by Holly Webb
Lucy didn’t touch her breakfast either.
“Wow, you must be starved,” Izzy said, watching Lucy munching swiftly through an apple at break.
“Mmmm,” Lucy nodded, swallowing. “Didn’t eat much for breakfast.”
“Well, we’ve got PE straight after, so you’d better have this as well.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a cereal bar.
Lucy gave her a grateful look. “Don’t you want it?”
“No. Mum keeps giving me them, but they’re yuck. You’re welcome,” Izzy smiled.
Lucy had looked for Izzy as soon as she got into school that morning, hoping that she would be there already. She’d been delighted when Izzy had seen her and rushed over. When they got into the classroom, Izzy had asked if she wanted to sit next to her – there was room, and she said Mrs Walker wouldn’t mind. Orla and Katie looked surprised, but they didn’t say anything.
“Hello,” Lucy muttered shyly, as she went past. It was the first thing she’d said to them since her first day, and they looked a bit confused.
It was amazing how different school was now she had someone to talk to. Lucy found she actually enjoyed their PE lesson, which was football skills. Izzy was terrible, but she didn’t mind and just rolled her eyes at Lucy and giggled hopelessly every time she had to run off across the field after the ball. Lucy was quite good at sporty stuff, and Mr Jackson said he’d have to keep an eye on her for the school team. Lucy couldn’t help feeling a bit excited.
When Lucy’s mum came to pick her up she was amazed that Lucy came running across the playground to her, rather than trailing slowly out after everyone else. She was with a pretty, red-haired girl who had a massive grin on her face. The red-haired girl grabbed a tall, red-haired woman, who had to be her own mum, then came to join Lucy.
“Did you ask her?” Izzy said anxiously.
Lucy shook her head. “Mum, please can I go to tea with Izzy? She lives across the road from us. Pleeeaase?”
“Oh, Lucy, that sounds great, but maybe another day?” said Mum. “We haven’t given Izzy’s mum much notice.” She smiled apologetically at the red-haired woman.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, it’s fine by me,” Izzy’s mum replied. “Izzy mentioned last night that she’d met Lucy, and she’d love to have her over. Lucky it’s a Wednesday actually, Izzy’s sister Amber has choir so I pick Izzy up. Usually the girls walk home together. You’ve just moved in, haven’t you?”
Izzy’s mum was really friendly, and as the four of them walked home she told Lucy’s mum about the neighbours, and which were the nicest shops in the area.
Izzy’s mum made a massive tea of pasta, and afterwards Lucy and Izzy hung out in her room. Izzy had a sleepover bed that slid out from underneath hers, and she promised to ask if Lucy could stay the night soon.
“Amber’s got a portable DVD player. I bet she’d lend it to us for the night,” Izzy told her.
Izzy also had a secret stash of chocolate left over from her birthday, and somehow, munching happily and chatting about the worst teachers at their school, Lucy forgot that she wanted to leave Fairford. It seemed all too soon that Izzy’s mum was calling up the stairs to say that Lucy’s dad was here to take her home.
“See you tomorrow!” Izzy waved cheerfully to her as she crossed the road. “Hey, ask your mum if you can walk to school with me and Amber!”
Lucy nodded and waved back. “I will, promise!”
Lucy walked into the kitchen, smiling happily to herself, and then stopped. Mum and Dad both had serious faces. “What is it?” she asked anxiously.
“Lucy, Mum and I have been talking. About Sky.” Dad’s voice was sad as he looked over at Sky’s basket.
Lucy looked, too. Sky was curled-up fast asleep – she was so cute.
“We really hoped that having Sky to play with and look after would make you feel better about the move. We know you’re missing Ellie and the others.” Her dad sighed. “But I’m sure you’ll settle down after a while. Izzy seems very nice – it’s great that you’re starting to make friends.”
Where is Dad going with this? Lucy gazed at her parents.
“Anyway, it looks like we made a mistake with Sky. We should have talked to you about it first, before we went ahead and brought her home.”
