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She turned back to Lilly, biting her bottom lip. She had to get rid of her, before the kitten decided to make a run for it. What if it disappeared off somewhere and she never saw it again? Or it wandered into Sara’s room?

“Um, I’m really sorry, I have to go,” she gabbled, starting to shut the door.

“Oh … OK…” The other girl looked really hurt, Elsa realized as she closed the door. She supposed she had been a bit rude. Well, very rude actually. But she couldn’t help it. “It was the girl next door come to say hello,” she yelled to Dad, and then she raced back upstairs and flung herself down next to the bed.

The black kitten was nowhere to be seen.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_18]

Had the kitten got out of her room? Elsa sat up, looking around anxiously. Perhaps it had dashed through the open door, back upstairs to the attic. She wasn’t supposed to go up there – Dad said the floor wasn’t safe – but she could go and put her head round the door…

A tiny rustling made her turn and look at the pile of boxes, and she let out a soft sigh of relief. There were two black twitching ears poking out of the nearest box.

“What are you doing in there?” Elsa asked, going to peer in at the kitten. Now she looked, she could see delicate scratch marks on the cardboard where it had scrambled its way up. “Are you still hungry? Are you looking for more food?”

The kitten stared back at her and Elsa was sure it looked hopeful.“I can go and get some more,” she suggested. “Oh, except Dad’s in the kitchen now. We might have to wait a bit.” She eyed the kitten’s tufted ears and golden eyes and added, “I wonder if you’re a girl kitten or a boy kitten… I don’t like calling you ‘it’. Um… I’m going to guess you’re a boy. But if I called you Pepper, that could be a boy or a girl, couldn’t it?”

The kitten clambered up on to Elsa’s folded jumpers and made a friendly sort of squeaking noise. He was definitely a lot less shy since she’d fed him, Elsa decided.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_19]

“I probably shouldn’t have named you,” she told him with a sigh. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to stay here, Pepper kitten. Dad doesn’t want a cat and neither does Sara. She’s been begging to get a puppy for ages, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I might nearlyhave persuaded Dad to get guinea pigs, but he’s still only thinking about it.”

The kitten wobbled across the jumpers so he was a bit closer to Elsa and then leaned over, bumping his head against her hand.

Elsa’s eyes widened. Had she just imagined that? She hadn’t dared to stroke him – he seemed far too nervous and jumpy. But he had touched her! All on his own!

“Thank you,” she whispered, wondering if he’d do it again. He was looking up at her, his eyes almost all golden now in the winter sun that was pouring through her window.

“I don’t care if Dad and Sara don’t want a cat,” Elsa muttered. That tiny, quick touch of his velvet-soft fur had made all the difference. She still didn’t think the kitten was her cat, but she definitely felt as if she washis person.“I’ll just have to persuade them somehow.” She wrinkled her nose. “Only – maybe not yet… Dad’s still a bit stressed about the move and I bet he’s not happy about that leaking sink either. It’s not really a good time to tell him we’ve got a cat.” She held her hand out a little closer to the kitten, watching him hopefully. Would he do it again?

There was a moment’s pause and then the kitten rubbed the side of his chin against her hand, his eyes closed. And – yes! There was a tiny breathy rumbling sound. Elsa could feel it too, shaking the kitten all over.

He was purring.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

Elsa decided that she needed to keep Pepper hidden for a few days, at least. During lunch, she told Sara and Dad that she was working on a Christmas surprise and please could they stay out of her room? Dad had looked really pleased, as if that meant she must be settling in.

Actually, Pepper would be quite a good Christmas surprise, Elsa thought to herself in bed that night. She could put some tinsel on a cat collar… She shifted her feet very slightly, just to feel the weight of a kitten on her toes again. She hadn’t expected Pepper to sleep on her bed – she had taken the box of jumpers off the top of the stack and put it down on the floor, to make it easier for him to climb into.

She’d done her best to make her bedroom into a proper kitten home. She’d spread some newspapers on the floor in the corner of her bedroom, hoping he’d know to use those instead of a litter tray, and she’d told Dad she was starving and needed an extra cheese and ham sandwich at lunchtime. She’d borrowed one of the plastic picnic plates and a little bowl for Pepper’s water. It was going to be tricky sneaking food upstairs, but Dad was still busy sorting everything out. Sara was more likely to spot what she was doing than he was.