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Alfie The Holiday Cat. Alfie In The Snow. A Friend Called Alfie

4. ALFIE THE HOLIDAY CAT

Prologue

I was dreaming about pilchards when I felt a tail tickling my fur. I opened one eye to see George, my kitten, hopping around my bed excitedly. I opened the other eye.

‘Wake up, Dad, it’s Christmas,’ he purred in my ear. I raised my whiskers. It felt far too early to be awake.

‘Wake up, everyone!’ Summer’s voice shouted, shattering any peace and quiet. ‘It’sChrissssmass.’ She had joined George and they were both jumping around, making me feel quite dizzy.

‘Meow,’ I replied. I saw shadowy darkness poking through the landing window, but I knew no one would be getting back to sleep. When Summer made up her mind, no one stood a chance, and George was turning out to be the same way. The door opened and Claire, wrapping her dressing gown around her, emerged with a sleepy, tousled Jonathan on her heels.

‘Goodness, it’s only five,’ Claire complained.

‘But Santa’s been, I know he has,’ Summer shouted. ‘So, it must be Christmas time right now!’ She stamped her little foot. George tried to stamp his paw but he hadn’t mastered that.

‘Where’s Toby?’ Jonathan said, picking Summer up and giving her a hug. ‘Happy Christmas, my little princess.’ She snuggled into him.

‘Meow,’ I replied. He was still in bed. Toby was the only sensible member of the family, it seemed.

It was George’s first Christmas ever and Toby’s first with us, which meant it was one of the most special Christmases ever in Edgar Road. We had all been full of excitement and expectation, although Summer had been the most excited, with George a close second. Toby had been a little hesitant. Claire and Jonathan said it was because he hadn’t had a good life up until now. Toby had been adopted by us. He was five years old and, although Claire and Jonathan hadn’t shared details of his life so far, I knew he had been taken away from his parents and had lived in foster care before he came to us. That meant he had had more than one home up until now. Claire said to him, to Summer, and to me and George that we were his forever family and he had a forever home with us now. I understood that better than most. I had had a life before here too, although that did seem so long ago now.

When I first came to live on Edgar Road, I had also had a home before. My home had been happy, full of love, but my old owner died leaving me homeless. Instead of being put in a shelter I had taken matters into my own paws and I’d taken a treacherous journey to Edgar Road where I learnt many things along the way, and then I became, as I am today, a doorstep cat. This means I have more than one home and more than one family to love me and love in return. It so happens that I mainly live with Claire and Jonathan now — this is my forever home too. But they used to live separately, and I lived with them both until I brought them together and they got married. I also have two other houses I visit and we’re all great friends, more like family even. Claire and Jonathan, with Summer and Toby; Polly and Matt who have two children, Henry and Martha; and Tomasz and Franceska, my Polish family who have two sons, Aleksy and little Tomasz. They are my families, and since George came to live with us as a tiny kitten — I adopted him — they are his families too.

But back to Toby; he had obviously had a traumatic beginning in life and although he was loved and safe now, it was a big adjustment for him. When he first came to live with us he cried every night. Claire would go and cuddle him, Jonathan would read him stories and in the end George took to sleeping in his bed, right beside him. He does that every night now. Toby sleeps really well with George beside him, it’s the only way he will sleep I think. I worried at first that Summer might mind, she is a madam and she thinks that George is her kitten, but actually she’s been very lovely about sharing. Although she tried to demand a goldfish, which is a terrible idea. A fish where two cats live, whoever heard of such a thing?

So Toby and George have a very special bond, which I like to think is down to me a bit. They were both the newest members of the family, which helped to bind them, but of course we all love them both very much. It is clear, though, that George has been instrumental in helping Toby to feel at home— he’s a chip off the old block it seems — and now he’s settled in it feels as if Toby has always been with us.

Before Christmas, when Claire and Jonathan tried to get him to write to Santa and ask for presents, he was reluctant. In the end Jonathan got a catalogue with lots of toys in it and they went through it together; it was a slow process as Toby didn’t want to ask for anything. And this is the heartbreaking part: he told George, when they were in bed one night, that it was because he thought if he asked for things he might get sent away. When George told me this I felt my heart shatter, and trying to convey that to the humans wasn’t easy but in the end they seemed to get it. I did have to work quite hard, and George shredded the catalogue in the process, but I think they began to understand.

Jonathan and Claire sat Toby down and told him he was their son now and that nothing he could do would change that. They also showed him Summer’s list — although she couldn’t yet write, she managed to draw pages of toys she wanted (it was pretty much an entire toyshop), and in the end they managed to coax a letter to Santa out of Toby. Jonathan explained that Santa would bring him a special present but Mummy and Daddy would buy him some as well. This seemed like an alien concept for Toby but he seemed to understand a little.

Claire went to Toby’s room, where he was waking up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

‘Is it Christmas?’ he asked.

‘It is, darling,’ Claire replied. ‘Now shall we go and see if Santa’s been?’ She kissed him and engulfed him in a hug.

‘But what if he hasn’t?’ Toby asked.

‘I know he has, and do you know how I know that?’ Claire asked. Toby shook his head. ‘Because I have it on good authority that you were on his good boy list,’ she said gently. She was such a good parent, to all of us.

‘Really?’

She nodded, then picked him up and carried him downstairs.

Summer had already bounded ahead with Jonathan trying to hold her back as she rushed to open the living room door. George had almost flown down after them and I trotted behind Claire and Toby.

I was trying and failing to restrain George. The run-up to Christmas was exhausting for parents, I had heard that before, but this year I experienced it first-hand. George, as well as being full of excitement, loved the shiny baubles on the Christmas tree. He liked to look at his reflection in them— no idea where he gets his vanity from — trying to use his paw to get them off the tree, and on occasion he succeeded. He had been told off many times by Claire, Jonathan and me for playing with them, and there had been breakages. He also liked to try to hide under the tree, jumping out to surprise us, which had meant that the tree had been relieved of a few of its branches and quite a lot of pine needles. (By the way, having to get the pine needles out of George’s fur had been pretty much a festive full-time job.) Jonathan moaned about the mess, Claire complained about the broken baubles, and I had possibly lost enough of my lives with the shock of having him jump out at me on numerous occasions. There was nothing we could do to stop it, however, except keep a close eye on him, keep the living room door closed and Claire had moved his favourite mirrored baubles higher up the tree.

Jonathan stood at the door. We all crowded around.

‘I should check that Santa really has been,’ he said. He opened the door a crack and George skirted through — honestly there was no keeping him back once he saw the tree. I noticed that Jonathan switched the Christmas tree lights on before fully opening the door and, as they winked and twinkled, we all made our way into the living room where a mountain of presents waited.

Before the children could dive in we all stopped.

‘George!’ Claire shouted. George, it seemed, had spotted the mirrored baubles straight away and launched himself at the tree, jumping about half way up. It seemed to play out in slow motion as he yowled, having not thought it out, and ended up clinging to some of the branches. He had got his paw tangled in the lights and the bauble that he had been after fell to the floor with a thump, eliciting another cry. As the tree began to lean to the left, it looked as if it might fall. I didn’t know what to do as I stared on in horror.

‘Yowl!’ George shouted.

‘Daddy, do something,’ Summer cried. Jonathan sprang into action, grabbing the tree and pushing it back upright. Claire batted her way through the piles of presents to secure it again, emerging looking a little dishevelled with pine needles in her hair. And as I meowed anxiously for George to let go, he did, managing to disentangle his paws from the lights and falling into Toby’s arms. Toby appeared surprised as he caught him, and then as George nuzzled him to say thank you he smiled.

‘Oh George,’ he said.

We’d been hearing that a lot since the kitten had become part of the family.

I looked at Jonathan. I was ready for him unleash his anger, using words unsuitable for children or cats, but instead he grinned.

‘It wouldn’t be Christmas without a near disaster,’ he said. ‘Nice catch Tobe.’ Claire hugged him. Relief flooded me, from my paws to the tips of my whiskers.

‘Right, kids, presents.’

Summer instantly dived into her pile. Toby hung back a bit, but Jonathan took his hand.

‘Shall we go and see what Santa got you?’ he asked. Toby nodded. Shock graced his face, as if he’d never seen anything like it before. He probably hadn’t. Neither had George, who was now playing with the wrapping paper that Summer discarded as if it was the best present in the world and as if he hadn’t just nearly ruined our beautiful tree. I turned my head to Claire. She had tears in her eyes as she pulled out her phone and took pictures of the children, my kitten and Jonathan by the Christmas tree. I felt emotional as well as I went and rubbed against her legs.

‘Oh, Alfie, this is the best Christmas ever,’ Claire said as she picked me up. I blinked at her and purred my agreement.

‘I really need coffee,’ Jonathan said, as the children took a break from present-opening.

‘Mummy, Daddy, I love Peppa Pig,’ Summer announced as she played with her Peppa Pig playhouse. Toby was playing with a remote control car, exclaiming that it was the best present in the whole world. Jonathan went and put his arm around Claire.

‘This is such a whirl, I’m exhausted. But I’ll make us coffee and then I’ll give you your gift.’ He kissed her.

‘What about George and Alfie? Can we give them their presents first?’ Claire said.

‘Oh yes, come on, boys, we’ve got a special Christmas breakfast for you.’

I really hoped it was pilchards.

As George and I tucked into our pilchards— they were big juicy ones from the fishmonger — we enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet.

‘This Christmas business is quite overwhelming,’ George said. ‘All that stuff everywhere. Although I really like the paper and the boxes.’

‘I know, and we are the lucky ones, George, look at us, fish for breakfast, a stocking full of toys and cat treats for us to enjoy later, a loving family and not to mention that after a big lunch we will get some yummy turkey. Honestly, you will see what a lucky kitten you are this Christmas.’

‘Of course I’m lucky, I’ve got you.’ George nuzzled me and I grinned. I was the lucky one actually.

I had an idea.‘George, would you like to give me a Christmas present?’ I asked.

‘Course I would. Dad,’ he replied, sweetly.

‘Please, no more climbing the Christmas tree.’ I had my paws crossed.

‘Oh, I can do that. I promise I won’t climb it ever again. It was too scary when I thought I might fall down.’

Breakfast was a distant but lovely memory by the time we went outside for a breath of air and also in the hope that we would see Tiger, my cat girlfriend, who George thought of as his mum. It was becoming parents to George that had brought us together, and we were very happy in our roles and our relationship. I had been madly in love once, with a cat called Snowball who lived next door. At that time Tiger and I were only friends. But when Snowball moved away, leaving me heartbroken, Tiger did all she could to help me and when George was adopted as my kitten, she took on a motherly role, which made me see her in a different light. I was an older and, I liked to think, wiser cat by then, and so a relationship with Tiger was what I needed. We had been friends for a long time, she kept my paws firmly on the ground and I made her more adventurous. We complemented each other and being parents to George, who liked to get himself into scrapes, was definitely a bonding experience. He kept us both on our paws.

The cold nipped at us as soon as we entered the garden, but we kept going. The sky was thick and grey, it was early still. I could tell that it was going to be a crisp winter’s day, there was a little frost sticking on the grass, which made walking quite uncomfortable, cold and wet. We didn’t hang around, as we ran to Tiger’s.

We lurked at her back door, under a bush, out of sight of her humans in case they came out. They didn’t mind George but they didn’t like me being around. I couldn’t think why; most people seemed to think I was quite a charming cat. Before long I heard the clang of the cat flap and Tiger emerged.

‘Tiger mum!’ George bounded up to her and they nose-kissed. It always melted my heart to see the love between them, I was a softy when it came to those I loved, humans and cats alike.

‘Happy Christmas,’ I said, trying to keep my emotions in check.

‘To you both too,’ Tiger replied. ‘Gosh, you are early though, I had barely woken up. Anyway, George, how is your first Christmas so far?’ she asked with a swish of her tail.

‘Well, Santa brought me wrapping paper and we got pilchards for breakfast so so far it’s the best day ever!’ George’s enthusiasm was so refreshing; I know it taught me a lot. I loved the way that he made me see things through his eyes, as if I was seeing them for the first time. That was the joy of kittens and children if you paid enough attention to them.

‘And he jumped on the Christmas tree and nearly sent it flying,’ I added. George conveniently left that out.

‘Oh, George,’ Tiger said, but she didn’t sound cross, she was amused. I was the disciplinarian in this parenting duo.

‘How is your day so far, Tiger?’ I asked.

‘It’s barely started! But you know, my family have a very quiet Christmas. We haven’t exchanged gifts yet, although I get one of those cat stockings every year so, surprise! Thankfully they are cooking a proper Christmas dinner but really Christmas is for the kids, isn’t it?’ She nuzzled George.

‘It is, you should see Toby, he’s so happy now. I think he was so scared by the whole thing, I don’t think he’d had very good Christmases before, which is really upsetting, but he’s playing with his toys and he’s having a lovely time now.’

George was playing with a leaf which was wet as the frost had melted and drops kept falling onto his head. We laughed as he tried to brush the water away, indignantly, with his paws.

‘And Summer?’

‘Summer is Summer. She’s obsessed with this pig called Peppa, and she’s got toys, games and all sorts. She’s still our little ray of sunshine. They’re all happy, which makes me happy.’ I snuggled into Tiger and grinned. Life was good right now, and Christmas was just the icing on the (fish) cake. I was always conscious of the fact that me and all my families had been through tough and challenging times, so when things were good I had learnt to appreciate them. I was an optimistic cat but even I knew the good times didn’t always last. In fact they rarely did.

‘Well, long may it last,’ Tiger said, echoing my thoughts. ‘Are you seeing your other families today?’ I swished my tail; I had told Tiger, but she had a terrible memory.

I had three families altogether. Claire and Jonathan’s was my main home, but also on Edgar Road lived Polly and Matt, Henry and Martha. Franceska, big Tomasz, Aleksy and little Tomasz (who now insisted on being called Tommy) lived a few streets away but I had met them on Edgar Road when I first moved here and they moved from Poland. Aleksy, being the oldest of the children, was my first child friend — he and I are still best friends actually.

‘Well Polly and Matt have gone to Manchester to spend Christmas with their parents and Tomasz and Franceska have gone to Poland. It’s very exciting for them; their first Christmas back there since they moved to England. I miss them but they’ll all be back before New Year. We’re all going tobe together on New Year’s Eve in fact.’

‘Does that mean you get turkey again?’ Tiger’s eyes were wide with envy.

‘I hope so!’ I grinned. I hadn’t thought of that.

‘And have you heard from Tasha?’

‘We Skyped her yesterday.’ I was a cat of the computer age after all. Although it was Claire who’d actually called her on the computer, I’d sat on her lap so I could see her and Elijah.

Tasha was Claire’s best friend and one of mine. Her son Elijah was almost the same age as Summer. She had gone through a bad break-up with Elijah’s dad and lived on Edgar Road for a while, becoming another family for us. Then Claire did something called matchmaking with a friend of Jonathan’s called Max, which worked out a bit too well as she moved to somewhere called Dubai with him. He got a very good job there and she said she and Elijah needed a fresh start. I was happy for her, but sad for me. We missed them very much — Claire and me especially — so every week she calls them on the computer and we chat. They are all very happy, so although I miss them, I am pleased at the same time.

Saying goodbye is a fact of life. I have had to do so more than your average cat, so I should know. It doesn’t get any easier but you learn to accept that it’s necessary sometimes, I guess. It always hurts but there is nothing to be done. Life is like that, it moves all the time, it rarely stands still and so we have to move along with it. I am trying to teach George that, but it’s not an easy lesson to learn.

‘Right, well I better get this little one inside. Fancy a stroll later?’ I asked Tiger as I tried to get George’s attention. He was chasing his tail and totally ignoring me.

‘Yes, call round after lunch and we can go and see if anyone else is hanging out.’

‘You’re on.’ I nuzzled her goodbye and finally managed to get George to stand still long enough to tell him we were going home.

I was exhausted as I lay curled up on the armchair, resting. Claire and Jonathan were clearing up, and then I expected they would snuggle up on the sofa to watch a film or something. The children were in bed, exhausted after a day when their excitement levels knew no bounds and George was the same. He was sleeping with Toby, of course. I checked on them earlier and he was lying next to Toby on the pillow— they looked so cute together, I felt choked with emotion again. I looked in on Summer who was clutching one of her new toys to her as she slept. She looked angelic.

I was so full of lovely food, so I felt sleepy too. This really had been the best Christmas I’d ever had. I gave a thought for all of those I loved in my life: Margaret my first owner, Agnes my sister cat, all my cat friends, Snowball of course, and I also gave thanks for all I had now. I was the luckiest cat in London if not the world.

‘So, what’s this last surprise?’ I heard Jonathan ask. I opened one eye and saw that he and Claire had entered the room. Intrigued, I woke up properly, stretched out and went to join them on the sofa.

‘Here,’ Claire said, handing him a photograph. I peered at it over his shoulder. It was a picture of a house, a shabby-looking house. It was quite big though, I thought as I looked at the windows. In front of a large wooden front door stretched a lawn, which was overgrown, and the house was cream with peeling paint.

‘Please don’t tell me you’ve bought a house?’ Jonathan said, holding the picture, blinking at it in confusion.

‘No, of course not. I’ve been desperate to tell you but I got the idea that today, Christmas Day, would be the best time to surprise you.’

‘Surprise me with what exactly?’ Jonathan was suspicious but then I couldn’t blame him. Claire tended to spring things on him. And when he objected she would normally wear him down. It was the same with the adoption. She wanted to adopt so badly but Jonathan was reluctant, but she persuaded him, and of course he’s delighted she did as he loves having Toby, but you get the idea.

‘So you know we went to the funeral of my Great Aunt Claire, the woman I’m named after?’

‘Yes, Claire, that was about three months ago.’

‘I know, but it takes time, you know probate, but recently her estate was sorted out and it turns out she left me this cottage in Devon.’

‘She left that to you? A house?’ Jonathan looked again at the photo.

‘I had no idea she still owned it.’ Claire’s eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘You see we used to go there when I was a child for holidays but when Aunt Claire got dementia she went into a home, and I assumed that the house had been sold. But no, it was there, empty all this time. She probablyforgot she owned it.’

‘How can someone forget they own a house?’ Jonathan frowned. I guess it was a big thing to forget.

‘Well she did have dementia remember, and her accountant took over her affairs, or whatever you call them … Anyway Dad told me that she wanted me to have the house because I loved it so much when I was young. It’s called Seabreeze Cottage and it’s right opposite the beach.’ Claire had a wistful look. ‘I remember the best holidays there as a child, spending days on the beach, playing on that lawn, eating jam sandwiches in the big old kitchen …’

‘So why didn’t you tell me?’ Jonathan narrowed his eyes.

‘Jon, we’ve been given a house, it doesn’t happen every day!’ Claire pushed and I knew there was a but.

‘But?’ he echoed my thoughts.

‘OK, so the reason I didn’t tell you was that we don’t know what state it is in. Mum and Dad went down there for me and they said it’s been neglected and is in need of a bit of work. They took these photos.’

‘So how much work are we talking?’ Jonathan flicked through the photos.

‘We don’t know exactly yet. When all the paperwork is done, I can get quotes, we can even go there, but at the moment I’m not sure if I’m honest.’ She chewed her lip as she did when she was nervous. I went and sat on her lap.

‘And what do you want to do?’ he asked.

‘Well, obviously it depends on the cost and everything, but ideally I want to keep it. I just felt as if I’d been taken back to my wonderful holidays as a child and I want that for Summer and Toby, more than anything. Imagine, Jon, weekends away, summer holidays by the sea, it would be wonderful for us all.’

‘Darling,’ Jonathan turned to his wife, ‘I know this cottage means a lot to you and it would be lovely for us to have a house by the sea but you know how feasible it is. You’re not working at the moment and yes I have a good job but with the kids’ education, and everything … My guess isthat the kind of money we probably need to put into this cottage might be a step too far for us right now.’

‘I know and I thought you’d say that. I just dreamt of my children having holidays like I did as a child.’ She looked wistful. Jonathan softened and put his arm around her.

‘If there was any way … Listen, honey, has it been valued?’ I saw tears in Claire’s eyes. Christmas wasn’t ending quite as planned after all.

‘Jonathan, I’m not sure I could bring myself to sell it. It feels like selling my childhood.’ Claire was nothing if not dramatic. I think she got it from me … or vice versa.

‘Well, listen, let’s have a think, find out what exactly is involved, but you know unless we get a large mortgage, one which would make me feel very uncomfortable, I don’t know how we can do it.’

‘Oh, we’ll find a way. I’m sure.’ Claire didn’t appear as confident as she sounded but as they settled down to watch a film I could almost see her mind whirring. I looked at the picture again. A cottage by the sea. I had been to the seaside once, it hadn’t exactly gone according to planbut I did have a lovely time. I could picture us all, sitting on the lawn, George chasing butterflies, Toby and Summer playing, Claire lounging in a deckchair with a book, and Jonathan lying on a picnic blanket. It was like a perfect idea, and one which suddenly I wanted for us more than anything. I looked at Claire, who still seemed to be deep in thought, as was Jonathan, and I said a silent prayer that they would find a way to make this work.

After all I quite fancied being Alfie the holiday cat.

Chapter One

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‘I’m going to miss you all,’ Jonathan said, in a moment of tenderness as he kissed Claire.

‘We’ll miss you, but be honest, you’ll love the peace and quiet, and then when you come down for the weekends you’ll be flavour of the month with the kids.’

‘And with my wife?’

‘Of course.’ She smiled and snuggled into him. I purred from my place on the armchair. It was summer now and a lot had changed since Christmas. An awful lot.

Claire had got her way. Sort of. As if there had been any doubt. She had been very clever about it, though even I, cat of many successful plans, was impressed with this one.

Seabreeze Cottage was going to be our holiday home for now. And now the summer holidays were upon us, we were all decamping to Lynstow and Seabreeze Cottage for the school break. And I meanall. It was beyond exciting.

After Christmas, unbeknown to Jonathan, Claire had persuaded her parents to take a friend of theirs to Seabreeze, and do what they called a survey. It turned out that they needed to do some work on the roof, but otherwise the house was structurally sound. However, the interior needed a lot doing to it, new heating and hot water system, and all sorts of modernisation. There was also a big attic which could be converted, so Claire had got together a rough idea of how much the work would cost and then had presented this to Jonathan, who just couldn’t see how they could afford it unless he sold some vital organs, whatever that meant.

Claire was despondent but over drinks just after New Year, the women from my other families, Polly and Franceska, had a brainwave. Or actually Polly did.

‘Hey, Claire, this sounds fantastic. What’s the village called again?’

‘Lynstow in North Devon. It’s on the estuary, perfect for sailing, windsurfing or paddleboarding. The village itself has three pubs, a lovely village shop and a caf?. It’s changed a lot since I was last there, which was over twenty years ago, but Mum and Dad said it was still charming.’ Claire sounded wistful again, I knew she was thinking of the childhood summers she had spent in Lynstow and I knew how much she wanted it for her children. To be honest, the way she spoke about it, I was desperate to go there too. And I’m a cat, who certainly wouldn’t be doing any sailing or anything to do with water, actually. But I am a romantic and I was definitely caught up in the romance of it all.

Polly asked to see the details, and Claire pulled out her folder with the pictures and the details from the builder in it— she was nothing if not organised. Polly sipped her wine and looked over it, then passed it to Franceska.

‘It is so pretty, my boys would love it here,’ Franceska said.

‘I agree,’ Polly said. I could almost see her thoughts racing. ‘And I can see the potential. This could be such a beautiful house with a bit of love. And of course I could manage this project easily.’

‘That’s what I keep saying to Jonathan. If we did the work it would be worth so much more money, not that I want to sell it ever. As I said, I would love it for Toby and Sum, and you guys could join us for holidays — it’s got five bedrooms at the moment, but the attic is huge and ripe for conversion. There’s only one bathroom but the builder said that it would be easy to put in one en suite and one in the attic, and three bathrooms would be plenty. I mean it’s a big house. When I was little I thought it was enormous, because it was so much bigger than Mum and Dad’s house. I thought it was the biggest house ever.’

I rubbed against Claire, I didn’t want her to be sad, because I knew how much she wanted this. But I also understood Jonathan. They couldn’t just magic up money, that was a human problem I had learnt about in my life. Thankfully not something us cats needed to concern ourselves with.

The women lapsed into silence as they all sipped wine and Franceska nibbled an olive.

‘This might sound crazy but here’s an idea,’ Polly started. Claire looked at her hopefully. ‘Of course we all live in London, and we all want our children to see there are beaches and countryside out there, but it’s expensive going away, even in the UK. We went to the Lake District last holidays, and the cottage we rented cost more than a five-star hotel in Spain.’

‘I agree, Polly, but I don’t understand what your point is?’ Franceska interjected.

‘Oh yeah, sorry it’s the wine. So here’s my mad idea. How about we pool our resources? I can help re-design the place as you know and I am also used to dealing with contractors. As I’m freelance now I can devote time to it and Franceska, your restaurants are doing really well, so I thought,mad I know, but if we all chip in maybe we can restore Seabreeze and use it for our holidays. Like a sort of joint holiday home.’

I was amazed when I heard this. A holiday cottage for us all— I assumed she was including me and George of course — and I meowed loudly to show I for one thought it a very good idea.

‘Alfie approves,’ Claire laughed. ‘And now I think of it, imagine if our families shared the cottage?’

‘But it is your cottage, Claire, and there is an issue of ownership if we get involved, no?’ Franceska said sensibly.

Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. After all I’m a cat, not a solicitor.

‘I have thought of that,’ Polly said. She seemed to have done a lot of thinking in a very short space of time. ‘We get it valued now, then whatever we each put in gives us a share but not the main share, which stays with Claire. I was thinking that one day it will go to her children and, well, in our ideal world our children will carry on like we are, the best of friends, but anyway we can get it all done properly and above board. I know it’s unorthodox but it could work, we could make it work. And of course it would have to be done legally, that would be the only way the men would agree to it.’

‘Ah the men.’ Claire looked a bit perplexed.

‘Firstly, in my wildest dreams I didn’t think we would have a holiday house.’ Franceska suddenly sprung to life. ‘I didn’t think we would have all this but for the boys it will be so amazing. It would be like a timeshare for us, we could all use it together or at other times and if we need to make money we could always rent it out. We need to show it to the men as a business proposition. An investment for all of us and our futures and our children’s futures. Right, how much money are we talking?’ Franceska was now caught up with enthusiasm.

And just like that my three favourite women formulated a plan.

I felt proud of them, it was as if they had learnt their planning skills from me— and OK, some of my plans do go a little awry but they always end up successful. Anyway, they weren’t going to leave anything to chance so they cooked a fantastic dinner — Franceska was the best cook so she took charge of food. The children were all asleep; they were having a sleepover here which I was excited about, as was George, who was asleep with Toby and Henry, who was sharing his room. Aleksy wasn’t asleep; I had been to see him and he was playing on a computer thingy, but that was our secret. So, after the food and quite a lot of beer and wine, the women swooped in with what they called their presentation, which Claire was in charge of. It was funny how formidable they all looked, standing there in a row, with the men almost quaking with fear. As well they should — they didn’t stand a chance.

‘But you mean we would all own the house?’ Jonathan scratched his head as they finished talking.

‘Yes, but obviously to different degrees. The input from us would give us a share but a minor one, and we’d do it all legally. So for example if we wanted to sell or get our money out we couldn’t just do that,’ Polly expanded on the legal side, which I couldn’t concentrate on; I was eyeing up the leftovers and wondering how long I’d have to wait before they would remember to give me some.

‘So we all go there for holidays?’ Tomasz asked, his eyes narrowed.

‘We could do! Imagine, Tomasz, the children get to see the sea and the countryside when they’re not at school. And we thought that we could all go this summer, us women and the kids, and then when you could get time off work you join us, that way we can supervise the work and the kids will loveit, it’ll be an adventure.’

‘But hang on, it sounds as if the house is going to be a building site this summer, will that be safe for the children?’ Matt asked.

‘It’ll be safe but obviously a bit chaotic,’ Polly said. ‘Listen, I’ll manage the restoration and I’ll do it so there’ll be minimal disruption. The children will be out all day when the builders are in, there’s so much to do: the beach, trips to the countryside, the older ones can learn to surf or paddleboard. Honestly, I’ll make sure the house is safe.’ Polly gave Matt’s shoulder a squeeze.

‘And if you all agree, we can get essential work done before the summer,’ Claire chipped in.

‘You’ve thought this all through, haven’t you?’ Matt said, shaking his head.

‘If you mean have we anticipated all of your objections, then yes,’ Polly replied with a wry smile.

‘Look, between the three of us we can afford to get the cottage looking amazing again,’ Claire started. ‘We’ve done the figures and, worst-case scenario, we will have added value and can sell it for a profit for everyone. Best-case scenario, we enjoy it with our families, together at times,on our own at others, but we will have a holiday home and the children will get to enjoy beach life the way I did growing up.’

‘But it was valued for more than I expected,’ Jonathan said. ‘So I still think the sensible option is to sell.’

‘This way, though, Jonathan, we can do it up and sell it for even more if we decide to,’ Polly persisted. ‘But we all think that this summer, when we get the work done, we’ll all fall in love with it and won’t want to let it go.’

‘Just look at the figures, I promise they make sense.’ The men all studied the spreadsheet that Claire thrust at them.

‘But are you sure it’s habitable for the children?’ Matt reiterated, looking worried. And for cats, I wondered.

‘Well, not exactly, but the summer holidays aren’t for two months so we thought we could all take it in turns to go down before, just the adults, and each time we could do what is needed to make it habitable. We can buy beds, appliances, make sure the water and heating works, we’ll get it ready for the summer and also get some alone time.’ Polly raised her eyebrows at her husband.

He shrugged, defeated. Honestly, these women had thought of everything and my whiskers stood up with pride.

‘We can do this!’ Claire added with a smile.

‘You make it sound like a fantastic idea,’ Tomasz said. ‘And now I take more time from work I can come and join you more I guess.’ He looked at the other men for reassurance.

‘I can arrange to work from home on a Friday and come down for weekends,’ Matt said.

‘Hold on, how do we even get there?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Ah, well we’ll be taking the cars but there’s also the trains. The station is only a forty-minute drive away, direct from London, so really there’s no problem.’

‘Have I been stitched up again?’ Jonathan asked. I jumped onto his lap and yelped. Of course he had. Everyone laughed.

‘Well the house will be quiet, no Claire, no children, just me, Alfie and George this summer.’ I suddenly looked up.

‘Oh no, darling, Alfie and George will be coming with us. It’s their holiday cottage too.’

I purred with delight. Yay! We were going on holiday.

‘Claire, you do know it’s strange the way you take Alfie and now George everywhere with you, as if they were dogs?’

I yelped. How dare he compare me to a dog?

‘They’re part of the family and, anyway, Alfie came on holiday with us before, didn’t he?’

I put my head down, as a bolt of sadness hit me. We went on holiday with Snowball, my then girlfriend, before her family moved her away, leaving my heart broken. It was all OK now but I still remember my last holiday with a pang. Actually, perhaps this was going to give me new holiday memories, which would mean the old ones would properly fade away. It was about time, after all.

‘Well yes, but you know, George hasn’t been away from here before,’ Tomasz pointed out.

‘Yes but Alfie will take care of him and anyway how will Toby sleep without George next to him,’ Claire said, indicating any debate was over.

As I finally got my leftovers they discussed the finer details. Everyone, even Jonathan, seemed a little swept away with excitement now. I certainly was, my fur was tingling with the thought of the adventures that awaited us. We were all going to decamp to Seabreeze Cottage for the summer, and we would all spend a lovely, perfect, English summer by the sea. Yes the men had been ambushed, but really it was all for the best.

‘I’m not sure Seabreeze or Lynstow know what’s going to be hitting them,’ Matt said.

‘Edgar Road decamps to Devon,’ Polly laughed.

‘And you know, it will be so great for the children,’ Franceska reiterated.

‘Meow!’ I clambered up her, nudging her with my nose.

‘And the cats of course,’ Claire finished.

Chapter Two [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_005.jpg]

‘As you’re all off tomorrow, today I’m going to take you and the kids out for lunch and then I thought we’d go to the dinosaur museum,’ Jonathan announced proudly.

‘Yay!’ Toby said.

‘Will Peppa Pig be there?’ Summer asked.

‘Can I go too?’ George asked me. I told him no.

‘I’m not sure Peppa will be there but there will be lots of dinosaurs to see, darling,’ Jonathan said.

‘Sounds good to me. I’m nearly all organised anyway.’ Claire grinned. Truth be told she had been pretty much packed for weeks. Claire was nothing if not well organised. She had made lists and more lists and, well, possibly even more lists before we headed off to Devon for the summer. I was glad at times like this that I was a cat. All I had to do was to make sure that George and I were clean and ready to go.

As everyone left, I ate some biscuits, had a drink of water and then cleaned myself.

‘George, you might want to give yourself a quick groom,’ I suggested.

‘Why, Dad?’

‘Because we are going out to enjoy our last day. With the rest of the neighbourhood cats,’ I told him.

‘Goody!’ He started licking his fur. We had a group of friendly cats on Edgar Road. As well as Tiger, there were Rocky, Elvis and Nellie who all lived on our street and we often hung out together. They were a good bunch who always helped whenever we were in trouble — like last year when George was catnapped by a woman who snatched quite a few cats in the area and they all rallied to help us. Other cats had come and gone but we were the core Edgar Road cat gang and they were all incredibly important to me.

While Jonathan had a day planned for the rest of the family, Tiger had planned something for George and I. She told me because she didn’t trust surprises; they normally went wrong. I couldn’t argue with her, they did tend to, in our world anyway. She told me to bring George to the recreational grass at the end of our road. It was a small patch, tucked away from the street and where us cats converged regularly without being bothered by humans. Or dogs for that matter.

We made our way to the end of the street and found all our Edgar Road cat friends waiting for us. It was like a party. A leaving party, I guessed.

‘You’re all here,’ George exclaimed excitedly, bounding from cat to cat.

‘Of course we are,’ Rocky said, gruffly.

‘We wouldn’t miss a party,’ Nellie added, nestling into George. If Tiger was George’s mum then Nellie was like his favourite aunt.

‘Although I nearly didn’t make it, I was eating one minute, then the next I fell asleep. Must be old age.’ Elvis wasn’t a young tom, and I could sympathise with him. Sometimes I found myself drifting off to sleep these days. I wasn’t as young as George, but then I wasn’t ready for old age yet — there were lives in this old cat yet!

‘Well I’m glad you did make it,’ I said warmly. Tiger looked very pleased with herself.

‘We have been friends for a long time now,’ she said. ‘Since Alfie moved here really, and it’s just amazing to see that we’ve all remained friends.’ It was true we had.

‘It’ll be strange without you guys this summer,’ Elvis mused.

Just then there was a rustle in the bushes and my friend Dustbin, who lived with Franceska and Tomasz, or more accurately in their yard, appeared. He was a feral cat who worked for the restaurant in return for food, a job which suited him perfectly. When I first met him I was a little intimidated by this wild cat, but he had a heart of gold.

‘Wow, Dustbin, you’ve come!’ I was touched. He lived a few streets away and was always busy keeping the rodents under control. Not my kettle of fish, or rats more accurately, but Dustbin loved his work.

‘Wouldn’t miss it, Alfie,’ said Dustbin. ‘Seeing you and the boy off. It’s going to be strange not having you popping round.’

George and I stayed with Franceska’s family quite often, which meant we got to spend time with Dustbin. He was a truly good friend.

‘It won’t be the same without the lad,’ Rocky said, sounding emotional.

‘Um, you do know we’re going away for a few weeks, not forever,’ I said, wondering why everyone was so emotional.

‘We know that,’ Nellie said. ‘But you know how much we see of each other. It will be strange not to see George. And you too, Alfie,’ she added as an afterthought. Despite the fact that some said I was quite a vain cat, I was used to playing second fiddle to George.

‘We’ll be back here before you know it, and then we can tell you all about our summer.’ I tried to lift everyone’s spirits.

‘Yes, we’re going to the seaside,’ George explained.

‘I know and not many cats are lucky enough to go to the seaside,’ Rocky said.

‘I am so very lucky,’ George said. ‘But now I want to play hide and seek.’ He ran off before anyone could answer. The rest of us cats looked at each other, indulgently. There were only two bushes but we always had to pretend it took us ages to find him. That was what you did with kittens.

We spent a lovely afternoon, seeking with George, playing with leaves and sunbathing. When it was time to go, I knew I would miss each and every one of my friends, but then I also knew we were going to have such a great time on holiday that time would fly by. We would be back before we all knew it.

I still felt a bit emotional as I sat on my back step with Tiger that evening. George had gone to bed with Toby, and Tiger and I were going to say our last goodbye. According to Claire, we were going to be gone for about six weeks. I didn’t know exactly how long that was but it sounded like a fair amount of time. I had been away before but not for this long and we were leaving the others behind. I kind of understood now that being left was the hard part, although of course we were coming back.

‘Don’t you go going off with any of those seaside cats,’ Tiger said, not meeting my eyes.

‘Don’t be silly,’ I replied. ‘I have all I need back here. Yes, we are going to have a lovely holiday but you know my job will be looking after George. Goodness knows what mischief he could get up to, not to mention the humans.’

‘Of course. I know it’s supposed to be a holiday but I’ve got a feeling you’ll have your paws full. Look after our kitten, won’t you?’ her voice urgent.

‘Oh, Tiger, I know you’ll miss him, but I promise I won’t let him out of my sight.’ Just thinking about that made me feel tired. Hopefully it would be a bit relaxing as well. What was I thinking? Looking after George was the least relaxing thing ever. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

‘I know you’ll take care of him, but take care of yourself too.’

‘I’ll miss you, Tiger, and I will really look forward to seeing you when we get back.’ I wasn’t sure how to express myself, but I was trying.

‘Good, and make sure you do miss me. Alfie, I love you more than all the cat food in the world.’

‘And I love you more than pilchards.’ I nuzzled into her neck. We stayed there for what seemed like ages in comfortable silence. That was what I liked about my relationship with Tiger; we knew each other so well, nothing needed saying, and that was how I liked it.

A shadow loomed over us and I looked up to see Salmon. He used to be my nemesis, but since George went missing in the summer we had called a truce. It had been the worst time of my life not knowing where my kitten was and all our cat friends had rallied to help, as had Salmon. He was very fond of George, if not so much me.

‘Salmon,’ I said. Tiger scowled; she still wasn’t his biggest fan. To be honest he was a bit of a busybody, like his owners who ran the neighbourhood watch and lived opposite us. They made everything that was going on in Edgar Road their business.

‘I was going to say goodbye to the lad but I’m guessing he’s in bed?’ he said, sounding gruff. He didn’t really know how to be friendly, but it wasn’t his fault.

‘He is, Salmon,’ I said, kindly. ‘But I’ll tell him you came by. Are you alright?’

‘Yes, just so you know I’ll look after things while you’re away. I mean, you know, keep an eye on things.’

‘What things?’ Tiger asked.

‘I’ll make sure everything is OK, Alfie,’ Salmon said. He raised his tail. ‘My owners are going to see yours to say the same. Anyway, have a good trip and hope the lad enjoys himself.’

I raised my whiskers at him and then he left.

‘You could be friendlier,’ I said to Tiger.

‘And you could be less so,’ Tiger retorted. ‘Anyway, I better get back, supper will be waiting. Bye, Alfie.’

She sounded sad but I didn’t prolong the farewell, I understood how she felt, and I knew that by snapping at me, it would make it easier for her. I hated goodbyes too, even temporary ones.

When I let myself back in through the cat flap, Claire and Jonathan were on the sofa together. The doorbell interrupted them. I went to wait by the door, having been warned that it was Vic and Heather Goodwin, Salmon’s owners.

‘Oh God, we don’t even get five minutes’ peace,’ Jonathan muttered as he opened the door.

Before he could say anything, Vic and Heather were inside the house, a skill they seemed to have. Without being asked they made their way to the living room.

‘Well this is a surprise,’ Claire said, standing up. I went to join her, as did Jonathan. Vic and Heather always made us feel guilty for some reason, as if we had done something wrong. That was always how it was with them. And Claire and Jonathan didn’t invite them to sit down — they weren’t being rude but they’d done that once before and Vic and Heather had stayed for hours; we all thought they were never going to leave and Jonathan said if they’d stayed any longer they would have claimed squatters’ rights! It was always better not to be too welcoming — we’d learnt the hard way.

‘Well, dear,’ Heather said. They were both wearing matching blue shirts today; they were always coordinated. ‘We wanted to reassure you that, although you are going away, your house is in safe hands.’ She grinned, slightly menacingly, I thought.

‘Well yes, it’s in my hands,’ Jonathan replied, tetchily.

‘Oh we know,’ Vic laughed, ‘that you’ll be here some of the time, but with your big important job and then when you are going to stay with the family … Where is it you’re going again?’

‘North Devon,’ Claire stuttered, terrified; I wondered if they were going to ask for the address.

‘Perhaps we should have the information — you know, for emergencies,’ Heather said.

‘What emergencies? I am going to be here most of the time, you know,’ Jonathan reiterated.

‘I’ll give you my mobile number,’ Claire said, reluctantly. ‘Just for emergencies and of course Jonathan and I are very grateful that you’ll be keeping an eye on the house while we’re away, thank you.’

‘Um, yes, but when I’m here, you’ll know because there will be lights on, so you don’t need to worry,’ Jonathan said. He grimaced. I could imagine that was because Vic and Heather’s binoculars would be trained on the house from across the road. Not that he had anything to hide, but I had learnt through the years that humans liked privacy rather than being stared at by neighbours.

‘Of course, we just want to make sure that your house is safe when it’s empty. Imagine if you came back from your holiday and found it burgled.’

‘It’s unlikely,’ Jonathan said. We had alarms on the house, it was very safe apparently.

‘It’s more than unlikely with us on the case, you see. Now we really ought to get moving, we need to go and see Matt and Polly to give them the same reassurance.’ Vic smiled. ‘Oh but, Claire, if you could just scribble your number down?’ he added.

Once Claire had given them her number, and they left, Jonathan turned to her.

‘They’ll be calling you whenever anything, I mean anything, happens,’ he teased.

‘Well at least I know you’ll behave yourself. Being watched all the time.’ Claire giggled, I purred.

‘I hadn’t thought of that, although of course I’ll behave myself. I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet, but I will miss you all,’ he quickly added.

I knew what he meant. Our house could be chaos and sometimes Jonathan said going to work was his way of relaxing. I would miss him though, I was used to him always being there and he had very good taste in cat food and cashmere jumpers, which I would‘accidentally’ use to sleep on.

‘Shall we warn Matt and Polly?’ Claire asked.

‘No, why let them escape the fun of the Goodwins? I think we should have a last drink and then go to bed. You’ve got a long drive tomorrow.’

‘I’m so excited to see the cottage again. It’ll be beautiful when we’ve finished.’

‘I know, darling.’ Jonathan put his arm around her. ‘It could be amazing but please, let’s just all keep our heads out of the clouds. You, Polly and Franceska are all in love with the idea of having this holiday cottage — and I do understand — but if it gets too expensive … And of course the school holiday is just under six weeks, we don’t know how much you’ll be able to get done.’

‘I know, darling, but it won’t. It’s all going to be perfect, I just know it is. Our families will have this wonderful second home and our holidays will be so good for the kids, it’s just like a dream come true.’ Claire had that faraway look in her eyes, which meant she was already at Seabreeze Cottage. ‘Great Aunt Claire would love that we’ve filled it with children and cats too.’

When Claire made up her mind, it was impossible to argue, and Jonathan seemed to agree with me as, shaking his head, he went to put the kettle on.

Chapter Three [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_006.jpg]

Car journeys are not on my list of favourite things. Being hustled into a pet carrier usually heralds destinations you certainly don’t want to visit — like the vet. But to go on holiday, it was necessary. Claire had got a carrier that was big enough for both of us, plus some snacks if we got hungry on the way. George was so excited, he wouldn’t keep still, which made the journey a little bit annoying as he kept falling into me. I was battered and bruised in no time.

‘George, just settle down,’ I chastised, not that it did me any good.

We left London in the first week of the school holidays. We were in Claire’s car with Toby and Summer, driving in convoy with Polly and her children, and Franceska and hers. All three cars were packed up with our belongings too. Jonathan had huffed and puffed a lot when Claire barked instructions at him as he squashed everything in the boot. George and I were on the front seat next to Claire but we were too low down to see anything from the carrier. I thought I would try to sleep as much as I could, it seemed a good opportunity to rest, but George had other ideas.

‘Are we nearly there yet?’ he asked for the millionth time.

‘Yes,’ I said, with no idea if that was true but I’d heard Claire saying the same to Summer and Toby, so I guessed it was an appropriate parental response.

‘Tell me about the seaside?’ George asked as he finally sat down.

‘Well I only went there once and that was a different seaside I think. But there were big birds, seagulls, which you need to watch out for as they’re not very friendly. And of course we keep away from the water at all costs.’ As I repeatedly warned George about the perils of the seaside that I knew about, I hoped there weren’t any others. But I knew I wouldn’t let George out of my sight. I had done so once and it had all gone horribly wrong, with him being catnapped, and he could be a bit of a pawful. Also, the fear of not knowing where my boy was had been unlike anything I have ever experienced.

‘I will do, Dad. But what can we do there?’ he asked. I actually didn’t know.

‘We’ll do what we do at home, look after our humans and enjoy ourselves in any way we can,’ I replied vaguely. Sea air would do us good, I knew that much. Well, that was what everyone said.

The journey seemed to go on forever, I was beginning to feel impatient. We stopped a few times so the children could eat, and when we did, we were allowed out of the cat carrier, although not out of the car, so we could move around a bit.

I had to be careful, because I had an old injury from when I was hurt in Edgar Road, saving Claire from a horrible man, which bothered me at times, and as I’d been sitting for so long, my bad leg was stiff. I was fine, although I had to be careful, but it was a stark reminder that people weren’t always good. I snuck a glance at George and hoped he would never encounter anyone like that. But then, I smiled. George was standing on his hind legs looking out of the car window, paws against it, as people stopped and took photos of him.

‘Get down, before you fall,’ I chastised him. He loved attention. By the time Claire got back to the car with Summer and Toby, he’d acquired quite a crowd.

‘Oh gosh,’ Claire said. ‘I better get them back in the pet carrier.’

‘Lovely kitten,’ someone said to her and she smiled and thanked them. She strapped Summer and Toby into their car seats and then I ushered George into our carrier and we settled down again.

‘Not far now,’ Claire said, as she started to drive off. But, of course, we had heard that before.

It felt like we had been in that pet carrier forever when we finally stopped. I couldn’t see anything at first, but then Claire lifted the carrier out of the car and put us on the ground and I saw that we were on a lawn. It was still light outside too, although the sun was dulling.

‘Can I let them out?’ I heard Aleksy’s voice.

‘Yes, but make sure they don’t run off,’ Claire warned. Aleksy opened the door. George sprang out, but Aleksy scooped him up. I walked out behind him, sniffing the air. Yes, it did smell different to that in London, and I looked around. Wow, I could already see that it was pretty lovely here.

Claire had parked her car next to Franceska’s at the edge of the lawn, where there was a kind of parking area. Then there was a fence, not too high, but with a gate which we had walked through. The lawn in front of the house was bigger than it looked in the photos, and as it was enclosed, it would be our playground. The cottage was detached and there were lush bushes surrounding the garden. The lawn looked neat and tidy, and the grass felt warm under paw. I turned and looked away from the house.

‘Wow,’ George said, joining me. We sat side by side for a moment taking in the view. There was a road, but on the other side of it was a sandy beach, which stretched to the water, glimmering in the sun. It was beautiful. Toby and Summer were jumping up and down.

‘Can we go to the beach now?’ Toby asked.

‘Well, darling, I’ve got to get unpacked and it’s nearly teatime,’ Claire said. ‘And we need to wait for Polly to arrive too.’

‘I tell you what, Claire, I take the children over, they’ve been cooped up in the car for so long and then you have some time to get organised,’ Franceska offered.

‘Yes!’ Toby grinned.

‘Come on, Tobe,’ Tommy said, taking hold of his hand, and they all headed off towards the beach.

Claire had her arms full as she stood next to us on the lawn watching them run off.

‘Right guys, come inside and I’ll get you fed,’ she said. I purred. ‘I know, it’s so beautiful here, isn’t it? I can smell my childhood,’ she said, before heading into the house.

Claire opened the door and George and I ran between her legs to explore. On first glance the house was a bit of a shock, compared to what we were used to at home. The carpet was shabby and almost threadbare. As we made our way through the entrance hall, I noticed the walls were all peeling. With George following me, the first room I came to was large and square with two big windows overlooking the lawn; I guessed this was the living room. As George jumped on the windowsill, I padded around. It had two big old sofas and two floral armchairs in it— I knew from the humans’ conversation that they had got them from a charity shop, just until they furnished it properly. There was an open fire on one side, and an old coffee table. It was a nice room, or it would be. I was happy to see there was also a television in the corner. I wasn’t sure how the children would have lived without that. I left the room and went to the next room, which was smaller, with two small sofas in it and a fire. Again the walls were peeling, and the carpet was thin. It had a window to the back of the house, where I could see a courtyard. I guessed the lawn atthe front was the main garden, and that was enormous. Anyway, the empty room held little interest so I went back to the hall and saw George there.

‘What do you think?’ I asked.

‘It’s a bit empty,’ George said. It wasn’t but I knew what he meant — it was un-lived in.

‘We’ll soon make it our home,’ I told him. There was another smaller room at the front of the house, on the other side to the front door, again it was empty, and next to that was a large kitchen. A massive table dominated the room, and although you could tell it was old fashioned — there were no fixed cupboards like we had at home — the kitchen felt a bit like the life of the house already. Claire was boiling a kettle and she was arranging cupboards. I was about to go upstairs to continue my tour of the house when a noise from the front interrupted me.

‘We’re here,’ I heard Polly call out.

‘In the kitchen,’ Claire replied. Henry and Martha ran in first, and made a fuss of both me and George.

‘Hi, love,’ Polly said, as she appeared. ‘Thank goodness we’re finally here.’

‘Bit of a drive, wasn’t it?’

‘Well the traffic wasn’t great, but then it is the start of the summer holiday.’

‘Cuppa?’ Claire asked.

‘Love one. Where is everyone else?’

‘Frankie’s taken the kids to the beach, they were stir crazy after being in the car for so long.’

‘Can we go? Please?’ Henry asked.

Polly groaned.

‘OK, come on then.’

‘I’ll put the tea on hold.’ Claire grinned. ‘But how about some food for you two?’ She looked at me.

‘Meow!’ Yes please.

I forgot about the tour of the upstairs, as we settled down to eat. The cottage had a nice feel about it, I decided. The rooms were big and, despite being old and a bit run-down, it was very light. I don’t know why but I thought that cottages were meant to be small and gloomy. Well that was what Jonathan said, until he’d visited of course. Seabreeze felt a bit like its name. It was big, it was bright, and when the work was done I knew it would be lovely. It was definitely a bit shabby now but I felt excited about the summer, not only were we going to have a lovely holiday but Seabreeze would be transformed into a dream house, I just knew it.

The children came back all covered in sand which they scattered like stardust through the house until they all emerged in the kitchen.

‘I was thinking, shall we take them to the pub for tea?’ Claire asked. ‘It’s just none of us are quite unpacked, and it might be easier.’

‘Cool,’ Aleksy said. The other children were all jumping about with excitement.

‘Look at all this sand,’ Franceska laughed. ‘I suppose we need to get used to this.’

‘Well, in my plans,’ Polly said, ‘which I’ll unveil properly later, I thought the utility through there,’ she pointed to a door at the back of the kitchen, ‘could be the sand room — and we can knock through so you come in the back door directly into it. That way the sand is containable. Oh, and that’s where the downstairs loo is too,’ she said. ‘Which works now, by the way, although needs replacing.’

I looked. I hadn’t noticed the room before, but now the door was open I could see it was actually quite big.

‘You’re a genius, Pol,’ Claire said.

‘Wait till you see what else I’ve got planned. I’m not sure that we’ll get it all done this holiday but we’ll give it our best shot! Anyway, pub sounds good to me. I’m too exhausted to think about cooking,’ Polly agreed.

The children were all ushered into the utility space where sand was emptied from shoes and clothes. Then they said goodbye to us and were off.

‘Right, George, while we’re alone I want to get the proper measure of the house.’

‘OK, Dad. I might nap, I’m a bit sleepy,’ he said. I followed him to the big living room where he curled up on the windowsill. The sun was setting but it was a warm spot. I went back to the downstairs rooms and wondered what the two empty rooms would be used for. The back door, which I was delighted to see had a cat flap in it, was right next to the wall where the utility room was. I decided not to go through it yet, because although he was asleep I didn’t want to leave George alone in the house. Instead I headed upstairs.

The stairs were uncarpeted and at the top was a big open landing. I decided which way to go and found myself nudging the door of the furthest room. It was a medium-sized room in which they had put two sets of bunk beds. I guessed this was for the four boys. The window looked out onto the sea, and I thought how lucky the boys would be to wake up to that. I also guessed it was going to be George’s room as he’d have to sleep with Toby. Luckily, if he did have to sleep in the top bunk, George wasn’t afraid of heights. I was a bit, but that’s a whole other story. I made my way to the room directly opposite which was a smaller room. There were two beds, both with pink covers. For Martha and Summer. They had got the short straw as the view out back was of other houses and fields, but then there were only two of them. Next to those rooms at the back of the house was a big bathroom. In it was an old fashioned bathtub, with a shower hose, a toilet and a sink. Again, it had all seen better days. I went to the rooms on the other side of the landing, and at the front was the biggest bedroom. It had a lovely view out over the front, and it also had a sink and a toilet in a small room off it. I knew this was what they called the master bedroom and Franceska and Polly insisted it was Claire’s room. There were two other small rooms behind it, which Polly and Franceska were staying in. All beds had been set up, and although it was going to be a bit of a squeeze, it was big enough for all of us. Just. I saw there was a staircase leading up to a door and I had heard them talk ofan attic room, but I couldn’t get through the closed door to explore that.

I tried to quell the feeling of disappointment. Yes the location was spectacular but the house really did need a great deal of work. I tried to imagine how it could be but being a cat it was too hard. I just had to put faith in Polly that it would be like home when finished and of course the beach looked lovely, I couldn’t wait to go and explore that, having no real experience of sand. I went to find my kitten. It was time to try to enjoy the holiday.

I walked back into the kitchen and smelt something funny. There was no sign of George, or of my humans as I went to investigate. I nosed around the utility room but couldn’t see anything. However, the smell was distinctive; it was the smell of cat, but not George or me. I wondered if some of the local cats had been round when the house was empty. I shook my fur, maybe I was just imagining things. There was no sign of any cat, just the smell. I reluctantly left my investigations to go and get George.

‘Meow!’ I said loudly. He needed to wake up or I’d never get him to sleep tonight.

‘Yelp!’ George jumped and fell off the windowsill, landing on his tail.

‘Sorry,’ I said, trying not to laugh. ‘I just wanted to wake you.’

‘What’s up?’ George asked, licking his fur.

‘Nothing, I thought we could go out for a quick explore before the others came back.’ I was itching to get another sniff of that sea air.

‘OK, but can we go to the beach like the children?’ George asked.

‘No, not tonight, I don’t want Claire to worry if she comes home and we’re not here, but soon, I promise.’

For now we contented ourselves with jumping out of the cat flap, and making our way round to the front of the house. As we sat on the edge of the lawn staring at the sun setting into the water, I was mesmerised. Yellow sand seemed to sparkle, as the water rolled softly, filling the air with a salty aroma. It was intoxicating. The bright orange sun looked as if it was floating on the water, and the sky was alive with colours of orange, yellow and the electric blue of the beckoning night sky. The smell here was different to that in Edgar Road. It smelt of salt, and sun and combined a heady aroma which made me want to sit there and sniff the air; which was what I did.

I understood why this meant so much to Claire. It was the most beautiful view I’d ever seen and I was so glad, so thankful, as George sat next to me, that I got to share it with my kitten. And it hit me, that we were really on holiday, our first holiday together.

Chapter Four

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I was woken by George tickling my head with his tail yet again. I had opted to sleep on Claire’s bed, which was pretty comfortable, and also, I liked being near her when it was the two of us. I guess I felt that, without Jonathan around, I was her protector, the way I was when we first met. Claire was my first human on Edgar Road. She moved there after getting divorced and she was very sad when I first met her. I was lonely, she was lonely, it was as if we were meant to be together. She cried a lot and I comforted her, which in turn comforted me. We have an unshakeable bond and I love all my humans, I really do, but Claire will always have an extra special place in my heart. In a way it was meeting her that led me to meeting my other families, and then in turn I led Claire to them too.

It took me a moment to remember where I was, before I realised that we were by the sea. On our holiday, in our home which, if all went to plan, would be our holiday home. I leapt up excitedly. Claire opened her eyes.

‘Hey, boys, are the children awake?’ she asked, just as Toby and Summer came running in.

‘Mummy, Mummy,’ Summer shrieked, jumping on Claire and as Claire laughed, Toby climbed next to her and hugged her.

‘Did you sleep well, Tobes?’ she asked, stroking his hair.

‘I did, Mummy, George kept me warm,’ he said and I looked at George, proudly. I saw the sun streaming in through a small gap in the curtains and I couldn’t wait to see the sea again.

‘Right then, who wants some breakfast?’ Claire said, moving the covers and getting up.

‘Me, me, me,’ Summer chanted, jumping on the bed, sending me up and down with her.

‘Meow,’ George said loudly. Claire laughed.

‘Right, children and cats, let’s get you fed.’

It was so nice, us all being together, I thought; the kitchen was full of chatter and laughter. Yes, I missed the men but I could see this house, or cottage, or whatever it was supposed to be called, working already. Franceska was making a cooked breakfast, Claire was making coffee and Polly was organising the children around the table.

‘Mum, can I help?’ Aleksy said, as he joined his mum by the stove, which worked but had definitely seen better days. It looked a bit like the stove that my first owner Margaret had and I knew that that was very old.

‘Yes, darling, you can be in charge of toast.’ Luckily we had a new toaster.

‘And I’ll help you, Aleksy,’ Tommy said. Everyone was getting on harmoniously. It seemed that Lynstow, Seabreeze Cottage and the sea air were having a magical effect on us already. The children generally got on well but they also bickered a fair bit too. But not today.

‘Toby, do you want to play snap?’ Henry asked. Toby and Henry were of similar age, and Henry had been so sensitive in befriending Toby that he had made me proud. They were great friends, although it was more like Henry was his protector, because Toby needed it. Toby had made great progress since being with us, but he was still scarred and vulnerable and we all had to be mindful of that.

But all my children were wonderful and I had done a good job with them, if I did say so myself. Aleksy, who was the oldest at nearly eleven, looked after them all and Tommy who was a bit younger, but actually almost as big, did too. In fact, all my children looked after each other. The older boys definitely looked out for the younger ones, and Summer and Martha as the youngest were taken care of by all. Honestly, no one would ever hurt those girls! Jonathan joked that if they ever dared get a boyfriend, the other boys would definitely scare them off! But it filled my heart to see how our families had grown and bonded, and really the idea of us all being together like this for our holidays was a dream come true.

‘What are the plans for today?’ Aleksy asked, as he spooned up a forkful of beans. I was sitting on his lap, hidden from view because the humans didn’t like us being so close to food, but anyway, apart from the egg, I wasn’t that keen on his breakfast anyway. George was sitting at Summer’s feet. She used to throw her yoghurt and George developed quite a taste for it. Although she didn’t really do that any more, he still lived in hope.

‘Well I thought we would all go to the beach. We’ll take a blanket for us adults and you children can take buckets and spades and just enjoy the sand.’

‘Can we go in the water?’ Tommy asked.

‘If the tide’s in, but it might be cold,’ Franceska said, reasonably. It was sunny, we could see that, but also it looked as if there was a bit of a breeze as the trees in the garden swayed gently.

‘Anyway, we’re only across the road if we need anything from home,’ Claire pointed out. ‘Pol, we’ll pop back for lunch and to see how it’s going.’

‘Of course, can’t wait to get them working,’ Polly said, referring to the builders who were due to arrive shortly. ‘Right, Henry, Martha, you be good for Claire and Franceska.’ They both nodded.

Last night, after the children had gone to bed, Claire, Franceska, Polly and I had sat around the kitchen table, discussing plans for the house and drinking wine. Well I’d actually lain on the table, and dozed while half listening to them. Polly had already hired the builders, and they had done some of the work before we arrived — although, as the cottage looked as if it needed a lot more, I wasn’t sure what. But anyway, they were now going to be working under Polly’s supervision.

First job was to get the utility room knocked through to the back door so the sandy children could be contained. It had now been christened the‘sand room’. Apart from that, the main job they were starting on was the attic that I hadn’t seen. They were going to turn the space, which was apparently huge, into two bedrooms and a bathroom, which would be the children’s floor. The idea was that the boys could sleep up there in one room, the girls in another and a bathroom would adjoin the two rooms. They were keen to get that done so the children had their space first. Being a parent myself now, I was learning that parents were like that — always putting the children first. I knew from ‘discussions’ with the men that the house wasn’t being done up extravagantly but Polly knew how to get the best without paying the earth, and they had persuaded the men that if it was worth doing it was worth doing as well as they could. Basically it was costing a lot of money, but at the same time it would definitely be worth more than it was now by the time they finished. It made economic sense, Claire kept saying, but I had no idea what that meant. I just hoped that it was a bit brighter and more comfortable when they finished. All this cat needed from his holiday home.

However, they were all confident that at the end they would have a gorgeous second home and I know Claire spoke dreamily of the children all holidaying here with their families one day. Cynical Jonathan muttered often that it would be sold at some point but I knew when he came here again with the children and saw how much we loved it he’d fall in love too. Anyway, I digress. I watched as the breakfast dishes were cleared away, and then when George went to play with the children, I cleaned myself up and got ready for our day.

We had been out for a runaround and seen the children off for their trip to the beach but I’d had to restrain George once again. He was so eager to go but I’d told him we needed to check it out together, to make sure it was safe for cats. After all, I could see that water was involved, so we needed to be cautious. And Claire hadn’t suggested taking us so I didn’t want to take anychances.

‘George, we’ll go a bit later so we can check it out properly,’ I said sensibly.

‘But I want to go now,’ George persisted.

‘George, be a good kitten, we can’t just do what we want, you know that. Anyway, I promise if you are good today I will take you later.’

‘OK,’ he conceded but he didn’t really like having to give in.

I was just about to lead George back in the house when a van pulled up outside. A stocky man got out and made his way towards us.

‘Well hello,’ he said, bending down to stroke us both. We both purred and nuzzled into him. He was big and burly, with not much hair. The front door opened and Polly emerged clutching a mug.

‘Hey, Colin, nice to see you,’ she said. She was wearing flip-flops, her hair was tied back and she was smiling broadly. Polly was beautiful, she used to be a model, and I saw Colin’s eyes light up at the sight of her. She had that effect on people.

‘Alright, Mrs, I mean Polly. How are you?’ he said, striding towards her. We trotted along after him.

‘Good, although chaotic. Right, come in and we’ll go through the plans again. When are your men getting here? We really are on a tight schedule.’ Her forehead wrinkled in worry.

‘I’ve got three lads and the big van on the way, don’t you worry.’ He was cheerful with an accent I hadn’t heard before, but it was nice and friendly; a Devon accent maybe?

We followed them as they headed to the kitchen where Polly showed him what she wanted doing with the utility.

‘That won’t be a problem. I see what you mean, you want to knock through so you come in the back, straight in there, and don’t get a desert of sand in the house.’

‘Exactly. We’ve got six children, as well as the two cats, it can get messy.’

‘So, you’ll be using the cottage a lot then?’ Colin scratched his head.

‘Yes, that’s the plan. As there are three families there’ll be someone in the cottage most of the year I expect. I mean, holidays definitely but also weekends — we want to use it, not just have it empty most of the year. We want it to be a home.’

‘That’s good, Seabreeze needs some love, that’s for sure,’ Colin said.

‘It’d be good to get the downstairs toilet cordoned off.’ It was in the utility space but there was no door on it.

‘Right you are.’ He seemed agreeable. ‘We won’t order a new toilet until we order the rest of the bathrooms though, to keep costs down.’

‘That’s fine, if we can get a door that’ll do for now.’ Polly beamed. She was in her element. Since going to study interior design when the children reached a certain age, Polly had bloomed. She’d been modelling before she had Henry, and then she’d been a full-time mum to him and Martha. When she first arrived on Edgar Road, Henry was a baby and Polly was suffering from postnatal depression. It had taken a while but she’d recovered, thankfully. Last year, when Matt was made redundant from his job, Polly had thrown herself into interior design work. She had worked long hours in that job, it’d been difficult for both her and Matt, but now she freelanced, which meant she got to pick and choose her jobs a bit more carefully and, although she had some work to do, she was able to do most of it while sorting out the cottage, which was definitely lucky.

I felt exhausted as I followed them round, listening again to what was going to be done. It was another good thing about being a cat, we got to live in houses (well the lucky ones did) without having to worry about all this.

‘Right, well when the lads get here we’ll get stuck in. It might be best if the kids stay out of the way, and the cats,’ he said, pointing at George and me. ‘We don’t have hard hats to fit cats.’ He laughed at his joke, although I didn’t get it.

‘Don’t worry, the children will be out as long as this weather stays, and the cats are very clever,’ Polly said, picking George up.

‘Fingers crossed the rain stays off,’ Colin said.

Yes, paws crossed. If we had to stay out of the way at least the sun should be shining for us.

Shortly after that, a larger van pulled up. It blocked all our cars in, not that we needed them, and three men, younger than Colin, each with more hair, jumped out. Suddenly there was a lot of noise and bustle. It was clear we would be better out of the way. I looked at George, and thought perhaps we could risk checking the beach out now.

‘Remember, George, don’t leave my side and be very vigilant,’ I said as we slid under the gate.

‘Yes, Dad, of course,’ he replied. His fur was bristling with excitement, I could see how much this meant to him. We stood on the pavement, there were cars driving slowly past, as the road was quite narrow, and there were lots of cars parked on the road opposite. When it was safe we crossed. Weboth jumped up onto a wall and looked out onto the beach.

Wow, I had never seen anything like it. There was a lot of flat sand, but also these sandy hills which looked like a lot of fun. The sand was yellow in colour, there was grass poking out of the hills, and in the distance I could see the water but it looked as if it was miles away.

However, before we could go further I spotted a real danger.

‘Oh, George, look, there’s a dog,’ I yelled, moving closer to my boy protectively. I saw a solitary dog running around in circles nearby. How annoying, the whole beach could have been ours but a dog was going to ruin it. However, just as I was going to get George and run back to the cottage, a man came up to the owner.

‘I’m afraid dogs aren’t allowed on the beach during the summer months,’ he said, pointing at a sign post behind us.

‘But Trevor loves the beach,’ the owner replied, looking distraught.

I wanted to squeal for joy. Dogs weren’t allowed on the beach and there was no sign about cats.

‘I’m not scared of dogs, Dad.’ George puffed his little chest out and I moved closer. George claimed not to be scared of anything, which of course scared me. As the owner put the lead on the dog and dragged him, huffily, off the beach, we prepared to join the others.

‘George, I am not going to say this again. Dogs are silly creatures, of course they aren’t as clever as us cats, but they are bigger and if they’re off the lead they might try to hurt us. We can’t risk that.’

As if to prove my point, the dog, Trevor, barked aggressively as he was being led away from the beach.

We went to join our family. As we started walking on the sand, I turned to George.

‘It’s a bit weird,’ I said, not really able to articulate what it actually felt like.

‘It’s, like, very sinky,’ George said, as his paws disappeared into the yellow, grainy stuff. It took us a while before we could actually walk properly, but we finally made our way to our families.

‘Oh, Alfie and George, I’m not sure that cats are supposed to be on the beach,’ Franceska laughed.

‘No dogs aren’t allowed,’ Toby pointed out. ‘I read the sign.’

‘Good boy,’ Claire said. ‘But is there a sign for cats?’

‘No, no sign for cats,’ Toby replied.

‘Toby, can I bury your feets?’ Summer asked, approaching with a spade. Toby nodded and put his feet out in front of him for her.

‘OK, Alfie, George, sit down here with us and don’t get into any trouble,’ Claire said, pointing to the blanket next to her. Trouble? What on earth could she mean?

We spent a very lovely morning on the beach. It was warm but at times there was a pleasant breeze that ruffled our fur. George let Summer bury his paws but then he didn’t like it and squealed a lot. George and I did attract a few funny looks and some people came over to talk to us but Claire and Franceska told them that we liked to go everywhere with them. Some people even took photos of us. And best of all there were no seagulls.

I lay down to enjoy the sunshine as I kept an eye on the children and my kitten. Aleksy was supervising building a very elaborate castle, Tommy was running down to get wetter sand from further down the beach and running back, Summer and Martha were looking for shells to decorate it, and Toby and Henry were in charge of something called a moat. Wow, I thought, this was really something special. Even George was now getting used to the sand and was only sinking a bit, but that was alright because all the children took delight in rescuing him. As I lazily watched everything going on, I felt as warm inside as it was outside.

I did feel a bit hot though, something which didn’t seem to bother George, who was basking in the sun. Aleksy was showing off his latest building — it was a sand igloo and he cleverly explained how it was hollow inside. I had to say, with its domed top and entrance hall, it looked quite inviting. While they were finding more wet sand to add to the sides and top, I thought I would see if I could fit in. I wiggled through the entrance with ease. Wow, it was cool, and just comfortable enough. I could hear everyone chattering outside as I lay down and decided to shut my eyes for a quick cat nap.

A little while later, after a refreshing nap, I opened my eyes but I couldn’t see anything — it was pitch black. I tried to move but I couldn’t, there was pressure pushing down on every side. I wiggled in fear, but I was surrounded by sand. I could barely breathe and I panicked, which made it even worse. The sand igloo must have collapsed, I needed help, now. I opened my mouth to yowl and it filled with sand. As I attempted to spit it out and tried again, I started meowing as loudly as I could, until I was exhausted and my mouth grainy with sand. Finally I could hear voices outside, so I yowled some more, hoping to draw their attention. I tried not to panic any more than I was, as the more I moved the more trapped I seemed to be. I couldn’t even swish my tail.

I was breathless from all the screeching and although I could breathe, I was feeling more terrified by the minute. Even my voice was sounding wrong as I squealed again. If someone didn’t come soon I might be living in a sand igloo forever, being washed out to sea, possibly ending up in a far and distant foreign land! I heard the voices coming closer and finally a glimpse of daylight through a crack in the sand.

‘See, Aleksy, I told you Alfie must be in there,’ Tommy shouted. ‘My goodness, he could be hurt!’

‘Oh no, poor Alfie, I didn’t know, I’m so sorry.’ Aleksy’s voice was distraught. They kept digging until I was free, and Aleksy took me in his arms, brushing the worst of the sand off. I slowed my breathing down and the panic began to subside. I had to blink a few times so I could see andadjust to the bright light.

The children and George surrounded me, full of concern. Franceska appeared with some drinks, while I tried to shake the rest of the sand off my fur and catch my breath. Claire approached with Summer and Toby— they’d been for a paddle in the water.

‘What happened to Alfie?’ Claire asked. ‘I turn my back for five minutes.’ She shook her head.

Five minutes? It was far longer than that, more like hours. Being buried in sand had now been added to my near-death experiences. Others involved a bad man hurting me, almost being run over crossing the road, nearly drowning in a lake, being stuck up a tree— oh and once I was nearly attacked by a seagull. George nuzzled me, whispering that he was so happy to see I was alright. I felt slightly embarrassed; I was constantly warning George of trouble yet it was me who’d put himself in danger.

‘He’s OK, he was in my sand igloo and then when we were making another castle, it sort of collapsed. We didn’t know Alfie was in there.’

‘It’s usually George who gets into trouble these days,’ Claire pointed out. I rested my case.

‘We’re exhausted,’ Claire said as Polly appeared on the lawn. Claire had told us all it was time to go home for a bit to get lunch. I was quite pleased as I was still recovering from being buried alive. Earlier, I had wanted to take George to explore the sand hills, which I heard were called sand dunes, but Claire wouldn’t let us out of her sight now. And although I wouldn’t let my experience put me off the beach, I knew I would be more careful from now on.

‘Chasing the children round in the sun has taken its toll but they love the beach already,’ Claire continued.

‘And the beach loves us,’ Franceska laughed, brushing sand off her legs.

‘Right, well let’s have a picnic lunch out here. It’s a bit dusty in there, although by teatime the kitchen should be usable,’ Polly said, coming over to join us.

‘What are we doing about lunch then?’ Claire asked.

‘I thought we could get sandwiches, crisps and cold drinks from the village shop,’ Polly said. ‘I daren’t go into the kitchen. Aleksy, do you want to help me? You can also choose some treats for everyone.’

‘Yes, I’ll help.’ Aleksy stood up proudly, as he went with Polly.

‘Any special requests or are you happy with whatever?’

‘You know what the kids like, and I’m happy with anything. Do you want some money?’

‘No, I’ve got some. Right, let’s go.’

‘Yelp!’ I said. I wanted something too.

‘I’ll see what seafood they have for you two, of course,’ Polly laughed. ‘After all, we are by the sea, so they should have something nice.’

She bent down to give me a pat and I purred. I deserved a treat after my ordeal.

We passed a lovely afternoon on the lawn. It was too hot for us to go back to the beach, I told George. In truth I wasn’t ready to revisit it just yet, I was still feeling a little bit anxious. We could see so much from here in the shade of a lovely bush. I did ask George why he hadn’t noticed I was missing earlier but he just raised his whiskers and said he was far too busy digging holes, as if that was the most natural answer in the world.

As we watched, there was even more activity on the beach; children, and people on the water, which had moved closer up the beach— Claire said it was the tide coming in. There were some flat boards that people seemed to be standing on. I didn’t know what they were, having not seen them before.

‘Can I learn to paddleboard?’ Aleksy asked. Ah, that’s what those people were doing.

‘Yes,kochanie,’ Franceska said. ‘We’ll find out how to do it and then you and Tommy can learn.’

I hoped they would be careful, water was tricky and although I knew humans seemed to quite like it— the bath, a swimming pool, the sea — us cats sensibly steered clear.

Aleksy set up a game of football for the kids as us adults relaxed on a blanket. Polly went to check on the builders every now and then, Claire dozed off and Franceska read her book. I watched George chasing the football around, pretty unsuccessfully, but I knew he would sleep well tonight. In fact, the sea air was making me sleepy again.

‘Dad,’ a voice woke me. I looked up to see George standing there. I must have nodded off.

‘George.’

‘Everyone’s gone inside for tea, the builders have gone and I think it’s our teatime.’ I glanced across at the beach again to see it was emptying. The sky was still bright but I felt hungry so, yes, it must be teatime.

‘Let’s go then, George, come on, round the back.’

We went through the cat flap and saw there was a doorway into the utility room which hadn’t been there before. It was a bit messy but not too bad as we made our way into the kitchen via the ‘sand room’. It was good because it took a while for George and I to shake even more sand off our fur — it sure did like to stick and I didn’t want Claire to insist on bathing us.

Before we headed into the kitchen I stopped. There was a funny smell again, I could have sworn it was a cat but there was no other feline here apart from me and George so I couldn’t understand it. I had a good poke around in the corners but there was no sign of anything, just the smell. I didn’t like it though. I lingered for a bit longer, double checking around as I heard George being greeted in the kitchen. Then I heard a lot of laughter. Reluctantly leaving my search, I made my way into the kitchen where I saw George sitting on the kitchen table near Summer. Claire was shrieking but everyone else was laughing. I took a closer look. All the children had ice-cream cones and George had his face in Summer’s.

‘Look, George likes ice cream,’ Henry said, giggling. Summer was holding the cone out to him.

‘Don’t encourage him, Sum, and you can’t eat that now,’ Claire chastised, taking the cone off her. But the damage had been done. George was covered in ice cream, and as he licked the ice cream off his face a big grin appeared either side of his ice-cream-white nose.

‘This is special local ice cream, made from clotted cream,’ Polly explained, reading the tub she had taken it from.

‘It’s delicious, but I’m not sure we should be feeding it to the cats,’ Franceska said.

‘It’s very cold but I really do like ice cream,’ George said to me when no one was listening.

I licked a bit off his head. Um, actually it wasn’t bad, I could see the appeal. I saw Claire put the rest of Summer’s ice cream onto a plate by the sink. I jumped up and started licking and George joined me. Franceska took her phone out and started taking photos.

‘Only we could have cats who get to eat Devon’s finest ice cream,’ Polly laughed.

‘Meow,’ I said, as I lapped up the creamy, cold mixture. It was delicious.

‘Well I suppose it’s their holiday too,’ Claire finished. ‘Although I am still not sure they should be allowed it.’

‘Surely the odd treat?’ Franceska said, giving me a big smile.

Our holiday was suddenly looking up.

Chapter Five

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We were all having breakfast in the kitchen when there was a loud, persistent knock at the door.

‘Is that the builders already?’ Claire asked, looking up from where she was trying to coax Summer to eat some fruit. All the children were sitting nicely at the table, and George was licking porridge off the floor. I was trying, and failing, not to notice him doing so.

‘They’re not due for an hour, I’ll go,’ Polly said, making towards the door. I went with her. As she opened the door, we both were taken aback for a moment. Standing on the doorstep was a very glamorous woman, who I first thought was carrying one of those tiny dogs but on closer inspection it was actually a cat. A Persian, I thought, very pretty, but she took one look at me and waved her tail in a hateful way, hissed and started squirming.

‘Chanel darling, behave,’ the woman said as the cat wiggled in her arms. I stood my ground; this was my ground after all.

‘Hello?’ Polly said, looking bemused. The woman was tall, very slim and wearing a dress and really high heels. Her blonde hair was long and very neat and she was wearing make-up. I felt a little sorry for Polly — although she is the most beautiful woman I know, she didn’t look great in an old T-shirt, cropped leggings, her hair piled messily on top of her head and there was no make-up on her face. The cat was as immaculate as her owner but I didn’t like her, she was hostile and, I decided, as she hissed at me again, more than a little bit mean.

‘Sorry, sorry.’ The lady’s voice was confident and a little too loud. ‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Andrea. I live next door and, well, I wanted to come and meet you, with Chanel of course. I didn’t realise you had a cat though,’ she said giving me what I can only describe as a ‘look’. It was a bit disdainful.

‘Oh, hi.’ Polly looked at the woman unsurely. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Polly, this is Alfie. We actually have two cats here,’ she explained.

‘Meow,’ I said, trying to tell Chanel I wasn’t scared of her. She looked at me as if she’d like to kill me.

‘Right, so are you living here now?’ Andrea asked. Her grey eyes narrowed and she tried to peer round the door into the house.

‘No, not exactly. We’ve just arrived but we’re on holiday. It’s a long story.’ Finally Polly found her smile.

‘Right, well no time like the present.’ And somehow Andrea managed to manoeuvre herself around me and Polly and into the house, Chanel still in her arms.

‘Um, everyone else is in the kitchen,’ Polly said, but Andrea had headed that way already.

Claire was sipping coffee, the children were squabbling and Franceska was trying to clean up but she kept tripping over George who was insistently scrabbling around her feet.

‘George, stop,’ she chastised.

‘Children, shush,’ Claire shouted.

‘Um, everyone, hello,’ Polly interrupted. As they all turned to look at Andrea, everyone went quiet. Even George. ‘This is Andrea, she’s our neighbour?’

‘Well yes, I live in the next house to your left, Beach Villa, and I’ve come to welcome you.’ She didn’t sound welcoming. Chanel glared at me and George. George was now still and staring at Chanel, his eyes wide.

‘And you’ve got a cat?’ Aleksy said, looking puzzled. ‘We love cats.’

‘Yes, sorry Chanel is like my baby, my third baby as I have two daughters, but I take her everywhere. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I knew you had cats, she doesn’t care for other felines.’

‘Meow,’ Chanel concurred.

‘Right, well I’m Claire, this is Franceska and these are our array of children.’ Claire smiled, and held out a hand but Andrea was unable to take it because she was still trying to contain a squirming Chanel.

‘Lovely to meet you all. I would stay but I think darling Chanel is a little uncomfortable.’ As Chanel was hissing and wriggling that seemed to be a bit of an understatement.

‘Right,’ Claire said, uncertainly.

‘But I tell you what, I’ll pop back this evening, on my own,’ she glared at me as if it was my fault, ‘with a bottle of something fizzy and we can have a proper chat.’

‘Um?’ Franceska said.

‘Well we are in a total mess, what with builders and everything.’

‘So I see, never mind, I’m happy to slum it,’ Andrea trilled. ‘I’ll be back about eight, I’m guessing all these children will be in bed then.’ She laughed, but it sounded a bit menacing. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out.’

Before anyone could say anything else, she and Chanel were gone.

‘My goodness,’ Claire said.

‘What on earth was that?’ Franceska said.

‘And we thought that we were the sophisticated Londoners, coming to a little Devon village,’ Polly said. ‘She looks right out of Knightsbridge. As did her cat.’

‘Chanel. What sort of name is that?’ Claire mused.

‘Did you see the collar? I bet it was real diamonds.’

‘Oh God, and she’s coming back tonight. I don’t know why we didn’t say no.’ Franceska trembled.

‘We didn’t get the chance … Anyway, it’ll be nice to meet some local people,’ Polly said unconvincingly.

‘Do you think we’ve got time to get our hair done?’ Claire quipped.

‘Well, I didn’t bring my ballgown with me but I feel that I should have done now,’ Polly giggled.

George was scrabbling at my legs to get my attention.

‘What?’ I hissed.

‘That cat, Chanel, she’s beautiful,’ he said. He looked a little enraptured.

‘But not nice, she didn’t like us, did she?’ I pointed out.

‘But everyone likes me. I’m going to be her friend. She’s so beautiful, the most beautiful cat in the world.’

I saw then the look in his eyes, which reminded me of myself when I first saw Snowball. My George had developed his first crush.

Andrea was soon forgotten as the builders arrived. One of them was going to finish the doorway into the newly christened‘sand room’, while the others went up to the attic. According to Polly they worked hard and didn’t drink too much tea — which was apparently a good thing for builders, especially as we had a tight time schedule. As the weather was good, Franceska and Claire once again took the children to the beach. George and I lay on the bonnet of Claire’s car — it had the highest roof — and watched them from our vantage point. We said we’d probably go to the beach later but, as it was so close, we didn’t feel the urgency any more. So curling up together on the car sunbathing and watching the world go by was definitely a pleasant way to pass the time.

There were a few dogs around, although of course not on the beach, and they were thankfully on leads. It was a busy, lively village; cars kept appearing, looking for places to park, children jumping excitedly out, also lots of people cramming the pavements, all wearing summery clothes and chattering excitedly. I saw that Aleksy had set up some kind of ball game and children were approaching him to play. I hoped they would make some nice friends this summer, I hoped George and I would too—

‘Oh it’s you,’ a hostile voice interrupted me. I looked up to see Chanel standing on the street.

‘Hi, hey, how are you?’ George gushed. She narrowed her eyes, swishing her tail angrily, and then turned her attention back to me.

‘I never go out on my own, not outside my garden anyway, so it’s a very big deal that you have made me come here,’ she snapped.

‘I didn’t make you do anything,’ I replied, still trying to sound friendly.

‘Who do you think you are, coming here?’ she hissed.

‘Well, I’m Alfie, this is George and this is our holiday house,’ I said, not unkindly. I was a firm believer in using charm. Especially with difficult creatures. Chanel was clearly a difficult creature.

‘Not for long,’ she said, again flicking her tail. ‘Mark my words, your days are numbered,’ she hissed before turning and leaving.

‘What on earth did she mean by that?’ I asked. I felt suddenly as if something might be wrong with this otherwise perfect set-up. I blinked, had I misheard her? Her voice had sounded menacing and her words threatening.

I looked at the children, all playing in a big group, Claire and Franceska looking on happily. I saw Polly come to the front door with a cup of tea and make her way over to join them and I saw George preening himself, checking his reflection in the wing mirror of the car. Surely our days weren’t numbered, whatever that meant. Our holiday had only just started.

‘Oh wow, Dad, I think she likes me,’ George said.

‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ I asked. I didn’t want to burst his bubble but that cat really didn’t like either of us. I remembered back to when I first met Snowball. She had been quite immune to my charms and I hadn’t given up. But then, this cat, well she was no Snowball, or Tiger for that matter, she was just downright horrible.

‘It was the way she looked at me, I could just tell,’ George sighed. I raised my whiskers but held my tongue. I had a horrible feeling that George’s first crush was going to teach him a lot about love — the hard way.

That evening, the house was alive with the sounds of happy children. I pushed Chanel to the back of my mind as they chattered on about their new friends and how tomorrow Aleksy and Tommy had their first paddleboarding lesson. Summer was cross because she couldn’t go but, as Claire pointed out, she was too little, and Toby was still a bit scared of the water. Back home Jonathan had started taking him to swimming lessons but it was early days and I totally sympathised with how he felt. Really, I was sure it was more sensible to be scared of water than toactually want to be in it. The builders were long gone but Claire was still trying to clean up the dust, which seemed to be covering everyone and everything.

‘Oh God, I need to shower before the queen gets here,’ she said. I figured out she was talking about Andrea.

‘You know, I think we need to try to get the plumbing sorted soon, the shower is a bit lacklustre,’ Polly said, her head back in the plans. ‘I’m thinking we can fix it temporarily before we get all the bathrooms done.’

‘Polly, you are a marvel with all this house stuff, honestly, I wouldn’t know where to start,’ Franceska said.

‘Yes, well I can’t cook remember,’ Polly laughed, giving Franceska a hug.

‘Also, I have spoken to Colin and we are going to have a shower set up outside, with hot water, to hose the worst of the sand off the kids before they even go into the sand room. What do you think?’

‘Genius,’ Claire said. ‘I love it.’ But then shehad just spent the best part of two hours sweeping both sand and dust up.

‘This is going to be the best holiday cottage ever,’ Franceska said. ‘I am so happy we all did this.’

‘So am I,’ Claire agreed, a dreamy look on her face. ‘I bet Aunt Claire would be so happy that it was filled with love.’

‘Oh gosh, it’s nearly seven. Right, Claire, we’ll round up the younger ones and get them washed and ready for bed. Frankie, can you continue with the clearing up?’ Polly said, jumping up.

‘I can, but I’m not sure it’s going to make much difference,’ Franceska said, taking the broom from Claire and shaking her head at the mess.

By eight, the children were in bed, apart from Aleksy and Tommy who were in the living room watching a DVD. They were the oldest after all so they were allowed to stay up later than the others, especially as it was school holidays. George had gone to bed with Toby as usual and I was hanging out with Aleksy until I heard the knock at the door. I sprang up from Aleksy’s lap and went to the door, arriving just before Claire.

Andrea was standing on the doorstep looking dressed for a night out. She wore a dress, again, high heels, her hair was swept up onto her head and she had a lot of make-up on. The smell from her was so strong I felt as if I’d swallowed a mouthful of perfume; it wasn’t pleasant.

‘Andrea, how lovely to see you again, come in,’ Claire said, stepping aside to let her in.

‘Likewise,’ she replied, but didn’t sound as if she meant it.

Claire led Andrea into the kitchen where Polly and Franceska were sitting around the table. Wine glasses had been put out, candles lit and, although it wasn’t exactly immaculate, it was tidy and clean-ish at least.

‘What a charming kitchen,’ Andrea said, wrinkling her nose, as she greeted the others.

‘Did you know my Aunt Claire?’ Claire asked.

‘No, she’d gone before we moved into the village, but she was spoken about. It was a big annoyance to the village that the house was empty for so long. We tried to do something about it but we couldn’t seem to get to the bottom of who owned it … Until now.’

‘Well my aunt was ill, and I think whoever was managing her affairs just did as per her instructions. I used to come here as a child,’ Claire explained. Andrea handed her a bottle, and she opened it, pouring four glasses.

‘Sorry we don’t have flutes, only wine glasses.’ Polly looked embarrassed.

‘Well, as I said earlier, I’m happy to slum it,’ Andrea said, before laughing. Her laugh sounded a little tinkly and fake.

‘I’ll add them to my list,’ Claire said through gritted teeth. She was making a list of things they still needed as she went along.

‘How long have you lived here?’ Franceska asked, changing the subject.

‘Ten years. My husband and I moved here when I had my first child.’

‘How many do you have?’ Polly asked.

‘Two, both girls. Savannah is ten, obviously, and Serafina is eight.’

‘Lovely names. And what is the village like now, obviously I haven’t been here for so long,’ Claire said.

‘It’s a great village. There’s a lovely school for the girls and obviously we live on the beach.’

‘Not in those shoes,’ Polly said, before clamping her hand over her mouth.

‘Oh I don’t go to the beach much, all that dreadful sand. But I watch the girls from the safety of my garden. You could do the same.’

‘Of course. And we think the village is lovely. We went to a nice pub when we last visited, The Lynstow Arms.’

‘The food’s good there, of course us locals try to avoid it during the holidays, you know, it’s full of tourists,’ Andrea said, without a hint of irony, even though she was addressing tourists.

‘You must find that annoying,’ Claire said, stifling a grin.

‘To be honest, we think this is a lovely village and community and we like to keep it that way. We find it unfortunate that Londoners come in and buy up the properties which they hardly ever use. It’s sapping the soul from the village.’ She said this without a hint of niceness, I thought as Icurled up on Claire’s lap. I didn’t like the turn this was taking; it reminded me of my earlier conversation with Chanel.

‘Well the good thing is that this house has three families so we’ll use it loads. Weekends, school holidays, you’ll probably find there’s someone here most of the time.’

‘Not quite the same though, is it? You are not going to be a full-time part of the community. Seabreeze Cottage will still be empty a great deal of time.’ Her voice had turned cold and I saw Franceska looking alarmed.

‘We want to become as much a part of the community as we can,’ Claire pushed.

‘Absolutely, and we have so many school holidays, as you know, our kids will grow up here as well,’ Polly added.

‘I’m sure you mean well. With your building plans and hundreds of children, not to mention the cats, but the point is that I am here to make you an offer.’

‘An offer?’

‘What kind of offer?’

‘I want to buy Seabreeze Cottage. I want to buy it off you right now.’

‘But we’ve started work on it,’ Polly said.

‘Then stop. Sell it to me, go back to London and if you want to come on holiday then rent somewhere but let this house, this amazing property, go to someone local.’

‘But you already have a house, so it’d be a second home for you too?’ Polly suddenly sounded annoyed.

‘Look, I can’t explain everything now but if you sell me this house it will be a home, you can trust me on that one.’ She sounded sincere, I almost believed her.

‘That’s a lovely idea but you know this is a family home for me,’ Claire explained. ‘And my Aunt Claire was a big part of this community and she wanted me to have the cottage, so that’s what I am going to do.’ She crossed her arms; nice but firm.

‘I will pay you above the asking price.’ I noticed a hint of desperation enter Andrea’s voice.

‘I’m sorry, Andrea, but it’s not for sale,’ Claire said, stroking me.

‘Everything has a price,’ Andrea said, staring at Claire with cold grey eyes.

‘We don’t,’ Polly said, going to stand near Claire’s chair. ‘We want this to be a family home too, but for our families.’

‘We’ll see. I want this house.’ Andrea stood up and glared at each of the women, any hint of friendliness fled. ‘And I always get what I want.’

I now understood what Chanel meant. If Andrea had her way, it seemed our days here would in fact be numbered.

Chapter Six

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Thankfully we had made it to the end of our first week on holiday relatively unscathed. Despite the threat from Andrea, so far we were all still here and on the whole having a lovely time. Although Polly, Franceska and Claire had been a little shaken by Andrea’s words and her vague threat that she would get Seabreeze Cottage, they had eventually pushed it to the back of their minds and decided she was as much hot air as she was big hair. They said they wouldn’t let anyone ruin our perfect holiday. Or get her manicured hands on Seabreeze Cottage, whatever that meant.

Polly had been surveying how much they had got done with the building work and had a review with Colin. We had only five weeks left, so she said they were doing well but couldn’t afford any delays.

And thankfully, as it was Friday, the men were coming down for the weekend. Even Tomasz was leaving the restaurants for a couple of days, although to be fair he had managers now and, although he liked to keep a very close eye on them, he was far more willing to take time off nowadays. There was a time when he’d spent so much time at work his family hardly ever saw him, but they seemed to have resolved that, thankfully. I was excited, I’d missed Jonathan, Matt and Tomasz and it would be lovely to have the family all together again for a couple of days.

Unfortunately the weather had turned and although it was warm it was raining. Claire suggested taking the younger children to the local town to have a look around, so they weren’t in the way of the builders, and Polly said she was happy to leave them for a bit and go with her, while Franceska was going to stay and try to get everything organised for when everyone came. Despite the fact it was raining, Aleksy and Tommy begged to be allowed to put on wellies and coats andgo to the beach, which she said they could, but she would be watching them and they weren’t allowed to go too far. They had more freedom here than they did in London, but that was village life, apparently. And Aleksy was very responsible for his age; I thought it would do him good to have more independence to be honest.

Unlike George.

George begged to be allowed out to see Chanel, but I told him no. Not only was it raining but also she was horrible. He argued and whined, a bit like Summer, but I stood firm. I said that when the rain stopped I would take him out for a nice walk but not before. He ran upstairs and sulked under Toby’s bed. Kittens!

I decided to help Franceska— or at least keep her company. She seemed happy and I knew that she was looking forward to seeing Tomasz, just as the others were looking forward to seeing their husbands. It hadn’t been a bad first week, but it was strange without our men. In fact it made me the man of the house.

While Franceska was watching Aleksy and Tommy play on the beach, I went to the utility room. The builders had finished downstairs for now and were in the attic. I was careful to keep out of their way. They were all very nice, but they had big feet and tools which looked quite dangerous. The utility room was a bit of a draw to me still, there was definitely an alien smell which kept bugging me. I sniffed around, and felt baffled. I still could have sworn it was the scent of a cat, but not me or George— or even Chanel. And although I hadn’t seen another cat around here, the scent hadn’t faded while we’d been living here. It was a mystery.

I fleetingly wondered if, when I was sleeping with Claire, another cat was sneaking in through the cat flap and I decided to stay up tonight to make sure. Jonathan would be with Claire anyway and he wasn’t as keen on me sleeping on their bed as Claire was — I knew he’d probably banish me to my bed on the landing. I felt a little bit better having a plan of sorts, and I was determined to get to the bottom of the smell, so I decided to go and check on George. Boy that kitten could sulk for England, I thought as I made my way upstairs.

I looked in the boys’ room, but there was no sign of him. Not under the bed where Toby slept, or on the bed itself. He hadn’t climbed up onto the top bunks either. I felt a bit panicked as I ran around the rest of the upstairs, even braving the builders to check the attic, but he was nowhere to be found. I boundeddownstairs, checking every room, but he wasn’t there. My heart sank. Not only did I feel panicked but I also believed I knew exactly where George was.

I remembered Andrea saying she was in the house to the left, so I turned in that direction out of the house, feeling the rain soaking into my fur straight away. Wasting no time, I crawled under a hedge, where there seemed to be the best access, and found myself in the neatest garden I’d ever seen. Andrea’s house wasn’t like ours, it was taller, squarer, the windows were huge. It also looked a bit grander. Why on earth would she want our house when hers was definitely more suited to her? Thankfully, I found George huddled under one of the windowsills. He was sheepish when he saw me.

‘Sorry, Dad, but I was going to come back before you’d noticed I’d gone.’ Yes, that would work. Honestly, my boy still had a lot to learn.

I wasn’t sure how to play this. I knew that he was besotted with the awful Chanel but also I needed him to understand that he shouldn’t be out on his own. After all, the last time I left him alone he’d been catnapped, but I also knew that he was a little older now and would want more freedom, a bitlike Aleksy. Being a parent was so hard, getting the balance right was difficult.

‘George, I do understand you wanted to see Chanel, but we are in a new place and we don’t know it very well, so I would be happier if you stayed with me, at least for a while.’ I hoped I didn’t sound too angry. ‘But if you have to go off then you must tell me exactly where you’ll be.’I tried to be conciliatory.

‘Oh, Dad, I am sorry but she is so beautiful, and I just needed to see her lovely face.’ Oh boy, he had it bad.

‘And have you seen her?’ I asked, softening. I was a romantic cat and so I didn’t want to underestimate his feelings. I understood about love, after all.

‘Yes, she stood at the window! She was making a lot of noise but I didn’t really know what she was trying to say.’

I guessed she was telling him to get lost.

‘Did she sound angry?’ I asked, treading carefully.

‘Well some might say she did, but I think she was just teasing me. Although she did wave her tail at me angrily before she jumped down and ran off. I sat on the windowsill for a while but she didn’t come back.’

‘And you got soaked.’ Oh my poor boy. ‘Look, George, come home with me now, get dried off and warm and I promise that as soon as it clears up we’ll go for a lovely walk,’ I coaxed.

‘OK, I will see her soon though, won’t I?’ he said.

‘Yes, son, you will.’ We ran back to the hedge, and I saw George safely through the gap. I was about to follow him when something, or someone, caught my eye. At the back of the house, Andrea was standing under a wooden shelter with what looked like one of our builders. I crawled a little closer, straining my eyes. I was sure it was one of the younger ones, Liam, I think he was called. He was wearing his scruffy builder clothes and a big jacket. She was laughing and then she put a hand on his shoulder and he turned red. What the hell was he doing with her? I was about to move closer when George called out.

‘Dad, come on, I’m hungry.’

I took a last look at Liam and Andrea and wondered what on earth they were doing together. I felt as if there was something, something big. Being a perceptive cat, I was pretty sure, what with George’s inappropriate crush, Andrea’s determination to get her hands on our house, and the funny cat smell in the utility room, there was a lot going on. Mysteries were apaw. I could feel it in my fur.

‘I can’t believe you dragged us to Devon with the promise of sunshine and it’s raining,’ Jonathan moaned as he swung Summer around.

‘Gosh, is this a record? You’ve been here five minutes and you’re already complaining,’ Claire teased.

I rubbed against his legs; I’d missed Jonathan, I’d missed all the men actually.

Polly had picked them up from the train station just after lunch and we had all been incredibly excited when they arrived. The children had been hyper, and George and I could barely contain ourselves. The cottage did suddenly feel smaller with the men in it, but it also felt more like home. Polly showed them the work done so far and introduced them to the builders. I went with them while they inspected the attic. It wasn’t looking bad actually. Walls were being built and there was a landing which would lead into each room. As it stretched across the whole house, it was big, but the ceilings were a bit lower, making it perfect for the children I guessed. I was excited suddenly, as I saw the transformation happening. It might take a while — apparently these things did — but you could see the difference already, even within the space of a week. The men seemed to be happy with the work and Jonathan even said, ‘Good job,’ to Colin. Praise indeed.

It had also been decided that we were going to have fish and chips for supper. There was a local chip shop, which was normal for a seaside village apparently, and George and I were very excited as we were both pretty sure we’d get some fish.

Claire and Jonathan went to collect supper. They had a big umbrella which was kept on the porch, and George and I looked out of the window and saw them go. I felt warm and fuzzy despite the horrible weather; it was going to be such a wonderful weekend. As long as George didn’t keep running off to see Chanel, that was.

‘You cannot beat fish and chips by the proper sea,’ Matt said, as everyone was crowded round the table. They just managed to fit, although it was a squash and Summer had to sit on Jonathan’s lap, and Martha on Matt’s.

‘It’s not exactly the sea, darling,’ Polly said. ‘It’s the estuary.’

‘Yes but it’s water and beach, so near enough surely?’ Tomasz said.

‘Near enough,’ Franceska laughed. ‘Isn’t this fabulous us all together like this,’ she said, beaming.

‘We love it here,’ Aleksy said. ‘We made some friends already and the beach is the coolest thing ever.’ His eyes were shining with excitement. ‘And, Dad, we went paddleboarding, and it’s not as easy as it looks.’

‘Really? It does look pretty easy,’ Jonathan said.

‘Maybe you should try,’ Aleksy suggested with a giggle.

‘Yes, Jon, why don’t I book you a lesson?’ Claire suggested with a smile.

‘Thanks but I am going to concentrate on relaxing when I’m here. Anyway, I’ll leave that to the kids.’

‘I agree,’ Tomasz said. ‘I’m not so fond of the water,’ he added.

‘Meow,’ I agreed.

Later, the men put the children to bed, apart from Aleksy and Tommy, who were told to get washed and ready before being allowed to play on their tablets in the smaller living room. The adults then decamped to the larger living room. Claire and Jonathan were on one sofa, Franceska and Tomasz on the other and Polly and Matt squeezed together on an armchair. I sat on the arm of the sofa, looking around at all the adults I love. There was so much harmony in the air, I felt as if life was calmer than it had been in a long while.

‘So how is Edgar Road?’ Claire asked. ‘I know we’ve only been away a week but it feels like ages.’

‘Nothing much to report. Vic and Heather are making sure we behave ourselves, that’s for sure,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘So how is it down here? I mean, the builders seem to be making progress.’

‘Oh they’re so much easier to deal with than London builders,’ Polly said. ‘They turn up when they say and they don’t skive. I’m loving Colin.’

‘Hey!’ Matt laughed. ‘The kids seem to love it.’ He smiled, indulgently.

‘They do, and it might have rained today but we’ve had three good beach days, and they’re all getting on pretty well,’ Polly said.

‘There is only one fly in the ointment,’ Franceska said. I knew Franceska and Tomasz would always be Polish but they certainly had the hang of British sayings.

‘What?’ her husband asked.

‘Oh, there’s our neighbour. I’m sure you’ll meet her. She’s called Andrea and she came to see us,’ Claire started.

‘That’s nice, isn’t it?’ Jonathan asked.

‘No, not only does she look as if she’s just stepped out of a beauty salon but she thinks she’s the Queen of Sheba,’ Polly said.

‘She turned up with her cat who’s called Chanel,’ Franceska added.

‘Oh, and she invited herself back when the kids were all asleep, and said she was happy to slum it.’

‘OK, so she’s a snobby well-heeled woman with a funny-named cat?’ Jonathan looked amused.

‘She asked to buy the cottage,’ Claire replied.

‘Oh?’ Tomasz looked confused.

‘And of course we told her it wasn’t for sale,’ Polly explained.

‘But she said she wouldn’t take no for an answer and said she always got what she wanted,’ Franceska said, shuddering. Franceska was the most easily intimidated of all the women.

‘Did she make you an offer?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Jon, Seabreeze is not for sale. But she did say she’d pay more than the market value.’

‘Why does she want it so much?’ Matt asked.

Good question, I thought. I still didn’t trust her motives.

‘Oh, she banged on about how important it was to her to preserve village life and she didn’t like us interlopers taking the best property.’

‘She’s got a point,’ Jonathan said. Judas, I thought.

‘Jon, we are going to fall out if you don’t stop it. Anyway, I do not believe she wants to buy it out of a sense of community spirit. She owns the big house to the left, she acts as if she owns the village in fact. I think there’s more to it.’

‘I’m going to ask Colin next week,’ Polly said. ‘Maybe she knows something we don’t.’

‘Whatever her motives, Seabreeze is not for sale,’ Claire reiterated.

‘You love this cottage already, don’t you?’ Jonathan said, sighing.

‘I do, and so do the kids. It’s just perfect.’

‘Then we won’t let anyone buy it off us,’ Jonathan said, loyally. I wondered where that had come from.

‘You’ve changed your tune,’ Matt said, echoing my thoughts.

‘Everyone seems relaxed, the house is going to be gorgeous when it’s finished and I for one am suddenly appreciating getting out of London. I had my doubts, mainly financial, but this … well, seeing you and the kids so happy seems priceless.’ Ah, there was my sentimental Jonathan again. I rubbed against him. ‘And what about you, Alfie? Do you and George like it here?’

‘Meow!’ I nuzzled him to tell him I absolutely did.

‘Right, well let’s have a toast, to our holiday home.’ Jonathan picked up his beer bottle.

‘To Seabreeze Cottage,’ the others said.

‘And to many, many happy holidays here,’ Claire finished as they all clinked glasses.

I left them chatting. It was getting late but I wanted to stay awake. I went to the kitchen and ate a little more fish that was in my bowl on the floor. I then went and hid in the utility room. If anyone was visiting us at night, I would be ready for them.

‘Yelp!’ A voice woke me up and I leapt. I found myself nose to nose with a big cat, who looked a bit like a leopard. He didn’t look exactly pleased to see me. What was it with these village cats?

‘Hello?’ I said. He sprang back and glared at me. ‘Do you live here?’ I asked.

‘I do. I did. But then you arrived. I was hoping you’d leave so I’ve been watching the house but it seems you’re not going anywhere.’ He sounded gruff.

‘I’m Alfie,’ I said, in a friendly manner. ‘We don’t exactly live here, me and my kitten George, but you see our families own it and we are on holiday.’

‘Cats don’t go on holiday, even I know that.’

‘Well I know most people think that but, guess what, we do! Anyway, it’s a long story but we’re here for the summer.’

‘Right and what am I supposed to do?’

‘I don’t know, where’s your family? You don’t belong to Great Aunt Claire, do you?’

‘I have no idea who you’re talking about. I live here, alone. Or I have done for quite a while now. Very happily I may add.’

‘You don’t have a family?’

‘No.’

‘But—’

‘Listen, I don’t have time for this. I need my sleep. I am out finding food all day and then at night I come back and sleep. It’s my life. That’s all you need to know.’

‘Hey, you can have some of my food. There’s bowls out, for me and my kitten George, but we are very good at sharing. Or I am, anyway.’

‘Humph. That’s kind, but I’m used to looking after myself.’ He wasn’t exactly warming to me.

‘Well if you change your mind …’ I heard footsteps. ‘My humans are coming to clear up, probably before bed, but I won’t disturb you if you want to stay here.’

I didn’t quite know what else to say or do. The cat wasn’t very friendly but then I remembered being homeless and I didn’t want to make him think he couldn’t stay here. It sounded as if it was his home anyway — well, as far as he was concerned.

‘I’ll stay out of sight, just until I can find another empty house to live in.’ He still didn’t sound friendly.

‘OK then, sleep well and you know we don’t mind you being here. What’s your name?’ I asked.

‘Gilbert,’ he replied. He eyed me suspiciously, I raised my whiskers in what was meant to be a welcoming way.

‘Alfie, where are you? It’s time for us all to turn in,’ Jonathan said and I quickly turned to face him, but I didn’t need to worry, Gilbert had slunk back into the shadows as if he was never there. If it hadn’t been for his scent I would have thought I’d imagined our entire exchange.

Chapter Seven

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‘What do you mean, another cat?’ George asked the following morning. I’d already checked the utility room but there was no sign of Gilbert.

‘He’s been living here, I don’t know why, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming. But he said he doesn’t have a family. Anyway, he was hoping we would have left but he’s been sneaking in at night and leaving before we get up. I’m hoping to see him again and find out more.’

I was a nosy cat, I’ll admit, but I was intrigued by this cat who seemed to think of Seabreeze as his home. I wanted to know why he didn’t have a family and also make sure he knew that he could stay here; after all, we weren’t going to be here the whole time and it seemed a shame for the house to be totally empty. Most importantly I didn’t want Gilbert to be homeless, I still remembered how awful that was. I also thought I might persuade him to make himself known to the humans; I didn’t doubt that they would all welcome him the way I wanted to.

‘Wow, I can’t wait to meet him. But I’d rather go and see Chanel, can we, can we please?’ George begged.

Again, I was still unsure how to play this. I wanted to give George the benefit of my wisdom but I also knew that some things had to be learnt first-hand. If I refused he would probably just run off again and I didn’t want that, not at all.

‘I tell you what, I will take you out for a walk after breakfast and we’ll go by her place, but you know if she tells us to go away, we might have to.’

‘Oh she doesn’t mean it, she likes me really. Anyway, thank you, Dad, I’ll eat all my breakfast and then clean up really well.’

That put a spring in his paws. I just hoped I wasn’t going to regret it.

After everyone had eaten breakfast, the humans were going to spend the morning on the beach— the sun had returned — and we could join them after our walk/Chanel search. Although we hadn’t fallen in love with the sand, we were getting more and more used to it. Our humans packed up food, blankets, buckets and spades and then headed out, leaving George and I alone. The more I thought about his crush on Chanel the more I worried, but at the same time it allowed me to go and check on Andrea. I didn’t trust that woman. Not one little bit.

‘What are you doing in my garden?’ a voice hissed as soon as we crawled through the hedge. We straightened up to see Chanel looking angry as she stood, slowly waving her tail from side to side.

‘We were just taking our morning constitutional,’ I said, trying to be friendly.

‘Is that how you city cats talk?’ I had never heard a cat sound so disdainful. ‘Well the thing is,’ she continued, ‘that this is private property, it’s my property actually, and I would rather you didn’t set paw on it.’

‘Hello,’ George said as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘You are looking very beautiful today.’

I tried not to be amused, but it was funny; as if his crush had rendered him deaf.

‘What on earth is he talking about?’ Chanel looked at me.

As if I knew.

We were interrupted by two sets of bare feet approaching and I saw there were two very pretty girls, wearing matching sundresses.

‘Ah there you are, Chanel, Mummy wants you,’ one said, picking the cat up. George and I had quickly backed into the hedge so they didn’t see us.

‘Meow,’ Chanel said, sweetly, nuzzling the little girl’s neck.

‘See, I told you,’ George said, as they walked off. ‘She really is nice.’

Just not to us, I thought. As we made our way back to our garden I was thinking of what a nice day it was. We could definitely join the others on the beach— I’d decided to give it another chance after my experience yesterday. But George had other ideas. He lay in the sun, by the gap in the hedge, and refused to move.

‘Won’t you come with me, son?’ I asked, trying to coax him.

‘No thanks, Dad, I’m staying right here so Chanel knows where to find me.’

There was nothing I could do to get George to budge. He had it bad but I did remember what it was like, so I had to try to be understanding. The problem was that Chanel was not only horrible but also too old for him. Way too old.

I really wanted to join the others on the beach but I couldn’t leave George. I occupied myself by exploring the garden. It needed work — Polly said the garden would be done last — but there were some nice bushes, which were messy but interesting. Although loath to leave George, I did make my way round the back; what I liked about Seabreeze Cottage wasthat you could access the back of the house from the front, so I could see if there was any action in the back courtyard. There wasn’t, and no sign of Gilbert either.

I was getting a little bit bored of watching George by the time the families returned. They were all laughing and joking, a bit pink from the sun, and of course covered in sand. Claire spread out the blankets on the lawn, and flopped down. Franceska and Tomasz were going to go into town and their boys were going with them as they needed to buy some clothes and bits and pieces. Everyone waved them off as they got into their car and then we passed a pleasant couple of hours in the front garden. Martha and Summer had a picnic with their dolls and teddy bears and Henry and Toby played with a football. Jonathan and Matt joined in at one point while Claire and Polly looked on fondly.

‘This is just how I imagined it would be,’ Claire said, as I sat next to her.

‘George, play ball with us,’ Henry said.

‘Meow.’ George refused to move. Toby tried to persuade him but he wasn’t for persuading.

‘Oh shall we go and get some of those lovely ice creams?’ Polly said.

‘Did I hear ice cream?’ Matt said.

‘Yay!’ Toby and Henry shouted.

‘There’s a van across the road, it does the best ice creams. They’re made from local clotted cream, George and Alfie are in love with them too. We’ll go.’ Claire stood up.

When they returned they handed out the cones. One for each of the kids, an enormous one each for Matt and Jonathan and then Claire held one out to me.

‘George, Alfie, want to share an ice cream?’ she said. I have never seen George move so quickly in his life. He put his nose straight into the cone, and everyone laughed. Ha, he liked ice cream more than Chanel, there was hope for him yet.

‘Who knew cats liked ice cream?’ Matt said.

‘You’d think it would be too cold,’ Jonathan chuckled.

So much for sharing, I thought, but then I would never take that joy away from my boy so I didn’t mind too much. I’d wait for the leftovers. If there were any, I thought, as George licked manically at it, his little pink tongue darting back and forth.

‘I think it’s not a proper holiday without ice-cream cones,’ Toby said. ‘Even for cats.’ Everyone laughed.

I was pretty sure I knew what they were thinking. Everyone seemed to be happier here, or different at least, and even Toby was growing in confidence. It was as if the sun of Seabreeze Cottage was shining down on all of us and it was lovely. If only George would get over Chanel, I thought, as he discarded his ice cream and ran back to the bush. I finished it off and then lay down for a well-earned nap. After all, there were plenty of people around to keep their eye on George and one of my favourite things about this holiday was sleeping in the sun on the lawn.

Aleksy woke me, and I slowly opened my eyes. Blinking in the sun, I meowed and cuddled into him.

‘Hi, Alfie,’ he said. ‘We seemed to have been shopping for hours. Tommy got so bored he was in trouble — when we got back Mum and Dad said he had to go to his room for a while! Anyway, I am going to set up our cricket set in the garden and our new friends are going to come and play with us after tea. It’s going to be ace!’ He tickled my fur and I stretched out to encourage him. ‘Oh, Alfie, you are such a softy,’ he said, laughing.

I followed him around as he set up the game of cricket. When he finished I saw George sneaking out from the hedge. That boy had stamina, I had to give him that.

‘Did you see her?’ I asked.

‘No, Dad, no sign, but then I heard the girls in the garden. They don’t like us.’

‘What do you mean?’ I pricked my ears up. What now?

‘Well, I heard them say that their mum didn’t want us here, and they definitely didn’t want the children here.’

‘That’s not nice,’ I said, carefully.

‘Anyway, they said we wouldn’t be here for long anyway. What does that mean?’

‘I’ve no idea, George, but I tell you what, I will find out, so don’t worry. But if you hear anything else, then tell me.’

‘I will. But obviously Chanel won’t agree with them, she likes me, I know she does.’

‘Um, maybe,’ I said. Here we go, I thought. There was something not very nice about all the people living next door and I wasn’t pleased about it. We were all so happy here, I couldn’t have anything or anyone spoiling it.

Just as we were all finishing our tea there was a knock on the door. Matt went to get it. He came back alone.

‘Aleksy and Tommy, there are four children saying they are here to play cricket with you?’

‘Oh yes, can we play now, in the garden?’ Aleksy said hopefully.

‘Of course, if you’ve finished eating,’ Franceska said.

‘Can I go?’ Toby asked.

‘And me?’ Henry said.

‘Of course, but, Aleksy, you are in charge of the younger ones and keep the front door open. We’ll pop out as soon as we’ve cleaned up,’ Claire said.

I noticed Summer and Martha didn’t want to go with them.

‘Not wanting to play cricket?’ Jonathan asked his daughter.

‘No, it’s a silly game,’ she said, folding her arms.

‘We had a bit of a disaster when they played on the beach,’ Claire whispered in Jonathan’s ear. ‘Summer couldn’t hit the ball and she had a bit of a tantrum.’

‘Right, girls, who would like to watch a Disney film as a treat?’ Polly trilled, and they jumped up. It seemed much easier to keep everyone happy by the sea.

‘Do I watch a film with the girls or play cricket with the boys?’ George asked.

‘Cricket might be fun, come on, let’s go outside.’

I ran out with George on my heels. The game was in full swing. There were two boys, roughly the same ages as Aleksy and Tommy, who were called Simon and Ben, and there were two girls, Millie and Jess. They seemed like nice children. Toby and Henry had to stand around to do what they called‘fielding’, which meant they were expected to fetch the ball wherever it landed. I think they got the short straw but didn’t seem to notice, and were happy to do so. George said he would help them and he ran after the ball alongside the other boys. It was cute to watch. At one point, Claire and Franceska brought out drinks and then left them — as Jonathan said, it made the kids feel grown up to be allowed to play without adult supervision for once and Claire said they played out like this and on the beach when she was a child without any of her parents or her aunt worrying. So I movedbetween all my humans, keeping my eye on all of them, which was my favourite thing to do.

I had just reached outside when the gate opened and the two girls from next door appeared.

‘Hey,’ Aleksy said, waving the cricket bat, ‘do you want to join in?’

The local children suddenly went very quiet and looked at their feet.

‘No, we don’t. And I’m surprised at you.’ Savannah, the oldest girl, glared at Simon, Ben, Millie and Jess. ‘What do you think you are doing?’

‘Uh, we’re playing cricket,’ Tommy said. Toby, Henry and George were staring at the girls.

‘I wasn’t talking to you,’ Savannah said, nastily. ‘You guys,’ she pointed at the local children, ‘are not allowed to play with them. They don’t belong here.’

‘No they don’t,’ Serafina, the younger girl, colluded.

‘What on earth?’ Aleksy looked appalled. ‘We live here, well we do in the holidays, so what is your problem?’

Aleksy used to be quite shy but with my help and the fact he was such a popular boy at his school, he had gained confidence and come out of his shell.

‘Um, the thing is that we all go to the same school.’ Simon looked awkward.

‘And, well, we are all friends,’ Ben added, looking unhappy.

‘So, we can all play then,’ Tommy said a bit aggressively. He was almost as big as Aleksy, despite being a couple of years younger, and he wasn’t scared of anyone.

‘No, you can’t.’ Savannah poked him in the chest.

‘Oy,’ Tommy said. But he backed off. He was a gentleman and wouldn’t hit a girl.

‘Our friends won’t be playing with you again. Come on, right now!’ Savannah shouted and the children all mumbled apologies before following her out of the garden.

‘We should go home now, anyway,’ Jess said, looking embarrassed.

‘Shut up, Jess,’ Savannah shouted.

‘Wow, that wasn’t nice,’ Henry said. Toby looked devastated.

‘Hey, Henry, Toby, don’t worry, we can still play. And now they’ve gone, you can take a turn with the bat.’ Aleksy put his arm around the younger boy.

‘Finally!’ Toby said.

‘Well now we know where Chanel gets it from,’ I said to George when we were out of earshot.

‘What, you mean her beauty? Yes, I see it,’ he replied and I raised my whiskers in despair.

Aleksy told Franceska what happened with the children and she was visibly upset. When the children were in bed, or settled in front of the TV, she told the others.

‘Like mother, like daughters,’ Polly said.

‘Oh God, I’m not having them start on the children though,’ Claire said.

‘Don’t worry, you know what kids are like,’ Jonathan started. ‘I know, we’ll go and see this Andrea woman and have a word.’ He looked pleased with himself.

‘What, me and you?’ Claire didn’t look so pleased.

‘No, us men will go. We’ll use our charm to tell her that not only can she not buy the cottage but also that the children should all play happily together.’

‘Really? All of us?’ Tomasz looked unsure.

‘Won’t we seem intimidating?’ Matt asked.

As Polly, Claire and Franceska laughed, I felt a bit sorry for the men. They were about as intimidating as George.

‘What?’ Matt said again.

‘You guys are about as intimidating as a teabag,’ Polly finished, wiping tears from her eyes. Everyone was laughing apart from the poor men.

They all headed out before they changed their minds and I couldn’t resist, I had to go with them and see this for myself. Thankfully George had already gone upstairs with Toby so I didn’t have to worry about him mooning over Chanel as I headed out. The men went through the gate to Andrea’s house while I darted under the hedge, waiting by the front door, hidden just out of sight, until I saw them appear. They rang the brass doorbell and waited, as did I. I decided to stay out of sight in case Chanel was there. I didn’t feel like antagonising her or having her be rude to me this evening.

Andrea opened the door wearing a low-cut dress, which had a slit up her leg, high heels, full make-up and her long blonde hair shone very brightly. It was almost blinding. I wondered what her secret was; I’d like my fur to gleam like that.

‘Hello,’ she said, smiling widely. She actually appeared to be friendly.

‘So sorry to interrupt you,’ Jonathan said. Tomasz didn’t seem to know where to look, and Matt was also a bit frozen. Jonathan glared at them. ‘I’m Jonathan, this is Matt and Tomasz from Seabreeze Cottage.’

‘Oh how lovely to meet you. Of course I’ve already met your lovely wives, and now you. How are you finding it?’ She was so warm and friendly I felt wrong-pawed.

‘Well, it’s very nice so far,’ Matt said. ‘And the kids are having such a fun time, just being away from London is so healthy for them.’ He was gushing a bit, I thought.

‘Oh it is and Lynstow is one of the best places in the world, I am always saying to my husband. Of course that’s why we moved here.’

‘Is he here?’ Tomasz finally found his voice. I think he was more comfortable dealing with men.

‘No, I’m afraid he’s away on business at the moment. Just little me and the girls, oh and of course Chanel.’ Chanel appeared from behind her legs.

‘Right, well.’ Jonathan was looking awkward again. ‘It’s just that we wanted to introduce ourselves and also, it’s probably nothing, but there was … an incident with the children earlier.’

‘An incident?’ The smile hadn’t moved from Andrea’s face.

‘Yes, some local children were playing in our garden and your girls told them to leave and that they weren’t allowed to play with our kids,’ Matt explained.

‘Someone must have put them up to it. My girls are so sweet, they would never say anything like that. Don’t worry, I will have a word and find out who put them up to it, and of course all the children can play together. I am hoping,’ she looked directly at Jonathan, then reached out to lightly touch his arm,’ that we shall all be the best of friends. I am so happy to have you as neighbours.’

‘Right, well that’s great, and we’ll see you soon?’ Jonathan was flustered, Tomasz uncertain and Matt confused.

‘I look forward to it.’ Andrea smiled again, before she closed the door.

I darted back to Seabreeze Cottage to await the men’s return. This was going to be interesting.

‘Well?’ Claire demanded as Jonathan, Tomasz and Matt trooped in. Franceska was cooking and Polly and Claire were setting the table.

‘She’s nice,’ Jonathan said.

‘Very nice,’ Matt added.

‘Her shoes were nice,’ Tomasz said, turning as red as a tomato.

‘What do you mean? She’s horrible,’ Polly snapped.

‘No, not to us, she said she was so happy to have us as neighbours and that someone must have put her girls up to being nasty, they would never say anything like that apparently,’ Jonathan explained. ‘And anyway, she’ll sort it out.’

‘That’s not the case: Aleksy, Tommy, Henry and Toby all corroborated the same story.’

‘She didn’t say they didn’t say it, she said someone must be behind it because they are sweet girls. Anyway, she’s going to have a word so it’ll all be sorted. And she didn’t mention buying the house, just how nice it was to have us living here, so perhaps you got the wrong end of the stick,’ Matt added.

Claire, Franceska and Polly exchanged a glance.

‘God, why are all men so gullible,’ Polly said.

‘What do you mean?’ Matt asked.

‘She’s clearly flirting with you and now you think your own wives are liars,’ Claire stormed. I actually agreed with her.

‘No, of course not, but we’re just thinking that you might have got off on the wrong foot, but now it’s all going to be fine,’ Tomasz said.

‘Dazzled by her beauty no doubt,’ Franceska added.

‘I didn’t notice she was—’

‘I can’t even remember what she looked like—’

‘No, not at all—’ all the men started objecting at once but Claire silenced them. The damage was done. They had been blinded by Andrea the way George had by Chanel, it was clear for us all to see.

With all the excitement I’d nearly forgotten about Gilbert, but as everyone retired for the evening, and there was no sign of him, I ignored my rumbling tummy and the leftover food that had been so enticingly tipped into my bowl and left it for him. I was too tired to stay up and see if he came back, but I hoped he would, and that he’d eat what I left for him, because I hated to think of any cat being hungry. I had been that cat once and it wasn’t nice. I would have left a note for him, but being a cat I couldn’t, so leaving him some lovely food would hopefully convey my message: that he was welcome here andI would like to get to know him. The way to a cat’s heart is through its stomach after all. You can never have too many friends; the horrible experience with Chanel, Andrea and her daughters proved the truth of that.

Chapter Eight

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The absence of the men was felt keenly on Monday morning. I was secretly excited though, because Gilbert had emptied my bowl, and therefore it was obvious he understood my message. I still hadn’t seen him but I thought if I got enough rest today, if George let me, then I would stay up late tonight to have a chat with him. I felt as if it would be great to have a new friend here, and also an ally wouldn’t go amiss either.

We had had an uneventful Sunday with no other children sighted, no Andrea, or Chanel, despite George’s desperation. The poor kitten was devastated and had insisted on camping out in the hedge watching her house for hours, but to no avail. I had to persuade him back in with the promise of ice cream, and then I had no idea how to get any. Thankfully Summer had a cone which she thought was hilarious to feed him. Jonathan wasn’t impressed though, but it was cute and Claire videoed the whole thing. Little George, all eager with his head in an ice-cream cone, pink ice cream all over his fur when he emerged. It took an age to get him properly clean but at least it took his mind off Chanel for a few minutes.

Anyway, when in the afternoon Franceska had driven the men back to the train station we had all been sad to see them go. It was lovely here but it was definitely better when they were all with us. Everyone seemed to agree. We all missed them.

‘I thought we might go across the estuary on the ferry today, cheer us up,’ Claire suggested.

‘Fab idea. I can leave the builders, they are doing a great job with the attic,’ Polly agreed. ‘And they don’t need me at all.’

‘It’ll be nice to see another new place,’ Franceska thirded. ‘Right, children, get dressed and we can go out.’

George and I went to the boys’ room as they got ready.

‘I want to go on a ferry,’ George hissed to me. Honestly this kitten was always in need of entertainment.

‘We can’t and, anyway, the estuary is water, we don’t do water,’ I said. That was the end of that.

That wasn’t the end of that. George was being all cute with Tommy and I knew exactly what his game was. He was rubbing his legs, purring, lying on his back asking to be tickled; he was trying to give Tommy a message.

‘Hey, Aleksy, what if we take the cats with us? We can smuggle them in our backpacks, like we used to with Alfie when we were little.’ Actually, Aleksy did that only once, but obviously they had never forgotten.

