‘It’s Claws and Fang!’ whispered Kitty. ‘Those Persian cats who tried to bully us. I haven’t seen them round here since then – but it looks like they’re back. I hope they didn’t hear what we were talking about!’

  ‘Let’s not go near them,’ whispered Misty. ‘I don’t want to get chased again.’

  But just as she spoke, the two fluffy white cats spotted them. For a moment, they froze – and then they ran off.

  ‘That’s weird,’ Misty whispered. ‘This time they were running away from us.’

  Kitty frowned. ‘I don’t trust those cats,’ she miaowed. ‘I just hope they’re not up to something!’

  The next day, Kitty’s mum took Kitty, Max and Jenny into town.

  ‘This probably seems really weird to you,’ said Max as they walked down the high street, ‘but I hardly ever go shopping when I’m at home. We don’t live near a town, and Mum and Dad get most of our groceries from the farmers’ market. This feels so big to me!’

  Kitty and Jenny grinned. Their town was actually quite small, with only a post office, a book shop, a supermarket, a cafe and the tiny shop selling Japanese trinkets that was owned by Kitty’s mum and dad. It was funny that Max thought it felt big!

  ‘I need to go to the post office first,’ said Kitty’s mum, waving a stack of letters.

  As they all walked inside, Kitty spotted a display next to the birthday cards and stamps. It was a table piled high with different coloured balls of wool. There was a sign pinned up above it, saying ‘KNITTING WOOL – SPECIAL OFFER TODAY!’

  That would make a perfect birthday present for Sooty, Kitty thought. Every cat she knew loved playing with wool, tangling it around in their paws. She felt in her pocket for her purse and quickly checked to see how much pocket money she had inside. There was enough for a ball of wool! But how would she explain it to Jenny and Max?

  ‘Oh, look,’ she said brightly. ‘Wool. Just what I needed. I – er – I’m going to start knitting.’

  ‘Knitting?’ Jenny said, staring at Kitty. ‘I didn’t know you liked knitting, Kitty.’

  Kitty thought quickly. ‘Well – er – my grandma loves knitting, so I thought it would be nice if we had the same hobby. She’s going to teach me how to make a scarf for winter,’ she added.

  ‘Oh! That sounds fun,’ said Jenny. ‘Do you think she’d teach me how to make a scarf too?’

  Oh no! thought Kitty. She was fairly sure Grandma had never knitted anything in her life. She’d just have to hope that Jenny would forget all about it – and wouldn’t mention it to Grandma!

  She quickly paid for a ball of pink wool and stuffed it into her coat pocket. Next, they headed to the supermarket.

  ‘Why don’t you all go and pick yourself a nice treat from the sweets aisle?’ Kitty’s mum said.

  Kitty, Jenny and Max walked eagerly through the supermarket towards the sweets aisle, but on the way, Kitty caught sight of something in the tinned food section. A stack of blue tins with a bright red label on them. Sardines. Kitty thought of what Sooty had said at the Cat Council meeting. Sardines were Sooty’s favourite.

  When she was in her human form, Kitty didn’t like sardines very much at all. But when she was a cat, she thought they were delicious – just like every other cat she knew. Some tins of sardines would make the perfect food for Sooty’s surprise party!

  Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed three tins of sardines from the shelf. Max and Jenny stared at her.

  ‘Kitty, what are you doing?’ asked Jenny.

  ‘Sardines – yuck!’ said Max, pulling a face.

  ‘I like them!’ Kitty said quickly, feeling her cheeks flush pink.

  ‘Well, if you want to buy those, Kitty, you’ll have to do it with your sweets money,’ said Mrs Kimura. ‘They’re quite expensive, you know. And I hope you’re going to eat them. Your dad and I don’t like sardines, and neither does your grandma.’

  Kitty thought of the delicious chocolate and caramel bar she’d been planning to buy, and her heart sank. She couldn’t believe she was about to buy sardines instead of sweets! But she knew she needed special cat treats for the surprise party. ‘I’ll eat them,’ she promised, putting the tins into her mum’s shopping basket.

  ‘You’re crazy, Kitty!’ laughed Max as they walked over to the till to pay.

  ‘Are you feeling OK?’ whispered Jenny.

  Kitty smiled and nodded.

