Magic Kitten: Moonlight Mischief (4 page)

Once inside, she picked up a basket and started looking for the coffee. She wandered up and down, checking the shelves and enjoying showing Flame new things. As she drew near the toy section, she heard a child shouting.

‘No! I want one
now!’

The voice sounded familiar. Eve peeked round a corner and saw Darren
and Alison near a tall display of boxed toy cars. Darren was stamping his feet and yelling.

Alison had a shopping trolley loaded with groceries. Her back was turned to Eve. ‘Stop acting like a two-year-old, Darren! You know you can’t have one,’ she said, wheeling her trolley around the end of the shelf. ‘Come on. I’m going to pay for this lot now.’

‘Don’t care!’ Darren yelled, staying behind in the empty aisle. He stretched forward and grabbed a box from near the bottom of the display.

Eve gasped as the huge pile of boxes shifted and the entire display slowly leaned towards Darren.

Time seemed to stand still. Eve felt a strange warm tingling up her spine. She
looked down at her bag. Flame’s head was sticking out. His silky fur was fizzing with a shower of silver sparkles and his whiskers crackled with electricity.

Eve tensed. It felt like something very strange was about to happen.

Chapter
* FOUR *

Lifting a tiny paw out of Eve’s bag, Flame sent a fountain of sparks towards the collapsing display.

Suddenly there was a faint
pop!
and Eve saw the heavy toy boxes magically transform into a shower of colourful glittering feathers, which drifted down harmlessly around Darren.

‘Cool!’ Darren clapped his hands. He kicked the feathers about and jumped up and down on them, completely forgetting about the toy cars. With sparkling feathers stuck all over him, Darren dashed after Alison, shouting, ‘Come and look at this, Alison. Come and look!’

Eve gasped. What if anyone saw what
had just happened? Flame might be found out! She would have to warn him. ‘Flame, you’ve got to…’

But before Eve could finish, Flame waved a sandy paw at the enormous pile of glittering feathers drifting across the shop floor. In another flash of silver sparks every single feather disappeared. The tall display of boxed cars stood neatly in their place.

Eve stared in amazement as the sparkles in Flame’s silky fur gradually faded away. ‘Phew! That was close. You were brilliant, Flame!’

‘I am glad to help you, Eve,’ Flame mewed, looking up at her with his big emerald eyes

Eve found the jar of coffee and went to pay for it. Alison and Darren were
still at the checkout. Alison was packing groceries into plastic bags, while Darren looked out of the window.

‘Shall I help you do that?’ Eve said.

Alison glanced up. She looked all hot and fed up. ‘You can if you want.’

Eve packed a bag and then carried it outside with Alison. Neither of them spoke. Darren took a ball out of his pocket and bounced it down the path.

‘I heard Darren having a temper tantrum in the shop,’ Eve said, to break the awkward silence.

Alison pulled a face. ‘That’s nothing new. He always plays up if he can’t have something he wants.’

‘What a pain!’ Eve said sympathetically.

Alison nodded. ‘I suppose he’s no worse than other kids. But he drives me mad!’ Her face suddenly broke into a genuine smile. ‘Thanks for helping me with the shopping.’

‘No problem,’ Eve replied, returning her smile.

Alison looked thoughtful. ‘Mum said I could go to the cinema tomorrow. My friends are busy, so I was going by
myself. Do you want to come?’

‘That would be great. I’ll ask Mum and Dad if it’s OK,’ Eve said, really pleased that Alison had invited her. Maybe they could be friends after all, even after getting off to a bad start.

Suddenly Alison stiffened. ‘Your shoulder bag! It just moved!’

Eve chuckled. ‘Flame’s inside. He comes everywhere with me, but I thought they wouldn’t let me in the shop with him.’ She opened her bag and lifted Flame out.

‘Oh, isn’t he swe-eet!’ Alison crooned. She scratched Flame gently under the chin. ‘Look at his gorgeous silky fur and green eyes! That’s nice being able to bring your own cat with you from home.’

Eve was trying to decide how to avoid complicated explanations, when Darren came running up. He had spotted Flame.

‘I want to hold the kitten!’ he demanded.

Alison looked doubtful.

