Paws and Whiskers Read Online Free PDF

her black clothes and her fancy boots. She smiled when she saw us.
    ‘Hello, girls!’ she said, looking at both of us. ‘Leonie?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said, in a little mouse squeak.
    Jenna winked at me. ‘Well, come and say hi to your granny then!’ she said.
    Julie gasped. I giggled.
    ‘It’s OK, Jenna. I told Julie I was just fibbing and she understands,’ I said.
    ‘I’m so sorry our Leonie was so daft, Miss Williams,’ said Mum. ‘She gets a bit carried away sometimes.’
    ‘It shows she’s got a vivid imagination,’ said Jenna. ‘Perhaps you’ll be a writer like me when you grow up, Leonie.’ She smiled at Julie. ‘What do
you
want to do for a career?’
    ‘I love animals so I think I’d like to be a vet,’ said Julie. ‘But you have to be a right old brainy box, so maybe I’ll work in a dog rescue shelter.’
    ‘Ah yes, you run the famous Pet Girls Club,’ said Jenna. ‘Do you think Leonie could be a proper member if I grant her part ownership of my Lulu?’
    ‘Where
is
Lulu?’ I asked excitedly.
    ‘Ah, she’s having a little nap at the moment,’ said Jenna. ‘Come and have a peep.’
    She led us to a corner of the room where there was a big plush navy basket. There, curled up on a soft furry cushion, was a small grey kitten, her head resting on her paws.
    ‘Oh, she’s beautiful!’ I whispered.
    ‘She’s so cute!’ said Julie.
    ‘Can we play with her?’ asked Jumbo.
    ‘In a minute, when she’s woken up properly and got used to you. Perhaps you’d like to stroke her very gently, Leonie?’
    I knelt down carefully beside Lulu’s basket and touched her tentatively with just the tips of my fingers. Her eyes opened and she peered up at me, showing me her little white face. I stroked her neck and she gave a wriggle – and then when I stroked her properly she started making little noises in her throat. I bent closer.
    ‘She’s purring! She likes me!’ I whispered.
    ‘Of course she likes you,’ said Jenna. ‘You own a little bit of her. Which bit would you like? Her tail? Her funny whiskers? I know – how about one of her little white paws?’
    ‘That would be absolutely perfect!’ I breathed.
    After a few minutes Lulu jumped right out of her basket, and then we could all join in, throwing a toy mouse for her and playing a game with feathers on a stick. We fed her too, and she golloped up her saucer of chopped-up chicken and lapped at her water bowl. She tried putting her tiny paw in the water and splashed me, which made us all laugh.
    Julie took heaps of photos on her mobile phone,including a lovely one with Lulu on my lap, and Jenna sitting beside us, her arm round me. She signed a copy of her new book for me, and one for Julie too – and promised Jumbo that she’d try hard to put a train in her next book specially for him.
    Then it was time for Jenna to go on stage to do her talk. She gave us all a hug and told me to email her again to let her know how I was getting on. We went to listen to her talk, sitting in special reserved seats right at the front – and then at the end an assistant carried little Lulu on stage to wave her paw at everyone.
    ‘That’s
my
paw!’ I said.
    It was the most wonderful day of my life. The next Monday at school was pretty special too. Julie took her mobile phone and showed Keira and Emily and Rosie and Harpreet and Anya all the photos she’d taken.
    ‘Look, here’s one of Leonie with Jenna Williams and Lulu,’ said Julie proudly.
    ‘Then . . . is Jenna Williams
really
her granny?’ asked Keira.
    Julie hesitated. She’s not really the sort of girl who tells fibs. ‘I’m not allowed to say,’ she said, smiling mysteriously.
    She put her arm round me and we marched off together. I don’t know whether they’ll let me back in the Pet Girls Club. I don’t care. I have Julie as a best friend and Jenna Williams as a pretend granny, and I own a little white paw of the sweetest kitten in the world.

CATWINGS

by Ursula K. Le Guin
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