Willow the lonely kitten (6 page)

She thought back over the day. By lunchtime the snow clouds had cleared and Karl had spent the afternoon with George, building the giant snowman at the top of Earlswood Avenue. Eva had stayed at home and missed all the fun.

“Are you all right?” her dad had asked. “Or is something bothering you?”

“I’m fine,” Eva had lied.

But now she couldn’t sleep. She sat up in bed, pulled back the curtains and gazed out of the window. She saw the pale full moon shining on a white world of
snow-covered
hills and a sleeping village. And she hoped with all her heart that Willow wasn’t out in the white wilderness, but safely snuggled up in a soft bed in the warm kitchen of 22 Swallow Court.

Chapter Eight

At school the next day, Eva tried hard to concentrate. But every time her teacher told her to do something, her mind drifted off to the problem of Willow.

At least it’s not snowing
, she told herself, looking out at a clear blue sky.

“Eva, did you hear me?” Miss Jennings asked from the front of the class. “I asked you to take this message to the school secretary’s office.”

It’s sunny but it’s still freezing
, she
thought, standing out in the playground with Annie during lunch break.

“Hello? Do you want me to help with the ponies when we get home?” Annie asked. “Honestly, Eva, I’ve said it three times. What’s wrong with you today?”

The day dragged until at last Eva sat on the bus, still in a world of her own.

“So tell me!” Annie insisted, sitting next to her with her arms crossed, refusing to let Eva off the hook.

“It’s Willow,” Eva confessed. The story tumbled out. “New home … the Shannons … out all night … a terrible mistake!”

Annie listened carefully. “I get it,” she muttered. “You think that if you wait too long before your mum decides to step in, it might be too late.”

Eva gulped then nodded. “But I messed
up yesterday. Jake and Julie caught me trespassing in their back garden. I’m scared they’ll tell Mum.”

“And she’d be really cross.” Annie understood the problem. She thought for a while. “Maybe we should go undercover?”

“You mean like spies, rescuing Willow in secret?” Eva’s glum face began to light up. “You think we should kidnap her?”

“Catnap!” Annie said. The bus drew into Okeham and the village kids filed off. “We could go to Swallow Court and start right now.”

Without stopping to think, Eva agreed and she and Annie clambered off the bus. “If the house is empty and Willow has been left outside all day, it means that Jake didn’t keep his promise,” she said. “Which means we have to do something!”

“Catnap her,” Annie said again. “Act casual, Eva, as if we’re just coming down here for a stroll.”

They paused outside Miss Eliot’s house, pretending to gossip but really taking a sneaky look at number 22. There was no sign of life, until all of a sudden a car turned off Main Street into the cul-de-sac.

“It’s the Shannons’ car! Quick, follow me,” Eva hissed, bolting through Miss Eliot’s gate and hurriedly knocking at her door.

The old lady soon appeared. “Eva, Annie, how nice to see you!” she exclaimed. “Come in out of the cold.”

“Good thinking,” Annie muttered to Eva, as, five minutes later, they sat in Miss Eliot’s sitting room with orange juice and biscuits. From here they’d had a good view of Julie Shannon getting out of her car and going into the house.

Eva nodded. “Let’s stay as long as we can,” she mumbled.

Miss Eliot’s cat, Tigger, rubbed against her legs, then jumped on to her lap.

“Is there any more news about the kitten?” Miss Eliot asked, noticing that Eva
was studying the goings-on at number 22.

“Not today,” Eva replied, seeing Julie come out to unload some shopping from the car. There was no sign of Willow. Another five minutes went by before the front door flew open again. This time Julie appeared carrying the little kitten at arm’s length. Willow hung like a scrap of fur from her hands, legs dangling as Julie dumped her on the doorstep and closed the door.

Eva jumped up, sending Tigger sliding to the floor. “It’s happening again!”

Miss Eliot, Annie and Eva rushed to the window to see Willow miaowing to be let back in.

“Poor thing!” Miss Eliot murmured with a shake of her head. “I’d adopt her myself, but Tigger wouldn’t like it. He’s been an only cat for far too long.”

“Watch out, here comes Mr Shannon!” Annie warned as she spotted Jake walking towards the house, briefcase in hand.

He immediately spotted Willow, and bent down to stroke the top of her head. Then he scooped her up and took her inside. But a few moments later he
reappeared with a cat basket.

“What’s he doing now?” Eva demanded, so mad that she was ready to rush out and confront Jake Shannon.

Miss Eliot tried to calm her. “Wait. Now Mrs Shannon has joined them. Her eyes are red. She looks upset. Oh dear!”

Jake and Julie seemed to be arguing. Jake had Willow in the basket and was opening the car door. Julie was in the driving seat, wiping her eyes.

“He’s getting in – they’re driving away!” Annie cried.

“Where to? What are they doing?” Eva couldn’t wait any longer. She rushed to Miss Eliot’s front door and ran into the garden – just in time to see Julie reverse out of their drive and pull away.

Chapter Nine

“Oh no, what now?” Eva felt rooted to the spot. In her mind’s eye she saw Jake and Julie Shannon driving out of the village into the countryside, choosing a deserted place and stopping the car to dump their unwanted kitten.