Lucy blinked stupidly. She could see that Dad was telling her something important, but she couldn’t quite seem to understand. Sky was a mistake? Lucy started to feel scared. She looked at Sky, who was still asleep in her basket, although she’d wriggled round and was now lying on her back with her paws in the air. She looked like a toy kitten.
Dad smiled sadly as Sky let out a sleepy half-mew, half-purr. “Luckily the breeder we got Sky from has been very understanding. Tomorrow evening Mum will take Sky back.”
Chapter Seven
Lucy felt suddenly cold. It was just like Izzy had said. You might end up having to stay here, and not having a gorgeous kitten.
“Oh, Lucy, don’t look like that!” Her mum came over and gave her a hug. “We’re not cross with you. It was our fault for not talking it over with you first.”
No, you don’t understand! Lucy wanted to cry out. Don’t give her back! I want to keep her! But her voice seemed to stick in her throat as her parents went on talking.
Mum stroked Lucy’s hair sadly. “Sky deserves a home where she’s really wanted. She’s such a loving little kitten – she needs someone to give her loads of love back.”
Lucy had been about to try to explain, but that made her stop. It was so true. Sky did need a home where she was properly loved. Lucy had a horrible feeling that that special home wasn’t here with her. She’d been so mean – Sky didn’t know whether Lucy loved her or hated her. Maybe I just don’t deserve to have a kitten, she thought.
But she had to say goodbye to Sky properly. Even if Sky didn’t understand.
Later, Lucy crept downstairs while her parents were in the front room. Sky was in the kitchen, as she usually was at night, and Lucy opened the door quietly.
Sky saw her from her basket, and laid her ears slightly back, and stared up as Lucy came closer in the faint light from the hallway.
Lucy gulped. It was obvious that Sky didn’t know what was going on. She crouched down by the basket. “Mum and Dad are right,” she whispered to the kitten, running one finger down Sky’s back. “You do deserve a better home than this. I’ve come to say goodbye,” she murmured, her eyes filling with tears. One of them dripped on to Sky’s nose, making her jump.
“Mrow!” she mewed indignantly, and Lucy laughed and cried at the same time, stifling the strange noise in case her parents heard. Sky’s face was so funny, her blue eyes round and cross.
“Ssshh, Sky!” Lucy scooped Sky up, tucking her into her dressing gown. “Come on,” she whispered. Lucy looked round quickly as she opened the kitchen door, then scurried up the stairs to her room.
Sky snuggled against Lucy’s pyjamas, watching curiously as they went upstairs. She’d never got this far before, the stairs were steep and someone always caught her before she’d struggled up more than a few steps.
Where was she going? Sky purred excitedly as Lucy opened the door to her room and placed her down gently on the floor.
Lucy snuggled under her duvet and watched Sky exploring her bedroom, sniffing her way around the boxes. Having Sky in her room made the little kitten seem much more hers, somehow. Lucy could imagine doing her homework up here, with Sky sitting on her windowsill watching the birds, or snoozing on her duvet. Sky clambered on to the bed next to Lucy, and purred lovingly in her ear.
“What am I going to do, Sky?” Lucy murmured sleepily, stroking her. All of a sudden she was so tired. “I wish you could tell me what to do…”
Lucy awoke to find Sky licking her face with her rough little tongue.
“Hey, Sky… That’s a nice way to be woken up,” she muttered sleepily. “I suppose you want breakfast?” she said, as Sky jumped down off the bed and padded over to the bedroom door.
Lucy grabbed the bag of kitten food from the cupboard. She poured some into Sky’s bowl, and fetched herself some juice from the fridge. Watching Sky busily devouring her breakfast, Lucy wondered if she could bear to let Sky go. She was so lovely! If she told her parents she’d changed her mind, maybe they could keep her…
Her mum came down a few minutes later. “You fed Sky!” she said in surprise. Then she looked at the bag that Lucy had left on the counter. “I suppose I might as well take that to the breeder’s with me later. They’ll be able to use it up, or give it to her new owner. The basket and things, too, probably,” Mum sighed.