‘But, Tommy, we could get into so much trouble if we’re caught.’ Thankfully Aleksy was sensible. ‘But it would be kind of fun to have Alfie and George with us.’ I could see Aleksy, who was a clever boy, weighing it up. I really liked adventures but when they involved water, no thank you. ‘It would be funny though, like the cats were stowaways. If we get caught we have to say we didn’t know the cats were there.’ Not that clever then. Who would believe that I would voluntarily go anywhere near water? No one, that’s who.

‘Yes!’ Tomasz high-fived Aleksy. Operation cats on a ferry was a go, whether I liked it or not.

George was so excited as we stayed in the boys’ room like we’d been ordered to. The plan was that just as they were ready to go they would say they needed their backpacks, come upstairs and get us. No one would ever find out. I raised my whiskers. I loved a good plan, don’t get me wrong, it was what I did, but I didn’t have a great feeling about this one.

I tried to quash my misgivings as I peered out of the gap in Aleksy’s backpack. This wasn’t a bad way to travel, I thought, as the sun shone and we got to see more of the village. We walked past the beach — busy with families — then along to a big wall. There were steps leading down to the water and a boat, which didn’t look very big, or safe for that matter, was waiting. I tried to be brave but my fur was quivering. I couldn’t see George, who was tucked up in Tommy’s backpack, but I hoped he was alright. It felt a bit jerky as they went down the steps.

‘God, it’s a bit steep,’ Claire said.

‘Just be careful, children,’ Franceska said.

Yes, I thought, please be careful. As the backpack was put on the floor with a gentle thud, I looked around through the small gap. All I could see were legs. There were all of us, plus some other people on the boat. Luckily I couldn’t see any water, so I could pretend it wasn’t there. I just hoped we didn’t sink. When I first met Claire she was sad and watched this film calledTitanic a lot, so I knew just how precarious boats could be.

I couldn’t see George still but I knew he would be excited by this. He didn’t share my fears, and actually in some ways that was a good thing. I didn’t want him to be scared of everything, but I did want him to sense danger. It was another parenting lesson I was trying hard to get right. The boat ride itself was quite smooth, there were a couple of rocky patches but nothing too bad, I thought as I almost held my breath.

‘I love this,’ I heard Toby say, and Claire kissed him. ‘I’ve never been on a boat before.’

‘Have I?’ Summer asked.

‘No, darling, this is your first ever boat trip, both of you.’ Sometimes I forgot that there was a time when Toby wasn’t with us, and I felt emotional. He was such an important part of our family now.

The boat stopped with a jerk and I fell back, but luckily Aleksy had put a jumper in the bag so it was soft for me. Then I felt him pick me up and we were off. As we disembarked I saw us walking up a steep slope where lots of people were playing.

‘Let’s just find a space on the quay to decamp,’ Polly said. Again I was put down on the ground. The quay led down to the water and I could see lots of people were scattered along it, with fishing lines. I perked up. Things were improving. I might not like water but I certainly liked fish.

‘What are you doing?’ I heard Tommy ask someone.

‘Crabbing. We’re trying to catch crabs,’ a voice replied. Oh, not fish then; I felt disappointed.

‘Can we do that?’ Aleksy asked.

‘Please,’ Henry said.

‘Gosh, I vaguely remember doing that when I was a kid. Blimey. Right, I’ll go to the shop and get lines and buckets. Summer, you can share Toby’s.’

‘Oh, and Martha and Henry can share. But I don’t want any of you getting too close to the edge.’ Polly echoed my fears.

‘Psst,’ a voice said, and I looked to see George’s face. Tomasz had put the backpacks next to each other.

‘Are you having fun?’ I asked.

‘The most fun, but can I go crabbing?’

‘Best not. Let’s stay here and watch for a bit, we don’t want to get into trouble,’ I hissed.

‘OK, Dad.’ George sounded happy, which made me happy. I settled down to enjoy the sliver of sunlight coming into the bag and I felt sleepy all of a sudden.

‘Alfie,’ I heard Aleksy whisper. I opened my eyes. How long had I been sleeping for?

‘Meow,’ I said, sleepily.

‘George is out of the backpack. The adults have taken the little ones to the toilet, and left us and now George is insisting on crabbing with us.’ He sounded panicked. I climbed out of the bag, stretched — my legs were a little stiff — and looked for my kitten.

‘George,’ I said, quietly.

‘Yes, Dad.’

‘We were only allowed to come if we stayed out of sight,’ I explained, trying not to sound impatient.

‘Yes, but where’s the fun in that?’ he said. He had a point. I thought back to when I was younger, before George, and I used to go on many adventures. Yes I got into trouble at times, but at least I had some great experiences. I realised I was getting a bit boring in my old age. I tickled my boy with my tail.

‘OK, but listen, stay close to me and watch out for dogs.’

Aleksy looked worried but Tommy thought it was funny as we joined them on the quay to see what this crabbing business was. They had these long orange lines which they were dangling into the water. Beside them were two buckets which contained some funny-looking creatures— crabs — in. Aleksy was putting food on the line, it didn’t smell too bad actually, but I tried not to eat it. I was beginning to enjoy myself, when Ben, one of the children from the other day, approached.

‘Alright,’ he said.

‘Hi, Ben,’ Aleksy said, sounding friendly.

‘Hello.’ Tommy was more suspicious.

‘Sorry about the other day, those girls, Savannah especially, have started to be a bit bossy. They’ve always been nice girls, but lately they can be a bit mean. I am sorry though, we were having fun.’

‘They seemed really horrible,’ Tommy said.

‘But they aren’t always like that. I think that maybe they were upset that we were playing with you and they weren’t. And like I said, recently they have been a bit meaner than normal, and everyone tries to keep the peace with them.’ He looked at his sandalled feet.

‘You’re scared of them?’ Tommy asked.

Ben nodded, his face reddening.

‘I know what bullies are like,’ Aleksy said. He did, I had to go to school with him once to sort out a little boy who was bullying Aleksy. ‘But you know, you need to stand up to them.’

‘I know, but we’ve been friends for years, and normally they are really nice, so we don’t really understand.’ Ben looked downcast. ‘We do want to play with you though. But what if we still meet up on the beach? And now, how about I join you crabbing? My mum is having coffee with one of her friends so I’m a bit bored to be honest.’

‘Here,’ Aleksy said, handing him his line. ‘You have a go.’

I was so proud of my boys. They didn’t hold a grudge.

‘Oh, your cats are here!’ Ben giggled.

‘Yes, we stowed them away on the ferry.’ Tommy beamed with pride.

Ben stroked both me and George.‘That is so cool!’ he said. George, loving the attention, started showing off. He put his head into one of the buckets.

‘Yelp!’ George sprang up, an angry crab attached to his nose.

‘Oh boy,’ Aleksy said. ‘What do we do?’ He looked panicked, as did I. What on earth was this crab doing attaching itself to my kitten?

‘Don’t wriggle,’ Ben said, picking George up and gently removing the crab. He carefully placed it back in the bucket as George rubbed his nose, which looked a bit swollen, with his paw. I backed away from the buckets and nuzzled George.

‘Will he be alright?’ George was making a very loud noise, I knew it meant that it hurt but there was nothing I could do. Ben cradled him and tried to stroke him. I think we were all glad that he was there. I saw the boys looking worried but then Aleksy laughed.

‘Sorry, George, but you did look funny with a crab on your nose,’ he giggled. The others joined in and I have to say I did see the funny side. If only someone had taken a photo — that would have gone down a storm on Facebook!

‘Yowl!’ However, George did not.

We were so caught up in the excitement we didn’t notice the others returning.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Franceska said. Aleksy, Tomasz, Ben, myself and George all looked at them. At least that silenced George.

‘Alfie, George, what are you doing here?’ Claire snapped. The children giggled.

‘Um, we may have accidentally stowed them away,’ Tommy said.

‘No, they stowed away on their own,’ Aleksy corrected, but he was such a good boy he couldn’t tell a lie without laughing.

‘You boys!’ Franceska chastised. ‘Right, well there’s nothing we can do now, and we are heading back soon anyway. Ice cream?’ She smiled and picked me up.

‘MEOW!’ George said loudly and everyone laughed.

I was glad when we got back to Seabreeze Cottage with no further incidents. Apart from the crab incident— poor George’s nose was still a bit swollen — we’d had a very nice day out. Ben had been helpful and I was pleased that they were friends again, although I knew that those girls wouldn’t exactly welcome them being so. But as they said, if they played together on the beach — a public place — hopefully there was nothing they could say about that. Although I thought they probably could. I wondered what had happened to them to make them mean — Ben said that they were nice until recently. It was another conundrum for me to add to all the others. I fleetingly wondered if Chanel hadbeen nice once, but I couldn’t see that.

As they all sat down to eat tea, and George and I went to the garden, I felt quite relaxed. Of course, George went straight to the gap in the hedge and crawled through. He struck gold, because Chanel was there, sniffing some of Andrea’s very nice flowers.

‘Hello!’ George said, excitedly. I stayed close to him, just in case. He didn’t need any other injuries today.?‘Oh it’s you,’ she said, narrowing her eyes and swishing her tail.

‘How are you?’ he asked, bouncing around. Honestly, he hadn’t quite mastered the art of flirting yet.

‘I will be much better when you have gone,’ she hissed.

‘Hey, there’s no need for that,’ I said.

‘Look, you might be staying next door but this is my house, my garden, and you need to keep out of it.’

‘Oh well, you can come to my garden any time,’ George said, looking hopeful.

‘My owner is going to get rid of all of you, mark my words,’ Chanel replied. ‘So, it won’t be your garden for much longer.’

Again, I felt a shiver in my fur as Chanel stalked off and I herded George back to our side of the hedge.

‘Oh, Dad, she’s so lovely,’ George sighed. ‘And I really think she likes me.’

‘Did you hear what she said?’ I asked.

‘Not really. I was too busy looking at her beautiful eyes,’ he replied.

There was no hope, none at all.

But it annoyed me that a run-in with Chanel— even if George hadn’t noticed it — had ruined what was otherwise a nice day out. Well that and a crab. I had been relieved, by the way, when the boys put the crabs back in the sea. I think they should have been allowed to stay there to be honest — I wasn’t sure how kind crabbing actually was. Even if the crabs weren’t hurt they were sort of kidnapped, which seemed a little unfair. Anyway, as we went back inside we met Polly on the doorstep with a shopping bag from the little local store.

‘Do you think we’ll get more ice cream?’ George asked hopefully.

‘No, I think there’s been enough today.’ I patted his head with my paw.

Polly opened the door and we followed her into the kitchen.

‘Hey,’ Claire said, as Polly put the bags down on the counter.

‘That woman …’ Polly fumed.

‘Oh, now what happened?’ Franceska said.

‘Andrea and two of her friends were in the caf? in the shop and she was pretty nasty.’

‘So what she said to the men?’

‘Total rubbish. I said to her, “You didn’t mention to our husbands that you wanted us out of Seabreeze Cottage,” and she replied, sneering through those bright pink lips of hers, “Oh dear, it must have slipped my mind. But mark my words, you’ll regret not selling it to me soon enough.”’

‘You’re kidding?’ Claire said. ‘What did her friends say?’

‘They looked embarrassed but didn’t speak. Well, one of them tried to introduce herself but Andrea told her to shut up. A bit like the kids, actually, it’s like they’re scared of her, but I tell you what, that woman is not nice, and we need to watch out.’

‘Oh no, I don’t like this hostility,’ Franceska said, brow furrowing.

‘Don’t worry, Frankie, we will not be bullied by her.’ Polly looked tough.

‘There’s nothing she can do anyway,’ Claire pointed out. ‘Yes, she might intimidate us but we’re big girls, we can handle it.’

I sincerely hoped they could.

Chapter Nine [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_012.jpg]

I felt slightly despondent as the day drew to a close. The women had managed to push Andrea to the backs of their minds, the children were happy and George, well, he was totally bewitched by Chanel, but I was the realistic one of the family. I could sense when there was trouble ahead and I felt it keenly. That night, I decided to lie in wait for Gilbert. He had been in every night since I’d started leaving him food, although gone by morning, and now it was time for me to speak with him again. I could do with a local ally, and he was my only option.

I waited patiently, playing with a pile of sand that hadn’t yet been swept up. I was trying to grow fonder of sand, seeing as we would be here a lot, but I still wasn’t sure about it. It was not only grainy but it stuck to everything. I felt as if I couldn’t get it off me, no matter how much I cleaned myself.

Just as I was replaying all the events of the holiday so far, I heard the cat flap open and soon Gilbert appeared. He stopped as he saw me. He was an unusual-looking cat; I quite envied his spotty coat.

‘Hello,’ I said, brushing yet more sand from my paw.

‘I should thank you, I suppose,’ Gilbert replied, gruffly. ‘The food. Most welcome.’

‘I was hoping to see you though. You know my family wouldn’t mind if they saw you — they love cats and my kitten George would love to meet you.’

‘All the same … I’m not much of a family cat.’

‘But why? I mean, most cats have families. My friend Dustbin, he’s a working cat, and he likes being feral but he’s the exception and he’s sort of part of one of my families anyway,’ I gushed.

‘Right.’ Gilbert was a cat of few words.

‘So why don’t you have a family?’ I pushed.

‘Well, I did have a family but they weren’t nice. I don’t talk about it. Listen, like I said, thank you for the food, I am grateful, normally I have to get my own scraps, so I have enjoyed it, but I don’t really want to be around people.’

‘Funny you should say that, do you know the next-door neighbours: the cat Chanel and the woman, Andrea?’

‘I’ve seen them about, but as I already said,’ he glared at me with his yellow eyes, ‘I keep to myself.’

‘Well they’re not nice.’ I’m not easily discouraged. ‘And they have threatened us, saying they want this cottage and they want us out. And if that happens, I am guessing they won’t just leave it empty for you to live in either.’

‘Then I’ll find somewhere else.’ He really wasn’t an easy cat to crack.

‘Well you could, but you know this is a nice house and we like it here. We’re not giving it up, and I was thinking if you hear anything, anything at all, you might let me know.’

‘OK.’ He looked at the food bowl, which was quite full. ‘I’ll keep my ears open, but I can’t promise anything. Now if you don’t mind, I am hungry.’

‘Of course, and I’ll leave you alone, I get it. But, just to let you know in the day we go out a lot, the builders are here but they’re all upstairs, and anyway you seem quite good at keeping hidden. Just if you wanted to come by then … well, you might almost have the house to yourself and I can always make sure there is food for you.’

‘Appreciated.’ He started to eat, and I turned to go. ‘Oh and Alfie.’

‘Yes.’ I turned around.

‘Thank you.’

I had a good night’s sleep after that, curled up on Claire’s bed. I wished that Gilbert would meet the family though, they would welcome him after all and I thought that when we weren’t here he could sort of act like a guard cat for us. I had a vision of us all becoming the best of friends and he might be ableto help me with Andrea as well. I know he wasn’t exactly tripping over himself to be my friend, but small steps. One paw at a time.

George woke me by licking my head. I felt warm in my heart and my fur as I stretched out.

‘I slept in,’ I said.

‘I’ve been up for hours, with Toby and Summer. The others didn’t wake quite as early as us but everyone’s up now and it’s breakfast time.’ George bounced up and down excitedly on the bed.

‘Good, I’m quite hungry as it happens.’ I realised, having given up quite a bit of my food to Gilbert, I was a little bit peckish. As I padded into the kitchen I took in the scene, children munching on toast and porridge, the adults sipping from mugs, and George lapping water out of our waterbowl. This was what the holiday was all about, I reminded myself, not the problems that I was fretting about. I tucked into my breakfast, feeling much better.

There was a knock at the door.

‘I’ll go,’ Polly said. ‘In case it’s Andrea,’ she added. I bounded after her.

A woman I’d never seen stood on the doorstep, wearing a big hat and large dark glasses.

‘Hello,’ Polly said, questioningly.

‘Hi, I’m Amber, Ben’s mum.’ She shuffled awkwardly and glanced furtively around. ‘Can I come in?’

Polly led her into the kitchen. The children had all dispersed and I could hear them in the living room with the TV on loudly. George was cleaning himself in the kitchen when we walked in with Amber.

‘Hello?’ Franceska said.

‘This is Amber,’ Polly said, as Amber pulled off her hat and glasses. She was very slim with dark hair, pretty but not all over-done like Andrea.

‘You were in the cafe yesterday?’ Polly narrowed her eyes. Amber nodded.

‘Hi,’ Claire said. ‘Sit down.’ She held her hand out and Amber shook it.

‘Look, I came to apologise.’ She sounded a bit nervous. ‘God, if Andrea knew I was here, she’d kill me. Anyway, I don’t like the way she’s treating you all, and the kids. Ben loved spending time with your boys yesterday and I told him that he is to play with them and not take any noticeof the Gold children.’

‘Gold children?’ Polly asked. She sat down opposite Amber.

‘Their surname, Gold.’

‘Oh, I didn’t know, but it’s appropriate, for the way that woman acts,’ Polly quipped.

‘What is it with her anyway?’ Claire asked.

‘I’m not sure. Andrea had always been at the centre of village life, or she has been since she moved here. When Savannah was a baby she organised baby and mum groups, she was so supportive, friendly, bringing people together, sorting out a social life for us bored mums, and then when the kids started school she threw herself into the PTA,’ Amber explained. ‘She’s always been at the heart of Lynstow, organising parties and celebrations, she has a bookclub, she’s always hosting at her house, and very generous with it. Her husband is successful, you see. But in the last six or so months she has changed, and she’s been different … She acts as if everything is great when we ask her, but her husband hasn’t been seen for ages — apparently he’s travelling for business. Anyway, recently she’s become obsessed with this house. I have no idea why or why she’s changed so much.’

‘Just because her husband’s rich, it doesn’t give her the right to act like she owns the place,’ Claire said.

‘Quite, but I really think there’s more to it than this.’ Amber shuddered.

‘But what?’ Franceska looked terrified.

‘I wish I knew. She says everything is perfect but clearly from her behaviour towards you guys it’s not.’

‘She’s been pretty horrid to us,’ Franceska said.

‘I know but, well, as I said, she’s been at the heart of this village for so long, we just, well, we just don’t want to fall out. If she needs us, which we think she does, we want to be there for her, but well, we also don’t approve of how she’s behaved towards you.’

‘Why does she want this cottage so much?’ Polly asked.

‘That I don’t know. I was asking Kate, the other woman you saw us with yesterday, and she’s just as flummoxed. Andrea’s behaviour has got worse lately, she is becoming a middle-aged mean girl.’

‘You’re kidding?’ Claire was amazed.

‘I wish.’

‘I still don’t understand why she wants this place so much though,’ Polly said.

‘I wish I knew. She told us she is going to get it, and she spouts all this stuff about how awful it is for out-of-towners to move into the village for the odd weekend and holiday, but I don’t buy it myself.’

‘Neither do we,’ Polly concurred.

‘Look, if she knew I was here she’d be furious, but I wanted you to know I am on your side and if there is anything I can do to help, well, short of standing up to Andrea, I will.’

‘You know, that’s nice of you, and we do appreciate it. Also we won’t tell Andrea.’ Claire reached out and touched Amber’s hand.

Later, after she’d gone, the builders arrived and the women all got ready to take the children out to the beach again. Polly picked me up and gave me a stroke.

‘That woman needs bringing down a peg or a million, Alfie,’ she said, looking me in the eyes. I blinked my agreement. And I was just the cat to do it.

I needed a plan but was at a loss to what to do. I had George to contend with too; he was pining for Chanel, insisting on sitting under the hedge, and I think Chanel was wise to him because she was avoiding it. He glimpsed her from afar but there was nothing he could do. I tried to reason with him but he was a kitten and therefore reason wasn’t one of the most effective tools. While he sulked, lying on the living room window seat, I went upstairs. The builders had made great progress, and the bathroom would be going in soon. Then the floors would be done and the kids could move while they then started on the next floor. It was all working out quite efficiently, as Polly had so cleverly devised. However, when I reached the top floor, I heard a commotion.

‘What the hell?’ Colin was saying, looking at a hole in the ceiling of one of the rooms.

‘It looks as if there’s a hole in the roof,’ Liam, the builder I’d seen with Andrea, said. ‘I’m guessing the whole roof is unstable,’ he added. Pete and Mark, the other two builders, looked confused.

‘No, it’s not, I did the roof myself a couple of months ago, and it was fine. The tiles were all secure and none were broken. There’s been no storm, nothing to cause this. This isn’t right,’ he said, staring at Liam.

‘Look, boss, it looks as if the hole’s been made from the inside,’ Pete pointed out, as he stood on top of the ladder, where there was a hole in the ceiling, fairly small but clear. Pete scooted down the ladder and Colin climbed up.

‘Pete’s right. OK, Liam, Mark, did one of you do this?’ he asked staring at them. ‘It’s gone right through, which means a couple of tiles need replacing, as well as the ceiling repairing. It’s a lot of unnecessary work and Polly is going to go mad.’ He was red-faced as the boys shook their heads. But seeing the look on Liam’s face, I immediately knew it was him. He had somehow done this! I meowed loudly and scratched him on the leg.

‘Ow, blooming cat,’ he yelled. They all looked at me. I sat down and started cleaning my paws innocently.

‘Liam, was this you?’ Colin pushed. Liam turned red and started denying it but he wasn’t a great liar. Honestly, it was written all over his face.

‘It was an accident,’ he mumbled. ‘I well, I–I’m sorry,’ he blustered.

‘How do you accidentally put a hole in the roof?’ Colin asked. Liam shrugged. I thought that if my suspicions were right — and they seemed so — and Andrea had put him up to this, she could have picked someone a bit more efficient at sabotage. ‘Right, well this is going to set us back so, Liam, you’ll be working overtime for no extra money. Pete, keep a close rein on him while I go and sort the tiles out. If you don’t buck up your ideas, then you’ll be out of a job, Liam.’

‘Sorry,’ Liam mumbled and I felt pleased with myself. I had sorted that one out. Although I had a bad feeling it was the first of many.

I told George what happened but he was so lovesick he barely registered what I was saying. Or so I thought.

‘If I keep a close eye on Chanel, I might be able to find out what her owner is up to,’ he pointed out. I was impressed. I hadn’t thought of that, but he was right. Kill two birds with one paw so to speak. We would have to stalk Chanel, and that would keep my boy happy as well as hopefully give us more of an idea what was actually going on. And at the same time I could keep an eye on Andrea.

We stopped in the front garden to look at our families all playing on the beach. They seemed to be playing a running game up and down the sand dunes and I was pleased to see the local children were playing with them again. As we headed under the hedge next door I saw that the car normally parked there was gone, and there was no sign of life. So we started to look around. The house, as far as we could see, was empty but it was a big house so I couldn’t be sure.

‘Come on,’ I said to George. We headed to the back, where again, all was quiet. They had a bigger back garden than us, which was lawned like the front. There was a playhouse and I thought it was a shame they weren’t nicer children as Summer and Martha would have loved to play in that. Anyway,we found the cat flap in the back door and George and I looked at each other before sneaking in. I know it wasn’t exactly right, but hey, we were on a mission.

We found ourselves in a bigger utility space than our sand room— it was all very smart too — and from there we entered the biggest kitchen I’d ever seen. However, there our plans were halted. The door from the kitchen was closed and there was nowhere else to go. I could smell Chanel’s scent but there was no sign of her — she was probably out with Andrea. But George was in heaven as he ran around, sniffing the air and prancing on about how the house was as beautiful as she was. I raised my whiskers in despair.

‘Look, we better go,’ I said. ‘They could come back at any time and if they find us here …’ It was useful to have had a look at the house but, well, I’d seen enough for now.

‘Oh I’m sure Chanel will be so happy to see me,’ George trilled.

‘That may be but come on, Andrea won’t, so let’s go. We can try to see her later,’ I placated. I was a little worried that my new plan to keep an eye on Chanel was going to have a detrimental effect on George but then he was so smitten, I wasn’t sure it could get any worse. Anyway, I reflected as we left their very posh house, George wasn’t the most successful stalker — so far anyway.

My families fed us and then said they were going to take an early evening walk, before going to the pub to feed the kids. The women were nicely tired after being outside so much, as were the children. Also, having the builders in the house meant they often couldn’t face the extra mess of cooking, but of course they could get food in any of the three pubs, the fish and chip shop or the caf?, so were spoilt for choice.

I could see how healthy this holiday lifestyle was for them all. Well almost. So as George tucked in, the children excitedly put their sand-filled shoes on and the women all looked on indulgently, I vowed I would do whatever it took to make sure all was going to be alright with Seabreeze Cottage. I felt saddened for a moment about my friends in Edgar Road, and I was definitely missing my side-kick Tiger, my partner, my best friend. She would always see me through the bad times and the plans I had to undertake for the sake of my humans. But this time I was alone. Well, I had George— I looked at him licking his whiskers, not sure how much use he was at the moment — and Gilbert who, although he had thawed slightly, had made it clear he wasn’t interested in becoming part of our family. This time, I thought, if I had to act, it looked as if I might have to act alone.

Chapter Ten

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_013.jpg]

OK, so it wasn’t much of a plan but I decided to follow Liam. I watched him as much as I could and to say he was acting shifty was an understatement. He was working, but if none of the other builders were looking he was behaving in a suspicious fashion; I was worried he was searching for the next thing to sabotage. Of course I was keeping out of his way — after scratching him the other day he wasn’t my biggest fan.

Today, George was pining by his hedge, with a promise not to leave the garden, so I was happy when Liam was charged with fixing the tiles on the roof. They had scaffolding fitted to the back of the house, because windows— they called them skylights — had been fitted into the roof already that week. I was managing to keep an eye on both of them; George and Liam. When the tiles were fixed — it turned out he’d only dislodged two — he came back down to the ground.

‘Right, mate, now Colin wants us to finish plastering the opening in the utility room.’ Mark had also been keeping an eye on Liam, in case he fell or ruined something else, I presumed.

‘Alright,’ Liam mumbled. They were standing at the back of the house. ‘Is this the pipe for the outdoor shower?’ he asked, pointing at a copper pipe which ran up the side of the house.

‘Yeah, the shower’s being fitted later. The plumber’s due back this arfto.’ They both looked at the pipes. ‘Then we have to put down a wooden tray, it’s going to be pretty cool,’ Mark explained.

‘Right, the plastering, I’ll just clear up out here and see you in there,’ Liam said. I watched from my safe place as he looked around him. Then he took a tool and started hitting the pipe until he had broken it. I could barely believe it. I was right. This was sabotage, blatant sabotage. I wanted to run out and confront him but then he might hurt me, after all I’m a cat not a burly builder. But I needed to figure out how to either put a stop to him or get the others to catch him. But how? I needed to think this one through before Liam destroyed the house.

He whistled as he went inside and I walked to the hedge.

‘I saw her!’ George said excitedly.

‘Where?’ I asked.

‘Andrea put her in a little bag and took her and the two children out,’ he said. ‘But I spotted her as she walked past and I am pretty sure she smiled at me.’

Scowled, more likely, I thought, but I let it go.

‘Do you fancy going to sunbathe on the car bonnets again?’ I asked.

‘Yes, I love that.’ My kitten bounded over to the car, where we climbed on the bonnet of Claire’s — it had the best sun — and we lay down and let our fur luxuriate in the sun’s rays. I tried to relax but in fact I was thinking about Liam and why he was trying to destroy our house. And Iknew it had something to do with Andrea.

‘George,’ I said, thinking aloud. ‘If when you’re, um, waiting for Chanel, you see any of our builders with Andrea, you will tell me, won’t you?’

‘Why?’ George asked.

‘I’m not sure but I think they are causing trouble at the house.’

‘But why would they do that?’

‘Well Andrea’s made no secret of the fact that she wants the house for herself.’

‘But if she does that then we can’t come here any more?’

‘No, and you know what that means, don’t you?’ I was thinking of the kids, of Claire, Polly and Franceska, of the men who seemed so much more relaxed outside of London.

‘Yes,’ George replied sounding distraught. ‘It means I’ll never see Chanel again.’ OK, well that would have to do.

I did feel bad using my kitten’s unrequited love for, quite frankly, a horrible cat to help with my plan, but I was on limited resources. And I knew that George wouldn’t just snap out of his crush on Chanel; no matter what I did, it had to run its course. I would be there to mop up his sadness when it did so, anyway. With arough idea of what to do next, I decided to have a cat nap.

‘Alfie, George, you’ll have to move.’ Claire’s voice interrupted my dreams.

‘Meow?’ I stretched my paws out.

‘I’m going to get Jon and Matt. Tomasz can’t come this weekend, he’s got staff problems at one of the restaurants apparently, but anyway, you’ll be pleased to see Jon and Matt.’

I would, although I would miss seeing Tomasz, and I hoped Franceska wasn’t too disappointed. She and her husband had had a bit of a rough patch not long ago, because he’d been working too much. It got so bad that she took the boys back to Poland for the whole of the last summer holidays and we were all terribly worried that they wouldn’t come back. However, finally Tomasz came to his senses — I helped of course — and went over there to bring his family back and I thought they had sorted that out. Tomasz had been more attentive to his family and the restaurants were more and more successful but Tomasz was getting much better at delegating. I just hoped that this was still the case.

After all, I didn’t need any other problems to add to my growing list. I jumped down from the car and watched as George did the same. I saw the children were in the garden, so I ran to them, George on my heels.

‘Alfie, George,’ Aleksy said. ‘We are going to set up a sports day. It’s for the younger ones really,’ he said as an aside. I knew that Aleksy still loved playing games but at times had to act like he was grown up. It happened to us all, I thought, looking at George. At times when he played with leaves or chased butterflies I had to act as if I was too grown up for such frivolities but in reality you never are!

The children set up their sports day games. There was to be running, an egg and spoon race, and an obstacle course which was set up with anything they could find. It didn’t look very safe but apparently the adults had approved it so who was I to argue.

Three of the children from the village, Ben, Jess and Millie, turned up.

‘Ah, I found a whistle,’ Tommy said, blowing it. ‘Let the games begin.’

We had such fun. I sat back a little as George joined in with Summer and Martha’s races. Then Toby and Henry had a go, they laughed so much as they kept dropping their eggs, but although George ran hopefully to lick them up, they were hard boiled and it hurt when one dropped on his head. The bigger children took part in running races, and they finished with what they calleda relay, where a stick was passed between the runners. But they were having so much fun they weren’t being competitive about it at all! I was in my element to see how happily the children were playing together, and I wished that the adults could all get along the same.

But as Savannah and Serafina marched into our garden, I realised I’d spoken too soon.

‘What do you think you are doing?’ Savannah demanded.

‘Who invited you into our garden?’ Aleksy responded. He crossed his arms, as did his brother.

‘It won’t be your garden for long,’ Serafina said.

‘What do you mean?’ Toby looked terrified.

‘This house will be ours soon, Mummy said so. So don’t get too comfortable,’ Savannah said, spitefully. ‘And as for you, Millie, Jess and Ben, why are you playing with them? I said you couldn’t.’

‘We like playing with them,’ Ben mumbled, looking at the grass as he said it.

‘Yeah, it’s not like you can tell them what to do,’ Tommy added.

‘Fine, play your stupid games, see if we care. But mark my words, you won’t be around for much longer and we won’t be sorry to see you go.’ They turned and left.

‘Wow,’ Jess said.

‘I don’t like that they are so horrible.’ Toby looked as if he was going to cry and my heart went to him. The poor kid was so sensitive and hated any kind of arguing, probably because of his past. Aleksy put his arm round him.

‘Toby, you’re not to worry about them, you’ve got us now,’ he said, and Toby smiled.

‘And we are going to play with you, no matter what they say,’ Millie added. ‘My mum said it was about time we stood up to those two anyway. They’ve been so mean lately.’ Her voice wobbled uncertainly, but I was glad.

‘Yeah, when we play with you guys you don’t tell us what to do or tell us we’re rubbish like they do,’ Ben added.

‘Those girls need teaching a lesson,’ Aleksy said. ‘And the best lesson is for us to have so much fun they will want to join in and play with us.’

‘Yeah!’ All the children high-fived.

George put his paw up to join in, and they all laughed.

‘Your cats are so cool,’ Jess said, stroking George.

‘Meow,’ I agreed.

By the time Claire returned with Jonathan and Matt, the children were lying on the grass with ice lollies that Polly and Franceska had given them. Polly was making daisy chains and Franceska was reading her book. They turned and waved as the car pulled into the car port. Jonathan came up and grabbed both Toby and Summer, hugging them at the same time.

‘I’ve missed you guys,’ he said. Then he fussed George and I.

Matt kissed Polly, then Martha, but when he tried to hug Henry he squirmed away.

‘Too big for a hug from your old dad?’ Matt asked and Henry laughed, then launched himself at him.

‘So how’s the house going?’ Matt asked.

‘Come with me and I’ll show you,’ Polly replied. ‘Are you OK to watch the kids?’ she asked.

‘Sure,’ Claire said. ‘You two go and see the builders, Jon can see everything later.’

‘I wish Dad was here,’ Aleksy said.

‘Me too,kochanie, but he has to work. But the good news is that he’ll be here soon.’

‘I can’t wait.’ Tommy gave an air punch and I was happy. They weren’t in trouble at all, and of course sometimes you had to work. After all, it was their hard work that meant we could all keep Seabreeze Cottage.

Knowing George was being showered with attention, I followed Matt and Polly. But before they could get very far I heard voices coming from the courtyard.

‘I don’t understand,’ a man I knew only as the plumber was saying.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’ Colin was scratching his head, which he seemed to do a lot.

‘What’s wrong?’ Polly asked. ‘Colin, you remember Matt?’

‘Hi, Matt. Polly, Adrian put in all the pipe work for the outside shower as you know, and today he’s come to finish off but the pipe’s broken and to be honest we have no idea how it happened.’

‘What do you mean?’ Matt examined what I had seen Liam do earlier.

‘It looks like it was bashed with something, but why?’ Adrian said. ‘I’ll have to get another piece of pipe. It’s not difficult but I’ll have to cut it to size, so it means I won’t be able to finish until Monday.’

‘How could this have happened?’ Polly asked.

‘I wish I knew, Polly, honestly it makes no sense.’ Poor Colin sounded upset.

‘OK, well delays happen … Anyway, Colin, can we go and see upstairs? Adrian’s putting the bathroom in next week so next time you come the children should be in, right?’ Polly said, cheerfully. I was glad she wasn’t letting the broken pipe get to her.

‘Yup, the lads are preparing to paint the bedrooms now, the carpets are going in soon and then that just leaves the bathroom.’

‘It’s all going well then,’ Matt said. ‘Come on, let’s see the children’s floor.’

Our inspection was highly successful. The children were going to love their new rooms. Martha and Summer had the smaller room, but it was going to be painted pink and Polly said she was going to make it like the inside of a palace. The boys’ room, which was bigger as it was for four of them, was to be a nice green colour, and they would move the bunk beds up for them to sleep in. The sloping room wasn’t that high, but high enough, and the skylights let in the sun, though Polly said they were getting black-out blinds fitted the following week to ensure the children would be able to sleep. My conclusion, as I stepped on Liam’s foot and earned a scowl from him, was that Polly had thought of everything and the children’s floor would be a success.

‘It’s going to be great when finished.’ Matt echoed my thoughts.

‘I just still have so much to do,’ Polly said as they went downstairs. ‘And these little delays aren’t helping. First the ceiling hole, then the pipe. I mean, I know it’s not the end of the world but it is irritating when we are on such a tight time schedule.’

‘These things happen when you’re building though, you know that,’ Matt pointed out.

‘I know but it worries me. The roof was one of them being a bit careless when they were getting ready to fit the skylight, I get that, but the pipe, how could that have happened?’

‘The plumber probably fitted a faulty piece and didn’t want to say. Anyway, how about we take the kids for a run on the beach before tea.’ Matt grinned. ‘You know, I might have been a bit reluctant at first when you came up with this hare-brained plan but it is quite magical here. The beachacross the road, the children having a lovely, free time, and the cottage, well it’s going to be beautiful. You know, my lovely wife, we were wrong, this is one of your best ideas. As long as it doesn’t bankrupt us then I’m so happy we did it.’

‘Gosh, Matt, I might need that in writing. And no, it won’t bankrupt us because we are all in this together.’

I scampered out to the garden and kept that in mind that, yes, we were all in this together.

As I took my favourite vantage point on the lawn just outside the cottage, I was still thinking that over, how much my families meant to each other, how much they all meant to me. I could see all the way down to the beach, where it looked as if everyone was paddling in the sea, which was quite high, and also I could see George’s bottom from under the hedge where he had taken up his post, Chanel-watching once again. I’d suggested he come to the beach but he refused.

It was getting a little cooler as I felt a slight breeze ripple through my fur, and the sun was beginning to fade slightly. I watched and I felt warm inside as I kept thinking about how much we all loved each other and how perfect Seabreeze Cottage was to remind us of that.

‘Dad!’ An excited George bounded up and I grinned; I was guessing he must have seen Chanel.

‘Yes, son?’

‘You told me to tell you if I saw anything.’

‘I did.’ I felt impatient but George hated being rushed when he was relaying anything so I tried not to sound it.

‘I saw Chanel, she was with Andrea, who was carrying her. You know, I don’t think Chanel likes to walk as she seems to get carried around quite a lot.’

‘Right, George, maybe you’re right.’ It was hard to humour him at times but I’d learnt the hard way not to push. He could string a story out for hours if he put his little mind to it.

‘Well, you know that builder you don’t like?’

I licked my lips; this was getting interesting.‘Liam?’

‘Yes, I saw him.’

‘Where?’

‘With Andrea. They were round the side of her house. He said something, she said something. She put something in his back pocket. Chanel was nuzzled into her, looking beautiful.’

‘What did she put in his back pocket?’ I asked, intrigued.

‘I don’t know, I couldn’t see and it was hard to tear myself away from staring at Chanel.’

‘Right, was there anything else?’ I asked.

‘No, not really.’

That evening, I was still mulling over what George had seen. I had seen Liam with Andrea, and as I knew he was the saboteur it was obvious he was doing it for Andrea. If he was in thrall to her the way George was to Chanel, then that would explain how she was getting him to do all this for her and perhaps she was giving him money too, which would explain the pocket thing. It seemed that Andrea was hoping that, with Liam making things go wrong, it would annoy my families. However, to annoy them enough to get them to give up Seabreeze Cottage, they would have to do something a bit worse than making a hole in a roof or a pipe. But then, what if he was going to do just that? What if the ideas were going to get bigger? My thoughts were that Liam, surly as he was, was young and not exactly clever. What I needed to do was to keep an eye on him, but more than that, I had to somehow get him and Andrea caught. Just how, was something I had no clue about, yet anyway.

‘Why don’t you guys go for a drink?’ Franceska said. ‘I can stay with the children.’

‘Oh, Frankie, we can’t leave you here, alone,’ Claire said.

‘Please do. Look, if all the children are in bed, Aleksy and Tommy look after themselves. I am going to settle down in the small living room with my book. Go out, all of you. It’s a good opportunity.’ She smiled.

‘You’ve twisted my arm,’ Jonathan laughed. ‘And so I shall go and organise baths and bed, while you enjoy a glass of wine, in that case.’

It was good really; because the women had the children all week, the men liked to do bath and bedtimes at the weekend.

‘Well, you won’t hear an argument from me,’ Claire said.

‘Come on, Jon, let’s round them up.’ Matt went with him.

‘It will be nice to go out for a drink, are you sure that you don’t mind?’ Polly said when the women were sitting in the big living room with glasses of wine.

‘Of course not. You know the downside to this is that we can’t go out, we don’t have babysitters here yet, so make the most of it. I have a good book, I’m happy for some peace and quiet, no offence,’ Franceska laughed.

‘None taken. But you’re right, I’m going to find a local babysitter so maybe next week, when it’s just us again, we can have an evening out. It would be nice to go to the local for something to eat at least,’ Claire suggested.

‘Good idea. I can always ask Colin,’ Polly said.

‘What, to babysit?’ Franceska asked.

‘No, silly, if he knows anyone. He’s from the village so he’ll probably know everyone.’

‘It’ll have to be someone who is OK to look after six children,’ Claire pointed out.

‘Oh come on, the younger ones will be in bed, and Aleksy is so grown up now he’ll probably end up looking after the babysitter,’ Franceska said. ‘It’s an easy job.’

‘Let’s drink to freedom. And maybe we can meet some more local women who aren’t the horrible Andrea, or one of her cronies.’ Polly raised her glass.

‘Amber was nice the other day.’

‘Yes but did you see how terrified she was of being seen here. She came in disguise for goodness sake!’

‘OK, yes, but anyway, it’ll make a change of scene for us, so let’s do it.’

‘Right, well I’m going to put some make-up on. If Andrea is in the pub we go to tonight, I don’t want to look like a fright next to her,’ Claire said, standing up.

‘Good point, I’m going to at least brush my hair,’ Polly laughed.

‘Ah, another reason I am happy to stay in.’ Franceska smiled. ‘It’s been nice not worrying about hair and make-up for a bit.’

‘Yes, but, Frankie, we don’t want to let ourselves go. After all we are glamorous Londoners,’ Polly joked.

‘In that case, I better put some lipstick on to read my book.’

I was happy to put my worrying aside for the night. I curled up with Franceska on the old fashioned armchair and snoozed as she read. The younger kids, including George, were in bed and I felt content. It wasn’t often that Franceska and I had some alone time any more and it was incredibly nice. With those thoughts I dozed off, thoughts of home and Tiger in my mind.

I woke to hear the door opening and Aleksy and Tommy ran in holding their computer tablet.

‘Mum, Dad is on Skype,’ they said. I stretched and yawned. As the boys were still up it can’t have been too late.

‘Thank you, right, you two, get ready for bed, and I’ll be up as soon as I’ve talked to Dad,’ she said. The boys left and shut the door. I peered at the screen as Franceska sat down and saw Tomasz’s face appear.

‘Hello,’ he said. He smiled but he looked serious.

‘Thank you for calling the boys, I know you must be busy. Is it alright?’ she said quietly, her eyes dancing with concern.

‘It’s OK, we’ve had to close the restaurant for now, we are going to lose so much money too.’

‘You poor thing, it must be stressful.’

What was going on? I looked at Tomasz and my eyes were full of concern now too.

‘There is a big mess. Lots of food ruined. Who knew a kitchen flood could cause so much damage.’ He looked serious.

‘But the insurance is sorting it out, aren’t they?’

‘They are being difficult. The plumber said three pipes bursting aren’t that uncommon but because we need to replace the floor in the kitchen, then everything else I am paying the men to get it fixed quickly. The insurance people sent someone to look but said they would take a while to file a report. We can’t wait because we need to get the place open as soon as possible, you know how fickle customers can be. It’s not proving very easy. Ugh, it was all going so well, but, Frankie, I’m not sure how long this will take to sort out.’

‘And it’s so popular, you’ll lose so many bookings.’ Franceska sounded panicked.

‘I know, and the insurance people, well they say they won’t be able to get back to us for at least a couple of weeks. I know we have some money in the business but, once we cover the wages and the building works, it’s going to be tricky until the insurance pays out. Especially with no money coming into that restaurant, which could take about a month to reopen.’

‘Oh, Tomasz, I am sorry. But I know, because we have looked at our policies, that we have good insurance, they have to pay out.’

‘Yes, they do but when is the question, and in the meantime we are losing money and also as you know we put all the profits that we don’t live on back into the business so there’s not a lot …’ Tomasz sighed.

‘I guess the fact we’ve put our savings into this cottage isn’t the best timing.’ Franceska stroked me and then I understood. There was a problem with the restaurant and it was costing money and they didn’t have much because it was in Seabreeze. This did not sound good.

‘No, not good timing but,kochanie, don’t worry, I will think of something.’

‘Make sure you are on the case with the insurance. They always try to make it difficult when they have to give us money but they are quick to take ours. By the way, I haven’t told them, none of them, why you are not here, I didn’t want the boys to worry.’

‘I think it’s best we keep it quiet from them. Hopefully by next weekend I’ll have more of an idea, and I can have a nice weekend with my family.’

I hoped so too. Paws crossed.

‘Ah, look, Frankie and Alfie are both asleep,’ Matt laughed. I woke up and yawned. How long had I dropped off for? Franceska opened her eyes. Her book was resting on me, I noticed as I started to stretch out.

‘I must have fallen asleep.’ She shook her head. ‘Did you have a nice evening?’ I saw that Claire and Jonathan were also in the room. Claire was leaning on him and Jonathan had a big smile on his face.

‘We did.’ Claire’s voice was a bit slurry. She did get like that on occasion.

‘Guess what, we met Amber and her husband, Dan, in the pub and well, let’s just say they were very enlightening about Andrea.’ Polly sounded gleeful.

‘Really?’ Franceska sat up and I pricked my ears.

‘Maybe she charmed us after all,’ Jonathan said.

‘But she was nice though,’ Matt offered.

‘Yes but it is clear that she wants Seabreeze Cottage, although still no one is sure why. But they said that she is going round the village bad-mouthing us, and saying that we’re up to all sorts here. Honestly, she made it sound as if we are criminals or something.’

‘Does anyone believe it?’ Franceska asked.

‘I get the impression that Andrea has been acting up a bit lately,’ Jonathan said. ‘So, no, I don’t think so but they are suspicious of us, being out-of-towners, so we do need to get more involved.’

‘How?’ Franceska asked.

‘Well, Jonathan — after a few pints I might add — told them that we would go to church on Sunday,’ Matt said.

‘Church?’ Franceska looked horrified. ‘But we never go to church.’

‘Apparently this village is still very much a church-going village. Anyway it seemed like a good idea. And the best thing is that Andrea goes, so imagine her face when we all turn up!’ Jonathan clapped his hands gleefully.

‘I don’t mind, I like going to church,’ Claire said. ‘Especially a charming village church. But I’m not sure about the kids.’

‘Yes forget Andrea, imagine the look on their faces when they are told they have to go,’ Franceska agreed. ‘Jonathan, you may end up paying for this one,’ she finished.

Chapter Eleven

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Franceska was right. On Sunday morning, Aleksy looked horrified about the idea of going to church rather than the beach; Tommy rebelled against having to wear trousers and proper shoes rather than shorts and bare feet; Summer didn’t actually understand so she didn’t mind; Martha was the same, she was happy to wear a pretty dress whatever the occasion; Toby had never been to church so he was interested, but Henry complained because he was told he couldn’t take his games tablet with him. Even in the cold light of day, the adults questioned the wisdom.

‘My head hurts,’ Claire said. ‘I think I drank too much wine last night.’

‘The local cider is probably stronger than in London, which would explain why we thought it was a good idea to go to church,’ Matt moaned.

Franceska rolled her eyes, fed everyone a big cooked breakfast, made them drink lots of juice and in the end they were all ready to go, or as ready as they would ever be.

‘Meow?’ I said as I sat by the front door. I wanted to go with them. Claire crouched down and rubbed my head.

‘Alfie, you can’t come to church, I don’t think they allow pets, but honestly, you’ll be much happier here.’ I turned to look at George but then I noticed Tommy had him in his zip-up jacket, his little ginger head poking out of the top. I felt jealous and excited at the same time. I knew I was a bit big to fit into the children’s jackets these days, so I tried not to mind too much. I looked at Tommy as if to tell him to look after George.

‘Don’t worry, Alfie, I’ll take care of him,’ he whispered. I flicked my tail to say I understood. I would have liked to go with them but actually, l was being given some alone time, which I was quite grateful for.

I went to finish off my breakfast, but as I was doing so, I heard the cat flap open and the elusive Gilbert appeared. I knew he had been in the house, but I hadn’t seen him since our chat.

‘Hi,’ I said.

‘Alright,’ he said. He really was a fine-looking cat, and I wondered, again, why a cat like him would choose to be homeless.

‘Well everyone is out, apart from me,’ I said.

‘I saw them all go, I assumed you were with them, but never mind.’ He started sniffing round the food bowls.

‘Glad you’re pleased to see me,’ I joked. Gilbert just looked at me. OK, so not much of a sense of humour this cat. ‘Anyway, it’s nice to see you,’ I continued. ‘It’s all been a bit hectic here.’ I filled him in on the story of Liam and his sabotage and how Andrea wanted the cottage and the exchange that George had seen.

‘They don’t sound like very nice people,’ he concluded when I finished.

‘No, they aren’t. The children are scared of her children, the women are scared of her, I mean it’s ridiculous. But her aim is to get her hands on Seabreeze Cottage as I’ve said and now I’m getting worried that she really is going to stop at nothing to do so.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s got Liam working for her when he should be working for us, and what else? Gilbert, don’t you see? I know you don’t much like family life and you don’t want to get involved with us here, but if Andrea does get her hands on this place then our days are numbered and so are yours.’

He stopped eating and sat down, licking his paws thoughtfully.

‘OK.’

‘Look, I get you don’t want to tell me why you live here or how you came to live here, and that’s fine. I’m a good listener, if I do say so myself, but I’d never pry where I shouldn’t. However, this cottage is important to me and my families and it’s also important to you as you see it as your home, so surely you wouldn’t want her to get it?’

‘No, I suppose I wouldn’t.’

‘So you’ll help me?’ I felt hope spring up in me. Finally, I might just have an ally.

‘I don’t see how, but then I also don’t see what choice I have. Right, Alfie, what do you need me to do?’

After Gilbert had finished eating and had drunk plenty of water, I gave him a tour of the attic rooms and filled him in on what we knew so far. I had to admit, saying it out loud, it wasn’t much.

‘Right, so this Liam needs keeping an eye on. You say your boy’s helping with that.’

‘Yes.’ I thought about telling him about George’s crush on Chanel but I didn’t want to overload him with information. ‘And I’m keeping an eye on him too. He’s definitely in cahoots but I really would like him caught red-handed with her.’

‘That won’t be easy. But you know I am good at lying low, as you’ve already seen. You’ve been good to me, feeding me and, well, you’re not too nosy either, so I’ll think about what I can do to help. You never know.’

‘Thanks, Gilbert. Look, so this will be the girls’ room when it’s finished.’

‘Nice up here, isn’t it?’ he said, and it was. There was a patch of floor which the sun shone down on, through the new skylights. ‘Don’t mind if I do,’ Gilbert said as he lay down and stretched out.

‘Hey, help yourself. Honestly, if my humans see you they won’t mind you being here, they’re cool like that.’

‘That’s as may be but you know I’m not in the market for a family and I wouldn’t want them to get any ideas about me going home with you at the end of the holiday.’

I could see why he’d worry; they might think he needed a home and insist on taking him back with us. They were very caring people after all.

‘You know what, Gilbert, I think we can sort it so you can be Seabreeze Cottage’s guard cat when we’re not here.’

‘A job? I like the sound of that.’ He stretched his spotted limbs out again. ‘You know, I could get used to this.’

‘Enjoy a spot of sunbathing. I’ll leave you to it. They won’t come up here anyway, it’s not finished.’

‘Right you are, Alfie, and I’ll have a think about how I can help you, seeing as you’ve helped me.’

I left happy; it seemed that Gilbert and I had reached an understanding.

My peace was shattered. It was pandemonium as the front door flung open and my families rushed in.

‘Tommy, you are very naughty, imagine smuggling George to church. Ah, there you are, Alfie, I hope you weren’t too worried,’ Franceska said.

‘MEOW!’ I pretended I was. Aleksy winked at me.

‘You have to admit though, Frankie, it was quite funny when George jumped out of the jacket and went to see that Persian cat.’

‘Chanel,’ Claire added.

‘The whole congregation stopped and they were supposed to be singing “All Things Bright and Beautiful”. Then Chanel yelped as if she’d been attacked, Andrea screamed and the whole service descended into chaos.’ Matt was laughing.

‘But, George, why on earth were you fixated on that cat?’ Jonathan asked. ‘She hissed at you and swiped at you but you didn’t move!’

George turned to me as if to say that they had no idea.

‘You shouldn’t encourage him,’ Franceska said but I saw her lips twitching.

‘I don’t think we should be allowed to go to church again,’ Toby said.

‘No, I think it’s just George who isn’t allowed,’ Henry told him.

‘Oh my, Tommy, that was naughty, you can go to your room now.’ Tommy didn’t object, he was giggling too much.

‘Oh, Frankie, don’t be too hard on him, it was priceless just to see the look on Andrea’s face,’ Polly said.

‘Oh and the way she said we had invaded her church and that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves,’ Claire added. ‘God wouldn’t like it!’ She had tears running down her cheeks.

‘It didn’t help that George started running around the pews meowing like a lovesick … well, a lovesick cat,’ Matt laughed.

‘I think the vicar seemed quite pleased, he shook my hand warmly at the end, and said we were welcome any time.’ Jonathan smiled.

‘She probably terrorises the vicar too,’ Polly pointed out.

‘Well, I know I said that she was nice when we first met her, but after what I heard last night and what I’ve seen today, I think that woman would terrorise God,’ Matt finished.

Everyone went to get changed and then they decided to drive out to another village which had a cliff railway and yet another beach, and after that they were going to go for something called afternoon tea. Of course George and I weren’t invited. The men weren’t getting a train back until tomorrow morning, and I guessed they needed to get out of the village for a while to escape from the excitement of church. I was a bit sad that I didn’t get to go to church after all; it sounded eventful.

‘What shall we do?’ I asked George when we were alone.

‘I better go and see Chanel.’

‘Do you think she’s angry about what happened in church?’ I asked, trying to sound diplomatic.

‘No, but I think I scared her by jumping up at her suddenly, so I should apologise. I mean, I’m sure she would have been very pleased to see me.’

‘Even though she hissed at you?’

‘It was a very affectionate hiss.’

There was no way I was going to win this one as I went with my boy to take up his hedge vigil once again.

This time, though, there was something for us to see. The two girls were playing in the garden, although they were playing with dolls and being very dainty and quiet. Andrea was with them, lying on a sun lounger and speaking loudly into a phone. I tried to edge as close as I could without being seen.

‘Who on earth does he think he is?’ Andrea screeched into the handset. Thankfully my hearing was good but I could still hear only one side of the conversation. There was a pause. ‘I know I said they’d be gone by now but they are quite mad. Honestly, I mean who takes a cat to church?’

You do, I thought. As the other person spoke— I wished I could hear them but I couldn’t — Andrea drank from a large wine glass.

‘You’re supposed to be on my side,’ she snapped. ‘I’m doing my best. Those Londoners come and act as if they own the village.’

There was a longer gap this time.

‘I know, I know,’ she hissed, a bit like her cat. ‘I need that house. And I am going to damn well get it. I thought they’d just sell it, I offered a decent sum for the dilapidated hovel, and I know I don’t have much time.’ Chanel looked a bit surprised as Andrea banged her fist on the sun lounger.

‘Of course, and trust me, they’ll be gone before you know it,’ Andrea replied, throwing the phone down as Chanel nuzzled her in agreement. I felt my fur go cold as I processed the words. Whatever she was doing, she seemed determined to get our house. Our home.

I looked over at George, to see if he’d heard what I had, but he was fast asleep. Some stalker he was turning out to be.

Chapter Twelve

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It was hard to believe we were just into our third week in Lynstow, almost half way through our summer break. And in many ways it felt as if we’d been here forever; Seabreeze and the village felt like home. In other ways there seemed to be so much to do that it would never be finished. Matt and Jonathan were gone again, until Friday, when Tomasz would be coming down with them. I was still worried about the conversation between Tomasz and Franceska, I hated it when there were any problems with my families, but I heard no more about it. Franceska was putting a brave face on things, as if nothing was wrong, and if she spoke to Tomasz, which I am sure she did, she did it out of earshot of all of us.

Polly chivvied Colin, saying she wanted to step up the progress. She was slightly panicked that we didn’t have long and she didn’t trust any major works to take place after we left. With the minor blips that Liam had been responsible for, they were playing a bit of catch-up and Polly said they couldn’t tolerate any more delays.

However, the attic was almost finished. A bathroom had been installed, and Liam and Mark were painting the rooms as per Polly’s instructions before the carpets were laid. Colin and Pete were working on the outside of the house and I thought that Liam surely couldn’t wreak any havoc with the painting, but I kept an eye on him when I could, just in case.

I was sitting upstairs watching Liam like a hawk, or a very devoted cat at least; I’d made George come with me but he had fallen asleep in a sulk. I was also cleaning myself after having had a small snack but then who said cats can’t multi-task? Today Liam was looking so innocent as he painted one of the rooms. He did keep checking his watch though.

‘Liam, I’m going to grab a bite to eat, do you want to come?’ Mark said.

‘Nah, mate, I’m good, I want to get this painting done.’ As soon as Mark left he looked at me, then he looked at George who was asleep nearby. I narrowed my eyes at him. What was he doing?

He grabbed a step ladder, put it up near the skylight and opened it. He climbed up and although I am not a fan of heights, I soon realised I had no choice but to follow him. I saw Liam climb out, what was he up to? I climbed up the ladder and perched on the top, looking out. To my absolute horror, Liam was standing on the roof. It didn’t look safe but he seemed quite comfortable on it.

‘Oh for goodness’ sake,’ he said when he saw me peering out. I noticed he had a tool with him and I suddenly got the feeling he was going to smash the other skylight window, then make out it couldn’t have been him as he was in a different room. That made sense.

Once, when I was in love with Snowball and she was acting as if she was immune to my charms, I decided to perform a grand gesture, climbing a tree in order to woo her. It went wrong when I got so high and realised that I am actually terrified of heights. I froze and then, to cut a long and tragic story short, I had to be rescued by the fire brigade which was very humiliating for a cat like me.

As we glared at each other, I knew that I had no choice, I couldn’t let Liam cause any more problems for my family, especially with what I had heard from Franceska and Tomasz — if he did it might be the last straw. I mustered all the courage I could and managed to get out of the skylight; well, if Liam could fit through it I had no problem, but then my stomach lurched and I froze yet again. I looked up and saw the sky, I looked down and everything, cars and people, seemed tiny. I couldn’t move as I stood on the ridge of the roof. I couldn’t even shuffle back inside but I tried not to let Liam see my fear.

‘You’re such an annoying cat.’ Liam looked angry. I realised how vulnerable I was, he could do anything. My heart started beating quickly. Although, here was the thing with Liam, he was clearly under Andrea’s spell but he wasn’t dangerous … at least, I was pretty sure he wasn’t. I really hoped he wasn’t. I watched on with horror as he, obviously braver than me when it came to heights, stepped back over me and slid back down the skylight. Thank goodness, I thought as I got ready to follow him.

‘I’ll get you when I’m ready,’ he said and before I had a chance to get through the window, he shut the skylight, leaving me perched very precariously on the roof.

I closed my eyes but that was even more terrifying, so I opened them again. Surely he wouldn’t leave me here? I could still see all over the village, it was high, higher than I had ever been — this wasn’t good. I clung onto the roof with my paws, and although I could see the skylight, it was closed so I wasn’t sure how I would get in, even if I did dare move. I thought about making a noise but there was no point, no one would hear me, the wind would just carry my voice. I hoped George was alright, I felt a bit like I had left him at the mercy of Liam. I might have stopped him from doing any damage but the result was that I was stuck on a roof and my kitten was inside.

No one could see me, so I was literally stuck. The rest of my families were on the beach, which seemed miles away. I knew there would be no point in calling out. No one would see me or hear me.

I inched as close as I could to the skylight, so I could see inside, clinging on for dear life. That was actually less frightening. At least I could see the room. I wondered if I could get anyone’s attention — at some point surely they would come looking for me? I could see Liam, who carrying on with the painting, still looking annoyed. Although I was scared and also getting weary with the effort of holding on, I still kept vigil on the skylight, hoping someone would see me. Surely Liam would come and get me — he didn’t want to kill me, just because I’d scuppered his plans, surely he wasn’t that evil? But it was beyond frustrating. I could feel my legs seizing up from being in the same place for so long. Liam left the room a few times, but I couldn’t see any sign of George. Yet again I began wondering if I would ever be rescued.

The sun was hotter up here, I was thirsty, tired, and my whole body ached from the effort of not falling off the roof. Just what was going to become of me?

It felt as if it was getting late, and the sky was darkening in a way which made me think it might fall on my head, when I finally heard voices and Polly and Colin entered the room. I literally splayed myself across the skylight and yowled. The glass was thick though and my voice seemed to disappear into the air.

‘Look, Polly I am sorry but, as I said, it’s sorted now and he’s done a good job painting the room,’ Colin was saying, I could hear faintly.

‘Fair enough but I’m not exactly thrilled. After all, it was his paint that George stepped in, and he could have ruined the bathroom floor with it, we’d literally only just had it laid.’

What? I thought, how on earth had George got in paint?

‘I know and I’ve given him a ticking-off. And the good news is that the floor is good as new, as is the kitten.’ He tried to laugh but he sounded guilty. ‘Please, look I know he’s made a few mistakes but he’s a good lad—’ Suddenly he looked up and I bashed my paw as hard as I could on the glass. ‘Polly …’ Polly followed Colin’s eyes.

‘My God, what is Alfie doing up there?’ Polly shouted.

‘Hold on.’ Colin looked flushed. He grabbed the step ladder, which was perched against the door, unfolded it and climbed up. I carefully inched back as he opened the skylight. He gently took hold of me and, my heart still beating out of my body, he brought me back inside. He gave me to Polly.

‘Oh, Alfie, how did you get on the roof? Poor baby, are you alright?’ Polly cuddled me, stroking my fur, which calmed me down.

‘Liam, get here,’ Colin shouted. Liam walked in. He had obviously been cleaning up, he was still holding a cloth covered in blue paint.

‘How did Alfie get on the roof?’ Polly asked. ‘First I find George has trod paint all over the bathroom floor then our other cat is stuck on the roof. And you were working here so how didn’t you see it? Just what is going on?’ She looked furious as she cuddled me to her. I began to feel safe again.

‘He must have climbed out when I wasn’t looking. I opened the window so it didn’t smell of paint but then I closed it, which is when George must have got in the paint,’ he said. I still didn’t know quite what George had done.

‘Liam, you need to be more careful,’ Colin said. Polly and I both glared at him.

Once I’d had some water, and a lot of fussing from Polly, I went to find George who was in the bush looking for Chanel. At least in Lynstow I always seemed to know where the boy was.

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘That man is a maniac,’ George said plaintively. ‘He grabbed me from where I was asleep and put me in the paint tray, then he told me to walk across the bathroom floor. I wouldn’t so he picked me up and made me.’

‘How awful, I wish I’d scratched him or worse. Did he hurt you?’

‘No, and at least Polly wasn’t cross with me.’

‘No, she seemed to blame Liam, which is good. I tell you what, that man is now in big trouble.’

‘Is he?’ George’s eyes were wide.

‘Yes, George, this is war.’

After the roof incident, the adults fussed more than normal over me. I have to admit I was terror-stricken every time I thought of it, being on that roof. It was even higher than the tree I’d got stuck up a few years back. But at the same time I didn’t want to make too much of a deal about it for George. I just kept warning him about Liam and although of course George said he wasn’t scared of him, I reiterated that he should never let himself be alone with him. What if he’d done that to George and not me? What if my kitten was stuck on that roof, what if he’d fallen? I couldn’t bear to think about it. Two things were clear. This was more serious than I first thought.

I needed troops, that much was obvious. And Gilbert was my only option. I needed to up my charm offensive with him, so I recruited George.

That night, we waited for him together and when George met Gilbert he was immediately impressed.

‘You have a great coat,’ he said.

‘Thank you.’ Gilbert raised his tail. I could tell he was already taken by George, as most cats and people alike tended to be — not counting Chanel and Andrea. ‘Right, let’s go to the beach. This is going to be fun.’

Gilbert took us across the road, and over the wall which separated the pavement from the beach. He then told us to follow him as he ran up and down the sand dunes.

‘Weeeeee,’ George said as he flew down.

‘Be careful,’ I warned.

‘It’s fine, Alfie, sand is soft, you can’t get hurt,’ Gilbert pointed out. We had a game of hide and seek where I, loath to leave George, hid with him and Gilbert found us. As the tide was out we sniffed around some boats that were sitting on the wet sand waiting for the water. As the moon shone down on us I realised that this was what we should be doing on our holiday. Not worrying about bad people, but having fun. And Gilbert was right, thiswas fun.

‘I love the beach now,’ George said as we sat on the wall, in a line, and looked at the large, bright moon.

After the ordeal and the growing unease I was feeling about what was going on, it was a lovely end to the day. I had George, I had a new growing friendship with Gilbert and I was safe. I hadn’t fallen off the roof. As I looked at the moon I remembered to count my blessings.

‘You’re lucky it’s summer, the rest of the year they let dogs on here,’ Gilbert explained. ‘Besides, I love it best at night, when it’s pretty empty.’ There were some young people lurking around but not many. ‘It feels like it belongs to us,’ Gilbert said. We sat in silence. Yes, it did feel it belonged to us.

‘There are three things I love about this holiday,’ George said as we headed home to bed.

‘What’s that?’ I asked.

‘The beach, ice cream and Chanel.’

Chapter Thirteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_016.jpg]

Thank goodness for our evening trips to the beach, because on Friday, just before the end of the week after the children had moved up to the attic, and Polly was congratulating the builders on how quickly they were working, another disaster struck.

I had been watching George in the garden. He’d been trying to catch a glimpse of Chanel, yet again. I heard Claire scream from inside the house so I ran back in. I made my way upstairs and saw Claire and Polly with a red-faced Mark.

‘You’ve knocked down the wrong wall,’ Claire shrieked.

‘Didn’t you wonder why there were clothes and everything out which would be covered in dust?’ Polly shouted.

Mark’s face was ashen. Was Mark now in on the sabotage? I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to watch both him and Liam.

‘But Liam said it was definitely this wall. I asked him if he was sure.’

Ah, Liam had struck again, but this time he was trying to pin the blame on Mark.

Colin shouted for Liam, who appeared, looking shiftily at his boots. I hadn’t thought he would risk doing anything wrong so soon after paint-and roof-gate, but I guess this time he’d been hoping Mark would get the blame. I looked at the big, dusty hole in the wall between where Claire and Polly were sleeping and I knew that this was his fault. To give Liam his due, he had been shouted at so much lately that he must really like Andrea to put himself through this.

‘Blimey.’ Colin scratched his head, which he was doing a lot lately. ‘What have you done?’

‘I thought you meant this wall,’ Liam mumbled, turning red. He mumbled a lot. ‘I told Mark, but Mark could have checked with you.’

Thankfully the children were in the garden with Franceska, so they didn’t hear the language that Colin used. Let’s just say it was colourful.

‘But, I checked with you and you said you were sure,’ Mark protested.

‘I said the wall between the bedrooms on the left-hand side of the stairs. This is clearly right. Oh God, I am so sorry,’ poor Colin said. He looked as if he was going to cry himself.

‘Everything is covered in dust and this hole is where you were going to start the plumbing for the en suite bathroom. This is going to cause yet another delay,’ Polly stormed. ‘And Claire will have to move into one of the other rooms until you get this sorted.’ Polly looked angry, Liam looked at his feet, Mark was being so apologetic although it wasn’t really his fault, and Colin looked tired. I went over to Liam and jumped as hard as I could onto his foot.

‘Ow,’ he shouted, scowling at me. I gave him a small swipe with my paw just for good measure. His face turned even redder, if that was possible.

‘Don’t think the cat likes you,’ Colin pointed out.

‘Alfie is a very good judge of character.’ Claire narrowed her eyes at Liam.

‘Right, OK, well, lads, firstly help Claire move everything that’s covered in dust, Polly, Liam and Mark will rebuild the wall today as a matter of urgency. If they have to stay late, yet again, then they will so don’t worry.’ Colin held a hand out as Polly looked like she was going to object. ‘I’ll stop back to supervise. And the plumber is going to be working on the finishing touches for the kids’ bathroom and the outside shower today so he can start work here tomorrow. I promise, it looks bad but we’ll have this wall built good as new.’

I left them to it. It seemed to me that whatever Liam was doing, for Andrea, was costing him, rather than us, although it was of course delaying things, which was irritating because we had limited time. I was learning a lot about house renovations this summer it seemed.

Downstairs there was a big picnic going on on the front lawn and the village children were there. Their parents must be used to letting them go out on their own, I supposed; it was so different from life in London. Franceska was supervising everyone, and I saw the girls from next door looking at them from the beach, but with Franceska there, they didn’t dare come over and cause trouble.

‘Don’t you mind that those girls are staring at you all?’ Tommy asked the village children, as if he was reading my mind.

‘Nah, we’re having fun with you guys. They don’t like it but we already decided to stand up to them more, so that’s what we’re doing,’ Ben said.

‘And then maybe they’ll remember how to be nice again,’ Millie added.

I admired their bravery, and their optimism, so I decided it was time for me to follow their lead. Liam needed to be stopped and I was going to have to be the cat to do it. Gilbert was returning tonight and so I was determined to ensure I got him to help me. I needed a proper commitment from him. I still didn’t know how we would foil them but I knew we would. It was going to happen, if it was the last thing I did on this holiday.

As I went to get George so we could find some butterflies to chase, I knew I would have to come up with something, and fast. Those children, that woman, the cat and Liam, it was making my very restful holiday really rather stressful, but then that was what always seemed to happen when you were a cat like me.

After we’d exhausted ourselves chasing butterflies, I went to join the children while George took a nap. Aleksy and Tomasz had been given permission to go to the beach with the other children, and Toby and Henry weren’t pleased about being left behind.

‘Please can we go?’ Henry had asked Polly.

‘The thing is, you guys are younger than them, and so you should only go with an adult,’ Polly had explained gently.

The boys were now sitting on the grass and sulking. Well, Henry was sulking and Toby was copying him. Which was cute, but then, as they watched Aleksy and Tomasz and the others running up and down the dunes, I saw that they really did feel they were missing out.

‘Will they notice if we just go for a minute?’ Henry asked.

‘But, what if we get into trouble?’ Toby was still afraid of doing anything wrong. Claire and Jonathan often said they wished that he would, because it would show he felt safe with them. I wondered if that was why George was naughty, because he certainly didn’t listen to me, but maybe he feltsafe with me? It was a strange kind of logic but I found humans tended to that.

‘I’ll say I made you come with me, don’t worry.’ Henry was generally a well-behaved boy, and the fact he was willing to take the blame for Toby showed that.

‘OK, but only for a little while?’

I toyed with the idea of following them to the beach, but there were a couple of things stopping me. Firstly, George had fallen asleep under the bush, when he was supposed to be looking for Chanel, so I didn’t want to be too far from him. And secondly, I felt that if anything happened to the kids, I should be nearby so I could get an adult quickly. I took up my place on the lawn, and had a lovely view to where the children were building elaborate sandcastles. I saw Henry leading a hesitant Toby across the road. I was pleased to see how they looked both ways before doing so. I had learnt to cross the road the hard way — almost getting hit by cars is no fun, I can tell you. I saw Aleksy look a bit reluctant as they joined them and the local children, but in the end both boys got onto their knees and started digging.

All my children were bronzed by the sun, they all looked so healthy, and I could see what Claire meant about this seaside living. I sat up a bit straighter as I saw the group being approached by Savannah and Serafina. Of course, despite my excellent hearing I couldn’t make anything out but I saw them looking cross, folding their arms. I saw Aleksy standing in front of Tommy, who could be a little aggressive when pushed. I saw Toby’s face crumble — he hated any kind of argument — and the local children looked as if they didn’t know what to do. I thought about moving closer but then I thought, perhaps I should get an adult. Before I had time to decide, one of the girls had thrown sand at Toby and he was crying. Aleksy grabbed him in a hug and I saw Tommy throw sand back at the girls. I ran as fast as I could inside the house. I saw Franceska first, and I meowed, yelped and yowled, running round in circles as fast as I could, which was my way of telling them they were needed. Summer and Martha were watching television and I guessed Claire and Polly were still upstairs sorting out the mess.

‘What’s wrong, Alfie?’ Franceska said and I ran outside. I knew she would follow me. As she did, she stood on the lawn and I yowled again.

‘Oh goodness, what’s going on?’ she said as she saw them. Toby was crying in Aleksy’s arms and Savannah and Serafina were running off. ‘Those boys were not supposed to leave the garden,’ she added.

She ran across the road and I saw that she said something to all the children before she took Toby and Henry’s hands and started back towards the house. Aleksy and Tommy followed her, looking downcast. I saw the other children wave them off, looking sad.

‘What’s wrong?’ Claire asked, coming out to the garden. ‘I saw you out of the bedroom window, Toby, you weren’t supposed to go to the beach without a grown-up.’ She grabbed Toby and hugged him, as her words gushed out.

‘It’s my fault,’ Henry said. ‘I made him come with me.’

Polly had joined them by now.‘Henry, you are in big trouble,’ she said. ‘Go inside and up to your room to think for now and I’ll be up in a bit.’

Henry slunk off.

‘What happened, Aleksy?’ Franceska asked, sounding concerned.

‘Henry and Toby came over and I told them they shouldn’t but they begged us to stay. And we were building this really cool sandcastle but the mean girls came over and they were taunting us all, being horrible, and then they threw sand at Toby and it went in his eyes,’ Aleksy explained.

‘So I threw sand back and then they said that we were horrible and they couldn’t wait until we all left,’ Tommy added.

‘Come on, Toby, let’s go and get your eyes washed out,’ Claire said, lifting the crying boy up and taking him inside. ‘But that’s why you shouldn’t go to the beach without an adult,’ she added.

‘The thing is, Mum,’ Aleksy said when Toby was inside. ‘I think that they knew Toby was the most likely to get upset, as they kept picking on him.’

‘That’s not nice. Do you think we should go and see Andrea?’ Franceska asked.

‘Hey, I think I’ll go,’ said Polly. ‘You know Claire gets so upset for Toby and, well, I’m better at confrontation. Can you go and check on Henry for me? Tell him I will deal with him later.’

‘Of course, come inside now, boys, Summer and Martha are in the living room, so can you go and sit with them,’ Franceska said, taking them inside.

Polly took a deep breath and walked off. I went to the hedge where George had woken up and resumed his vigil.

‘Have you seen her?’ I asked.

‘No, I must have fallen asleep.’

‘Right, well Polly is going to see Andrea, there’s been a huge drama with the kids.’ I explained everything to George. We both decided to risk going nearer the house, as soon as Polly arrived, but we stayed hidden behind a rose bush by the front door. Polly knocked on the door.

‘Hello.’ Andrea opened the door. She was wearing a pink dress, high heels and full make-up and in her arms was Chanel. The Persian must have sensed us as she tensed and sniffed around.

‘She’s so pretty,’ George breathed before I shushed him.

‘Andrea. We have a problem. Your daughters threw sand at one of the children, who is now having his eyes washed out. They also said some horrible things. Now I know you want Seabreeze Cottage and you don’t like us but children should not be dragged into this.’ Polly didn’t hold back or beataround the bush. I was proud of her.

‘My girls wouldn’t have done that. And anyway, your children are being mean to them. They are playing with their friends and excluding them,’ Andrea replied.

‘Surely you’re not that stupid? They’ve tried to stop the local children playing with them, they’ve been saying terrible things and also now throwing sand. I know this is what happened and let me tell you, if it happens again I’m—’

‘What? Are you threatening me?’ Andrea interrupted. Chanel had spotted George’s tail and was yowling and yelping like her owner.

‘You’re not going to win, and neither are your children,’ Polly hissed, sounding as upset as Chanel.

‘We’ll see about that. If your children are scared of mine, well then they won’t want to stay in the house, will they?’

‘God, I knew you were a witch but someone who will involve their children in something like this is despicable.’

‘I want that house, and nothing is going to stop me getting it.’ Andrea’s brows furrowed furiously — even I was scared.

‘We’ll see about that.’ Polly turned and stormed off.

Chanel managed to hiss at us before Andrea carried her back inside and slammed the front door.

That evening Seabreeze Cottage was not a happy place. The children were downhearted by what had happened that day: Toby was still upset, Henry sorry that he’d gone to the beach when he shouldn’t, and Aleksy and Tommy were sad that their lovely afternoon playing with their new friends had ended so badly. Only Summer, Martha and George were happy but they didn’t really understand what had gone on.

The adults weren’t faring any better. Liam was still fixing the wall in Claire’s bedroom when the children were put to bed, and so Polly asked him and Colin to leave. Claire would have to sleep in one of the smaller rooms for the night, as would I. When they’d gone, the three of them sat in kitchen drinking wine.

‘God, that woman. I swear she is so calm and cold, and she acts as if she’ll stop at nothing to get this house,’ Polly fumed. She hadn’t mentioned her encounter with Andrea until the children were safely in bed.

‘God, she’s ridiculous, fancy involving the children. What kind of person does that?’ Claire stormed.

‘An evil one. Why does she want this house so much? Her house is grander, so it can’t be to live in.’

‘I’ve got no idea,’ Polly said. ‘Her house is enormous and Colin says it’s one of the few in the village that is a whole house — most are apartments. And there’s no sign of this husband either, is there? I wonder if there’s a problem there.’

‘If she is as mean to him as she is everyone else, then maybe,’ Franceska said.

‘I wouldn’t have thought that she would leave that grand house for this. We love it, I know, but she wouldn’t think it good enough for her. No, it’s not that but something … Anyway, whatever it is, we should find out. No, we need to find out.’ Polly crossed her arms determinedly.

‘I’m more concerned about the children, I don’t want their holiday ruined by those girls. Poor Toby was so upset and then he was so worried about getting into trouble he wet himself, and he hasn’t done that for ages.’

‘Oh, Claire, poor Toby. I think tomorrow we go out for the day, to another beach, and give the children a nice day a bit away from the village,’ Franceska suggested.

‘Great idea,’ Polly concurred. ‘I don’t want to leave the builders but Colin’s promised to keep a closer eye on Liability Liam.’

‘Why doesn’t he sack him?’ Claire said.

‘I think if he does anything else, he might have to. But I think he’s well-meaning, just a bit incompetent.’

‘Yowl!’ No he isn’t, I said but no one seemed to hear me.

‘Polly, you have been working hard with the house, so you deserve a day off,’ Claire said.

‘I could do with that, I don’t want to sound like a 1950s housewife but I’m really looking forward to seeing Matt this week.’

‘I think on Saturday afternoon we send the men to the beach with the kids and we find somewhere to get manicures or something,’ Franceska suggested. ‘We have earned some pampering.’ I noticed that Franceska had been down lately, maybe she needed cheering up.

‘Oh yes, let’s do something like that! But tomorrow it will be nice to get out of the house as well,’ Polly said.

‘Alfie, you are in charge tomorrow,’ Franceska said, stroking my head.

‘Meow.’ It was a good job for them that I was, I thought.

And with that in mind, I waited for Gilbert and saw him briefly before I went off to bed.

‘They are out all day tomorrow, so come and see us if you like.’

‘Alright, I will,’ he said, not sounding exactly enthusiastic, but then nowhere near as unenthusiastic as when I’d first met him. It was progress, that was for sure.

Chapter Fourteen [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_017.jpg]

‘But why don’t you have a home?’ George persisted. He was giving Gilbert the full George third degree. I could see the normally gruff cat struggling. On the one paw he liked to act as if he didn’t need anyone but, on the other, he was a bit enamoured with George.

‘Life isn’t all fish and ice cream, you know,’ Gilbert said, softening.

‘It’s not?’ George looked upset. ‘I think my life is. Oh and Chanel. Oh and my dad, oh and the families too.’

‘Not for me. I had a family, when I was a little lad like you, but it wasn’t a happy house.’ He stretched his paws out. ‘I just realised one day that I would be better off not being there so I left.’

‘But why?’ It seemed George’s ‘why’ phase was never going to end.

‘The family were unhappy. The father would be quite mean, which upset the mother, and there were two children. One of the children would be in trouble a lot with the father. It wasn’t nice, and he then tormented me.’

‘That sounds horrible,’ I said. I could see it was hard for Gilbert to talk about and I didn’t want to scare him off as I tried to head George off and stop him asking too many questions. I nudged him a few times but he didn’t take the hint.

‘I was young and, no, it wasn’t bearable. It’s so sad the way some humans treat us animals. We don’t ask to be their pets yet they think they can treat us badly.’ His eyes darkened. ‘But anyway, I just got up one day and left home. I hid for a while, and I knew the family were looking for me. They put the posters up.’

‘Like the lamppost cats!’ George exclaimed excitedly. I explained to Gilbert that we’d had a spate of missing cats in our area and the pictures had gone up on lampposts at an alarming rate. ‘Yes. I couldn’t understand why they wanted me back when they were so horrible. Well OK, so only the dad and one of the kids was horrible, but they must have known what was going on. I was barely eating and I was terrified. Anyway, I hid for a while then I started making my way further from home. I managed to survive by hunting, after all this is the countryside, and to be honest I found I quite liked my own company. Over time I decided that I liked being so independent and I didn’t have any trouble finding food. So when I arrived here and found Seabreeze Cottage deserted, I decided that I would stay here for a while. That has turned out to be a long while because no one was ever here, until you, that is.’

‘Well I think that’s a great story and now we are here you will stay, won’t you?’ George asked, nuzzling Gilbert, who purred in response.

‘I only have one concern. What happens if your family finds me?’

‘Oh they’d love you. Look, our families love cats, the children love cats, they would let you stay. I only worry that they wouldn’t want you to be here on your own, and I’m not sure how we would explain to them that you like it here and don’t want to be looked after all the time.’

I could see how that might be a problem. They’d probably want to scoop Gilbert up and take him home with us, or worse, find him a home round here.

‘Then I better lie low. I’m glad the house is coming to life but I don’t want to move away from here.’

‘No, of course not.’

‘Well I don’t think that would happen,’ George interjected. ‘It’s clear that you live here, and there will be people coming and going from here a lot, so I think the humans will expect you to stay and, maybe, they just might make it easier by ensuring you have food.’

‘Do you really think so?’ Gilbert asked, uncertainly.

‘I do. You belong to Seabreeze Cottage and I think they’ll see that. You can be the cottage cat and when no one is here you can look after it for us.’

‘That’s so sensible, George,’ I said proudly. ‘I just hope that our families see it that way.’ George was so clever at times, and I hoped he got it from me.

‘Oh they will,’ George replied confidently.

‘Look, you’ve got some free time it seems, so do you want to come with me and I can show you round the area a bit? I know you’ve seen the beach but we’re near some very cool fields and it’s a lovely day for a bit of a romp in the countryside,’ Gilbert offered.

George looked at me hopefully. I didn’t need asking twice.

We made our way through the narrow streets behind the cottage. The ground was quite steep and I could see it would keep you fit living here. Even George huffed a bit. At the top we reached a big road which was busy and took quite a long time to cross. Gilbert then led us into a big green field, where the grass tickled our legs as we made our way through it. As I saw George skittishly jumping from blade of grass to blade of grass I realised this was the first field he’d been in.

‘It’s not like garden grass,’ he said, unsurely.

‘No, lad, it’s not. But it’s great when you get used to it,’ Gilbert replied, bounding off.

I had been on a few adventures in the countryside before but I had to say having Gilbert with us made it even more enjoyable. He was a very confident cat, he knew all the best places, where the best bushes for butterfly chasing were, where the animals to be avoided lived, where we could just stop and look at beautiful views and see for miles around. It was breathtaking and the sun chased us, warming our fur.

‘This is so much fun,’ George squealed with excitement. I told him that he wasn’t to try to come here on his own; I couldn’t stop being a father, even when we were having a good time.

We were all squeezed under a bush, taking a short break, when Gilbert suddenly sprang up.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘There’s a dog, I can sense it.’ We looked out at the field and saw a large black dog was running around. I started to panic; we had to get away.

‘Run,’ I said as I started to move.

‘Hold on, no need for that,’ Gilbert said. ‘It’s one of the farm dogs, he’s friendly with cats, don’t worry.’

I’d never heard of dog being friendly with cats but when he did approach us he wasn’t aggressive. He nodded his head, swished his tail in greeting and then turned back and ran off. My heart was beating fast, I really didn’t think he would be that indifferent. I had been chased by dogs before in London and I’d never encountered one I liked.

‘Only one problem,’ Gilbert said as my heart started slowing down to normal again.

‘What?’ George asked.

‘Well, the field we need to go through to get home … They’ve moved the sheep in, which explains the presence of the dog.’

‘What are sheep?’ George asked.

‘White fluffy things,’ I replied with my superior country knowledge. Gilbert laughed.

‘Well the thing is that these sheep are quite aggressive and they don’t like anyone being in their fields.’

We looked to where Gilbert was staring and he was right, there was a flock of angry-looking sheep in the middle of the field. I hadn’t imagined sheep were mean, they didn’t seem to do a lot, as far as I could tell. I had encountered a hostile cow and some very aggressive pigs before, but never sheep.

‘What do we do?’ I asked, worried for George more than anything.

‘We’ll run round the side of the field. They’ll probably try to chase us but if we stick to the perimeters we can outrun them. Alfie and George you go first, and I’ll bring up the rear so that George is sandwiched between us.’

‘I’m not scared of the sheeps,’ George said, with his usual bravado.

‘Well you should be, lad, if they butt you with their heads it can be very painful. Take it from one who knows. Right, when I say go, we go.’

I felt exhilarated and a little scared as I ran as fast as I was able, taking the route Gilbert suggested and made sure George was in front of me. I tried to focus on where I was headed but I couldn’t help but sneak a look at the sheep. I could see they had seen us. George was running, speedily, his legs moving quickly. The sheep were all moving towards us and at first it looked as if they were moving slowly but then their speed seemed to increase. As adrenaline flowed through my body I increased my speed and managed to outrun them to get to the edge of the field and safety, just after George.

I joined George at the hedge and ushered him under. We were safe! I looked and saw that Gilbert was a bit cornered though. As if he had sacrificed himself for us. I didn’t know what to do. I turned to George.

‘Make as much noise as you can,’ I said. The sheep wouldn’t fit under the hedge so my plan was that if we made enough of a racket they would be distracted, and therefore Gilbert could come to safety.

‘Yowl,’ I said as loudly as I could. George joined me. We yowled and yelped and meowed until our voices were hoarse. But as the sheep turned their attention to us, Gilbert made his escape.

We collapsed on a small patch of grass the other side of the field.

‘Oh, Dad, that was exciting,’ said George. I wished he had a little more of a honed sense of danger, to be honest.

‘It was scary,’ I chastised. ‘We could have become sheep food.’

‘Unlikely, they seem to like grass,’ Gilbert said. ‘They would have just knocked us around a bit but, you know, thank you for saving me, because it would have hurt if they’d got to me.’

‘Why don’t they like you?’ I asked.

‘It’s not personal, they just protect themselves. They’re like a family and they see us as intruders, I guess. Farm animals can be a hazard of living here, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.’

I totally understood that. We walked home slowly, trying to recover our breath. I was still feeling the terror of being in a dangerous situation. George seemed unfazed, he just saw everything as exciting, and Gilbert seemed normal, not at all wobbly like I was. I was just thankful that the walk home was all downhill.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the backyard, while George went to see if he could spot Chanel.

‘Why on earth does he do that?’ Gilbert asked.

‘First crush,’ I replied.

‘No accounting for taste. Her or her owner.’

‘Talking of “that woman”, I really need to discover what she’s up to more than ever now. The kids are now getting involved and that’s not good. I know my adult humans can look after themselves but the children, the younger ones and especially Toby, can’t.’

‘Do you want me to do some surveillance and see if I can find anything out?’ Gilbert asked.

‘Would you?’ I could barely believe it. I had been trying to engage Gilbert for some time and now it looked as if he was finally, properly, onboard. I knew with him by my side we would foil any plan that Andrea and Liam came up with. Well hopefully.

‘You almost saved my life, it’s the least I can do,’ Gilbert replied. ‘And also, I quite like having you and the lad around. I might be self-sufficient but there’s nothing wrong with friends.’

Although he still sounded his usual gruff self, I felt touched. And after all, he couldn’t be any worse at surveillance than George, who was already fast asleep.

It was much later when I heard the commotion of everyone returning home. We were all inside, having a break from the sun, as I rushed to greet everyone. They came into the back, all taking turns to use the outdoor shower to get the sand off before putting all their towels and beach accessories into the sand room.

‘See, this works pretty well,’ Polly said, pleased.

‘It was a great idea, the shower especially,’ Claire added, giving Polly a squeeze.

‘And we can contain the mess with the sand room,’ Franceska said, smiling. ‘Well almost,’ she laughed as Summer tipped up a bucket which was still full of sand onto the floor.

‘We’re supposed to leave the sand at the beach,’ Toby laughed. It was a phrase that he had heard the adults say many times. I felt happy again; they had obviously all had a lovely time. As the children chattered and bickered over getting cleaned up, Claire took an armful of washing which she put in the machine, Franceska piled up the buckets and spades and Polly ushered the almost sand-free children inside. I realised that this was the perfect time to introduce Gilbert to everyone … but when I turned around he had disappeared.

Chapter Fifteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_018.jpg]

‘So, here’s what I thought we’d do,’ Jonathan said to Matt and Tomasz. They had arrived the previous evening and everyone had been pleased to see them, especially me. It had been a fraught week and although it ended well, I thought having the guys around might just bolster everyone’s mood. It was funny how much I actually missed them. I knew the others did too from the way they talked. We, like that funny flock of sheep, were a family and it didn’t feel quite right when part of our family were missing.

I looked worriedly at Tomasz but he showed no sign of being anything but his usual self. I did notice Franceska shooting him worried glances at times but they didn’t talk about it, or if they did it was out of earshot of everyone, including me. He didn’t mention the problems at the restaurant to anyone and I secretly hoped that maybe he had sorted them out already.

‘What?’ Matt asked, looking suspicious. It was Saturday afternoon and Polly, Claire and Franceska had gone to a spa; the men had agreed they needed a well-deserved break and some pampering. Well, I could have done with some too, but then clearly cat pampering wasn’t on the cards! George and Iwere going to keep our eyes and ears open today, it was time to move ‘project Andrea’ on, in that I needed to find out just what she was up to, so I knew what we were dealing with and what we would need to do about it. Gilbert being onboard was reassuring, as was having our men back, even if only for a couple of days.

‘OK, so we are going to go round to see this Andrea and sort out, once and for all, the situation with her, the children and our house.’ Jonathan looked pleased with himself.

‘You are sure that’s a good idea?’ Tomasz looked uncertain, and I agreed with him. I thought it was possibly a terrible idea.

‘Our wives might string us up if we go and see her behind their backs,’ Matt pointed out. Again, I agreed.

‘No, but you see, it’s not behind their backs. They are going to be having a lovely time and we will sort this situation out and be heroes when they return.’

I licked my paws; this wasn’t going to end well.

‘Jon, I have to take Aleksy and Tommy paddleboarding this afternoon, or at least stand on the beach and watch them, I promised,’ Tomasz said, looking relieved. He had a get out of jail — or Andrea — card. Matt shot him an annoyed look.

‘OK, well we will both go and take the younger children.’

‘I don’t know—’ Matt started.

‘Perhaps not a good idea to take Toby — he was very upset and maybe he will be more upset by seeing them?’ Tomasz made an excellent point.

‘Um, maybe you’re right, can you take Toby with you?’ Jonathan asked. Which possibly wasn’t what Tomasz meant.

‘Well, I guess …’ He shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

‘The thing is, Jon, if Toby goes, Henry will want to go too,’ Matt persisted.

‘Oh, Tomasz won’t mind. Right, I’ll get the girls ready and we’ll be off.’

Tomasz and Matt looked at each other and both shook their heads. But I knew, as did they, there was no arguing with Jonathan when he made his mind up.

I was torn. I wanted to go and see the boys on their paddleboards. They were these flat things which looked a bit like ironing boards without legs and floated in the water while you stood on them and paddled. But I knew I would really need to go with the others to Andrea’s, and of course George would want to go too, in the hope of seeing Chanel. Paddleboarding would have to wait for another day, as I saw Tomasz, clutching Toby and Henry’s hands, set off with Aleksy and Tommy who were in their wetsuits ready to go.

As Jonathan, Matt and the girls headed next door, I shuffled through the hedge. I assumed that George would already be there. It seemed silly to go the long way round when we didn’t need to. I joined them at the front door, where there was no sign of George. I was a bit surprised as Jonathan petted me.

‘Glad you decided to join us, after all I am sure you think this is a good idea,’ he said.

‘Yowl.’ I really didn’t.

There was a flash of annoyance on Andrea’s face as she opened the door, followed by a moment where she rearranged her features into a smile.

‘Well this is a nice surprise,’ she said. Chanel hissed nastily. Goodness, she didn’t waste any time. I was almost glad that George wasn’t here.

‘Look, Andrea,’ Jonathan started. Matt stared at me, and I knew what he was thinking. ‘We thought it might be a good idea to clear the air. I know there have been a few problems.’

‘Really? I wasn’t aware of any problems,’ she countered. I had to admire her composure, as she was blatantly lying.

‘Well you know the thing about you saying you want the cottage, and then the incident yesterday with your girls upsetting Toby, I thought we should have a reasonable chat and sort it out.’

‘Me too,’ Summer said. ‘I want to sort it out,’ she said, without any idea what she was talking about.

‘And me,’ Martha added. Matt shook his head.

Andrea shrugged.‘Look, the girls are out at the moment, but why don’t you come in, I’ve got some fresh lemonade in the kitchen and we can have a civilised chat. I do find standing on the doorstep a little bit common.’

‘Thank you, we’d love to come in,’ Jonathan said. Andrea stood back and Martha and Summer went in eagerly, Jonathan behind them with Matt reluctantly bringing up the rear.

‘Oh.’ Andrea stopped. ‘I’d rather your cat didn’t come in, it does so upset Chanel.’ She shut the door on me, almost catching my paw in the process.

I knew the kitchen was round the back, so I decided to go and see if I could hear any of their conversation. I struck gold, as one of the kitchen windows was open and, although I didn’t dare jump up on the windowsill, because I’d probably be shooed away, I found a point by the open window where I could hear everything, even if I couldn’t see it.

Andrea was speaking.‘I am so sorry about Toby, you see it was a bit of a misunderstanding. My girls are so sweet but some of the other village children have been unfair, refusing to let them join in their games with your children and, well, they were ever so upset as you can imagine. I know it was wrong of Savannah to accidentally throw some sand at Toby but she was very emotional and you know what children are like.’

‘How do you accidentally throw sand at someone?’ Matt asked, just as I thought the same.

‘Well you know, it wasn’t malicious. I have told the girls that even if everyone is being horrible to them they must rise above it and not react.’

‘Our children are not horrible though, I can assure you of that,’ Jonathan said.

‘Well, of course they probably don’t mean to be, but being left out is very hurtful,’ Andrea persisted. I wished I could see Jonathan and Matt’s faces, I hoped that they weren’t buying this rubbish but I feared they might be.

‘How about we speak to our children and tell them to be nice to your girls and you do the same?’ Jonathan suggested.

Really? It would be that easy? Sometimes I wondered about my humans.

‘But not me, you don’t need to speak to me,’ Summer said.

‘She’s adorable,’ Andrea laughed. ‘And so pretty, both of you are very pretty girls.’

‘Well thank you,’ Matt said. Oh goodness they were falling for it. ‘But what about the house?’ he quickly added. Phew. ‘You said you wanted it no matter what it cost.’

‘Oh I did, and I meant financially. You see, I have tried to have a reasonable chat with your wives. I hate to sound sexist but I do find men much easier to deal with in these matters,’ Andrea chirped. She sounded as if she was flirting with both Jonathan and Matt, which I was annoyed about. ‘I would love that house, the village means so much to me and my family and we really don’t like the idea of houses here being used only for holidays, it diminishes our community, and of course I like to do my bit for the community. I would love to own Seabreeze, and if I did it would really be tohelp the village.’ She almost sounded believable, I thought, but I didn’t trust her at all.

‘Yes but we are three families who will be sharing the cottage, so it will be used a lot of the time. And we love this place, and will be spending money locally, so that’s surely good for the village?’ Jonathan added.

‘Of course and if your wife, or wives, had explained it as simply as that I would have been delighted. I mean, I just want you to know that you are all very welcome here and I am the first to open my arms to new people, but if you ever change your mind the offer is there.’

‘You are very reasonable,’ Jonathan said. ‘Is your husband around? Maybe you could both come over for drinks one evening?’

‘That would be lovely, only my husband is travelling a lot for business at the moment, so he’s barely here, but hopefully later in the summer, before you all go back to London.’

‘Hiss,’ a voice interrupted my eavesdropping. I looked up to see Chanel at the window. ‘You’ve heard enough, you can go now,’ she said.

With that she was gone.

I decided to find George. He would be furious about missing Chanel but then it was probably a good thing. It seemed that the more awful she was to him, the more he liked her. I checked the cottage but there was no sign of him, so I went to sit on the car bonnet. From there I spotted the others on the beach and saw that George was with them. Aleksy and Tommy were in the water with their paddleboards and Tomasz was on the sand with Henry and Toby, watching, with George standing next to them. I ran across to the beach, dodging all the families sitting on the sand, before reaching the shore and greeting them all. Tommy, who was standing on the board, paddled over to us, jumped off and came to see us.

‘Alfie, did you see me? I am getting really good.’

‘Not as good as Aleksy,’ Henry said, innocently, which made Tommy scowl.

‘I am as good as him.’ He puffed out his chest. Tommy was more competitive than Aleksy, who was the more sensitive of the brothers. It was a surprise to everyone that Aleksy was so good at paddleboarding, but nice, because with most sports he was in Tommy’s shadow a bit.

‘Come on, it’s not a competition,’ Tomasz said.

‘Well, watch me, I’ll show you how good I am.’ Tommy brought the board up to the shore while he huffed at us all. I was rubbing against Toby’s leg when Tommy started pushing the board back into the water.

‘Oh look, George is on the board!’ Toby exclaimed.

‘Meow,’ I said, angrily. He must have jumped on the board and as Tommy had been pushing it back in the water, looking at us and telling us to watch him, he obviously hadn’t noticed him. Oh my nerves had been shot to pieces in the last few days. This was too much. I yowled as much as I could, and then Tommy finally turned round and noticed George.

‘Tommy, bring George back,’ Tomasz yelled as loudly as he could. Tommy didn’t turn round though. Instead he got on the board, on his knees, and started paddling, wobbling everywhere. George was standing on the front of the board and if I didn’t know better I would have said he was enjoying himself. He stood, watching the water, not huddling close to Tommy, which was what I would be doing. It was apparent that Tommy wasn’t great with the paddleboard, which was rocking quite violently, and then there was a huge splash.

‘MEOW!’ I shouted. What about George? Thankfully, he was still on the board as Tommy’s head emerged from the water.

‘He has very good balance, Tomasz,’ Henry said.

‘He does, even for a cat,’ Tomasz agreed.

Aleksy paddled over to them and I watched, horrified, as George looked over at him, then leapt from one board to the other. As Aleksy turned his board around and headed back to the shore, I could hear both boys laughing, although the wind was making it sound faint. I was glad to see George was on Aleksy’s board now — it made me feel a bit more reassured.

George made the shore safely, where Tomasz used a towel to dry him off a bit, before we all headed home.

‘George, you shouldn’t have done that,’ I chastised as soon as we were alone. ‘Cats are not meant to go near water.’

‘I love water, Dad,’ George said excitedly.

What? Whoever heard of a cat who liked water?

‘And I love paddleboarding,’ he went on. ‘It was so much fun. You should try it.’

‘Not unless I can paddleboard on dry land,’ I replied, giving up. George was a stubborn kitten and now it seemed that, as well as liking Chanel, which was bad for him, he liked water, which was even worse for him. I had no idea what to do about that.

If only humans could be as sensible as I was. Tomasz and Matt were right, as was I. The women were furious that they had gone to speak to Andrea, and they were, quite rightly, refusing to buy her reasonable act.

‘She’s going to talk to the girls and make sure they are nice but she said they’re being left out as well, which upsets them,’ Jonathan said.

‘That’s not true.’ Franceska was angry. ‘Aleksy, he tell me what they say to them, they are nasty and they tried to get all the children not to play.’

‘Maybe their mother is just fooled by them,’ Matt suggested.

‘Oh God, you are such an idiot,’ Polly stormed.

‘What on earth were you thinking? Going to see her?’ Claire was practically screeching. Luckily the children were all in bed and that included George.

‘I just thought we could clear up the unpleasantness.’ Jonathan at least had the grace to look sheepish.

‘And she did explain she wanted the cottage because she couldn’t bear it to be empty so much. But when we explained it wouldn’t be, she said she was delighted for us to be her neighbours.’

‘And she said what a wonderful job you were doing with the renovations,’ Jonathan added.

‘And you believed her?’ Polly stormed.

‘Why wouldn’t we?’ Both Matt and Jonathan were looking a bit ashamed by now.

‘Honestly, a pretty face and you believe anything.’

‘I hadn’t noticed she was pretty,’ Matt said quickly.

‘Yeah right,’ Polly answered.

‘Well, she does have nice hair,’ Jonathan added and Claire swiped him.

‘You guys are deluded if you think she was actually as reasonable as you say. She’s playing you and it’s embarrassing to see that you fell for it so easily.’

‘Look, let’s just give her the benefit of the doubt. Please?’ Jonathan was red-faced and rubbing his arm where Claire had hit him a bit harder than she possibly intended.

‘If you say so, but if there is another incident then you guys cannot doubt us,’ Polly said. ‘We don’t lie and our children don’t lie. Andrea is a middle-aged mean girl and she’s bringing up her daughters to be mean girls.’

‘OK, look let’s leave it, we’re only here for a short time and I don’t want to argue,’ Matt said reasonably. ‘But honestly, if anything else happens, I promise we’ll have your backs.’

‘Yes, as long as the lady with nice hair doesn’t turn your heads yet again,’ Claire retorted.

Later, I could feel the tension in the air as Tomasz, who had cooked dinner, cleared his throat.

‘Look, guys, the timing isn’t good and I’ve tried to put it off but we have a problem.’ I almost couldn’t bear to listen.

‘What’s up, mate?’ Jonathan said. Franceska was staring at her plate and refusing to meet anyone’s questioning glances.

‘We had a flood at the restaurant, it’s not good. We have had to close and it’ll be a couple more weeks at the least, plus the insurance company is dragging its feet.’ He looked so sad my heart went out to him.

‘Oh, Tomasz, that’s terrible, we didn’t realise. Frankie, why didn’t you say?’ Polly said.

‘Because I didn’t want to make more problems,’ Franceska replied.

‘What do you mean?’ Claire asked.

‘The money we put in here, our savings, we might need it after all. I am so sorry but I have wages to pay, and the business accounts are all tied up for the time being, so I need to find some cash, and soon.’ Tomasz rubbed his head, anxiously.

‘But the insurance has to pay out,’ Matt said, reasonably.

‘Yes, eventually it will, but I and my business partner are having issues with them. Look, we love this place, and I wouldn’t want to lose it, the boys love their paddleboarding, but we do have a temporary cash flow problem and I don’t know how to fix it.’

‘Can we just bridge it, temporarily?’ Claire asked, looking at Jonathan.

‘Darling, we’d have to borrow money, which takes time, unless we go to a loan shark, I don’t think it’s feasible. Tomasz, how long do we have before you need the money and how much?’

Franceska named a figure, which meant nothing to me but everyone took a sharp intake of breath, and she started crying. Tomasz put his arm around her.

‘If there was any way, we would try to find it,’ Tomasz said. ‘But we literally have about two weeks until we are in trouble.’

‘Oh God, we can’t lose the cottage, not now,’ Claire said, tears in her eyes.

‘We are so sorry,’ Franceska said. But no one went to reassure her and the party broke up soon after.

I was very upset, so I lingered in the hope that Gilbert would appear, and he did.

‘I wanted to introduce you to our families,’ I said. ‘Although tonight wasn’t a good night.’ I wanted to Gilbert to meet them at their best and they certainly weren’t right now.

‘I know but I got cold paws. I’m still nervous around humans and I’m sure yours are nice, but you know I’m not ready to trust again.’ I felt sad for him and what he had been through, although we had all had our tough roads to tread, I guessed.

‘Anyway, it’s your choice and I respect that. But I am worried about them.’ I filled him in on the drama that had unfolded.

‘I saw that neighbour and she was talking with that young builder, the one you don’t like.’

‘Liam?’

‘Yes that’s his name. I heard her speaking to him on the phone while she stood in the garden not that long ago. She looked around her furtively, checking no one was around, but I heard her tell him that his “little acts of sabotage” were unsatisfactory and he better “up his game”.’

‘What does that even mean?’ I asked.

‘No idea. We know what he’s done but your families haven’t agreed to sell the cottage.’

‘But what does she mean by upping his game?’

‘The mystery deepens.’

‘The thing is, we need to follow him at all times to see what he’s up to, and what with George and his crush and the kids and the humans, I’m just not sure I can do that.’

‘Alfie, I can help. I mean, I’m quite good at hiding so I’ll track him, at least for a while, especially when he’s alone. And if I can’t for any reason I’ll let you know and you can take over.’

‘Gilbert, that would be amazing, a huge weight off my mind.’

‘Well I got used to hiding, being invisible, it helps with survival.’ He looked sad.

‘I hate to think of you being so alone. I told you about my homeless time, and well, I hated it. I wish you could see that being part of a family isn’t all bad. My family isn’t.’

‘I’m sure you’re right.’ He grinned sadly and I nuzzled him. ‘And maybe soon I’ll be able to let myself believe it.’

It made me so cross that a handsome, lovely cat like Gilbert had had such a hard time. He was my friend now so that meant I would do all I could to ensure that things improved. Yes, he was going to help me with Andrea and Liam, but in return I was going to help him see that people weren’t all bad. I only wished that the truth was that none of them were, but we all knew that that wasn’t the case. With the news that Tomasz and Franceska had imparted on top of that, well, I had a very bad feeling in my fur. Very bad indeed.

Chapter Sixteen [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_019.jpg]

The men had left but the house had been strained since Tomasz and Franceska’s announcement. Before they went, Tomasz promised to see if there was anything he could do and Matt and Jonathan had offered help but I caught Claire crying when she and Jonathan were alone. Jonathan tried to reassure her but Claire said that if Franceska and Tomasz needed to pull their money out, then they might have to sell the cottage to the horrible Andrea. And she said she couldn’t bear to give up their dream. Jonathan promised he would do whatever he could but a heavy cloud hung over them.

The tension between the adults was clear. It was as if no one blamed Tomasz and Franceska but they were unhappy so the easy relationship had changed. Franceska and Claire seemed to be avoiding each other— and living in the same house that wasn’t easy. I needed to keep an eye on this one. The optimistic part of me thought that perhaps it would all be sorted but the other part suspected I would have to be the one to do so. Again, there was a lot to do for this cat, and although I had Gilbert andmy kitten to help (although I was not sure how much help lovesick George would actually be), it still seemed my problems were mounting.

It had rained for the past two days and the children were largely housebound, as was I. George, however, still insisted on sitting under the hedge, despite constantly coming in drenched and miserable after not catching even a glimpse of Chanel. Today I’d finally persuaded him to stay with me and the children in the big living room. The adults had got a selection of films for us to watch and we all snuggled up on the sofas watching and eating popcorn, which was a real treat, as we’d only just finished breakfast. The kids were enjoying lazing around, eating treats, and watching films. The one currently showing was calledDespicable Me, chosen because it was suitable for all of them, and of course us cats. I was quite enjoying it although George, who was sitting with Summer and Martha, seemed a little bit lovesick still.

The point was that we never did this at home so it was still like being on holiday even when we were inside. Seabreeze had that effect on us. It made everything feel like a holiday. I was quite keen on licking the popcorn, as was George it seemed, and the kids took great delight in feeding us. I snuggled down more and realised holidays could be a lot of different things.

But there was a cloud over our lovely holiday home, and not just a rain cloud. The women were all uneasy. It felt that the friendships that had been so strong almost from the moment I got my families together were now under threat. Franceska was in her bedroom, it was clear she wanted to be alone. Claire and Polly were supposed to be ordering furniture but they said they didn’t know if they should now that the future of their shared cottage was in question. I knew Franceska felt guilty, although it wasn’t her fault, and I also knew that Claire was so upset at the idea of losing the cottage she didn’t know how to act. Polly was trying to keep the peace but although they weren’t arguing, or angry with each other, they were all sad and quiet. The atmosphere inside Seabreeze almost matched the weather outside. Which was why I was keeping well away and in with the children.

‘You know how Mum seemed a bit sad earlier?’ Aleksy said quietly to his brother.

‘Yes,’ Tommy said. ‘So did Claire.’

‘Well what about if we put a play on for the mums to cheer them up?’

I meowed. What a good idea.

‘Guys,’ Tommy said, loudly, ‘we’re going to put on a play for our mums.’

‘Yay!’ Toby said.

‘Can I be a spaceman?’ Henry asked.

‘I want to be a princess,’ Martha chipped in.

‘Me too,’ Summer agreed.

‘And can Alfie and George be in it too?’ Toby asked.

‘Of course,’ Aleksy replied.

I was going to make my acting debut it seemed.

‘Can I go out, Dad?’ George asked after lunch. I looked at the children who were going to the living room to do more rehearsals for the play. Although we were in it, it seemed we had very little to actually do, so I was sure we wouldn’t be missed. But still it was awful out there as the rain persisted.

‘I’d rather not, it’s still quite wet out there.’ I was a fair weather cat.

‘But can I go to the hedge to look for Chanel then?’ he pushed.

‘OK, but you know what, I’ll come with you, I’m not happy with you being alone in this weather.’ My thoughts were that if George got too wet I could drag him back inside — not literally of course. I would have been happier in the warm but I didn’t want to be a bad parent.

When the others had gone I followed with George; we ran quickly to the hedge and nestled in. Looking at Andrea’s house I assumed she was inside; Chanel was definitely a fair weather cat, a bit like me in that respect.

‘I just wish I could see her,’ George said.

‘I know, but the weather is terrible, so I’m not sure she’ll come out.’ My poor kitten looked so dejected, I had to think of a way to cheer him up. ‘Tell you what, if you come home now maybe we can play hide and seek.’ As he bounded off, I followed. Thankfully that seemed to do the trick.

When we got home, George urged me to hide, so I went upstairs where I found another commotion. I went to the doorway of the adults’ bathroom to see Liam with his head hanging down. There was a broken window, and glass all over the floor.

‘What the hell have you done?’ the plumber asked. ‘How can you manage to put a wrench through a window?’

Colin approached, looking annoyed.

‘Liam, again?’ he asked.

‘I slipped,’ Liam whined, sounding like a little boy, ‘and the wrench smashed the window. You said you were replacing the windows anyway.’

If it hadn’t been for the glass all over the floor I would have gone up to him and swished my tail or something.

‘We are but not until the end of the summer. It’s booked in before we paint the house as the last job. Honestly, boy, you’re a liability,’ Colin said, still shaking his head.

‘What shall we do? I’ve got to get the fixtures all working today,’ the plumber said.

‘I’ve got some sheet glass in the van. Liam, go and get it and you’ll have to stay late and fix it. But first clean up the glass — if any of the kids or the cats get cut you’ll be for it.’

I followed Colin downstairs where he found Polly looking at fabric samples in the smaller living room.

‘Can I have a word?’ he asked.

‘Sure.’ Polly smiled.

‘It’s Liam, I’m afraid. He slipped and put a wrench through the bathroom window.’

‘What?’

‘Yelp!’ I tried to tell them that he probably did it on purpose but it fell on deaf ears.

‘He’s a calamity I know, but we’re going to fix it up so it’ll be fine until the double glazing goes in. Luckily you’ve got two windows in that bathroom but for now, only one will open. I’m so sorry.’ Colin looked upset, and I felt sorry for him. He didn’t know that one of his workers was trying to sabotage his job, which actually could have a really detrimental effect on him, couldn’t it?

‘Colin, that’s just the latest in the long list of things that Liam has done to mess up, cause delays and general trouble on this job. Can’t you get rid of him? The others are working here so well but he’s more trouble than he’s worth. I can’t afford not to be on schedule, we’ve got to go in a few weeks for school, and you know I want the bulk of the work done by then.’ Polly sounded kind, she wasn’t a shouter, or nasty like Andrea, but she had a fed-up edge to her voice.

‘I know and if it was anyone else I would. Look, Polly, I know this isn’t your problem but Liam is my brother’s lad, and my brother’s been unwell, he had to give up work, so well, they rely on Liam’s pay packet. I’ve been swallowing up the extra costs, apart from his time of course, butI really can’t sack him. I’ll take full responsibility for him but I don’t want my brother and sister-in-law to have any more stress.’

‘OK, I understand, but you know I can’t have him bringing the house to ruins.’ Polly smiled sadly and touched Colin on the arm. ‘I am sorry for your brother, but maybe you can get Liam to do jobs where he can’t damage anything.’

‘Good idea. Or I’ll give him some play tools like Henry and Toby have!’

‘Not a bad thought, he can borrow theirs,’ she laughed.

‘Thank you so much for understanding, it really is good of you.’ Colin’s mouth curled down, sadly. And suddenly I felt sorry for Liam although I wasn’t happy with him but again, as George, my very astute kitten, said, things aren’t always what they seem.

After tea that evening, we put on our play. Aleksy was the director, and he also narrated the (very thin) storyline. The play was about the royal family who visited the beach. It was a little bit strange and didn’t make total sense, but then neither did life.

‘I’m a princess,’ seemed to be Summer’s only line, which she repeated.

‘I’m a royal prince,’ Toby added. Tommy was the king, and he re-enacted the paddleboard incident with George, only without a paddleboard. Henry was the spaceman servant to the royal family. It was quite funny and the women all clapped very loudly, but I could tell they were putting a brave face on things. My only part was to be the royal cat and I joined in, quite happily; we needed some light relief. Aleksy even tied a towel around me to be a royal robe and I was pleased to see the women smile as the play reached its final scene. Even if things were still strained, everyone appeared tobe happier than they had been before as they broke into another round of applause, and the three women were momentarily united as they cheered us all.

As I moved on from my acting debut, I went to find Gilbert. In my time I had learnt to trust my instincts and when I felt something in my fur, well, let’s say I believed those feelings.

‘Alright, Alfie,’ Gilbert said. His gruff greeting was warmer each time I saw him.

‘Did you see Liam break the window today?’ I asked, no time for small talk.

‘I did, I found a good spot to watch him from, the idiot broke it on purpose, but that’s not all. When I was following him earlier his phone rang and he went to where he thought no one was listening but, of course, I was. Anyway, I heard him say Andrea’s name and I imagine she was shouting athim as he was flinching quite a lot. In actual fact, he seemed scared of her, but asked if they could have dinner … Well anyway, she must have said yes because he smiled and then he went and smashed the window.’

‘He might be next door right now!’ I said.

‘He might.’

‘What are we waiting for?’ I made to go to the back door.

‘Where’s George?’

‘Fast asleep, he stays with Toby all night, and anyway we won’t necessarily need to be long.’

‘OK, Alfie, I’m right behind you.’

We circled the house before we hit gold. There was a room with full-length doors. The doors had curtains but they weren’t completely closed and we could see inside. As we peered in, we saw that Andrea was on a very comfortable-looking sofa, holding a glass. Chanel was perched on the arm of the sofa and opposite her sat Liam, wearing clothes that were smarter than we had ever seen him wearing. He looked quite nice, his hair was neat and he looked clean.

The problem was that the doors shut out any sound so we couldn’t hear what was being said, although I could see Andrea’s lips moving a lot and Liam just sitting there looking besotted.

I noticed that Chanel seemed to sense there was something amiss as she made her way to the glass doors and we quickly darted back so she couldn’t see us. She sniffed a bit, before baring her teeth then leaving.

‘Isn’t Liam a bit young for Andrea? I know I’m a cat but she seems a lot older than him,’ Gilbert said as we started to head home.

‘I think so.’ I wasn’t an expert, but I was pretty sure that Andrea was using Liam to get to us and it looked as if he had a crush on her just as George did on Chanel. ‘But then Chanel is too old for George but he’s so besotted he won’t listen to me.’

‘It must be the same for Liam,’ Gilbert said.

‘Yes but if he is trying to help her get us out of the cottage, then how are we going to stop him?’ I felt as if Andrea was in charge of too many aspects of our lives.

‘I don’t know but if I stay close to him I can try to make sure that he doesn’t do anything too bad. You know, when he broke the window I wasn’t expecting that but if I had I could have tripped him up or something.’

‘Or if you can’t do anything then try to come and find me if you can, or yowl so loudly that the humans all come running.’

‘But then they’ll find me.’ Gilbert was still uncertain.

‘They have to meet you at some point,’ I told him.

‘Humph,’ was his reply and I knew I was winning. With him at least.

Once again, I felt that things were mounting up and, for the first time this holiday, I missed Edgar Road badly. I missed Tiger and my other friends. I missed not having anyone to ask advice from; although I now had Gilbert, it wasn’t quite the same as having my usual cat gang. I was feeling as if things were threatening to slip out of control and our idyllic holiday home was under threat. The worst thing was that my humans were still oblivious to all this. They thought that Franceska and Tomasz were the only threat to keeping the cottage. Yes they knew that Andrea wanted the house, they knew her children were mean and they thought that Liam was one of the most incompetent builders they’d come across, but apart from that they had no idea that there was a plan underway, a plan I was pretty sure was going to turn our holiday upside down. I couldn’t believe it had only been a few short weeks since we had come here, it felt as if we belonged here in so many ways. I wanted what Claire wanted, I wanted our families to have this wonderful holiday home for many years to come, even after I was no longer around. I wanted it for them so badly that I knew I would have to play a big part in making sure it happened.

Chapter Seventeen

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Franceska was unloading the car and George was hindering her by circling her legs. I was trying to stop him, which somehow meant I was circling her legs too.

‘George, Alfie, you guys are going to send me flying,’ Franceska chastised. At least the sun had finally come out again and, although things weren’t back to normal with Franceska and Claire, they had cleared the air a bit, deciding not to worry until they knew the whole situation.

‘Meow.’ George was proud of himself although I wasn’t sure why.

Franceska took the last bag out of the boot of the car and put it down.‘I’ll go and get the boys to bring the shopping in, wait there.’

We weren’t sure why she wanted us to wait but we did as we were told. Aleksy and Tommy ran out and grabbed the bags then ran back in, ignoring us completely.

‘Meow,’ I shouted.

‘Sorry Alfie but Mum said if we took the shopping in we could go to the beach,’ Aleksy said excitedly as he ran back to the house.

Us cats couldn’t compete with the beach.

Franceska returned.‘Right, boys, I am locking the car and then I’m making lunch. Hungry?’

‘Yowl.’ Yes I was. We were about to turn back to the house when I spotted Andrea and Chanel approaching.

‘It’s Chanel.’ George hopped from paw to paw excitedly. As Andrea stopped, the Persian gave us her usual dirty scowl, which I think George saw as a loving blink.

‘Ah, it’s the Polish one,’ she said, unkindly. Franceska turned to her, looking confused and then angry.

‘I have a name, it’s Franceska,’ she replied, her voice shaking a little.

‘Of course, whatever. Anyway, I’m glad I ran into you, I want to speak to you all. Together.’

‘What do you mean?’ Franceska asked.

‘You and the other two women, we need to sit down and talk. We need to resolve this.’ Andrea was wearing a bright pink dress, lots of jewellery and high heels. As usual her hair was very tidy, and didn’t move in the breeze, and Chanel was sitting bearing her teeth at us in one of her arms. I was immediately on my guard. George was trying to catch Chanel’s eyes by being cute but she was blatantly ignoring him.

‘We do?’ Franceska looked at the house as if hoping someone else would come and rescue her.

‘Yes, we need to resolve the issue about the house,’ Andrea pushed.

‘I didn’t realise there was an issue. You asked to buy the house, we said no. End of story.’ Franceska’s face reddened; she could be sensitive at times so it was nice to see she was holding her own.

‘It’s not the end of the story. When the husbands, well two of them, came to see me it was clear that there is definitely not an end of story. I hate it when women go running to their husbands as if they can’t cope themselves.’

‘That is not what happened. That was about the children. Anyway, I don’t need to speak to you about this, I told you we don’t want to sell the house and we definitely don’t need any trouble. If there is a problem we will talk to you, not our husbands. In fact Claire and Polly were cross with them for coming to see you. So we shall leave it at that.’

‘Are you saying you won’t sell the house to me?’ Andrea narrowed her eyes.

‘We have said that all along. The renovations are well underway, we have only a few weeks left before the end of summer, and honestly, we would all like to enjoy our holiday.’

‘We’ll see about that.’

As Andrea turned and trotted off in her heels we could feel the threat hanging in the air.

Franceska went back inside and I waited patiently with George as he looked wistfully after Chanel. Aleksy and Tommy ran out of the front door and stopped to pet us.

‘We’re going to the beach.’

‘Why don’t you come?’ Tommy asked.

‘Meow.’ We could go.

‘Cool and we’ll take care of you,’ Aleksy said. He and Tommy looked at each other, then Tommy picked up George and Aleksy picked me up and off we went.

They found a spot in the sand dunes, and Aleksy put me down. I was getting quite used to the sand now, finding it easier the more we came here; I would possibly be a sand expert by the end of the holiday. As the boys sat down, flicking off their sandals, George started sinking into the sand. It was cute, but he did it on purpose, I could see, as he pushed his paws down.

‘George, don’t do that,’ Tommy said, picking him up and brushing the sand off. We took a few moments to enjoy the sun and the grass in the dunes tickled us in the gentle wind. Just as the boys were deciding what to do, Savannah and Serafina approached. This was not good. We had already had toencounter their mother, now them.

‘What are you doing?’ they asked.

‘Well, we are just hanging out, obviously,’ Aleksy replied.

‘How exciting. Anyway, I wanted to say, don’t expect to see any of your other friends, because they are coming to my house. My mum has organised it and you are definitely not invited.’

‘We wouldn’t want to come anyway,’ Tommy said. He poked his tongue out at her, which I felt was a bit childish but then I guess he was a child.

I hissed to tell Tommy to shush but he didn’t seem to hear me.

‘Tommy, don’t waste your time talking to them,’ Aleksy said. He turned to George and picked him up, stroking him.

‘You boys are so boring,’ Savannah said, and used her foot to flick sand up at us. I felt it cover me and Tommy.

‘Oi!’ Tommy shouted.

‘Yowl!’ I said; it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. The girls walked away laughing.

‘I really don’t like them,’ Aleksy said.

‘Me either, but never mind, I’ve got some money for ice cream. Shall we get some?’

‘Meow!’ George said excitedly.

‘OK, George, we can get some for you too,’ Aleksy laughed.

We spent a pleasant time on the beach. George and I shared an ice cream and sunbathed, enjoying spending time with Aleksy and Tommy, but all too soon Franceska appeared at the beach wall and shouted that it was time for us to go home to tea.

The house was empty when we got back.

‘Where is everyone?’ Aleksy asked.

‘Claire and Polly have taken the others for a walk to burn off some energy.’ So, they were still avoiding each other a bit.

George went to the sand room to clean up and to find some shade and I drank a lot of water, being thirsty from the sunny afternoon. Aleksy told his mum how the girls had been and she told him to ignore them but I knew that was easier said than done. Colin appeared and, as Franceska made tea for the builders, they chatted over the day’s work.

‘No accidents so far,’ he said. ‘But you know we have a lot of work to do still, so let’s hope it stays that way.’

‘Will the house be finished before we leave?’ Franceska looked anxious and I wondered what she and Tomasz had decided to do.

‘It should mainly be. As you know, the downstairs is being done after you go, only because the new kitchen will be a big job as we will be knocking the rooms through, and then we just have the windows and the painting and it’ll all be ready the next time you’re here.’ Colin smiled.

‘Um,’ Franceska said, looking thoughtful.

‘Well, I hope you’ll be overjoyed with the finished house. It’s amazing what the attic rooms and now the second floor has done for the house already. The whole village is buzzing with what a good job you’ve done.’

‘Well I wish they would talk to us more, I mean it seems that when we go to the local shop or to the beach people are scared to speak with us.’

‘Well, it might be because of Andrea,’ Colin said.

‘What, because she speaks so badly of us to the rest of the village?’

‘Look. I’m sure it’s all hot air, but you know, why don’t you take the children to the pub for tea tonight, about six? I’m in there, my wife is coming down and I’ll introduce you to a few people. It would be good for you to make friends in the village.’

‘Would you? That would be great. It would be nice if we can make some friends.’

‘Honestly, not all of us are like Andrea, and you’ve been here long enough, it’s about time you saw that for yourselves. But it’s a small village and, well, I guess the locals are more cautious with new people. Anyway, come to the pub tonight, bring the kiddies with you, and you’ll see.’

‘Thank you, Colin. That would be very nice and the children love to go for tea at the pub.’ Franceska looked happy and I thought she had made a sensible move. Getting out of the house, meeting new people, it might be just what they needed. Just as the children had made friends, it was perhaps time that the grown-ups did too.

‘You know what would go down a treat?’ Colin had turned to go, stopped and then faced Franceska again.

‘What?’

‘If, when the house is nearly ready, you invite some villagers over to have a look. They’re all curious and it would be a nice way to break the ice and let them have a nose around.’

‘Great idea. We could do tea and cakes and have, like, an open house! Colin, that is such a good idea — they can see then how much we love Seabreeze Cottage and Lynstow, so they will feel happier about us being here.’

‘You got it, love.’ Colin left to go back to work. I rubbed up against Colin’s legs. I could tell that he was definitely one of the good guys.

The children were excited to go out to eat but George and I weren’t invited and the boys had been warned in no uncertain terms not to sneak us out. I didn’t mind, I fancied a quiet evening in with my boy, even if he had other ideas.

‘Can I go and wait for Chanel?’ he said. Really, all George did was either lie under the bush hoping for a glimpse of her, or hide behind a plant by her back door, and more often than not he fell asleep before he even saw her. So, neither tactic proved very successful, or at least hadn’t so far. I really didn’t want to go out again and I thought perhaps, now he was growing up, I shouldn’t have to.

‘If you promise to be home before it’s dark, or I’ll have to come looking for you,’ I warned.

‘Of course, Dad.’ He raised his whiskers, gave me a thank-you nuzzle and was off. I settled down in a nice spot on the big living room sofa. It was warm and cosy and before I knew it I’d dozed off.

I was woken by a tail tickle and I opened my eyes to see George.

