The Homeless Kitten

by Holly Webb

  Lily went pink. “I just think he looks like a Stanley. It’s such a cute name.”

  “It is cute,” Mum agreed, passing Lily a bottle. “But just remember we’re not going to have them for long, Lily. Only until the shelter can find a foster home.”

  “I know.” Lily gently scooped up the white kitten and carried him over to the table. Hugo followed her, resting his muzzle on her lap so he could watch what she was doing. Stanley seemed to have learned exactly what to do with the bottle from his two previous feeds – he practically jumped at it, sucking greedily at the milk with funny little slurping noises.

  “Wow, you really were hungry,” Lily murmured. “Mum, look, I think I can actually see his tummy getting bigger!”

  Her mum laughed. “They’re really guzzling it down, aren’t they. Oh, Lily, listen!”

  “I can feel it…” Lily whispered back. Stanley was purring.

  “Which one’s your favourite?” Mara leaned over the kitten pen, admiring the three kittens. Lily had emailed her best friend to tell her about their amazing discovery, and Mara had been desperate to come and see the kittens as soon as she’d got back from her holiday in Spain.

  They were about five weeks old now – big enough to walk around really well. They stomped all over each other, squeaking loudly, and they were always wrestling and jumping out at each other. They loved playing with all the toys Lily had persuaded Mum and Dad to get from the pet shop, too. Their favourite was a feathery stick, a bit like a feather duster, and Lily spent ages waving it about for them.

  Dad had found a big shallow plastic storage box up in the loft when he was looking for the sterilizer and he’d brought it down to use as a pen to keep the kittens in. It meant they had space to move around but they were safer than they would be loose in the kitchen. But it hadn’t lasted long. They still used it to sleep in but they’d learned to wriggle and scramble their way out after just a few days.

  “Stanley – he’s my favourite,” Lily said, pointing him out. “He’s like a little fluffy snowball!”

  “He is cute,” Mara agreed. “But I love the stripes on the other two as well. Isn’t it loads of work looking after them all?”

  “They’re starting to eat proper food now – special kitten food mixed with a bit of their milk. At least that means we can just feed them really late at night and then early in the morning. No one has to get up in the middle of the night any more.” Lily reached her hand into the plastic box and Stanley staggered determinedly towards her, licking at her fingers.

  “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 wa
nted 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.

  Even though Lily hated the thought of someone else taking her lovely kittens home, she could see that Candace and Jack were going to be amazing cat owners. At least they were only taking Bella and Trixie, she thought sadly. She wondered how Stanley would feel all on his own.

  Stanley watched, confused, as the strange people put his sisters into a cat carrier. They were mewing, not sure what was happening, and he squeaked back anxiously. Where were they going? And why wasn’t he going, too?

  He hurried to the edge of the plastic box as the kitchen door opened and they all started to walk out – those people were taking his sisters away! Panicking, he clawed his way up the side of the box, his paws slipping, and scrambled out on to the floor to chase after them. But the door closed before he was halfway there, and he sat under the table and mewed frantically.

  He jumped up when the door opened again and Lily let Hugo in. The big dog came nosing under the table and lowered his head to Stanley. He licked the kitten with one great swipe of his huge pink tongue and then slumped down to the floor next to him, resting his muzzle between his paws.

  Stanley patted at one of Hugo’s long white paws, nibbled it and then snuggled wearily into the kitten-sized space between Hugo’s paw and his nose, curling up into a sad little ball.

  “Night, Mum.” Lily peered round her mum’s office door on her way to bed. “Oh, that one’s so cute. Wow, you can really see how fluffy he’s getting.” Lily leaned over her mum’s shoulder, admiring the photos of Stanley on her computer. “What are you looking at the photos for? Are you sending them to Grandma?” Lily’s grandma loved cats, too. She lived in Scotland so she hadn’t seen the kittens yet but Lily had been telling her all about them on the phone. Grandma had told Lily how jealous she was.

  Her mum looked up. “No, I wasn’t. Maybe I should though, I hadn’t thought of that. I was actually looking for a good photo to send to Amy for the shelter website. The one they’ve got up there now is all the kittens together – we need one of just Stanley on his own.”

  Lily took a step back, suddenly feeling breathless. She knew that Stanley was going to be adopted, too, of course she did. But this made it all too real – and too soon. He looked so cute in the photo on Mum’s screen – he had his mouth open in a mew and his little pink tongue was showing. His eyes were shining emerald green and his fur was standing out around his head in a fluffy halo. Anybody would want to adopt him, Lily thought miserably. Who could resist such a gorgeous boy?

  “Oh, Lily…” Mum turned round in her chair, reaching out to hug her. “I know you love him…”

  “Couldn’t we keep him?” Lily pleaded. “He’s so special…” Her voice wobbled and her throat felt like it was closing up. She couldn’t get any more words out.

