Contents
Map of Branksea Island
Chapter One: Aunt Matilda’s Bells
Chapter Two: The Mystery Cat
Chapter Three: The Search Begins
Chapter Four: Braving the Storm
Chapter Five: Kittens in a Basket
Chapter Six: A Mew in the Darkness
Chapter Seven: A Surprise for Mia
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CHAPTER ONE
Aunt Matilda’s Bells
Tinkly tinkly tinkle … ‘RUFF!’
Lottie giggled as her puppy, Biscuit, barked and ran in circles round the garden. Lottie was jingling a loop of tiny brass bells in front of him, and the tinkling sound made him especially playful!
Lottie had found the bells in her Great Aunt Matilda’s suitcase in the attic. Great Aunt Matilda – Gam for short – had been an explorer, and she had left all sorts of treasures in her suitcase. Lottie had read about the bells in Gam’s notebook.
Lottie jingled the lucky bells happily.
‘RUFF! RUFF!’
As Lottie turned towards Biscuit, she spotted a flash of white in the bushes. ‘What was that?’
She jingled the bells again and saw another flash of white. Shushing Biscuit, she crept up to the bush.
Tinkly tinkle!
A bright white furball leaped out at Lottie. She just managed to catch it.
‘Miaow,’ purred the furball. It was a cat! It must have liked the sound of the bells.
‘Hello, kitty,’ said Lottie. ‘Are you lost?’ She looked in the cat’s deep fur and found a collar. Its tag read ‘PANDORA’.
‘Lottie?’ called Grandma from the back door. She was looking after Lottie while her parents helped her little sister, Sophia, at the Science Fair.
Lottie ran inside with the cat. ‘Look what I found!’ she said.
‘My goodness!’ exclaimed Grandma. ‘A cat!’
‘Can we take it to Cassie the vet? She might know if someone has lost their kitty.’
‘Good idea,’ said Grandma. ‘Let’s go.’
They put the cat in Biscuit’s travel basket. Biscuit lay down with his head on his paws, looking sad about being left behind.
‘We’ll be home soon, Biscuit,’ said Lottie. ‘Don’t worry!’
Lottie and Grandma arrived at the vet’s just in time – Cassie was about to lock the door.
‘Hello, Lottie,’ said Cassie. ‘Is Biscuit all right? I’m just closing up to do my farm rounds.’
‘Biscuit’s fine, thanks.’ Lottie opened the travel cage. ‘But I found a cat! Its name is Pandora. Has anyone reported a missing cat?’
‘Not to me,’ said Cassie. ‘But well done for bringing it here. I’m in a rush now, and the cat doesn’t seem unhappy, so let’s put it in the cattery and I’ll check on it first thing tomorrow.’
Lottie breathed a sigh of relief. The cat would be safe tonight. But now Lottie had a mystery to solve. Where had the beautiful cat come from?
CHAPTER TWO
The Mystery Cat
The next day was cloudy. The weather forecast said a big storm was coming to Branksea Island. Lottie put on her coat and fetched Biscuit’s lead.
‘Time to crack the case of the mystery cat!’ she told him.
It was lucky that Lottie’s two best friends, Mia and Finn, were coming over later for a pizza party. Together, they were the Branksea Adventurers’ Club, and they had already solved one mystery on Branksea Island! Mia and Finn would help Lottie find the cat’s owner.
The bell rang as Lottie and Biscuit entered the vet’s surgery.
‘Hello, Lottie! Is Biscuit all right?’ asked Jill, the receptionist.
‘He’s fine, thanks! We’ve come to see the cat we found. Is it OK?’ replied Lottie.
Jill smiled. ‘Ah, it was you who found it! Cassie hasn’t been in yet – she went straight to Greendale Farm to check on the sheep. But I’m sure she won’t mind if you have a look.’
Lottie let Biscuit out into the vet’s surgery garden then went into the cattery to see Pandora.
Just as she was reaching in to stroke the cat, Biscuit let out a low growl from outside.
‘Biscuit! Don’t be jealous,’ said Lottie, popping out to give him a quick cuddle.
‘Lottie,’ called Jill. ‘I need to run out to buy sandbags to protect us from the storm. Would you take any messages for me, please?’
