Isla caught her breath. She hadn’t thought of it – she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it. Mum had said she’d like to have a cat if they could persuade Dad. And Dad had just told her and Sienna and Chloe how good they all were with Silky. He’d had Silky curled up on his lap asleep for ages, like a born cat owner! She stared at him pleadingly.
“Well…” Isla’s dad looked at Silky, who was climbing on to Hailey’s shoulder and sniffing at her hair. “I suppose we could think about it. I mean, we’d have to talk to your mum, Isla. Your parents too, Hailey. And I’m not sure what the shelter would say about Silky swapping owners…”
“They’d be glad Silky’s got a new home, Dad. I’m sure they would!” Isla felt like jumping up and down. Was he actually saying yes?
“Can we?” she whispered. “Please can we?”
“I’m not promising,” Isla’s dad said slowly. “But … I don’t see why she has to go back to the shelter to be honest. I should think it would be upsetting for her. She’d be better off staying with us.”
[Êàðòèíêà: img_40]
Hailey swallowed hard and carefully unwound Silky from her hair. She handed her over to Isla, and Isla could see that she was trying not to cry again.
“You’ll be able to see her all the time,” she said quietly. “She’ll still be a bit yours. We can share her.”
Silky was settling into the crook of Isla’s elbow, as though she was meant to be there. She yawned again and Isla leaned down and rubbed her chin over the top of Silky’s head, loving the velvet feel of her fur.
“I’ve got Pickle,” Hailey said. “I expect he’ll sleep on my bed tonight.”
Isla nodded and tried not to look too happy, but it was hard. She was imagining Silky sleeping on hers.