It was the start of the Easter holidays and Isla was looking forward to spending all her free time with the cats at Poppy’s Place.

“Two whole weeks off school!” Isla sang as she danced into the kitchen on Saturday morning. She scooped up Roo and gave him a big hug. “That means two whole weeks of cats!”

“And chocolate!” Isla’s little brother Milo added with a grin.

As if to prove his point, he grabbed a chocolate brownie from the kitchen table and shoved it into his mouth in one go. “Easter is my favourite time of year!” he mumbled, spraying crumbs everywhere.

“Eww, that’s revolting, Milo,” moaned Isla as she helped herself to a piece of toast.

Milo grinned and reached for another but Gran slid the plate away. “They’re not for you!”

Isla’s older sister Tilda looked up from her phone. “I thought Christmas was your favourite time of year, Milo.”

Isla nodded. “And your birthday.”

“Yes, but they’re both ages away!” Milo replied. “It’s only two weeks till Easter.”

Mum checked her watch. “I’d better get dressed – Dolly’s expecting me at eleven. You’d better get a move on, too, Isla, if you want to come with me.”

Isla munched her toast as fast as she could. She loved visiting Dolly’s farm and today they were going to choose two more cats. Their friend Mr Black had recently adopted Ash and Ace, which meant Poppy’s Place had room to help two new cats find their forever homes.

“I want to come, too!” Milo pouted. “Pleeaaase?”

Isla sighed. She’d been hoping to spend the journey to Dolly’s persuading Mum to take more than two cats but with Milo around it’d be impossible to have her full attention.

“I thought you were baking with Gran this morning,” Isla said to Milo.

“We can do that when I get back, can’t we, Gran?” Milo said.

Gran smiled at Milo. “That’s fine by me. It’ll give me time to go to Zumba.”

Isla tried to ignore Milo as he whooped around the kitchen. “Can we bring the new cats home with us today?” she asked.

“It depends on the cats,” Mum said, reaching for a pile of paperwork sitting on the worktop.

Milo stopped in his tracks. “I’ve been thinking…” he started, giving Isla a sly grin, “that we should have some different animals at Poppy’s Place. Like…” He screwed his face up as though he was thinking really hard. “A monkey!”

Mum was too engrossed in the café rota to register what Milo had said.

Gran laughed. “We’re running a cat café not a zoo!”

Milo’s shoulders sagged. “What about a miniature pig? They take up hardly any space and pigs are actually cleaner than people think.”

“Ugh!” Tilda snorted. She stood up and peered over Mum’s shoulder. “I was thinking that maybe I could work a couple more shifts over Easter?”

Mum studied the rota. “Well, we are open for a few extra days during the holidays to fit in all the bookings so we could do with the help – as long as it doesn’t interfere with your school work?” Mum added.

Tilda rolled her eyes.

“Leonora will be here most days, too, of course,” Mum continued, “so that Gran and I can have some well-earned time off while Seb’s here.”

Seb was Isla’s only cousin and he was coming to stay over the holidays. Everyone was looking forward to it, especially Milo.

“I’m so glad we took on Leonora,” said Isla. “She’s fitted in really well and she’s great with the cats and the customers. It’s like having a big sister.”

“You’ve already got a big sister!” Tilda huffed.

Isla grinned. “You know what I mean – a slightly friendlier big sister. Anyway, I thought you’d want to spend all your free time with Mason?” Isla said, changing the subject.

Isla was right – Mum usually had to bribe Tilda to work in the school holidays.

“I do,” Tilda replied, blushing, “but me and Gabriella need to volunteer somewhere for our Duke of Edinburgh Award, and I thought Mum could do with some extra help. Win-win.”

Isla nodded and took another bite of toast. Since they’d held the Great Cat-tacular adoption day at Dolly’s farm, bookings at Poppy’s Place had more than doubled.

“I’m not sure that counts,” Mum said. “You already work here. I’m happy to have Gabriella but maybe you should do something different?”

