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“Listen, Dad and I think PC Ryan’s right. The man was showing someone a kitten just like Milly yesterday morning. Youknow how sneaky Milly can be! She ran away from him, I’m sure she did. The police have arrested the man, so they’ll be able to ask him more questions. Dad’s gone to put more posters up around Emwell Road. Do you want to go out looking again after breakfast? Shall we see if Lucy wants to come and help too?”

Tia sniffed and nodded, and Mum reached up awkwardly to hug her round the ladder.“Oh, that’s my phone. Maybe it’s Dad.” She dug it out of her pocket. “Hello?” She listened for a moment and then she gasped, shaking Tia’s shoulder. “Someone’s found her! Shemust have escaped! She’s not even that far away.” Mum held the phone back to her ear. “In the park between here and school. Oh, thank you so much, we’ll be there in a few minutes. Tia, come back!”

But Tia had already jumped down the ladder, and Christy was racing after her.

Milly had stopped listening to the little boys as they told her how nice she was and what soft fur she had. She could hear something. A voice…

It was Christy!“Tia, wait for me!”

“Come on, Christy! This is where Milly is, they said on the phone.”

Milly jumped right over the little boy’s knees and raced for the park gate.

“She’s there! Look!” Christy squealed.

“Milly!” Tia crouched down and the kitten bounded up to her, purring delightedly. “Oh, we were so worried!” She stood up, cradling Milly in her arms like a baby.

“Thank you for phoning us!” Tia said shyly to the woman with the two little boys.

The woman smiled.“I’m just glad we saw her. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Tia smiled back.“She’s the most beautiful kitten ever.”

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Christy danced round her sister.“We found you! Mum, look, here’s Milly!”

“She’s fine!” Tia called, as she turned to see Mum hurrying towards them.

“Better than fine,” her mum said, gently tickling Milly under the chin. “You little darling, did you run away from that man, hmmm?”

“The most beautiful kitten ever and the cleverest!” Tia sighed happily. It felt like she could breathe properly for the first time since Milly had disappeared. There had been a horrible lump of fear stuck in her throat all that time. “We got you back,” she whispered, rubbing her cheek over the top of the kitten’s head, and Milly purred so hard she shook all over.

28. THE BRAVE KITTEN

“We’d better hurry, Helena,” Lucy said, glancing at her watch and walking faster. “There’s loads to do this morning, with two dogs coming in to be operated on. I need to get everything ready.”

“I’ll help,” Helena said cheerfully, twirling along the pavement in front of her cousin. Helping out at the surgery was her biggest treat. “I can do the feeding and clean the cages on my own. I know what I’m doing.”

Lucy grinned at her.“I know you do. You’re like the youngest veterinary nurse in the country, Helena – you’ve had almost as much practice as me.”

“I haven’t decided yet what I want to be – whether I should be a nurse, or an actual vet,” Helena said seriously. “Being a vet’s harder. And I’m not sure about doing operations. I don’t really like blood. But maybe I’d get used to it.”

“You do,” Lucy said. “I didn’t like it much when I first started training as a nurse, but now it doesn’t bother me at all.”

“I suppose that cute lop-eared rabbit has already gone home?” Helena asked. She’d loved stroking the rabbit when she’d gone to see Lucy at the surgery after school a couple of days before. “He was so friendly and— Lucy, what’s that?” Helena stopped dancing along the pavement and peered worriedly at the parked car up ahead of them. There was a little mound of pale, sandy fur tucked just underneath the car.

“Oh no…” Lucy murmured. “Helena, don’t look, OK? Just wait there.”

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“What is it?” Helena asked. She was suddenly feeling a little bit sick, and her heart was jumping. She didn’t want to go closer and see whatever it was. But at the same time she couldn’t just stay back. The little heap of fur looked like a cat to her, but cats didn’t usually lie sprawled like that, not on a road, anyway. Only if they were somewhere warm and safe. “Is it a cat?” she whispered miserably to Lucy, coming closer. “Has it been run over?”

Lucy glanced back at her, frowning, but she could see that Helena wasn’t going to stay out of the way. Her cousin loved cats, even though she didn’t have one of her own. And Lucy knew how sensible she was. “I think so. Don’t cry, Helena. It must have been quick.”

But Helena wasn’t listening. “Lucy, look! He moved! I’m sure he did.”

Lucy whipped round. The little cat had been so cold and lifeless that she hadn’t thought he could still be alive, but Helena was right. He’d twitched, just a bit. “Oh, wow…” she muttered. “We need to get him to the surgery, now. Molly and Pete should be in soon – he’s definitely going to need a vet to look at him.”