‘Of course!’ called Lottie, running back into the reception. She sat in Jill’s chair and spun round in it, giggling when it made her dizzy.
Brrring, brrring! Brrring, brrring!
The phone on the desk was ringing. Lottie picked up. ‘Branksea Veterinary Surgery, how may I help you?’ she said, in her best grown-up voice.
The lady’s voice on the other end sounded upset. ‘Oh, hello. Please help me. I’ve lost my cat and don’t know how to find her!’
‘What does the cat look like?’ asked Lottie.
‘She’s beautiful, with fluffy white fur and blue eyes. She’s called Pandora. I miss her so much!’ said the lady.
Lottie sat up straighter. This solved the mystery of the lost cat! ‘We’ve found a white cat called Pandora,’ she said. ‘Can you come to see her?’
The lady sighed gratefully.
‘That must be her! But we can’t come to collect her today because of the storm. We have a holiday cottage on Branksea Island, but we had to rush back to the mainland before the sea got too rough. Pandora escaped from her cage just before we left. Please keep her safe until we get there!’
‘I promise,’ said Lottie. She put down the phone and smiled. It was fun answering the phone like a grown-up!
Lottie went back into the cattery.
‘Pandora, we’ve found your –’ Lottie stopped in the doorway and gasped.
The door to Pandora’s cage was open. She was nowhere to be seen!
‘I forgot to close the back door, too!’ Lottie whispered, holding her hands to her mouth. ‘Biscuit, we’ve got to find Pandora – and fast!’
CHAPTER THREE
The Search Begins
Lottie had just closed Pandora’s cage and the back door when Jill got back.
‘Thanks for your help, Lottie!’ Jill said.
‘You’re welcome,’ Lottie replied, fidgeting. She didn’t want to tell Jill about Pandora. She was sure she could find the cat a second time before anyone noticed she was missing!
Lottie said goodbye to Jill and rushed out with Biscuit, heading for the park while she thought about what to do.
At the park, Lottie spotted her best friends on the swings.
‘Mia! Finn!’ she called, running over. ‘You’ve got to help me!’
Finn laughed. ‘Good morning to you, too, Lottie.’
Mia stopped swinging and turned to Lottie. Mia’s cochlear implant helped her to hear but it was even better if she faced people when they were talking. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked.
Lottie tried to catch her breath. She explained that she had found Pandora and taken her to the vet, but the cat had escaped. ‘We have to find her before anyone notices she’s missing!’ Lottie said.
Mia frowned. ‘Why didn’t you tell Jill, Lottie? I’m sure she would have helped.’
‘But it was my fault for leaving the door open,’ said Lottie, looking down at her feet. ‘And, anyway, if we can find Pandora quickly then no one needs to know. Will you help me?’
Mia looked unsure but Finn jumped in. ‘Of course we will. We’re the Branksea Adventurers’ Club!’ he said, and led the friends in their special club sign: a three-way high five. ‘Where shall we look first?’
‘Pandora’s probably gone in search of food. Cats like fish and meat,’ said Mia.
‘You know a lot about cats,’ said Finn.
&nbs
p; Mia blushed. ‘I’d love a cat for my birthday. Mum said I have to learn how to look after one first. So I’ve read a lot about cats at the library!’
‘That’s perfect. Well done, Mia!’ said Lottie. ‘Come on, let’s get searching!’
The three friends looked everywhere for Pandora. They went to the fishmonger first, and then they tried the butcher. They even looked at Lucia’s Pizza Palace, in case the cat liked Italian food, but they didn’t find her there either.
Lottie slumped down on a bench across the road from the police station. ‘What if we never find her?’
Mia pointed to the station. ‘The police might be able to help.’
‘I don’t want to get into trouble,’ said Lottie, scared.
‘It’s a good idea,’ said Finn. ‘Come on.’
Reluctantly, Lottie followed Finn and Mia into the station.
Finn had already started talking to Constable Potts at the front desk.
‘Have I heard about any missing animals?’ Constable Potts was saying. ‘What’s this about, Finn? Are animals disappearing from your farm?’