“Why don’t you help out at Dolly’s farm?” Isla suggested. “She’s always looking for volunteers.”

Tilda opened her mouth to protest but Mum interrupted. “That’s a great idea. You can come with us this morning and ask her.”

“But I was going to see Mason this morning!” Tilda complained. “And I wanted to start on my media studies project – I’m going to make a video featuring Poppy and her amazing tricks. I just need to find some actors to star alongside her.”

“There’ll be plenty of time to do that, too,” Mum said. “Now go and get dressed, all of you, or we’ll be late.”

“What day is Seb coming?” Milo asked for the hundredth time as they got off the bus and headed for Dolly’s farm.

“Mum’s already told you,” Isla chided. “We’re picking him up from the airport on Wednesday!”

Seb was a year older than Milo and they hadn’t seen him for ages because he lived with his mum and dad in Scotland.

Milo groaned. “That’s ages! The Easter holidays will be almost finished by then. I need another boy in the house now.”

“It’s only four days away,” Mum told him. “And there are already lots of boys in our house – there’s Dynamo and Roo and Oliver…”

Milo rolled his eyes. “They’re cats not boys!”

“I can’t believe Seb’s travelling on a plane by himself,” Tilda whispered to Isla. “Do you think Mum would let me go on a plane with my friends next summer?”

Isla shook her head. Mum got nervous when Isla took a bus. She couldn’t imagine Mum ever letting them go on a plane alone.

“He’ll be fine,” Mum said, overhearing their conversation. “Aunt Natalie was going to come, too, but she’s busy with her new job. And no, Tilda, you can’t go on a plane next summer.”

Tilda huffed and pulled out her mobile phone to read a message.

Probably from Mason, Isla thought. They were always texting even though they saw each other practically every day.

“There’s Dolly!” Milo yelled, running towards a tall lady in overalls, who was crossing the courtyard carrying a large bucket.

Dolly waved them over. “Perfect timing. I’m just about to feed Gertrude and George.”

“Are they new cats?” Isla asked hopefully.

Dolly shook her head and smiled. “Goats.”

Milo’s eyes grew wide. “You have goats?”

“I’ve always wanted to keep goats,” Dolly said as they walked over to a fenced-off grassy area. “And now that Richard has helped me clear the paddock, I’ve got space for them.”

“Richard?” Isla queried.

Dolly nodded. “Mr Black.”

“Our Mr Black?” said Isla.

Mum’s face flushed. “He’s not our Mr Black, Isla.”

“Well, he does spend a lot of time at Poppy’s Place,” Isla said. “He was there on Sunday.”

“He wanted some advice about Ash and Ace,” Mum said quickly.

Isla didn’t know why Mum was acting so weirdly – she only meant that they’d met Mr Black first.

Two small black-and-white goats bounded over to the fence as they approached.

“The smaller one is Gertrude and the greedy one is George,” Dolly said, gesturing for Milo and Isla to take some feed from the bucket. Isla picked up a handful of brown pellets and held them out to Gertrude, who gobbled them down with a single swipe of her long tongue. Isla giggled. She’d always thought goats looked a bit scary with their strange rectangular pupils, but now that she’d seen them up close, they were actually quite cute – not as cute as cats, but still…

Dolly offered the bucket to Tilda but she shook her head. “I’ll just watch, thanks.”

“The farm’s looking great,” Mum said, glancing round.

“Thanks.” Dolly smiled. “Richard came over on Saturday and helped me fix the fence on the alpaca enclosure and tidy up the courtyard. It was great to have an extra pair of hands.”

“You might have another pair if you need them?” said Mum, giving Tilda a nudge.

“Tilda needs to volunteer for her DeeVee,” Milo told Dolly.

“D of E,” Isla corrected.

“Mum thought you might need some help,” said Tilda.