  “You know we were only looking after them for a little while, darling.”

  Lily nodded and sniffed and then dashed out of Mum’s office, racing upstairs to her bedroom. She flung herself down on her bed, burying her face in her pillow, her eyes full of tears. Why couldn’t they keep Stanley? He got on amazingly with Hugo. Mara had been right when she said they made a perfect pair. Hugo had looked after Stanley all morning after Bella and Trixie had gone. In fact, Lily was pretty sure that Hugo would be as upset as her if Stanley went to a new home.

  She just had to explain all that properly to Mum and Dad. Lily rubbed her eyes and sniffed determinedly. Maybe she should write down a list of reasons to keep Stanley, just to make sure she didn’t forget any of them. And then she would find just the right time to convince her family…

  Lily woke up suddenly, her heart racing. She sat up in bed and peered around anxiously, trying to work out what was wrong. Everything in her room looked strange and ghostly in the darkness. Why had she jumped awake like that?

  She was just about to settle down again, fussing with the crumpled sheet and wishing the night wasn’t so hot, when loud barking erupted downstairs – mixed with ear-splitting yowls. Hugo was obviously furious, it was his angry bark, over and over again – and then there was a crashing sound.

  Lily flung back the sheet and headed downstairs at a run, not even stopping to think what was going on. Something awful was happening. She could hear voices in Mum and Dad’s room – they’d clearly been woken up, too, and Carly appeared in her bedroom doorway as Lily started down the stairs.

  She was surprised to see the kitchen door was open but then realized that Mum and Dad must have left it ajar to keep the room a bit cooler for Hugo and Stanley to sleep in. Hugo wouldn’t come out of the kitchen anyway, he loved his basket. But maybe Stanley had come out of the kitchen and got lost in the dark. Had that crash been him knocking something over in the living room, maybe? That wouldn’t make Hugo react so badly though, would it? He was still barking – quieter barks now and furious growls. Lily couldn’t remember ever hearing him so upset.

  Lily switched on the kitchen light, murmuring, “Stanley? Hugo? What’s the matter?” Then she gasped. The kitchen looked as though someone had run round pushing everything that they could find off the surfaces. The pile of newspapers from the recycling box was scattered all over the place. The vase of flowers that had been in the middle of the kitchen table was tipped over, cascading water down on to the tiles. There was even a mug smashed on the floor just below the sink.

  Hugo was standing in front of the sink, growling angrily at the window above it. Lily shivered, suddenly wondering if there had been someone in the garden? Perhaps Hugo had been woken by a burglar? Could he have made all this mess just by jumping about, trying to raise the alarm? Even though he wasn’t usually clumsy, he did sometimes knock things over by flailing his tail around when he was really excited.

  “It’s OK, Hugo, shh,” Lily murmured. “What’s wrong? And where’s Stanley?” she added. When she’d gone to bed, Stanley had been curled up in Hugo’s basket, snuggled in between Hugo’s paws, and both of them had been asleep. There was no little white kitten in the dog basket now, or in the b
ig plastic box.

  “Stanley?” Lily called worriedly. Where was he? She ducked down, searching under the table and behind the bin but there was no little white kitten.

  “Lily, what’s going on?” Dad hurried into the kitchen, with Mum and Carly close behind. “Wow! What happened here?”

  “I don’t know! Hugo’s really upset and I can’t find Stanley. He isn’t anywhere.”

  Hugo came over to Dad, sniffing and nosing at his hands, and Dad rubbed his ears comfortingly. “Hey, he’s got a scratch on his nose,” Dad said. “What happened, boy?”

  “Oh, Hugo, did you cut yourself on that broken mug?” Mum crouched down to look, too.

  Hugo pulled away and padded over to the sink cabinet again, this time leaping up and planting his paws on the edge of the sink. He wasn’t supposed to jump up like that but nobody stopped him.

  Then a little white face peered out from behind the curtains. Stanley – with his long white fur all fluffed up. He was huddling in the corner of the windowsill, looking terrified.

  “There he is!” Lily exclaimed gratefully. “How on earth did you get up there?” She hurried over to the windowsill, picking up Stanley and cuddling him close. She’d never have thought that Stanley could make the jump on to the counter – he must have jumped on to a chair to get him halfway. “Come on, Stanley, it’s OK. What happened?”

  “It’s pretty obvious,” Dad said anxiously. “They’ve been fighting. Hugo couldn’t have cut his nose on that mug, not unless it actually fell on him. That’s a cat scratch.”

  Lily could feel the white kitten’s heart hammering and his ears were laid back. Hugo dropped back down to the floor and stood looking up at Stanley in Lily’s arms.

  “That can’t be right,” Lily said, shaking her head. “Stanley loves Hugo. They were even asleep together in Hugo’s basket when I went to bed! And Hugo wouldn’t hurt Stanley.”