Willow the lonely kitten by Tina Nolan Read Free Book Online

“Lost – black and white kitten, eight weeks old. £50 reward.” She read it again, to make sure. “You’re Willow’s owner!” she cried.

    Lucy Marriott’s story made perfect sense.
    “My dad fell ill. He lives in Scotland and I had to go and look after him,” she told Eva, Heidi and Karl. “It was very sudden. I’d just moved into the Okeham area – Danny and Polly Hines were the only people I’d met and they agreed to take care of my new kitten at the last minute. I’d no idea they were about to do a runner. As soon as Dad was well enough for me to leave, I phoned Polly and she said that they’d had to leave Willow Cottage in a big hurry. She told me they’d left Pixie in the back porch with plenty of food and water. But when I came back to collect her, she’d disappeared. And I’ve been trying to find her ever since.”
    “Pixie – is that Willow’s real name?” It felt strange to Eva to hand the kitten over to Lucy. She had a lump in her throat and tried hard not to let her feelings show.
    “Yes. I’d only had her for a few days before I left.” Lucy smiled as she took Willow. “I like the name ‘Willow’, though. Perhaps I could change it.”
    “That would be nice, for Eva’s sake,” Cath said. “Eva’s the one who saved Willow’s life.” And she told Lucy the full story of what had happened. “There was no food in the dish and the temperature outside was pretty low. But Eva never gives up on an animal in trouble,” she concluded.
    “Then I’ll definitely call her Willow as a way of saying thank you!” Lucy promised, with a warm smile at Eva. “Plus, I’ll donate the fifty pounds reward to Animal Magic.And I’ll leave you my address so you can come and visit her any time you like.”

    Willow and Lucy Marriott had left the rescue centre in Cath’s car. The last glimpse Eva had of the kitten was of her snuggled in a blanket inside a pet carrier that Heidi had provided. She looked warm and happy – glad to be going home at last.

    “Bye, Rocky,” Karl murmured as Cath let him jump up into the back of her Land Rover.
    “Bye, Willow,” Eva sighed.
    She, Karl and Heidi had been joined by Mark and Holly. Together they watched the red lights on the back of Cath’s car disappear down Main Street.
    “Well done, everyone,” Heidi said as they stood in the dimly lit yard.
    “Yes,” Mark agreed. “It was great detective work on Eva’s part. And thank heavens Lucy turned up when she did! But we’ll have to let poor Tom Ingleby know…”
    Karl sighed, then picked up a stick and threw it. “Fetch!” he told Holly.
    The puppy ran and neatly caught the stick. Everyone clapped.
    “Well caught, Holly!” Eva cried. “We’ll teach you lots of new tricks and enter youinto competitions and train you to be the best sheepdog in the country, if not the whole world!”
    Mark laughed, putting his arm around Eva’s shoulder. “And if Eva’s teaching you, you probably will be!”

Copyright
    STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
    Text copyright © Jenny Oldfield, 2009
Illustrations copyright © Sharon Rentta, 2009
Cover illustration copyright © Simon Mendez, 2009
    First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.
    eISBN: 978–1–84715–302–9
    The right of Jenny Oldfield and Sharon Rentta to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
    All rights reserved.
    Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
    A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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