Free The Kitten Hunt by Anna Wilson Page B

motivations?’ he snapped. ‘Now, goodnight.’

 
9
Mr Nibbles and Houdini
    W hen I woke up, I realized that Kaboodle had disappeared from my bed at some point in the night. A twingey feeling of disappointment settled in my
tummy as I rubbed my eyes and realized blurrily that he wasn’t there Oh no! What if he’d crept into Dad’s room?
    I scuttled out of bed at top speed and tiptoed along the landing. Dad always left his bedroom door ajar in case I had nightmares. I kept telling him I was not a baby any more, but Dad still
worried about me just as if I was still a little girl. I shook my head to get rid of the confusion welling up inside me I was not a little girl and if Dad was so worried, he should wake up and
smell the bacon and not leave me alone so much.
    I peered into his room.
    Phew! No sign of Kaboodle. And Dad was still snoring. I crept back to my room to get dressed and realized the window was still open. Hopefully Kaboodle had simply headed out to do some prowling,
or whatever it was cats did. I couldn’t help feeling a bit worried for him though – after all, he wasn’t fully grown yet, and I was responsible for him. What on earth would I say
to Pinkella if something happened to him? She was obviously still upset about losing her old cat . . . and to be honest, I’d be pretty upset too. I ’d already got used to the idea of
having Kaboodle around the place.
    I pushed those horrible thoughts out of my mind and glanced at my bedside clock. Eight o’clock. Jazz had said she’d come with me at nine to go and meet Mr Smythe’s hamsters.
I’d have no problem being allowed out – it was Sunday which meant Dad would want to have a lie-in and then read the paper, a ll of which I knew was code for ‘I want to be
alone.’
    Although you’d have thought he would have had enough of newspapers for one week.
    ‘So. Hamsters,’ said Jazz. ‘They’re not exactly any hassle, are they? Sam and Aleisha used to have hamsters before I was born. Leesh says all they do is
eat and sleep and make huge nests from bits of chewed-up paper.’
    I started. ‘You didn’t tell Aleisha about this, did you?’
    Jazz widened her eyes and batted those extra-long eyelashes. ‘As
if
!’
    I shook my head at her and said, ‘You’d better not have, that’s all. Anyway, I don’t s’pose Mr S’s hamsters will be that much hassle. But we’ll probably
have to clean them out and stuff.’
    ‘At least they won’t run off like Kaboodle, leaving you to fly into a frenzy,’ Jazz said airily, reaching up to ring Mr Smythe’s doorbell.
    ‘Huh—!’ I was about to protest that
I
hadn’t been the one planning memorial services and singing freaky songs, but I bit the words back before they had a chance to
escape. I didn’t want to fall out with her all over again. ‘Yeah,’ I added flatly, changing my pout to a grin as Mr Smythe answered the door and let us in.
    As we followed him into his incredibly neat and tidy house and he started chatting about his pets, I confidently repeated to myself that hamsters would be the simplest of pets to look after.
They were tiny, they didn’t eat much, they didn’t need to be taken for walks and they lived in small cages so they were safe and sound in the same place all of the time.
    However, after the list of instructions Mr Smythe gave us, I was beginning to have my doubts.
    8 a. m. Feeding time: one small scoop of hamster mix, small pieces of carrot and cucumber in white pot.
    8.05 a. m. Check water bottle is full. Do not leave too much fresh food – hamsters will hide it or stuff too much in pouches. May cause health problems.
    8.10 a. m. Playtime in large cage. Clean out loo corner.
    5.00 p. m. Water and food restocked.
    5.10 p. m. Check for remains of food.
    5.20 p. m. Feed again.
    5.30 p. m. Bedtime. Tuck up tight. Avoid nightmares.
    Ensure cage is shut at all times!
    Nightmares? I thought. If anyone’s going to be having nightmares, it’s me. This guy was turning