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Staggering with tiredness, Fluff headed further in, looking for somewhere comfortable to sleep. Gratefully she spotted a pile of old blankets in one corner. They were smelly and stained, but Fluff wasn’t feeling fussy. She burrowed in, wanting to be as warm as possible, and hollowed herself out a little nest in the rags. She closed her eyes, wrapped her tail round her nose, and let a warm tide of sleep wash over her. All at once she was back home, with Ella, being stroked, and fed cat treats.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_21]

But then she heard a noise. Fluff twitched in her sleep, fighting to stay in her lovely dream. Oh, she didn’twant to wake up, and be back in this cold, real adventure! Something was breaking into her dream– a mewing sound. Fluff sighed. It was no good, she wasn’t asleep any more. She poked her head up from her blanket nest, and gazed round grumpily. She couldn’t see anything, and the cottage was silent, except for the eerie shrieking of the wind outside. Was it that she’d heard? It must havebeen. Fluff was just settling back down to sleep when she heard the mewing again.

Something was crying for help!

[Êàðòèíêà: img_6]

Ella rushed home– as fast as she could in slippery wellies – full of news about her fun day. School had been all about snow – talking about snowflake patterns in science, writing snow poems in English, and lots and lots of playing outside in the snow at lunch and break.

“We had a brilliant snowball fight,” Ella told her mum happily, as she watched her make a mug of hot chocolate. “Oooh, can I have marshmallows, please? Excellent.” She took the chocolate and sat down, sipping it slowly. “Yum. It’s so cold out there, Mum, my fingers are freezing, even though I had my gloves on.” She gripped the warm mug tightly. “They’re only just thawing out.” Ella took a big mouthful of chocolate, and sighed happily. It was nice to be back inside. “It’s so cool that it’s Friday, and we’ve got the whole weekend free. Can we go sledging in the park tomorrow?” Then she looked round, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t seen Fluff since she got back. “Mum, where’s Fluff? She didn’t go out, did she?” Ella asked anxiously.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_22]

Her mum looked surprised.“But she’s got her cat flap now, Ella, she’s allowed outside! I saw her playing in the garden earlier.”

Ella looked worried.“I told her not to. I was scared she’d get lost in the snow again. I suppose it was silly to think she wouldn’t go out.”

“I don’t think you need to worry, Ella,” her mum said reassuringly. “Fluff ’s not a baby any more. I know she’s still tiny, but shehas grown! She’s definitely old enough to be out there.”

“But it’s been snowing really hard today, Mum! And Fluffalways comes back to see me when I get home from school. Always.” Ella got up to peer out of the kitchen window. “The snow’s really deep in the garden. She could easily have got confused about where she was going. Oh, why didn’t I just lock the cat flap?”

“Ella, it’s not fair to lock it, unless we really need to. Fluff wouldn’t understand why she couldn’t go out. She’d just get upset.” But Ella’s mum came to join her at the window. “You’re right though, it is odd that she isn’t back yet. I wonder where she’s got to.”

“We should go out and look for her,” Ella said, heading for the hallway to put all her outdoor things back on.

“Oh, Ella, no, I’m sure we don’t need to. Sit down, finish your hot chocolate. Honestly, Fluff was having a lovely time out there earlier on. She was playing with the snowflakes. She’s probably just got too caught up with exploring. I’m sure she’ll be home in a minute.”

Ella trailed reluctantly back to the table. She knew Mum was right, but something was still niggling at her. Fluff hadnever missed meeting her before.

Ella’s mum didn’t sit back down, but stayed thoughtfully staring out of the window. She wished she was as sure as she was making out to Ella. She didn’t think Fluff was lost, but shewas worried. Fluff should have been back– was she hiding out somewhere, waiting for the snow to stop? She just couldn’t help feeling that it was an awfully cold day for a small kitten to be stuck outside…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_6]

Fluff stood up, her whiskers twitching. Usually hearing another cat would have made her fur stand on end, and she’d be wanting to fight and defend her territory. But there was something about that cry. She didn’t think that the cat making that noise was going to be putting up much of a fight. She picked her way out of her blanket nest, and stood still, listening carefully. She’d been so sleepy when she heard the mewing that she wasn’t quite sure where it had come from.