“They’re so gorgeous. If it was me, I don’t think I’d be able to give them away,” Mara said, lifting one of the tabby kittens on to her lap. They were both girls, and Carly had named them Bella and Trixie. “You’ve spent your whole summer holiday looking after them but then you don’t get to keep them. That doesn’t seem fair!”
“I know.” Lily sighed. “But we were never going to keep them. They were originally supposed to go to another foster family as soon as they had the space. But when Amy came to check up on them, a couple of days after they came here, she said we were doing so well maybe we should just keep them until they were ready for rehoming. And luckily Mum and Dad said yes!” She smiled as Stanley butted his head against her hand and let out a squeaky little mew. “It’s not food time yet, baby…”
“So they won’t go to the shelter, then?”
“Their photos are up on the shelter website already but they’ll just send anyone who’s interested in adopting them round to us. So at least the kittens won’t have to get used to a new place.”
Mara nodded. “And I suppose you’ll be able to see if the people are nice.”
Lily nodded. She didn’t like thinking about the kittens’ new owners – especially not Stanley’s. Even though she was making the best of it to Mara, she couldn’t imagine not having a box of kittens in their kitchen… But they already had Hugo.
“Do you think Hugo will miss them?” Mara asked, as she heard scrabbling at the kitchen door.
Lily opened the door, checking that the kittens weren’t about to dart through and Hugo trotted in, immediately coming over to inspect his kittens.
“Definitely.” Lily stroked his nose. “He does that every time he’s been out for a walk. He has to come back and make sure they’re all OK. Yes, don’t worry, I looked after them for you. Trixie’s over there, see?”
Hugo was looking around for the other tabby kitten, and when he spotted her peeking out from behind the kitchen bin he went to round her up, gently nosing her back over towards the plastic box.
“He wants them all in the box the whole time,” Lily explained. “He’s like a sheepdog, herding them about.” She watched proudly as Hugo picked up the tabby kitten in his mouth and dropped her, wriggling, back into the box.
“I thought he was biting her!” Mara said, looking a bit worried.
“No. He’s so gentle. He just holds them in his mouth. Their mum would have done the same thing. Oh, Hugo, look, Stanley’s coming out now.”
The white kitten was clambering out of the box, half falling, half jumping out on to the kitchen tiles. Hugo seemed almost to sigh. He lay down in front of the box between the two girls, making a big furry barrier between Stanley and the rest of the kitchen.
Stanley nuzzled him, nose to nose, and both girls “aaahhed”. Stanley marched along the whole length of Hugo and started to pat at his feathery tail as Hugo twitched it from side to side and then jumped on it with fierce little growls. Hugo watched him, clearly enjoying the game. As soon as Stanley was clinging on with all four paws, he swished his tail faster so that the kitten swept across the floor and both girls burst out laughing.
“They go together so well,” Mara said. “Both of them white and fluffy.”
“I know.” Lily nodded. They really did. If only they could keep Stanley, he and Hugo would be a perfect pair.
Lily giggled as Stanley wobbled down her bed. He wasn’t very good at walking on the squishy duvet and he kept nearly falling over. He stopped to inspect her teddy bear and then jumped at it, sinking his tiny claws into the ribbon around its neck.
Lily was so busy watching Stanley, she didn’t notice the gentle scuffling noises from outside her bedroom window. Then there was a loud hiss and she glanced round in surprise. Pixie was standing on the sloping roof, peering in at the open window, the fur on the back of her neck raised. She was clearly furious – this was her place and now there was another cat.
“Oh, Pixie, no!” Lily stared at her anxiously. What was she going to think of Stanley? She’d been in Lily’s room a couple of times since they’d got the kittens but Lily had quickly shut her door so Pixie didn’t go downstairs. This was the first time Pixie had seen one of them.
Lily dithered, not sure whether to grab Stanley or try to shoo Pixie out. She didn’t want to push her back through the window, in case she slipped. Pixie came further in, climbing on to Lily’s windowsill and hissing loudly, her tail fluffing up.
“No!” Lily said sharply, seeing Stanley cower back against the teddy bear, his own fur starting to stand up, too. “Pixie, out! This isn’t your house!”
She sat up, trying to grab Pixie. Perhaps she could take her downstairs and put her out of the front door. “I know you’ve been in here before, I’m sorry, Pixie. Ow!” Pixie had swiped her paw down Lily’s arm, leaving two bright red scratches. Then she hissed again, spat angrily at Stanley and darted back out of the window.
Lily shut the window, rather shakily. Pixie had never scratched her before. Then she glanced round at Stanley. He was huddled into a tiny white ball on her bed and he looked terrified.
“Oh, Stanley, I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s OK. She’s not coming back in.” Gently, Lily lifted him up in her cupped hands and snuggled him up against her T-shirt.
“It’s all right, I’ll look after you, shh. I wish I could just look after you always,” she added sadly. The shelter had called Mum that morning to say a lady had seen the kittens on their website and wanted to come and visit them. She was interested in the two tabbies but Lily knew it wouldn’t be long until someone wanted to take Stanley, too.
Stanley huddled against her, his heart thumping. He didn’t understand what had just happened. He had been enjoying playing with Lily by himself, without his sisters climbing all over her, too. He loved it when she fussed over him and played with him and then let him snooze on her lap when he was tired out. But suddenly the other cat had appeared, one that Stanley had never seen before.
Hugo nosed his way round Lily’s door and padded across the room.
“Did you hear Pixie?” Lily murmured. “She was really cross. Oh, you can smell her, can’t you?”
Hugo’s ears had flattened back and he was sniffing at Lily’s bed. Then he nudged Stanley gently. The white kitten rubbed his head against the huge dog’s muzzle and then stepped back with a squeak as Hugo licked him, his big pink tongue practically covering the tiny kitten.
“Hugo!” Lily giggled. “Look at him, you’ve flattened his fur!”
“They’re so beautiful… I wish we could take all of them but I think three cats might be too many.” Candace smiled at Lily and Carly and their mum. “You’ve done so well, hand-rearing them. They’re so big and healthy-looking. You did an amazing job!”
Mum put her arm round Lily’s shoulders. “To be honest, it was mostly Lily. She’s worked really hard – she even did some of the night feeds. I can’t believe how big they are now. Seven weeks old! The time’s gone so fast.”
Far too fast, Lily thought to herself.
“I suppose if they were still with their mum, it would be too early for us to adopt them,” Candace said thoughtfully. “It’s very lucky for us, getting to have such small kittens. We’re really grateful. Aren’t we, Jack?”
Her little boy nodded. He had Bella on his lap and he was running one finger carefully down her back all the way from the top of her head to her tail, over and over. Bella was nuzzling his hand, purring, and Jack looked as though his dream had come true.