Magic Kitten: A Christmas Surprise (3 page)

Flame shook his head. ‘No, it is all right. He did not believe you. Luckily, grown-up humans seem to find it difficult to believe in magic.’

Molly breathed a huge sigh of relief as she looked into Flame’s serious little face. ‘I promise I’ll keep your secret from now on. Cross my heart and hope to die.’

Flame nodded, blinking at her happily.

‘I guess we should go and pretend
to look for your owner. Come on,’ Molly urged.

‘So we’ll just have to keep Flame…’ Molly finished explaining as she faced her mum half an hour later. Flame nestled in her arms, purring contentedly.

Mrs Paget was stacking things in the dishwasher. She stood up and reached out to stroke Flame’s soft little white ears. ‘Oh, dear, we hadn’t planned on having a kitten, especially with the grandparents coming to stay. But if you’ve asked all around…’ she said uncertainly.

‘Oh, I did. I went to
dozens
of houses and no one knew anything about a white kitten,’ Molly fibbed. ‘So – can I open a tin of tuna for Flame?’

Her mum smiled. ‘Go on then. He’s really gorgeous, isn’t he? And I like his name. But I think that you might have to keep Flame in your bedroom while your gran’s here.’

Molly frowned. ‘Why? What’s she got against kittens?’

Mrs Paget smiled. ‘It’s not just kittens, it’s pets in general. She won’t tolerate hairs on the furniture. As for muddy paw prints, wet fur, fleas – shall I go on?’

‘Flame hasn’t got fleas!’ Molly exclaimed. ‘Anyway, once Gran meets him I bet even she’s bound to love him too. He’s the cutest kitten there ever was.’

‘I agree with you. But I wouldn’t be too sure that your gran will,’ her mum warned gently.

Molly hardly heard her. ‘Come on, Flame, let’s go and tell Dad that Mum says you can stay.’ Flame looked up at her and gave an extra loud purr.

Chapter
THREE

‘It’s the last day of term, so we’ll be just doing fun stuff at school instead of proper lessons,’ Molly said to Flame as she pulled on her coat a couple of days later.

Flame had followed her into the hall, his fluffy white paws padding on the carpet.

‘I have to hurry and catch the bus
now, so I’ll see you later,’ Molly said, bending down to stroke him. ‘I really love having you living here and I wish you could come with me, but we aren’t allowed to bring pets to school.’

‘But I can come!’ Flame told her with a happy little mew. ‘I will use my magic to make myself invisible. Only you will be able to see and hear me.’

‘Really? That’s
so
cool!’ Molly said delightedly. ‘OK then. Quick, can you get into my school bag before Mum and Dad see you and say you can’t come with me?’

Flame nodded and jumped inside.

It was a short bus ride to school. Molly put her bag on her lap, so Flame could poke out his head and look at the brightly decorated shops and the big Christmas tree in the town square. Fairy lights glinted in the trees lining the streets and more coloured lights were strung outside the big stores.

Flame’s green eyes grew round with wonder. ‘I have never seen so many bright lights. They are like glow-worms in long grass,’ he mewed.

‘It’s because of Christmas,’ Molly explained in a whisper. ‘The shops are full of presents and stuff and special treats.’

Flame put his head on one side. ‘What is Christmas?’

‘Oh, I forgot. I don’t suppose you have that in your world, do you?’ Molly said. ‘Christmas is a special time, when all the family gets together to celebrate the baby Jesus being born. We sing carols and give each other presents and eat loads of delicious food until we feel like bursting.’ She grinned. ‘And we pull things called crackers that go
Bang
! Dad loves the awful jokes you get in them and he always wears his silly paper hat all afternoon!’

Flame looked a bit confused. ‘It
sounds very strange, but I think I will like Christmas.’

Molly smiled. She decided to buy him a really special present and put it under the tree for him to unwrap on Christmas morning.

The bus stopped outside the school. Molly got off and shouldered her bag as she walked towards the school gate. A slim, pretty girl with long blonde hair came running up. It was Shona Lamb, one of the most popular girls in Molly’s class.

‘Hey, Molly!’

‘Hi, Shona!’ Molly replied. She noticed that Shona was wearing some fabulous new boots. ‘Wow! When did you get those?’ she asked admiringly. The boots were like the ones Molly
wanted for Christmas, only more expensive-looking.

Shona glanced down at her smart boots. ‘What? Oh, yesterday. I’d forgotten about them already. But listen, I am
so
excited! I bet you can’t guess what Mum’s going to buy me for Christmas!’

