Magic Kitten: A Circus Wish (3 page)

Flame didn’t answer, but his black fur began to sparkle all over. He jumped to the floor and Sadie was blinded by a bright silver flash.

‘Oh!’ she rubbed her eyes. Sadie blinked hard and saw that in Flame’s place now stood a majestic young white lion. She was awestruck. ‘Flame?’

‘Yes, Sadie. It is me,’ Flame replied in a deep rumbling growl.

Then, just as Sadie began to get used to the great white lion, there was another flash of light and Flame reappeared as a tiny coal-black kitten.

‘Wow! You really are a lion prince,’ she whispered. ‘No one would ever know. That’s a really convincing disguise!’

Flame nodded. ‘But my disguise will not save me if my uncle finds me. Will you hide me, Sadie? I am in danger!’

Sadie’s heart went out to the tiny kitten. She scooped him up. ‘Of course I will. But who did you say was after you?’

‘My uncle Ebony. He has stolen my throne. He sends his spies to search for me. When they find me, they will kill me,’ Flame mewed anxiously.

Sadie stroked his soft little head. ‘Then we have to make sure they never find you. I’ll take you home. You can live with –’ She broke off suddenly.

Flame looked up into her face. ‘Is there a problem, Sadie?’

‘Sort of,’ Sadie admitted. ‘It’s my dad. He’s allergic to cats.’

‘What is allergic?’ Flame purred.

‘It means when you have a weird reaction to something,’ Sadie explained.
‘Dad sneezes and his eyes water when he gets anywhere near cats. He’s never going to let me keep you.’

Flame nodded. ‘Very well, I understand. Thank you for your kindness, Sadie. I will find someone else who can help me.’

‘No! Wait!’ Sadie burst out. She really didn’t want Flame to go.

She thought hard. There had to be some way to get round the problem. ‘I know. I’ll smuggle you into our house. You can live in my bedroom. Dad won’t know you’re there. This is great. I’m dying to tell Jenny about how you can talk and everything. Jenny’s my best fr–’

She broke off as Flame placed his tiny black paws on her chest and
looked up at her. ‘You cannot tell anyone about my secret. Promise me, Sadie.’

As Sadie looked into his troubled emerald eyes, she felt a surge of affection for the tiny kitten. ‘All right, Flame. I promise. You’ll be my secret.’

‘Thank you,’ Flame purred softly, rubbing the top of his soft little head against her chin.

‘I think it’s time we went. Can you get in here?’ Sadie opened her school bag, and Flame jumped inside. He settled straight down on top of her books and she heard him rumbling contentedly as she turned off the cloakroom lights and headed for home.

Chapter
* THREE *

The following morning Sadie woke first thing with something tickling her nose. As she went to brush it away, her fingers felt a set of whiskers.

‘Good morning,’ Flame purred happily into her ear.

‘Flame!’ It was her secret magic kitten! He was really here, living in her bedroom. Reaching for him, Sadie gave
him a cuddle. ‘Did you sleep well?’

Flame snuggled his warm little body against her. ‘Yes. Thank you. I feel safe here with you.’

Sadie thought she could have stayed there for hours, but she had agreed to meet Jenny at the shopping centre that morning and she knew that Flame must be hungry! Throwing back the duvet, she jumped out and dressed quickly. ‘I’m going down for breakfast, but I’ll be back soon with something for you to eat.’

Flame jumped across to the window and looked down at the garden.

‘Be careful someone doesn’t see you,’ Sadie warned.

Flame turned to look at her. ‘Do not worry. I will make myself invisible when I am in your house.’

‘Really?’ Sadie asked in surprise. ‘You can do that?’

Flame nodded his little head.

‘Well, in that case then, yes. I think that would be a good idea,’ Sadie replied, grinning at the excitement of it all.

Sadie wolfed down her breakfast and smuggled a glass of milk up to Flame as quickly as she could. ‘It’s all I could get. I’ll buy you some proper cat food with my pocket money,’ she promised.

Flame purred as he drank his milk.

While he was washing his face, Sadie grabbed her jacket and put her open bag on the bed. ‘Could you jump inside again? Just to be on the safe side. I’m going to find Dad.’

Mr Allen was in the garage, tidying his tool kit. He looked up and smiled as Sadie came in. ‘I expect you want your pocket money’.

‘Yes, please,’ Sadie said.

She nearly died on the spot when Flame popped his head up out of the bag. Then she remembered that her dad couldn’t see him.

‘Here you are, love…’ Mr Allen’s eyes started watering. He gave a big sniff. ‘That’s funny. I must be getting a cold. Ah-choo!’

