Cuddle the Cutest Kitten: Superstar Dreams Read online

  Cuddle’s Fan Pages

  Here’s what other children have to say about their favourite kitten and her latest adventure!

  “I really like Cuddle because she’s magic. I liked it when she made Hypno sleepy with her tail. I like Olivia and Grace too. They’re nice.” Caitlin, age 7

  “My favourite bit was when Chloe sang with The Krazy Katz and Cuddle played the drums. Grace and Olivia always gave good ideas to help people. I liked it when Olivia cut Chloe’s dress to make a new one.” Isabel, age 7

  “Cuddle is very cute and mischievous. I think she’s the most adorablest thing I’ve ever known and I wish she was my kitten. I really enjoyed this story.” Ava, age 7

  “My favourite bit was when the boy prepared to cut Olivia in half. I was really in suspense about what was going to happen! I like the way that Chloe learnt to become confident. I love that Cuddle is always able to solve problems.” Carmen, age 6

  “I wish I had a kitten like Cuddle because she is sooooo cute and can do a bit of magic. My favourite part of the story is when the girls appear in the show.” Flora, age 7

  by Hayley Daze

  illustrated by Ann Kronheimer

  cover illustrated by Amanda Gulliver

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Treetop Tumble

  Chapter Two

  In the Spotlight

  Chapter Three

  Cuddle the Conjuring Kitten

  Chapter Four

  Good Luck Charm

  Chapter Five

  Cuddle Lends a Paw

  Chapter Six

  Chloe’s Dream

  Chapter Seven

  Cuddle Makes Some Noise

  Chapter Eight

  A Starry Success

  Other books about

  Cuddle the Cutest Kitten:

  Magical Friends

  Princess Party Sleepover

  School of Spells

  To James and Victoria – good times

  Cuddle the kitten has black-and-white fur,

  A cute crooked tail, and a very loud purr.

  Her two best friends, Olivia and Grace,

  Know Cuddle’s world is a special place!

  Just give her a cuddle, then everything spins;

  A twitch of her whiskers, and magic begins!

  So if you see a sunbeam, and hear Cuddle’s bell,

  You can join in the adventures as well!

  Chapter One

  Treetop Tumble

  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!”

  Chapter Two

  In the Spotlight

  “Miaow!” said Cuddle, from somewhere by their feet. Grace shone the penlight at the kitten as she skipped up between them, her fur tickling their bare arms. She rubbed against Olivia’s neck, then touched Grace’s nose with her own.

  “It’s like she’s telling us not to be scared,” Grace said. She tried to stroke Cuddle’s ears, but the kitten ducked out of the beam of light and Grace’s fingers found the bend in her tail instead.

  The girls jumped as a booming voice echoed over them. “Ladies and gentlemen! I’m glad you’re all sitting down, as this next trick would have you falling over in amazement.”

  There was a distant ripple of laughter.

  “Who’s that?” Olivia whispered to Grace.

  The voice continued. “May I present the Magic Box of Doom!”

  “The Magic Box of Doom,” Grace repeated. “Do you think that’s where we are?” Her voice trembled.

  Slam! A tiny door opened in the wall behind the girls’ heads, letting in a stream of light. Slam! Slam!

  Two more doors opened by their feet. Slam! Slam! A door opened on Olivia’s side of the box, then another on Grace’s.

  The sudden brightness made the girls blink. Grace switched off her penlight and pu
t it back in her pocket.

  Cuddle walked up to the opening behind their heads and sniffed it.

  “Good idea, Cuddle,” Olivia said. “Let’s find out where we are.”

  She wriggled head first towards the opening, arching her back like a caterpillar.

  Grace shifted out of her way, using her elbows to move towards the bottom of the box.

  “I can fit my legs through those two holes,” Grace said. She stuck them through, waving her trainers around.

  Olivia grabbed the rim of the tiny doorway. She pulled herself up so her head poked through the opening – and gave a gasp of amazement.

