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- Herausgeber: Little Tiger Press
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Serie: Holly Webb Animal Stories
- Sprache: Englisch
Nadia spends as much time as she can at her friend Violet's house, playing with the kittens her mum brings home from her job at the animal shelter. When Violet tells Nadia about a pregnant cat urgently in need of a place to stay, Nadia convinces her parents to foster Gracie for the summer.After Gracie gives birth to five beautiful kittens, Nadia is instantly drawn to the smallest and sweetest, who she names Luna. But while the other kittens are quickly adopted, Nadia is heartbroken to see no one is interested in Luna. Can she help the kitten find her forever home?A new story from multi-million best-selling author Holly Webb, perfect for animal-loving children, and fans of ZOE'S RESCUE ZOO and MAGIC ANIMAL FRIENDS.
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Seitenzahl: 62
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Contents
This book was inspired by my cat Star!
Chapter One
“I can’t believe we’ll be in Year Six next year,” Nadia said, as she and Violet gathered up the pens and pencils and odd bits out of their classroom drawers. It was the last day of school before the summer holidays and they had to tidy everything up before the final assembly.
“I know!” Violet shook her head. “We’ll be the oldest when we come back in September. Oh, I can’t wait for the holidays. Are you going away?”
Nadia sighed. “No. Not this summer. My dad’s given up his job, to start a business by himself. He’s got to work really hard and we can’t afford a holiday. Mum said we’ll have some fun days out instead, though. Go to London for the day, maybe. What about you?”
“I’m going to stay with my dad in August,” Violet said. “But my mum’s too busy working at the shelter for us to go away. Summer means kitten time. We’ve already got loads to look after!”
Violet’s mum Michelle worked for a charity that rescued stray cats and Violet got to help out in the holidays. Her mum brought a lot of her work home…
Nadia gave her an envious look. “Lucky!”
“I know.” Violet smiled. “They’re really cute. Mum’s a bit worried though, she says we’re running out of space. If more cats turn up, we won’t have anywhere to put them. We’ve already got kittens in our bathroom.”
“That sounds so cool. Can I come and see them?”
“Course you can. Actually you can have them… It’s really tricky if you get up to go to the loo in the middle of the night!”
“Violet!” Nadia giggled.
“It is!” But Violet started laughing too.
Two days later, Nadia went round to Violet’s house to see the kittens. Violet had told her they were just starting to stumble around, like three little furry balloons with legs. They were named Trevor, Tilly and Tim.
“What happened to their mum?” Nadia asked. She was sitting on the bathroom floor with Trevor, a tiny black kitten, slumped asleep in her lap.
“We don’t know,” Violet said sadly. “Mum said they were found in a box by some bins. Someone heard them squeaking and brought them to the shelter. We have to bottle-feed them. Even in the middle of the night!”
Nadia sighed at the thought. The kittens were so lovely – she wouldn’t mind waking up to do that. She ran her finger over Trevor’s dusty black fur and he shivered and twitched in his sleep.
“You can help feed them now,” Violet suggested. “They’re going to wake up starving any second.” Almost as soon as she had said it, Tim, the black-and-white kitten draped over her leg, opened his dark blue eyes and started to make bossy little squeaking noises.
“Are you sure?” Nadia said eagerly. “I don’t want to get it wrong.”
Violet grinned. “They won’t let you. They’re little milk-monsters. You just hold the bottle and watch them go.”
Violet was right. As soon as the kittens saw Michelle arrive with their bottles, there was no stopping them. They erupted into even more pleading squeaks, begging to go first.
“Oh, you’re so greedy,” Michelle murmured, laughing as Tilly pawed at her legs, trying to reach the bottle. “It’s OK, look, there’s enough for everyone.” She handed a bottle to Nadia. “Do you want to feed Trevor?”
Nadia nodded and then giggled as three kittens suddenly surged towards her. She held the bottle up to Trevor’s mouth and the tiny kitten lunged at it. She laughed as he made slurping noises around the rubber teat.
After he’d finished, Trevor stretched out along Nadia’s jeans, purring in a very smug, satisfied way.
“He’s so gorgeous,” Nadia murmured. “But isn’t it hard, spending all this time with them and then having to give them to someone else?” Violet had already explained that they only kept the kittens while they needed round-the-clock care – then they went back to the shelter to be adopted into their forever homes.
Violet tickled Tim behind the ears and looked thoughtful. “I guess I’m used to it. I mean, of course it’s sad to say goodbye, but then I think of them having lovely homes, where they’re bossing everyone around and being super spoiled.”
Her mother laughed. “The new owners send me photos sometimes. It’s really nice to see the kittens I knew as big, grown-up cats.”
Violet nodded. “She puts them up round the shelter and it makes me feel so proud. It’s like – we were part of that!”
“It would be special…” Nadia agreed, looking thoughtful. She imagined how good it would feel to help a kitten like Trevor find their forever home.
Violet nudged her. “If you’re going to be home all summer, you could look after some kittens, you know. At your house. You’re always looking for fosterers, aren’t you, Mum?”
“Always.” Michelle sighed. “I didn’t tell you, I had a call this morning from an old lady who’s found a feral cat in her garden. She thinks she’s pregnant. I’m going round tomorrow to see if I can catch her.” The doorbell sounded and Michelle got up. “I expect that’s your mum, Nadia, I’ll go and let her in.”
“Do you think your mum and dad would let you?” Violet whispered, as her mum headed downstairs.
“I don’t know… I’ve always wanted a cat and maybe now Dad’s going to be working from home…” Nadia gave Violet a hopeful look. “It must be worth a try!”
There was a gentle knock at the bathroom door. “Have you got all those kittens safe?” Michelle called.
“All done!” Violet said.
Michelle opened the door carefully, explaining to Nadia’s mum, “They’re getting so adventurous now. They shoot out of the door so fast and I don’t want them falling down the stairs!”
Nadia waved at her mum, who was standing behind Michelle looking curious.
“Mum, this is Trevor. Isn’t he gorgeous?”
“Oh, he is very sweet,” her mum said, leaning down to look at the kitten climbing Nadia’s T-shirt. She smiled at Michelle. “I can’t believe you have a bathroom full of kittens!”
Michelle sighed. “Tell me about it. We haven’t got staff at the shelter through the night, you see, and these little ones need feeding at all hours, so we try to foster them out. We’re running out of fosterers, though. There are so many kittens being born right now – and it’s the summer holidays so lots of our fosterers are going away.”
“Mum…” Nadia started to say, and her mum laughed.
“I bet I know what you’re going to ask!” she said.
“Well, couldn’t we?” Nadia pleaded. “It was so much fun feeding Trevor.”
