Tiger suddenly put both paws on the edge of the bowl and tipped it over. Water cascaded over the floor and the ball floated out with it. Tiger gave chase, splashing through the water and leaving a trail of paw prints.

  To Mabel Knight, for when you are older.

  “What’s that lady doing?” Grace Taylor pointed at a young woman with short blonde hair who was wearing a blue tunic over trousers. She was peering under a small car parked on a drive.

  “It looks like she’s lost something,” said Jack.

  It was a warm Friday afternoon in September and twins Grace and Jack were on their way home from school.

  “Here, Tiger,” the woman coaxed. “Please come out.”

  Grace crouched down. She could just see a tiny cat hiding under the car. “It’s a kitten! Let’s see if she needs a hand.”

  Grace hurried up the drive with Jack following. “Do you need help getting your kitten out?”

  A look of relief crossed the young woman’s face. “Thanks. I’m a care worker. I’m visiting Mrs Brownlee who lives here, but just as I opened my car door, my kitten jumped out.” She smiled. “I’m Emma, by the way, and this is Tiger.”

  The twins smiled back. “I’m Grace and this is Jack,” said Grace. She peered under the car. The kitten, a silver tabby with grey and white stripes, a fluffy white chest and blue eyes, stared back.

  “You must have got a shock when Tiger jumped out of the car with you,” Jack said.

  Emma sighed. “Not really – it’s not the first time it’s happened. Tiger doesn’t like being left alone in the house so he tries to sneak into the car when I’m putting my things inside. It’s becoming quite a problem.” She checked her watch. “Oh dear, I’m going to be late if he doesn’t come out soon.”

  Jack got a little rubber ball out of his bag. “Let’s try rolling this past him and see if he’ll chase it out.” He hurried to the other side of the car. “Ready, Grace?”

  “Ready!” said Grace.

  Jack rolled the ball and Tiger watched it. As it passed his paws he pounced and bounded after it on to the drive.

  “Got you!” Grace scooped him up.

  “Thank you!” cried Emma.

  “Stop wriggling,” Grace giggled as Tiger meowed and struggled in her arms. “I’m not going to hurt you. He’s gorgeous,” she told Emma.

  “He’s also a bundle of trouble.” Emma sighed as she stroked Tiger’s fluffy head. “I don’t know what to do with him now. I don’t want to leave him in the car but I can’t take him into Mrs Brownlee’s.”

  “We’ll look after him,” offered Jack. “We only live five minutes away. Our mum has a doggy day care business called Top Dog. You can come round to get him when you finish work.”

  Emma’s face lit up. “Top Dog? My friend’s poodle Lolly goes there. It would be really kind of you to kitten-sit. Are you sure your mum won’t mind?”

  “She’ll be fine,” said Grace, thrilled at the thought of having some time with such a cute kitten. “Jack and I often look after animals.”

  “We run an animal rehoming business called Forever Homes,” Jack explained. He took one of their home-made business cards out of his school bag and handed it to Emma. “Here’s our address.”

  Emma studied the card, her forehead crinkling. “An animal rehoming business?”

  “We find new homes for dogs and cats when their owners can’t keep them any more,” said Jack.

  “Perfect forever homes,” said Grace happily.

  “Do … do you think you could help me find Tiger a new home?” asked Emma slowly.

  Excitement rushed through Grace. “I bet we could!”

  “If you’re sure you want him rehomed?” said Jack, more cautiously.

  Emma sighed. “I think it would be for the best. I love Tiger to bits but he needs an owner who isn’t out at work all day; someone to keep him out of mischief.”

  “There’s bound to be an owner out there who will suit him perfectly,” said Grace, tickling Tiger under his chin. He purred so loudly, his whole body shook.

  “You could come round when you’ve finished work and sign the paperwork,” said Jack.

  “OK. I’ll also bring his vaccination certificate and the rest of his kitten food.” Emma gave Tiger a sad smile. “I hate saying goodbye but I’m sure this is the right thing for Tiger.”

  “We promise we’ll look after him really well,” Grace told her.

