Misty the Scared Kitten (2 page)

Jenny led them into the kitchen, where Jenny’s mum and little brother Barney were painting. Jenny’s mum washed her hands and made a cup of tea for Grandma. Kitty looked around eagerly for Misty. ‘Where is she?’

‘Over there, on the window sill!’ said Jenny.

Kitty gasped as she spotted the little cat. ‘Oh, she’s
so cute
!’ she cried.

Misty was curled cosily in a beam of warm sunshine. She was a soft grey colour, with darker grey stripes all over her body, and long silver whiskers. Her eyes were a pretty blue. When she spotted the girls, she sat straight up with pricked ears and gave a happy mew.

‘She loves this sunny spot,’ Jenny said, reaching out to pat Misty’s head. ‘Come and stroke her. She likes being tickled right here, between her ears.’

Grandma was watching out of the corner of her eye. Kitty touched Misty’s soft, warm head gingerly, feeling excited butterflies fill her tummy. Misty closed her eyes and purred happily as Kitty stroked her all the way down to her long tail.

‘She feels like silk,’ whispered Kitty.

‘I know. I love her so much. I still can’t believe she’s mine!’ said Jenny, scooping Misty gently into her arms for a cuddle.

Kitty sighed. ‘You’re the luckiest girl in the world, Jenny. I wish I wasn’t
allergic to cats, then maybe Mum and Dad would let me have one too!’

Jenny raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh gosh – I’d forgotten about that,’ she said. ‘Are you feeling all right at the moment?’

But before Kitty could answer, Jenny’s mum came over. ‘You’re allergic, Kitty?’ she asked worriedly. ‘I didn’t know that. Are you sure you’ll be OK?’

Kitty nodded quickly. ‘It’s just a little tickle in my nose sometimes, that’s all. I feel completely fine!’ she said. Although at that very moment, she felt a twitch and her eyes began to tingle. She
really
wanted to rub them, but she ignored it. If Jenny’s mum knew how bad her allergies could get,
Kitty knew she’d say they shouldn’t have the sleepover. Even worse, she might never be able to stay at Jenny’s house again!

‘What do you think, Mrs Kimura?’ asked Jenny’s mum, turning to
Grandma. ‘I’ve promised Jenny that Misty can sleep in her bedroom, but I don’t want Kitty to feel poorly in the night.’

Kitty noticed Grandma glancing at the silver necklace.
Please don’t change your mind now!
she thought desperately.

But to her relief, Grandma smiled. ‘I think Kitty will be just fine,’ she said.

‘All right, then,’ said Jenny’s mum. ‘No staying up late, though, girls. You know it’s a special treat to have a sleepover on a weeknight,’ she added with a smile. ‘I’ll take both girls to school tomorrow, Mrs Kimura.’

Jenny and Kitty grinned at each other. Now they had the whole evening
to play with Misty – and a little bit of tomorrow morning!

Grandma finished her cup of tea and thanked Jenny’s mum. Kitty thought Grandma gave her an especially long, tight hug goodbye, but she wasn’t sure why.

Once Grandma had left, Jenny said, ‘Let’s go to my room. I can show you all the special toys we’ve bought for Misty!’

They dashed up the stairs with Misty still curled up in Jenny’s arms. She let Misty jump down on to the floor, and the beautiful tabby rubbed her pink nose against Jenny’s leg, then started padding around, sniffing things.

‘She explores by smelling everything,’ Jenny explained. ‘Auntie Megan
said a cat’s sense of smell is ten times better than ours! And they can see in the dark, and hear much better than us too.’

She picked up a squishy ball of pink wool and gave it a shake. Misty paused for a moment, her ears twitching. Then she leapt playfully at the ball, swiping it with her paw and knocking it from Jenny’s hand. It rolled along the carpet, the wool unfurling as Misty chased it gleefully. Jenny and Kitty giggled. ‘She’s so cute!’ Kitty said.

They played with Misty for the rest of the evening. Even when Jenny’s mum called them for dinner, Misty followed the girls downstairs and padded around their feet as they
ate, looking up at them hopefully. Afterwards, they chose a film to watch in the living room. When they settled on the sofa, Misty hopped gracefully on to Kitty’s lap, gave a friendly miaow and curled up in a fluffy ball.

