Duckling Days. Sarah Lean

nests,” said May Days, smiling. “One of my favourite birds.”

      “But where are the swallows?” said Tiger, as the nests were empty.

      “Swallows come here for the spring and summer,” said May Days. “They find their way back to the same place every year, tidy up their old nest, lay their eggs and then raise new chicks. Come on, I’ll show you what they look like.”

      They went back to the kitchen and sat at the table to look up swallows in the wildlife book. The little birds had tails like streamers, black coats and bold white chests.

      Tiger read: Small flocks of swallows gather together and prepare to migrate. They fly over 8,000 kilometres from Africa to the UK, arriving in April.

      “But how can they fly so far when they’re so small?” said Tiger, amazed.

      “Because they are all together to support each other,” said May Days, “and they must be very determined to raise their chicks in the best place.”

      “But why don’t they just stay here all the time?”

      “It’s far too cold in the winter and there’s nothing for them to eat,” said May Days, looking out of the window. “They would have left Africa about six weeks ago. I thought they’d be here by now.”

      May Days had a few jobs to do around the house, so she left Tiger in the kitchen to get dressed. Tiger was thinking about the little birds who worked hard each year to restore their old homes so they could move back into them. Then she started thinking about Willowgate.

      “This is very silly,” Tiger said to Holly, who pricked up her ears and sat looking at Tiger with wise eyes. “Why doesn’t May Days move into the house properly now all the repairs are done?”

      It didn’t make sense that they were still sleeping in a tent when there was a big empty house that seemed to be waiting for them.

      “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Holly?” The cat tilted her head to the side as if waiting for Tiger to go on. “Maybe the house isn’t as finished as we think it is. We’d better go and find out.”

      Tiger pulled on her T-shirt and Holly stood up beside her, ready to investigate.

      “We’ll have to look around the house as carefully as we did in the garden yesterday, and then maybe we’ll be able to see what we’re waiting for.”

      They started with the kitchen, looking up and down and around. This was the only room they had used properly right from the start, so there wasn’t much to discover here. Outside the kitchen was a tall, empty hall, with two rooms either side. One was small and empty. The other was much larger and led into the conservatory. All the walls had been plastered smooth and painted white, the cobwebs dusted away. Holly’s paws didn’t make a sound, but Tiger’s footsteps echoed off the bare floorboards, making the house sound very empty.

      “Where’s all May Days’s furniture and carpets and pictures, Holly?” said Tiger.

      In the conservatory, May Days grew tropical flowers in pots, tall and bushy, climbing up supports and across the glass roof. When the flowers bloomed, it was the only colourful room in the house.

      “I expect all these flowers grow in Africa too,” Tiger said to Holly, thinking of how long May Days had lived in Africa and the things she must have got used to seeing.

      With their eyes alert for any movement, just like they had been in the garden the previous day, they spotted a woodlouse crawling past one of the pots. Tiger crouched down and held out a finger to it. The woodlouse wiggled its antennae and then climbed on.

      “It must feel like a huge jungle in here to a woodlouse,” said Tiger as the cat gave it a good sniff. Tiger let the woodlouse ripple off her finger and back on to the floor. She decided to keep it company for a while in case it felt lonely.

      There was a small pile of loose bricks in the corner of the conservatory that the builders had left, and Tiger stacked them into a little house shape.

      “There you are – you can move in,” said Tiger to the woodlouse, pushing dry leaves in to make a carpet. “It will be much nicer than living under a pot.”

      Once the woodlouse had settled into its new home, Tiger and Holly went upstairs. There were four bedrooms and the largest had a fireplace, a sink and a huge cupboard in the wall. The bedroom opposite was the smallest, but, even so, it was much bigger than Tiger’s bedroom at home. There was no furniture up here either.

      Tiger thought things over. The chimneys at Willowgate that had once been wonky were now straight, and the plumbing didn’t gurgle or thump any more. There had been mushrooms growing around the bath, but now it was scrubbed clean. The only thing that didn’t seem finished was the smallest bedroom. Floorboards were up and the electrician was coming later to finish the last bit of wiring.

      “That must be what it is, Holly. When this room is done, the house will be ready,” said Tiger, pleased at what they had discovered by looking carefully.

      Tiger and Holly stood in the doorway of the smallest bedroom. The window looked out over the great gardens of Willowgate. The April sunshine streamed in, and Tiger longed to have what May Days had once promised – her own bedroom inside the house.

      Tiger skipped down the stairs, with Holly following, excited at the thought that they could soon move into the house properly. Her grandmother was talking on the telephone in the hall. Tiger leaned over the banister, waiting for May Days to finish before she asked if the small room could be hers. But then she heard something that filled her tummy with a horrible feeling.

      “We have so much to catch up on. I’ve missed you terribly, Grace,” May Days said into the phone. “I can’t wait to see you on Sunday.”

      Grace lived in Africa and was a dear friend of May Days. They had known each other for years and had worked on the wildlife reserve together. Tiger was returning home on Saturday and then …

      Did this mean May Days was planning to go back to live in Africa again? Was that why she had no furniture and was in no hurry to move into the house? And was it why she’d wanted Tiger to see the swallow nests – to show her how the birds had two homes, one here, and one in Africa? Tiger’s shoulders sagged and a lump formed in her throat.

      “What are we going to do?” Tiger sniffed, clinging to Holly.

      Tiger didn’t want to talk to May Days about her leaving – it was too hard. She crept down the last few stairs and tiptoed along the hallway behind May Days, and out through the front door. She needed to think … She had to find a way of making her grandmother want to stay at Willowgate for good.

      

      Tiger sat on the lawn cuddling Holly and gazing up at the house. Apart from all the animals that visited and lived in the gardens, Willowgate had been unoccupied for years and years until May Days had bought it. Over the last year, builders, plumbers and all sorts of people had come to help repair the house. But hardly anyone came now it was almost finished, and it suddenly seemed very quiet and deserted, especially with Tom and Grumps away on holiday. With its wide porch, large windows and long welcoming drive, it looked like