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looking now.”
    Everyone was still discussing where to look next.
    “He couldn’t still be in your garden, hidden away?” Olivia suggested.
    “We looked. We really did,” Rob mumbled.
    But his mum nodded. “We did, but if Smudge was frightened, he might have hidden himself. Maybe if Ben and Olivia went and called him? It’s worth a try, anyway.” She led them down the side of the house and into the back garden, and went inside to make some tea for everyone.
    “Smudge! Smudge!” Olivia shook the cat treats again and again, and Ben jingled Smudge’s favourite ball.Lucie walked around the garden searching under all the bushes. But Smudge didn’t appear. The garden was so quiet and empty.
    I don’t think we’re ever going to find him , Olivia thought, staring sadly at the house. She knew Smudge had been here just last night, but he hadn’t left even the tiniest clue. “Is that your window?” she asked Rob, who was lurking on the patio. She could see football stickers on a window that looked desperately high up. Had Smudge really climbed out of there?
    Lucie gulped. “That’s so high!”
    Rob nodded miserably. “I think he must have jumped into that tree.”
    The girls went over to look at it. It was a plum tree – they could see theodd fruit still left at the top of the branches. It filled the gap between the house and the fence, and some of the branches spilled over the other side.
    “What’s over there?” Ben asked, trying to scramble up and grab the top of the fence.
    “Just some old garages and stuff. There’s an alley that runs from the road behind ours,” Rob said. “But the fence is really solid. He couldn’t have got under it. He must have gone round the side of the house and out the front.”
    But Olivia stared at the tree and the fence, thoughtfully. “What if he didn’t go under the fence? Couldn’t he have gone over it?”
    “Of course not, look how tall it is…” Ben trailed off. “Oh! From the tree!”

    Olivia nodded. “How do we get round there?”
    Rob lead them round the side of the house, and Ben popped his head through the back door to explain they were going to look in the alleyway.
    “We’ll just be five minutes,” he said quickly, and they vanished into the alley before anyone had time to stop them.
    “Why didn’t we think of it before?” Rob muttered, as they hurried off. “We just thought he must have gone out the front way.”
    The alley ran along halfway between Rob’s house and the one next door, but they had to go into the next street to get into it. It was very narrow, with a row of tumbledown old garages – andlots of hiding places for a kitten.
    “Smudge!” Olivia tore the treats packet open with her teeth, and shook out a handful.
    Inside the garage, Smudge was pacing up and down by the hole in the wall. He had to keep trying – he had to get out! He scraped determinedly at the metal sheet, ignoring his sore paws. Then his ears pricked up suddenly as he heard the sound of a familiar voice. Was that Olivia? Had she come to find him? He scrabbled furiously at the wall again, trying to show her where he was.
    “Hey, what was that?” Lucie said suddenly. “Something scratching!”
    Everyone froze, holding their breath, waiting for the sound again.
    “I can’t hear anything!” Ben hissed.
    “Shh! Listen, there it is again!” Lucie whispered.
    Olivia jumped, dropping half the treats on the ground. “I heard it too! It must be him. Smudge, where are you?” she called.
    There was silence for a minute, and then a loud, desperate meow.
    “It is! It is! Where is he? Smudge, we’re coming to find you!” Olivia called, running towards the garages.
    Inside the garage, Smudge scrabbled at the metal again. He could hear Olivia! She’d come to find him. Furiously he scraped and scratched, mewing as loudly as he could. He had to make them hear him!
    “Which one is it?” Ben asked.
    “The one at the end, I think,” Robsaid, smiling for the first time