‘Oh good boy, you came home on time,’ I said, looking out of the window where the sky was darkening.

‘Yes and it was no good, I didn’t see Chanel but I did see Andrea, she was pacing up and down angrily, shouting down the phone.’

‘Who was she talking to? Was it Liam?’

‘I don’t know but she said that things were getting desperate and she was scared.’

‘She doesn’t act scared though, does she?’ I was thinking aloud.

‘People act in different ways, for different reasons, you taught me that,’ my wise kitten replied.

I had taught him a lot. When my first love, Snowball, moved in next door to me on Edgar Road, her whole family acted a bit rude, including her, and they didn’t ever want to talk to us. When they did they made it clear that they didn’t want anything to do with us, and it did look as if they had something to hide. It turned out they’d had a very bad experience which had left them scared of making friends and I wondered if Andrea was in a similar situation — it might be that her fear was making her mean. I could sometimes be a bit judgmental; perhaps I needed to listen to George more. If Andrea was doing this because she was scared then maybe she wasn’t all bad and we could get to the nicer version of her. I just didn’t know how. Going through Chanel the way I did with Snowball certainly wasn’t an option. That cat wasn’t scared, she was just downright rude.

As George and I were thinking about what to do next, the door opened and the children burst in, shattering our peace and quiet. Or mine anyway. George hopped down and began mewing at them excitedly.

‘But I’m not even tired,’ Summer was shouting, in a way which suggested she really was.

‘Me neither,’ Martha concurred. Although Martha was older than Summer, she often let Summer take the lead. For the most part she was laid-back, whereas Summer was the bossiest person I knew.

‘Bed, both of you,’ Claire said, coming in the room, ‘and Toby and Henry too. Upstairs now, before I get cross.’ She was giggling as she spoke, which suggested she wasn’t that cross at all.

The younger children were hustled upstairs and Aleksy and Tommy were allowed to go to the small sitting room and watch some TV for a while.

Franceska came in to join us with a bottle of wine and three glasses. She collapsed on the sofa next to me, absently stroking my fur. She seemed happy and I was looking forward to hearing what a success the evening had been.

We didn’t have long to wait as Polly and Claire came in.

‘That was quick,’ Franceska said, with a smile.

‘Well, I couldn’t be bothered to bath them so we just got them into their PJs and into bed quickly.’ Polly smiled. ‘They were all too tired to argue the minute they saw their beds.’

‘I shouldn’t drink when in charge of my children though,’ Claire laughed, as she took a full glass from Franceska.

‘Look, I am sorry about the spanner we threw in the works, with the restaurant. I know Tomasz is still trying to sort it and I want to keep this house very much, so I just want to say sorry and I hope it doesn’t ruin everything.’ She looked suddenly tearful. ‘We are doing everything we can to make sure we can keep the cottage, you need to know this.’

‘Oh, Frankie, I am sorry,’ Claire said. ‘None of this is your fault, or Tomasz’. I just love Seabreeze so much, and I was worried about losing it but after tonight, well I feel like we can sort it out … Somehow we will keep the house.’ Claire hugged Franceska. ‘I’m so sorry that I was cold with you, you know how emotional I get, but our friendship is more important than anything.’

‘To me too.’ Franceska’s eyes glistened with tears.

‘And what a fun evening though. I mean, Frankie, you are a genius getting us to meet the locals,’ Polly took the conversation in a more upbeat direction. I felt relief flood my fur, it seemed that the women had got over the hump for now.

‘It was Colin’s idea.’ Franceska smiled. ‘He said the villagers were very nice.’

‘They were and the idea of having an open house when the cottage is nearly finished is also good. They all seemed to be keen to have a look around.’

‘Again, Colin. But he’s right, with the Andrea situation, it might be good to have the locals on our side.’

‘He’s a lovely man,’ Claire said. ‘I feel that we’ve made progress, they all seemed to like the idea that we’d be in the house a lot, and when you said that we were looking for someone local to be a kind of caretaker I thought they were all going to line up there and then, Pol,’ Claire said.

‘Well, we do need someone, they can do the beds ready for when we’re coming, and when it’s empty I like the idea of someone giving it a clean every week too.’ Franceska added.

‘It’s very sensible. But I think that Colin’s sister-in-law might want the job,’ Polly said.

‘Liam’s mum?’ Claire looked faintly horrified.

‘She might not be as hopeless as him and Colin told me they are struggling for any extra cash, so I said I would talk to you.’ Polly seemed to have talked through a lot with Colin.

‘Hey, let’s meet her, if Colin vouches for her …’ Claire said. She was in a good mood; I couldn’t help thinking it was the wine.

‘And they promise not to let Liam be here alone,’ Polly laughed.

‘But wasn’t it nice to meet the women too?’ Claire said. ‘I mean, I know we met Amber before but the others … They are all clearly terrified of Andrea but actually they’re nice and seemed more than happy to be friendly with us.’

‘Not sure if they would in front ofher, though,’ Franceska said. ‘Look, I know that we’re OK but I am sorry. I was just so terrified that we might have to take the money back to keep the business afloat, I can’t bear it.’

‘Oh, Frankie, honestly, let’s forget it for now, I still feel terrible that I’ve been a bit moody with you,’ Claire said. ‘We were so excited and we all stretched ourselves to afford it, so please, don’t worry.’

‘Look, this place has already become a home to us, in the month we’ve been here it’s become like home to us all. So we will figure it out, the restaurant, Andrea, everything, I promise that.’

‘Let’s drink to that.’ Claire raised her glass. ‘To Seabreeze and Lynstow and many, many happy holidays here.’

Chapter Eighteen

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‘I get it, this is what it’s all about,’ George said excitedly. He had his head in an empty box and was pushing it around the kitchen table, much to the delight of Summer and Toby.

‘What?’ I asked quietly, making sure our families couldn’t hear.

‘The holiday, Seabreeze Cottage, all of our families having a very lovely time,’ he said.

‘You are so wise for one so young.’ I had taught him well, after all.

It was the day when our families had invited half the village, or so it seemed, round to Seabreeze Cottage for food and drinks. We still had a few weeks left here before we had to go back to Edgar Road. The builders had doubled in number and been working extra hard since the night the women had gone to the pub and the men had taken an extra day off work and were coming down on Thursday night. It was all exciting, and they had worked out that instead of just worrying about Andrea they should embrace village life. I only wished I had thought of it.

George bumped into the table leg, eliciting lots of giggles from Toby.

‘George, get out of the box, and Alfie, we don’t want you getting under foot today,’ Franceska chastised as she prepared a mountain of food.

‘Yes, Alfie,’ Claire reiterated. Honestly, why was it always me, not George? ‘The men are taking the children out for the morning so we can get organised. Can you do the same with George?’

‘Can we go sit in the hedge?’ George asked quietly as I used my nose to try to nudge the box off him.

‘Fine,’ I agreed. After all, I had no better plan on how to spend time getting out from under everyone’s feet. I decided not to be offended, after all I understood how important today was for everyone.

The men had come down and had some very good news. Jonathan had put Tomasz in touch with a friend of his, who was something to do with the law, and he had threatened the insurance company on their behalf. Apparently there’d been a bit of arguing and going backwards and forwards but the insurance company had finally agreed to pay for all the damage and lost wages. Tomasz and his business manager had then gone to the bank who had given them a temporary loan to cover the costs, so their stake in Seabreeze was safe. The celebratory mood returned and if it hadn’t been for Andrea and Liam I would also have been jumping for joy.

Jonathan, Matt and Tomasz had been so amazed by the transformation that they were overjoyed. The second floor was finished and now was home to three big bedrooms, a refurbished and expanded bathroom, and a master suite with en suite shower room. The only thing was that some of the furniture hadn’t arrived yet but they didn’t seem to mind that. Bit by bit, it was becoming a home, but more than that a home that represented each of my families. The children’s rooms were amazing, and now the other bedrooms were too. Claire and Jonathan’s room was painted in a blue colour that they both loved, and all the curtains and accessories matched. Polly and Matt’s room had a more modern feel, whereas Franceska and Tomasz had gone a totally different way and opted for a seaside feel — with stripy wallpaper, driftwood and shells, it did look a lot like a beach hut in fact. It was my favourite room because it felt as if it belonged. But I understood how each room was part of my families and that I loved. It meant that they were going to make this cottage a second home and it was feeling that way already.

Oh and Gilbert had been wonderful, he’d been on Liam-watch but Liam hadn’t had the opportunity to ruin anything else. Gilbert had even heard him on the phone, we assumed to Andrea, saying he was never alone in the house long enough to do anything. It seemed our plan was working, well sort of. And Gilbert was warming more and more each day to the idea of meeting our families so now I knew it was just a matter of time.

George and I made our way outside. It was a warm, not hot, day, with a cool sea breeze (I now understood the name of the cottage) gently brushing our fur. We made our way to the hedge and shuffled through. I found my favourite spot, ground soft, leaves shading me, and George sat as near as he could get to Chanel’s garden without being spotted. There was nothing to see, which we seemed to get a lot, but I saw George was looking so hopeful so I settled down for the duration. At least it wasn’t raining and there were worse ways for a cat to pass some time.

I had almost dropped off for a cat nap when George jumped up, stretching excitedly.

‘She’s here, Dad, she’s here.’ Before I had managed to open both of my eyes he had run off across the lawn to where Chanel stood, glaring. I thought it best I follow him.

‘Hey!’ George said, excitedly. For once Andrea wasn’t around, and Chanel was on her own. A rare occurrence.

‘What are you doing sitting in my hedge?’ she asked. She flicked her tail, fixing her green eyes on us. Yes, she was a sophisticated-looking cat but she had the meanest eyes I had ever seen. Even Salmon had nothing on her.

‘Technically, it’s our hedge too,’ I said. I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me. Well, only a bit as she inched towards us.

‘Not for long.’ She arched her back.

‘You are so lovely,’ George gushed. I nudged him, but there was nothing I could do.

‘Go away,’ she hissed.

‘We will go but before we do, I want to know why your owner wants our house so badly.’

‘Why should I tell you?’

‘Look, Chanel.’ I squared up to her. I didn’t intend on doing anything, I knew violence didn’t solve anything and I was the least violent cat ever, couldn’t really even hunt, but I didn’t want her to know that. ‘I just want to know. We know about Liam, we know that Andrea’s under pressure and that she has to sort things out soon. So what exactly is going on?’ I bared my teeth for good measure.

‘So, so pretty,’ George said, tilting his head.

‘How do you know all that?’ Chanel asked. I had wrong-pawed her.

‘We know, that’s all that matters. We’re on to you, and so you can either tell us what is going on or not but know this, we will find out.’

‘And your fur is the most beautiful I have ever seen,’ George added. We both looked at him.

‘Listen, none of this is any of your business, it’s my family and our problem. Yes, we do need your house and there is a very good reason for it, but I am not at liberty to share with you. You might do well to keep your nose out of our business. And while you’re at it, take the annoying kitten away with you.’ She turned on her paws and ran back towards the house.

‘Come on, George, I think it’s probably time we went,’ I said.

‘I think she really likes me, Dad,’ he replied. ‘I mean, more than she did at first even!’

What could I do?

The lawn had been transformed. The dining table had been moved outside, which had taken Tomasz, Matt and Jonathan a lot of arguing to get it through the door. But now it was on the lawn, laden with an abundance of food. Colin had brought over some other tables, and every chair we had, plus some of Colin’s, littered the lawn, along with picnic blankets. The children were playing outside and Seabreeze Cottage was open for our party, or whatever it was we were having.

Colin and his wife Fiona, a lovely warm woman who loved cats, were already here. They were having a cup of tea and chatting.

‘It’s funny how you brought your cats with you on holiday,’ Fiona said.

‘Ah, well they’re like family to us, we couldn’t not, and anyway they are so good, they haven’t run off or caused any problems.’ Claire bent down and petted me. I purred, although that wasn’t strictly true. I looked over to where George was eating ice cream out of Summer’s bowl. I would have to ignore that for now.

‘Well it’s lovely. Right, there’s our Shelley coming.’ Some more people were approaching. ‘She’d be ideal to look after this place when you’re away.’

‘Oh yes, we were looking forward to meeting her,’ Claire said and she and Jonathan smiled as they were all introduced.

It was a lot for a cat to take in. There seemed to be so many people in the garden that there was barely any grass visible. As well as Colin’s family, there were other people who I had never seen, some old, some young. Amber, the woman who had come to apologise for Andrea’s behaviour, was again apologising for not spending time with us. It seemed she had been looking after her sick mum but now she was back they were all planning onhaving lunch together. Amber said she didn’t care what Andrea said any more. Then there were the village children, and their parents, who again, now they had stepped out of Andrea’s shadow, were really nice.

‘Do you think we should go and see if Andrea wants to come?’ Matt asked.

‘I wouldn’t,’ Vicky replied. ‘She knows where we are, she’s probably watching from one of her rooms.’ They all looked up at Andrea’s house but there was no sign of anyone there.

‘And we did put an invite through her door,’ Polly said. ‘Not that she deserved it after the way she talked to Frankie, but we are trying to be neighbourly.’

‘Well, you know I was a bit dubious at first, I mean that you would spend all this money on the house and barely use it, sorry,’ Kate, another of the village ladies, said.

‘Well that was the idea Andrea tried to plant in our heads anyway,’ Amber explained.

‘Oh don’t worry, you’ll be sick of the sight of us we’ll be here so much,’ Polly laughed.

‘Speak for yourself, you won’t be able to get enough of me,’ Matt joked and they all smiled.

‘By the way, I wanted to find a gardener when the house is finished.’ Polly quickly changed the subject. ‘We have some plans for getting plants all round the side, and then we can look at the furniture.’

‘Oh look no further,’ Kate said. She turned to a young woman. ‘Chrissy, come here.’ Chrissy joined us.

‘This is my sister, Chrissy, she has a garden design business and she lives in the village,’ Kate explained. Polly then took Chrissy round the garden, explaining what they were looking for.

The village seemed to have sprung to life in our garden and I felt incredibly content as I watched the party unfold. Everyone was eating, drinking and chatting. Jonathan had met a guy who was involved in the local football team so they were talking football for ages, and Aleksy and Tommy’s paddleboard instructor popped in too. We met Liam’s parents: Shelley, who was very sweet and who seemed keen to be our caretaker when we were away — as well as Liam’s dad, who had a walking stick. He kept admiring the work that had been done while his son was looking awkward as Colin gothim to help by giving guided tours of the house. Everyone was complimentary.

The children were playing without a cross word. As well as Ben, Jess and Millie, there were other children I hadn’t met yet. Younger ones were playing with Summer and Martha and there were a couple still in prams. Summer was besotted by one of the babies, and Martha was trailing Millie around, asking her to plait her hair for her.

The men were all laughing and joking and, at one point, Jonathan almost tried to buy a boat from Colin, but luckily Claire stopped him.

‘Maybe I’ll buy one next summer,’ he said. I sincerely hoped not. That was just asking for trouble.

I saw my humans blossoming once more. The stress that Polly, Claire and Franceska seemed to have been feeling looked as if it was melting away in the sun and as everyone bonded I felt we really were part of Lynstow. And it was as if it was meant to be.

It was an exhausting but lovely afternoon and I was only sad that I couldn’t find Gilbert. I was hoping, yet again, to introduce him to the family while everyone was together, and I decided that I would see him tonight and tell him that that was what we were going to do. It was time to be forceful. I knew that if he stayed here when we went back to London Shelley couldmake sure he was well fed, and then he would definitely be part of the family. I just had to convince him of that. I was pretty sure my family would see it the way George and I did as well. The only problem now was convincing Gilbert.

It also meant I had to keep a close eye on Liam at the party. I was unsure if Gilbert was there, but hiding, although I couldn’t sense him so it seemed unlikely. However, Liam behaved, and his family were there, as well as the other builders, so he was occupied at all times. Only once did I see him sneak off, and following him, discovered he had merely gone to the downstairs loo. Nevertheless, I sat outside and waited for him. It didn’t hurt for him to think that I was on to him and from the way he looked at me, slightly frightened, I think he did.

There was a lot to do in our time left at Seabreeze Cottage before the children had to go back to school, I had to ensure that Gilbert was alright, that Andrea stopped trying to take our house, and that Liam didn’t manage to knock it down. It seemed an awful lot but I was going to make sure I did it.

‘Dad, I think I need to go inside,’ George said, joining me by the front door where I sat watching the fun.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, concerned. George looked a little shattered.

‘I’m a bit hot but mainly it’s very tiring being this cute.’

‘Of course it is.’ I smiled and led him inside for a rest.

Chapter Nineteen

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The clean-up operation took most of the next day, because some of the party guests remained into the night, with the children practically falling asleep in their clothes, the adults enjoying far too many drinks and George and I trying to stay awake to take care of everyone. When I tried to get George to go to bed he refused until Toby did, so he was overtired— well, we were all overtired actually.

The downside to this plan was that the adults all woke up feeling a bit worse for wear, the children were tired and grumpy having not had enough sleep and the house was a total mess. This was not a situation for a cat to worry about though so instead I cleaned my paws, made sure George was thoroughly groomed and then we went to relax.

Last night, after everyone had finally gone to bed, I’d seen Gilbert and we’d enjoyed some leftovers together. Probably because of the sardines I managed to extract a promise from him that this evening, just before the sun set, he would finally let me introduce him to my families. The men were going back to London on Monday, and wouldn’t be back until the following weekend, so it was important that Gilbert met them tonight. Especially as they were all so happy at the moment. The adults had made plenty of friends and the children had made even more. In fact, the women were planning on going to lunch with Amber, Vicky and Kate this week; they all seemed to get on pretty well. There was no sign of Andrea, which was always a good thing, although George was pining for Chanel, which wasn’t.

‘Right, well I’m convinced,’ Jonathan said as the last of the mess was finally cleared away.

‘Convinced about what?’ Claire asked.

‘This place, the village, us spending our weekends, holidays, or most of them, here. I see it now,’ Jonathan replied.

‘I agree,’ Tomasz joined in. ‘I wasn’t totally sure this was a good idea at first. I mean, the cottage, and the money, and then with the restaurant problems, but the children have had such a lovely time, one we wouldn’t be able to have in London. Aleksy is doing so well with his paddleboarding.’ Tomasz looked happy again, which was so wonderful to see. ‘I want to spend as much time here as we can.’

‘I know, Tommy is miffed as it’s the first sport that Aleksy is better than him at,’ Franceska laughed. ‘And we know we have increased the value of this place already. If you think about it, the money we’re spending on it, spread over all the holidays we would take, is well worth it.’

‘More than worth it,’ Polly sighed. ‘I feel so restful here, I mean, I know we’ve been working flat out and it’s been a bit stressful at times but, on the whole, just getting up in the morning and looking out at the sea makes me feel so calm.’

‘So, we are all in love with Seabreeze Cottage?’ Matt laughed.

‘Meow,’ I said. Yes we all were.

We were sitting on the lawn on a big picnic blanket. Well, I was sitting, Jonathan was lying, Claire next to him, Matt was across from us, supervising a game of cricket with the children, although Aleksy and Tommy had been allowed to go to the beach with their new friends. Polly was leaning against an oversized cushion, and Franceska was propped up against Tomasz. George was trying to help with the cricket game but he kept getting hit with the ball which, instead of encouraging him to keep out of the way, was having the opposite effect. He seemed to think it was a game. Luckily the ball was soft. At least it wouldn’t knock him out, and it was too much to hope it would knock any sense into him regarding Chanel, of course.

Speak of the devil. The gate opened and in came Andrea, resplendent in a fitted turquoise dress with high heels, and her halo of blonde hair, carrying an angry-looking Chanel. George immediately stopped what he was doing to gape. Of course this meant he got hit again by the ball. He was a bit embarrassed that Chanel witnessed it though. He made his way to where I was lying on the rug, and we waited for Andrea and Chanel to join us.

‘Hello,’ Jonathan said, sounding friendly. Claire tried to hide a scowl.

‘Hi, I’m terribly sorry to disturb you,’ Andrea said, sounding nice, well nicer than normal anyway. The three women exchanged glances, looking as surprised as I felt.

‘That’s OK. I would say take a seat but we don’t have any,’ Matt laughed. Polly did not seem happy because the men were all looking at Andrea with something of a soppy look on their faces, a bit like the way George looked at Chanel, I thought. Oh goodness, I hoped they weren’t in love with her, they were all married after all.

‘Ha, of course. I would sit on the rug, but in this dress …’ I swear I saw Jonathan blush. I flicked my tail in annoyance. ‘Anyway, I won’t keep you, but I wanted to apologise for not being able to make your little … thingy yesterday, but I was so busy and the girls weren’t feeling great, so we didn’t think it was a good idea. However, to make it up to you I wanted to invite you all over next weekend. Saturday. I’ll make a big picnic lunch and some of my friends will join us. It’ll be lovely.’ She almost seemed as if she wanted to spend time with us. I wasn’t sure if Icould believe what I was hearing. Or could I?

‘Wow, thank you, that does sound nice,’ Tomasz said. Then he looked at the picnic blanket as if he knew he might not have chosen the best words.

‘Well you know, there’s no secret that I wanted to buy your cottage, but it’s clear that you have done a wonderful job in making it your holiday home, and so it’s time for me to be neighbourly.’

‘I guess we can come, but listen, Andrea, if your girls are horrible to our children …’ Polly warned.

‘I promise they won’t be. I did explain to your very reasonable — not to mention handsome — husbands that it was a misunderstanding, my girls were feeling a bit jealous. Anyway, let’s not rake over that again.’ She smiled. No, this was not sincere. I was pretty sure of it, could feel itin the tips of my claws.

‘No, let’s not,’ Claire said between gritted teeth.

‘So you’ll all come, Saturday, about one?’ Andrea looked hopeful. I wondered if the others thought she was genuine in her desire to make amends. I was pretty sure the guys were, but the women weren’t. Or perhaps more accurately the men wanted it to be genuine.

‘Of course we will, we’ll look forward to it,’ Jonathan said. All the women grinned, broadly, but it was the kind of grin that said, ‘Oh no we won’t look forward to it at all.’

George followed them to the gate, making his cute eyes at Chanel who was determinedly ignoring him. He went right to the gate, but then, as they shut it behind them, he lay down, looking defeated.

‘Hey,’ I said, nuzzling him.

‘Why did that woman have to take her away?’ he said sadly, resting his head on his paws. ‘I could tell Chanel wanted to spend some time with me but that woman always stops her.’

‘Of course she does,’ I replied, slightly lost for words. And I gave him the same kind of grin that the ladies had given Andrea.

I found Gilbert nervously grooming himself by the back door. Everyone was in the kitchen. The children were sitting round the table, the adults scattered around performing various tasks: Claire coaxing Summer to eat vegetables, Jonathan next to Toby, Polly stirring something on the hob, Tomasz in the corner of the room reading a newspaper and Matt making hot drinks.

‘I’m not sure about this,’ Gilbert said.

‘Well I am, there’s no time like the present. Now come on, don’t be a sissy.’ It was a word I heard a lot from the kids. George had been primed and he was waiting by the opening between the kitchen and the sand room. I took a deep breath and walked through, making sure Gilbert was with me. The three of us stood in a line and I opened my lungs.

‘MEOW!’ I cried as loudly as I could. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us.

‘Oh my, who is this?’ Franceska rushed towards us and picked Gilbert up. He looked a bit startled and squirmed in her arms, but then after a while he let her stroke his head. I was relieved. Everyone crowded round.

‘Mum, he looks like a leopard,’ Tommy said, coming over. All the children and adults made a fuss of him and he looked so surprised that I felt a bit sad that he wasn’t used to this treatment. This was howall cats should be treated.

‘So, Alfie, he’s a friend?’ Jonathan asked me. ‘Alfie does have a lot of cat friends,’ he added.

‘I always thought cats were solitary but not our Alfie, he always has someone in tow,’ Matt added.

‘Meow,’ I confirmed; yes he was my friend.

‘Do you think he belongs to one of the neighbours?’ Claire asked. ‘He hasn’t got a collar.’

‘Definitely not Andrea’s,’ Polly added.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy to explain who Gilbert was or why he was here but I also knew we had to try.

‘Meow,’ I said, and I ran to the sand room. There I ran around in circles trying to explain.

‘He lives in the sand room?’ Franceska asked. Bingo!

‘You know, I did wonder, there were cat hairs in there when we first got here,’ Claire said. ‘I felt as if it smelt a bit like a cat as well, but of course we never saw him.’ She stroked Gilbert’s neck, and he actually purred.

‘So you think he lives in the cottage?’ Matt asked.

‘Meow.’ Honestly it wasn’t easy, was it?

‘But it’s been empty for years so that would mean he was living here alone,’ Polly said.

They all started discussing Gilbert, where he may and may not have been living, and I saw him start to make his way back through to the sand room. I ran after him.

‘I knew this would happen,’ he said, sounding sad. ‘They want to know who I belong to, humans aren’t used to us just belonging to ourselves. I knew it was a mistake to come.’

‘No,’ I insisted. ‘Look, they will discuss it but at the end of the day this is your home, and they will realise that. We’ll help them realise it. Please trust me. You have been really helpful with the Liam situation and everything, trust me, they will realise you belong here and that you are Seabreeze Cottage’s very own cat,’ I begged. I wasn’t certain about much but I was about this.

After a while, I persuaded him to return.

‘Well as you said, he’s got no collar, and he hasn’t been around much, or maybe he only comes in normally when we’re all asleep,’ Jonathan started. ‘So my guess is that he’s used to being here, on his own and, look, we’re in the country, plenty of cats survive without pouched food you know.’

I jumped onto Jonathan’s lap and nuzzled him to tell him he was right.

‘I know, but I hate to think he doesn’t have a family to fuss over him,’ Claire said.

‘But, Claire, look at our Dustbin, he loves living in our yard, if we try to take him inside he really doesn’t like it,’ Franceska pointed out.

‘So it’s likely that the cat lives here?’ Claire sounded uncertain.

‘Meow, meow, meow,’ I said, which meant yes, that’s exactly where he lives.

‘But what if we take him back to London?’ Matt suggested.

‘Yowl!’ I screeched. That meant no.

‘He’s a beach and country cat, not a city cat,’ Jonathan pointed out. ‘Look, he’s not skinny, or malnourished, he looks healthy, my vote is that we get him checked out with a vet, make sure he is OK, and has all his immunisations, and then we let him live here. We’ll be here a lot between us and Shelley is going to be taking care of the place, she only lives down the road so she can look after him, but I really think it would be mean to not let him live here, especially as he seems so at home.’

‘The vet?’ Gilbert hissed. OK, I hadn’t thought of that one.

‘A necessary evil,’ I hissed back. It really was, although I felt a bit sorry for him. ‘Just think, you’ll have a quick check and then you will have the run of Seabreeze Cottage when we’re in London, and when we’re here, think of all the fun we’ll have.’

‘You make a good point, Alfie, but still the vet. Even I remember how intrusive they can be.’

But as Gilbert went back to the kitchen and let Tomasz lift him onto his lap I knew I’d won; he had fallen in love with my families, just as I knew he would. After all, who wouldn’t?

‘What is his name?’ Tomasz said, stroking him. Ah, that was something we hadn’t thought of.

‘You know, my aunt had a big ginger cat when I was little. He was called Gilbert. Let’s call him that,’ Claire said and I was stunned into silence.

‘I told you it would be alright,’ I said later when we were alone. ‘But what about the name thing?’ I was still a little shaken by that.

‘It must be one of those coincidences,’ Gilbert said. I shook my fur. It was obvious that he wasn’t the ginger Gilbert who was not only ginger but would have been incredibly old by now, but what were the odds?

‘It is still strange, as if you belong here, like the cat before you,’ I said. ‘Like Seabreeze Cottage always has to have a cat called Gilbert or something.’

We were in the backyard, looking at the moon and enjoying some peace and quiet. George had been so excited by having Gilbert officially around that he had insisted we take him to the beach before bed and George had run around enough to tire himself out. After putting him to bed, I found Gilbert, eating in the kitchen, officially this time. It made my heart swell. After dinner we went for a walk around the garden together.

‘It’s all worked out perfectly,’ I said.

‘I know and thank you. When you first moved here I thought I’d have to find a new home, and I’m so glad I didn’t, because I love Seabreeze Cottage.’

‘I know, it really does get to you, doesn’t it?’

‘It’s more than a house, Alfie, it’s special. That’s what I thought when I first came here and I still think it now!’

We were disturbed from our musings by a noise the other side of the hedge. I darted into the hedge, Gilbert on my paws. It wasn’t as easy to get through as our usual gap but we fought our way so we could see into Andrea’s garden. She was sitting on the terrace, drinking, and Liam was with her.

‘Can we get closer?’ I asked.

‘Follow me,’ Gilbert said, and moved stealthily nearer, so we could hear them.

‘I thought you’d forgotten all that stuff,’ Liam was saying. ‘I can’t do anything to the house, I’m being watched like a hawk, Andrea.’

‘Of course I haven’t. And if you want to be with me you will do as I ask.’

I had to concede she looked beautiful in the moonlight. For once, there was no sight of Chanel.

‘I love you.’ Liam looked sad. ‘But I don’t know what more I can do.’

‘Liam, I have told you the predicament I’m in. It’s getting worse. My husband, sorry, soon to be ex-husband is piling on the pressure. I need to sell this house but I can’t if I don’t have anywhere to go. Don’t you see how desperate I am?’ Her voice trembled with panic.

‘But, again, Andrea, I don’t see what I can do. There must be somewhere else?’

‘No. there isn’t. I want you to take these.’ Andrea handed something to him. Both her voice and her face hardened.

‘Matches? Why are you giving me matches? I don’t smoke.’

‘No, but the house will when you set a little fire,’ Andrea said quietly.

I felt sick as I looked at Gilbert, who looked equally horrified.

‘No, there’s no way I can do that,’ Liam said, shaking his head, which was a relief. ‘I won’t be an arsonist.’

‘Listen, on Saturday afternoon they’ll all be here, the house will be empty, so you can go in and set a fire. There won’t be too much damage as you don’t need to leave it too long. Then you can call the fire brigade, anonymously of course. And you can start the fire in the kitchen which hasn’t even been done yet.’ She paused, as if to let her words sink in. ‘But, it’ll have done enough damage to make them want to get away from here.’

‘But, Andrea, why would you burn down a house that you want to live in?’ Liam asked, quite reasonably I thought.

‘Because I’m desperate, Liam! Haven’t you heard a word I said? My husband is threatening me, my girls need a home, and minimum disruption to their lives. Having their dad move out has been hard enough on them, I won’t let them suffer any more. No one will be hurt, but they won’t want to stay here after a fire. It’s the perfect solution.’

So that was why she had invited everyone over on Saturday. Oh goodness, I was right not to trust her.

‘It’s crazy. I am not going to do that. I could go to jail.’

I saw Andrea shudder at that.‘Liam, I’m beyond desperate, I would never ask you if I had any other options.’ Her voice sounded teary.

‘As I said, Andrea, I am not going to jail over this.’

‘You won’t, and it won’t be a bad fire. I’ll be your alibi, I promise no one will know it was you.’

‘But you said the neighbours will all be with you.’

‘And I’ll say that you were working upstairs doing something for me, I’ll think of something.’ She sounded insistent. ‘Liam, darling, don’t worry about the details, what I need you to worry about is how you can get into the house when they are all here, I’ll take care of the rest.’ She leant over and kissed him for what seemed like a very long time.

‘I don’t know, I mean I’m not happy about it. Not only is it illegal and dangerous but the families have been good to me …’

‘But I’ll be much better to you, do this for me and I will take proper care of you.’ When Andrea smiled at him, I felt my fur stand on end. ‘We will be together, officially, I promise, you just have to do this one small thing.’

I wasn’t sure but it did seem as if Andrea could be persuasive, and she also had Liam twisted round her little finger. He was clearly besotted; though it was dark I could see it in his eyes and in the way he was sitting, and for the first time I felt sorry for him. She was a powerful woman and he didn’t stand a chance. But then again, I was a powerful cat and therefore they didn’t stand a chance. Well I hoped they didn’t. If Liam agreed to what Andrea asked, then our holiday home, and Gilbert’s home, was in jeopardy.

‘I will not allow them to set fire to Seabreeze Cottage,’ I said angrily when Gilbert and I were back home, my legs shaking with anger.

‘Me either, it is my home, Alfie, not my holiday home but my home.’ Gilbert looked as furious as I felt.

‘I know. But how are we going to stop all this?’

I had no clear idea, I couldn’t stop the families from going to Andrea’s, that wouldn’t work, so we would have to come up with another way. I was thinking through my past plans, but I couldn’t get hurt like I did once, or stuck up a tree, or lose George again, like the last plan I had hatched. No, whatever we did, I was not putting George at risk again.

‘Look, we know when they are planning on doing it — although I still don’t know if Liam will go through with it — but on Saturday, when the humans are all next door, we will somehow have to stop Liam from setting fire to the house.’ Gilbert sounded so confident that I began to feel better.

‘That’s true, he’s quite incompetent so he might not even be able to burn the house down!’ I liked to look on the bright side.

‘But whatever, I will guard the house, you will switch between the party and here, because George will clearly want to be near Chanel, and we will sort it. If I have to scratch, or hurt Liam, I will, Alfie, don’t worry, we won’t let this happen.’

‘So we have a plan?’ It wasn’t a very solid one but it was something. And Gilbert did have sharp claws, and he was used to living on his wits, which meant he was a much tougher cat than I was. I could see that as a team maybe, just maybe, we could do it.

‘We do.’ And it was a very simple plan, which, given those I’d had to carry out in my past, was a huge relief. I mean, two cats, one man and a potential fire.

What could go wrong?

Chapter Twenty

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The week seemed painfully long. I felt as if I was waiting and waiting, but at last it was Saturday and the day of Andrea’s party and Liam’s arson attempt. I felt sick to my fur with the stress of it all but I was doing my best to keep calm and ensure that George didn’t sense the danger that we, or at least Seabreeze Cottage, faced.

In fact the arson attempt would affect all of us, because the children were having the summer of their lives, the cottage was being transformed into a home which had a part of each of us in it, and everyone was so happy. Jonathan had even said to Claire that she was right and they would never want to sell Seabreeze Cottage. If it hadn’t been for Andrea it would have been a happy ending. But with only just over a week left of this holiday, I worried that the outcome would be different to that which each of us expected.

Gilbert, a true member of our family now, had been keeping tabs on Liam. Honestly, he would have made an excellent stalker, not like my poor George who had spent the best part of the week mooning after Chanel. Anyway, Liam had not given anything away. He was still working at the house but he was never left alone, and so he was causing no problems. He didn’t have the chance. He did go and see Andrea a couple of times but they had talked in the house and so Gilbert couldn’t hear what was being said.

Our loose plan still stood. Gilbert would guard the house and I would veer between the party and home. If he needed me, Gilbert knew where he’d find me and vice versa. We would be a team. I still didn’t want to get George involved though, he was too little to worry about such things, and of course I was his parent so I wanted to protect him from the bad in the world. I knew I wouldn’t always be able to, I felt sad but realistic, but I wanted him to enjoy his kittenhood for as long as he could.

The good thing was that Tomasz, Matt and Jonathan all had a week off so they were going to be staying with us all week! It would make the house a bit full, but I liked that. There were going to be lots of trips to the beach, fish and chips and ice cream in our last week, I was sure.

Claire, Franceska and Polly were all wearing dresses, they did look lovely, and the children were also quite neatly dressed… for now, I knew it wouldn’t last. The men were wearing their summer casual clothes — shorts, Tshirts or, in Jonathan’s case, a short-sleeved shirt — and George and I had made an extra effort with our grooming. Especially George, he had groomed his fur so it was practically gleaming. I knew Chanel was wrong for him, too old for one, and he was too young for love, but he was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older, that was for sure.

We made a good-looking group, I thought as we set off. Instead of going through our hedge we decided to arrive with the humans, though Tommy carried George, as if he didn’t trust him not to run off — how little he knew. George wasn’t going anywhere but to see his crush. As we walked through the front gate and into Andrea’s garden, they were all there to greet us: Andrea, her daughters, and the village children, along with Amber, Kate and Vicky and their husbands, who were now friends of ours.

‘Ah, here’s our guests of honour,’ Andrea said loudly. Claire looked behind her to make sure that there weren’t any other guests she could be talking about.

‘Thank you,’ Jonathan said, giving Andrea a kiss on her cheek and holding out the bag they had brought with them, which contained wine I think. ‘Where shall I put this?’ he asked.

Of course, Andrea was holding Chanel. George managed to leap from Tommy’s arms into Jonathan’s, nearly making him drop the wine, but also bringing him close to Chanel.

‘Meow,’ he said, trying to sound flirtatious I think. She turned her nose up and looked away. He seemed happy with that.

‘George,’ Jonathan chastised, putting him on the grass.

‘Oh follow me and we can put that in the kitchen.’ Andrea smiled at Jonathan and led him into the house.

‘Why do I think he’ll never come out alive?’ Claire whispered to Polly, who laughed.

The children all immediately ran off and I told George to go and keep an eye on Toby. He was nervous and had confided in George (who had then told me) that he hadn’t wanted to come today, he was scared of the girls. George, who wanted to trail after Chanel, reluctantly agreed.

‘If Chanel sees how great you are with the children she’ll think more of you,’ I said, feeling once again that I was a terrible cat. But it wasn’t just that I was trying to deceive George, it was also that I didn’t want him spending too much time with Chanel, who would just continue to behorrible to him, and I genuinely did need him to keep an eye on Toby, especially as I would be busy waiting for Liam to strike.

‘Do you think?’

‘Absolutely.’ I didn’t of course, but it did the trick as George bounded off to look after Toby.

It was one of the hottest days we’d had so far. The children all wore hats but even they weren’t running around as much as normal and the adults were sitting around on chairs that Andrea had arranged on the lawn, sweating and chatting. I was desperate for shade but I couldn’t risk missing anything. Never mind the house, my fur felt as if it was going to catch on fire. Nevertheless, I ran back to see Gilbert, who reported that nothing had happened so far, then I ran back to the party where George was being fussed over by most of the children, though I saw him stealing glances at Chanel, who was sitting with Andrea, ignoring him still. Poor kitten. The women were all getting on but I could see that Andrea was more comfortable with the men, as she flirted with each of them.

‘Oh you do look as if you have a lovely tan,’ she told Jonathan, who looked a bit too pleased with himself. ‘Matt, would you be a darling and top up the drinks, after all you do it so well.’ And to Tomasz: ‘You must give me the recipe for that dip you brought over, it is simply the most divine thing I have ever tasted.’ Tomasz blushed and Franceska glared; she had made the dip. The other women’s husbands all got the same ‘Andrea’ treatment.

But at the same time, Claire was chatting to Fiona, Polly was talking to Kate, Vicky and Amber, so it was all fine. Or so I hoped.

I had to get some shade so I went to take a quick lie-down under a bush. Unfortunately the heat and the worry had made me tired and, without realising it, I dozed off.

‘Alfie,’ a voice hissed. I blinked my eyes open and looked at Gilbert.

I jumped up.‘Oh no, I’m terrible, I can’t believe I fell asleep. What’s happened?’ I looked at the lawn; the party was still in full swing and I couldn’t see anything wrong.

‘Look, come with me, quickly.’

I followed Gilbert back home.‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

‘Well, here’s the thing, Toby and George ran in the house. Toby was crying. There are no adults and I think that perhaps they don’t know that he’s gone.’

‘Liam?’ I asked.

‘No sign.’

I ran up to the boys’ room where Toby was huddled on his bed, sobbing, and George was snuggled up next to him.

‘Meow?’ I said, in order to ask George what happened. He hopped off the bed and followed me so we were out of earshot.

‘Those girls were horrible to him again, they teased him about being adopted,’ George said. ‘But no one saw him when he ran back home, he went through our gap in the hedge,’ he explained. ‘It was a bit tight but he wriggled through. I followed him because I couldn’t leave him alone.’

‘Did anyone else see this?’

‘No, they waited until he was alone, well apart from me.’

‘You did well, George, and I’ll go and get Claire and Jonathan now.’

I left Gilbert in charge as I went back to the party. I felt so sick now, not because of Andrea but because of her daughters. How did children get so mean? I remembered when I had to go and sort out a bully at Aleksy’s school a few years ago; the boy had been unhappy but that is not an excuse for being horrible to other children. I was so furious and I knew that Claire and Jonathan would be too.

When I got to the garden, I quickly found Claire, sitting next to Polly with a plate of food in her hand.

‘Meow!’ I shouted, jumping on her lap. I had learnt from past experience that subtlety didn’t get results.

‘Alfie, I’ve got food,’ she shouted, dropping it.

‘Yowl.’ I put my paw on her chest, which I knew normally got her attention.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Meow.’ Claire stood up, and looked around.

‘Where’s Toby?’ she asked. ‘Jonathan, where’s Toby?’ she shouted really loudly. All the guests fell silent.

‘I can’t find him,’ Henry said, running over.

‘Do you know where he is?’ Polly asked.

‘No, the last time I saw him he was with Serafina and Savannah, but …’ Henry looked as if he might cry. ‘I think George is with him because he’s not here either.’

‘Hey, it’s OK, Henry, can everyone search the garden,’ Jonathan said, taking control.

‘Savannah, Serafina, do you have any idea where he is?’ Andrea asked. The two girls, with their long hair and matching dresses, looked as if butter wouldn’t melt. Serafina shrugged.

‘He said he wanted to go home,’ Savannah said.

‘Why? Why did he want to go home?’ Claire asked, sounding angry.

‘Please don’t shout at my girls,’ Andrea said, smoothly.

‘My son is missing, I am a little stressed. If he has—’

‘Claire, let’s go back to the cottage, he’s probably there if that’s what he said,’ Jonathan said, calmly as he put his arm around her.

‘Oh, you mean he might be in the cottage, alone?’ Andrea said as if it had just occurred to her and the colour drained from her face.

But Claire was already out of her chair.

I knew what I had to do.

I ran as fast as I could, taking the quickest route to the house through the hedge. Gilbert came to meet me. He just looked at me and I noted the horror in his eyes.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘I was just coming to find you, Liam’s there.’ I followed him through the back door and into the kitchen. I felt my heart almost stop.

Liam was stood by the kitchen table, holding a rag and a lit match. There was a funny smell. I glanced at Gilbert.

‘Is Toby still here?’ I asked.

‘Yes and George, upstairs.’

‘Oh my goodness.’ I felt sick.

‘What should we do?’ he asked. ‘Go to George?’

‘No, we need to stop Liam,’ I replied. ‘We’ll have to jump at him, it’s the only thing.’ Before Liam could notice us we both launched ourselves at him. I managed to jump up onto his chest, digging my claws in, Gilbert leapt onto his shoulder where he scratched his face, as hard as he could.

‘Ugggggh!’ Liam shouted and he dropped the lit rag onto the table as he tried to bat us both off. Gilbert clung and scratched him again.

I had to put the fire out before it took hold, so I jumped onto the kitchen table, feeling the heat from the flaming rag, which thankfully hadn’t yet spread. I went to a jug of flowers, pushed it near the rag and, with a big shove, managed to push it over. Water dripped everywhere and the fire fizzled out. The relief was immense. Gilbert finally let go of Liam and jumped down onto the floor. Liam looked shocked as he touched his face which was bleeding. Gilbert and I shared a congratulatory look, although my heart was still pounding.

We had foiled the plan. We had saved the cottage and, more importantly, George and Toby. Before I could go and upstairs to check on them, the door burst open.

‘What are you doing here?’ Claire demanded. Liam was definitely not her favourite person.

‘Um,’ Liam mumbled.

‘How did you get in?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Back door,’ Liam said.

‘We never lock it, which is why I think Toby’s probably upstairs. Speaking of which …’ Claire ran off.

Jonathan looked as if he was going to follow her but then he glared at Liam. He was still deciding what to do when a phone started ringing. It was on the kitchen table, but had escaped getting soaked by the flower water. I looked at the horror on Liam’s face and then I nudged it with my paw towards Jonathan.

‘Why is Andrea calling you?’ he asked as he picked up the ringing phone. ‘And why are there flowers and water all over the table?’

Liam, who I didn’t think could get any paler, looked as if he had no colour left in him. Jonathan looked at the phone, I wanted him to answer it but he didn’t.

‘I’m going to check on my son,’ he said. ‘You stay here. If you move an inch I will kill you.’

Liam sat down on a chair. We both decided to stay and guard our hostage.

The flower jug was lying on its side and it hid the rag that Liam had tried to start a fire with. Liam still looked horrified, but he collected up the flowers, shoved them back in the jug, then he mopped up the water with some kitchen towels and quickly hid the rag in his pocket. There was a faint smell of smoke in the air, and Liam had to clean a black mark off the table, but it looked as if he would get away with it. And I wasn’t sure what we could do about that, but the important thing was that the fire didn’t get going and hopefully now they could put a stop to Liam and Andrea once and for all.

It felt like ages before Claire and Jonathan came back downstairs. Liam had his head in his hands. Gilbert and I remained silent.

‘Meow?’ It was my way of seeing if everything was alright.

‘Toby is better, calmer, but I suggested he play in his room with George so we can sort this out. I don’t want him upset any more than he already is,’ Claire said.

Jonathan turned to Liam.‘So, are you going to tell us what you were doing here?’

‘And what happened to your face?’ Claire asked. She looked at me, then at Gilbert.

‘Well, you see, I thought I might have left some tools here …’ Liam started. ‘I had to do some work for my mum and, well, anyway I needed a, a screwdriver, which I couldn’t find so I came here, but no one was in, so I’m sorry but I just let myself in. The cats must have thought I was upto no good so they attacked me …’ Liam trailed off. It didn’t sound feasible even to me.

‘Good cats,’ Claire said.

‘So why was Andrea calling you?’ Jonathan asked, folding his arms.

‘I don’t know, I mean I work for her sometimes.’

Yes you do, I thought.

‘Really?’ Jonathan looked doubtful.

‘Well that’s fine. I’ll just call your mum to check; after all she’s going to be looking after the cottage for us soon.’ Claire stared at Liam, until he looked as if he’d be sick.

‘No,’ he shouted a bit too loudly. ‘Please don’t.’

There was a commotion at the back door and Polly, Matt and Tomasz bundled in.

‘Thank goodness Toby is here,’ Polly said. ‘Thanks for calling and, before you ask, Franceska has all the other children in sight, so don’t worry.’

‘Is he alright?’ Matt asked.

‘No, he’s distraught. He says he hates it here, and wants to go back to London. Those girls teased him for being adopted and they called him names, anyway, I’ll go into that with Andrea, but we reassured him for now. I wish we hadn’t gone to her house.’ Claire, who seemed so in control, burst into tears. Polly wrapped her arms around her.

‘What’s he doing here?’ Tomasz said, as if he had just noticed Liam.

‘That’s what we’d like to know,’ Jonathan said. ‘He says he came to find some tools, but then when we said we’d call his mother to check out his story he told us not to.’

‘Right, buddy.’ Tomasz, who was the biggest of the men, sat down next to Liam. ‘You better tell us what you were doing here before I call the police and have you arrested.’ Liam flinched.

‘Wait.’ Andrea suddenly appeared from the back door.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Claire shouted. ‘This is all your fault. Toby is in such a state, your daughters called him terrible names and said he didn’t belong anywhere because he was adopted, what kind of children say that?’

For the first time since we’d met her, Andrea had the grace to look guilty.

‘I know, I’m sorry—’

‘What, no excuses, no ridiculous stories about how your girls wouldn’t do that.’

‘Unfortunately they did say that, I’m not going to pretend.’ Andrea sat down at the table, looking defeated. ‘And the fact that Liam’s here is my fault too.’

‘You better explain,’ Polly said, sitting down. Andrea went to sit on the other side of Liam. Tomasz moved to the other side of the table. I sat on Polly’s lap. Andrea and Liam glanced at each other as they faced Jonathan, Claire, Matt, Polly and Tomasz. Jonathan had his arms crossed, Claire was still tearful, Polly fuming and Matt and Tomasz looked ready for a fight. Gilbert had placed himself on the floor by the door, as if to stop them getting out.

‘I didn’t want it to go this far, you have to believe that,’ Andrea started.

‘What exactly?’ Jonathan asked.

‘I told you I wanted to buy Seabreeze Cottage, I didn’t tell the truth about why.’ She looked awkward. Liam squeezed her hand. ‘My husband, I said he’s away on business but actually, well, the truth is that he’s left me.’

‘Left you?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Yes, for another woman. It’s been very hard, on me, and especially on the girls. They don’t understand where he is, or why they never see him any more. I mean, he’s not even been here for ages, since he moved to London with his mistress, it’s as if the girls don’t exist for him.’ I saw actual tears in Andrea’s eyes.

‘That’s terrible,’ Matt said, running his hand through his hair.

‘Yes, but what does it have to do with Seabreeze?’ Polly asked. I wanted to know that too.

‘My husband wants to sell the house and, to cut a long story short, I desperately need to say in Lynstow, for the girls’ sake. I can’t bear to take them away from the village, not after everything they’ve been through.’

‘Oh for goodness’ sake, get on with it,’ Polly said, irritably.

‘I thought that if I got this cottage I could afford it, because of the work that needed doing, and at least keep the girls in the same village, same school, near their friends.’

‘Hold on, you were going to live here?’

‘Yes, I was going to buy this cottage, do it up — at least as much as I could afford to — but then you guys came here and started doing work.’ Andrea looked annoyed for a moment as if it was our fault her plan had gone awry. Which it was actually, well mine and Gilbert’s and Toby’s, I supposed.

‘Right, let me get this straight. You could only afford it before we started work on it yet you still persisted in trying to get your hands on it?’ Claire asked, her face ashen.

‘Yes, I thought that you wouldn’t like it here, and you’d want to get out so I could persuade you to sell it to me quickly you know cash buyer, no estate agent fees. But you wouldn’t. So, I was desperate.’

‘Which is where Liam comes in, I’m guessing,’ Tomasz said. He was still looking furious.

‘I’m sorry,’ Liam mumbled. I flicked my tail at him.

‘It wasn’t meant to get out of hand, I just needed the house. I still do.’ Andrea wiped tears away, I checked and they were real. ‘I thought if I made your lives a bit miserable you’d change your mind, decide Lynstow wasn’t the ideal holiday destination after all and sell to me. I was offering a good price.’

‘It’s not about money. So, Liam, all the mistakes?’ Polly asked.

‘Yes, they were for Andrea,’ Liam admitted. ‘But you were so cross and, well, I wasn’t the best at sabotage. Colin made sure I was watched like a hawk so I had to give it up. It was like that damn cat kept foiling me, which I don’t understand.’

‘Meow.’ Of course you don’t.

Andrea shook her head.‘It was just meant to delay the work, cost money, annoy you all and, well, get you to pack up, but nothing seemed to work, and to be honest, I got desperate. It’s not just about money for me, there’s the girls …’

‘Please tell me you didn’t get your children involved in your plan?’

‘No, of course, I might be a total cow but I wouldn’t do that. No, what happened was that the girls overheard me talking to my lawyer saying how you guys moving into the cottage was ruining everything and I wished you weren’t around. I said if you left then everything would be fine for us again.’ She put her head in her hands. ‘I’m sorry, I really didn’t want them to be mean but when they were, well I can’t say I tried to stop them. But with Toby, I feel truly terrible about that.’

‘OK, I get it.’ Jonathan held his hand up. ‘You were in trouble, you needed the cottage, so you got this goof of a man to try to sabotage our build. It didn’t work. So what is he doing here now?’

The silence felt endless. Andrea glanced at Liam who looked as if he was going to cry. Then she took his hand. I looked at Gilbert who was staring at the box of matches. Still no one else noticed them.

‘You know, I am this close to calling the police,’ Polly said. She was often the feistiest in these situations. Matt was more laid-back although even he looked shocked. Tomasz’s eyes were flecked with anger and Claire was crying, so it was down to Polly and Jonathan really.

‘Please don’t. I know my daughters have behaved badly but they don’t deserve to lose their mum as well as their dad, and Liam, well none of this was Liam’s fault. He has a crush on me and I’m afraid I used that.’

Liam frowned.‘But you said we’d be together, when you got the cottage.’

‘Oh dear, you’ve been played,’ Polly said.

‘Liam, I was desperate, I still am. I felt that Seabreeze Cottage was the only way to keep what’s left of my family together. I know it was wrong but you were so keen on me. And to be honest, I’m possibly almost old enough to be your mother.’

‘I’m quite sure you are more than old enough,’ Polly bit.

‘But I loved you.’ Liam looked so crestfallen I actually felt sorry for him.

‘This is a very interesting nonexistent love story, but what were you doing here now?’ Jonathan pushed.

‘He was just going to …’ Andrea looked at him and mouthed that she was sorry. ‘You know, nobble the build when no one was around. The idea was that you’d come in Monday, everything would start going wrong, and you’d all get so fed up that you would agree to sell to me.’

Liam looked relieved as Andrea finished. They weren’t going to confess about the fire and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to draw attention to it or not. On the one paw they deserved to be caught, on the other, neither were exactly master criminals. And Andrea had obviously been desperate. I didn’t condone her actions but I almost understood. She thought she was doing it for her family and I would do anything for my families. Me getting stuck on the roof was proof of that.

I jumped off the table and I went to where Liam had dropped the matches. I put my paw over them. I had a big decision to make for a cat. If I drew my humans’ attention to them they would see exactly what Andrea and Liam had planned and probably have no option but to call the police. And of course they would think about how Toby had been here, alone with George, and what could have happened and it would give us all nightmares. But on the other paw, Andrea had put a stop to it as soon as she heard that Toby was here and Liam wasn’t acting like an arsonist, so I wasn’t sure he would have gone through with it anyway. Besides, Gilbert and I had stopped him, hadn’t we? Just as we planned.

I looked at Gilbert, trying to ask what he thought. We went to the back of the room to have a chat.

‘All’s OK at the moment, isn’t it?’ he said.

‘I think it would hurt everyone if they thought that they actually would set fire to the place,’ I replied.

‘And look at him, he doesn’t look as if he’d have been capable of going through with it. And with me attached to him he couldn’t anyway.’ We both seemed in agreement and, while the adults were still arguing about what to do, I walked back and pushed the matches under the cooker with my paw so they would, for now, remain unseen.

‘You did a brilliant job, Gilbert,’ I said.

‘You too, Alfie,’ he replied.

‘I don’t see why you should get away with this,’ Polly was saying.

‘I haven’t, believe me. I haven’t got the cottage and I don’t have a husband,’ Andrea said and she started to cry again.

‘Liam, you can’t work here any more. I won’t have you in this house, not after what you’ve done,’ Polly said.

‘That’s reasonable,’ Liam said. ‘I guess you’ll tell Colin.’

‘Unless you want to?’

He shook his head.

‘And I want your girls to apologise to Toby,’ Jonathan added.

‘Of course.’ Finally, I thought, Andrea seemed defeated. ‘But if you change your mind about selling this place …’ she added as she stood up and left the house with a heartbroken Liam trailing after her.

‘She’s unbelievable,’ Polly said.

‘She’s desperate I think,’ Tomasz added.

‘It’s kind of ruined it, though, don’t you think?’ I was surprised to hear Claire say those words. ‘The cottage, the summer, the idea they wanted us out, and Toby, well it all feels like such a mess.’

With that she burst into tears again. I saw they weren’t just about this, but about Toby, her son, who was so hurt by the cruel words of two children, about her holidays as a child when she hadn’t had to deal with the complexities of adulthood. And Seabreeze, which had already undergone such a huge transformation but still had a way to go, which we’d thought was our home but suddenly, it didn’t feel like it. It had all been tainted.

Franceska burst in with the rest of the children.‘I kept them in our garden as long as I could, but they wanted to see their parents,’ she said. ‘Is all OK?’

‘Yes, but we’ll tell you later,’ Claire said.

‘Can I just say.’ Aleksy stood forward. ‘That we did love it here, but with Toby, and those horrible girls and their horrible mum, everyone seems miserable and, well, we all just want to go home.’

The adults looked shocked.

‘But,kochanie, you were having such a good time with your new friends,’ Franceska said.

‘We were, but now we’ve seen you all arguing with that woman and then with Toby being so upset, and Savannah and Serafina being so horrible, we just don’t think it’s worth it. Not for this.’ He looked round the kitchen table at the adults. It was clear that everyone was unhappy.

‘Aleksy speaks for all of us,’ Tommy added.

‘Let’s just go home,’ Summer said, coming to sit on her mum’s lap. ‘Mummy’s sad and I don’t like that. Toby’s sad and I don’t like that.’

‘Some things just aren’t worth it,’ Aleksy said. And everyone looked shocked.

‘Out of the mouths of babes,’ Matt said, as he pulled Martha onto his lap.

‘Claire?’ Jonathan said.

‘When Toby ran off, and when for a moment I didn’t know if he was safe, I felt so sick, and if it’s being here that’s done that, then maybe the kids are right, maybe we should go home.’

I made my way over to Gilbert and we went into the sand room to have another chat.

‘Do you think they all mean it?’ he asked.

‘It’s been dramatic for them, this thing with Toby, finding out that the house was being sabotaged, it really will have shaken them up,’ I said.

‘But if they sell the house to Andrea …’

‘I know, you’ll be homeless.’

‘No, I wasn’t just thinking that, I mean I would, but that’s not the worst thing — I have been before and I will again. No, it’s that Seabreeze is a special house, a home, and you guys belong here. Your families have loved being here for the most part. I know today has been shocking and Ithink we were right not to draw attention to the matches as they would probably be packing right now, but we need them to remember how much they’ve loved being here.’

‘You’re right, we need to save Seabreeze, and our families and we need to save the summer.’ We had foiled Andrea and her plotting, and poor Liam, but that, it seemed, wasn’t enough. We had to make everyone fall back in love with Seabreeze Cottage.

But of course, I had no idea how.

Chapter Twenty-One

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It was our last few days and since the incident there had been many grown-up conversations and children’s whispers behind closed doors. The adults still had no idea what to do. Polly was adamant they should make Seabreeze Cottage work; she said she couldn’t bear to let the beautiful cottage go when they’d come so far. I tended to agree with her. Claire felt torn between her children who had fallen out of love with the place, and her childhood holidays. She couldn’t bear to see the house which characterised childhood holidays be lived in by someone else. The men, as usual, supported the women but Franceska sided with Polly; she was determined that Seabreeze should be a holiday home for us all and she didn’t want to let Andrea and her family ruin it. She was trying hard to rally the adults to her way of thinking, but with the builders still traipsing in every day (though Liam had been replaced), and the fact everyone was tired, and still a bit down, it wasn’t working.

Colin was profusely apologetic and working his men even harder than usual. Final decorating was going on, and even George was managing to keep out of trouble as the house underwent its transformation, though he was oblivious to the dilemma that we were all facing.

‘OK,’ Franceska said, one evening when the children were in bed, tired out from a lovely trip to the beach. ‘We need to decide, we have less than a week left. Do we keep Seabreeze or not?’

‘It’s the kids I’m worried about, they keep saying they want to go home,’ Claire sighed. ‘But then I think of the lovely time everyone had when we threw that party. We really felt part of the village then. So I’m not sure.’

‘Look, Aleksy is worried for Toby, we all are I know, but he thinks that the girls will continue being mean to all of them and Toby can’t handle it. But I think Toby is doing OK now. The kids love the beach, they like their other friends, so why can’t we move on from the incident?’ Tomasz asked in his usual reasonable way.

‘You know, I think that I might have an idea,’ Jonathan said. ‘We told Andrea we wanted her girls to apologise, well they haven’t yet. How about if we get an apology for all the children and then, when they have assurances that the girls won’t terrorise them any more, they might feel differently?’

‘And this from the man who first wanted to sell the cottage,’ Polly teased.

‘It’s a good idea, mate. But who is going to call Andrea?’ Matt asked.

Everyone, including me, stared at Polly.

Gilbert and I had spent a bit more time together; he was now a fully paid-up part of the family. That was the terrible thing: Seabreeze Cottage felt like our family home, the first place I had managed to have all the humans I loved under one roof, and not only could I not bear to think I wouldn’t come back, we were both worried about him losing his home. However, he was a tougher cat than I, so he was bearing it well.

George was upset because everyone was upset and when he heard the children talking about wanting to go home, he was distraught.

‘But if we go home, then what about Chanel?’ he had asked.

‘George, I’m sorry but you’re a big boy now so I have to be honest with you. If we go home, then you won’t see Chanel again.’

I had realised my mistake immediately, as George looked so incredibly upset. Since then he had taken to spending more time in the bush looking for Chanel, but the whole family had been lying low so there had been no sign of her.

‘Of course I’ll miss paddleboarding and the beach,’ Aleksy said. He had taken to holding meetings in his bedroom with all the children. I wasn’t sure that Summer and Martha really understood but they liked to be involved, even if they did spend most of the time playing with their dolls rather than listening.

‘I will too, but I won’t miss those horrible girls,’ Tommy said.

‘Or me,’ Toby added.

‘No, but there are more of us than there are of them,’ Henry pointed out. ‘So, if they are ever horrible to us again we can stand up to them.’ Henry was perhaps turning out a bit like Polly.

‘Yes, but then their mother upsets our mothers. I know it’s been going on all summer and when Toby ran away …’

‘I didn’t mean to run away, I just wanted to come home,’ Toby said, sadly.

‘Did you hear what he just said?’ Henry asked. ‘He said he wanted to come home, this is our home, our other home, maybe we need to remember that.’

‘Meow.’ I nuzzled Henry, he was clever.

‘Yes, but we need everyone to be happy here,’ Aleksy said. ‘And I’m just not sure that’s possible.’

I felt as if both the adults and children were going round in circles and I could only hope the big apology would do the trick for all of them. It was a lot to pin my hope on but it was all I had.

The grown-ups felt that it would be easier to have all the children in the garden for the apology. Andrea, who had been largely avoiding us, had agreed to anything they asked, she was just relieved not to be in more trouble. And I hoped she felt guilty about Liam too. George had decided that Chanel, on hearing about the girls’ apology, would probably use the opportunity to apologise to him for not falling in love with him — no, no idea how that kitten’s mind worked either — so he had groomed himself and was waiting eagerly for the appointed time.

Gilbert, who went out most days, said he would stay around,‘just in case’. He really was coming round to my way of thinking as regards humans. As I told him, we didn’t necessarily need them to take care of us but they needed us to take care of them.

So, it was clearly going to be a bit intimidating for the girls and the adults weren’t going to make it any easier as everyone waited on the lawn for them to come over. They did, right on time. The girls were dressed more casually than normal in shorts and Tshirts, and although Andrea looked immaculate she wasn’t quite as dressed up as normal either.

‘Love how she’s trying to look poor for us,’ Polly hissed to her husband.

‘They don’t look remotely poor,’ Matt shot back.

‘Exactly,’ Polly said.

‘Hello.’ Andrea approached us. We did look a bit like a big gang, all gathered on the lawn. Claire was holding onto Toby, because of course he was nervous about seeing the girls, and Jonathan was carrying Summer. Everyone else was standing as if we were in a group photo, the kind they take at weddings.

‘Hi,’ Jonathan said, sounding stiff.

‘Look, before the girls say anything, I would like to say a few words—’

‘Meow!’ George had gone up to Andrea, because Chanel was nowhere to be seen.

‘Oh hello, cat.’ Andrea patted his head awkwardly. ‘I didn’t bring Chanel because I didn’t want to upset your cats.’ She looked at all of us. ‘What kind of cats are they anyway?’

George had lain down, sulking, and put his head in his paws.

‘Um, really? You wanted to say a few words about our cats?’ Polly snapped.

‘Sorry, no sorry. I wanted to say that I appreciate your understanding the other day and I am so sorry for how I behaved. I’m not proud of myself, I know I’ve been terrible and unwelcoming as well as unneighbourly. So, I hope that we can start again.’

I wasn’t sure if I trusted her but she did sound as if she meant what she said.

‘And can I just say, we do appreciate your honesty,’ Matt said.

‘But no more,’ Franceska added. ‘No more games.’ She snuggled into Tomasz, who put a protective arm around her.

‘No, of course not and, with that, the girls have something to say.’

For the first time the girls looked like children. Serafina hung her head and Savannah looked as if she had been crying.

‘We are sorry we were so horrible,’ Savannah said. ‘We didn’t mean it but we thought that if you stayed in the cottage we would have to leave our school and also how would our daddy know where we were? We might never see him again.’

She burst into sobs. As Andrea rushed to comfort her, I felt very sad for her, she must be missing her dad, they both must. I couldn’t condone their behaviour but I did understand a bit now.

We all stood around slightly awkwardly, but then a surprising thing happened. Toby ran towards Savannah and took her hand.

‘I would miss my daddy if I didn’t see him. That’s my daddy.’ He pointed at Jonathan, who looked choked. ‘So I ’cept your apology, but please don’t be horrible again, it’s not our fault.’

Serafina gave him a big hug.‘Thanks, and I promise we won’t be horrible. We want to be your friends, after all you do have the best games, don’t they, Savvy?’ she said.

‘Yes.’ Savannah was still crying but the gulps were subsiding slightly.

Claire came over to Toby.‘Well done, Tobe, that was very nice of you,’ she said.

‘It was, you are all very good people.’ Andrea was looking ashamed again. ‘And honestly, girls, it’s not their fault that Daddy isn’t here, I was just cross when I said that, but we need to be nice to everyone.’

‘But, Mummy, you always say nice people never win,’ Serafina chirped up. We stared at Andrea, who had the grace to appear embarrassed.

‘I shouldn’t have said that, and I was wrong, because all these families who live at Seabreeze are nice and look, girls, theyarewinners.’ Andrea hugged both the girls. ‘From now on we’ll all be nice, even me.’

‘That I can’t wait to see,’ Polly said, then she clamped her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry, I meant to say that we should all draw a line under this, forgive and forget. Girls, pretend you’ve met our children for the first time and start over, and we should do the same with you, Andrea.’

‘I am so grateful for that.’

The girls chatted to the children, and Summer and Martha begged them to make daisy chains, which they did. The boys, who were less interested in flowers, set up a football game and I felt my heart swell again as they all played beautifully on the lawn of Seabreeze Cottage.

Franceska and Polly went inside to make some drinks and they came out with tea and biscuits, juice for the children and they even brought our water bowl out in case we needed a drink. I did, as I lapped some water; it was very thirsty work all this making friends. It was nearly teatime and I was hungry as well. I hoped we wouldn’t have to wait too long for our food.

Andrea went to get Chanel but said she would be right back. Which reminded me that I needed to make sure that George had a drink, it was so hot. I went, expecting to find him under the hedge on Chanel-watch, but he was nowhere to be seen. Feeling panicked again, I circled the garden, checking all the places he might be, but he seemed to have disappeared completely. I couldn’t believe I had let him go missing again. What kind of parent was I? I ran to find Gilbert.

‘What’s wrong?’ Gilbert said.

‘It’s George, he’s not here,’ I said.

‘I’ll check the house, shall I?’ Gilbert suggested.

‘You can but I’m pretty sure he’s not in there.’

‘Well, where would he have gone?’ As I started to fret, an earth-shattering shriek interrupted me. We ran back to the front lawn to find Andrea had returned, ashen-faced.

‘What’s wrong?’ Claire asked.

‘It’s Chanel, she’s nowhere to be seen and she never leaves home without me.’

I glanced at Gilbert. It suddenly made sense. I had suggested to George that he would never see Chanel again and now look what had happened. He had obviously gone off with her, although somehow I couldn’t see them running away together. More like Chanel running away from him. Oh no, just what had George done?

It was chaos as it always is when humans try to solve a problem. Andrea was hysterical, the girls looked frightened and everyone was talking at once.

Jonathan called order.‘Look, let’s organise a search. Firstly, you are sure she’s not at your house or in the garden?’ he sensibly asked Andrea.

‘I’m certain, I checked everywhere. Chanel doesn’t leave the garden without me. Oh, what if she’s been stolen?’ Her eyes widened.

It would be a brave person who stole that cat, I thought, but of course I stayed quiet.

‘Meow,’ I said. Had no one noticed that George wasn’t here?

‘Oh goodness, Alfie, where’s George?’ Claire asked.

‘Meow.’ I had no idea, although I was pretty sure if we found Chanel we’d find him.

‘Aleksy, Tommy, can you check the house, so at least if they’re not inside we can rule it out,’ Tomasz said. The boys ran off.

‘Right, Claire, Franceska and Andrea, you guys should look together.’ Jonathan started organising everyone. ‘Matt and I will search, and Tomasz, perhaps you, Aleksy and Tommy can form the third search party.’

‘Shall I stay with the kids?’ Polly asked.

‘Is that OK?’ Claire said.

‘Fine and if either of them come here I’ll phone you.’

‘Andrea, where do you suggest we look?’

‘I honestly don’t know, she doesn’t go out without me.’ She was visibly shaking with distress; she obviously loved that cat very much, which made me soften towards her a bit.

‘How about we go to one end of the village and start there. Jon and Matt go to the other, and Tomasz take the boys to search the beach?’ Franceska suggested, sensibly.

‘OK, good plan.’

‘Meow?’ I said.

‘Alfie, if you come with us you might get lost too,’ Claire said. ‘I’d rather you stayed here.’ She had no chance.

Aleksy and Tommy returned and confirmed that the cats weren’t in the house, so everyone split into their groups, ready to search. Gilbert was with me and I knew as soon as they left we’d go off ourselves, we would be a group. We couldn’t just leave it to the humans, of course.

We set off a little while after the humans, which I thought was the best bet, so they didn’t notice us. The village was quieter, it being early evening, and we soon reached the entrance to the beach, where I stopped, breathless and still fretting.

‘Hello,’ a tabby cat approached me.

‘Hi,’ I replied, still catching my breath.

‘I’m Lily,’ she said. ‘I just moved here.’

‘Well that’s all very nice but we’re in the middle of an emergency,’ Gilbert cut in, sounding gruff.

‘Oh dear. What kind of emergency?’ she asked. ‘Is it to do with fish?’

‘No, I’ve lost my kitten,’ I said. ‘He’s small and ginger and I think he might have been with, or at least chasing, a Persian cat.’ My words rushed out in a jumble.

‘Oh yes I saw them. I tried to stop them for a chat but they just ran past me. Bit rude I thought.’ She tipped her head to one side. ‘I mean, I was only trying to be friendly, it’s not easy being the new cat, I can tell you.’

‘Where, where did they go?’ I asked, trying not to sound irritated.

‘They headed onto the beach. The Persian was running ahead, and the kitten, cute isn’t he? Well anyway he was trying to chase her but he was quite far behind. Little legs I suppose.’

I looked at Gilbert.‘You go to the beach, I’ll go and round up the humans,’ I said.

‘Can I come?’ Lily asked. Gilbert raised his whiskers but didn’t reply as he took off and she followed him anyway.

Everyone was outside our house, I guess they’d run up and down the road and drawn a blank.

‘Meow!’ I shouted. Then I ran around in circles a few times.

‘I think Alfie wants us to follow him,’ Aleksy said.

‘Don’t be absurd, he’s just a cat,’ Andrea said.

‘No, Alfie isn’t just a cat, not at all,’ Tommy replied. ‘Come on, guys, let’s follow Alfie. He knows what he’s doing.’

I got to the beach first where we found George, Gilbert and Lily, and there were two things I immediately noticed. The stretch we were on was devoid of people and the water was quite high. Not being a fan of water, I ventured onto the sand tentatively.

‘George?’ I asked.

‘It’s Chanel, she’s over there,’ George said, vaguely waving a paw.

‘Where?’ I couldn’t see her anywhere.

‘She’s in the water,’ Lily said. ‘I mean, a cat in water, who’d have thought it? Although of course technically she’s in a boat on the water but still—’

‘Shush,’ Gilbert said. ‘George, explain.’

‘She’s in that boat, Dad, look.’ I followed George’s eyes and he was right. Chanel was looking out of the side of a boat, looking terrified as it floated on the water, and it was moving further and further away from the shore.

‘Oh no, she’s at sea,’ I said. ‘What do we do? How do we make the humans see her?’ I asked.

‘Hold on, they’re coming,’ Gilbert said, calmly. ‘They’ll see her. And I think I can hear her.’ We all listened and yes, there was a sound of a cat crying being carried through the air.

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘Well, you said I might never see her again so I went to tell her and she kept hiding from me, so I realised that she wanted to play hide and seek, and anyway, I am guessing that she was hiding in that boat when I followed her but it was already floating away. She’s very good at hiding.’

I tried not to let my exasperation show.

‘I don’t think she was playing hide and seek,’ Lily said.

‘Who are you?’ George asked as if he’d just noticed her.

‘Lily, nice to meet you.’

‘Guys, listen, we need to focus,’ Gilbert said. ‘What are we going to do about Chanel?’

‘I’ll go and get her,’ George said.

‘Don’t you dare, you’ll end up drowned, or worse,’ I said. ‘No, George, I forbid it. The humans will get her.’

At last they all ran towards us, Andrea trying to take her shoes off as she ran like a mad woman. They all lined up beside us and looked towards the water.

‘Why are we staring at the water?’ Andrea said, putting her hand up to shield herself from the burning evening sun.

‘Oh, look, there’s your cat, in that boat there,’ Aleksy shouted. They all looked and finally saw what we wanted them to see.

‘Oh no, oh no!’ Andrea started to breathe funny. ‘What are we going to do, my baby is floating away.’

‘When’s the tide coming back?’ Tomasz asked.

‘Not for hours. She can’t stay out there until then.’ Andrea was hysterical, Franceska took hold of her as if she might faint.

‘Do you have a boat?’ Matt asked.

‘No, of course I don’t,’ Andrea snapped.

‘Look, there’s a paddleboard there, we could go and get her on that,’ Aleksy said, spotting a board on the shore.

‘You can’t go without an instructor, or a life jacket,’ Tomasz pointed out.

‘But someone needs to rescue her, please, please I’m begging you,’ Andrea said. I noticed she didn’t suggest going herself.

‘Oh goodness, I’ll go,’ Jonathan said. We all stared at him. ‘How hard can it be?’ he asked. Claire looked a little horrified. ‘It’s just standing, isn’t it?’

‘It’s quite hard, actually,’ Tommy said. But Jonathan wasn’t listening. He was already approaching the board.

‘Are you sure about this?’ Claire asked, sounding terrified.

‘Sure,’ Jonathan lied. ‘I’ve got to get that cat, and no one else is offering to go.’ He took his shoes off, grabbing the board and the paddle and taking them into the water. I wasn’t sure if I could look. I had a bad feeling about this.

‘I have to rescue my love,’ George said suddenly, and before I could do anything he had run up to Jonathan and leapt onto the paddleboard.

‘My goodness, your kitten’s on the paddleboard!’ Lily exclaimed.

‘Oh no,’ I said to Gilbert, my panic was building. ‘I have to go after him!’

‘No, Alfie, stay here, he’ll be alright, Jonathan will take care of him,’ Gilbert said, giving me a reassuring nuzzle.

But who would take care of Jonathan, I wanted to ask.

‘Oh blimey, George, you’ve made this even harder,’ Jonathan shouted. Jonathan was in the water attempting to get on the board while George was staring out to where Chanel’s boat was. We were all watching from the shore, closer to the water than I liked but I had to be as near to my boy as Icould be. Of course George wasn’t making it harder for Jonathan to get on the board, and I remembered how good he was on it when he went off with Tommy, so I tried to stay calm. Especially as the silly kitten seemed to like water.

‘Are you sure he knows how to paddleboard?’ Andrea asked. No one replied. No one needed to. It soon became clear Jonathan had no idea, as he tried to get on the board, and kept slipping off. He finally managed to get on but then fell straight off the other side, almost taking George with him. Luckily my kitten had really good balance. I felt my fur shaking with fear for both of them, but I tried to stay calm, in case I was needed. Not that I had any idea what I could do.

‘Can I help him, Dad?’ Aleksy asked after a while.

‘Sure, you better help him get on, Aleksy,’ Tomasz said, patting his shoulder. ‘But don’t go too deep.’ It was lucky Tomasz said that, because Andrea was on the sand, sobbing in a heap, Franceska trying to comfort her and, well, we might have been here all night if Aleksy hadn’t gone.

He waded out to where Jonathan was, luckily the water was only waist-deep. He held onto the board and the paddle while Jonathan sat down. Aleksy tried to take George but George wouldn’t cooperate.

‘George, come to me,’ Aleksy said, putting his hand out to grab him.

‘Meow!’ George swiped a paw at him. My goodness, he had never done that before.

‘Ow, George scratched me!’ Aleksy exclaimed as he held his hand away from George.

‘For goodness’ sake,’ Jonathan said. ‘If this isn’t bad enough.’

‘Right, Jonathan, just sit on it like you are doing and paddle either side to steer. Don’t try to stand up,’ Aleksy directed, rubbing his hand.

‘No, no chance of that.’ Jonathan looked mildly terrified as he started paddling off. The board was very wobbly and not exactly going in a straight line. I wanted to close my eyes again but, knowing George was on there, I couldn’t quite tear them away. It seemed to take him a very long time to move at all, but he kept trying. By this time Aleksy had returned to shore, soaking wet, and when we all examined his hand, it was only a tiny scratch.

‘He really wanted to go with Jonathan,’ Aleksy said. You don’t know the half of it, I thought.

I couldn’t help but notice that Jonathan and George were already soaked as they made their way, in a very long-winded manner, to the boat where Chanel was. After what felt like hours, they pulled up beside the boat. Jonathan had the paddle in one hand and was reached out to hold the boat with the other. Chanel looked at George and recoiled slightly. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could imagine that Jonathan was saying those words that Claire said ‘not in front of the children’ to him about.

‘Get onto the board, Chanel!’ Andrea was screaming. I wanted to scream too, I wanted George back safe and sound and I could see that if Chanel didn’t get onto the board soon the whole thing would capsize. Although I wasn’t worried about Jonathan — he could swim — I was terrified for George who I wasn’t sure could. Finally, after Andrea had screamed herself hoarse, Chanel climbed out of the boat and somehow Jonathan managed to grab her without falling off. Everyone on the shore cheered loudly.

‘Go Jonathan!’ Tommy shouted and Jonathan started to paddle.

After going round in circles a few times, Jonathan managed to get the board and the cats near enough to the shore for the boys to go and help.

‘Hooray!’ Tommy shouted as he and Aleksy ran to greet the paddleboard. Aleksy held it tight while Tommy grabbed George and Jonathan disembarked, the latter clutching a terrified Chanel.

‘Thank you so much!’ Andrea grabbed Chanel from Jonathan’s arms and tearfully cuddled the cat. I had never seen Chanel look anything but disdainful but now she seemed shocked and shaken up. I almost felt sorry for her. Andrea wasn’t letting her go although she was wet and dishevelled. ‘Thank you so much again, but I ought to rush off, sorry to leave you like this but she’s traumatised, and with a pedigree such as Chanel’s I can’t take any chances. I think I ought to call the vet.’

‘Do you think we should have George checked over?’ Claire said.

‘No, he’s just a bit wet, he’s fine,’ Jonathan said. ‘I, on the other hand, am soaked and also a little bit unsettled from that little jaunt. I need a towel and a beer.’

‘What on earth was she doing in that boat?’ Franceska asked.

Yes exactly, I thought, glaring at George. Hide and seek, my tail.

‘You said you thought it would be a piece of cake,’ Tomasz pointed out, laughing at bedraggled Jonathan.

‘Yeah, you did, mate.’ Matt patted his shoulder.

‘OK, so maybe it’s not as easy as it looks,’ Jonathan conceded. ‘But now can I go and get dried off?’

‘So …’ I started. After being towel-dried in the utility room, Gilbert, George and I were alone. Well we weren’t, because Lily had followed us home for some reason. ‘Tell me why you thought it was alright to risk your life, George.’

‘OK, so it’s like this.’ George grinned. I could see he was mustering all his charm. ‘It was my fault that Chanel was in the boat, so I owed it to her to help rescue her. I’m good at paddleboarding after all, and did you see Jonathan, he was hopeless, he needed me.’

I wasn’t sure if I had the energy to argue. George’s logic was, well, George’s logic.

‘You were very good,’ Lily said. ‘I have to say I’m very impressed.’

‘Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but just who are you, Lily, and why are you here?’ Gilbert asked.

‘I live a few doors down. We’ve just moved into the village, well a while ago, but I’ve only recently been allowed out. It was awful being cooped up inside all this time, but anyway, I wanted to make friends as soon as I got out, and look, now I have!’ Lily grinned.

She was an attractive cat, I thought, and perhaps would be company for Gilbert when we weren’t here; after all she seemed quite determined and not even Gilbert seemed to be able to put her off.

‘Welcome to Lynstow,’ I said, trying not to sound short; I still had things to sort out with George. ‘But, George, why did you scratch Aleksy? He’s your friend.’

‘Ah, yes I will say sorry to him, but he tried to grab me and I needed to go to save Chanel. Now she is bound to love me,’ he said.

‘Oh boy,’ Gilbert said. ‘You’ve got it bad. Real bad.’

‘I don’t really understand,’ Lily said.

‘It’s a long story, and, honestly, you don’t need to worry,’ I replied. I wasn’t sure how we were going to sort this one out. But as it was nearly teatime, I had other fish to fry.

We gathered on the lawn to watch the sunset. Polly and Matt had gone to the village and brought back fish and chips for everyone, including George, Gilbert and I. We were all sitting on picnic blankets, enjoying our meal.

After Gilbert had assured her she could visit again, Lily had reluctantly gone home. He seemed to find her irritating but then he’d been the same with me when we first met. I kind of liked the idea that he would have another cat friend when we were back in London — after all, it wasn’t going to be Chanel, was it?

Andrea had phoned to say thank you, that Chanel was alright but needed to rest. As did we all after our ordeal, I thought, sneaking a look at George. Not that you would know it looking at him— he was nibbling happily on a piece of fish. But as I thought back over the day, I was glad that it ended happily. Chanel floating off out to sea had brought us all together, yet again, and my lad, who yes had probably caused it in the first place, had proven to me how brave and good he was. Toby had shown how amazingly forgiving he could be and what a lovely boy he was. As I watched him feeding George his chips, I couldn’t help but think how similar those two really were. We were lucky to have them both.

‘I can’t believe that George went out to sea with you,’ Claire mused.

‘I think he’s sorry for scratching me, he gave me lots of cuddles and it’s not so bad.’

‘He’s a crazy cat, but you know who he reminds me of?’ Matt said.

‘Jonathan?’ Polly asked.

‘No, Alfie. It’s the sort of mad thing Alfie would do after all. They really are like two peas in a pod.’

‘My goodness they are. We now have two cats who seem far too human at times, or maybe three, after what Gilbert did to Liam,’ Franceska said.

‘Well how lucky are we then?’ Claire finished.

I looked at my boy, he looked at me, and I raised my whiskers, blinking at him. He blinked back. We really were two peas in a pod, if that meant what I think it did. My boy, a chip off the old block. And despite the fact that he had worried me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘So,’ Tomasz said. He was holding a bottle of beer, munching his food and looking at the sky. The sun was almost burnt orange as we watched it slowly disappear, as if it was sinking into the sea. It was one of the most breathtaking sights I had ever seen. ‘Do you still want to leave here, this house, and go home?’

‘No way!’ Toby said. ‘Please can we always come on holiday to Seabreeze Cottage?’

‘Yes, I have to get better than Aleksy at paddleboarding,’ Tommy agreed.

‘At least you are both better than Jonathan,’ Claire said, laughing but giving him an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

‘Well maybe next time I’ll get some lessons. I can’t quite see how it can be so difficult when it looks so easy.’ Jonathan scratched his head. ‘I mean, it’s just standing.’

‘I find it easy,’ George whispered to me. I nuzzled him, my infuriating, but wonderful boy.

‘It’s my best ever place in the whole world,’ Summer said.

‘Mine too,’ Martha agreed. ‘Well apart from the other places which are my best ever,’ she added.

‘And we have so many friends here, don’t we?’ Henry asked. ‘Even the girls are our friends now.’

‘We certainly do, love,’ Polly said.

‘I propose a toast,’ Claire said, raising her glass. Everyone raised their glasses, or beakers in the case of the children. ‘To Great Aunt Claire and to Seabreeze Cottage. We are going to have many years of happy holidays here, I just know it.’

‘Meow!’ I agreed. We certainly would.

Chapter Twenty-Two

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_025.jpg]

Andrea invited us to her house for a farewell tea. We all went except for Gilbert, who cried off. He had accepted our families but he wasn’t interested in the neighbours, and I didn’t want to push him. I also had a sneaking suspicion he was going to see Lily. He pretended he wasn’t interested in making friends, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. I think he had a bit of a soft spot for her after all.

While George was sad to be leaving, he was very excited about tonight. It was his last chance to spend time with Chanel, and he was determined to make an impression. I dreaded to think what that might involve. However, I was going to be there and I wasn’t going to take my eye off him, so there would be no repeat of the other day.

We all made our way next door. The children were excited, the adults far more relaxed and even I felt jubilant. The cottage was coming on a treat and the adults had decided that as they’d forgiven Andrea it was only fair they forgave Liam too, so he was back working and he was doing an amazing job now he wasn’t trying to burn the place down.

Both the children’s and adults’ floor, as well as the en suite and main bathroom, were now complete. The builders had started work on the small living room which the adults thought would be a ‘snug’ for them, a sort of cosy TV room with a wood-burner and two nice sofas in, it would be a child-free space apparently although I doubted it would be cat-free. The main living room would be done after we left and would open onto the lawn and serve as a big family room. There would be a large TV in there, cleverly hidden in a cupboard, along with a DVD player and another fire. I wasn’t keen on the idea of fires at first, what with Andrea’s aborted plan, but then I realised they would be lovely and welcoming and cosy. The kitchen was also being refurbished after we’d left. They were going to knock through from the small dining room at the front, which we never used, to make a huge kitchen/diner, which would fit us all comfortably when we were here together. Seabreeze Cottage was soon going to finish its transformation into our family second home, a home big enough for my family — which was all of us.

‘Welcome,’ Andrea said. She was wearing her trademark posh-looking dress and heels, but the girls were wearing shorts and Tshirts. Summer and Martha ran up to them and begged them to play hairdressers. The boys shuffled around, until Andrea led them to a game called swing ball and let Aleksy organise a tournament.

There was a long table, which had flowers on it and looked very nice, set with plates and glasses, which the adults all sat at. For once, Andrea put Chanel down and as she sat in the shade by the house, George approached. I followed him. I needed to make sure this didn’t end badly.

‘When are you going?’ Chanel asked. She flicked her tail angrily.

‘Are you going to miss me?’ George asked, raising his whiskers.

‘Not at all. Look, I nearly ended up having to live at sea because of you.’

‘Hey that’s not fair,’ I cut in. ‘My kitten saved you.’

‘After he followed me relentlessly and in the end after I kept asking him to leave me alone, and he wouldn’t, I ran off. I hid on a boat to get away from him, and then I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the water, so yes he may have helped save me but he also helped put me there in the first place.’

‘But I was just playing with you.’ George looked so innocent, and sweet.

‘Chanel, George is young, and well yes he’s much younger than you, but can’t you see he just likes you?’ I tried.

‘I really do,’ George added.

‘Look, I’m sorry but I’m pretty much a house cat. I like my beautiful house, my beautiful owner and the children, I don’t like anyone else.’ She really was one mean cat.

‘Don’t you get lonely, and don’t you want to play with us?’ George asked.

‘I certainly don’t get lonely and I am not interested in playing with anyone,’ she huffed.

‘OK, fine, I get it, you don’t want to be friends with us,’ I cut in. ‘But perhaps you could learn to be civil. After all, if our humans can all get on then the least we can do is to try too. And we will be here a lot after all, so we may as well get along.’

‘OK, but now I shall go and sit on Andrea’s lap. Oh, and thanks for saving me, but in future I would appreciate it if you didn’t stalk me.’ She glared at George.

‘Has anyone ever told you what lovely eyes you have?’

Chanel hopped onto the safety of Andrea’s lap so I led George to the table. He headed off to see the children who were seated at their own table so I went to curl up at Claire’s feet. I could hear the conversation from there and I could also keep an eye on George who was licking ice cream off Summer’s spoon. I pretended not to seethat one.

‘So, when will you be back?’ Andrea asked.

‘I’m coming down in a few weeks to supervise the last of the decorating but I think I’ll probably come on my own as it will be a lot of work,’ Polly said.

‘So, I’ll be left looking after the kids,’ Matt said.

‘You’ll have plenty of help,’ Franceska said.

‘Yes and the cottage really is spectacular thanks to Polly, it’s really been a working holiday for you, hasn’t it?’ Claire said.

‘I’ve loved every minute and it’s for all of us. Andrea, I’m not sorry that you didn’t get our cottage but I am sorry that you still have problems with where to live.’

‘Thank you, Polly. I mean, I really don’t know what I’m going to do. My husband is saying the house has to go on the market, my solicitor is trying to sort it out, but I’m a bit lost for what we can do, and I also don’t really want to accept the settlement he’s offered but again, I’vebeen in such a mess I just can’t think straight.’

‘But this house is enormous,’ Tomasz said.

‘It is and I was wondering.’ Polly sipped her wine. ‘I know you can’t stay in the house as it is, but have you thought about turning it into apartments which you can either sell or rent out? I mean, you could do it easily, although it might take time, and your husband will probably like theidea because you’d make money.’

Andrea looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.‘I’m not sure,’ she said, but she looked as if she was thinking about it.

‘That way you get the ground-floor apartment — it’ll be big enough for you and the girls — and you have two others. I know it’ll be a come-down but you get to stay in the village and it won’t be financially crippling. I guess if you present it to your husband as a business deal he won’t be able to argue. Or if you get your lawyer to argue the financial sense of it at least.’

‘Would it be easy to convert?’

‘You’d be surprised at how easily, listen, let me look, maybe later, but think about it.’

‘It’s a great idea, Pol,’ Jonathan said.

‘Maybe it might work … Polly, please do have a look, I’m not sure how it would work, but I’m open to anything. I’m desperate still.’

‘Of course, I’m sure we can sort something out,’ Polly replied.

‘Well thank you, I really don’t deserve friends like you,’ Andrea said.

‘Maybe not, but you need friends like us,’ Claire finished.

It was dark when we left Andrea’s but George and I went straight to the sand room to find Gilbert. Summer was rapidly drawing to a close. The evenings were coming in more quickly and colder, as were the early mornings. It was still nice here, but as September dawned we could feel that summer was saying its final farewells, as were we. It was nearly time for us to go.

‘Are you ready?’ Gilbert asked.

‘Yes, we are.’ We followed him out of the house.

We sat on the top of one of the sand dunes watching the moon.

‘I’ll miss you two, and the humans,’ Gilbert said.

‘We’ll be back before you know it, but this has been a wonderful summer.’

‘The best summer ever,’ George said. I hated to point out that it was really his first proper summer too.

‘Are you sure you’ll be OK here alone, I mean without us?’ I asked.

‘Of course. The builders are still going to be around, and that lovely lady Shelley is going to look in on me. And that tabby Lily, well she’s alright as far as girl cats go.’

I looked at him with suspicion.‘Wow, Gilbert, you’ve gone from not needing any friends or family to having a lot,’ I teased.

‘It’s your fault, Alfie. You made me get used to it. And also by the sounds of it your families will be here a lot, so I guess we’ll see loads of each other.’

‘You don’t fancy London then?’ I was being fanciful I knew but I quite liked having Gilbert as part of our gang.

‘Nah, I’m a country and beach cat. I like this.’ We all looked at the moon and agreed with him, after all what was not to like. ‘And who will look after the scary sheep and watch Liam?’ He sounded emotional, and I felt how far we had come from the gruff cat who hadn’t even wanted to tell me his name.

I loved it here, I thought, as I breathed in the sea air. I loved how the sun twinkled on the water during the day, and the moon lit up the whole sea at night. It was so beautiful, like a light show. It had been a very eventful summer, but then what did I expect? After all, my life was eventful. But we had come through it again, stronger than ever, my kitten, my families and me. And we had added to it with Gilbert.

‘We’ll be back before you know it,’ I said. I missed Edgar Road, I missed my friends and Tiger but I would look forward to coming back, very much.

‘I can’t wait to come back,’ George said. He stared at the moon as if hypnotised by it.

‘And in the meantime, I promise I’ll look after Seabreeze Cottage for you, no actually for us.’

‘For us,’ I replied and I couldn’t have felt prouder.

Epilogue [Ęŕđňčíęŕ: i_026.jpg]

I was champing at the bit to get out of the cat carrier, as was George who kept standing on my paws.

‘Stay still,’ I hissed.

‘But I want to get in the house,’ George replied and I couldn’t argue with that. We felt the carrier being put down on the lawn, and the door opened, George almost trampling me to get out, and I followed him.

‘Wow, snow!’ he said to me. There was a very thin blanket of snow covering the lawn. It looked so pretty and not deep enough to make us sink into it. We both stood and looked at the house. Seabreeze Cottage was sprinkled with white and on the front door was a huge holly wreath which covered almost the entire space. The others ran on ahead and we followed them.

Jonathan unlocked the door and Claire, holding Toby and Summer’s hands, headed in. She flicked on a light and as Jonathan walked in behind her, we followed. I stood aside to let George go first. I was eager to explore but I was also the parent after all. Tinsel decorated the hallway, and in the doorway was a huge bunch of mistletoe. Jonathan grabbed Claire and kissed her under it. It was a bit sloppy.

We both ran into the kitchen, which had been extended and totally re-done; with wooden surfaces, and floors, it was a proper family kitchen. After quickly admiring it, we ran through to the sand room where Gilbert was in his new cat bed, as if he’d known when we would arrive.

‘Alfie, George, hello,’ he said. ‘I heard Shelley saying you were coming today so I’ve been waiting for ages.’

‘Gilbert!’ George nuzzled him and I followed suit.

There were snowy footprints and little piles of snow all over the sand room, which Jonathan had already re-christened the snow room.

‘How are you?’ I asked. ‘It feels like ages since we last saw you.’

‘I’m alright, it’s been quite cold here, but then that’s winter for you. Not sure you’ll be so keen to go to the beach during the day either, it’s not only cold but full of dogs, not to mention snow! I’ve had to find other places to hang out.’

‘And is Lily still around?’ I asked.

‘Yes.’ I was sure that if cats could blush, Gilbert would have done. ‘We’re going to see her tomorrow, she’s looking forward to seeing you again.’ He was mumbling a bit. Well this was a turn-up!

‘So, she’s still OK for a girl cat?’ George said, raising his whiskers. Honestly, nothing got past my lad, he had a good memory at least.

‘She’s not too bad,’ Gilbert said, casually.

‘And it’s nice having friends, isn’t it?’ I pushed.

‘Well, Alfie, I blame you for that. I was happy with my own company before I met you guys and now it seems I like being around people, and cats.’

I nuzzled him, I had taught him well.

We had come to the cottage for Christmas. We’d been back once since the summer, and that was for a holiday the humans called half-term. Claire, Polly and Franceska had come down with all the children and us, and the men had joined us at the weekend. It had been a great week away, and it had been then, with the cottage looking so beautiful,that they had come up with a plan for us all to spend Christmas here. Our first Christmas together.

‘Claire,’ I heard Jonathan say from the kitchen. We walked in.

‘Yes, darling.’

‘There’s an enormous Christmas tree in the living room. Do you know anything about that?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I asked Colin to arrange it and Andrea decorated it. Quick, kids, let’s go and see.’ We all went through. The tree was bigger than any I’d ever seen and it was decorated beautifully. Claire reached down and turned some lights on, it sparkled and was truly magical. The living room was fully decorated with sprigs of holly, and garlands, and fairy lights hung everywhere. Andrea had clearly wanted to make it lovely for us and I felt warm towards her. The fire had been lit too. It was such a beautiful scene, I couldn’t have been happier to be here.

When we’d seen Andrea at half-term she had been very sweet and fun too, as had her children. It was as if they had all had personality transplants. She’d said she realised she was better off without her husband and her and the girls were doing really well. She’d also said she might start dating again, I just hoped not with Liam. But it was true what everyone said: before the divorce she had been nice, as had the girls, they had just been horrible when they were unhappy. I understood, I’d seen it before.

‘Wow,’ Toby said. ‘It’s the best tree I’ve ever seen.’

‘Can I climb it, Dad?’ George asked, out of earshot.

‘Absolutely not,’ I replied.

‘But will Santa know to find us here?’ Summer asked, sounding anxious.

‘Yes, we’ve given him full instructions and when everyone else arrives I expect there will be lots of presents going under this tree,’ Jonathan said, picking his daughter up.

‘But Henry and me asked for the same robot this year, what if Santa only has one?’ Toby chewed his lip. He had come such a long way, he was far more secure and confident, but there would always be something that made me, and George, want to protect this little boy. The vulnerable edge that could never be fully eradicated, no matter how much we loved him, but we would never stop trying.

‘Oh, Santa can always get more than one, Tobe,’ Claire said. ‘Don’t you worry.’

I saw Jonathan look at her and she nodded, he smiled. I had learnt that Santa was really Claire and Jonathan but I wasn’t telling. George and the kids still believed in him and that was all that mattered.

While we were getting reacquainted with the festive cottage, Polly, Matt and the children arrived, Franceska and Tomasz, Aleksy and Tommy following soon after.

We were all together, just as it should be.

‘So, our first fish and chips of the holiday,’ Matt said as he and Jonathan returned from the chip shop with bags full of dinner. For all of us. George, Gilbert and I licked our lips and waited by our food bowls. We weren’t disappointed.

The children dug in, as did the adults. The women had wine and the men beer. It felt as if there was a celebration going on, and I guess there was: our first night back at our holiday home.

‘I have some news,’ Tomasz said, suddenly.

‘Oh no, nothing bad,’ Claire shot, looking worried.

‘No, no, all good.’ He looked around the table. Then he took Franceska’s hand. ‘We went off to the town when we came here for the weekend, and we saw a restaurant.’

‘A restaurant? Here?’ Polly asked.

‘Well, you know our three in London are doing well now, and I thought why not try one down here? We all love it, we spend time here and it will give me an excuse to spend more time here! So we are opening in the new year. What do you think?’

‘Yay, Dad, that’s amazing,’ Aleksy said.

‘Can we live here all the time?’ Tommy asked.

‘No, not quite, boys, but we can spend time here, and Polly, we were wondering if you’d design it?’

‘I would love to.’

‘You know, when I thought we might lose this place, when the restaurant flooded and then there was all that business with Andrea, it hit us how much it means to us. I get it, Claire, how much you love it here and now we do too,’ Franceska said, and they all drank a toast.

‘Shall we go to the beach?’ Gilbert said when the adults were putting the children to bed. George was with us, because although he still slept with Toby he had started going to bed a little later. He was growing up, my boy. And although we were both sad not to be seeing Tiger on Christmas Day this year, we’d had a little family get-together before we left. It had been lovely; although it had been a cold day we had gone to the park, played with very cold leaves, and spent quality time together — that was what Jonathan often said, and I think it meant good times with those you loved. But Tiger understood that we needed to be with our families the way she had to be with hers so it was alright. George and I still loved her very much, she knew that, and that was all that mattered.

‘It’s freezing,’ I replied. I thought of the fire Jonathan was lighting in the snug and how I would very much like to be in front of it.

‘Please, Dad, just for a bit, it’s a tradition.’ George had still got a crush on Chanel but in half-term week he had become a little more in love with the beach than her, and I encouraged that. When the dogs weren’t around, of course.

‘OK,’ I said. ‘But not too long. I don’t want us to get too cold.’

We went out the back and round to the front of the house. I imagined our families all snuggled up by the fire in the living room. This was a second home for us all.

We jumped on the wall. I struggled slightly, my leg was always a bit stiffer in the cold, but Gilbert helped me and thankfully George didn’t notice. The sand was cold, icy and with a thin layer of snow under paw as we made our way to the top of the sand dune. The spiky grass glistened white in the moonlight, and as I sat down my bottom immediately felt cold.

‘It’s my favourite moon!’ George squealed excitedly at the crescent-shaped moon that faced us. I liked it too, it reminded me of one of Summer’s story books which pictured a man sitting on a crescent moon. Replace him with a cat and it would be perfect.

‘Well I am so glad to see you and I can’t wait for this Christmas,’ Gilbert said. ‘I mean,’ he looked a bit embarrassed, his enthusiasm still confused him sometimes, ‘what you’ve told me about the food and stuff.’ Poor Gilbert had never had Christmas dinner before, so we were all excited for him. He would be overjoyed when he tried turkey, I just knew he would.

‘This is going to be the best Christmas ever!’ George exclaimed. I tickled him with my whiskers.

‘You said that last year,’ I pointed out, smiling indulgently.

‘Yes, Dad and it was. This is what I have learnt about life.’ He sounded so serious that Gilbert and I turned to face him. ‘And I have mainly learnt it from you, and that is that every year will be the best Christmas ever if we are lucky, because that’s how life works when you have people, and cats, in it that you love. It just gets better and better and better.’

I thought my heart would burst with joy, but it didn’t, because it seemed, like life, it had the capacity to get better and better too.

5. ALFIE IN THE SNOW

Chapter One

I was lying on the sofa, in my favourite spot, the winter sun shining down on me through the window, when my kitten, George, leapt on me. Argh, he wasn’t such a little kitten any more; I was winded and a bit squashed.

‘George,’ I said, trying to squirm out from under his weight. ‘You have to stop doing that, you’re flattening me.’

‘Sorry, Dad,’ he replied, with his charming grin and his head tilted to one side. As usual, I melted. My boy was just too adorable, even if he was getting too heavy to jump on me. I couldn’t have been prouder of what a fine young tom he was growing into. ‘But I have news.’ He sat next to me and licked his paws. George did like to draw out any announcements. He was a fairly dramatic kitten. Unlike myself, of course.

‘Go on, George, tell me the news,’ I coaxed, thinking it would be about a funny-shaped cloud he had seen this morning, or a similar Georgeism.

‘There’s a big van parked outside so new people are moving in next door.’ He looked very pleased with himself, as well he might. I pricked up my ears. New people! On Edgar Road! Well, was there anything better for a doorstep cat like myself? Only a van full of pilchards could beat that.

My name is Alfie, and I’m a doorstep cat. Which basically means I have different families and homes I visit. I do live in one main house, here with my kitten George, in Edgar Road. Our humans are Claire and Jonathan and their children, Toby and Summer. But there is another family on this road we spend time with, Polly and Matt and their children Henry and Martha, and yet another family, who live a few streets away, Franceska, Tomasz and their children Aleksy and Tommy. Phew, it’s a lot of families and friends to keep track of. I met them when I moved to Edgar Road after an arduous journey, having been homeless after my old owner, Margaret, died, but that does feel like another lifetime. They say cats have nine lives, well I reckon I’ve used a few of those up to get to where I am today, although I still have plenty left.

I do credit myself with bringing all my families together and now they love each other the way I love them all. We even have a holiday home together, Seabreeze Cottage, which is in Devon, and we spend time there when we can. But London is our main home, on Edgar Road, where we spend most of our days. There’s always something going on here. Never a dull moment. Or if there is, it doesn’t last.

Up until now we were experiencing quite a quiet time. Winter was upon us, the nights were drawing in and the air had started biting. I was becoming a bit of a fair-weather cat, preferring not to spend too much time out in the cold and rain. However, my kitten, George, loved being out in all weathers. That’s youth for you. Just don’t seem to feel the cold. But I did take my constitutional every morning and evening, and I would brave the cold to seek out my friends, the neighbourhood cats and my cat girlfriend Tiger. But now it was cold and darker in the evenings, I preferred to stay in the warm as much as was possible.

But not now. This removal van I had to see. It was still exciting to see new people. Once a doorstep cat, always a doorstep cat, after all. So George and I bounded out to see what we could discover.

We made our way next door. I knew the house well– not too long ago my first girlfriend, the one before Tiger, Snowball, lived there. She was my first love and it wasn’t the easiest of starts but after many attempts to woo her she came round to my way of thinking eventually. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not exactly a cat lothario, I’veonly been in love twice, once with Snowball and now with Tiger, who is a mum to George. And George is adopted; he’s not my natural kitten but he, Tiger and I are a family.

Because I’ve learnt through the years that family comes in all shapes and sizes and no one is the same. But as long as you have love then you have family.

‘Look, Dad,’ George said, his eyes as wide as saucers. We stopped on the pavement and looked at the large van. The back door to the van was open and men were unloading boxes. I gestured for George to follow me and we snuck into the back garden where I knew we would find big patio doors to look through. My first thought whenever I saw new people was, were they in the market for a part-time cat? My second was that I sincerely hoped they didn’t have a dog.

We peered through the glass door, making sure not to be too visible in case we upset anyone (or dog). I could see activity. In the kitchen a woman, perhaps a similar age to Claire who, I believe, was in her forties but didn’t like to talk about it, was unpacking. Near her was a younger girl; she was tall and slim, perhaps a teenager? She was attached to a device, a phone. Aleksy had one and didn’t tear his eyes away from it for a minute if he could help it. His mum despaired. Tommy, who was younger than Aleksy, had one too but he was more interested in sports, so he was a whole different kettle of fish. Yum.

Suddenly, my excitement increased as I spotted what looked like a cat bed.

‘Oh George, I think a cat lives here,’ I said. Which of course meant the owners probably wouldn’t want another two cats but this cat could maybe be our new friend, which was even better. You could never have too many friends. We craned our necks a bit further and I spotted a tail. Quite an interestingly patterned tail. As the cat turned to face us, we both gasped. This cat’s fur had white, black and light brown markings, a pretty tail, pointed black and brown ears and exotic features. It was fairly small and sleek and I had never seen a cat quite like it, definitely unusual. I guessedshe was female as she looked far too pretty to be a male, and she was a good few years younger than me but perhaps a similar age to George.

‘Wow, she looks lovely,’ George said. I raised my whiskers. I didn’t want him getting a crush on her just yet, not until we knew her character. George had developed quite a thing for a cat when we’d spent our first summer in Devon. Chanel was the meanest cat I’d ever met, but George had been smitten and he’d pined for her all summer. His crush had also led to the near drowning of her, him and Jonathan, but thankfully they’d all survived. I wasn’t sure I was ready to cope with that again, just yet.

‘Perhaps we’ll wait until we meet her, eh George,’ I said. ‘You can’t keep falling in love with just looks you know, personality matters.’

‘Oh don’t worry, Dad, I’m not planning on falling in love with her. After Chanel I’m pretty much off girls for good.’

If only I could believe that.

We watched for a while longer, but there wasn’t much to see. Boxes being unpacked. The girl putting her phone down and petting the cat. They seemed serious and perhaps a bit sad too; being quite an intuitive cat I picked that up. We weren’t spotted and, after a while, George got bored and begged me to take him to the park. I reluctantly tore myself away, I was curious and I wanted to know more. They say curiosity killed the cat but not this one, no, curiosity is my middle name. Although not literally.

George went to play with Summer and Toby upstairs after the children had their tea. It was like having three children in the family. Toby and George had a special bond; Toby was adopted, like George in a way, and they both slept in the same bad every night, and had done since Toby came to live with us when George was tiny. Summer was younger, bossier and a‘madam’, according to Claire, but she could pretty much do no wrong in my eyes. I loved all the children and part of my job was taking care of them.

I padded into the kitchen to see if there was any sign of dinner. Claire was cooking, and Jonathan had just got home from work. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a beer. My food bowl was still empty.

‘Oh Jon, can you feed the cats?’ Claire asked. ‘I think Alfie’s after some food.’

‘Meow.’ I was.

‘Sure, I’ll give them some leftover roast chicken,’ he replied as I licked my lips.

‘You really do spoil them,’ Claire said, almost chastising him but not quite. Thank goodness he did, otherwise we had to settle for food that came out of pouches. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t quite the same. For a cat I did have a pretty sophisticated palate and a love of fine dining.

I started eating, knowing George would be down later, but I was hungry. As I lapped my food, I listened to the easy conversation between Claire and Jonathan.

‘I was talking to Frankie and Polly about Christmas earlier,’ she started.

‘Already?’ Jonathan pretended to be not the biggest fan of Christmas, but deep down he loved it, especially with the children. We all loved it, and I pricked my ears as it sounded like news.

‘Jon, it’s less than two months away and you know how quickly it’ll come round. Anyway, we were saying that perhaps this year we can spend the day together, here.’

‘We were saying?’ Jonathan raised an eyebrow.

‘OK, I was. I was thinking about Devon, but then Matt has to work between Christmas and New Year, so they literally only have two days off and Frankie said it would be very nice to have Christmas in London.’

When Tomasz and Franceska had first arrived from Poland they had very little, but they worked hard, especially Tomasz and now he owns four restaurants. Not on his own– he has partners and Franceska works with him now the children are older. They are doing very well and I am incredibly proud of them. They also introduced me to sardines which remain, to this day, my second favourite fish.

‘I haven’t even spoken to work about time off yet, but I’m happy for Christmas in London.’

‘And Frankie said they would do all the side dishes, I’ll do the turkey and Polly will make the pudding.’

‘You mean she’ll buy it,’ Jonathan replied.

‘Well yes, we know Polly’s not much of a cook, but at least it’ll be from Waitrose.’

I licked my lips. Christmas dinner was one of my favourite meals. I even liked some vegetables, which Claire said was very unusual for a cat. I think cats, in my experience, like a far wider variety of food than anyone gives them credit for.

‘And it’ll be nice to be together,’ Claire said wistfully. Her parents went to Spain every year for Christmas now, where her brother lived, and Jonathan wasn’t close to his family, so our friends were our family. It wasn’t a bad family at all.

‘The excitement levels of Summer and Toby will be cranked up this year.’

‘Oh, Summer is already talking about what she wants. Although I ought to warn you, she wants a baby.’

‘A doll?’

‘No, for us to have another baby.’

Jonathan choked on his beer, his face turning a funny colour.‘What did you say?’

‘I said that we had a lovely family already and, as Santa knew that, he’d probably not be able to send us a baby, and she then said perhaps a talking doll would do instead.’

‘Thank God for that.’ Jonathan started to return to a normal-ish colour. ‘It’s not just beyond Santa’s remit, it’s way beyond mine,’ he said.

‘Don’t worry darling, our family is perfect and I don’t want to change a thing,’ Claire said, going over to kiss him. Warmth flooded me as I let the feeling of happiness wash over me. Then I went to tell George it was time to wash his paws in time for dinner.

A parent’s work was never done.

Later that night, when George was tucked up with Toby and Summer was fast asleep, I set out to see my girlfriend Tiger. She lives just down the road and we usually met up most evenings, weather permitting– she’s even more of a fair-weather cat than I am – to watch the moon and chat about our day. We would also bring up any worries we had about George. We were parents first, which is what had prompted our friendship to develop into something more.

I sat on her back doorstep and meowed, which normally means she comes out. But she didn’t. I pushed the cat flap with my nose then waited but nothing. I couldn’t go in, her humans weren’t too keen on other cats in their house, although they tolerated George but not me. I guessed she had probably fallen asleep. Tiger wasn’t always the most active of cats.

I was about to give up and head home but I couldn’t resist going for one last look at our neighbours. As before, I found myself peering through the back doors, the house was fairly dark. But sitting at the table in the kitchen was the woman, in front of her was a glass of wine, and on her lap was the cat. The cat had her back to me, so no one noticed as I watched. The woman picked the glass up slowly and took a drink, before carefully placing it back on the table, and pushing her hair out of her eyes. I saw her head fall as she stroked the cat, and I saw what I thought were tears glistening in the darkness. Even from outside it was as if I could feel her sadness, her pain. I went home wondering what her story was, their story, and why she was upset. But I knew that somehow and at some point I would get to the bottom of it.

That was the kind of cat I was.

Chapter Two

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‘I fell asleep,’ Tiger said the next morning when George and I called on her. I hadn’t even opened my mouth.

‘I thought so.’

‘It was quite cold and I snuggled up with my human on the sofa, and the warmth from the fire, you know.’

‘Tiger, it’s OK, you don’t need to explain.’ Normally she didn’t offer explanations, but I didn’t say that.

‘Mum, Dad, can we go for a walk to the park?’ George asked. He had boundless energy this morning. I wished I did, but I was feeling the cold. I had an old injury which I had suffered when I first moved to Edgar Road. It was a long story involving saving Claire from a horrible relationship, and eventually bringing all of my families together, but it did leave me with a slightly bad leg which seemed to get worse and stiffen up in the cold or the rain. I mainly got on with things, I was pretty used to it by now. However, at the start of every winter I would be reminded of it.

‘Of course we can, George,’ Tiger said, nuzzling him. ‘It’s not raining, and hopefully it’ll stay dry.’

We set off and, as George hopped in front of us, I told Tiger about the new people.

‘So this cat is very pretty, is she?’ Tiger narrowed her eyes.

‘She’s unusual-looking but nearer George’s age than mine,’ I replied. Tiger did have a jealous streak, so I needed to tread carefully when talking about other cats.

‘What does George think?’ She immediately switched from sounding jealous to maternal.

‘He told me that after Chanel he’s sworn off girls for life.’ I grinned.

‘Good, because no one is good enough for my boy.’ I couldn’t have agreed more.

The park was pleasantly empty. We trailed around after George who bounded from one activity to the next. He stared for ages at his reflection in the small lake– I urged caution because when I was younger I’d done the same and nearly drowned. Then we made piles of leaves which were browning and a little soggy, but still quite fun to play with nonetheless. There were no butterflies to chase at this time of the year but George did manage to climb one ofthe smaller trees. By the time we headed back for lunch I was hungry, Tiger said she was tired – I swear she was getting lazier by the second – and George was still full of energy. He would only come home when I promised he would be allowed out later to the other end of Edgar Road, on his own.

It had been a hard decision to let George out alone, and I know that human parents had the same dilemma as Franceska had been through it with Aleksy and Tommy. Aleksy was a teenager now and wanted more freedom, a bit like George, but at the same time we, as parents, knew there were dangers out there. Letting go was possibly one of the hardest parenting lessons we had to face.

When George first went out alone, although he promised he wouldn’t go far, I was a bag of nerves until he came home. When he did come home I almost smothered the poor lad but I had never felt relief like it. Well, apart from the time he was catnapped and I found him, or the time he ran off after Chanel and we found him…But this was different, it was the first time he had gone out with permission.

Now he went out alone a fair bit, but never at night and never for too long. I tried to make him tell me where he was going as well, although to be fair he didn’t always seem to know. Sometimes he said he was going to the park, sometimes to see if any of the other cats were around. So far I had resisted the urge to follow him, but only just. Instead I would pace up and down or watch out of an upstairs window for his return. And thankfully he always camehome and never stayed out too long. Otherwise the worry would probably have turned my fur even greyer than it already was.

So, this afternoon I thought I would catch up on some of my personal cat business. I enjoyed time alone to have a thorough grooming session– after all, when you’re a parent you always seem to be having to rush your ablutions, and then I would enjoy some thinking time. It’s hard to think when you’ve got youngsters always wanting your attention. So, as much as I worried about George, now he was more independent I was beginning to enjoy some ‘me time’ as well. I settled on Claire and Jonathan’s bed – Jonathan didn’t like me being on there, Claire didn’t mind – because it was incredibly comfortable and one of my favourite places to muse.

The front door opened, and the rush of voices and children interrupted my thinking time. I stretched, yawned and then headed downstairs where to my joy I found my families all together in the kitchen. George was hopping among them.

‘Oh hi, Alfie,’ Tommy said, coming over to pet me. I saw a number of fat pumpkins on the kitchen table. Ah, of course, it was the weird thing that humans celebrated called Halloween.

‘I want to carve my pumpkin all on my own,’ Summer said. Claire looked terrified and I agreed. The idea of Summer with a knife was not good.

‘Sum, let me help you and Martha,’ Tommy suggested kindly. ‘It’ll be better than letting the adults take over.’ She considered his offer and agreed.

‘And Aleksy, maybe you can help Toby and Henry?’ Franceska suggested.

‘Do I have to?’ Aleksy answered, sounding surly which wasn’t like him, although it was lately. ‘I’m too old for all this.’

‘Yes you do,’ Franceska snapped and she, Polly and Claire exchanged glances.

‘We’d be very grateful if you would,’ Polly said, trying to calm the situation.

‘Fine.’ Aleksy made it sound as if it was anything but.

Claire made drinks for the grown-ups as the children sat at the table in the kitchen and began carving their pumpkins.

‘Hey,’ Henry said. ‘Let’s have a competition to see which one is the scariest.’ They all seemed to like this idea, although I knew from experience the only one who would end up liking it was the child who won.

‘What costumes are everyone wearing this year?’ Franceska asked. ‘I miss my boys dressing up.’

‘We’re too old to dress up,’ both Tommy and Aleksy said at the same time.

‘Summer wants to be a witch, and Toby is insisting on being a superhero,’ Claire said.

‘And I’m going to be a superhero too,’ Henry said. Toby and Henry were quite close and often copied each other.

‘I’m going to be a cat,’ Martha announced.

This news surprised me; after all, there were two cats here.

‘Oh, you can be Summer’s cat,’ Franceska said.

‘And George,’ Summer piped up.

‘Sum wants me to dye George black,’ Claire explained.

My whiskers twitched and George looked terrified. Imagine, my lovely kitten being dyed black!

‘Don’t worry George, it won’t happen. But I had to promise to make you a little witch’s hat to compensate.’

‘So, Summer, Martha and George will all share a broomstick,’ Henry explained. I wasn’t sure about George and a broomstick but we’d have to see.

‘Where are we getting a broomstick from?’ Claire asked, worriedly. ‘I’ve only got a kitchen broom.’

‘We need a proper broomstick,’ Summer shouted.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve ordered one from the internet,’ Polly said. Halloween was a lot of work, it seemed.

George was on the kitchen table and I could barely watch as he dodged the knives, seemingly unaware of the danger he faced. I heard him make a funny sound, which worried me.

‘Ahh,’ Toby cried. ‘George spat pumpkin over me.’ We all looked and Toby had a splat of pumpkin on his face. George glanced over to me as if to say, ‘I didn’t know it wouldn’t taste good.’ I raised my whiskers again. My curious son would never learn, it seemed, as he tried to lick Toby’s face.

The rest of the carving passed without incident. As the four children proudly presented their finished pumpkins, it was up to the adults to choose a winner. As Aleksy and Tommy had done most of the work it didn’t seem fair but then the older boys didn’t seem to mind as Aleksy wandered off to do something on his phone and Tommy went to the fridge to find a snack.

‘It’s a draw,’ Polly announced diplomatically.

‘Absolutely,’ Claire agreed, ‘they are all far too good.’

Thankfully the children all seemed to accept this. Summer and Toby’s pumpkins were placed on the front doorstep, with a lit candle in each – I warned George to stay away – so that Jonathan would be able to admire them when he got home.

As everyone said their goodbyes, Henry and Martha proudly clutching their pumpkins to their chests, they arranged to go‘trick or treating’ the following day after school.

‘I can’t wait to go trick or treating,’ George said to me when we were alone.

‘Well, you know Claire said you had to wear a hat,’ I pointed out.

‘Yeah, I’m not pleased about that but at least they’re not going to dye me black,’ he replied. And I had to agree.

‘Oh, and George, no more eating the pumpkin.’

‘No Dad, it tasted really weird.’

Chapter Three

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Even I had to admit to being excited. George had been unbearable today; he was so keen to go trick or treating, that from the morning he was badgering me about the time. It was a very long day until I bundled him off to find Tiger, telling him how much she would love to hear about the pumpkin carving and the evening ahead. It did buy me a little bit of peace and quiet and I would apologise to Tiger later.

What I was most excited about was the fact that when trick or treating we would definitely go to the new next-door neighbour’s house and hopefully meet them. Despite not having a costume or being given a specific role I would join them, as the other parents did.

While the children got ready upstairs, I groomed myself in the living room. I was sad that Aleksy, Tommy and Franceska wouldn’t be joining us, but the boys refused point blank to go on the basis that they were too old. Growing up was hard, but it was definitely difficult for parents, I knew that with George. They became more independent, needed you less, wanted you less even, which could be hurtful. It was something that I was having to learn to accept and Franceska and I were in a similar situation on this one.

The children emerged giddy with excitement. Toby was in a Spiderman costume and Summer was dressed in a black cape with a tall pointed black hat and a false nose. She looked a bit scary in a very cute way. George, being carried by Summer, had a little black hat on and he looked adorable. I was sure he would earn the kids extra sweets this year. Claire picked up the broomstick, and we all headed out to meet Polly, Martha and Henry.

All assembled, they decided to start at the end of the street. I was slightly disappointed by this. Edgar Road is a long road and it meant I would have quite a wait before we reached next door.

We approached the first house. Summer, Martha and George were all at the door, trying to balance on the broomstick, when it tipped and George fell off.

‘Yowl.’ He landed on his tail.

‘Martha, that was your fault!’ Summer stormed.

‘No, it was yours,’ Martha bit back, and Martha never got cross. Polly picked George up and petted him, Claire picked the broomstick up and as the girls glared at each other with their arms crossed, a kindly woman answered the door, and thrust sweets at them. They soon forgot to argue and were happy to get back on the broomstick. However, Toby took George from Polly and offered to carry him, which seemed the safest bet.

We crossed the street to a house opposite which was a real mess. The garden was overgrown, the house had peeling paint, and it looked sad, if it was possible for a house to look so. I saw Polly and Claire exchange a glance.

‘Maybe we should give this one a miss?’ Claire suggested, but the kids were already half way up the path. We all followed, reluctantly. There was a light on in the front room and Toby knocked on the door, George still in his arms. The children all stood expectantly on the front doorstep, discussing what sweets they might expect. A man came to the window. He was old, moving slowly. He looked out at us, then, to our surprise, he raised his fist at us, shouted, ‘Get lost’, and pulled the curtains closed.

‘Why doesn’t he want to see us?’ Martha asked, her eyes full of confusion.

‘Maybe he forgot to buy sweets. Come on, we’ve got lots of houses to visit,’ Claire chivvied them up. As we made our way back down the path I glanced back at the house. I didn’t understand why he didn’t want to see us either.

Finally, with weary legs– me – and full bags of sweets and chocolate – the children – we reached the house next door to us. I could barely contain my excitement as I waited with everyone on the doorstep. The woman who opened the door didn’t look sad, not like the crying woman I’d seen last night. She had short-ish blonde hair which fell over her face, and was tall and slim. She looked composed, smiling, her head tilted to one side questioningly as she stood in front of us.

‘Trick or treat,’ the children chanted.

‘Oh my goodness, Connie, come here,’ the woman shouted and the teenager I’d seen joined her at the front door.

‘Hi, I’m Claire and this is Polly.’ Claire beamed as the children held their bags out hopefully. ‘I live next door, Polly is down the road. We would have come round properly to introduce ourselves, but with it being Halloween …’

‘Hi.’ Polly held out her hand and the woman took it.

‘I’m Sylvie, and this is Connie. Lovely to meet you.’ The woman paused for a moment, then she said, ‘I’m sure I’ve got some chocolate inside, why don’t you come in for a moment?’ The children didn’t need to be asked twice, but Polly swiped George out of Toby’s arms and put him next to me on the doorstep.

‘Oh, who are these two?’ Sylvie asked.

‘Our cats,’ Polly and Claire said in unison. They both laughed. ‘You guys wait here,’ they said as they followed the children inside and the door was closed on us.

‘Oh well, Dad, I guess when they come out we’ll hear all about it.’

‘Yes.’ But I was impatient. I wanted to know about the new family, and the cat. And was there a man? Because we’d only seen Sylvie and the teenager. So many questions.

We waited patiently by the front gate and it wasn’t long before Polly and Claire and the children emerged. They were laughing and Sylvie was smiling.

‘Oh how sweet, your cats waited for you.’

‘They enjoy trick or treating,’ Polly said.

‘It’s funny, so different for us. My Hana is a house cat, she’s never been outside – but that was normal in Japan.’

‘Hana is such a pretty cat,’ Claire said, and I agreed from what I had seen.

‘She’s a Mikeneko, which is Japanese of course. Cat with a coat of three colours. The English name would be a tortoiseshell.’

‘But Hannah is an English name?’ Polly asked.

‘It’s actually H-a-n-a, it’s Japanese for flower.’

‘That’s lovely, a sweet name for a sweet cat,’ Claire said.

Bingo, I already had more information at my paw tips than I thought I would. A house cat, and what was Japan? A coat of three colours. Oh, this was most interesting.

‘Right, well we’ll see you soon. I’ll text and we’ll have that dinner,’ Polly said as she gave a wave. I was delighted, it seemed the women were already the best of friends. But how we were going to befriend a house cat?

Later, when the children were upstairs having managed to sneak a number of their sweets up there, despite being told not to, and Polly and Claire were sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine, I learnt more about Sylvie.

They both seemed to like her so far. She was English, but she and her daughter had moved back from Japan which was a place quite far away, by the sound of it. They had lived there with her husband, who had left her for another woman and they were now getting divorced and she was very upset about it. Already things were beginning to make sense. Claire had been divorced when I first moved in with her, before she met Jonathan of course, so they had that in common. Anyway, it was difficult because not only had Sylvie split up with her husband but she’d also had to move away from the country that had been her home for many years. Her daughter, Connie, who turned out to be the same age as Aleksy – fourteen – was also upset about leaving her school, her friends and her dad. I guess that explained the late-night wine drinking in the kitchen and crying. Claire had done that a lot too.

As I listened to them talk about how they would make Sylvie feel really welcome and how they would also introduce Connie to Aleksy who would be at the same school in the same year, I began to feel excited. New friends. Now I just had to figure out how to get their cat, Hana, to come out so we could meet her. Either that or we’d have to find a way to go in. It was just a minor hiccup; after all, I’m a pretty resourceful cat, if I do say so myself.

I heard a clatter of footsteps on the stairs and Toby burst in with Henry at his heels.

‘George has been sick on my bed!’ he cried.

‘He ate lots of our chocolate, by accident,’ Henry explained.

‘Great, right, well I better go up and clear up. And you guys, I already told you no more sweets,’ Claire shouted.