  Once Mrs Kimura had paid for their shopping, they headed outside. By the exit, one of the shop assistants was stacking up a pile of empty cardboard boxes.

  Those would be perfect for the cats to play in at the party! thought Kitty. Cats loved hiding in cardboard boxes, batting them around with their paws, and using them to scratch their claws against. She knew Jenny and Max would think she was acting even crazier if she asked for some – but she had to make this party fun for Sooty.

  ‘Excuse me,’ she said to the shop assistant, ‘do you think I could have some of those boxes?’

  ‘Help yourself!’ said the girl. ‘I’m just leaving them here for the recycling van to pick up. What do you need them for?’

  ‘Yes, Kitty – what do you need them for?’ asked Kitty’s mum, frowning.

  ‘I need them for – er – a doll’s house,’ Kitty explained. ‘I want to build my own doll’s house out of cardboard! I saw someone doing it on TV.’

  Jenny looked puzzled. ‘But you don’t have any dolls,’ she said. ‘You’ve never really been into dolls, Kitty – you’ve always liked animals best.’

  Kitty really wished she’d thought of a better reason for taking the boxes. Jenny knew her too well! ‘It just seemed like a fun thing to do,’ she said, shrugging.

  Luckily, her mum changed the subject. ‘Time to go home for some lunch,’ she said as Kitty picked up a couple of the cardboard boxes.

  When they got back to Kitty’s house, Jenny gasped. ‘Oh, look at those gorgeous cats!’

  Kitty peered down the street and saw the white Persian cats, Claws and Fang, sitting outside her house, miaowing noisily. Jenny rushed over and started stroking them, followed by Max.

  ‘You’re so fluffy and beautiful!’ said Jenny, tickling Fang’s chin. ‘I wonder where you live. Aren’t they lovely, Kitty?’

  Kitty hung back, not wanting to stroke the cats. They’d been so mean to her and Misty – but there was no way she’d be able to explain that to Max or Jenny!

  It’s strange that I’ve seen them twice in two days, she thought to herself. I wonder why they’re here – and what they want …

  * * *

  That night, Kitty lay awake until she was sure Max was fast asleep. Very quietly, she climbed out of bed, tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen, and changed into her cat form. She was going to go and pay Misty and some of the other cats a night-time visit, and tell them what she’d managed to buy today for Sooty’s party.

  As the fizzing, bubbling feeling in her body faded, she jumped on to the kitchen table and over to the window sill. But as she leapt outside and landed in the garden, her fur immediately began to prickle. Her cat senses were telling her that another cat was close by. Or two cats!

  Waiting next to her Wendy house, and looking right at her, were the two Persians, Claws and Fang.

  Kitty gasped and took a hasty step back. If I move really quickly, I might be able to jump back inside before they can get to me, she thought. Kitty wasn’t a scaredy-cat, but she knew that Claws and Fang didn’t like her much.

  But before she could make her escape, the Persians opened their mouths and began miaowing, wailing and screeching as loudly as they could.

  Kitty stared at them. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed. ‘Be quiet – you’re going to wake up the whole street!’

  She glanced at her house and to her horror, she saw the light in her bedroom flick on, and the window open. Max’s face appeared, yawning.

  ‘Kitty?’ he called sleepily. ‘Where are you? What’s that noise?’

  ‘Now look what you’ve done!’ Kitty hissed at the cats. Quickly, she leapt back through the kitchen window. As soon as her paws touched the kitchen floor, she began to miaow the words that would turn her back into a human.

  ‘Kitten paws to human toes,

  Kitten whiskers, human nose.’

  She closed her eyes as the magical fizzing feeling spread through her claws and the pads of her feet, through her tail, and into her ears and whiskers. Just as the feeling began to fade, she heard the thump of footsteps coming downstairs and the creak of the kitchen door opening.

  Please, please, please let me have changed back in time! Kitty thought.

  ‘Kitty! I wondered where you were,’ said Max, stepping into the kitchen and switching on the light. ‘Why are you down here by yourself in the middle of the night – and with the lights off?’

  Kitty’s heart thudded with relief. She was human again – just in time! If Max had caught the final seconds of her transformation from cat to human, she would have lost her magical gift forever.

