A breeze rippled through the cherry tree, making its pink blossom dance. Grace’s combat trousers and T-shirt were scattered with sweet-smelling petals.
“It’s like being in a blossomy snowstorm,” she called down to Olivia. “Climb up and see.”
“I’ve never climbed a tree before,” Olivia said, twirling one of her curls round and round a finger.
The girls were in Olivia’s back garden. Grace was sitting in the cherry tree, while Olivia stood beside the trunk.
From her perch, Grace could see her own back garden next door. The roofs of the houses that lined their street were still damp from a recent rain shower. The sky over Catterton was dark grey.
“Let’s see if you can get up here before it rains again,” Grace said. “I’ll help you.”
“All right,” Olivia said. “Here goes.” Stretching up on to the tips of her blue sandals, she grabbed the lowest branch. “That’s it,” Grace said. “Now wrap your legs round the trunk and hold the next branch.”
Olivia could see Grace’s smiling face through the leaves, framed by her shiny blonde hair. She stretched up for the branch, but her fingers slid over a patch of moss. With a shriek, she tumbled to the ground.
Grace scrambled down after her. “Are you okay?”
Olivia was lying face up, her black curls fanned out on the ground. “I’m fine,” she said, smiling. “Now do you believe I can’t climb trees?”
Grace pulled Olivia to her feet. “You just need to practise. Then you’ll be able to climb like a cat!”
At that moment a sunbeam pushed its way through the clouds, scattering golden rays.
Olivia clapped her hands. “Oh! Do you think Cuddle’s on her way?”
Cuddle was a cute kitten who had recently appeared in a beam of sunlight and taken the girls on a magical adventure.
Jingle jangle jingle.
“That’s Cuddle’s bell!” Grace cried.
The sunbeam shone on Olivia’s bike, which was propped up against the back of the house. A pink basket was fixed to the handlebars. It wiggled and jiggled, and Cuddle’s black-and-white face poked out. Her green eyes sparkled in the sun.
“Hello, Cuddle!” both girls cried.
Olivia grinned. “The sunbeam looks like a spotlight. Cuddle’s a movie star.”
The kitten’s bell jingled as she sprang on to the bike’s saddle. With a swish of her crooked tail, she leapt into Grace’s arms and greeted her friends with a loud “Miaow!”
Grace hugged the kitten tightly. “You certainly live up to your name, don’t you, Cuddle?” she said.
Purrrrrrrrr, went Cuddle. She sounded like a tiny rumble of thunder.
The girls’ skin tingled as if Cuddle’s whiskers were tickling them. Cuddle’s purr grew louder and louder, and the girls started to giggle. They leaned into each other, the little kitten cradled between them.
Now they knew what would happen next – kitten magic! As Cuddle’s purr rumbled on, the garden and the cherry tree faded away …
Grace’s eyes fluttered open. She was lying on a hard surface in the pitch dark. She closed her eyes and tried opening them again, but it was no good. She couldn’t see a thing.
“Olivia?” Grace asked. She could feel her heart thumping.
“I’m here,” said Olivia. The two girls were lying side by side.
Olivia knew that Grace was afraid of the dark, and squeezed her friend’s hand. Where are we? she wondered.
Grace reached inside the pocket of her combat trousers. Her fingers closed over her penlight and she flicked it on. A narrow beam of light shone out, and the girls could see that they were surrounded by walls.
Grace rapped the wall above them with her knuckles. It gave a hollow echo.
“That sounds like wood,” she said. “I think we’re inside some kind of box.”
Olivia gulped. “We’re trapped!”