‘She really likes you!’ Jenny told Kitty.

Kitty beamed and stroked Misty’s velvety ears. She felt really lucky that Jenny was so nice about sharing Misty. And she felt even luckier that she had a new cat friend! The only problem was her allergies. She tried not to think about the strange itchiness in her nose and eyes, but the more time she spent with Misty, the worse it got. By the time the film finished, it was almost like her whole
body
felt odd!

Before she scrambled into her sleeping bag on Jenny’s bedroom floor, Kitty pulled a packet of tissues out of her overnight bag and tucked them under her pillow. She hoped she
wouldn’t sneeze too much in the night.

Jenny dived into bed and Misty jumped on to the bedcovers to snuggle up by her feet.

‘Sleep tight, girls!’ called Jenny’s mum, switching off the light.

‘Goodnight, Kitty!’ Jenny whispered happily. ‘Today has been the best day ever!’

‘I know! Night night,’ Kitty whispered back. Before long, she was drifting into sleep.

Kitty’s eyes flew open. It was very quiet in Jenny’s bedroom. Moonlight was shining through a gap in the curtains. She knew straight away what
had woken her up: her nose was tickling like crazy!

She rubbed it, but it didn’t help. In fact, that only made it worse – now her cheeks were itching and her ears were tingling. Suddenly, Kitty noticed the tickly feeling was spreading. The tips of her fingers and toes felt like they were full of fizzy bubbles, and there was a strange prickling all over her arms and legs. Finally, she began to sneeze. ‘Achoo! Achoo!
Aaaaa
choo
!
’

The bubbly, tickly feeling spread right through her and it felt like her whole body was sparkling and glowing. Kitty gave one more enormous sneeze. ‘AAAAAAAACHOOOOO!’

When she opened her eyes again,
everything felt different. Her nose had stopped itching and her eyes weren’t sore any more – but something was strange about them.
I must have got used to the darkness
, she thought.
I can see everything much more clearly!

Then Kitty thought something else was odd. Jenny’s bed was much bigger and further away.
How is that possible?
Kitty wondered. She looked around, and as her gaze drifted down, she stared in amazement. Where her hands had been before, there were now two small, furry black paws.

Cat
paws.

Kitty cried out in shock – but the sound that came out wasn’t a cry. It was a miaow.

Kitty’s eyes widened as she realised what must have happened.

I don’t know how
, she thought,
but I think I’ve turned into a cat!

Kitty gazed down at her paws. She couldn’t believe they belonged to her! Carefully, she lifted one up for a closer look. It was covered in soft black fur, with a white tip like a little sock. Underneath the paw were five tiny pink pads.
Is that really
my
paw
? she thought.
But how?

Then Kitty had another thought.
Jenny
. Was her friend awake? Glancing up at the bed, she saw that Jenny was still fast asleep. But next to Jenny’s feet, Misty was sitting up and staring right at Kitty, her ears pricked up curiously. Quietly, she jumped down so that they were facing each other, nose to nose. This close, Kitty could see each beautiful fleck of gold in the tabby’s blue eyes, even in the darkness.

Kitty heard her own name, whispered in a soft, friendly miaow. ‘Kitty? Is that you?’

Kitty gasped. She could understand her! ‘M-Misty? I’ve turned into a cat!’ she stammered. To her surprise, the words came out as a miaow as well.

‘How did you just change like that?’ Misty asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Kitty replied. ‘One minute I’m sneezing, and the next I’m a cat!’ Maybe she was dreaming!

‘This is so exciting!’ said Misty, her eyes bright.

Just then, Jenny yawned and turned over in bed. Both cats froze.

‘Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk?’ Kitty whispered.

‘Follow me,’ Misty replied.

She padded quickly out of Jenny’s bedroom. Kitty hesitated, then followed Misty on to the dark landing and down the stairs. She took slow, careful steps at first, worried she might take a tumble. It felt so strange to be walking on four
unfamiliar paws instead of two feet – and to feel her new tail swishing along behind her!