Willow the lonely kitten (2 page)

Chapter Two

The afternoon turned out to be as busy as the morning. When Eva finally finished up at the computer in Reception, she was exhausted. She and Annie had mucked out the stables where they were housing two ponies, Peggy and Oliver, brought over by Cath Brown from Leebank Pony Sanctuary earlier that week. Then the girls had cleaned the litter trays in the cattery while Karl had stayed by the phone, leaving Jen and Heidi free to deal with two new
admissions – a hamster called Maxwell, and Piper, a sleek white greyhound.

Meanwhile, Mark Harrison and Holly were out in his parcel van making deliveries. Eva had waved them off and smiled at Holly perched cheekily on the passenger seat next to her dad.

Now it had grown dark and all was quiet in the rescue centre. Jen had cycled home to Clifford. Annie had said goodbye and gone out with her mum and dad. And Karl and Heidi had gone over to the house to make tea, leaving Eva in charge of ordering more sweatshirts. “Animal Magic, Main Street, Okeham” – Eva typed the correct address on the order form, pressed Send, then turned off the computer. She was about to switch off the lights when the phone rang and she picked it up.

“Hello, this is Cath Brown,” the voice said.

“Hi, Cath. This is Eva. Do you want to speak to Mum about Oliver and Peggy?”

“No, I just need you to pass on a message.” The owner of the pony sanctuary sounded as if she was in a hurry.

“Go ahead,” Eva said.

“I’m not sure, but I think I’ve just heard a kitten in distress.”

“Whose kitten is it?” Eva asked, ready with pencil and paper. She planned to write down exactly what Cath told her.

“That’s the problem – I’m not sure who it belongs to. I was out fixing the fence at the bottom of one of my fields and I heard it miaowing inside a cottage down the lane from me – there were no lights on in the house or any other sign of life.”

“You’re sure the owners aren’t out at the supermarket or something?”
Kitten
, Eva wrote.
Empty cottage.

“I’m sure,” Cath replied. “In fact, I know that the people who lived there moved out earlier this week. That’s why I was surprised to hear a kitten crying, and why I thought I should let you know. I’m afraid I have to go out now – a work thing – otherwise I’d have taken a look myself.”

“Can you give me the address?” Eva asked, writing again as Cath spoke.
Willow Cottage, Leebank Lane.

“Like I said, I might be wasting your time, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

A kitten crying inside a lonely cottage down a dark lane, in the middle of winter – this certainly sounded worrying. “Thanks, Cath. I’ll tell Mum.” She hung up and ran across the yard to find Heidi.

Her mum listened carefully, then nodded. She reached for her jacket. “Come on, Eva, let’s take a look!”

The drive to Leebank took twenty minutes along narrow roads that curved and rose and twisted and turned. Heidi’s headlights drilled through the darkness, lighting up the stone walls to either side.

“Cath did warn me that there might be nothing wrong,” Eva told her mum.

Heidi indicated, then turned down Leebank Lane. “Let’s hope that’s the case,” she said quietly. “But meanwhile, we’ll check anyway. There’s Cath’s place on the right – see the sign by the gate?”

Eva nodded. “She told me Willow Cottage is further down the lane. Slow down a bit, Mum, so I can take a proper look.”

The car bumped and shuddered along the rough track. “I’ve never been down here before,” Heidi admitted.

“There’s something up ahead!” Eva pointed out. “A gate on the left and a farm track. Hang on, Mum – this could be it!”

Heidi braked and turned on to the track. Now their headlights revealed a low stone building and a sign on the gatepost that read “Willow Cottage”.

“Come on!” Eager as ever, Eva jumped out. Heidi pulled a torch from her pocket and together they approached the house. “It looks deserted,” Eva whispered.

Heidi listened then agreed. “I don’t hear a kitten, do you? Maybe Cath made a mistake.”

They listened again. A strong wind blew through the trees behind the house.

“Did you hear that?” Eva cried. Above the gusting wind she thought she heard a high, miaowing cry. It was muffled and faint, but definitely there.

Heidi nodded. “Let’s go round the back.”

Eva ran ahead, stumbling against a rusty tractor parked at the side of the cottage, then picking her way over a pile of rubble.