“She’s right,” Dolly replied, smiling at Tilda. “If you don’t mind getting a bit dirty you could start now – the goats need some fresh hay and the paddock needs a bit of a clean out.” She handed Tilda a pitchfork that was leaning against the fence and an empty bucket.

“You want me to…” Tilda trailed off as she eyed the enormous mound of goat dung in the paddock.

“She means clean up the poop,” Milo giggled.

“I know what she means, Milo,” Tilda said through gritted teeth. She turned to give Mum a pleading look but Mum gave her a thumbs up and gently pushed her towards the goats.

“You’ll be OK getting the bus home by yourself, won’t you?” Mum asked as Tilda scowled at Gertrude and George.

“Shall we take a look at the cats?” Isla asked quickly, in case Dolly enlisted her help with the goat poop as well.

Dolly poured the rest of the feed into a long metal trough inside the paddock, then led the way towards one of the smaller barns.

Isla couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for Tilda, especially as she had been the one to suggest volunteering at the farm in the first place.

“I’ve had so many enquiries since the Cat-tacular from people wanting to adopt,” Dolly told them.

“That’s brilliant!” Isla replied.

“It is,” Dolly agreed. “Unfortunately, a lot of people still want kittens rather than older cats. But hopefully we can find some of the older cats their forever homes, too.”

They followed Dolly inside the barn, which was full of cushions, toys and blankets for the cats. There was also a cat flap so that the cats could come and go as they pleased. Isla spotted a familiar cat in the corner, lounging on top of a fleece-covered stand. “Oh, look Mum. It’s Sylvie. She’s amazing – she only has three legs!”

Milo’s jaw dropped. “What happened to the other one?”

“She was probably born like that,” Dolly explained. “But it doesn’t stop her from doing anything.”

“Can she come to Poppy’s Place?” Isla begged her mum. “She’s gorgeous.”

Mum reached over and stroked Sylvie’s ears. “Is she very sociable?”

Dolly nodded. “She’s super-friendly. It’s a shame that people don’t seem to want her because of her disability.”

Milo crouched down to give her a hug. The little cat rubbed her face against his and he giggled. “I choose Sylvie!” he announced.

Isla clasped her hands together. “Pleeeease!”

“She’s no more trouble than any other cat,” Dolly told Mum.

“Doesn’t seem like I’ve got much choice,” Mum said, but she was smiling. Isla and Milo cheered with delight.

There was a small meow behind them and Isla turned and glimpsed a slight movement beneath a tartan blanket. A furry ginger face peered out.

“That’s our newest arrival,” Dolly said. “He’s a bit shy. Someone dropped him off a few days ago – they found him inside a skip. He’s very underweight and his fur’s in a bit of a state but I think he’ll be fine with a bit of love and attention.”

Isla crouched down and reached out her hand to stroke the stripy ginger cat but he shot back beneath the blanket.

“Does he have a name?” Isla asked.

“I haven’t had time to think of one yet,” Dolly said. “Maybe you could name him, Isla?”

Isla thought for a while but the right name didn’t come to her. She looked back at Mum and grinned. If anyone could give a cat all the love and attention it needed, it was her. “Can we take him, too?”

“I’m not sure,” Mum said. “I think he might be a little too timid for Poppy’s Place.”

“We could keep him away from the customers until he gets used to people,” said Isla. “Dolly’s so busy here – he needs someone who can spend a lot of time with him.”

“And I suppose you’re the person to do that?” Mum asked.

Isla nodded so hard she thought her head might fall off. “I’ve got loads of time over the holidays,” she said.

“OK, we’ll give it a go,” Mum agreed. “But if it doesn’t work out, he’ll have to come back to Dolly’s.”

Isla jumped up to give Mum a hug. “I’ll take such good care of him, I promise!”

She kneeled back down and slowly reached out her hand to the cat again. This time, his little pink nose appeared from under the blanket and he sniffed at her fingers until, finally, he let Isla stroke him. Isla beamed. This was going to be the best Easter ever!