by Holly Webb
This book has been specially written and published for World Book Day 2012.
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Look out for more
MAGIC MOLLY books:
1. The Witch’s Kitten
2. The Wish Puppy
3. The Invisible Bunny
4. The Secret Pony
5. The Shy Piglet
and coming soon…
6. The Good Luck Duck
For Tom, Robin and William
Contents
Cover
World Book Day
Look out for more MAGIC MOLLY books
Title page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Holly Webb
World Book Day
Copyright
Chapter One
Sparkly Whiskers
Molly sat at the kitchen table, staring sleepily into her cereal. She was tired, but she was smiling. She had a feeling that today was going to be a good day. She gave an enormous yawn, and giggled.
It was still dark outside. Molly really hadn’t wanted to get out of bed, but Kitty, her little sister, had been riding an imaginary horse up and down the landing, and the horse kept stopping to neigh loudly outside Molly’s bedroom door. Kitty liked someone to play with.
“Why are you so sleepy, Moll?” Dad asked. He looked tired too, but that was because he’d been called out to one of the sheep farms in the middle of the night, for an early lambing.
“Kitty woke me up…” Molly yawned hugely again, and tried to remember the dream she’d been having. She couldn’t remember exactly what it had been about. Just that it was special.
She leant her chin on one hand and nibbled some more cereal. Usually, when Molly had a dream that felt important, it meant that something exciting was going to happen.
Molly smiled to herself, licking her spoon thoughtfully. Perhaps she was going to meet another magical animal. It felt so long since she’d helped a shy little piglet called Mouse. She’d missed that wonderful feeling of magic swirling around her.
Molly closed her eyes, hunting for any wisps of her dream that might be floating around. What sort of animal had she been dreaming about? Did someone need her help?
“Moll-eee! Look!” Kitty demanded. “I made a dragon out of my toast!”
At the exact same time, the phone rang loudly.
Molly jumped, and just managed to catch her cereal bowl before it tipped into her lap. All the last little bits of her dream went straight out of her head. Except for something to do with whiskers…
Molly’s mum got up to answer the phone and her dad gulped his tea in a hurry. At this time of the morning, it was probably an emergency vet call.
“Oh, hello, Janie. Oh no! Yes, you’d better bring her over, poor little thing. Yes, I’ll tell Sam and he’ll meet you at the surgery in a few minutes.” Molly’s mum looked sad as she put the phone down. “That was Janie. You know William’s mum? They got a kitten just a couple of days ago, and she’s had an accident. Janie’s going to bring the kitten over to the surgery straight away.”
“What’s happened?” Molly asked anxiously. She really hoped it wasn’t a serious accident.
She loved living right next to her dad’s surgery, and being able to visit all the animals, but sometimes it could be sad.
“She’s trapped her tail, apparently. I’m not sure how it happened.”
Molly made a face. William was a friend of Kitty’s from nursery. Kitty loved him, because exciting things always seemed to happen when he was there. Like the nursery’s giant snails somehow escaping from their tank, and trailing slime all across the new whiteboard.
“William’s got a kitten?” Kitty asked, wide-eyed. “I want a kitten!”
Molly sighed. She would love a kitten too. But Mum and Dad thought she and Kitty weren’t old enough to be responsible for a pet. If William had accidentally hurt his new kitten, it would just make Dad even more sure he was right.
Molly’s dad picked up his cereal bowl and drank the milk out of it, while Kitty glared at him. Mum told her off for that. “Sorry. Got to rush!” he explained. “And only dads are allowed to do that, Kitty!”
Kitty was all set to argue, but Dad had gone, heading across the yard to the old barn that had been converted into Larkfield Farm Vets.
“I hope the kitten’s OK,” Molly said, staring after him worriedly.
Her mum gave her a quick hug. “You can go over to the surgery after school to see. We need to get going now, though. We’d better hurry.”
Kitty picked up Molly’s cereal bowl and drank the milk out of it, then smiled sweetly at their mum. “I’m just hurrying like Daddy!”
Molly hurried home after school with Grandad. Molly’s mum worked as a nurse at the vet’s surgery too and did a lot of the office work, so Grandad quite often helped out with looking after Molly and Kitty. Mum had told them that she needed to do lots of work on the surgery website today.
“I really want to go and see how the kitten is,” Molly explained, as Grandad called after her to slow down. “Did Mum say anything about her? A kitten with a hurt tail, who came in this morning?”
Grandad shook his head. “Sorry, Molly, no one mentioned it. We’re nearly home, just slow down for a bit. We can’t keep up with you – my legs are too old and Kitty’s are too short!”
But Molly wasn’t listening. She was wondering if the whiskers in her dream were kitten’s whiskers…
“Hi, Molly!” Jenny, one of the nurses, glanced up from the computer. “Come to help out?”
Molly leaned on the counter, looking hopefully at Jenny.
“Jenny, is the kitten OK? Dad rushed off this morning because there was a kitten who’d been in an accident.”
