Free Alone in the Night by Holly Webb Page A

fun too, that was all.
    She headed to the end of the garden. The brambles there were fascinating, full of nests and tunnels and hidey-holes . When she’d finally finished investigating and wriggled out again, her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She licked the fur round her mouth thoughtfully, trying to get rid of the rather strange taste of beetle. Beetles looked delicious, like walking cat crunchies, but they didn’t taste good. 
    Star sat down in the middle of the lawn, closing her eyes for a moment and feeling the warm autumn sunshine on her fur. Then she went and rolled around in a pile of dried leaves. When she’d got bored of that game, she stretched out her front paws and then her back paws, and looked for something to do next. There was a snail moving very slowly along a leaf just next to her, and she watched that for a little while, but she’d learned from the beetle, and didn’t try to eat it. 

    That was when she spotted the gap under the fence. Star didn’t really know what the fence was. She didn’t quite understand that there was a whole new garden on the other side of it. But she knew that the little hole looked interesting.
    The gap wasn’t very big, and she had to scratch a little at the earth underneath to get through. Star still had little soft indoor kitten paws, with apricot-pink pads, and digging her way under the fence rubbed off a little of their newness. It felt good.
    She emerged in next door’s garden and gave herself a quick wash. Then she looked round with interest.
    Suddenly she caught sight of Jasmine. Her eyes widened – as Jasminewas so quiet she’d thought she was alone. But she didn’t dive back under the fence. Star recognized the girl – she was the friendly one who always waved when she walked past the house.

    It was the middle of the half-term holiday. Jasmine was in the garden putting the leftover toast crusts from breakfast out on the bird table when she caught a little greyish-brown flash in the corner of her eye. She turned her head slowly, hoping to see what sort of bird it was. But it wasn’t a sparrow hopping about in the bushes. It was a cat.
    Not just any cat… The cat. It was little Star, from next door. 
    She was squeezing herself under the fence, wriggling and scrabbling, with such a determined expression on her face that Jasmine had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling – she didn’t want to scare Star away.
    The kitten finally popped out from under the fence like she’d been pushed and twitched her tail crossly. Then she sat down to have a wash, brushing her paw thoroughly round her ears in case she’d got them grubby fighting her way through.
    Jasmine perched on the garden bench and watched her, not even wanting to breathe too deeply in case she frightened the tiny creature. She’d been hoping to meet Star properly for so long, and the kitten was only a few metres away. 
    Now Star had obviously seen her. She stood up daintily and padded over to Jasmine. No one had stroked her since Helen and Andy left for work, and even though exploring was fun, she wanted someone to fuss over her. She stopped a little way away, just far enough to make a run for it if Jasmine turned out not to be friendly, and gave a hopeful little mew.
    Jasmine reached out her hand slowly. She couldn’t believe Star had come this close – she’d thought that such a little kitten would be too nervous. She could almost touch Star’s nose, but she didn’t. She just held her fingers out, and whispered, “Here, puss, hello, Star…”
    Star’s ears pricked slightly. The girl knew her name! That had to be good. She pranced a few steps closer and rubbed her head affectionately against Jasmine’s leg.
    Jasmine laughed and stroked Star’s ears, and Star made a big leap and sprang on to the bench next to her, then climbed into Jasmine’s lap. There she gave a contented little sigh and closed her eyes, massaging Jasmine’s jeans with her little needle-sharp claws.