The Mistletoe Kiss. Бетти Нилс

      ‘You won’t ’arf cop it,’ he told her, offering a mugful. ‘I wouldn’t do it for anyone else, Emmy, and mum’s the word.’ He nodded and winked. She was a nice young lady, he considered, always willing to listen to him telling her about his wife’s diabetes.

      Emmy tucked the box away at her feet, dried the small creature with her handkerchief, offered it milk and saw with satisfaction that it fell instantly into a refreshing sleep. It woke briefly from time to time, scoffed more milk and dropped off again. Very much to her relief, Emmy got to the end of her shift with the kitten undetected.

      She was waiting for her relief when the supervisor bore down upon her, intent on checking and finding fault if she could. It was just bad luck that the kitten should wake at that moment, and, since it was feeling better, it mewed quite loudly.

      Meeting the lady’s outraged gaze, Emmy said, ‘I found him tied to a doorway. In the rain. I’m going to take him home…’

      ‘He has been here all day?’ The supervisor’s bosom swelled to alarming proportions. ‘No animal is allowed inside the hospital. You are aware of that, are you not, Miss Foster? I shall report this, and in the meantime the animal can be taken away by one of the porters.’

      ‘Don’t you dare,’ said Emmy fiercely. ‘I’ll not allow it. You are—’

      It was unfortunate that she was interrupted before she could finish.

      ‘Ah,’ said Professor ter Mennolt, looming behind the supervisor. ‘My kitten. Good of you to look after it for me, Ermentrude.’ He gave the supervisor a bland smile. ‘I am breaking the rules, am I not? But this seemed the best place for it to be until I could come and collect it.’

      ‘Miss Foster has just told me…’ began the woman.

      ‘Out of the kindness of her heart,’ said the professor outrageously. ‘She had no wish to get me into trouble. Isn’t that correct, Ermentrude?’

      She nodded, and watched while he soothed the supervisor’s feelings with a bedside manner which she couldn’t have faulted.

      ‘I will overlook your rudeness, Miss Foster,’ she said finally, and sailed away.

      ‘Where on earth did you find it?’ asked the professor with interest.

      She told him, then went on, ‘I’ll take him home. He’ll be nice company for Snoodles and George.’

      ‘An excellent idea. Here is your relief. I shall be outside when you are ready.’

      ‘Why?’ asked Emmy.

      ‘You sometimes ask silly questions, Ermentrude. To take you both home.’

      Emmy made short work of handing over, got into her mac, picked up the box and went to the entrance. The Bentley was outside, and the professor bundled her and her box into it and drove away in the streaming rain.

      The kitten sat up on wobbly legs and mewed. It was bedraggled and thin, and Emmy said anxiously, ‘I do hope he’ll be all right.’

      ‘Probably a she. I’ll look the beast over.’

      ‘Would you? Thank you. Then if it’s necessary I’ll take him—her—to the vet.’ She added uncertainly, ‘That’s if it’s not interfering with whatever you’re doing?’

      ‘I can spare half an hour.’ He sounded impatient.

      She unlocked the door and ushered him into the hall, where he took up so much room she had to sidle past him to open the sitting-room door.

      ‘You’re so large,’ she told him, and ushered him into the room.

      Mrs Foster was sitting reading with Snoodles on her lap. She looked up as they went in and got to her feet.

      ‘I’m sure you’re the professor who was so kind to Emmy,’ she said, and offered a hand. ‘I’m her mother. Emmy, take off that wet mac and put the kettle on, please. What’s in the box?’

      ‘A kitten.’

      Mrs Foster offered a chair. ‘Just like Emmy—always finding birds with broken wings and stray animals.’ She smiled from a plain face very like her daughter’s, and he thought what a charming woman she was.