41. THE PERFECT KITTEN
Abi stared at her mum and stepdad, her mouth hanging open. The cereal and milk slid off her spoon and Ruby giggled.“Look what you’re doing!” she said.
“Do you really mean it?” Abi asked her mum. “You’re not joking?”
Her mum and stepdad grinned at each other.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]
“Of course we mean it,” Abi’s mum said. “We’re absolutely serious!”
“Oooh, your milk’s going everywhere,” Ruby said, and Abi quickly put the spoon back in her bowl.
“Didn’t you hear what Mum just said?” she asked her little sister, and when Ruby looked confused she told her, “We can get a cat!”
“Today?” said Ruby hopefully. Ruby was only four and she didn’t like waiting for things to happen.
Abi looked doubtfully at her mum and stepdad. She had a feeling that getting a cat would take a while, especially if they were going to an animal shelter to find one.
“No, Ruby, not today,” Chris, Abi’s stepdad, said gently. “But we can have a look at photos of the cats we might get, on the computer. There’s an animal shelter not far from here, Linfield Cats and Dogs. They put photos of the animals that need homes on their website.”
“I want a catnow.” Ruby sighed and her nose wrinkled the way it did when she was about to get upset.
“If you finish up your breakfast, we could look at the pictures now,” Mum suggested, and Ruby nodded and started to eat her cereal very fast.
Abi looked at her bowl– she’d almost finished anyway and she was too excited to eat any more. She’d been trying to persuade her mum and Chris that they should get a cat for ages. They’d always said Ruby was too little and she might chase a cat or try to push it around in her toy pushchair. Abi had tried telling them she’d watch Ruby like a hawk and make sure she didn’t do anything so silly, but they’d always said no – until today.
“Are there lots of cats on the website?” she asked, and Chris nodded.
“Yes! I had a quick look yesterday. There were loads.”
“Oh wow…” Abi murmured, clenching her fingers into her palms. She wanted to bounce up from the table and look at the photos straight away. What sort of cats would there be? she wondered. And what cat would she like, if she had a choice?
Black cats were beautiful and mysterious, and she loved it when they had little white paws. Or maybe they could get a tabby– all those gorgeous stripes. Then again, what about a tortoiseshell? Her friend Sky from school had a tortoiseshell called Wanda who was white with ginger and black splashes, and one ginger ear and one black ear. Even her whiskers were white on one side and black on the other. Wanda was the cutest cat Abi had ever seen.
In the end, Abi decided she didn’t mind. A cat of their own would be wonderful whatever colour it was, as long as it was friendly and didn’t mind being stroked. Maybe it would even sleep on her bed, or take turns between her bed and Ruby’s.
“Have you nearly finished?” she asked Ruby hopefully. She watched as her sister chased the last Rice Krispies round her bowl. As soon as she had finished, Abi jumped up eagerly.
“Let’s all go and sit on the sofa,” Mum suggested. “Chris, if you bring your laptop over, we can look at the cats together.”
Abi’s stepdad went to fetch the computer and they all snuggled up on the sofa. Ruby climbed on to Abi’s lap and Abi peered round her at the screen.
“Are you all right like that?” Mum asked doubtfully, and Abi nodded. She was a bit squished, but she didn’t mind as Ruby was so cuddly. Soon it might be Rubyand a cat sitting on her!
“Oh, look…” Abi whispered, and Ruby reached out to pat the screen. Staring out at them was a black cat with round green eyes, like marbles.
“She’s called Meg,” Chris said. “What a beauty.”
“I want that cat,” Ruby announced.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
“She’s lovely,” Mum agreed. “But don’t you think we should look atall the cats before we decide? And I’m afraid it says Meg needs a home without young children because she’s a bit nervous.”
Abi sighed but she understood why they couldn’t adopt Meg. A nervous cat probably wasn’t going to enjoy being loved by Ruby. They needed a super friendly cat. “Let’s look at some more, Ruby. Oh wow, kittens!”
“Kittens!” Ruby and Mum echoed together, and Chris laughed. “They’re very cute!”
The black kittens were curled up together in a basket, staring up at the camera. They looked surprised, as if the flash had woken them up.
“Aren’t they fluffy?” Abi said. She hadn’t even thought about getting a long-haired cat. This was so exciting! “I’m not sure how we’ll ever choose…” she said to Mum. “I want all of them.”
“I know.” Her mum laughed. “Once we’ve registered with the shelter, they’ll come over for a home visit to check we’re suitable. Maybe they can suggest some cats that will be just right for us.” Then she shook her head. “I should have said that the other way round. Some cats thatwe’ll be just right for!”
Abi nodded and smiled. It was the nicest thought. There was a gorgeous cat waiting for them at the shelter and they would be the perfect home for it.
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“Mum, do you think it’s OK for Ruby to be here?” Abi whispered, watching her little sister trailing a doll along the floor by her hair. The volunteer from the animal shelter was due to arrive any minute and Abi wanted everything to be just right. She had been worrying about the visit ever since Mum had registered with the shelter the previous weekend.
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“What do you mean?” Mum gave her a confused look.
“Just … maybe Chris could take her to the park? Or the shops? What if the people from the shelter think she’s too little to have a cat?” Ruby had been so excited all week but there was a chance that she might come across as really silly…
Mum smiled at her.“It’s OK, Abi. We said we’re interested in rehoming a cat that would be happy around a younger child, so we don’t need to pretend we don’t have Ruby. And we want to get a cat that will actuallylike living here. I think children aged nine and four should be fine for most cats.”
“Yes … we tidied up though,” Abi pointed out. “To make us look like better cat owners. Isn’t that the same thing?”
“No, it isn’t!” Mum looked around at the unusually tidy kitchen. “But I know what you mean. I don’t think cats care about mess. It’s the people from the shelter I was tidying up for.”
“They’re here!” Abi jumped as the bell rang and Ruby rushed to answer it. Luckily Chris got there first, and then Ruby went suddenly shy as she saw a strange woman on the doorstep and hid behind his legs.
“Hi! Come in – would you like some tea?” Mum asked.
But the woman– the name badge on her fleece said Maria – didn’t come any further in, even though Chris was holding the door open for her. She was standing just inside the gate, watching the road and looking rather worried. Then she turned to them and smiled anxiously.
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“Look, I’m really sorry…” she started to say and then glanced down at her feet as though she didn’t know quite how to go on. “It’s our fault. I should have realized before I came out to see you… I didn’t check the address.”
“What is it?” Chris asked, frowning. “Is there a problem?”
Abi slipped her hand into Mum’s. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she could tell it wasn’t good.
“It’s your road,” Maria explained. “It’s so busy, you see. There are a few main roads through town that are a problem and this is one of them. We rehomed a cat near here last year and she was hit by a car. After that we decided we wouldn’t let anyone along this road take one of our cats. It’s just too dangerous.”
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“I don’t think our road’s that busy,” Abi said stubbornly to Mum. Chris had taken Ruby out to buy some bread for lunch but it was mostly to give them something to do. Ruby didn’t understand why Maria hadn’t stayed to look around the house or why they weren’t getting a cat now, and shekept asking about it.