“What a mess,” Heidi muttered as she followed. She flashed her torch beam around the overgrown garden and the twisted willows growing by a stream.

“Over here, Mum – I’ve found the back door.” Eva’s eyes had grown used to the darkness and she could now make out an old wooden porch. Once more she stumbled in her hurry to reach the door.

Miaow! Miaow!
There was no mistaking it now – there was a kitten here in this lonely place, and it sounded as if the noise was coming from the porch itself.

Eva found the door handle and pulled hard. “It’s locked!” she told Heidi.

Heidi shone the torch on the lock, then rattled the handle. “We don’t want to break in if we can help it,” she pointed out.

But the kitten’s cries were growing louder and more pitiful. “We can’t just
leave it here with no one to look after it,” Eva insisted.

Miaow!
The kitten must have heard their voices. It seemed to be begging them to rescue it.

“There’s a window in the side of the porch,” Heidi told Eva. “It’s not quite closed – let me see if I can slide my fingers in and lift the latch … yes, that’s it!”

Slowly the window opened, and Heidi pushed aside a net curtain to shine her beam inside the porch.

Eva made out some empty cardboard boxes and a pile of yellowing newspapers sitting on top of a bench. Empty milk bottles were scattered across the stone floor.

Miaow! Miaow! Miaow!
The kitten’s cries were urgent, but still Heidi’s torch beam couldn’t locate the poor creature.

“Let me climb in!” Eva begged.

Her mum nodded, then gave her a leg-up. Eva squeezed through the window and jumped to the floor, knocking a milk bottle and making it roll as she landed. She peered under the bench, then into a plastic washing-up bowl resting on top.

A big pair of eyes stared back at her.

Eva gasped. “There you are!” she whispered. “Mum, give me the torch!” She took the light and shaded it with her hand to give her just enough light to see. “It’s a little black and white kitten!” she reported. “There’s nothing in this bowl except soggy newspaper – there are some unopened cans of food under the bench, but nothing to drink. She must be
so
hungry and thirsty!”

“Lift her out,” Heidi decided. “See if you can unlock the door from the inside. Quickly, Eva, we need to get her back to Animal Magic as soon as we can.”

Chapter Three

“Well, what do you think?” Mark asked Heidi, while Karl and Eva stood back from the examination table. “It must have been pretty cold back there at the cottage. Did you rescue her in time?”

Please say yes!
Eva crossed her fingers and held her breath. Her mum had tested the shivering kitten’s heartbeat and thoroughly examined the inside of her mouth. Now they were waiting anxiously for Heidi’s verdict.

“She’s a tough little thing,” Heidi told them. “She seems surprisingly healthy after her ordeal.”

“Cool!” Karl took a deep breath. “How old is she?”

“Six to eight weeks – scarcely weaned from her mother.”

“So sweet,” Eva murmured, venturing forward to stroke the rescue kitten.

Back at Willow Cottage she’d lifted her out of the dirty plastic bowl and handed her through the porch window to Heidi. Together they’d taken her to the car, wrapped her in a blanket and put her safely in a pet carrier for the rough ride back to Okeham.

“She’s lapped up the water from the dish so she won’t need a rehydration drip,” Heidi went on. “We’ll start her off on small amounts of kitten food – Karl,
can you fetch some from the cattery store room? Thanks.”

“Can I pick her up?” Eva asked.

“Yes. Snuggle her up, keep her nice and warm.”

So Eva picked up the tiny kitten. She stroked between her ears, noticing the two black patches over her eyes. “She looks like a bandit wearing a mask!” she joked.

“She’s definitely loving your cuddles.” Mark smiled as the kitten began to purr. “I don’t suppose she’s had many of those in her short life so far.”

“I know. Someone moved out of the house and left her behind – how cruel is that!” Eva knew she shouldn’t be surprised by how unkind people could be to their pets, but she always was.

“Well, she needs a name,” Heidi said calmly. “And since you did the actual rescuing, it’s your choice, Eva.”

“Hmmm.” Eva stroked the kitten’s soft front paw and smiled at her little pink tongue as she opened her mouth to yawn. “How about Willow?”