‘No, I just, er …’ Finn stuttered.
Mia jumped in. ‘The thing is, there was a cat –’
Lottie cut her off. ‘In a book we read! About animal rustlers. Are there animal rustlers on Branksea Island, Constable?’
Constable Potts sat down and opened his newspaper. ‘I’m not messing about with stories from books. There are no missing animals reported on Branksea. Off you go.’
Back outside, Mia was a bit cross. ‘Why didn’t you let me finish asking about the cat?’ she said to Lottie.
‘I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to get in trouble for leaving the cattery door open. We can find Pandora on our own!’ Lottie replied.
Just then there was a loud thunderclap and it started to rain.
Biscuit barked.
‘Quick!’ said Finn. ‘Let’s get back to Lottie’s for our pizza party – the storm is on its way!’
CHAPTER FOUR
Braving the Storm
Later, Mia and Finn tucked into their pizza, but Lottie was so nervous she couldn’t eat. What if they never found Pandora?
Outside, the storm was getting worse. Biscuit barked at the back door.
‘He doesn’t like thunder, does he?’ said Mia.
‘Ruff, ruff!’ Biscuit replied. The friends laughed.
Just then, Lottie’s mum came home from work and opened the back door. Biscuit darted outside!
‘Biscuit, come back!’ called Lottie. Not another runaway animal! She jumped up and followed the sound of his barking. He led her towards the bushes at the bottom of the garden.
The rain was falling hard now. The tree branches whipped in the wind and Lottie had to keep swiping her wet hair out of her eyes. Eventually, she found Biscuit standing next to a huge muddy puddle, still barking loudly.
‘What’s wrong, Biscuit?’ she asked.
Mia and Finn ran up to Lottie, breathing hard.
‘Is he stuck?’ asked Finn.
‘No, but I think he’s trying to tell us something,’ Lottie said.
‘Look!’ Mia pointed into the bushes beyond the puddle.
They could just make out something white through the rain and the leaves. ‘Maybe it’s Pandora!’ Lottie said.
Lottie stepped forward but her wellies started sinking into the mud. Suddenly she remembered the story in Gam’s notebook about how she had rescued the boy by the river in India.
‘Quick,’ Lottie said, ‘grab some branches. They’ll stop me from sinking.’
Mia and Finn collected branches and Lottie spread them over the muddy puddle. Carefully, she stepped on one. It held her weight. She walked slowly over the branches towards the bush and shifted the leaves aside.
To her surprise, it was not Pandora hiding there. It was four little white kittens!
Lottie gently picked up one of the kittens, then stepped back over the branches and handed the kitten to Mia. Then she went back for another one. Soon the friends had rescued all four kittens.
Back in the kitchen, Lottie’s dad had towels ready for them. ‘You three shouldn’t go out in the storm. It’s cold – and dangerous!’ he said.
‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ said Lottie, drying off two of the kittens. ‘But look how white these kittens are – they must be Pandora’s!’
Lottie had told Mum and Dad about finding Pandora, but she hadn’t mentioned losing her again at the vet’s. There was no use telling everyone the cat was missing when Lottie was sure the Branksea Adventurers’ Club would find her any moment now!
Mia was helping Lottie’s sister, Sophia, to dry off the other kittens. ‘These kittens look very young. They need special milk,’ Mia said. ‘Should we take them to the vet’s?’
‘We should, Mia,’ said Lottie’s mum, ‘but the road to the vet’s is closed because of a tree that fell in the storm.’
‘Let’s take them to our farm, then,’ suggested Finn. ‘My parents have special milk formula for feeding orphan lambs.’
‘Good idea!’ said Lottie’s mum.
The kittens mewed quietly.
Mia looked worried. ‘Cats don’t usually leave their babies alone so soon,’ she said. ‘Maybe Pandora went off to hunt and got stuck somewhere? I hope she’s OK.’
Lottie stood up. ‘I’ll go back out and look for her!’
‘No, Lottie,’ said Dad. ‘Not in the storm.’
‘And isn’t Pandora at the vet’s?’ asked Mum.
Lottie stopped. She had been worried about getting into trouble, but now she realized she was more worried about Pandora.
