Kitten Catastrophe by Anna Wilson Read Free Book Online

the house if she’s going to behave like this while we’re out. I don’t care if it’s a “phase”. Either you accept my terms and conditions, or . . .’ He tailed off and fixed me with a rather menacing stare.
    He was threatening my little cat with eviction!
    ‘But, Dad,’ I started. I tried hard to sound reasonable despite the wobble in my voice.
    ‘
But nothing
, young lady,’ Dad snapped. ‘I am very fond of Jaffa, you know that, but I can’t have this.’ His voice had such a note of finality to it that I knew there was no point in arguing.
    ‘I’m going to get dressed,’ he said.
    ‘I’ll clear this up. It will be as if nothing ever happened,’ I promised frantically.
    I waited until Dad had gone upstairs. My first priority was to talk to my kitten, who was gazing at me with the most innocent-looking flashing blue eyes, a worried frown creasing her fluffy orange face. I couldn’t help thinking that she did not look to me like a cat who felt at all guilty. Terrified, more like.
    I carefully picked up one of the chairs and carried it over to the cupboard, then climbed on to it and reached to get Jaffa down.
    ‘Jaffsie not naughty!’ she mewled. ‘Nasty big—oh!’ She stopped herself.
    ‘What, Jaffa?’ She had been about to tell me something important, I was sure of it. I carefully placed one hand under her soft tummy and whispered encouragingly, ‘Nasty big what?’
    Jaffa seemed to shake her head. She let me pick her up, but her ears were flat and her needle-sharp claws clung to my flesh, making me wince slightly. ‘Me can’t say,’ she said finally. Her small voice was quaking.
    ‘Jaffsie,’ I said slowly, holding her away from me so that I could look her directly in the eye, ‘are you keeping a secret from me?’
    Jaffa dug her claws more deeply into my hand and blinked. ‘N-nooo,’ she said quietly.
    ‘Jaffsie?’ I said disbelievingly.
    ‘NO!’ she squeaked, suddenly wriggling hard. Then she did something she had never done before. She nipped me hard on the finger, her teeth bared in fury.
    ‘Yeeee-ouch!’ I yelled, staggering back and letting Jaffa leap free from my clutches. She hared out of the kitchen and bolted through to the sitting room.
    I sat down heavily on the kitchen chair I had just been standing on and rubbed my hand, tears springing to my eyes. What was happening to my little cat?
    I was still raking over the morning’s events when I ran to catch the bus to school. Why had Jaffa bitten me? Why wouldn’t she talk to me? Why was she being so – well –
mean?
It wasn’t my fault I had to go to school.
    I fought my way down the aisle, stepping over legs sticking out as if placed there on purpose to trip me up, and trying to avoid thwacking people with my bag. My head was way up in the clouds, so I didn’t notice who I’d plonked myself down next to until he prodded me on the shoulder and said:
    ‘Hey, not speaking to me?’
    I turned, frowning, and saw who it was. ‘Oh, hey, it’s you!’ I said. I immediately flushed pink at how stupid that must have sounded.
    Fergus grinned and flicked his floppy dark red fringe out of his eyes. ‘Too busy taking people out with your kamikaze rucksack to notice your mates?’ he teased.
    I smiled in relief. He didn’t think I was stupid.
    ‘So, how’d it go yesterday?’ he asked.
    ‘Oh, well, she’s acting odd. I knew she wouldn’t adapt well to this whole school thing,’ I mumbled distractedly. I fiddled with my hair in an attempt to make it stay tied back in the gross yellow scrunchie, which had been the only one to hand as I was running out of the door. Corkscrew curls were doing their usual escapologist trick and sticking to my hot and sweaty face. ‘Not a good look,’ as Jazz would say.
    ‘She always acts odd, doesn’t she?’ Fergus said jokily. ‘I thought she was her usual hyper self when I saw her. Haven’t seen her this morning yet – have you? Maybe she got a lift in.’
    I was jolted out of my