“Right,” said Mum. “We open at three o’clock. Does everyone know what they’re doing?”
It was only nine o’clock, but they’d been up for hours, unable to sleep.
“I’m baking with Gran,” said Milo, rolling out some dough on the kitchen counter.
“I’m at the entrance welcoming guests,” said Tilda, holding up her clipboard.
“I’m on cat duty and waitressing when the guests arrive,” said Isla.
She’d also enlisted the help of Grace, Bonnie and Ayesha. When Poppy’s Place opened for real they would only be accepting a maximum of ten customers at one time. But as Tilda had invited practically everyone they knew to the launch, it was going to be a lot more work. There was no way Isla would be able to do it all by herself.
“What will you be doing?” Milo asked Mum.
“I’m going to be hiding upstairs until it’s all over,” she joked.
“You’re the host,” Isla told her. “Introducing everyone to the cats at Poppy’s Place and telling them about all the good work we’re going to do.”
Mum took a deep breath. “OK. We can do this. Mr Black said he’d try to get here by ten o’clock.”
“Come on, Milo, we’d better get the oven on,” Gran said.
“Wait!” cried Isla, hearing a knock. “There’s someone at the door.”
Mr Black had kept his word. “I hope I’m not too early,” he said. “Are you ready?” They all nodded. “Then I’ll begin.”
Mr Black walked slowly from room to room, inspecting everything from the downstairs toilet just off the hallway, to every single cupboard and drawer in the kitchen, making notes as he went. Isla couldn’t bear the suspense, so she went into the garden to check on Poppy and Roo, who were playing on the new cat playground.
It was a beautiful autumn day so they’d put out chairs and tables on the patio. Lucy was going to keep an extra close eye on the cats to make sure that none of them got scared during the party, but as they were free to go where they wanted, Isla was sure that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Oh,” said Mr Black, coming outside. “It’s lovely out here. That looks like a lot of fun,” he said, looking at the cats leaping across the platforms and playing with the toys.
He wrote something on his clipboard, giving Isla a little smile, and returned inside.
Isla stroked Poppy as she came to stand beside her on the grass.
“I hope this works, Poppy,” Isla whispered. “Victoria and Albert deserve to find their forever home.”
Poppy rubbed her head against Isla’s knee and gave a little meow.
Isla smiled. “You really are a special cat.”
After a while, Isla crept back into the house. Mr Black was with Mum and Gran, scribbling down a last few notes in the kitchen.
“Well?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Mr Black ripped a sheet of paper from his clipboard and handed it to Mum with a frown.
“I can’t look,” Mum said.
Mr Black handed it to Isla. She took the sheet, her hands shaking. It had a single word scrawled across it in big red letters.
“It says … congratulations!”
Isla looked at Mr Black whose face lit up with a huge smile.
“You passed!” he told them. “Poppy’s Place can open.”
Mum took the piece of paper from Isla and stared at it, shaking her head as though she could hardly believe her eyes. “We can open?” she asked. “No more forms to fill out?”
Mr Black laughed. “No more forms. You might have an inspection every few months initially, but otherwise you’re all set.”
“We passed!” Milo whooped, bouncing around the house. “We passed, we passed!”
“We passed?” Tilda shrieked, running down the stairs. “I knew it! What did I tell you?”
Isla stood there, speechless. It was really going to happen!
“Thank you,” said Mum, shaking Mr Black’s hand. “For everything.”
Mr Black blushed. “I was hoping I might be able to come back for the opening? It all sounds very exciting, and I’d love to spend more time with the cats. I’ve been considering moving to a new house,” he said. “Maybe adopting a cat of my own – your cats have brought back so many memories.”
“Well,” said Mum with a smile. “If it’s cats you’re after, you’ve come to the right place.”
“I’ve got you a present,” Tilda told Isla, as they prepared to open the doors to their very first customers.
“Is this what you went to pick up yesterday?” Isla asked, clutching her hands together to stop them shaking. She’d never felt so excited or nervous. Her dream had finally come true – Poppy’s Place was about to open. She glanced out at the garden – it looked perfect, even the sun was shining.
