"Da." Clary had edged her way into her father's workshop.
Alfie Wright put down his tools and turned around. "Hello, Clary. It's not lunchtime already, is it?"
She shook her head. "No, Da."
The corner of his mouth turned up. "What're you after, then?"
"I'm not after anything, Da. I was just wondering if you needed me to deliver any messages for you…like maybe to Master Goodwin."
"Why, Clary," her father replied with a grin. "How unusually helpful of you." She looked up at him hopefully, waiting, and he chuckled. "If you want to see the cats, then just go."
Her fingers fiddled with her skirt. "If I can tell Mother that you sent me with a message, she won't tell me off for wasting time with the 'horrid, flea-ridden things'," she explained.
He burst out laughing, while she continued watching him silently. "That's my Clary," he said when he could talk again. "Alright, you can pass on my greetings to Jed, and tell him to be sure to send you home the moment you become a bother."
"Thank you Da, I will." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and trotted off out the door.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Jed Goodwin chuckled as he saw the small figure coming up the path to his workshop. In the two weeks since his Tomlan had brought those cats home, Clary Wright had been hovering around them as often as she could. When she wasn't fussing over the cats, he'd seen her following Tom around with such adoration that it was almost as though his son had brought home six pets instead of five.
"Hello Master Goodwin," she said, her eyes wide and earnest. "Father told me to say hello to you from him, and to send me home if I get bothersome."
"You're never bothersome," said a voice from the back of the workshop. Tom's younger sister, Leena, was with the cats in the hay. "Besides," she added, "it's nice having someone younger than me around for once."
Jed chuckled and told Clary "Tom's out at the moment. I sent him to deliver a mirror frame a couple of hours ago, so I'm expecting him back any moment."
Clary nodded and went to greet the cats as Master Goodwin went back to his work. The kittens had grown much bigger since the Goodwins had taken them in. They were growing quite a bit anyway, but both Tom and Leena had inherited their mother's kindness, and the cats were being well fed. The kittens now had the strength to explore their surroundings more, and Tom had already had to rescue one particularly adventurous kitten from the same tree three times.
"Hello Da," came Tom's voice from outside. "Master Wright said Clary was here."
"She is," he replied, as Clary disentangled herself from the cats and stood up. Tom quickly hid something behind his back as he came into view.
"What're you doing?" she asked curiously.
He grinned at her. "Hold out your hands, and shut your eyes."
She looked at him like he was an absolute looby. "Why?"
"I've got a surprise for you. I just stopped in at your place to give it to you, and your da told me you were here." He walked right up to her. "Go on, hold out your hands." He waited until she had, and then added "Now close your eyes." He bent down to look more closely at her eyes. "No peeking," he told her, and she giggled and closed her eyes properly. She felt something soft and fluffy being put into her hands, and then Tom said "Open."
She opened her eyes to find she was holding a stuffed toy cat, about the same size as a real cat. It was grey with a white chest and white paws, and it was so carefully sewn that it looked almost lifelike. She stroked it gently, amazed at how soft its fur felt.
"I know you're getting too old to be playing with toys like that," Tom told her. "But I couldn't resist. I figure it's nice enough to be a decoration-cat rather than just a toy. Besides, I figure it makes up for us having your cats here."
"Tom," she said reluctantly. "I can't accept this. It's too expensive."
Leena had come over to have a look. "You can't give it back, it's bad luck."
"Leena's right." Tom grinned down at her. "You have to keep it now. Anyway, if I hadn't bought that, I'd have just spent the money on sweets. Ma says I'll rot my teeth if I don't stop eating them, so you're doing me a favour. And that cat will last longer than the sweets."
Clary smiled and stroked the cat's soft fur again. "Thank you Tom. He's beautiful."
Tom's eyebrows raised. "Who says it's a he?"
She gave him a crooked grin in reply. "I do."
Master Goodwin had overheard them and gave a hearty laugh. "It's a tom cat."
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Clary examined the cat again before she went to bed that night. She'd sat it on the dresser, directly across from her bed. Rosalind had laughed at her when she brought it home, saying only babies played with stuffed toys, but Clary loved the cat. She reached up and stroked his soft fur again, and then checked to make sure her door was still shut before stretching up on her tiptoes and giving him a quick kiss on his nose. "Goodnight Tomcat," she whispered, and jumped into bed and blew out the candle.