Lucy walked quickly out of the kitchen, before she started to cry. Sky’s new owner! The person who was going to really love her… Everything was so complicated, Lucy felt she didn’t even know what she wanted any more.
The doorbell rang. Izzy and Amber had come to pick her up for school like they’d arranged last night. Sky peeped round the front door, and Izzy nudged Amber. “Look, isn’t she gorgeous? Isn’t Lucy lucky?”
Amber smiled. “Oh! She’s so tiny. You really are lucky, Lucy!”
Lucy didn’t want to explain what had happened in case she started crying again. “Mmmm!” she said, forcing a smile.
As soon as Amber left them at the school gates to go on to her secondary school, Lucy burst out, “They’re taking Sky back!”
“What?” Izzy yelped. “When?”
“Today,” Lucy said miserably. “Mum and Dad told me when I got home from your house last night. They said they’d made a mistake, but the people who bred Sky will have her back. Luckily.” She sniffed.
Izzy gazed at her in horror. “And you’re just going to let them?”
Lucy stared down, noticing that her school skirt had white hairs on it. “I suppose so,” she murmured. She was crying again!
“You just can’t!” Izzy said. “That beautiful kitten, the best present ever, and you’re letting them take her away!” Izzy’s eyes were flashing, and people were staring at them as they walked along the corridor to their classroom.
“You don’t understand!” Lucy wailed.
“No, I don’t.” Izzy dumped her bag on their table.
“Last night I was going to tell them I’d changed my mind about Sky and wanted to keep her,” Lucy explained. “I was trying to think how to do it while I was at yours. But when I got home they told me they were going to give Sky back because she needed someone who’d really love her. And they’re right! All I’ve done is make her sad…” she sobbed.
Izzy made a disbelieving noise and put her arm round Lucy. “She didn’t look sad the other day when you were cuddling her in your garden! She looked really happy!”
Lucy looked up at her hopefully. “Do you think so?”
Izzy thought for a moment. “Do you think maybe you’ve been upset about moving house for so long that you’re just looking on the wrong side of everything?” she asked.
Lucy felt hurt. It sounded as though Izzy thought she was just being stupid.
“I’m not trying to be mean,” Izzy added hurriedly. “It’s just I thought you were actually starting to like being here. You don’t really hate it, do you?”
Lucy shook her head slowly. “Noooo,” she murmured. She looked up at Izzy, feeling confused. She’d been telling herself she hated Fairford for so long, it was hard to admit to someone else that it actually wasn’t so bad. “No. Since I made friends with you, it’s been fun,” she said, smiling. She sat down slowly on the edge of the table, thinking aloud. “And if I could keep Sky, and not have to pretend I didn’t like her, it would be even better.” Lucy looked shyly up at her friend – Izzy really was her friend. “All I have to do is explain to Mum and Dad, and everything will be OK.”
Back at Lucy’s house, her mum was in the hall searching for her keys, ready to go out shopping. She just had time before Lucy and Kieran came back from school. Mum grabbed her coat from the understairs cupboard. “Where have I put them, puss?” she muttered to Sky. “Oh, there they are, in my pocket all the time!” She sighed, looking at Sky’s bright, interested eyes. “I’m going to miss you. But I suppose it’s for the best. I’ll see you in a while, little one.”
Feeling lonely, Sky watched her walk down the road from her perch on the back of the sofa. Then she wandered through the house, looking for something fun to do. She could hear the washing machine rumbling in the kitchen. It would be going round and round! She liked to watch it, so she nudged the door open.
Sky didn’t use her basket much during the day – she usually slept on the sofa – so Lucy’s mum had tidied it away with her food bowl, and the bag of food. It was all piled up on the counter, ready to take back that evening. Forgetting about the washing machine, Sky looked at the place where her basket was supposed to be, feeling confused. What was going on? Her bowl, her basket, all that food? Didn’t they want her any more?
But she liked it here, and she was sure Lucy was beginning to like having her here, too. Determinedly, Sky stalked out of the kitchen. This was her home now, here with Lucy!
Distracted by losing her keys, Lucy’s mum hadn’t closed the understairs cupboard properly. Sky had never seen this door open before, not even a crack, and she nudged it further open with her nose.