Jenny smiled. “She’s not too bad. Mrs Warren was worried that her tail was broken, but it was just badly bruised. Your dad’s kept her here today just to make sure she wasn’t too shocked, but Mrs Warren’s going to pick her up later.”
“Oh, good!” Molly felt her shoulders relax again – she hadn’t realized how much she’d been worrying about the kitten. “What happened to her, anyway?”
“Believe it or not, she got her tail shut in the door of the washing machine!” Jenny shook her head.
“Do you think it was anything to do with William?” Molly asked, anxiously.
Molly’s dad put his head round the door of the surgery. “I thought I could hear you, Molly. Actually, I’ve a feeling it wasn’t William’s fault at all – his mum was very upset about it. Come and see the kitten. She’s called Posy.”
He beckoned Molly after him, into the ward where they kept animals who needed to stay and be cared for.
The ward was almost empty, with little rustling noises coming from just one cage. Molly moved over towards it quietly, not wanting to scare the kitten.
But as she came closer to the cage, Molly realized she needn’t have worried. Most cats at the vet’s looked miserable – either they were feeling ill, or they just hated being shut away somewhere that wasn’t home and smelled all wrong.
This kitten was positively bouncy. She looked up at Molly with huge green eyes, and her silvery whiskers sparkled with excitement.
“Oh! Who are you? Do you belong here? Can you get me out of here, please? It’s not very interesting in this cage, and I can hear peo
ple talking outside. I’m sure it’s much more fun out there. What’s your name? Is that nice man your father? You smell the same, did you know? Why aren’t you saying anything? You can hear me, can’t you?”
Chapter Two
A Magic Kitten
Molly laughed, and Dad joined in. “She is cute, isn’t she? Bouncing around the cage like that.”
But the kitten stared at her crossly. “What are you laughing at?”
Molly tried to stop giggling, but the kitten was so funny, and of course, with her dad there, she couldn’t explain.
“Sam! Phone call for you!” Jenny was calling from the reception area, and Molly’s dad turned to go. “You can get her out, Molly, if you’re careful with her tail. Back in a minute.”
Molly waited for the door to swing shut behind him before she turned back to the kitten’s cage. “I’m sorry I laughed. It was just that you asked so many questions, I couldn’t have got a word in! I can’t talk to you in front of my dad, anyway. He’s a brilliant vet, but he doesn’t understand about magical animals. And he definitely doesn’t know that I can talk to them.”
Molly slipped the catch on the wire door and opened it carefully. “Would you like to come out?” she asked, her voice very polite.
Posy gave a dignified little nod and allowed Molly to lift her out of the cage. She was obviously trying not to ask any more questions, but Molly could see her ears twitching back and forth and sideways, it was so difficult for her to be quiet.
As soon as she was snuggled up against Molly’s chest, she shook her head crossly. “Oh, I can’t not ask! Why is it that you can hear me talking and no one else can? Who are you? Are you a witch?”
Molly shook her head. “No. I have met a witch, though. And my dad always says I’ve got a magic touch with animals – he doesn’t know that it’s really true!” She stroked Posy’s delicate little ears, which were still twitching excitedly. “Are you a witch’s kitten? You must be magical, or you wouldn’t be talking to me, but you don’t feel the same as Sparkle, the witch’s kitten I met before.”
“I don’t belong to a witch. But I do have a bit of magic. Look, I’ll show you!” Posy closed her eyes tightly, so that they were just little dark slits in her furry face. Her whiskers suddenly lost their pretty curved shape, and stuck out straight on either side of her nose. She looked as though she were blowing herself up like a balloon.
“Don’t hurt your tail!” Molly said quickly. She could see the fur on either side of the neat bandage sticking up too.
“I won’t!” Posy gasped. Little silvery sparkles were running along the ends of her tabby fur. “Oh! It still doesn’t work!”
“What doesn’t?” Molly asked curiously.
Posy sighed and opened her eyes. Her fur smoothed itself down and her whiskers drooped a little. “I don’t know. I’m supposed to be able to do something, I know I am. But I’m not sure what. I can fluff up and go all glittery, but that isn’t very useful, is it?”
“It looked nice,” Molly told her, trying to be encouraging. But she could tell from the way Posy wrinkled her nose that that wasn’t good enough.
“My mother is a witch’s cat and she can do all sorts of things,” Posy muttered. “Just being fluffy isn’t what I call magic.”
“You can talk too,” Molly pointed out. “That’s magic. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a kitten who talked so much.”
“Really?” Posy asked in a hopeful voice. “Oh well, I suppose that’s good. What did Sparkle do? The kitten you met before?”
“He was only starting to learn magic,” Molly explained. “I don’t think he was especially good at anything yet. He did help me make a spell to find his owner – he was lost, you see. He belongs to a witch who lives in the woods, not far from here.”
“I never get lost,” Posy told her. “I always know where I am.” She sighed. “But tabby fur isn’t very good for witching. Plain black is better, or perhaps silvery, or even white. Tabby is terribly boring.” She glanced sideways at Molly as she said this, as though she was hoping Molly might not think so.
