“Look, I’m sorry,” Dad said gently as he turned off the engine in front of the house. “I know you two want to keep Pepper. Maybe once we’re more settled, we can look at getting a pet. Guinea pigs, like you wanted, Elsa, or we could think about a cat.”
Elsa nodded, and sniffed, and she stumbled up the path after Dad and Sara, trying not to burst into tears. There didn’t seem to be any point crying and arguing when Dad had made up his mind like this.
Then Dad pushed the door and it bumped against a little ball of dark fur. Dad peered around and caught his breath worriedly.“Pepper!”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_37]
The kitten blinked up at them, limp and bedraggled, and then his eyes seemed to glow golden. He sprang to his feet, mewing frantically.
“It’s not that long since Elsa fed you,” Dad said, shaking his head. “Are you hungry already?”
“Oh, Dad…” Elsa scooped Pepper up, half laughing, half crying as he nuzzled desperately at her, nosing at her cheeks and chin. “I don’t think he’s hungry. Look at his paws. His claws are split. And there’s a bit of blood on this one.”
“Look at thedoor…” Sara put in.
“We left him behind,” Elsa said shakily. “Like Jemima and the other kittens did.”
“You mean, he thought we’d gone forever?” Dad reached out to stroke Pepper very gently with one finger. He looked shaken, Elsa thought.
“He’s been abandoned before,” Sara said quietly.
Dad sighed and rubbed his hand across his face.“I suppose so. All right.”
Elsa blinked at him.“All right what?”
“We’ll keep him.”
“What?” Elsa could feel her mouth gaping open, like a fish. “You mean it?” she whispered at last. When Dad nodded, she pressed her cheek against Pepper’s fur, feeling a faint purr start up. She was holding on to him as tight as she dared, and it didn’t feel like enough.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]
Elsa reached over and lifted Pepper out of the Christmas tree– again. This time he came with a long strand of silver tinsel wrapped all round his paws.
“It’s not a cat toy,” she told him sternly, but Dad laughed.
“It’s the best cat toy, Elsa. Climbing frame, jingly bells, nice squishy presents to land on if you fall out… Talking of which… Here – open this one. It’s for you and Sara. Sara, put your new phone down for a sec. Look at what Elsa’s opening.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_38]
He handed Elsa a thin flat parcel wrapped up in paper with hearts on and Elsa started to tear it open curiously. She’d already opened her big present – the bike she’d asked for – plus lots of cool stuff for Pepper, including a squashy igloo cat basket, which he’d completely ignored so far. She had no idea what this present could be, unless maybe it was a book about looking after cats.
Sara helped her pull off the last of the paper and the two girls stared down at a picture frame with a photo of a beautiful chestnut-brown tabby cat. She was gorgeous, but quite thin, and she had big golden eyes. She was gazing at them out of the picture and she looked worried.
“Oh! Is it Jemima?” Elsa asked, remembering how Mrs Bell had described her. “Is it for Pepper, so he knows what his mum looks like?”
Dad was grinning at them.“There’s an envelope!” he said, rubbing his hands excitedly. “You have to open the envelope as well.”
“Oh…” Elsa picked it out of the wrapping paper and tore it open. Inside was a sheet of paper headedAdoption Certificate.“‘David, Sara and Elsa Parsons, congratulations on adopting Jemima’…” she read. “Jemima? Dad! You went and got her from the shelter!”
“I really wanted to have her here on Christmas Day, but she’s still feeding the other kittens,” Dad explained. “Anna, the lady who organized it all, said she’s pretty sure the kittens will have new homes soon. Apparently they’re quite unusual, being born late in the year, so there aren’t many kittens around wanting homes right now.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_39]
“And then Jemima can come back here.” Elsa hugged him, but then she looked worried. “What about Mrs Bell? Won’t Jemima think it’s weird she’s not around?”
“Possibly,” Dad agreed. “But Anna seemed to think that she’d get used to it. She’s very timid with the shelter staff, apparently, so Anna leaped at the chance of Jemima going back to her old home, even if it is with different people. She thinks Jemima’s more likely to settle here than anywhere else. Though you have to realize she’ll probably never be as friendly as Pepper.”
“I don’t mind,” said Elsa. “I hated it when Mrs Bell said how scared she was, being taken off to the shelter. And we could take photos and send them to Mrs Bell, couldn’t we?” she suggested.
“That’s a very good idea.” Dad looked pleased with himself. “Good surprise?” he asked hopefully.
“The best!” Elsa reached down to grab Pepper, who was just about to leap into the lower branches of the Christmas tree again. “Pepper’s going to think so too. And if we have Jemima, then he won’t be lonely when me and Sara are at school.”
Pepper wriggled grumpily in her arms. Why wouldn’t they let him climb that tree? It smelled good, and it was full of things that sparkled and jingled and rustled when he patted them with his paws. But every time he got anywhere near it, someone always whisked him away.
“Here, you can play with the tinsel you’ve already stolen,” Elsa told him, dangling it over his nose, and Pepper lunged at it, hugging the tinsel close and growling at it fiercely. He wasnot going to give it back.
He lay there on Elsa’s lap, wrapped up in tinsel and patting the glittery fronds every so often. He was getting sleepy now. Trying to climb the tree so many times had worn him out. He yawned, showing all his tiny needle-sharp teeth, and then purred as Elsa rubbed under his chin.
“You’re staying with us, and now your mum’s coming back too,” Elsa whispered. “We’ll have two cats. Oh, I can’t wait to tell Lilly.”
Pepper purred sleepily and rolled over, snuggling up against Elsa’s hand and nuzzling her. He stretched one paw over her fingers determinedly.
He wasn’t letting her go.
46. THE SADDEST KITTEN
Isla pushed away her plate, leaned her chin on her hand and sighed.“You’re so lucky,” she told Hailey over the noise of the school dinner hall. “I wish we could adopt a kitten.”
“I don’t see why you couldn’t have one,” said Hailey. “You love cats – you always play with Pickle when you come round to mine and he really likes you.”
Pickle was Hailey’s beautiful black cat and Isla loved making a fuss of him. He even sat on her lap sometimes, when she and Hailey watched TV. Then Isla would sit like a statue, hoping he’d stay.
She shook her head sadly.“I’ve asked my mum and dad loads of times, but they always say no – Mum thinks Chloe and Sienna are too young. They’re only four and she says they’d chase a kitten around too much.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]
Hailey scraped out the last of her yogurt, looking thoughtful.“I suppose they might. But we’ve had Pickle since before I was born. I don’t think I ever chased him. Maybe Max did? I don’t remember it, though.”
“Yeah, but Max is sensible,” Isla pointed out. “Chloe and Sienna are … not.”
“They aren’t that bad!” Hailey said, giggling.
“Yesterday they climbed up the shelves in the dining room and tipped a whole bottle of yellow poster paint all over the carpet. Mum says it’s never coming out. Now isn’t the time to suggest we get a kitten as well.” Isla made a face. “So how does it work? Do you go to the animal shelter and check out lots of kittens? That must be so hard. I’m not sure I’d be able to choose!”
“The shelter has a website,” Hailey explained. “We looked at pictures of them last night. There are loads – I loved the black and white ones, but they’re going to be rehomed in pairs. The shelter likes to do that, so they’ll be with a friend. But we only want one kitten because we’ve already got Pickle.”