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Mia leaned against her shoulder.“It makes me too sad,” she murmured. “Mum and Dad keep talking about us getting another pet, a rabbit, or even another cat. It’s like everyone’s forgotten Sandy.”

Gran sighed.“I don’t think that’s true, Mia. Your mum and dad are trying to cheer you up, that’s all. We all loved Sandy, you know that. He was your special cat, though, I do understand.”

“I really, really miss him…” Mia said tearfully. “Mum and Dad won’t listen to me. They think I ought to have got over it by now, and I’m just being silly!”

“Oh, Mia, they really don’t think that. They just want you to be happy.”

“But it was August when he died, and it’s only October now. I haven’t stopped missing him yet.” Mia sniffed. “I can’t imagine not missing him! And now I can’t even say anything about it to Emily, because she’s so excited about her kittens. I tried to explain, but she didn’t understand.”

“It’s such a special time for her,” Gran said, stroking Mia’s hair. “She can’t help being happy about it, can she?”

“I suppose not. I just wish I could be happy with her, that’s all.”

“Are you sure you want to be happy?” Gran said thoughtfully, and Mia sat up and stared at her.

“Of course I am! I don’twant to be miserable!”

“But I think you’re hanging on to being sad, Mia. At least if you’re miserable, someone’s still missing Sandy. It’s as if he’s still here. Do you see what I mean?”

Mia shook her head.“It isn’t like that…” But her voice trailed off. Maybe it was, a little bit.

“Look.” Gran got up, and fetched a little photo album from a shelf. “I’ve been making this for you, Mia, but I wasn’t going to give it to you yet, in case it just made you more upset.”

“Oh, Gran! All these photos of Sandy…” Mia turned the pages, laughing as Sandy turned from a little gingery fluffball into the big, handsome cat she remembered. “He was so special,” she said sadly.

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“Do you know what I noticed most of all about these photos?” Gran asked, smiling at a photo of Sandy last Christmas, lying in a pile of wrapping paper, a ribbon wrapped around his paws. “He was always such a happy cat.”

Mia smiled. It was true.

“Except those last couple of weeks, when he was ill. He was so tired, he wasn’t really himself any more. He’d purr if we stroked him, especially for you. But most of the time, he just slept.”

Mia nodded.“He didn’t even want to eat.”

“Exactly. And this was Sandy, he loved his food!”

Mia giggled. Mum was always getting cross with Sandy– if she left anything lying around in the kitchen while she was cooking, she only had to turn her back for a second, and a sneaky ginger paw would have swiped it. He even ate mushrooms, which was very unusual for a cat.

“He wasn’t happy, was he?” she murmured.

Gran shook her head.“No. And he loved you so much, Mia. He hated it when you were miserable about something, didn’t he?”

“Like that time I fell over.” Mia closed her eyes, remembering. She’d fallen down the stairs and banged her arm – not actually broken it, but it had still really hurt. She’d been moping around the house with it all bandaged up, until Sandy had come and sat on her while she was lying on the sofa. He sat on her chest and stared at her, dangling his big white whiskers in her face and purring like a lawnmower. It was as though he was determined that she had to cheer up. And of course it worked!

“You’re right.” She turned to the last picture in the album. It was her and Emily, both holding Sandy – he was big enough for two girls to hold. They were both grinning at the camera, and Sandy looked so pleased with himself.

“Emily’s your best friend, Mia. You have to make an effort for friends, even if it’s hard sometimes.”

Mia nodded.“I know. I’ll call Emily and say I’m sorry, and I’ll go and see the kittens soon. Maybe on Monday. And I’ll try to stop missing Sandy so much, Gran. I really will.”

Chapter Four [Êàðòèíêà: i_012.jpg]

Gran must have told Mum about the talk she’d had with Mia, because on Monday morning Mum said she’d walk Mia to school, and they’d stop and call for Emily on the way.

“Maybe you can just nip in and see the kittens,” Mum suggested. “Not for long though, because you and Emily can’t be late for school. OK?”

Mia nodded, and gave her mum a quick hug. She could see what Mum was doing. She was giving Mia a chance to see the kittens for just a couple of minutes. If it made her too sad, they could say they had to get to school.

Emily and her mum were waiting for them at the door. Mum had probably texted Emily’s mum, Mia decided, feeling a sudden rush of love for Mum and Gran, worrying about her and trying to make everything OK again. The fussing had got on her nerves before, but they were only being nice.

“Come and see, come and see!” Emily grabbed her. “We came down this morning and they’d opened their eyes. They’re so cute!” She stopped pulling Mia along and looked at her worriedly. “You still want to see them, don’t you?”

Mia nodded.“Of course. And I’m sorry I’ve been such a grump.”

“Oh, you weren’t!” Emily hugged her.