  The box seemed to be mounted on a stand. It was painted blue, with a golden latch shaped like a lion’s paw fixed just above the opening. Clusters of spotlights hung from the ceiling of a large room, behind a red velvet curtain that had been drawn up. To one side was a bank of seats, filled with rows of people. They were whispering to each other and pointing at her.

  A grin spread over Olivia’s face. “Grace, we’re onstage!” She stuck her hand through one of the side openings and waved at the audience. “This is brilliant. I’ve always wanted to be an actress.”

  A boy a little older than Olivia and Grace was standing at the back of the stage. He was wearing a blue suit with a gold sash slung across his body. His black top hat was too big for him and flopped down over one ear. He was staring at Olivia, his eyes wide with surprise. She realized he must be the owner of the booming voice.

  The boy gave himself a shake, causing his top hat to fall over the other ear.

  “Looks like I’ve already got an assistant,” he said.

  He drew out a long shiny sword from his sash.

  The audience gasped.

  What’s he going to do? thought Olivia.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the boy said, “I will now cut this girl in half!”

  Chapter Three

  Cuddle the Conjuring Kitten

  “Oh no!” Grace called from inside the box. “Please don’t chop us in two!”

  The boy’s eyebrows shot up so high, they disappeared under the brim of his hat. To him it must have sounded like Olivia’s tummy was talking.

  He gripped the sword’s handle tightly and raised it above his head. Olivia noticed that he was red in the face as he spoke to the audience. “Now I’ve got my sword, we can get to the point of the trick.”

  The audience laughed. From somewhere offstage came a rattling drum roll.

  Inside the box, Cuddle’s ears twitched and Grace saw the kitten’s green eyes flash. Cuddle pushed her furry body through one of the holes Grace’s feet were sticking out of. Then she perched on the toe of one of her trainers.

  The audience exclaimed in delight.

  “Look at that kitten,” Olivia heard an old lady say. “How cute!”

  The boy shook his head as he tried to work out where Cuddle had come from. The top hat flopped down over both his ears.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “a big hand – I mean a big paw! – for …”

  “Her name’s Cuddle,” Olivia whispered.

  “A big paw for Cuddle the Conjuring Kitten!” he finished.

  The audience clapped and cheered.

  “Now,” the boy said, “are you ready to be amazed by the Magic Box of Doom?”

  “Yes!” the audience shouted.

  Olivia held her breath. She felt Grace’s hand wrap round one of her ankles. He wasn’t really going to cut them in two, was he? It’s just a magic trick, Olivia tried to convince herself.

  The boy swung his sword towards the box. As it sliced through the air, Cuddle pounced on the lion’s-paw latch. Click! The latch sprang open and the box fell apart, the walls and lid crashing to the ground. Out tumbled Olivia and Grace. Cuddle jumped clear, landing beside them.

  The boy dropped his sword in shock.

  Olivia looked up at him. “We’re sorry Cuddle ruined your magic trick,” she said.

  “She didn’t ruin it,” the boy replied. “She made it even better!”

  He pulled Olivia and Grace to their feet, and turned to the audience. “It turns out I’m an even better magician than I realized. Instead of cutting a girl in half, I’ve doubled her!”

  “I think that makes you a mathematician rather than a magician,” Grace said with a grin.

  The audience got to their feet, cheering and whistling. The boy raised his arm above his head and swept down in a bow, making his top hat fall off. Grace bowed too, and Olivia dropped into a deep curtsy. Cuddle jumped inside the top hat, just her little whiskered face poking out.

  Olivia nudged Grace. “I told you Cuddle was a star!”

  Chapter Four

  Good Luck Charm

  Grace squinted past the glare of the spotlights. At the front of the audience was a table with three people sitting behind it. A large silver star was fixed to the table, with ‘Star Maker’ written across it in swirly red letters.

  “We’re at a talent show,” she said. “They must be the judges.”

  Cuddle sprang off the stage, landing on the judges’ table. Two of the judges, a woman in a purple dress and a man in a red jacket, stroked the little kitten. She rolled over in front of the third judge, a man with gelled hair and a tight white T-shirt, knocking over his nameplate. It said ‘Larry’.