‘I feel a bit sick too, Mummy,’ Toby said. We all did what I call a parenting eye roll, and rushed upstairs to sort it out. I would be having stern words with my kitten later.

‘So, I missed the trick or treating,’ Jonathan said, not exactly sounding disappointed.

‘Yes, funny how you had to work late tonight,’ Claire bit back.

‘I did, honestly. Anyway, the kids had a good time?’

‘Yes, I took photos.’ Claire handed him her phone. ‘But there was one house which was a bit of a nightmare, at the end of the street, overgrown, peeling paint. There was a light on but when we rang the bell, an old man glared at us then drew the curtains. Who would do that to a bunch of kids?’

‘Oh, I know. That’s the guy who Vic and Heather Goodwin were moaning to me about. Apparently they have been trying to talk to him about tidying the place up, even offered to do the garden for him, but he told them to go away. Although I’m not sure he was that polite. They said he’s a bit ofan ogre and they think he might be dangerous. All bulging eyes and shifty behaviour, according to them.’

‘Great, so I took our kids to a nutter’s house?’

‘Oh I wouldn’t worry, you know how the Goodwins exaggerate. He’s probably just a grumpy old man who doesn’t like people. I understand, after all I’ll probably be one one day.’

He was right, he definitely would.

Chapter Four

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After breakfast, as the children all went to school, George and I headed out to see the other neighbourhood cats. Sometimes I felt as if I was far too busy, so many people– and cats – to see that it was hard to fit it all in. I was hoping to see Tiger as well, as I made my way to near the end of the road, where we often convened on a patch of grass we called our recreation space. It was quite isolated from the main road, and there were hedges to play in – George still loved a bit of hide and seek – and even a couple of trees. Best of all, our friends knew to go there.

I had made many cat friends since being on Edgar Road. We had new ones coming in, and had lost one or two of our members, but the core group remained the same: Elvis, who was pretty much an old man now, Rocky and Nellie, but there was no sign of Tiger.

‘Alright, Alfie, George,’ Rocky said.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked.

‘Nothing much, you?’

‘We’ve got a new cat next door,’ I said, too excited to keep the news to myself. ‘But she doesn’t go out, or she didn’t in her old home, so we haven’t been able to meet her yet.’

‘Claire and Polly said they lived in another country,’ George said. ‘What’s that then?’

Nellie, Rocky, Elvis and I all looked at each other. We were cats, after all, and not experts in geography.

‘It’s very far away,’ Elvis said, finally as if he knew. ‘We live in London, and other people live in other places which are countries.’ None of us, including him, knew if that was true.

‘Like Devon?’ George asked.

‘Exactly,’ I said quickly. After all, it didn’t really matter, did it?

‘So Japan, which is where they come from, is another country,’ George said. ‘And there, cats don’t go out, apparently,’ he added. I was surprised and pleased that he’d paid so much attention. He went off to hide under a hedge.

‘You can pretend to look for him today, Nellie,’ I said. She was like an aunt to George and also had more patience than I did. After all, George always hid in the same place and it did get a bit tiresome pretending that we didn’t know where he was.

‘OK.’ She grinned.

‘Has anyone seen Tiger today?’ I asked.

‘Nope. She’s been a bit elusive lately if you ask me,’ Rocky said.

‘I said the same to her but she said she just didn’t like the cold any more. Though I thought she might be here this morning.’

‘Nah, not so far. Although it’s still early.’

We settled down to our activities, gossiping, watching George play and watching the world go by, and before long Tiger appeared. I was relieved to see her, and I’m not sure why I was worrying. It was just something I always did. I am a worrier by nature. And when, like now, life was coasting along very well, I tended to worry more.

‘Hey,’ I said, greeting her excitedly.

‘Calm down Alfie, you’re acting like you haven’t seen me for ages.’

‘Well, you weren’t out last night.’

‘No, sorry, I fell asleep after dinner again, and when I woke up, I thought it was probably too late. Honestly, I am not a fan of winter,’ she declared, examining her paw.

‘I love winter, I hope it snows,’ George said excitedly. He’d had his first experience of snow the previous year and he was a big fan. I was not; it was cold, wet and you sank into it, a bit like sand actually, which I also wasn’t too fond of.

‘Yes, well, George, you might not say the same when you get older,’ Tiger said, but indulgently. ‘Right, come on and we can go and climb a tree if you’re good.’

They set off together to the nearest tree. All was normal as I watched George jump about with Tiger, then Nellie went to join them and they started a game of tag. Rocky, Elvis and I watched and caught up on more local gossip.

‘Salmon tried to tell us about your neighbours as well,’ Rocky said.

‘Of course, his owners will have gone around already, won’t they?’ I replied. Salmon was a pain and used to be my arch nemesis, but we were civil now. He lived across the street from me with the Goodwins who were the self-appointed neighbourhood watch coordinators on Edgar Road. Translation: they were incredibly nosy busybodies who annoyed most of us. But Jonathan had to admit that, with them around, Edgar Road was a low crime street. No one got away with anything. ‘What did he say?’

‘Oh, he was doing his usual, acting as if he knew more than he did, being cagey, but we’re used to it now. He didn’t even mention the fact they’d lived in another country, so my guess is that your humans found out more than his.’

‘Well that makes me happy,’ I said. I was still curious though. Our chat was interrupted by a commotion and we rushed to see George perched precariously on a high branch. My heart sped up.

‘Oh my goodness, George,’ I said.

‘Get down at once,’ Tiger was shouting.

‘He’s ever so high,’ Rocky exclaimed.

‘And that branch don’t look too secure,’ Elvis yowled.

‘Oh no, poor boy, what’s going to happen?’ Nellie asked. We all started panicking, running around in circles and yelping. As we came to a halt I noticed that George had started his descent. My heart was in my paws as I watched him climb down. I had discovered my fear of heights a long time ago, whilst being stuck up a tree. Not only that, but I’d had to endure the humiliation of being rescued by the fire brigade. It was all for love, but that was another story. Trees had not been one of my favourite things ever since.

‘What were you all shouting about?’ George asked innocently as he reached the ground.

‘Oh thank goodness,’ Nellie said, sitting down and looking exhausted.

‘George, you were so high, too high,’ Tiger chastised.

‘No I wasn’t. Look, I got down, didn’t I? Sometimes you adults panic about the most ridiculous things.’

Unfortunately no one could argue with that.

Tiger and I decided we’d had enough excitement for one day so we took George home. He was reluctant, having had so much fun. But while we were on our way I saw the next-door neighbour, Sylvie, and her daughter, Connie, in the street. I couldn’t resist making myself known to her.

‘Oh Connie, here are the next-door cats again.’

‘They’re cute,’ Connie said, bending down and petting us.

‘We’ll meet them properly later as we’re going over.’ Sylvie smiled in the way that people did when they weren’t really very happy. A fake smile, or putting on a brave face as I thought of it. We all did it, us adults.

‘Great,’ Connie said but I noticed how her shoulders sagged and she dragged her feet. Her voice definitely lacked enthusiasm.

‘Come on, if we get your school uniform sorted quickly then I’ll buy you some more exciting clothes.’ Sylvie was trying hard.

‘Fine,’ Connie said as they walked off.

‘I think those two need a lot of cheering up,’ I said. Tiger nodded her agreement.

‘Well, they’ve come to the right street,’ George finished.

They really had.

My slumber was disturbed by one of my favourite noises: my families. From my place on Claire and Jonathan’s bed, I heard the loud cheery greetings. I stretched and rushed downstairs where George was, as usual, centre of attention. I meowed loudly to make myself heard and Aleksy and Tommy came over and took turns fussing me. I nestled into them enjoying the warmth.

Our house, which wasn’t quiet at the best of times, became louder, more crowded, and heaps of fun. Claire and Jonathan’s was the biggest house which was why we all convened at ours, but Tomasz and Franceska came in loaded with food from the restaurant, Polly and Matt always had wine and beer with them, and the adults – which included me – would all go to the kitchen to prepare food and drinks while the children, with George in tow, went into the living room. The older children would set up games for the younger ones. I had noticed that lately Aleksy hovered a bit before joining the kids; he thought himself too grown-up and I had been warned what that meant. He was a new creature now, something called a teenager.

I had heard about teenagers, notably from Tiger whose humans didn’t have one but knew one who visited, and I’d had first-hand experience of one when I was in love with Snowball and she lived with a teenage boy who spoke monosyllabically and never smiled. Well, my Aleksy, who I had known for years, since I first moved to Edgar Road and before he even started school, was now one. He had had his thirteenth birthday last year, and everyone had made a big deal about him becoming a teenager, but I didn’t know why because as far as I could see there was nothing to celebrate. It seemed that turning fourteen hadn’t improved things at all.

It was about losing my sweet best friend– although he was always still lovely to me, I didn’t know if the real him would ever come back. Teenagers were not an exact science though, apparently, but this one, hovering in the hallway, looking at the phone clasped in his hand, ignoring everyone around him, had definitely become one of them.

Eventually he went into the living room.

‘Aleksy, help me make a den,’ Tommy said.

‘I’m busy,’ Aleksy mumbled and sat on the sofa doing something with his phone. Toby looked disappointed.

‘But Aleksy, you make the best dens,’ Henry complained.

‘Please,’ Summer asked, looking at him with her big blue eyes.

‘OK, but just for a minute,’ he sighed, as he started gathering the sofa cushions.

I went to the kitchen where Polly had just finished telling Franceska about Sylvie.

‘She’ll be here in a minute, but remember, guys, it’s been hard for her,’ Polly reminded them.

‘Hey, I lived in Singapore, remember,’ Jonathan said. ‘And I wasn’t exactly thrilled when I moved back here, so I’ll be able to properly sympathise.’

‘God, he’s right,’ Claire said. ‘I hadn’t thought of it before, but at least you and her can talk about expat life if needed.’

‘And also how, if you hadn’t left that sunny, fun-filled life, you’d never have met Claire, or had the kids,’ Matt joshed.

‘Hey, he is so lucky he got fired from his job in Singapore,’ Claire said.

‘Meow,’ I shouted.

‘Of course, you’d never have met Alfie either,’ Tomasz said and thankfully everyone seemed to agree what a terrible thing that would have been.

Throughout dinner, Sylvie and Connie were quiet. The younger children had been fed earlier, Tommy insisting on eating with them, and they were in the living room watching a DVD while the adults, Aleksy and Connie ate. Claire, Polly and Franceska talked about the local area, schools, and the men were polite, but no one wanted to ask too many questions. Aleksy and Connie sat next to each other but they weren’t exactly chatting either. It was fine but it did feel a bit awkward, rather than the usual conversation and bickering and teasing. I paced around the table, wondering what I could do to bring this evening to life, and then I had an idea. I knew I’d be in trouble, but I jumped on the table.

‘Alfie, get down!’ Claire screeched. Aleksy burst out laughing and then Connie looked at him and did the same.

‘Bloomin’ cat,’ Jonathan huffed, lifting me off the table and trying not to laugh.

‘He is such a naughty cat sometimes,’ Claire huffed.

‘But so cute.’ Tomasz grinned.

‘You two will be going to the same school when Connie starts on Monday,’ Claire said, the ice having been broken.

‘Really? What year?’ Aleksy asked.

‘Year Nine,’ Connie mumbled, but then she looked up. ‘I haven’t been to school in England before,’ she said. ‘So I don’t know much about it.’

‘I’m in the same year. Hey, listen, I can meet you and walk there with you if you want, I mean on your first day.’

‘Would you?’ She looked relieved, as did her mum.

‘Sure, I mean I know nearly everyone in our year and school’s OK, so I can help you meet people.’ Aleksy blushed; this was the most I had heard him say in ages.

‘That’s great, thank you Aleksy,’ Sylvie said. The teenagers looked as if they had said too much and glanced back at their plates.

Things got easier after that. Sylvie seemed to relax as she and Jonathan chatted about Asia; they both had been to lots of the same countries although Jonathan admitted never having been to Japan. At one point Polly went to check on the children, then Aleksy asked to be excused and Connie and he left, both grabbing their phones from the kitchen counter on their way out. I spent a while listening to the adults, satisfied that although it wasn’t quite there yet, Sylvie would make a nice addition to the group. I could still feel her sadness and she was guarded but when she smiled, or laughed, I could see that she was lovely.

I followed Aleksy to where he and Connie sat on the stairs.

‘I’m actually really nervous about school,’ Connie admitted. I looked at her properly for the first time. She had shoulder-length dark hair, big eyes and pale skin. She was almost as tall as Aleksy and slim, although she wore baggy trousers and a hooded sweatshirt, which was pretty much what Aleksy wore too. They both had trainers on their feet as well. It was, I believed, the teenage uniform.

‘I guess it might be different to your school in Japan. Do you speak Japanese?’ Aleksy asked. Connie said some words which neither of us understood.

‘Yes, I do.’ She smiled. She was pretty when she smiled. ‘But now that we’re here I’m not sure how useful it will be. I didn’t want to come home,’ she admitted.

‘You know, I lived in Poland when I was born,’ he said.

‘Do you remember it?’

‘No, but we do visit. And I speak a bit of Polish.’ He said some words again which I didn’t quite understand, although I recognised it a bit as I’d heard Franceska and Tomasz speaking Polish over the years. ‘But I think of here as home now.’

‘I still think of Japan as home. I miss it,’ she said, sounding sad.

I was surprised at how open she was; it seemed that perhaps teenagers only knew how to speak to each other.

‘It’ll be alright. Hey, is that the iPhone 7?’ he asked, looking at her phone.

‘Yes, it’s the same as yours,’ she replied and they both grinned.

Family evening came to an end soon after that. Tired children were either taken home or upstairs to bed, George was tucked in with Toby, Aleksy and Tommy bounded off, still full of energy, with their parents, and Connie and Sylvie went next door. Once everyone was settled I went to see if Tiger was out, but it was raining so I was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be. I was right: there was no sign of her. As the raindrops dampened my fur, I thought about going home, snuggling into my warm bed but, before I did, I couldn’t resist sneaking next door.

I saw Sylvie sitting at the kitchen table, this time with lights on, Hana the cat on her lap again, and in front of her was a computer. She was talking to someone and I knew from experience that she was probably talking to a friend through the screen– I was quite technologically savvy for a cat. I was pleased to see she was smiling and I hoped that being with us had cheered her up a bit. The rain started coming down much heavier and, in danger of turning into a drowned rat, I went back next door to the warm, dry home that was always there towelcome me.

Chapter Five

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I was thinking about how to get to meet Hana now the weekend was over. Connie had started school and Sylvie told Claire she had some job interviews, and now I had spent a bit of time with both Connie and Sylvie I really, really wanted to meet this exotic cat. Not only was I keen to let her know that she had friends around if she wanted them, but I also was interested to get her opinion on how her family was coping.

Connie had told Aleksy that they’d had Hana since she was a kitten and she had never been outside, she’d always been a house cat which was customary in the Tokyo suburb where they lived. I could understand that in some places cats didn’t go outside and I also knew it suited some of them, but I couldn’t imagine being a house cat. Although, after some of the trouble we had got into in the past, it probably wasn’t a bad idea. And in George’s case it would make life much easier for me…No, being a house cat, on reflection, sounded terrible and I needed to rescue Hana from this life of incarceration now she was in England.

These were my thoughts as I hung around outside Tiger’s house – George had gone off for a stroll with Nellie – when I saw her owners come out with her in a cat carrier. I narrowed my eyes and wondered where she was going. Her owners were older than any of mine and didn’t go out very often. But they got into a car, a taxi, and drove off. Tigerhadn’t been looking so she didn’t see me. I forgot all about Hana and fretted about Tiger, where was she going? What was she doing? Was everything OK? I calmed myself down as I went to find the others. Her owners didn’t have luggage with them so they couldn’t be going away. Perhaps they were taking her to visit a friend. I found Elvis and Rocky at the recreation ground, grateful that I could take comfort in their routine.

‘The lad and Nellie have gone to the other end of the street,’ Rocky said.

‘Yeah, and Nellie never says no to him,’ Elvis added.

‘No one says no to George,’ I pointed out. ‘But I wanted to ask you, I just saw Tiger going out, does anyone know where she’s gone?’ I asked. I doubted they did but, before they could answer, Salmon loomed over us. He had a habit of doing that, almost appearing from thin air.

‘Are you wondering about Tiger?’ he asked. He sounded his usual smug self. But I wanted information, so I needed to play along.

‘I was, I saw her go out with her owners, I had no idea what she was up to,’ I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

‘Well, my owners went to see hers this morning, important neighbourhood watch business. Apparently they are taking her to the vet.’

‘The VET??!’ I immediately panicked.

‘Calm down Alfie,’ Salmon said, almost sounding kind. ‘It’s just a check-up. Tiger probably didn’t even know she was going but they said they’d locked the cat flap so she couldn’t go out this morning.’

‘Thank you Salmon, it’s really kind of you to let me know.’ I wasn’t used to him being so helpful.

‘That’s alright.’ He tried to sound cool again. ‘No fur off my nose.’

‘Hey, I was just thinking about Hana, the cat who’s moved in next door to me,’ I said, thinking I owed him.

‘Oh yes, have you met her?’ he asked. He couldn’t hide his interest now.

‘No, but her owners came to our house last night. She doesn’t go out, ever. She’s a house cat. Something common in her country of Japan apparently.’

‘Well I never,’ Rocky said. ‘A house cat?’

‘Yes, she’s never been out, ever,’ I said, enjoying having the authority on something.

‘That’s a shame,’ Elvis said. ‘It means we’ll never meet her.’

‘Oh we will,’ I said.

‘What do you mean?’ Salmon narrowed his eyes at me.

‘I don’t exactly know, but I will figure something out.’

‘I can’t stand around here all day chatting, things to do, people to see.’ Salmon grinned before stalking off.

‘Gosh, he’s almost going soft in his old age,’ Rocky said as we watched him swinging his tail behind him.

I didn’t tell George about Tiger. Salmon had said it was just a check-up but I wanted to talk to Tiger and get some reassurance before involving George. He was surprised as I actively encouraged him to go out on his own after lunch, but he was quick to take advantage as he rushed off with my blessing.

I sat by Tiger’s back step and it wasn’t long before she appeared.

‘Thank goodness,’ I said, nuzzling her. ‘I was worried about you.’

‘I know I’m sorry, they sprang the vet on me. This morning I went to go out and I bashed my head against the cat flap, which hurt.’ She paused to rub her head with her paw. ‘They closed it without telling me, and they shoved me, well not shoved, but put me in the carrier and off we went.’

‘You poor thing.’ No cat I knew was a fan of the vet, they had a habit of poking around where it wasn’t their business. Well, actually it was their business but it was still very personal and intrusive. ‘What did the vet say?’ I took a long, hard look at Tiger; she seemed fine to me.

‘Oh nothing really, it was just a check-up. They poked and prodded and ran some tests but I’m right as rain. You know how my humans fuss. I heard them say that at my age we needed to check more often. I mean the indignity!’

‘God, I hope it doesn’t occur to my family. I’ll have to make sure I always appear in the best of health in front of them.’

‘Good plan, Alfie. Although the vet was nice, she was very kind, but still. Where’s George?’

‘Off playing somewhere. To be honest, I wanted him to go off so I could talk to you. You know, in case anything was wrong. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.’

‘Oh Alfie, what will we do with you? Come on, I’ll come with you, let’s go find our boy.’

We set off, the wind in our fur, the cold air whipping around our legs as we set off. We walked in companionable silence and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to have so many cats around me that I’d known for years, and that I cared so deeply about, and that cared about me. It made me return my thoughts to Hana, I really had to figure out a way to see her and make sure that she wasn’t too lonely. Loneliness was theworst thing and although it had been so long since I had experienced it, I had never forgotten.

George and I walked Tiger home and then went back to our place, where we bumped into Aleksy who was with Connie.

‘Hey guys,’ Aleksy said, petting us.

‘Meow?’ Aleksy didn’t normally come to our house on his own.

‘I just walked Connie home, but I better go, Mum will worry if I don’t get back soon. Not to mention that we have a mountain of homework, right Con?’ he grinned. I was startled, Aleksy hadn’t been this chatty for quite a while, or looked so animated. He wasn’t even staring at a screen. Was being a teenager over now? I certainly hoped so. I wanted my sweet Aleksy back.

‘Yes, and it’s only my first day,’ Connie giggled. I stared at them both, raising my whiskers. It looked as if they had become friends already which made me very happy. So, as I took George home for tea, all seemed right once again.

Chapter Six

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‘So, I got a job,’ Sylvie said as she arrived at our house a few nights later, a bottle in her hands. ‘I know you might be busy, but I wondered if you fancied a drink to celebrate with me?’ She shrugged. She looked so attractive, with her eyes, which were a bit like Connie’s, sparkling.

‘What, already? The job, I mean.’ Claire said.

‘It’s nothing fancy but I got it through a friend of my sister’s, so total nepotism. But, you know, I haven’t worked for years, I’ve been an expat wife, so I was lucky to get anything, I think.’

‘Congratulations, come in, of course we can celebrate. The kids are in bed, Jon’s at the gym, so you’ve picked the perfect time.’ Claire ushered her in and I followed. Claire led her to the kitchen, pulling some glasses out of the cupboard and opening the bottle which was fizzy.

‘I really hope you don’t mind.’ Sylvie chewed her lip nervously. ‘I don’t normally go anywhere without arranging it …’

‘Don’t be silly. Honestly, I would rather you felt like you could pop round whenever you want, if we’re busy I’ll say, and you won’t take offence. That’s how it is with us, you know Polly and Frankie,’ Claire said.

‘That’s so kind, I can’t believe how lucky I was moving in next door to you!’ Sylvie said.

‘I moved to London years ago without knowing anyone so I understand how daunting it is. And, Sylvie, I moved here after my first marriage broke down in a horrible way. I made a friend from work, Tasha, she basically saved me from loneliness,’ Claire explained.

‘I’ve been away so long that I’ve pretty much lost touch with my friends from the UK. My sister lives in Bristol with her husband, but I gave my life up for my ex-husband, basically. Moving back here, well, it made me realise how much my life was tied up with his and that’s so sad. Thank goodness I got Connie out of it.’

‘What happened, exactly?’ Claire asked, putting two full glasses in front of them.

‘Total clich?…Um, that’s nice,’ Sylvie replied, taking a sip of her drink. ‘My husband met a younger woman through work, and I now know they were having an affair, but then he declared himself in love with her and asked for a divorce.’

‘Wow, that’s awful. Is she Japanese?’

‘No, actually American, beautiful of course and young. Only in her twenties.’

‘Oh God, that’s so horrible. I am so sorry Sylvie.’ Claire’s eyes glistened with concern.

‘I’m sorry.’ Sylvie wiped a tear away. ‘I’m not good at celebrating yet. I felt as if my life was over, does that make sense? I’d devoted it to him. I gave up my career to follow his, I brought up his daughter for him, I didn’t really have anything but my family. Looking back that wasvery stupid of me but …’

‘Hey, no one knows what’s going to happen. He’s, well, I won’t say what he is, but I am so sorry.’

‘Then he gave me the option of staying to watch him with his new woman, so he could see Connie, and I just couldn’t. I was too humiliated, so I moved Connie back here, but I know she misses her dad and I feel so guilty about pulling her away. But Japan was about my marriage, I couldn’t stay there without it. There was nothing there for me but humiliation and I had to get away.’

‘You did what you had to do, honey,’ Claire said. ‘Look, don’t for one minute ever think it’s easy. I moved here after splitting from my ex-husband, as I said, but I only moved within this country, not from a million miles away. You must miss your friends.’

‘I do, and I Skype them, but it’s not the same. Anyway, sorry I’m being so maudlin – but I have to admit worrying about Connie settling in here is giving me sleepless nights.’ She lifted her glass.

‘And that’s understandable. But, cheers to your job – oh, what is it?’ Claire laughed. ‘I almost forgot to ask.’

‘It’s in a clothes shop, a gorgeous boutique in Clapham. Lovely clothes actually, quite expensive, but I did work in fashion in my old life, and I have a bit of a passion for it. I know I’m just a shop girl but it’s not too far away and it’ll just give us a bit of income.’

‘Well, I think it’s great. I’ll come and have a look but of course don’t tell Jonathan if it’s really expensive.’

‘Promise I won’t. Anyway, my sister’s friend, Jessica, she said if it works out, she’ll let me help with buying and display down the line, and so it will be quite fun. It’ll get me out of the house while Connie’s at school and it’s a good, positive move, I think.’

‘It’ll just do you good to have routine.’

‘Yes, I need to feel that I have a purpose. For so long now I’ve just been a wife and a mother.’

‘You’re never just a mother. But I do understand. I used to work long hours but I’ve been part-time since Summer and Toby, but to be honest I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would.’

‘I can’t pretend I don’t miss my old life although I wasn’t exactly a modern woman. I organised the house, my husband’s social life, took care of Connie and spent a lot of time with friends. But now being home…well, it’s different and the older Connie gets the less she’ll need me. I think it was the whole expat thing. I didn’t work, most of us wives didn’t. I made sure that Philip, my ex, that his life ran like clockwork. If he was home I cooked for him, made sure his laundry was done, packed for his business trips, arranged holidays, basically ensured his life was relaxing, and I kept most of the stress away from him. I dealt with any problems with Connie, he got the fun bits, but he had a pressured job so I thought it was important and in return I got to lunch with my friends, travel, buy pretty much what I wanted, and for so long I thought it was enough for me, I thought it was enough for us.’

‘But it wasn’t?’

‘Not for him. And of course I worry about Connie. He’s still her father and she loves him.’

‘Oh God.’ Claire and I both shuddered. ‘I couldn’t cope with that, poor Connie.’

‘Anyway, time to rebuild. I might have been married for sixteen years but it’s time for me to look to the future. And to ensure that my little girl, who isn’t so little, isn’t too badly damaged by all this.’ She spoke with purpose.

‘Did Connie get on OK at school?’

‘She seemed happy enough. It’s very difficult because she’s used to her very nice international school. I think it’s a bit different from a comprehensive in London. I did think about trying to make my ex pay for private school but the fees are eye-watering, even for him, so I decided to trythis first. If she’s unhappy, though, I would find the money somehow, or I would make him pay. I should make him pay.’

‘Hey, we’re not going to talk about him, remember. Positive. Aleksy will make sure Connie’s OK at school, you have a job, your ex is a…a word I shouldn’t use and, one day soon, you’ll see there’s a future.’

‘Gosh, Claire, I’ll say it again: we were so lucky to move next door to you.’

‘Meow!’ I said.

‘And Alfie of course.’ Claire winked.

‘Oh for goodness sake, Claire, give it a rest,’ Jonathan said later as they were in bed.

‘What?’ she asked. ‘I just asked if you knew anyone.’

One of my skills is matchmaking. I bring people together, both romantically and in friendship, and Claire has learnt from me. She is an enthusiastic student.

‘The last time I set one of your friends up with mine she ended up moving to Dubai.’ He was talking about Claire’s best friend Tasha, who was also a very good friend of mine. We both still miss her.

‘OK, yes, but I just thought it might help Sylvie get settled if she had a bit of a social life.’

‘I agree, but she’s probably not ready for a man yet, she’s been through a huge upheaval, Claire, and I think the best thing is for us to offer friendship. Honestly, not every woman needs a man.’ Jonathan shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I actually said that. I almost sound like a feminist.’

I grinned, Jonathan wasn’t exactly a ‘new man’. He said he tried it but he liked being lazy and looked after. I had to agree with him. I respected women, as did Jonathan, but I didn’t mind if they liked taking care of me. Although I took care of everyone, so I might have been a ‘new cat’ after all.

‘Hell will freeze over before you’re a feminist. But, OK. For now,’ Claire said. I did agree with Jonathan, Sylvie didn’t seem ready for a new relationship at all. But friendship was good.

I fell asleep thinking about that. How Sylvie went from happy to sad in an instant, the way Claire had when she first moved here. I understood, I really did, she wanted to move on with her life, but it was never that easy. I had been there myself. I had lost people I loved, lots of them, and I’d been through my fair share of heartache, so when I saw Sylvie, I understood how she was feeling as if I could see right into her heart.

Chapter Seven

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It seemed like ages before I actually got a chance to see Hana properly. I cased the house, looking for a way to break in, because it was clear that Hana wasn’t going to be coming out. When my old girlfriend, Snowball, lived in the house they didn’t have a cat flap, but if the family were all out, they would leave a window open in the kitchen for her to come and go as she pleased. Otherwise she would wait at the glass doors to be let out and in. It worked well for her, although I preferred the freedom of a cat flap and I also found that having to climb on windowsills could be a bit tiresome. As Hana was a house cat, there was not only no cat flap but also, as it was cold, no windows appeared to be open. It was frustrating me, and the more I found I couldn’t get in, the more I wanted to.

This morning, George had refused to go out as it was raining hard, and he suddenly decided to develop an aversion, so I decided I would take the opportunity of knowing he was safe at home and go and see if I could find a way in. The rain seemed to cling to my fur as I made my way round the back of the house, but there I struck gold, or maybe silver, as one of the kitchen windows was slightly open. Unfortunately it was a small, narrow, high-up one, but I was determined. I jumped onto the windowsill– so far so good – and then I made an attempt to jump for the window. My first one failed; it was higher than it looked. I rebalanced myself and tried again. This time I managed to hook my paws over the open window and, with great effort, pulled myself up. It was only open a bit and I soon found the gap was narrower than it looked. I began to squeeze my way through it and soon realised that perhaps I had misjudged. I was about half way through, but my bottom was a bit stuck as I wiggled and squirmed and regretted eating quite so much breakfast.

‘Yowl,’ I cried out in frustration as my body moved only a tiny bit at a time; at this rate I’d be here all day.

‘What are you doing?’ a voice said. I looked down and saw Hana on the floor, looking quizzically at me.

‘Oh hi, I’m Alfie, your next-door neighbour, and I’ve been wanting to come and welcome you to Edgar Road. But it hasn’t been easy as you don’t go out by all accounts, and so I thought I would have to come in. And that’s what I am trying to do.’ It wasn’t the introduction I had envisaged.

Hana hopped onto the kitchen counter. She was even prettier close up, with sweet light green eyes. I had never seen a cat quite like her and I also really would have liked her and George to become friends. She would make a great companion for him; he didn’t have anyone his own age in Edgar Road.

‘That’s nice, I haven’t met another cat before,’ she said, looking at me with interest.

‘What, really? Never?’ I couldn’t believe it as I gave my bottom another wiggle.

‘No, well I must have done when I was born, not that I remember, but then I came to live with my family, in Japan, and I didn’t get to go out, and no cat ever came to visit me like you’re trying to do.’ She was sweet and warm, if a little bit confused. ‘I always had lots of humans to playwith though, so that was nice,’ she added.

‘We have many friends on this street. Honestly, if you did go out you might like it,’ I said. Huffing a bit as I tried to squeeze myself to a smaller size.

‘I don’t know if I’d even be allowed. Anyway, it’s very nice to meet you.’

‘How did you get here?’ I asked. I felt myself easing forward a bit, I was making progress, thankfully.

‘I was in a carrier and we went on an aeroplane. Connie, my human, she said it was like a giant bird that flew in the sky. I had to go into a special place but slept mostly and then suddenly – well, it wasn’t sudden, it was a very long time – we were here and then I had to have a check-up with a vet before I was reunited with my family.’

‘It sounds exhausting.’ I wondered if I would ever get to go on the giant bird, but it was doubtful. When we went on holiday it was always to our house in Devon and we went in the car.

‘It was a very long time and I did feel a bit strange for a few days, but then that might be because we moved so far. The man of my family, he didn’t want them to bring me but Connie refused to leave Japan without me, which I am thankful for, as I love her very much. I miss my home, but I thinkI would miss Connie more.’

I was going to reply when, with a final squeeze, I found myself almost sliding through the window. In my surprise I ended up falling, landing on my tail, in the kitchen sink.

‘Ow,’ I said, trying to regain my composure and thankful that the sink was empty. ‘Oh well, at least I’m in.’ Always look on the bright side, that’s my motto.

‘Um, yes but I’m not sure how you’re going to get out again.’ I turned my head to where Hana was looking and saw that not only had I managed to get through the window but I’d somehow knocked it closed. Not that I would have had the energy to get back out that way again in any case, but still it did leave me with something of a problem.

I would like to say that this hadn’t happened to me before but that wouldn’t be true. I had been known to get trapped in places on occasion – especially cupboards. But I couldn’t worry about that right now, I was here, in front of Hana, and I wanted to make a new friend.

‘Why don’t you give me a tour of the house?’ I asked, thinking I would come up with a plan to get out later. After all, I was a cat who was known for being very good at plans.

By lunchtime, I was beginning to panic. Although spending time with Hana had been pleasant and we had managed to cover quite a lot of ground. Not only had I toured her entire house, but I’d explained all about Edgar Road. I told her about George, who I thought would make an excellent playmate for her, and she told me all about Japan, specifically her house in Japan, and the strange language they spoke, the raw fish she ate, and how happy her family had been. Since coming to London they had all been very sad – which I knew of course. But Connie was trying hard to get used to it, as she didn’t want her mum to worry, and vice versa. Hana was the confidante of both her humans the way I was with all of mine. She listened to Connie before she went to sleep and then had late-night chats with Sylvie. It kept her very busy.

‘What about the husband/father?’

‘Oh yes, you see I thought he was lovely,’ Hana said as we stood in Connie’s bedroom. It was painted a bright yellow, and she had put big pictures of pop stars on the wall. There were lots of photos of her and other girls on a pin-board – they were her friends in Japan, Hana said, which wasone of the reasons she was upset; she missed them. I understood all about that. ‘But then one day he said to Sylvie that he was in love with someone else, and that he wanted a divorce. Sylvie was so devastated, she still is, and I don’t think she’s coping as well as it seems.’

‘It’s very sad,’ I said. Then I turned my attention back to the problem at hand. ‘But you know, if I don’t go soon, George might start worrying about me.’

‘I feel terrible, you came around to make me feel welcome and now you’re stuck.’

‘Oh no, I’m still glad I met you, I just wish you could come out, and then you could meet the others, our cat friends.’ That would be my next plan. As soon as I came up with one to get myself out of her house, I would come up with a way of getting Hana out of the house too.

We both looked around for any sign of being able to leave, but it was hopeless. There were no windows open, or anything that I could use to get outside. As I was beginning to despair we heard a sound, like a key in the door.

‘That’s the front door,’ Hana said and we both bounded towards it. The door opened and I saw my chance. Without hesitation I ran as fast as I could through Connie’s legs and outside. It was only when I was on the front path that I stopped, turned around and saw that Connie and Aleksy were both looking at me with bemusement.

‘How did Alfie get in here?’ Connie asked. ‘Hana, are you OK?’ I took offence at that, what did she mean? What did she think I had done to her?

Hana mewed, softly. I hadn’t even stopped to say goodbye to her but I raised my whiskers and she raised hers back.

‘I’m sure he was just being friendly and, after all, Alfie is one clever cat, he would have found a way,’ Aleksy replied, and I bounded off to get home to George, as they closed the front door. Not feeling that clever – after all, it had taken hours to get out.

When I told George all about my adventures next door, he went into a sulk because I hadn’t taken him with me. When I reminded him of his refusal to go out because of the rain, he still took umbrage. I promised him the next time I would take him with me but of course I wasn’t sure how there would be a next time. After the hazard of getting in and out, it just might not happen. I wasn’t ready to cope with that again.

It was only much later, when I was alone, about to take a short nap, that I thought about it all again and realised I hadn’t stopped to wonder what on earth Aleksy and Connie were doing at her house in the middle of the day. Weren’t they both supposed to be at school?

Chapter Eight

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Word about my visit to Hana got around quickly. I was surprised. I had thought that if Connie told her mum she would have had to explain not being at school, but that only goes to show how wrong I was. It turned out Connie had gone home at lunchtime because she’d forgotten one of her text books. She obviously hadn’t mentioned Aleksy, because when Claire was telling Jonathan, in front of me, his name didn’t crop up.

‘Did Sylvie mind about our mad cat being in her house?’ Jonathan asked. I waved my tail, I wasn’t mad.

‘She was a bit surprised at first but when I explained that Alfie always liked to make friends with other cats she didn’t seem too upset. She said she always worried about Hana being bored, she wasn’t alone very often in Japan.’

‘Maybe we can persuade her to put a cat flap in so Alfie can visit more often,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Yelp!’ I jumped onto his lap; that was a very good idea.

‘Alfie, I think Jon was joking,’ Claire giggled. ‘Anyway, I invited her to lunch on Sunday at the restaurant. I checked with Frankie and she didn’t mind.’

‘Great. Hopefully she’ll start to settle in a bit more.’

I was excited at the news. Not that Sylvie and Connie were joining us, although that was nice, but mainly about the fact that we were having lunch at the restaurant. It would give George and I a chance to catch up with Dustbin, the restaurant cat who was a very, very good friend. He lived outside and was a bit feral, but he liked it that way, and he might have been rough around the edges but he had a heart of gold. I hadn’t seen him for a bit, probably because life in Edgar Road was keeping me busy, so we were due a visit.

In the meantime I had to find Tiger. She was still being a bit elusive of late, and I did want to see her. I missed her. George had seen more of her than I had, but that was because he went into her house. I wouldn’t go because if I got caught by her owners they threw me out. They didn’t mind George quite as much, but nor were they laying out the red carpet to welcome him either. He assured me she was fine but I still wanted to see for myself.

I went to Tiger’s house and nudged the cat flap. As I waited on the doorstep I was anxious, but Tiger appeared after a short time.

‘Hi stranger,’ I said.

‘Don’t start,’ she replied, giving me a quick nuzzle. ‘I’ve had my family all keeping me in, it was to do with the vet. I thought I was fine but it turned out I had some kind of infection, and I had to take some medicine, which is why I haven’t been out. It’s all gone now and I’m allowed out again.’

‘But George said you were staying in because of the weather.’

‘I didn’t want him to worry, or you. I was only allowed dry biscuits to eat for days, can you imagine?’

‘No, frankly I can’t. But you say you’re all better?’

‘Yes. The tablets, which my family thought they were being very clever in hiding in small bits of chicken – which I ate because it was the only respite from the biscuits – have all gone, and that means I am back to normal.’ She grinned.

‘Oh thank goodness.’

‘You know, Alfie, you worry too much. Tell me, what’s been going on in the world while I’ve been stuck in.’

‘Walk with me and I will do.’ I grinned. It hit me how much I’d missed her. I was a softy after all.

As we took a stroll, I told her about Hana and being stuck in the house.

‘It’s a shame, you know, she’d make a perfect companion for George,’ I said, not for the first time.

‘Stop trying to matchmake, Alfie,’ she replied. ‘George will make his own friends.’

‘I know, I was just saying, they aren’t that far apart in age and she’s lived a very sheltered life.’

‘That sounds like an understatement,’ Tiger pointed out. One of the many things I loved about her was the fact that she paid such good attention to everything I told her.

‘Yes, right, so I thought her sweetness would be great for George. Anyway, I don’t see it happening, she doesn’t go out and there isn’t an easy way for us to get in …’

‘Don’t tell me you’re going to give up that easily.’ We both stopped and I looked at her. She knew me so well.

‘Of course not,’ I replied, with a grin.

When I got home, feeling lighter than I had for a while, probably because of seeing with my own eyes that Tiger was fine, Claire was at the kitchen table with Polly and Sylvie. After establishing that George was outside, playing in the small back garden, I joined them, sitting myself on Polly’s lap and enjoying the sensation as she ran her fingers lightly through my fur.

‘So, the job is good?’ Polly asked. She had a big bag with her, which meant she had been working herself. She was an interior designer and although she tried to work part-time she could sometimes find herself very busy. Luckily, Claire was always able to help out with the kids if necessary, that was how we all did things on Edgar Road.

‘Yes, it’s strange though. I haven’t had a “job” since we moved overseas.’

‘That’s a long time to be out of the workplace,’ Polly said.

‘It is. And, you know, getting out of the house is good, the hours aren’t too long so I can be there for Connie…Not that she seems to want me to be.’ Her brow wrinkled.

‘Is everything OK?’ Polly asked.

‘If you ask Connie, it is. She says she likes school, she’s getting good grades already, she even has a sleepover with a couple of friends on Friday, so it seems she’s settled in pretty well. But, well, she’s very quiet and when I try to talk to her she gives me one-word answers, then makesany excuse she can to be in her bedroom with her phone or iPad.’

‘I think, from what Frankie says about Aleksy, that that is being a teenager,’ Claire laughed.

‘I hope so. I know it sounds strange but it’s like she’s gone from being this chatty little girl who loved to tell me about her day, who seemed to love me, to someone who acts as if I am torturing her by asking her if she’s alright and can barely stand the sight of me. I’m worried that she’s just putting a brave face on everything.’

‘Does she speak to your ex?’ Polly asked, gently.

‘Yes, he Skypes, or FaceTimes her a couple of times a week, and she’s pretty surly with him, but of course he doesn’t have to deal with her moods on a daily basis.’

‘Listen, I honestly think it’s just the big upheaval, but hey, you said she’s doing well at school?’ Claire said. Sylvie nodded. ‘She’s not got an eating disorder or a drug problem?’

‘Oh God, I hope not. No, she still seems to eat like a horse and she isn’t losing weight. I’m pretty sure she’s not on drugs,’ Sylvie replied with a slight grin.

‘Right, as far as I can tell that means you’re winning parenting her. I said the same to Frankie about Aleksy. He’s the sweetest kid, always has been, sensitive, caring, but he has started acting as if he’s a bit too cool for all of us, especially his parents.’

‘Meow!’ I shouted.

‘OK, apart from Alfie then.’ The three of them laughed.

‘Actually, even Alfie at times,’ Polly whispered but I heard and narrowed my eyes at her.

‘I need to stop worrying so much,’ Sylvie said.

‘Yes. My dad, he was a social worker and pretty good with children and teens, he told me that he got through me and my brother’s teenage hormonal phase by not pushing us too much. He said he gave us space and one day we started being pleasant again,’ Claire explained.

‘Oh God, I was a nightmare,’ Polly said. ‘I drank, smoked and was boy crazy, but then I started modelling when I was fifteen so I guess that explained it a bit.’

‘Was modelling a bit wild?’ Sylvie asked.

‘Yes, it was, but after a while I rebelled against the bad behaviour.’

‘Oh God, you know also, we didn’t have all the pressure of social media when we were growing up,’ Claire pointed out.

‘I know, I didn’t want Connie to have any, but she said that she didn’t want to be the only girl at school without Snapachat or whatever, so I had to give in. I can’t make her feel different, that’s the worst when you’re a teenager.’

‘Trust her – as much as you can anyway. She seems pretty good to me,’ Polly said, giving Sylvie’s hand a pat.

‘Meow,’ I said again. Polly was pretty good as well, all my women were.

‘I will do my best to give her space, but I can’t help worrying.’ Sylvie’s brow was furrowed.

‘None of us can, really,’ Polly agreed.

‘Meow,’ I thirded. That was what us parents did best: worry.

Chapter Nine

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‘The cats are coming?’ Sylvie asked as we all set out to lunch on Sunday.

‘Yowl,’ I replied. Of course we were.

‘You’ll soon learn that our cats go pretty much everywhere with us,’ Claire explained, as if it was perfectly normal. Over time, I have learnt that it’s not. Dogs, they go to many places with humans, cats not so much. But for George and I things were different. And we liked it that way.

‘It makes me feel sorry for Hana,’ Connie said. She wasn’t being surly at all today, she had a big smile on her face. She really was very pretty, a bit like her cat; they matched. ‘You know, at home on her own so much of the time.’

‘Meow,’ I said. Good, it seemed the seed had been planted.

‘Yes, but darling, Hana doesn’t go out, I’m not sure she’d cope very well.’ Sylvie sounded worried.

‘I know, but seeing the freedom Alfie and George have, well it got me thinking. I really am worried that she’s lonely here.’

‘Ah, well maybe we’ll get her a treat later, some fish maybe, just in case.’ Sylvie gave Connie’s shoulder a squeeze. That wasn’t what I had in mind.

George and I kept up with the humans, although at one point Toby picked George up and carried him for a while. No one thought to offer me a lift. But Franceska and Tomasz didn’t live far away, so it wasn’t so bad. I was used to the journey, it was one of my regular routes.

The family used to live in the flat above the restaurant, which was nice but small, so when Tomasz became more successful and the boys got bigger they bought the house next door. They still had the flat, but a couple of the members of staff lived there. Thankfully they’d knocked down the back wall so the yard to the restaurant and the house was adjoining, which meant when George and I stayed with them – which we did if Claire and Jonathan and the children went away without us – I could see Dustbin whenever I wanted.

‘Hello, welcome,’ Tomasz said, standing at the door, and scooping me up as he ushered everyone in. They had a rule that the place was always closed on Sundays, to make sure everyone could have a day off, so when we had family day here we had the place to ourselves. As hugs and kisses were exchanged, Toby and Henry went to find the boys, Martha and Summer took their dolls over to the table which had been set for the children, whilst the adults all chatted and sorted out drinks. Connie stood, looking slightly awkward, but as soon as Aleksy spotted her he bounded over. I was offended that hedidn’t even say hello to me.

‘Let’s go and find Dustbin,’ I said to George, affronted, and we made our way through the kitchen – where we normally weren’t allowed – to the backyard.

‘I heard you were coming,’ Dustbin said as he greeted us affectionately.

‘Hi, how are you?’ I asked, pleased to see my very good friend.

‘Yeah, not bad. Got a few mice yesterday, the blighters keep coming back for more, it’s like they never learn.’ He gave his head a small shake.

I shuddered, I hated all talk of hunting. In fact for a cat I was a pretty poor hunter. I had done it out of necessity, when I was homeless, in order to survive, but I didn’t like it and since becoming so pampered I had lost my knack. George showed an interest in it, disappointingly, but more for the thrill of the chase than anything. I tried to discourage it but it was his instinct, so I had to accept that.

‘Dustbin, can we go and find some mice?’ George asked, looking hopeful.

‘Maybe later, lad. They’ve all scarpered for now.’ He gave me a ‘look’ and I thanked him silently.

‘Anyway, they’ll be bringing us some lunch soon,’ I said. When we visited it was the only time we ever ate outside because Dustbin didn’t like to come inside. Which reminded me to tell him about Hana.

‘Well, I never heard such a thing. A cat who doesn’t go out? I wouldn’t like that.’

‘But if you didn’t know any different you might,’ George said, sagely. He was a chip off the old block.

‘True, George, true. And what suits some cats doesn’t suit others, eh Alfie?’ I nodded my agreement. ‘Anyway, Alfie, you might want to know this: Franceska was on the phone out here last night, talking to one of your ladies no doubt, and she said she was worried about Aleksy.’

‘Oh no, what about?’ My fur stood on end. I couldn’t bear it if anything was wrong with my Aleksy.

‘He’s acting all secretive apparently, home late from school, spending all his time in his bedroom on his phone, only coming out for meals – and you know how close he and Tommy were. Well, apparently he basically ignores his little brother, these days.’

‘Oh,’ I said, a bit relieved. ‘I know what this is, the women were talking about it the other day: hormones. All teenagers get it, it’s like an illness I think, you know, makes you not a very nice person for a while, but they all said it passes eventually.’

‘That’s good to know. Poor Franceska’s very upset, she misses how close she and Aleksy used to be.’ It was the same conversation that Polly and Claire had with Sylvie.

‘Thanks Dustbin, and I will keep an eye on things, but our new next-door neighbour, Connie, is suffering from it too. Thank goodness us cats don’t get it,’ I said, raising my whiskers at George.

‘Oh no, we are just lovely and fun and sweet all the time,’ George said as he pounced on a mouse which seemed to appear from thin air.

‘Good catch,’ Dustbin said, proudly. I shook my tail. I bet the mouse didn’t think George was sweet.

We dined on sardines and as always it was delicious. We had a very pleasant time with Dustbin before we left him to go back to our families. In truth I was cold, chilled to my bones actually, and George was tired. Dustbin didn’t seem to get either cold or tired, he was a super-cat. As we said a reluctant goodbye to him, I said I’d see him soon. I would put visiting more often on my to-do list.

Back inside, I began to warm up as I let the human chatter wash over my fur. A good meal had been eaten, dishes were piled up, but Franceska and Tomasz refused to let anyone clear up, saying they would do it when everyone had gone home. The children were playing in one part of the restaurant; Tommy had set up an elaborate obstacle course and the younger children were enjoying it, along with George who quickly joined in, easily shedding his tiredness, it seemed. Aleksy and Connie were watching them, but set apart from the others. Both had phones in their hands. They were talking though, laughing, and they seemed happy. The adults were enjoying drinks, and talk turned to Christmas.

‘I have so much to do,’ Franceska was saying. ‘Not only for the boys but for work too.’

‘I know, but I love Christmas.’ Claire sounded dreamy.

‘It costs a fortune,’ Jonathan huffed.

‘Bah humbug,’ Matt teased.

‘It’s going to be nice this year, all together,’ Tomasz said, then the table fell silent.

‘Are you staying in London for Christmas?’ Claire asked Sylvie.

‘Yes, I think so. My sister has invited us to go away with them, but well, Connie and I aren’t used to being here yet, so I think staying might be best. I just don’t …’ Her voice cracked and I went to rub her legs. ‘I haven’t really thought about it,’ she said. Then she tried to smile.

‘You must come to us,’ Claire suggested.

‘Only if you want to, of course,’ Jonathan quickly added.

‘We’re all having lunch together, it’ll be loads of fun,’ Polly said.

‘Well, I hate to impose.’ Sylvie sounded uncertain.

‘Why would you be imposing? The more the merrier I say,’ Matt said.

‘And you can bring something,’ Franceska added. ‘Claire and Jonathan will do the turkey, we will bring potatoes and vegetables, Polly brings pudding.’

‘That doesn’t really leave much,’ Claire pointed out.

‘I’ll bring champagne,’ Sylvie said. ‘How about that?’

‘Well we never say no to champagne,’ Polly laughed. She was right, they didn’t. They didn’t say no to wine either, to be frank.

‘Great, that’s settled,’ Tomasz said. ‘We’ll have a proper traditional Christmas.’

‘An Edgar Road family Christmas,’ Jonathan added.

‘Let’s drink to that,’ Claire said and I licked my lips. I was thinking already about turkey and all the lovely leftovers that George and I would be treated to. I really did love Christmas, it’s my favourite time of the year.

Chapter Ten

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Never one to give up, I had found a way of introducing George to Hana. We both stood at her patio door and we had a conversation through the glass. We had to shout and sometimes words got a bit lost, but it was better than nothing. And Hana said she looked forward to our visits– well, I think that’s what she said, we couldn’t be sure. We’d started going round to see her most days. Remembering how Connie was worried she was lonely and bored, we took it upon ourselves to make sure she wasn’t.

‘Why don’t you try to come out?’ George asked.

‘I don’t know how, or if I’ll like it,’ Hana said. ‘And after watching Alfie get stuck in the window …’

The only window in the house that was ever open– and not always – was the one I had squeezed through. I wasn’t sure Hana, having never gone out, would be up to it. After all, it had nearly defeated me, a far more experienced cat.

‘Maybe one day I can come in and see you?’ George said but Hana obviously didn’t hear. Instead, she squinted at him.

‘What does “comtinbeya” mean?’

I sat back a bit and let them continue the conversation. I was right, George and Hana seemed to have hit it off, even in this unorthodox way. As I listened I marvelled at Hana’s nature. She was always sunny it seemed, she never complained, although to my thinking she had a lot to complain about. Her family were unhappy still. Although Sylvie put a brave face on when she visited my humans, she was still crying most nights and not coping as well as she was pretending to. Sylvie would let her tears drop onto Hana’s fur and Hana would try to comfort her, but she didn’t know what to do. And Connie was still being quiet and solitary. She barely spent time with her mum, despite Sylvie trying very hard. She spent most of her time in her room, on her phone, and Hana didn’t know what was going on there either. George told her Aleksy was the same and we all hoped it was just this illness known as ‘teenage hormones’, and that it would soon pass.

But although it seemed that Hana had a lot on her plate, she never complained, not even that she was stuck in the house alone for most of the day, and I thought we could all take a lesson from her.

‘It is nice that you come and see me,’ she said, or shouted, as we got ready to go home for lunch. ‘It does brighten up the day.’

‘One day you will come out with me,’ George said, confidently.

‘I don’t know about that.’ Her eyes widened. ‘But maybe one day you can come in. If they ever leave the bigger window open …’ We all glanced at the closed windows.

We bid her farewell, she put her paw up on the door, and George and I matched it on our side, before we set off back next door.

‘You know, if I was ever going to fall for a girl again I would probably fall for Hana,’ George said, sweetly.

‘And if you hadn’t sworn off them forever then I would probably give you my blessing,’ I replied with a grin.

I did have one resolution though. I’d heard it said that no one should be alone on Christmas Day, it was something I’d learnt throughout life and I didn’t want that for Hana either. If her family was spending the day with us, then she would too. I just had to figure out how.

After lunch I put my thoughts of Hana aside as I had to go and find Tiger. I had ignored it for the past few days, but I had growing niggling doubts about her. I had barely seen her since she’d told me she was fully recovered from her illness. Even George was complaining that he hadn’t been able to find her. The other Edgar Road cats had also noticed that she was acting out of character. Not only was she barely around, but when she was she was quiet and not her normal feisty self. She hadn’t even bothered to be rude to Salmon the other day. I had a bad feeling, and was pretty sure something wasn’t quite right. I could feel it in my fur.

So, without drawing George’s attention to it, I needed to go and sort it out once and for all. I was quite a perceptive cat and my intuition said that all was not well, and for once I refused to be fobbed off. If Tiger wasn’t wanting to spend time with me any more then she had to tell me. But she couldn’t do that to George; he thought she was his mum and that was a relationship that you didn’t get to walk away from. Or you shouldn’t get to walk away from anyway. I went from worried to angry and back to worried again. I really did need to get to the bottom of this.

George had gone out, saying he had things to do. He really didn’t but I went along with it. However, I was grateful, as I wanted to confront Tiger on her own. I wasn’t going to let her wriggle her way out of this one.

I bashed on the cat flap and waited. It seemed to take a long time, so I bashed again. Eventually she appeared and as she came through the small door my first reaction was shock. She looked thinner than the last time I saw her.

Tiger had been a bit chunky when we first met; she liked her food and she was lazy but I had introduced her to the joy of exercise and she’d slimmed down, but even so the cat in front of me looked as if she was mainly skin and bones. I wondered how long it had been since I last saw her, maybe a week. How did she get to be like this in a week?

‘Tiger,’ I said simply. I found my voice choking. I missed her, my boy missed her. We were a family.

‘I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, Alfie,’ she said. ‘But you know, I’m not exactly looking my best,’ she tried to joke, but it fell flat between us.

‘What’s going on? I need to know, not just for me but for George too. He misses you and he’s only young. And you look terrible.’

‘Thank you.’

‘You know what I mean,’ I corrected.

‘I don’t know how to tell you.’ Her voice became sad. ‘I’ve been avoiding you, both of you.’

‘What, have you met someone else?’ I asked. It would explain the weight loss. Claire said she always lost weight when she first fell in love. Tiger narrowed her eyes at me.

‘God, you are ridiculous sometimes, Alfie. No, I haven’t met anyone else,’ she snapped.

‘Then what?’ My heart was beating right out of my body and my legs had turned to jelly. I sat down.

‘I lied to you. When I went to the vet I wasn’t just having a check-up, I wasn’t feeling too good. I’ve been feeling tired for ages, and I’ve been struggling to eat, and they ran loads of tests. I did have some tablets, like I told you, and I did feel a bit better for a while, but there’s bad news, Alfie.’

‘No,’ I said, but then I reasoned that she could get more tablets. It might just take longer than she first thought. Poor Tiger, all that dried food though.

‘I, I thought if I carried on as normal it might just resolve itself but it isn’t going to. I’m tired all the time, I can barely get to the end of the garden let alone the street. Alfie, my family were talking and I don’t have long left.’

‘What do you mean?’ I felt a chill in my fur. My heart sunk into my paws.

‘I’m dying, Alfie. I’m so, so, sorry but I’m not going to be here much longer.’

‘No, that’s not possible.’ I couldn’t even comprehend what she was saying.

‘Alfie, it’s true, I’m not going to get better and I don’t have long left.’ I blinked. She sounded so matter of fact about it.

‘I can’t, I can’t …’ Words failed me.

‘Oh Alfie, I’ve been trying to come to terms with it, you know, but it’s so hard. I don’t want to leave you, I certainly don’t want to leave George. I love life but it’s quickly slipping out of me and there’s nothing we can do. I have to accept it and unfortunately that means you do too.’

‘Surely there must be something someone can do. The vet, another vet? I could make a plan—’

‘We’ve exhausted everything. My family are sad which is heartbreaking. They are old and they’ve had me since I was a kitten, they say they’re going to be lost without me.’

‘I’m going to be lost without you,’ I said, selfishly.

‘I know. But you know, you have great families, you have great friends, and you have George.’

I shuddered as the thought hit me square between the eyes.

‘How are we going to tell George?’

‘I don’t know.’ I saw Tiger falter then. She had been so strong when she spoke, composed, but not any more.

‘We’ll tell him together,’ I said. ‘But not today, not yet, I need to let it sink in too. It doesn’t feel real.’

‘No, I understand, it’s taken me a while and I still wake up and forget.’ We both looked up at the grey sky. A lone bird flew overhead, the wind whistled, the clouds threatened to unleash some rain. And next to me was Tiger, my love, my best friend, the cat who, next to George, meant most to me in the world and I was losing her. I knew as I looked at her, trying to remember every stripe in her fur, every speck of colour in her eyes, that I would have to say goodbye, and I felt as if part of me was dying too.

I have had more than my fair share of goodbyes in my life. When I was younger and lived with Margaret I had to say goodbye to Agnes, my sister cat, who was much older than me and died. That was hard, but then Margaret died, which was even worse as it rendered me homeless. I had to say goodbye to Snowball, although she didn’t die, but I knew I would never see her again. I had to say goodbye to Tasha and her son Elijah when they moved to Dubai, although I did expect to see them again sometime. I have said goodbye, in my words and heart, many, many times and, you know what, as I looked at Tiger and committed every inch of her to my memory, I realised that it didn’t get any easier. Saying goodbye never got any easier.

Chapter Eleven

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It was hard to tear myself away from Tiger, but she needed to rest. While I was with her, she was still my Tiger, she was still here. I knew the minute I was alone, thinking about losing her, I would fall apart. And we still had the problem of George to contend with. My poor boy. My heart was breaking for me but, more than that, it was breaking for him. His first taste of loss was going to be one of the worst, and I wished with all that I was that I could protect him from it. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t protect either of us from this one.

I’d discovered a lot since becoming a parent but this was another level. I knew that not only could I not protect him from Tiger dying, I couldn’t stop the devastation he was going to feel. There was a terrible feeling of hopelessness, there was literally not a thing I could do. For a cat who believed there was a solution to all problems, knowing that there was nothing any of us could do to stop this was horrific. It was the worst feeling ever.

I wanted to wallow, of course I did. I wanted to lie in my bed and cry, and yelp and brood and feel sorry for myself but I couldn’t. Until we told George, which we hoped to do the following day, I had to put a brave face on. I licked my whiskers, and prepared to act as if everything was alright, when in fact at the moment it was exactly the opposite.

George came home just after me.

‘Where were you?’ I asked, hoping my voice sounded normal.

‘I went to see Rocky and he and I chased around a bit then I went to see Hana, who was very pleased to see me in fact,’ he said proudly.

‘I bet she was. Did you have a nice time?’

‘Yes. Dad, your voice sounds funny.’

‘I might have a bit of a furball,’ I said, hoping he would believe me. He nodded and seemed to accept it.

‘Anyway, I want to tell you that there is trouble next door,’ George said.

My ears pricked up. Trouble? Not more, not today. All my energy was going into trying to stay calm, to not fall apart, I had nothing left for trouble.

‘Hana said that Sylvie and Connie had a big row last night. It seems that Connie has been seeing a boy, whatever that means, and Sylvie said she was too young and it had to stop.’

‘Do you mean she’s got a boyfriend?’ I asked. I had learnt a lot about the complexities of human relationships in my time. We cats had relationships but we were far more sensible about it. Though not always, I admitted, thinking of George’s first crush. There was nothing sensible about that.

‘I think so. Hana said that Sylvie was so angry and Connie said she hated her mum, before storming off. Apparently Sylvie took her phone away from her.’

‘Gosh,’ I said, thinking of Aleksy. ‘To a teenager that’s like chopping off one of their limbs.’

‘Well, she couldn’t see what was on the phone as it was locked and Connie refused to unlock it for her. She even threatened to call her dad.’

‘Who, Sylvie or Connie?’

‘Sylvie. Then Connie shouted that her dad didn’t care about her, so to go ahead and she stormed upstairs and slammed her bedroom door, so even Hana couldn’t go and see if she was alright.’

‘Well I’m sure they’ll sort it out, parents often row with their teenagers,’ I said, thoughts of Tiger weighing heavily on me. ‘But if they need help we’re here,’ I added, as brightly as I could.

‘That’s exactly what I said, Dad.’

I tried not to think about Tiger, and how much losing her was going to affect us all, but as I looked at my lovely boy, it was, in fact, all I could think about.

George was playing with Summer and Toby when Franceska called round. She was on her own and Claire let her in, giving her a warm hug. I rubbed her legs, Franceska was one of my favourite people. She was so calm and loving normally but today she didn’t look it.

‘You don’t mind me dropping in?’ she asked, chewing her lip anxiously.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Frankie, you’re family. Anyway, what’s up? You look worried.’

‘I am stressed. Tomasz is off early today so he’s with the boys, and I had to get out. My Aleksy, my lovely, sweet, sensitive boy, has turned into a monster and I don’t know what to do with him.’

‘OK, first wine, then tell me everything.’ Claire poured out two very large glasses and they sat at the kitchen table. I was just wondering if there was something in the air – just as everything seemed tranquil in my life a bulldozer came and disturbed it, all of it. I was trying to focus on what Frankie was saying and I was worried, of course I was, but my head was so full of thoughts of Tiger, I was struggling to follow.

‘He just doesn’t talk to me any more. I’ve said it so many times but now we’ve had a big row. I asked him about school, he didn’t look at me and said, “Fine”, and I got angry, shouted at him that I was his mum not a stranger and he needed to talk to me. I said I cook and clean and buyhis clothes and he shows me no respect. Even Tomasz intervened and told me to calm down which is why I am here. I think he threw me out!’ She started laughing and then she started crying. Claire leant over to give her a hug.

‘Frankie, you never get angry,’ she said, which was for the most part true.

‘I know, but you know he’s so infuriating. I know everyone says it’s just a phase and he’ll grow out of it, but I miss my boy.’

‘I know, I’m dreading it when mine grow up, I can see how hard it is. Aleksy is changing and it’s confusing. He probably has temporarily forgotten how to speak to adults. He’s discovering girls and trying to find his place, being a teenager, trying to fit in, can be really hard too.’

‘I know and I am pushing it, which is wrong. Tommy is still so much fun, I guess that just makes me miss Aleksy more. And also then I worry Tommy is going to be like him soon and I can’t have two of them ignoring me in my own home.’

‘You have to try to give him space, and Sylvie is going through the same.’

‘Yes, but with Connie I understand it more. She’s had to leave her home country, her friends and her dad and start again, right at the wrong age, but Aleksy, well nothing has changed for him, or nothing major.’

‘I know, I feel so bad for Connie but then I also feel bad for Sylvie because she’s struggling too.’

‘Oh goodness, I am such a foolish.’ Franceska’s English was perfect but sometimes, when she got stressed, she got her words a bit muddled. ‘I have Tomasz, who is amazing, I have the restaurants, which are all great, and I have Tommy. And one day I will get my Aleksy back. I should be counting my blessings, not moaning.’

‘That’s not what I meant but when you put it like that,’ Claire laughed. ‘You know Aleksy is so handsome and clever, and he’s kind, he’ll find his way back to you.’

‘Oh Claire, how do you always know to say the right thing?’

‘Meow.’ I had taught her well.

Franceska helped Claire get the children ready for bed and was about to leave when Jonathan came home.

‘Hey ladies,’ he said kissing Claire and giving Franceska a hug. ‘How are we?’

‘Good, and about to leave,’ Franceska replied. ‘You know, before Tomasz sends out a search party. Thank you again, Claire,’ she said, as she kissed her cheek, then she petted me before going.

‘What was she thanking you for?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Oh, she’s worried about Aleksy. You know, the terrible teenager.’

‘Yeah, Tomasz mentioned it. If you ask me he’s discovered girls.’

‘I did think that. Do you think he’s got a girlfriend? He’s only fourteen after all.’

‘Fourteen, going on twenty. They start young these days.’

‘You won’t be saying that about Summer,’ Claire pointed out.

‘No, I’m locking her in the house until she’s thirty,’ Jonathan said, and I wasn’t sure if he was actually joking or not.

But, later, when I was in bed, I got to thinking. Yes, I was consumed with thoughts of my beloved Tiger and how on earth I would cope with losing her, but I couldn’t help thoughts about Aleksy and then Connie popping into my head. And I knew that as soon as I’d visited Tiger in the morning I needed to make a trip. I would go and see Dustbin. Because, if anyone knew what was going on, it would be him and if he didn’t he would help me find out. And perhaps it would distract me from what was happening with Tiger, although at the moment it didn’t feel as if anything would.

Chapter Twelve

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‘Tiger, we have to tell him,’ I said, as I sat on her doorstep.

‘OK, but not today. I have been feeling sick, and I really do need to sleep. Can you make an excuse for me, and I promise I’ll tell him tomorrow.’

She looked so sad and I didn’t know whose pain was whose any more, I could feel mine and hers, mixed up together. I know I was feeling sorry for myself, and devastated at the idea of losing her, but suddenly I stopped being selfish and focused on how awful it was going to be for her. She was the one that was ill. I hadn’teven thought about how much she was hurting, but now it was all I could think about. I needed to be kinder, less selfish. It wasn’t easy.

‘Of course, you need to rest, Tiger, and you will not tell George tomorrow.We will tell him tomorrow. I’ll meet you here after breakfast. And I love you.’

‘I love you too, Alfie, and I’m sorry …’

‘You have nothing to be sorry for. You just think of yourself for now and I will worry about everything else. After all, it’s what I’m good at.’

We both managed a small smile before we parted. So, I just needed a plan to keep George away and, of course, taking him with me to see Dustbin would be perfect. It was not too far, as I have already said, but it was far enough away to keep him from Edgar Road for a few hours. Hopefully by the time we got back the children would be home from school and things would be too hectic for him to think of going out again. It was the only plan I had right now.

I found George in the back garden, about to go into the house.

‘Have you been to see Hana?’ I asked.

‘Yes, but Sylvie is home today so we couldn’t chat. I was going to see Tiger mum.’

My heart felt as if it was being stabbed.

‘Good idea, but I have to go and see Dustbin. Do you fancy coming with me first?’ I asked, trying to act nonchalant.

‘Oh yes, I’d love to see Dustbin. After all, I can see Tiger mum any time I want.’

Oh God, just as I thought my heart couldn’t break any more.

George chatted away as we walked and I think he failed to notice how quiet I was. It felt as if I spoke I wouldn’t be able to hide the truth and it was important, for George I believed, that Tiger and I both told him together. That was parenting after all. So I tried to mew in the right places and I tried to concentrate on his cheerful chatter. I couldn’t help but think of Edgar Road without Tiger and that didn’t seem right. Not right at all.

‘Dad, we’re here, you were miles away,’ George said, as we weaved through the back way to the restaurant yard.

‘Sorry, son,’ I said. I really did need to pull myself together, not only for the next few hours but after…No, I wasn’t ready to think about after.

Dustbin was giving himself a wash when we found him.

‘Oh, this is a nice surprise,’ he said. As usual he seemed genuinely happy to see us.

George went straight for the bins to see if he could sniff out any mice and, instead of telling him off, I let him, so I could talk to Dustbin.

‘I thought I’d ask you if you knew what was happening with Aleksy?’ I asked. ‘Franceska was at ours yesterday and she was upset.’

‘Oh, interesting. You know, I heard her and Tomasz talking last night as they checked the restaurant last thing. He told her that she was being silly, that Aleksy might be a bit secretive and glued to his phone but he wasn’t drinking, smoking or taking drugs.’

‘God forbid,’ I said. ‘He isn’t, is he?’ None of that had occurred to me.

‘Nah, Alfie, you see, Aleksy sneaks down here when he thinks his parents don’t notice. From what I can gather, he seems to have got himself a girlfriend.’

‘Oh, is that all?’ I felt relieved. A girlfriend, that was a nice thing, not something to worry about.

‘Yeah and he was saying he wanted to tell his mum and dad but his girlfriend doesn’t want him to. It seems I’ve become a bit of an eavesdropper since meeting you.’ He laughed, as did I. Dustbin used to keep himself to himself until he met me. He did try to keep me at paw’s length when we first met but I wasn’t having that and now we were the best of friends and he knew everything that went on.

‘Sorry, well actually I’m not sorry. The more we learn about our humans the easier it is to solve their problems,’ I pointed out.

‘Right you are. Anyway, from what I could hear of his conversation, his girlfriend obviously told him not to tell his parents and he said he was finding it hard to lie to them, but the girl must have said something else because then he said, OK, he would leave it a bit longer until she was ready.’

‘Let me get this straight. The reason he’s being secretive is that his girlfriend can’t tell her parents so she’s asked him to keep quiet?’ It seemed to make sense.

‘Yes, and I gather that her mum thinks she is too young for a boyfriend.’

‘You really did listen, didn’t you?’ I raised my whiskers, impressed.

‘Oh yes, and I know who the girl is, by the way.’ He grinned. I hadn’t thought to ask that question, where was my mind? My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Who was she?

‘So do I,’ George piped up. I hadn’t noticed him but he was behind us, having heard it all.

‘Who?’ I asked. And how did George know?

‘Connie,’ they both said at the same time.

It seemed George, clever George, had worked it out by listening to me and also to Hana. Hana had said she knew the boy went to school with Connie and also he’d been to the house, which must have been Aleksy. Dustbin had heard Aleksy call her by her name. Perhaps all the trauma with Tiger had taken me slightly off my game, but it hadn’t even occurred to me. I guess no one could blame me though. I suddenly felt like crying. Aleksy and Connie were beginning their relationship and mine was ending. Oh dear, I was back to being selfish.

‘Well, I think it’s great,’ I managed. ‘Aleksy is a good boy, Sylvie should be pleased that her daughter has met a lad like him and not one of those horrible ones that hang around the park sometimes with their trousers half way down their bums.’

‘Oh Dad, you do sound old sometimes,’ George teased. ‘It’s just fashion.’

‘I do not,’ I replied. ‘And fashion isn’t always right.’

‘Actually, you do a bit,’ Dustbin agreed. ‘Reading between the lines, it seems that Sylvie is a bit overprotective of Connie, not only with everything that has been going on but also because her life in Japan was very sheltered.’ Dustbin was a pretty perceptive cat.

‘It was,’ George added. ‘Her school only had girls in it, and she didn’t really have any friends that were boys, let alone boyfriends. Hana told me that.’

‘Is Hana the cat who never goes out?’ Dustbin asked.

‘Yes, and she’s my new friend,’ George replied. ‘And we talk through the glass door. It’s a bit strange but we’re making it work.’ He sounded so grown-up, I was proud.

‘Anyway, so her mum doesn’t know about Aleksy?’ I checked.

‘No, and Connie wants to keep it that way for a while, because she is worried that she’ll go mad and stop her from seeing him,’ Dustbin continued. ‘But that’s all I know.’

‘It’s a lot,’ I said. ‘And I wish he’d tell Franceska and Tomasz. They won’t be angry with him, in fact they would probably be able to help.’

‘But you can’t make him tell them,’ Dustbin pointed out.

‘Well, actually I probably can,’ I said, and we all laughed.

Although my feelings about Tiger weighed heavily on me, I was relieved to find out the only thing wrong with my boy Aleksy was that he had his first ever girlfriend. I found it quite moving; he was growing up. They all were, and that included George. As much as you wanted to protect them all, you couldn’t protect them from everything – I was learning that the hard way. The problem was my children were too.

‘So, what are you going to do, Alfie?’ Dustbin asked.

‘I’ll think of something,’ I said. ‘But in the meantime, do you think someone might be out soon with leftovers?’ I felt a bit hungry after all this emotional activity.

‘I’ll stand at the door and they’ll think I am too cute to resist,’ George said, and he did just that. It didn’t take long before one of the staff came out with a bowl of food for each of us; it never failed to work.

I was aware that some people would wonder how I could think of my stomach at a time like this but I knew that I needed to keep my strength up. Whatever happened the next few days, weeks, or however long I had my precious Tiger, I would need it all, and with the humans adding in their issues to my already complex emotional mix, I knew I needed to make sure that I was in peak physical condition. Even if my feelings were broken and they would never ever recover, I would have to get through this. Too many people relied on me: George, my human kids, the adults, and now we had Sylvie, Connie and Hana to take care of.

As I ate I realised I was needed by many, and most of all, Tiger needed me. I would somehow have to reassure her that it was going to be alright, that she shouldn’t be scared, that she mustn’t fret about leaving us behind because George and I would somehow cope. I knew that she needed to be at peace and the only way for her to do that was for me to ensure she didn’t worry. I had no idea how to do that, but I knew it was right at the top of my prioritylist. I still didn’t know how I was going to be able to say goodbye to her but I needed her to think that I would be fine, and most importantly that George would too.

‘Are you alright?’ Dustbin asked. ‘You don’t quite seem yourself.’ I looked at him, his kind eyes, his scruffy fur, and I wanted to tell him everything, but then I looked at George sitting beside him, gazing hopefully up at me, and I knew I would keep it to myself for now.

‘I’m fine, just thinking about all the work we have to do to fix our humans,’ I lied.

‘Oh well, you know I’ll help you with anything you need. I’ll keep my ears open with Aleksy anyway and if there’s anything urgent I’ll come to you,’ Dustbin said, reassuringly.

‘And you don’t have to worry about me, Dad,’ George said.

‘No, son, I know,’ I lied, for the second time that day.

Chapter Thirteen

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‘Summer, you are in big trouble,’ Claire said as we got home to find Toby, Summer, Jonathan and Claire all in the living room. We had hung out with Dustbin until it began to get dark and then I said we better go straight home so that they didn’t worry. George accepted it all with his usual good grace and I felt guilty, but at least he had one last night before he knew the horrible truth. George and I both watched from the doorway of the living room.

‘Why?’ Summer asked, crossing her arms defiantly. Claire sounded cross, Jonathan was scratching his head and Toby seemed a bit nervous, but then he didn’t like conflict and I can’t say I blamed him. Claire had tried to protect him from it when he first came to live with us but she and Jonathan then realised that he needed to understand some arguing was normal and it would be best for him to learn to cope with it. It was a work in progress.

‘Sum,’ Jonathan said. ‘You cannot go around trying to kiss boys against their will.’ Ah, that was what she’d done.

‘I didn’t. I only did it with one boy. Zack.’

‘That doesn’t make it better,’ Claire said. ‘You know he shut himself in the toilet and refused to come out, even for lunch. It took your teacher ages to calm him down and he’s still terrified of you.’

I glanced at George. We knew Summer well; when she wanted something she didn’t let anything stand in her way.

‘He’s a big baby,’ Summer continued. She wasn’t going to back down.

‘He is a bit,’ Toby supported her. ‘I mean, he just had to tell Summer to get off him and be stern with her, and I’m sure she would have stopped.’

‘Yes I would.’ No, she wouldn’t.

‘The point is that you shouldn’t have done it in the first place. You have been told to leave Zack alone before, Summer, and your teacher is really cross. And I have to phone up Zack’s mum and apologise to her, which is just embarrassing.’ Claire was pacing up and down, she was agitated. Jonathan seemed more amused, actually.

‘He must really not like you,’ Jonathan said finally.

‘Not helpful, Jon, a bit of support please.’ Claire said that a lot. Jonathan sighed.

‘OK. Firstly, Summer, you will apologise to Zack tomorrow in front of your teacher. Then you will apologise to your teacher for disrupting her lesson by her having to get this kid out of the toilet. And you will not go around trying to make boys kiss you. In fact, you shouldn’t be kissing boys at your age anyway, what has got into you?’ Jonathan used his best parental voice. Summer was six, but she was going on sixteen, Claire often said.

‘Hormones,’ she said. ‘I just can’t help it.’

‘Where the he— I mean, where on earth did you get that from?’ Jonathan asked, totally aghast.

‘Mum and Polly say it about Aleksy.’

‘Aleksy is a teenager and you’re not,’ Claire pointed out. ‘So really that doesn’t wash with us, young lady. You’ll do as Daddy said, and then you will stop trying to kiss Zack once and for all.’

‘Well, I was going to stop anyway,’ she said.

‘Why?’ Toby asked.

‘I need a man not a boy,’ Summer said.

‘Right, go to your room now,’ Claire shouted, and Summer stamped her foot but scurried off. As soon as she did both Claire and Jonathan burst out laughing.

‘Oh my goodness, hormones? I mean, really, I have to watch what I say in front of her from now on.’

‘She’s needs a man not a boy. Hey, Toby, you better warn Henry. Or even Tommy!’ Jonathan had tears running down his cheeks he was laughing so much.

‘So it’s OK?’ Poor Toby’s voice was full of confusion.

‘Yes, I mean, no she is still in trouble, but I’m sorry Tobe, your sister is quite bonkers.’ Claire hugged him.

‘She’s funny though, everyone at school thinks she is.’ Toby looked thoughtful. ‘Apart from Zack, that is.’

‘Yes, and thank goodness she’s got an older brother like you to help keep her out of trouble.’ Claire gave him another hug.

‘Should I go and check she’s alright?’ he asked, sounding very serious.

‘Good idea, but don’t tell her we were laughing, it’ll only make her worse,’ Jonathan said.

‘Right, got it, come on George,’ he said and George and Toby trotted upstairs.

It took ages before Claire and Jonathan stopped laughing and I was cheered up too. Laughter was a tonic, they all said that, and I really did believe it. For a few minutes anyway it helped.

Claire calmed down enough to give Summer a bit of a chat as she was tucking her into bed.

‘Darling, I know your intentions were innocent but you really shouldn’t kiss boys, Daddy was right.’

‘I’ll stop, but you know it is just so funny when they scream and run away.’

‘One day, which will come far too soon for me and Daddy, they won’t scream and run away, and then you’ll be stuck with them.’

‘Is that what happened with you and Daddy?’ Summer asked.

‘Something like that,’ Claire replied and kissed her daughter.

I nose-kissed George goodnight as he settled in with Toby. I checked on Summer who was sleeping, her breathing so sweet, and I remembered when she was a baby, which didn’t seem so long ago, and I would watch her sleep a lot. It was sort of hypnotic watching her, and I also felt that I was protecting her somehow.

I padded back downstairs where Claire and Jonathan were snuggled up together on the sofa, watching something on TV, and giggling together. They were happy. I then went out, quietly, to Polly and Matt’s house. I let myself in through the cat flap, which they’d had put in years ago just for me. I didn’t spend as much time there as I used to any more, because of George, but I did go and see them when I could. I made my way upstairs, and checked on Martha who was sleeping, and sounded a bit like Summer, then Henry who had kicked the covers off but was also fast asleep, clutching a toy spaceman.

‘Hello, Alfie,’ Polly said as she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. She had come out of the bath, I guessed – each to their own. I hated water but humans seemed to like it. Matt shouted up asking if she wanted a cup of tea and when she put her pyjamas on I followed her downstairsto where he was waiting with tea and biscuits laid out on a tray.

‘Fancy watching Game of Thrones?’ he asked, giving me a fuss. ‘Nice to see you, Alfie.’

‘Perfect,’ she said and gave him a kiss. They went into the living room, and sat together on the sofa. I spent a bit of time on Polly’s lap, enjoying her affection. Just as I was beginning to feel sleepy, I decided to leave.

‘Meow,’ I said, quietly, and bid them goodnight.

I had an urgent need to check on everyone I loved, but it wasn’t possible to go back to Franceska’s house. It was too late now to go so far from home, but knowing Dustbin was keeping an eye on things was reassuring. I was glad my Edgar Road families were all happy, and peaceful. How I wished I could be.

I went to see if there was any movement from Tiger’s house before I returned home. There wasn’t. The house was shrouded in darkness and I knew her family normally went to bed early, so I wasn’t surprised. I quickly popped to the back of Sylvie’s house and saw that Connie was at the kitchen table, with her computer in front of her, and it looked as if Sylvie was helping her with her homework while Hana sat next to the computer. They looked more harmonious and I wondered how Sylvie would react when she found out about Aleksy. But that was a worry for another day.

I went home and curled into my bed and thought about Tiger. I replayed certain scenes with her in my head. How she was protective of me since we first met on Edgar Road. How she was always the more aggressive of the two of us and had got me out of trouble a few times. She was unafraid, she seemed so fearless. How she teased me about my vanity and conceit but still liked me for it. How she’d been jealous of me and Snowball, and I’d felt our friendship was really under threat, but she had been so mature about it and we had worked through. How she was the one who helped me when I was broken-hearted after Snowball left and how quickly she took to helping me parent George and never complained. She didn’t complain about much. And when I told her I loved her, which was a long time coming, she was so happy, but she also would never have pushed me into it. She was the best friend a cat could ever have, and as I finally let myself fall apart, when no one could see me, I realised I had no idea how I was going to cope with her loss. For an ideas cat, I literally had no idea how I would carry on without her.

Chapter Fourteen

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George’s head moved from me to Tiger, and back again. He blinked and then he looked at us both again.

‘I don’t understand,’ he said. The poor kitten really didn’t.

‘I’m not well, George,’ Tiger said. ‘I can’t get better. It happens sometimes and soon, but I don’t know how soon, I won’t be here any more.’

‘But where are you going? On holiday?’ It was George’s first experience of loss, and goodness, what I wouldn’t have given to protect him from it.

‘No, although it might seem a bit like that. I’m going far away so you can’t physically see me but I will always be watching you.’

‘Well that makes no sense at all,’ George said. ‘If you’re so far away how can you watch me?’

‘Well I’m kind of going to be in the sky, so I will be able to see you but you won’t be able to see me.’ I’m not sure Tiger was actually doing a good job of this. She was confusing the poor lad even more. Not that I was sure I could do any better, but I thought I’d have a go.

‘What Tiger means, George, is that sometimes people, or cats in this case, have to leave this earth, but they will be in your hearts forever, so they never properly leave you.’

He blinked at us both again.

‘So you won’t be here, in this house, on this road?’

‘No.’

‘And I will never see you again?’

‘No.’

‘But we don’t know exactly when I will never see you again?’ George asked. He seemed composed but I was still unsure what he was comprehending, after all it was huge.

‘No, we don’t know for sure,’ I said. ‘But we have been led to believe that it’s not going to be long.’

‘Before Christmas?’ George asked. I hadn’t thought about that, I hadn’t thought about this being close to Christmas. Would this be Tiger’s last ever Christmas, would she even make it to Christmas? It was unbearable.

‘I honestly don’t know, George, but I won’t be able to come out much, so you’ll have to come and see me. I’m pretty sure my family will be alright with that but come even if they aren’t, because I want to see you.’

‘I want to see you too, Tiger mum, and I promise that I’ll come in, whether they shout or not. But please, try to be here for Christmas. I don’t want to have Christmas without you.’

‘And nor do I, love,’ Tiger said and I could see she was about to cry, in a cat way of course.

George seemed to accept this and I was relieved. He was behaving with a maturity I didn’t always credit him with.

‘Do you mind if I go now? I need to think,’ he said.

‘Of course, but come and see me later?’ Tiger asked, giving him a nuzzle.

‘I will, Tiger mum.’

As George went off, we decided that I ought to go and fill the other neighbourhood cats in on the situation. Tiger didn’t think that she would be able to make it. Not only was she feeling weak but she was also distraught about George.

‘I’m not sure he understood,’ she said, clearly worried, on top of the fact she was also exhausted. Whatever this illness was, it had changed her almost beyond all recognition already, she was a shrunken version of herself and she was struggling. I knew she was in pain too, but she refused tocomplain about that.

‘No, but we’ll help him, and you know he needs time to let the news sink in.’ I knew I had needed time and I wasn’t sure it had still fully sunk in with me.

‘You promise you’ll take care of him, when I’m gone.’

‘You know I will,’ I said. ‘But let’s not speak of that.’

I didn’t know why but I was suddenly filled with optimism that this would all sort itself out. She said that the vet told her family she wouldn’t get better but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t. Vets weren’t always right. I had heard Claire say the same about doctors. What if they’d got it wrong, what if Tiger was just bad now but would recover? She wasn’t that old, not even in cat terms, and by rights she should have years left in her. And I knew that due to her laziness she hadn’t even used up half of her nine lives. No, I narrowed my eyes, there was no way that Tiger could die.

‘But you have to promise me something,’ I said, suddenly energised.

‘What?’

‘That you’ll try to fight this illness. For me, and for our boy.’

‘I will, Alfie.’ But I could hear the hopelessness in her voice. She didn’t think she could, but luckily I had enough belief for all of us.

I left her to rest as I went to see the other cats. Rocky, Elvis and Nellie were joined by Tinkerbell, a cat who was a boy, but had a girl’s name. He didn’t often hang out with us, he was normally too busy looking for food, but he did at times, and was a very pleasant cat, one I was happy to call a friend.

‘Have you seen George?’ I asked.

‘Yes, he ran past here a while back, going at some speed I should say,’ Nellie said.

‘When I asked him where he was going, he shouted back that he had to be somewhere important. Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t see anywhere important at that end of the street.’ Rocky sounded confused.

‘And it’s not like the boy not to stop and pass the time of day,’ Elvis said.

‘Maybe he heard about somewhere to get food.’ Tinkerbell narrowed his eyes, as if he was thinking about following him, but then he sat down. ‘Not to worry, I’ve just had two lunches.’

I filled them in on Tiger’s situation. Nellie immediately started yowling. Elvis and Rocky seemed very quiet.

‘I knew there was something amiss. I mean, we’ve barely seen her and normally she’s always with you or the lad,’ Rocky said, eventually, his voice full of emotion.

‘I don’t know, the place won’t be the same without her,’ Elvis said.

‘She’s not gone yet. She might recover,’ I said.

‘In my experience, when the vet says your days are numbered, they are generally right,’ Tinkerbell said. ‘And, Alfie, I’m not trying to be mean but, you know, sometimes it’s better to try to accept it, especially as you’ve got George to think about.’

‘I know but I just don’t want to lose her,’ I said, lying down on the soft grass, feeling like I never wanted to get up again.

‘Hey, we’ll be here for you, and the lad, and Tiger of course. How about tomorrow morning we go to her garden, show her our support?’ Rocky said.

‘That’s a good idea,’ Nellie agreed. She had come over to nuzzle me, we were all united in grief.

‘As long as I’ve had my breakfast of course,’ Tinkerbell said, and I managed a grin. Sometimes when the world seemed to be changing, falling apart, breaking hearts, having someone act as if everything was normal was a comfort.

‘Do you think I should go and look for George?’ I asked. Now I had stopped feeling sorry for myself I was worried about him again.

‘I’d leave him for a bit, give him some space. We’ll all keep an eye out for him.’

‘I am so lucky to have such great friends,’ I said, before going home so I could crawl into my bed and wallow.

George returned just in time for tea. I could tell he wasn’t feeling very good, his eyes were downcast and he didn’t have his usual bounce about him. He ate a bit, but not as much as normal, and I knew I would have to get him alone so I could have a chat with him. I took my chance as Claire took the children upstairs to get them bathed and ready for bed.

‘Come outside with me for a moment,’ I said, and George followed me through the cat flap.

‘Will she really die, Dad?’ he asked.

‘You know, son, I keep saying to myself that it’s all a big mistake but that is what the vet said, and she’s not feeling well at all. So, as much as we don’t want to, I think we have to face facts. You must have noticed how thin she is.’

‘I did today, but she’s my Tiger mum, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. What happens when she’s not here?’

‘I don’t know, son.’ I felt my eyes glistening with tears and cats don’t cry. ‘I know we will miss her, our hearts will hurt and we won’t feel good at all, but together we’ll get through it. I know you are young and you shouldn’t have to say goodbye to someone you love, not at your age, but I can’t stop it, I can’t protect you from it.’

‘I’m scared, Dad.’ He looked at me with his big, innocent eyes.

‘So am I,’ I admitted and I moved in as close to him as I could while we both yowled about what we were about to lose.

Chapter Fifteen

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I could tell that Christmas was creeping closer, because there was an excitement in the air that wasn’t there before. It was only a few weeks into November but Claire always started making lists early. Polly also started talking about ordering things from the internet to get ahead of the game. Jonathan, of course, moaned about money and Matt, who loved Christmas, talked about how he was going todecorate the house, for the kids, and how Jonathan should do the same. Jonathan didn’t share his enthusiasm and wasn’t keen, saying the houses looked tacky when they were all done up. He could be so miserable but I knew, deep down, he loved Christmas.

Tomasz and Frankie were gearing up for the restaurants’ pre-Christmas rush. For most of December they spread themselves very thinly, as Christmas menus started to be served, office parties booked, and with a few restaurants to run, they were kept busy.

But the most important event, according to the adults, more important than the letters to Santa and the arguments about when to decorate the house, was the nativity play. This play was only taking place in the younger children’s school, but it was a big deal. Claire and Polly were chatting excitedly about it when they got a letter saying that the school was holding auditions and the children were all enthusiastic about their potential parts.

‘Right, kids, what are you going to do for your audition?’ Claire asked as she, Jonathan, Toby and Summer were in the living room after tea. George and I were also in attendance.

‘I’m going to sing,’ Summer announced before launching into a rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’. It wasn’t great, more shouting than singing, but Jonathan and Claire clapped enthusiastically as she finished. Parents were a little biased. I knew this as I could be too, but not when it came to that sort of noise.

‘Great, Summer. And Toby?’ Jonathan asked.

Toby cleared his throat, then got down on all fours.‘Hee-haw,’ he said.

‘Right, is that it?’ Jonathan had his hands ready to applaud but then he scratched his head.

‘I want to be the donkey,’ Toby explained.

‘Oh, in that case, it was excellent,’ Claire announced and they all clapped loudly, before getting the kids to do it over again. I raised my whiskers; in my opinion, once was more than enough.

‘You are going to kill these auditions,’ Jonathan said, enthusiastically.

‘Jon, it’s the school nativity not the West End,’ Claire pointed out but she looked pretty excited about it too.

Despite being heartbroken about Tiger, I decided to focus on the Aleksy situation. I needed Franceska, who was worried about him, to know the truth, because I knew she would be relieved. Aleksy wasn’t ill, he wasn’t miserable, there was nothing wrong with him, apart from first love. And I knew that if Franceska saw that she would be reassured. And, anyway, it was not good for them to sneak around together. I had learnt that the best way to deal with things was to be open about them.

I had a foolproof plan. I went to see Dustbin, and chatted it through with him. We knew that Aleksy usually walked Connie home from school– I’d seen him – and I also knew from Franceska that she was letting him have a bit more freedom as long as he was home for his tea. So, all I needed to do was to get Franceska to our street so she could see them together. Simple. Although, from past experience, I knew that getting humans to do as I told them wasn’t always easy. It could be quite exhausting, in fact.

I waited until Franceska and Tomasz came out of the restaurant and were about to head inside the house. Then I started behaving oddly. I yowled, meowed, yelped, hopped around in circles and almost cried myself hoarse. I scratched at Franceska’s trousers, careful not to hurt her, and just as I almost felt as I was going to pass out, they seemed to get it. I tried not to catch Dustbin’s eyes, he was rolling around with laughter behind a dumpster.

‘I think he wants us to do something,’ Tomasz said, scratching his head.

‘MEOW!’ Yes.

‘I go with him, you stay home because the boys will be back any minute,’ Franceska said, glancing at her watch.

Tomasz nodded.‘But call me, to let me know everything is OK.’

‘MEOW,’ I shouted again. Finally. Although I was exhausted, I set off round the side of the yard to the main road. I managed to get Franceska to follow me, although she seemed very confused as she did so.

‘Is something wrong?’ she asked. I tried to tell her it wasn’t but I don’t think she understood. I managed to dodge a chubby dog who tried to leap at me, luckily his owner pulled his lead back. He snarled at me as I grinned back at him. Dogs were no match for me, even when I was tired and emotional. We made it to our street without further incident, but of course I am a cat and I wasn’t sure about the timing. Had they come home? Were they on their way? I had no idea. I led Franceska to Connie’s front door, hoping that somehow this was going to work.

‘Is something wrong with Sylvie?’ Franceska asked, looking at me with concern. ‘But why didn’t you get Claire or Polly?’

‘Yowl.’ Honestly, did she understand nothing? She shrugged at me and then she rang the doorbell. There was no answer. I wondered how I would come up with a plan B, because let’s face it, this one had really taken it out of me. We stood on the doorstep, poor Franceska looking totally bemused, and me so tired I thought I might pass out. Instead I sat down.

‘Alfie, what on earth is going on?’ she asked. I put my head in my paws. She turned to leave, and then she stopped. ‘Oh my,’ she said. I looked up. Bingo. Walking towards us, holding hands, were Aleksy and Connie.

‘Aleksy and Connie?’ she asked.

‘You’re welcome,’ I thought as I lay down and tried to get my breath back, relief flooding my poor, tired body.

They both stopped short as soon as they spotted Franceska, and they untangled their hands, as if we hadn’t already noticed. I wondered whether those suffering from ‘teenagerness’ temporarily lost a few brain cells as I’d always thought of Aleksy as being quite clever.

‘Hi Mum,’ Aleksy said, trying to sound casual. ‘I was just walking Connie home from school because …’

‘He’s borrowing a book from me for English,’ Connie quickly added, sounding as if butter wouldn’t melt but looking embarrassed, and a little awkward.

‘Is that what they call it these days?’ Franceska arched an eyebrow.

‘What?’ Aleksy asked.

‘It’s fine, I was hoping to see your mum, but she’s not here.’

‘No, she’ll be home in about an hour,’ Connie said, still red-faced.

‘No problem. Right, Aleksy, go and get your book and then you can walk home with me,’ Franceska said.

‘Sure, Mum,’ Aleksy said.

When they went inside, Franceska bent down and gave me a tickle. Then she lifted me up for a cuddle.

‘Is that what you wanted me to know?’ she asked.

‘Meow,’ I said, quietly.

‘Oh Alfie, you are such a good, clever cat. I can’t believe my Aleksy has a girlfriend. Oh, I am so not ready for him to grow up, but at least it’s nothing bad, thank you.’ She kissed my fur and put me back down.

Chapter Sixteen

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Claire was having one of her‘girls’ nights’, although why they called it that I had no idea, they were hardly girls after all. Polly and Franceska were coming round and Sylvie would be joining them; they were so determined to make her feel welcome that they included her now. I was so proud of my women, their friendship had been built over a number of years but they never excluded people and I believed that I might have had a paw in that.

Polly and Franceska arrived first, both brimming with excitement.

‘Quick, tell Claire what you told me,’ Polly said, shoving Franceska into the kitchen.

‘What?’ Claire looked bemused.

‘My Aleksy, he told me. OK, he didn’t exactly volunteer the information, but when I caught him, he came clean. I mean, Alfie led me there, so because of Alfie I know everything now.’

‘You’re making no sense,’ Claire said. ‘Take a deep breath.’

‘I found him at Connie’s house and reluctantly he told me he liked her.’

‘Oh wow, you mean Aleksy has a crush?’ Claire grinned. ‘Now this calls for wine.’ I didn’t like to say anything but really these women would use any excuse for wine. If I was like that with catnip, I would never get anything done.

‘No, it’s not a crush, it seems that she likes him too. He has a girlfriend.’

‘Aleksy’s first love,’ Polly sighed. ‘Gosh, I remember my first boyfriend, Peter Spencer. I was twelve, he was in the year above and we held hands every lunchtime until he dumped me for an older girl. I was devastated.’

‘Oh God, I was much older than that, at least fifteen,’ Claire said. ‘Unfortunately I ended up marrying him.’

I raised my whiskers, this was news to me.

‘Really, he was your first husband?’

‘Yes, but we broke up for about two years, got back together at nineteen, and well, the rest is part of my pitiful history.’

‘Not sure these stories are helping,’ Franceska pointed out. ‘But I was a late starter. I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was seventeen. And no, it wasn’t Tomasz.’

‘That is so sweet,’ Claire said.

‘Ah, young love.’ Polly looked dreamy. Probably because we were all way past that.

‘And is Sylvie alright with all of this?’ Claire asked.

Franceska shrugged.

‘I don’t know, Connie hasn’t told her yet. Because apparently she’s so overprotective, that Connie is scared to tell her – which explains all the secretive behaviour – but of course I told Aleksy that she needed to tell her mum, as it was wrong to keep things from her, especially now I know.’

‘Did he know you were seeing Sylvie tonight?’ Polly asked.

‘Yes, and I said I wouldn’t lie to her, so he is going to speak to Connie about it.’ Franceska now looked worried. ‘It’s not fair that she doesn’t know and we all do. Aleksy wasn’t happy when I said that but us mums need to stick together. And then I made Tomasz give him “the talk”.’

‘You mean he hasn’t already?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, we did do that, or Tomasz did, years ago, but he was so awkward that he kept swearing in Polish, and after he blustered through it Aleksy said they already did it in school. But this time I made Tomasz give him a talk about respecting women and not rushing into anything.’ I was slightly disappointed I hadn’t been there for that one.

Claire’s phone beeped with a text.

‘Sylvie’s on her way.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ Franceska said.

‘Hopefully.’ Claire didn’t sound so sure.

Our nice relaxed girls’ night had taken a bit of a stressful turn, however I had to have faith. Sylvie was a lovely woman, sensible, and she fitted right in on Edgar Road, so what could go wrong?

I cowered under the kitchen table next to Polly’s legs. I felt as if she might like to dive under it with me. Franceska looked as if she was ready to cry and Claire’s eyes were as big as saucers. Basically, Sylvie hadn’t taken the news well. And that might be one of my biggest understatements.

I had gone with Claire to open the front door when Sylvie pushed past us both with barely a glance. I had to practically run after her, and when she got to the kitchen, she really lost it.

‘My daughter has just informed me that she’s got a boyfriend. And it’s your son.’ She glared at Franceska, who looked surprised and then a little afraid.

‘Well yes, we just found out—’ Polly started.

‘And you are all sitting here as if the most normal thing in the world is that my fourteen year old, who has never really been around boys much in her whole life, now after only a short time in London thinks it’s OK to have a boyfriend.’ Her eyes were on stalks. She was clearly distressed, and slightly unhinged.

‘Hey, it kind of is normal,’ Polly pointed out, then flinched because Sylvie’s eyes were blazing with anger.

‘Not for my daughter. She’s a good girl. She works hard, she gets straight As, she doesn’t care about boys and make-up and clothes. Well, she didn’t until your son corrupted her.’

‘God, Aleksy couldn’t corrupt Donald Trump,’ Polly tried to point out. I had to admire her insistence on not backing down; both Claire and Franceska seemed to have become mute.

‘Not the point,’ Sylvie shouted. But I thought it was the point.

‘Meow,’ I said, trying to convey that Aleksy was a lovely boy and any parent should be pleased it was him spending time with Connie.

But she ignored me; she was angry and started pacing up and down the kitchen.‘We’ve had a huge upheaval and I knew it was a mistake letting her go to the local school. She begged me, said it would be a way for her to make friends who lived nearby, but somehow I am going to have to get the money for her to go to an all-girls’ school. Maybe if I tell her dad what she’s been up to he’ll cough up.’ She was muttering now as if she was talking to herself. She was definitely unhinged.

‘Sylvie, Connie seems like a sensible girl and Aleksy is one of the sweetest, most sensitive boys I’ve ever met,’ Claire said, her voice gentle. She tried to offer her a glass of wine, but Sylvie ignored it. ‘You know, it’s very innocent between them, just a bit of hand-holding, and if Summer had to have a boyfriend, which I know is a terrible thing for us mums to get our heads round, I would like it to be someone like Aleksy.’

Franceska looked at her gratefully.

‘I brought him up properly, to respect women, he won’t do anything bad, he doesn’t do anything bad. Oh, and by the way, Aleksy is a straight-A student too.’ It was the first time since Sylvie had lost her temper that Franceska had spoken.

‘That is not the point. The point is, Connie is too young for a boyfriend, no matter what. If her father was here, he would go mad.’ I could feel Sylvie’s frustration vibrating in her voice. ‘I forbid them to see each other.’ Her voice was angry, but also I could hear sadness in it. Because she was suddenly having to parent her daughter alone and she clearly didn’t know how to do so.

‘Sylvie, I say this out of friendship,’ Polly started. ‘Doing that will just make them want to see each other more, and they go to the same school.’

‘I do not need any of you telling me how to raise my daughter,’ she almost spat the words. ‘I’ll tell Connie that she has to come straight home from school, and if she sees Aleksy in school I can’t control that but I can forbid her to see him otherwise. And I’ll take her phone, so she can’t contact him. Yes, Polly, she might be mad at me initially but in the long run she’ll thank me. She is too young and too naive to be exposed to boys like Aleksy.’

‘How dare you!’ Franceska now stood up. I jumped onto Polly’s lap. ‘Boys like Aleksy? My son is a good boy. They are both fourteen, it’s normal, there is nothing wrong with it. I will not tell you how to bring up your daughter but I will not have you speaking bad about my son.’ I could feel Franceska’s anger.

‘I’ll say what I want, and you women, well you can keep your friendship, you obviously don’t care about me or my daughter. And I wish I’d never met you or moved to Edgar Road.’

Leaving all three women gaping, Sylvie stormed out of the house.

‘Well, that went well,’ Polly said, but no one laughed.

‘I really didn’t see that coming.’ Claire finished the rest of her wine quickly.

‘Oh no, poor Aleksy,’ Franceska said as she burst into tears. Claire and Polly tried to reassure her that it would be fine, and I tried to think but I had no idea what to do next. They all seemed to think that Sylvie would calm down and they would be able to sort things out. I felt they were being a little optimistic, but of course I couldn’t say that.

Then I had an idea. I left my women, reluctantly as I didn’t like to leave when they were still upset, and I headed next door. I wondered if I would be able to see how it was playing out. At least if I knew what was going on, I might begin to get an idea of how to fix things. Because I knew Aleksy was good, as was Connie, but I also could see how scaredSylvie was, probably because of what she’d been through. I could see both sides, although of course Sylvie was wrong. Connie was lucky to have someone like Aleksy in her life, but I couldn’t tell Sylvie that, and even if I could have she wasn’t going to listen.

I made my way to the back garden and when I peered through the darkness into the lit kitchen my worst fears were confirmed.

I couldn’t hear what was being said, but the muffled sound of raised voices came through the door. Sylvie was running her hands through her hair, Connie was shouting; her face was red and I could see tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Hana was cowering, and my heart went out to her. Us cats always got caught up in the crossfire but, because of Hana’s sheltered life, she probably had no idea what to do. I watched, slightly mesmerised as Connie, crying properly now, handed her phone over to her mum who was pointing at her. Connie turned on her heels and stormed out of the room. Sylvie sat down at the kitchen table, put her head in her hands and sobbed.

So much unhappiness, I thought, when it could have been a happy time. Aleksy would have been good for Connie, he would have helped her adjust to life here. I knew that, because I knew him. But Sylvie didn’t and I had no idea how I would fix this one.

Chapter Seventeen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: _19.jpg]

I woke up feeling weary, as if I hadn’t slept. The last few days had been trying and it was taking its toll. Claire, Polly and Franceska were all still very upset about Sylvie, and although Jonathan said that it would all blow over – that seemed to be his solution to most things – I wasn’t so sure. They were lucky I wasn’t like him.

Although Claire and Polly had discussed it yesterday and tried to come up with a plan, they both felt that, although Sylvie was clearly having a difficult time, they had to be loyal to Franceska. They agreed that they could try to broker peace, but they needed Franceska to know they were her friends first and foremost, and also, she was right and Sylvie, according to Polly, was insane.

I felt exactly the same. They discussed trying to reason with Sylvie and, while I wasn’t sure that would work, I was pleased they were trying. However, they argued about who would go and see her and in the end they rolled a dice from one of the kids’ board games. Polly lost. Claire, from her position of not having to go near Sylvie, was happy to offer advice, but Polly wasn’t thrilled.

Of course I was worried about Tiger as well, and seeing her was becoming increasingly difficult. With a lot of effort we were still managing, and every time I saw her face I was filled with happiness that she was still with us. I was also concerned about George. I tried to have numerous conversations with him about Tiger but he kept changing the subject or saying he was fine. He was brushing me off, which of course made me fret about him more, but I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t make him talk to me.

Instead, I told George about the situation with Sylvie before he went to visit Hana. I schooled him on the importance of information gathering so we could help them. And George, bless him, was a very good student. When he came back he reported that Hana was very upset. Connie wasn’t talking to her mum, but when she spent time with her in her bedroom, she confided in Hana. She cried a lot and talked about how unhappy she was, how she missed her dad and her home and how Aleksy had made it more bearable. She did say, however, that luckily Aleksy was being supportive and theywere spending time together at school, which they accepted for now. They were sensible kids, I was right. It was a friendship first and foremost, I could see that, but if only Sylvie could see it too. If only there was a way to make her see it.

Sylvie wasn’t coping and Hana said that she had no one to turn to. Having cut herself off from the women, she wasn’t even talking to her friends via the computer any more. Hana told George that no one really comprehended how much Sylvie’s life had been turned upside down and that trying to hold things together for Connie, as she had been so far, was making her ill. Sylvie had even done as she’d threatened and spoken to her ex-husband, who had suggested Connie come and live with him in Japan, which had sent Sylvie almost mad. Now she felt she couldn’t talk to him about it, in case she lost her daughter. Because I knew this, but my women didn’t, I felt for Sylvie and thought it would be down to me to fix things for her.

As winter settled, cold whipping at our fur and nights and mornings dark and gloomy, my tranquil life was over. However, Tiger had to be my priority. I didn’t know how long I had left with her and I wasn’t going to miss a moment if I could help it. I knew I had other problems to solve, other fish to fry, and I had my paws full, yet everything would have to work around time with Tiger. That was something I would never get back again and I refused to miss it.

She was waiting on the back step for me.‘Hi Alfie,’ she said. When I saw her these days, I had to gulp back my feelings, try not to show the shock in my eyes, which I knew, for a split second, was there. She was getting thinner, her fur had lost its glean and she was permanently exhausted. But she always kept her spirits up, which I thought was for my sake and George’s.

‘Tiger, looking good,’ I said and gave her my best grin.

‘I know that’s a lie. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here, tell me about the drama with your humans.’ She shivered.

‘Are you cold?’ I asked.

‘Yes, it’s harder and harder to keep warm, but I’ll be alright.’

I snuggled into her.‘You don’t want to hear about my humans, all that drama,’ I said.

‘Alfie, don’t treat me as if I’m ill. Normally you would tell me all about the problems and I would listen to you, I need that. I need normality.’

‘OK, but before I do, how do you think George is coping?’ I asked. She nestled her head into my neck.

‘I don’t know, he’s putting a brave face on with me, and he visits me, which is sweet – my family don’t even mind at all any more. But when I try to talk to him he changes the subject.’

‘Same with me,’ I said. ‘He seems fine, but I know how much he loves you. And he seems to be avoiding me. Or maybe he just needs to be alone to process things. I know he sees Hana every day, and you, but he seems to be out for an awful long time and when I ask him he’s evasive.’

‘Alfie, he’ll be fine, he’s got you, and he’s probably just trying to get his little head around everything. Now tell me about this row between the women.’ Tiger had always been a bit like my voice of reason, and I fleetingly wondered who would be that when I lost her.

I told her all about how the relationship was fractured between them now, and how Claire and Polly were trying to resolve it.

‘But if Sylvie was so rude about Aleksy why do they want to be friends with her?’ Tiger asked. One thing I loved about Tiger was how she sometimes saw everything in black and white.

‘Well, firstly they want to resolve it for Aleksy and Connie’s sake, but also they know how badly Sylvie has been hurt. They know she’s not really horrible, but she’s scared, terrified even.’

‘I see. And do you have a plan?’

‘Not yet. I am going to see what happens when Polly tries to reason with her and also tomorrow, when I’ve left you, I’m going to go and see Dustbin, see if he has any news, about Aleksy mainly. But you know you’re my priority before I worry about anything else.’

Tiger sighed.‘Look, Alfie, I know that you are going to put me first, but I also want whatever time I have left to be as normal as possible. And that means I expect you to do what you always do and come up with your mad plans, which inevitably involve some kind of disaster before working out.’

‘They are not mad, they are very good plans.’ I bristled.

‘What about when you nearly died?’

‘It all worked out in the end, but yes, maybe not that one,’ I conceded. I had tried to protect Claire from a boyfriend I knew was no good and I ended up being injured by him, but it did bring all my families together, so you know, it was kind of worth it.

‘And when you got stuck up the tree and had to be rescued by the firemen?’ I could tell she was grinning now.

‘Well yes, that might not have been my finest hour.’ I had been trying to woo Snowball, my first girlfriend, but I discovered a fear of heights and couldn’t get back down the tree. It was most humiliating.

‘Or when George got catnapped?’

‘But at least we managed to rescue loads of cats in the end.’ That had been a terribly worrying time though, not knowing where my little George was. We called them the ‘Lamppost Cats’, because cats were disappearing on and around Edgar Road; pictures of them were being hung on lampposts. Atthe same time, my families were all unhappy so I tried to get George to hide with Tiger for a while, the idea being that it would bring them all together again. And it did in the end but only after it went a bit awry as George got taken by the kidnapper – catnapper. It was the worst time of my life before we managed to rescue him and all the other cats.

‘Or when you nearly got set on fire?’

‘OK, Tiger, enough now.’ But I was smiling. I was glad to talk about old times with her, it was some comfort actually, even if she was teasing me. And I didn’t nearly get set on fire, I actually foiled a fire that was going to be set in our holiday house in Devon, so there.

‘So, promise me you won’t ever stop with your plans, Alfie,’ she said and I felt her eyes close and she fell asleep right on the doorstep, snuggled up with me in the cold. I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t sure I could give up my plans even if I wanted to, how when she was gone I would need to keep busy more than ever. There was so much I wanted to say to her.

I stayed still, and breathed in the scent of her. I was trying to commit it all to memory– how she looked, how she felt, how she smelt, how her fur tickled mine – because it was painfully clear that despite my optimism, despite the fact that I was the cat who fixed everything, there was no way I could fix this. One day soon, I would have to say goodbye to someone else I loved. And all I would be left with was my memories of her, so I wanted to make sure that I had lots of them.

Chapter Eighteen

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Matt and the children were with Jonathan in the living room and Claire was clearing up the kitchen when we heard the doorbell. Wiping her hands on her jeans, Claire went to open it with me at her heels. Polly, face like thunder, stood on the doorstep.

‘Oh dear,’ Claire said. Polly pursed her lips and walked in. The adults all made their way to the kitchen, leaving the children playing.

‘I’m actually really worried about that woman,’ Polly started.

‘So, she didn’t take kindly to your reasonable chat?’ Matt raised an eyebrow. ‘I did tell you to leave well alone.’

‘I told Claire as well,’ Jonathan said. The two men high-fived, looking pleased with themselves. Honestly, if we left it to them nothing would ever get resolved. I swished my tail against Jonathan, angrily.

‘Oh, for goodness sake, grow up. Anyway, I will tell you what happened. Sylvie now blames us – that’s me and you, Claire – for this whole thing. Apparently if we had left her alone, hadn’t tried to make her our friend, then Connie wouldn’t have met Aleksy and none of this would have happened.’

Even I had to admit that was terrible logic. Connie was in the same year as Aleksy in the same school.

‘I said,’ Polly continued, ‘very calmly, I might add, that they’re in school together so they would probably have met at some point. And do you know what she said?’ They all shook their heads. Polly can be a bit scary when riled. ‘She said that she was still going to figure out a way topull Connie out of school and send her to an all-girls’ one. The thing is that she is behaving madly, and I think she needs help but she won’t let us anywhere near her.’

‘Oh dear,’ Jonathan, the master of understatement, said.

‘I asked if she would sit down with Franceska and Aleksy to talk, and she basically threw me out of her house.’

‘She must have been so badly affected by the divorce.’ Claire shook her head.

‘Yes, and I’m out of ideas. I do want to help her, not just the kids, but she really isn’t behaving rationally.’

‘I feel sorry for her, but I have no idea what to do.’

‘Maybe you can try next time,’ Polly said. Then she smiled. ‘Though if you value your life I wouldn’t recommend it. She’s feistier than she looks.’

‘If only there was a way though, to get her to see sense.’ Claire chewed her lip, thoughtfully.

I felt my brain begin to tick over. Sylvie felt as if she was alone, and she wouldn’t let the women in, but if we showed her that she was welcome here, I mean if I showed her…I just had to figure out how.

‘Poor Aleksy, it’s just like Romeo and Juliet,’ Matt said, and they all lapsed into silence.

It was clear no one knew what to do and it seemed that yet again it was going to be down to me.

I left them to see Tiger. George was still out and I assumed he would be with her. There was no sign of either of them, so I took one of my lives in my paws and jumped through the cat flap. Thankfully the kitchen was empty, and I made my way through to the living room where I stopped. Tiger’s bed was in front of a fire, although it wasn’t a real fire, and Tiger was alone in it. There was no sign of her humans, but Tiger was curled up. She looked up and saw me.

‘Alfie,’ she said, her voice quiet.

‘Hey, is it safe to come in?’

‘Yes, they’ve gone shopping for a bit, come on in.’

I made my way over to her bed, and sat down next to her.

‘I thought George might be with you,’ I said.

‘No, isn’t he home?’

I flicked my tail.‘No, and he’s normally home by now.’

‘Alfie, he seemed a bit angry when I saw him today. He was trying to hide it but he kept saying it was unfair that I wasn’t going to be here soon. I tried to calm him down by telling him I’d always be watching him but I’m not sure he was buying it. Anyway, I think he might have needed a bitof time to himself.’

‘I know and he’s old enough, but Tiger, and I’m not telling you this to worry you, but he’s been going out a lot more lately. At first I thought he was visiting Hana, which he does but not the whole time, so I’m not sure where he goes. I asked Rocky, Elvis and Nellie but they don’t knoweither. He’s not spending much time with them, it seems.’

‘And asking George won’t work, will it?’

‘No, he gets defensive when I even ask him if he’s hungry these days.’ My lovely sweet kitten was becoming surly, monosyllabic and he was actually behaving like a teenager, but of course cats don’t normally do that. But, I accepted that, with the Tiger situation, normality had gone out of the window.

‘Alfie, you’ll have to follow him, just to check you know that he’s safe.’

‘I’m normally the one who would suggest such a thing.’ I grinned. It was obvious. Why hadn’t I thought of this? Although with everything going on, maybe it wasn’t surprising.

‘But just make sure that he doesn’t see you. I’m not sure he’ll take kindly to being followed.’

‘And with all the mounting problems at the moment, having George angry with me is not one I want to add to the pile.’

‘Please make sure you come back and tell me what you discover. If I can I’ll come out, but if not I’ll be right here. Even if my family is here – they are both quite sad at the moment, so they might even let you come in.’

‘Right, Tiger, before I do anything more about the whole human situation I will make sure that I know George is OK and I’ll find out where he’s going.’

If George was acting like a teenager, I hoped he wasn’t doing what I’d heard a lot of teenagers did, and getting into trouble. We had quite enough of that right now, thank you very much.

I casually established that George was going to see Tiger, and I lay in wait for him. Unfortunately it was cold, and I shivered in the bush in Tiger’s front garden, where I had chosen to hide. I had followed many people before, but never George, and although I kept a close eye on him, I had to admit this did feel different. I felt as if I was betraying him in a way, although I knew, deep down, it was for his own good. I would let him have his freedom, just as long as I knew he was safe. I needed to ensure he was being careful and there was no danger.

I knew I should be thankful that he was going out during the day– if it had been night I would have had a whole heap of fears and worries. He could have been hanging out with unsavoury cats, fighting, hunting, getting up to all sorts of mischief. Though if he had shown any signs of that I would have got Dustbin on the case. I really had to stop worrying aboutthings that hadn’t happened, especially as I had my paws full with troubles that were very, very real.

It is characteristic of life, and I speak from my own experience, that when things start piling up the tendency is to fret more. It’s a vicious circle: when things are good you enjoy them and try not to think of the bad times, but when things are bad you can only think of how they could get worse. So, as I waited for George, I tried to count my blessings. Firstly, the sun was shining. Yes it was cold and windy, but at least it wasn’t raining. And I did have lovely families and friends. I might be losing Tiger but I was lucky to have had her in my life for as long as I had, and that was a gift. Although losing her wasn’t a gift, it was the opposite of a gift, whatever that may be.

Just as I was running out of both blessings and optimism, George appeared. He didn’t notice me as he set off down Edgar Road, towards where our cat friends met. I followed at a safe distance, hopping behind the odd lamppost to ensure I kept out of sight, but George didn’t look back once. None of our friends were at the recreation spot but he walked straight past it anyway; that clearly wasn’t where he was heading. As I carried on walking, I had a horrible feeling that I knew where he was going. As George stopped at the tatty house with the jungle garden and the horrible old man, my worst fears were confirmed.

I watched him from a safe distance as George played in the overgrown bushes which dominated the space. It really did look fun to play in; brambles and overgrown plants, a small, fat tree with overhanging branches and long grass. There were no flowers, no colour. But it was a garden you could definitely lose yourself in and I just hoped he was safe. I settled back to watch my boy.

After exploring the garden, he hopped up on the windowsill of the house and peered in. Next thing I knew, the old man from Halloween appeared and started banging a walking stick against the window in an angry fashion. George, however, sat on the windowsill and seemed nonplussed. Or nonpussed. I cowered behind a bush near the front wall, as close as I dared go. What if the man hurt George? He stood there shaking his fist and his walking stick. I saw him more clearly than I had in the dark that night. I could vaguely hear the words,‘Get lost’, being shouted. George tapped his paw on the window one last time and hopped down, raising his tail in a salute. I quickly started running home.

All the way I tried to make sense of what I’d seen. George clearly knew the garden but the old man didn’t want him there. The thing was that my George wasn’t the best at reading signals, he’d thought Chanel liked him when she showed him nothing but disdain. But how could I discuss this with George without him knowing I was followinghim? I couldn’t.

Another thing to add to my mounting problems; I would have to keep an eye on it. If this was where George was disappearing to most days I would need to make sure that he was safe. That walking stick looked like it could do some serious damage. The man looked as if he could do some damage too. And if the Goodwins were right and he was dangerous…I shuddered.

My other dilemma on the way back was whether to tell Tiger or not. On the one hand I didn’t want her to worry, but on the other she’d asked me to treat her normally. Also, I had a vague idea that it might be better for her to tackle George about this, or at least to try to ask him about it. He was still talking to her, after all, whereas at the moment he seemed to be avoiding me asmuch as he could. Oh yes, he would still fill me in about Hana but it was as if talking to me was a duty rather than a desire. Our easy relationship, the one where we hung out, chased leaves, chewed the fat with other cats, talked through the day’s events together in the evening, seemed to be over.

I just hoped it wasn’t over forever.

I’d been at home for a while before George came in. I’d stopped at Tiger’s but the cat flap was closed and there was no sign of her. I hoped she was resting. Every time I saw her she seemed weaker and the idea that, one day soon, I would go and see her and she wouldn’t be there threatened tofloor me.

I’d had a snack, a wash and a nap, only to be woken by the sound of the cat flap and the appearance of a very sad-looking George.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked, fussing despite saying I wouldn’t.

‘I’m a bit tired actually,’ George said. ‘I think I might have a nap. It’s very cold out.’

He was chattier than normal, which I was happy about, but I also knew not to push it.

‘OK, did you see Tiger mum?’ I asked, casually.

‘I did, earlier.’ He turned to go, then he stopped. ‘Dad, she’s really not going to get better, is she?’ His eyes were full of sadness and his whiskers seemed to droop. My heart broke and I wanted, so desperately wanted, to give him the answer he needed to hear, but of course I couldn’t.

‘No, son, I don’t think she is,’ I said, heavily. George, to my surprise, came up to me and nuzzled into me.

‘What about you? Are you going to leave me as well?’ he asked, his voice small.

‘No, son, not for a very long time,’ I replied and I crossed my paws and hoped, prayed, that that was true. No, actually I knew it was true. I wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted to reassure him, but I didn’t want to lie. ‘You know, George, I would never leave you willingly, and nor would Tiger mum. She has no choice but I’m still here and, for as long as I am, I’ll always be right by your side. I love you, son.’ I nuzzled him and I felt his sadness through his fur.

As I watched George go to find his favourite chair to nap in, I felt my heart breaking for him all over again. I would be around for a very long time– don’t ask me how I knew, but I did – and I would give George as much strength and courage as possible. That was what parents should do for their children, after all. That and try to keep him away from the scary old man at the end of the street, of course.

Chapter Nineteen

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It was pouring with rain but I had promised myself that I would go to see Dustbin to check that all was well with Aleksy. Unfortunately I had heard nothing new; the situation, according to George, via Hana, via the door, was the same. George was being a supportive friend and their regular through-the-glass-door chats were helping her, he believed. I was trying to let George feel grown-up so I didn’t intrude but I told him if he needed me, I would be happy to help. He was enjoying his friendship with Hana, although he was getting frustrated about not actually being able to see her properly or always hear what she had to say. That issue was already on my list, however. I felt that perhaps if I could get Hana and George face to face, it would help him through a tough time. I would have done anything to make George feel better about losing his Tiger mum, and though I knew that getting Hana out of the house wouldn’t do it, not nearly, at least it would be something.

What I hated most about this situation was the feeling of helplessness. I was a cat who fixed things, who fixed hearts, who never gave up, but here there really was nothing I could do. If the vet couldn’t fix Tiger, then I certainly couldn’t, and I hated that feeling. My heart was going to break, as was George’s, but I was powerless and that made me want to yowl in pain. All I could do was to be there for everyone, and that didn’t seem to be enough, although it had to be.

‘George,’ I said, finding him tracing raindrops falling down the window with his paw.

‘Yes, Dad?’ he replied, but he didn’t turn around.

‘I know it’s raining but I have to see Dustbin, Aleksy business. Do you fancy coming with?’ There was a pause as George, head tilted, seemed to be mulling my offer over.

‘No thanks, Dad,’ he said eventually. ‘It’s quite far in the rain and I have to visit Tiger mum and also go and see Hana, so that’ll keep me busy today.’

‘Alright, son, I’ll go on my own. If anyone needs me, let me know when I’m back later. I’m going to try to say hello to Tiger on the way, as well.’

George let out a big sigh.‘OK Dad, see you later.’ He returned his attention to the raindrops, indicating our conversation was well and truly over.

Feeling like I wanted to say so much more, but unsure what, I waited a few moments before turning and heading out. Typical that I had to choose a day when the rain was beating down, although the grey sky matched my mood. But, never one to wallow, I went to Tiger’s house. There was no sign of her and I butted the cat flap with my head, but it didn’t move. Her family had locked her in again. Was this because she had to go to the vet? Or was it something even worse? My heart started beating fast as I made my way to the front of the house. I looked at thebottom window and there was Tiger, lying down. I jumped up onto the windowsill and she saw me. She looked frailer than ever but she managed to raise a paw and I did the same. Like George and Hana, we managed to exchange a few words, most of them lost in the wind. Her family was with her, in the living room, I could see the lights on, the fire blazing red, and they were sitting on the sofa. I gazed at Tiger and mouthed, ‘Goodbye’, as I reluctantly left her to lay down her head again. I just hoped it wasn’t going to be the last time I saw her. I hoped that every time, but I could feel herslipping away from me, and I knew that losing her was imminent.

My legs felt heavy with grief as I made my way to Franceska and Tomasz’s house to find Dustbin. My limbs seemed to be filled with lead, my head ached, and I felt pain running through my whole body. I knew this feeling, I’d had it before; it was heartbreak, pure and simple, the worst ailment to affect me. But I kept going. One paw in front of the other, me and mypain continued. I was almost glad of the distraction, but then I was sad I even needed a distraction.

‘Dustbin.’ I mustered all my cheer as I greeted him. He was having a snack; not a rodent, thank goodness, but some leftovers from the restaurant which looked very tasty. He did get pretty well-paid in his job. He had to see off all manner of nasty rodents but the food he was given was of the highest quality. I wouldn’t have been able to do it though, not for all the sardines in the world.

‘Alfie, what a lovely surprise.’ He stopped eating. ‘How are you, mate?’

I filled him in on the situation with Tiger, which he was very sympathetic about, then I shared my worries about George, and finally I asked about Aleksy.

‘Oh boy, the drama just piles up, doesn’t it?’ Dustbin shook his tail. ‘I feel for you, Alfie, I really do. And I wish there was something I could do. But if you think George is in any danger from this stick-wielding man, just say the word and I’ll be after him.’

Dustbin was quite a keen fighter, not that I approved of violence, but Dustbin was a different type of cat to me. He didn’t go looking for trouble, but he didn’t shy away from dealing with it, which had helped me out quite a lot in the past. And for that I was grateful. He would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, I could vouch for that. He protected those he cared about, and I was grateful to be counted among those he did.

‘I think George is OK, at least he hasn’t got in with the wrong crowd. I’m worried about the old man, he seems very angry, but we can keep an eye on that. It’s more the fact that he’s shying away from me. We barely talk any more – well, we do about Aleksy, Connie and Hana, but not really about Tiger, or how he’s feeling.’

‘Give him time, Alfie, he’s young still and doesn’t know how to express himself yet. He will, and he’ll come to you when he’s ready. Just make sure he knows he can, which I know you do.’