‘It’s OK, he can. Flame won’t mind,’ Eve said, putting him into Darren’s arms.

‘Be very gentle and don’t squeeze him,’ Alison told her brother.

‘Aw, he’s cute! I want a kitten like this.’ The little boy hunched over, cuddling Flame and gently stroking the top of his head. Flame wriggled about and whined softly.

Eve felt uneasy. What was wrong with Flame? He didn’t seem to be feeling comfortable with Darren. As the little boy glanced up at Eve, she saw his blue eyes flash with mischief.

Alarm bells went off in her head. ‘I’ll have Flame back now, Da…’

But it was too late. Clutching Flame tightly to his chest, Darren pelted down the street and ran straight into a children’s playground!

Chapter
* FIVE *

Eve shot after Darren. She ran into the playground, which was crowded with mums and children. She spotted Darren at the back of a queue of little kids all climbing a slide. Darren was two steps from the top, when he slipped and almost toppled backwards.

‘Oο-er!’ he cried, dropping Flame and grabbing at the handrail.

‘Miao-ow-ow!’ Flame gave a howl of fear as he managed to cling on to the edge of the steps with his front paws. His back legs scrabbled for a foothold, but he was gradually slipping.

Eve realized that Flame couldn’t use magic in the crowded playground without giving himself away. He was going to fall at any moment.

She threw herself forward with her arms outstretched, just as Flame fell. She just managed to catch him before he crashed to the ground, but she fell on to one of her knees and winced as it twisted awkwardly.

‘Oh, Flame. I was so scared you’d be killed,’ Eve gulped, sprawled on the ground with the kitten in her arms.

Flame blinked up at her gratefully. ‘Thank you for saving me, Eve,’ he purred softly. ‘But you have hurt yourself. Quickly, put me in your bag, so no one can see.’

Eve moved slightly and almost screamed as a sickening wave of pain shot up her leg. Biting her lip, she lifted Flame back into her bag, just as a burst of silver sparks crackled in his fur.
There was a warm, tingling sensation in her knee and she felt the pain draining away, just as if she had poured it down a sink.

Seconds later, Flame emerged from the bag.

‘Thanks, Flame. My knee feels good as new,’ Eve whispered. She got up with Flame still in her arms and looked round for Darren.

She saw Alison, who had just run into the playground with all the shopping and had grabbed Darren as he shot off the end of the slide. She was as white as a sheet as she hugged her little brother tightly. ‘Don’t you ever run off like that again! I thought you were going to fall right down those stairs!’ she said shakily.

Eve went over to Alison. ‘Is Darren all right?’

Alison nodded. ‘He’s fine. How’s Flame?’

‘He’s all right now,’ Eve said. She looked at Darren. ‘It was very naughty to run off with Flame like that. You could have hurt him badly.’

Darren sniffled and rubbed his eyes. ‘It wasn’t me!’ he said defiantly.

‘I’m really sorry. You can see what he’s like, can’t you?’ Alison looked hopefully at Eve. ‘You won’t say anything to Mum about him running off, will you?’

Eve considered for a moment. Darren definitely wasn’t the little angel he first seemed! But it wasn’t Alison’s fault he’d run off. ‘No, I won’t say anything,’ she decided. ‘But maybe you should tell your mum how Darren plays you up.’

Alison smiled gratefully. ‘I’ll think about it. Thanks, Eve. You’re OK.’

‘Can I go to the cinema with Alison tomorrow, Dad?’ Eve asked early that evening as she helped make a salad to go with the lasagne her dad was making. Her mum was busy in the
office, booking in a new cat, so her dad had offered to cook supper.

‘That sounds like a good idea. You must have been missing going out with your friends back home,’ Mr Dawson said, ruffling her blonde hair.

‘I was a bit at first, when I didn’t really know Alison,’ Eve admitted. ‘But I do have the best friend anyone could wish for – Flame!’

Flame looked up from his dish of tuna flakes and gave an extra-loud purr.

Her dad chuckled. ‘I think Flame agrees! And I’m glad you and Alison are getting on now.’ He paused. ‘On another subject altogether, that grumpy ginger and white cat didn’t eat much food again. I hope he isn’t getting sick.’