The sun shone brightly overhead as we trudged up the hill after being dropped off by the school bus. Bags heavy with books, and bodies weary after a long day at school, we stopped by the roundabout gate to sip some water. As we were slowly catching our breath, we heard a faint meow in the bushes near the fence.

“What’s that?” whispered Jemimah, pointing at the bushes. “It’s coming from behind you!”

“What’s what?” I asked, as I turned around to see what she was pointing at.

“Yes, I heard it too!” exclaimed Anita.

“Me too!” yelled little Sophia, who was the youngest member of the group.

We all dropped our backpacks to the floor and approached the bushes on tippy toes, and as quietly as we could.

“Meow!” came the noise again, but it was a bit louder than the first time. We got closer.

“HHhhssssss!”

We all jumped back, startled! It was a wee black and white kitten, with the pinkest nose we had ever seen!

“Awwwww! It’s a little kitty!” exclaimed Sophia.

The little kitten looked up at us with mesmerising eyes, and a ‘will you be my mummy?’ kind of look.

With a face like that, who could resist?

Being the oldest, I decided to take charge. I took out my empty lunch box, poured some water in it, and placed it near the kitten. At first it hesitated, and moved back into the bushes. After a couple of minutes, it crept up slowly to the box and started lapping up the water like it was going out of fashion. It was so thirsty!

“Is it a boy or a girl?” asked Sophia curiously.

I had learnt about how to tell boy cat and a girl cat apart, from my sister who was 9 years older than me.

I looked.

It was a girl! The excitement grew!

“What should we call her?” asked Jemimah.

“Yes, she will need a name,” said Anita, in agreement.

“How about Barbie?” asked Sophia, enthusiastically.  She was obsessed with her barbie dolls!

We all turned and looked at her with gentle disapproval.

“No way! We cannot call her that!” I replied. “Let’s call her Delilah.”

“YES!” the others shouted in agreement.

I wrapped my sweater around Delilah as she purred away in happiness.

Now came the hardest part. Who was going to take this treasure home?