Molly pretended to think hard. ‘A sports car, a trip round the world, your own private plane?’ she joked.

‘Very funny. You’re a riot!’ Shona said, rolling her eyes. ‘It’s a pony! I’m starting riding lessons soon. You’ll be able to come over and watch me riding my very own pony!’

‘Um… yes,’ Molly murmured, imagining Shona prancing about and showing off.
Just what I’d love to do. Not!
she thought.

Shona flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and turned to another girl. ‘Hi, Jane! You’ll never guess what I’m having –’

‘As if we care!’ whispered a disgusted voice at Molly’s side as Shona and the other girl walked away together.

Molly turned and grinned at her best friend. ‘Hi, Narinder.’

Narinder Kumar had an oval face and big dark eyes. Her shiny black plait reached to her waist and her brows were drawn together in a frown. ‘Sorry, but I can’t stand Shona Lamb. She’s so spoilt!’

‘She can be a bit of a pain,’ Molly agreed. ‘But I don’t mind her. Listen, there’s the bell.’

In the classroom, Molly opened her school bag so Flame could jump out. He gave himself a shake and then began washing. Molly knew that Flame was only visible to her, but she couldn’t help looking around nervously. When no one seemed to pay Flame any attention, though, she relaxed.

The teacher took the register. Everyone answered as their names were called. ‘…Molly Paget,’ called Miss Garret.

There was no reply.

‘Molly?’ Miss Garret said again.

Narinder nudged Molly. ‘Miss Garret’s calling your name out.’

Molly did a double take. She had been watching Flame leap from desk to desk, his bushy white tail streaming out behind him. ‘Sorry! Here, Miss!’ she shouted.

‘Thank you, Molly,’ Miss Garret said patiently. She finished the register and put it away before speaking to the class. ‘Now, everyone, we won’t be doing any schoolwork today. We’re all going to watch the younger children performing
their Christmas play in an hour’s time, so we’ve just time for a quick tidy-up.’

When Molly, Narinder and everyone else groaned Miss Garret smiled. ‘Cheer up! It won’t take long. Abi and Heather, would you tidy the bookshelves…’ she began giving out jobs to all the class, ‘…and Molly and Narinder, perhaps you could sort out the art stuff, please?’

‘OK, Miss!’ Molly jumped up helpfully.

In the storeroom, she and Narinder tidied paper, paints and brushes. Molly spotted a big spray can of fake snow on a high shelf. ‘Hey, look at this. It’s given me a great idea.’

‘What are you going to do?’ Narinder asked.

‘Wait and see!’ Molly slipped the can under her school jumper.

While Narinder was putting the last few things away, Molly wandered across to the window where Flame was curled up.

‘What is that? Is it something nice to eat?’ the tiny kitten mewed eagerly.

‘No, it’s fake snow,’ Molly whispered.
‘I’m going to spray snowflakes on the window as a surprise for everyone.’

Flame blinked at her. ‘What is snow?’

Molly looked at him in surprise – maybe it didn’t snow where Flame came from. ‘It has to get very cold and then rain freezes in pretty patterns and white snowflakes float down from the sky. It’s
so beautiful,’ she explained. ‘I’m really hoping for a white Christmas.’

Flame’s emerald eyes widened in astonishment. ‘Snow comes from the sky? I would like to see it very much.’

‘I’ll show you what it looks like!’ Molly held the can up to the window and gently pressed the button. Nothing happened, so she shook the can hard and then tried again. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

‘Molly, have you –’ Shona began.

Molly lifted her finger as she turned round, but a blast of white foam shot out with a loud whooshing sound. ‘Oh, heck! The button’s stuck!’ she gasped, jabbing at the nozzle to free it.

Shona gave a loud shriek as a powerful jet of fake snow shot all over her jumper.

Chapter
FOUR

Molly finally managed to stop the can spraying. She gaped at Shona in horror.

A thick layer of fake snow covered her from her neck to her waist. It was dripping off the ends of her long blonde hair and splatting on to the floor in soggy white blobs.

‘Um, sorry…’ Molly said lamely.

‘You stupid idiot!’ Shona howled. ‘Look at my hair! It’s ruined!’

There were muffled giggles from Narinder and some other girls, but Molly didn’t laugh. She felt terrible.

Miss Garret hurried over and began mopping up the sticky mess with handfuls of paper towels. ‘Calm down, Shona, this stuff washes out.’ She turned to Molly. ‘Whatever were you doing, messing about with that spray can?’