Chloe the Kitten (3 page)

“Ah, well,” Chloe declared loudly. “I think it's time that I went and had some breakfast.” She gave her tummy a pat. “Ooh, I'm so hungry.”

Chloe unfurled her wings and started to fly away. But instead of leaving Hawthorn Hedgerows, she swerved around the back of a large oak tree. Behind its huge trunk, Chloe was well hidden, but if she peeked out, she had a perfect view of the cobweb she had just decorated.

“Now all I have to do is wait,” she said to herself, “and see if the dewdrop thief comes back.”

Chloe waited. And as she waited, she began to wonder if her idea had been such a good one after all.

What if the dewdrop thief is very big?
she thought.

The branches of the old oak tree creaked.

What if the dewdrop thief is scary?

A breeze shivered through the leaves.

What if the dewdrop thief doesn't like Cobweb Kittens?

There was a rustling in the hedgerow. Chloe peered around the tree. The thread of the silvery web was trembling and the dewdrops were quivering. Was the thief coming?

Chloe crouched down in her hiding place, not daring to look. The rustling stopped, and there was silence.

Gathering up all her courage, Chloe peeked out. What she saw wasn't big. And it wasn't scary. There, in the middle of the clearing, was a tiny Moss Mouse.

Moss Mice were another type of fairy animal. Their special job was to shape Misty Wood's moss into velvety cushions for the other animals to sleep on. But this timid creature looked much too small for any kind of job. He was just a baby!

For a moment, the mouse sat all alone in the middle of the clearing. Then he tiptoed over to the hedge. With a flutter of his tiny wings, he flew up to the cobweb and began lapping thirstily at the nearest dewdrop.

Chloe stared in disbelief. To think that she had been scared of a terrible thief when all this time her hard work was being slurped up by a greedy mouse!

“What are you doing?” she cried, flying out from her hiding place.

The little Moss Mouse was so startled he fell backward from the web, did a somersault, and landed with a
plop
on a toadstool below. The dewdrops splashed down on top of him like rain.

“Those dewdrops are not for drinking. They're to make the hedges look pretty,” Chloe went on. “I spent ages hanging them.”

But as she hovered above the Moss Mouse, Chloe saw that the water running down his pointy nose wasn't from the dewdrops. Big, splashy tears were spilling from his eyes and soaking his downy cheeks.

“I'm sorry,” the little mouse said in a trembly voice. “But I was very thirsty, and I didn't know where else to get a drink.” He put his head in his tiny paws and sobbed some more.

Chloe felt awful. He was such a young mouse, and he looked so sad. She shouldn't have been cross with him.

“It's all right,” Chloe purred, patting his back with her paw. “I'm sorry I shouted at you. What's your name, and why are you so thirsty?”

“My name is Morris,” the mouse sniffed. “I'm thirsty because I … I…” He started to cry again. “I lost my mommy and daddy.”

“You
lost
them?” Chloe asked.

Morris nodded sadly.

“How did you lose them?”

Morris looked down. “We were going to visit Grandma,” he whispered, “and I flew off to look at some buttercups. And then … and then … well, I couldn't find my way back.” He let out another tiny sob.

Chloe picked a velvety leaf from the hedge next to them and handed it to him. “Here,” she said. “Wipe your eyes.”

Morris dabbed at his face with the leaf.

“When did you lose your mommy and daddy?” Chloe asked.

“Yesterday morning,” Morris replied.

“Yesterday morning?” Chloe stared at him. “No wonder you're thirsty.”

“I was only going to drink one dewdrop,” Morris whimpered, “but they were so tasty. I'm sorry.” He hung his tiny head again.

Chloe thought of how the Stardust Squirrel had helped her when she'd lost her basket. Now it was her turn to help.

“Don't worry,” she said with a smile. “I'll help you find your mommy and daddy—I promise. Do you have any idea where your home is?”

Morris nodded. “It's by the lions.”

Chloe stared at him in shock. “By the
lions
?”

“Yes,” the little mouse replied. “By the big lions.”

Chloe gulped. She didn't know there were lions in Misty Wood. Her heart began to pound. Finding Morris's home might be a lot scarier than she had thought!

 

CHAPTER FOUR

The Rainbow Slide

Morris looked up at Chloe. His shiny black eyes blinked at her anxiously.

“Please will you take me home?” he squeaked. “I miss my mommy and daddy.”

Chloe's tummy gave a little lurch. She had to keep her promise. It was up to her to get Morris back safely, however scary it might be.

“Ladybugs and lollipops!” she whispered to herself. “If this little mouse is brave enough to live next door to some big lions, then as sure as my wings are purple, I am brave enough to take him there.”

She turned to Morris again. “Is your home very far away?”

“Oh yes. Miles and miles,” Morris replied.

“In that case,” Chloe said, “I think it would be better if I carried you. Your wings are so small, and you must be very tired. You can climb onto my back. We'll fly above Misty Wood together. You can help me look out for the lions.”

Morris clapped his tiny paws. “Thank you! Thank you!” he squeaked excitedly.

Chloe tucked her basket of dewdrops beneath a hedge to keep it safe. Then she crouched down low as Morris clambered onto her back and perched between her wings.

“Hold on tight!” Chloe called. With a flick of her shimmering wings she flew up into the sky, brushing the treetops with her sparkly tail as she rose higher and higher.

“Wheeeeeeeee!” Morris cried.

Far below, Misty Wood lay stretched out like a colorful patchwork quilt, glimmering in the early morning sunshine. Somewhere down there, among the meadows and the mountains, the grasslands and the glades, Morris's family was waiting anxiously for him. But where were they?

A flash of golden fur across a patch of brilliant blue caught Chloe's eye.

Lions? Chloe caught her breath and looked closer.

No, it was only the Pollen Puppies. They were awake and playing in Bluebell Glade, flicking the pollen here and there with their tails so that even more flowers would grow.

I wonder if they know where the lions live
, Chloe thought. She called over her shoulder to her tiny passenger. “Hold on, Morris! We're going down!”

With a flutter of fairy wings, Chloe landed in the glade.

“Hey! What's going on?” Petey, a floppy-eared puppy, cried as he bounced over.

“Have you come to play with us?” his friend Max asked as he scampered up. Clouds of yellow pollen fell like gold dust from his coat. “Look, everyone! It's a Cobweb Kitten who wants to be a Pollen Puppy.”

“No, I don't wa—” Chloe began, but Max was already running around her, his tail wagging.

“First of all, you have to learn how to bark,” Max said. “Show her how to bark, Petey.”

“But I don't—” Chloe spluttered. Before she could say any more, Petey started barking.

“And wag your tail,” Max called. “You have to wag your tail if you want to be a Pollen Puppy. It's what we do best.”

Petey barked even louder, and other puppies started joining in, too, until the whole glade became a blur of wagging tails and barking puppies.

“But—” said Chloe.

“Oh dear,” squeaked Morris.

“
I don't want to bark and I don't want to wag my tail and I don't want to be a Pollen Puppy!
” Chloe shouted at the top of her voice.

The glade fell silent.

“Oh,” said Petey.

“No need to shout,” sniffed Max.