The Clever Little Kitten (3 page)

 

She'd got Molly into a bit of trouble…

Now Molly looked curiously at Posy, as Janie gently put the kitten into the travel cage she'd brought. The little tabby cat was right. Her magic had to be for
something
.

Molly decided that she and Posy had better find out exactly what – before Posy got herself stuck somewhere even more dangerous.

 

 

 

 

Molly and her dad waved Janie off, and Molly headed back across the yard to the house to do her homework.

“Tell Mum I'll be back over for tea as soon as I've finished at the surgery!” Dad called after her.

“How was William's kitten?” Mum asked, as Molly came into the kitchen. Grandad was sitting having a cup of tea with her.

“Posy's OK. That's the kitten's name. She's just got a bit of a sore tail. It didn't seem to be bothering her very much.” Molly smiled to herself. Posy hadn't actually mentioned her tail at all, but she could hardly tell Mum and Grandad that.

“Why can't we have a kitten?” Kitty asked, looking up from the picture she was drawing. “Look! I did a kitten picture.” Everyone looked at the piece of paper, and then craned their necks to peer at it from another direction. The entire page was covered in pink and green squiggles.

“Very nice,” Mum said, smiling.
“But you know why we don't want to have a kitten or a puppy, Kitty. You're a bit young. When you're bigger.”

Kitty moaned grumpily, until Mum distracted her with choosing the vegetables for tea, but Molly didn't say anything. There wasn't much point, but she couldn't help thinking that Mum and Dad always said that. But they never said exactly how
much
bigger.

 

 

Mum and Kitty picked Molly up from school the next day. As Molly came out of her classroom with her best friend, Alice, a small figure in a bright pink raincoat and wellies shot across the playground and thumped into her stomach.

“Ow, Kitty…” Molly moaned, when she had enough breath back. “What's the matter?”

“We're going to tea with William!” Kitty shrieked, grabbing Molly's hand and starting to pull her across the playground. “He's got a kitten!” she told Alice. “Molly has to go now! Bye!”

Alice waved, laughing, as Molly was dragged to the gate. Luckily
she'd taken her wellies to school too, as Kitty didn't bother going round the puddles.

“See you tomorrow!” Molly called back. “Are we really going to tea with William?” she asked Mum, as Kitty grabbed Mum's hand too and hurried them down the street.

“Yes, Janie called earlier. William really wants to show Kitty his new pet.”

Molly nodded. She was really keen to see Posy herself. She'd been trying to think of ways to help the little kitten find out what her magic was for, but so far she hadn't had any brilliant ideas.

William and his parents lived in a
little row of cottages further down the road from Molly's house and the surgery. As they got there and Kitty wrestled with the front gate, Molly spotted Posy in the front window. She was sitting on the sill next to a vase of flowers, obviously watching out for them.

 

 

“Oh look!” Kitty squeaked with excitement. “The kitten, the kitten!”

Posy stared wide-eyed at Kitty, who was jumping up and down.
Then she glanced at Molly, looking slightly worried. Molly smiled at her. Posy was thinking what she was thinking – that Kitty and William together could be a dangerous combination. She stood up, rather quickly, as Kitty ran to ring the doorbell.

Molly could hear feet thundering down the hallway, and there was a rather loud crash. She peered back at the front window and sucked in a worried breath. Posy wasn't there any more. And neither was the vase of flowers.

The door took a while to open, as though whoever had been rushing to answer the bell had been distracted.
Eventually, Janie came to let them in, smiling but looking a bit stressed. William was standing behind her, clutching a rather wet kitten.

 

 

I was looking for you
, Posy told Molly, her whiskers dripping.
It was a very good place to watch from, in front of those flowers. I could see everyone coming up and down the road. But then I forgot they were there.

Molly stroked her damp fur and
Posy purred. A few little silvery sparks shimmered up between Molly's fingers, and she blinked. Hopefully no one else had noticed. William was looking at Kitty taking off her wellies. “Be careful,” she whispered to Posy.

“She knocked the vase over!” William said, nodding. “Posy's not very good at being careful. But it didn't break. Kitty, come and see my cars!” He hurried off, still holding Posy, and Kitty followed him.

Janie sighed. “He's right, it didn't break. I think we've only got unbreakable vases left after nearly four years of William.”

“She's a bit accident-prone, then,
your new kitten?” Mum asked as they went into the living room. Kitty and William were on the floor with the cars, and Posy was standing in a large red trailer that went with William's tractor. She looked nervous. When she saw Molly, she took a careful leap on to the floor and hurried over to weave around Molly's legs.

“Posy!” William sighed. “You were going to be the animals for the farm.”

“I'm not sure she likes the trailer,” Molly told him. “It's a bit wobbly.”

Much too wobbly!
Posy agreed.

“What about using Kitty's elephant instead?” Molly suggested. “Then the tractor could be a zoo tractor.”

Kitty held up her elephant hopefully. She'd brought it with her from her box of toy animals from home. The elephant was her favourite.

 

 

William thought about it for a moment, and nodded.

Posy gave a little purr of relief and climbed happily into Molly's lap. Molly looked round. Mum and Janie had gone into the kitchen, talking about nursery, and Kitty and William were busy with their game
now, rolling the tractor all round the room and out into the hallway. No one would notice if she whispered to Posy.

“How's your tail?”

“Oh, it doesn't hurt. Although I think maybe that's why I knocked the vase over.” Posy nodded. “It's put my balance off.”

Molly had a feeling it was just that Posy had bumped into the vase, but it seemed mean to say so.

“I was thinking, maybe we should try and find out what your magic does. I'm sure it's useful for something.”

Posy lay down flat with her paws stretched out in front of her and her
chin on Molly's leg. Even her ears drooped. “Are you? I'm not. Perhaps I'm just no good at magic.”

She sounded so sad that Molly picked her up, cuddling the kitten against her shoulder. Posy gave a squeak of surprise and then rubbed her chin against Molly's. “We'll work it out, I know we will,” Molly whispered to her.

Posy purred, and the sound was so deep and lovely that it made Molly's hair shiver. “You promise?”

Molly nodded. “I promise.” She wasn't sure how they'd do it, but Posy's purr had shimmered all through her. Molly felt as though even her fingernails were glittering.

 

 

With that much magic in such a small kitten, they had to be able to find something special that Posy was meant to do.