  “Nice to meet you, Cuddle the Conjuring Kitten,” Larry said, tickling her tummy. He looked up at the boy onstage.

  “You’ve definitely got star potential,” Larry said to the boy. “And so has Cuddle,” he added, with a wink at the kitten.

  As the curtain came down, the boy cried, “Thank you, Cuddle – you made my act purr-fect!”

  Cuddle raced offstage with Grace and Olivia right behind her and darted through a half-open door.

  “I wonder why she’s taking us here,” Olivia said, spotting a sign that said ‘Dressing Rooms’.

  Grace pushed open the door and stared in wide-eyed amazement. There were jugglers juggling, clowns laughing, gymnasts tumbling, dancers twirling, singers humming and at least two performing dogs.

  Cuddle bounced up to a girl, who looked like she had stepped out of a history book, and leapt into her arms.

  “Oh!” the girl exclaimed.

  “Sorry. That’s Cuddle and she’s very friendly,” Grace said.

  The girl’s face was as white as Cuddle’s tummy. “Are you all right?” Olivia asked.

  A woman was standing next to the girl, holding a book called Poems by William Shakespeare. She said, “Chloe’s just nervous about performing her act. Aren’t you, dear?”

  Chloe nodded. She was trembling all over, from her red hair, which was pinned up in a bun, to her long emerald dress, right the way down to her green shoes. Even her puffed sleeves were shaking.

  “I’ll be all right as long as I have my lucky charm,” Chloe said. She held out her hand to show the girls a chain with a sparkling white jewel hanging from it.

  Cuddle batted it and watched it swing.

  “It’s beautiful,” Olivia said.

  “What’s your talent?” Grace asked.

  “Chloe’s dressed as a girl from Shakespeare’s time,” Chloe’s mum said. “She’s reciting one of his poems for her act.”

  A man burst through the door behind them, holding a clipboard. He wore a badge saying ‘Stage Manager’.

  “Is Hypno the Great here?” he asked. “It’s his turn to perform.”

  Another man, dressed in long blue robes with an orange turban on his head, weaved his way through the sea of performers.

  “There you are,” the stage manager said. “You’ll be Hypno the Late if you don’t hurry.”

  Hypno whirled round. “I need to find my crystal first. I think a monkey took it. It’s essential to my act.” His eyes lit up as he saw the necklace sparkling in Chloe’s hand. “That’s perfect! Can I borrow it?”

  Before Chloe could reply, Hypno grabbed the necklace from her and ran out to the stage.

  “My lucky necklace!” Chloe
cried. “I can’t perform without it.” Her eyes welled with tears.

  “I’ll get it back,” Grace said. “Hypno, wait!”

  She sprinted after him, her legs pounding as if she was aiming for the finishing line on Sports Day.

  Without thinking, Grace ran across the stage towards him, but there was a creak of rope and a whoosh! of velvet. The stage curtain was going up!

  Chapter Five

  Cuddle Lends a Paw

  Olivia, Cuddle, Chloe and her mum watched from the wings of the stage as Hypno gestured for Grace to sit in a velvet chair. He sat down opposite her.

  Chloe’s mum had her arms folded crossly as she spoke to the stage manager. “I want my daughter’s necklace back now!”

  “Keep the noise down, please,” he replied. “Hypno’s about to begin.”

  “Don’t worry,” Olivia said quietly to Chloe. “We’ll get your necklace back as soon as he’s finished his act – whatever it is.”

  “Hypnosis,” the stage manager whispered. “That’s what his name’s short for. He puts people into a very deep sleep.”

  “What if Grace isn’t sleepy?” Olivia asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” the stage manager said. “He’ll make her sleep and tell her to do funny things.”

  Olivia gulped. Would Grace be all right?

  Onstage, Hypno held up Chloe’s necklace between Grace’s face and his own. He swung it gently.

  “Keep your eyes fixed on the necklace,” he intoned. “You’ll soon be feeling tired.”

  Cuddle pushed between Olivia and Chloe and strolled on to the stage.

  She stood behind Grace’s chair, blinking in the spotlights.