“And whoever she belongs to will be missing her,” Mr Tappin added. “We’ll have to put her outside again so she can go back to her real home. It’s only right.” Michael hugged Star even tighter.
“Think how you’d feel if you had a kitten and it just disappeared,” his mum said gently.
Michael nodded slowly.
“She’ll find her way back to where she came from,” Michael’s dad reassured him. “But you must say goodbye to her now.”
When his mum and dad had left the bedroom, Michael put his head down on Star’s fluffy tummy. His wish had come true: he’d got a kitten for Christmas. But now she was being taken away …
Chapter Four
“Anyone for second helpings?” Mr Tappin asked. The family were sitting at the dining table, eating Christmas lunch.
Michael’s granny always came to lunch on Christmas Day, with Archie. She puffed out her cheeks. “No thanks, love, I’m full,” she said.
“If I ate anything else I’d go pop!” said Mr Tappin.
“How about you, Michael?” his mum asked.
Michael shook his head, a great lump in his throat. He’d managed to eat some of his Christmas lunch, but he hadn’t enjoyed it half as much as he usually did. He was too worried about Star.
After the kitten had been put back out into the snow, she’d hung around the door for a while, miaowing – then she’d disappeared. Michael’s mum and dad had said she’d gone home. But Michael wasn’t so sure.
“So – who’s for Christmas pudding?” Mrs Tappin asked next. Mr Tappin groaned. “Or shall we wait a while?” she added hastily.
“Good idea,” Michael’s gran said as she sank down on the sofa next to Archie.
Suddenly Michael heard a familiar mewing sound. He turned to look over at the glass door.“Look! Star’s come back!” he shouted.
Everyone looked towards the garden. Star stood there in the snow, her fur sticking up in damp spikes. She mewed again, then started scratching at the glass.
“So that’s the little thing you’ve been telling me about!” said Michael’s gran.
Michael nodded, then looked at his mum, hopefully.
Mrs Tappin stood up.“If we ignore her, I expect she’ll go home. Now, does anyone want a mince pie?”
“But, Mum!” Michael pleaded. “She’ll be freezing cold out there. It’s starting to snow again. The snow will get so deep that it will go right over her head.”
“Cats are very sensible …” his mum began, and then she looked at Star and hesitated. “Oh, dear,” she said. “She does look a bit wet, doesn’t she?”
“And it is Christmas …” said Michael’s gran, winking at him.
“Perhaps just for a little while, then,” Mrs Tappin agreed. “Until we can find her owners …”
Before they could say anything else, Michael was opening the door and lifting the shivering kitten into his arms.“You came back!” he said, holding her close to him and not caring a bit about his Christmas jumper getting wet.
Mrs Tappin went to get an old towel from the kitchen to dry Star.
Archie seemed to sense that there was something going on and woke up from his snooze. Raising his head, he spotted the tiny intruder, jumped down from the sofa and stood at Michael’s feet staring up. He gave a loud, loud miaow. Who was this cheeky young thing?
“You can be introduced in a minute,” Michael’s gran said. “The youngster needs to be dried first.”
Mrs Tappin gave Michael the towel and he sat by the fire with Star on his lap. Very gently he patted her wet fur, rubbing under her tummy where she was wettest of all.
As her fur got dry and fluffy, Star curled round and round on Michael’s lap, loving all the attention. Purring non-stop, she put out her tongue and began to lick Michael’s hand.
“It feels all tickly,” he laughed. He was so happy! He’d wanted a cat for ages …
While he’d been drying the kitten, the family had been watching, and now they all thought Star was really sweet.
Butsomeone didn’t think she was very sweet. Archie stood on red alert, ears pricked and eyes wide, watching the stranger’s every movement.
Michael’s dad told him to put Star down next to the older cat.
“I hope they’ll be friends,” Michael said anxiously, lowering Star to the floor.
The big tabby cat and the tiny black kitten stared at each other. Their noses twitched as they sniffed unfamiliar scents and their tails swung slowly from side to side. They were weighing each other up.
Star took a timid step closer to Archie, but Archie immediately gave a low growl of disapproval. He raised his back into a high arch and fluffed up his raggedy fur.
Star shrank away, scared. Michael moved in to pick her up and protect her. He wasn’t going to have his little kitten frightened!
“They’ll be friends all in good time,” said Michael’s gran.
“I expect the little thing’s hungry,” Mrs Tappin said. “Maybe she wants her Christmas lunch.”
Michael nodded eagerly.“Oh, yes, please,” he said. “If you give me some turkey, I’ll chop it up for her. And can she have some gravy on it?”
His mum laughed.“I suppose you want the gravy warmed up?”
“Yes, please,” Michael said.
Mrs Tappin returned with Star’s food and gave it to Michael. He put it down in the middle of the floor and sat down right beside her to watch her eat it.
Star munched away, her tiny white teeth flashing and her pink tongue hungrily licking up the gravy.
“Look at her eat!” Mr Tappin said. “Anyone would think she’d never seen a Christmas lunch before.”
“She hasn’t!” Michael said, and then realised that his dad was joking.
Archie had some turkey too, of course, and when both cats had finished their meal they sat by the fire. They didn’t look at each other but sat carefully licking round their mouths and smoothing their whiskers with their paws.
“I think they’re going to be friends,” Michael said. He beamed at his gran. “Archie can be Star’s grandad!”
The three grown-ups looked at each other.
“Don’t forget, love,” his mum said, “Star might not be here for long. She belongs to someone else. You’re just borrowing her.”
Michael didn’t answer. He watched his lovely kitten, not wanting to miss a lick of her paw or a swish of her tail.
When she’d finished washing, Star stretched and yawned widely. Michael thought she was about to fall asleep but she suddenly leapt right over the dozing Archie and made a beeline for Michael’s dad. She ran straight up his trousers, across his jumper and round the back of his neck.
Mr Tappin gave a shout of surprise.“She’s climbing onto my head!”
Everyone started laughing.
“It looks like you’re wearing a furry scarf!” Michael’s gran said.
“Aren’t kittens fun!” Michael said, happily.
“Yes, they are,” said his mum. But then her face turned serious. “But Michael, you must remember that Star isn’t really yours.”
Michael pretended not to hear her again. Star was his. Shewas … Chapter Five
“Now, what shall we say on this poster?” asked Mr Tappin.
It was three days after Christmas and he and Michael were sitting at his computer. They’d contacted the RSPCA and the local vet to report that they’d found a kitten, and now they were making a poster.
“I don’t know,” Michael said. He didn’t want to be helpful.
“I suppose we should start off by describing her,” said his dad. “Black kitten with white star-shaped mark on her chest …”
“What if no one claims her?” Michael asked.
“Don’t build your hopes up,” Mr Tappin replied. “Someone must be really worried about her.”
There was a scratching at the door. Michael went over to open it and Star padded into the room. She rubbed her head against his ankle, purring loudly.
Michael picked Star up and took her to sit with him. The kitten seemed very interested in the computer and leapt from Michael’s lap onto the table.
Zedtonimplurr appeared on the screen as she stepped daintily across the computer keyboard.