for you again, hmm?” Mum reached up to tap the prism, sending the rainbows all round the wall again, and Star was off in a mad cat dance, leaping and patting at the pretty lights.
Jasmine huffed and went to get herself a drink. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her mum getting on with Star – after all, it was exactly what she’d wanted! But Jasmine did feel a tiny bit jealous. She played with Star. She and Lara had nipped into the pet shop on the way home, and she’d bought a jingly ball for her. But Mum’s rainbow lights looked much more exciting!
Dad took a bit longer to fall for Star. He didn’t really spend much time with her, and he got very ratty when he discovered she’d slept on his favourite jumper and left it covered in brown hairs. But on Sunday morning, Jasmine came downstairs and found Dad reading the newspaper, and Star sitting on the kitchen table (which she wasn’t allowed to do). She was batting at the back of the paper. Every time she did it, Dad would twitch the paper straight, and Star would wait a few seconds and whack it again with her paw.
Jasmine watched her do it three more times before Dad snorted with laughter and folded up the paper. Star jumped delicately on to his lap and gazed up at him with big green eyes. Jasmine’s dad looked down at her, as though he wasn’t sure quite what he was supposed to do now. He put out a cautious hand and stroked her, very lightly down her back. Then he looked up at Jasmine, as if he thought she might tell him he’d done it wrong.