Loving Spirit

of it seemed to be moving.
    Ellie opened the window and heard the yardmanager, Stuart, calling to Luke. ‘You got those kittens then?’
    Luke looked at the sack. ‘Yeah, they’re here. I’ll use the pond in the upper field. It’s good and deep.’
    Ellie’s heart lurched. No! She remembered her uncle’s words: See to them, Luke . The next minute she was flying down the stairs.

Chapter Two
    Ellie tore out of the house. Joe had brought Picasso in from the school and was untacking him.
    ‘What’s he doing?’ Ellie gasped, pointing at Luke as he disappeared round the barn. ‘Is he really going to drown those kittens?’ For a moment, she hoped, prayed, that she’d got it wrong.
    But as soon as she saw the look of unhappiness cross Joe’s face she knew she hadn’t. He nodded.
    ‘Well, stop him!’ Ellie cried, her anger overcoming her other feelings. All she thought about were the little black kittens in the sack on Luke’s back.
    Joe shook his head. ‘I can’t stop him. It’s Dad’s orders.’
    ‘So?’ Ellie stared at him in disbelief. ‘You can’t let it happen! You can’t let him just kill them.’
    Joe didn’t move.
    Giving up on him, Ellie raced after Luke. As she ran round the stable block, she saw him stridingacross a field. He reached the pond and pulled the sack from his back.
    ‘No!’ Ellie screamed as he chucked it into the water.
    Luke looked over his shoulder in surprise. She ran towards him. ‘Get them out!’ she cried furiously. ‘You can’t do that!’
    Luke just shrugged.
    Seeing it was no use trying to persuade him, she flung off her fleece and, heedless of the cold water, began wading into the pond.
    ‘Are you crazy? What are you doing?’ Luke yelled, his air of cool momentarily leaving him.
    ‘I’m going to rescue them!’ Ellie shot back, her eyes scanning the water as she tried to see where they’d gone. Panic welled up inside her. They’d be drowning! ‘Help me!’
    ‘There’s no point. They’ll be dead by the time you get them.’ Luke turned round and started to walk away.
    Ellie yelled a swear word at him and waded out further. The icy water was up to her thighs now. She reached down desperately. Where were the kittens? Her foot struck something soft. She bent down. It was the sack! Gasping, she used all her strength to yank it out of the water and drag it back to the bank. Her clothes were soaked through, but she didn’t care. She’d got the kittens! If they’re still alive , she thought, her stomach turning over.
    Pushing through the water as quickly as she could, she reached the bank. She struggled to find her footing, but then someone grasped her wrist. She jumped, her eyes flying upwards. Had Luke come back? She met Joe’s dark-green gaze instead.
    ‘Here.’ He half pulled her out of the water, taking the sack from her. She glared at him. She hadn’t forgotten how he’d refused to help back on the yard. Taking the sack, he placed it gently down.
    ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ he said anxiously. ‘Dad’ll be mad.’
    ‘I don’t care!’ Ellie declared, through teeth that were starting to chatter. She threw herself down on to her knees and started to pull frantically at the string that was tying the neck of the sack.
    ‘Wait.’ Joe took a penknife out of his pocket and cut swiftly through it. In an instant, the sack fell open. Feeling sick, not knowing what she would see, Ellie peered inside. Two of the kittens were lying lifeless on the bricks that weighted the bottom of the sack. She saw instantly that she couldn’t help them now, but the third was moving weakly, coughing up pond water. She pulled it out and held it to her chest. She had often seen her dad with baby lambs when they had been born half dead, barely breathing.
    ‘Give me my fleece!’ she snapped, too upset to be polite.
    Joe handed it across without a word. Ellie wrappedthe kitten in it and, shielding it with her body from the cold wind, began to rub at its skin with the inside of the fleece. It coughed and spluttered. Working in small circles, she rubbed it all over, drying it, warming it. As she did so, Joe hurried away.
    ‘Fine. You go too. You’re just as bad as them!’ she muttered.
    Bending her head, she continued working on the kitten. She was shivering herself, but she ignored the cold that felt like it was sinking through to her bones. ‘I hate them,’ she whispered to it, a sob catching in her throat. ‘I hate them all! How could they do that