Chloe the Kitten (2 page)

Her basket was missing!

 

CHAPTER TWO

A Helpful Friend

Chloe gave a sad little meow. What could have happened to her basket?

Then she remembered. She had set it down on the bank of Moonshine Pond when she stopped for a drink. She must have forgotten to pick it up.

“Whiskers and whirlpools! Whatever am I going to do?” Chloe cried. She looked anxiously at the sky.

It was getting lighter and lighter! There was no time for her to go all the way back to Moonshine Pond. Soon the sun would be up, and Dewdrop Spring would disappear for another day. Then there would be no dewdrops for her to collect, and she wouldn't be able to decorate her cobwebs.

She watched as, one by one, the other Cobweb Kittens filled their baskets and flew away. Her cobwebs would be the only empty ones in all of Misty Wood!

Chloe flopped down on a patch of grass and put her fluffy head in her paws. A tear trickled slowly down her nose.

“If I can't decorate my cobwebs, I'll be the worst Cobweb Kitten ever,” she sobbed.

“And why can't you decorate your cobwebs?” a cheery voice asked from behind her.

Chloe turned and peeked out from between her paws. A Stardust Squirrel was sitting on a log in front of her, holding an acorn.

Chloe sighed. Normally, she would be pleased to see a Stardust Squirrel.

Stardust Squirrels were some of the most beautiful creatures in Misty Wood. Their soft fur was a glittery gray color, and their wings were a delicate silver and white. When they shook their bushy tails, they sent a shimmer of stardust floating over all the leaves in the wood, making them glimmer and sparkle.

“I left my basket at Moonshine Pond,” Chloe whispered. “Now I can't collect any dewdrops.”

“And why did you leave your basket at Moonshine Pond?” the squirrel asked with a twirl of his whiskers.

“Because I'd put it down so I could have a drink,” Chloe said, feeling very ashamed.

“I see,” said the squirrel. “And why did you need a drink?”

“Because I didn't have any breakfast.”

“Oh, you must never leave the house without having breakfast,” the squirrel said with a twinkle in his eye. He hopped off the log and bounded over to Chloe, leaving a glittery trail behind him. “I always have a bowl of acorns for breakfast. I was just collecting some, actually.” The squirrel held out his acorn to her. “Here, do you want one?”

Chloe shook her head.

The squirrel looked thoughtful for a moment. “What you really need is a walnut,” he said.

“No, thank you. I'm much too sad to be hungry,” Chloe replied.

The Stardust Squirrel gave a gentle laugh. It sounded like the tinkle of ice crystals on a frozen lake. “I don't mean to eat,” he said. “I mean to make a basket.”

Chloe frowned. How could she use a walnut as a basket?

“Wait here,” the squirrel said.

Chloe watched as he scampered over to a small tree stump on the bank of the lake, scattering a trail of stardust as he ran. “Ta-da!” he cried, rummaging around in the tree stump. “Just the thing!” He pulled out half a walnut shell.

Chloe looked at the wrinkled shell. “That doesn't look much like a basket,” she said sadly.

“Not yet,” the squirrel agreed. “But just you watch.”

Quick as a flash, the squirrel nibbled two little holes into the side of the shell. Then he picked a thick blade of grass, and with a blur of paws and a flurry of stardust, he tied the grass to the walnut shell to make a sturdy handle.

“Oh, I see!” Chloe exclaimed. “It's a perfect dewdrop-collecting basket. Thank you!”

“You're welcome,” said the squirrel. “Now, are you sure you don't want this tasty acorn?”

Chloe smiled and shook her head. “No, thank you. I've got work to do. Good-bye!” And with that, she flew up into the air and over to the spring.

Flapping her wings hard, Chloe swooped this way and that, catching glistening dewdrops as she flew. The walnut shell was bigger than her old basket, so she was able to collect more drops than ever before.

Just as Chloe had filled her basket, the sun finished rising above the trees. At once, Dewdrop Spring sank back into the lake.

“Just in time,” Chloe said to herself as she fluttered through the valley and off to Hawthorn Hedgerows, the part of Misty Wood she was in charge of decorating.

Hawthorn Hedgerows was right by the edge of the wood. As Chloe flew closer, she spotted the silvery strings of a delicate cobweb clinging to the first hedge. She shivered with excitement. She would soon make it look beautiful.

“I have just the dewdrops for you,” Chloe said with a smile as she hovered close to the web. She chose the smallest and sparkliest dewdrops from her basket and carefully hung them one by one on the threads.

After she had filled the cobweb with dewdrops, she flew back a bit to check her work. The cobweb now sparkled like a jewel! Eagerly, Chloe flew over to the next web and began again. As she worked, she hummed a little tune. She felt so glad to be able to decorate her cobwebs after all.

Chloe was starting her fifth cobweb when she felt a gentle tap on the top of her head. She looked up and saw a spider dangling above her on a strand of silky web.

“Sorry to trouble you,” the spider said, pointing a spindly leg toward the part of the hedge Chloe had just finished. “But I was wondering why you haven't decorated my web.”

“I have!” Chloe answered in surprise. “Look, I'll show you.” She spread her wings and flew back along the hedge. But to her dismay, she saw that the spider was right. His cobweb was empty! There were no dewdrops on it at all. And all the other cobwebs Chloe had spent so long decorating were bare, too. Her dewdrops had completely disappeared!

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

The Dewdrop Thief

Chloe flew this way and that, searching for the dewdrops. They were nowhere to be seen.

“I told you,” the spider said, while solemnly blinking his tiny eyes.

“But I just don't understand!” Chloe meowed. “I'm sure I did that hedgerow. Look, it was the same as this one.”

Chloe turned to show the spider the hedge she had just begun to decorate with sparkly dewdrops. But much to her surprise, they were gone, too!

“Someone must have stolen them!” Chloe cried. She gulped.
Someone … or something
.

“You mean we have a dewdrop thief?” the spider asked, frowning.

Chloe nodded. “I'm afraid so.”

“I don't like the sound of that,” said the spider, and he scurried off as fast as his eight legs would carry him.

Chloe slumped down to the ground. “Whatever will I tell the other fairy animals?” she sighed. “They will think I haven't done any work at all this morning.”

She gazed gloomily into her basket. There were lots of lovely, plump dewdrops left, but if she hung them up, would they just disappear, too?

Then Chloe had a brilliant idea. “Cockleshells and conkers!” she cried with a grin. “I know what I will do.”

Carefully, she lifted out a shimmering dewdrop from her basket. She placed it gently on a silky strand of the nearest cobweb. Then Chloe added two more dewdrops so that all three hung in a row, sparkling like precious jewels.