‘Thanks, Dustbin, you always say the right thing. What about Aleksy?’ I gave Dustbin a quick affectionate nudge. He wasn’t a touchy-feely type of cat but I like to think I had softened him up a bit over the years.

‘He’s a bit sad, the poor lad. He can’t phone her so I don’t get to overhear him any more, but he does mooch around quite a lot. His mum and him are talking more now though, which is a good thing, and he asked her for a job, so he can buy Connie a present to cheer her up. I’m not sure what kind of present though.’

Ah, Aleksy was a man after my own heart. He was going to do a grand gesture, a gift to show Connie that he cared. I had done the same in my time. Not that it was as simple for cats; not being able to buy anything meant that we had to be a little more creative. Digging up flowers and climbing trees, that sort of thing, but let’s not go there. Anyway, Aleksy was showing what a considerate, caring youngster he was, which made me happy. And he and Franceska were on good terms again, which made me even happier.

‘Did she give him a job?’

‘She said he was too young to do anything official but he’s helping with cleaning up and polishing cutlery at the restaurant and she’s giving him extra pocket money, so yes it seems so. From listening to their conversations it seems that he still spends time with Connie at school. They are both sad about how her mother is but Connie says she won’t budge. At least the mother/son relationship is good again, it’s like he’s stopped being a teenager.’

‘Thank goodness. I miss the old chatty Aleksy and he and Franceska, who were always so close, need to be again. That at least makes me happy.’

‘We need to count every single blessing at the moment, Alfie,’ Dustbin pointed out.

‘I agree, and if Aleksy is being sweet and it seems quite mature about this whole thing, trying to cheer Connie up rather than getting angry, well, I’m one happy cat.’ I wasn’t exactly happy. ‘I just wish there was something I could do to get Sylvie to come round. Not only has she made the kids miserable but she’s isolated herself now, so she can’t be happy.’

‘You’ll come up with something. Oh look, it’s that pesky rat. I thought I’d seen him off, excuse me a minute.’ Dustbin turned, ran at breakneck speed and pounced on a rat. I turned my head away. It didn’t look as if that rat would be bothering the restaurant again. It was the ugly side of being a cat and I could only be thankful that I didn’t have to worry about it. There, I had found two blessings in one afternoon, which was better than none.

I saw Franceska come out of the restaurant, just as I was about to leave.

‘Alfie, you came to see us,’ she said, petting me. ‘It’s a long way, can I get you some sardines?’

‘Meow,’ I replied. She certainly could. And that was blessing number three.

Chapter Twenty

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December beckoned, with its demands for Christmas trees and advent calendars, and excitement was palpable among the young members of my family. The auditions for the nativity had taken place and everyone was waiting eagerly to learn of their parts. Even George forgot to be surly at all times. Although we were still shrouded in sadness– Tiger was getting worse, and the situation next door with Sylvie, Connie and Hana was no better – amidst all that, Christmas had officially started in Edgar Road.

Tiger was hanging on but we were seeing less and less of her. Not only was she hardly going out, but her family had started closing her cat flap more often, and so George and I were able to snatch only occasional moments with her, which were becoming rarer. If the cat flap was shut, she would try to make it to a window to see us, it had become our new thing, but it wasn’t the same. Poor George had to talk to his new friend and his mum through a window, and I could tell he was getting frustrated with both. And he wasn’t the only one. I had nothing. No plans, no schemes, and no idea how to fix any of the messes we were surrounded with. I was a cat without a plan and I was nursing a very bad heartache.

‘Claire, how on earth are we going to get a tree that size home?’ Jonathan said. Claire had been to the tree man down the road and had just announced that she’d reserved a tree which was over six-foot tall.

‘Tomasz said he’d go with you in his van.’ Claire indicated the conversation was closed. She was drawing up big plans for Christmas. She talked of something called ‘hygge’.

‘What on earth is that?’ Jonathan had despair written all over his face.

‘It’s Danish and it’s to do with cosy, simple pleasures, and I want to make our house feel like that this year.’

Jonathan just shook his head.

‘I’ve got lots of candles and this is going to be a proper family Christmas,’ she announced.

‘Let’s just hope we don’t burn the house down,’ Jonathan finished.

I left them, Claire talking through her plans for making the house Christmassy, and Jonathan still shaking his head, and went to find my boy.

George had reacted just as you would expect a child to react; he was angry, scared and he felt as if he was being abandoned. Parents are meant to protect their children and both Tiger and I had failed him in this. I remembered how I felt when my sister cat, Agnes, died when I was just a kitten. I’d been so lost without her and I didn’t understand. My owner was beside herself and so I retreated into myself. I’d felt as if I had no one to turn to and then, when Margaret died a year later, I was utterly alone. But George wasn’t alone; not that that would make him feel better right now. I was pretty sure that nothing would make him feel better right now. It broke my heart, which was already breaking over Tiger. I was worried there would be nothing left. But I had to pull myself together. For Tiger, and for George.

I set off down the road to find him. George was always home for tea, and with all the drama I realised I hadn’t seen him for quite a while. He was loitering near the front of Tiger’s house.

‘Ah, there you are.’

‘So?’ George looked at me angrily.

‘Well, it’s just that I hadn’t seen you for ages and it’s teatime.’

‘Whatever,’ he said, sounding just like a teenager.

George looked at me with his beautiful big eyes, but I couldn’t tell how he was feeling.

‘It’s about Tiger mum.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ He sat and flicked his tail angrily towards me.

‘OK, then you can just listen. What has happened sucks.’ I employed ‘teenage’ speak in the hope of getting through to him. ‘For her, for me, and most of all for you. Saying goodbye is the hardest thing we have to do in our lives, and I know this as I’ve done it a number of times before.But, and this is where I need you to listen, if you don’t say goodbye to Tiger mum, while you’ve got the chance, then you’ll regret it, and I can’t let you do that. I promise you that I love you, and I’ll be here for you for a long time to come, but now I need you to talk to me about it.’

‘But, I don’t want to,’ he said, his voice small, tinged with sadness. His tail was wrapped around his body as if he was trying to protect himself.

‘I know, son, and if I could have it any other way I would, but I can’t. You need to say goodbye and you need to say it now. Please don’t leave it until it’s too late. Don’t regret it or be angry with us, because this isn’t anyone’s fault.’

George sat silently. I could tell he was mulling my words over, but I was determined. I would somehow drag him round there if I had to– although I had no idea how, he was quite a weight now. I crossed my paws that it wouldn’t come to that.

‘Should I go to find her right now?’ he asked, his eyes full of fear.

‘I’ll be right with you,’ I said, as we set off.

We made our way round to the back of the houses. It was eerily quiet, apart from the odd bird squawk or the faint sound of a car engine– it was like a ghost street. I could feel our uncertainty, shivering as we walked. We reached the back doorstep and looked at each other. I tipped my head slightly, and then I checked the cat flap. Thankfully it was open; I let myself have a huge sigh of relief. I gestured for George to go through first and then I followed, hot on his paws. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the worst.

We both padded through to the living room, where Tiger was in her bed, in the same place I had left her last night. The fire warmed the room and I immediately felt my fur start to defrost. I nudged George slightly as he paused and we both made it to her bed at the same time.

‘Tiger,’ I whispered, hoping against hope that she was still with us. I almost didn’t dare breathe.

‘Mum,’ George said, and I thought my heart would crack in two. After what seemed like an eternity she opened her eyes.

‘My two favourites,’ she said, her voice quiet and raspy.

‘Mum, I’m sorry,’ George cried. ‘I just couldn’t bear to say goodbye but Dad told me I would be sad if I did but even sadder if I didn’t. I don’t want you to go.’

‘I don’t want to go either, son,’ she said. George hopped into the bed and snuggled into her.

They say cats don’t shed tears but I swear my eyes were full of them.

‘I will always love you, George,’ she said. ‘Remember that, and I’ll always be part of you and you’ll always be part of me.’

‘And I will always love you too, Mum,’ he replied.

‘Be good for your dad, be true to yourself and you’ll grow into a fine adult cat.’

‘And wherever you are, you’ll see me? You’ll always watch over me?’

‘I will, George, even though you won’t be able to see me.’

‘But I want to see you,’ he cried. Tiger gave me an anxious glance.

‘You know, George, your dad and my favourite thing to do was to watch the moon, and you know when we did we also saw lots of stars in the sky. If you ever want to see me then look into the night sky and I will be the brightest star. I won’t be able to be with you but I’ll always be there.’

‘You’ll be in our hearts forever,’ I said, not for the first time, but I didn’t know how else to say goodbye and I didn’t trust myself to speak further.

‘And you mine. Be the best you can be and, George, try to keep your dad out of trouble.’ They both grinned and nuzzled.

‘Oi,’ I said, trying to sound jovial, but feeling as if the words were going to choke me.

‘You two have each other, you need to be a team, a family, please remember that,’ Tiger said. Before we could answer, I saw her body go rigid, then still. Her eyes closed. I looked at George, he looked at me. We both knew she had gone. It was almost as if we had seen her go and I was rooted to the spot. I watched my boy yowl into Tiger’s fur and I knew that we would never see or hear her again. Not in the real world anyway. Tiger had breathed her last breath and now we had to find a way to carry on without her.

After a long while, I gave George a gentle nudge.

‘We should go, son,’ I said. ‘Her family will be down soon.’ I felt for them, how they would wake up today and find Tiger gone, that would be so hard for them, but I couldn’t help. For once in my life I felt totally helpless.

‘OK, Dad,’ George replied, and reluctantly, wishing with our hearts that we didn’t have to go, we both gave her one last nuzzle before leaving.

Chapter Twenty-One

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: _23.jpg]

Tiger was gone but Christmas was coming. George and I were silent as we observed the house being decorated. We didn’t talk about Tiger, neither of us were ready yet. I needed to see our friends, but for now I wanted to be silent in my grief. And from what I could see, George felt the same, so I was showing him I was there for him, whilst trying to hold myself together.

Our house looked beautiful with its big tree in the living room that Claire insisted on putting up on the first day of December. It took Jonathan, Matt and Tomasz to carry it in the house, which elicited a lot of words that neither children nor cats should have to listen to. And then they discovered it was too tall for the room, so Tomasz had to saw off the top. Although it wouldn’t be Christmas if it all went smoothly! Claire was so happy about the tree that no amount of Jonathan’s moaning could ruin it for her.

Despite the fact that we were miserable, we tried to enjoy the occasion the way we would most years. The children were so excited as they helped decorate it, as was fast becoming a Christmas tradition. It looked a little bottom heavy as a result but it also reflected our family. There were homemade decorations from both Summer and Toby, their favourite coloured baubles, which they were allowed to choose, and an abundance of tinsel. Toby even begged George not to try to jump into the tree this year. As George had done this every year since he’d been with us, we weren’t confident. Even though he said he would try his best, I had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t be able to resist. Our living room had a sudden explosion of tinsel, lights and brightness, and it couldn’t fail but to cheer us up. It was a burst of colour in our very black and white life.

Claire then did as she’d suggested she would and put out lots of candles. I wasn’t sure about them – candles, cats and children weren’t a good combination – but she said this was her nod to ‘hygge’. She hadn’t quite grasped what else it meant so to her it was just far too many candles and, as Jonathan said, ‘turning our house into a fire hazard’.

Claire had also written most of her Christmas cards and she put one through the door at Sylvie’s saying she hoped that they could have a drink over Christmas. Claire, like me, didn’t like giving up, so she was trying to come up with ways to get Sylvie back into our Edgar Road fold. Jonathan told Claire to leave it but she rarely listened to him. I agreed, not just because we liked and cared about Sylvie, but also because both Aleksy and Connie were still being kept apart. I knew (via Hana and George) that Connie was still crying most nights, and Aleksy was miserable without his friend (via Dustbin).

Hana told George that Sylvie had found out that her ex-husband was having a baby with his new woman and that had set her off into deeper depression. He’d even suggested Connie going to spend Christmas with them but Sylvie couldn’t bear to lose the only person she had left in her life. I understood. We were lucky with all the people we loved, despite losing Tiger, but she had no one. It was beyond sad.

I saw her in the street and tried to get her attention but she seemed to look through me as if I was invisible. I really was worried about her and her state of mind. It wasn’t good, I could tell. I needed to do something, and through habit I went to see Tiger, momentarily forgetting that she was no longer there. I was alone to come up with a plan. I wanted to get Hana out of the house, but again, nothing. I thought if I got George in then that would be something, but they didn’t even leave the top windows open any more, so I had no chance. There was literally no way in. George offered to see if he could fit through the letter box but even I knew that wouldn’t work.

I was trying to make my list, in my head. Tiger, gone, but I wasn’t ready to let go. Aleksy, missing his first love, and we all knew what that was like. Connie, isolated and angry with her mother. Sylvie, upset about her divorce but taking it out on the wrong people. Hana, a poor cat caught in the middle. And George, who was still disappearing regularly, stillnot quite talking to me the way he used to, and obviously hurting but refusing to let me comfort him. It was a lot.

Thank goodness for Christmas. The only speck of happiness on the horizon.

I sat with Claire as she made even more lists. She explained to me she was making a list of presents to get.

‘Everyone likes getting gifts, Alfie, so I am going to make sure I put a lot of thought into it. It’s how us humans show we love each other.’

Ping, I had a brainwave. Gifts, of course. That was the answer. I would win Sylvie over by getting her gifts. I went off for my afternoon nap and to try to make my own list of what I could get her.

‘I am never speaking to him again,’ I heard Toby shout as the front door opened and, along with a gust of icy wind, Claire, Toby and Summer burst in.

‘Toby, calm down,’ Claire pleaded. She chewed her bottom lip, worriedly. Summer was looking a bit startled, after all she wasn’t the one being dramatic for once and she didn’t seem to know how to handle that. Toby’s face was red and angry. Oh no, what now, I thought. This was not good. Our Toby was such a star. He had come to us age five having been adopted, and not having had a great start in life. At first he’d had nightmares, which George had stopped, and then he’d had a fear of being sent away. But finally, he now seemed to feel, to believe, he was the important part of the family that he really was. It was both heartbreaking that he’d been through that but heart-warming that he had us now and we had him. We all loved him so much. Just as much as Summer.

‘I will not calm down. It’s not fair.’ He sounded a bit like Summer as he stamped his foot. I guess he’d been taking lessons. I was glad for once that George was out; this scene would have definitely upset him. None of us liked it when Toby was unhappy, although I didn’t recall seeing himthis angry before.

‘OK, but Tobe, you have to tell me, because you just sulked all the way home and neither you nor Henry would speak. So can one of you please let me know what’s going on?’ Claire ran her hands through her hair. Toby and Henry were best friends, inseparable, so I didn’t like the sound of themfalling out.

‘I will not.’ Toby crossed his arms and then looked a little unsure what to do.

‘Oh Mummy, what happened is this,’ Summer said. ‘They announced the Jesus play people in assembly today. I’m a star. Daddy says I’m a star anyway, so I think that’s why they cast me.’

‘I am guessing you mean nativity, and Summer, yes you are a star, but please can you tell me why this has made Tobe in such a bad mood.’ Claire tried to hug him but he slipped out of range.

‘He’s Joseph, who is baby Jesus’ daddy, but not his real one because Mary was a virgin.’

‘Oh God, Summer, who told you the nativity story?’ Claire asked, although it was a little off point.

‘Daddy.’

Claire rolled her eyes.‘But Toby, that’s the main part, along with Mary of course, that’s amazing, you should be very proud. I’m very proud.’

I was very proud too, look how far Toby had come.

‘Well I’m not, because I have to hold hands with Emma Roper. She’s Mary and I don’t like her. She’s a girl.’

‘I’m a girl,’ Summer pointed out.

‘You’re my sister, that’s different,’ Toby said.

‘True.’ Summer nodded.

I saw Claire look between them, unsure where to go with this, and I have to say I wasn’t sure either.

‘OK, so you don’t want to hold hands, but what has this got to do with Henry?’ Claire asked.

‘He’s the donkey,’ Toby said.

‘Ah,’ Claire said.

‘I wanted to be the donkey. Everyone knows the donkey is the best part ever.’ Toby burst into tears and ran up to his room.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do about this?’ Claire asked.

‘Leave it to Daddy, he is so much better at all this than you,’ Summer said sagely, and leaving Claire open-mouthed, and me a little bemused, she went to join Toby.

‘He’s really not,’ Claire said.

‘Meow,’ I agreed; he really wasn’t.

‘I hope that she’s only saying that because she’s such a daddy’s girl,’ Claire added, stroking me.

‘Meow,’ I agreed. Claire and I would probably have to sort this one out, just as we sorted everything out.

The doorbell rang and Claire opened it to find Polly on the doorstep.

‘I left Matt with the kids, but had to come and see you. Is Toby alright?’ Polly asked, coming in and picking me up, taking me to the kitchen with her.

‘I was about to go and see, but Sum’s up there with him. He’s really upset.’ Claire’s lips twitched, as did Polly’s, and to my great surprise they both burst out laughing. What kind of parenting was this?

‘Oh, I’m sorry Claire, but Henry was so pleased with himself. He kept saying how everyone wanted to be the donkey and he was chosen for his acting skills and the best thing was that everyone knew that donkeys didn’t have to hold hands with girls.’

‘Poor Toby is so distraught. I told him he’d got the main part but he wasn’t having it. He said he doesn’t like the girl who plays Mary, or he doesn’t like any girls actually.’

‘Poor girl, she’ll get a complex. Anyway, Emma’s a sweetie, she was at Henry’s last birthday party remember, and they all seemed to be friends then.’

‘Oh, how things change in the minds of our babes. But what do we do? Summer thinks Jonathan is going to sort it all out.’

‘Really? She’s delusional when she comes to him.’

‘Is Martha like that with Matt?’

‘No, she knows he’s hopeless at sorting things out, stemming from when he was out of work that time and I was at work most of the time. Things were chaotic.’ Polly shuddered, as did I. It had been a bad time for all of them and Polly was right: the house was a mess, and everyone was struggling. It took Matt quite a while to learn how to cope with the children and the house. No one knew why he was so hopeless, although he’s much better now.

‘Anyway, I better put the kids’ tea on, but what are we going to do?’ Claire asked. ‘Henry has always been such a good friend to Toby, and I couldn’t bear it if they fell out.’

‘Oh, kids fall out all the time, they’ll be best friends in no time, and you know Henry can’t hold a grudge, he doesn’t have the attention span. A bit like his father. But anyway, what I will do is tell Henry to convince Toby that being Joseph is a really good thing. I’ll bribe him somehow if I need to.’

‘Oh thanks Pol, it would be amazing if we could sort this out. And I’ll tell him that Joseph is an amazing part – oh, I’ll say the sign of a good actor is pretending and if he can pretend to like the girl then that will show how amazing he is.’

‘Perfect. Thank goodness for us. I’ll bring Henry round before school tomorrow, and if you like I’ll walk all the kids to school for you.’

‘Oh, that would be fab. Now if only we could sort out Sylvie as easily.’

‘I think that might take a bit more. But we’ll come up with something.’

‘Meow,’ I shouted. They meant I would.

‘Yes, Alfie, you’ll help us as well,’ Claire said, stroking me. Helping? Actually, it would all be down to me.

Toby sulked all through tea, despite Claire trying to convince him that he must be the best actor the school had ever seen. Summer thankfully agreed with everything her mum said, and I could see Toby wavering. He was listening, but he was also refusing to budge just yet. He did remind me of George.

That night I put the first phase of my plan into action. Giving gifts isn’t easy for cats. We don’t have money or go to shops, we certainly can’t gift-wrap. But when I first moved to Edgar Road, I’d tried to win Jonathan over with my version of a present. He’d pretended he hated them but it must have worked because look at us now. So, confident in my plan and with a thought for how proud Tiger would be of me, I waited until everyone was asleep and went to find one of the street’s nocturnal cats. I didn’t spend much time with them, seeing as I was pretty much always asleep at night, but we were all friendly enough on our street. I found Lucky, a big black cat, and told him what I needed. I didn’t have to wait long before he presented me with a juicy mouse, who unfortunately was no more. Despite my feelings of distaste, I took it to Sylvie’s doorstep and left it by the front door. When she opened her door in the morning and saw the gift I’dleft for her, she wouldn’t be able to help but feel wanted on the street.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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The following morning, as the house began to stir, George seemed to be in shock as he sat by his bowl in the kitchen, not wanting food, but not knowing what to do. Tiger’s death had sunk in, but only a little. I tried to talk to him but he looked at me as if he couldn’t hear a word I was saying. He just sat there and I stayed close by. I didn’t know how to offer comfort any other way and I was desperately trying to suppress my own feelings for now.

We sat, side by side, as Claire ran downstairs, putting the kettle on, tipping food into a bowl for us, laying the breakfast table, before going to rouse the children. Jonathan emerged, fresh from the shower, poured coffee into two cups and took them back upstairs. Voices drifted down, children being chivvied, Jonathan looking for something, normal life going on all around us, when life felt anything but normal.

‘I need to go,’ George said, finally. His breakfast untouched, as was mine.

‘Where?’ I asked.

‘I just need to be alone,’ he said.

‘Are you sure? Sometimes it’s best not to be on your own.’ I felt panicked, I didn’t want him to leave, I wanted to stay with him to keep my eye on him. I needed him, but again, as a parent, I knew it wasn’t about what I needed.

‘I really am sure, Dad. Please, just let me,’ he said sadly and I felt I had no choice but to let him go. As I watched him leave the house again, I was tempted to follow but then I realised that I needed some time as well. I had just said goodbye to my best friend, a cat I loved with all my heart, and I was never going to see her again.

I had to trust George would be alright for now, and I needed to trust that I would be too.

I was vaguely aware of the family going about their morning business. Claire made a mention of George, but Toby assured her that he had been in bed with him last night, so they didn’t worry. I tried to eat a little but I felt the food would choke me. When something horrible happened it always struck me as odd, how normal life carried on around you.

Toby was still moaning about the nativity. Jonathan was trying to tell him how when he was a child he had always wanted to be Joseph, but that wasn’t really working. I could see this situation was likely to go on a bit: Toby threatening to refuse to be in the play, Claire trying to cajole him, Summer saying it wouldn’t be the same without him. I let it all wash over my fur. I couldn’t really bring myself to get involved or be concerned at the moment. It was too painful, too hard.

A knock at the door interrupted as we were finishing breakfast and Jonathan opened the door. I stayed where I was as he came back with Polly, Henry and Martha all ready for school.

‘Henry has something to say,’ Polly announced before anyone spoke.

‘Toby, I am sorry I said being Joseph was the worst thing ever and that Emma Roper would try to kiss you. I think it’s cool actually and I am going to be the donkey, yes, but I will look out for you and if I think Emma Roper is going to try to kiss you then I’ll try to stop her with my tail.’ Henry stood back and looked quite pleased with himself. Jonathan stuffed his fist in his mouth as he did when trying not to laugh.

‘Well, that’s very kind of you, Henry, isn’t it Toby?’ Claire said.

‘I still don’t want to be Joseph though,’ Toby said; he wasn’t going to forgive so easily.

‘I think it’s great, one day I want to be Mary,’ Martha offered.

‘Why don’t you children go and play for five minutes before we leave for school?’ Polly suggested. They all went into the living room but as chatter started up, I realised that Toby was still not really talking. It seemed the nativity issue wasn’t going to be resolved that easily.

‘Right, I better go to work,’ Jonathan said, standing up.

‘Just a minute. We were on the way and we bumped into the Barkers, down the road. They were in such a state – turns out their cat, Tiger, has just passed away. She was very ill, they’re so distraught, poor things, but I know she and Alfie were friends. And George too, I guess,’ Polly said.

‘They were, really good friends,’ Jonathan said. They all looked at me, concern across all their faces. I started yowling and I lay down, finally able to fall apart.

‘And they say cats don’t have feelings,’ Claire said, bending down and stroking me.

‘Well they do, and none more than Alfie,’ Polly added, as I just let myself go.

‘That’s awful,’ Jonathan said. ‘They’re an odd couple, the Barkers, and although not particularly warm they did dote on that cat. Claire, we should drop round some flowers.’

‘I agree, and I’ll get a card,’ Polly said.

As Claire picked me up and cuddled me to her, I showed my grief, and thought that at least my humans were lovely people, and they would show kindness to the Barkers, and I would pull myself together and take care of George. I would also have to go and see our friends later, because they would all be very upset, and I would have to learn to put one paw in front of the other and carry on. But for now, I would just take some time to wallow in my distress. As I felt the warmth of Claire’s arms around me, I couldn’t do anything else. Hearing them say it, my humans, made it abundantly real and I nestled into Claire’s arms and let despair engulf me.

When everyone had gone out, and with still no sign of George, I cleaned myself and went out to see our friends, although it was the last thing I felt like doing. I understood George’s desire to be alone, I shared it in a way, but it wasn’t necessarily healthy and I needed to tell Tiger’s friends what had happened and also find my kitten. It was too much for him to go through alone, even if he did think that was what he wanted. I mustered the tiny amount of reserve strength I had and set out.

I noticed that Connie was going out as I left but I didn’t stop. I saw that Salmon’s owners were at the Barkers’ front door, and although they were terrible busybodies, I also knew they were friends and that they were hopefully going to be able to offer some small comfort to them in their hour of need. Again I didn’t stop.

I carried on to the recreation ground, wondering if anyone would be there. It wasn’t raining, but it was still bitingly cold, and a winter wind whipped around my legs as I walked. To say I arrived looking and feeling windswept was a bit of an understatement. I was relieved to see both Rocky and Nellie there when I arrived. No sign of Elvis, but they would be able to spread theword, and I was sure that Salmon probably knew already, so I wanted Tiger’s friends to hear as soon as possible.

‘Alfie,’ Nellie said, with a sympathetic expression on her face. ‘It’s good to see you, I was wondering where you were. We heard about Tiger.’

‘I take it you guys haven’t seen George?’ I said grimly.

‘No,’ Rocky said. ‘Is the lad alright?’

‘Oh guys, I’m worried about him.’

‘Oh Alfie,’ Nellie said, coming over to nuzzle me. ‘It’s all so sad. I’m going to miss her.’ She hung her head.

‘Me too, Alfie,’ Rocky agreed. ‘It’s the saddest thing, losing someone you love.’

‘And I know we all loved her, which makes all this so hard and not just for me. George said he needed time on his own but I really just need to know he’s alright.’

I found fretting about George was overtaking my grief. I thought of two places he might be. One was Hana’s house, but I discounted that on the grounds that he wanted to be alone. Then there was the house at the end of the street with the angry man. That made more sense. He could be hiding out in the garden, and no one would know he was there. Unless the old man saw him, of course – but if he wanted to be alone, hopefully he would have kept himself hidden.

‘What do you want us to do, Alfie?’ Rocky asked.

‘Well, I wouldn’t mind some help finding George,’ I said. I found it was a bit comforting being among friends but also people who loved Tiger too. As if they would prop me up and stop me from falling. I wanted the same for George.

‘Let’s go and find this jungle of his,’ Nellie suggested. The three of us were about to set off when we saw Elvis coming towards us with George by his side. The sight of him was a huge relief. We all waited, glancing anxiously at each other.

‘Hey,’ Elvis said, solemnly, as they reached us. ‘Sorry to hear about Tiger.’ I noticed that George was looking at his paws.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked George. He swished his tail, sadly.

‘I need to go, I have to eat something and then see Hana,’ he said and without another word he left.

‘I’m guessing George’s not doing so well.’ Elvis was a master at stating the obvious.

‘It’s very early days,’ Rocky pointed out. ‘I mean, it’s barely just happened.’

‘He saw the cat he thought of as his mum die,’ Nellie pushed.

We all nodded. It was a lot for anyone, but especially for such a youngster. I knew, it had happened to me, but of course I hadn’t had anyone else to turn to then. Not the way George had. But we needed to give him time, and some space. I was gladdened by the idea he was going to see Hana; I liked the fact that George had someone who wasn’t connected to the rest of us, I think he needed that. A friend who was just his.

‘I just had an idea,’ Elvis said. We all raised our whiskers at him; he wasn’t one for ideas. ‘We should hold what the humans call a memorial or something like that, for Tiger. They go to church which we can’t do, obviously, but we can all gather here and say goodbye and talk about her. It might help the lad. It might help us all to say goodbye.’

‘Elvis, you’re a genius,’ I said. Something, again, I’d never thought I would hear myself say. ‘We’ll invite all Tiger’s friends, everyone who knew her, and make it a fitting goodbye.’

‘It’s a lovely thing to do, and sooner rather than later,’ Nellie said. ‘I’ll help organise it.’

‘And I’ll get Dustbin to come too,’ I said. ‘Let’s do it in a couple of days. Give us time to arrange things.’

‘Hopefully it will help George,’ Nellie echoed Elvis, and that seemed settled.

‘How do you know about these memorials?’ I asked Elvis.

‘I watch a lot of TV,’ he replied.

At home it was, for once, all about us cats. Toby and the nativity was a banned subject, as was Connie, Sylvie and Aleksy. Polly brought round some pilchards for George and I. And I have to say that even they failed to tempt me but I tried for Polly’s sake. Matt even came to see us after work to give us both a hug. Claire and Jonathan fussed us, more than usual. George was quieter, he ate a bit but he still refused to talk to me other than the odd word. But I could tell he appreciated the care everyone was taking of him.

That night, I tucked him up with Toby, and I nuzzled him.

‘I forgot to tell you, Hana said that someone left a dead mouse on Sylvie’s doorstep. I of course said how kind, but Hana didn’t understand – being a house cat she’s never hunted and apparently Sylvie screamed and asked Connie if she knew anything about it.’

‘Oh.’ Not the reaction I was hoping for.

‘I think she thinks it was because someone was cross with her. I tried to say we leave gifts like that as a sign of love but Hana didn’t know how to tell Sylvie that.’

‘George, it was me. I thought if we left her a gift she might feel wanted on the street.’

‘But you don’t hunt.’

‘No, I got Lucky to do it for me. Never mind, I will have to try harder.’

I knew what I had to do. I had to leave her an even better gift. Oh, so much to do but I couldn’t have Sylvie feeling sad about it, not now I’d started the plan. But I needed to talk to my son about something more important.

‘I know you don’t want to talk right now but I am always here for you, I need you to know that.’

‘I do know, but I’m so sad,’ George said. ‘And I don’t know how to act. I’ve never felt this bad before. Not even when I loved Chanel and I thought I’d drowned her.’ His eyes were so full of pain. Although the less said about that incident the better.

‘None of us do, George, but remember if you need me, or anyone, there are so many people who love you very much and we are all here for you. You don’t have to go through this horrible, horrible time alone.’

‘But I want my Tiger mum, and she’s never going to be here again.’

I had no words, as I let my kitten wail into my neck and I silently wept right along with him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

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It was the day of the memorial for Tiger. This was a day for her. There are not many areas where humans trump cats, but the memorial idea was one of them. I still didn’t know much about it, but thankfully our television expert, Elvis, filled us in. Normally people wore black, sang songs and said a few words about the person they were saying goodbye to. We had adapted this to our lives and limitations, so we weren’t going to wear black, obviously, but I had instructed everyone to look their best and we were going to each say something about Tiger, before we did a cats’ chorus of goodbyes to her – our version of singing. I hoped it would help George with his grief; I didn’t dare hope it would help me with mine.

But it gave me something to focus on, as we invited cats from our road, even Salmon who Tiger really wasn’t fond of, but I knew that she would have liked having him there. Dustbin was coming as well; Tiger had become part of his life too, and he wanted to say goodbye. George had spoken to Hana about it and she’d told him about something in Japan where humans went to the temples – whatever they were – and left something as a prayer or an offering. George and I didn’t quite grasp that but George was going to take his favourite toy mouse and leave it as something to keep Tiger safe which was very moving. Of course Hana couldn’t come with us, which was sad but there was no way to get herout of the house, even if she had wanted to.

George was quite upset about that and I assured him that as soon as I could I would come up with a plan to get her out or him in. I could see how much he needed a friend and although he had us, she was really just his, and more his age. And also I remember Tiger telling me never to give up on my plans. I almost smiled as I could hear her telling me to never stop with my mad schemes– not that I thought they were mad, of course. And I wouldn’t. Not that I could anyway. They were part of me.

But I thought that if I could find a way to get George and Hana together, it would help him. I wasn’t matchmaking, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t sure whether George liked her in that way, or she him, and goodness knows relationships among the young could be difficult, but I was determined that their friendship would be a priority for me. He needed her, I knew that. And of course, with everything going on in her house, she also needed him.

George and I had a thorough grooming before he took the toy mouse in his mouth and we set off for the recreation ground and Tiger’s memorial. I could feel the sadness in the way we both walked, slowly, reluctantly almost, and I knew that wasn’t going away any time soon. The grief we felt was inside us but also visible in the way we moved, and how we looked. There was no hiding from it. George dropped his toy a number of times but I didn’t get irritated, I stayed calm. This wasn’t easy for any of us, after all. When we eventually reached the recreation spot, I was moved to see that there was a good turn-out. As well as Nellie, Elvis, Rocky, Tinkerbell and Salmon, Dustbin was there, looking smarter than normal, and some of the other cats from Edgar Road we usually didn’t see much as they were normally nocturnal. Tiger would have been pleased, I thought. I hoped she could see us all. I hoped she knew how many cats had turned out just for her.

Elvis, self-appointed expert on memorials, took the lead.

‘We are gathered here today to remember a very special cat,’ he said. Already I could barely hold it together. I glanced over at George who was staring very intently at the toy mouse. I stood as close to him as he would allow, but I wasn’t sure it made any difference. ‘Tiger was a feisty cat. She didn’t go looking for trouble but she never shied away from a fight if she was protecting her friends and family. I remember the first time I met her, she was having an argument with Tom, and I tried to intervene but she told me that she could more than handle him, and she did. So much so that her and Tom ended up very good friends.’ He paused and raised his whiskers.

I shivered. That was so Tiger. Tom had been a cantankerous cat who lived on our street and when I’d first moved here he really didn’t like me. He wasn’t that pleasant but Tiger sorted him out and they’d ended up very close. No one quite knew why and when I asked her she just shrugged it off and then he moved away with his owner. We had no idea where he was now, or even if he was still alive. Maybe they could both be in heaven arguing together now. I grinned at the thought.

‘We all loved Tiger, we are all going to miss her, none more so than Alfie and young George, here. But it’s only fitting that we remember the good things about Tiger, because there were so many of them, as we sadly say goodbye.’

Elvis was pretty good at this, I thought. He sounded as if he had done this before. He called each cat up in turn to speak about Tiger, recounting their favourite story, or memory. As I felt the love that everyone had for her, it warmed my heart. She would be so missed, but only those that were loved can be missed, I had to remember that. Soon, it was George’s turn. I nuzzled him.

‘Are you alright to do this?’ I asked, full of concern.

‘I need to do it for her,’ he replied and my heart swelled with pride.

‘Tiger mum was my mum,’ George started. I swear there wasn’t a dry whisker in the area. ‘And she was a good mum. She loved me, she protected me. She let me climb trees when my dad didn’t, and she took me on adventures. I think she was probably the best mum a cat could have, and I didn’twant to say goodbye but my dad said we had to, and sometimes in life we had to do what we didn’t want to do, so there was no choice, and I knew he was right. But I didn’t want to lose my Tiger mum, and I just hope she knows how much I loved her, how important she was to me and how I will never stop missing her.’

‘Oh George,’ I said. ‘That was beautiful.’ He nodded, solemnly, and laid down the toy mouse for his mum. Nellie rubbed her eyes with her paws. No one had failed to be moved by George as they all told him how well he’d done.

And then all eyes were on me. I took a breath. I needed to do justice to Tiger, but also I had to do this for George and I guess for me too.

‘So much has already been said about Tiger,’ I began. ‘And it’s been so heart-warming to hear how much she was loved. She was funny, feisty, yes, definitely, and loyal. Tiger was my first real friend on Edgar Road. I remember how I made her come for walks with me when she didn’t want to – she was lazy and spoilt back then – but she soon found her adventurous side, and to be honest, soon became far more adventurous than me. She stood by me, even when she didn’t always want to, she was the dearest, kindest cat ever, and to say I’ll miss her will be a huge understatement. She was always there with a kind word, or a joke to cheer me, she would tell me off when I was behaving badly, or being annoying. She saved me on a number of occasions and, without her by my side, I feel as if I am half the cat I was before. But I know she will always be by my side, if not literally, and when I carry on with life, which at the moment feels impossible – but I know I will – I will remember her always. Tiger, no one wants to say goodbye to you but wherever you are be happy and know how very loved you are, and how loved you will always be.’

I stopped, exhausted, to find myself flanked by Dustbin on one side and George on the other. I let their warmth comfort me, as the other cats all began their cats’ chorus in honour of Tiger. By the way, cats’ chorus is probably not the best way to describe the horrible noise that came out of them, but it was well meant. We cats have never been known for melodic singing. But I hoped that it would bring a smile to Tiger’s lips wherever she was and I looked up to the sky, raising my whiskers to the heavens and saying a silent goodbye. Yet again.

No one wanted to rush off, so we spent a pleasant afternoon in the cold, all huddled up to keep warm, lots of the older cats doing their best to cheer George up. Everyone was being kind to each other; even Salmon was upset and he never got emotional.

‘Bad times, bad times, Alfie,’ he repeated. I knew for him that was a lot. So as we shivered and nuzzled and basked in the glow of friendship that was around, I found some sort of peace. Sad, yes, but also it was good to see how much Tiger meant to everyone and to feel how much we all meant to each other. I knew that the coming days, months, years even, would be hard for us, George and I especially, but today, there was comfort of sorts and I took a mental picture so I could conjure it up whenever I needed to.

‘George,’ I said, gently. My fractured relationship with my son was still a little bit of a see-saw. One minute he was glad of my company, my love, the next he rejected it. I knew this was what I would have to bear for now, until he was ready to talk, or for our relationship to go back to how it was. No, that wasn’t right, it would never fully go back to how it was, I knew that. It would always be different now, without Tiger, but I would wait until he was ready for us to move on to our next phase and hopefully that wouldn’t take too long.

‘Yes?’ he replied.

‘Would you like to go home? Warm up? Take a nap?’ I knew I was fussing but then that was what parents did and I was now a single parent. That thought struck me so hard that it almost winded me. I was going to be doing this on my own from now on.

‘No, I have to go,’ he stated.

‘Where?’ I asked. ‘Can I come with you?’

‘Dad,’ he sighed. ‘I need to be alone, just give me some space.’ It wasn’t a request and he said goodbye to the other cats and started walking in the opposite direction of our house. I knew he was probably going to his ‘jungle’ and the old man and I had to let him, but I also felt I needed to find out more about what he did there. I had only seen the one time when the man seemed angry, and I resolved that I would talk to him about it, later, I would get him to tell me exactly what he was up to there, after all that was what any responsible parent would do. Like it or not, I might be grieving, broken-hearted, exhausted, but first and foremost I was a parent and I needed to parent more than ever now.

However, my grief needed an outlet too, and so that night when everyone was asleep I went outside, and I yowled with all my might at the bottom of the garden, my cries being carried off in the wind.

I was about to go home, when I remembered Sylvie. I had organised another gift for her via Lucky again. After all, this plan was for Sylvie, for Connie and for Aleksy, as well as the friendship that I was trying to rescue and also in memory of Tiger.

The bird was waiting where I’d been told it would be – my new best friend was really proving helpful. As I picked it up and made my way to Sylvie’s doorstep again, I nearly dropped it a couple of times, not least as I squeezed under the gate, but I made it. She would definitely know how much she was cared about now.

Chapter Twenty-Four

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I was failing as a father and as a cat. My feelings of grief weighed heavily on me and I was finding it hard to muster any energy. I had always tried to put my feelings after those of others, but I couldn’t do that as easily as normal right now. I was struggling with the day-to-day functions. Eating, with little appetite. Going out, knowing I would have to walk past Tiger’s house, which was physically painful. Trying to talk to George who still had no real interest in talking to me.

The humans were being very considerate to us. They were sure that we were sad because of Tiger– we were – and so they were being extra nurturing. Toby and Henry were still at loggerheads – things had worsened when Henry had laughed at the play rehearsal when Emma Roper wouldn’t let go of Toby’s hand and Toby was angrier than ever about being Joseph – but I couldn’t worry aboutthat. Nor could I fret too much when Franceska came round to say how upset Aleksy still was, throwing himself into earning money so he could buy Connie a nice present, and how her mum was still unmovable. Apparently Connie had even asked her father to intervene, which he had, via Skype, but Sylvie said that he’d given up being a parent when he left them for another woman and it just made things worse. George was still visiting Hana, but he was so closed off that he didn’t seem to want to talk to me about that either.

I did manage to ascertain that the bird gift hadn’t gone down very well. What was wrong with these humans? This time, according to Hana, Sylvie had accused Aleksy of doing it to punish her. Of course Aleksy never would but the idea that he was being blamed for my brilliant plan was devastating. I had to think like a human and not a cat. Despitebeing wrapped in grief, I needed to put this right, because so far my plan was making things worse.

I lay in my bed, in our empty house, and I talked to Tiger. I told her about the gifts and I could picture her there in my head. Her stripy fur, the way she would square up to any other cat, dog or anyone for those she loved. I knew that she would be sad about the way George and I were at the moment and I could hear her telling me that we needed each other more than ever, so to go and do something about it. It was startling how clear her voice was, how loud, how forceful. And I hadn’t always done what Tiger told me to when she was alive, but I was going to now. Even if it was only a lone voice in my head. I needed to listen, I needed guidance. Sometimes when you felt at your worst, you had to pull through rather than give into it. Tiger was dead, that was the most horrible thing to recognise, but I wasn’t, and I needed to keep living, but more important than that I had to show my kitten how to keep living.

With a slightly renewed sense of energy, I got up, stretched fully– I had been in bed longer than normal so felt very scrunched up – and cleaned myself up ready to leave the house. I walked past the living room where the Christmas tree lights were off, due to no one being home, and I thought about the festive period. It was a time for love, and goodwill to all men – and cats – so I needed to rally myself and my troops and make sure that I did Tiger proud by making this Christmas a good one. It wouldn’t be the best, it couldn’t be without her by my side, but it would be as good as it could be. And I was the cat to make sure of it.

Feeling amazingly confident and armed with my new purpose, I went to find George. He might not have wanted to talk to me but I would show him that he needed to. I made my way to the end of the street, it was drizzly, cold, and miserable but I kept going. I ignored the damp feeling in my fur, the ache in my legs, the pain in my heart, and I heard Tiger’s voice egging me on every step of the way.

I got to the house and scanned the front garden for George. There was no immediate sign but then the garden really was an overgrown mess. I spotted George beneath a browning bush and I approached him. I wasn’t going to pretend any more.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, raising his whiskers angrily at me.

‘George, you know you are entitled to spend time on your own, and I’m not going to stop that, but I am your father, and I’m entitled to check that you’re safe if I feel I need to.’ I was stern.

‘As you can see, I am.’ He shuffled around so he had his back to me.

‘George, I miss Tiger every second of the day, and I know you do too, but we’ve still got each other. We’re lucky to have that so it’s important you don’t push me away.’

‘But—’ he started.

‘No, no buts. I’m here for you, I love you and you have to know that. You can be angry, you can be sad, you can be whatever you need to be, but you can’t push away the people who love you, because that, George, isn’t going to help at all.’

‘I don’t mean to push you away,’ he said, his voice small.

‘Then why do you?’ I asked, kindly.

‘Because I’m scared. I didn’t know that you could get pain like this and what happens if I lose you too?’ He looked at me, his words coated in sadness, his eyes spilling over with fear. My heart, which was already in pieces, shattered a bit more. ‘I know you said you wouldn’t go for a long time but then with Tiger mum, she didn’t know, so that could happen to you.’

‘I can’t promise I’ll always be here, George, I wish I could. But, we have been through this, you’ve got me for a very long time. I’m incredibly healthy, and I’m not going anywhere right now.’ I was actually and on the whole took very good care of myself, I ate well, I exercised and Ieven ensured I drank plenty of water. ‘And I’m younger than Tiger was. I’ll take care of myself and do whatever I can to stick around for as long as I can, but you know what this whole death thing teaches us?’

‘No,’ he stated. I wasn’t sure either, but I ploughed on regardless.

‘It teaches us to make the most of living our lives. Make the most of our families, our friends, our fellow cats and our humans. If anything does happen to me – not that it will – you have Claire, Jonathan, Polly, Matt, Franceska, Tomasz and the kids, not to mention all the cats who were herefor Tiger earlier. We are the lucky ones, George, and although it might not feel like it right now, it might never feel like it, try to remember that. Live your life to the full, that is what Tiger would have wanted. And also don’t push away those who love you. She would have told you that too.’

George stood up; he appeared to be thinking. I hoped, prayed I had got through to him.

‘You’re right, Dad, and I know it but the sad feeling is so strong.’

‘I know, son.’

‘But I will try and I’ll talk to you more about how I feel. Is that a deal?’

‘Yes, and not only will I listen but I will help you, that’s what I’m here for.’

‘Oh, come and meet my friend,’ George said, animatedly, and I saw the glint of the kitten I used to know. He sprang up and ran up to the windowsill. I reluctantly followed him. He sat on the windowsill and I saw the old man sitting in a chair. It was dark in the house, and as soon as he spottedGeorge, the man tried to pull himself out of the chair, which seemed to take an age; he didn’t look in good shape. He finally hauled himself up and started waving his fist.

‘Get lost,’ he shouted. ‘Get lost, I tell you.’ His words flew through the window pane.

‘George, he doesn’t sound very friendly,’ I pointed out.

‘What do you mean?’ George waved a paw at the man, who shook his fist again. ‘We’re waving, look.’

‘He’s telling you to get lost, and his face is all red,’ I said carefully, glad that there was a window between us.

‘Oh no, he thinks “Get Lost” is my name,’ George said. ‘He loves playing our game with me, we’re very good friends.’

For a moment I was lost for words. I remembered back to how, when George got his first crush on the horrible Chanel, she would hiss at him and he took that as affection. Nothing I could say would persuade him otherwise. George did have a history of misinterpretation, and it looked as if this was a similar situation. I was still unsure how I would convince him that this man didn’t like him, when the man suddenly came to the window and opened it wide, nearly knocking us both flying. I sprang back off the sill but George somehow managed to jump inside the house. I didn’t realise it until too late.

‘Get lost,’ the man shouted.

I jumped back up on the windowsill.‘Oh my,’ I exclaimed.

What would happen to George now? I felt fear welling up inside me. This man could really hurt my boy, and I had to stop him.

‘Oh, this is a new part of the game,’ I heard George say as he dodged the old man. I was about to go in – no matter what, I needed to protect my boy – but then I stopped as the old man went a funny colour and then fell over. He was going to fall on George.

‘Yowl,’ I shouted and George managed to jump out of the way before the man reached the ground. ‘Um, George, I don’t think it’s a game any more, he’s lying on the floor.’ I couldn’t see much as it was so dark inside, but the man didn’t appear to be moving and George sprang to his side.

‘Do you think he’s alright?’ George looked at me, stricken. This was all we needed, having just lost Tiger, he couldn’t lose his new friend. Even if the man didn’t like him. I had to think and act quickly.

‘I’ll go and get one of the humans,’ I said. ‘They’ll know what to do. Do you want to come with me?’

‘No, I better stay here, I don’t want him to be alone,’ George replied.

I was in luck. Just as I was a few paw strides from the house, wondering who would be home, I saw Jonathan and Matt walking along the street. I ran in front of them.

‘Hey Alfie, we’re just going home from the pub, football,’ Matt explained.

‘YOWL,’ I cried at the top of my lungs.

‘Oh no, don’t tell me this is another cat emergency,’ Jonathan moaned. It wasn’t my fault that there seemed to be quite a few lately. I jumped on his foot, which caused him to say a bad word.

‘YOWL,’ I screeched again. I then did my signal of running round in circles, before they both seemed to get it.

‘Alfie, you do pick your moments, I’m really hungry,’ Jonathan complained, but I was already hightailing it back to the man’s house.

‘Where the hell are we going?’ They were finally following. I ran as fast as my legs would take me back to the open window. George hadn’t moved, he was right by the man’s side.

‘Meow,’ he greeted us with relief.

‘What on earth,’ Matt peered in the window, ‘is that?’

‘There’s an old man on the ground, I think. With George,’ Jonathan said. ‘It’s dark though.’

‘I’m calling an ambulance. Thank goodness for these cats,’ Matt said, pulling his phone out and dialling.

‘I’ll try to break in,’ Jonathan said, shoving the front door with his shoulder, which didn’t move. ‘Ow,’ he said, rubbing it. I climbed in through the window, trying to show him how it was done. ‘Oh, I guess I can go in that way,’ Jonathan said. It was a bit of a tight squeeze but he made it.

‘Great, why didn’t we think of that?’ Matt rolled his eyes as Jonathan came round and opened the front door for him. ‘Ambulance is on its way.’

Jonathan’s hands were shaking as he opened the door and they both ran in, with me on their heels. The house was freezing. Matt bent down.

‘He’s still alive,’ he said, face flushed with relief. ‘But he’s so cold. Can you go and see if you can find a blanket?’

‘Sure thing,’ Jonathan said, rushing off. George nuzzled into him as close as he could.

‘I’m going to try to keep him warm,’ he whispered to me. I nodded. ‘I can’t let him die too.’ My heart would have broken all over again but I wasn’t sure there was enough left to break just at the moment.

‘Get lost,’ the man said, but so quietly that only we could hear him.

By the time the ambulance arrived, the man, whose name we didn’t know, was wrapped in blankets, and his breathing was steadier. Looking a bit shaken up, Jonathan and Matt stood back to let the paramedics do their job. George and I did the same. Then the paramedics said if the man had been left in the cold for too much longer he might have got hypothermia. It seemed we had saved him and it was all really thanks to George.

Jonathan established what hospital they would be taking the man to and he told them that he and Matt would go there to try to sort things out as they didn’t know anything about him or his family. There were a few photos on the wall of a woman and a boy, and then of the same boy as a young man. Matt searched and found a wallet in the man’s coat pocket, which was hanging by the front door. It had a bus pass in it, for a Harold Jenkins. But there was no other information to hand.

‘Hopefully when he comes round we’ll be able to find out who his family is,’ Jonathan said. ‘God, I wish Claire was here, she’d know what to do.’

‘Meow,’ I said. They could figure this out, surely.

‘Shall we see if we can find some pyjamas to take for him? Maybe a book or something, that’s what Polly would suggest.’ Thank goodness, I thought, at least they were being a bit practical.

‘Good thinking.’ Matt and Jonathan went upstairs and we followed them. The house was a bit of a mess, and none of the lights seemed to work, although they found one that did in the man’s bedroom.

‘Bulbs need changing,’ Matt said. ‘God, being old and alone is depressing.’

They found some clean pyjamas in a drawer and a pair of reading glasses by the bed. They took them and a few bits from the bathroom, which looked as if it was in need of a clean.

‘He obviously can’t really cope on his own,’ Jonathan said. ‘I hope he’s got family. I think I need to start training Summer and Toby up to take care of me when I’m old.’

‘I hear you,’ Matt said. ‘And good work, Alfie and George, he’ll probably be alright thanks to you,’ he finished, as he ushered us all out of the house, locking the door behind him.

I looked at George as Matt and Jonathan set off to get to the hospital.

‘You did so well,’ I said.

‘I hope he’s going to be OK?’ George looked at me, his eyes full of fear.

‘It sounds as if he will be and it’s all thanks to you.’ I nuzzled him and then I took my son home.

Chapter Twenty-Five

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‘These guys really earned their pilchards today,’ Jonathan said, jubilantly, as my families all sat round the dinner table. Although we’d had little to celebrate lately, I was slightly buoyed by the fact that today had turned out so well, as was George.

‘Tell us exactly what happened,’ Franceska pushed. I licked my lips. So, yes I had been off my food since losing Tiger, but the fresh, plump pilchards were mouthwatering, particularly after the busy day we’d had. I’m only a cat, after all.

‘So, we were on our way back from watching football …’ As Jonathan launched into the story, George and I launched into our dinner. George was happier now that Harold was safely in hospital, and was going to be alright. Jonathan and Matt had gone to see him, taking him his things, and had found he was stable. He had something called a blood sugar problem which caused him to faint, but I didn’t understand much about that, not being a doctor. The point was that it wasn’t serious. But what was serious was the fact he wasn’t taking care of himself, or according to the hospital, not capable of taking care of himself.

It turned out that Harold had a virus and had been struggling to go out. So although he’d had some food delivered, he hadn’t seen anyone, not even a doctor, because he ‘didn’t believe in them’. Which was a bit rich when he ended up in hospital surrounded by them. He hadn’t been able to pay for his heating, because for that he needed to go to the post office, so that was why the house was cold. He was too proud to ask anyone for help, so he’d been suffering alone and it could have ended very badly for him.

‘But surely he has family?’ Claire asked.

‘Thankfully, he has a son, Marcus, who he’d fallen out with. Not sure exactly what happened but something to do with him getting divorced – Marcus not Harold – and Harold doesn’t believe in divorce,’ Matt explained.

I wondered what Harold did believe in– not doctors, not divorce, nor cats, it seemed.

Matt continued.‘He lost his wife, Marcus’ mum, to cancer a few years ago, and he’s a proud and stubborn man. So Marcus and he haven’t spoken for over a year. We persuaded him to give us his number though,’ he said. ‘I said if the hospital didn’t think he had anyone to help him they’d never let himout. That did the trick.’

Jonathan smiled.‘Yeah, and I called Marcus and he seemed pretty nice. He was upset that he had let things go this far with his dad though, and he rushed to the hospital. I gave him our number because he said he was going to sort the house out, and so I said we’d help. I mean, the state of the place.’

‘Where’s the son from then?’ Tomasz asked.

‘He lives nearby, which is the worst thing, about ten minutes away from here, but he has been through a divorce and various job issues, so he’s been a bit preoccupied. But he seems decent,’ Matt said.

‘Yeah, it sounds as if he’s had a hard time, as well as his dad, but Harold is quite a difficult character by all accounts. So although it’s sad they fell out, it’s not irrevocable. It’s like George and Alfie brought them back together.’ Jonathan grinned. ‘With our help of course, eh Matt?’

‘I’m so proud of you, you are such a softy underneath it all,’ Claire said, giving her husband’s hair a tousle.

‘Get off,’ Jonathan said, but he was pink and smiling, under his not-so-tough exterior.

‘The thing is that Harold told us that George had been visiting him for a while and he kept telling him to get lost but he wouldn’t, which of course sounds just like both our cats,’ Matt explained.

‘And now, because George and Alfie saved him, he said he would welcome him anytime. Poor old chap, miserable because he can’t cope with not coping, if you know what I mean,’ Jonathan added.

‘Pol, I said you’d help Marcus get the house sorted, if you don’t mind? It’s just a dump at the moment, dirty, threadbare carpet, furniture falling apart, and Marcus said he would pay for anything, he feels so guilty. And I also said we’d help do the garden,’ Matt explained.

‘Which is so annoying because it’s December and freezing,’ Jonathan pointed out. Not to mention that he didn’t even do any work in his own garden. Claire normally did it.

‘We’ll all rally, that’s what this community is all about,’ Claire said. ‘I can give his son the number of a cleaner, so the house can be spotless, and we have some old furniture you might be able to use, Polly.’

‘When he comes home from hospital we should throw him a welcome-home dinner,’ Franceska suggested. ‘I will bring food from the restaurant and then he knows he has friends around here.’

‘That is such a lovely idea,’ Polly said. ‘And of course I’ll get the house sorted. God, getting old isn’t much fun, is it?’

‘Polly, we’re no way near there yet,’ Tomasz pointed out, and they all laughed.

As I licked my lips after polishing off the pilchards I smiled at my humans. I had taught them all well. And my kitten, well, I couldn’t be prouder of him either and I knew Tiger would have been too.

George and I left the adults planning how they were going to help with Harold and Marcus, and went to check on the children. It wasn’t a happy sight. Summer and Martha were both unnaturally quiet, Toby and Henry weren’t talking and Tommy and Aleksy were trying to bring about some kind of truce. In my experience, once one thing got sorted, another problem reared its ugly head. And suddenly there was no shortage of them roundhere.

‘Right, so have I got this straight?’ Aleksy asked. ‘Toby is not talking to Henry because Henry is a donkey and Toby is Joseph?’

Both boys nodded and Tommy and Aleksy exchanged a smile. I couldn’t believe the change in Aleksy since the last time I saw him. He was happier, he was engaging with the younger children and the adults, and more importantly with me. He was like a different person and I hoped that it was because things with Connie were settling down, or he was being grown-up about it. Whichever, it was great, and one less thing for me to worry about.

‘Toby, Joseph is the main part. I was Joseph once and I loved it,’ Aleksy said. Toby glared at him, suspiciously.

‘But you did drop the baby Jesus,’ Tommy pointed out.

‘Yes, but I picked him up quickly,’ Aleksy replied. Both boys laughed.

‘Hey, I’ve got an idea,’ Tommy said suddenly. ‘I will make sure that you are remembered for being Joseph and you, Henry, as the donkey, will be able to help too. But before I share this idea, you two have to be friends again.’

Henry and Toby glanced at each other uncertainly.

‘What’s the plan?’ Henry asked.

‘No, no friendship, then no plan.’ Tommy whispered into Aleksy’s ear, and he laughed.

‘We will get into so much trouble, but what a brilliant idea,’ Aleksy said.

‘OK, let’s be friends again,’ Toby said, unable to resist, and he and Henry shook hands. Tommy gathered us all close in and he whispered the plan. He even let Summer and Martha in on it, but everyone, including me and George, were sworn to secrecy. I didn’t know what to think, as I listened. The kids thought it was great, I wasn’t so sure. I knew some of my plans were a bit crazy, but this really took the biscuit. Or the baby Jesus. Aleksy was right, we would get into trouble. Big trouble.

‘Are you sure?’ Toby asked. He wasn’t very good at not doing what he was told, he was such a good boy.

‘I am, I think it’s brilliant,’ Tommy said, immodestly.

‘I think it’s amazing too,’ Martha said.

‘Meow,’ George agreed. Well, he would.

‘And, you know, it will remind us that we’re not just friends, but family, and therefore we do it for each other,’ Aleksy said, which made me want to weep. OK, that did it, so I was in too.

‘Meow,’ I agreed.

As they discussed the finer details, I hoped that it wouldn’t go wrong as many of my plans had in the past, but then I decided that we all needed cheering up and this might just do it. It might do the opposite, but I wasn’t going to think about that. It had reunited and bonded all the children. George was hopping with excitement and I knew this would take his mind off Tiger a bit, which could only be a good thing. So, I high-fived Tommy with my paw, to reiterate that I was all in.

‘You did such a great job today,’ I said to George as we took our last bit of air in the garden before bed. We were both exhausted, it had been such a long day.

‘I didn’t know he was that bad, but I’m glad I could help him,’ George said. ‘And doubly glad he might call me George now instead of “Get Lost”.’ There was no convincing George that the man didn’t like him.

‘Well, I am incredibly proud of you,’ I said. I thought that if I reminded George every day how great he was, it might make things a bit easier for him, navigating his grief.

‘Thanks Dad. I’m just happy he has his son now, and it made me realise how bad it was when I tried to pull away from you. I’m sorry.’

I was so choked up.‘Don’t be sorry, but let’s not do that again, I missed you, I missed our relationship, doing things together. How’s Hana, have you seen her?’

‘Not much, but it’s funny, she said that her owner, Sylvie, is still upset about the mouse and the bird. Apparently she keeps going on about it.’

‘Right, we better put this right – I mean, I better put this right. I know, women like getting flowers.’ I had tried to woo Snowball with flowers once. It hadn’t gone to plan but she had appreciated the gesture.

‘They do. Claire loves it when Jonathan gives her flowers.’

‘So, let’s go and get some flowers and leave them on her doorstep. Then she will know that they’re gifts and nothing bad.’

‘Great idea, Dad, I’ll help you dig some up. Polly’s are nicest. But, there is something I’d like you to do.’

‘What’s that, son?’

‘Figure out a way for me to get to see Hana, properly, I mean. I’ve been wrapped up in my sad feelings but she is sad too. She loved being an indoor cat in Japan, she had lots of people around her, but now she’s alone a lot and her house is very unhappy, so she needs a friend like me.’

‘I’ll do whatever I can,’ I said, meaning it. ‘Everyone needs a friend like you, George.’

Chapter Twenty-Six

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: _28.jpg]

Claire came into the house, having dropped all the children off at school and immediately called Franceska on the phone.

‘Hi,’ Claire said. ‘I just bumped into Sylvie. I’m seriously worried, she said that someone is out to get her.’

There was a pause.

‘Because she’s had a dead mouse, bird and now dead flowers left on her doorstep. I tried to reassure her that no one would do such a thing but she’s not convinced.’

Another pause.

‘Yes, I’m sorry, Frankie, but she thinks it might be Aleksy.’

Pause.

‘I told her he wouldn’t do anything like that, but it is a bit weird, isn’t it?’

Pause.

‘Yes, but of course it’s not Aleksy, and I told her, don’t worry, but I thought you might need a heads-up. Oh, and Polly was telling me today that someone had taken some of her flowers from the garden. How weird is that?’

It was beginning to sink in that my plan may have been a bit foolish. I hadn’t taken into account that Sylvie was a mere human and not as highly sophisticated as us cats. Yet again I had expected too much and I wondered if Tiger would be laughing at me in heaven or wherever she was – of course she would. No more ill-thought-out gifts, I would need a new plan.

On the plus side, we were about to have a breakthrough with the Hana situation. I gleaned from Claire and Polly’s conversation about the dead things that Sylvie was still refusing to have anything much to do with us, but she was working longer hours, and had told Claire that a lady called Susan had just started coming to the house to clean it – apparently so Claire didn’t think she was a burglar. I think that Sylvie was showing that she did want to communicate after all but she still didn’t know how, that was my take.

I immediately formed a plan, and explained it to George. All we needed to do was to find out when this Susan came, and then get George into the house with her. It would bank on her not throwing him out but, after all, no one could resist George. OK, well perhaps Harold could, but we had a feeling this Susan loved cats and so wouldn’t be immune to his charms. Hopefully anyway.

So, George and I cased the house, waiting for her. We knew Susan came after Connie had left for school and Sylvie for work. It became part of our daily routine. We would breakfast, then clean ourselves, and when everyone from our house left for school we would go and camp out next door. We’d wait in the front garden, sheltering from the cold under a fat bush, and if there was no sign by lunchtime we would know she wasn’t going to turn up, so I’d head home and George would go and visit with Hana through the glass. The routine helped me; although I was still pining for Tiger, I appreciated being kept busy. As did George. It was helping us to rebuild our relationship too, spending time together. We chatted as we waited, and I felt closer to George, once again.

We struck lucky on the third day, when a lady unlatched the gate and made her way up the front path. She was wearing jeans, had her hair tied back and looked very friendly, I thought. As we watched her approach the front door, I gestured for George to go.

‘Go in with her, quick,’ I said as the lady stood on the doorstep, fumbling around in her pocket for a key. He started to move towards her and then stopped.

‘Dad, you forgot to tell me how to get out again?’

‘Make sure you leave when she does, son,’ I said. Bless him, I thought, he still had a lot to learn. I crossed my paws that this would all work out as I watched George slip in between Susan’s legs as she began to walk through the door.

‘Who do we have here?’ she said, bending down.

‘Meow,’ George said. I saw Hana come to the door, and I saw her eyes widen as she saw George there. They greeted each other with a nuzzle and then Susan shut the door. He was in.

I felt warm; George and Hana were together for now and I hoped they had a nice time together. I also hoped he came back with a lot more information. Actually, more than anything, I hoped he remembered to leave with Susan.

Feeling satisfied, I stared at the closed front door for a few minutes before I headed back. I imagined that, as Susan got on with her work, George and Hana would have a tour of the house, as I had that time I’d got stuck inside, and they would play together, chat, really enjoying their time together. I raised my whiskers at another job well done.

Back at our house, I found Claire, Polly and a man I hadn’t met before sitting round the kitchen table with a notepad and pen in front of them. I was curious as I jumped up onto Claire’s lap.

‘Marcus, this is Alfie, one of our cats who alerted us to your father.’ Ah, so this was Marcus. He was nothing like I’d expected. I’d expected a slightly younger version of the angry, red-faced man, but he was tall, slim and about the same age as Matt and Jonathan at a guess. He had curly dark hair, glasses, and he looked very kind. Nothing like his father.

‘I still can’t believe your cats saved my father, it’s crazy,’ he said, with a small laugh.

‘I know, it takes a bit to get your head around how Alfie and George are,’ Polly explained. ‘It’s taken us years to get used to it, but Alfie is a remarkable cat and we like to think he’s training George up to be the same.’ She stroked me and gave me one of my favourite head scratches. Just what I needed.

Marcus leant over and petted me. I immediately liked him, he had very soft, warm hands.

‘How do I thank them?’ he asked. ‘I’m guessing, no matter how clever they are, they won’t read a thank you note.’ The women both laughed and I added good sense of humour to his list of attributes.

‘Buy them some fish, that always works,’ Claire said, still tittering. ‘Or any kind of delicious treats.’

‘Meow!’ It really would.

‘Right, I can do that. So, let’s look at the list. I can’t believe how nice you’ve all been.’

‘Hey, don’t mention it. I wish I’d known that he was there before, we could have helped,’ Claire said. A darker look passed over Marcus’ face.

‘I feel so damn guilty, but it was a really bad time. My wife cheated on me, my dad didn’t approve of me divorcing her, then I sold my company, because I wanted to have a fresh start, and that took quite a lot of work. I still work for them, but as a consultant…Anyway, there was a lot going on in my life, and I let my stupid pride get in the way. Dad and I are both too proud for our own good actually, it’s one of our biggest faults, but I should have kept an eye on him, I should have made sure he was alright. I’d have never forgiven myself if anything happened to him.’

‘Hey, it all worked out. You’ve had a wake-up call and now you are going to make sure your relationship is repaired,’ Polly pointed out. My women were so kind.

‘So you’re single?’ Claire asked and I swished my tail; Claire and I did like to matchmake but perhaps this wasn’t quite the time.

‘Yes?’ he replied, sounding worried.

‘Ignore her, Claire is the matchmaker of the group, but Claire, we don’t know anyone we could try to set Marcus up with, do we?’ Polly stated, firmly.

‘Well, no, apart from Sylvie.’

‘Who’s not even talking to us, remember,’ Polly said.

‘Who’s Sylvie?’ Marcus looked confused and I couldn’t blame him. Although it wasn’t a bad idea. If Sylvie hadn’t been totally insane, of course.

‘No one to worry about right now, but what we do need to sort out is the house. How long before your dad is out of hospital?’

‘They said about another week. But in that time I need to get it cleaned up and sort out some furniture. I’d like to redecorate but I don’t see that we have time, not to mention that garden and getting the front of the house painted.’ He looked worried.

‘That’s why we’re here. Polly and I are going to put together a roster. We’ve cleaned the house, so that’s a start,’ Claire said. ‘Although it won’t all be finished, we can get a lot done in a week.’

‘Thank you so much.’

‘So, painting first off. I’ve roped a couple of guys in to help us, and the carpets can be laid, all you need to do is choose the colours. Then there’s furniture – we can get some of it sorted now but some might need to be ordered so we will make do with what we’ve got for now. The gardenwill be tidied up a bit before your dad comes home, but again, that might take longer, and the outside painting will be last.’

‘As I said, I’m willing to pay, and also for your time,’ Marcus said.

‘Marcus, we are doing this out of friendship, that’s what we do. But let’s go to the DIY store now to get supplies, and you can bring your credit card for that,’ Polly said.

‘I’ll pick up the kids and give them tea,’ Claire offered. ‘That way you guys have longer to get everything you need.’

‘What would I have done without you, cats and husbands included?’ Marcus said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

‘Well, luckily you don’t have to worry about that, you’re part of our Edgar Road family now. And I know you’re going to stay with your dad for a bit, but it’ll be good to know that we’re just down the road when you’re not there.’ Claire smiled.

‘That means a lot. I’m a bit thin on the friendship ground, what with the divorce and everything.’ He looked sad but then he smiled; I could tell he no longer felt alone.

I raised my whiskers, all this friendly chat and caring was making me very tired. For the first time in days, I drifted off into sleep, feeling almost peaceful.

Someone licked my head, interrupting my dreams. I opened my eyes slowly to see George standing over me. I’d almost forgotten to worry about him, actually I had. The sleep that I’d had was desperately needed, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had rest like that.

‘Dad,’ he said, as I extended my paws and started to stretch.

‘You got out OK?’ Thank goodness. That wasn’t my best parenting – going to sleep and forgetting about my child – but thankfully it had been fine, he was fine.

‘Oh yes. It was so good, and I got out easily. I told Hana that we would stay close to Susan, but not so she could hear our chat, but so we knew when she was leaving. It was so nice to see her properly and have a conversation which we could actually hear. The house is very nice. Not much stuff around but Hana said they lived in a smaller space in Japan and did something called “minimalism”.’ His voice was so animated, I hadn’t heard him so full of enthusiasm since before Tiger told him she was ill. ‘The best thing is that Susan is coming back in two days, she comes in twice a weeknow. Apparently Sylvie isn’t very good at cleaning and also she worries about Hana being left alone, so she comes in, for two hours twice a week! Which means that I can see Hana all that time.’ He sounded happier than I had heard him in ages.

‘So how was it?’ I asked. I didn’t want to burst his bubble but I was curious.

‘Well, as I said, the house was lovely, and Susan is sweet. Hana has raw fish for food nearly all the time! And she eats rice, and I got to try some.’

‘Rice, really? And did you like that?’ I’d never tried rice.

‘It was OK. I prefer my food to be honest but it was good to try it. But Hana is lonely though, we were right.’

‘Go on.’ We were getting to the interesting part, I could tell.

‘Well, she loved her life in Japan. She didn’t spend much time alone, there were always people around. Sylvie, her ex-husband, Connie, and the house was normally full of their friends too. But now she’s alone so much and when Sylvie and Connie are home they don’t really talk to each other and they shout if they do.’

‘We guessed that was the case, didn’t we?’ I tilted my head sympathetically.

‘Yes, but things have taken a turn that you and I didn’t even think of,’ he said.

‘What, George?’ I had a bad feeling in my fur.

‘Remember you said how Aleksy was working to buy Connie a present?’

‘Yes.’ I willed him to hurry up, but he wasn’t one for rushing a story.

‘He lied to his mum a bit, because he bought her a phone yesterday, and she hid it under her pillow and they do that talking thing where you don’t talk but write.’

‘George, are you talking about texting?’ I had a very bad feeling.

‘Yes, they do texting, which means that of course Hana doesn’t know what they are saying because she can’t read. She thinks they do still talk but only when Connie shuts the door and Hana is outside. Of course her mum doesn’t know.’

‘George, I have a bad feeling about this. Was there anything else?’

‘Sylvie cries a lot, she’s very lonely, she isn’t coping so well. It’s not a happy house at the moment, but it is very nice and clean. Susan is a very good cleaner.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: _29.jpg]

‘Perhaps I should go and see Dustbin, just in case, see if he knows anything.’ I said later, starting to fret yet again after having had time to digest all the information George had given me.

‘OK, but I’m tired, so I think I better wait here for Summer and Toby. It’s been another busy day,’ George yawned.

‘And you know if Dustbin did know anything urgent, he would come and find us, so he probably doesn’t.’ The idea of walking all that way right now wasn’t appealing to me either.

George and I made our way downstairs, me trying to decide what to do. We had reached the kitchen when the cat flap bashed loudly. We both ran as quickly as we could and slid through, to find Dustbin standing on the other side.

‘Talk of the devil,’ I said. ‘I was just trying to decide if I had to come and see you, because George found out that Aleksy got Connie a phone,’ I gushed.

‘Ah, you know about that, yes he did. And I came to you as soon as I could, but I was very busy. The rodents seem to be more determined in winter.’

‘At least you’re here now. There’ll be big trouble if anyone finds out about the phone,’ I said, raising my whiskers worriedly. Aleksy and Connie were playing with fire. I understood how frustrating love could be, especially when you were young, but still.

‘Yeah, it’s worse than that,’ Dustbin said.

‘What?’ My fur stood on end.

‘I heard him speaking to her last night in the yard. They are planning on running away.’

I wondered if Tiger could see me and what she would be thinking if she could. Slightly out of ideas, we held our crisis council at the recreation ground. Thankfully, as Dustbin, George and I approached, Nellie, Elvis and Rocky were all there. It was a good time, before tea and before it got dark, and I was grateful for my friends. We needed to come up with a plan; it needed to be quick and I needed their input.

‘According to what Dustbin heard, we think they might be planning on running away tonight, late, when it’s dark and everyone is asleep,’ I finished, having filled them in the whole situation.

‘Oh dear,’ Nellie said, licking her paws in concern. ‘I don’t like the sound of this.’

‘The poor kids just want to be together,’ Elvis said. ‘I saw something like that on TV once, and I have to say I don’t blame them. Parents have a lot to answer for.’

George flicked his eyes towards me worriedly.

‘Not you Alfie, of course.’ Of course not. I’d tried to help George get together with Hana, not keep them apart – although that was just friendship. And yes, I had tried to warn him off Chanel, but that was because she didn’t like him. No, in the case of Aleksy and Connie, I was fully supportive. But not of them running away. Running away never solved anything. Not to mention that London at night was full of danger.

‘Well,’ Rocky said. ‘I think there’s only one thing for it.’

‘What is that?’ I asked, impatiently. If there was a solution, I wanted it. What with how full my head was at the moment, I was finding it hard to think.

‘Stop them,’ Rocky said.

‘Great, I think we know that,’ I said, a little snappily. ‘But how?’

‘Don’t snap, Alfie, we’re only trying to help,’ Nellie bristled.

‘Sorry, sorry, it’s a bit tough right now.’

‘But hey, Rocky’s right, we just need to stop them, literally.’ Dustbin’s eyes lit up as he seemed to be thinking. And then I got it.

‘Sorry Rocky, you are right. We need to lie in wait for Aleksy, and make so much of a commotion that he’ll think we’re going to wake his family up, or we actually do wake his family up, and he’ll have no choice but to abandon running away.’ My brain was back in proper operation now.

‘Oh, good idea, Dad, but what about Connie?’ George sensibly asked.

‘Go and tell Hana, if you can. I know it’ll be through the window but fill her in and see if she will try to stop Connie. It’d be easier if we could get in there to help but it’ll have to be down to her, I’m afraid. Once again, thanks guys, you are the best friends a cat could have. And Ihope that Aleksy and Connie appreciate us.’

‘They probably won’t, not if you stop them running away,’ George pointed out, sensibly.

‘Not right now but my job, our job, is to keep them safe,’ I explained.

‘And it’s not safe out there, not for teenagers or most cats,’ Dustbin explained. ‘Honestly, if they did run away, I shudder to think how they’ll manage. I mean, Aleksy hasn’t exactly got survival skills.’

‘I’ll go to Dustbin tonight, and help him stop Aleksy. If he sees me there he’ll know that somehow we’ve foiled his plan and it might make him think again.’

I was a little cross now I thought about it. Aleksy was normally the sensible one but running away, late at night, was not clever and it was far from sensible. It was also not going to happen. As the others discussed the plan, I listened but I couldn’t help but think about the other day, when Tommy had come up with his plan for the nativity and Aleksy had said he’d help, as if nothing was amiss. And his good mood must have been down to this crazy running-away idea. I wasn’t happy with him at all.

I would not let this family fall apart. I would not let Aleksy and Connie run away. Yes, their situation was unfair, and yes, they should have been allowed to have their relationship, within the limits of their age, but this was not the way to go about getting Sylvie to change her mind. I worried that if she got wind of it then she’d lock Connie up at boarding school, far far away, whether she could afford to or not.

I calmed down as George and I headed home, and I felt confident in our plan. George had asked to come with us but I pointed out that Toby would worry if he wasn’t there. Although our plan didn’t involve any of my usual dangers, things could always go wrong, so knowing George was safely tucked up at home would be one less thing for me to worry about. The ideal outcome would be that we stopped Aleksy without his parents finding out and the same with Connie. Then they would realise how foolish they were being and rethink their behaviour. George and I parted ways and he went to Hana’s house and I went back to ours.

Marcus was at our house again. He had paint smeared on one of his glasses lenses, and he and Jonathan were both drinking beer and laughing. They seemed to get on well and I thought he would be a welcome addition to Edgar Road– although I had said the same about Sylvie not long ago.

I didn’t have much time to listen to their conversation though I picked up a bit. Harold was recovering well, but wasn’t coming home until the doctors were confident that he had the right medication. But that was all I managed to glean as I ate, had a quick wash and, after putting George to bed – he felt he had successfully communicated what he needed to to Hana – headed out to meet Dustbin. I was beyond tired, and my exhaustion was added to by the thought of the long night ahead. I wasn’t sure what time the kids would think about trying to escape, but I knew it would probably be fairly late if they were waiting for the adults to go to sleep. Just the idea of it made my fur feel weary.

Dustbin was hard at work when I arrived, evenings being his busiest time. It was pitch black, as the nights were now, and the street was lit only by a handful of stars and eyes of the cheeky rodents that Dustbin was charged with getting rid of.

‘Why don’t you get some rest while I finish up here?’ he suggested, kindly, when I told him how tired I was. I didn’t need asking twice, I curled up by the back door to Franceska’s house and I took my forty, or so, winks.

I was woken by Dustbin nudging me and although I was startled I shot up to see Aleksy opening the back door to their house. He was wearing dark jeans and a black hoody, and had a backpack with him. It didn’t look as if he had much stuff in it, I thought, as he was carrying it with ease. Dustbin and I blinked at each other and we turned to face Aleksy.

He jumped at the sight of me.‘Alfie, what are you doing here?’

‘MEW,’ I said at the top of my voice. That was our cue. Dustbin and I yowled and meowed at the tops of our voices.

‘Shush, please shush,’ Aleksy said. We didn’t. He picked me up but I wouldn’t stop and I wiggled until I had to, reluctantly, give him a tiny scratch, which made him let go and drop me onto the floor. It wasn’t one of my best experiences. Dustbin, give him his due, thankfully kept going – turns out he had quite a pair of lungs on him. We saw a light go on inside the flat above the restaurant, and I saw Aleksy notice it too. I imagined them looking out of the window at us. Thankfully neither Tomasz or Franceska seemed to have heard us though.

‘Can you both please just be quiet, you’ll wake Mum and Dad.’ I could hear the desperation in his voice but I wasn’t going to be silenced.

‘Yowl,’ I shouted over and over.

‘Alright,’ he said, suddenly sitting down on the doorstep and pulling out his phone. We both stopped shouting and waited. ‘Hi, it’s me.’

I couldn’t hear what Connie was saying.

‘Hana tried to trip you up?’ There was a pause. ‘She woke your mum up?’ Another pause. ‘What did your mum say?’ Silence. ‘Oh, you shut yourself in the bathroom, quick thinking. But Alfie is here and he and Dustbin made such a noise when they saw me that my parents will wake up soon, and the flat next door is already looking out of the window. They haven’t seen me yet, I don’t think.’ Pause. ‘No, I agree, we can’t risk it tonight.’ He sounded crestfallen but it was for his own good. ‘I’ll text you and let’s talk at school tomorrow and come up with a new plan.’

That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear but at least he and Connie were safe and had aborted their running away for now.

‘Alfie, why are you here?’ Aleksy asked, after he hung up. ‘Did you know I was going to try to be with Connie?’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘No, that’s silly. Of course you didn’t know, you just came to see your friend, Dustbin.’ He nodded. If it was easier for him to believe that, then who was I to argue?

‘Alfie, I’ll walk you home,’ Dustbin said, after we watched Aleksy go inside. I was glad I hadn’t woken Tomasz and Franceska, but also a little surprised. The fact that they had slept through me and Dustbin at our nosiest was slightly worrying. If that didn’t wake them then what on earth would?

‘You don’t think he’ll try to come out again?’ I asked. I was longing for home, for my bed, but I didn’t want to lose Aleksy.

‘No, we’ll wait a few minutes just in case. But that doesn’t mean that’s the end of this.’

‘We’ll keep our ears to the ground,’ I said, but I didn’t mean literally.

‘Sure, but we’re both tired, it’s been a long day. Let’s sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings.’

‘Oh goodness, I need a rest. In a few days we have the nativity play to look forward to. Maybe that will give us some light relief.’ I filled Dustbin in on Tommy’s plan as he walked me back to Edgar Road and even Dustbin thought it would be a riot. That was what worried me: it might cause a riot. I wasn’t sure how much more this cat was up to at the moment.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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I knew the nativity was a big deal, but today it was all anyone talked of over breakfast. Summer was so excited, she kept saying she was literally the star of the show. Toby mumbled how there were loads of other stars but he was too miserable about having to hold Emma Roper’s hand to make a huge fuss. They didn’t mention Tommy’s plan and I was impressed with the fact that Summer hadn’t spilled the beans, she just kept saying it was going to be the best nativity ever. The performance was after school, which was why all my families could go, and of course that included Tommy and Aleksy.

It had been a few days since we’d foiled Aleksy’s running-away plan, and according to Dustbin he and Connie seemed to have been a bit put off the idea; Aleksy hadn’t mentioned running away when he’d listened to his snatched conversations. That gave us some time, thank goodness, and we could focus now on the nativity and then Christmas. Although George and I were on good terms, I knew the first Christmas without Tiger would be incredibly hard for him, for both of us, and I was mindful of that. I was also feeling the stress of the past couple of weeks. So much had happened: Tiger, Harold, George and I, Hana and getting George into Hana’s house, and of course the attempted runaways. It was a lot for any cat to cope with, and the strain was definitely being felt. Yes, I was coping, yes I was grieving, and yes I was exhausted with the emotion of it all.

I didn’t feel like myself at the moment. There was something missing, and everything felt as if it was such a huge effort. I wanted to enjoy Christmas and all that entailed but I was also dreading it, knowing it was the first one without Tiger. I missed her, and that was exhausting too. I didn’t liketo complain but all I wanted to do was to yowl in pain. But of course I couldn’t do that.

Thankfully we had Tommy’s caper to distract us. I was still unsure about the finer details of how they were going to pull it off, but for once I didn’t have to worry about that. It wasn’t my plan, I was just an innocent part of it. That made a refreshing change to be honest. It was almost like having a day off, andthat was how I was going to look at it. After the drama of the last few days and the ache that I carried constantly from missing Tiger, no one needed a day off more than me.

Thankfully, it really was a day off for me, as I needed more than anything to catch up on some rest. Claire was helping at Harold’s house; everyone else, including Marcus, was working, so she was supervising the new carpets. George was visiting Hana. Aleksy and Connie were both at school and I would be seeing Aleksy later, so I didn’t have to worry about him for now.

I spent the day catching up on my sleep, before making a quick visit to our friends. I also checked on the Barkers, a habit I’d got into. Since Tiger had passed away they never left the cat flap open, of course, so I couldn’t go in, but I just felt that it was my duty to go by and see their house. If I saw them I would try to be friendly, and they did pet me kindly; I could tell they felt Tiger’s loss keenly. We all did. Grief hung over Edgar Road, despite the approach of Christmas. The Barkers hadn’t even bothered to get a tree from what I could see through their front window, which meant they must have been in a bad way. I felt so bad for them; I understood how they felt, after all.

I added them to the list. I didn’t know how I could cheer them up when I couldn’t really cheer myself up, but I was concerned. I knew Tiger would have wanted me to try and I owed it to her, so I would do all I could. But time was ticking on, and problems were piling up, and I was shrouded in grief, so it was all so hard. WhenI got home, I took another nap.

The light outside was beginning to fade as I heard the door open and Aleksy and Tommy appeared. Luckily, George and I were in the living room and were ready, having had something to eat and groomed ourselves thoroughly.

Aleksy picked me up and told me I would have to hide in his jacket. Tommy did the same with George.

‘Quick,’ Tommy said. ‘Before Mum notices I stole the key.’

‘You didn’t steal it, you borrowed it,’ Aleksy replied, far less dramatically.

‘I know, but the grown-ups might not see it that way. Anyway, we better go, I told Mum we’d meet her at the school so we could get good seats.’

‘We need to get the best seats to watch what you’ve got planned,’ Aleksy said, and I agreed. I noticed he stopped at the gate to Connie’s house and looked longingly up at the window. He didn’t mention anything about the other night to either me or Tommy.

‘Come on, honestly her mum will come round, I heard Claire say that,’ Tommy said, patting his brother on the shoulder and nearly dropping George in the process. ‘Oops, sorry George, I must be more careful.’

‘Meow,’ I yelled from the warmth of Aleksy’s jacket. Yes you must.

It was a pleasant journey after that. I could just about poke my head out and check out the scenery, which was always different from this vantage point. Instead of seeing– and dodging – feet, we could see the people more clearly. And the cars – there were so many cars revving along the road. Although it was warm inside Aleksy’s jacket, the top of my head felt cold. I willed Aleksy and Tommy to be careful when crossing but they were very sensible, thankfully. I noted a couple of dogs being taken on their walks and women pushing prams, the way our ladies used to when our children were younger. Goodness, when I first met Tommy all those years ago he was still just about in a pushchair. And look at him now. Time passes, that’s what it does, and althoughwe have to carry our hurts and our grief with us, it showed me, yet again, how we all have to keep moving forward.

It was funny, on this walk I was watching life, and it was passing us, bumping us, moving around us, and that was what life did. It made me realise, from my home in Aleksy’s jacket, how absorbed we get into our own little worlds and I found some kind of comfort in seeing a bigger world. I wondered what Tiger would have thought if she’d known what we were about to do. I imagined her chuckling and telling us how mad we were but also being impatient for us to get back and relay the story to her. She would have told me to make sure George was alright but, other than that, she’d have liked this one. I would tell her later, in my head, and in my heart, because that was where she lived now.

I tried to rein in my emotions as we reached the school. Tommy told us both to keep down as they zipped their jackets up. Surely it was obvious we were there, bumps poking out of coats? It was pitch black so I couldn’t see anything, but my hearing was very good. Aleksy greeted the adults, Tommy was quiet. Claire had got them all seats near the front and so they rushed in. Aleksy sat down with me on the end, hoping no one would notice me, and Tommy said he needed the toilet. Luckily he had been to this schoolhimself, not so long ago, so he knew where everything was. I was still locked in the jacket so I couldn’t tell you what was happening but by the sound of scuffles on the floor and chairs scraping impatiently the hall was filling up. People greeted each other, chattering excitedly. Parents were all desperate to see their little ones appear on stage. I just hoped that we weren’t going to ruin it for them. Although I thought that, mad as Tommy’s plan was, it was also quite funny and harmless. And it had brought Toby and Henry back together, so I was still very proud of the boy.

Tommy reappeared and took his seat next to Aleksy with his dad on the other side. I was pleased that all the family was here, but then, as Tomasz said, it wouldn’t be Christmas without going to a nativity, and now his boys didn’t have them any more, he was glad they could still come. Not long ago I had thought that Sylvie and Connie would be joining us but, of course, that hadn’t worked out. I knew that not everyone could be friends, but I still didn’t understand why not. The loneliness coming from next door was bothering me but, as the lights were turned down and the headmistress appeared on stage, I put that to one side. We had a play to watch.

I was allowed a peek out of the jacket to watch. I didn’t dare look around too much, lest I was noticed. But after the headmistress welcomed everyone – I like to think she included me – she introduced the play and then I noticed people taking out their phones. Tommy did the same; they were either taking photos or filming.

The music struck and the singing began. Toby looked so cute in a robe and what looked like a tea towel on his head, but I noticed the donkey couldn’t stop laughing as Toby kept trying to pull his hand away from his Mary. I saw Summer twirling on the stage as a star and she really did pretty much command the centre of the stage, which I wasn’t sure she was supposed to. Then Martha came on as an angel and, actually, she really was a little angel. The angels sang a song and then the oldest one spoke to a scowling Toby and his Mary.

At one point a teacher appeared to move everyone, as it had got a little confusing. I was pretty sure I knew the story of the nativity well; I think Summer was supposed to move with the other stars to the back of the stage after singing to the shepherds, but she seemed to want to stay right at the front. I imagined Claire had her head in her hands at this point. A shouty boy told Toby there was‘no room at the inn’. I have to say Toby looked quite relieved but I’m not sure he was meant to. Then they were directed to the stable and I braced myself.

There was another song, and then the shepherds gathered, and the wise men, and they were all supposed to give gifts to the baby Jesus. Tommy stuffed his fist into his mouth, and held his phone up high, while Aleksy giggled into my fur. Toby and Henry exchanged a glance and then, just as the first wise man approached the manger, he shouted:

‘It’s a cat. The baby Jesus is a cat.’ I could hear Jonathan’s groan from my seat. Then George, who I assume must have fallen asleep, jumped up from the manger where they had wrapped him in a tea towel.

‘Mewmewmewmew,’ he said.

The audience erupted in laughter, the room echoing with it as Toby grabbed hold of George and cuddled him to his chest. I peered out and looked at my family. Clairedid have her head in her hands, Jonathan and Matt had tears running down their cheeks from laughter, Aleksy was giggling into my head, Franceska, Polly and Tomasz’s shoulders were shaking as they tried and failed not to find it funny. A teacher ran on stage but didn’t know what to do when she got there, and Henry, the donkey, laughed so much he had to lie down.

‘It’s George, the baby Jesus,’ Summer shouted, as she spun around. Only Mary/Emma Roper didn’t look happy. She was still trying to hold Toby’s hand even though he was now clutching a cat.

Finally, Jonathan, having been shouted at by Claire, approached the stage, looking a bit embarrassed, and got Toby to give him George. The applause was deafening and if George hadn’t been clamped so tightly to Jonathan’s chest I know he would have taken a proud bow.

‘High-five,’ Aleksy said to Tommy, and as we all high-fived, I felt as if it had given us some much-needed fun.

The children were all squashed onto our sofa, the parents lined up in front of them. George, unsure where to go, finally perched on the arm of the sofa and I, of course, stood with the parents, although I was pretty sure this time I was in trouble too.

‘Tommy, it was your idea?’ Franceska asked, with her arms folded.

At the play, the audience hadn’t stopped laughing until they reluctantly filed out of the hall, collecting their children as they went. The headmistress had a face like thunder, as she told my adults that the nativity, which they had all worked hard for, had been ruined. Although parents did come and stick up for us, saying it was the best nativity they’d ever seen, I’m not sure it helped, the woman was so angry. Claire was embarrassed as they got a ticking-off, and it didn’t help when the headmistress told Toby that he wouldn’t be trusted with the role of Joseph again, and he replied, ‘Thank goodness.’ The adults made the children apologise. Tommy stood up and took responsibility, but the headmistress pointed out that Toby and Henry knew George was in the manger all along and if they weren’t ‘in on it’ they should have told an adult. The upshot was that everyone was in a bit of trouble, and although actually it was worth it, they had to at least pretend to be cross. Although thinking about it, I think Claire reallywascross; sometimes she forgot her sense of humour.

‘It was all my idea,’ Tommy said, again. Give him his due, he always owned up. Like the time it was his idea to take George to church in our holiday home in Devon – I haven’t forgotten how they left me behind – and George saw Chanel, the cat he had a crush on, and it didn’t end well. Orwhen it was his idea to take us both crabbing with them, on a boat no less, and George got bitten on his nose by a crab. Thatdid turn out well, as we all got ice cream, but you get the gist.

‘That’s a surprise,’ Franceska said with her best cross voice, but I could tell she wasn’t actually that angry. Apart from Claire, I could see them all struggling to keep straight faces.

‘But the rest of you all went along with it,’ Claire pointed out. The children, including George, looked a little guilty beneath their smiles.

‘But apart from me, George was the best thing about the play,’ Summer pointed out. Star by name, star by nature.

‘Where does she get it from?’ Claire hissed.

‘Don’t look at me.’ Jonathan shrugged.

‘Let’s get back on topic,’ Polly interrupted.

‘It was quite funny,’ Matt added. ‘No, it was incredibly funny. “The baby Jesus is a cat” classic line.’

‘Yes, it might well have been, but Mrs White, the headmistress, didn’t find it funny, she’s angry and for some reason she blames us. Honestly, Claire, we’ll be made to bake cakes for every occasion as penance,’ Polly said.

‘You can’t bake,’ Matt pointed out. He was right, she couldn’t. She bought all the cakes, then put them in tins and took them to school, we all knew that.

‘Not the point,’ Claire replied. ‘Right, why did you do it, Tommy?’

‘Well, Toby was so upset about being Joseph and he and Henry weren’t really being like friends and I wanted to make them happy again, so I came up with the plan to get them together.’ Ah, he was a boy after my own heart. ‘And Aleksy was so sad about Connie and the fact her mum won’t let them spend time together, and I thought it would cheer him up. I roped them all in, honestly, and Alfie, well I didn’t want Alfie to miss seeing George as the baby Jesus.’

‘Of course you didn’t.’ Jonathan grinned and shook his head. ‘Look guys, Tommy meant well and no harm done. I mean, everyone thought it was funny. Apart from Mary but then she had just given birth to a cat.’

‘Jonathan,’ Claire snapped. ‘They have to apologise to Mrs White.’

‘We can do that,’ Tommy said. ‘I’m happy to write her a letter, not that she deserves it,’ he mumbled.

‘Toby?’

‘OK, I’ll say sorry. It was worth it, wasn’t it, Henry?’

‘Sure was, Tobe.’

I agreed. It really was worth it.

‘What about me?’ Martha asked. ‘Do I have to say sorry?’

‘Well you should,’ Polly said. ‘You knew all about it so that makes you guilty too.’

‘OK.’ Martha shrugged in the good-natured way she always did.

‘But not me?’ Summer said.

‘Why not you?’ Jonathan asked.

‘I’m a star, I’m allowed to do what I want,’ she said.

‘No, you are not.’ Claire rolled her eyes. ‘You apologise too, young lady.’ Summer scrunched her nose up.

‘And guess what?’ Aleksy said. It was the first time he had spoken and his voice was animated as he looked at his phone.

‘What?’ Tomasz asked.

‘George is trending. The video is on the internet already and “cat as baby jesus” already has thousands of views. George, you’re famous,’ he said, punching the air with joy. ‘Tommy, the video you put on YouTube is being watched and shared. We might get rich!’

‘Good thinking, boys. We could make some money out of this.’ Jonathan rubbed his hands together.

‘Jonathan, don’t make this worse,’ Claire warned.

‘Oh come on guys, look how happy it’s made the internet.’ Matt grinned.

George looked nonplussed as he licked his paws.

Everyone was relaxed again. The kids were playing by the Christmas tree. The adults all had drinks and snacks and Claire had lit her hundred candles. To be honest, I didn’t expect this to last long – they took ages to light and to blow out so she didn’t bother too much. Her interest in ‘hygge’, whatever that was, was definitely waning. But it looked and felt Christmassy, as the tinsel glinted, the tree lights sparkled and the candle flames danced. I thought of Tiger, of course, and how much she would have loved to be around for Christmas, how much we would have loved having her around. That was the weird thing about grief, it appeared at the strangest times. I was happy, with my families, but then I thought of her and I was sad again. But happy, andsad. It was most confusing.

‘Oh no, George is on fire,’ Tomasz screamed.

‘Yowl,’ George said. He had caught his tail on one of the candles and it was now on fire. My poor boy. I ran around in circles looking for something to put the fire out with, as did the adults.

Thankfully Aleksy and Tommy were quicker than all of us. Aleksy grabbed George, holding him away, and Tommy threw a glass of water over his tail, then grabbed one of Claire’s ‘hygge’ blankets – there were quite a few – and wrapped it around him.

‘Oh my goodness, is he alright?’ Claire asked, tearfully. I felt my heart pounding.

‘Meow,’ George said. I knew that meant he was in pain but he was alright.

‘I think so,’ Aleksy said.

‘Tommy, Aleksy, great job,’ Jonathan said. ‘But we need to get George to the vet, there’s a clinic I can take him to,’ he said.

Not the vet, I thought, but this time I agreed with them.

‘I’ll drive, I haven’t been drinking,’ Tomasz said.

‘Oh, that was so scary,’ Polly said.

‘I think I’ll get rid of the candles,’ Claire finished.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

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It was very exciting, Harold was coming home. Well, it was to everyone else, because I, quite frankly, was having a down day. There would be all these distractions that I was used to, being the kind of doorstep cat I was, but then I would remember how much I missed Tiger and my heart would collapse all over again. I tried to keep my tail upright but, sometimes, it just didn’t want to do it and all I felt capable of was curling up in my bed and yowling. George was my salvation in the darker days, him and my families of course, but mainly him.

Since becoming the star of the school nativity play, and actually getting to spend time with Hana, he was doing pretty well. Of course the tail incident was still fresh in our minds, but apart from it being painful and singed, George was fine. The vet had given him an injection which took some of the pain away and my resilient boy had bounced back. Toby said all of the school now wanted to come to our house to meet George, and Summer suggested selling tickets– Jonathan was proud at this, Claire not so much so. And George took being famous in his stride but I could tell he quite liked it. He still talked to me about missing Tiger mum, and how hard he found it to walk past her house. I knew that one. Some days I would find myself in her back garden, staring at the closed cat flap as if she would slide through it, but of course she never would. Sometimes seeing her house, knowing she wasn’t there, floored me, so I understand how he felt. One day, I literally froze as I approached the house and couldn’t bring myself to walk past it. It was beyond hard.

After the apology at school, the children had returned to normal for the last week of term. Well, as normal as they ever were at Christmas. Summer declared that she was going to be a famous actress when she was older and Toby said he wouldn’t want to be an actor, because there were too many girls involved, so he was going to do something like be a spaceman, where you didn’t have to hold anyone’s hands. Henry and Toby were firm friends again and Martha, with her customary laid-back manner, was just lovely Martha.

So many people had viewed the video that George had even been mentioned in a newspaper, and now he felt that he was the most famous member of the family, which of course he was. But no one dared tell Summer that.

Amidst all the chaos, Christmas was drawing closer and closer. More and more of the advent calendar doors were open, festive food was being bought, presents wrapped, cards displayed. The weather was also getting colder, frost greeted us most mornings and everyone talked of snow. Despite the ache that now sat with me daily for Tiger, I couldn’t help but enjoy everyone’s festive spirit. I knew they felt as if it was the most wonderful time of the year and I tried to bask in their happiness even if I wasn’t going to ever say this was my favourite Christmas.

It couldn’t be, not without Tiger here. The thing was that, last year, when we went away to our holiday cottage in Devon for Christmas, I hadn’t seen her but I’d known she was there. And when we had returned home, we’d all been so excited to share our stories. She’d told me that she got extra turkey, some toys and a very fetching new red collar for Christmas. In return, I’d told her that we’d spent time with our friend Gilbert in Devon and, although the beach was freezing, we had braved it, and I’d managed to keep George out of the water this time. It was moments like these, sharing moments, that kept friendship and love alive, I believed, and so I was still sharing with her; every evening I had a chat to her before going to sleep. It was just very one-sided.

‘I can’t wait to see my friend Harold again,’ George said, hopping with excitement, as we sat on the windowsill looking out at the quiet street. Marcus was collecting Harold this afternoon, and Polly and Franceska were at his house now, getting it ready for his welcome-home party. We were both invited and I just hoped Harold wouldn’t tell us to get lost or wave his stick at us now. Apparently he wouldn’t, he’d told Jonathan that we were both welcome in his house after all. George was so looking forward to it; he’d taken ages getting himself looking his best, as had I. I was one cat who always took care over his appearance – even when I was heartbroken, I had learnt not to let myself go.

Claire returned with Toby and Summer and shortly afterwards the doorbell announced the arrival of Franceska, Tommy and Aleksy.

‘Meow?’ I asked as I greeted them. Where was Tomasz?

‘Tomasz is going to meet us at Harold’s later, he had to sort something out at work,’ Franceska explained as she petted me. But I think she was talking to Claire.

‘Come in for a bit, have a coffee. Boys, can I get you anything?’ Claire asked, as coats were shaken out and hung up.

‘No, we’re good, thanks,’ Tommy answered, shooting worried glances at Aleksy who was back to not talking. Franceska shook her head and followed Claire into the kitchen.

‘Where are you going?’ Franceska asked as Aleksy headed out to the back garden, carrying me for some unfathomable reason.

‘Alfie wants to go out, I thought I’d go with him,’ he replied, looking at his feet. I had no idea what sort of pawn I was now, but I didn’t want to go out, I wanted no such thing. I had just got myself all smart and the wind and the cold would probably ruin all my hard work. But I didn’tsay anything. I knew, better than any cat, when one of my humans needed me and Aleksy clearly did. No one argued as he opened the back door and we went into the garden.

It all became clear. Aleksy started walking around the garden, trying to find a vantage point where he could see into Connie’s house. I stood there, freezing and quite astounded, as he even tried to climb the fence. Was he mad? Yes, he was but then I remembered what young love could do to you.

‘Yowl!’ That wasn’t a good idea. I had done the same thing when I was trying to woo Snowball, of course, but it seemed humans were slightly happier for cats to get into their gardens than other humans.

‘It’s no good.’ Aleksy looked so downcast. I sighed. It was always down to me. I led him to the bottom of the small garden, where a table and chairs sat. They were covered for the winter but if he stood on a chair, he might see something. ‘Alfie, you’re a genius,’ he said, as he took one of the chairs over to the fence and climbed on it. ‘Bingo,’ he shouted as he saw Connie appear in one of the upstairs windows. He started waving wildly at her.

I have to say, as I climbed on top of the fence to watch, her face seemed to beam as she waved back. He took his phone out of his pocket and pointed at it. I looked around. I saw how Claire and Franceska were pretending not to watch us from the kitchen as a number of annoying birds flew overhead. But I knew that for Aleksy and Connie they were the only two people in the world right now, I could see it on their faces. I saw Hana appear on the windowsill and I tried to wave my paw but I nearly lost my balance so I stopped. I could see she was raising her whiskers though. I couldn’t help but think how sweet this was, and also how unfair. I had to find a way to get these two kids together.

Fourteen years old, responsible enough, hard workers, they weren’t the worst teenagers by a long shot. They should have been allowed to be together with adult supervision at the very least. I felt angry with Sylvie.

Speak of the devil.

‘Yowl!’ I tried to warn Aleksy as Sylvie appeared in the window behind Connie, and not only did she see us, but she also saw that her daughter had a phone. I tried to get Aleksy’s attention by tapping him, but I wobbled and fell on him. The shock of seeing Sylvie, coupled with me landing on him, meant he lost his balance and fell off the chair.

‘Ahhh,’ he shouted as we landed on the grass. Luckily for me, I was on top of him. But his face was stricken as he scrambled up, dropping me into a patch of mud as he did so.

‘Meow,’ I complained. But he didn’t seem to hear me as he ran round to the front of the house. I got up, certainly not looking my best now, and ran after him.

Connie was outside the front of her house, sobbing, when we got there. The rain had started in earnest, so we were all getting soaked.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘It’s not your fault,’ she replied. I ran around in a circle, what on earth could I do? Sylvie appeared, then Claire and Franceska came out of our house. I could hear Claire shouting at Tommy to look after the kids and we all stood around. No one seemed sure what to do next, as we shivered inthe rain.

‘Your son gave my daughter a phone, although I forbade it,’ Sylvie shouted. A vein seemed to be throbbing on her head, and although her face was red with anger, it was also puffy as if she had been crying. She needed someone to support her, I knew that, and if she’d had such a person maybe she would have been handling this whole situation better. But there was no one for her: her ex-husband didn’t want to know and she had pushed everyone else away.

‘Aleksy, that wasn’t good,’ Franceska said carefully. ‘I promise you I didn’t know, but Sylvie, can’t we work things out? The kids want to spend time together, and they are both good kids.’

‘Good kids don’t lie and get phones when they’ve been forbidden.’

‘I agree, Sylvie, and I will punish Aleksy but they just want to see each other. Perhaps if they were chaperoned?’ Franceska suggested.

‘What is this, the 1920s?’ Claire said, unhelpfully. She blushed and shut up but I agreed with her.

‘No, that won’t work. I mean, who will do it? You work, I work, and well, just no. I told Connie she can date when she is sixteen,’ Sylvie replied.

‘But that’s two years away!’ Aleksy was horrified, and I noticed that he was still holding Connie’s hand. My heart went out to him. Love was hard enough without it being forbidden.

‘Can’t we figure this out somehow?’ Claire said. ‘Sylvie, look at them, the lengths they’ve gone to to try to be together. Aleksy doesn’t lie but he has done now, and that’s only because you won’t let him see Connie.’

‘Oh, you mean leaving dead mice, birds and flowers on my doorstep.’

‘Eh?’ they all said. I wasn’t sure how to own up to that, but then, as Sylvie continued, I decided not to.

‘It scared me, like someone was warning me off,’ she stormed. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘I didn’t do that.’ Aleksy scratched his head. ‘I would never do anything to upset you.’

‘Well, actually you have. The lengths you both have gone to are not acceptable, and I want this to stop now.’

If only you knew the lengths they were going to go to, and still might, I thought. Perhaps Dustbin and I should have let them run away. I mean, I have kind of championed running-away plans in my time…Well, actually only one, which ended up with George getting catnapped. And also Snowball had run away once when her family were all having a terrible time– that had been nothing to do with me, but she nearly died. Luckily Dustbin rescued her on my behest. But no, it was far too dangerous. And it would probably just make Sylvie lock Connie up. Oh, why was this one so hard to crack? I wished I had Tiger to talk through my thoughts with, she had always been my sounding board. She was also often my voice of reason, not that I always listened to her. And I wondered what she would say about the ‘gifts’ plan. Though I had a feeling she’d just laugh about that.

‘Claire, Franceska, I have said it before, I think Connie is too young for a boyfriend, and it’s as simple as that. She lived a very sheltered life in Japan and quite frankly I am looking to move her to an all-girls’ school now. Her father thinks she should go back to Japan.’ She looked andsounded threatening.

‘But I love my new school, I’ve made friends, you can’t send me away.’ Connie burst into loud, angry tears.

‘I think we need to sort this situation out, somehow, please,’ Franceska pleaded, putting her arm around Aleksy. ‘The children are so unhappy, surely we can work something out.’

I thought Sylvie might crack. Her daughter sobbing, my families being sensible, Aleksy so sad…But just as I thought she would, she shook her head.

‘No, not at the moment. And take your phone back. When I say my daughter shouldn’t have a phone, I don’t expect to be defied. You say they’re good kids but look, they went behind our backs. I can’t stop you seeing each other in school for now.’ She crossed her arms as if she would do soon. ‘But I’m seriously looking at alternatives, so that is that. And you.’ She pointed at Connie. ‘Are grounded until further notice.’

‘I’m never allowed out anyway,’ Connie shouted and ran back in the house, slamming the door. With a final glare at Aleksy, Sylvie followed.

‘Aleksy, that wasn’t good of you,’ Franceska said.

‘But—’

‘No, you never used to lie to us, but now look.’ Even Franceska was angry now.

‘Mum, please.’

‘No, Aleksy, I support you as much as I can, but not when you lie to me and to Sylvie. It makes her seem less mad and more right, and for now I have to agree with her.’

It had put a bit of a dampener on the day, but George’s excitement infected me. He was really looking forward to seeing Harold again, and after all he’d been through lately I certainly wasn’t going to rain on his parade. Ha, the irony as the rain had ruined my neat looks and I had to dry myself off and then lick myself smooth again. Claire gaveme a rub with a towel to help with the worst of it, then she went to change, and lent Franceska some clothes. Aleksy, covered in mud, had to get into a bath – thank goodness I didn’t have to – before Claire sponged the worst of his trousers and then dried his clothes off on the radiator. It was quite a mission and we were worried we would be late for Harold’s party with all that was going on.

Aleksy was upset, though everyone gave him a wide berth.

‘Mum, can I go home rather than come to the party?’ he asked, as he sat in his pants and socks. ‘I really don’t feel like it.’

‘You come to the party,’ Franceska stated, indicating the case was closed.

We set off, picking up Matt, Polly and the kids on the way. Toby was insisting on carrying George, but I had to walk, and thankfully the rain had stopped as quickly as it started. I listened to my humans chatter as we went towards Harold’s house. George and I had visited a few times while Harold was in hospital, seeing the progress being made. Having been around Seabreeze Cottage while they did lots of building work, I was quite the expert in home renovations, I liked to think.

‘Oh no, my garden,’ George said as Toby set him down in front of the house.

‘Sorry, son, but they were always going to tidy it up for Harold,’ I pointed out. It was no longer a jungle, but a very neat front garden. Grass trimmed, bushes cut back, and although the house wasn’t quite painted yet, the front door had been smartened up, and I could see it was going to look very nice soon. Even if poor George no longer had his jungle.

Polly opened the door and let us in and the warmth hit me first, followed by the light. No more gloomy interior, that was for sure, and all the lights worked. Walls had been painted a bright white, the living room furniture had been replaced by a nice sofa and one of Claire and Jonathan’s old armchairs. A coffee table sat neatly over new carpet and a bigger television hung on the wall. I ran to see the rest of the house. It was such a transformation. Still quite simple, but more homely. The kitchen hadn’t changed but had been cleaned up, the hallway carpet had been replaced, there was a small dining table at one end of the sitting room, overlooking the small, but tidy, back garden. I thought Harold would be very pleased, even if George was not.

They had even insisted on getting Harold a small Christmas tree, which sat in the corner of the living room. It was adorned with lights and baubles, and I saw George eyeing it up.

‘George, you cannot attack the tree before Harold even sees it,’ I said.

‘There is no fun in this house any more,’ he complained as he slunk away. I flicked my tail. Kids!

Claire and Polly supervised Matt and Jonathan hanging a‘Welcome Home’ banner across one wall. Franceska got Tommy to help her with the food in the kitchen, which as usual looked delicious, and Toby, Henry, Summer and Martha played happily in the living room with George. It was heart-warming after what we had just witnessed with Sylvie. If only she and Connie would be part of this, I knew it would help them, but it seemed there was no way to win Sylvie around. She didn’t even seem to notice me, let alone allow me to charm her, and I had no ideas left. But I knew we would have to do something, we couldn’t go on like this. Not my poor Aleksy. But clearly dead things as presents were off the menu.

We were all lined up in the living room when Marcus texted Matt to say he was just outside. Tomasz had just arrived, with even more food, and as we all stood there Harold came in, with his stick in one hand and his son holding the other arm.

‘Welcome home,’ everyone cheered at once and as Harold’s eyes took in the scene they filled with tears. Oh no, we’d made another person cry today.

‘I can’t believe it,’ he said. My eyes widened; he sounded moved rather than angry. ‘I don’t know how to thank you for all of this. I’m such a cantankerous old man, I don’t deserve it, but I’m so happy to be home and what a lovely home it is. I don’t know how to thank you. And you…’

I almost ran in front of George as Harold slowly bent down. Was he going to hurt him? Instead though he gave him a pet. Wow, who was this man?

‘Thank you, clever cat, for saving my life, I’ll never tell you to “get lost” again.’ George purred and nuzzled into him, and I wondered where my thanks were. After all, I had gone and got the humans. I should have been used to being ignored by now, but you know, some appreciation would have been nice.

As they all crowded round Harold to show him the work they’d done to the house and then sat him down with food and a cup of tea, George, his new best friend, sat proudly next to him. I softened a bit. OK, so I was underappreciated at times but I had my George, so it was alright. And George needed any cheering up he could get.

‘And I have told Dad that I’m moving in here for a while,’ Marcus announced.

‘You don’t have to, son, and I’m sorry again about the whole divorce thing,’ Harold said. Being in hospital had really changed him.

‘No, we’ve put that firmly in the past where it belongs. Dad, I should never have let our row get out of hand. We’re family, so I’m staying at least until after Christmas and then we’ll see. I’ve arranged some home help for when I’m working, so you’ll be looked after as you should.’

‘And we’re going to pop in and see you as well,’ Jonathan said. He was quite fond of the old man; apparently they shared the same taste in football teams.

‘Oh, and I was thinking, we’re having a big Christmas this year, at our house,’ Claire said. ‘So why don’t you both join us?’

I felt like squealing; this was the sort of situation I loved, bringing more people into our family circle.

‘That’s so kind,’ Marcus said. ‘And if you’re sure we won’t be in the way, then we’d love to. I’m not much of a cook.’

‘He isn’t,’ Harold laughed. ‘He can burn water.’ Everyone laughed although I didn’t quite understand what that meant. It was a shame I couldn’t get Sylvie there, after all she and Marcus, well they were both divorced, both nice-looking, a similar age…Although one of them was insane. But then no one, not even me, was perfect.

‘You might have to bring a couple of chairs,’ Polly laughed.

‘Deal.’

‘Daddy, George is in the Christmas tree,’ Summer shouted and everyone moved at breakneck speed to find George sitting in the middle of the tree, a tangle of lights.

When he’d been untangled and sat back on the floor I went up to him.

‘What did I say?’ I chastised.

‘You said, don’t attack the tree before Harold sees it. Well he’s seen it now.’

I couldn’t argue with that.

Chapter Thirty

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How we got to Christmas Eve, I don’t know, but it was now upon us. December tended to do that. With the excitement of the decorations, the nativity, Aleksy and then Harold, it had been one of the busiest Decembers for my humans, and especially for me. It was flying by, and giving me very little time to enjoy the festivities or togrieve, both of which I wanted, and needed, to do. However, I was trying very hard to put everything aside to enjoy today.

Christmas Eve was a very special day with all my families. Even Tomasz took the day off from the restaurants. And he closed them all on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, he said it was important for him and his staff to have family time. The only problem was that my families weren’t together on Christmas Eve, so I had to travel if I wanted to see everyone. Claire and Jonathan were busy with last-minute preparations for the big day. Claire was preparing any food that she could ready in advance and Jonathan had to try to keep two very hyperactive children and one hyperactive kitten entertained and calm, which was no easy feat. I did try to help him but it was impossible. He gave up and took them out to the park to try to run off some of their excitement, and he called for Matt, who came with Henry and Martha. Polly was doing some last-minute shopping, which she alwaysdid. She was always a last-minute person, whereas Claire was super organised. I just hoped she remembered to buy enough cream for pudding because I was especially looking forward to that.

I was determined to put any sadness about Tiger away for the day; if George could do it then so could I. I still missed her and I knew she would be the one cat I wanted to visit today but couldn’t. Nonetheless, Christmas was a time for fun, and I was going to do my very best.

It had been a bittersweet time since Harold’s welcome-home party. He and Marcus were firmly part of our family now. They sort of fitted in as if they had always been there, actually. Marcus was funny, kind, and had been very hurt by his ex-wife, which would have made him perfect for Sylvie, if she hadn’t been quite so unhinged. Though Ihad to stop thinking that, as I had quite enough to cope with without trying to matchmake. But I couldn’t help it, I was still hoping for a way to get my next-door neighbours back into the fold, but so far my one-sided conversations with Tiger hadn’t yielded any inspiration.

My other friends hadn’t exactly been full of helpful advice; even Elvis hadn’t seen a TV show about it. It was as if, without Tiger, we were devoid of plans, and I hoped that my career of helping people hadn’t died with her. The gap she left in our friendship group, our family, our relationships was vast and obvious to us all. She had been like the glue that held us all together in a way and, without her, we had to try that bit harder, but all the while knowing something, or rather someone was missing.

George was now coping so much better than I ever imagined he would. He missed her, he talked about his‘Tiger mum’ a lot, in a way which made me want to weep, but he also kept himself busy. He visited Harold, those two were thick as thieves, and I let him have space for that friendship, as I did with Hana. He told me how he would sit next to Harold on his new sofa, watching a TV show about ‘very old things’ and eating biscuits dunked in tea, which was now George’s new favourite food. I have to admit I couldn’t resist going to spy on them a little. I managed to watch them sometimes, keeping out of sight on the front window, and they did look very sweet together – not something I ever thought I would say about angry Harold. But he wasn’t angry any more, he was happy, and as I knew from my years of experience, happiness changes people for the better, which was why I was such an advocate.

George had also been spending time with Hana in their house, though sadly that had stopped this week, as Susan, the cleaner, had gone away on holiday until after Christmas. He was trying to persuade Hana to come outside but she wouldn’t, or rather she couldn’t. But, George, a chip off the old block, wasn’t giving up, and said that he was going to redouble his efforts in the new year and was hopeful that by summer she might have experienced the great outdoors. I was happy for him to have a project. She was lovely, Hana, but he said she was homesick, and also of course she was living with two miserable people. Although Hana didn’t complain, it was all so sad for her, and now George couldn’t even go in and cheer her up and they’d had to go back to having their through-the-window conversations.

‘You see, Dad,’ George explained to me, very maturely, I may add. ‘I miss Tiger mum, but I know she would be pleased because I am spending time with a lonely person and cat, and then they aren’t quite as lonely when I’m there.’

I thought I would burst with pride for my lovely, kind, caring kitten. Tiger and I had both taught him well.

Christmas Eve passed in a whirl of activity with all the families that George and I decided to visit. We always spent Christmas Eve together and liked to think we were a bit like Santa cats as we delivered good cheer to everyone we cared about. Although we didn’t dress up. Claire had tried to dress me up once and let’s just say it didn’t end well for any of us.

We started with Harold. Marcus and he were laughing in the living room as we sat on the windowsill until they let us in. Their Christmas tree was wonky and even George didn’t seem keen on trying to jump onto it any more, which was a bit of a relief for me. They were both preparing sprouts, which they were going to bring to us for lunch tomorrow, and some other vegetables which were all very sensible, and not terribly tempting for us cats. But Marcus said he also had bought some nice wine, chocolates for the adults and a big jar of sweets for the children, which I knew would be gratefully received. He looked at George and I, and then winked at his dad.

‘We’ve got a present for the lovely cats too,’ he said. My ears pricked at this and I hoped it was some kind of fish. Although I think George was hoping for dunked biscuits.

‘We better had, these cats deserve a medal,’ Harold said, affectionately, and I basked in the fact I’d been acknowledged for once. But I would much rather have had pilchards than a medal. I wasn’t even sure what a medal was.

We left them a little while later full of good cheer and went to visit Polly and Matt. Matt was trying to get the children to sit still and watch a film, but they weren’t really in the mood. They were both so excited, babbling about what Santa would bring them, and even Martha, who was normally quite chilled out, was bouncing around.

‘Alfie and George,’ Henry beamed, as we entered the living room.

‘Oh good, we can play,’ Martha said and Matt just shook his head in defeat. Their living room was decorated beautifully but then as Polly was an interior designer we all expected nothing less. Their tree was so tasteful, and she got away with it by giving the children their own tree to decorate, which was in the corner of the living room and was a bit of a mess. Polly told Claire it was alright because you couldn’t really see it, but George loved it because he could jump on it, which totally ruined it, but made the children laugh. I despaired along with Matt, but Polly said he could do anything to that tree as long as he didn’t touch hers. For once, George actually took notice of this and didn’t dare go near her tree. No one did, not even Matt.

Matt and Polly were the best at decorating, they had lights outside the house and reindeer scattered around the small front garden. Claire had begged Jonathan for something similar but he’d refused, saying that he’d probably fall off the ladder, or it would take him all of December to do, as our house was bigger, so it was left undecorated outside. It was the only battle that Jonathan won really, and as Claire wasn’t going to do it herself she said the kids could just admire Polly and Matt’s.

Polly came downstairs, looking a little flustered, which wasn’t like her.

‘I’ve run out of Sellotape,’ she said. ‘And I’ve still got loads of wrapping to do.’ You see, she was so disorganised.

‘The shops will be closed now,’ Matt said. Even he looked alarmed. ‘Are all the kids—’

‘No,’ Polly said quickly. ‘I need more.’

‘Meow,’ I said. Claire will always have spare, I tried to tell her. Claire had drawers full of it, we never ran out.

‘Oh Alfie, thank goodness, I’ll just nip to Claire’s to borrow some. Are you sure you’re OK with the kids?’ Polly asked.

‘Not really, but then they’ve eaten a mountain of chocolate coins, so what did I expect?’ I’d never seen a man look so defeated. ‘Actually, shall I go get the Sellotape?’ he asked, smiling at the idea of escape.

‘No, I think I’d better go,’ Polly said. ‘After all, we’ve still got loads to do before the carol concert and you’ll probably have a drink with Jonathan …’ She was right, he would, and I could see from the disappointment on his face that that was what he had been hoping for.

I cheered up at the mention of the concert. There was always a Christmas Eve carol concert for the children at the local church, and although George and I didn’t get to go, it meant that Franceska and family would visit us either before the concert or after, so I would get to see them briefly. I’d have liked to have seen Dustbin but we really didn’t have time. Christmas Eve was a busy day for us all, as I’ve said.

After we left Matt and the children trying to sort out the small Christmas tree that George had all but squashed, we went to see our friends. They were all waiting to wish us a Merry Christmas and we chatted about what we were looking forward to most about the following day.

‘Food,’ I said, which was true. ‘And all the humans I love being together of course.’

‘I like the wrapping paper,’ George said. He hadn’t grown out of playing with that yet either.

‘Oh, I do love the fact that we have visitors all day and they make such a fuss of me,’ Nellie said.

‘I like the fact I get to sleep a lot, because my lot go out for quite a while and there’s nothing like a good Christmas Day nap.’ I wasn’t sure I agreed with Rocky but as long as he was happy.

‘I like the Queen’s Speech,’ Elvis declared. ‘She does it every year on TV, and when she comes on we all go quiet and listen very intently. It wouldn’t be Christmas without it.’

No one knew quite what to say about that. I had never even heard of it. But anyway, we passed a pleasant few minutes before I felt something wet landing on my fur.

‘Oh no, it’s raining,’ I said.

‘No, Dad, it’s not raining, it’s snowing!’ George said. ‘Look.’ We all looked up at the sky and snow was actually falling. We all stuck our tongues out to catch it, and it definitely made us all feel even more Christmassy.

‘Do you think Tiger sent the snow?’ Nellie asked as a fat snowdrop landed on her head.

‘Probably, she hated snow,’ I laughed.

Walking home, George kept trying to catch the snow with his tongue, and because he wasn’t looking where he was going he walked into a lamppost.

‘Ow,’ he said.

‘Look where you’re going, silly,’ I replied, but actually catching snow was quite fun, I had to concede. We both stopped naturally when we got to Tiger’s house. There were lights inside and I wondered how the Barkers were coping without Tiger. There was still no tree, I could see through the window, and only a small amount of decorations, but I hoped they were OK. I would have liked to have seen them really, but since Tiger had died they never opened the cat flap, and as it was so cold I doubted they would venture out.

‘Do you think Tiger mum is happy where she is?’ George asked, suddenly.

‘I do, son,’ I replied. ‘She can’t be over-the-moon happy because she’s not with you, but I think she’s not in pain and that must be a good thing.’

‘I know, I miss her but I’m glad she’s not in pain, any more. Dad?’

‘Yes, George?’ I could barely speak.

‘Loving is about letting go, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, George,’ I managed, my throat choked up. It really was.

When we got home, thankfully the warmth hit us as soon as we got through the cat flap. Everyone was in a state about the snow.

‘What if it settles?’ Claire panicked. ‘People won’t be able to get out and then it could be a problem.’

‘Everyone can walk here and if we need to help, like with Harold, I can go and give Marcus a hand. So don’t worry, it’ll be fine, darling. In fact, more than fine, it’s going to be the best Christmas,’ Jonathan reassured. ‘We’re together, we’ve got our gorgeous two children, our amazing cats and our best friends coming, what more could we want?’

‘I know, I’m sorry. I wish that Sylvie and Connie would come though, I feel so sorry for them, and I know they’ll have a miserable Christmas. Especially Connie.’

‘You might need a Christmas miracle for that one. I’m not sure even Santa can sort that out.’

I wished I could give them that miracle but I was all out of ideas. Part of me still wondered if Dustbin and I had been right to stop the kids from running away but I knew, deep down, it had been our only option. It was too dangerous out there for them. I was going to have to keep thinking, or– like Claire – hope for a miracle.

By the time Tomasz, Franceska and the boys arrived before the carol concert, I was exhausted from trying to think. However, Aleksy took me aside immediately. Well, he picked me up. I narrowed my eyes at him. What was he up to now? I hoped we weren’t going to try to look for Connie again. But instead of heading outside, he took me upstairs.

‘Look, Alfie, I know you were only visiting Dustbin the night I was running away, but it was probably good that you were there,’ he said when we were out of earshot in Toby’s bedroom.

‘Yowl.’ I wasn’t, I was trying to stop you.

‘I thought it was a good idea, when you and Dustbin made the commotion and stopped me going, I really had to think about things and Connie did too. We realised running away was a terrible idea. We have very little money, I spent most of mine on her phone, and what job would I get at my age?’

‘Meow.’ I raised my eyes to the heavens, it was madness.

‘And it’s dangerous out there, I know that, but you see Connie was so sad and I just wanted to make things better. But somehow I made them worse because now she doesn’t even have the phone any more and her mum hates me.’

‘Yowl.’ She does.

‘Anyway, I have a plan and I think you might approve of this one.’

I put my paws over my ears. I had a bad feeling.

‘No, honestly, there’s no risk to either of us. You see, tonight I am going to come to Connie’s and she is going to meet me and then we are going to hide, so that come morning when everyone gets up they’ll see we’re missing and they’ll worry but then we appear and say we were pushed so far to make a point that we want to be together and then they have to let us.’

‘YOWL!’ Could I voice my disapproval any more? Doing this on Christmas morning! It was a terrible idea. The worst.

‘Right, of course how did we concoct this with no phone? Well, that’s the clever part. Connie’s best friend, Sophie Hawker, is also my friend and we live on the same street. She went to visit Connie and she gave her a note from me. Her mum didn’t even suspect a thing. Clever, huh?’

He looked so pleased with himself, I really felt like scratching some sense into him, but I wasn’t going to use violence, it didn’t solve anything. And I couldn’t do that to my Aleksy. Not unless I really had to.

