Solomon's Tale

by Sheila Jeffries

  ‘WOW. Are those for me, Isaac?’ she asked.

  ‘They’re from all of us at the school, to say thank you,’ Isaac said. He hesitated, then leaned forward and gave Ellen a kiss on her cheek. ‘And that’s a warm thank you from me, my dear. We all enjoyed your playing so much. It was marvellous.’

  And when he said the word ‘marvellous’ in his rumbly voice, something amazing happened which only I could see. An angel appeared in a flare of gold, a new angel who I’d never seen before. Her robe fizzed with points of light and it swirled around Ellen and Isaac, wrapping them in stars. It electrified my fur from head to tail as it swished over me. I looked at John. Had he seen it too? His eyes were full of its light, but he stayed silent, and I could read his thoughts. He did see it, but he wasn’t going to say so.

  ‘These are wonderful flowers.’ Ellen buried her face in them. ‘The perfume! And the colours! I … I’ve never had such a bouquet.’

  Isaac smiled, looking down at her, his eyes radiating kindness.

  ‘The first of many, I hope,’ he said, and rubbed his chunky hands together. ‘Brr, it’s cold. I’ll be glad to get in by the fire. Is your little stove going?’

  ‘Not yet.’ Ellen said. ‘I had trouble lighting it this morning.’

  ‘I’ll do it for you … in return for a coffee,’ said Isaac eagerly.

  ‘And will you make a Lego model with me?’ John asked. ‘Please?’

  ‘When I’ve lit the fire … if that’s OK with your mum.’

  ‘That would be brilliant,’ said Ellen. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’

  I glanced across at Pam’s caravan and she was watching out of her window with a big smile on her face. She stuck her thumbs up and winked at me. Isaac sat on the floor with the stove doors open, twisting bits of newspaper and popping them in around the kindling. He lit a match and sat there blowing and twiddling paper until orange flames were roaring up the flue. I rubbed myself against him, purring, walking round and round him, over his lap and stretching up to kiss his nose and feel his beard brushing my whiskers.

  I buzzed with excitement when Ellen gave me the crackly cellophane from the flowers. She put it on the floor and I pounced and skidded and scrunched it. I wanted to hear Isaac laugh, and he did, and the caravan shook with his happy laughter. His eyes crinkled and his face went red, and Ellen and John were laughing at me too.

  We had a great afternoon. John settled down with his Lego and Ellen sat peacefully talking to Isaac. He did a lot of attentive listening, and I could see him looking at the ballet shoes hanging on the wall. When he stood up to go home, he touched the pink silk ribbon with one finger.

  ‘Who’s the dancer?’ he asked.

  Ellen blushed. ‘Me,’ she said. ‘I used to do ballet. I loved it. Ballet and music were … were my passion.’

  Isaac looked down at her with deepening interest.

  ‘Well,’ he said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Slowly he put his hand into his pocket and took out a glossy leaflet. ‘It so happens that this came through my door today. It’s the Hall for Cornwall programme in Truro. Have you been there?’

  ‘No. Never,’ said Ellen. ‘We couldn’t possibly afford to go.’

  ‘They’re doing a ballet. Swan Lake. I … don’t suppose you’d like to come with me, would you Ellen?’

  Ellen stared at him, her mouth open, her eyes full of light.

  ‘I’d love to,’ she whispered, and looked at John. ‘But …’

  I rubbed against Isaac’s legs to show my approval, and John said, ‘You go Mummy. Pam will look after me, and Solomon.’

  ‘I’ll fetch you, and bring you home,’ said Isaac, ‘and I can pay for the tickets. It would be my pleasure to take you.’

  I had to meow at Ellen twice before she said, ‘Yes … yes, I’d love that Isaac.’

  ‘Right.’ Isaac got up and put on his duffel coat. ‘I shall go home now and book them this instant.’

  The minute he’d gone, Pam came bustling over.

  ‘Eee,’ she said, ‘look at them flowers.’

  ‘He’s invited me to the ballet, at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro,’ said Ellen.

  ‘Eee …’ Pam sat down and I saw tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and whispered, ‘I reckon Isaac Mead fancies you, Ellen.’

  Ellen went red. ‘Maybe he does,’ she said.

  ‘He’s a lovely man,’ said Pam, ‘a lovely man, and so lonely since his wife died. He’s all on his own in that big farmhouse like a pea in a drum.’

  ‘But Pam …’ said Ellen. ‘What am I going to wear?’

