Poor Little Rich Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

frightfully and folded her lips into a long, tight line she said nothing, and when Mr Madison lifted the kittens’ cage from the window and placed it upon the floor of the shop so that they might see the occupants more clearly she dropped to her knees and put a finger tentatively through the bars of the cage, gently caressing the tiniest kitten beforelooking up at the older woman and saying, rather breathlessly: ‘I like this one best, Miss Elliott. I don’t believe it would bite anyone – or scratch, either. Can I have this one?’
    Mr Madison gave Ben an approving look; clearly, he thought the boy had been touting for business and appreciated his salesmanship. What was more, Joseph, being the smallest, was the one least likely to survive in the shop, for he would never get as much to eat as his larger, bolder brothers and sisters. Mr Madison extracted the kitten from the cage and put him straight into Lonnie’s arms. ‘You’ve chosen well, miss,’ he said, beaming down upon his customer. ‘This here’s as pretty a kitten as I’ve seen in a long day, tortoiseshell being my favourite colour an’ all. What’ll you call her?’
    ‘Oh! But this – this boy said its name was Joseph,’ Lonnie informed him, clutching the kitten gently against the front of her red cloth coat. ‘Can you change a kitten’s name, then?’
    Miss Elliott chuckled. ‘Joseph’s a boy’s name,’ she said. ‘You could call her Josie, I suppose, but wouldn’t you like to choose a name yourself?’
    ‘Well, I’ll call her Kitty,’ Lonnie said immediately. ‘There’s a song … Oh, I like little kitty, her coat is so warm, And if I don’t hurt her, she’ll do me no harm, So I’ll not pull her tail, nor drive her away, But Kitty and I very gently will play .’
    ‘Well done, missie,’ Mr Madison said unctuously, rubbing his hands together and cocking one gingery eyebrow at Ben. ‘Now there’s a few other things you’ll be wanting, since, I’ll be bound, little Kitty here will get nothing but the best from such a smart young lady. You’ll be wanting a nice little bed for her to sleep on, a fluffy ball for her to play with, and lateron you’ll be needing a little collar wi’ a bell on it, so’s you know where she is.’
    Leonora was nodding eagerly at every suggestion, but Miss Elliott was a trifle more practical. ‘How do you know it’s a female?’ she enquired, digging in her pocket for her purse. ‘I’m not sure we want a male, because they spray, I believe, and smell awfully.’
    ‘All tortoiseshells is she’s,’ Mr Madison said sweepingly. ‘Same as all gingers is fellers, or almost all, anyroad. Now you’ll want a sizeable basket for her, ’cos she’s a healthy little thing and will go off a pace once she don’t have to fight the others for her share o’ the grub. We do a nice line in woven reed, or wicker’s a bit more substantial …’
    ‘How much is the kitten?’ Miss Elliott interrupted. ‘We won’t bother with a basket since a nice cardboard box with a piece of blanket in it will suit her for a while yet. But we’ll have a fluffy ball, and when she’s bigger we’ll get a collar with a bell. Not that she’ll be outdoors much, since the nursery’s at the top of the house.’
    Mr Madison looked uneasily at Ben, his eyebrows zipping up and down like a couple of caterpillars who have noticed a blackbird fixing them with its beady eye. Ben realised that Mr Madison would have been more comfortable if his young friend never discovered what he charged for the kittens. He was safe enough, however. All Ben wanted for his foundlings was good homes; if Mr Madison liked to price the kittens according to the customer, that was fine by Ben. Mr Madison turned his head away from Ben and dropped his voice. ‘Three shillin’ and that includes the fluffy ball,’ he muttered. ‘Does that suit, madam?’
    From the willingness with which Miss Elliott duginto her purse and produced a shiny florin and two