Willow the lonely kitten (7 page)

Chapter Ten

“Tom Ingleby is still keen on having Willow up at High Trees Farm,” Mark told Eva when she came home from school the next day. “He saw her back on the website and says he’ll pop in tomorrow teatime.”

All day Eva had been in a fever of what-ifs and buts.
What if Willow’s owner really did come back? But maybe they’re not a good owner. Either way, I have to find out
. Eva had been in such a hurry to get back home that she’d left the books she needed for her
homework in her school locker.

“Dad, can we ask Mr Ingleby to wait a while?” she asked now.

Mark gave his daughter a quizzical look. “Why?” he asked.

“I want to call Mr Verney,” she said, deliberately keeping it vague.

Her dad thought for a while, then smiled. “More detective work? OK, Eva, go ahead. You’ve got twenty-four hours.”

With fumbling fingers, Eva dialled the farmer’s number. “Hello, Mr Verney? This is Eva Harrison from Animal Magic…”

“Well?” Eva’s dad asked when she came off the phone. He’d watched her face change from a frown to a smile and back again. “Was it good news, or not?”

“Mr Verney said that a woman did ring
him this morning to ask what had happened to the Hineses.”

“The old tenants at Willow Cottage?”

Eva nodded. “Mr Verney told her that they’d gone without leaving a forwarding address. But, Dad, I think the woman might be Willow’s real owner!” And she raced on and explained her brainwave from the night before.

“Slow down!” Mark begged. “Take me back to the conversation you just had with Brian Verney. Did this mystery woman leave a name?”

Eva sighed and shook her head. “That’s the problem,” she confessed. “She talked to Mr Verney, then hung up without telling him who she was.”

“It’s so sad,” Eva murmured to Willow when she went to the cattery to take her out of her cage. She pulled up a stool and sat the kitten on her lap. “There’s a woman out there and I’m sure she’s looking for you, but there’s no way I can find out who she is!”

Willow snuggled against Eva’s warm sweatshirt. She looked up at Eva with her sweet bandit’s face.

“So even if she is your real owner, you’ll probably go to live with the Inglebys,” Eva went on. “They’re very nice, I promise, but you’ll have to chase mice and work hard when you grow up.”

Miaow!
Willow sat on her haunches and reached up to paw the gold logo on Eva’s sweatshirt.

Suddenly, Karl burst into the cattery. “Guess what!” he said. “Cath just rang to say she’s been thinking about it all day and she’s finally decided to take Rocky. She’s on her way right now.”

“Brilliant!” Scooping up Willow, Eva rushed to Reception, where she waited eagerly with Heidi for Cath to arrive.

Karl soon reappeared with an excited Rocky, who wagged his long tail and padded on his big paws around the waiting area.

At last Cath’s Land Rover drew up in the yard. “Here she is – and she’s got someone with her,” Karl reported from the porch. He held the door open for Cath and her companion.

“Hey, Rocky – that’s my boy!” Cath smiled as he recognized her from the previous day. Rocky hurried to greet her with a low woof and an extra big wag of his tail. “Eva, Heidi, Karl – this is Lucy and I think you’ll be very pleased to meet her!”

Eva smiled at the young stranger who stood in the doorway. The dark-haired woman wore a sloppy, patterned jumper, jeans and fur-lined boots. At first Eva thought the visitor was staring at her, but then she realized that Lucy’s gaze was fixed on Willow.

“Lucy knocked on my door just as I was leaving to come here,” Cath explained as
she stroked Rocky and made a fuss of him. “Over to you, Lucy,” she said with a smile.

“I’ve been handing out these leaflets at all the houses around Leebank.” The woman showed them a pile of printed notices.

Eva took one and read it. “Lost – black and white kitten, eight weeks old. £50 reward.” She read it again, to make sure. “You’re Willow’s owner!” she cried.

Lucy Marriott’s story made perfect sense.

“My dad fell ill. He lives in Scotland and I had to go and look after him,” she told Eva, Heidi and Karl. “It was very sudden. I’d just moved into the Okeham area – Danny and Polly Hines were the only people I’d met and they agreed to take care of my new kitten at the last minute. I’d no idea they were about to do a runner. As soon as Dad was well enough for me to leave, I phoned Polly and she said that they’d had to leave Willow Cottage in a big hurry. She told me they’d left Pixie in the back porch with plenty of food and water. But when I came back to collect her, she’d disappeared. And I’ve been trying to find her ever since.”

“Pixie – is that Willow’s real name?” It felt strange to Eva to hand the kitten over to Lucy. She had a lump in her throat and tried hard not to let her feelings show.

“Yes. I’d only had her for a few days before I left.” Lucy smiled as she took Willow. “I like the name ‘Willow’, though. Perhaps I could change it.”

“That would be nice, for Eva’s sake,” Cath said. “Eva’s the one who saved Willow’s life.” And she told Lucy the full story of what had happened. “There was no food in the dish and the temperature outside was pretty low. But Eva never gives up on an animal in trouble,” she concluded.

“Then I’ll definitely call her Willow as a way of saying thank you!” Lucy promised, with a warm smile at Eva. “Plus, I’ll donate the fifty pounds reward to Animal Magic.
And I’ll leave you my address so you can come and visit her any time you like.”

Willow and Lucy Marriott had left the rescue centre in Cath’s car. The last glimpse Eva had of the kitten was of her snuggled in a blanket inside a pet carrier that Heidi had provided. She looked warm and happy – glad to be going home at last.