The Kidnapped Kitten (6 page)

Chapter Six

But the next morning there was no Milly yowling for her breakfast. It seemed so unfair to have to go to school – all Tia wanted to do was search for Milly. It was Friday. Nothing important happened at school on Fridays.

As she trailed into the playground, her friend Lucy came running over.

“Hi, Tia! Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Milly,” Tia gulped, swallowing back tears. “She’s disappeared. And I can’t help thinking someone’s kidnapped her. Remember I told you about those cat thieves?”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Oh no! How long’s she been gone for?”

“She wasn’t there when we got home yesterday. She managed to get out of her cat flap even though it was locked.”

Lucy frowned. “I don’t think Mittens would ever do anything like that. What makes you think she’s been stolen?”

Tia sighed. “It’s just a feeling I’ve got… I know that sounds stupid.”

“No…” Lucy said thoughtfully. “I know what you mean. When Mittens was lost, I was sure she’d come back. She was gone for more than a week,
and Mum told me maybe I should give up, but I didn’t.”

“I forgot about that! It was in the summer holidays, wasn’t it? How did you find her?” Tia asked eagerly.

“We made loads of posters and stuck them on lamp posts, and I put leaflets through the door of every house in our road, asking them to check their sheds. And that’s where somebody found her! It was just lucky that it was a leaky shed and there was a puddle of water, otherwise Mittens would have died,” Lucy added, her voice shaking a little.

“Posters…” Tia said thoughtfully. “And leaflets. Right. We’ll make some tonight.”

“What about this one?” Tia said to Dad, pointing to one of the photos of Milly on the screen.

“Mmmm.” Dad nodded. “But she’s more recognizable from the side, don’t you think? Because of her lovely spots.”

“Look!” Christy said. “That’s the one Mum took when Milly climbed into the cupboard!”

Tia enlarged the photo and smiled. Milly was peering out, looking worried. They’d actually moved the cat food to the top cupboard after her first cat-food raid. And Mum had even started keeping the food in a tin instead of a bag. But Milly was just too clever. She’d even managed to hook the lid open with her claws.

“She’s so naughty…” Mum sighed.

“Mum!” Tia looked up at her. “Aren’t you sad she’s missing?”

“Of course I am, Tia! But she
is
naughty!”

“I suppose you wish we had a better-behaved cat instead!” Tia said, her voice choked with tears.

“I didn’t mean that at all,” Mum tried to say, but Tia was too upset to listen.

“You’re glad she’s gone!” she sobbed.

“Tia!” Mum snapped, her voice
sharp enough to jolt Tia out of her fit of crying. “Sweetheart, that’s just silly. Yes, I get cross with Milly when she’s naughty, but she’s a kitten! Kittens do silly things, it’s what we signed up for! Especially when we agreed to have a Bengal.” She put her arm round Tia’s shoulder. “Do you think you’re the only one who read that book on Bengal cats?”

Tia gaped at her. She hadn’t realized Mum had read the book too.

“When I’m at home with her in the mornings, she follows me around, you know.” Mum sniffed. “And I’m always having to rescue her from the washing machine. It’s a wonder I’ve never actually put it on with her in it! I love her too, Tia, and we will do our absolute best to find her.”

“Sorry,” Tia murmured. Somehow knowing that Mum was really missing Milly helped.

Dad smiled. “She’s a little terror, isn’t she? But nobody wants a better-behaved cat, Tia. We want
our
cat. Now I think this photo of her in the garden is the best. What shall we say on the poster?”

Milly stared at the door, wondering when the man would come to bring their food. He’d fed them that morning, but the food hadn’t been the same kind she had at home. She’d left it for a while, but then finally eaten it – she’d been too hungry not to.

She had tried to dart out of the cage when the man put her food bowl in, but he’d batted her away. She felt
hopeless – she couldn’t see how she was ever going to get out of here. And she was hungry again.

Tia always fed her at about this time of day. Where
was
Tia? Milly had been hoping that Tia would come and take her away from this horrible place.

She began to wail, over and over again. The Persian cat didn’t join in, he just stayed in the corner of his cage, sulking. But the other two cats started to howl too.

The door banged open, and the man stamped in, scowling. “Shut up!” he yelled, hitting the front of the cage.

Milly let out a frightened little whimper. No one had ever shouted at her like that before. People had been cross or snapped, “Milly, no!” But this was different. She cowered at the back of the cage as he shoved in a fresh bowl of food. She didn’t even think about trying to escape this time. She didn’t want to go any closer to the man than she had to.

“I’m glad it’s Saturday and we can be out looking for Milly,” Tia said to Lucy. Her mum had texted Lucy’s the
night before to ask if Lucy could come and help.

“That’s a brilliant photo,” Lucy said, as she gave Tia some sellotape to stick the poster to a lamp post. “Anyone who sees Milly will definitely recognize her.”

Tia sighed. “I don’t think anyone will see her, though. I still reckon it was those catnappers Laura told me about. Mum did ring the police, and they said they’d make a note of it, but there wasn’t a lot to go on. Actually, do you mind if we run back and ask Mum if we can go and tell Laura what’s happened? I want to warn her to keep Charlie safe.”

“Good idea,” Lucy agreed. “If the catnappers did take Milly, I bet they saw Charlie too. They might come back, mightn’t they?”

“Exactly.” Tia shuddered.

They hurried back down the road to meet Tia’s mum and Christy, who were doing the lamp posts at that end. Mum had told the girls they could go further up the road as long as they
stayed where she could see them. Dad had gone to the street that ran behind theirs, in case Milly had jumped over the back fence.

“Mum! Can we go and tell Laura what happened? I want to warn her to keep Charlie in.”

“Oh, Tia… I’m sure it’s nothing to do with catnappers,” Mum said, patting her shoulder. “Milly’s just wandered off. Cats do!”

“Please?”

“Well, OK. But don’t bother Laura for long.”

Tia and Lucy crossed over the road, and rang Laura’s bell.

“Hello! I’ve just seen you from upstairs, putting up posters.” Laura frowned. “Milly’s not lost, is she?”

“Yes.” Tia gulped. “Actually, I’m sure she’s been stolen. There was a man asking me about her, just a couple of days ago…”

Laura gasped. “Youngish? Short blond hair? With a blue van?”

“I don’t know about the van…” Tia started to say. “Hang on, yes, there was a van…” She scowled to herself, wishing she could remember. It just hadn’t seemed important at the time. “I think it was blue. You saw him too, then?”

“Yes! He was asking me about Charlie. He was nice, he said my cat looked very special, and I was all set to say Charlie was a Bengal. Then I remembered that newspaper article, and I just smiled at him and went inside. I felt a bit guilty afterwards. I
was rude…”