“Oh! It’s Sam, from down the road. He’s always fighting. He’s only got half an ear, and Mrs James has to take him to the vet about once a fortnight. We can’t let him fight with Star, he’s so huge he’d just squash her!” Jasmine went out on to the step, not caring about her bare feet. “Shoo, Sam! Go home, bad cat!”
Sam backed off, but only a little way. Star gave a miserable little mew, and Jasmine picked her up gently. “Dad, please can we bring her inside? I know the Murrays wouldn’t mind, not if she was going to get hurt.”
Her dad sighed and looked over at her mum, who’d come into the kitchen to see what was happening.
“Why can’t she go home?” Mum asked, sounding reluctant. “Hasn’t she got a cat flap?”
Jasmine shrugged. “Maybe she’s too scared to get past Sam?”
“I’ll nip next door and see if the Murrays are home. It didn’t look like their lights were on though.” Dad went round to the front of the house.
Jasmine cuddled Star, feeling her heart racing inside her fragile body. She was still such a little cat.
Dad came back, shaking his head. “No, they’re definitely out.”
Jasmine’s mum sighed. “Well, maybe we had better hold on to her. Just till Helen and Andy get home. They must have gone out for the evening.”
Even though it was late, Jasmine’s mum and dad let her stay downstairs with Star – it was a Friday evening, so there was no school the next day. And when Jasmine pointed out that Star probably hadn’t had any tea, Mum even found a tin of tuna for her.
But it got later and later, and Jasmine couldn’t stop yawning. Star was curled up fast asleep on her lap on the sofa, and Jasmine’s mum shook her head, laughing.
“Go up to bed, Jasmine. And yes, you can take her with you, otherwise I should think she’ll howl herself silly in the kitchen. We’ll just have to take her back in the morning.”
Jasmine looked up at her in delight. “Really?” She had been trying so hard not to yawn in case Mum sent her off to bed, but she’d never thought they’d let her take Star upstairs, not after what Mum had said last time.
She stood up, draping sleepy little Star over her shoulder like a soft, furry scarf, and crept upstairs. She set Star down on her bed while she took off her dressing gown, then snuggled carefully under the duvet, trying not to disturb her.
Jasmine was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a quiet purring, just next to her ear, as Star burrowed down beside her. Jasmine smiled in her sleep and felt like purring, too.
The next morning Jasmine slept late after her exciting night, and it was nine o’clock when she and Star wandered downstairs. It had been so lovely waking up and finding a cat curled up next to her!
Star sat on Jasmine’s lap and sniffed hopefully at the toast. Jasmine smiled. “I think Star’s hungry, Mum!”
Jasmine’s mum looked at her worriedly. “I wonder what she usually has for breakfast? I don’t want to make her sick with too much tuna.”
Jasmine’s dad looked over at them. “We ought to let the Murrays know where she is – they’ll be worrying about her.”
Jasmine sighed. She was enjoying pretending Star was hers, but it looked like the game wouldn’t last long.
She was just finishing her toast when the doorbell rang, and her mum went to answer it. Jasmine could hear Mum chatting to someone, and then she came back in with Helen and Andy from next door.
Star gave a delighted little prrp, and jumped off Jasmine’s lap, scampering over to Helen.
“That’s not very grateful!” Helen laughed. “Jasmine, your mum says you saved Star from that great big black cat from down the road. Thank you for rescuing her.” She shook her head. “She’s been wandering off at night quite a bit recently. I know she’s just getting bigger and braver, but I wish she wouldn’t. Oh well. Maybe she’ll be a bit less daring for a while after her scare.”
Star trotted back over and rubbed her head up against Jasmine’s dressing gown. She was delighted to see her owners, but she did love Jasmine, too.
Helen gave Jasmine a thoughtful look, watching the way Star was snuggling against her.
While Jasmine said goodbye to Star, the Murrays went to talk to her mum and dad in the hallway.
“Jasmine, do you think you could do us a huge favour?” said Helen, as she came back into the kitchen and gathered up Star. “We’re going away for three weeks over Christmas, and we haven’t quite decided what to do with this little one. Star’s such a friendly thing, we think she’d hate a cattery, where no one had much time to play with her.” She paused. “Would you like to look after her for us?”
Jasmine’s eyes opened wide with delight and she looked hopefully at her mum and dad. To take care of Star, for three whole weeks! She couldn’t imagine anything she’d like more.
Chapter Three
Jasmine was counting down the days until the Murrays went away. She and her mum went round next door after school one night, so that the Murrays could go through everything Jasmine would need to know. They weren’t going on holiday for another few days, but they wanted to get things organized in advance.
Star met them at the door, mewing with delight at the sight of Jasmine.
Helen laughed. “This was such a good idea! I was really worried about Star being miserable at a cattery. Come in.”
They sat down at the kitchen table to look at a list that Helen had made of all the things she thought Jasmine would need to know, like the phone number of their vet, just in case.
Mum frowned. “I hope you can manage all this, Jasmine,” she said, looking at the part about measuring out Star’s special food so she didn’t have too much.
“Don’t worry, Mum, of course I can,” Jasmine told her. “And I’ll get up earlier so I can pop in on Star before school to feed her.”
But when they got home, Jasmine couldn’t help worrying a little, too. Not about feeding Star and looking after her properly, she was sure she could do that. No, she was worried about all the time Star would be on her own in the Murrays’ house. She was a cat who loved attention and fuss – that’s why she came into Jasmine’s garden all the time. How would she feel about being alone every night? Now that it was nearly December, it was getting really cold. Mum wasn’t going to let Jasmine sit out in the garden with Star for ages if it started snowing!
Maybe Mum would let me bring her inside for some of the time? Jasmine wondered to herself. I’m sure Helen and Andy wouldn’t mind… Oh! Jasmine smiled excitedly. She had just had the most brilliant idea.
What if she looked after Star at her house, instead? It would be like having a cat of her very own!
Now all she had to do was persuade Mum and Dad…
“But we don’t want a cat in the house, Jasmine,” Mum said. “It’s all arranged, you’ll feed Star next door.”
Jasmine nodded. “I know, but it would be so much better if she was here. She’s so friendly, Mum, she’d hate being on her own all day. And she’d be company for you while you’re working.” She looked at her mum hopefully. It wasn’t just that she really wanted to have Star to stay – she was sure that Mum and Dad would fall in love with Star if they saw more of her. And if Jasmine could look after Star fabulously and give her back to the Murrays as the world’s best-cared-for cat, wouldn’t her parents be tempted to let her have a cat of her own? Once they knew how lovely it would be to have a cat in the house?
“Pets are a bit messy, Jasmine,” Dad explained. “We don’t have a cat flap, for a start, so that would be a problem…”