  Jack nodded firmly. “And we’ll only rehome him when we find the absolutely perfect forever home!”

  Grace and Jack took turns carrying Tiger back to their house. Luckily it wasn’t far because he kept wriggling and at one point almost climbed over Grace’s shoulder!

  “He’s definitely lively!” she gasped as she gently untangled his claws from her coat.

  Tiger meowed.

  “We’ll have to run a personality test on him when we get home,” said Jack. The twins ran a personality test on every new animal. It helped them work out exactly what kind of owner the animal needed.

  “I’m so happy we’ve got a new cat to look after,” said Grace. “I love kittens!”

  “And, best of all, it’s the weekend, which means we’ll have lots of time to get to know him,” said Jack.

  They reached their house, an old red-brick Victorian villa, and went through a gate into the small courtyard at the side of the house. Opposite the house there was a modern building where their mum ran Top Dog. Hearing the gate opening, she came to the door.

  “Hi, you two, how was—” Mrs Taylor broke off in surprise. “A kitten!”

  “Yes, he’s called Tiger,” said Grace. She and Jack quickly explained everything that had happened.

  “His owner is coming round later to sign the paperwork,” Jack finished.

  Mum smiled and tickled Tiger’s head. “He’s absolutely gorgeous! I can’t imagine you’ll struggle to find a cutie like him a home.”

  “We’re going to take him to the shed and run a personality test,” said Jack. “Come on, Grace.”

  Mum went back inside Top Dog and the twins set off to their office shed. Suddenly there was a yell from inside the house, followed by a loud crash.

  Grace and Jack stared at each other and then, together, they sprinted to the door.

  Jack pulled the door open and coughed as a cloud of smoke billowed out. Grace shielded Tiger from it with her hand.

  “Oh, wow,” she said, staring into the family’s large kitchen. “Ollie! What have you been doing?”

  Ollie, the twins’ seventeen-year-old brother, was standing by the cooker, and Tiny, the family’s big white dog, was hiding under the wooden table. Dirty bowls and wooden spoons covered every surface and a half-dismantled food mixer was dripping raw cake mixture on to the dresser. Every surface was coated with a dusting of flour and there was an upturned tray of burnt cupcakes on the floor.

  Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Ollie, have you been baking?”

  Ollie looked ruefully at the cakes on the floor. “I was trying to bake some cakes for the next rehearsal.” Ollie was in a band with some friends from his sixth-form college. “But I guess we can’t eat them now.”

  “Probably just as well,” said Grace, looking at the blackened cakes.

  Ollie noticed Tiger in her arms. “Hey, that’s a cute kitten!” he said, walking over and stroking Tiger, who rubbed his cheek against Ollie’s hand. Both Ollie and Amelia, the twins’ thirteen-year-old sister, loved animals, although they weren’t quite as animal-crazy as Grace and Jack. “What’s its name?”

  “Tiger,” said Grace. “We’ve got him in for rehoming.”

  She put Tiger on the floor. The kitten padded over to the cakes and sniffed at them. His nose wrinkled and with a delicate shake of his paw, he turned away. “Even Tiger doesn’t like the look of your cakes!” Grace said with a giggle.

  “I hadn’t realised baking was so hard,” sighed Ollie as Tiny gave a little woof from under the table and thumped his tail. Tiger boldly walked over to say hello to the big dog. “I baked a few times with Auntie Meg when I was younger and she made it seem easy!”

  Auntie Meg was their mum’s sister. She lived on a houseboat called the Happy Otter. She made delicious cakes and had opened up a tea shop on her boat. She was never in one place for more than a few days, moving around the country on the canal network. She was loud and cheerful and she always forgot their birthdays but they all adored her and her cakes!

  “Auntie Meg’s red velvet cake, yum!” said Jack longingly.

  “Chocolate brownies and rocky road cookies,” sighed Grace.

  Ollie groaned. “Stop it! My mouth’s watering!”

  Grace looked round at the mess. “So what made you decide to bake today?”