‘And then Connie gave Sophie a note for me agreeing to the plan!’ His eyes sparkled.

‘Mewmewmewmew.’ This was quite possibly the worst plan I’d ever heard. What Aleksy was suggesting was ruining everyone’s Christmas morning by going missing. I knew how I’d felt when George went missing, it had been the worst time ever. Aleksy was going to put his parents, Tommy and Sylviethrough that? Even for an hour it was too much and it would ruin Christmas. Totally ruin it.

‘I knew you’d approve. And we won’t ruin Christmas as we’ll only be gone for a bit.’

‘Yowl?’ How could I stop this one, I thought, as my poor overworked brain started whirring.

‘The best bit is that we’re going to hide in your shed, so we’ll only be in your garden. And I’ll set my alarm so we don’t leave it too late to tell everyone we’re fine. Hopefully before they call the police.’ His eyes clouded over slightly at that mention.

Oh no. I put my paws over my eyes. Of course, they’d call the police straight away. This was not good. Not good at all, I had to put a stop to this madness, but how?

Chapter Thirty-One

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This Christmas Eve was not going according to plan at all any more. I should have been relaxing in the warm with my boy while the families all went to the carol concert, but no, no I had to go and clear up yet another mess that my humans were making. I knew Aleksy was young so I really tried to give him some kind of concession, but this was possibly the worst plan I’d heard, and trust me, I had heard and even been the mastermind of quite a few. None that involved ruining Christmas, though.

And now I was going to have to save it.

I toyed with the idea of not telling George, but after all I had told him he needed to be open with me, so I felt I should do the same with him. I filled him in, but I downplayed it a bit; even so, he was shocked. He had been to visit Hana to wish her a Happy Christmas Eve through the glass door and she obviously had no idea what the kids were up to. I said the best thing would be for him to stay home to make sure all was alright here, while I went to see Dustbin. By giving him a very important job I managed to persuade him to wait at home. I was a little annoyed, as I was looking forward to a relaxing festive evening with my family, but of course life didn’t always give us what we wanted, did it?

My legs were so weary as I made my way there, but I had no option. The snow was falling more heavily– I had to be careful, as it was slippery under paw in certain parts. I felt as if my fur was freezing to my body, as worry flowed through me. We had to sort this out, and I had only one idea. Dustbin was in the yard having a rest by the bins. Obviously the rodents had scrammed.

‘Alfie, what a surprise.’ He stood up and stretched out. Poor Dustbin seemed tired as well.

‘I know. It’s Christmas Eve and it’s snowing, and I’ve had a really full day, but Aleksy came to my house and he confided in me that he and Connie are going to run away tonight.’

‘Oh no, that’s terrible.’

‘Yes, but the best or worst bit – I can’t figure out which – is that they are only planning on hiding in our garden shed for a while. They think if they scare the parents just for a short time, they will see sense, or Sylvie will, and let them see each other.’ I was almost tripping over my words.

‘This sounds like one of your plans,’ he pointed out. Not terribly helpfully, I might add.

‘Well, yes, normally I would, perhaps, agree but I wouldn’t do anything at Christmas. Christmas is, well, Christmas, no one should mess with Christmas.’ I was getting quite worked up now. ‘Imagine Franceska, Tomasz and Tommy waking up on Christmas morning to find Aleksy missing, it’ll be awful, and the same for Sylvie, only worse as she’s all alone. And then they’ll call Claire and Jonathan, which will ruin Christmas morning for the little ones, and the same with Matt and Polly as everyone aborts normal Christmas festivities to find the idiots!’ The more I thought about it theworse it sounded.

‘Oh dear, what a mess.’ Dustbin could sometimes be a bit too calm, although as I was so worked up, that might not have been such a bad thing. ‘So, we’ll stop him like we did last time,’ he suggested, licking his paw.

‘No, we can’t because Connie is going to meet him in the garden shed.’ I was so agitated. I suddenly wanted to knock the heads of a number of my humans together. Sylvie, for being so ridiculous about keeping these two apart, them for this silly plot, and well the mood I was in, I could probably find a reason for all of them. Happiness was so precious, so fleeting, why couldn’t they see that?

‘Um, I see.’ Dustbin licked his other paw and glared angrily at a mouse who was trying to approach. The mouse took one look at him and scurried away. ‘I almost feel bad not letting them in in this weather, but you know, a job’s a job.’ He raised his tail.

‘Dustbin, back to the matter at hand,’ I snapped.

‘Oh yes, so what do you think we should do?’ he asked. He looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and I knew I was being unfair, snapping at him, so I tried to calm down.

‘Well, I was thinking there is only one thing to do, and that is for me to somehow get Jonathan and Claire to discover them tonight, so the morning isn’t ruined.’

‘Good thinking. So what can I do to help?’

Now I could see us being able to foil this plan, I was beginning to feel calmer.

‘It’s a big ask but I wondered if you could follow Aleksy, you know, make sure he’s OK. He shouldn’t be wandering the streets at night, even if it’s only to our house.’

‘Right, that’s good, yes that’ll work. And then when I get to your place I’ll bang on the cat flap to let you know they are in the shed, so you can alert the humans straight away.’

‘Perfect. You really are such a good friend, Dustbin.’ I felt emotional, probably because I was so tired, angry, missing Tiger, and the idea that Christmas might be ruined, it was all getting on top of me.

‘No, you are. And you take care of these families so well. Right, so I’ll let you know when they are there. You will have to really make a fuss to get Jonathan and Claire out though.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I seem to have had a lot of experience doing that lately.’ I really had. And although they sometimes could be a bit slow on the uptake, they seemed to get what I was telling them in the end. After all, that was how I had saved Harold. I just hoped I could stay awake long enough, I was so cat-tired (Yes, I know the expression is dog-tired but I would never compare myself to a dog.)

‘Right you are. We’ll sort this out and, you never know, the shock of them actually running away, albeit to a garden shed, might even make her mother see sense. I hope so, Aleksy is such a good lad.’

I nodded, I did understand. Love wasn’t always easy; I had learnt that the hard way.

My house was once again a hive of activity when I returned home, brushing the snow off my fur and warming my bones by the radiator.

‘Oh there you are, Alfie. I was wondering where you’d been. I can’t believe you went out in this weather,’ Claire said.

‘Meow.’ It wasn’t my choice.

‘Never mind, it’s so Christmassy, isn’t it? The first white Christmas in goodness knows how many years. The kids were so excited at the concert and getting them into bed was a mission. Thankfully they know that Santa only visits sleeping children, so they seem to have gone off now. And Georgeis tucked up with Toby, in case you were wondering.’

I was, but I’d assumed that was where he’d be. When I was dry and warm I was going to go and say goodnight to him.

‘And Jonathan and I have quite a lot to do before we’re ready for tomorrow. But I’m so excited. The snow, the big lunch with all our friends. It’s going to be wonderful,’ she gushed, she was so full of Christmas cheer. I hoped it was contagious.

As I thought about Aleksy and Connie, I wondered what would happen when they were discovered. Either all the parents would be so angry the teenagers would be grounded forever, or they would see how much the two of them meant to each other and Sylvie would relent and maybe we’d all spend a wonderful Christmas together. I knew which one I wanted it to be. I also knew which one I thought it would be.

After kissing my boy goodnight, I went to wait by the cat flap. That way, I knew if I went to sleep I would hear Dustbin when he arrived. I wondered what Tiger would have said to me if she was here, but I thought I knew. She would have said that Aleksy’s crazy plan was too much like one of mine, and that perhaps my humans were more influenced by me than we’d realised. I would be to blame for all of this, but then she would have approved of the way I was putting it right, I’m sure. I did feel responsible but then I cared too much about everyone’s happiness. I was learning that there was only so much this cat could do, however, and although I would never give up trying, sometimes I couldn’t find ways to solve everything. I still hadn’t figured out how to bring Sylvie and Connie back into the fold, and I hadn’t found a way of getting Hana out of the house – although of course I had discovered a way to get George in. Harold and his son had been reunited thanks to George and I, but that had been mainly George. Although I had achieved a fair bit, thinking about it. Just not everything, and I wasn’t a cat who liked loose ends.

Claire and Jonathan approached.

‘Honey, can’t we go to bed yet?’ Jonathan yawned.

‘Not until all our gifts are under the tree, and let’s have a last glass of champagne, so we can toast our Christmas Eve together. And it was perfect, wasn’t it? I can’t believe that Harold even sang at the carol concert, he really enjoyed himself.’

‘Yeah, and Marcus is a top bloke. I like him.’

‘If only Sylvie would meet him, he’d take her mind off all the awfulness in her life,’ Claire said.

‘Meow,’ I agreed.

‘Oh Alfie, I thought you were asleep. Why are you lying by the cat flap?’ Jonathan asked. ‘Santa comes down the chimney, not through the cat flap,’ he laughed. I swished my tail. Very funny.

‘Very funny, Jon, now come and have a drink, honestly, it will help you finish the wrapping.’

‘We’ll be up all night at this rate,’ he complained.

‘I want it to be perfect for Summer and Toby when they wake up at the crack of dawn,’ Claire said. I thought Jonathan might voice another of his objections but instead he put his arm around Claire and kissed the top of her head.

‘And so do I, darling, so let’s get going and be tucked up in bed in time for the real Santa to come.’

I let Jonathan scratch my ears and I hoped that Dustbin would arrive first.

Chapter Thirty-Two

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I must have fallen asleep, but I heard the cat flap bang and jumped up in an instant. I put my head through and saw Dustbin’s eyes staring back at me. In a second I was out in the freezing cold next to him.

‘They’re here?’

‘Yup, they went through with the crazy plan. Aleksy shivered all the way here, it’s so cold, and the shed is probably freezing. It’s lucky we’re not leaving them until morning, they’d probably get hypothermia,’ Dustbin replied. ‘Anyway, I checked they were inside before I came to get you, didn’t want them seeing me this time.’

Although the snow had stopped, there was a thin carpet of it in the garden. I could see their footprints, and also Dustbin’s paw prints.

‘Right, I guess it’s showtime,’ I said. Dustbin nodded.

‘Good luck, Alfie, I’ll wait just round here out of sight in case you need me.’

I went back inside. Claire and Jonathan were in their pyjamas, just about to switch the lights off in the living room and go to bed. Oh boy, I thought, as the tiredness weighed heavily on me, I had to get this right.

‘MEWMEWMEWMEWMEW,’ I screeched at the top of my lungs. Then I ran in circles.

‘Oh, not this again,’ Jonathan said. ‘What now? For goodness sake, Alfie, it’s midnight, on Christmas Eve, which means it’s technically Christmas morning and I for one want my bed.’

‘Alfie, shush, you’ll wake the children, now go to bed,’ Claire said. Oh dear, they were obviously so tired they weren’t getting it.

‘YOWLYOWLYOWL.’ I tried to stand on Claire’s foot but she pulled it away and I fell on my tail. I got up and ran some more circles. Normally Claire was the quicker of the two but it was very late.

‘I really think he’s trying to tell us something.’ Jonathan scratched his head. Thank goodness. I headed to the back door, mewing all the way.

‘He wants us to go outside?’ Claire said, uncertainly.

‘What, in this weather? Alfie, you’ve got to be joking.’

‘MEOW.’ I really wasn’t. I headed through the cat flap, crossing my paws that they would follow. After a few seconds I saw the door open and two sets of eyes peered out at me.

‘You go, Jon,’ Claire said.

‘But I’ve got my slippers on.’

‘So have I,’ Claire replied. I wished at least one of them would just hurry up and come.

‘OK, let me just put my shoes on.’ Jonathan went off and came back, his feet stuffed into some trainers. ‘Come on then,’ he said, glancing back at Claire as he stepped outside. ‘This had better be good.’

Oh it would be, I thought, as I started to lead him to the shed. He ran his hands through his hair and turned back to Claire.

‘I think he wants me to go to the shed,’ he said.

‘What if there’s someone in there? They might be dangerous,’ Claire replied. She went to the kitchen and came back with a saucepan. Forgetting she had her slippers on, she ran to Jonathan and handed it to him.

‘What’s that for?’

‘In case you need to hit them,’ Claire said.

‘You honestly think Alfie is telling us that there’s someone dangerous in our shed?’ He sounded a little bit panicked.

‘No idea but to be on the safe side,’ Claire said sensibly.

‘It’s probably a cat. You know, a stray cat that we’ll end up having to give a home to, or maybe it’s Santa.’ Jonathan laughed and I swished him with my tail again, this was no time for jokes.

‘YOWL.’ Would you just open the door already? Claire gave Jonathan a little push and, saucepan in hand, he tentatively opened the door. A scream from inside filled the air, as Jonathan flung the door wide open.

‘Oh my goodness,’ Claire said as the three of us stared at Aleksy and Connie, huddled together in the shed, wrapped in dusty old painting blankets.

‘What the hell?’ Jonathan shouted. He was still holding the saucepan up.

‘Oh dear,’ Aleksy said. Yet another understatement. Jonathan shook his head, and looked at Claire.

‘Right, I’ll go and call Franceska,’ Claire said. ‘And then I’m going to get your mum, Connie.’ She sounded angry. ‘Blimey you two, it’s freezing, are you both mad?’ Without waiting for an answer she ran back to the house. I was tempted to go with her but I wanted to see how this was going to play out.

‘What were you thinking, Aleksy? You idiot.’ Jonathan didn’t mince his words. He finally let his arm with the saucepan drop.

‘We just want to be allowed to see each other,’ Aleksy said, his voice wobbly. He was still my sensitive boy and he seemed younger than ever as he held onto Connie’s hand.

‘Yeah, mate, but running away on Christmas Eve, it’s madness. What if your mum, dad and Tommy woke up and found you weren’t there? And you, Connie, your mum is alone, she’d be absolutely terrified. Honestly, I could bang your heads together. It was irresponsible and stupid and you could have ruined Christmas. Right, come inside before I get frostbite.’

If I could have spoken, I would have said exactly the same, I thought proudly.

As both Connie and Aleksy slunk into the house after Jonathan, I went to see Dustbin.

‘Great job tonight,’ I said. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘You did well, Alfie. Try to get some sleep though, big day tomorrow.’

‘Everyone is coming here, why don’t you pop over?’ I said. I didn’t like the idea of Dustbin being alone on Christmas Day, although I knew he wouldn’t mind. He liked being alone.

‘Nah, big rodent day, they think they deserve to get more food at Christmas, so can’t risk taking any time off,’ he said. I grinned and raised my whiskers.

‘You work too hard.’

‘You and me both.’ He wasn’t wrong. ‘See you, Alfie.’

‘Happy Christmas, Dustbin,’ I said.

‘And to you. I know it’s going to be hard for you, missing Tiger, but keep the courage, Alfie, and I’ll see you soon.’

I watched as he seemed to disappear into the night.

Aleksy and Connie were sitting on the sofa looking very guilty. Jonathan was pacing up and down, delivering a lecture about how irresponsible they were. He seemed to be enjoying it, and actually was doing a pretty good job. I gave Aleksy my best disapproving look.

‘How come you came to the shed?’ Aleksy asked.

‘Alfie made us.’ They all turned to look at me. I examined my paw closely; honestly, sometimes humans weren’t the smartest.

‘But how did he know?’ Connie asked.

‘I told him,’ Aleksy said. They all glanced over at me again. My paw was suddenly very interesting. ‘I had to confide in someone but I didn’t think that he understood it.’ He turned to Connie in confusion.

‘He’s a cat,’ she said.

‘Yes, we do know that,’ Jonathan snapped. ‘He probably just heard a noise from the shed and thought I should investigate it.’ Their suspicious glances were increasing.

‘But he’s a cat,’ Connie said again. ‘He can’t have known we were there.’

‘He’s more than a cat,’ Aleksy said and I felt proud. At least he noticed. ‘But maybe he did just hear something, but that other time—’ Aleksy quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.

‘What other time?’ Jonathan narrowed his eyes. We all stayed quiet. ‘Anyway, back to the matter at hand,’ he said. ‘I know you think your mum’s being unreasonable and unfair,’ he went on. ‘But Connie, she’s had a bit of a hard time. I lived in Singapore and I lost my job, and had to come back here. I know it wasn’t a divorce, actually it was worse than that.’

‘Meow.’ OK, maybe not that good of a job.

‘Oh right, maybe not worse, but anyway it was a huge adjustment and I had a very hard time processing what happened to me. I probably was depressed and not very nice to anyone, actually including Alfie.’

‘Meow.’ He certainly wasn’t very nice. He kept throwing me out of the house in actual fact.

‘I definitely was depressed. Anyway, when people are depressed they sometimes act in a way which might not seem rational.’ Like throwing charming cats out of your house, I thought. ‘Connie, you are the casualty of this, I can see that, but you know you and your mum need each other and you’re a team. I know it’s a lot for you to have gone through too, and you are the kid, but she needs your support. Don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side here.’

Really? It didn’t sound like it.

‘But you know, you have school and your new friends, and your mum, well I think she’s a bit lost at the moment. So as much as it’s not your responsibility, you need to try to understand, honestly it will make life better for both of you. And then she might come round to Aleksy, you know.’

I take it back, it wasn’t that bad after all.

‘Jonathan, we are sorry,’ Aleksy said. ‘I just didn’t know what to do, and it seemed a good idea.’

‘It was a terrible idea. Aleksy, tell everyone you are sorry and that you will never do anything so irresponsible again. Making people worry isn’t the way to solve anything.’

I purred my agreement, I had thought it a good idea once but not any more.

Claire, wearing a coat and some boots over her nightwear, came in, her arm around a crying Sylvie.

‘Your father is on his way too, Aleksy,’ Claire said. ‘Your mum couldn’t leave Tommy on his own so she’ll save her shouting for when you get home. She really wasn’t happy with you.’

‘I’m sorry, Mum.’ Connie burst into tears and flung herself at Sylvie.

‘Oh Connie, to think you had to run away. What have I done?’ They were both sobbing, arms around each other, as Tomasz arrived.

‘So, Aleksy, you want to tell me what happened?’ Tomasz said. He looked as if he had been woken up, thrown on the first clothes he could find, his hair was dishevelled and he didn’t even have that much of it.

‘We were stupid. But you know we just wanted to be able to see each other. We weren’t going to do anything bad, but we wanted you to know how serious we were and the only thing I could think of was running away, but the first time we tried—’

‘You mean you tried before?’ Claire screeched.

‘Oh.’ Aleksy clearly regretted mentioning it again; when would he learn? ‘Yes, we did, but then I got downstairs and Alfie and Dustbin started making such a noise that I thought they would wake you up – so we had to abort it and then we realised that London was dangerous and so we weren’tgoing to run away because that was silly.’

‘I’m not sure I’ve heard anything like this before,’ Tomasz said. He looked a little lost.

‘So then we thought we’d just pretend. And yes, we realise now it was very bad to make you wake up on Christmas morning with us gone, but we were desperate.’ He had tears in his eyes, which I knew he would push back. Aleksy felt he was too grown-up to cry. In truth, no one was ever too grown-up to cry.

‘And you were going to sleep in the shed all night?’ Tomasz continued. Sylvie was listening, but she was also still hugging Connie.

‘Well, actually I don’t think we would have in the end, because it was very cold.’

‘Worst runaways ever,’ Jonathan said, and Claire swiped him as that wasn’t very helpful. ‘Honestly, it was just like the nativity scene,’ he continued, rubbing his arm. ‘Mary and Joseph wrapped in old blankets in a shed.’

‘It wasn’t quite like that, Jon.’ Claire rolled her eyes.

‘I am sorry,’ Sylvie said. ‘To all of you and to Aleksy and Connie. If I’d known how miserable I was making you, but then…I’m struggling, Con, darling. I miss having your father help me with parenting and I feel a bit lost in London, like I don’t know anyone, and well I shouldn’t stop you from having a life. I still think you’re too young for a boyfriend but if you’re willing to abide by rules then I guess wecan figure it out. I don’t want you to feel that you want to get away from me, I love you.’

‘I will, I’ll do anything,’ Connie said, her eyes full of hope.

‘Me too,’ Aleksy said. ‘Even if we aren’t alone ever, we don’t care.’ He sounded so excited.

‘But you will be punished,’ Tomasz said, unsurely.

Jonathan patted him on the back.‘Hey, how about we let it go for now? It was stupid but I think they’ve learnt their lesson and it is technically Christmas Day.’ I went to rub Jonathan’s leg; he was right. ‘We’ll put him on washing-up duty or something tomorrow,’ he laughed.

‘And I know Frankie will just be relieved to have her boy home,’ Claire added.

‘OK. So maybe no punishment, I don’t know what to do in this situation but we better get home and let Claire and Jonathan go to sleep.’

‘Yes the kids will be up early and we’ve got a big lunch to prepare. Sylvie, Connie, please will you join us?’

‘Oh, no, we couldn’t. Sorry, but we just couldn’t.’ Sylvie said, almost pushing Connie out of the house.

‘Please?’ Aleksy asked.

‘No, we have plans, I’m sorry,’ she added and they were gone.

‘That was strange. Just as I thought she was being reasonable?’ Jonathan said.

‘I think perhaps she’s too embarrassed to see everyone at once,’ Claire said. I agreed with her. ‘You know she’s sort of fallen out with all of us, and she probably thinks she needs to build bridges but Christmas Day, us all en masse, it might be a bit much.’

I thought that Claire was spot on. The thing was that a broken heart was a terrible thing, and Sylvie definitely had one of those. As did I. However, I seemed to be coping better, more rationally, than she did, which was darn lucky for my family.

‘You see, I’m no good at this stuff, I never even thought of that.’ Poor Tomasz looked perplexed. ‘Right, young man, come on, let’s get you home.’

Aleksy was smiling, he was allowed to see Connie. Tomasz, Claire and Jonathan seemed pleased with the outcome, and I was too. It was a Christmas miracle after all and it seemed I had saved our Christmas.

Chapter Thirty-Three

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The excitement of Christmas Day was something I would never tire of, despite being incredibly worn out. But we had rallied, when woken by the kids at‘silly o’clock’, as Jonathan called it. George was excited by the prospect of his wrapping paper and so was encouraging the children to rip open their presents, hopping around them as they did so. As he blew a stray piece off his head, I looked on affectionately. Happy Christmas.

Everyone was fizzing around, a bit like the drink that Claire and Jonathan had. Although it was champagne, it had orange juice in it which made it suitable for breakfast apparently, although not for children or cats it seemed.

The presents were soon opened. Toby was so happy he was beside himself, and Jonathan who had to help him with some very complicated Lego, was beside himself but not with happiness as he struggled. He kept scratching his head and looking pleadingly at Claire. Summer had added even more dolls to her collection and apparently Santa was the cleverest person in the world, as he had got everything right. George was in wrapping-paper heaven although we did have to untangle him at one point when he got himself stuck with Sellotape, but everyone was cheerful. Including me. Because seeing everyone I loved having such a nice time warmed my heart. I knew how lucky we all were: we were warm, fed, loved and it made me sad for anyone who wasn’t as lucky as us. But I couldn’t dwell on that today, I had a kitten to unwrap from the tinsel he’d liberated from the windowsill.

I hoped Tiger could see us, she would have enjoyed this scene, and although I missed her with every piece of fur on my body, I couldn’t help but smile as I heard her voice wishing us, ‘Happy Christmas.’ It was a happy Christmas, but a sad one too. But then life was all about balances and contrasts in feelings after all.

‘Right, I’ve showered and now I better start cooking,’ Claire said. She was wearing a bright red jumper with a Christmas tree on it. Jonathan was supposed to wear a matching one but he claimed to have lost it. I knew that it was hidden as I heard him say it was ‘ridiculous’ and that he wouldn’t ‘be seen dead wearing it’. Which was a phrase I didn’t understand. But anyway, Claire looked quite Christmassy as she tied on an apron. I was not only excited for lunch but also the knowledge that my other families would be here soon.

‘Do you want a hand?’ Jonathan asked, looking pleadingly at her as he studied the Lego instructions. Jonathan didn’t like cooking but it was clearly easier than putting a Lego spaceship together.

‘No, you carry on with Toby.’ Claire grinned.

‘Yay!’ Toby said, and then stared very intently at Jonathan, who was still scratching his head.

‘Mummy, can you help me with my car?’ Summer asked. She’d been given a pink car which spun around when operated with a remote control. She wasn’t the best driver, though, my tail had already been run over and George had had a few close calls.

‘Darling, I have to start cooking. Toby, can you help her for a moment?’

Toby looked thoughtful, as if weighing up the Lego or his sister.

‘OK, but only for a minute,’ he said, as suddenly and without warning the Christmas tree lights went off.

‘Oh no, they must have fused,’ Jonathan said, jumping up and trying the living room lights. But they didn’t come on either. ‘Strange, I wonder if it’s tripped?’ he said, going to the hallway where the fuse box was. ‘No, it’s not tripped,’ he said, sounding confused just as the phone rang.

‘Oh my goodness. The power in the whole of Edgar Road is out,’ Claire screamed, as she lowered the phone from her ear.

‘What do you mean?’ Jonathan asked.

‘No power. None at all. How am I supposed to cook Christmas lunch?’ She looked at the handset, which she was still holding. ‘Sorry, Pol, I’m just in shock, I’ll call you back,’ she said, hanging up.

‘What are we going to do?’ Jonathan said. We all stood in the semi-darkness in horror. What was Christmas without food? For me, that was the best bit. I was so looking forward to my Christmas dinner. George looked horrified, Toby concerned and Summer played with her dolls as if nothing was wrong.

As panic continued all around me, I tried to calm myself and think. I had saved Christmas once already this year and now I needed to do it again. And I was still sleep-deprived from a long, long day yesterday, an early morning today and not even any turkey to show for it. No, we couldn’t have that. As they say, a cat’s work is never done.

I listened as Summer suggested they eat sandwiches for lunch and Toby chocolate coins– although he had already put a fair few of those away, as far as I could tell. He even offered to share round his selection box. Which was all well and good, but what about us cats? We didn’t eat chocolate and as for sandwiches, unless they had pilchards in them, or some other kind of fish, I simply wasn’t interested. No, I wanted my traditional Christmas lunch and by the look of horror on Jonathan’s face, so did he. And what about all the people who were having lunch with us? What about the rest of the street? This was a disaster.

The phone rang again and Claire snatched it up. After a few moments she replaced the receiver.

‘That was Marcus. Apparently there’s a fault and it’s down as an emergency but they don’t expect it to be fixed until tonight at the earliest,’ she explained.

‘Oh no, Christmas is ruined,’ Jonathan moaned.

‘Shush, of course it’s not. We just need to think,’ Claire said sensibly but she had panic in her eyes too.

Of course, as soon as it went quiet, it came to me. They said the fault was with Edgar Road, so Tomasz and Franceska’s road might be fine and their restaurant was closed today, so we could all decamp to their place with our food, cook and eat it there. Brilliant and simple. Now, how to convey that? I looked at them, licked my lips. I mewed and then ran to the front door.

‘Now what?’ Jonathan said as he glared at me. OK, so that wasn’t clear. I took George aside and told him my idea.

‘Such a good idea,’ my boy said. ‘But how are we going to tell them?’ I thought and thought.

On the table by the front door were leaflets for take-aways that Claire and Jonathan sometimes had; would that give them a clue? I jumped on the console table and knocked them to the floor.

‘What the hell is he doing?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Yowl,’ I said. This wasn’t easy. Then I saw it. Aleksy had left his backpack here in his rush to get home last night, and Claire had put it by the front door. This had to work, I thought as George and I climbed on it, mewing loudly.

Claire and Jonathan looked at each other.

‘I’ll call Tomasz,’ Jonathan said. Finally. ‘Oh of course, the restaurant is closed today and they probably haven’t lost power!’ He sounded jubilant, as if it was his idea.

I was feeling a little smug, as George nuzzled me.

‘I miss Tiger mum, but I am lucky to have the cleverest dad in the world,’ he said and I couldn’t be any happier at that moment, or sadder, because I really missed Tiger mum as well.

It was all organised. Well, in a very disorganised way. While Franceska stayed to organise the restaurant, Tomasz drove over with the boys to pick up the food that needed cooking to take back. Jonathan and Matt went along the street inviting any of the neighbours who were stuck to come and join us. I went with them and was delighted when Tiger’s family agreed to come. They were fretting about being without power, and on top of missing Tiger, I was glad they would be with us.

Marcus and Harold were on board, although Marcus was going to drive his dad there, as it was too far for him to walk, and he offered to take anyone else who needed a lift. I wondered if that meant me? The busybody Goodwins also agreed to come and Jonathan didn’t even complain about that, in the interest of it being the day of goodwill to all men – and cats. And in that vein, I invited Salmon who said he would love to come with us, as it was the only way to guarantee any Christmas dinner. There was no sign of my other friends, though, and I could only hope that they would be alright.

‘This reminds me of the Blitz spirit,’ Vic Goodwin said, as he and his wife, in matching Christmas jumpers, started to gather their food to contribute.

‘I’m far too young to remember that,’ Jonathan replied.

‘Well, so am I,’ Vic said, and we were all uncertain how he knew if that was the case. But Vic did say something useful, he said they should all get torches to take with them in case we all had to come back to houses still without light, so they rounded up all they had to ensure that every family who needed one had one.

Luckily many of the families had either gone away or had somewhere else to go, but there were a fair few of us as we organised getting everyone to the restaurant. Jonathan and Matt led the way and Polly, Claire and the children got ready to bring up the rear, along with me and George.

‘I wish Hana was coming,’ George said, and I realised there was still something left to do. No one had gone to see Sylvie, probably because she had told them that they already had plans, but I didn’t believe her.

I stood on the doorstep and meowed loudly.

‘Oh goodness, look, Claire, we didn’t think about Sylvie,’ Polly said. Everyone stood at the front gate, but George sat beside me at the front door.

‘Last night she was really adamant that she had plans but we thought she might be too embarrassed to face us all.’ Claire had told Matt and Polly what had happened with Aleksy last night, so they were up to speed with the situation.

‘But she probably hasn’t, has she?’ Polly said, as she opened the gate. ‘Look, it’s Christmas and if Connie and Sylvie are on their own, we need to persuade them to come with us. No one should spend Christmas in the dark, for goodness sake.’

‘Of course,’ Claire said, uncertainly, as they unlatched the gate and came to join me at the door. Henry reached up and rang the doorbell as we all huddled like a group of carol singers on the doorstep. After a while we heard footsteps and the door opened. Connie, looking very sweet in a jumperwith a reindeer on it, stood before us. She looked a little relieved to see us.

‘Hi, is your mum in? Oh, and Happy Christmas,’ Polly said before pushing past her into the house. We all followed. Sylvie was in the kitchen, where George ran up to Hana and they nuzzled like the old friends they were.

Claire seemed a little taken aback.‘How are they friends? She never goes out?’ she said. No one answered.

‘Hello, and Happy Christmas,’ Sylvie said but she was a little red-faced.

‘Look, I know you said you had plans but it doesn’t look like it, and you can’t spend Christmas with no power. We and a few of the neighbours are taking our food and drink to Tomasz and Franceska’s restaurant where we are going to have a lovely, if slightly unconventional Christmas lunch together,’ Polly said.

‘That sounds like fun,’ Connie said, hopefully.

‘We can’t, I just can’t.’ Sylvie burst into tears.

‘Connie, take the children to see your tree in the living room,’ Polly commanded, and Connie, although looking shocked, did as she was told.

‘Right, now what’s this about?’ Polly said.

‘Apart from the fact that my daughter ran away last night because I’m a terrible mum, I’ve been horrible to all of you who have done nothing but be nice to me, my ex-husband is spending Christmas with his pregnant girlfriend, who he has moved into my house in Japan, what else could there be?’ she sobbed.

Put like that, it didn’t sound good.

‘Listen, your ex, I can’t do anything about. But you and your daughter seem to have built bridges by the looks of it,’ Polly said. Sylvie nodded. ‘And you are not a terrible mum, you were trying hard to protect your daughter, we all understand that, but she doesn’t need protecting from Aleksy, by the way, he’s about as harmful as a houseplant.’

‘Well, I’m not sure I’d compare him to a houseplant,’ Claire said.

‘First thing that came into my mind. You know I mean a flower…he’s as dangerous as a delicate flower.’ I really had no idea where they were going with this. ‘Anyway, that’s beside the point.’ Even Polly looked as if she’d forgotten what the point was.

‘No, the point is that we are all fine, we understand, you’ve had a terrible time and it really hasn’t been easy. We all still want your friendship and want you to have ours, and today of all days we can’t let you two be alone, in the dark,’ Claire said, and we were back on track. ‘So, come with us today and you can start building those bridges.’

‘But Franceska must hate me. I was so horrible to her, and her son,’ Sylvie said. Her eyes were full of tears. ‘It’d be so insensitive of me to swan into her restaurant, when I’ve no right.’

‘Oh, Frankie couldn’t hate you. All you have to do is apologise and it’ll be forgotten. I mean, she’s about as good at holding grudges as …’ Polly narrowed her eyes as if she was thinking.

‘A houseplant?’ Claire suggested. They all laughed. ‘Honestly, Sylvie, she’ll be so happy you’ve come and you know whose Christmas you will really make?’

‘Connie and Aleksy’s,’ Polly finished as if there was any doubt. And mine, and George’s, I silently added.

‘OK, give me five minutes to clean myself up and put some make-up on.’ Sylvie smiled. ‘I really am so sorry for behaving so badly and I really do hope you can forgive me.’

‘Already done,’ Polly said as she went to give Connie the good news.

‘I am so glad that everyone’s happy again,’ Hana said. ‘And George says it’s down to you, Alfie.’

‘Not entirely,’ I started modestly.

‘It really is down to us,’ George countered, immodestly. ‘But now, your family are coming with us, and you will be here on your own. In the dark.’ He raised his whiskers, hopefully.

‘Hana, come with us,’ I said.

‘But I’ve never been out and it’s been snowing and I didn’t know what snow was until Connie told me last night.’

‘Yes, your paws will be cold and it might be a bit slippery but only like a polished floor,’ I pointed out. ‘Listen, Hana, you have to come with us, you need to start going outside. Honestly, you’ll like it, trust me.’ I hoped I was right.

‘But I’m scared,’ Hana said.

‘But I’ll be right by your side and nothing will happen to you,’ George said.

‘Come on, your family need to know that you are still a family and that includes you,’ I stated, nudging her with my nose towards the front door. ‘Not to mention the food we’re about to eat, no self-respecting cat would pass up this opportunity,’ I pointed out.

‘Hana?’ Sylvie asked as they came to the front door to see Hana sitting by it.

‘She should come with us.’ Claire looked worriedly at the three of us and I nudged Hana again. She couldn’t have been any closer to the door.

‘But she doesn’t go out,’ Sylvie said.

‘Meow,’ Hana said. It seemed she was learning.

‘Maybe she wants to come with us,’ Connie said.

‘She definitely does. I can tell, I know a lot about cats,’ Toby said.

‘Me too, and yes she absolutely does,’ Summer, not to be outdone, added.

‘Right, well you’ll have to carry her then, Con, darling, I don’t want her to get cold paws,’ Sylvie said, uncertainly, as Connie scooped her up. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind but, as I blinked at George and he blinked back, it would have to do for now.

‘I am so full I don’t think I can move,’ I said later, as we all rested after our meal.

‘Me either, Dad,’ George said.

‘Being outside is quite nice,’ Hana said, although she was currently inside.

‘Right, well I better get back to work,’ Dustbin said. ‘Those pesky rodents will have taken advantage of my absence.’

‘Can I help you?’ Salmon, who was on his best behaviour, asked.

‘Nah, no offence but you don’t look like the sort of cat who gets his paws dirty,’ Dustbin replied, but without malice. Salmon wasn’t, he could probably talk the rodents to death, but that was it. Like cat, like owner, in that respect.

Although in fairness the Goodwins had been on pretty good form. Seeing them play charades was a sight to behold. Although not as good as Harold, who guessed every single one incorrectly and then accused the person acting the charade of being wrong. All the adults were laughing so much they were nearly crying.

It had turned out to be a wonderful Christmas Day. The food was delicious– and there was plenty of it as everyone had pooled their resources. The children had a table set up on their own and were behaving beautifully. The younger ones had brought some of their new toys with them. The older ones were supervising, well Tommy was but Aleksy and Connie were staring at each other with dopey expressions on their faces. Tommy despaired, but no amount of teasing would stop them. I even noticed they were holding hands under the table whenever they could. Ah, young love.

As I’d weaved in between everyone’s legs I felt a warmth in the atmosphere that I relished. The adults were all behaving pretty well. Sylvie had apologised to Franceska, and cried a bit, and Franceska, who was just too lovely, had hugged her and told her that they should forget it. She told her shewould never let Aleksy take advantage of Connie or hurt her, and Sylvie had said she did believe her, but that after her husband had hurt her she was so scared of her daughter going through anything like that. It all made sense in a way, because of course heartbreak wasn’t rational. I knew that better than most. Sylvie was back to being the woman we’d first met when she moved here and somehow Claire had manoeuvred it so she and Marcus were sitting next to each other at lunch. I had hope they might fall in love, but I didn’t think either of them looked as if they’d be jumping into anything anytime soon. Harold was on good form, though he and Vic Goodwin had a slight disagreement about the reason for the rise in crime, which Jonathan had to diffuse. But other than that, everyone was getting on well.

I’d felt choked when the Barkers raised a toast to Tiger, and I nuzzled close to George who shook, when they talked about how much they missed her. We both went over to them and rubbed their legs to let them know we felt the same, which they seemed to appreciate. However, I was alarmed when they said they were going to the shelter in the new year to adopt a cat, but an older cat, as the house didn’t feel right without one.

Replace Tiger? How could they?

‘We’re never going to be able to replace Tiger,’ Mrs Barker said. Phew. ‘We had her from a kitten and as we never had children she was our child. We miss her so much but we have a good, warm and kind home and I know Tiger would want us to help a cat who needed a home.’

They were right, she would. She would have been proud of them, and I would just have to get used to seeing another cat come out of that cat flap. And, as hard as it would be, I would welcome them with open paws. Again, it’s what Tiger would have wanted.

It was getting late when Marcus, who hadn’t had a drink, drove his dad and the Barkers back to Edgar Road. The clearing-up had been shared by everyone – although Franceska had tried to get them to leave it, the Goodwins insisted and they loved bossing everyone about and giving them jobs to do. I went out to the yard to say goodbye to Dustbin who was busy working.

‘It’s been a grand Christmas,’ he said.

‘It has. I wish Tiger was here but, apart from that, it’s worked out wonderfully,’ I replied, with a sad grin. ‘And of course I am still tired from the incident last night.’ I was pleased and a little surprised that no one had talked about that today, but that was Christmas for you, it wasn’t a time to speak of anything bad.

‘She’d be proud of all you’ve done,’ he said, and I really hoped she would.

‘Mewwwww!’ We turned to see Hana tentatively putting her paws outside, with George encouraging her. The snow was slushy now and not deep but she still found it cold. Well, of course it was cold.

‘You did it,’ George cheered. ‘You’ve officially stepped outside now!’

‘Well, so I have. What a Christmas,’ Hana said. ‘But is it always this cold?’

‘No, one day soon it will be warmer and I will insist you try coming out more often,’ George said. ‘So we can hang out.’

‘I’d really like that.’ She waved her tail before jumping back inside.

‘Incoming,’ Dustbin shouted and dived to catch a mouse behind one of the bins.

‘Happy Christmas, Tiger, wherever you may be,’ I whispered, staring up at the brightest star in the sky, and then I turned to go home.

Chapter Thirty-Four

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Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also the hardest for a lot of people. Among the trees, the happiness, the presents, the food and the excitement , it’s a good time to remember that it’s not all plain sailing for a lot of people – and cats. That was my Christmas message this year, and I told George that. As we said a silent prayer for Tiger, as we rubbed our full bellies, as we yowled together at how much we missed her, as we watched our children enjoy their gifts, it was a very mixed kind of Christmas for us this year. And we were the lucky ones. I drummed that into George until he told me he got it and please would I ‘just stop lecturing me’. Teenage George was back at times. Although perhaps I had laboured the point a bit.

It was all over for another year. As Jonathan said, it took months to prepare for Christmas and then it was all over in a flash. But although that was true, Claire pointed out that for that flash it was worth it. And this year certainly had been. Everyone pulling together like that, friendships forged, upsets mended, and even the busybody Goodwins involved, that was what life should be about. I was saving that lecture for the new year though.

The power came back on when we got home on Christmas night, and as the children almost fell asleep the minute we walked through the door, along with George, we tucked them all up and then Claire, Jonathan and I sat in the living room, enjoying the peace and the twinkle of the Christmas tree lights. I fell asleep at some point on the sofa and woke there in the early hours before I wearily made it up to my bed. It had been a bittersweet Christmas, but then life was going to be bittersweet for a long time to come, I knew.

It was now New Year’s Eve and we were having a party at our house to say goodbye to another year and hello to the new one. Claire had been planning this party for months and even Jonathan was keen. All the children were having a sleepover with us, and Polly and Matt and Franceska and Tomasz would be there. Connie was coming with Sylvie, Harold was going to walk down from his house with Marcus, and even the Barkers had said they would pop in for a sherry early on, though they wouldn’t stay up until midnight. The Goodwins were coming, but they said they had to keep watch because it was a known fact that lots of crime was committed on New Year’s Eve. Jonathan offered them a pair of binoculars and said they could station themselves by our curtains. They were happy to agree to this, but were bringing their own binoculars; they didn’t trust Jonathan’s would be good enough. In actual fact he was joking, he didn’t own any, but luckily they never discovered that. Jonathan had invited a couple of people from his work who didn’t have plans and Claire had asked some of the women from her book group and their partners. It was going to be quite a gathering. And a party was possibly just what I needed, to say goodbye to what had been a good but also a terrible year and welcome a new one, which I hoped would be better.

George appeared fully groomed and looking smart.

‘Hey son,’ I said, giving him a nuzzle.

‘Hi Dad, I’ve just been at Hana’s.’ There was no stopping those two, although as far as I could tell they were just friends. Now Sylvie and Connie were back as part of our family, George was in and out of the house more frequently when he saw one of them, and they didn’t mind. Connie had even suggested to her mum that they have a cat flap fitted into the side door, so that George could visit and keep Hana company. We were so excited about this prospect. And I thought that it would be lovely for both of us, especially George, to have another home to add to our collection. You could never have too many, after all. However, they were still not sure that Hana should go out, and neither was she, but George was working on it. It was his New Year’s resolution.

‘How was she?’

‘Yeah, good. She’s not coming tonight – she said she’s had so much excitement that she needs a quiet night in. I think I understand. Hana is a very quiet cat, who’s used to being calm. I think us Londoners are a bit of a revelation to her.’

‘Of course,’ I replied, seriously. It was possibly true, Hana was used to a calmer life than we were. I couldn’t remember what a quiet life was, to be frank.

‘It’s been a hard year, well the end has, hasn’t it?’ he said.

‘Yes, son, and you have been coping so well. I don’t know how you’ve done it but I am very proud of you.’ I meant every word.

‘I think it’s just that thing, really, knowing how Tiger mum would like me to live my life. I hear her talking to me all the time and I also know …’

‘What, son?’

‘I know she would want you to be happy. At the moment you’re not but you need to be. She would want you to make the most of every minute and not wallow. And you say that you carry those you love around with you in your heart and she’s in mine.’

‘Mine too.’ I felt so emotional. My kitten was so wise.

‘Well then, we will both be alright. But, Dad?’

‘Yes, son?’

‘I don’t want you to get another cat girlfriend, if you don’t mind. I think it’s best you stay single and just be my dad.’

‘OK son, that’s a deal.’ I was sure I didn’t want another girlfriend either. I’d been lucky enough to love twice in my life and that was quite enough.

‘Good, because I don’t want a new mum.’

‘You won’t ever have a new mum, you’ll always have Tiger mum, even if I did get a girlfriend, but I won’t. I’m too busy looking after you lot.’ I raised my whiskers.

Wasn’t that the truth?

The party was in full swing. Music blared out and it was lucky the neighbours were here so they couldn’t complain about the noise. I wandered around, taking it all in, enjoying myself the way I had promised George I would.

The Goodwins were stationed behind the curtains, with their top-of-the-range binoculars and alcohol-free drink. Nothing was happening but they had their eyes trained just in case. The Barkers were sipping sherry on the sofa, and chatting to Harold who had a beer and was waving his stick around, enthusiastically, as he spoke. He was happy and not angry at all any more. Polly and Matt were dancing with some of Claire’s friends – badly, I might add. Tomasz and Jonathan were chatting to Marcus; there was lots of laughing and back-slapping going on. Sylvie had insisted on helping Claire in the kitchen and they were filling plates with food and also topping up drinks, and Franceska was of course in the thick of that. They were laughing and joking as they did so, and everyone seemed at ease with each other once again.

I went to check on the children upstairs. Tommy was supervising games night with the younger ones, who were all too excited to go to sleep. Toby and Henry were playing Hungry Hippos, Martha and Summer were playing with some cards, but apparently neither of them knew the rules, which made Tommy exasperated but he kept sneaking his iPad out, in between barking instructions and breaking up squabbles. They were all happy though, as they snuck up some food, and some fizzy pop which Claire never normally let them have. They’d have sugar rushes for hours, I was sure. And George was with them, being fussed, getting in the way, being cute. Aleksy and Connie, who were supposed to be helping to supervise, were on the landing, holding hands and chatting. When Tommy asked them to help him they kept saying, ‘In a minute.’

‘Alfie, I am never having a girlfriend,’ Tommy said to me as he broke up a minor altercation when Summer was found to have stuffed some of the cards down her dress. ‘If it turns me into a soppy guy like my brother, I’d rather not.’

‘Meow.’ You’ll change your mind when it’s time, I thought. Although I couldn’t imagine Tommy ever being soppy.

I split the evening between upstairs and downstairs, before Franceska went to get Aleksy, Tommy and Connie for the midnight countdown. Thankfully the younger children had worn themselves out by then. Toby, George and Henry were fast asleep in one room and Martha and Summer were in bunk beds in Summer’s room. I went with the adults.

‘Right everyone, it’s countdown time,’ Jonathan shouted. ‘Ten, nine, eight, seven.’ Everyone joined in. ‘Six, five, four, three, two, one. HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ the room shouted with loud cheers. People in couples kissed. Marcus hugged his father, then Sylvie hugged Harold, and Marcus grabbed Sylvie in a big hug and kissed her cheek. She blushed and I noticed. As, I saw, did Claire.

Connie and Aleksy snuck off and I looked around and saw they were sharing their first kiss– I assumed it was their first – under the mistletoe in the hallway. So much for them being chaperoned at all times. But, I was pleased, it made me feel warm for them, for everyone.

Old friends hugged, and new ones, and then they started singing this unfathomable song called‘Auld Lang Syne’, which I didn’t understand, although I did catch a bit about old acquaintances and I think it meant don’t forget them or something. Surely they could have made it clearer though, as people sang it every year and no one really understood the words as far as I could tell. In fact, most people didn’t seem to even know them.

Satisfied that everyone was happy, having fun, and no one needed my help, I went outside to get some air.

The cold air wrapped itself around me. The snow had settled into a thin blanket and the air was cold and crisp. The sky was clear as I looked at the moon, something Tiger and I used to do together. We loved watching the moon and it was one of her favourites tonight, round and clear. I wondered if wherever she was she could see it. I felt his presence before I saw him, as George appeared.

‘What are you doing up?’ I asked, as I nuzzled him.

‘I heard Tommy say it was New Year now, and so I wanted to come and wish you a Happy New Year.’

‘Thanks, son, and Happy New Year to you too.’

‘Promise me, you’ll be happy, Dad.’

‘I promise.’ Just then a star appeared to wink at us. It was the brightest star I’d ever seen.

‘Wow, there’s Tiger mum, just like she said,’ George said.

‘She’s with us. Happy New Year, Tiger,’ I said into the wind.

‘Dad, make your resolutions now,’ George said.

‘What do you know about resolutions?’ I asked.

‘Claire is going to drink less, Jonathan moan less, and Summer be more amazing than she is. Oh, and Toby is going to keep away from girls.’

‘OK, here goes. Firstly, I will take excellent care of you. You are growing up to be such a fine young cat. And my second is that I will never stop missing Tiger, or loving her. My third resolution is that I will never stop with my plans to bring people together or keep them together. People and cats of course. Finally, I resolve to live every day to the full. How about you, George?’

‘I think I might just try not to set myself on fire again.’

We laughed and I told him what a good resolution that would be. I watched him hop back into the house before I followed him. As I left my footprints in the snow, I felt happiness and sadness, love and loneliness, the contradictions of life. And in the opening minutes of a new year, I gave a thought to all of those I loved, past, present and future.

6. A FRIEND CALLED ALFIE

Chapter One

There was something about the Devon air, which felt so different from Edgar Road, where we lived most of the time in London. As the sea breeze whipped through my fur; it soothed and chilled me at the same time. It had been a very stressful time lately, and for my kitten George– who would probably argue that he was no longer a kitten but a proper cat – so we were enjoying a well-deserved holiday and a much-needed change of scene.

We were on a two week holiday at my human family’s holiday home, Seabreeze Cottage, in Lynstow, Devon. The human family consisted of Claire, Jonathan, and their children Toby and Summer. Not forgetting our cat family; my cat son, George, and Gilbert, who lived full time at Seabreeze Cottage – Gilbert had been there before us and had become one of our closest friends. Although we didn’t get to see him as often as we’d like, we always had fun whenever we were together. Gilbert was more independent than George and me, having fended for himself for years before we met him. If I’m honest, George and me are pampered cats, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It hasn’t always been that way, there was a time when I was homeless for a while, and I had to fend for myself. My first human owner, Margaret, died when I was a young cat, leaving me heartbroken and alone. I became a doorstep cat – a cat with different homes and owners – which comes with many benefits, I can assure you, but more of that later. Thankfully, after some time on the streets, I found my way to Edgar Road, where I met my current human families. George came to live with my main human family as a kitten, having never had to fend for himself. He’s a lot more spoilt than me, but he’s kind-hearted, and I love him more than all the pilchards in the world.

We’ve had a rough year, my George and I. My girlfriend – the cat who George thought of as his mum – Tiger, had fallen ill and passed away before Christmas. We’re still grieving her if I’m honest. I don’t think you ever stop missing those you love, and I have loved and lost a lot in my life. But as a doorstep cat, with multiple humans in my life – Claire and Jonathan and their children Toby and Summer, Polly and Matt and their children Henry and Martha, Franceska and Tomasz and their children Aleksy and Tommy. You’ll met my other humans soon enough.

Although this year was unfortunate in many ways, one thing we learnt was that life carries on regardless of the sadness you hold in your heart, and we had to carry on with it.

‘I know, why don’t we go to the sand dunes?’ George suggested.

‘Last one there’s a dog,’ Gilbert, who had joined us on the beach, shouted, taking off, we followed him, hot on his paws. I was breathless as I made it just a fraction later than George and Gilbert.

‘Don’t call me a dog,’ I warned, narrowing my eyes and they both laughed.

‘I’m going to slide down on my bottom,’ George said, the carefree sound of his voice made me so happy. He wriggled onto his bottom and tried to slide down the sand, the problem was that sand isn’t very slippery, it’s grainy, and it sticks to fur like glue. I went to try to give George a gentle push with my paw, but I tripped over his tail and landed with a bump almost on top of him.

‘Yowl,’ I cried.

‘Dad,’ he chastised as we both started rolling down, and although it was a little bit scary, we got to the bottom in one piece.

‘That was so much fun, Dad,’ George said, reminding me that maybe he was growing up fast, but he was still a kitten, my kitten, in so many ways. ‘Can we do it again?’

‘Let me catch my breath,’ I pleaded, I certainly wasn’t a kitten in any way anymore, but I would do anything for my boy.

‘Come on, George,’ Gilbert shouted from the top. ‘Let Alfie recover. I’ll roll down with you, it did look like fun after all.’

We spent the rest of the evening playing, rolling and enjoying the beach, finding some much-needed peace. It became another evening for us to feel lucky about.

It wasn’t just George and me who needed a break in Devon, my human family did too. Jonathan had recently got a promotion at work, which is a good thing, but it meant he would have to work longer hours, and harder than he had before. Claire had told him to go for the job, but she was also worried about what it would mean for us as a family. She had to be supportive, however, because we all knew that Jonathan was only doing it for us, to provide more pilchards for George and me – yum – good schools for the children (whatever that meant) and Claire was even getting a new car. So this much-needed holiday had brought us all together in a way that reminded us that we were a loving family. Not without our problems, of course, but there is no such thing as a problem-less family, another thing I had learned the hard way. And when I heard Jonathan and Claire talking at night when the children wereasleep, I knew they were both slightly nervous about how the new job would be and how they were going to cope with not having Jonathan around so much. I tried not to worry about them, but it wasn’t easy – I worried about everyone I loved.

During the holiday, Claire, Jonathan and the children had enjoyed picnics on the beach, walks, and bike rides. George had tried to go join them in the bike basket, but he kept falling onto the handlebars of Toby’s bike, so Claire had banned him. While they had their human adventures, we had our own feline ones. Gilbert was quite an active cat, he often took us on what he would call country walks. They were more like runs, through fields – the first time we came here we were cornered by a herd of sheepand barely got out with one of our lives intact. He and George climbed trees while I stayed safely on the ground, and of course, we visited the beach, but mainly in the evenings when we had it to ourselves. After losing Tiger, I didn’t realise how much I needed a change of scene. Claire said Devon was like a tonic, and she wasn’t wrong – I felt as if I could breathe properly for the first time since I lost her.

In the evenings at the cottage, Claire cooked, Jonathan relaxed, the children, worn out by the activities slept well. Sometimes the neighbours came round, or someone would babysit for us while Claire and Jonathan went to the local pub. We were quite friendly with some of the other families in the village, Seabreeze had become a home from home. Even the next door neighbour, Andrea, who once tried to run us out of the village, was our friend now. It’s a long story which culminated in Seabreeze Cottage almost being set on fire, but luckily Gilbert and I foiled the plan and saved the day. It’s what I did. As I said it’s a very long story but Andrea, who had been deserted by her husband, now had a new man friend called Fred, who was very jolly, and everyone agreed he made Andrea a lot more likeable. It’s a shame the same couldn’t be said for her cat, Chanel. Chanel was George’s first crush, she was a mean, unfriendly cat, and George’s devotion to her had been quite alarming. Luckily he had moved on now and saw her for the scowling cat she was. Despite the family being friends of ours now, Chanel still hissed at us whenever she saw us. Not everyone is kind, unfortunately, and not everyone wants to be a good friend. I am, George is, my humans are, but Chanel certainly isn’t. Thankfully George has learnt to give her a wide berth, and her hiss is definitely worse than her bite – not that we ever get close enough to test that theory.

‘Right, it’s getting late, we should be getting home before Claire worries,’ I said, worn out from rolling and covered in sand.

‘OK, but we can come and play this again, can’t we?’ George asked.

‘If you’re good,’ Gilbert replied, giving me a blink.

‘I might need a day or two to recover,’ I said. ‘I’m not as young as you, George.’

‘No, but you’re not old either,’ he replied quickly. Gilbert and I exchanged a glance. Since losing Tiger, George was worried about losing me too. It was only natural but I wasn’t going anywhere. There were plenty of lives left in this cat yet.

‘Oh there you are boys,’ Claire said, when we walked into the kitchen, having done our best to get the sand off us and failed, as usual. When we went back to London from Seabreeze, the sand had a habit of coming back with us.

‘Meow,’ I said in greeting before the three of us headed over to our food bowls to eat our supper.

‘Right, well Jonathan and I are about to settle down to watch a film if you want to join us?’ she said. I loved how Claire always spoke and treated us as if we were humans. We were cleverer than most humans, but I appreciated the gesture anyway.

‘Meow,’ I said. Snuggling up on the sofa in front of a film sounded the perfect way to end the day.

We ate, cleaned up and headed into the small TV room. Gilbert took his spot on his favourite chair while George and I curled up in the middle of the sofa– the comfiest place.

‘Blimey, Claire, there’s barely any room for us, these cats take up all our space,’ Jonathan said as he squeezed himself into the small space we’d left for him.

‘But, darling, we wouldn’t have it any other way,’ Claire replied, kissing him on the cheek and trying to move us. George and I pretended to be asleep, so in the end, she had no choice but to sit on the floor in front of her husband.

Chapter Two

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‘Back to Edgar Road, tomorrow, son,’ I said, trying to hide my sadness that our holiday in Lynstow was coming to an end. I loved being here; I enjoyed the change of scene, especially getting to see Gilbert, I loved how relaxed my family seemed, not to mention the beach. I even quite liked sand now. Actually no, I tolerated sand but I struggle with the way it sticks to my fur like glue and makes grooming such hard work. But then I loved watching the sunset, and the soothing sound of the waves gently lapping the shore, so perhaps I’ll just have to put up with sand.

‘I know, Dad, and I’m glad to be going back, to see our friends and especially Hana, but I’ll miss it here, and I’ll miss Gilbert of course.’

‘Me too, but we’ll be back before you know it.’ All our families from London had pledged to come to holiday here together at some point and being here with all of them was one of my favourite times ever. Having everyone I love under one roof made me feel like the luckiest cat alive. Sure the cottage would be quite crowded, noisy and chaotic, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

‘But,’ George paused, looking a little upset. ‘This will be the first time we go back to Edgar Road and not see Tiger mum.’ His voice cracked, I could feel his pain. I nuzzled him, reassuringly.

‘I know, son,’ I said. Gilbert looked over at me and gave me a reassuring blink. ‘It’ll be strange not going back and telling her all about our holiday, but we can still tell her.’

The memory brought back the pain I felt every time I would walk past Tiger’s house, like I was being stabbed in the heart. There were times I would wait for her by the cat flap, even though I knew she’d never come out of it again – the sorrow hadn’t abated. It was hard, but as the grown-up, it was my duty to step up and help him through his grief.

I learnt that you can’t protect your children from loss; you can’t keep all the bad in the world away from them. However, you can do your best to help them cope with bumps in the road, it’s all any parent can do. Becoming a parent makes you realise how much capacity you have for love, but it also shows you your limitations. No matter how hard you try, you can’t control what the world will send your way.

The night was drawing in on our final holiday evening, and I thought about all those I had loved and lost. The pain doesn’t get any easier, but you do get used to it a bit more, I guess.

‘George, do you remember the first time we had to go past her house knowing she wasn’t there?’

‘Yes, I do, it was horrible in so many ways.’

‘What about the second time, when she wasn’t there at Christmas?’

‘It was difficult.’

‘I know, but what I want you to know is that it gets a little easier each time,’ I said with the authority of someone who knew this to be true.

‘But doesn’t that mean we don’t love her anymore?’ he asked.

‘No, it means we love her just as much as ever, but we also accept that we have to get used to her not being there,’ I tried to explain.

‘You know.’ Gilbert spoke for the first time in ages. ‘Missing someone is natural. George, I miss you when you’re not here in Lynstow, but I have to get on with life, and sometimes when I miss you, I just think of something you said, or when you made me laugh, and I feel better. I almost feel you here with me.’

I felt choked with emotion at Gilbert’s words.

‘I think of Tiger mum all the time.’

‘Look, George,’ I said, hopping on my paws excitedly as the stars began to appear in the sky. ‘Look at that bright star. What do you see?’

‘It’s her, I just know it,’ George said, sounding happier. ‘I can tell her all about how we’ve had a lovely holiday now.’ I nodded as he proceeded to do so. Gilbert and I looked on, giving him a bit of space to talk to his mum in the sky. I tried not to get caught up in the unfairness of it all. I still hadn’t accepted why she had to be taken from us, but I also knew that overcoming my own issues was part of process too, but something I felt I had to keep hidden from George. No yowling for this cat, at least not until I was alone.

‘You know we are lucky,’ I said, trying to keep my voice steady, as George finished speaking.

‘We are,’ Gilbert said.

Gilbert came to live in Seabreeze Cottage after running away from his home. I learnt that not every human was kind to their pets and I felt so sorry for him when I first heard his story, but at least now he had us, and he loved his life here. We tried to get him to come and live in London with us, but he said he wouldn’t be able to live away from the sea. I could almost understand that, but I loved London too. I loved the traffic and the bustle, and of course, London was where my other friends and families lived too.

‘We’re lucky that we get to spend time here, together,’ George said. ‘And I’m lucky to have such good families and friends. Not to mention how blessed I am to be such a handsome and charming cat who everyone loves.’ George winked with his right eye.

‘Chip off the old block that one,’ Gilbert said, with a grin.

I had no idea what he meant.

Packing up the cottage was always a bit of a frantic time. Not for George and me– we did very little but watch on as Jonathan moaned about how much stuff Claire had brought. He would grumble ‘how on earth am I supposed to fit it in the car’ although he always did. George and I would sit on the lawn and watch him huffing and puffing and saying words that no child or cat should hear, sweat rolling down his face in the sun as he tried to get all the suitcases into the boot of the car. While he was doing that, Claire would be tidying the place. Although there was a caretaker at Seabreeze who cleaned the place and fed Gilbert, Claire wouldn’t dream of her thinking shewas above cleaning her own house. So she whipped through the house from top to bottom while the children got to play with their friends for the last time.

Gilbert had made himself scarce. We said goodbye to him that morning as we had a last walk before our long journey home. He didn’t actually like to see us go, he said it made him sad, so he would always disappear just before we were setting off. He was a softy at times, despite the fact that he was a survivor cat, who proved to be made of sterner stuff than many. I would miss him. But I knew we’d see him again soon. Andas I felt sad I remembered how lucky I was to have so many friends and such good ones at that.

Once the house was emptied of our stuff, Claire, as usual, had to check the house again before she was satisfied we hadn’t left anything behind. Jonathan would surely moan about the traffic they were bound to hit if we didn’t get moving soon. They rounded up the children who were tearful at having to say goodbye to their summer holiday. Claire jollied them along by reminding them they were going to see their friends at home soon, and George and I were put into our car carrier, which I didn’t love to be honest. Although George and me were in it together, and there was a soft blanket for us to lie on, I wasn’t a fan of feeling caged. It made me a bit anxious, not that I’d let on to George. It was a shame, I thought, as I hid my feelings that Jonathan didn’t do the same.

‘Claire, if we don’t get going soon I’m going to be driving for hours and hours longer than necessary,’ he snapped.

‘OK, keep your hair on, we’re ready. Toby, strap yourself in,’ she commanded as she strapped Summer into her car seat. Toby was old enough to do it himself. Finally, after going back to check the house one last time, Claire got into the car.

‘Right, can I leave now?’ Jonathan asked, sounding tetchy.

‘Yes, is everyone alright?’

‘I’m hungry,’ Summer said, and the long journey home began.

It was nightfall by the time we reached Edgar Road. Jonathan was right, the traffic had been terrible, but Claire managed to entertain him by asking him crossword clues. I learnt that if Jonathan felt clever he was happy, so I think Claire only asked him clues she knew he’d know the answer to. She was quite intelligent, my Claire. The children were given snacks, and finally, they fell asleep, which meant the journey was long but peaceful. Even George slept gently beside me. I was desperate to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. As Claire got the children intothe house and Jonathan took the luggage out, letting George and me out first, I breathed the London air, so different from Devon but so familiar.

‘Welcome home, son,’ I said as George and I stretched. Before we went into the house, I allowed myself a quick glance towards where Tiger used to live. No, it wasn’t easier yet, but I hoped that it would before too long as I swallowed back a yowl.

When Tiger was alive the first thing I would have done after a holiday was to have gone to see her, and tell her how glad I was to be home. But I couldn’t do that now, I couldn’t tell her how much I’d missed her, and it pained me to have to turn away from her house, knowing she was no longer there.

I blinked away a tear, ushered my son inside the house and stepped into the warmth of home. Once in the kitchen, I prepared to settle him down for the night, it had been a long and tiring journey. Frankly I just wanted to forget everything and sleep, hoping tomorrow I would wake up feeling better, or at least ready for a new day.

Chapter Three

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The week after getting back from Devon, I developed post-holiday blues. Jonathan had to go straight back to work to start his new job. Overnight the relaxed– well for Jonathan anyway – holiday Jonathan was replaced by an even more stressed out one than usual. Claire had to get the children ready to start school again – buying uniforms, shoes and bags and organising clubs; it was a flurry of activity for everyone. But I felt flat, and although I got to see my other humans and cat friends, I still couldn’t quite shake the gloom.

It didn’t help that London was greyer than Devon and I was feeling more than a little bit down in the dumps. I kept telling George that our grief over Tiger would get easier, but it wasn’t feeling that way at the moment. Seeing our cat friends on Edgar Road – Rocky, Elvis, Nellie, and even the sour-faced Salmon – couldn’t cheer me up. My paws felt heavy as I walked, although I knew I needed to snap out of it, I had no idea how. Being a cat wasn’t always as easy as people thought.

I did, thankfully, have a bit of time to myself to try to let out my sadness, which I could only do alone. George was next door with his best friend Hana, a lovely cat who moved here from Japan last year. Hana was about the same age as George, and she was‘Mikeneko’ which means she had a coat of three colours, in English, we would say Tortoiseshell. She was beautiful and sweet, one of the calmest cats I’d ever met – quite the opposite to my boy. I did wonder if George and Hana were more than friends, after all the boy was growing up. George could act a bit like a teenager when I asked him about Hana – he would shut me down pretty quickly, and say they were just good friends. His reluctance just made me want to know more …

However, they did adore each other regardless of their relationship status, and they saw one another most days. Hana had been a house cat in Japan and didn’t go out, something that both horrified and fascinated me. Since being in London, we had managed to get her out a bit, but she preferred being indoors. It was her choice, and I understood that it took all sorts of cats to make the world go round.

Hana lived next door to us with Sylvie and her teenage daughter Connie. Connie was the girlfriend of my first human child friend, Aleksy, who I had known almost from the first day I arrived at Edgar Road. I couldn’t believe he was a teenager now, my child friends were growing up fast. Aleksy and Connie had a sweet relationship, a lot of hand-holding and blushes. However, they were both clever children, and so I personally thought they were a good match.

Also, Sylvie was now seeing one of our other friends, Marcus, which made her happy. I had to admit she was a bit unstable when she first moved here, and she had me a little worried. She’d been through a horrible divorce, so it was understandable. She was lonely and missing her home in Japan. I knew how hard starting over could be, after all, I had done it. But lately, she smiled a lot. Also, she always gave us fresh fish when we visited which obviously helped. We all met Marcusthrough his father, Harold, who happens to be one of George’s best human friends. George and I saved his life last year when he was ill, and since then he’s become part of our family.

We know so many people, I know, it’s hard to keep track of them all, but that is what a doorstep cat does, and I’m very good at it if I do say so myself.

Perhaps the reason I was feeling glum was because I was feeling a bit left out. Everyone was in love, or at least it seemed that way, apart from me, who had lost the only two cat women I had ever loved. Snowball, my first love moved away with her family a few years back, and you all know about Tiger. Goodness, I really was feeling sorry for myself.

I didn’t usually wallow in self-indulgence, but today I was letting myself feel my feelings. So I curled up on Jonathan’s favourite cashmere blanket, which I am absolutely not allowed anywhere near, under any circumstances, and had a little therapeutic cat nap.

George woke me, bounding up to me excitedly and then sitting on my tail. He was a little bit clumsy sometimes, my boy.

‘Hey,’ I said, stretching my paws out and yawning.

‘Claire just came home with Toby, Summer, Henry and Martha and said that Polly was coming round in a bit with a surprise for us all.’ His eyes were wide with excitement. ‘I think that includes us, Dad.’

Since Jonathan had secured his big promotion, Claire had given up her part-time job so she could spend more time with the children. Polly worked irregular hours sometimes and Matt was quite busy, so Claire said she was a bit like their part-time nanny. Claire also looked after Harold, George’s old man friend who lived at the end of Edgar Road, Marcus’ father. She did his shopping and dropped in on him regularly making sure he ate a good lunch. Marcus lived with him and took care of him, but he had to work, and of course he also had Sylvie, so Claire helped out there a lot. She loved looking after people – and cats – and she was very good at it. Mind you, I think she learnt a lot of her skills from me.

‘A surprise, you say?’ I narrowed my eyes. ‘Do you think it’s food?’

‘I don’t know, but Claire said that Polly had sworn her to secrecy, the children are excited, and I’m hoping that it might be something for all of us, we should go downstairs so we don’t miss it.’ George hopped around excitedly, catching my tail yet again.

‘Yowl! George, you need to be more careful,’ I gently chastised. I knew he wouldn’t be, he never was. ‘Did you have a nice afternoon?’ I asked, thinking I may get to find out a little more about his feelings for Hana. ‘With Hana,’ I added.

‘Yes, I’ll tell you about it later, but come on, let’s go now otherwise we’ll never find out what this surprise is.

‘What on earth is that?’ George asked as eyes wide we stared at something wriggling in Polly’s arms.

‘I have never seen anything like it,’ I said. It was tiny. Smaller than George had been as a kitten. We all peered in, the thing was a light brown colour, with a dark brown snout and dark brown tips to his ears.

‘It’s a puppy!’ Martha shouted, going to her mum and trying to reach for it. George and I exchanged a glance. Surely not? They wouldn’t … Polly bent down.

‘Yes, it’s a puppy, but he’s very little, so we need to be gentle, and we also need to make sure that we don’t scare him by being too loud.’ The children crowded around.

‘Whose puppy is it?’ Summer asked, suspiciously.

‘Well, Summer, he is going to live with us at our house,’ Polly said. ‘But when I’m at work, he’ll be here with Claire, and with you guys when you get back from school, so in a way, he’s all of ours.’

‘A bit like Alfie and George?’ Toby asked. He was a bright boy.

‘Exactly.’

‘What’s his name?’ Henry asked.

‘We don’t have one yet, love,’ his mum replied. ‘So this afternoon we should all think of a name for him. He’s a pug by the way.’

‘Yay.’ The children all started throwing out suggestions and George and I backed away into the kitchen.

‘Puppy,’ Summer shouted.

‘Nah that’s boring,’ Henry replied.

‘Flower,’ Martha suggested.

‘But he’s a boy,’ Toby pointed out.

‘Spiderman,’ Henry shouted.

‘Don’t be silly,’ Summer replied.

George and I left them to it.

‘Is this what I think it is?’ George asked, sounding horrified.

‘What do you think it is?’ I asked.

‘A dog, they got a dog.’

‘I’m afraid it seems as if they have. Although it’s quite a strange-looking dog. And small, but it’ll probably grow a bit like you did.’ I couldn’t believe Polly would betray us like this. Who on earth got a dog when there were two perfectly good cats around?

‘And they said this dog will be at our house a lot,’ George said. ‘This cannot be happening. It’s the worst thing in the world.’ He put his head in his paws. I have to admit I felt like doing the same, but I had a feeling that this puppy was here to stay, and therefore, I had quite a lot of sorting out to do.

I’ve never been a dog fan, Tiger and I used to tease dogs on leads by getting them to chase us and sit just out of reach so they couldn’t get us – it was just so much fun. Although I have been chased by a dog or two in my time, I have never let one catch me. I always outsmart them. But I digress. The problem is that I think of dogs as being like cats but without the brains, which is why they don’t get to be independent the way we cats are. Perhaps my prejudice wasn’t a good thing to pass onto George. Because by the sounds of it, this puppy was going to be at our house a lot and I knew that we needed to be friends with it, I mean him. We couldn’t be mean, that wasn’t what we did. And the humans seemed to like him, so we had to too. It might not be easy, but we would have to do our best.

‘George, I might not be a fan of dogs, but I have to be honest with you, I haven’t actually spent any quality time with one.’

‘What? Never?’

‘Nope, and I don’t actually personally know any dogs,’ I explained.

‘So why do you say they are all terrible?’ George asked, eyes wide.

‘Um, good question. Sometimes we judge things before we really know them, I may have done that with dogs.’ I was desperate to limit any damage before George traumatised the very tiny dog. ‘I think it’s just a cat and dog thing, we are different from them, and that’s OK. This puppy, he’sa baby, we need to give him a chance.’ I wasn’t sure if I was making any sense, but this was a new side of me. I was being forced to turn my long-held convictions on their head. That wasn’t going to be easy.

‘So you mean this dog might be OK?’ He didn’t sound convinced, but then neither was I.

‘He might be, in fact, I’m sure he will be. Remember how we try to get everyone to be friends, well in this case that includes the puppy dog, I’m afraid.’ I had a feeling I wasn’t doing the best job ever. But this was a new situation for me.

‘Um, so I shouldn’t hiss at him? Or try to scratch him.’

‘No, George.’ Something occurred to me. ‘The thing is that he’s clearly a baby and he’s come to live with Polly and family, the way you came to live with us as a tiny kitten and that was quite frightening in the early days wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, and when Toby came to live with us he was frightened too wasn’t he?’ George had many faults, but he was a very perceptive lad. Toby was adopted by Claire and Jonathan a few years back. Now it seemed as if he had always been here with us, but it had been hard for him at first.

‘This dog might be feeling frightened and we must be superior cats to make sure he’s alright.’ I had always tried to impart that kindness was the most important thing we could do for one another.

‘Alright, Dad, in this case, I will do so but also if he does turn out to be the way you say dogs can be I can’t guarantee that I’ll be nice to him forever.’

‘That sounds reasonable and fair, George,’ I said. I hoped this puppy might prove me wrong about dogs. I’m not sure I felt that optimistic, though. But even I, faced with one of my long-held views, was questioning myself.

Claire came into the kitchen, clutching the puppy to her chest. He was tiny and had quite short legs. Even though I wasn’t sure how big he would grow to be, I desperately hoped he wouldn’t grow too big. Big dogs definitely scared me if they got too close.

‘Alfie, George, come and meet our new friend,’ she said, gently, moving towards us and kneeling down.

George and I exchanged glances as we tentatively moved nearer. I had never seen a dog like this up close before. He was calmer now and, as we peered at him, the little dog put his tongue out and licked his nose. Then he seemed to focus on us, with his big eyes, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Just then he gave a little wag of his short tail which sort of stuck to his bottom.

‘Oh goodness, he already likes you!’ Claire exclaimed. ‘Welcome to the family, and Alfie, George, it’s time for you to formally meet Pickles. The children voted and this name, which was Polly’s idea, actually won.’

Really? Just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Pickles? What kind of name was that? Even for a dog.

Chapter Four

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It was Monday, our first day alone with Pickles the pug. We’d locked eyes with him a lot, but not one of the children let him out of their sight. They really did seem to adore him, which put George’s nose out of joint a bit. Being usurped by a dog was pretty low.

Claire had given us a bit of a lecture this morning, because Pickles was coming to our house and would be left alone with us while Claire took the children to school. She wasn’t ready to take him on the school run, but said she would be doing so when he was a bit bigger. What this had to do with us, I had no idea, but we listened. Or I did, George was cleaning his paws and sulking.

She went on to share that our new‘friend’ Pickles was two months old. He was supposed to go to a family, but something happened, and they couldn’t have him at the last minute. Someone Polly worked with asked her if she knew anyone who wanted an adorable pug puppy, and Polly knew Matt had always wanted one. I was still comingto terms with the fact the children had been asking for a puppy (how dare they?), as it would also mean they had a pet who lived with them. I suppose, we visited often but didn’t live there, so Polly and Matt decided we all had a share in a puppy. Hmm.

Not one to keep things succinct, Claire told us that Pickles was allowed outside, because he had been to the vet. Apparently, he’d had the right injections, but he mustn’t go out on his own because he was a dog, not a cat. Not that we needed reminding of that. So, she was asking us to stay in with Pickles until she got back from the school run, rather than go into the garden or for our usual early morning walk. Torture for a doorstep cat. Finally, she finished talking just as the doorbell went and we opened it to find Polly, Henry and Martha stood on our doorstep. Henry was holding Pickles.

Polly rushed off as she was running late, the children all crowded around Pickles in the hallway, fussing him. George looked at me.

‘Is he going to take all the attention off me forever?’ George sounded horrified.

‘Of course not, he’s a novelty right now but what do I always tell you? There’s enough love to go round.’

‘Um, maybe, but I am so much cuter than him.’ George stomped his paw.

‘Of course you are, George.’

George was so used to being the centre of attention, and now there was a new pet on the block. This might not be as straightforward as I thought. Actually, I never thought it would be straightforward, but this was threatening to be more of a nightmare than I imagined.

‘Hello,’ I said, unsure if he would be able to understand me when George, Pickles and I were finally alone.

‘Are you my new friends?’ Pickles asked.

‘Yes, I suppose we are your new friends,’ I replied. He sounded young, and if I was honest, when he looked at me with his big eyes, he was quite adorable. But George was still sulking, I’m not sure he agreed.

‘I’m happy to meet you both,’ Pickles said. ‘It’s scary living with a new family, but everyone seems so nice,’ he mouthed, as he ran around in a circle. Why can’t puppies stay still?

‘What are you doing?’ George asked, scowling in Pickles’ direction.

‘I’m trying to catch my tail,’ Pickles replied.

He might get smarter as he got older, I thought, and tried to convey this to George through my glare.

‘So are you settling in well?’ I asked. It still felt a bit awkward, although it was easier to talk to him now he was no longer running in circles.

‘Yes, I cried a bit last night because I felt lonely. Henry convinced Polly that I could sleep on his bed, so I snuggled up to him, and that wasn’t quite so bad.’

‘You like to talk,’ George pointed out.

‘Be nice,’ I whispered to George.

‘Welcome to Edgar Road,’ George said, not exactly sounding welcoming.

‘And we both arrived here on our own at different points. So you know, if you feel a bit down, you can talk to us,’ I said, more kindly.

‘Thank you, I think I’m going to like it here,’ Pickles said. Then he sat down and smiled at us with his wrinkly face.

‘Dad, can I go out?’ George asked.

‘We’re supposed to be looking after Pickles,’ I pointed out.

‘But I told Hana I’d go and see her this morning.’ Although Hana didn’t go out much, she had a cat flap, so George visited her regularly, as did I sometimes. I didn’t want to force him to stay and help me with Pickles as he’d probably end up resenting me for it, so I thought I’d be best off letting him go. Although, I would have liked to go out …

‘OK, I can take care of Pickles, but you need to get used to him because he’s going to be here a lot,’ I whispered to George, as we moved towards the back door.

‘Fine, and I will be nice, but now I would rather be with my actual friend.’ George sounded a bit surly; he was still a little put out at how the children ignored him as soon as Pickles arrived on the scene. It was jealousy, something that siblings often suffered from. Goodness, get me I was already thinking of him as if he was part of the family, which was very magnanimous of me if I did say so myself.

‘But give Pickles a chance, George, after all he might be a bit like a brother to you now.’

‘Well perhaps, seeing as you are so keen to adopt the puppy, you might tell him not to eat your food,’ George snapped before he disappeared out of the cat flap. I turned to see Pickles, nose deep in my breakfast.

‘Pickles, that food is not for you, it’s for cats,’ I said, trying not to sound angry. I had been saving that, though, so now I’d be hungry later.

‘I thought it tasted a bit funny. Never mind, can we go and play now?’

Oh goodness, I thought, here I was yet again in the role of reluctant parent. Why did this keep happening to me?

I was so pleased to see Claire when she came home that I ran straight into her legs and gave them a welcoming rub. I was also happy to see that she had Sylvie with her.

Pickles had been very busy, exploring the house; he had tried to get into every cupboard, thankfully he didn’t succeed. Finally he found some food that the kids had dropped under the kitchen table, which he ate despite me telling him not to before he ran into a door. He was clearly in the learning stage of life, and only at the very beginning. After he’d eaten, he then ran up and down the kitchen forno apparent reason before jumping into the dog bed that Claire had put in the corner for him.

‘Are you alright?’ I had asked. He was breathing quite heavily and making a snorting, or snuffling noise.

‘I have had so much fun with you this morning, Alfie, but I’m tired now so I might just close my eyes.’ As he had drifted off to sleep, I thought about joining him, I was so exhausted.

‘Oh my goodness he’s so cute,’ Sylvie said, picking him out of his bed and giving him a cuddle. I kind of understood how George felt, as I became invisible.

‘Isn’t he? The kids love him, and Polly is besotted. I think she wanted a third child, but Matt put his foot down, so Pickles has taken that place.’

‘Makes sense. I’ve always been more of a cat person myself, but he is adorable. Look at that little face.’ As Pickles wiggled into Sylvie’s arms, Claire gave me a head scratch.

‘Where’s George?’ she asked me.

‘Meow,’ I replied.

‘He’s at ours,’ Sylvie replied, ‘he came in just before I bumped into you.’

‘Right, shall I put the kettle on?’ Claire said.

‘Please, I’d love a coffee, but then I’m not sure I can bear to pull myself away from Pickles to drink it.’

‘Honestly, everyone adores him. But then we have to make sure Alfie and George don’t feel left out,’ Claire said. Ah, so someone had noticed us after all. I purred with pleasure.

‘Claire, you treat those cats as if they’re your children sometimes.’

‘They are.’ Claire shrugged and I purred in agreement.

‘So how are things with Marcus?’ Claire asked, and I settled down to listen to the latest news.

‘Good, we’re taking it slowly, what with all we’ve both been through, but it’s nice having him live so near, and he’s such a good man. Also, he grounds me, stops me from my you know, my darker thoughts, I guess.’

‘I heard a whisper that Harold thinks you are wonderful,’ Claire said with a laugh.

‘From Harold, that is a huge compliment,’ Sylvie laughed. Harold could be very grumpy but a bit like a chocolate, despite the hard exterior he had a soft centre.

‘And speaking of Harold, I have to go and see him in a bit, shall I take you, Pickles?’ Claire asked.

‘Woof,’ Pickles replied, and I knew that although he had no idea who Harold was, he very much wanted to go and I would be able to have a luxurious rest on my own.

Chapter Five

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After a frankly exhausting time with Pickles the pug, I went out to see if any of my friends were about. I hoped to bump into George who seemed to be giving the house a wide berth. I needed to talk to him because Pickles needed us, both of us, and I needed George to see that. I also could have used the help, having been run ragged by the puppy. And it was only day one.

I understood George had mixed feelings. Not only had I always told him to avoid dogs, but he was now supposed to accept someone into his life, his family, that he was unsure of.

I padded over to the area where we cats often hang out, sort of our recreation ground on Edgar Road. Nellie was there, lying near a bush, and Elvis was nearby playing with some leaves. I joined them.

‘Hey, Alfie,’ they both greeted me.

‘Have you seen George?’ I asked.

‘He came by earlier and said that he was going to see Harold.’

‘Right, and did he tell you about the puppy?’ I asked.

‘Yes, and I got the impression he’s not too impressed,’ Nellie said. ‘He said that dogs are dumb and he shouldn’t have to be nice to it.’

‘Pickles, not it,’ I said. ‘Goodness, this might be worse than I thought. I was afraid that this might happen, but Pickles is just a baby, and it looks like he’s a full member of the family now. They’re not going to give him back after all. And I wouldn’t want that to happen to any pet.’

‘A dog, in a cat’s world,’ Elvis mused.

‘What am I going to do? I’ve always been against dogs, but now I am babysitting one! Anyway, I like him, and I need to find a way to get George to do the same.’

‘Your life is always getting complicated, isn’t it?’ Nellie pointed out. She was right, it was. And now there was Pickles.

‘The lad is still hurting about Tiger, and now there’s yet another change in his life.’ Elvis could be a very wise cat when the mood took him.

‘I know, so I can’t be too demanding, but I think I need to get him to at least tolerate Pickles sooner rather than later. He’s going to be at our house a lot, and I don’t want George to go out every time he comes.’ I felt a shudder run through my fur at the thought of me having to babysit the dog alone. I didn’t want Pickles to come between us. ‘And when he’s a bit older we can probably go out and leave him. Or maybe Claire will take him with her more, dogs tend to go out with humans a lot, so it’s just in the short term. Hopefully.’ The idea that I could sell this to George cheered me.

‘Exactly, Alfie, this dog is now part of the family, so maybe you should just get George to think of him as his little brother and teach him what he knows,’ Nellie said.

‘What?’ I was confused.

‘Well, if they brought another kitten in he might be a bit jealous at first, but then you’d say he was a big brother and he had to teach the kitten to cat, so why don’t you give him that role with Pickles?’

‘You know, Nellie, you might have something there. I’ll tell him he’s a big brother now with responsibility, and if he teaches Pickles all he knows—’ I paused and tried not to think of all the scrapes George got himself in ‘—then he might accept him more readily. You guys are amazing,thank you. And where’s Rocky?’

‘Oh he was tired, so he went off for a nap. That cat likes its sleep.’

‘What cat doesn’t?’ I replied.

George appeared shortly afterwards, saving me from having to go and find him.

‘How was Harold?’ I asked. Harold and George shared a love of digestive biscuits, among other things. Harold dunked them in strong tea, until they were soggy and then fed them to George.

‘He was fine, good actually. It’s nice and quiet at his house. Not like ours,’ George replied in that stroppy way of his when he was sulking. ‘Although Claire took Pickles to see him earlier and even he said the dog was sweet.’ He stomped his paw.

‘George, I know you’re not happy about Pickles, but I need you to help me,’ I started, carefully.

‘Help you do what?’ George asked, sounding surly.

‘George, when you came to live with me, I was your dad straight away, and you were so tiny, there was so much for me to teach you.’

‘So?’ Gosh this boy could act like a teenager at times.

‘Well, you had me, and our cat friends, and Tiger mum to help you learn as you grew, so that made you very lucky.’

‘S’pose.’

‘Right, but Pickles, well he doesn’t have anyone to guide him, apart from us. And I know it’s different because he’s a dog but he doesn’t have any other dog friends. He probably misses his mum very much, he’s just a baby.’

‘I guess so. But what can I do about it?’

‘You can be a big brother to him, like Aleksy, Henry and Toby all are. It’s a very important, responsible role.’

‘It is?’

‘Of course, you’ve seen how much our human big brothers take care of the little ones, and it’s a role that I think you are ready for.’

I noticed that Elvis and Nellie were listening and trying not to grin. We all knew the way to get George to agree to anything was flattery.

‘In fact,’ I continued, ‘you would probably make the best big brother ever.’

No,’ George said. Which surprised me.

‘Why not?’ I asked.

‘He doesn’t live with me so he can’t be my brother.’ He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

‘What about a cousin then?’ Nellie suggested. ‘I’m like an aunt to you, George, so how about you be a big cousin to Pickles.’

‘That’s a great idea, Nellie.’ I nuzzled her in gratitude.

‘But what do I have to do as a big cousin?’ George asked.

‘You can teach him things,’ Elvis said.

‘Yes,’ Nellie added. ‘You are a cat, and he’s a dog, but there’s still plenty you can show him.’

‘You mean that I can teach him things that I can do?’ George at least sounded interested now.

‘That’s right, George. You can also show him how to be kind, how to be caring, all the important lessons that we taught you,’ I added.

‘And what about you? You can’t be his dad because you’re my dad,’ he said, and I heard jealousy rearing up in his voice.

‘If you’re like a cousin to him then maybe I can be a bit like an uncle to him. Does that sound OK with you? Because you are my son, my number one and you always will be, understood?’

‘Yes, you’re right, we need to be nice to Pickles. He can be my friend, after all.’ George hopped around, and even I was surprised by the sudden change in attitude.

‘Oh George, that’s so great, and you’ll grow to love him, I’m sure you will.’ I crossed my paws he would anyway.

‘After all, I have a very big heart,’ George said.

‘You do,’ Nellie agreed, in the motherly way of hers.

‘The biggest,’ Elvis added, he was a wise cat, when he felt like it, as he licked his paw.

‘And I am proud of you every single day,’ I added, as emotion overwhelmed me.

‘A bit like how I was friends with Hana when she moved from Japan and was lonely, I can try to be the same with Pickles. But Hana’s my best friend, so I won’t like Pickles as much as I like her.’

‘That’s OK.’ I sensed the need for baby steps.

‘You’re right, Dad. Pickles is a silly puppy, who doesn’t know anything, right?’

‘I’m not sure about the silly part but yes,’ I agreed. Actually, he was silly, but I was trying to get George to bond with him, not tease him.

‘So, I need to teach him everything I know,’ George added.

‘Exactly,’ I agreed.

‘I will do what you asked, and I will start tomorrow morning. I’m going to teach Pickles catting.’

‘Eh?’ Nellie said.

‘It makes sense. Pickles is a dog, and everyone knows they’re not as good as cats, so I will increase his chances by teaching him to be like me.’

Nellie, Elvis and I blinked at each other. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but seeing as I had somehow led him to this place I couldn’t argue. I didn’t have a paw to stand on after all.

‘It’s more about teaching him things you know,’ I reiterated.

‘And I know how to be a cat. So that is what I will teach him. I’m going to teach Pickles how to be a cat, and I just can’t wait to get started.’

Chapter Six

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_7]

The education of Pickles would have to wait because we had headed next door to Sylvie’s for a Japanese night. The night started out badly when Jonathan was late, because of his new job, which led to an angry hushed exchange at our house between him and Claire. I knew it was because he wanted to change out of his suit, but Claire said he didn’t have time, and that he should haveleft work earlier. I could see both points, Jonathan was working hard, which he had warned us he would have to, but the reality wasn’t as easy as the theory, it seemed.

Sylvie served up some wonderful Japanese food, including raw fish– sashimi – for me, Hana and George before the humans were seated. It was delicious. When Sylvie hosted Japanese night, as many of our families who could make it usually attended. Tonight Polly and Matt couldn’t be there, and Tomasz was working, so it was just Claire and Jonathan, Franceska, her children, Aleksy and Tommy, along with Harold, Sylvie, Marcus and Connie. And us cats of course. Our children were being looked after by our babysitter, Rosie, who lived on our street and helped out for us all from time to time.

‘Who’s hungry?’ Sylvie asked, ushering everyone to sit around their large dining table where the colourful food was laid out waiting for the humans. I wanted to bound over and get stuck in, but I had to show Hana and George manners, so I held back, although my mouth was literally watering from the taster I’d enjoyed beforehand. Harold made a huge fuss of George as usual as he slowly made his way over to the feast.

‘Have you got any bread? Any English food?’ Harold asked, once seated. He insisted on coming to Japanese night, but he refused to eat the food. Perhaps there was some hope of an extra portion?

‘I’ll get you some, Harold,’ Connie offered. ‘Would you like a sandwich?’ she asked, sweetly.

‘If you insist and a nice bit of ham wouldn’t go amiss,’ he mumbled.

‘Anything for you, Harold,’ Sylvie said. She was so calm and patient these days, which with Harold you had to be.

‘Wine?’ Marcus asked, filling up glasses with a warm smile.

‘Yes please,’ Tommy asked, and giggled. Out of the two boys he was the most likely to get into trouble.

‘Tommy, you are far too young,’ Franceska chastised, ruffling his hair in her maternal fashion.

‘As are you, Connie, before you get any ideas,’ Sylvie added but it was all in good humour. Tommy was nearly thirteen, and Connie and Aleksy almost fifteen, growing up so fast. When I first met Tommy, he was still in a pushchair. Goodness, that made me feel old.

‘So how’s the puppy settling in?’ Marcus asked.

‘Ah, he’s gorgeous,’ Claire said. ‘So sweet and so much fun.’

‘But not as gorgeous as our George,’ Harold said, and I purred in agreement.

‘I can’t wait to meet him,’ Connie added. Claire had organised a sort of ‘welcome to the family’ party for him at the weekend, which of course annoyed George. His whiskers had definitely been put out of joint.

‘I know, I haven’t even seen him yet,’ Jonathan added. ‘Working long hours means I barely see my own family let alone the new puppy.’ He sounded sad, and I did worry about him. He and Claire said it would only be like this while he settled into his new job, and I just hoped it wouldn’t take too long for things to change.

‘But the weekend will be lovely, having us all together,’ Claire reiterated. ‘Harold, you’re definitely coming, aren’t you?’

‘As long as we get some normal food,’ he blustered.

‘Luckily we don’t get easily offended,’ Marcus laughed. But we were all used to Harold’s ways, and we loved him for it.

‘Then after lunch, we can watch the footie together, Harold,’ Jonathan said.

‘Now, you’re talking.’ He grinned.

‘Can we do anything?’ Sylvie asked.

‘No, all under control, just bring yourselves,’ Claire beamed.

‘And Tomasz has promised he will definitely be here,’ Franceska said. Tomasz could work too hard at the restaurant as well, but he was much better lately now he had a full team of staff in place.

‘I’ll probably be the one to play most with the puppy,’ Tommy said.

‘How come?’ his mum asked.

‘Because I’m the odd one out now. Connie and Aleksy spend the whole time holding hands and making gooey noises, and the other children are still really young kids, so I am in the middle. I’ll train the puppy, I might get him to do some tricks. Even teach him to dance.’

Good luck with that, I thought, as I headed over to experience our feast.

I sat back and cleaned myself up, hoping that a morsel might make its way in my direction. George and Hana were occupied, their little heads almost touching, and paws entwined. I was just glad they had each other.

‘George told me all about the puppy,’ Hana said, as I joined them. ‘He sounds interesting,’ she said carefully.

‘Pickles, he’s quite exhausting but quite sweet, Hana. I’m sure you’ll meet him soon,’ I said.

‘I would like to meet him, I’ve never met a dog before, but I’m a little nervous,’ she said. She’d lived a very sheltered life in Japan.

‘Don’t worry, Hana I will be right by your side when you do,’ George said, puffing his chest out.

‘Oh George, you are the best,’ she replied.

‘Then I’m excited to meet him,’ she finished, with a grin. I smiled, because these two were like chalk and cheese. George, a bundle of energy who barely ever stood still and Hana, so calm, even the way she moved was sleek and graceful. George had all the grace of a dog. Oh goodness, now with Pickles in our lives, I really ought to stop thinking that way.

I left my boy happily playing with Hana, and I went back to see the humans. I jumped onto Aleksy’s lap and let him fuss over me. He also gave me some of his leftovers, which I received gratefully.

‘Does Alfie like the puppy?’ Aleksy asked.

‘You know Alfie, he’s kind to everyone,’ Claire said, echoing my thoughts.

‘But you know, cats don’t always like dogs,’ Jonathan pointed out.

‘Alfie and George seem to have taken to him, and he already adores them. He follows them around everywhere.’

‘Alfie, you need to come to our house soon, Dustbin has been really busy, but he’d like to see you,’ Tommy said. Franceska, Tomasz, Aleksy and Tommy lived a few streets away from Edgar Road, and I visited them often, I even stayed there sometimes, but I hadn’t been over since before the holiday. With everything going on, I just hadn’t had a minute. Dustbin worked for the restaurant, he kept the rodents at bay, and we were great friends. He was a feral cat with one of the biggest hearts I knew. He’d helped me get out of a few scrapes over the years, and I missed spending time with him. I wondered if it would be safe to leave George and Pickles alone the following day. It might give George a sense of responsibility and also allow him and Pickles to bond a bit. That way we all win, George would get to be a big brother, or cousin rather, and I got time off. Perfect, it was another good plan.

‘Tomorrow we have careers day,’ Aleksy said.

‘What’s that?’ Jonathan asked.

‘It’s a day of learning about different jobs that we might want to do, so we can begin to think about it,’ Connie explained.

‘God, you are so young, I had no idea what I wanted to do until about ten years ago,’ Marcus said.

‘I’m not sure I’ve decided yet,’ Jonathan joked.

‘Not helpful,’ Claire chastised.

‘What do you do?’ Tommy asked Marcus.

‘I had my own business, but I sold it, so now I work for a business advisory company, where we help companies find ways to grow. I actually quite like it,’ Marcus explained. Tommy made a face.

‘And I work in investments in the City,’ Jonathan added.

‘I’m going to be a fireman,’ Tommy announced. ‘I like to save people, and I like fires.’ No one really wanted to comment on that, and stayed quiet.

‘I think I’d like to work in restaurants,’ Aleksy said.

‘Ah, you just want to suck up to mum and dad,’ Tommy shot.

‘No I do not, I think the business side would be interesting. I like hospitality, and I like the fact that we make people happy with our food.’

‘Ah,kochanie, we would love for you to work with us one day, but it has to be what you want to do.’Kochanie was a Polish term of affection, Franceska used it a lot.

‘What about you, Connie?’

‘I’d like to be a solicitor, I think. Once I’m qualified, I can travel if I want to, or stay here.’

‘Her father’s a solicitor,’ Sylvie said; her voice filled with sadness and her eyes clouded over. It was a ‘Sylvie moment’, and it could go either way.

‘Maybe it’s in the blood then,’ Marcus quickly cut in, diffusing the situation. He was good at that. She was still bitter about her ex-husband and rightfully so, he went off with a younger woman and they recently had a baby. Connie’s father still lived in Japan, which was very hard for her,as she only got to speak to him on Skype occasionally. Marcus, though, was a top bloke. He knew how to handle the situation, and I was grateful that Sylvie had welcomed him into their lives.

‘It might be in my blood, I think it is,’ Connie finished. ‘Now I have to work hard and get the grades I need to study law at a good university.’

‘Right, let’s help with the clearing up,’ Franceska suggested and as chairs began scraping along the floor, and plates clanked together, all felt right once again.

George and I sat on the back doorstep of our house and watched the stars.

‘So tomorrow I’m in charge of the dog?’ George said, puffing his chest out importantly.

‘You and Pickles can spend some time alone, so you can share your wisdom with him,’ I said. ‘Remember, the most important thing, you need to be kind to Pickles.’

‘I will be, but does Pickles have to do everything I say?’

‘I think that sounds a bit more like you’re going to boss him around, rather than teach him.’

‘OK, but he’s the youngest. If he does something wrong, I can tell him to stop? I’m the boss because I’m the oldest.’

‘You absolutely can do that, as long as you tell him nicely.’

‘So I am in charge then.’

There was no point in arguing further. We enjoyed the night air for a bit longer, before we headed inside. I tucked George in where he slept on the end of Toby’s bed on his own blanket. It was so sweet, the bond they shared. At times like this, as I saw my family and my friends, I counted my blessings. Tomorrow I would see my other friend, which would make me very happy indeed. I just hoped and prayed that George and Pickles would be alright together. And that the house was still standing when I got home.

Chapter Seven

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The following morning, I took my time strolling to Franceska and Tomasz’ place. Autumn was in the air, and leaves were turning brown on the trees, ready to shed. It was one of my favourite times because I loved playing with leaves. It was a sunny but chilly day, and I intended to enjoy the time alone. Since becoming a parent, I had come to value alone time. Now thatGeorge was older and went off on his own, I veered from worrying about him to enjoying a bit of peace. However, since being joined by Pickles, I was reminded of when George was a tiny kitten, and I had barely any time to myself. As I enjoyed my walk, I passed a lot of legs on the pavement, people rushing around, busily, no one seemed as chilled as I was. I dodged some pushchair wheels and nearly got stepped on a couple of times, but I was an expert in dodging humans. I even saw a couple of dogs, on leads, and I tried to smile at them, but they didn’t seem to be that keen to smile back. Maybe my new relationship with the dog world would take time.

When I arrived, I scooted around the back of the restaurant through the alley I knew well, and headed to the dustbin area where I knew I would find my friend, Dustbin. He was aptly named. Even if he was a bit scruffy looking, and could be a little fragrant at times, I adored him. As did George.

‘Dustbin,’ I said, and then stopped. Next to him was a scruffy-looking female cat, who I had never seen before.

‘Ah Alfie,’ he greeted me. ‘What a nice surprise.’

‘Who is this?’ I asked as the cat, who on closer inspection was a ginger cat with very green eyes, gave me the once-over.

‘This is Ally, she lives in the next alley. We met when she strayed into my yard while you were away, and then she offered to help with the rodents, so we’ve been hanging out ever since.’

If cats could blush, I am pretty sure that Dustbin might have done so. In fact, I swear his whiskers turned a bit pink. Dustbin, although happy to be friends, was more of a loner cat so this was definitely a turn up for the paws. I was proud of him, and I was pleased for him if it was what I thought it was anyway.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Ally said. She looked a little shy suddenly, which for a big feral cat wasn’t that usual.

‘You too,’ I replied, as we looked at each other. ‘So you’re new around here?’

‘Not really. I live a few roads away, but then I was exploring one day and came across this place, met Dustbin, and we just got talking.’

‘So do you have a family or do you live outside like Dustbin?’

‘I’m a street cat,’ Ally explained. ‘I’ve never lived with a family myself. Dustbin told me so much about you and I thought that you sound nice and I’ve met the family who lives here, so I am very happy to meet you.’

‘Good to meet you too,’ I said.

‘Right, Alfie, I’ve got things to do. I’ll leave you two to it. See you later, Dustbin.’

‘See you later, Ally,’ Dustbin said, not quite meeting her eyes.

‘Bye,’ I said as she swished her tail as she strutted away. ‘Well, well well,’ I teased when Dustbin and I were alone.

‘Stop it, Alfie, I mean I know you always told me how nice female company was, but I’m a loner cat as you know. Then I met Ally and well, I can’t explain it, I just like hanging out with her.’

‘That is so great, and there’s nothing wrong with it. You like spending time with me as well,’ I pointed out.

‘Yeah but it’s different with Ally, I can’t explain it, and I’m probably far too old to be feeling like this, but I look forward to spending all my time with her, and I never want to be apart from her. Even now I kind of miss her.’ He sounded so young and unsure as he explained this.

‘Sorry, Dustbin, but you’re in love, it’s clear to see.’ I did a little hop, I loved to see my friends happy.

‘Don’t know about that, but she’s alright,’ he replied gruffly. I could see through his facade, he was different, had a bit more of a spring in his step, and he definitely seemed happier.

‘Right, well then, why don’t you and I find a nice sunny spot to chill out in, and you can tell me all about alright Ally.’

‘She’s a very good mouser,’ he said, sounding impressed and then he continued to talk about her.

It was both wonderful and slightly weird to see Dustbin this way. Only because he had never been one for other cats or people. Although he had grown fond of George and me, it was more because I didn’t give him much choice in the matter. When we first met he wasn’t that keen on being friends really. So to see him talking about Ally with his eyes lighting up and his voice almost bashful, it was definitely unexpected. Of course, I was happy for him. I’d been in love twice after all, so although it hurt when it was over, it was wonderful while I had it. Claire always went on about some bloke who said ‘it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,’ or something like that, and I totally agreed with that. Because love and loss go hand in hand, but they also both mean you are alive, your heart still beating. Listen to me; Dustbin had made me get all nostalgic and gooey. What was the world coming to?

‘If you ever need any advice about women, you know where to come,’ I offered as I stretched my paws out and got ready to leave. I needed to get back and make sure that Pickles and George were alright. Although part of me didn’t want to go there at all, terrified of what I might find.

‘Thanks, Alfie, but you know, it’ll be, you know, fine. I mean it’s nothing to worry about.’ He was still feigning nonchalance, but I saw how he really felt. We said our goodbyes, and I smiled all the way home.

The smile disappeared from my face as soon as I got through the cat flap. Claire was chasing Pickles. Arms outstretched she was running around after him but every time she got close he seemed to dodge her. Her face was getting redder and redder.

‘Pickles, drop, bad puppy,’ she said. George was sitting by idly licking his paws. What had he done? When Claire caught Pickles, she picked him up and took one of Jonathan’s favourite slippers – Italian and expensive – out of his mouth. Oh no, Jonathan would be furious.

‘Oh thank goodness you’re back, Alfie,’ Claire said. She looked a little frazzled. ‘These two have been running me ragged. Firstly, Pickles managed to get stuck under the sofa, and I have no idea how that happened, then he chewed a chair leg. All I did was visit Harold to take him his lunchand came back to find that George and Pickles were nowhere to be seen. I panicked and then found them in the garden, they’d got through the cat flap. Then finally he stole Jonathan’s favourite slipper, and he’s going to be so cross. How can a puppy be so much work? I’m going to collect the children. Please make sure that nothing happens when I’m gone.’ She barely took a breath before she left the house and stalked off.

‘Who wants to tell me what’s going on?’ I asked when alone with George and Pickles.

‘It was so much fun,’ Pickles said.

‘I was teaching him what I knew,’ George said. ‘Just like you said. So, I showed him the warm spot under the sofa, how was I supposed to know he wouldn’t be able to get out? And I can’t take responsibility for the chair leg, I did tell him that cats don’t chew things, but he’s not that quick to learn. He also licks everything which I think is weird.’

‘And the garden?’

‘I needed to go out, you know, for obvious reasons and he followed me through the cat flap. So you see, none of this is really my fault.’

The joys of parenting.

‘Right, listen up, both of you,’ I started in my sternest voice. ‘Pickles, George is right, we don’t chew things, so please can you try to keep your chewing to your toys.’ I walked over to his nice soft bed, full of toys that he could chew.

‘OK.’ he said, but as George said, he was young and I wasn’t sure if he understood or if I would have to tell him lots more times.

‘Secondly, if George goes out, then I don’t see why you can’t go with him as long as you both promise to stay in the garden.’

‘I promise I won’t let him leave the garden,’ George said.

‘Besides I need to learn to climb the tree,’ Pickles said,

‘Seriously?’ I turned to George, who tried not to smile. I swished my tail. George was definitely having a bit of fun with Pickles. Someday soon, Pickles would learn for himself that he can’t climb trees, I was pretty sure he couldn’t anyway.

‘So, on the whole, did I do good, Dad?’ George asked.

‘Not bad for your first day,’ I conceded, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. Claire clearly wasn’t anyway, but I needed to encourage George and Pickles’ relationship in whatever way I could.

‘And me, was I good?’ Pickles asked. I chose to pretend that I hadn’t heard. It was easier.

Thankfully before any more trouble could occur, the door opened, and Claire and the four children rushed in. They all headed for the kitchen and made a fuss of all of us, which was nice for George, before demanding snacks.

‘We’re going to put Pickles on the lead and take him to the park,’ Summer announced bossily. She was wearing her school uniform, her fair hair in a ponytail was bobbing behind her.

‘I’m so going to hold the lead,’ Henry said. He was the biggest of our younger children, very tall for his age, and he looked a little like his father with his light brown hair and nose sprinkled with freckles.

‘But I want to,’ Martha asked. Martha was usually the most laid-back of the children, apart from when it came to Pickles it seemed. She was such a pretty child with dark hair and big dark eyes. Polly, her mum, used to be a model and she often said that Martha took after her.

‘And me,’ Summer shouted.

‘But what about me?’ Toby said. Toby was the same age as Henry but was smaller. He had sandy blond hair and serious blue eyes. He was so gentle which with bossy Summer as a sister was a very good thing.

‘Listen.’ Claire had her best parenting voice on. ‘We will all take turns looking after Pickles. I will have to take him across the roads because I’m the grown-up, and the rest of the time you will have equal time holding the lead, I’ll use the stopwatch.’

None of them argued with that. If only Pickles and George were so easy to control.

I was tired by the time everyone had left for the park. I lay down on the sofa, and George joined me. We snuggled up together, which was lovely, and rare these days. George was usually too busy or pleaded to be too old for a cuddle with his old dad. He told me all about his day with Pickles.

‘He’s quite funny really, but then so naughty, and also a bit too easy to tease, so I’m sorry, but when I told him to stop chewing, he really didn’t listen. And he tried to eat my food, which he doesn’t even like. When I pointed out that you already told him it was cat food, he claimed heforgot. I think it might be harder than I first thought for him to be like me.’

‘Keep trying,’ I said, deciding not to tell him that I didn’t necessarily want Pickles to be like George, but to humour him for now. ‘And you’ll never guess what I found out today.’

‘What?’ George’s ears pricked up, he loved gossip.

‘Dustbin has got a girlfriend,’ I said.

‘No way! Oh my goodness, Dustbin who said love was soppy and he didn’t have time for all that, as he had too many mice to catch?’

‘Exactly. But I think he’s met a kindred spirit. Ally, from a nearby street actually, and she sees off the rodents with him.’

‘She sounds like the perfect match for him.’

I nodded, and purred, my boy was pretty perceptive. Now, if only he could teach Pickles that quality, we’d all be alright.

‘I like that Dustbin is happy. Can we visit him soon, and maybe I’ll get to meet Ally from the alley too.’

‘Of course, I’ll take you one day soon, when we don’t have to puppy-sit. I wonder if his relationship with Ally the same as yours and Hana’s.’ I was trying to dig, of course, I was.

‘I am getting to like Pickles a little bit. Especially watching him try to climb trees, it was so funny, he kept trying to grip his front claws, but they slid down, and he ended up on his bottom. The best thing was that he kept trying, which I suppose either shows great character or extreme stupidity, I’m not sure which.’ So he wasn’t giving me anything, as usual.

‘Let’s go for great character, it’s nicer,’ I replied, although I wasn’t sure that was the right answer either.

‘And then when Claire found us in the garden, she was a bit cross, so she took him inside, and he fell asleep straight away, you should have heard how loudly he snores. He sounds like a train.’

‘But you like him?’ I asked.

‘Yes, I like him. A bit anyway.’

This was progress. We snuggled up together, and both fell asleep.

Chapter Eight

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‘Oh for goodness’ sake, George, can you stop trying to trip me up,’ Claire snapped, as George followed her around, hanging around her legs too closely and hoping to get some scraps of food she was carrying. But Claire, preparing for the family get-together was stressed enough, without George adding to it.

‘George,’ I hissed. Trying to get him to come over. He bounded over to me.

‘What?’ he asked, looking at me innocently.

‘You know better than to annoy Claire when she’s stressed.’

‘But the food smells so good.’

‘And if we keep out of her way, we’ll get something nice, but for now, we need to let her get on with it.’

‘Claire, how much food do we really need?’ Jonathan asked, coming into the kitchen.

‘I don’t want anyone to go hungry,’ Claire replied.

‘You know it’s a good job I got a promotion; otherwise there’s no way we could afford all this,’ Jonathan moaned.

‘Oh shut up and go and get the drinks ready. Oh, and can you give the cats some food, to keep them out of my way.’

‘Meow!’I objected, I wasn’t in her way, it was all George. But I grinned at George, we were getting food, his annoying ways had worked in both our favour.

Family days were utterly precious, and my heart was full as the doorbell kept going, heralding the arrival of the people we loved.

Polly, Matt, the children and guest of honour Pickles arrived first. The children all crowded round Pickles, which I could tell annoyed George, although he had played with Summer and Toby that morning. Before I had much time to be fussed over by Matt, the door went again and in came, Tomasz, Franceska, Aleksy and Tommy. They made a huge fuss of George and me, which placated George. Tomasz picked Georgia up and cuddled him, Aleksy did the same to me. Franceska gave us both a stroke and Tommy took George out of Tomasz’s arms and ticked his head the way he loved. Before they even got past the hallway, the door went again. Sylvie and Connie came in, Connie make a beeline for Aleksy and Sylvie raising her eyebrows, but not objecting as they went off to the living room hand in hand.

‘Marcus has just gone to get Harold, so they’ll be here any minute. But I have to warn you, Harold said he didn’t sleep so well, so he’s a little moody today.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m sure George will cheer him up.’ George preened at that. He was the only one who could cheer Harold up after all, and I was so glad for anything that made him feel good about himself.

‘Watch what we taught Pickles,’ Henry said, to all of us. We watched. ‘Right, sit,’ Henry commanded. Pickles wagged his tail but didn’t sit. ‘SIT,’ Henry shouted. Pickles didn’t move,

‘You’re not doing it right, do it like this,’ Martha said. ‘Pickles, sit down,’ she commanded in her sweet voice, with a smile. Pickles barked.

‘I can do it,’ Toby said. ‘Pickles sit,’ he shouted. Pickles walked to the other side of the hall.

‘PICKLES, SIT RIGHT NOW!’ Summer shrieked. Pickles sat down, but then so did we all.

‘Well Summer wins the training prize I guess,’ Polly said.

‘No, she’s just the scariest,’ Claire said. ‘Summer, the secret to good puppy training is not to shout at him, he’s a baby, and you could scare him.’ She’d certainly scared me after all. Just as all hell threatened to break loose as Summer didn’t take criticism well, we were once again saved by the doorbell, and Marcus and Harold appeared. George, taking no chances, leapt into Harold’s arms, taking him by surprise.

‘Come in, and let’s get this party started,’ Claire said excitedly as everyone filed to different rooms in the house in a way which showed how used to being here everyone was. Like a proper family.

‘I’m happy to be here but to be honest, it’s getting colder than I like,’ Harold blustered. He loved to have something to complain about. It was September, and it wasn’t as hot as summer but it was hardly cold yet.

‘I can put the heating on for you,’ Claire offered, giving Harold a hug.

‘No, I can’t be doing with that central heating, it kills people,’ Harold said.

Really? Did it?

‘I don’t think it does, Dad,’ Marcus said, steering him to a chair. George was still attached to him. Those two, I thought, fondly.

‘Mark my words, in a few years’ time everyone will be talking about it. It’ll come out that it’s causing that global warming and the ozone layer and the lack of polar bears.’ George licked Harold’s face, he thought he was the cleverest man in the world.

I did sometimes wonder where Harold got his complaints from, and by the looks on the faces of my humans, they did too. Thankfully they all loved him very much.

I was in heaven as I moved from room to room to check on my loved ones. The women were in the kitchen, drinking wine, eating and chatting. The men were all in the living room, with drinks, plates of food and George who hadn’t left Harold’s side sitting together on the chair he was settled in. I had a suspicion they were sharing food, but I was too happy to tell him off. As long as he was having a good time, I would have to accept it. The children, along with Pickles, were upstairs joined by Tommy, who protested he was too old to hang out with the younger ones but actually secretly enjoyed making up games for them to play. What he’d done was to set up an obstacle course for Pickles on the upstairs landing. There was a toy horse jump, a tunnel that Summer used to love when she was little, a hoop which one of them had to hold for him to jump through and a stool for him to climb on and off. Pickles seemed very confused by this and kept getting it wrong.

‘No, Pickles, you don’t sit down in the tunnel,’ Summer who was the bossiest of all the children chided. Even her words didn’t work this time. The problem was that Polly had taught them that if they wanted Pickles to do something, they had to offer a treat as a reward, but they were giving him treats before he did anything. All the treats had gone, and Pickles was none the wiser in how to do an assault course.

‘I know,’ Tommy said. ‘I’ll go and get George, he can show Pickles how it’s done.’

I raised my whiskers, George, hopefully, would be pleased to be given such a role. I waited until Tommy came back upstairs, George wriggling in his arms. He didn’t seem that happy, actually.

‘Right, George, please can you show Pickles how to do an obstacle course,’ Tommy begged. George came to where I was and sat with his back to the children. Oh dear.

‘What’s wrong?’ I whispered.

‘They ignore me, and now they want me to show the dumb puppy how to do something so basic,’ he hissed back.

‘George, they love you, they pretty much ignored me too, but Pickles is new to them. Perhaps show them how fantastic you are and it might help Pickles too,’ I coaxed, gently.

‘I am fantastic, aren’t I?’

‘You are, son.’

‘Meow,’ George said loudly and he went to join the children. As they cheered him, I saw him preen, and I was happy how easy it was for us all to be friends, or almost friends in any case.

Connie and Aleksy sat on the stairs holding hands and whispering to each other, but the important thing is that they didn’t sneak off into one of the bedrooms, so I didn’t have to worry too much. I jumped onto Aleksy’s lap.

‘Hey, Alfie,’ Aleksy gave me a nice head scratch.

‘I tried to bring Hana, but she didn’t want to come, I think she just wanted some peace and quiet,’ Connie said. I didn’t blame her for staying away, this was not for the faint-hearted, although she normally came with us, she didn’t always. Suddenly Pickles knocked into George, and sent him flying, with caused George to yowl and land on his tail. Then George, showing his balance, fell off the stool and landed on Pickles, who cried out, but seemed unhurt, and the children all shrieked with laughter. George really did seem to be taking Pickles under his wing and he tried to show him calmly exactly how an obstacle course was done.

‘Wow, Pickles actually does follow George,’ Toby said. ‘He’s almost doing it right now!’

George basked in all the praise.

‘Right, children, can you come and eat please.’ Claire’s voice floated up the stairs. Everyone carried on doing what they were doing. ‘NOW,’ she shouted, and we all traipsed downstairs, the children a little reluctantly, I was far keener.

George and I had a bowl of fat pilchards awaiting us, and Pickles tried to muscle in.

‘Not for you,’ Matt said, scooping him up, thankfully. I was a very tolerant cat, but no one came between me and my pilchards. Pickles let out a cry. ‘No, Pickles, you need to eat only puppy food, mate, I’m afraid. You don’t want to get fat do you?’

Pickles looked as if he would very much like to get fat.

After eating, the children went out into the garden, Pickles was fast asleep in his bed, and George and I were satisfyingly full after our lovely meal. Harold was asleep in the living room, snoring contentedly. I felt my heart swell with love for all my friends and I wished it could always be like this.

Chapter Nine

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_10]

I went through my mental checklist alone in the garden before Pickles would inevitably break through the cat flap again. It was October already, time was passing, and winter was creeping ever closer. I did prefer the warm weather, not least because I had an old leg injury, which flared up more in the winter. Anyway, I wasn’t going to dwell on that. I was going to make the best of things, which is what this cat always did.

My chaperoning skills were going to be essential today because George hadn’t been able to visit Hana for a couple of days. Knowing how happy they made each other, I knew he needed to do that. After Claire dropped the children at school, she’d be home most of today, so it wasn’t as if I would be in sole charge of Pickles, thankfully.

Marcus took Harold to somewhere called a‘Senior Centre’, a place where he could socialise with other old people, most of whom he claimed not to like, so I really had no idea why he went. But with a day to herself, Claire would clean the house, do the laundry, tidy all the children’s rooms, and change all the bedding – it was quite exhausting to watch. When she’d finished that she would then sit down with a well-deserved cup of coffee and her book – and hopefully me, before going to pick the children up from school. It wasn’t easy being a housewife, which I believe is her official job title. It was hard to see how anyone could have an outside job, and look after a house and children once you’d seen Claire in action.

Claire used to love working, she’d had a good job in marketing, but after she had Summer, she lost a bit of her ambition. Then when Toby came to live with us, she felt the children were her priority. It turned out she loved being a mum more than anything, and she was lucky, with Jonathan’s job and the fact she was very sensible with money, she was able to devote herself to doing what she loved. Also, I was unsure how we would cope if Claire and Jonathan both worked as we all needed a lot of taking care of. Not to mention what would happen to Pickles after all. I like to think it was seeing me taking care of those I cared about that made Claire realise it was what she wanted to do. And we were both quite good at it.

Back to my checklist. All my humans were doing well at the moment, I thought, as I ran through them one by one. The children were happy and not arguing with each other, and of course, having Pickles had perked them up the way George had when he first came to live with us. Aleksy and Connie were happy and perhaps the most sensible teenagers the world had ever seen. And the adults were not causing me problems for once. We were all happy and harmonious on Edgar Road, including my extended families in the neighbourhood of course. Even Pickles.

Then there were the cats. Luckily my lovely friends were all fine; having lost Tiger I did fret about the other cats a bit, but they all seemed in good health. Dustbin’s new girlfriend was definitely an interesting turn up for the books. George was coping; even though he still missed Tiger, but we were dealing with that. It would take a lot of time to heal. It became more important to me to understand what was actually going on with Hana and him. It wasn’t just out of noisiness, but concern. Or that’s my story, and I am sticking to it.

Life was calm, and I just crossed my paws that the turmoil of last year was long behind us. Not that having Pickles was particularly calm, but you know what I mean.

The cat flap bashed, and George sprang through it, followed at a more leisurely pace by Pickles.

‘Hello, Alfie,’ he said, as he stood on the grass then he bent down to lick it. He was actually very cute, even his wrinkly face seemed adorable to me now.

‘Pickles, how are you?’ I asked.

‘I am very well. I was a bit sick this morning, but Polly said it was because I wasn’t supposed to eat the children’s breakfast – Henry fed me some off his plate, so he’s in a bit of trouble but how am I to know?’

‘It’s hard, I agree. Pickles, the general rule of thumb is that if it’s in your food bowl, then it’s yours. If it’s not, then it isn’t,’ I explained.

‘No, that seems far too hard to remember.’ His wrinkled face wrinkled even more. ‘I think I’ll just have to take my chances.’

‘See what I mean?’ George hissed. ‘Pickles, show my dad how you climb trees.’

‘Yes, yes, I will.’ We watched as Pickles approached a tree in the garden, and started trying to climb its trunk. It was fruitless, his front legs slid off the bark as soon as he moved them. Then he decided he’d try to jump, but he couldn’t jump very high yet, and landed with a bump. Yet again I had to intervene.

‘Maybe tree climbing isn’t going to be your thing. After all, I’m not keen either,’ I said. George was studying his paws intently.

‘But if I can’t climb a tree then I’ll never be a cat.’

‘Pickles, you’re a puppy who will grow up to be a dog, not a cat,’ I said gently.

‘But cats are best, George said so, so if I do everything he teaches me, I can grow up to be a cat.’ Pickles turned to look at me, his eyes full of hope. What on earth could I say? I turned to look at George.

‘I really need to go and see Hana,’ he said as he ran off.

‘How about we go inside, and I’ll teach you how to have a lovely rest,’ I suggested.

‘Do cats do that?’ he asked.

‘Of course, it’s one of the things we do best.’ With no idea what we were getting into with Pickles, I ushered him back through the cat flap and into the house. Thankfully, our sofa was low enough for Pickles to jump on, so I led him there, jumped up and gestured for him to do the same. He wriggled around a bit on the sofa cushion, his little paws padding up and down. Then he chose a spot and licked a cushion before sitting on it. I didn’t really understand dog behaviour, but then I had no experience. Give me a human or a cat any day.

‘So, lie down, and then we can both close our eyes and have a rest. That’s very good cat behaviour.’ I felt guilty for using George’s naughty plan, but then I was quite tired, I’d already done quite a lot of thinking today.

‘OK.’ He lay down, resting his head on his paws and before long he was snoring quite loudly. When I was sure he was asleep, I thought I could steal a few minutes away.

I left through the cat flap, went as fast as I could next door and round to the back of Sylvie’s house. At the back were patio doors. I couldn’t go in, because there was no way George could know I was there, he would kill me. But it wasn’t actually spying, I was only doing what a good parent would do.

I positioned myself in a bush near the doors, and I craned my neck and glanced through. Hana was lying on the floor in a sunny spot, and George was sitting next to her. I could see they were chatting, but of course, I couldn’t hear or see what they were talking about.

This brought back memories. When my first girlfriend Snowball moved in here I used to spend hours by the back door trying to get her attention. She accused me of stalking her once. But in the end, I did get her attention. OK, so it might have involved a near death experience, the fire brigade and a ruined flowerbed but that’s another story.

I tried to move a little closer, trying to balance on the bush to lift me a bit. However, my paw slipped, and I ended up falling through the middle, onto some soft soil. I got up, brushed my fur off, and feeling a little silly I snuck another look. Although George and Hana definitely seemed close, it was still inconclusive. I went home, none the wiser.

I got home, thankfully before Pickles woke up. I snuggled next to him, so he would wake and think I’d been there all along. I was so tired I almost fell asleep when a wet nose touched my cheek. I stretched, wishing that I had another forty winks.

‘That was a nice rest, but now I want to play,’ Pickles said.

‘What do you want to play?’ I asked. This was bringing back memories, memories of George as a tiny kitten, always wanting to do something.

‘I don’t know, the only games I know are the ones George taught me.’ He looked thoughtful.

‘Did he teach you to play hide and seek?’ I asked.

‘No, can we play that?’ He started wagging his tail and wiggling his bottom simultaneously.

‘Yes, what happens is that I count to a certain number—’

‘What’s count?’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll teach you one day. Anyway,’ I continued, ‘I count and you hide somewhere, and then I come and find you.’

‘Wowee that sounds like fun.’ Pickles was so excited he forgot where he was and fell off the sofa, landing on his back.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked; puppy-sitting was hard work.

‘Yes, fine.’ He bounced up. ‘Right I’m going to be the best hider ever.’

I lay down and pretended to count for as long as I thought I could get away with. George had always loved hide and seek, and it was my favourite game because it gave me a few moments of peace while I counted. Top parenting tip for you.

Finally, I had to go and find Pickles. I padded through the hall and then into the kitchen. He was sat on the floor with his head in a cereal box. Although I could see his body, it wasn’t a bad hiding place, actually.

‘Found you,’ I said, approaching.

‘Hmmph.’ A vague sound came from the box.

‘You can take the box off now, I’ve found you,’ I said, edging closer to try to hear him.

‘I’m stuck,’ he replied, his voice still muffled. The next thing I knew he was running round in circles, cereal crumbs falling onto his fur and the floor before he bumped into a cupboard door. ‘Ow,’ he cried.

I sighed. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was a cat, after all, and I had paws, which meant I wasn’t sure how I could get the box off.

‘Calm down, Pickles. Right, lie down, and I’ll see if I can grab the box,’ I commanded. He lay down, still wiggling. He did look funny. I tried to grip the box with my paws but they just slid off. Pickles was really quite stuck. I began to panic. I was the worst puppy-sitter ever. George had got into quite a few scrapes as a kitten: stuck in bags, boxes, and various cupboards, but I could deal with cat scrapes. Puppy scrapes were a whole different ball game.

‘I can’t live in this box forever,’ Pickles said, sadly, and I redoubled my efforts, but it really wasn’t budging. Thankfully I heard the door open and in walked Claire. I sat up and looked at her, my eyes full of guilt.

‘What on earth?’ Claire pulled the box off Pickles and picked him up. He was covered in cereal.

‘Meow,’ I said, it wasn’t my fault.

‘Oh goodness, I better clean this mess up. I guess puppies can be hard to look after,’ Claire said, gently, holding Pickles in one arm and petting me with the other, to show she wasn’t angry.

‘Meow,’ I agreed, relieved.

‘Right, well, Pickles, stay in there, while I get this cleared up.’ She brushed the cereal from his fur and set him down in his bed. I went over to him.

‘Not the best hiding place after all, then, Pickles,’ I said.

‘Oh, I wasn’t hiding. I was going to find somewhere to hide then I spotted the cereal box on the floor.’ Why was it on the floor? I wondered. One of the children I guessed.

