“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 somewhere. 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.