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Bootle made one last effort, forcing his shaky paws to race to the shed, and struggle over the step and into the dusty dryness. He was so relieved to be out of the rain that he hardly noticed the sports equipment piled up all over the place– just the heap of old, rather tattered mats that he could curl up on for a rest.

It was while Bootle was fast asleep that the caretaker remembered he hadn’t locked up the shed when he’d got out the spare chairs, and came grumpily back through the rain with his keys.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_34]

“Bootle!” Scarlett called happily, as she opened the front door to let herself and Izzy and Jackson inside. “Bootle, come and see Izzy!”

Dad hurried out of the kitchen, a worried expression on his face.“You didn’t see him in the lane then?”

Scarlett stared at him, not understanding.“What?” she asked, with a frown.

“Bootle! He’s not out there? I wondered if he’d slipped out somehow. He must have done, I can’t find him anywhere.” Dad glanced distractedly up and down the hallway, as though he thought Bootle might pop out from behind the wellies.

“You can’t find him?” Scarlett stammered. “You mean – he’s lost?”

“I’m sorry, Scarlett.” Dad ran his fingers through his hair till it stood up on end. “I had a long phone meeting all morning, it finished about an hour ago. Then I went to find Bootle and check that he was all right, but he’d disappeared. I just don’t understand how he can have got out!”

“Maybe he didn’t?” Izzy suggested shyly. “He could be shut in somewhere. Olly’s always doing that. He climbed into a drawer once and went to sleep, and my mum didn’t see him and she shut the drawer. Then she got a real shock because her wardrobe was meowing.”

“Maybe…” Dad murmured. But he looked doubtful. “Let’s check again.”

Scarlett grabbed Izzy’s hand and pulled her up the stairs, while Jackson hurried into the living room.

“Bathroom,” Scarlett muttered. “Not in here. The airing cupboard, maybe?” She pulled the door open, but no indignant kitten darted out. “Jackson’s room…” She peered in, and called, “Bootle! Bootle! He isn’t here, Izzy. I’m sure he’d come if he heard me calling. Or he’d meow to tell me where he was.”

“He could be asleep. Try the other rooms, just in case.”

Scarlett peered into her mum and dad’s room, opening the wardrobe, and all the drawers, but there weren’t even any gingery hairs. “This is my room,” she told Izzy, pushing the last door open. “Bootle!” Scarlett caught her breath. She’d been hoping to find him asleep on her bed, but he wasn’t there.

“Your window’s open…” Izzy said slowly.

“Oh, but he couldn’t get out through that.” Scarlett shook her head. “It’s really high.”

Izzy frowned.“It depends how much he wanted to.”

The girls climbed on to the bed so they could look out of the window.

“You see? He could jump on there.” Izzy pointed out the low bit of the roof. “And there’s all that ivy stuff. That’s like a cat ladder.”

Scarlett stared at her.“You think he really could have climbed down that?”

Izzy looked down at the grass, which was an awfully long way away.“He might have done.”

Dad came in, with Jackson behind.“He isn’t in the house,” he said grimly. “Was that window open, Scarlett?”

“Yes!” Scarlett nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m really sorry, Dad, I didn’t think Bootle would try to climb out of it! He can hardly get up the stairs, and the windowsill’s really high.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_35]

“It isn’t your fault.” Dad put an arm round her. “I should have checked on him earlier. None of us realized he would be able to climb out of the window.” He leaned over to look out. “I think he did, though. Some of that creeper’s been torn away.”

“Can we go and look for him?” Scarlett asked. “He might have tried to get to school again, and got lost… Oh, Dad, what if he’s gone on the road?”

Dad hugged her tighter.“Don’t panic, Scarlett. I don’t think he would, he’s scared of the car noises. Remember how he meowed when we got him out of the car at the vet’s? Even though he was safe in his basket he didn’t like it when the cars went past. And why would he get mixed up about the way to school, whenhe made it yesterday?” He let go of Scarlett, and made for the door. “I’m just going to call the school and see if he’s turned up there.”

Scarlett sank down on her bed, staring up at Izzy.“I can’t believe it. Everyone’s been telling me today how lucky I am, and how gorgeous Bootle is, and now he’s gone. I’ve only had him a couple of weeks, Izzy! How can I have lost him?”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

It was starting to get dark. Bootle scratched at the door with his claws again, but they were starting to hurt. He’d hoped that he could make that little thin strip of light and fresh air bigger, maybe even big enough to squeeze out. But all he’d managed to do was scratch off some of the paint. Miserably, he sank down, mewing faintly. No one seemed to hear him, and it had been quite a while since he’d last heard anyone outside.