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“I don’t know.” Kate shrugged. “The new house has got a big garden, but he likes it here. Like me.” She sighed miserably. “I keep hoping Dad’s going to come home and say it was all a mistake, and he doesn’t have to go and work in Yorkshire after all. But we’re leaving tomorrow. It’s getting a bit late for that.” She sniffed, and sat down next to Maddy and Ben on the bed.

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_3]

Maddy put an arm round her, and Ben bounced on to Kate’s lap, standing up on his hind legs to wrap his front paws around her neck. It was his party trick. Kate always told people she had a cat who hugged, although he didn’t do it to very many people. Mostly Kate, but he would do it to Maddy sometimes, especially if she’d given him a cat treat. He’d even done it to Maddy’s dad once, when he came to pick Maddy up and stopped for a cup of tea. Her dad had been taken by surprise, but Maddy had noticed that he always looked for Ben whenever he came to Kate’s now. As though he was hoping that Ben might do it again.

Maddy had been working on her mum and dad to let her get a cat of her own for ages. She was pretty sure that Ben had won her dad over that day. Now she just had to persuade her mum…

Kate sniffed again.“What if he doesn’t like the new house, Maddy? He might even try and find his way back here. You read in the papers about cats who do that.”

“Yorkshire’s probably too far for him to try it,” Maddy said. It was meant to be comforting, but it didn’t work. She didn’t want to think about how far away her friend was going to be. And she was going to have to start a new school, of course. Maddy couldn’t imagine having to do that.

Kate frowned.“I hope there aren’t too many other cats near the new house. Ben’s the top cat round here, none of the other cats would put a paw in our garden. But the new garden might be another cat’s territory already.”

Maddy looked down at Ben, now sitting comfortably on Kate’s lap. He yawned and stretched, and then stared up at her with huge green eyes.He didn’t look like he was worried.

“Even if the garden is another cat’s territory, I don’t think it will be for long,” Maddy said, stroking him.

Kate nodded, laughing.“Maybe. He doesn’t fight very often, but when he does, I think he just sits on the other cats and squashes them.” She sighed. “I suppose I’d better get on with packing. Mum says I should have had it finished yesterday.” She pushed Ben gently off her knee, and he slunk away to hide amongthe boxes.

Maddy went back to wrapping up the photo. She was going to miss Kate so much. She knew Kate would miss her too, but her friend was a bit like Ben, Maddy thought. She was so strong and bouncy and confident. She’d have a new gang of friends in no time – and she’d be showing off her famous hugging cat to them instead.

“Pass me that tape, Maddy, so I can seal this box up.”

Maddy handed her the parcel tape, and wrapped another photo frame.“Where did Ben go?” she asked, a few minutes later.

“He’s under the bed, isn’t he?” Kate said, peering down.

But he wasn’t. There was a sudden thumping and then a muffled yowl. “He’s in the box!” Maddy giggled.

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_4]

Kate stared at the big cardboard box she’d just taped up. “He can’t be…” she murmured, but she didn’t sound very sure. She ripped off the tape, and the flaps came up, followed by a large black head, with cross, glowing green eyes. Ben scrambled out, hissing grumpily.

“Well, you shouldn’t have been in there!” Kate laughed. “Nosy boy!”

Maddy was laughing too. But even as she laughed, she was thinking,I’m going to miss them so much…

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_5]

Kate and her mum walked Maddy home– it was only five minutes away, and it was warm and sunny. Perfect Easter holiday weather. If Kate hadn’t been leaving tomorrow, they’d have spent loads of time in the park, or maybe gone out somewhere for the day.

“Those cats that live next door to you are nearly as big as Ben,” Kate’s mum commented, as they came up to Maddy’s garden.

“They’re sitting on Mum’s daffodils again,” Maddy sighed, as she hurried into the front garden and tried to shoo the two big ginger cats off the stone pot that her mum had planted full of bulbs. For some reason Tiger and Tom had decided it was a really good place to sit, and the daffodils were looking a bit squashed now.

Maddy’s mum opened the front door. “I heard you coming, girls. Oh, no, not those horrible cats again!”

Tiger spat crossly at Maddy as she tried to get him off the daffodils, and yowled. He was so different to lovely, sweet-natured Ben. At last, he jumped down, and the pair of them stalked away, glaring back at Maddy.

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_6]

As the mums chatted, Kate flung her arms round Maddy.“Promise you’ll call me every day! Tell me everything that’s happening at school, OK?”

Maddy nodded.“And anyway, you’re coming back to visit at half-term.”

“We’d better go,” Kate’s mum said. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow, and there’s still some packing to do.”

And that was it. Kate and her mum went back down the path, waving, and Maddy was left on her own.