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“You’d better help the poor kitten out,” Gran agreed, and Harper had scooped him into her arms again and carried him up to bed with her. He’d investigated the bathroom while the girls were brushing their teeth and then followed them back into Harper’s room. He liked this room – there was a windowsill and he thought it might be sunny to sit on tomorrow. So many different places to explore up here. So many interesting smells.

Now he yawned and stood up, turning round a couple of times and padding at the duvet to get it just right.

“Is he OK?” Ava sat up in bed to look at him worriedly and Sammy nudged his nose against her cheek.

“I think so.” Harper smiled at her. “He does that, Ava, it’s all right. He’s getting comfy. Go to sleep. Mum said you could only come in with me if you promised not to keep chatting.”

Ava lay back down, and Sammy tucked himself into the nest of duvet between both sisters and started to purr. Some things were different, but this hadn’t changed. This was where he was meant to be, curled up with Harper and Ava.

Harper rubbed her hand gently over his ears and he heard her sigh sleepily.“Don’t worry, Ava. Sammy’s back home.”

53. THE SMALLEST KITTEN

Amina raced up the steps at the front of the animal shelter and twirled round and round in front of the door.“Come on!” she called to the rest of the family. “Zara! Hurry up! Don’t you want to see the kittens?”

Zara didn’t dash after her twin sister. She pushed her hand into Dad’s instead, holding on to him tight. She wanted to go and meet the kittens, of course she did. It was just that she was excited in a different way. She didn’t do dancing about like Amina did. Her excitement was all inside, but it was definitely there. She and Amina had been talking about this moment for so long – imagining meeting their very own kitten for the first time.

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Zara slipped the hand that wasn’t holding Dad’s into her pocket, closing it around the folded printout that she’d been carrying about for days, ever since Mum had emailed the animal shelter to say they were interested in the kittens. Zara had got her to print one of the photos, so she could keep looking at it. It showed all three kittens snuggled up in a soft cat bed, two tabby ones mostly on top of a little black-and-white one. She didn’t seem to mind though. She looked quite comfy with a warm blanket of kitten on top of her.

“Excited?” Mum leaned over to look at Zara, smiling. “I know how much you’ve been looking forward to this.”

Zara nodded hard and smiled back, but she still didn’t say anything.

Up at the top of the steps, Amina was tugging open the heavy glass door…

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When Mum and Dad had told the girls they would be able to go and see the kittens and choose which one they wanted to adopt, Zara had thought they’d only be allowed to look at them, maybe through a door into their pen. But instead they were taken to a special meeting room and James, the man who worked at the shelter, explained to them that they just needed to wait while he went to fetch the kittens.

“Do you think we’ll get to hold them?” Zara asked Mum hopefully as James hurried off.

Amina nodded.“Look! There are cat toys in that basket. I think we can play with the kittens.”

Zara looked round and saw a basket full of all different sorts of toys– balls, feathery birds, squishy mice… Just the kind of things she’d been thinking of buying with her pocket money, ever since Mum and Dad had said they could get a kitten when they’d moved to their new house.

Zara and Amina’s mum had recently changed jobs. She now worked at a hospital that was too far away for her to commute. It was a huge change for everyone – Amina and Zara would have to start at a different school too. But there were some good things about moving. Mum and Dad had always said their old house was too small for pets, and it was by a busy road. The new house had a garden and it was really quiet. Perfect for a cat. Amina and Zara were going to be ten soon – ten was definitely old enough to look after a pet, and they’d promised to help lots. Mum and Dad had promised they would contact the animal shelter as soon as they’d settled in. Even though it had only been a couple of weeks, it felt like a very long wait…

“Is he coming back yet?” Amina asked, bouncing up from her chair.

“It won’t be long,” Mum said, laughing at her.

Dad turned to the door.“I think I can hear them, actually.”

The girls stared hopefully at the door– and Dad was right. James eased it open and stepped through with a cat carrier. Tiny, squeaky, cross little mews echoed from inside, until James set the carrier down and opened the wire door, and then there was a curious silence. Amina and Zara exchanged a wide-eyed look and Amina slipped her hand into Zara’s. After all the waiting…