Kitten had belonged to Molly since Molly was two hours old. Dad had placed her in the corner of her hospital crib, and they had been inseparable ever since. Kitten sat in Molly’s pram on outings with her, in her highchair at mealtimes, and laid under the blankets with her at night-time. Wherever Molly went, Kitten went with her.
With Molly, she swam in the kitchen sink, dug to China in the flowerbeds and walked to the park. When Molly started school, Kitten sat patiently on the bed every day waiting for her to return. When Molly came home, the first thing she would do was run to her bedroom, give Kitten a great big hug, and tell her about her day.
One day, Mum and Dad organised a picnic to the countryside for Molly’s fifth birthday. Kitten sat in the middle seat between Molly and Baby Oliver, but as they left the city, Molly picked Kitten up and held her against the window, both of them peering out eagerly at the countryside that sped by.
The sky was a bright blue and the warm sun beat down as the little family parked the car and walked through green grassy fields bordered by a forest, searching for the perfect spot for Molly’s birthday picnic. Mum and Dad laid down the blanket in a shady spot underneath an old oak tree, and Molly propped Kitten up on a branch where she could watch the happy scene.
They enjoyed a picnic of sandwiches, sausage rolls, lemonade, and biscuits before Mum and Dad told Molly to close her eyes. Kitten closed hers too. When they both opened them again, there were three parcels wrapped with bows sitting in front of Molly, and an iced chocolate cake with five lighted candles.
Molly gasped with delight. “They’re really for me?”
Mum nodded, and kissed Molly on the forehead.
Taking a deep breath, Molly blew out the candles and proceeded to tear the wrapping paper off her gifts. A pink bicycle helmet, a Lego playset, and a new book fell out, and Molly shrieked with delight.
The afternoon became increasingly cloudier as Molly admired her presents and ate as much cake as her parents would let her. She just had played her second round of hide and seek with Mum, when a few spots of rain began to fall, and before they knew it there was a rumble of thunder in the sky.
“Come on! Quickly!” Dad said as he began to pack away the picnic, and Molly hurriedly began to gather up her presents. They all managed to run back to the car just before the rain became a torrential downpour.
“Phew” Mum said as they sat in the warm car, listening to the rain thudding heavily onto the roof. She turned towards the back seats, where Baby Oliver was gurgling in his seat, having found it all rather exciting, and Molly was reading the first page of her new book out loud, chocolate still smeared in the corners of her mouth.
With a contended smile, Dad started the journey back home again. Just as they passed the border back into London again, Molly let out a shriek from the back seat.
“Darling what is it?” Mum asked, as Dad almost swerved the car from surprise.
“It’s Kitten!” Molly howled, as big fat tears started to fall down her cheeks. “She isn’t here, we must have left her behind!”
Mum started to tell Molly that she was sure Kitten must have been packed away with the picnic things in the boot of the car when they had to leave in a hurry. “We’ll have a proper look when we’re back at the house and I’m sure she’ll be there!” Mum said reassuringly.
But when they got back to the house, they discovered that Kitten was not there, neither in the picnic hamper nor fallen between the fold-up chairs. She had been left behind.
“We have to go back for her right away! She’ll be frightened!” Molly wailed.
“We can’t go back for her now, sweetie” Dad said as he pulled Molly into his lap and gave her a cuddle. “It’s very far to drive, and the rain is too strong for us to drive in again. But it be alright, you’ll see! We can go back to where we were tomorrow, and she’ll be sitting there waiting for us!”
“But Kitten has never been by herself outdoors and at night before,” Molly said fretfully as she burrowed her head into Dad’s shoulder. “And that forest was so big, there could be anything in there!” She’ll be so scared!”
***
The rain fell more and more heavily as Kitten lay beneath the branch where Molly had propped her up, watching in dismay as the family ran back towards the car to shelter from the rain.
“Molly!” she called out pitifully. But Molly never had been able to hear her. Had they forgotten her? Miserable, she began to trudge through the field, seeking the shelter of the trees in the nearby forest. Her paws became so muddy that it looked as though she were wearing brown Wellington boots.
She had never been outside before without Molly, and everything seemed much more worrying now that she was alone. A streak of lightning shot through the sky followed by a boom of thunder. With a meow of fright, Kitten ran underneath the shelter of the nearest tree she could see and cowered underneath a protruding root, that kept the rain off her somewhat.
Cold and wet and scared, Kitten huddled against the tree, breathing in the earthy smell of the ground and leaves around her, and closed her eyes. ‘In the morning, they’ll come back for me’, Kitten thought. ‘I’ll see Molly again before long.’
***
“Shhh, be quiet or you’ll wake her!”
“I am being quiet! The poor little mite, all alone in a storm. No wonder she must be exhausted!”
“And she’s covered in mud too!”
As she slowly woke up, Kitten became aware of voices around her. Opening her eyes, she saw that the was in a brightly lit room, and that there were other animals standing around her!
Arching her back in fright, Kitten let out a yowl, before a fox who was wearing a frilly pink apron leaned down and said, “There now don’t be frightened! We found you freezing and alone in a storm just outside our front door!”
“Where…where am I?” Kitten asked, dazed.
“Why, inside the Old Oak Tree with us of course” replied a rabbit with one floppy ear and a navy jumper, looking at her beadily. “And you’re more than welcome. There’s always room for an animal in need here!”