‘So, what were you doing?’

‘I wanted to have a snack, so I got the box on its side and then I went in to get my snack, and I somehow got stuck.’

Of course he did.

‘But it was quite delicious,’ he finished. ‘But next time I’ll have to find an easier way to get it.’

Claire took Pickles with her while she cleaned the house, saying it was the only way she could keep him out of trouble. I wasn’t sorry, as I went out and bumped into George who was coming from Hana’s house.

‘Hi, son,’ I said, happy to see him. ‘What have you been up to?’ As if I didn’t know.

‘Just talking to Hana. What about you?’

I told him about Pickles and the cereal.

‘When I was young I didn’t do stuff like that,’ George tutted.

‘Well, you nearly drowned, got stuck in lots of cupboards, were catnapped, and that’s just for starters,’ I pointed out, although technically the catnapping was my fault.

I had come up with a plan to solve a little scrape my human owner was in by pretending to lose George, and hiding him in Tiger’s shed. But he ended up being catnapped, and it was the worst time of my entire life until I found him. The plan did work eventually, it did bring us all together, but I learned a big lesson and would never put my kitten in the slightest risk ever again.

‘OK, fair enough, but now I’m a big cat, things have changed,’ he said. ‘Shall we go for a walk?’

‘Yes, come on, then.’ We started off towards the end of the street.

‘You know about me being a big cat,’ George said as we strolled.

‘Yes?’ I asked. Clearly, he wanted to talk to me about something.

‘What is my job?’

‘What do you mean your job?’ I asked.

‘My job, you know Hana was telling me how Connie and Aleksy were talking all the time about what they were going to do when they were grown-ups. Well, I’m pretty much a grown-up now, and I don’t have a job.’

‘We’re cats, George, I don’t have a job either.’

‘But you do, I mean you don’t have an office like Jonathan, but like Claire, you take care of all of us, that’s your job the way it is hers, so what’s mine?’

‘Being a big cousin to Pickles is a job of sorts then,’ I explained.

‘Yeah, maybe it’s a bit of a job, but it’s not my cat calling. I need to find my purpose in life.’

‘Your purpose in life?’

‘You take care of people and Dustbin has a job taking care of the rodents, so I need to find my life purpose.’ He was getting frustrated.

‘I guess you have a point.’ I wasn’t sure that George needed a job, after all, I had kind of stumbled into my role. And I had no training for it, not to mention that the pay was terrible apart from the odd pilchard. But he sounded so serious about this, I had to give him my support.

‘Yes, I might be a cat, but I’m not an ordinary cat, so therefore I need to find my purpose. What I am supposed to do to make the world a better place.’

‘Wow, well when you put it like that, George, I guess, like me, your vocation will be to do the same as me.’

‘I thought that but I need to find my own path in life, I can’t just jump onto yours.’

‘George, what on earth are you talking about?’ I was bewildered.

‘It’s what Aleksy said. He is going to get a job working in a different restaurant and learn the hard way before joining the family business because otherwise, it will be too easy for him. Nepotism it’s called. Hana told me, she’s very clever. So I need to find my own job rather than take the easy route by following you.’

‘George, you are a very clever cat, although you’ll always be my kitten, so you can do whatever it is you put your mind to, but if you want any advice, you know where I am.’ I crossed my paws that he would give me a bit of time before asking for my advice because I had no idea what to tell him. I was still trying to get my head around the concept of nepotism, which I’d never even heard of.

‘Thanks, Dad, but as Aleksy told Connie and Hana, sometimes when you are growing up, you need to do things yourself for yourself. It’s how you build character. So that’s what I am going to do. I am going to make you proud of me.’

I couldn’t argue with that.

‘I’m so proud of you already, George,’ I said, feeling emotional. My boy was growing up so fast, like Aleksy, who was also my boy and all of the children. I could see why Polly was so keen to get Pickles, keeping a baby in the family. Although after this morning I was pretty sure there had tobe easier ways.

‘I am going to be an amazing career cat, just as soon as I figure out what I am going to do with my life,’ he announced, and I couldn’t reply because I felt both choked up with pride and also a little amused. There weren’t exactly a million jobs for cats, after all. But then if anyone couldfind something to do, it was George. I would help him in any way I could because that was what a parent did. And that was a job in itself, after all.

Chapter Ten

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_11]

Polly had a few days off work, so we didn’t get to see Pickles as much as before, although he did pop in quite a lot so Polly could drink coffee and chat with Claire. But with the humans around, he wasn’t able to get into too much trouble, because they stopped him the minute he started. George and I could only sit and watch Pickles well and truly under control. Or as under control as he could be.

‘I’m thinking of sending Pickles to puppy training,’ Polly said as she had coffee with Claire.

‘But he’s not that bad,’ Claire said. ‘And he’s still so little.’

‘He doesn’t do what he’s told,’ Polly pointed out. Ever, I added.

‘No, but he’s housetrained which is the main thing, and he’s still a baby. Besides, you’re so busy that I might end up having to take him and I’m not sure I fancy it!’ Claire pointed out. ‘I can barely train my own family.’ They both laughed. I narrowed my eyes, I was very well trained thank you very much, although Claire couldn’t take the credit for that. In fact, it was me who trained my humans rather than vice versa.

‘No, I’ve found a weekend class, and I think Matt can take him. After all, Matt was the one who pushed for him to come and live with us.’

‘I’m not sure Matt is the best person to train him, Pol,’ Claire said. I agreed. Matt was lovely but so soft, no one did what they were told when he was in charge.

‘It might be good for both of them then. I thought I might get him to take Henry and Martha, they can have bonding time as well.’

‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea, it could be their thing. Jonathan is so busy at the moment, I’m worried the kids aren’t getting enough time with him. So this Saturday we’re going to have a fun day out in London together. I know Jonathan’s not keen, he’s so tired, but I’ve told himif he does Saturday with us then we’ll have a pyjama and film day on Sunday.’

‘So, he’s still working ridiculously hard?’

‘I really have to bite my tongue and not nag him. I mean we both discussed the fact that the job was going to change things before he took the promotion, but I guess the theory and the practice are two different things. I miss him, that’s it really, I miss spending time with him.’

‘But in the long run, it’ll be worth it?’ Polly asked.

‘It’s not just the money, I mean that’s really good, and it means I can be there for the kids, but we also need to try to figure out how we can do this without ruining our family.’

‘And you will figure it out. Now Matt and I are both working we have to make time for us, so that’s the first thing. You two need time as a couple, and you are always looking after my children, so perhaps we can reciprocate? You just need to be organised and, Claire, that is your strong point after all.’ Polly leant over and grabbed Claire’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

‘You know you’re right. I think instead of worrying I should see what we can do. If Jonathan and I have a night out that would be a start.’

I felt my heart sink a little, I thought everything was alright in our world, and to be honest, Claire was handling it well, but it did set off a little warning bell in my mind. I would have to keep an eye on this.

‘Right, well Matt and I can have the kids, perhaps they can have a sleepover, so you guys can have the night to yourself.’

‘Now you’re talking.’ Claire smiled as did I. With friends like ours, nothing seemed to be insurmountable. ‘Right, I’m going to see Harold, fancy a walk down with me?’

‘Sure, but I won’t stop after saying hello, as I have to walk Pickles.’

They set off with Pickles on the lead and George decided that he wanted to go after them.

‘That’s fine, are you worried about Pickles?’ I asked.

‘Someone needs to keep an eye on him, and Harold prefers cats to dogs so I should be there to make it easier for him,’ he said, sounding very responsible.

‘Good thinking.’ I could tell that George was still a little jealous of Pickles and Harold was his friend, he didn’t want to risk losing him to Pickles. I knew that wouldn’t happen, Harold doted on George, but I didn’t say anything. George had to figure that one out for himself.

I was left alone in the house, and again, that was a nice moment for me. I thought that I’d go and hang out with neighbourhood cats later, but for now, I could take some time for myself. As I went to find Jonathan’s cashmere blanket, I was pretty pleased with myself.

It was a little chilly as I made my way to the recreation ground later, to see if any of the cats were around. Rocky was there, sitting in his usual spot, along with Nellie. There was no sign of Elvis.

‘Hey guys,’ I said as I joined them.

‘Alfie, lovely to see you,’ Rocky said.

‘And you too. So what’s new?’ I asked, but before they could reply, I spotted Salmon looming towards us. Salmon lived opposite us with the Goodwins, leaders of the Edgar Road neighbourhood watch. They were busybodies, as was their cat. We’ll never be best friends but we’re civil.

‘Hi, Salmon,’ I said. Salmon liked to lord it over us when there was news or gossip on the street.

‘Hello. What’s going on?’ he asked.

‘Nothing much,’ I replied. ‘Is there anything you know that we don’t?’ I preempted him.

‘No, it’s been really quiet at the moment. Which is good because I can report there are no criminals on the street.’

‘That is good,’ Nellie said, she sounded a little sarcastic.

‘But don’t worry, we are keeping our eyes open just in case,’ Salmon said, self-importantly. I didn’t want to upset him, although he was a little silly.

‘We’re lucky to have you, Salmon,’ I said, kindly, as Nellie and Rocky shot me a look. Before we could continue, George ran up to us with Elvis at his heels.

‘Goodness me you can run,’ Elvis said, he sounded a little out of breath.

‘What’s the emergency?’ Nellie asked. George ground to a halt but couldn’t speak. I looked upon him with concern while he calmed down.

‘It’s bad, Dad,’ he said, his eyes full of concern, when he recovered.

‘Oh no, what’s happened?’ I felt panic in my fur.

‘Harold. When we got there, he said he wasn’t feeling too good. So Claire phoned the doctors, but he started breathing funny, and they said he might need an ambulance, so Polly called for one. When it came, they examined him and said they thought it might be his heart, so they took him to hospital. Claire went in the ambulance with him, as they wouldn’t let me go with them, but Polly was still there.’ He lay down, exhausted. I nuzzled him.

‘Oh George, I’m so sorry, but Harold is going to the best place. Remember before when he went to the hospital, he came back right as rain,’ I pointed out, going to comfort George.

‘But he looked so scared, and I wanted to go with him because I know that would make him feel better, but they wouldn’t let me. They said cats weren’t allowed to go in ambulances,’ he huffed.

My poor boy was so distressed.‘But I know he wanted me with him, Dad, because he told me how I was his best friend in the world,’ George cried.

‘Right, George, let’s find Polly and stick with her, because it’s the best way for us to hear any news as soon as she gets it.’

‘I think she’s at her house, she said she’d go there to make phone calls,’ George said, still clearly in a state.

‘Come on, son, we’ll go there. Guys, we’ll come back and let you know as soon as there’s any news,’ I offered.

‘Let us know if we can do anything,’ Rocky shouted after us as we left them to go to Polly’s.

Inside the house, Polly was on the phone. She hung up and saw us.

‘Ah, boys, are you alright?’ she said.

‘Yowl,’ George cried, no he wasn’t.

‘I know it was frightening. Claire is at the hospital with Harold now, and there’s no news yet, but she’ll let us know. I phoned Marcus, who is going straight there, and I’ve also let Matt know. Unfortunately, all we can do now is wait.’ I loved how Polly also spoke to us as if we were humans, it meant we always knew what was going on. Pickles was asleep in his bed, snoring gently, which was probably for the best for now, because I wasn’t sure how patient George would be with him.

George placed himself at Polly’s feet, there was no way he was going to leave her side for now. I gave him a little space. I knew George. If I fussed too much, it would annoy him. I said a prayer in my head that Harold would be alright. George had suffered enough loss in his short life so far, and I didn’t want this for him. If I could have done anything to protect him, I would have done so, but for now, I was utterly helpless.

It was a very long, difficult afternoon. Every time the phone rang, George jumped up, and when there was no news, he put his head in his paws and fretted.

‘What is an ambulance?’ Pickles asked me when he woke up, and I herded him away from George.

‘When you were little, you went to the vet to have injections,’ I started to explain. ‘And the hospital is where humans go for things like that.’ I knew it was better to keep it simple.

‘So, the old man …’

‘Harold is his name, Pickles. He’s George’s best friend, and he isn’t well, so it’s best to give George some space.’

‘I can try,’ Pickles said. ‘But I don’t really understand.’

‘Of course not, it’s a lot for a puppy like you to take in, don’t worry.’ I didn’t know if I had the energy to reassure everyone right now, but clearly I would have to because there was no one else to do so.

‘OK, Alfie, if you say don’t worry then I won’t worry. Can I go and play with my ball now?’

‘Good idea.’

Thankfully the children had been teaching Pickles the joy of playing with a tennis ball, which is something that cats see as being beneath them. Pickles would wait for them to throw it and chase it, bringing it back to them over and over again. Which kind of highlighted the difference between dogs and cats, but if it made him happy… I went with him, in order to give George the space he needed, and I batted the ball with my paw, so he could chase it. It was a little tiresome but I was trying hard not to complain as I batted it yet again.

There was still no news of Harold when Polly had to go to pick up the children. She took Pickles, on his lead, but poor George still didn’t know what to do with himself. He was so distressed.

‘Do you want to go and see Hana?’ I suggested.

‘That’s a good idea. Hana might know something, or Sylvie might be there …’

‘And if I get any news I will come right round straight away, I absolutely promise,’ I said.

‘You’re right, Dad, at least it’ll be better than sitting here just worrying.’

‘And you know Hana might be worried too, I mean she’s almost related to Harold now as well,’ I pointed out.

‘Oh, poor Hana, I was too busy worrying about myself, but she might need me. Oh, how could I not have realised that.’ He sped off out of the house and yet again I was alone.

I paced up and down until Polly came home, the children all bounded in, and when she had settled them with snacks and drinks, she picked me up.

‘No news, sorry, mate,’ she said, stroking my fur. I didn’t know whether to go to George or wait with Polly, but in the end, I decided to wait. Because if George had any news he’d come and find me, and if I got news first I could go and find him, which meant we had all bases covered. All wecould do was wait.

Polly had bathed and put the children in pyjamas, settling them on the sofa when Matt got home from work, and shortly after Claire arrived with Jonathan.

‘What a day,’ Claire said as she kissed the children.

‘How’s Harold?’ Matt asked.

‘He’s going to be alright, but he’s got a bit of recovery time ahead of him. It’s his heart, not a heart attack, thank goodness, but it’s got some blockage or something, so they’re keeping him in to do tests and take it from there. Marcus was really upset when he arrived, luckily Sylviecame straight afterwards, which reminds me I need to go to hers and wait for Connie to come home, she called her and she’s upset too. Jon, will you be OK putting the kids to bed?’

‘Of course, darling.’ He gave her a hug. ‘Don’t worry. See what Connie wants, she might want to stay at hers rather than come to us.’

‘Which makes sense, look, we’re all here to help out, let’s just keep in touch,’ Polly said.

Everyone scattered and I went with Claire to find George.

Claire let herself in with the spare key, and found Connie at the kitchen table, in tears. Hana was on her lap, George at her feet. I rushed to George and nuzzled him as we listened to Claire explain to Connie what she knew.

‘But can I see him?’ Connie asked. After all, Harold was like a surrogate granddad to her. He was a gruff old man but very loving to Sylvie and Connie.

‘Sorry, love,’ Claire said. ‘They’re doing tests right now, but your mum will be back soon, and I think even Marcus will be kicked out, so your mum said to tell you that you can visit him tomorrow.’

‘Meow?’ George asked hopefully, but I didn’t think he could. Cats didn’t go to hospitals, I was pretty sure.

‘I guess I’ll wait then. I’ve got homework to do, Claire, I better go and do it in my room.’

‘I’ll wait here, until your mum gets home then. Can I get you something to eat, love?’

‘No, thanks, I had a sandwich earlier, but really I don’t have an appetite.’

Hana followed Connie upstairs, George hot on her paws. I climbed into Claire’s lap.

‘He’ll be alright, Alfie,’ Claire said, as she stroked me, but her voice was not full of conviction. ‘I’m sure he’ll be back to his cantankerous ways before we know it.’ Harold could be quite grumpy, but George seemed to love that about him. And since we’d all become friends, we were used to him.

He had to get better. George couldn’t lose someone else he loved, not so close to losing Tiger. And for that matter, neither could I.

Chapter Eleven

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_12]

It was a bad night for us all. George barely slept, he padded from Toby’s room to my bed and back again a number of times. Marcus phoned late last night when he got back from the hospital to say that Harold was comfortable and that the doctors didn’t feel that there was any immediate danger. It was more a case of keeping him calm, regulating his heart, while they got to the bottom of things. All we could do was stay calm and keep our paws crossed, although poor George kept worrying and as he kept waking me, I hoped they found out what was wrong with him sooner rather than later. Otherwise, none of us were going to get any sleep. I also tried to reassure him,but as George pointed out, I wasn’t a doctor, so my words didn’t soothe him.

All the adults discussed the situation at length and were all saying how the next few days would be chaotic, but of course, we were used to chaos. From what I could tell, until they had the test results, all my humans would be on edge, as well as us. Most importantly, they wanted to protect the children until they knew the situation, which I couldn’t do with George as he knew too much. The younger ones didn’t really understand, so my focus was to keep Pickles out of trouble and support George.

That morning, as Claire took the children off to school, Pickles was once again in our care. George wanted, and needed, to go to Hana’s so I was on puppy-sitting duty. Even though I didn’t exactly have the energy, I wondered if it would be safe to try to play hide and seek again. I just had to hope he didn’t get stuck in a cereal packet again. Thankfully George had shown him the best (safest) hiding places, under Summer’s bed was the best, which Pickles seemed to like, and there was no danger involved. For now, while everyone worried about Harold, I helped out by taking care of Pickles.

‘Alfie, can I have something to eat?’ Pickles asked. Now I was a cat who liked their food, pilchards especially, but this puppy wanted to eat all the time. His stomach was bottomless, and he did have a rather large bottom.

‘Pickles, you’ve had your breakfast so there’s nothing until lunchtime,’ I told him, sounding like a parent. ‘You need to do something other than eat.’ I tried to be stern, but when he looked at me with those big, hopeful eyes, it was difficult not to melt and give him all the food in the house. Until he licked my ear, which I really didn’t like.

‘Can I have some of your food?’ he asked, wiggling his bottom hopefully.

‘You don’t like it, and besides, George and I ate all our breakfast today,’ I said. Ever since Pickles entered our lives, we had quickly learnt not to leave food in our bowls.

‘Right, so are you saying that I can’t have anything to eat?’ This puppy really did labour the point.

‘Let’s go to the garden,’ I suggested thinking it might get rid of some of his energy. We headed out the cat flap. The wind whipped through our fur the moment we stepped outside.

‘It’s chilly,’ Pickles said, shivering.

‘Shall we play hide and seek?’ I suggested.

‘Oh yes please, yes please.’

‘Great, you hide, and I’ll count to twenty.’

‘No, Alfie, twenty isn’t enough time for me to hide, count to five.’

Bless, he still hadn’t got the hang of numbers. I did wonder if he’d get smarter as he got older, but George didn’t think he would. I was still optimistic, that was the kind of cat I was. I decided to just turn my back while he hid, after all in the garden there weren’t many places. Within a matter of seconds,I turned around and felt a quick flutter of panic when I couldn’t see him anywhere. I moved down the small lawn towards the shed, which looked as if it was shut so he couldn’t be in there. I saw a big pile of leaves, and a tail wagging from one edge. I actually felt quite proud, it was his besthiding place yet.

‘Pickles, I’ve found you,’ I shouted and then laughed as leaves scattered everywhere and he emerged.

‘Shall we go inside?’ I said, feeling increasingly chilled in my fur.

‘Only if we can keep playing.’ He ran ahead and into the house.

I lay down and had forty winks, which I think was enough time for Pickles to hide and then I got up, stretched, and set off upstairs. I looked under Summer’s bed, but he wasn’t there. So much for George’s lesson. I went into Toby’s room, but there was no sign of him there. Same with Claire and Jonathan’s and I checked the bathroom too. I started to panic, but then I heard a gentle bark. Pickles’ bark wasn’t aggressive or scary, and I quite liked it. I followed the sound and found myself back in Toby’s room. Then I saw Pickles. He had somehow got up onto the top bunk of Toby’s bed. Oh no, I’m sure that George hadn’t taught him to go there. And also how did he get up there?

‘How did you get up there?’ I asked. Toby had a ladder to the top bunk, the ladder rungs were quite thick, more like steps really, but still, although George and I could get up easily, I wasn’t sure how that puppy had managed it with his short legs.

‘I climbed up,’ he announced proudly. ‘I went slowly, and it seems that my legs growed so it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible either.’

‘Maybe you are getting better at climbing,’ I mused, although I worried that he could have fallen and hurt himself and that would have been my fault, so I didn’t want to encourage him. After all, I was the adult, and I was supposed to be in charge.

‘Yes, I really am. But I don’t know how to get down,’ he said. I looked and thought about it. I climbed up to join him. I didn’t like to go up there, although I had done a couple of times, because heights weren’t my favourite things, and this was higher than I found comfortable. ‘How about you watch me get down and try to copy,’ I suggested as I carefully reached the rungs and made my way down. I hoped the old adage would be right, if you can get up, then you can get down again. But my problem was the down bit. I tried to remain calm, hoping my legs didn’t tremble and give me away, but I didn’t like it at all.

Pickles came to the edge of the bed and stretched out a paw which didn’t reach the next rung down. He squealed, shot back and landed on his tail.

‘Ouch,’ he squealed. ‘I am not coming down, no way, that’s too scary.’ I sighed and tried to work out what to do. What were my options? I could go up again, but I wasn’t big enough to carry him down, which is the only thing I could think of. In fact, he would be more likely to carry me these days.

‘I thought George taught you to hide under beds?’ I asked.

‘Yes, he did but then I thought I would use my own ideas and try up here. I just didn’t think about how to get down again.’

‘Perhaps in future, you might not want to use your own ideas,’ I said, as I sat down to think. After drawing several blanks, I realised, the only way to get Pickles down was with the help of an adult.

‘You’ll have to wait there until Claire comes home,’ I said.

‘Will you stay with me because I’m scared,’ he said. My heart went out to him as his voice shook, and he appeared sad. He was still so young, and we all got in scrapes after all. I’d had my fair share over the years.

‘Of course, I will.’ I felt bad for him, I knew what it was like to be scared, it wasn’t pretty. ‘I’ll be right here,’ I reassured.

‘No, Alfie, can you wait with me up here?’

I had no choice as I climbed up the ladder again while we waited for Claire to come home. Pickles kept nestling closer to me, until he was practically on top of me. He might be a baby, but he was quite heavy as I tried to liberate my tail from underneath him.

‘I won’t have to be here forever, will I?’ he asked, in a smaller voice than normal.

‘No, Pickles, Claire will be back soon, and she’ll get you down, don’t worry,’ I reassured him as we settled down to wait, silently wishing we were back in the pile of leaves.

‘Stay there, I’ll be right back I promise,’ I said as soon as I heard the front door open after what felt like hours later.

‘But don’t be too long,’ he called after me as I made the treacherous journey down the bunk bed steps again.

‘Right, Alfie, I’ll make your lunch. Where’s George? Where’s Pickles?’ Claire asked as I greeted her. I brushed myself against Claire’s legs, yowled a lot and got her to follow me upstairs. When she saw Pickles on the bed, her face was a picture.

‘How on earth did you get up there?’ she asked. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I blinked at her.

‘Woof,’ he replied. Thankfully, she climbed straight up and lifted him down, and I hoped that he had learnt another lesson, another thing to avoid. Looking after Pickles was turning my grey fur even greyer.

Over lunch, which Pickles devoured greedily, Claire phoned Jonathan and told him that there was still no news about Harold, but the doctors had thankfully ruled out anything life-threatening. It was a relief, and Claire cried, as she spoke. I went and sat with her. But I knew that I needed to tell George because he needed this update more than anyone.

I cleaned myself up to go out.

‘Where are you going?’ Pickles asked.

‘To find George,’ I replied.

‘Can I come with you?’ he asked.

‘No, Pickles, you need to stay with Claire, after all, you’re not allowed out of the garden on your own.’

‘But I wouldn’t be on my own, I’d be with you.’

‘I mean without a human adult,’ I clarified.

‘There are far too many rules for me to keep track of,’ Pickles huffed.

I was out of the cat flap and by the back gate before I realised that Pickles had defied me by following me.

‘Pickles, you need to go back.’

‘I’m coming with you. I want to see George,’ he whined.

‘But Claire will worry if she can’t find you and we really don’t need any more stress,’ I tried to reason, but reasoning with a puppy, it’s not easy.

‘We’ll be back before she even notices,’ he persisted.

I was faced with a dilemma. I needed to find George, to give him the news, and I didn’t want to take Pickles, but if I went home, then I would have to try to sneak out again without him noticing, which I wasn’t sure I could. I had made a promise to George that as soon as there was news I would deliver it, come what may. Or should I say, come what Pickles?

I hoped I wasn’t going to regret this, and I decided I would just go for it. I slid under the gate with ease and stood on the other side. Within seconds Pickles appeared. I groaned, this wasn’t what I had in mind. Maybe, just maybe I could get back before anyone noticed? I crossed my paws and carried on. After all, we were just popping next door. What could go wrong?

‘See, I am just like a cat,’ he said with a grin on his very dog-like face.

‘Oh God, this isn’t going to end well,’ I sighed as I made my way to Hana’s house. I slid through the cat flap and Pickles followed me, although it took him a bit longer, as it was a slightly different set-up to what he was used to. We found Hana and George in the living room.

‘What on earth is that?’ Hana asked as Pickles bounded in, wagging his bottom.

‘That is Pickles. What is he doing here?’ George replied.

‘Hey, guys, do you want to play ball?’ Pickles asked. Hana and George exchanged withering looks.

‘Sorry, George, Claire just spoke to Jonathan about Harold. He is out of danger, stable but they just need to do some more tests, but the good news is that they have ruled out anything serious.’

‘Oh that is good news. Why is your face like that?’ Hana asked, still studying Pickles.

‘It just is,’ George replied. ‘So when will Harold be home?’ George asked.

‘I don’t know, it might be a while yet, but the important thing to remember is that it isn’t serious, or life-threatening.’

‘Thanks for telling me, Dad. Although I still don’t know why he’s here.’

‘He followed me and I thought giving you the news about Harold was more important than trying to get him to do what I told him.’

‘What now, though?’

‘I better get him home before Claire notices that we’ve gone. Are you going to stay here, or come with us?’ I asked.

‘I’ll come,’ George sighed. ‘Someone needs to keep that puppy in line. I’ll come back later, Hana,’ he said. They nuzzled, and we set off.

We were just outside our house when I heard George yowl.

‘Pickles, no,’ he shouted, his eyes frozen in horror. It was as if everything went into slow motion; Pickles had run into the road and was spinning round in circles, but a car was approaching.

‘Pickles, get back here,’ I shouted.

‘Why?’ he asked, not remotely in any kind of hurry to do as he was told, yet again. Panic filled my body, and before I even had time to think or knew what I was doing, I launched myself into the road, in front of him. I lay down and put my paws over my head and hoped for the best. A horn blasted, brakes screeched, and it all went quiet. I didn’t feel anything hurting, I wasn’t sure I could feel anything at all. Was this it? Had I gone too far this time? How could I have done this to my George? I felt my fur shaking in the wind, and my legs started shaking underneath me. I was still alive, and I didn’t seem to have any pain.

‘Dad,’ George said, bounding over and breaking the silence, he sounded worried. I opened my eyes and blinked at my son. I was fine, the car had stopped inches from me. Pickles was standing still for once, although he didn’t seem to understand what was going on. The driver rushed out of her car and leant down to pick me up.

‘Are you alright?’ she asked, panic lacing her voice.

‘Meow.’ My voice shook, but by some miracle I was. I was fine. As was Pickles. My impulsive behaviour had turned out OK. Thank goodness. I felt relieved, even if I was a bit shaken up.

Our front gate sprang open, and Claire appeared.

‘What on earth is going on?’ she shouted.

‘The puppy ran into the road, and the cat seemed to throw itself in front of it,’ the lady explained, she was shaking but holding onto me tight. ‘I wasn’t going fast so thankfully I could stop in time, but I was practically touching him.’ The driver burst into tears.

‘Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry, I don’t know how he got out. Pickles you do not go out without me. How many times do I have to tell you?’ Claire had tears in her eyes now. ‘Alfie, are you OK?’

‘Meow.’ I was almost fine.

‘Alfie, you shouldn’t have let Pickles come out, what were you thinking?’ Sorry, sorry, are you alright?’ She turned to the woman.

‘Just a bit shaken up but I’m so relieved no one got hurt.’

Claire took us and the quivering lady into the house and sat her down in the kitchen. Claire made her a cup of tea, to help her calm down. Pickles, finally noticing he was in trouble, crawled straight into his bed.

George and I sat down, trying to calm ourselves. We were all trying to calm ourselves actually.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ the lady, who told Claire she was called Sally, said. ‘A cat throwing itself into the road to save the dog! I mean I know humans do that but cats?’ She was genuinely confused.

‘I’m guessing you’ve never met a cat like Alfie before,’ Claire replied.

Chapter Twelve

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_13]

It was the end of a very stressful week. After the incident with the car, Claire told me off quite a lot. George also told me off for risking myself when he needed me. I know he had a point, but I tried to explain that I knew what I was doing and if I had been hit it would have been only a gentle bump. In reality, I knew nothing of the sort, and I felt guilty for putting him through it. I should have thought first and acted second. The trouble was that it was instinct rather than a thought out move, and because of that, I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t do it again if faced with the same situation.

George and I both tried to hammer home to Pickles the seriousness of the situation.

‘Pickles, can’t you see how bad it was?’ George said exasperated.

‘Not sure,’ Pickles replied.

‘Listen to me,’ I said, with my best stern parent voice. ‘You could have been badly hurt, Pickles, and I could have been badly hurt. The point is that it was very bad, and you simply cannot do it again.’

‘Alright, I think I get it, you are basically saying I shouldn’t go into the road on my own?’

‘We’re saying you never go into a road on your own but also you shouldn’t go out on your own,’ I reiterated for what felt like the millionth time.

‘I think I’ve got it, but you know I can’t be sure,’ Pickles replied. George stomped off, I despaired and Pickles licked his nose. He was never going to get it.

In hindsight I should have taken Pickles home, got Claire’s attention and then gone to see George. But I was so keen for him to know Harold was alright, I made a mistake. I hold my paws up to it, I really do. No cat is perfect, after all.

And Claire was more cross with herself, but it was hard with everything going on. She was taking care of the house, the children, Pickles and also visiting Harold every day. What with Jonathan not coming home until late at night, she was on her own a lot. So I took the lectures with good grace as I knew what she was going through.

Harold’s illness had definitely disrupted our calm almost more than Pickles. Marcus was worried, in fact, it was unclear who was the most upset, him or George. However, Marcus could go and see Harold, whereas George was getting increasingly annoyed about the fact that he couldn’t. It turned out that Harold would be in hospital for quite a while longer by the sounds of things. They weren’t going to operate but they had to try different medication and that could take some time to get right. There were lots of technical terms being bandied about, but I’m a cat, so I had no idea what most of itmeant. The adults kept reassuring us (and themselves it seemed) that it was all going to be fine, and they all went to visit him, reporting back. I, in turn, tried to reassure George.

The good news was that Harold was complaining about the food, about the company– a bunch of ill old men he called them, and the nurses who were incompetent, and the doctors even worse. He seemed to think they were trying to kill him. Jonathan said it was a good sign, the fact he was well enough to moan suggested he was recovering. Despite my attempts at reassurance, George still fretted – he loved Harold.

‘I miss Harold,’ George said to me as we ate our breakfast. ‘I feel as if it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen him and he’s one of my best friends.’

‘I know, but the important thing is that he’s doing well. How about I take you out today to cheer you up. We could go and see Dustbin?’ I watched George’s mind whirring as he thought about my offer. He was tempted, I could see, but he was also still a little angry with me about the car incident. ‘No Pickles, I promise,’ I added, the pilchard on the cake.

‘OK, it’s been ages since I saw Dustbin,’ he said. ‘But you have to guarantee that the dog does not follow us.’

‘Great, you might get to meet Ally as well. So, George, let’s go now before Polly arrives with Pickles. That way, there is no way he can try to follow us.’

‘Good thinking, Dad. And it’ll be nice, just the two of us again. I love it when it’s the two of us.’

‘Aye, son, I’ve missed that.’ I felt quite emotional, as we headed out.

It was a clear day, cold but dry, as we headed towards the restaurant. I hoped we might get to see Franceska too, with the whole Pickles arrival I had been at home far more than usual and hadn’t been out to see anyone as much. And although she had been to ours, since Harold having gone into hospital, I missed her. The adults had drawn up a roster of visiting Harold. Marcus went every evening, and in the afternoon when he could juggle work, Sylvie joined him in the evenings, taking Connie sometimes. Claire would go in the afternoon before the school run. Franceska would take over from her, while she went to get the children. Jonathan, Matt, Tomasz and Polly would all pop in after work just to show their faces.

Harold said he had the most visitors out of everyone, according to Claire. He was proud of this fact. Everyone wanted him to know he was loved, so although not everyone visited him every day, they visited a fair bit. Which only served to annoy George even more, as he felt he was the only one who didn’t get to see Harold. Apart from the children and me. They didn’t go because Claire said it would be too disruptive to the other patients, goodness, imagine if George or Pickles were allowed to visit in that case!

We set off. I did feel a little guilty about abandoning Pickles, but I had done a fair bit of puppy-sitting lately, and I seemed to get told off for every little thing he did wrong. Not only for the car business, but also when he dug up some flowers in Claire’s garden, chewed one of Toby’s trainers, buried one of Summer’s dolls in the garden, ate something he shouldn’t. The list went on, and I felt a little bit offended that it was all my fault. After all, puppy sitting was much harder than even I imagined. Harder even than when George was a kitten if my memory serves. I think I had earned an hour or two off. In reality, I’d probably earned a two week holiday, but that wasn’t going to happen.

‘You know I do like Pickles a bit,’ George said magnanimously. ‘But I also miss it being just us.’

‘I do too, things change so much, don’t they, maybe we should make sure we make time for each other,’ I suggested.

‘Yes, but I better warn you,’ George said as we trod the familiar path to Dustbin, ‘I am going to be very busy soon because I am close to finding my job.’

I raised my whiskers in surprise.‘Really? What is it?’

‘Oh that I don’t exactly know, but you have to trust me when I say that I am going to be very good at it.’

‘I do trust you.’ I really didn’t. I worried about him, especially when I had no idea what he was going to be doing. Although to be fair, I wasn’t sure he did either.

‘Good, because you need to be able to give me some space to follow my dreams.’

‘Eh?’I was confused, and had no idea what he was talking about.

‘Thanks, Dad.’

‘You’re welcome, son.’

Thankfully our difficult conversation came to an end as we reached the restaurant.

We bumped into Franceska and Tomasz, as we padded through to the back of the restaurant.

‘Ah, we haven’t seen you here for a long time,’ Tomasz said, fussing us both as he usually did.

‘Alfie, George, I will get you some treats,’ Franceska said. I rubbed against her legs in thanks.

‘I have to go now, but it was nice to see you,’ Tomasz said, before he took off, swinging his car keys. We waited by the back door of the restaurant for Franceska to bring out some sardines which we both enjoyed very much. After polishing them off, we made our way to the bins to find our friend.

‘Hello, what a nice surprise,’ Dustbin said. I had to say I needed a bit of a double take. He looked a bit different. His fur was neater and shinier, and he was smiling in a way I hadn’t seen before. Ally appeared from behind him. Ah, now that made sense. He was making more of an effort with his appearance now he was in love. That was sweet.

‘Oh it’s like a girl Dustbin,’ George said before he could stop himself. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean … Well, I did mean … I mean …’

‘I think George was going to say that you and Dustbin are obviously similar in some ways, your job mainly, but he didn’t mean any offence by it,’ I explained.

‘None taken. Nice to meet you, George, I’ve heard all about you. And Alfie, lovely to see you again.’

‘Wow, it’s really nice to meet you too,’ George said. ‘Are you as good at hunting as Dustbin?’

‘I am,’ Ally said.

‘She really is,’ Dustbin added proudly.

‘Show me, show me!’ George begged. George bounded after Ally, I hoped his career wouldn’t take him in the direction of her and Dustbin, I didn’t really have the stomach for that, but then I knew I would have to support him if that was what he decided.

‘I heard them talking about Harold, how’s the lad coping?’ Dustbin asked when we were alone.

‘It’s hard for him, you know, but Harold is on the mend. He just seems to be so upset that he can’t visit him.’

‘Of course, after everything he’s been through … but even I know cats aren’t allowed in hospitals, so he’s just going to have to be patient – excuse the pun – poor thing.’

‘You know George isn’t known for his patience, Dustbin. Anyway, how are you and Ally?’

‘Yeah, good. I like her.’

For Dustbin, a cat of few words, and certainly fewer emotional outbursts, this was like a huge admission.

‘Then I’m happy for you.’ I grinned. ‘They say love makes the world go round after all.’

‘Stop with all that soppy stuff,’ he grumbled, but I could see that he was smiling underneath it all. We had a lovely time in the yard. After Ally finished showing George her hunting skills, we all found a rare sunny patch to sit in and have a catch-up. As winter had officially announced its arrival we knew we were lucky to find it.

‘I just want to be able to find my purpose in life,’ George reiterated.

‘Not catching rodents then?’ Ally asked.

‘No, I don’t feel that it’s best suited to my aptitude,’ George said. I had no idea where he was getting this from, but I guessed it was Aleksy and Connie. ‘You see, in order to find my cat calling I need to get the sense it’s one hundred per cent right for me.’

‘I can see that,’ Dustbin said, humouring him. ‘And to start with, what do you think your best skill is?’

I watched George as he thought about it, whiskers raised, seriously. He looked about him, and then at me.

‘I think my best skill is making people happy,’ he said. Well, he did do that, that was true.

‘In that case, you need to find a job where you make people happy,’ Ally said.

‘But what job involves that?’ I asked.

‘That’s what we need to find out,’ Dustbin said.

‘No, I know it.’ George suddenly sprang up. ‘I know it. Thanks, Dustbin, Ally, you’ve really helped.’

‘What is it?’ I asked, being caught up in his excitement but also confused.

‘I can’t tell you that it’ll take a bit of working out, but trust me, I think I have finally found my purpose in life.’

Should I be worried that he wouldn’t share it with me? Probably, but I would just have to wait and see. And hope that it was nothing that could get him into trouble. What was I even saying? Of course, it would be something which got him into trouble. And probably get me into trouble too.

As soon as we slid through the cat flap, Pickles appeared and waddled up to us. In the few weeks he’d been here, he had got a bit bigger. Or wider, although he still could get through the cat flap, but I wasn’t sure he would be able to for much longer. That might make life easier.

‘Where have you been?’ Pickles demanded.

‘Urgent cat business,’ George replied, self-importantly. I glared at him.

‘Pickles, we needed to go out and see some friends of ours, but we tried to be as quick as we could,’ I said trying to placate him.

‘But I wanted to come,’ he whined.

‘You can’t go everywhere with us,’ I said gently. ‘Remember what happened yesterday?’

‘No,’ he replied.

‘You nearly got run over, and you nearly got Dad run over. It’s dangerous out there, especially with your lack of road sense,’ George huffed. He sounded angry, but this didn’t seem to resonate with Pickles.

‘Why?’ he asked. Oh goodness, I remembered the why phase with George, it was an endless round of ‘why?’ questions and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through it again.

‘Because,’ George said, ‘you are not a cat.’

‘But you said if I did what you told me then I would be able to be a cat,’ Pickles said. I tried not to put my head in my paws and weep.

‘Yes, but it takes a very long time to be like me, years in fact,’ George continued.

‘George, shush,’ I commanded, having to step in here. ‘Pickles, you are very lucky to have George to teach you how to be a cat. But, there are some things you can’t do, because of your own safety and one of those things is going out without a human.’

‘Why?’

‘When you go out, you have to have a lead on, well when you’re not in the garden, right?’ I explained.

‘Yes.’

‘George and I don’t have leads on, cats don’t and before you say why you need to know it’s the fundamental difference between dogs and cats. Now, you can come and play with us in the garden, but when we go out, if we go out, you can’t come with us.’

‘It’s not fair,’ Pickles reiterated.

‘Life isn’t always fair,’ George said, sounding wise. ‘But, Pickles, that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, but it’s dangerous out there, beyond the garden gate, you need to remember that.’

I gave George a surprised look, I was surprised but pleased at how nice he was being.

‘OK, but will you play with me now?’ he asked.

‘Dad will, I have to go out,’ George said, and before I could question him about it, he was gone, and I was left with the puppy yet again.

I led Pickles to the garden, after a bit of a wiggle through the cat flap. I was tired after my morning’s exertions, and I would have liked to have a quick cat nap, but it wasn’t to be, as I had a puppy to entertain. We found some balls, which Pickles buried and then dug up. I tried not to look as he made a little bit of a mess of the garden. I’d probably be in trouble again, but I didn’t have the energy to prevent it. I lay down and tried to watch Pickles, but I found it hard to keep my eyes open, and at some point, I must have dropped off.

‘What on earth? Pickles, Alfie.’ Claire’s voice, which was full of anger, yet again, woke me and I jumped up. Pickles was sat at Claire’s feet, looking very innocent. I stretched and went over.

‘What have you done?’ Claire shouted, again, pointing at the flowerbeds, which I had to admit were a bit of a mess. Of course, it was my fault, I should have been watching him, as I looked at the flowers, which Claire loved too much, scattered all over the lawn. Oh god, I was supposed to be theresponsible adult here.

‘Meow,’ I apologised and hung my head. I felt a little bit guilty, but I was still also tired.

‘Pickles, you have to stop digging up my flowers.’ Claire picked him up, turned and glared at me. ‘And, Alfie, you should have stopped him from doing so.’ She took him inside. As the door closed behind them I thought about following them, but then I lay down again, thinking I also could just snatch another forty winks. It would beat being told off again, after all, I’d been told off enough lately.

Chapter Thirteen

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‘Do I have to go?’ Jonathan asked as he took off his tie and jacket and tried to sit down on the sofa. Claire tried to stop him from sitting down and she didn’t look best pleased.

‘Jonathan, I know you’re tired, but we haven’t spent any time together this week, and I’ve been looking forward to this,’ Claire snapped. ‘Besides, Polly is coming to babysit for us, and it would be embarrassing to tell her that date night is off because my husband doesn’t want to spend time with me.’ I felt bad for her; Claire was wearing a lovely dress, she had spent quite a lot of time on her hair, and was wearing make-up. She’d been so excited as she tucked the children up in bed, and then gone to get ready. I went over to Jonathan and gave his leg a gentle scratch.

‘Ow!’ he shouted, glaring at me. ‘You’re ganging up on me now!’ I did feel a bit guilty, but he needed to make an effort with his wife. I wanted to tell him I understood tiredness, after all, I’d fallen asleep when I should have been looking after Pickles. But of course, I couldn’t.

‘I made so much effort,’ Claire added.

‘Sorry, darling,’ he said as the penny dropped. I did stand on his foot a couple of times to help him. ‘You look gorgeous,’ he finally said as he wrapped his arms around her. ‘I’ll get changed very quickly, and we will go and have a lovely dinner,’ he promised.

‘Thank you. I know you’re tired, love, but what with the house and visiting Harold, the kids, I feel as if I haven’t spent any time with you and I also could really do with getting out of the house.’

‘I know and I’m sorry. I guess our lives are so different now with you doing all the house stuff, I don’t think enough about your day …’

‘And I don’t always appreciate how hard you’re working either. Let’s make a pact to work at us, as much as I work on the family, and you work in the office,’ Claire said, nuzzling into her husband.

‘I love you.’ He kissed her. ‘Right give me five minutes to freshen up, and then we’ll have the best dinner ever.’ He grinned.

‘Alfie, thanks for your support.’ Claire picked me up and cuddled me as Jonathan went to get changed. It seemed I was forgiven now, too.

Polly rushed in and immediately gave me a squeeze. It would be nice to spend a bit of time with her, just the two of us, which was rare. When Claire and Jonathan left, Polly and me snuggled up on the sofa together, and settled down for the evening.

When Polly’s phone rang, interrupting our peace, I jumped up.

‘Hey, Matt,’ Polly said. I climbed on Polly’s lap and tried to listen.

‘I just spoke to Marcus, Harold had a relapse, he’s not reacting to the drugs as they hoped, and so he’s quite poorly. Marcus is with him tonight, and Sylvie will phone you with any news, but he sounded pretty devastated.’

‘Oh no, I thought he was on the mend. Please tell me that he’s not critical. Should I get Claire and Jon home?’

‘No, honey, he’s not critical, but he’s not too good either. I just wanted to let you know. And I told Marcus we’d go to the hospital tomorrow if that’s OK?’

‘Of course, and if he calls again find out if we can take anything with us.’

After Polly hung up, she stroked me, and I wondered how I would break the news to George. He was asleep with Toby, so I thought I would wait until the morning and tell him then. I didn’t know how George would react, and I wasn’t sure it was fair for me to sugar-coat the news, so I had to find a gentle way of telling him the truth without scaring him.

The following day, I was awake early, fretting about how I would tell George that Harold was still poorly. I kept reassuring myself that he was going to be fine. I just hoped he was.

‘Morning, Dad.’ George joined me in the kitchen.

‘Oh hi, son, did you sleep well?’ I asked.

‘Yes, thanks, you’re up early.’

‘I know, George, listen I heard Polly talking to Matt last night, and it turns out that Harold might be in hospital a bit longer than we thought. He’s alright, not serious, apparently, but he needs to get his medicine right before he can come home, so it might be a while.’

‘But I haven’t seen him for ages, Dad, and he’s my friend.’ George stamped his paw in anger.

‘I am so sorry, George, but at least we’re getting to hear all about what is happening. And Marcus is going to see him again this morning, and Polly and Matt will be there later, Sylvie will be going at some point so I am sure we will hear all about it.’

‘But I want to see him.’

As everyone got ready for the day, the doorbell went. I followed Claire to the door, Marcus was stood on the doorstep.

‘Hi, Marcus, so sorry to hear that Harold’s still not too good,’ Claire said.

‘It was pretty scary, but he’s in good hands and out of danger. They just need to adjust his medication, I honestly think he’ll be fine, but I’m going to see him now, before work. I’ve got special dispensation because of the scare last night. Anyway, I just wondered if you would be able to pop in sometime today with clean pyjamas for him, I know you’ve got a key and Sylvie’s working.’

‘It’s absolutely fine, I’ll go as soon as visiting hours start if that’s OK?’

‘Yes please, I’m so grateful. I better go now.’ Marcus gave Claire a quick hug and turned to go. I turned to speak to George, but he had already followed Marcus out the front door. I thought about getting out of the cat flap and going to follow him, but then I realised that he probably neededsome time alone to cool off. It was hard being a parent. Before I could give the situation more thought, the door went again, Polly piled in with the children, followed by a bouncy Pickles.

‘I just saw George, he looked as if he was going somewhere in a hurry,’ Polly said, but before I could dwell on her words, Pickles bundled into me.

‘Oi, be careful,’ I said. ‘You’ll soon squash me as flat as a pancake.’ Pickles was growing at an alarming rate it seemed, in width anyway.

‘Oh and Claire, I know our puppy is greedy, but the vet said he’s weighing a bit much for his age so he’s on a diet and we need to make sure he gets more exercise.’

‘Got it, I’ll make sure there’s no food left out. No cat food or human food,’ she said, shooting me a look. Great, if Pickles was on a diet, did that mean I was too? ‘I’m going to see Harold later, taking him some bits and pieces, so I’ll call and let you know how he is.’

‘Thanks, Claire. See you later, kids.’ With a flourish, Polly was gone.

As Claire got the children ready to go to school, she turned to us.

‘Right, Pickles, I’m going to take you with us, you need the exercise,’ she said, clipping his lead on. ‘Coming, Alfie?’ I tilted my head to suggest I would. George and I often did the school run with her, we loved seeing where the children went, and the school wasn’t too far away.

‘Meow.’ Don’t mind if I do.

We walked together, the children taking turns with Pickles’ lead, apart from when we crossed roads, because Claire took charge of everyone, she clearly wasn’t taking any chances after the other day, not that she ever did. Toby picked me up and carried me across the roads. I didn’t want to point out that I was capable and I could cross roads unaided in front of Pickles, so I let Toby carry me. When we got to the school gates, the children rushed in, greeting the teacher who was the playground monitor for the day, and then waving behind to us.

‘Right then, home time,’ Claire said. As she started to walk us home, Pickles managed to wrap his lead around my paws, causing me to fall over.

‘Oh, Pickles,’ Claire said, untangling us and then picking me up. Luckily I wasn’t in too much pain from the accident, but I gave Pickles a little bit of a wide berth for the rest of the walk. When we got home, there was still no sign of George. I let Pickles follow me around the house, he said he needed to watch me to learn about being a better cat. I didn’t even have the energy with everything that was going on to point out for what felt like the millionth time that he was a puppy. So I went about my usual cat business with him as my little shadow. I went to lie on my favourite blanket and I looked out of the window. But no matter how hard he tried, Pickles couldn’t get up onto the windowsill, and I didn’t have the heart to watch him try for too long. So I hopped off my perch so that we could take a walk around the garden. Perhaps I needed to make my cat activities more dog-friendly, or Pickles friendly anyway. There was still no sign of George, but I couldn’t risk leaving the house to go and look for him. I hoped Claire would take Pickles for a walk to give me some space, but she had to go and get things for Harold, so once again I was left in charge. I know I wasan adult, but I was also a cat, and the responsibility being piled on me was vast. However, I was flattered because clearly everyone felt that I could handle it and they were almost right.

‘Right,’ I said. ‘Time to practise napping,’ I said, as I led Pickles to curl up on the sofa with me. it had been a tiresome morning, and I needed some peace. Thankfully Pickles started snoring the moment he lay his head down, and I was ready to rest myself. I had to think about Harold, andwhat he might be going through – we all knew how much he hated hospital by now. I thought about George and the fact that he was frustrated by not being able to see Harold. I had to think about all my families, and I said a little prayer for everyone before I lay my head down and fell asleep – the little pug snoring next to me.

Chapter Fourteen

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After a restful cat nap, I woke up feeling uplifted for a change. It was girls’ night, or rather ladies’ night at our house and my favourite human women would all be under one roof. It was lovely being a friend to so many people, but when they were all together, my heart would swell with happiness. Since coming to Edgar Road, I had been incredibly busy, making friends, bringing people together and solving problems, so George was right, I did have a vocation, and so, therefore, I understood how important it was to him. I determined that I would help him with his quest. I might not have taken him as seriously as I should have done … But for now, I was going to hangout with my favourite bunch of women; Claire, Franceska, Polly and Sylvie.

I said goodnight to George, who although now old enough to stay up with us, wanted to go and be with Toby.

‘That’s fine, son, but you know where I am if you want me,’ I said.

‘Of course. But I need an early night, I’m exhausted,’ he said, stretching his paws and yawning.

‘Pickles kept you busy earlier, didn’t he?’ I had been quite pleased when George said he’d hang out with Pickles for a bit, so I could go out and see my friends. We still had to be careful because if we both went out, he followed us.

‘Yeah it was fun, I was trying to teach him how to meow.’

‘And how did that go?’

‘Not great, whenever he tried it still came out as a woof, but it was quite funny.’

‘Sweet dreams, son.’ I gave him a quick nuzzle and then headed downstairs, chuckling to myself. Poor Pickles didn’t stand a chance.

Jonathan had gone to Matt’s to ‘get out of the way’, as he put it, but I was pleased; he’d been working so much lately he hadn’t had time for any of us, including his friends. He and Matt were best friends, so it would do them good to spend a bit of time together. Again, thanks to yours truly. They did invite Marcus, but he was with his dad at the hospital, and he’d taken Connie with him to cheer Harold up. The children were tucked into bed, but I knew that Toby and George were not asleep but playing on Toby’s tablet under the covers. I think Claire knew as well but was also turning a blind eye. We parents sometimes did that, we would choose our battles. Besides, it wasn’t a school night, and therefore we could all have a lie-in the following day. Paws crossed.

‘Dig in,’ Claire said, as they sat at the kitchen table, all with glasses of wine and food laid out.

‘It looks great, Claire, I am so hungry right now. Sometimes I think that working in a restaurant puts me off food,’ Franceska said.

‘Frankie, you work in the office,’ Polly pointed out. They laughed.

‘Yes, but I am around the food all day still,’ Franceska argued. ‘It’s a good diet in a way.’

‘Maybe I should come and work with you,’ Sylvie said. ‘I’ve put on a bit of weight lately.’

‘Not that anyone can tell.’ Polly rolled her eyes.

‘It’s because you’re happy,’ Claire pointed out. ‘You are, aren’t you?’ Claire worried about Sylvie, I knew because she had had such a hard time, and meeting Marcus had been great for her, but with Harold at the hospital, it wasn’t as peaceful as it had been, although they seemed tobe coping well.

‘I am. I wish they would sort out Harold though. Marcus is incredibly worried, naturally, and he’s running himself ragged being at the hospital all the time. But you know, he’s going to be there for longer than we hoped. Which isn’t great for any of us.’

‘It must be hard, well I know it’s hard because fitting everything in including visiting Harold in hospital isn’t easy,’ Polly said.

‘And you guys have been great, knowing that you’re all visiting him takes some of the pressure off Marcus, but you know what he’s like.’

‘A lovely man,’ Franceska said. She was a big fan of Marcus, in fact, we all were.

‘It’s funny because I still think of it as the early days in our relationship. We see each other a lot, but we haven’t discussed the future yet, but you know I feel as if he’s been there forever in some ways. And he’s so different from my ex—’

‘Don’t go there,’ Polly warned wagging a finger at Sylvie. They laughed.

‘No, but you know he, my ex, really wants Connie to go to Japan for Christmas, and I know I won’t be alone, but it would be the first Christmas I wasn’t with my daughter since she was born.’ She shuddered. ‘And I’ve told them both, him and Connie that is, that it’s her choice. The problem is I know she’s conflicted.’

‘She would be, do you think she wants to go?’ Claire asked. I thought it would be sad to not have Connie here for Christmas, but I also knew that Connie missed her dad.

‘I don’t know. She’s so loyal after the turmoil of last year she doesn’t want to say, I’ve tried to tell her that I don’t mind and that I’d be fine here with Marcus and all of you, but I don’t know. She’s not happy with her father, especially now he has a new family, but I also don’t want her to cut him off. He is her dad, after all.’

‘Do you want me to talk to Aleksy about it?’ Franceska asked. ‘I never ask him to betray her confidence, but I could say that we’re worried she doesn’t know what to do so maybe he could make sure she is OK?’

‘That’s a great idea, as long as you don’t say it’s come from me,’ Sylvie said. ‘Thanks, Frankie, I don’t need to know what she says, but it would be great to know that she can confide in Aleksy.’

I would have suggested the same– I had taught my humans well.

‘Gosh, can you believe we’re talking about Christmas already?’ Claire said. I couldn’t believe it. It was late October, so actually, it wasn’t that far away. It would be our second Christmas without Tiger who we lost in December last year. I felt emotion well up, I missed her. I would have given anything to see her one last time. Just as I was about to wallow, I felt a drop of something wet on my head. I jumped up and then onto Franceska’s lap.

‘Sorry, Alfie, I got carried away, and spilt my wine,’ Polly said, looking guilty. Franceska wiped my fur and then stroked me as I settled down on her lap, purring.

‘So what do you think, we should do a big Christmas again, like last year?’ Polly asked.

‘Not exactly like last year,’ Claire laughed.

‘Oh can we not talk about it yet, I have so much work to do because I like to take time off in December, but if I don’t get it done then you’ll have to do my shopping, Claire,’ Polly laughed. It was a family joke that Claire loved shopping, a bit too much. Jonathan moaned about it all the time.

‘You know I’d love that,’ Claire replied. ‘But you know, I’ll have to do everything this year, because Jonathan’s been tasked with heading up a department which has lost staff due to incompetence, so he needs to turn it around. He is also hiring staff, so when he finds the right people,in theory, it will take the pressure off him a bit.’ Her eyes darkened slightly.

‘Bear with it, Claire,’ Franceska said. ‘When we started out with the restaurants, remember how mad I got about never seeing Tomasz or him seeing the kids? But we sorted it out.’

‘You went back to Poland and threatened not to come back,’ Polly pointed out.

‘Yes, I did, but that was because Tomasz didn’t realise how much he was neglecting his family, which was different. Jon knows he’s working too much and he’s already trying to sort it out.’

I crossed my paws that he was.

‘I know, and I’ve said that I will support him,’ Claire said. ‘But if it carries on into the new year then maybe I’ll go to Poland.’ They laughed again.

Their easy chatter was music to my ears. Life might not be perfect, never perfect, but still better than it could have been. And that was enough for this cat. For now.

Chapter Fifteen

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‘Just where exactly are you going?’ I asked George as he stood by the cat flap. I knew I sounded like an overbearing parent, but I didn’t care. I was feeling suspicious.

‘I’m going to see Hana,’ he replied. I narrowed my eyes. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him exactly, but I could tell he was hiding something. Also, it was very early, and he didn’t usually go out this early.

‘But her family might all still be asleep,’ I pointed out. After all, ours was. It was a school day, or weekday, whatever the best term was, and I had noticed, from my bed, on the landing, George get up, quietly as if he didn’t want to wake me as he crept downstairs. Something was definitely going on.

‘No they get up super early,’ he replied, confidently. ‘Anyway, she needs a friend, because she’s sad about Harold,’ he continued.

I was confused, George was the one who was closest to Harold.

‘But, aren’t you sad about Harold?’ I asked.

‘Of course I am, but he’s going to be fine. I know it.’

I surrendered, and let him go.‘Don’t be too long,’ I shouted after him, still unable to shake the feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I had to resist the urge to go after him, I knew that would cause a row between us but I also knew my kitten really well, and I knew when he was hiding something.

I paced around trying to think when Jonathan emerged. His hair was wet from the shower and he was in his dressing gown. Gosh, he was up earlier than usual too.

‘What are you doing up?’ he asked, echoing my thoughts.

‘Meow.’ Hoping for breakfast now, actually.

‘Right, coffee’s on, let’s get you and George some breakfast.’

As Jonathan made his coffee and I made a start on my breakfast, it was nice for us to spend time together, just the two of us. Rare but welcome.

‘Need to get into the office early, there are a few interviews for staff today, so it’s looking hopeful that I might not be such an absent father and husband soon!’ he told me. Jonathan sounded cheerful.

‘Meow,’ I reassured.

‘I know, and I’ve given myself a deadline, by the new year I want my department fully staffed so I can still work hard but not the ridiculous hours I’ve been doing, and I’m pretty sure I can meet that deadline, actually,’ he continued, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing because I guess it was too hot.

‘Yowl.’ I’m right with you.

‘It’s going to be so much better for all of us, including me,’ Jonathan said.

‘Are you talking to Alfie or yourself?’ Claire snuck up on us, taking us both by surprise.

‘Alfie, of course, he’s a great listener,’ Jonathan said as Claire gave his cheek a kiss.

‘Meow,’ I responded. I really was.

After our early start, I was pleased when Claire said that Pickles was going with her to do the school run. There was still no sign of George, so with the house empty I took advantage of having a bit of time to cat nap before the whirlwind that was Pickles returned. When George was a tiny kitten I would snatch sleep wherever I could, parenting tip number two, and I was now doing the same with Pickles. As I found a sunny spot on the sofa, which was getting rarer and rarer every day, I took my nap. I was woken by a wet nose pressed against mine.

‘George?’ I asked, before I realised I was half asleep.

‘Oh wow, it’s working, I’m getting to be like George,’ Pickles said as I opened my eyes.

‘Well, I think you’re more like you,’ I said, diplomatically. ‘You need to find your own self you know, Pickles. You don’t have to do everything George does.’

‘I don’t, he tried to teach me to chase birds yesterday but I couldn’t jump up on the fence like he can,’ he said sadly. ‘In fact I can barely jump.’

‘Oh dear, Pickles, you can’t do everything like a cat, it’s a matter of biology.’ I had no idea if this was the right term but I wanted to sound as if I knew what I was talking about.

‘But one day when I’m bigger?’

‘No, Pickles, as much as it’s fun to do some of the things George does, there are others which you absolutely must not. The first is going out without a human, the second is climbing.’ I wondered what else would have to go on the list. I had a feeling it would be a very long list.

‘It’s not fair that I can’t do all these fun things, to be honest. And Alfie, I’m sure you know what you’re talking about a bit but I’m not sure you’re right. I think in time and with practice I can definitely absolutely do everything that George does.’

Oh no, this wasn’t going exactly as planned.

‘You know not all cats like to climb, I’m not keen on it myself,’ I continued.

‘But I am and one day I’m going to be a climber.’

I didn’t have the energy to argue further, but thankfully Claire came in, and to my surprise Marcus was with her.

‘Right, sit down, and have a cup of tea, and then we’ll go through everything,’ Claire said.

‘You really are a life saver. I really could do without having to go, but it was booked ages ago and it’s work …’

‘Marcus, you’re going to Scotland not to outer space. Your dad isn’t critical anymore, and I can visit him every morning after the school run, find out what he needs for the day, then take it in the afternoon. Sylvie is going to go in the evenings, and Polly, Matt and Jonathan will when they can too, we’ll keep an eye on him.’

‘Thanks, Claire, you know he’s getting better because he’s constantly moaning.’

‘Oh yes, when I last saw him he accused one of the nurses of trying to kill him off.’

‘How they haven’t tried already I will never know,’ Marcus laughed.

‘You know he’s going to be fine, don’t you?’

‘I do but he is getting older, and you know I live with him at the moment, but he might need more care before too long.’ Marcus scratched his head, I wished he’d do the same to mine. I loved a good head scratch.

‘Cross that bridge when you come to it, but, Marcus, he’ll be fine, you’re only gone for a few days.’

‘I know, I know, but you understand the guilt. We take care of people, Claire, that’s what we do.’

‘Speaking of Sylvie,’ Claire said.

‘I wasn’t,’ Marcus replied but we both knew he was a bit.

‘Really?’ Claire raised an eyebrow.

‘OK, I love her to bits, you know that, but I’m worried, she’s been a bit moody lately, and I think it might be to do with the idea of Connie going to Japan for Christmas.’

‘Is she going?’

‘We don’t know, we both spoke to her, and told her that she had our blessing but it was her decision. She hasn’t mentioned it since, and Sylvie doesn’t want to push. I think also being at the hospital so much takes its toll on both of us, as well, so maybe that’s adding to it … But you know when I first met her she was upset, and since then she’s always been so level-headed. However she might be having a bit of a relapse.’

‘I’ll have a chat with her, she said she was fine when she was over the other night, but I can double check.’

‘Thanks, Claire, you are such a star, I do appreciate it.’

Did I now need to add Sylvie to the list of people I worried about?

‘George.’ I almost jumped on him the minute he got home.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘Oh nothing, I just wondered how Sylvie was.’

‘How should I know that?’

‘I assumed you’d been with Hana today, after all she’s your best friend.’

‘Oh yeah, right, she said that Sylvie had been a bit grumpy lately but she didn’t know why.’ George seemed preoccupied. I hoped he hadn’t had a falling out with Hana.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Apparently Sylvie said she felt tired and irritated a lot, and she didn’t feel that good, it’s not a big deal though.’

‘Oh it isn’t? That’s a relief, I was worried for a minute.’

‘Anyway, I haven’t been with Hana all day.’

‘But you’ve been out all day, George, where have you been?’

‘Dad, I can’t tell you, but trust me, I was only doing good. I was doing my job.’

‘You were doing your job?’

‘I suppose I was, actually. Yes, I was at work today.’

‘The job you can’t tell me about?’

‘No, Dad, it’s early days, so I think it’s best to keep it to myself for now.’

‘George, I am really confused about this.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry but it’s kind of a secret job and I can’t tell anyone. Don’t feel it’s just you that I’m keeping it from, no one knows anything about it.’

He went off to get some food and I sat there, feeling flummoxed. Should I worry? Where had he been? I decided to go out myself and see if anyone else knew anything.

‘Nellie, I’m so glad you’re here, did you see George today?’ My words gushed out as soon as I reached the recreation ground.

‘Um no Alfie, but—’

‘Oh goodness, where has he been? I mean he can’t visit Harold’s house, and he said he hadn’t seen Hana since this morning. He seems to think he’s got himself a job but everyone knows that cats don’t really have jobs, so I have no idea.’ I paced up and down, and barely noticed that my other friends, Rocky and Elvis, had approached Nellie. Even Salmon was there.

‘What is it?’ I asked looking between them. They all looked serious. ‘Has something happened with George, is that what this is?’ I asked, panicked. ‘Is something wrong with him?’

‘No, Alfie, although this does affect George,’ Nellie said kindly.

‘Can one of you tell me what’s going on?’ I demanded, this was scaring me. The way my friends were all looking at me wasn’t great.

‘OK,’ Salmon said, glancing at the others. It had to be bad if they’d included him. ‘I came to find you, and I told the others, because, you know my family is friends with the Barkers?’ The Barkers were Tiger’s family.

‘Yes, so?’ I had a bad feeling.

‘Well, the Barkers have, there’s no easy way to say this, Alfie, but they’ve got another cat.’

I felt the words stick in my throat. I wanted to yowl, but I knew that I couldn’t do that. I had a million questions but I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers. Tiger was irreplaceable.

‘Right.’ I sat down as if I’d been physically winded.

‘Alfie, Tiger is not being replaced,’ Rocky said, gently.

‘But the Barkers were so lost without her, and it’s been almost a year, so they thought it would be time. The cat they’ve got, Oliver, he’s not a kitten and they can give him a good home,’ Salmon said, sounding more compassionate than I ever heard him be in my life. I raised my whiskers. I knew that the Barkers would be lost without Tiger, and I knew that the cat flap never heralding her arrival home must have been painful for them. The same way seeing her windowsill empty was painful for us.

‘Are you alright?’ Nellie asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I replied, honestly. ‘Does George know?’ This might explain things.

‘No, as Nellie said, we haven’t seen him all day and he didn’t come this way, so I guess he didn’t go past the Barkers’ house,’ Elvis said.

‘What’s the new cat like?’ I asked. I felt deflated, horrible, but I still had to get all the information because George was going to have to know about this and I would be the one to tell him.

‘As far as I know he’s called Oliver, he came from a local shelter, because his owners couldn’t have him anymore, but I don’t know more than that.’

I felt terrible, because when I was homeless, I’d been too scared to go to the shelter, too young to understand that it was a safe place for cats so I had run away instead, hence ending up at Edgar Road.

‘Alfie, he can’t go out at the moment, can he, Salmon?’ Rocky said.

‘No, I heard the Barkers telling my owners that he’s got to stay inside for a few weeks until he gets used to the place.’

‘Right.’ I felt words were going to choke me.

‘So, what we’re saying is that you’ve got a while to get used to the idea before you actually have to meet him,’ Nellie said gently.

‘OK.’ This was the last thing I expected when I came out to see my friends. But now I had to go and tell George that another cat was living in his Tiger mum’s house. But I had no idea how he’d react.

‘It makes sense, Dad, I guess,’ George said, I was amazed by his mature reaction. My boy constantly surprised me.

‘Eh?’ I expected him to react the way I had, feeling upset, angry maybe, at the idea of my Tiger being replaced.

‘Dad, loneliness comes in all shapes and sizes, you taught me that. The Barkers have been very cat lonely without Tiger, and they have a good home. And the new cat, he probably lost his home so he must have been very lonely too. So, it makes sense that they have each other. After all it’s a shame to let a good cat flap go to waste.’

‘So, you don’t feel that Tiger’s been replaced?’ He was so flippant about it.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, they will always love her in their hearts, like we do, but I know that they need this new cat too.’

‘Right.’ I wasn’t sure I was following. ‘But you said that I couldn’t fall in love with another cat, because Tiger was irreplaceable.’

‘Oh Dad, of course you can’t replace her, but then cats are more intelligent than humans. Humans need us cats to survive, surely you understand that?’

‘Um, yes, I guess I do.’ I actually did hold with this logic. I’m not a vain cat, but we are superior to most animals and people, so George did have a point.

‘It’s like Pickles can’t really be a cat, because he’s a dog. It’s the same for humans. I know this, it’s part of my job to know this.’

Leaving me dumbfounded he made to go to the back door.

‘I have to see Hana now, she’s expecting me.’

Just what was happening to my little boy? And what was this job he kept talking about? It was driving me crazy not knowing, but that would have to wait, because now I had bigger fish to fry– if only – I had to wallow about the fact that there was another cat living in Tiger’s house. Before too long I would have to meet him, and be nice to him, and not feel angry, hurt and incensed that he was not, and never would be, Tiger. I did understand the Barkers’ need for a cat, I did understand Oliver’s need for a home, but that was rational thought, my heart – which wasn’t as rational – still hurt.

Chapter Sixteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_17]

My confused state lasted all week, I was so upset. George would go out for long periods of time every single day and still refused to tell me where he was going. I did trust him– sort of anyway, but I worried. What if someone was taking advantage of him? What if he was putting himself in danger? I just didn’t know what to do.

Polly was sitting with Pickles on her lap when I appeared from my morning constitutional, my best thinking time normally, but not today. Claire was pouring coffee for them both. Pickles was enjoying having his ears rubbed– that dog was seriously pampered, but he was so sweet and had grown on me at an alarming rate. When he first arrived, I worried that I would have to try hard to like him, what with him being a dog and all, but actually I took to him very quickly and he now felt like part of my family.

‘I saw Marcus this morning and he said that Harold has perked right up,’ Polly said.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, apparently an old friend has been to see him and it’s cheered him up no end. Marcus said he’s like a different man at the moment, although he still complains about everything, he is happier than usual and hasn’t accused anyone of trying to kill him in days.’

‘Do you think it’s a woman?’ Claire asked.

‘Oh goodness, with his heart problem, I sincerely hope not,’ Polly laughed. ‘Marcus didn’t say who it was, just that his old friend is visiting every day, and somehow before official visiting time. He wondered if it was someone from that group he goes to, you know the old people’s group.’

‘The Senior Centre? As long as he’s happy it doesn’t matter,’ Claire said. ‘You know I’ve started talking to more people on his ward. It’s so sad, some of the old people in hospital never get visitors.’

‘That’s so sad,’ Polly said. ‘If I get old I hope my children visit me.’

‘Polly, that’s not something to be thinking about now. Right, I said I’d bake Harold a cake to share around the ward today, so I better get started.’

‘But, Claire, you don’t bake.’

‘I know, but it’s just a sponge cake, how hard can that be?’

Polly shook her head but then she had to leave to go to work.

Turns out it’s harder than Claire thought. Firstly she managed to get flour all over the floor, and Pickles, who was hoping to get some stray food, turned white and had to be brushed off. Then she got eggshell in the eggs, and it took ages to pick it out. When it finally came out of the oven it looked terrible, all sunken and not anything like a cake should look. The kitchen looked like a bombsite. Luckily I’d had the foresight to watch from a safe distance.

‘Right, I’m going to buy a cake,’ Claire declared and went out, leaving Pickles and me alone. There were a lot of places I wanted to go to, the recreation ground, next door to see Hana and question her about George, and part of me wanted to go to Tiger’s old house to see if I could catch a glimpse of the new cat, but I couldn’t go anywhere, not for a while anyway.

‘Garden?’ I asked Pickles. It was pretty cold but at least it wasn’t raining and I needed some fresh air.

‘Yes, please.’ I went through the cat flap and waited. After a few seconds a tiny head appeared. Pickles’ head. But his body didn’t follow.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked. ‘Come out, hurry up.’

‘I can’t seem to move,’ he said, looking a little stricken.

‘What do you mean you can’t move?’ I asked.

‘I seem to be stuck,’ he said, as he tried to wriggle. Oh, no, this was not what I needed. Pickles had finally done it, he’d become too big for the cat flap. What on earth was I supposed to do now?

I started circling around, trying to think.

‘What are you doing?’ Pickles asked.

‘Thinking,’ I replied. There was no way I could pull him from the front, I was a cat after all. And he was blocking the only way for me to get inside the house, so I was stuck outside. I sat down and started licking my paws.

‘What are you doing?’ Pickles asked again.

‘Thinking,’ I replied. I watched him try to heave himself out but he wasn’t going anywhere as his paws swung up and down in the air. He’d be exhausted in no time at this rate.

‘Have you finished thinking yet?’ he asked.

‘The thing is, Pickles, we are in a bit of a predicament,’ I said.

‘What’s that?’

‘You’re stuck in a cat flap. You remember not long ago you were small but now you’ve grown. You’re actually bigger than George, so you can’t use our cat flap anymore.’

‘OK, but how do I get out?’ He looked panicked as his face scrunched up even more than normal.

‘I’m afraid there’s only one way, we have to wait for Claire to come back from the shops.’

‘But how long will she be? This isn’t comfortable, or even fun anymore.’

‘She won’t be long, but, Pickles, if you stop wriggling, and panicking then you’ll be more comfortable,’ I suggested. He did.

‘Can we play a game while we wait?’ he asked.

‘Sure what do you want to play?’

‘We could play I spy.’

He had learnt about I spy from the children, but couldn’t really grasp the alphabet. Dogs.

‘You go first,’ I suggested.

‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with bird.’

‘Bird,’ I guessed.

‘You are so good at this. Your turn, Alfie.’

I was beginning to despair when I heard Claire arrive home. I thought about waiting for her by the front doorstep but then I was worried that if I left him alone, Pickles would panic even more and hurt himself.

‘Oh my goodness,’ I heard Claire shout, and of course we both knew that we’d been saved. Claire must have seen Pickles’ back end in the cat flap. What a sight to come home to.

‘Right,’ I heard her say. ‘Pickles, stay still, I am going to gently pull you backwards.’ I heard a little bit of huffing from Claire, before Pickles’ face began to disappear backwards. Once he was freed I quickly went through the cat flap to join him.

‘Well this is a bit of a pickle, Pickles.’ Claire laughed at her own joke. ‘You are going to have to stay inside now until one of us is here to let you out. And, Alfie, you and George will have to bear that in mind, and not rush out, because, Alfie, he might follow you and get stuck again.’

‘Meow.’ It wasn’t ideal. This puppy had curtailed my freedom quite a lot so far and although I enjoyed his company, I valued my freedom. I wasn’t sure I was happy not to be able to go outside.

‘Or we could get a dog door, which is just like a bigger cat flap.’ Her brows knotted as if she was thinking. ‘Or you could do what Polly said and lose some weight, Pickles,’ she finished, before she went to unpack her shopping.

‘What are we going to do?’ Pickles asked me wide-eyed.

‘I am going to have some lunch,’ I replied. ‘And if you want your lunch too, let’s hope Claire decides to go for the bigger door option.’

Chapter Seventeen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_18]

I went to see my cat friends while I could still come and go of my own free will.

‘Have any of you seen George?’ I asked Nellie and Rocky. Elvis wasn’t there.

‘No, Alfie, I’ve barely seen him the past few days, but then we haven’t seen much of you either.’

‘I’ve been puppy-sitting, it’s very time-consuming. But George has been going out and he’s been gone quite a long time. I’m a bit worried.’

‘I have no idea where he could be. As Rocky said, we’ve haven’t seen him for a few days. I miss him of course,’ Nellie said, sweetly. ‘But do you think it’s anything to do with the Barkers’ new cat?’

‘Actually, I seemed to be more upset about that than he was. He said the Barkers were lonely and of course they needed a cat. Part of me feels that I should trust him. The other part …’

‘What does the other part say, Alfie?’ Rocky asked.

‘That I need to know what’s going on, because it’s the only way I can be sure he is safe.’

‘Which part is going to win?’ Nellie asked.

‘Which do you think?’ I raised my whiskers, we all knew what was happening.

I was going to have to follow George, just for my own peace of mind. Forget him and Hana now I needed to know more about where he went. But I really had to figure out how to do it so he didn’t know, because George got incredibly cross with me when I did follow him once. And he hated the idea that I didn’t trust him. I needed to think and I needed a plan. Luckily coming up with plans was one of the things I always did best.

‘You know, you could ask Hana,’ Rocky suggested, which made me want to kick myself if that was even possible, because I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that already.

‘Look, Alfie, I don’t blame you for needing to know, in fact we’d all feel better if we knew George wasn’t going to be in any trouble. After all we all love the lad,’ Rocky said.

‘Yes, you’re right.’

‘So if you need us to help in any way, then just let us know,’ Nellie finished.

‘Thanks, guys, I can always rely on you,’ I said which reassured me. ‘But you’re right first I’ll go and ask Hana.’

I knew I had to walk back home past the Barkers’ house, and I still felt conflicted. As I approached, the new cat, Oliver, was sat on the windowsill, in the same spot Tiger used to sit. I felt my heart ache as I looked at him. He was black and white, a fine-looking feline. He also looked very intelligent. And, of course, nothing like Tiger. He looked up just as I was staring at him and I felt embarrassed, but I raised my whiskers in as friendly a way as I could muster. He raised his whiskers back. He clearly wasn’t a young cat, but he needed a home, and goodness knows enough cats were looking for good homes. The Barkers had a good home and they needed a cat because, as George said, they didn’t feel right without one. So I had to come to terms with this because what was important was that this cat had a loving home now. It’s exactly what my Tiger would have wanted.

With thoughts of Tiger in my head, I went to Hana’s house, and let myself in through her cat flap. I didn’t normally go to her house alone, because she was George’s friend, but needs must.

‘Hi,’ I said as alerted by the noise of the cat flap she approached.

‘Alfie, this is a surprise,’ she said. She really was the sweetest cat.

‘How are you?’ I asked. I wished Hana would come out more but she liked to be at home. It takes all sorts of cats to make a world.

‘I’m good, thanks, we’re quite busy here, what with Harold being in hospital, there’s a lot going on,’ she said. ‘But I think he’s going to be alright. You know humans though, I just try to be a good cat and listen to them all.’

‘I guess it’s a bit stressful for you, though, Hana.’

‘I just worry about my humans. and I just wish Harold would come home and things could get back to normal.’

‘Of course you do. And George told me that Harold had to be in a bit longer,’ I started. ‘Talking of George, I don’t want you to betray a confidence or anything but I just want to know he’s safe and I don’t know where he’s going every day.’

Hana tilted her head to one side.

‘You know he said he bet you were going to come and ask me.’

Oh no, I’m obviously predictable.

‘I’m sorry but you know I do worry about him.’

‘I know you do, but, Alfie, George said he has a job. It keeps him busy, but he said he can’t tell me. Although I think he only doesn’t want to tell me in case I tell you!’ She grinned. She had a kind smile.

‘You can’t get anything past that boy,’ I said, grinning back. ‘Hana, I don’t want you to think I’m a terrible dad but I just want to know he’s safe.’

‘I know, it’s like Sylvie and Connie. But actually I think Sylvie might be worse than you.’

‘Thank you, I think.’

‘Alfie, I know George is a bit mysterious, but he is smart and if he says that he’s safe, I think you should believe him. I know it’s hard not knowing but George taught me a saying, “curiosity kills a cat”.’

I didn’t think that was the exact saying, because I was incredibly curious and I was definitely alive.

‘Hana, I won’t ask you to lie to George for me …’ I also knew he’d be really cross if he found out I’d been trying to get information from his friend.

‘Thank you, Alfie, I won’t lie to him, but if he doesn’t ask me then I don’t need to tell him.’ She blinked at me.

‘But while I’m here, you wouldn’t care to shed light on the relationship between you and George would you?’ I asked.

‘He said you would probably ask me about that too.’ She grinned. ‘So, maybe you should ask George.’

‘You are a star, Hana, and thank you again.’ She was right, I should ask my son. Not that he would ever tell me.

I chatted to her for a bit longer and then I said goodbye. Now I had to come up with another way to find out what George was doing and where he was going.

George was going out early in the morning at the moment, and we didn’t see him again until the afternoon. Once I had a clear idea of his schedule I could put the next part of my plan into action, to follow him to wherever he was going. I would need to remain unseen, and he would be none the wiser. It was foolproof.

As I’ve said, I have had many plans in the past, and on the whole they have worked out. They may have included a few dangerous incidents but I’m still here to tell the tale. But this plan, with George, was crucial to get right. When I saw him later that day, I gave him one last chance to tell me where he’d been going.

‘It’s my job, Dad, I’ve told you a million times.’

I was pretty sure he hadn’t told me even half of that many times, actually.

‘OK, but you know as your dad I would love to know more about it. You know where it is, and what you do.’

‘I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. You remember when Tommy decided he was going to be a spy?’

‘Oh yes, I vaguely remember that, it was a few years back now wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, and he said he was going to be a spy and catch bad people but he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that was his job.’

‘Are you trying to tell me you’re a spy?’ I asked, horrified. When Tommy described it, it sounded like a dangerous job. I felt panic in my fur, I was pretty sure cats didn’t get to be spies but then what did I know?

‘Of course I’m not a spy, I don’t actually even know what one is,’ George replied, laughing at me. He was infuriating. ‘It was just an example because my job is a secret, but it’s not dangerous and you just need to trust me.’

‘I do trust you but I really don’t understand why you can’t tell me anything.’

‘I can tell you that what I do is very important.’

It was time for me to put my plan into action.

The following day, I let George leave, and snuck out quickly behind him. The weather was closing in, the clocks were about to change, which meant we would have more hours of darkness than this cat cared for, but never mind. Winter wasn’t my favourite season, although thankfully it included Christmas – its only redeeming quality. Anyway, I followed George out of the cat flap and to the front of the house. Keeping out of sight I watched him walk past Hana’s house and I set off behind him, keeping a safe distance. He crossed a road, but I got delayed by traffic and he got more of a head start as I hurried after him. I realised we were relatively near the children’s school but instead of turning towards it he turned the other way. He strode confidently, this was clearly somewhere that George had been a number of times before. He turned around a couple of times but I hid either behind a pedestrian or in a hedge and felt pretty confident about my journey. Finally he came to a stop, but I hadn’t caught up with him. From where I stood, he looked to be in some kind of queue with humans. I was confused until I saw there was a big red bus parked by the queue. Surely not? Before I could move, I spotted George, weaving himself between people’s legs and hopping onto the bus. I tried to follow him but was blocked by a woman and a pram, who was struggling to get on. When she finally did the doors closed, and I was left standing on the street, watching, helplessly, the bus pull away with my kitten on it.

As I walked home, I felt as if I had failed and tried to nurse my despair. George clearly had been on the bus before but how? Why? And had no one noticed, because as far as I was aware, cats didn’t get to travel on buses. He was sneaking on the bus, and what’s more he was getting away with it. Although I hadn’t managed to get as far as I would have liked, I conceded that at least now I had more information and information is power. Or at least something I could use to plan my next step.

I had to figure out a way of getting on the bus without George noticing, and stay hidden on the bus, until it was time for him to get off. I had even more questions than answers at this point which only fuelled my determination to crack this mystery once and for all.

The following day, my determination increased. I rose early, cleaned myself, and waited downstairs for George to emerge. After what felt like ages, he padded downstairs with Toby and Summer. Claire and Jonathan followed after, and as the noise of the morning began to fill the house. I managed to pull George away before we tucked into our breakfast.

‘I wanted to catch you before you went to work,’ I said. ‘Just to check that you’re alright.’

‘I’m fine, Dad, but I’m not going to work today.’

What? So much for my carefully constructed plan and early morning start.

‘You’re not?’ I tried to sound nonchalant about it, after all I didn’t need him to feel suspicious.

‘No, Dad, no one works all the time, even Jonathan has time off every week.’

‘Well that’s true, but of course as I don’t know about your job, I have no idea what your working arrangements are.’ Again I tried to feign disinterest. I looked at my paw.

‘Ah, well I have a day off today and I thought what better way to spend it than with my dad. And as it’s the weekend, we might not have to babysit Pickles, so maybe we can go out and spend some time together?’ he asked me, hopefully.

‘I’d love to,’ I replied, feeling a little emotional. ‘Actually, George, I’ve missed you.’

‘And I’ve missed you too, Dad. Come on let’s not waste any time, and make the most of the day.’

I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do. Even if it did mean that my plan to discover George’s job would have to wait.

Chapter Eighteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_19]

We’d spent most of the weekend together, been to see Dustbin, caught up with our friends on Edgar Road, hung out with Hana. It was like old times. But the saying curiosity killed the cat was actually proving to be apt, because I felt as if I was dying to know about George’s job.

I repeated my steps of the last time I tried to follow George. I was up at the crack of dawn, but then so were Claire and Jonathan.

‘Oh, Alfie, you’re up early,’ Claire said fussing me as Jonathan made coffee. I wasn’t sure what was going on.

‘I’m hopeful that I’ll get my team finalised today,’ Jonathan said, handing Claire a mug.

‘I really hope so, Jon, this is getting to all of us now.’

‘I know, darling and I am sorry but it’s just—’

‘I know, temporary. And I do understand but I think now it really is enough. You know Toby was so upset last night because he has a big science project coming up. He held it back from you because he was worried you’d be too busy.’

‘That makes me very sad, Claire.’ Jonathan sounded upset. ‘And when I get back from work tonight, I will talk to him about it, I promise. And I’ll make time to help him in any way I can.’

‘I’d quite like to spend some time with you too. This weekend you’ve been glued to your laptop, Jon.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry but I had to finalise all the reports for today, it will get better. It has to get better.’ His voice sounded sad.

We all tried so hard to believe his words but we’d heard them before. I didn’t have time to dwell on that as the children and George descended. George and I had already established that he was going to work today, so I was ready. I was more than ready.

We were interrupted by a surprise ring on the doorbell, who would be popping by before breakfast? Our morning routine was underway; the children at the table waiting for their cereal and toast, Jonathan upstairs getting ready to leave for work. As Claire opened the door, there stood Matt on the doorstep holding Pickles. I hadn’t accounted for this.

‘Thanks so much, Claire. Polly was up at the crack of dawn to get the train to Manchester and I’ve got an early meeting.’ He handed a squirming Pickles to Claire.

‘No worries, we’re all up early anyway,’ she said kindly. As Matt left, Claire shut the door behind her and put Pickles down, releasing his lead. As Pickles shuffled into the kitchen, I tried to catch him on his own.

‘Pickles, I have to tell you that I’m going out this morning, on urgent cat business, with George.’ It wasn’t strictly accurate but I needed to keep it simple for him. ‘So you need to stay here, and I’ll be back later.’ In reality I had no idea where I was going, so I certainly had noidea when I’d be back.

‘OK, Alfie,’ he said and took up his position under the table to catch the children’s scraps. Great, crisis averted – I went to watch George leave.

I tried not to act as if I was watching George’s every move, while watching his every move. No sooner had Claire rushed the children out of the house for school, George headed out. I waited a beat and went out after him.

I went through the back garden and was about to squeeze under the gate, which had been left open. I started bounding down the street after him, he wasn’t too far in front of me, and was just about the cross the road when I heard a voice behind me.

‘Wait for me.’ Oh no, it was Pickles. He caught up with me.

‘I told you to wait at home.’ I cursed the fact they had put a bigger cat flap – which they said was a doggy door – in at home and double cursed the fact the gate was open, because there was no way he would have got out of the garden otherwise.

‘Where’s the fun in that?’ he asked. ‘I wanted to go on urgent cat business.’

Yet again I had a decision to make, and no time in which to think about it. I could take Pickles home which would be the sensible option, or I could continue to follow George and hope for the best. I wanted more than anything to find out where George was going and if I went back home now, who knew when I’d get the chance again. Especially if Pickles was always going to follow me. No, I needed to make sure George was safe, that was the most important thing. Pickles would have to come with me, but I definitely wouldn’t let him cross any roads on his own.

‘Stay close to me and try not to be seen,’ I said. This was not part of my plan.

‘Why?’

‘We’re planning a surprise for George, so he can’t know we’re here yet.’

‘Oh fun!’

I shook my tail. This was anything but fun.

Tentatively I led Pickles safely across the road and followed George to the bus stop.

‘Right, come on, we have to get on the bus but no one can see us.’

We managed to get on by staying close to some human legs and then as I saw George making his way up the back of the bus, I quickly got Pickles to come with me and we hid behind a big shopping trolley at the front.

‘Be really quiet and still,’ I commanded as Pickles wiggled his bottom excitedly. I could see how George got away with it – although I was unsure how on earth he’d learnt to take the bus in the first place. Most people were staring at their phones, a couple had books, so it was relatively easy to go unnoticed. When the bus stopped, Pickles and I lurched a bit, so I sort of snuggled into him to try to keep us still. At the next stop someone stood on my tail as they were getting off. I had to bite my tongue not to yelp although it hurt. After what felt like ages, I noticed George go andwait by the doors, and I told Pickles to prepare to get off the bus. I mentally crossed my paws that he would stay close to me, I couldn’t imagine the sort of trouble we’d be in if I lost him on a bus. The bus came to an abrupt halt, and George, looking every inch the expert, hopped off. We followed managing once again to fall into step with some humans. I have to say, as the wind hit my face I felt relieved that that part of our journey was over. I was partly impressed with my kitten, that he had managed to figure this bus thing out, and part worried if he did this every day. We were lucky that he hadn’t been hurt by a human standing on him, or worse. I had found the bus ride very stressful, although that could have been down to the fact I was trying so hard to keep Pickles in line.

‘What now?’ Pickles asked. He was very excited, whereas I was worried now. We were far from home, and Pickles really shouldn’t be with me. George and I shouldn’t be this far from home, let alone the puppy.

‘Come on, we best not lose George now,’ I said, beckoning him. We followed George at a safe distance, and after a short while we came upon a large, modern building. I finally figured out where we were as the penny dropped. The vehicles parked outside were the same as the ones which had come to collect Harold when he was ill the first time. An ambulance. George had brought us to the hospital. And he seemed to think he worked here.

Confused, I ran up to the door just as he walked through. It was an automatic door, so it opened and I strode through, although there were a few people around, no one seemed to notice either George or myself. The door shut and I saw Pickles standing on the other side. Desperate not to lose George, or Pickles, I stood close to the door which opened again.

‘Hurry up,’ I said.

‘Woof woof, woof,’ Pickles replied. I saw George stop, after all us cats have excellent hearing, much better than humans. He froze for a second, as the door closed again then turned around and saw us. I braced myself as he approached me; he did not look happy.

‘What on earth are you doing here?’ he hissed. Just then the door opened and some humans walked in, Pickles happily trotted in behind them.

‘Um, we thought we would come and see Harold?’ I tried.

‘No, no you didn’t. You followed me because you couldn’t trust me about my job and now you’re probably going to ruin everything,’ he carried, on, ushering us to a doorway where hopefully no one would see us.

‘Wo—’ Pickles started, wiggling his bottom excitedly.

‘No Pickles,’ I hissed. ‘We need to be really quiet.

‘George, I admit I needed to see where you’ve been going, I was worried sick. And I’ve been trying to follow you for a while but today was the first day I actually got it right, only I got it wrong because Pickles followed, and I am sorry but I just love you so much and need to know you’re safe.’

‘Look, you’ve got what you came here for, you know where I work. Yes I work in a hospital, yes Harold is here and my job is to make people happy and not just Harold. It’s really important to me and if you’ve ruined it, I will never forgive you.’

I felt awful, I should have trusted him, but I also needed, as a parent, to know where he was going. If only he’d told me. No, actually if he told me he was doing this I would have still worried and had to follow him anyway.

‘George,’ I said, in my best parental authoritative voice. ‘I am your father and I do trust you but you have undertaken a very treacherous journey, and anything could have happened. I was worried sick about you, what if you’d been run over, or stepped on, or the bus driver caught you? Anything could have happened did you even think about that?’

‘None of that did happen though, did it? Look, Dad, I know you worry but I did this very carefully. The first time I came with Marcus.’

‘Marcus brought you?’ I asked with surprise.

‘Not exactly. I knew he was visiting Harold so I followed him, and I learnt the whole layout, then I started coming on my own, in the mornings mostly when I knew they didn’t have visitors.’

‘Why couldn’t you tell me all this?’

‘Harold said it had to be a secret or I wouldn’t be able to come anymore.’

‘I think he meant from humans. What now?’ I asked, as I noticed Pickles had become bored and restless.

‘You and Pickles go home and I’ll go and visit Harold.’

‘Um.’ I hadn’t quite thought through this part of my plan.

‘What?’ George asked.

‘I’m not sure how to get home. You see I was so busy watching you, and making sure Pickles was alright I didn’t pay that much attention to the route.’

‘OK, then how about you and Pickles wait here, stay hidden and I’ll go and visit my friends.’

‘Friends? I thought it was Harold.’

‘Dad, there are lots of lonely people on his ward who like to see me. That’s my job, I visit lonely people and cheer them up.’

‘Wow, I am so proud of you.’ I felt emotional.

‘Yes, but you’re stopping me from doing my job.’

‘Could we come and watch you, just this once?’ I asked.

‘No, absolutely not, there’s no way that I am going to let you come with me.’

‘OK.’ I resigned myself to stay hidden, and try to keep Pickles under control – goodness knows how I was going to do that. As George walked off, Pickles made a break for it and ran after him. I had no choice but to follow.

George made his way to a back stairwell where we joined him.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘It was Pickles,’ I replied truthfully.

‘It really was,’ Pickles said. ‘I am trying to be a cat so I need to cheer people up too. After all this is important cat business.’

I raised my whiskers at George, he had put the cat idea into Pickles’ head after all. George hid us round a corner until someone pushed the door open and came out from the stairwell, he hissed at us to be quick and thankfully we made it safely in just before the door closed.

‘There’s a lift,’ he explained, ‘but I can’t reach the buttons so this way I know exactly what floor to go to.’

‘You’ve really put a lot of work into this haven’t you?’ I said, impressed.

‘Of course, it’s my job as I try to keep telling you,’ he replied. ‘You don’t just sail into a job this important, you know, it takes a lot of thought and talent.’

That told me. We walked up two flights of stairs, Pickles was huffing and puffing, the dog was really unfit– compared to us anyway. When we were on the right floor, according to George, there was a wedge keeping it open.

‘Harold arranged for whichever patient is allowed out of bed, to go for a little walk, and wedge this door open, he does it every day,’ George explained. ‘The first time I came along I got stuck here for ages waiting for someone to come through, so we don’t take any chances now.’

He squeezed through the door, and then looked at Pickles.

‘Dad, if you come through we can push it open further for Pickles.’ I was beginning to think my son was some kind of genius.

It took a bit of effort but finally we were all through the door.

‘Right, this is the last bit,’ George told us. ‘The door is shut but people go in and out all the time, so what we must do is wait around the side, and as soon as the door opens we run for it. Whoever gets there first can hold the door open for Pickles,’ George said.

‘What if I get there first?’ Pickles asked. George just shook his tail. I wondered how long he would remain angry at me for.

We huddled behind a pillar and, as George predicted, someone came through and opened the door. We were about to make a run for it, but when we turned around to tell Pickles to run, we saw him running faster than we’ve ever seen him in the opposite direction.

Chapter Nineteen

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‘Quick,’ George said, as we both sprinted as fast as we could after Pickles. He was about to enter another ward, as he chased behind a man pushing a child in a wheelchair. We caught up with him and just made it through another door before it banged aggressively behind us, I only just managed to whip my tail through in time. As we caught our breath, I looked around and saw that we were in a bright-coloured place. The man carried on pushing the chair, somehow Pickles had hitched a lift. I looked at George in horror. Pickles was sitting on the lap of the little girl in the wheelchair, but thankfully she had hidden him under her dressing gown so the man hadn’t noticed. She was smiling and we followed them until she was pushed to a bed. I had a bad feeling.

‘This must be the children’s ward,’ George said.

So this was a hospital ward I thought, as I saw a row of beds with children and a few adults next to them. I looked at George.

‘This is not good is it?’ I asked.

‘No, Dad. If we get caught there will be a whole heap of trouble.’ And as if to prove the point, Pickles jumped down from the girl’s lap and started sliding around the floor.

‘Look, it’s a dog,’ one of the children shouted, as those who were able got out of bed and crowded around Pickles. The adults looked at each other uneasily. As did George and I who were trying to stay unnoticed behind a curtain.

‘Should he be here?’ one of them asked.

‘I don’t think so, shall I go and get the ward sister?’ another replied.

‘Can’t we play with him?’ the boy who was stroking him asked. ‘Please, he’s so cute.’

‘Woof,’ Pickles agreed.

‘We don’t know anything about him,’ the adult with him replied. ‘But he shouldn’t be here, I’m sure.’

‘Maybe he’s one of those dogs who can visit hospitals,’ another adult suggested. ‘I’ve read about them.’

‘Maybe, but shouldn’t he have an adult with him and be on a lead? What if he bites a child?’ the woman who said she would go and get sister asked, before she left the ward.

‘Oh no,’ I said. Yet again, I realised I should have taken Pickles home, I shouldn’t have come, I should have waited, I should have trusted George. So many things were going wrong and I had a bad feeling in my fur. This was not one of my finer plans. ‘If they catch him, what will they do?’

‘I don’t know but Harold says to me it’s imperative that I don’t get caught, which is why I keep it so quiet. He says there will be big trouble if I’m found out.’

We were already in big trouble, that much was clear and we couldn’t get to Pickles without being seen. I wracked my brain for answers, but I couldn’t come up with a great deal of options.

‘Do you think we should stay hidden and wait and see what happens?’ I asked.

‘I don’t see we have much choice. Oh boy, Dad, why did you have to come with him today?’

I asked myself the same thing.

‘Right what is going on,’ a voice boomed and a large woman who seemed almost like a giant compared to most of the children, and us of course, loomed. The children, who didn’t seem very happy to see her, parted and I could see her staring at Pickles, who was wagging his bottom at her excitedly. I wanted to rush in and save him but I didn’t know how. A shadow appeared on the floor as she reached out and picked him up. He licked her face.

‘Uggh, you dirty thing, you cannot be on a ward with ill children,’ she shrieked. Poor Pickles looked confused. After all everyone he encountered fell for his charm, so I did feel a bit bad for him. He tried to wriggle out of her arms as she tightened her grip. How would I ever make this up to George?

‘Has he got a collar on?’ one of the parents asked, but I knew he didn’t. Polly had said she’d had him chipped, but decided against a collar. Knowing Pickles he’d have only eaten it.

‘No, but then he’s probably chipped,’ another voice said, which was a relief.

‘Well I don’t have time for this. I’ll call the dog warden and they can deal with it,’ the woman said. I felt my heart sink. I didn’t know what a dog warden was but what if they took Pickles somewhere and we never saw him again? What if the dog warden was as mean as the woman who held a Pickles in her arms?

‘Dad, we have to do something,’ George hissed.

‘Right,’ I said, another plan leapt into my head. ‘We will have to follow that woman, with Pickles, and whatever we do we can’t let him out of our sight.’

‘Good idea,’ George said, and I began to feel a bit like the adult again. So far, George had proved himself mature and sensible. Perhaps he wasn’t technically supposed to come to the hospital but he was coming for the right reasons, and I had somehow messed that up for him, which didn’t make me the best father in the world. As well as getting Pickles out of here, I would have to put that right. It’s what parents did when we screwed up. After all, we were only cats at the end of the day.

The woman marched out of the ward, leaving children crying in her wake but we couldn’t afford to dwell on that. George and I raised our whiskers at each other in understanding and followed her, ever careful not to be seen we dodged behind trolleys along the corridor. We watched her march into an office, and put Pickles down on a chair.

‘Stay there,’ she commanded. Even Pickles looked terrified of her, with her stern voice I couldn’t blame him, but Pickles was sitting stiller than I’d ever seen him.

Thankfully, she hadn’t shut the door but we didn’t dare being seen yet. I poked my head around.

‘How on earth did you get into my ward?’ she asked.

‘Woof,’ Pickles replied.

‘Well I won’t have it. I run a tight ship and there is no room for dogs.’ She narrowed her eyes at him, and Pickles trembled.

‘Right.’ She typed something into the computer, and then picked up a phone. I could barely breathe as I watched it unfold. ‘Hello, yes I’m calling from the hospital, and there’s a dog running around here, totally out of control.’

There was a pause.

‘I don’t know if he’s dangerous,’ she continued. I glanced at George, Pickles was possibly the least dangerous dog in the world.

Another pause.

‘No, he’s not foaming at the mouth. Listen, I need someone to come up and get him out of the hospital. Out of the children’s ward.’

Another pause.

‘Make sure you hurry, thank you.’

The phone went dead.

What was going to happen? They were on the way to get him and we had no way of getting him out of the room without being seen.

‘Sister, Sister, there’s a problem in bay three.’ A nurse came running in. Thankfully she didn’t notice as I tucked myself into the corner of the office. Sister looked the nurse, then at Pickles.

‘Stay,’ she commanded and ran out. She pulled the door shut behind her, but George managed to get his paw in before it closed totally. We were all back together, thankfully but that wasn’t necessarily the end of our problems as we had to figure out a way to get out of here.

‘Pickles,’ I hissed, ‘come with me.’

Pickles wiggled his bottom, but thankfully hopped off the chair.

‘This is so much fun,’ he said. I had no words. ‘Apart from the scary woman. I didn’t much like the scary woman.’

‘Look,’ George said as we began to make our way out of the ward and hopefully to safety, gesturing with his whiskers. ‘It’s a laundry cart, I’ve seen them before, they might take us to Harold’s ward if we’re lucky.’ He gestured with his paw to a big cart, which had high sides, therewas no way Pickles could jump up to it. Perhaps Pickles might be able to fit in at the side?

‘Pickles, do exactly as I say,’ I commanded in my sternest voice.

‘I always do,’ Pickles replied. He really, really didn’t. We approached the cart. There was a man with one hand on it and he was talking to someone else. Thankfully he had his back to us.

‘Right,’ I said, holding open the slit with a paw, ‘jump in.’

‘Are you coming?’ Pickles asked.

‘I’m right behind you.’ Pickles started to climb in and, although his bottom got caught up a bit, I gave him a shove with my paw and he was in. I followed, as did George.

‘Yuk, it stinks,’ Pickles said. It wasn’t the most pleasant smell, but then it was a laundry cart. And thankfully it wasn’t too full. And this was his fault so if anyone had a right to complain …

‘It’s better than the dog warden,’ George hissed at him. He wasn’t delighted; we were still in big trouble with him.

‘Where are you going now?’ I heard a human voice say from outside the cart.

‘To Carpenter ward,’ he replied.

‘That’s Harold’s ward,’ George whispered, flooded with relief.

‘Pickles,’ I warned, ‘from now on you do exactly what we say and you follow us. No going off on your own or getting any bright ideas.’

‘OK.’ he replied. I didn’t feel full of confidence but surely the worst had happened and we’d escaped, so that should be alright and at least now we were going to see Harold. I just had to make everything else up to George, that was all.

We were on the move. I felt the trolley being pushed forward. There was a bit of a shunt as we went through the door, but I motioned for Pickles to stay quiet. Another shunt told us we were through more doors and then the cart stopped.

‘Let me check,’ George said, quietly, looking out of the gap. ‘Yay, we’re here,’ he said, sounding happier than he had since we’d arrived. ‘Right, follow me. I am the expert here, so it might be an idea to remember that.’

I would never forget that again. George went first, Pickles next and I brought up the rear so I could keep an eye on Pickles. We sort of herded him, it was the only way. Without further incident, we managed to get to another room similar the children’s ward. Then, in the bed nearest the door, sat up in his striped pyjamas, was Harold. I was so pleased to see him, I nearly yowled, I realised how much I’d missed him. George jumped up onto the bed.

‘I wondered where you’d got to, you’re late today,’ Harold said, but he stroked George, and nuzzled him. ‘I was worried, that’s all,’ he added.

‘Meow,’ George said. Then he looked down at us, and Harold did the same.

‘Oh my, how on earth did you get these two in here?’ he asked.

‘Meow,’ I said.

‘Hold on,’ Harold said. He put George onto his bed, and slowly swung his legs around. Then, holding onto the bed frame, he bent down and picked Pickles up. I jumped onto his bed when he was back in it, and the three of us crowded him.

‘Well I never,’ another old man said, getting off the bed he was in and coming over.

‘I have no idea how they all got here,’ Harold said. ‘I mean George’s pretty clever, as is Alfie, but how did they manage to sneak a dog in here?’

The other man chuckled.‘It’s amazing isn’t it. Can I show him around?’ He picked Pickles up. Pickles licked his face.

‘Yes but don’t get caught mind. If a member of staff appears you have to hide. George, sorry I know you know this already, but Alfie and Pickles, it’s important.’

‘Meow.’ I had already gathered as much.

Arthur, the elderly patient, took Pickles around the ward to see other patients, and they all cheered up immediately.

‘Dad, I know that you worry about me but alongside Harold I visit other people here, so would you stay here while I do my rounds?’ he asked.

‘You are careful, aren’t you?’ I replied, our heads were touching. Harold looked around for his glasses, which were on the top of his head.

‘I’ve never been caught,’ George replied giving me a withering look. ‘Unlike some.’

‘Sorry, sorry,’ I whispered.

‘Yowl,’ he said to Harold, giving him a nuzzle.

‘Right you are, boy, see you in a minute.’ Harold obviously knew the drill by now and I couldn’t help but feel proud of my son. He had an important role here.

‘George is like a tonic here,’ he said. ‘People love him coming here, and he cheers us all up no end. You should be very proud.’

The mews choked in my throat, but I still felt guilty for the fact I had followed him here.

‘Some people are so lonely, when my family, well our family comes to visit I always send them to talk to some of those who never have visitors. See Neville, in the corner?’ I looked at a man who seemed very white but then Arthur approached with Pickles and a big smile appeared on his face. I felt like yowling, it was bittersweet. These people weren’t well and they were lonely, some of them, and that wasn’t right.

‘Meow?’ What can we do? I asked.

‘It’s terrible, not knowing what to do.’ But what on earth could we do about it?

‘Incoming,’ Harold said, and tucked me under his bed sheet. Arthur hid Pickles under the bed he was next to.

‘Right, gentlemen,’ a nurse, who wasn’t as severe as the sister, said. She had a kind voice from what I could hear, I obviously couldn’t see her. ‘About to bring your medicine, is everyone alright?’

‘Yes, thanks,’ they chorused.

‘Good, back in a mo,’ she said.

‘They always come round to tell us they’re coming round, it’s very strange,’ Harold said. ‘But the good thing is that we know the medicine is coming, so we know to keep you all hidden. Can’t have you getting caught now, can we?’ Not after last time.

It was so much fun. I did feel bad for the men on the ward, they clearly weren’t at their best, but there was a nice atmosphere. Even Harold laughed a couple of times.

‘Right,’ he said, after the medicine had been given out, ‘someone will have to get George because it’s visiting time soon and the family will be here – you need to get out before they come.’ Some of the people, the more mobile ones, from the ward had gathered at Harold’s bed and Pickles and I were both there now.

‘I’ll get him,’ a man offered.

‘Only because you want to see your fancy woman, Giles,’ Arthur said and they all laughed.

Giles returned with George hidden in his dressing gown and we looked on from Harold’s bed.

‘It’s been so grand to see you all,’ Harold said, he sounded emotional. ‘I do miss you, but I’ll be home soon. And you guys better get ready to go now.’

‘Meow,’ George said.

‘Incoming,’ Arthur shouted and we all, having learned the drill, hid under the sheet. I looked at Pickles.

‘Stay still,’ I said, he was wiggling his tail like mad.

‘I am,’ he said. He was not.

‘Pickles, you’ll get caught again,’ George warned.

‘I will not,’ he said defiantly. ‘I’m a good cat.’

He really wasn’t either.

‘What is this?’ a voice said. Thankfully it didn’t sound like the woman from the children’s ward, but George and I stayed still as statues. However, Pickles was still wiggling. Oh no. I had a bad feeling. Suddenly the sheet was pulled back, and exposed us all.

‘That’s a breach of my human rights,’ Harold screeched. ‘I could have been naked.’

‘No, Harold, you couldn’t,’ a man’s voice said, although he sounded kind. ‘You wear your pyjamas in here, but more to the point why are there two cats and a pug in your bed?’ I thought I saw his lips twitch. A woman in a nurse’s uniform joined him to see what was going on.

‘Well I never,’ she said.

‘They’re just visiting,’ Harold said, but he did sound contrite.

‘How on earth did two cats and a puppy get in here?’ The male nurse scratched his head.

‘And what do we do now? Should we call the dog warden?’ the female nurse said.

‘You can’t call the dog warden for cats,’ Harold said, to my relief. ‘And anyway, I happen to know them.’

‘You know them?’ the male nurse asked.

‘Yes, they live on my street. My Marcus will be here any minute now, surely he can arrange for them to be taken home.’

George gave me another scowl. We were going to be in big trouble when our humans heard about this but then, there was no way around it. We could make a run for it, but what if they caught us and called the dog warden? And what would the dog warden do with cats? Was there a cat warden? There were so many questions running around my head, I didn’t notice Marcus approaching.

‘Hello—’ he said before he stopped short.

‘Hey, son,’ Harold said, innocently.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Poor Marcus’s brows were etched in confusion.

‘It seems,’ the male nurse started to explain, ‘that these three somehow came to visit, and I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that animals are not supposed to be on hospital grounds.’

‘Of course not, but how on earth did they get here?’ We all looked at Marcus innocently, as did Harold now. Another staff member approached.

‘I just spoke to Lisa in the children’s ward and she said a dog was found there earlier. She didn’t mention any cats though.’

‘Have you been causing havoc?’ Marcus asked. We all looked at him as if butter wouldn’t melt.

‘Meow,’ I said as softly as I could.

‘They’ve been cheering us all up no end, I can tell you,’ Arthur said.

‘Still, they shouldn’t be here, so can you take them home?’ The male nurse sounded kind but firm.

‘Of course, although I don’t have a lead or anything to put them in and I came by bus. Would you mind if I called a friend?’

‘No, and while you do that, as long as you take full responsibility that they don’t go anywhere else in the hospital, they can stay here until someone can collect them.’ He grinned and left us. I was more than a bit relieved.

‘Dad, you should have phoned me, Claire must be worried sick about Pickles.’

Oh dear, we hadn’t thought of that.

‘You know I’m hopeless at using the mobile phone,’ Harold grumbled. Marcus had pulled his out and called Claire.

‘Claire, I’m at the hospital, but so are Alfie, George and Pickles,’ he said.

I could hear Claire scream, but I couldn’t make out the words.

‘I know, I know, I had no idea but I’ve just arrived, can you come and get them?’

More noise came from the phone.

‘Claire’s on her way,’ he said as he hung up. ‘But she’s not happy, and you guys are in big trouble. You too, Dad.’

Oh boy, I knew that I would be the one getting the blame for this, after all I was supposed to be the responsible adult. I don’t think Harold counted as that, so it would all be on me.

We all felt sad to say our goodbyes. Claire walked into the ward, with a stern look on her face. She was wielding a lead for Pickles and our carrier as she rushed towards us. We all cowered slightly.

‘It took me ages to park but I finally got a space,’ Claire said. ‘I’ve been worried sick, looking everywhere for Pickles and the cats, Jonathan got called out of a meeting as I phoned him in hysterics. He suggested they might be with Hana and as no one was home, I sort of hoped that was the case, but I was this close to calling Polly who would have been frantic as well.’ The words gushed out of Claire and as I knew her so well I knew she was angry with us. With me.

‘I know, I thought that as soon as I saw them. Shall I help you get them into the car?’ Marcus asked.

‘Please, that would be great. And, Harold, if you get any more unexpected visitors, perhaps you’d let me know,’ she said, wagging her finger at him.

George wouldn’t talk to me on the journey back to Edgar Road, I tried to apologise to him but he didn’t want to hear it. When we got home, we were all led to the kitchen for our telling off.

‘I am so angry,’ Claire said. ‘But, Alfie, you’re the adult so I’m holding you responsible. What were you thinking? And how on earth did you get to the hospital? Anyway, I have to go to the supermarket before I pick the children up from school, I’ve wasted most of the day trying to findyou. And before you even think about going out again I’m locking the cat flap.’

As she stormed off, it seemed we were all grounded.

Chapter Twenty

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Winter had settled in, and the frosty atmosphere in the house was even thicker than the frost outside. And, it was all my fault. Pickles couldn’t be held responsible because he was a baby – however I was not. In the days following our hospital visit, George wasn’t talking to me, he was going off to see Hana, but I knew he hadn’t risked going back to the hospital, because he was never gone long enough. He was blaming me for the fact he had lost his job, and not only that but the people he cheered up in hospital were missing out. I felt as if I might drown with guilt.

Claire kept telling me off, I mean if I heard‘anything could have happened to Pickles and it would have been all your fault, Alfie,’ one more time, then I would go mad.

Polly and Matt were upset when they were told, and Claire felt awful, when she spoke to them she blamed herself rather than me, but Polly said she couldn’t be responsible for Pickles following George and I. Tomasz came round and fixed bolts to the gate, so it wouldn’t blow open again. There were a lot of factors involved in Pickles following us to the hospital, but the upshot; I had well and truly messed up in so many ways.

When they weren’t angry, they were all astounded about how we managed to get to the hospital. I couldn’t tell them, of course, at least they didn’t know George had been going for ages. Harold had kept that quiet from what I could tell. The only person, other than the children, who wasn’t angry with me wasPickles. But then he had no idea why everyone was making such a fuss, he kept saying it was his best day ever. At least one of us was happy. I didn’t have the heart to be cross with him, although I did tell him again that he mustn’t try to get out with us.

I knew I had to come up with a plan to make it up to George. He avoided me at home, and he missed Harold. I tried to talk to him but he wouldn’t have any of it. While Claire took Pickles and the children on the school run, I headed out to seek the advice of my friends. Because I had to put this right.

It was so cold outside, the wind was ruffling my fur as I made my way to our recreation space. I saw Nellie first, then Elvis and Rocky, but with them was Oliver, the Barkers’ rescue cat. I stopped a short distance away and took a breath. I knew I would meet him at some point but I hadn’t thought about that properly – not with everything going on. It looked as if the time was now. I braced myself and told myself that I could do this.

‘Alfie,’ Nellie said, coming up to me and giving me a nuzzle; as my friends greeted me they realised how hard this was for me. I was so grateful.

‘Hi, everyone,’ I said. Then I turned to the new cat. ‘Hi, Oliver, I’m Alfie, I’ve seen you at the window, but welcome to Edgar Road.’

‘Thanks, Alfie, I’ve heard all about you, from the Barkers as well as these guys.’ He was warm in his greeting and I immediately liked him. I couldn’t help but think of him in Tiger’s bed, or in her garden, but didn’t matter, not really.

‘Really? The Barkers talk about me?’

‘They told me about Tiger and how she had cat friends in the neighbourhood, and how you and George were her closest friends.’

‘That’s nice to hear,’ I said, a little choked with emotion. ‘So tell us about yourself?’ I was determined to make an effort. It’s what Tiger would have wanted.

‘I love food in jelly, especially fish. I like to play and my favourite toy is a padded fish which I keep with me, and I love nothing more than to curl up in a good box. I had a best friend, Copper, and I miss him a bit. It’s so nice to have friends here as I’ve been at the shelter a while. In fact, I couldn’t be happier to have arrived here on Edgar Road – especially at my age.’

‘How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?’ I said.

‘I’m twelve years old, Alfie, still a few lives left in me yet.’

‘You’ve got plenty of friends here,’ I said. Oliver grinned. He’d fit right in, I was a very good judge of cat.

‘Where is George?’ Rocky asked. ‘I haven’t seen him in a while.’

‘Ah, well that’s something I could do with advice on.’

‘Oh is this still about his job?’ Elvis asked.

‘No, I actually found out about his job, but it went a bit wrong.’ I explained what happened.

‘Are you telling me that you, George and the puppy ended up at the hospital?’ Rocky sounded incredulous, I realised it did sound more than a little bizarre.

‘And you went on a bus?’ Nellie narrowed her eyes.

‘I’ve never been on a bus,’ Oliver said. ‘In all my days.’

‘Most cats haven’t,’ Elvis added. ‘Although I did go on a bus once with my owner a long time ago—’

‘Guys, I get this is a strange story but the fact is we all got home safely, I know that we got caught and Claire had to be called … Anyway, the thing is that George’s job is visiting Harold and his friends in hospital and now he’s furious with me because he can’t go anymore. He said I have made him lose his job.’

‘You have messed it up for him a bit,’ Nellie pointed out.

‘I know, I know, and I feel like the worst father in the world but I was worried about him. And actually, if you’d seen the journey and the risks he took, you wouldn’t be happy with him going either.’

‘And I guess it wasn’t exactly your fault that Pickles followed you,’ Rocky said.

‘But, now everyone’s mad at me and I need to put things right. But I need to put it right with George first.’

‘Alfie,’ Nellie said, gently. ‘He’s been through enough lately, not just losing Tiger but also with Harold in hospital.’ Her tone was gentle, but she was right.

‘I know, I’ve got an idea. How about you get him his job back,’ Oliver said.

‘That’s a lovely suggestion but how can I do that?’ I asked, feeling panicked. If only Tiger were here, I thought suddenly and with a pang, she always knew what to do. Or if she didn’t she would at least keep me calm. At the moment I was anything but calm.

‘Right, let’s think about this logically,’ Rocky suggested, putting a paw on me, he was doing his best, they all were and I was grateful for my friends. Remember, how lucky I am, I kept telling myself. I might be in the dog house right now but I was still lucky.

‘Have I got this right?’ Elvis said. ‘George’s job was visiting Harold in hospital?’ he said proudly.

‘Chip off the old block,’ I said.

‘Yes, Alfie, what would you do if you could do anything to put this right?’ Elvis said.

‘I would make it so George could visit Harold in hospital again,’ I said. ‘Like Oliver suggested.’

‘So that’s what you have to do,’ Nellie said.

‘But how? The humans will be so cross if he sneaks off again … Maybe I could get one of them to take George when they visit Harold.’

‘But I thought the hospital said that cats weren’t allowed?’ Oliver pointed out. He was a clever cat, I could see Nellie blushing a little when he spoke.

‘Maybe the hospital would change their mind if they saw how happy the patients are when he’s there? Now who would be the best person to take him?’ I started thinking carefully, running through all my humans in my head. Not Claire, she was too angry, Jonathan only went straight from work, as did Polly and Matt. Sylvie was unlikely to be convinced either … It only left Marcus, and he was a bit of a pushover – perfect.

‘OK, so how do I get Marcus to take George?’ I asked.

‘When you want a human to take you somewhere, you just follow them,’ Nellie reminded me.

‘Yes but that’s what got George into this mess in the first place – unless, Nellie, you’re a genius! If I get George to follow Marcus, but make it clear he’s following him, Marcus will have no choice but to take George with him. Of course that’s it!’

‘All in a day’s work for us, Alfie,’ Rocky said.

‘Now all you have to do is to sell the plan to George,’ Nellie pointed out.

‘That’ll be a breeze, well if I get him to listen to me long enough to tell him.’

‘Goodness me, you are an interesting bunch of cats,’ Oliver said. ‘I’ve barely been here for a minute and already it’s more exciting than my old life.’ He looked quite thrilled.

‘So, Oliver, how did you get to be in a shelter?’ I asked.

‘I was telling your friends earlier, my old family had a problem and couldn’t look after me anymore. I’m not sure exactly what happened but it was very sad.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ I said, he needed good friends.

‘The shelter was very kind to us, and the staff were wonderful, they took good care of us. When the Barkers came in to adopt me, well, I felt like the luckiest cat in the world. I’m not young, or cute like a kitten but I am a nice cat.’

‘I can see that,’ I said, feeling emotional. ‘And I’m so happy that the Barkers have you now as well.’

‘Not so keen on you though, Alfie,’ Rocky joked.

‘No, I got chased out of their house a fair few times when I broke in to see Tiger,’ I said. I felt like I had a new friend, and a new plan to get back into my George’s good books. Life was looking up.

Now I just had to get George to agree to the plan, and before that I had to get him to get close enough to me so I could tell him the plan. Which wasn’t easy.

‘Go away,’ he hissed later that evening as I approached him.

‘George, I really need to talk to you, I need to put this right.’

‘Too late, I’m going out,’ he said and off he ran. I thought about following him but that was what got me into this mess in the first place. Hana might be able to relay my plan to George if he refused to listen to me? I crossed my paws that I would be able to make this plan work.

Chapter Twenty-One

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I managed to go to Hana’s early the following morning without George noticing, he was too busy trying to avoid me. And Claire was too busy shouting at Jonathan about the fact that he had to go on a work trip so she would be left holding the fort for a few days. I wasn’t happy about their argument, but it was on the hold list for now, because my first priority was to fix things for George.

I clattered against the cat flap to announce my arrival and then I hopped in. Connie saw me first.

‘Alfie, how nice to see you,’ she said scooping me up. Thank goodness, someone who was happy to see me. ‘I hear you’ve been in a bit of trouble,’ she continued stroking my head. I purred loudly to show her how much I was enjoying it.

‘Connie, you need to get ready for school,’ I heard Sylvie shout, she didn’t sound happy either. Connie sighed, put me down and then left, so I went to see Hana who was looking out of the back patio door.

‘Hey, Alfie,’ she said, in her sweet way.

‘Hana, I’m not sure I’m welcome here,’ I started, carefully.

‘You’re always welcome, Alfie, I know George isn’t exactly pleased with you, but I am your friend too.’

‘That’s an understatement about George.’

‘Well, you know what he’s like, he’ll cool off soon enough.’

‘I wish I felt as confident as you sound,’ I said. ‘But I’m here because I need to put things right—’ I heard shouting. ‘Is that Sylvie?’

‘Oh yes, she’s not happy at the moment. I heard her say to Marcus that she is tired, and snappy but she thinks that it’s something that all women go through at a certain age. And now she feels sick so she thinks she’s got a bug as well.’

‘It doesn’t sound nice. But is it serious?’

‘I don’t think so, not like Harold, but it’s not fun. I heard her tell Claire that if she carried on like this Marcus would run for the hills.’

Claire, Polly and Franceska were all of a similar age, so I wondered if it would happen to my other human friends too. Was that why Claire was so angry today? Another one for my hold list.

‘It seems there is a lot going on at the moment. But I have always said we should deal with one thing at a time, so firstly can I talk to you about George.’

‘Of course. He misses his job, Alfie, and he’s missing Harold, but I think he’ll calm down soon.’

‘I was going to suggest that he go back to see Harold but he needs to get Marcus to take him.’

‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. But how can he get Marcus to take him?’

‘That’s why I want to talk to him, but he won’t listen. I thought that if he followed Marcus when he went to see Harold one day, but made it obvious, so that Marcus knew he was following him, and then Marcus won’t have any choice but to take him with him.’ It sounded so simple when I saidit out loud, but I knew that the execution might not be as simple.

‘What if Marcus says no?’ Hana asked.

‘I had thought of that, but Marcus is a softy, if George looks at him with those big eyes of his, he won’t be able to resist. Or so I hope. I mean George has to make a big fuss of following Marcus and possibly make a racket to show him how much he wants to go with him, but …’

‘It’s not a bad idea, Alfie, do you want me to talk to George for you?’ Hana offered, in her sweet voice.

‘Would you?’ I asked, raising my whiskers, hopefully.

‘Of course, I don’t think George should be cross with you all the time, and I have tried to tell him that. It’s understandable for a parent to worry.’

‘Thanks, Hana, I appreciate it. I better go home for breakfast, but if there’s anything I can do to help with the Sylvie situation, please let me know. Once I’ve sorted George out anyway.’

‘Thanks, Alfie.’

We briefly touched noses and said goodbye. At least I had another ally.

Bizarrely Sylvie was at our house by the time I got home, I stopped on the way to play with some leaves, every cat needs to indulge in hobbies. Claire was back from the school run, Pickles was asleep in his bed, George was nowhere to be seen.

‘I’m going to the doctor in a couple of days, I’m pretty sure I’m going through the menopause.’

‘Oh Sylvie, it’ll be good to know, and of course get something to help you. I don’t know how I’d cope, because I’m so stressed at the moment I’d probably explode.’

‘Things no better with Jon’s work?’

‘No, worse actually. You know how many times he’s told me it’s going to get better? Millions, and I’m bored of shouting at him, it’s getting beyond a joke. What with Christmas coming soon, it’s just a lot.’

‘Oh Claire, what a pair we are at the moment, what with Harold in hospital I feel so guilty for snapping at Marcus but I can’t control myself. Do you think we should do something?’

‘What?’

‘How about we get Franceska and Polly and organise a spa day? You know we probably all could do with a day off. And I can always organise for Connie and Aleksy to help with the kids?’

‘Oh my goodness, that sounds like bliss, I could really do with that. Yes, I’ll tell Jonathan tonight, and get the others on board.’

‘Oh hey, Alfie,’ Sylvie said, as I hopped on her lap. She gave my head a nice scratch and I purred.

‘I still haven’t quite forgiven him for the whole hospital escapade,’ Claire said.

‘I know, and I still have no idea how they managed it but Marcus said that Harold is miserable and he wants to see George.’

My ears pricked up, this was good news indeed, because it meant that Marcus really wouldn’t be able to resist George’s pleas, if we played it right. I could only hope that Hana convinced him to speak to me or at least listen to the plan.

‘Anyway, I’m off to work now, but I’ll let you know how I get on when I finally see the doctor.’ Sylvie gently placed me on the floor and stood up.

‘Call me.’ Claire kissed her goodbye. ‘Do you think I should see a doctor?’ She sounded serious and I rubbed her legs. I hated it when Claire wasn’t happy. I hated it when anyone was unhappy but Claire had been my first friend on Edgar Road – her happiness was entwined with mine in manyways.

‘No, but I think when Jonathan gets back from this business trip you two need to have a serious talk about how you are going to make more time for the family. You love each other too much not to sort it out.’

‘You’re right, thanks, and I’ll think it through before I shout as well.’

Progress was being made on all sides, paws crossed.