  ‘I heard those cats yowling,’ she explained, nodding her head towards the garden. ‘It’s the fluffy white Persians we saw earlier. They woke me up, so I came downstairs to – er – to make sure they hadn’t caught a mouse in our garden. But it’s OK – I think they were just play-fighting.’

  Max nodded. ‘They woke me up too,’ he said. ‘Oh well – I suppose we should go back to bed before your mum and dad wake up.’

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed Kitty.

  As she followed her cousin up the stairs, she shook her head with disbelief. She had never been so close to being caught before. I can’t let that happen ever again, she told herself firmly. I can’t risk losing my gift, no matter what!

  The next morning, Kitty slipped downstairs before Max was awake. She needed to speak to Grandma without him hearing.

  ‘Good morning, Kitty,’ said Grandma as Kitty walked into the kitchen. She was making a cup of tea to drink with her breakfast. ‘Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Not really, Grandma!’ said Kitty. Quickly, she explained what had happened the night before.

  ‘Goodness!’ replied Grandma. ‘You did have a lucky escape.’

  ‘The worst thing was that I couldn’t go out and meet Misty or any of the other cats,’ explained Kitty. ‘So I haven’t been able to tell them the plan for Sooty’s party this afternoon. I have to go out today and find them all – but I don’t know how I’ll manage to slip away without Max noticing.’

  Grandma took a sip of her tea and looked thoughtful. ‘I know!’ she said. ‘I’ll take Max to see your mum and dad’s shop. He hasn’t visited it yet. We’ll tell him you’re working on a school project so you need to stay at home. While we’re out, you can turn into your cat form and sneak away.’

  ‘Good idea. Thanks, Grandma!’ said Kitty, smiling.

  After breakfast, Kitty went up to her bedroom and fetched her school bag and pencil case. She plonked them down on the kitchen table and took out some books. ‘I’m afraid I’ve got some homework to do,’ she said to Max, pretending to look annoyed. ‘So I’ve got to stay at home this morning. But don’t worry, Grandma’s going to take you to see my mum and dad’s shop.’

  ‘Oh, OK!’ said Max. ‘Maybe we’ll see you later, though?’

  ‘Definitely,’ said Kitty.

  When Grandma and Max left, Kitty watched through the living-room window until they reached the end of the street. Then she closed her eyes and spoke the magical words.

  ‘Human hands to kitten paws,

  Human fingers, kitten claws.’

  The bubbling, tingling sensation fizzed through Kitty’s body. As soon as it stopped she was a cat once more! She gave her tail a swish and her back paws a stretch, then she jumped through the kitchen window and ran towards the next street. Three of the cats from the Council lived there. They could help her spread the word about the party.

  Kitty was in luck. As soon as she turned the corner on to Cherry Street, she spotted Coco, Boots and Patch sitting in a pool of sunlight.

  ‘Hi, Kitty!’ purred Coco.

  Kitty ran up to the three cats and gently bumped foreheads with them, which was a special cat way of saying hello.

  ‘I’m so glad I’ve found you,’ she miaowed. ‘Sooty’s party is going to be this afternoon, at three o’clock. That’s when the bell on the town hall clock chimes three times,’ she added.

  ‘I’m so excited about this party!’ miaowed Boots, a huge Maine Coon cat with big paws and long black fur. ‘Where’s it going to be, Kitty?’

  Kitty had thought very hard about the best place to have a party. It needed to be somewhere quiet, where humans wouldn’t go, with lots of space for the cats to roll around and play. ‘The empty patch of woodland at the back of the park,’ she replied. ‘There are some big rose bushes that we can all hide behind, and jump out to surprise Sooty.’

  ‘Can we help at all?’ asked Patch hopefully. Patch was a small, scruffy grey cat.

  ‘Yes, please!’ said Kitty. ‘I’m going to head this way to tell all the cats I can find.’ She waved a paw towards the end of the street. ‘Would you mind going around the other side of town, and telling the cats who live there?’

  Patch nodded his head eagerly. ‘Of course.’

  ‘What about Sooty? How are we going to make sure she gets to the party without ruining the surprise?’ asked Coco.

  ‘Leave that to me,’ said Kitty.

  Then she padded away from her friends, heading for the part of town where Sooty lived. On the way she passed several more cats, and every time, she stopped to tell them the plan. ‘Spread the word – but make sure you don’t tell Sooty!’ she miaowed.

