Misty the Abandoned Kitten (8 page)

Mum was calling her for tea. Amy looked hopefully along the fence as she climbed down the ladder, but there was no Misty trotting along to see her.

She sat down at the kitchen table, picking at her pasta and staring at the newspaper ad that Mum had ringed. “Kittens, eight weeks old. Tabby and white.” Amy didn’t want a tabby and white cat. She wanted a black one. A very particular black one.

“Has Charlie finished his dinner, Sarah? Can we let Jet in?” Mrs Jones was peering round the kitchen door, with Jet in her arms.

Charlie looked up at her and hissed crossly. He hadn’t finished, and he didn’t want that kitten anywhere near his food.

“Oh, Charlie,” Sarah sighed. “They really aren’t getting on any better, are they?”

Mrs Jones shook her head. “I’m beginning to wonder if I did the right thing,” she admitted, her voice sad. “Maybe I should have let that little girl keep her. You could see she was heartbroken when she brought Jet back.”

“But you’d miss her!” Sarah protested.

“Of course I would! But I think she’d be well looked after. And we still
have Charlie. He’s a lovely boy, he just doesn’t like sharing his house…”

Sarah nodded. “Oh, he’s finished.” She picked up Charlie, and took him over to the door to put him out.

Misty watched as Sarah began to open the door, and her whiskers trembled with sudden excitement. The garden! The fence! And along the fence, just waiting for her, was Amy’s garden, and Amy’s house, and Amy.

She wriggled frantically, and made the most enormous leap out of Mrs Jones’s arms. She shot out of the door before Sarah could even think to shut it.

She was going home.

Amy sighed, and stared down at her homework. She was supposed to be writing about her favourite place, but the only place she could think of was the tree house, with Misty curled up on the beanbag. A sudden scuffling at the kitchen window made her look up.

“Misty!” Dad exclaimed, looking up from the pan he was stirring on the hob.

Amy ran to the door to let her in. She knelt down and swept Misty up into her arms. Misty purred gleefully, rubbing her face against Amy’s.

Amy was laughing, and half-crying at the same time. “She came back,” she murmured, and Misty licked her hand gently. Amy’s dad tickled Misty under the chin, then her mum came over to stroke her, too.

“Mum, do we have to…?” Amy asked miserably. “She’s so happy to be here…” She looked pleadingly over at her dad, but he shook his head sadly.

Her mum sighed. “I know. I wish we could just keep her, but it wouldn’t be fair. She doesn’t belong to us.” She picked up the phone.

“Mrs Jones? It’s Emily Griffiths here. Yes, I’m afraid we’ve got Misty again. Sorry, I mean Jet.”

Amy sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, and stroked Misty as she
watched her mum miserably.

Her dad put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Maybe Mrs Jones was going out, Amy thought. Maybe it wouldn’t be a good time to bring Misty back, and they could keep her for just one night. But that would be worse, wouldn’t it? She’d never be able to give her up then.

Misty wriggled indignantly as a tear fell on her head, and then another.

“Really?” The note of surprise in her mum’s voice made Amy look up. “Well, if you’re sure. We’d be delighted.”

Amy stared at her, sudden hope making her feel almost sick. She watched her mother put down the phone and turn around, beaming. “That was the first time Misty had been
out, Amy. She came straight back to you. Mrs Jones says that she obviously thinks she’s your cat now, and it isn’t fair to keep her. She’s given Misty to you.” She hugged them all – Amy and Misty and Dad together. “Well, we promised you a kitten, didn’t we?”

“Oh, Mum! Wait a minute.” Amy pressed Misty gently into her dad’s arms, and dashed upstairs, then raced back down again and into the kitchen, with something pink in her hand.

Carefully, she fastened Misty’s collar back on. “You’re really ours now. You’re here to stay,” Amy murmured, taking the kitten from Dad.

Snuggling against Amy’s neck, Misty closed her eyes and purred – a tiny, happy noise. She was home!

About the Author

Holly Webb started out as a children’s book editor, and wrote her first series for the publisher she worked for. She has been writing ever since, with over sixty books to her name. Holly lives in Berkshire, with her husband and three young sons. She has a pet cat called Marble, who is always nosying around when she’s trying to type on her laptop.

Lost in the Snow

Lost in the Storm

Alfie all Alone

Sam the Stolen Puppy

Max the Missing Puppy

Sky the Unwanted Kitten

Timmy in Trouble

Ginger the Stray Kitten

Harry the Homeless Puppy

Buttons the Runaway Puppy

Alone in the Night

Ellie the Homesick Puppy

Jess the Lonely Puppy

Misty the Abandoned Kitten

Oscar’s Lonely Christmas

Lucy the Poorly Puppy

Smudge the Stolen Kitten

The Rescued Puppy

The Kitten Nobody Wanted

The Lost Puppy

The Frightened Kitten