The Clever Little Kitten (2 page)

 

 

 

Molly laughed, and Dad joined in. “She is cute, isn't she? Bouncing around the cage like that.”

But the kitten stared at her crossly. “What are you laughing at?”

Molly tried to stop giggling, but the kitten was so funny, and of course, with her dad there, she couldn't explain.

“Sam! Phone call for you!” Jenny
was calling from the reception area, and Molly's dad turned to go. “You can get her out, Molly, if you're careful with her tail. Back in a minute.”

 

 

Molly waited for the door to swing shut behind him before she turned back to the kitten's cage. “I'm sorry I laughed. It was just that you asked so many questions, I couldn't have got a word in! I can't talk to you in front of my dad, anyway. He's a brilliant vet, but he doesn't understand about magical animals. And he definitely doesn't know that I can talk to them.”

Molly slipped the catch on the wire door and opened it carefully. “Would you like to come out?” she asked, her voice very polite.

Posy gave a dignified little nod and allowed Molly to lift her out of the cage. She was obviously trying not to ask any more questions, but
Molly could see her ears twitching back and forth and sideways, it was so difficult for her to be quiet.

As soon as she was snuggled up against Molly's chest, she shook her head crossly. “Oh, I can't not ask! Why is it that you can hear me talking and no one else can? Who are you? Are you a witch?”

 

 

Molly shook her head. “No. I have met a witch, though. And my dad
always says I've got a magic touch with animals – he doesn't know that it's really true!” She stroked Posy's delicate little ears, which were still twitching excitedly. “Are you a witch's kitten? You must be magical, or you wouldn't be talking to me, but you don't feel the same as Sparkle, the witch's kitten I met before.”

“I don't belong to a witch. But I do have a bit of magic. Look, I'll show you!” Posy closed her eyes tightly, so that they were just little dark slits in her furry face. Her whiskers suddenly lost their pretty curved shape, and stuck out straight on either side of her nose. She looked as though she were blowing herself up like a balloon.

 

 

“Don't hurt your tail!” Molly said quickly. She could see the fur on either side of the neat bandage sticking up too.

“I won't!” Posy gasped. Little silvery sparkles were running along the ends of her tabby fur. “Oh! It still doesn't work!”

“What doesn't?” Molly asked curiously.

Posy sighed and opened her eyes. Her fur smoothed itself down and her whiskers drooped a little. “I don't
know. I'm supposed to be able to do
something
, I know I am. But I'm not sure what. I can fluff up and go all glittery, but that isn't very useful, is it?”

“It looked nice,” Molly told her, trying to be encouraging. But she could tell from the way Posy wrinkled her nose that that wasn't good enough.

“My mother is a witch's cat and she can do all sorts of things,” Posy muttered. “Just being fluffy isn't what I call magic.”

“You can talk too,” Molly pointed out. “That's magic. In fact, I don't think I've ever met a kitten who talked so much.”

“Really?” Posy asked in a hopeful voice. “Oh well, I suppose that's good. What did Sparkle do? The kitten you met before?”

“He was only starting to learn magic,” Molly explained. “I don't think he was especially good at anything yet. He did help me make a spell to find his owner – he was lost, you see. He belongs to a witch who lives in the woods, not far from here.”

 

 

“I
never
get lost,” Posy told her. “I always know where I am.” She sighed. “But tabby fur isn't very good for witching. Plain black is better, or perhaps silvery, or even white. Tabby is terribly boring.” She glanced sideways at Molly as she said this, as though she was hoping Molly might not think so.

“Tabby isn't boring at all,” Molly said quickly. “Tabby's clever! Like, like a tiger! It's camouflage. All your beautiful stripes help you hide, in case you need to watch somebody.” Molly wasn't sure it would be a good idea to mention hunting. People sometimes brought mice and gerbils to the vet, and she didn't want Posy
to start stalking anybody's pet.

The kitten's whiskers curled up a little, and her eyes sparkled with interest. “I am very good at watching people,” she agreed. “I always know things. I like the idea of being clever.”

 

 

Molly nodded, and then she heard footsteps. “Sshh! I think my dad's
coming back.”

The door opened and Molly's dad beckoned to her. “Janie's come to pick up their kitten, Molly. Do you want to bring Posy through?”

“I'll come and talk to you again soon,” Molly whispered in Posy's ear as she went over to the door.

“Oh, look at her poor tail…” A dark-haired lady came forward, looking anxious. “Hello, Molly. I was really looking forward to showing you and Kitty our new pet, and so was William, but not like this.” She bit her lip as she stared at the bandage wrapped round Posy. “Will her tail be all right?”

“It should be fine. It's really only
bruised,” Molly's dad explained. “She was lucky, though; it could have been a lot worse.”

Janie sighed. “I know. Thank goodness she
is
lucky. They do say cats have nine lives, but Posy must have used up most of hers by now. We've only had her a couple of days, and she's been into everything! She fell into William's bath on her first day with us. We didn't even realize she could climb the stairs to the bathroom!”

The water was all sparkly, and there were bubbles!
Posy whispered in Molly's head.
I only wanted to see it better…

Molly stroked her ears and then
passed her over to Janie, who cradled her anxiously.

 

 

“Poor little Posy! I think she must have been trying to see what was inside the washing machine this morning, and I just closed the door without really looking. I feel awful about it and William was so upset.”

Molly nodded. She could imagine.
William was a bit naughty, but he was very sweet too, sometimes. And she knew he'd been desperate for his family to have a pet. Molly gave a little sigh. She wished Mum and Dad weren't so strict about pets. Dad said he saw so many animals that hadn't been looked after properly, and he thought Molly and Kitty needed to be a bit older.

Molly was doing her best to change his mind by helping out at the vet's. Mum and Dad had even let her look after a rabbit for a few days, which had been wonderful. Mostly wonderful… Snowdrop was a magician's rabbit and she kept accidentally disappearing at the just the wrong time.