  Kitty found Sooty playing with a ball near her house. ‘Hi, Sooty!’ she called. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’

  ‘Why, what’s happened?’ asked Sooty.

  ‘There’s going to be an emergency meeting of the Cat Council at three o’clock today,’ Kitty explained. ‘And it’s not in the usual place. It’s going to be in the woodland behind the park instead. Just behind the rose bushes.’

  ‘I know where you mean,’ miaowed Sooty. ‘I’ll be there. I hope everything’s OK, Kitty. I’ve never heard of a Cat Council meeting being called in the daytime before.’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,’ Kitty said. ‘See you this afternoon.’ As she trotted away, she felt a tingle of excitement in her tummy. Everything was going to plan, so far!

  On her way back home, Kitty slipped over Jenny’s garden fence and into Jenny’s garden. There was one cat she hadn’t told about the party plan yet – Misty! Her friend was lying on Jenny’s trampoline, snoozing in the sunshine. Kitty gave a loud miaow to wake her up.

  ‘Kitty, you startled me!’ giggled Misty, jumping down from the trampoline with a soft thud of her paws. ‘Do you want to play?’

  ‘Yes, but first of all I’ve got to tell you about Sooty’s party!’ miaowed Kitty. She started to explain the plan to Misty. But then the back door of Jenny’s house opened, and two people stepped out into the garden.

  Kitty stared in horror. The first person coming outside was Jenny – but the second, to her surprise, was Max!

  ‘What’s my cousin doing here?’ she hissed to Misty. ‘He’s meant to be at my mum and dad’s shop with my grandma.’

  ‘I want you to meet my cat, Misty,’ Jenny said to Max. ‘She’s out here in the garden. She’s so – oh, look, she’s made a friend!’

  Kitty felt all the fur on her body prickle. Max and Jenny were looking right at her! It’s OK, she told herself. They don’t know it’s you.

  ‘What a cute cat,’ Max said, walking over to Kitty and crouching down. ‘That’s weird, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.’

  Kitty froze. If Max caught sight of the silver pendant hanging from her collar, he might realise that it matched the necklace Kitty wore when she was in her human form. And then he might realise that he’d seen her in her cat form before – when she was staying at his farm! She had to get away – and quickly! As Max reached out a hand to give her a stroke, she dashed away and on to the garden fence.

  That was far too close – again, Kitty thought to herself as she jumped down to the other side.

  Kitty raced through her neighbours’ gardens and leapt over the fence into her own. Glancing around quickly to make sure no one could see, she whispered the magic words on her collar, and transformed back into a girl. Then she opened the back door and stepped inside the house. ‘Grandma!’ she called. ‘Grandma, are you here?’

  ‘Kitty!’ replied Grandma, bustling into the kitchen. ‘I’ve got some good news. Max isn’t here. Jenny and her mum came into the shop while we were showing Max around, and they invited him to go and play out in Jenny’s garden for a few hours. So that means he’ll be kept busy while you’re throwing the party for Sooty.’

  ‘I know Max is at Jenny’s, Grandma. I was just there too!’ said Kitty. She explained what had happened, and how close Max had been to spotting her collar.

  ‘Oh, no! I never thought that you’d be there too,’ said Grandma, shaking her head. ‘I’m sorry, Kitty. And I’m so glad you got away in time.’

  ‘It’s OK, Grandma. It wasn’t your fault,’ Kitty replied. ‘And you’re right – at least we don’t have to worry about Max now. We can concentrate on making Sooty’s party perfect instead.’

  She checked the clock on the kitchen wall. ‘In fact, we’d better start taking all the party things to the park,’ she said. ‘It begins in an hour!’

  Grandma and Kitty put the wool and sardines that Kitty had bought in a bag, along with some extra tins of tuna and a tub of fresh cream that Grandma had bought that morning. Then Kitty tucked the cardboard boxes under her arm, while Grandma carefully pulled a large box out of the fridge.

  ‘What’s that?’ Kitty asked.

  ‘You’ll see when we get there!’ Grandma said, smiling.

  When they got to the park the playground was really busy, and Kitty spotted some of her friends on the swings. Quickly, she and Grandma ducked behind some trees and made their way to the empty patch of woodland at the far end of the park. It was hidden behind a row of thick rose bushes, which they carefully squeezed through.

 

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