“This is awful,” Annie groaned as she joined Eva on the pavement. “If only we had a car, we could follow them.”

Miss Eliot had stopped to put on her coat. Now she came out of the house,
shaking her head.

Annie turned to Eva, flustered. “What do we do?”

“We have to get back to Animal Magic,” Eva decided. “I’ll look up the Shannons’ mobile phone number. Jen or Mum can try to call them.”

So the girls said goodbye to Miss Eliot and sprinted to Main Street. “Please don’t let us be too late!” Eva gasped as she and Annie ran on until they came to the rescue centre. She was so worried that at first she didn’t notice the car parked in the yard.

“Eva, wait!” Annie grabbed hold of her arm and pointed to the Shannons’ car. “They didn’t drive off with Willow – they brought her back here!”

In Reception, Heidi and Jen listened patiently to Julie’s tearful account.

“I’m so sorry,” she wept. “I’ve brought Willow back. I love her dearly, but I can’t keep her.”

Eva and Annie were quiet as they came through the door. Jake Shannon glanced over his shoulder and gave them an apologetic smile.

“I’m so, so sorry, Willow!” Julie cried.

“And in spite of what you might think, it hasn’t got anything to do with her weeing on the carpets and scratching the furniture.” Jake stood up for Julie.

“It turns out that I have a severe cat allergy,” Julie explained through her tears. “I got up this morning and I could hardly breathe. My eyes were streaming. So I went to see my GP. He confirmed that I didn’t have a cold, but was having a serious allergic reaction to Willow.”

Jake put his arm around his wife and took up the explanation. “Obviously we didn’t want to leave Willow outside on Saturday, but Julie was finding it so hard to breathe – it was as if she was having an asthma attack – and we both panicked. But then yesterday we got some tablets at the chemist’s and she felt a bit better. She wanted to try again. Then this morning
she felt even worse and decided to see the doctor. Her allergy is very acute and he advised us not to keep Willow.”

I never expected this!
Eva thought, going up to the counter and lifting Willow out of the cat basket. The kitten was shaking. “Hush!” Eva whispered.

“Take Willow into the cattery,” Heidi told her. She turned back to Julie. “Don’t feel bad,” she said kindly. “You weren’t to know you were allergic.”

“Julie’s never lived in a house where there’s been a cat before,” Jake explained.

“You did the right thing,” Heidi said. “And don’t worry about Willow.”

Julie dried her tears. “She’ll go to a good home?”

Heidi nodded. “Of course. And until that special person finds her, we’ll take good care of her here.”

“I want to spend lots of time with Willow!” Eva announced the minute she’d come home from school next day.

After she’d dropped off her school bag in the house, said hi to Holly and played with her for ten minutes, she’d hurried to the cattery.

Jen agreed that the lonely kitten needed plenty of attention. “At the moment she’s a bit wary of people – not surprising after what she’s been through.”

“I’ll take her to Reception,” Eva decided. “It’ll do her good to be around people.”

So she took Willow from her cage and carried her to the busy reception area, where Cath Brown happened to have called in for a chat with Heidi and Karl.

“I saw Rocky on your website,” Cath said.
“I was browsing – getting ideas for my own website which I plan to set up – and the picture of Rocky hit me between the eyes. He’s a handsome chap.”

Karl nodded. “Rocky’s brilliant.”

“He might be what I need,” Cath admitted. “I’m isolated out at Leebank. I could do with a good guard dog.”

Eva tickled Willow’s tummy. “You hear that? If Rocky goes with Cath, it’ll be cool.”

“Listen, Cath.” Heidi made a suggestion. “I know it’s dark, but would you like Karl to take you and Rocky along Main Street, so you can get a look at how good he is on the lead?”

Quickly agreeing, Cath waited for Karl to bring Rocky from the kennels. “By the way,” she told Eva as she watched her play with Willow. “Seeing the kitten reminds me – I was down in my field this morning finishing off the repairs to my fence, when I saw someone in the garden at Willow Cottage. I thought it must be a new tenant, but when I bumped into Brian Verney, he told me he hasn’t found anyone for the cottage yet. So I’m still on my own down the lane, except for the ponies, of course.”

“And maybe Rocky!” Eva smiled at Cath as Karl came back with a pleased-looking dog.
“He loves walks,” Eva explained to Willow as Rocky went off with Cath and Karl. “And I think Cath likes him, so fingers crossed…”

It was only later, when she was in bed, that Eva thought again about what Cath had mentioned.

So who was in the garden at Willow Cottage?
she wondered.
Why would anybody be snooping around unless they wanted to rent the place?

The clock ticked on her bedside table and a bright moon shone through the gap in her curtains.

Maybe the old tenants came back for Willow
, she thought.
But then again, why would they? The Hineses definitely didn’t want her, or else they wouldn’t have
dumped her in the porch. Anyway, stop thinking about it and go to sleep!

But the clock ticked and Eva stayed awake.

Wait a sec – what did Mr Verney tell Cath about his no-cats rule? He said he thought the Hineses had lied and told him they were looking after Willow for a friend. But what if they weren’t lying? What if they were telling the truth?

Eva sat up in bed. “Willow’s owner came back to collect her!” she breathed. “But when she got to Willow Cottage it was empty and Willow had gone!”