  Ollie shrugged. “I just thought it would be a…” He cleared his throat. “A nice way to welcome the band’s new singer.” His cheeks turned slightly pink.

  Grace’s eyes widened as she noticed the blush. “Wait a sec. The new singer’s a girl called Ellie, isn’t she? Ollie, are you trying to impress her?”

  Ollie’s face turned beetroot red. “No, no, of course I’m not!”

  Grace nudged Jack. “Ollie’s in lurv!” she grinned.

  Jack sniggered. “Ollie and Ella sitting in a tree,” he chanted. “K … I … S … S … I—” He broke off to dodge away as Ollie grabbed a sticky spoon from the side and tried to swat him with it.

  “Where’s Tiger?” Grace asked suddenly. “He was here just a second ago.”

  “He must have gon

e exploring!” Jack went to the open door that led to the hall. “Tiger? Here, puss!”

  Grace and Jack searched the hall, the lounge and the study but Tiger was nowhere to be seen.

  “Maybe he went upstairs?” Grace ran up the stairs with Jack following. They could hear Amelia in the bathroom laughing with her best friend Freya, and there was the sound of water running.

  “He’s so cute!” they heard Freya exclaim.

  “Aw! Look at his little tongue!” said Amelia.

  The twins hurried to the bathroom.

  Amelia and Freya were inside, their school bags at their feet. They were watching Tiger as he balanced on the edge of the sink. His tail was twitching as he lapped water straight from the gushing tap with his little pink tongue.

  “Found him!” Jack said to Grace.

  “Is he another Forever Homes kitten?” asked Amelia, pushing her long hair back behind her ears.

  Grace nodded and explained how they had come to be looking after him.

  “He’s really funny,” said Freya as Tiger started batting the stream of water with one paw. “We were going into Amelia’s room when we saw him run in here. He jumped on the sink and started nudging the tap with his nose.”

  “He wanted a drink and knew water came out of the tap,” said Amelia. “Clever kitty.”

  “That’s probably enough now though,” said Jack, turning the tap off.

  “Prrip!” squeaked Tiger indignantly. He shook his whiskers and then started to walk round the basin edge. He wobbled and Jack caught him.

  “Meow!” Tiger squirmed in his arms.

  “You’re coming with me and Grace now,” said Jack. “No more exploring.”

  “Can I have a quick cuddle first?” asked Freya eagerly.

  Jack handed him over. Freya held him close. “I love kittens!” she sighed.

  “You don’t want to adopt him, do you?” Grace asked hopefully. She liked Freya.

  “I’d love to but Mum’s allergic to cats. I’ll ask around though.” Tiger started to struggle and Freya put him down. “Do you just rehome kittens and puppies or do you rehome older animals too?”

  “We usually end up with kittens and puppies but we’ll rehome any cat or dog,” said Jack, pushing the door shut with his foot so Tiger couldn’t go off exploring again.

  “Really?” Freya’s eyes lit up. “Can you help my auntie? She’s moving to America and she needs to find a new home for Connie, her cocker spaniel. Connie’s ten and my auntie doesn’t think she should take her to America because the flight is really long and she’s renting a city flat. She’s trying to find Connie a new home but no luck so far.”

  “We’d love to help—” Grace started but Jack cut in.

  “But we can’t. Mum and Dad only let us take in one animal at a time.” He gave Grace a firm look.

  Grace sighed, knowing Jack was right. Their parents were very supportive of Forever Homes but they were also very strict about the twins only taking on one animal at a time.

  “No worries!” said Freya. “My auntie’s not moving quite yet. There’s still time to find Connie a good home.”

  “If we find a new owner for Tiger really quickly then we might be able to help with Connie,” said Grace.

  “That would be great!” said Freya, smiling.

  “Come on, Frey, let’s go to my room,” said Amelia.

  Freya picked up her school bag and then squealed as the side of it suddenly moved. “What’s in my…”

  They all burst out laughing as Tiger poked his head out of the bag’s opening. “Meow!” he said, looking delighted to be the centre of attention.

