The Secret Kitten Read Online Free Page A

The two pieces she’d already eaten had been so delicious. But now the rest of the sandwich was closer to the girl and she wasn’t sure that she was quite brave enough to go and take it.
    But the smell… She could taste it in her mouth still and she was really hungry. She hadn’t eaten for such a long time. After she had scrambled over the fence the afternoon before, she had run and climbed and run again, frightened and desperate to get away. Her cosy den in the box had suddenly been snatched from her and she didn’t understand. She just knew that she wasn’t safe there any more.
    She had only stopped in thebig garden because she was tired. Wriggling through the tiny gap under the back fence had worn her out. She had simply lain down in the dry, shadowy space under the bush and gone to sleep. When she’d woken, it had been dark and she had been so hungry. She’d finally understood that everything was different now. Her mother wasn’t there to bring her food and there was no one there to curl up and sleep with. She was lost and all alone.
    She had been on her own before, of course she had. But she had always known that her mother would come back. The kitten would purr throatily, and her mother would wash her, licking her fur lovingly allover.
    Now her fur was dusty and matted with dirt, and a clump of it had torn out when she had squeezed under the fence. She had sat there below the bush and tried to wash herself, but it wasn’t the same and it only made her feel more lonely.
    The night sounds seemed louder than they’d ever been before. Cars roared past and made her shudder with fright, and people laughed and shouted. Another cat had stalked through the garden, late at night, but it hadn’t been her mother. She had jumped up eagerly, ready to run and nuzzle it, but all it had done was stare at her and she’d seen it thicken out its tail. Then it had paced on, away down the side of the houseand the kitten had ducked back under the bush, knowing that she was more lost than ever.
    As Lucy pursed her lips and tried to make kitten-encouraging noises that sounded something like prrrrrrp , the kitten stared back at her and wondered what to do. The girl seemed quiet and gentle, not like those stomping men that had chased her away from her home. And she had food. Just now, food seemed the most important thing of all.
    Slowly, paw by paw, the kitten came out of her hiding place and crept towards Lucy.

Chapter Five
    “Lucy…”
    “ Shh! ”
    “Lucy, is that a kitten? Is that the kitten from by the baker’s shop?”
    “Yes, but shh ! Please don’t make her run away. She’s really shy, William. Look, come and sit down here.”
    William sat down, as slowly and quietly as he could, and stared at thekitten. She stared back for a moment, but she was so busy devouring the rest of the chicken sandwich that she didn’t really have time to worry about him.
    “How did she get here?”
    “I don’t know.” Lucy reached out one hand and held it by the plate, close enough for the kitten to sniff. The kitten glared at her and then butted gently at Lucy’s hand.
    William giggled. “She’s telling you to get off her sandwich.”
    “Maybe. Or she might be putting her scent on me,” said Lucy. “That’s what a cat’s doing when it rubs its face against you. They’ve got scent glands there. They’re saying we belong to them.” I want to belong to you , she added silently. Please stay. Please, please, please .

    “Lucy,” William whispered. “Do you think – do you think she could be our cat? Can we keep her?” He looked around the garden. “We could make her a nest in the greenhouse. Wow, she’s actually finished all of that sandwich. Do you think she wants another one? Gran asked if I wanted a sandwich but I said no. I could go and say that I’ve changed my mind…”
    Lucy looked worried. “I don’t liketelling Gran lies – but we can’t tell her the truth, can we? Dad said she wouldn’t want a pet in the