Free Ginger the Stray Kitten by Holly Webb Page B

enough to touch. This time, instead of throwing the sandwich, she just held out her hand with the last few pieces in.
    The ginger kitten stared at her nervously. What was he supposed to do now? The smell of that sandwich was so good. He could just run up and grab it, couldn’t he? He skittered forward,his whiskers trembling, and quickly licked up a few crumbs from Rosie’s hand, before stepping back to watch her again.
    Then he heard a noise and looked round. His brother and sisters were starting to creep closer! They’d seen that he wasn’t afraid, so they were getting braver, too. If he didn’t wolf that sandwich down fast, he might have to share it.
    The ginger kitten hurried back to Rosie and started to eat as fast as he could, licking the crumbs away with his rough little tongue. Rosie had to try hard not to giggle – he was tickling her!
    In a few seconds the kitten had eaten the lot. He glared at her hand,obviously wondering when it was going to produce some more.
    “Sorry, it’s all gone,” Rosie whispered. “But I’ll bring you some more next time. I bet Mum would let me have ham sandwiches if I asked, and I’d give them all to you.”
    The kitten eyed her expectantly, and Rosie stretched out her hand. He licked it, but there was no more ham.

    Rosie gently stroked the top of his head, and he jumped in surprise, looking up at her with enormous emerald eyes. What was that for? he seemed to be saying. Rosie guessed he just wasn’t used to being stroked. He didn’t know that she was trying to be nice. It made Rosie feel sad.
    “Rosie! Where are you?” It was Gran, calling from the farmhouse door. The ginger kitten raced for the safety of the barn at top speed, chasing after his brother and sisters, and Rosie sighed as she got up. Still, she had managed to stroke him! That was a first. He was so little and thin, but his fur had been gorgeously soft, exactly as she’d imagined. More than ever, Rosie wished she could have a kitten just like him…

Chapter Two
    Rosie thought about the ginger kitten all weekend. It was such a big step that he’d let her stroke him! Maybe she really would be able to tame him. He was very young, after all.
    She sat dreamily at the kitchen table, while Mum was writing a shopping list, drawing pictures of the kitten.It was so hard to get his stripes right, she had to keep starting again.
    “That’s beautiful, Rosie!” Mum said, leaning over.
    Rosie shook her head. “His face ought to be more of a peachy colour. I don’t have the right pen for it.”
    “Is it a real cat then?” Mum asked. “One of the ones you see on the way home from school?”

    “He’s a kitten at Mrs Bowen’s farm,” Rosie explained. “You know, the little farm down the lane, about two minutes’ walk from Gran’s house? There’s five of them altogether. You’d love them, Mum.”
    She looked hopefully at her mother. Maybe if Mum came and saw how cute the kittens were, she’d let them take the little ginger one home. If only Rosie could tame him…
    “He does look cute,” her mum agreed. “Just be careful though, won’t you? Those wild cats have probably got all sorts of horrible bugs.”
    Rosie sighed. That didn’t sound particularly hopeful…

    Rosie’s mum couldn’t understand why she was so keen to get to school on Monday morning.
    “I’m going to be at work early, at this rate,” she said. “What’s got into you, Rosie? Usually it’s me telling you to get a move on, not the other way around.”
    Rosie just smiled. The sooner she was at school, the sooner it would be home time and she could persuade Gran to take her to the farm again. Or it felt that way anyway, even though she knew that really it didn’t make any difference how early she got there.
    She’d made sure Mum bought ham for her sandwiches this week, and she’d begged for an extra yoghurt so she could save both sandwiches and not have her tummy rumbling all afternoon.

    Luckily, Gran didn’t mind going to the