Grace, Bonnie and Ayesha were in their places in the conservatory, ready to take orders. Milo and Gran were putting the finishing touches to the cakes, and Mum was doing a last-minute check on the cats so that she knew where each of them was.
Oliver and Dynamo were being kept upstairs away from all the people and the noise. Mum had let Albert and Victoria into the garden, as they seemed desperate to get outside to play with Roo and Benny, and Poppy had been sticking close to Isla all day, as though sensing her nervousness.
Tilda nodded and handed her a bag. Isla peered inside and found two bright blue T-shirts.
“There’s one for me, and one for you,” Tilda said excitedly.
Isla pulled out one of the T-shirts to find the Poppy’s Place logo printed on the front adorned with her cat doodles.
“I love it! It’s amazing!” Isla said, giving Tilda a hug. “Don’t let anyone in yet. I want to put this on first.”
She ran to her bedroom and quickly changed, admiring herself in the mirror before hurrying downstairs.
“Ready?” Tilda asked, wearing her T-shirt, too, as they walked back out to the garden.
“Ready,” said Isla.
“Ready,” said Mum, giving them both a hug.
They took up their positions and Tilda opened the gate to a sea of faces. At the front of the line was Sam and some of his friends.
“We couldn’t miss this,” he told Isla, as he showed his friends the cat playground he’d helped to make.
Isla recognized so many familiar faces – friends and neighbours, Lucy and clients of Abbey Park Vets. And everyone looked so excited to be there.
By the time Sally Smithers arrived, the party was in full swing and the cats were loving all the attention – Isla was sure that she saw Roo gobbling up little bits of cake from the floor. Ayesha, Grace and Bonnie were rushed off their feet taking orders and serving tea and coffee and cake. And best of all was the laughter – wherever she went, Isla could hear the happy sound of laughter.
“Your table is this way, Miss Smithers,” Isla said, showing the journalist to one of the tables in the garden. She handed her a menu. “I can recommend the chocolate cake!”
“My favourite!” Sally grinned. “That and a cup of tea please.”
Tilda streaked by, dashing towards the house. “I’ll be back in a minute. I’ve forgotten the most important thing.”
She returned seconds later clutching a pair of scissors and a huge red ribbon which she strung across the garden from one fence to the other.
“What’s that?” Isla asked.
“It’s for the grand opening,” Tilda told Isla. “Go and find Mum.”
Isla brought Mum into the garden, as Tilda clambered on to a chair.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please!” she shouted, handing Mum the scissors. “It’s time for the grand opening.”
“As much as I would love the honour,” Mum said, looking at Isla, “I think that Poppy’s Place should be officially opened by the person who started all of this, and who never stopped believing that we would have our very own home-made cat café – even when things went a bit wrong.”
Isla blushed, as everyone laughed.
“She knew that we could make a difference, not just to the lives of these wonderful cats, but to humans as well.”
Mum gestured to Benny who was snuggled up on Mr Black’s lap, then to Milo trying to hold on to a wriggly Roo, and to Poppy, who was weaving herself around Isla’s legs.
“Isla,” Mum said, handing her the scissors. “Would you do us the honour?”
Isla held the scissors in her shaky hands, grinning from ear to ear. Then she took a deep breath and announced, “I hereby declare Poppy’s Place … open!”
As she cut the ribbon there was a huge cheer and a round of applause. Mum gave Isla a hug, then Tilda, Milo and Gran joined them and Poppy wound around their feet.
“We did it!” Mum said, wiping away a tear.
“It’s better than I ever imagined,” Isla said.
“I’m not sure I’d want this many people here every day,” said Gran, laughing. “We’re run off our feet!”
“Better get used to being busy,” Tilda said, showing them her clipboard. “We’ve already got four bookings for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Mum squealed.
Isla grinned. “Tomorrow we start for real.”
Isla couldn’t believe that they’d done it. After all the dramas and emergencies … not to mention exhausting hard work, they had pulled it off. She looked around at the smiling faces, and thought of Albert and Victoria, and all the cats they’d help in the future to find their forever homes.
“It all starts now,” Isla said, scooping up Poppy into a hug. Poppy’s Place was open for business.