“From Willow Cottage – very apt,” her dad agreed. “It suits her.”

“Meet Willow,” Eva announced to Karl, as he came back with the kitten food
and put it on the table.

Miaow!
The kitten smelt the food and wriggled free. Soon she was at the dish, tail in the air, head down, eating happily.

“Karl, make sure you take a really cute picture of Willow.” It was early Sunday morning and Eva and Karl were preparing the kitten’s details for the website.

“I always take cute pictures!”
Click-click
– Karl pressed the shutter and looked at the result. He’d captured Willow with her head cocked to one side, staring straight at the lens. “See!” he grunted.

Miaow
! Willow cried.

“Aah, look – she wants to be cuddled!” Eva sighed, picking the kitten up off the counter.

“Right, I’m off to upload the picture on
to the computer,” Karl said. “Then people can read the details and see how sweet she is.”

As he dashed off, Eva stayed for a while with Animal Magic’s newest resident. “That’s our job,” she murmured, putting her lips against Willow’s soft, warm fur and explaining their next move. “We put your details on our website, and then we match the perfect pet with the perfect owner!”

“‘Willow – How sweet is she!’” Eva read the words which Karl had written for the Animal Magic website. “‘We hope this abandoned kitten won’t be lonely long!’”

“What do you think?” Karl asked Jen and Eva.

“That’s perfect,” Jen told him. “And with
the picture to go with it, I’m sure it’ll do the trick.”

Karl nodded. “What do you bet we won’t keep Willow here for five minutes?”

Jen smiled as she went to open the front door, ready for business. “Yes, she’s a little cutie. Hi, Cath – how are you?”

The pony sanctuary owner had been waiting in her car for the door to open. Now she breezed in, dressed in jeans and stable boots, bringing the smell of stables with her. “I’m fine, thanks. I was driving by and thought I’d pop in to check on Peggy and Oliver, and to catch up on the kitten situation.”

“Come and take a look!” Eva invited Cath to check out Karl’s website entry. “We called her Willow. Isn’t she adorable?”

Cath smiled and nodded. “Heidi rang early this morning to say you’d rescued
the poor little mite. She may have had a rough start in life, but by the look of things you plan to make up for it.”

“Do you want to come to the cattery and see her?” Eva asked. Usually she was shy with the brisk, no-nonsense sanctuary owner, but today Eva’s excitement about the kitten overcame that. “Did Mum tell you where we found Willow?” she chatted on.

Cath nodded and followed Eva into the cattery. “In the back porch – left there without a second thought about how she would survive,” she replied. “It beats me how people can do these things, but you should see the awful condition of some of the ponies who come to me. Often nothing more than bags of bones… Oh, yes, I see what you mean!” Stopping beside Willow’s cage, Cath leaned forward. “She really is pretty.”

“Hello, Cath,” Heidi said, coming out of the storeroom to greet their visitor. “I was just about to call you. I was thinking about Willow earlier and I wondered if the people who moved out of Willow Cottage left a forwarding address.”

Eva frowned. Why did her mum even want to know?

Cath shook her head. “To tell the truth, I didn’t even know their names. They were a youngish couple, but they only rented Willow Cottage and I hardly ever saw them in the six months they lived there.”

“Cool,” Eva said quickly. “Then we don’t need to try and trace them.”

“Hold on,” Heidi argued. “There’s a chance that these people left Willow behind in the confusion of moving house and they’ve only just realized what they’ve done. In which case, they’ll be back.”

“No way!” Eva protested. She was eager to crack on and find a brilliant new home for Willow. “They definitely dumped her on purpose.”

Heidi frowned. “We can’t be certain, Eva. Cath, do you happen to know the landlord at Willow Cottage?”

“Yes. His name’s Brian Verney – a sheep farmer on Briscoe Moor. Do you want me to give him a call?”

“Please,” Heidi said. “I think we should be certain that the tenants can’t be found before we post Willow’s details on our website. Ask him if he has a forwarding address, and whether his tenants owned a black and white kitten.”

“Will do,” Cath agreed, smiling kindly at Eva and going out with Heidi to check on Peggy and Oliver.