“Tabby isn’t boring at all,” Molly said quickly. “Tabby’s clever! Like, like a tiger! It’s camouflage. All your beautiful stripes help you hide, in case you need to watch somebody.” Molly wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to mention hunting. People sometimes brought mice and gerbils to the vet, and she didn’t want Posy to start stalking anybody’s pet.
The kitten’s whiskers curled up a little, and her eyes sparkled with interest. “I am very good at watching people,” she agreed. “I always know things. I like the idea of being clever.”
Molly nodded, and then she heard footsteps. “Sshh! I think my dad’s coming back.”
The door opened and Molly’s dad beckoned to her. “Janie’s come to pick up their kitten, Molly. Do you want to bring Posy through?”
“I’ll come and talk to you again soon,” Molly whispered in Posy’s ear as she went over to the door.
“Oh, look at her poor tail…” A dark-haired lady came forward, looking anxious. “Hello, Molly. I was really looking forward to showing you and Kitty our new pet, and so was William, but not like this.” She bit her lip as she stared at the bandage wrapped round Posy. “Will her tail be all right?”
“It should be fine. It’s really only bruised,” Molly’s dad explained. “She was lucky, though; it could have been a lot worse.”
Janie sighed. “I know. Thank goodness she is lucky. They do say cats have nine lives, but Posy must have used up most of hers by now. We’ve only had her a couple of days, and she’s been into everything! She fell into William’s bath on her first day with us. We didn’t even realize she could climb the stairs to the bathroom!”
The water was all sparkly, and there were bubbles! Posy whispered in Molly’s head. I only wanted to see it better…
Molly stroked her ears and then passed her over to Janie, who cradled her anxiously.
“Poor little Posy! I think she must have been trying to see what was inside the washing machine this morning, and I just closed the door without really looking. I feel awful about it and William was so upset.”
Molly nodded. She could imagine. William was a bit naughty, but he was very sweet too, sometimes. And she knew he’d been desperate for his family to have a pet. Molly gave a little sigh. She wished Mum and Dad weren’t so strict about pets. Dad said he saw so many animals that hadn’t been looked after properly, and he thought Molly and Kitty needed to be a bit older.
Molly was doing her best to change his mind by helping out at the vet’s. Mum and Dad had even let her look after a rabbit for a few days, which had been wonderful. Mostly wonderful… Snowdrop was a magician’s rabbit and she kept accidentally disappearing at the just the wrong time.
She’d got Molly into a bit of trouble…
Now Molly looked curiously at Posy, as Janie gently put the kitten into the travel cage she’d brought. The little tabby cat was right. Her magic had to be for something.
Molly decided that she and Posy had better find out exactly what – before Posy got herself stuck somewhere even more dangerous.
Chapter Three
Molly’s Promise
Molly and her dad waved Janie off, and Molly headed back across the yard to the house to do her homework.
“Tell Mum I’ll be back over for tea as soon as I’ve finished at the surgery!” Dad called after her.
“How was William’s kitten?” Mum asked, as Molly came into the kitchen. Grandad was sitting having a cup of tea with her.
“Posy’s OK. That’s the kitten’s name. She’s just got a bit of a sore tail. It didn’t seem to be bothering her very much.” Molly smiled to herself. Posy hadn’t actually mentioned her tail at all, but she could hardly tell Mum and Grandad that.
“Why can’t we have a kitten?” Kitty asked, looking up from the picture she was drawing. “Look! I did a kitten picture.” Everyone looked at the piece of paper, and then craned their necks to peer at it from another
direction. The entire page was covered in pink and green squiggles.
“Very nice,” Mum said, smiling. “But you know why we don’t want to have a kitten or a puppy, Kitty. You’re a bit young. When you’re bigger.”
Kitty moaned grumpily, until Mum distracted her with choosing the vegetables for tea, but Molly didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much point, but she couldn’t help thinking that Mum and Dad always said that. But they never said exactly how much bigger.
Mum and Kitty picked Molly up from school the next day. As Molly came out of her classroom with her best friend, Alice, a small figure in a bright pink raincoat and wellies shot across the playground and thumped into her stomach.
“Ow, Kitty…” Molly moaned, when she had enough breath back. “What’s the matter?”
“We’re going to tea with William!” Kitty shrieked, grabbing Molly’s hand and starting to pull her across the playground. “He’s got a kitten!” she told Alice. “Molly has to go now! Bye!”
Alice waved, laughing, as Molly was dragged to the gate. Luckily she’d taken her wellies to school too, as Kitty didn’t bother going round the puddles.
“See you tomorrow!” Molly called back. “Are we really going to tea with William?” she asked Mum, as Kitty grabbed Mum’s hand too and hurried them down the street.
“Yes, Janie called earlier. William really wants to show Kitty his new pet.”
Molly nodded. She was really keen to see Posy herself. She’d been trying to think of ways to help the little kitten find out what her magic was for, but so far she hadn’t had any brilliant ideas.