She took a deep breath and told the truth. ‘I – I left the cattery door open by accident and Pandora escaped. We’ve been looking for her all day.’ She hung her head.
Mum gasped. ‘Lottie! Why didn’t you say something?’
‘Yes, Lottie. Pandora might have an electronic tag in her fur. Cassie could have tracked her by now,’ said Dad, crossing his arms.
Lottie’s lower lip trembled. ‘I didn’t think of that,’ she said. ‘I wanted to make things better by finding Pandora, but I’ve made everything worse. I’m sorry!’ Lottie felt like she might cry.
Mum and Dad shared a look, then Dad gave Lottie a hug. ‘Thank you for saying sorry. It’s OK to ask for help, Lottie. Better late than never.’
Lottie nodded and sniffed.
‘If Pandora had the babies here, she can’t be too far away,’ said Mia. ‘But the kittens need help now.’
‘I’ll let Cassie know about Pandora,’ said Dad, picking up the phone. ‘She’ll have been out on call all day, with animals getting injured in the storm. You take the kittens to Finn’s farm.’
Mum nodded and grabbed her car keys. The friends gathered up the kittens, and everyone bundled into the car.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kittens in a Basket
Finn’s parents jumped into action as soon as everyone arrived at the farm. His mum prepared a cosy basket for the kittens. His dad showed them how to use milk droppers, which were thin plastic tubes with rubber bulbs on the ends.
‘You squeeze the bulb and a little bit of special milk formula will drip out of the tube,’ Finn’s dad said, showing them.
Lottie held one kitten and carefully let a drop of milk fall into its mouth. The kitten licked its lips. ‘It’s working!’ she said.
Once the kittens were fed, Finn’s mum put them in the basket. ‘Now we’ll put them in front of the country cooker,’ she said. ‘They need to get warm!’
Mia didn’t want to say goodbye to the kittens, but Finn’s parents said they could come and visit again tomorrow.
Back at home, Lottie lay in bed, cuddling Biscuit. She was worried about Pandora, and she still felt guilty for not telling the truth right away. She played with the ghungroo bells and wondered what Gam would have done in her place.
Tinkly tinkly tinkle.
Lottie sat bolt upright in bed. All of a sudden she knew exactly what Gam would
do!
She pulled on her woolly hat and coat, fetched her torch and crept downstairs. Her mum and dad were watching TV in the living room, so they didn’t hear her tiptoe into the kitchen and put on her wellies.
Lottie opened the back door. She felt bad that she was going to sneak out. But Dad had only said not to go out into the garden in the storm, and it had stopped raining now …
Quietly, Lottie stepped out into the night.
CHAPTER SIX
A Mew in the Darkness
The rain had stopped, and the garden looked silver in the moonlight.
‘Let’s find Pandora, Biscuit,’ Lottie said. She turned on her torch and jingled the bells.
Tinkly tinkly tinkle.
‘Miaow!’
Lottie heard a faint mew from the bottom of the garden. She hoped it was Pandora!
Biscuit followed Lottie as she walked towards the mewing. Every few steps she jingled the bells again and the cat would miaow in return. The sound was getting louder as she got closer.
Lottie reached the branches by the puddle where they had found the kittens, and she ducked under the hedge.
‘Miaow! Miaow!’
The mews were much louder now. Lottie realized they were coming from above. She shone her torch and saw Pandora up a tree!
‘Poor girl!’ she said. ‘Are you stuck?’
There was only one thing for it: Lottie had to climb the tree. She had climbed plenty of trees before and this one looked easy – to begin with. The low branches were nice and close together, but they got further apart up where Pandora was.
Lottie rested her torch on the tree trunk so it shone upward. She grabbed hold of the lowest branch and started to climb. She was just a few branches from Pandora when her foot slipped. She almost fell!
Biscuit barked below her.
Trying to stay calm, Lottie held on tight to the branch above and found her footing again. ‘I’m a brave Branksea Adventurer,’ she reminded herself. ‘I can do it!’
Slowly, Lottie climbed until she reached Pandora’s branch. She gently took hold of Pandora with one hand. The beautiful white cat was soaking wet and mewing sadly.
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