“It just seemed like a good time,” her dad added.
Maddy nodded. “It is a good time,” she whispered. She couldn’t help still feeling sad about Kate, of course, but at the same time, inside she was jumping about and squeaking. A kitten! A kitten! I’m getting a kitten!
Chapter Two
Maddy’s mum showed her some more photos of the kittens, but it was hard to see them in the pictures on her phone. Three of them were ginger and the other two were tortoiseshells, beautiful black, white and orange cats. They were all coiled and snuggled around each other and their mother, who was black like Ben. Maddy was pretty sure she would like a tortoiseshell kitten – Tiger and Tom had put her off ginger cats.
“When can I see them?” Maddy asked the next morning at breakfast.
Mum smiled. “I’ve arranged for us to visit them this afternoon. And if you’re sure which kitten you’d like, you can even bring it home today! We can go to the pet shop on the way to Donna’s house to get everything we’ll need.”
As it turned out, they needed an awful lot of things. A basket, Maddy had thought of that. And a food bowl. But she hadn’t realized there was so much else. A collar. Grooming brush. Food. Special treats that were good for cleaning kitten teeth. Toys…
They were just about to go and pay for everything when Mum stopped. “Oh, I’m so stupid! I forgot that Donna said to bring a cat carrier to take the kitten home in.”
Maddy smiled. Home! She loved the idea of their house being a home for a kitten.
“If you get anything else, we won’t have room for the kitten in the car,” Dad muttered, but Maddy knew he was only joking.
“Can we go to Donna’s now?” she said hopefully, as they stowed all the things in the boot a few minutes later.
Mum nodded, and hugged her. “I’m really excited.”
Maddy threw her arms round her mum’s neck. “I bet I’m more excited than you.”
Dad got in the car and tooted the horn at them. “Come on. I’m so excited I actually want to go and see these kittens some time today!”
“Oh, look at them!” Maddy breathed, stopping in the kitchen doorway and staring. The kittens were all asleep in a large basket in the corner of the room. It was by the radiator, and the floor had been covered with newspaper.
“They’re doing pretty well with their house-training; the newspaper’s just in case they miss the litter tray,” Donna explained. “We’ve been keeping them in the kitchen up till now, but this last week they keep on escaping!”
“How old are they?” Maddy asked. They looked so little. She couldn’t believe they were ready to leave their mum.
“Ten weeks yesterday. I bought a book about raising kittens when we found out that Dilly was pregnant, and it recommended keeping them with their mum until then, so she can teach them what they need to know. Also, that way they get to spend more time with their brothers and sisters, and learn how to get on with each other.”
“So did you mean for her to have kittens then?” Maddy’s dad asked.
Donna sighed. “No, it was a total surprise. We were planning to have Dilly spayed, but we left it too late. As soon as she’s recovered from having these, we’ll take her to the vet. I love the kittens, but I don’t want any more!”
“Are you going to keep any of them?” Maddy asked, as she knelt down by the basket. “I can’t imagine how you’re going to let them go, they’re so gorgeous.”
Donna nodded. “I know. I’d love to keep a couple, and it will be sad for Dilly to lose them all, but we only ever meant to have one cat! We’ll have to see. Quite a few people seem interested in adopting one.” She smiled at Maddy. “But you’ve got first choice. Your mum booked you a kitten weeks ago!”
Maddy looked up at her mum gratefully. “Thanks, Mum!”
“Well, it seemed like a perfect opportunity – you’re old enough to help look after a pet now.”
“I’ll be really good, I promise,” Maddy said. “I’ll even clean out the litter tray.” She wouldn’t mind, she thought, peering into the basket. The kittens had heard their voices, and were starting to wake up. Dilly was watching Maddy carefully, obviously guarding her babies.
One of the ginger kittens popped its head up and stared curiously at Maddy. She laughed, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh, sorry!” Maddy whispered. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
All the kittens were awake now, gazing at her with big green eyes. Maddy sighed. “How am I ever going to choose one of you?” she murmured. She hadn’t thought she’d like a ginger kitten, but they were cute too – their pink noses clashed with their orangey fur.
One of the tortoiseshell kittens put its paws up on the side of the basket, and nosed at Maddy’s hand. Its nose felt chilly and tickly, and Maddy stifled a laugh. She didn’t want to make the kitten jump.
“Is this a girl kitten?” she whispered to Donna. She’d guessed that the ginger kittens were boys and the tortoiseshells were girls, but she knew it wasn’t always that way round.
“Yes, she’s a sweetie. Very friendly, she loves to have her head rubbed.”
The kitten looked at Maddy hopefully, and Maddy gently scratched the top of her head. Ben had always liked that. The kitten purred, and turned her head sideways, nestling into Maddy’s hand.
“She’s lovely,” Mum said quietly.
“Could we have her?” Maddy breathed. The kitten was still purring and cuddling up against her hand. She was so little and perfect. Maddy was desperate to pick her up, but she wasn’t sure she should.
The kitten solved the problem by clambering over the side of the basket – it was a soft, squashy one, and the sides were so high that she looked like she was trying to climb over a bouncy castle. There was a lot of scrabbling, but eventually she landed on the kitchen floor, looking very proud of herself, and set to work mountaineering up on to Maddy’s lap.
“Oooh, claws.” Maddy giggled, and carefully scooped a hand under the kitten’s bottom to give her a bit of a lift. The kitten finally reached her lap, looking quite worn out by the effort, but she purred delightedly when Maddy made a fuss of her.
“Well, it looks like she wants to be ours too,” Dad said, reaching out a finger to scratch behind the kitten’s ears. “What are we going to call her?”
Maddy looked down at the kitten, who was busily curling herself into a neat little ball. “See that orange patch on her back. It’s completely round. Don’t you think it looks just like a biscuit?”
“Biscuit?” Mum laughed. “That’s a really cute name for a cat. It does look like a little ginger biscuit, against that white fur.”
Maddy nodded. “It’s the perfect name for her.”
Maddy had the whole of the rest of the Easter holidays to get to know Biscuit, and play with her. Her mum and dad were right – having her kitten did mean she spent less time worrying about going back to school without Kate. She also did a lot of reading – they’d bought a book on cat care at the pet shop, and she got a couple more out of the library, too.
“Did Donna take the kittens to have their first vaccinations?” she asked Mum at breakfast, the day after they’d brought Biscuit home.
Biscuit was sitting on her lap, looking hopefully at Maddy’s breakfast. The cereal looked quite like her cat biscuits, she thought, but it didn’t smell the same. She reached up, stretching her neck, and sniffed harder. Definitely not cat biscuits, but a very good smell all the same. She put her front paws on the edge of the table, and darted her raspberry-pink tongue at a drop of milk that Maddy had spilled.
It was sweet and cold, and Biscuit gave a delighted little shiver. Maddy was checking her cat book and didn’t notice when Biscuit edged a little further forward, and stuck her tongue in the bowl to lap up her leftover cereal. She got in a good few mouthfuls before Maddy spotted her.