It was full of wellies and bike helmets and coats, and it looked dark and curious. Sky wriggled through the door, and wove herself between the wellies to get further in. At the back was a big wicker basket, full of scarves and hats. Sky climbed into it, and burrowed under Lucy’s pink, fluffy hat. Perfect. Now she would stay here until they changed their minds.
Chapter Eight
Lucy and Izzy had agreed to race home after school as fast as they could get Amber to go. As they dashed down their road, Lucy spotted her mum in the driveway, carrying something bulky. It looked awfully like the special box that Sky had come in.
A horrible thought suddenly struck her. What if Mum had taken Sky back earlier than planned? What if Sky had already gone?
She sped ahead of Amber and Izzy, and flung herself through the gates. Her mum had put the box down on the driveway while she closed the garage door, and it was open at the top, its flaps not folded together. It was empty.
Lucy knelt down beside it and looked in, knowing it was no use, but hoping that somehow Sky was there after all, she just wasn’t looking properly. But there was no kitten. Lucy was too late. Holding the flaps of the box, Lucy started to cry.
“Lucy!” Her mum was staring at her in horror. “Lucy, what is it? Whatever’s the matter?”
Lucy was crying too hard to speak. Izzy and Amber had now caught up with her. Izzy stared down at the box. “Oh no! She’s gone already?”
Lucy nodded, her shoulders heaving.
“Girls, what is going on?” Lucy’s mum asked.
Izzy looked up at her. “Lucy was going to tell you she didn’t want to give Sky back after all. It was all a big mistake.”
Lucy’s mum gasped. “Lucy? Is this true?” She bent down and pulled Lucy up, putting an arm round her. Lucy clung on to her, still crying quietly.
“Yes,” she gulped. “Sorry!”
“But why didn’t you say?” her mum asked, confused.
Lucy heaved a shuddering sigh. “Because I thought you only gave me Sky to make me forget about everyone back home, and I didn’t want to forget my friends!”
“That’s not why we gave you Sky!” Her mum sounded hurt. “Although … I suppose I can understand how you’d see it like that. Oh, Lucy.”
“And now it’s too late anyway,” Lucy sniffed.
Her mum smiled. “Actually it’s not.”
Lucy looked up at her in sudden hope. “Can we get Sky back?”
“We don’t have to. I was just getting the box out of the garage ready, that’s all. Sky’s inside somewh
ere. I’m not sure where, I’ve only been back ten minutes.” Lucy’s mum smiled as Lucy, Izzy and Amber dashed over to the front door. “Would you like me to let you in, by any chance?”
The girls burst into the house as soon as she opened the door, calling eagerly for Sky, expecting her to come running. Lucy couldn’t help thinking how lovely it was not to have to pretend she didn’t care about her lovely kitten. Her kitten! Sky really was hers now!
“Have you found her?” Lucy’s mum called a couple of minutes later, once she’d put the box away. “I’d better ring the breeder and tell her we’re not bringing Sky back after all.”
But Lucy, Izzy and Amber were coming down the stairs, looking worried.
“What’s the matter?” Lucy’s mum asked, putting her coat away.
“She’s not here,” Lucy said anxiously. “She couldn’t have got out, could she, Mum? She’s disappeared. We’ve looked everywhere.”
Her mum shut the cupboard door. “I don’t see how she could’ve got out. She was definitely in when I left, I saw her sitting on the back of the sofa as I went out. Come on, let’s look again. She’s probably hiding, and playing a game with us.”
But they looked and looked, and when Kieran got home he joined in, too, and Lucy’s dad a while later. By the time Amber had to drag Izzy home for tea, they still hadn’t found her. Sky had disappeared completely.
Tucked away in her warm little nest, Sky had heard everyone searching and calling. She’d almost come out, but maybe they were only trying to find her so they could take her away? The voices calling her name sounded frightened and upset. She thought Lucy was crying, and that made her feel sad, too. Maybe she should come out, and make Lucy feel better? It was so hard to know.