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Sara nodded and the two girls sat down, leaning against Elsa’s bed. Pepper watched them for a moment, then he clambered up on to Elsa’s jeans and looked at Sara thoughtfully.

“Maybe we smell sort of the same, to a kitten?” Elsa whispered.

Sara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and when Pepper put one cautious paw on to her leg, she beamed. The tiny kitten sighed and then collapsed across their outstretched legs like a saggy furry toy.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_27]

“You’re going to have to tell Dad,” Sara said, tickling the sleepy kitten under the chin.

“Can we wait a bit?” Elsa pleaded. “What if he says we can’t keep him? I’ve had a kitten less than two days. I can’t give him up yet.” She leaned across to stroke one finger over Pepper’s velvet head. “Wouldn’t you like to keep him?” she added coaxingly.

“Well … yeah… He’s gorgeous,” Sara admitted. “I’ve been asking Dad about getting a dog again, but I don’t think he’s going to say yes. He doesn’t want to leave a dog alone at home while we’re at school and he’s at work. A kitten wouldn’t mind that so much, would he?”

“No. Exactly!” Elsa said eagerly. “He’d be a perfect pet. So, will you help me persuade Dad, then? Pepper would be the family’s cat, not just mine.”

Sara glanced over at the bedroom door and Elsa could see her thinking it through– there were tiny frowns and then flickers of a smile. At last she gave a slow nod. “OK. But I think we ought to tell him straight away. The sooner the better. I don’t think he’s going to be happy that you kept Pepper a secret.”

Elsa sighed. She’d been hoping to wait a bit longer – until they were really settled in the house, and Dad wasn’t so stressed about the move. But she knew Sara was right.

“Let’s go downstairs,” she said slowly. “Dad said he was going to do stuff online – changing addresses and that sort of thing. He said it was going to be really boring. He might like a break.”

“You take him.” Sara gently scooped Pepper off her lap. “He was yours first. But I’ll definitely tell Dad I think we should keep him.”

The two sisters walked slowly downstairs, with Elsa cradling Pepper against her cardigan. She just hoped Dad was in a good mood.

“You can’t be after a snack already,” Dad muttered as they came into the kitchen. He was glaring at his laptop and Elsa almost backed out of the room, thinking it might be better to come down again later.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_28]

“We don’t want a snack,” Sara said, putting a hand on Elsa’s back and pushing her forward a bit. “Elsa found out what was making those weird noises.”

Dad looked up.“Oh no – not a rat?” Then he saw Pepper, blinking at him sleepily from Elsa’s arms. “A kitten?”

“He must have been in the attic,” Elsa explained.

“You didn’t go up there, did you?” Dad asked worriedly. “That floor’s dodgy, Elsa, it’s dangerous.”

“No, honestly. Pepper came downstairs. I found him under my bed.”

“Pepper?” Dad frowned. “I’m guessing you haven’t just found him, then, if he’s got a name.”

Elsa looked at the floor and murmured,“It was yesterday morning. You were busy… I didn’t want to bother you…”

“Oh, Elsa…” Dad sighed. “He must be starving.”

“I fed him bits of sandwich, and cheese. He loves cheese – remember Gran said how Poppet really liked cheese? That’s where I got the idea.”

“She also said that if Poppet had too much she threw up all over the sofa,” Dad pointed out grimly. “At least you’ve been feeding him, I suppose. But where did this kitten come from? That’s what I want to know. He can’t have been in the attic by himself.” His eyes widened. “Are there more of them up there? His mum, maybe?”

“I haven’t heard them,” Elsa said, shaking her head. She hadn’t thought of going to look. “I think he was all on his own.”

Dad stood up.“I’d better go and check. You two stay here, please. I don’t want you anywhere near those holes in the floor.”

Elsa made a face at Sara as Dad disappeared off upstairs.“Dad sounds really grumpy. We shouldn’t have told him now, it was a really bad idea.”

“He hasn’t said no,” Sara pointed out. “It might be OK.” She reached over and tickled Pepper under his chin. “You need to put on your best cute face for when he comes back,” she said. “Come on, kitten. Time to charm Dad.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_29]

Dad came back down saying that there were no more kittens upstairs, but he thought he could see where Pepper had been sleeping.

“It’s a bit smelly up there, too,” he said, frowning. “I suppose he isn’t house-trained.”

Sara made a face but Elsa shook her head.“I put down newspaper in my bedroom, Dad. He weed on it like he understood he was meant to. And he did a poo on the paper, too. I took it all out to the wheelie bin this morning and put some more down.”

“I suppose that’s something.” Dad sighed. “But we need to find out who he belongs to, Elsa. We can’t just adopt him.”

“Can’t we?” Elsa asked pleadingly. “He’s really good, Dad. He’s so friendly and sweet. Sara likes him too.” She elbowed her big sister and Sara nodded.

“I think we should keep him. He’s cute, Dad. You should try stroking him.”