I had played hide and seek, ball and goodness knows what else with Pickles after Sylvie left, in an effort to wear him out. I ended up worn out though, but thankfully we both had a nap together, curled up on the sofa, because I could barely keep my eyes open. After the stress of the past few days, I could have used the cat equivalent of a spa day.

When I woke up, I stretched, and gently nudged Pickles who was still snoring, loudly I may add. The bigger he got, the noisier he seemed to become. Pickles didn’t stir, so I got up and went to the kitchen where I found George eating out of his bowl. My heart filled with love the way it did every time I saw him. I stood and watched for a moment, drinking him in. How I wished we could get back to the way we were.

He turned and looked at me.

‘Dad,’ he said.

‘Oh George,’ I replied. He came up and nuzzled me and it felt amazing.

‘I know I was angry but it wasn’t really your fault. Well it was, but I know that you only did what you did because you love me,’ he said, sounding so mature.

‘You don’t know how happy your words make me. Have you spoken to Hana?’

‘Yes, and she told me about your conversation. I would like, more than anything, to go and see Harold, but I also realise how much of a risk I was taking now. I mean if I got caught, I might not have ever seen you again.’

‘George, you know that would never happen. Remember when you were catnapped? I didn’t stop until I found you.’

‘I know and if it hadn’t been for Pickles …’

‘Yeah we might have got away with it, although that mean woman’s face when she saw him with the children was quite funny.’

‘It was and the whole ward did love him. And you. But you see what I mean, there are lots of lonely people out there and it was nice to do something about that.’

‘And I am so proud of you for it, George. But listen, I think we can get Marcus to take you to see Harold. He told Marcus he misses you.’

‘He does?’

‘Yes, Hana told me that she heard Marcus telling Sylvie that. So all you have to do is to figure out when he’s going to the hospital, and basically get under his feet. If you make a lot of noise he’ll know you are following him.’

‘I think I can do that.’ George sounded excited again.

‘I know you can, son,’ I replied.

The first part of the plan was in action. It was time to figure out part two.

Pickles suddenly appeared. He was snuffling around, waddling along, and wagging his tail at us.

‘George, I haven’t seen you in ever such a long time, and I miss you,’ Pickles said.

‘I’m sorry, Pickles, I’ve been swamped but I’m here now. So you can choose what you want to do, and I mean anything,’ George said.

‘I want to learn to climb trees again, it’s been such a long time since I practised that aspect of catting. I’m big now so I’m pretty sure I can climb trees.’

‘OK, come on then, race you to the back garden,’ George said, shooting off, with Pickles running as fast as he could behind him. For a fat puppy he was actually quite fast.

As I watched my boy– and my new boy – going, I felt my heart soar. Things were going to be alright, I could feel it in my bones. But I also knew there was no way Pickles would be any better at climbing trees.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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The day arrived when we’d try to get Marcus to take George to hospital with him. I prayed it would work, while George hopped around with nerves. He’d got up very early, washed carefully, before having breakfast and then washing himself again. I led him into the garden, for a last-minute pep talk.

‘You know what you’re doing?’ I asked.

‘Can we just go through it one more time?’ George asked as we shivered in the garden. The plan I had come up with was incredibly detailed, if I did say so myself.

‘Right, we know that Marcus is going to the hospital this morning, Hana confirmed that. So you go and wait outside Hana’s house, and the minute he comes through the front door you pounce on him. Make as much noise as you can to ensure he knows you’re following him. If he tells you to go home,ignore him, even if you end up at the bus stop with him, stay as close to his feet as you can.’ It was foolproof.

‘What if he picks me up and brings me home?’ George asked. Not quite foolproof then.

‘Then follow him again. You have to show him that you mean business and there is no way you are going to give up.’ Persistence was key.

‘Are you going to come with me?’ George asked.

‘No, son, this is your job and I will help and support you in any way but I know you need to do this on your own.’ I was learning as a parent too, you see.

‘Thanks, Dad.’

‘And I’ll be here when you get back, hopefully with a successful visit under your tail.’

I had to occupy myself while George was out, keeping myself busy, because I needed to prove to George that I was able to trust him. Of course I had Pickles for company. Since the back gate had been secured and Claire had more or less forgiven me, she was happier to leave Pickles in my charge once again. As Pickles grew up, he settled down a bit too. He still had a crazy side. He licked everything, even things no cat would ever dream of licking, and he still believed he could be a cat.

His training wasn’t going that well though. Even Summer’s shouting didn’t faze him anymore. He would stand when told to sit, and sit when told to come.

‘Pickles,’ I said, when he came to find me. George had been gone a good while without coming home so I was pretty sure the plan had worked. I hoped it had, because it would make George happy and also make things so much better between us.

‘Alfie, look what I can do,’ Pickles replied. He put his front paws up on the sofa and wiggled his bottom and his tail. He had his very cute face on, with hopeful eyes.

‘That’s great, Pickles, what’s it for?’ I asked.

‘I do it when the kids are eating and they feed me,’ he replied. No wonder he was growing so much.

‘Remember when we went to the hospital?’ I said.

‘I will never forget it,’ he replied.

‘Wasn’t the best part when we made everyone happy,’ I continued, a warm feeling spreading into my heart.

‘Yes, it was. Although the other best part was the bus. I liked the bus,’ he said.

‘I wasn’t so keen on the bus, but seeing the patients looking happy was amazing.’

‘It was worth the trouble we got into then?’ Pickles asked.

‘Yes it was, I guess especially as we didn’t get hurt. Apart from when the bus passenger trod on my tail.’

‘I don’t mind being in trouble, it happens a lot. The other day Polly gave me a bath.’ Pickles licked the sofa, and I shuddered. Baths were perhaps my least favourite thing. Or anything to do with water to be fair.

‘And?’ I asked.

‘Oh yes, I jumped out and got her soaking wet and she told me off. But then she laughed and hugged me. It seems being in trouble can be a good thing sometimes.’

‘You’re learning,’ I replied, proud of how well he was turning out.

It didn’t last. As I was fretting, I took my eyes off Pickles. I don’t know how long it was before I realised that he was gone, but I searched the house and because I wasn’t thinking too clearly I didn’t even think about the garden. I jumped through the cat flap, and lo and behold there was Pickles, his brown fur covered in mud. The rain was coming down now as well, so it was sticking to him. The worst thing was that he was busily digging up Claire’s favourite rose bush, and I knew she wouldn’t be happy. I had no choice but to brave the rain, and joined him.

‘Stop, Pickles, Claire will be so cross,’ I said.

‘Why?’ he asked. We still hadn’t quite got out of the ‘why’ phase.

‘Because that’s Claire’s favourite rose bush and you’re making a mess of it. And you look a wreck.’ I shivered, it was cold, wet and miserable. And now I was beginning to resemble a drowned rat. That would teach me to not pay attention. ‘Come on, let’s try to put the earth back,’ I commanded. As we did, I realised that putting it back wasn’t as easy as digging it up, despite our best efforts.Well, mine, because Pickles was too busy seeing how much more mud and earth he could get stuck to his fur.

‘Why were you digging anyway?’ I asked, exasperated by my lack of progress.

‘I wanted to go out, like we did the other day but the gate was closed so I thought if I dug up here I could get under the fence.’

‘Pickles, you would have to dig for hours to get anywhere close. All you’ve done is made a mess of the garden, and of yourself.’ I was beyond exasperated.

‘Oh have I?’ He was so innocent, I couldn’t stay angry with him, a little like I used to be with George. Babies were just too cute sometimes.

‘Yes, you have.’ But I grinned. ‘Maybe we should give up and go inside, this rain is horrible.’

‘Is it?’ Again he looked at me with his innocent eyes and I ushered him inside.

We sat on the back doormat, trying to shake the water off us. Before long Claire appeared, and did a double take.

‘What on earth have you two been up to? Stay there, don’t move a paw and I’ll be back.’

Pickles glanced over at me, and I nodded. We should definitely do as we’re told when Claire has that tone of voice on her. She returned with some towels and began drying us off in turn. I had managed to stay relatively clean, but was wet, whereas Pickles had black patches of earth all over his fur.

‘Right, Alfie, you find somewhere warm to dry off, but this one is coming to have a bath.’ She rubbed me in the towel a bit more, before she wrapped Pickles up in the other one and carried him off.

Yet again I was in trouble for something that I was trying to put right. Goodness knows what she’d say when she saw the rose bush.

I made sure I was properly dry before I went into the living room. Claire brought Pickles down, all clean and put him in his bed.

‘Stay in that bed,’ she commanded. ‘I’m going to get the kids but due to this awful rain I’m going to drive.’ She set off.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked, as Pickles sat up in his bed and panted, excitedly.

‘I might dig in the garden again another day,’ he said.

‘Pickles, why would you do that, you just got into trouble?’

‘It doesn’t feel like trouble, because I had a bath and I really like baths.’

I had no words.

Thankfully, he settled down for another nap, although I didn’t dare take my eyes off him in case he headed out into the garden again. Just as I felt that my eyes would explode, or more likely close by themselves, the front door opened and in bounded the children.

Henry and Martha ran up to Pickles and rudely woke him up by grabbing him. Toby and Summer hovered behind, wanting their turn. Then I was delighted to see Marcus carrying George in his arms. He put him on the floor, and Marcus followed Claire into the kitchen.

‘Everything alright,’ I asked George.

‘Never better, Dad, come into the kitchen, I want to hear what Marcus says.’ We both ran in.

‘I can’t believe you took George to the hospital,’ Claire said, she sounded more surprised than angry though.

‘He didn’t give me much choice. He followed me out this morning, and he also kept standing on my feet. I tried to get him to come home but he just yowled at me and then stuck to me like glue. I was going to phone you but I was running late, so I just took him with me.’

‘What did they say at the hospital?’

‘Luckily it was Jay in charge of the ward today, so I explained how much Dad was missing him and he said it was on me, and he’d turn a blind eye if I promised he’d behave. Dad was over the moon, he had tears in his eyes. Then he got me to do the rounds with George, so he could visit other patients. Claire, you wouldn’t believe how happy George made everyone. Dad gave me a lecture on how lonely some of the patients are and how much of a difference a cuddle from George can make.’

‘That’s amazing, and I guess my cats have always known how to cheer people up.’ Claire sounded quite emotional. ‘Alfie always did when he first came here to me as a kitten. I’ve been worrying about how much Harold has told us about the lonely people for a while actually. Can I help in anyway?’

‘Ah, I’m so glad you asked.’ Marcus smiled. Marcus was tall, and he had glasses and sometimes he could look serious, but he had the kindest smile. ‘I was going to ask if you’d be my partner in crime and take George into the hospital with you when you visit Dad. I know it’s asking a lot,because you’re breaking goodness knows how many rules but …’

‘Of course I will. We can draw up a roster if you like, but I draw the line at taking Alfie and Pickles too.’

‘Meow,’ I objected, hopping onto Claire’s lap. ‘But then seeing the state the pair of them were in this afternoon, it might be safer.’

‘What did they do?’

Just then the doorbell rang, and we all followed Claire to answer it. Pickles was there first, wiggling his bottom excitedly. Sylvie stood on the doorstep. She didn’t look good. Her hair was soaking wet and sticking to her head, and she looked as if she’d been crying.

‘Oh you’re wet through, come in,’ Claire said.

‘No, no, I won’t,’ Sylvie snapped. Pickles lost interest and went back to the living room to play with the children. Sylvie looked angry now and Claire alarmed. I went to get Marcus.

‘What is it, Alfie?’ he said.

‘Yowl,’ I replied, come with me. Just then Claire called him, and he finally got the message. We walked to the front door, and he stopped short when he saw Sylvie.

‘What on earth?’

‘I should have known you’d be here,’ Sylvie snapped.

‘Well funny story, George—’

‘There’s nothing funny about this, actually,’ Sylvie said. ‘I knew you two are always together these days but do you think I’m stupid?’ she snapped.

I had seen this side of Sylvie before, the one who was so upset about her divorce that she was angry with everyone. It wasn’t my favourite Sylvie and I had no idea what was going on.

‘Sylvie, what are you talking about?’ Claire asked.

‘My best friend, not to mention next door neighbour having an affair with my boyfriend,’ she spat.

‘What’s an affair?’ Summer asked, having appeared suddenly. Claire’s eyes widened in horror as did mine and Marcus’s. George looked confused. ‘And what’s for tea, I’m hungry?’ Summer added.

Even Sylvie looked a little shamefaced as Marcus shrugged at Claire and then went outside, gently taking Sylvie by the arm and shutting our door behind them. Just what on earth was going on?

‘Finally, we’re on our own,’ I said to George. It had been a long evening. Claire was so upset about what Sylvie said, which still made no sense.

But that would have to wait, because I wanted to hear from George himself about his hospital visit.

‘I loved going to see Harold,’ George said. ‘He was so pleased to see me, and so was everyone else, it is so good to be doing my job again.’

‘And by the sound of it, you’ll be doing it without any risk now as Claire and Marcus are both going to take you to see Harold. So it’s a great outcome.’

‘Yes, but he’s not going to be in hospital much longer. He’s coming out soon, they said.’

‘Really? Marcus didn’t mention that, but then he got interrupted by Sylvie.’

‘Yes, she seemed a bit crazy,’ he said.

‘We shouldn’t say crazy, George,’ I chastised. ‘But she was upset about something and although we know that Marcus and Claire are just friends, something must have triggered it.’

‘Well Harold is coming home, I think in a couple of weeks. And then it’s going to be nearly Christmas,’ he said. ‘Then I’ll be unemployed.’

‘It is.’ We weren’t in December yet, but November was underway. ‘Although, George, you will have a job visiting Harold at home and making sure he’s OK.’

‘I know, but after Harold comes out of hospital, I think we should find a way to help lonely people still,’ George said.

‘You are the most wonderful kitten a cat could ever ask for,’ I said, meaning it.

‘I’m not a kitten anymore,’ George said, leaning over and swiping me with his paw.

‘You’ll always be my kitten,’ I finished.

I settled George into bed, and then went to Claire’s room where she and Jonathan were getting ready for bed.

‘It’s crazy, but Marcus phoned me after and said that Sylvie had calmed down, and that he or she would explain everything tomorrow.’

‘What brought that on? I mean I don’t have to worry about you and Marcus do I?’ Jonathan laughed, showing that he was joking.

‘Darling, of course you don’t, I’m too busy looking after your children, your pets and other people to do anything, and you know how much I love you anyway.’

‘And you’re a saint to put up with me,’ Jonathan said, giving her a hug. ‘But the good news is that my deputy is fully in place, and he’s so ambitious that he’s snapping at my heels, if he wants to try to get my job he might actually do a lot of my work.’ He laughed.

‘So not worried about him actually taking your job then?’ Claire raised an eyebrow. ‘Only you could see him as an asset rather than a rival!’

‘No, it’s fine, we’re both on the same page, he has a bit to learn but he’s keen and hard-working. I’ve said that I will be home for bath and bedtime for the kids every night unless it’s pre-arranged and I think now things are settling down we should make sure we have our date nights aswell. I know I haven’t been the best husband and father the last few months but I will put that right now.’

‘Oh Jon, I do love you.’

I left with a grin on my face, and took myself to bed. I curled up, and thought about the day. So much had happened, it had been ridiculously busy, a mixture of good and bad. And as I prepared to drift into sleep I hoped that it would be a calmer day tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-Three

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It was lunchtime before the mystery of Sylvie’s outburst was finally solved. George, Pickles and I were tucking into our food when we heard.

Claire had been to the supermarket in the morning, and then she popped in to see Harold, but without George as she went straight from the supermarket. George, Pickles and I had spent a lazy morning at home, and even Pickles failed to get into trouble. George, still on a high from having been to hospital the previous day, was happy to entertain Pickles and I was happy to sit back and relax for once. We heard the letter box flap on the door and Pickles scooted as fast as he could to the door. He barked his little bark, constantly, and sat with his back to the door as a shower of letters landed on his head. It was one of his favourite pastimes. George laughed, as did I. Shortly after, the door opened, Claire walked in with Sylvie, who looked nice and normal again. Claire picked up the post, Sylvie picked up Pickles and we made our way to the kitchen.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind me coming in?’ Sylvie asked. Her hair was neat, pulled back off her face and she had make-up on.

‘Come in, apart from anything else I want to know what on earth was going on yesterday?’ Claire said. She didn’t sound cold, but she didn’t sound as warm as normal either as she put our food down and we all tucked in.

‘You know I went to the doctor the other day?’ Sylvie asked. Claire nodded. ‘They did some tests and yesterday I got the results. It freaked me out a bit.’

‘Oh no, nothing serious, I hope?’ Claire gestured for Sylvie to sit down. ‘Coffee?’

‘No, I better not. And as for serious, it depends on your point of view. Claire, I’m pregnant.’

Now, I definitely hadn’t seen that coming. I didn’t know how old Sylvie was exactly but she seemed about the same age as Claire.

A massive smile appeared on Claire’s face. ‘Oh my goodness, Sylvie, you’re pregnant! I can’t believe it.’

‘Neither can I! I’m in my forties and Connie’s fifteen for goodness’ sake. And when I found out yesterday I freaked out. I had all these thoughts running wild in my head. What if Marcus was angry with me? I mean we never thought children were on the cards, never discussed it. I thought thatI was going through the menopause for goodness’ sake. And then I worried about what Connie would think, her father has just had another baby, so what if it felt as if we were both replacing her. I felt totally out of control, terrified and confused and then when I couldn’t get hold of Marcus and then found out he was at your house, I just lost it.’

‘You certainly did, but, Sylvie, it’s a big deal, I just wish you’d said something.’

‘I told Marcus on your doorstep and he was so happy that any fears I had immediately melted away and then I felt like a total fool. And then he persuaded me to tell Connie straight away and she hugged me and said that she was so happy because it meant she would worry about me less, if that made sense, and also that she would be a great big sister. I cried so much, I didn’t have any tears left. And tonight we’re going to the hospital, Marcus and I, to tell Harold. You must think I’m such a fool.’ Sylvie wiped tears from her cheeks.

‘No, I think you’re amazing, and lucky. Imagine when I first met you you felt as if you’d lost everything but Connie and Hana, and you were pretty miserable. But then we all got our friendship back and you met Marcus and you have barely stopped smiling since. I think it’s amazing and you know we will all help out.’

‘That explains why I was so up and down lately, it was hormones, just not in the way I thought it was! But you know I am excited. I’m scared, there could be all sorts of issues, but Marcus and I talked well into the night and the thing is I know he’s committed to me and to Connie and the baby. In fact he made me book a scan first thing, because he said that the sooner I have a scan the sooner my mind might be at rest, he really is thoughtful.’

‘I can’t believe it, my head is spinning,’ Claire laughed and then she grabbed Sylvie and hugged her.

‘I am so happy, Claire. I mean I know I accused you of having an affair with Marcus yesterday and I am so sorry but, as I said, I wasn’t quite in my right mind.’

‘Will Marcus finally move into your house now?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, we talked about that. I need him but then that leaves Harold on his own, so we need to figure that out. Harold values his independence as you know so I don’t think he’d move in with us but we have to sort something out.’

‘Of course, there’ll be so many plans to make,’ Claire said, beaming.

‘I would crack open the champagne but you know, I can’t drink …’

‘I’ll have a glass tonight for both of us.’ The two women hugged again.

I told George to go and see Hana, after all she needed to be congratulated too, she was going to have a new human soon.

Claire took Pickles out for a walk, while George went next door, and I decided to have forty, well-deserved winks.

When George came back, he asked if I would take a walk with him.

‘Sure, where do you want to go?’ I asked.

‘To see our other friends, since my job I’ve hardly had any time with them.’ I knew how he felt, since I had been put in charge of Pickles I had seen less of my friends than usual. Both the Edgar Road cats and dear Dustbin. However, we had a meal at Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant on Sunday, for family day so I would see plenty of Dustbin then.

‘They’ll be so pleased to see you,’ I agreed.

‘Oh my goodness, it’s so long since we’ve seen you together,’ Nellie said, gleefully greeting us with a nuzzle.

‘And it’s great that you’re all here,’ I said as I greeted Elvis and Rocky.

‘The gang is back together,’ Elvis said. ‘Right, can you please fill us in on all the news,’ he added.

We told them the latest hospital news, and of course about the baby, and then Rocky and George went off to climb George’s favourite tree.

‘You’re forgiven now then?’ Nellie asked.

‘Thankfully, yes, I hated it when he wasn’t talking to me, but it’s been so hectic lately I haven’t had much time to really process anything.’

‘Are you alright though, Alfie?’ Elvis asked.

‘I’m getting there,’ I replied, honestly. Oliver joined us. ‘Hi,’ I said, greeting him warmly.

‘I really love it here, although I’ll love it more in the summer,’ Oliver said.

‘I hear you,’ Nellie said.

‘George,’ I shouted as I saw him and Rocky near the bottom of the tree. ‘Come here.’

‘Oh, we haven’t met have we?’ George said as he approached.

‘No, but I’ve heard all about you,’ Oliver said. ‘And I am very delighted to meet you.’

‘And I’m happy to meet you. How are you settling in?’ George asked, he was so sweet, my heart was bursting with pride for my boy.

‘Pretty well. I know you know my house very well, and I hope you don’t find it too hard me being there,’ Oliver asked.

‘No, because Tiger mum taught me how to be kind and being kind means that you want everyone to be happy. The Barkers were very lonely without a cat.’

‘Yes, they said that to me when they got me, that a home isn’t a home without a cat. And I am grateful for a loving home, it doesn’t happen for every cat.’

‘So, basically the Barkers aren’t lonely anymore and neither are you,’ George said.

‘Exactly right,’ Oliver replied.

‘But you know we are all so lucky to have each other,’ I said, suddenly. ‘We are all good friends and with Oliver, a new friend, and we’ll never be lonely with each other either.’

‘Friendship makes the world go round,’ Rocky said.

‘I thought that was love.’ Nellie looked confused.

‘They are pretty much the same thing I think,’ Elvis finished. And I looked at my friends, old and new, and I knew it was time to count my blessings again. I was so lucky I didn’t need to worry about loneliness and it was a real shame that anyone in the whole wide world had to feel it.

‘Dad, I’ve got the answer,’ George said suddenly.

‘To what?’ I asked.

‘Harold, when he comes home from hospital and Marcus moves in with Sylvie, I worry that he might be lonely.’

‘But, George, he’s got all of us and our families, we’ll see him all the time.’

‘Yes, but when he goes to sleep, he won’t have anyone else in the house with him. And when he wakes up. He’ll be all alone then. And I can’t move in with him because Toby needs me …’

‘Yes, George, but from what I’ve heard he wants to live in his own house.’

‘So we need to make sure he’s not alone,’ George stated, pulling himself up to his full height and looking quite pleased with himself. ‘Harold needs a cat of his own.’

As we walked home, we discussed the idea some more.

‘But, George, won’t you be jealous, after all you and Harold have a special bond and you would have to share him.’

‘I’ve learnt to share an awful lot lately; with Pickles and now seeing Oliver in Tiger mum’s house … I really don’t want to be selfish about it, and it makes perfect sense. Harold needs a cat. I would suggest giving him Pickles but then I thought that Henry and Martha might not like it, so we need to get him a cat of his own.’

‘OK, it’s not a bad idea, but how on earth do we put it into practice? It’s not as if we just happen to have a spare cat laying around.’ I grinned.

‘I know, on Sunday the adults said they are going to discuss what the options are for Harold, we will have to listen and then you’ll have to show them that the answer is a cat. It’s simple really.’

For him maybe, just how the hell was I going to do that? I needed yet another plan. Honestly my skills were being put to the test lately.

Chapter Twenty-Four

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Family day is one of my favourite days ever because I get nearly everyone I love under one roof. And when it’s at Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant, I get to see Dustbin which is a big bonus. I could do with some of his wisdom, now I had been charged somehow with getting Harold a cat. And George, my lovely George, assumed that I would be able to do it. Sometimes children seemed to think parents coulddo anything, and although that was flattering, it was also a lot of pressure.

However, I couldn’t let him down, not after everything we had been through lately. But I had no idea how I was going to do it yet. Harold was finally due out of hospital the following week. Talk had turned to the fact that Sylvie, now pregnant, needed Marcus around more than ever, but Harold wouldn’t entertain moving in with them – he wanted to be in his own home. The doctors said he would be able to live alone, as long as he had help, which of course he did but George had already said he didn’t want him to be alone late at night or in the morning, when we wouldn’t be there for him.

‘George, I get that you don’t want Harold to be lonely and I will do all I can to put your plan into action,’ I said. ‘But I can’t make any promises.’

‘I know you’ll do it,’ George said, leaving me no choice.

We set off and more excitedly, because Hana was joining us, although Connie was carrying her, and Pickles was also with us, although he was on a lead so there was no way he could get into trouble. Even so, he kept splashing into puddles, left by last night’s rain, which made Polly a little annoyed, Matt seemed to find it funny. Until he got soaked of course.

We all arrived at the restaurant, and everyone greeted each other with hugs and kisses, as coats were taken off, scarfs and gloves discarded. The children ran to Tommy, begging him to play a game with them and Pickles and George. Tommy said he would set up a little course for them. Aleksy and Connie immediately sneaked off together, so George, Hana and I headed to the back of the restaurant to find Dustbin.

‘I don’t know if I want to go outside, it’s cold,’ Hana said.

‘Just for a bit and I promise if you want to come back in, I’ll come with you,’ George coaxed.

‘OK, I do want to see Dustbin after all.’

We made our way out and found Dustbin cleaning his paws in the yard.

‘Ah hello, friends.’ He came and greeted us. ‘It’s been far too long.’

‘I know, there has been so much going on, we’ll fill you in, where’s Ally?’ I asked.

‘Oh she’ll be along later, she just went for a walk. I was waiting for you guys, but sometimes Ally gets a bit stir crazy in the yard and needs to get out – not sure why it’s a mighty fine yard.’ We all looked around the yard, it was spacious but a bit gloomy and there were a lot of big bins out here. I could see why you might want to spend a bit of time away from it.

‘I’m going to get Harold a cat,’ George announced and then we filled Dustbin in on our plans.

‘I think it’s a grand idea,’ Dustbin said when he finished. ‘But short of kidnapping a cat for him, I’m not sure how to do it.’

‘And we don’t have the first idea how to kidnap a cat, not that we would ever do that of course,’ I pointed out.

‘Yes, that wouldn’t be right, I mean I want Harold to have the company as well, I think it’s a very good idea, but not if we have to steal a cat,’ Hana added.

We all gave it some thought.

‘I know, I’ve got it,’ I said and I really did. ‘What if there was away to lead a homeless cat to Harold’s.’ It was a brilliant idea, if I did say so myself.

‘But how will we find this homeless cat?’ Hana asked.

‘Dustbin can ask about, and Ally too. You never know there might be a cat around who would be glad of a warm home.’ It did make sense. To me anyway.

‘We can certainly ask around,’ Dustbin said, ‘but I don’t know … I mean most of the outside cats we know like it that way. Anyway, if we do hear of anyone I’ll let you know.’ He sounded uncertain and my confidence took a slight knock. Ally arrived and I relayed my plan to her.

‘I’m not sure how easy it will be, but we can try,’ she said, sounding a little more upbeat than Dustbin. I would take that. ‘But, Alfie, you might need to have another idea as well,’ she suggested gently. OK, so as usual I needed a backup plan.

Hana went inside shortly afterwards, as it was too cold for her, and George went with her. I guessed they would join in with the children. I took a few moments to have a deeper chat with Dustbin and Ally about George’s fixation with loneliness.

‘I understand it, I do. I remember feeling lonely even when I wasn’t alone, after Snowball …’ Snowball was my first love, when she and her family moved away it was devastating. ‘Then after Tiger, but I did have family and friends around me, so I have to acknowledge that. Harold does too, although he does live alone and I can see why that would worry George.’

‘I think, Alfie, George really saw his hospital visits as his job, and now he knows that is coming to an end, he’s turning his efforts elsewhere. First Harold and then, well, like you he’ll want to make sure no one is ever lonely again.’

‘So all this is my fault really?’

‘I’m afraid so. You brought up a fine young tom, and now he wants to do good in the world. We can’t complain about that can we?’

‘And you know he has a point. I heard people talking about how hard it is to be on their own, and look at your families in the restaurant, they’re all happy. It would be wonderful if there was more of that in the world,’ Ally said. ‘Even Dustbin and I found each other, before that I was a loner.’

‘You’re right, and although we might not be able to fix the loneliness problems of the world we can try to do our bit, right?’

‘Right, Alfie.’

I had to do my bit. In our world of Edgar Road, the immediate issue was Harold. What if he got ill in the night? I just hoped if we did get him a cat, it would be almost as smart as us. One of the reasons a dog would be absolutely no good.

Everyone was sat around the table and the hum of easy chatter filled the restaurant. The children had their own table, although Aleksy and Connie complained that they were grown-up enough to be able to sit with the adults. They weren’t quite though, and as Claire pointed out, they were needed to keep the younger ones in check.

‘It’s good news that your dad is coming home this week,’ Franceska said.

‘I know, and you guys have been amazing,’ Marcus replied. ‘Claire and I are drawing up a roster to make sure he’s taken care of at home the way he was in hospital. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you all.’

‘Pah, that’s what friends are for. Whenever we can help we can,’ Tomasz said, although he was very busy so I wasn’t sure how much time he would have.

‘We’re worried about him being alone though,’ Sylvie said. ‘I need Marcus with me, especially as the pregnancy isn’t that easy.’

‘I cannot believe we have another baby coming,’ Polly said, she ignored the idea of the difficult pregnancy.

‘But my moods are all over the place,’ Sylvie said. ‘And I’m worried I might, you know, not cope as well as I should,’ she added carefully.

‘Sylvie, I had postnatal depression with Henry,’ Polly said.

‘I didn’t know that,’ Sylvie said. I did, it was when I first met Polly, Matt and Henry, before Martha was in the picture. In fact I may have even diagnosed her postnatal depression myself.

‘Yes, it was tough but once I knew what it was, I got help and was fine, so with us around you, you won’t fall into any holes. We won’t let you.’

‘Thanks, guys, but still Harold is resolute he won’t move in with us, so we still have the problem of what to do about him.’

‘He’ll probably be fine,’ Jonathan said, uncertainly.

‘Yeah,’ Matt added. ‘The doctors said he’s OK to go home and they know he lives alone.’

‘I know but it doesn’t stop us worrying,’ Marcus replied. I glanced over at George, he glanced over at Hana, and I called them in close.

‘It’s a long shot but I’ve got an idea. If we all jump up on the table, they might get that we’re trying to tell them something,’ I suggested. A genius idea if I did say so myself.

‘But they hate us being on the table, we always get in trouble,’ Hana said.

‘Exactly.’ George grinned. ‘Dad’s right, if we do that they will know we’re telling them something.’

‘Right, let’s do it,’ I said. The three of us jumped onto laps and then onto the table.

‘What on earth are you doing? Get down this minute,’ Claire said. I saw Polly try not to laugh at her tone. Polly often said Claire missed her vocation and should have been a school teacher.

‘Yowl,’ I shouted.

‘Yowl,’ Hana added.

‘Yowl,’ George finished.

The adults glanced between us.

‘Anyone would think they were trying to tell us something,’ Jonathan said. I raised my whiskers, of course we were; humans could be a little slow on the uptake but you would think that after all the years of my teaching, they might have got it by now.

‘Maybe they are saying that we should get Harold a cat?’ Tomasz suggested.

‘Meow,’ I said and nuzzled Tomasz to reward him. He was the cleverest right now.

‘Meow,’ George reiterated.

‘Meow,’ Hana thirded. The adults all studied us hard. But I think we had managed to convey the message.

‘That’s it, if Harold had a cat, he wouldn’t be quite on his own, and if the cat is anything like these three, they’ll take good care of him,’ Matt said.

‘What a great idea and Dad will love it. As long as George isn’t jealous, I mean those two are like best friends.’

‘Meow,’ George said, to show he didn’t mind at all. He then went to Marcus and jumped into his arms to reiterate the point.

‘These cats are so clever,’ Jonathan said. ‘But it is a great idea, if Harold has a cat then at least we know he’s got company when we’re not there.’

‘It’s a genius idea,’ Claire said.

‘After all, everyone needs a cat,’ Franceska finished rubbing my ears.

‘Woof.’ We all turned to see poor Pickles trying to climb up a chair leg but he couldn’t. I’d almost forgotten about him in my delight that my plan was working, so I hopped down and went to join him.

‘Am I ever going to be a cat, Alfie?’ he asked.

‘We’ll see,’ I replied. Which is what adults said when they really meant no.

As the adults discussed the cat they were going to get for Harold, I went to eat. Claire was going to take charge but she liked that, and they said they would of course get an older cat, because the last thing Harold or any of us needed was a kitten. And they had to remember Harold’s age but then of course any cat that came to live with him would be part of our family so they would never be alone anyway. I went to tell Dustbin the good news, and I was feeling so proud of us all as I did so. We’d proved to be a formidable team yet again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

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It was a year to the day since we lost Tiger, I knew this because Oliver told us the Barkers had been preparing for it. In fact they were going to wait to get Oliver until the year anniversary, as it seemed right, but in the end they had gone to find him a bit earlier.

Because he told us about this day, we decided to make it Tiger day. We’d had a memorial, after Tiger passed away, which I knew nothing about but we learnt to say goodbye to her, and now we were going to honour the year without her by telling her how much we missed her and loved her still. All our friends were meeting at the recreation ground.

George even asked Hana if she would come and she’d agreed. She might not like the cold, or even the outside that much but she was a good cat and a good friend to George. The only problem we had was Pickles.

‘Why can’t I come?’ he had whined as we prepared to leave.

‘You know why,’ George retorted. ‘You can’t be out without a human. We’ve had enough trouble already, what with nearly being run over, and caught at the hospital, don’t you think?’

‘It’s not fair. No matter how hard I work at being a cat I am still a dog.’

‘Life isn’t fair, my lad,’ I said kindly, shooting George a warning look. ‘But we will tell you all about it as soon as we get home.’

He turned his back on us in a sulk. Poor Pickles, it was hard for him but after all he was still only a puppy. We loved him, but there was nothing any of us could do about the‘dogness’ of him.

We called for Hana and set off to the meeting place. I was heartened to see that everyone was there already. Dustbin and Ally had even come from the yard, which was touching. Elvis, Nellie and Rocky, my three closest Edgar Road friends, were there, even Salmon had turned up with Oliver– what a wonderful group it was.

‘Right,’ Elvis said, taking control. ‘Let’s share our favourite Tiger story, or memory, in order to honour her today,’ he said, seriously.

‘I’ll go first,’ I said. ‘Everyone knows how much I loved Tiger and how close we were. When we first met though she really didn’t like exercise, and I used to make her come for long walks with me, she would complain all the way but then she ended up liking exercise even more than I did.’ It was a simple memory but I had others which instead of sharing I wanted to keep in my heart.

‘She was my Tiger mum,’ George said. ‘And I am just proud to have had her in my life and I hope that she’s proud of me now.’

‘Oh George, she would be beyond proud of you,’ I said, through my emotions. ‘Everyone is beyond proud of you.’

‘Oh good.’ He raised his tail, and I felt that he had come such a long way lately.

We all stood solemnly as Rocky recounted how Tiger was a great bird chaser in her time, Nellie talked about the‘girl’ chats they shared and how now she was surrounded by boys she missed that the most, Elvis said she could be really feisty when pushed, which she could be, and Salmon said how she never quite liked him and called him a ‘busybody’ – which to be fair he was. Oliver stayed quiet as did Ally, but Dustbin finished the chat.

‘I knew Tiger more through Alfie and then George than first-hand, although I did have the pleasure of meeting her a few times. But what struck me is that she embodied what being a cat was. Yes she was feisty but only really when she was protecting those she loved, she was loyal, she was fun, she was loving and kind, and she had a big heart. Tiger was an example to all of us and by following that example she will always live on through all of us.’

It was a sombre moment as we let those words sink in. Dustbin might be feral but he was incredibly wise. I felt choked, and I nuzzled Dustbin in gratitude for such a wonderful summing up of Tiger…

‘Woof woof, woof woof,’ a voice interrupted us bounding into our group. All the cats sprang back apart from Dustbin, George, Hana and I. They made quite a racket.

‘Shush, it’s alright,’ I told them. ‘It’s only Pickles.’

‘How on earth did you get out?’ George asked as Pickles wagged his tail at us.

‘I am more cat than you thought,’ he replied.

Nellie, Rocky, Oliver and Elvis started moving closer, examining him curiously.

‘Claire was in the front garden, talking to someone and so I escaped and then I ran really fast.’ Pickles sounded so proud, and George gave him a paw. ‘And I knew you came here, because I’ve been walked past it when you were here before, so I am actually a very clever cat too.’

‘High five! Good one, Pickles,’ George said, although I really didn’t think he should encourage him.

‘How many times have we told you not to go out on your own?’ I despaired.

‘But it’s too much fun,’ he argued.

‘Oh my goodness, what is going on? Bad puppy.’ Claire ran up, breathless. She clutched her stomach as if she’d been winded. We all tried to look busy. Nellie started playing with some leaves, Rocky moved to the nearest tree, Dustbin and Ally took a step back and Oliver along with Salmon hid in a bush. ‘Do you always meet here?’ Claire asked. Although we met here regularly, we were away from the road so the humans didn’t know about our patch.

‘Meow,’ I said. It didn’t hurt her to know, after all we weren’t doing anything wrong.

‘Right, you come with me.’ She picked up a wriggling Pickles and walked off. ‘See you at home,’ she said to George and me. At least this time she couldn’t blame me for Pickles’ behaviour. I was as bemused as she was, after our back gate had been turned into a fortress. George and I could squeeze under it but poor chubby Pickles …

We dispersed soon after, bizarrely a human turning up seemed to unsettle my friends more than the fact that Pickles had. They didn’t like outsiders knowing about our special place. I reassured them that Claire would be too angry with Pickles to give it too much thought and we all said our goodbyes.

‘We ought to go home, George,’ I said. ‘Pickles might need us.’

‘Yeah, he’s in big trouble. Right, Hana, we’ll drop you off, and thank you for coming.’

‘You know I’d do anything for you,’ Hana replied and we all blinked at each other.

Pickles had been told off and was sulking in his bed. Even George couldn’t cheer him up, he really was in the doghouse, excuse the pun. After all the emotion of the day, I decided to take a cat nap and enjoy the peace and quiet. I felt sorry for Pickles being in trouble, although I was secretly impressed with his earlier jail break. He really was more cat than I gavehim credit for. At least when he was sulking he couldn’t get into more trouble, so I was able to sneak away and fall asleep on the sofa.

I was woken by voices, I pricked my ears up and began to open my eyes.

‘Are you sure about this?’ I heard Jonathan ask. He was home from work extra early and had been making an effort lately, work had eased off as he promised, and it was so nice to have extra time with him. Not least because he brought George and me nice treats to eat. Our house was finally a happy home again.

‘Look, Jon, it is weird but it’s also fate,’ Claire replied.

‘I don’t believe in fate,’ Jonathan replied.

‘In this case you should believe in fate. I mean the timing and everything. To think I was making all those phone calls to cat shelters when the answer was right here!’

It was quite cryptic and I had no idea what they were talking about, as I fully opened my eyes and stretched.

‘What about Alfie?’ Jonathan asked. They both looked at me and I eyeballed them back. What about me? ‘And it’s very sad, as well, of course.’

‘Alfie’ll be happy,’ Claire hissed and then directed Jonathan away. ‘We can’t talk about this in front of him.’

What on earth? Why couldn’t they talk about it in front of me, that was what they usually said when they were trying to keep things from the children. I wasn’t a child though, I was an adult. I stalked off and joined Pickles in his sulk, while we waited for Matt or Polly to come to collect him. I’d had enough drama for one day.

George and I went out that dark evening, despite the cold and the wind. We looked up at the stars, as the breeze ruffled our fur.

‘Do you think Tiger heard us today?’ George asked.

‘Yes, and I think she would be pleased that we’re friends with Oliver,’ I added.

‘Life is funny isn’t it?’ George said.

‘Yes, it is, when we lose loved ones, we have to let love guide us,’ I said, feeling sentimental.

‘And with everything that we’ve been through, with Tiger, with Harold and my hospital job, and Hana being my very best friend, I know that everyone can suffer from loneliness, and that it’s the worst thing, and the fact that I’ve never been lonely means I am the luckiest cat ever. Although I miss Tiger mum, I don’t have to be alone ever and even when I’m sad I’m not alone.’

‘And the same goes for me. I have been lonely at times, George, but never since I met you of course.’

‘So if Harold gets a cat, then we’ll be their friend too,’ George said.

‘Of course, that’s what we do, we make friends with everyone, even a dog.’ I grinned.

‘Pickles isn’t so bad. Not for a puppy anyway. Although, thank goodness Harold’s getting a cat and not a dog. But, Dad, we’ll never have to be lonely will we?’

‘No, George, never, and we will always be the lucky ones for that.’ I crossed my paws and said a prayer that this would be true.

Chapter Twenty-Six

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There was definitely a strange atmosphere in our house. Frustratingly I had no idea what was causing it. And neither did George. We were both being kept in the dark. There had been lots of whispered conversations following the last one I’d heard, and plotting it seemed. I worked out that the humans were making a huge deal out of getting Harold his cat and for some reason it had to be a secret.

‘Why can’t they just go and get one?’ George asked. Harold had been home for a while now and Christmas was approaching, so George really didn’t want him to be on his own longer than necessary. Although he was barely left alone and Marcus had got him something called a panic alarm for emergencies. It all sounded very complicated to me, George and I agreed that a cat would be much simpler as a panic button. I just hoped they were trying to get the right cat.

‘Perhaps they are making sure that the cat is clever enough,’ I pointed out.

‘But most cats are clever,’ George retorted.

‘True, maybe they’re making sure it has the right personality for our family. Remember some cats can be a bit moody, and others are a little aggressive, not our friends but outside of our group.’

‘All all the cats we know are lovely.’

‘Another reason we’re lucky,’ I pointed out. ‘But of course the cat would have to like Pickles as well, and children, as well as old people.’

‘You’re right, it might be harder than we thought to find a cat like that, just because we are, doesn’t mean all cats are. It’s quite a list: clever, sociable, lovely, kind, good at plans, likes dogs … There probably aren’t many cats like that out there.’

‘That’s true, George.’ I felt my fur freeze as the penny dropped. I glanced at George and quickly away. All the secret conversations and the ‘don’t talk about it in front of Alfie,’ ran through my brain. I knew what was going on and I didn’t like it, not one little bit. They were going to give me to Harold. They couldn’t find another cat like me so they were giving me away. I felt a sense of horror, and dread all mixed up together.

My eyes flickered to George again. How could they even consider separating us? I know it was just the end of the street but this was the home I shared with my son and my main family. I was a doorstep cat, but not one to be given away willy nilly. But the conversation with George had made it all clear to me. I was the only cat clever enough to take care of Harold. Oh no, no no. This could not be happening. But what could I do?

‘There’s something else, as well, Dad,’ George said, interrupting my thoughts. There was no way I could tell him this.

‘What? I hope nothing’s wrong.’ I had enough to deal with right now. Like being given away.

‘No, but you know since Harold came out of hospital we’ve both been a bit worried about the people who are lonely.’

‘Right and you and Harold have discussed this have you?’ I tried to hide the fear I was feeling and have a normal conversation. I had to behave as if everything was alright in front of George although I felt sick.

‘In our own way we have. And we’ve come up with an idea. In fact Harold and me came up with an idea to start a Sunday Lunch Club.’

‘A Sunday Lunch Club?’

‘Yes, we discussed the idea at length, but for someone who is always happy to tell people off, he’s a bit nervous about sharing the idea with anyone else.’

‘Go on.’ I was intrigued. And I needed the distraction from my own problem.

‘He wants us to introduce friends to the old people who don’t have anyone else, and organise a lunch once a week. Or maybe once every two weeks, and then he also said maybe once a month we all go to the restaurant together like we did at Christmas last year.’

Last Christmas there’d been a power cut in Edgar Road, and we were lucky that Tomasz and Franceska were able to host those who might have been without any power to have Christmas lunch at the restaurant. There was a lovely sense of community there, among all cats and humans alike.

‘I think that is a brilliant idea,’ I said. ‘George, well done, you and Harold have done a pretty sterling job.’ It was a great idea, and I would have been jumping fully on board if I was fretting so much about my own future.

‘But we need to encourage him to tell Claire or Marcus or someone, because he feels too scared to do so and without them involved it’s not going to happen.’

‘We’ll give it some thought,’ I suggested. Thinking that it was far too soon for me to have to come up with yet another plan. I was all planned out for the moment. Also, I now needed a plan so I wouldn’t have to live at Harold’s. Oh this was not good. It was the opposite of good.

‘Maybe Harold’s new cat can help too,’ George suggested. I felt sick. I loved Harold, yes, but I didn’t want to leave George.

‘Maybe,’ was all I could manage.

‘Let’s hope they get one who is very clever indeed then,’ George finished.

I was busy worrying about how I would tell the humans that their idea to give me to Harold was not going to work when Claire announced we were all going to Harold’s together.

‘Meow,’ I said, giving her my most loving look. How could she think of giving me away?

‘You’ll love this surprise, Alfie,’ she said. No, no I wouldn’t. Although I had figured out what was going on, I was still trying to process it and come up with a way to make sure it didn’t happen.

‘We’re going to meet the new cat, I bet,’ George said excitedly. You’ve already met him, I wanted to say but I couldn’t. I had no idea yet how George was going to cope, because I wasn’t coping.

George and I had a light lunch which felt like my last supper. I know it sounded a bit dramatic, as Harold was on the same street, but George needed me to live with him, and what about Toby and Summer? Not to mention Jonathan and Claire. Their lives would literally fall apart without me. How could they do this to me?

‘If I’m going to meet a new cat, I need to make a good impression,’ George said, as he gave himself a thorough grooming.

‘Is Hana coming with us?’ I asked. I thought if he had his best friend there it might make things easier for him.

‘She is not. She said it’s too cold, and she doesn’t know anything about the new cat either. I hope the new cat isn’t going to have a nervous disposition, it wouldn’t cope well in our family, or on Edgar Road for that matter.’ George chatted away but his words barely registered with me.

Claire led George and me out of the house and to Harold’s. She left the children with Polly. Of course she did, she was giving me away, and she wouldn’t want them to be a party to that! I was suddenly angry. After all I had done for this family, how could they do this to me?

‘Do I look alright?’ George asked, as we stood at the door. I was pleased that I had taught George to always look his best as I tried to focus on him and not me for a moment.

‘You are the most handsome kitten,’ I replied, affectionately. Deep down I wanted to yowl but I had to pull myself together.

‘Although I am NOT a kitten,’ he replied, but he nuzzled me to show he didn’t mind.

Claire used her key to open the door, and George rushed in to see this new cat, but Harold was sat with Marcus in the living room and they were alone. My worst fear was confirmed. There was no new cat, I was the new cat. Although George looked under the furniture just in case. No, no new cat here.

‘Alfie, George, you two have been my friends for ages, especially George,’ Harold said, as he sat in his favourite chair. ‘And I know it was your idea that I get a cat – it’s a grand idea. But I don’t want you to think for one minute that this new cat will replace either of you in any way.’ Oh, that was strange. If I was the new cat then how could I replace myself? Was Harold just a bit confused, after all he’d been in hospital for a long time and that could confuse anyone.

‘Meow.’ George jumped onto Harold’s lap and nuzzled into his neck. I thought it showed how far George had come recently as he showed no sign of jealousy.

Claire looked at her watch.

‘They should be here by now,’ she said. ‘I just can’t wait.’

‘Meow?’ I asked, enough was enough, I needed to know. Who should be here by now? Just what on earth was going on? I yowled at Claire, begging her to tell me.

‘Jonathan and Matt went to get Harold’s new cat,’ Claire explained to me. ‘And they will be home any minute now, so get ready to give a warm welcome to her.’

Relief flooded my fur, I was not the new/old cat. I wasn’t being given to Harold, and the fear I’d held the last few days was unfounded. In fact I felt a little bit silly.

But what had all the hushed conversations been about? Why was there such a big fuss being made of this? Claire was jittery, Harold excited and Marcus grinned. No, this still made no sense.

‘It’s going to be the best surprise ever, Alfie,’ Claire said. No, no idea what she was talking about.

‘I still can’t get over how you guys talk to your cat as if they’re human. Sylvie does too and Connie sometimes talks to Hana in Japanese if she doesn’t want us to know what she’s saying,’ Marcus laughed.

‘Since meeting George, and then Alfie, I’ve learnt that these cats understand everything. I’ve never met a better listener than George,’ Harold said.

‘Meow.’ George thanked him.

It seemed like a long time, all this waiting. I hopped from paw to paw, impatiently, while George and Harold sat there quietly. I still couldn’t get over why they were making such a meal of this? And if Claire had told me in the first place I wouldn’t have had to worry about being given away.

I was just about to start getting bored, when the doorbell went. Claire jumped up and went to the door. Matt and Jonathan came in, Marcus was stood up, and Harold levered himself up to standing.

‘Everything OK?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, all great. I mean sad, it was sad seeing them have to say goodbye but at least this is the best possible outcome under the circumstances,’ Jonathan said, which flummoxed me even more.

Matt put the cat carrier down on the floor. He bent down to open the door. George went up to it, and finally the cat moved and stretched, but I couldn’t see it. I spotted one white paw and I felt my body start to shake, as the cat began to make its way out of the cat carrier. I would never forget that paw, that scent. Suddenly all the secrets, all the hushed conversations made sense. It was never me, but it was all about me.

‘Meow, meow, meow,’ George said excitedly. He had no idea, as Harold’s new cat emerged from the cat carrier and I found myself face to face with Snowball.

We both stared at each other. I felt as if I was glued to the carpet, as my legs continued to shake. All those feelings I had once felt began to flood back. In front of me was my first love and she looked exactly the same. A little older maybe, but her white fur was still the fluffiest I’d ever seen and her blue eyes were mesmerising. What on earth was she doing here?

George searched my face questioningly. He had never met Snowball, he had no idea what she looked like. And I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to be pleased when he discovered just who Harold’s new cat was. Because of Tiger, I mean.

‘Welcome to my house, Snowball,’ Harold said, picking her up and stroking her. George’s eyes widened and then he looked at me. The pilchard finally dropped.

‘It was a bit heartbreaking,’ Jonathan said. ‘They are really going to miss her but at least they know she’s going to a good home and of course a familiar street with friends,’ he added. ‘With Alfie. They were so pleased that these two were being reunited,’ he added. And I would be too, if it wasn’t for George.

‘Oh Snowball, please don’t be sad, we’ll be great company for each other and you have your old friend Alfie here too,’ Harold said, petting her. She snuggled into him. I guess she had accepted the move with her usual grace.

‘Snowball’s family, Tim and Karen Snell, are moving overseas,’ Claire explained. Although to who I wasn’t sure, it seemed only George and I were in the dark on this one. ‘And it wasn’t suitable for her to go with them, so when they told me and I mentioned that we were looking for a cat,it all fell into place.’

‘I still can’t believe you told them we were looking for a cat the exact time they were looking for a family for Snowball,’ Marcus said. ‘It’s like it was fate,’ he added.

‘That’s what I said,’ Claire said, excitedly. ‘Snowball and Alfie were inseparable before they moved away, he was so devastated when she left,’ she added. George did not look best pleased.

‘And I’m very pleased to meet you,’ Harold said. ‘You really are gorgeous.’ He sounded delighted, but I was still trying to process all the information, and there was so much to figure out. Snowball seemed a little less shocked than me, but when Jonathan and Matt turned up she would have known what was going on, and her family had probably explained it to her, but I had a feeling she’d miss them. She had lived with them since she was a kitten and that broke my heart. However, it seemed that their loss was our gain.

I had a million questions but seeing the thunderous look on George’s face, I realised he had too.

Snowball and I were trying not to look at each other. George was ignoring me. The humans were all making a massive fuss of Snowball and all I wanted to do was to speak to her alone.

‘We’ve even got a cat flap for you,’ Harold said, ‘so you can come and go as you please.’ He was clearly smitten but then Snowball had that effect on people, and cats actually. I tried to get George’s attention – he was sulking under a chair, clearly not himself.

I took a breath. I needed to speak to Snowball, I needed to know what happened and if she was alright. I couldn’t tell from her impenetrable gaze which she had trained on Harold right now. I also needed to talk to George, because of all the questions I was sure he wanted to ask. But at the moment we were stuck here, in the most awkward welcome party known to cats.

It felt so strange, all those years apart and I could still read her. It was, in some ways, like she’d never been away. My unwarranted fear of being given to Harold was replaced with a new fear. And that was that George would never accept Snowball. Claire said to Jonathan that she was surprised by our reactions, she thought we’d both be so happy to see each other, but of course I couldn’t explain that to her. How could I expect a human to understand the complexities of a cat relationship?

George and I broke away from the others on the way home and went to the park at the end of Edgar Road.

‘How are you feeling?’ I asked, accepting how inadequate my words were. We were crouched behind a bush together, George was angrily swiping at leaves.

‘I don’t know,’ George said sadly. ‘They said Snowball was your girlfriend?’

‘I know and, George, I was just as shocked as you were to see her,’ I said.

‘But, Dad, she can’t replace Tiger,’ he said. I supposed I should be grateful for him getting straight to the point.

‘Of course not, George, and you can’t think of her like that. We were together before Tiger and I were, when your mum and I were just friends, but I don’t want you to worry about that. We haven’t even had the chance to say hello properly yet,’ I pointed out.

‘I was excited for Harold to get a cat and I thought we’d all be best friends but now I don’t know how I can be friends with her, it feels like I would be betraying Tiger mum,’ he said. He looked pretty forlorn.

‘And I understand that. You must feel incredibly confused, and I know I do too. But Snowball is here because she lost her family, or was about to lose them, and because we persuaded our families that Harold needed a cat. We need to remember that.’

‘But, I can’t ignore the fact that she and you have history, and that makes me feel funny,’ he said.

‘I understand, George, I do, but I don’t have the first clue what to say to you. Snowball will never replace Tiger in my heart. I need you to know that. We’re different cats now, we’re older and hopefully wiser …’ While I was trying to reassure George, I was also trying to reassure myself, or at least organise my emotions.

‘But you might love her like you used to.’

‘I honestly don’t know how to answer that at the moment. George, please understand me when I say that I won’t do anything to hurt you and I would never ever do anything to tarnish my feelings for Tiger.’

‘I hope that’s true and I hope you know that I am going to have to tell Snowball that she can never be my mum.’ He was getting riled now.

‘You don’t need to say that because she never would try to do anything like that. George, remember when Oliver moved into the Barkers’ house, and I felt funny about that? You said that the Barkers needed him because they were lost without Tiger and mentioned that Oliver needed a home. Well Harold needs Snowball and Snowball needs Harold by the sounds of it and if you can be friends with Oliver, then you can be friends with Snowball surely.’

‘No, because Oliver was never your girlfriend, and didn’t try to replace my mum. Anyway I can’t talk about this anymore right now, I’m going to go and see Hana.’

There was nothing I could do as I watched him stalk off.

My heart felt heavy as I went home. I thought about going back to see Snowball but then I realised I needed a bit of time alone.

I crept into the house and into my bed. I fell asleep and tried not to think but after about only forty blinks, I woke up, everything felt unsettled. I decided that it was time to bite the bullet, because I wouldn’t settle until I had a proper chat with Snowball. I needed to know she was alright. So I made my way back to Harold’s house, hoping George was happily with Hana and didn’t get mad at me if he found out. I had no idea how to do the right thing. Firstly I had to worry about George’s feelings, then Snowball’s and finally my own.

I let myself in the cat flap and found Snowball in the living room sitting on Harold’s lap. He was asleep. It was strange, seeing her evoked myriad emotions. In some ways they looked as if they belonged together and had been together for years, they seemed so comfortable. Yet, also I couldn’t help but remember how much pain I had been in when I said goodbye to her years ago, and how much had happened since. I’d become a father – albeit initially reluctantly – I’d fallen in love with Tiger, I’d been on holiday a number of times, we’d met Harold, there was almost a whole life between when I last saw her and now. And I was a very different cat from the one who tried to woo her by climbing a tree with dug up flowers. That had ended in me getting rescued by the fire brigade and was so humiliating, by the way. I would never do that now! Especially as that was how I discovered my fear of heights.

Snowball peered at me and I thought‘I still know you.’ It was in her eyes. I tilted my head and hoped that she would follow me as I made my way to the back door.

‘He sleeps very soundly,’ I said. It was the first thing I’d said to her and it was horribly inadequate.

‘He snores loudly,’ she replied with a grin.

‘Where do we start, Snowball?’ I asked.

‘At the beginning?’ she replied.

‘Tell me, because Claire was vague, why you’re here. Your family moved away?’ I wanted to nuzzle her but it felt too soon for that sort of contact.

‘The kids moved away ages ago, and somehow they both ended up in America. So, they all missed each other and Tim and Karen decided to move, but they couldn’t really take me, because where they were moving to would be too hot. They said at my age it would probably be best for me to stay here.’

‘That must have been devastating for you?’

‘I kind of got used to losing people, Alfie. First you, then Daisy moved away to be a model, then Christopher left home … I miss everyone, of course, and when I found out Tim and Karen were moving I was utterly heartbroken. But then they spoke to Claire and told me I’d be coming back to EdgarRoad, and although I was still sad, I thought about you and how no matter what the situation was with us, we’d be friends again. I felt a bit better, because I didn’t have to start over from scratch. But then when I saw you this afternoon, it was so strange. And I don’t think George liked me.Oh, Alfie, it’s all so confusing.’

‘Let me fill you in on what’s been going on here since you’ve been gone,’ I said, trying to find a starting point for this new situation between us both.

We talked for what felt like hours. I told her about how heartbroken I was when she left, and how my family thought the answer lay in giving me George as a kitten. I then told her about how we got to know each other and how in doing so, Tiger became even closer to me. I told her about our adventures and finally I got onto losing Tiger, and the new cat who was living in her old house. I filled her in on so much, it was quite tiring for me, talking so much.

In turn, she told me about how after she moved from Edgar Road, she had a very different life. They lived in a house with a garden on a street which was smaller than Edgar Road, and there weren’t many cats around and so, unlike me, Snowball had been living quite a quiet and solitary existence since leaving here. Well that was at an end now she was back here.

‘You do realise that life on Edgar Road is still not remotely peaceful or quiet,’ I said.

‘I do, and if I remember rightly, life with you is never dull,’ Snowball said and I saw another glimpse of the girl I left behind.

‘You know when life is calm and quiet, I always start to panic that it’s going to change drastically. It always happens; this time everything was alright then Pickles arrived in our lives. Shortly after Harold went to hospital, George got a job, then Sylvie found out she was pregnant and now here you are. I mean dull? I don’t even know the meaning of the word dull.’

‘Oh, Alfie, there is so much we need to catch up on,’ Snowball said. ‘Where do we go from here?’

‘Do you think we can start to rebuild our friendship now? See, what happens?’ I asked.

‘I think that’s the best way. We need to think about George. I mean he seemed pretty angry.’

‘He’s confused. He thinks you’re going to replace Tiger, and we have to prove to him that that’s not the case. No matter what happens between the two of us, we have to make George feel good about the situation first off, because he and Harold are so close. And he’s my son, my number one priority.’

‘OK, so, Alfie, I’ve been here five minutes and you’re already going to have to come up with one of your crazy plans.’

‘Hey.’ I bumped her gently, old feelings began to come flooding back again. ‘My plans are not crazy.’

We turned and grinned at each other and I knew that although I had lived a life without her in it, I still adored her. It wasn’t the same as I felt with Tiger, but I needed to figure out how to go from here. Snowball and I agreed that George was the first priority here, the rest would have to wait.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_28]

I knew George was stubborn but boy was he stubborn.

‘You can’t decide you’re not visiting Harold anymore because of Snowball, he’s your best friend,’ I said. That was my first part of the plan, trying to encourage George to get to know Snowball via Harold. That way they could become friends, without me being there. That was the idea, anyway.

‘Harold doesn’t need me, he’s got her,’ he said. It wasn’t going well.

‘You know that’s not true, we talked about jealousy, George, and it doesn’t work. And not only that but it’s not fair on Harold. He loves you and he’s done nothing wrong.’ I should have pointed out that none of us had done anything wrong actually but I was taking baby steps.

‘I’m sure you’re there all the time anyway, no one needs me, anymore,’ George whined.

‘I need you,’ Pickles said, but George wasn’t remotely placated by his comment.

‘George, Snowball only moved in just over a week ago and we’ve only spoken briefly and that was because I wanted to tell her about you. Everyone needs you, me most of all, but also Harold.’ It was exasperating.

‘Hmmph,’ he said.

‘George, you have to see that Snowball didn’t come here on purpose, she had no choice. She’s lost her family, she’s alone, and she’s not here to replace Tiger.’

‘I don’t want her here, you loved her before you loved Tiger mum, and I don’t like that.’

‘George, if Tiger was still here, then we’d be having this conversation and I would tell you that I would never leave Tiger for Snowball, but she’s not here, and I’m alone in that way. I’m not saying that Snowball will be my girlfriend again, but she is here now and whatever happens I have to find a way to make you OK with that. Because you’re my priority.’

‘Hmmph.’

‘Right, I am going to visit Harold and Snowball, are you coming?’

‘No. I have to see Hana.’

‘Can I come?’ Pickles asked, hopefully.

‘No,’ both George and I said at the same time. I felt guilty.

‘Pickles, Claire is going to be cross if you go out and I really do need to but I promise I won’t be long and if you stay here and are good, then I’ll play with you when I get back.’

‘Promise?’ He looked at me with his big eyes.

‘Promise,’ I said, wearily.

It was beyond frustrating. I went alone to see Snowball who was settling in well, despite the fact she missed her family terribly. But Harold had taken to her, he seemed to adore her already, although of course it was very early days.

‘So where’s George?’ Harold asked, as he fussed me. He then put down some food for us. I bet George would be missing eating his biscuits dunked in tea with Harold. I would remind him of that.

‘Meow,’ I replied. I would tell George later how Harold was missing him, I would go on and on until George relented and went to see him.

Snowball and I sat in the back garden.

‘I can’t wait to see the others. Do you think Harold will mind if I go out for a bit?’ I knew that Marcus was coming round, because Harold told me, so I thought that we’d be alright to go out. As Snowball had lived on Edgar Road before, it felt unnecessary to keep her in like they did with new cats sometimes. Also she had me to escort her, so I took the opportunity to take Snowball to see our friends. It would be a reunion of sorts.

‘Hi, guys,’ I said, ‘look who’s back.’

‘Oh my goodness,’ Nellie said, nuzzling Snowball. Elvis and Rocky crowded round. ‘Thank goodness you’re back, what a turn up for the books. I’ve been moaning that I don’t have any female company as well.’

‘I have no idea who you are, but it’s nice to meet you,’ Oliver said. We all started talking at once. It was like the old days, but of course without Tiger, and I felt almost happy again, actually, genuinely happy. Then a voice interrupted us.

‘So now she’s muscled her way in with all of you,’ George stormed. We all sprang apart and faced George who was angrier than I’ve ever seen him.

‘George, this isn’t like you,’ Nellie said. ‘Snowball is an old friend.’

‘Can’t you see what she’s trying to do? She’s trying to replace Tiger,’ George persisted.

Our cat friends looked shocked, and Snowball appeared devastated as she scrunched up her lovely face.

‘No, George, no I’m not,’ she said quietly. ‘But I’ve lost everyone I cared about and now I’m here and I’m with old friends. And new ones I hope, but that’s all it is.’ She turned to walk away. I was horrified, sad and worried all at the same time, but more than anything I was angry. I had not brought George up to be like this.

‘George, that was rude, and you are going to come with me and we’re going to sort this out once and for all,’ I shouted.

‘Go, lad,’ Rocky said. ‘We love you and we loved Tiger but Snowball was our friend too,’ he said, quietly. I was grateful for his support.

‘Come on,’ I said again and set off, I turned and thankfully George was following me. We caught up with Snowball. ‘Let’s go to mutual ground,’ I said. And the three of us headed to the park.

George sulked the whole way there so Snowball and I remained silent. We arrived at the entrance to the park and headed to one of George’s favourite places, where there was a big climbable tree.

‘So,’ I started, ‘Harold is missing you. He really wants to see you and I know you’re missing him too.’

‘Not my fault,’ he replied. I paused, a little unsure where to go next.

‘George,’ Snowball said, gently. ‘Perhaps it’s time you told me what your problem with me is because I am not trying to replace Tiger. Gosh, I could never replace Tiger,’ she added.

‘I just don’t like you,’ George said, sounding more like a kitten than he was.

‘You don’t know her, son,’ I pointed out.

‘But I know you were my dad’s girlfriend once and now you’re back again and I just don’t like it.’

‘OK, I understand that, but, George, if we’re going to get past this, we need to talk. I have no choice but to live with Harold. Don’t forget that Harold loves you.’

‘But I feel sad. Because of Tiger mum, I loved her so much, and I miss her,’ he mumbled.

‘Oh, George, I know, and your dad misses her too, and all the friends I just saw. Tiger was a wonderful cat, and we were friends, your mum and me, you know.’

‘Really?’ George didn’t sound convinced.

‘Although actually you and Tiger have something in common talking of not liking me,’ Snowball said, with a grin.

‘What?’ George couldn’t help but sound curious.

‘She didn’t like me either at first,’ Snowball said.

‘She really didn’t,’ I added.

‘Really? Why didn’t she like you?’

‘Pretty much the same reason as you don’t like me, because of me and your dad.’

‘But she came to like you?’

‘Yes, we ended up as great friends. She was a wonderful cat.’ Snowball stood up. ‘George, do you like climbing trees?’

‘I love it,’ he said, as he softened to her.

‘Why don’t the two of us go and climb a tree? I can tell you about the time your dad ended up stuck up a tree in my garden.’

George blinked and then tilted his head to one side as if he was thinking. He had heard the story before of course but not from Snowball.

‘OK, and then I’ll decide if I like you. But you can’t make me.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Snowball grinned and I realised that no one, not even George would be able to resist her for long.

I watched them go off together and they started climbing. I had to stop watching when they got a bit high, because it made me feel funny. My vertigo could kick in even if I was on the ground, it seemed.

I huddled under a bush to keep warm while I waited for them, paws crossed they would come down friends.

They were quiet when they came to find me, which could have meant anything. I stood up and stretched.

‘All OK?’

‘I have decided to be mature and give Snowball a chance. After all it’s not her fault that she had to come back to Edgar Road and like Oliver she’s lost her family, although she didn’t go to the shelter, so we need to be kind and thoughtful about that. And I do miss Harold. And biscuits dunked in tea.’

‘George, you never cease to surprise me with your maturity,’ I said. Apart from when he was immature of course but I didn’t voice that.

‘And I have promised I won’t try to replace Tiger, not that I ever could, but we can all be friends now,’ Snowball said.

‘And I need to see Harold immediately to make sure he knows I still care about him,’ he said. ‘That was bad of me, none of this was Harold’s fault, or Snowball’s actually. Are you coming, Dad?’

I looked at them both, my first love and my favourite cat in the world, my son, and I was so relieved they were getting along. I realised I didn’t need to be there after all.

‘How about the two of you go and you can continue to get to know each other,’ I suggested.

‘Aren’t you worried I might tell more stories about you?’ Snowball asked, with a grin.

‘No.’ I swished my tail. ‘I think the fire brigade rescue was my most humiliating moment.’

‘There was also the time you fell in cow poo,’ she added. Oh no, I’d forgotten about that.

‘Oh you must tell me about that, come on, Snowball, I need to go and see Harold right this minute.’

They trotted off and I felt my heart swell again, I was pretty sure that all would be alright, but I would have to be careful, because George needed to continue to feel secure. That was my priority. I didn’t know how I felt about Snowball at this stage, I remembered all my romantic feelings, they had all returned, but I also knew we were both different cats now. A lot of water had passed under the bridge, and it felt as if we needed to get to know each other again. Which both scared and excited me. But there was plenty of time, I knew that, and I also knew that whatever I did, however I moved forward I would always respect Tiger and also respect George’s feelings. But I also recognised how seeing Snowball again had been a little like a reawakening for me.

I was always so busy worrying about other people and their feelings that I didn’t have much time for my own. When I saw Oliver at the Barkers’, it hit home how much I missed having companionship, so when I saw Snowball and felt how wonderful seeing her made me feel, I realised I was still very much alive, and it was time for me to start living.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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George had agreed to give Snowball a chance, although I felt I should give Snowball a bit of a wide berth for the moment while things were still tender between them.

The children were out with Jonathan and Matt. Pickles was in his bed, George was either with Hana or Harold and Snowball. Claire and I were enjoying the peace and quiet when the doorbell rang. I went with Claire to answer the door and was pleased to see Aleksy on the doorstep, on his own.

‘Hey, Alfie, Claire,’ he said as he came in. He leant down to pet me. Pickles, who had been asleep, appeared.

‘Woof, woof, woof,’ he said, licking Aleksy’s leg.

‘Ughh, Pickles you are a rubbish guard dog.’ He picked him up and petted him as Pickles licked his face. ‘I hear Snowball’s back, I can’t wait to see her,’ he said.

‘You should go and see her, take Connie as well,’ Claire said.

‘I think we’re going in a bit.’

‘Woof!’

‘Can I take Pickles?’ Aleksy said.

‘If you promise not to let him off the lead.’

‘Woof.’ Pickles licked his face again. That dog could get his way with anything, it seemed.

‘Right, Aleksy, it’s nice to see you but what do I owe the pleasure?’ Claire asked.

‘I want to buy a present for Connie, you know for Christmas,’ he said, blushing. ‘She’s going to Japan, which means I won’t see her on Christmas Day, but I want to tell her that I care and also make her feel as if I’m OK about her going.’

‘You couldn’t ask your mum?’ Claire asked.

‘No, she’ll only tell me to buy her one of those funny neck pillows to use on the plane.’ She did; Franceska was known to only spend money on things that she deemed useful.

‘So what were you thinking?’ Claire asked. She was smiling and I think she found it sweet, as did I, that Aleksy had come to her for help.

‘Jewellery, I heard women like that,’ he said looking at his feet.

‘They certainly do.’ Claire smiled. ‘So why me?’

‘Because you have good taste and Jonathan says that shopping is the thing you do best,’ Aleksy replied. Claire rolled her eyes. Jonathan did say that. A lot.

‘Right, come with me, we’ll hit the internet,’ Claire said and they went to the kitchen to her laptop.

‘Is the internet something I can eat?’ Pickles asked me.

‘No, it is not and you need to stop trying to eat everything,’ I chastised.

‘OK, Alfie,’ he replied as he licked me.

I decided, that I’d go and see my friends while Aleksy took Pickles. I hadn’t seen much of them since Snowball was back, because as I said before, I was still processing my feelings. I headed out into the cold, shivering as I first hit the outdoors, and made my way down. I was disappointed to find no one was there but it was a freezing day, so it was also understandable. I stayed for a bit, wondering whether to head back when I spotted George walking down the road.

‘Hey,’ I shouted and went to join him.

‘Why haven’t you been to Harold’s for a while?’ he asked as we fell into step with each other.

‘I just wanted to give you the chance to spend time with Harold. Your old dad can give you some space you know. So how are you finding it?’

‘Dad, I know I was upset at first but you have to admit that it is strange that your old girlfriend turns up, but I actually like her. I really like her, she’s funny, and I like that she’s nothing like Tiger mum as well. Although Tiger mum was funny, she and Snowball are very different. You really don’t have a type do you?’

‘No,’ I laughed. ‘I don’t have a type. But I also have a lot of feelings—’

‘I do know, and I don’t want to talk about that but there is something I do want to talk about.’

‘Right, go on?’

‘It’s about Harold’s idea for the Sunday Lunch Club. He’s got a list of people who don’t have anyone and he’s even written it all down in a notebook. I chatted about it with Snowball as well and we both think that it’ll be great for our community if we could put it into practice.’

‘Right, so you guys now have your own little plan, seeing as you wouldn’t talk to her a few days ago that’s interesting,’ I teased.

‘Stop it, Dad. But you know my job, it’s not at the hospital anymore, but I still have it. I still have to try to help lonely people you know.’

‘I know and I’m proud of you.’

‘But we need your help,’ George said.

I felt as if we had come so far. I was so delighted that George and Snowball were actually in cohorts about something, I was pleased Harold was doing something as well, but I didn’t know where we went from here.

‘My help with what?’

‘Harold is too nervous about his idea to tell any humans, is there a way we can put it in practice on our own?’

As much as I was a cat who normally put plans into action, arranging for people to cook for other people and take care of them was possibly beyond me. It definitely needed human intervention.

‘We need one of them to hear the idea, so we need to encourage Harold to tell them,’ I said.

‘But how do we do that? I mean he’s happy to talk to Snowball and me but that’s as far as it goes,’ George said.

‘Then we need to find a way to get him to tell the others, and they can help get it set up, I know they can,’ I said.

‘But how?’ George asked.

‘George, I think we need another plan.’

‘I was hoping you’d say that. But I also think we need Snowball’s input on this one.’

‘Really?’ It seemed she had won my boy over.

‘Yes, she told me about your past, and some of your plans have been really terrible. With her help, I reckon we can keep us all out of danger.’

I had no words.

‘It’s a bit like old times isn’t it?’ Snowball asked as we sat in Harold’s garden discussing what George had told me earlier.

‘Different house but yes,’ I replied, feeling a mixture of nostalgia and confusion. I felt warm despite the fact it was freezing and being next to Snowball was making me happy.

‘Alfie, I feel that I’ve bonded with George, but I also think it all hinges on his plan. If we can’t get Harold to tell the others about the Sunday Lunch Club, George will be so disappointed and I can’t bear to let him down.’

‘I agree, I want to make it happen too, not least because I love that he accepted you so quickly.’

‘It wasn’t that quick, he froze me out for over a week.’

‘Believe me, for George that’s nothing. He didn’t talk to me for ages not that long ago. Anyway, any ideas about how to get Harold to tell the others? I really don’t know why he won’t.’

‘He says he thinks they might just say he’s a silly old man and not take it seriously,’ Snowball told me. ‘It’s totally irrational because it’s a great idea, but he doesn’t seem to have confidence in himself.’

‘Poor Harold, not only is it brilliant, but he’s given it a lot of thought, according to George.’

‘Weirdly he swears that he and George came up with the idea together, I have no idea how that worked though,’ Snowball said.

‘You said he’d written it down?’

‘Yes, he’s got this notebook and he said the other day he’d made a list of people and also written a bit about how his idea would work.’

‘Where is this notebook?’ I asked.

‘He leaves it on the arm of his chair, mostly,’ she replied. ‘Why?’

‘I think I might have an idea …’

‘Just like old times.’

‘What did you think of Pickles?’ I asked. I hadn’t seen him since he’d been to Snowball’s house. I think Aleksy must have taken him back to Polly’s.

‘Interesting little fellow. Kept trying to lick me,’ Snowball replied.

‘You better get used to that. Did you fall in love, when you moved away?’ I hadn’t asked this question directly yet.

‘No, I didn’t. But I know about you and Tiger. She always loved you.’

‘And I grew to love her, but it was different than with you, not better, not worse, not more or less, just different.’

‘I do understand. I did feel a bit jealous at first, but then that’s natural.’

‘Yes, and you will always be my first love, Snowball. Remember how hard I had to work to woo you.’ We both laughed.

‘It’s strange, I’m still upset about my family, I know they had to move and I know they thought long and hard about taking me with them, but …’

‘Snowball, it was only when Claire told them that we were looking for a cat that they actually made up their minds, because you know their reasons.’

‘I know, and I don’t like the heat – I’m much more a winter cat.’

‘You live up to your name,’ I joked.

‘And settling in with Harold is very strange. He’s lovely, don’t get me wrong but it’s the two of us so much of the time and the others were out of the house a lot whereas Harold isn’t, so I do have more company. And he’s a lovely man and seeing you again, and my other friends and meeting George …’

‘It’s not all bad is it?’

‘No, it’s not bad at all.’ Then Snowball snuggled into me a bit and we sat there like that in silence. In that moment, I realised that you can love lots of people, because I realised that I absolutely still loved her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_30]

He wasn’t the most obvious love guru but since he’d been spending time with Ally, Dustbin had definitely changed. He’d softened slightly and he was definitely happier. He had more of a spring in his step. That’s what love did to you. And I had a spring in my step that cold, frosty December morningwhen I went to see him. I needed some clarity and I think I needed it away from Edgar Road. I had left George in sole charge of Pickles, because I had done more than my fair share of Pickles sitting. George said he was happy to do that and he had gone off to get Hana to come round to ours too to keep them both company. She’d agreed, of course, being the most agreeable cat ever. In order to get away I told him I was working on the plan to get Harold’s ‘lonely people club’, which is what George had named it, up and running. And I was working on that but I was also working on myself. Because there was a part of my heart which did feel lonely, I could acknowledge that now.

When Snowball moved away, I didn’t even want pilchards, that was how bad my heartbreak was. But then Claire had come up with the genius plan to get George, and although I loved him more than anyone I’d ever loved, because he was my son, the part of my heart reserved for a different love had been empty. After Tiger, I hadn’tconsidered ever falling in love again. I was confused. I felt guilty. For George, for Tiger, and for Snowball. I wasn’t in the habit of just falling in love all over the place, there had only been two loves in my life after all. Claire said it was fate, and although Jonathan didn’t believe in fate, maybe I did.

My thoughts had brought me all the way to Dustbin’s yard.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you, Alfie,’ he said.

‘I needed someone to talk to,’ I replied and I told him how I was feeling. ‘I still love Snowball, my old feelings have come back as strong as ever but I don’t know what to do because of George?’

‘You know George has been through a tough time, which is why he reacted so badly to having Snowball back,’ Dustbin said, when I explained all. ‘Understandable but he did get over that quite quickly. He might not like the idea of the two of you together but I think he’ll come round. He’s aclever cat.’

‘I know, but I don’t want to hurt anyone.’

‘Ah, yes, but you know all Tiger really cared about was your happiness, I am sure she still cares about that. Tiger is gone, which is horrible, and you’ll never forget her. The problem is, Alfie, life moves on and you have to move with it.’

‘You’re so wise,’ I said. I was feeling so sad that I lay down and let myself have a little yowl.

‘And we both know that life doesn’t last forever, so we have to live it to the fullest. When I met Ally, I wasn’t interested in companionship. You know me, I’m only friends with you because you were so persistent, didn’t give me much choice, and I’m glad I am. And it was thanks to you that I was able to open my heart up to Ally too. You’re a good friend, Alfie, no, the best friend a cat could have, and that being said, you deserve to be happy too.’

‘Love and friendship, that’s all we want isn’t it?’

‘Two important things and you taught me them.’

‘And about the joys of pilchards! In fact, I really fancy some pilchards.’

‘Shall we go to the restaurant door, look hungry and see if they’ll find something for us?’ Dustbin smiled.

‘You’re speaking my language.’

As we ate sardines, not pilchards, but I’m not one to complain, Dustbin and I discussed the idea Harold had for his lonely people.

‘Remember last Christmas, when you got everyone to the restaurant. That’s probably what inspired Harold.’

‘You might be right. He goes to this senior centre once a week but he says that some people there don’t see anyone apart from that, and often they don’t have a proper cooked meal, because they only cook the basics themselves. It’s sad.’

‘But he’s got the idea, so all you need to do is to let one of the humans find out about it.’

‘Yes, I think Claire, this is right up her street, but I don’t understand why Harold won’t tell her about it.’

‘It sounds as though he’s lacking in confidence,’ Dustbin pointed out.

‘He told Snowball he’s worried they’ll think it’s a silly idea and laugh it off,’ I explained. Dustbin was right. Harold had lost a bit of confidence since being ill, actually, I think it worried him at times, how vulnerable he was. Although I had never suffered a lack of confidence, I could understand it.

‘Right, but, Alfie, if he’s written it down then all you need to do is to get one of them to read what he’s written.’ He said it as if it was simple, and as I thought about it, I realised that it was.

‘Oh, Dustbin, you are a genius on so many levels. Of course, I’ll steal the notebook and take it to Claire.’ My mind was whirring again. Perhaps I wasn’t as planned out as I thought.

‘Or you might find it easier to take Claire to the notebook, and it might be a bit less risky,’ Dustbin narrowed his eyes at me.

‘Of course, Dustbin you really are the best.’ I calmed down and realised he was right. I was a cat. How on earth would I carry a notebook?

‘And tell George that this was your idea. You get this done for him and Harold, and then you will possibly soften him up a bit when you tell him how you feel about Snowball.’

‘Since when did you become the king of plans?’ I asked, only slightly affronted, because normally this was my department.

‘Since your head has been full of confusion about Snowball. Don’t worry you’ll have the crown back in no time.’ He grinned at me, and I grinned right back.

I was so happy as I walked back, things were coming together, I could feel it. My humans were happy, my cats were happy, Pickles was happy– although Pickles was always happy. I felt fully confident of being happy. But as soon as I went through the cat flap I could hear loud and upset voices, and that didn’t sound very good. I immediately panicked, I had left George with Pickles; what if something had happened to either of them?

‘It’s my fault,’ Claire was saying, ‘I shouldn’t have been so stupid.’

‘Claire, calm down, you’re not stupid,’ Sylvie said, hugging Claire. Polly had our cat carrier in her arms, which she put down on the floor.

‘Claire, of course kids leave chocolate lying around at Christmas, it happens, and I’ll get him straight to the vet, honestly, it could have happened at our house.’

I wondered what was going on but Pickles was lying on the floor, a snorting noise coming out of his mouth, his eyes were droopy, he had a sort of white foam and he didn’t look like his normal self at all. I felt panic in the tips of my fur. What was wrong with Pickles? He hadn’t even moved since I got home. George was sitting watching with a horrified look on his face. I turned to him.

‘What happened?’ I asked, as Polly grabbed Pickles and managed to get him into our carrier.

‘It wasn’t my fault,’ George said, eyes wide.

‘I’m sure it wasn’t. But what wasn’t?’

‘Pickles ate some chocolate coins that he found in the living room, where the kids had them, and apparently dogs are allergic to chocolate so now he has to go to the vet, but he just said how much he liked them, even the foil they were wrapped in.’

‘He ate the foil?’

‘Some of it. Dad, I told him not to eat them but he didn’t listen.’

‘Did you tell him that cats never eat chocolate?’

‘No, I didn’t think of that. I’ll tell him that later, if he’s alright. Do you think he’ll be alright? Oh, Dad, he has to be alright.’

‘He’s going to the vet, he’ll be in good hands, like Harold was at the hospital. I’m sure he’ll be fine.’ I wasn’t sure at all, I thought, as I watched Polly lift him gently into the car carrier.

‘I realised that I love him, Dad,’ George said, his eyes sad.

‘We all do, son, we all do.’

I put all thoughts of my plan aside as I tried to console George. He wasn’t going anywhere until he knew that Pickles was alright, he was more fond of the puppy than he let on. He also felt guilty and no matter how many times I told him it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t believe me.

‘And Hana had only just left, you see I was saying goodbye to her at the back door and I came back in and he was already eating them. I only turned my back for a minute.’

‘George, Pickles eats anything and everything, there is just no stopping him.’ It was true, even I wouldn’t want to come between that dog and his food. Or anyone else’s food for that matter.

While we waited for news, Claire was beside herself, as were we all. It was as if we all blamed ourselves, although I wasn’t there I still felt as if I was responsible in some way. We fretted and paced around, restless, hoping that the poor pup would be alright. George lay down eventually, but I knew he wasn’t able to sleep, so I lay next to him nuzzling him, trying to offer some comfort.

Finally, Polly rang with the news that Pickles was going to be alright, although he was still a bit sick. Pickles was going to stay with the vet for a while, for something called observation, and then he’d be home before we knew it. Claire was relieved, although no one blamed her for it, she blamed herself, a bit like George. Claire cried while I comforted her, it hadn’t been fun that was for sure.

But when we knew that Pickles was going to be alright, I persuaded George to go and visit Harold and Snowball.

‘Are you going to come with me?’

‘No, son, I’m exhausted and need to rest,’ I said. I had a plan in place that Dustbin had come up with about the notebook, but for now I had another plan, one of my own. I was hoping the more George and Snowball bonded, the easier it would be when I told him how I felt about her. That was my biggest wish right now. Of course I had to tell Snowball too but I thought that it was almost understood between us already, without us having to say anything. But George was the one whose feelings I had to consider most at the moment, I was a parent after all and his feelings were more important than my own.

When George came home that evening, I had slept, and thought, slept and thought some more. Because of everything going around my brain, I was still tired though.

‘How were Harold and Snowball?’ I asked.

‘I forgot that Harold was at his senior centre this afternoon so I only just saw him when he came home. He was talking about his lonely club again. He’s got ten people so far on his list who don’t really have family around, and he’s very sad about it. As am I. But I told Snowball that you had a plan coming soon.’

‘I do, George, I do.’

‘And on the way home I stopped at Polly’s and Pickles is back, he said they made him be sick, but that he’s fine now although quite hungry.’

‘Ah, that puppy is always hungry.’

‘I know but he wasn’t bothered by it. He said it was another adventure. But I did tell him that cats would never eat chocolate or foil, and he said he had taken that onboard now. But he also said there was a lot of information in being a cat, so he wasn’t sure how much he could retain.’

‘That sounds like Pickles.’

‘I love him, Dad, but at the end of the day he’s only a dog after all.’

I went into the living room where Summer was crying. Jonathan had just got home from work and was scratching his head as if he was confused. I wished he’d scratch my head as much as he did his own, I love a good head scratch.

‘Summer, what’s wrong?’ Claire asked.

‘Henry and Martha said we had nearly killed Pickles and they’re really mad at us,’ Toby explained.

‘They were our chocolate coins,’ Summer said hiccuping the words out.

‘I know, and now we know about Pickles and the fact he can’t eat chocolate maybe we can be more careful about leaving it lying around. It shouldn’t really have been in the living room anyway,’ Claire said gently, hugging Summer. ‘But it was a mistake that’s all and Pickles is fine. Let’s go to Polly and Matt’s now and sort it out.’

‘But what if they shout at us?’ Toby asked.

‘They must have been very worried but, Toby, Summer, this could have happened to anyone, so let’s go and I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

‘We’ll all go,’ Jonathan said. ‘As a family.’ And off they went.

‘It seems everyone feels guilty about Pickles,’ George said when we were alone.

‘That’s what we do when we love someone, we blame ourselves if anything happens.’

‘I know, you always do with me don’t you?’

‘Yes, George, I do.’

‘But I’m perfect so you really don’t need to,’ he finished.

Chapter Thirty

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_31]

It was time to put everything aside and get yet another plan put into action, before Christmas was upon us. After Pickles’ scare, friendships between the children had been fixed and were as strong as ever, and their excitement levels had been turned up several notches. Apart from Tommy. I could tell Tommy was feeling a bit like the odd one out. Too old for the younger ones, and excluded from the exclusive Aleksy and Connie club. Franceska told Claire that she was worried he was a bit lonely. He had loads of friends but when he was with us, he wasn’t really there. Claire suggested that Tommy should be allowed to invite a friend to our next family day which was coming up and that turned out to be a brilliant idea as Tommy leapt at it. Franceska said she hadn’t before thought of it, as the family day was just that but our family expanded all the time. We’d added Sylvie, Connie, Hana, Marcus and Harold after all. So, this seemed like the opportune time to try to get Harold’s idea to Claire.

In fact the next family day was a mini Christmas Day because Connie was spending actual Christmas in Japan. I thought that although she would be missed, it would be nice for Tommy to have his brother back for Christmas. And although Sylvie had been panicking a bit, having never spent Christmas without Connie, she had Marcus and all of us to get her through it.

I discussed the plan at length with George, and to a lesser extent with Snowball and we decided that the next time Claire went to Harold’s we would follow her there. That would be the time to get her to see the notebook. We had come up with a rough idea of how we would do it, but we also recognised the need for us to play it by ear a bit. As with most plans, they should never be too rigid. Luckily we didn’t have too long to wait, Claire went to Harold’s most days, so today we went with her. Claire was taking him his lunch. She was also taking Pickles who seemed to come everywhere, no one wanted to let him out of their sight since the chocolate incident. Harold always had somewhere to eat, Sylvie’s, ours or Matt and Polly’s, but since having Snowball he preferred to eat at home. She really had done a great job keeping him company, but I could see where Harold was coming from with his lunch club because he always had somewhere to go, or people going to see him. He was one of the lucky ones.

‘Hi, Claire and Pickles,’ Harold said as he answered the door. He was looking quite healthy these days. The right medication coupled with Snowball also seemed to have given him a new lease of life. ‘And hello, Alfie and George. Snowball’s in the kitchen,’ he said. We all followed him through, including Pickles. I realised I hadn’t quite factored Pickles into my plan but hopefully he wouldn’t ruin it.

‘Do you want some soup now? I can warm it up for you,’ Claire said.

‘Oh I don’t want to put you to any trouble,’ Harold said.

‘Don’t be silly, I was hoping you might invite me to join you for lunch,’ Claire suggested. She was so good, she always made it sound like he was doing her a favour when really we all knew it was the other way round.

‘Of course, I’d love that. I’ll set the table.’

‘Woof!’ Pickles tried to jump up onto the chair where Harold was laying cutlery out. He was old fashioned like that. In fact, his late wife, Marcus’s mum, always liked things done properly. Harold used table mats, and napkins and everything. We all sat there as Claire warmed up the soup on the stove, buttered thick slices of bread, and dished everything up.

‘Pickles come here,’ I hissed. I needed to keep him under control.

‘You know, I can help you with your Christmas shopping if you like,’ Claire offered.

‘That’s kind of you. Jonathan said your best skill is shopping,’ Harold said.

‘I’ll kill him,’ Claire laughed.

‘But seriously, I want to get something special for Marcus and Sylvie, and young Connie. And the rest of you. I’ve put you all through a lot this year.’

‘Oh Harold, don’t think of it like that, they love you, we love you.’

‘I know, but I was in hospital for a long time and you all must have been exhausted visiting me.’

‘Well you know, I’ll help choose for your family, but with our family we decided to do Secret Santa, not the kids, but they get loads anyway, but the adults will pick one person and you have to buy something for five pounds.’

‘That sounds sensible, if you’re sure. I mean I’m not a rich man but I saved quite a bit of my pension while I was in hospital.’ He grinned.

‘No, concentrate on your immediate family, we don’t need anything but your company. Although this time next year you’ll have another little one to add to your list.’

‘I can’t believe it, Grandpa Harold,’ he chuckled. ‘Now I do need to get a present for Snowball and George and Alfie, of course,’ he said.

‘Woof.’

‘Yes and you too Pickles,’ he added with a grin.

I led my troops into the kitchen and Pickles waddled in after us.

‘Right, the notebook is on the arm of the chair, so my plan is that we knock it off, make a lot of noise, make sure one of us keeps a paw on it until Claire comes up to it to see what’s going on.’

‘Harold might get to it first,’ Snowball said.

‘What is this plan?’ Pickles asked.

‘Don’t worry about it, Pickles,’ Snowball said, as George shot him a withering look.

‘Claire is much faster than Harold,’ I reassured. ‘She’ll be over with us before Harold can even get off the chair.’

‘It’s a good plan,’ George said.

‘And for once one that can’t end up with any of us in danger,’ Snowball added. I narrowed my eyes at her, she was one cheeky cat.

‘But what is the plan?’ Pickles asked again.

I took the lead as I went into the living room, with them hot on my paws. I jumped up onto the armchair and then onto the arm where the notebook lay. I lifted a paw and knocked it off. George immediately pounced but somehow managed to slide it under the sofa.

‘Meow,’ I said. Both Harold and Claire looked over at us, but the notebook couldn’t be seen. I jumped down and the three of us set about trying to catch the notebook with our paws to get it out, but we seemed to only knock it further.

‘What are they doing?’ Claire asked.

‘Right,’ I hissed quietly. ‘George, you’re the smallest, you have to hook it and bring it out, after all you can get under the sofa.’ I held my breath, but finally the notebook emerged, followed by George who was covered in dust. He sneezed. We had done it though, now we had the notebook,I put my paw on it.

‘YOWL,’ I shouted.

‘MEOW,’ George said at the top of his lungs.

‘YELP,’ Snowball called out but her voice was far too sweet to be alarming.

‘Woof, woof, woof,’ Pickles joined in as he ran around in circles.

‘What?’ Harold asked as we kept making as much noise as we could. As I thought, Claire ran over to us.

‘What’s all the noise for?’ she asked. I looked down at the notebook then back up at her.

‘Meow,’ I said more quietly.

‘What’s this?’ She picked the book up. As I planned, Harold had stood up.

‘That’s mine,’ he snapped.

‘OK, but why did the cats have it?’ Claire asked, as it fell open at the place where he kept his pen.

‘Don’t look’ Harold shouted.

‘Have you been writing poetry or something?’ Claire asked.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, I just—’

‘MEOW,’ George shouted really loudly and jumped on Claire’s foot.

‘Ow. I think he wants me to read it,’ she said.

‘No!’ Harold said.

‘Meow,’ the three of us said in unison.

‘Why don’t you want me to see it?’ Claire asked. ‘Of course I won’t look if you don’t want me to.’ She handed the notebook back to Harold. I couldn’t believe it, we hadn’t factored in the fact that Claire wasn’t an intrusive person.

‘MEOW!’ I shouted.

‘It’s just silly ramblings of an old man.’ Harold blushed and looked at his feet. George jumped up on his lap and purred into his neck.

‘You’re not silly,’ Claire said quietly. She reached over and squeezed Harold’s hand which was shaking.

‘Here,’ was all he said, as he passed the notebook over to her.

We had succeeded, and Claire started reading as we all sat there hopefully. I noticed how Harold’s hand still shook gently as he tried to eat his soup, and kept shooting glances at Claire. He was nervous, but he shouldn’t have been.

‘Wow,’ Claire said as she finished. ‘Harold, this is such a brilliant idea, why didn’t you tell me?’

‘You really think so?’ he asked. ‘I thought perhaps people would think me silly. I know I’m a foolish old man but being in hospital was a real eye-opener.’

‘Goodness no, you’re right we don’t think enough about all the lonely people … Oh my goodness and you’ve even made a list of names.’

‘It’s the ones from the senior centre, they really do get very lonely and you know they don’t have anyone to bring them a hot meal. It made me realise how lucky I was when I started going there and then in hospital, I had the most visitors but some people didn’t have any which is why Georgebecame so important to them. I keep meaning to take him back in but of course I need help and I didn’t think any of you would approve.’

‘Firstly, I will help you take George to the hospital, as it’s Christmas we can take biscuits and chocolates for the patients, it’ll be a lovely thing to do and I only wish I’d thought of it.’ Claire took Harold’s hand and I saw that he had tears in his eyes. ‘And as for your genius idea of the Sunday Lunch Club, how about we make it our project. We’ll work together and get it off the ground straight away.’

‘You mean it?’

‘Yes, we’re going to have Christmas lunch at the restaurant again this year, it’s so much easier with all of us and we can easily fit in extra people, especially if they have nowhere to go. We can easily organise that. And then for the long term I will get a few people on the street together,with you as well and we’ll get families to take someone in. Perhaps not every week, because that might be a bit much, but say twice a month to start with? Jon and I will definitely open our house to someone, as will Polly and Matt, Frankie and Tomasz will too, I am sure, then there are others.’

‘You think we can make this work?’

‘Yes, we’ll start with your ten and who knows, we might get more people willing to help out as well.’

‘Oh Claire, I can’t tell you this means to me.’

‘Meow,’ George said.

‘And George. You know we both felt that we needed to do something about people being lonely. I was so lonely not that long back, you know when Marcus and I fell out and I was a bitter old man, but look at me now … It was George’s idea as much as mine though.’

George purred.

‘You should say that at our meeting, Harold, because it’s perfect and yes look at you now. You’ve got a son, a nearly-daughter-in-law, a granddaughter and a new grandbaby on the way, not to mention all of us.’

‘And Snowball, George and Alfie, and of course Hana too.’

‘Woof,’ Pickles said.

‘You’re a dog, Pickles,’ Claire said petting him. ‘I always include the animals when I say us,’ she laughed. ‘You know I was lonely too when I first met Alfie, a long time ago, sometimes it feels like another lifetime, but I do remember how it felt and I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way.’

‘Me either, which is why I so desperately wanted to do this.’ Harold had tears falling from his eyes.

‘We’ll make a brilliant team.’ Claire hugged him.

‘Meow.’ I jumped on Claire’s lap. Yes we would, Harold, Claire, George, Snowball and I. We would be the best team ever. And Pickles, he was part of our team of course.

Chapter Thirty-One

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_32]

We all turned up at Sylvie’s house the usual chaotic mass of people. The kids were excited because it wasn’t quite Christmas but it was close, Pickles was excited because since the chocolate incident he was back to usual. Jonathan had bottles in his hands, as did Matt, and Tomasz and Franceska turned up with food. It was so familiar. When Marcus came in with Harold and Snowball in tow, I realised that it was all as it should be. Apart from the fact that George and Hana had disappeared. Maybe this was my chance to find out what was really going on.

As everyone settled down to eat, I turned to Snowball.

‘We need to go and find out if Hana and George are together, once and for all,’ I said, sounding every inch the parent.

‘How?’ she asked.

‘We need to spy on them and before you say it, I know it’s an invasion of privacy but I really want to know.’

‘Why don’t you just ask him, Alfie?’ Pickles said. I hadn’t realised he’d been listening but I should have, as we were near the food bowls.

‘I’ve tried, believe me I have. Follow me.’ I headed upstairs and crept along the corridor to Connie’s room. In there, curled up on the bed were George and Hana, looking very cosy.

‘Right, keep quiet,’ I commanded.

‘There they are,’ Pickles shouted, blowing our cover immediately. They sprung up as Pickles waddled over to them, his tail wagging.

‘What are you doing here?’ George asked.

‘I could ask you the same, young man,’ I replied.

‘We were just having some time alone, Alfie, we weren’t doing anything wrong,’ Hana said sweetly, her eyes wide with worry.

‘Of course you weren’t,’ Snowball said, shooting me a glance which meant I would be in trouble later.

‘They were spying on you because they want to know if you are boyfriend and girlfriend,’ Pickles explained. That dog was as subtle as a sledgehammer, as he spilt all my sleuthing beans.

‘Why didn’t you just ask?’ George said.

‘That’s what I said.’ Pickles sounded pleased with himself.

‘I did, I’ve been asking you ever since we came back from holiday. I even tried to see for myself but I fell in a bush …’ Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.

‘I am fed up of you invading my privacy,’ George stormed. But then Hana laughed and Snowball laughed.

‘Oh George, don’t be cross. Firstly it’s nearly Christmas, and secondly, at least you have a dad who loves you,’ Hana said. ‘Put him out of his misery.’

‘Yes, put me out of my misery,’ I reiterated. ‘Please.’

‘OK. I love Hana, but we’re young and we don’t want to rush anything. So yes, she is my girlfriend but we’re taking it slowly.’

‘We’re being sensible, like Aleksy and Connie,’ Hana explained. ‘We’re young and we have plenty of lives left in us.’

‘Oh boy, I couldn’t love the both of you anymore,’ I said, leaping on the bed and nuzzling them both.

‘Ahh, get off,’ George said, but he was grinning.

‘What about me?’ We all laughed as Pickles jumped up onto the bed with us and licked us all.

Downstairs everyone was chatty. Food was eaten, we were given a few treats. Sylvie was smiling but in that way when someone is putting on a brave face and I knew she was going to miss Connie.

‘So are you excited about Japan?’ Matt asked her. She shot a worried look at her mum who just smiled.

‘I am, I’m nervous about flying on my own. It’s a long flight.’

‘But they’re going to take good care of you, I’ve made sure of that,’ Sylvie reassured. ‘And think you can watch whatever films you want without me telling you they’re not appropriate.’ She laughed a little and I was so proud of her.

‘We’ll all miss you,’ Claire said. ‘But imagine it will be such an adventure. And you can tell us everything when you get back.’

‘I want to go to Japan,’ Summer shouted.

‘Do you know where Japan is?’ Jonathan asked.

‘No, but I want to go anyway.’

‘Room in your suitcase, Connie?’ Jonathan said, and everyone laughed.

‘I couldn’t be doing with it myself. All that flying in a big tin can, people everywhere and then all that funny food,’ Harold said.

‘Harold, I grew up there, the food is normal to me,’ Connie pointed out.

‘That might as well be, if I was you I’d pack some bread, and some tea, in case you need to be reminded of home. I’ll miss you, lass,’ he said, softly. Connie ran and threw her arms around him.

‘And I’ll miss you too, Grandpa.’

‘Grandpa?’ Harold had actual tears in his eyes.

‘You a bit emotional, Dad?’ Marcus asked.

‘Not at all just allergic to dust.’

We all knew there wasn’t a spec of dust in Sylvie’s house.

Aleksy and Connie went to the garden, and I followed them, but tried not to be obvious. I had asked Snowball to keep Pickles busy and she was, bless her, watching him chasing his tail, and asking him to do it again so she could do so. I wasn’t sure if she would get bored first or Pickles so dizzy he’d fall over.

‘I wanted to give you my Christmas present before you went,’ Aleksy said, shyly. His cheeks were red as he handed over a bag.

‘Oh Aleksy, I was going to give yours to your mum so it would be under your tree on Christmas morning.’

‘And I’d love that but I wanted you to have this. We put a lot of thought into it,’ he mumbled, looking at his trainers.

‘Who’s we?’

‘I mean me, of course. Go on, open it.’

Connie pulled out a book, then a charm which Aleksy said was a St Christopher for keeping her safe on her travels. I have to admit I felt a little emotional. Then she pulled out a box. As she opened it she gasped. I shuffled nearer, so I could see. It was a silver chain with a letter‘C’ attached.

‘It’s the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received, Aleksy, thank you.’ She put the necklace on and kissed him. I knew I shouldn’t be watching but hey, Aleksy was one of my first prot?g?s, and my boy had done well. I was proud of him.

‘I love you, Connie and I want you to have a lovely Christmas. But don’t forget about me,’ he said.

‘Don’t be silly, as if I could ever forget about you. And I’ll bring you back something cool from Japan.’ She paused. ‘Make sure my mum’s OK won’t you? I know she’s got Marcus and the baby bump but we’ve never been apart at Christmas before.’

‘I will, I’ll take care of her too. We all will, and when you come back we’ll all be together again and soon the new baby. We could be the babysitters for them.’

‘I’d like that, thanks Aleksy.’

My heart was fit to burst.

Everyone burst into the back garden.

‘Are we interrupting?’ Polly asked.

‘No,’ Aleksy said. Connie blushed.

‘We just thought that it would be nice to have a photo, you know all of us, the whole family.’

We were organised, the humans gathered us up in their arms– Pickles by Henry, Toby insisted on holding George, Snowball sat on Harold’s lap, he’d been placed on a garden chair and Claire had me in her arms. Hana of course was with Connie. Marcus set up a tripod and a camera which he put on a timer.

‘Say “cheese”,’ he said.

‘Cheese,’ everyone said.

At the mention of his favourite food, Pickles jumped out of Toby’s arms and landed on Snowball, who was on Harold, Snowball squealed and then jumped, but was luckily caught by Sylvie. Everyone turned their heads just as the camera went off.

‘Perhaps next time we should say a non-food related item,’ Polly suggested.

That night, Snowball, George, Hana– who had decided she would brave the cold to hang out – and I sat in our back garden.

‘It’s been eventful again, hasn’t it?’ I said.

‘It’s been such a crazy time for me,’ Snowball said.

‘We are happy and sad, aren’t we?’ Hana pointed out. ‘That seems to be how life works. We get happy, we get sad, and so on.’

‘You’re very smart, Hana,’ George said. ‘Almost as smart as me.’

Snowball and I tried very hard not to look at each other.

‘But look at us, we have each other,’ I said. ‘And we have so many people we love around us.’

‘Too many sometimes,’ George said.

‘No, son,’ I replied. ‘There will never be too many, because our hearts are so big we can love and love.’

‘And that’s what life should be about,’ Snowball finished. We all watched the stars through the black sky in silence and I knew that at that moment we were all thinking about how lucky we were.

Chapter Thirty-Two

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_33]

‘So you want us to have an old person?’ Vic Goodwin, Salmon’s owner and the self-appointed head of the Edgar Road neighbourhood watch – along with his wife Heather, asked.

‘Not exactly,’ Claire replied. We had gathered some of our neighbours and friends in our living room. The Goodwins, Tiger’s, or should I say Oliver’s family, the Barkers, my main family and a family who lived next door to Harold that I wasn’t familiar with. Harold had bravely invited themto come, although Claire was with him, as was Snowball. The children were all upstairs being looked after by Aleksy, Connie and Tommy.

‘It was George’s idea,’ Polly said, with a giggle. I raised my whiskers. They weren’t helping matters at all. I nudged George and told him to nudge Harold.

‘You mean to tell me this was a cat’s idea?’ Heather Goodwin asked. The new couple, Carol and Steve, looked incredibly confused. The fact they hadn’t run for the door was surprising, although in fairness, Tomasz, who was a big man, was pretty much stretched across it. We were all trapped.

‘Oh dear Lord,’ Jonathan said, rolling his eyes and glancing over at Matt who seemed to be finding it all terribly amusing.

George nudged Harold. He blushed, but cleared his voice.

‘George inspired me,’ he said. ‘I know most of you know about my hospital time, and the fact that before my son and I sorted out a few differences last year I was on my own a lot.’ Marcus went over and patted his dad on the shoulder. ‘I’ve seen a lot of loneliness lately and I’m not happy about it,’ Harold continued.

‘It’s a crying shame,’ Mrs Barker said. ‘No one should be lonely.’ She had a tear in her eye. I went to rub against her leg and she looked at me gratefully.

‘It is, and once a week I go to the senior centre which is a lifeline for us oldies, not so much for me because I am well looked after, but some there don’t have anyone else. And in hospital some of the patients didn’t have any visitors at all. So, Claire and I are going to go in once a week and see people, take them a cake, a smile, a newspaper and have a chat. It’s like George did when I was in hospital.’ Harold was on his best behaviour. He was also wearing his best suit because he told George he wanted everyone to take him seriously.

‘I am so confused,’ Steve said, glancing at the door.

‘Never mind,’ Tomasz told him, ‘in about an hour it might all become clear. If not, there’s lots of beer in the fridge.’ This made him look even more confused, so Jonathan went to the kitchen and returned with a bottle for him.

‘You see,’ Matt said, deciding to take control a bit. ‘Harold made a list of people who really are struggling with loneliness. Do you want to carry on explaining?’ Matt said, as he got him back on track.

‘Claire and I thought we’d launch a Sunday Lunch Club. We’d ask you, and perhaps you can ask your friends, if they would be able to host someone for lunch once or twice a month. At least they’ll have somewhere to go, something to look forward to and a home-cooked meal, because some of them don’t even have that,’ Harold explained.

‘I can’t bear it, it’s so sad,’ Polly said.

‘Right does that make sense?’ Jonathan asked. He hated how these meetings could drag on and I know he was keen to sit down in front of the TV.

‘What has it got to do with the hospital?’ Vic asked.

‘Nothing really, but that was where the idea originated. As Harold said, he and I will be doing some hospital visiting, but really we’re looking for ten families at first to host Sunday lunch. What we can do is match you up with someone who is on their own, but you’d have to go and collect them and drive them home after as well,’ Claire explained.

‘So we do get an old person?’ Vic asked, for the second time. I raised my whiskers, he was no spring kitten himself.

‘Yes, you do. Now who is in?’ Jonathan asked with a sigh.

‘Of course,’ Mr Barker said. ‘We’d be happy, we don’t go far ourselves most weekends, and we always have a nice Sunday roast, so we could easily have someone every week if they like.’

‘We couldn’t do every week,’ Steve said. ‘We go and see our kids you see, they live the other side of London, but definitely once a month to start with, then maybe more.’

‘We’re in,’ Franceska said.

‘I don’t have a choice,’ Jonathan mumbled but he winked to show he was joking.

When everyone in the room agreed to be a part of it, they also started suggesting other people who may help out too.

‘I know, I shall make a spreadsheet,’ Vic said.

‘What’s that?’ Harold looked terrified.

‘Come to mine, and I’ll show you, we can make a spreadsheet of families who can host and then match them with people who need company, highly technical and very efficient,’ Vic said, sounding efficient.

‘Sounds perfect, Vic,’ Claire said, giving his shoulder a pat.

We knew, as they carried on chatting, that we’d done it. If Vic and his spreadsheet were involved then it was now a reality. The Goodwins might be busybodies but their hearts were in the right places. I was very fond of them now, deep down.

I felt emotional as George and I went to see what the children were up to. We found them all in Summer’s room, and Pickles dressed up as a ballerina. It wasn’t pretty.

‘What is going on?’ I asked.

‘I’m a girl. I like being a girl. I think I might be a girl rather than a cat from now on,’ Pickles said, twirling inelegantly around.

Oh boy, I thought, but we couldn’t help but grin.

Later that night when everyone had left, I led George out into the garden. It was time for a dad to kitten chat. I felt nervous but determined. There was really just one piece of the puzzle left.

‘George, you know that Snowball is here to stay, now?’

‘Oh yes, Harold loves her. And although she’s still missing her family, she seems to be settling in quite well too. Dad, I’m sorry I was so mean when she first came, but you know, with your history I felt as if she was going to replace Tiger.’

‘No one can ever replace Tiger, George, you really need to understand that,’ I said, fiercely, looking at the dark night and hoping to see the brightest star, which was always her.

‘I know that now but you know I really like Snowball. She’s very cool and funny, and sometimes I feel guilty about how much I like her, because of my mum.’

‘But she would want you to like Snowball. Tiger was the best of cats, she wouldn’t want you not to be friends with Snowball because of her.’

‘I know that, but it’s not always rational, feelings I mean.’

‘No, they certainly aren’t. But, George, you know I loved Snowball very much before and in my heart she isn’t replacing Tiger, but I have to tell you that I still love her.’ I held my breath as I waited for his response.

‘I know, I can see it. I’m not silly like Pickles you know.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘I feel the same as I feel about my friendship with Snowball. I feel that it’s right, and good, but I also sometimes worry that wherever Tiger mum is she’ll think we’ve forgotten her.’

‘I know, I feel that too. But we will never forget her, the two of us will keep her memory alive, along with our other friends. But you know without Tiger I’ve been a bit lonely. Not in the way that Harold’s friends are, who don’t have anyone, but just you know in that way.’

‘That bit of your heart way, you mean?’

‘Exactly that. When did you get so wise?’ I laughed.

‘I had the best parents to teach me,’ George said and we nuzzled.

‘So I have your blessing, with Snowball I mean?’I asked.

‘Yes, you do. I might find it hard, I can’t pretend otherwise, but I want you to be happy and I think that’s what Tiger would have wanted too.’ Just then we looked up and saw the brightest star in the sky and it seemed to be winking at us. We blinked back.

Chapter Thirty-Three

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‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year,’ George said, in his sing-song voice. He was incredibly excited because it was Christmas Day. Our favourite day.

‘It is son. Happy Christmas.’ We nuzzled.

It was early, of course, because our children woke at the crack of dawn, or so it seemed, to see if Santa had been. He had. As George and I watched them open presents, squealing excitedly about what they’d got, we felt warm and fuzzy. This was family at its best and it was also the scene that made it absolutely crystal clear how lucky we all were. We had so much, and it also made me spare a thought for those who didn’t have as much, or anything close. We had to remember Christmas was about giving, receiving, and also being mindful of everyone else. What saddened me about the world sometimes is how people don’t value people enough, or cats for that matter. Anyway, enough of my sad thoughts, because no one should be miserable on Christmas Day.

The run-up had been hectic, as it always is, although in a different way this year. Harold’s Sunday Lunch Club was up and running, although it was very early days, and today we had five people dining with us who would otherwise be on their own for Christmas. And not only that, there would be no turkey for them if they didn’t join us. I, for one, found that unimaginable because that was my favourite thing about Christmas. George also quite liked Brussels sprouts but I didn’t quite understand that.

The Goodwins and the Barkers were having Christmas Day together, and they had invited three other people, which was kind of them. In the new year, the regular Sunday lunches would start properly, and Harold was very proud of himself. As was I. And of George, who inspired this whole thing. Claire was working with the Goodwins as well, to try to get more people involved. They were starting with Edgar Road, because it is a very long road, they felt they should be able to get many people to sign up. With the combined forces, I couldn’t see how it would fail. Claire had the charm, Vic would talk until people agreed to anything and Heather never took no for an answer. We all had high hopes.

There had been the usual pre-Christmas fun of course. The nativity play which Toby, Henry, Summer and Martha were all in. It was pretty uneventful compared to last year when we put George in the manger as baby Jesus. People are still talking about that, and oh how I’d enjoyed it but we were absolutely banned from going this year. Claire even locked the cat/dog flap, she wasn’t taking any chances as we were trapped in the house.

The Christmas tree had also managed to survive relatively unscathed, as George didn’t climb it this year. He said he had grown out of that, but the same couldn’t be said for Matt and Polly’s because George taught Pickles to try to climb it instead. Pickles had gone back to trying to be a cat having abandoned trying to be a girl, and George showed that despite his maturity and his discovery of his purpose in life he could still be naughty. It didn’t end well. Polly was furious as decorations scattered, the tree almost landed on Pickles, who thankfully escaped unhurt. We were all cross with George and even he realised he’d pushed it too far. He promised to act as a more responsible older cousin to Pickles but I wasn’t holding out much hope on that. Thankfully Polly had the sense to ban putting presents around the tree, in case Pickles ate them and we had adopted that policy at our house as well.

I had been spending more time with Snowball and my other Edgar Road friends, now we had a little less going on. Snowball and I were back to being a couple, and although at times I did feel guilty about Tiger, I knew, deep down, she would want me to be happy. And I was happy. Some days I woke up and wondered how I was so happy, because since losing Tiger, I’d been far more down than even I realised, but it was as if I now had a new lease of life.

It was as if I was on life four of my nine lives. I had rediscovered a spring in my paws, which I never thought I would have again, and I felt invincible. I still thought of Tiger every day, and George and talked about her all the time, but it was finally time for me to move on, and as it was with Snowball, my first love, it made sense. If that made sense. But I wasn’t replacing Tiger. I hadn’t gone out looking for a new cat. I was back in love with someone I loved before.

George pretty much accepted it with good grace. He and Hana were closer than ever now he had stopped going to the hospital, but he also visited Snowball and Harold a lot. He sometimes would have a teenage strop and tell me that I better not ask him to call Snowball mum, but as I explained that would never happen, he was silenced. And he did really like her, they were pretty good friends actually.

So as we approached the end of the year, it was happy families, and love and laughter filled our lives once more. As did the fact we were helping people who might be lonely. What I loved about all our friends and family was that we all knew how much we had, so we were willing to make the lives of others better. And that is what life should be about. Sadly I know it’s not, but it should be. That’s how it would be if cats ruled the whole world.

The streets were pretty empty as a convoy of adults, children, cats and a dog made their way down the street on Christmas Day to go to Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant, so we only received the odd strange glance. Marcus had gone to pick up some of our new guests and Harold, as it was bitingly cold and too far for them to walk. Matt had also gone to pick up a couple of others as they couldn’t all fit into one car. The children chattered excitedly, no longer fighting over Pickles’ lead; that particular novelty had worn off a bit, and also they had all insisted on carrying one of their new toys with them. I couldn’t wait. Not only was I spending Christmas Day with my favourite humans, George, Snowball, Hana and Pickles, I was also going to see Dustbin and Ally. Not to mention my turkey dinner. I really couldn’t wait for that.

The restaurant was warm, welcoming, with lights twinkling everywhere. Frankie greeted us all with hugs and kisses, Tomasz was cooking, and Sylvie and Claire went to help him. Jonathan organised the children, while Franceska poured drinks. Tommy and Aleksy played a game on a tablet; rare for the brothers to share a moment together. I knew Aleksy was missing Connie, but it was nice to see them hanging out, and I hoped it would bring them closer together.

We cats skipped happily out the back to wish Dustbin a Happy Christmas.

‘Well I never, it’s Snowball.’ Dustbin raised his whiskers in greeting. ‘How lovely to see you after all this time.’

‘Remember, George, I told you that I ran away once and Dustbin literally saved my life,’ Snowball explained.

‘Yes, but that was down to Alfie, really,’ Dustbin said. We all spared a thought for our old memories.

‘Isn’t it great us all being here together?’ Dustbin said as he introduced Snowball and Hana to Ally.

‘Hana, come outside,’ George coaxed, she was still stood just inside the door.

‘But it’s so cold on my paws,’ Hana replied, tentatively lifting a paw out. ‘Brurrgh,’ she said, shivering. We all smiled at her fondly.

I went back inside when I heard Matt and Marcus arrive, as did George and Hana. Snowball stayed outside to catch up with Dustbin and Ally.

Harold proudly led our new friends, Les, Mary, Val, Jack and Alan in. I felt so proud and sad at the same time. I still couldn’t quite come to terms with the idea that people were alone at Christmas.

‘Thanks so much for having us,’ Mary said, she was quiet and a little nervous. Our families had decided that they would share the old people, although Claire said we shouldn’t say it like that, you know what Jonathan was like. However, this way us, Polly, Matt, Franceska, Tomasz, Sylvie and Marcus would make sure they were looked after and we’d somehow ended up with an extra person too, but it didn’t matter because we had enough love to go round. George and I enjoyed the extra fuss we got when we saw them also.

I went to greet them all by rubbing their legs, but Alan looked a bit shocked. He wasn’t a cat person, and didn’t make a fuss of us, but George and I had decided that we’d soon convert him.

‘You are all so welcome,’ Franceska said, ‘now can I get you drinks. We’ve got Prosecco?’

‘Oh I’ve never had it,’ Val said. ‘But I wouldn’t say no.’ She grinned. She had never had children and her husband died a few years ago, so she’d been on her own ever since.

‘I think I might rather a sherry?’ Mary said, sounding a little uncertain. I guessed we were overwhelming all together, and they weren’t used to us yet.

‘Meow.’ I tried to reassure them all.

‘I’d love a beer,’ Jack said.

‘We’ve got sherry, beer, wine or Prosecco, you’re welcome to whatever you want,’ Jonathan said, as he took orders.

‘And can I take your coats?’ Franceska asked, as they finally shrugged off their coats. Matt and Harold led them to the table.

‘Take a seat,’ Harold said. He was definitely enjoying taking charge.

‘Is there anywhere we should sit?’ Val asked.

‘Wherever you like,’ Harold replied. I watched as they levered themselves into chairs, just as drinks were delivered to them, and the children came over.

‘We wish you a Merry Christmas,’ Summer and Martha sang. They were so angelic, I wondered what they’d been bribed with. Aleksy, and Tommy shook everyone’s hands like the polite older children they were growing into and Toby and Henry introduced them to Pickles. Although our guests were still a little bewildered, it wasn’t long before they started to relax. Our families had that effect on people.

Sylvie sat down with them. She didn’t have a big pregnancy belly yet but she tired easily and had to take care of herself and the unborn baby. We didn’t know what we were having yet but we were all very excited about it. Especially Hana, who was looking forward to having new life in their house.

‘So, I hope you’re going to enjoy today.’ She smiled. ‘It’s a little crazy when we’re all together.’ That was an understatement.

‘I just never saw a family who went to a restaurant and took their pets,’ Alan said, nervously. ‘But I’m so happy to be here, I can’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked Christmas meal.’

‘Oh Alan.’ Sylvie who was emotional, hugged him which seemed to shock him even more. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added as she wiped tears from her face. ‘But my little girl, who is fifteen and not so little, is in Japan with my ex-husband. It’s my first ever Christmas without her and I miss her so much.’ Her tears streamed down her cheeks and Hana jumped to comfort her as did Marcus. ‘Oh it’s fine, she’ll be fine and so will I but I feel so strange without her. You know this morning, we would always wake up on Christmas morning and open her stocking. I wish she was here, that’s all. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, it’s not easy, Sylvie,’ Harold said, squeezing her hand.

‘Thanks, Harold, right it’s Christmas, I will make sure we all have fun.’ She wiped her tears away and then went to see if she could help anyone.

‘I don’t know if I explained to all of you,’ Harold continued, taking his role of organiser of this wonderful thing very seriously. ‘But this is Tomasz and Franceska’s restaurant and they never open on Christmas, so it’s more like going to someone’s home. And the cats, well what can Isay, they come everywhere with us more or less. I can highly recommend getting a cat if you’re lonely by the way, it worked wonders for me.’

‘Meow.’ Snowball appeared and jumped on Harold’s lap. ‘But at our age, what if anything happened to us and we left them?’ Val asked.

‘You can rehome an older cat,’ Harold explained. Goodness at this rate they would all have cats by the end of this meal. Although possibly not Alan.

‘Ahh, no, Pickles, stop, Pickles,’ Henry started shouting. We all looked over.

‘What’s going on?’ Polly asked, appearing from the kitchen.

‘Pickles just ate a Christmas cracker toy,’ Henry explained as he tried to fish it out of Pickles’ mouth. Polly grabbed him, and managed to get it.

‘How on earth did he get that?’ Matt asked, scratching his head. We hadn’t pulled any crackers yet. The children all shrugged innocently.

‘Let’s do Secret Santa now,’ Marcus suggested, cleverly changing the subject.

All the adults exchanged gifts and the younger children all helped deliver them. Summer wanted to deliver a gift when it was Martha’s turn and although Martha was pretty laid-back, she got cross, and then Pickles barked.

‘Summer, you all take turns remember,’ Claire said.

‘She never likes to take turns,’ Toby explained. ‘But, Summer, as it’s Christmas, you can have my turn,’ he added.

‘Yay!’ Summer hugged Toby and I felt a pang. My children were growing up to be like us too.

‘Also, and I won’t have any arguing, you will all take home some leftover food please, it will help me out,’ Tomasz stated, as he prepared to go and put the finishing touches to dinner. I know he meant our new guests, as we all had plenty, but it had been decided before to cook extra food andsend it home with our guests, by letting them think it was just leftovers and we needed them to help eat it up. That was Harold’s idea too. He said like him, a lot of them were too proud to admit being lonely, or to needing help. I had learnt, through Harold, to understand that. I was quite a proud cat myself, after all.

Lunch was wonderful. We cats all ate together. Pickles was kept away, because we all know about his strict diet, and I did feel a bit sorry for him. However, he was given some turkey so it wasn’t all bad. As we ate, I enjoyed listening to the low hum of happy human conversation and laughter. Crackers were pulled, hats put on, drinks refreshed – Mary was a little tipsy, her cheeks flushed and she giggled like a young girl. The rest of our new friends were all relaxing, as they were made to feel part of the family. The children were behaving again, all getting along, under the watchful eyes of Aleksy and Tommy, and everyone was having a lovely time which was all that mattered. It was all that ever mattered to me, to see my friends and families happy.

It was all any cat could ever want.

Later, as the clearing up was underway, we all headed to see Dustbin for the last time before it was time to leave. I told George we should take Pickles with us, too, after all it was Christmas, and as the adults had begun to unwind– with the help of a few drinks – they weren’t quite so vigilant with him.

‘You can come too this time,’ I said, and he happily waddled after us.

‘Hello again, Pickles,’ Dustbin said, having met him when he broke out of home and we were on the recreation ground for Tiger’s anniversary. We introduced him to Ally.

‘You’re a funny looking dog, if you don’t mind me saying,’ Ally said as Pickles licked her.

‘He does that, he licks everything,’ George explained, and Pickles licked the window nearest to him to illustrate the point.

‘I don’t exactly mind you saying,’ Pickles replied. ‘But I am more cat than dog now, surely?’ he added. ‘After all I’ve been practising for such a long time.’

‘You’re probably about as much cat as you’re ever going to be,’ George said and I nudged him.

‘Yay! I knew I could do it,’ Pickles replied. ‘It was nice to see you but I’ve got to go inside now, Summer has dropped a lot of food and it needs clearing up.’ He waddled back to eat the scraps.

‘He’ll never really be a cat will he?’ George said.

‘It’s unfortunate but a lesson of life, there’s no dog or human as clever as a cat,’ I pointed out. ‘But don’t tell Pickles that.’

‘So another year drawing to a close,’ Dustbin said.

‘And it’s been eventful,’ I added. ‘What with Pickles’ arrival, then Harold, George and his job, and Snowball.’ I grinned over at her. I still felt a flutter in my heart every time I saw her and I could barely believe that she was back with us. Back in my life.

‘I was so upset that my family moved away, and that I had to be rehomed but it’s worked out pretty well,’ Snowball said.

‘Definitely for us,’ George said sweetly.

‘And I met Ally,’ Dustbin said. ‘Which made me see what all the fuss is about.’ He looked down and I knew this was an emotional time for him.

‘And I am still here,’ Hana announced, putting a paw out to join us and shivering. George nuzzled her.

‘We are so lucky to have each other aren’t we?’ he said.

‘We are and if we learnt anything this year it’s the importance of love, of helping people and of friendship. Being a friend is the best thing ever.’

‘I like friendship,’ Hana said. ‘I never had cat friends before I met you guys and I am so lucky to have you.’

‘For me to have met friends again, old and new, when I could have been so lonely is a miracle,’ Snowball added.

‘And I love all my friends, old and new, human and cat. It’s part of my job after all,’ George added seriously.

‘Well I for one am glad I met you all,’ Ally said. ‘I can’t believe how much friendship has changed my life for the better. Being a friend is the best thing ever!’

‘Let’s toast to friendship,’ George said, raising his paw. He’d got that from the humans who did it all the time with drinks. We all put our paws up, feeling the warmth despite the freezing cold.

‘And it’s easy to be a friend when you’ve got a friend called Alfie,’ Dustbin finished.

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Уэллс Рейчел Alfie The Holiday Cat. Alfie In The Snow. A Friend Called Alfie