  “Oh, Tiger!” Jack said as Freya took him out and handed him to Grace. “Emma was right. You’re a bundle of trouble.”

  “A super-cute bundle,” said Grace, kissing the top of Tiger’s fluffy head.

  “So we’ve decided Tiger is confident, bold, friendly and lively,” said Jack a little while later, reading back from the notes he’d made. He was sitting at the desk in the cosy shed in the garden that the twins had made their office.

  On one wall hung a pinboard with photos of animals they had rehomed, and the other walls were decorated with pet pictures drawn by Grace. There was a rug on the floor and several boxes of dog and cat toys. On the desk there were some jars of treats, and paperwork including questionnaires for possible owners to fill in, business cards and a form for owners to sign when they brought their animal in for rehoming.

  “Have you written down that he likes to play?” said Grace, flicking a fluffy cat toy on a stick from side to side and watching Tiger pounce on it. As part of the personality test, she and Jack checked whether the animal liked to play with toys. They also made notes on how friendly the animal was, and watched to see how bold they were. Tiger had investigated all corners of the shed and he certainly seemed to like being cuddled, so he’d been given a tick in the boxes marked “bold” and “friendly”.

  “Yes, and that he likes company,” said Jack. “He needs a home where he isn’t left on his own for too long.”

  “He’d be perfect for a big family,” said Grace, “with lots of people to play with him.”

  “He wasn’t scared of Tiny,” said Jack, making another note. “Which means he could go to a home with dogs.” He put his pen down. “OK, we’re done with the testing.” He got up and went to stroke Tiger.

  “We could make some posters about him tonight and put them in the usual places,” said Grace, listing them on her fingers. “The vet’s, the newsagent’s, the post office and at school.”

  “Good plan.” Jack stroked a hand down Tiger’s back. The kitten purred. “We’ll find him a perfect home soon, I’m sure!”

  Over the weekend, Tiger kept Grace and Jack very busy. He followed them around, pouncing on their shoelaces or winding himself around their legs. He purred loudly for cuddles and was always the first through an open door. The twins soon found out that if they left him alone for any length of time he would get into all sorts of mischief.

  On Saturday morning, after the twins came back from putting up some posters about Tiger, they found that he had walked along the kitchen dresser knocking bills, dog leads and a packet of rice on to the floor. He had then gone into the downstairs bathroom and fallen asleep in the sink!

  “Oh, Tiger,” Jack sighed as he started to sweep up the grains of rice. “You really can’t be left alone for a second!”

  “Meow!” Tiger agreed from Grace’s arms.

  She put him down and he trotted over to Tiny. He started climbing on to Tiny’s head while the big dog tried to snooze.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Grace ignored Tiger’s sharp mew of protest as she lifted him up. “Tiny’s having a rest. Here, play with this.”

  She took a ball from the side and rolled it along the floor. Tiger pounced, knocking the ball into the air. It splashed down into Tiny’s water bowl. Grace went to get it out – cats weren’t usually keen on water – but before she got there, Tiger had bounded over and was trying to fish the ball out with his paws.

  “Tiger!” Grace exclaimed as Tiger suddenly put both paws on the edge of the bowl and tipped it over. Water cascaded over the floor and the ball floated out with it. Tiger gave chase, splashing through the water and spreading it further round the kitchen in a trail of watery paw prints.

  “He really seems to like water,” said Grace to Jack. “We should add that to his personality test. He’s a very unusual kitten.”

  Just then Ollie came in, singing loudly. Tiger ran under his feet and Ollie hopped to avoid standing on him but as he landed, his feet slipped on the rice and water and his arms spun frantically. “Oof!” he exclaimed as he landed on his bottom.

  “All the grace of a ballerina. Not!” said Jack with a grin.

  Grace giggled as Ollie scrambled to his feet, unhurt. “You look like you’ve had an accident!”

  Ollie twisted round to look at the damp seat of his jeans and groaned. “I’m going to have to get changed now. That kitten’s a menace!” he exclaimed, stomping out of the room.

 

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