Chapter One
Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat stood very still. His back was arched, and the tip of his tail waved slowly from side to side. Timmy, the biggest fiercest tomcat in town, was walking towards him.
Super-Snuggles stared the ginger tom right in the eyes. One of them would have to move out of the way. Who would it be?
Timmy got closer. And closer . . .
But Super-Snuggles stood his ground. It was about time Timmy treated Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat with a bit of respect!
“Morning, Super-Snuggles,” Timmy miaowed politely. He stepped quickly around the other cat. “And how are you today?”
“Fine,” Super-Snuggles purred. “Just fine!”
“Snuggles . . .”
The voice was coming from a long way off.
“Snuggles!”
Snuggles, the tabby kitten, opened one blue eye. His owner, Mr Chapman, was stroking his back.
“Goodness, Snuggles, you’ve been asleep for hours!” Mr Chapman said. “I was beginning to get worried about you.”
“I’m OK, Mr Chapman,” Snuggles purred. He yawned and stretched, then rubbed his face against Mr Chapman’s cardigan. “In fact, I was having a brilliant dream!”
Snuggles loved curling up on Mr Chapman’s comfy lap and going to sleep. In his dreams he became Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat . . .
Super-Snuggles could jump high and run fast. All the other cats in town wanted to be like him. And all the dogs were scared of him. Super-Snuggles could do anything! He could do all the things that Snuggles the kitten was too scared to do.
But Snuggles knew that Mr Chapman worried about him, because he slept so much.
“I can’t become Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat unless I’m asleep!” Snuggles purred, looking up into his owner’s kind old face. “I wish I could make you understand.”
“Don’t go to sleep again, Snuggles,” Mr Chapman said anxiously. “Why don’t you go and play in the garden for a while?”
Snuggles stopped purring. “The garden!” he mewed worriedly. “What if Timmy the tomcat chases me?” Snuggles was very scared of bad-tempered Timmy – except in his dreams!
“Come on, Snuggles.” Mr Chapman picked the kitten up and carried him into the kitchen. “I’ll come with you.”
Snuggles couldn’t help shivering as his owner unlocked the back door. The outside world seemed such a scary place.
Mr Chapman put Snuggles down on the lawn. The kitten padded slowly across the grass, looking around him worriedly as he went.
Suddenly, Snuggles noticed a small hole in the bottom of the fence. His whiskers twitched with interest. The house on the other side had been empty for as long as Snuggles had lived with Mr Chapman. Snuggles had heard his owner say that its garden had become very overgrown – like a jungle! Snuggles imagined it to be a very frightening place.
But even though he was scared, the kitten couldn’t resist having a quick peep through the hole. He poked his stripy face through and . . .
WHAT WAS THAT?
Something was moving in there!
Snuggles dashed into the house as fast as his paws could carry him.
“Snuggles, it’s only a blackbird!” Mr Chapman called, as he saw what had frightened his kitten. The bird flew up over the fence and into a tree.
But Snuggles had had enough of the big scary world outside.
Mr Chapman came back in, shaking his head. As soon as he sat down, Snuggles jumped onto his owner’s lap and curled up in a tight little ball. It was the only place he felt safe.
“No, Snuggles, don’t go to sleep again,” Mr Chapman said. “Wake up!”
But Snuggles was already fast asleep.
Chapter Two
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, Mr Chapman,” said the vet. She finished examining Snuggles. “He seems fine.”
“Of course I’m fine,” Snuggles mewed, as Mr Chapman put him back into his basket. “I could have told you that!” While his owner was talking to the vet, the kitten snuggled into his blanket and closed his eyes.
By the time they left the surgery, Snuggles was fast asleep . . .
Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat was prowling round Mr Chapman’s back garden. One flick of his tail, and not a single bird even dared to land in any of the trees.
Super-Snuggles stared at the fence in between Mr Chapman’s garden and the one next door. “I wonder what the other garden’s like?” he miaowed to himself.
The fence was very high, but that wasn’t a problem for Super-Snuggles the Wonder Cat.
“Here I go!” Super-Snuggles miaowed loudly. He sprang into the air, soared over the fence – and landed safely on the other side. “That was easy!” he purred.
Super-Snuggles looked around the garden. There were lots of tall trees to climb. But best of all, there was a large pond, filled with plump, orange fish . . .
“Snuggles?”
Mr Chapman’s voice suddenly popped into the kitten’s dream.
“Not now,” Super-Snuggles mewed crossly. “I want to explore next door’s garden.”
“Snuggles, wake up!”
Crossly, Snuggles opened an eye. He didn’t want to wake up. His dream was too exciting!
“We’re home, Snuggles,” said Mr Chapman. “And look, a new family is moving in next door.”
Snuggles stretched, then sat up in his travelling basket. An enormous lorry was parked in the road. Four men were lifting furniture out of it. A woman was standing in next door’s garden with a boy. She had a toddler in her arms – a little girl.
The woman waved at Mr Chapman. “Hello, we’re your new neighbours!” she called. “I’m Sue Bourne, and these are my children, Mark and Emily.”
“Hello,” Mr Chapman called back. “I’m Ron Chapman. And this is my kitten Snuggles.” He held up the cat basket.
Snuggles looked at the new people, feeling a bit nervous. They seemed friendly, he thought.
“Oh, I love cats!” said Mark. He hurried over to get a closer look at Snuggles. “Hello,” he said. He reached through the bars of the basket to tickle Snuggles’s head.
“Hello,” Snuggles purred back.
“Do you have a cat, Mark?” Mr Chapman asked.
Mark shook his head. “No. But I used to go to my best friend Paul’s house and play with his kitten after school. And Mum and Dad have said I can have my own cat when Emily’s a bit older,” he added eagerly.
“Pussy-cat!” said Emily. She leaned over and tried to grab Snuggles’s basket.
“Well, Mark, you’re welcome to come and play with Snuggles,” Mr Chapman said, smiling.
Mark’s face lit up. “Thanks, Mr Chapman.”
Snuggles was pleased too. Mark seemed very friendly.
“And you must come and have tea with us, when we’ve settled in,” Mrs Bourne said to Mr Chapman.
“Can Snuggles come too, Mum?” Mark asked quickly.
“Of course!” his mum agreed.
CRASH!
Snuggles almost leaped out of his basket as one of the removal men dropped a box onto the pavement. He wriggled under his blanket and lay there out of sight, shaking with fear.
“Oh dear!” Mrs Bourne groaned. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Mr Chapman.” She hurried out of the garden to inspect the box.
“And nice to meet you too, Snuggles!” Mark added.
Snuggles gingerly poked his head out to mew goodbye.
“Well, the Bournes seem very friendly, don’t they, Snuggles?” Mr Chapman remarked. He carried Snuggles into the house, then let him out of his basket. “It’ll be nice to have someone living next door again.”
But Snuggles wasn’t listening. He trotted into the living room and curled up on the rug.