‘Poor you,’ Sadie said hurrying outside. ‘Thanks for the money, Dad. See you later.’

‘Right you are,’ her dad answered. ‘Ah-choo!’

Sadie and Flame reached the shops, but Jenny wasn’t there yet. Sadie sat on a bench to wait for her. She glanced around and then whispered to Flame. ‘It’s OK for you to show yourself. I can’t see any neighbours or anyone who knows me.’

Flame jumped into her lap and settled down. As Sadie stroked him, watching people going in and out of the shops, a shaggy little dog, trailing a lead behind it, ran up to her. She recognized him straightaway.

‘Presto!’ Sadie reached out and caught hold of his lead. ‘Where’s Lena? Have you run off, you naughty dog?’

Presto gave her a doggy grin. Wagging his tail, he woofed softly at Flame. Flame’s whiskers twitched. He began purring and then jumped down beside the little dog.

‘How sweet. They’re making friends!’

Sadie looked up, surprised to see Lena looking down at Flame and Presto. ‘Hi, Lena!’

‘Hi, Sadie. I’m glad you were here!’
Lena replied. ‘Presto jerked the lead out of my hand and took off! Thanks for holding on to the little rascal.’

At that moment Jenny arrived too. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said breathlessly, reaching the two girls. Her face fell when she saw Lena. ‘Oh. Hello.’

Lena smiled at Jenny. ‘Hi. I love your new haircut. It’s really nice.’

Jenny didn’t reply but then spotted Flame for the first time. Her eyes widened. ‘Where did you get that cute kitten, Lena? Is it yours?’

Sadie shook her head. ‘He’s mine. He’s called Flame. I found him last night – I’m looking after him.’

Lena leaned down to stroke Flame. ‘He’s gorgeous, Sadie.’

‘Yeah, definitely’ agreed Jenny. ‘I like his
name. But how come your dad let you have him? He’s allergic to cats, isn’t he?’

‘Dad doesn’t know about Flame,’ Sadie admitted. ‘I’m hiding him in my bedroom for now. You have to promise that you won’t say anything to my parents.’ Sadie felt a little bad at not telling Jenny the whole truth but she decided that she probably wouldn’t have believed her anyway!

‘Cool! A secret kitten. OK. I promise,’ Jenny said. ‘But I wouldn’t like to be you, when your dad finds out!’

Sadie rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll worry about that when it happens.’

Lena chuckled. ‘I’m just about to go back home to the circus school. I wondered if you’d both like to come back for some tea, and meet my mum
and dad and the rest of our troupe,’ she said.

Delighted at the idea, Sadie jumped at the chance. ‘Thanks very much. We’d love to, wouldn’t we, Jenny?’

‘Oh, I was going to suggest that we went to the cinema,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘We can do that any time!’ Sadie said.

Jenny hesitated for a second then she smiled. ‘I suppose we can. Tea sounds great, Lena.’

The circus was only a few minutes’ walk away. It had once been a cinema and now was painted in cheerful red and yellow stripes to look like a big top. There were bright-blue pillars dotted with silver stars either side of the main door.

Colourful posters announced the dates and times of the performances.

‘I’ve always wondered what it’s like inside here,’ Sadie whispered to Flame. She held him in her arms and he looked round curiously as they went through a gate into a huge yard. Men and women in leotards and track pants leapt and tumbled on circus equipment in front of them as they followed Lena to a modern trailer.

Inside the trailer smelt of lemon polish. There was a big sofa and chairs with lots of bright cushions. Sparkling glass and china ornaments lined the window sills.

‘Mum, Dad, I’ve brought someone to meet you,’ Lena said. She turned to Jenny and Sadie. ‘These are my parents. Olga and Victor Tomani.’

Sadie smiled at Lena’s parents, who both had olive skin and dark hair. Victor Tomani bore a strong resemblance to his daughter. ‘Hi, I’m Sadie. Nice to meet you,’ she said.

‘Me too. I’m Jenny,’ Jenny said.

‘It’s so nice to meet some of Lena’s friends,’ said Olga Tomani with a warm smile. ‘Do sit down.’

Olga made tea and set out plates of
sandwiches and cakes. There was even a dish of sardines for Flame and a meaty bone for Presto.

Flame gave a purr of delight and began chomping the sardines.

Victor glanced at him. ‘A black cat is lucky, especially with such bright-green eyes. This little one is very special,’ he said softly to Sadie.

Sadie smiled. He didn’t have to tell her that!

As she and Jenny nibbled slices of delicious chocolate cake, Olga brought out a scrapbook. Sadie and Jenny enjoyed leafing through, looking at cuttings with pictures of Lena in circus rings all over the world. She had been performing since she was four years old.