  ‘He won’t care,’ said Pam. ‘He’ll probably turn up in his old duffel coat. Anyway, you are going, aren’t you? And you know I’ll look after John and Solomon.’

  ‘Thanks Pam, you’re a star.’

  It was the first of many times when Isaac came and took Ellen out, and I watched her slowly coming alive again, singing and making things, and reading stories to John. And I enjoyed the evenings with Pam. It seemed that everything had come right for me, if only Jessica had been there to share the cosy life we now had.

  THE DIARY OF A STAR CAT

  I only had one terrible fear in my life. The cat basket. There were bad memories of being taken away from Jessica that day. How it felt to be imprisoned, to have to fight so fiercely for my freedom, had left scars in my mind. One day Ellen tried to take me to the vet, and when I saw that cat basket I ran away and hid in the same old badger hole. I stayed there all day until dark and I heard the anxiety in Ellen’s voice as she called me, banging my dish with a spoon. So I went home to a warm welcome, and the cat basket was nowhere to be seen.

  The next day Abby the vet came to see me and gave me what she called a booster jab.

  ‘How old is he now?’ she asked, stroking me under my chin.

  ‘He must be seven,’ said Ellen. ‘I don’t know why he’s got those grey hairs round his face. Seven isn’t old for a cat, is it?’

  ‘It’s middle age,’ said Abby. ‘But don’t forget Solomon went through a major trauma and it may be that he’ll age quicker.’

  ‘And we don’t know what happened,’ said Ellen, ‘or what he’d been through when he was a kitten. And I do think he’s still grieving for Jessica. He lies and gazes at her photograph.’

  ‘Well, he’s in good condition anyway,’ said Abby. ‘His coat’s beautiful.’

  ‘I want him to be as strong as he can,’ said Ellen. ‘We’ve got another huge change coming and I don’t want him to get upset.’

  The words rang in my head. Another huge change! What could that be? I was settled now, even without Jessica my life was as good as it got. I didn’t want another upheaval. Especially if it involved Joe. Or the cat basket.

  My anxiety led me to seek out refuges again. I went down the lane to see Karenza. I made friends with Pam’s dog who was smaller than me, and I was allowed into her caravan for a cuddle and a titbit. The old badger hole was my private sanctuary, and the tuft of white fur from Jessica’s coat was still there. It comforted me as I slept with my nose touching it. Inside the hole I listened to every car that came down the lane, and if one slowed down and turned into the campsite, I was instantly awake and nervous. Was it Joe? Was it a bailiff?

  One day in early summer when the copse was full of bluebells and pink campion, I heard the sound of Isaac’s car turning in. I loved Isaac, so I got up, stretched and dashed through the tall flowers and over the wall to greet him.

  He was standing outside the caravan with his arms full of empty cardboard boxes. Ellen came out and he put the boxes down and gave her a big bear hug. She hugged him back and her aura glowed like a sunset.

  ‘I’m here,’ said Isaac, ‘and this is the best day of my life.’

  ‘And mine,’ Ellen said, gazing up at him.

  I ran to them meowing, my tail up.

  ‘Here he is. Hello, Solomon,’ said Isaac, and picked me up. I purred and made a fuss of him.

  ‘He loves you,’ Ellen said, ‘he always comes runni
ng doesn’t he?’

  In the caravan I sat on the sunny windowsill and wondered why Ellen and Isaac were taking everything down from the shelves and packing it into boxes. The kitchen china went in, then Ellen’s books and her ballet shoes. I turned to look at Jessica’s photograph, and it had gone. It was a shock. I stood in the space and meowed at Ellen.

  ‘Don’t worry, Solomon, Jessica’s photo is packed. It’s quite safe, darling, and you shall see it again very soon.’

  Ellen had always explained stuff to me, but just lately I hadn’t been listening. With a growing sense of alarm I watched her dragging two big bags out of a cupboard and packing John’s clothes and teddies into them. When had this happened before? On that terrible day when I’d been abandoned.

  Surely it wasn’t happening again!

  I got more and more spooked. My fur began to bristle, and I sat stiffly, watching Isaac carrying the boxes to the car.

  The caravan looked bare, as if no one lived there.

  Ellen went outside, and came in with the cat basket.

  I took one look at it and ran as if someone had set fire to my tail.

  ‘Oh no!’ I heard Ellen cry. ‘Solomon!’

  I shot up my favourite ash tree in the copse and sat there hidden by the green summer leaves. Ellen and Isaac were calling for me, but I ignored them. I watched the sunlight flickering on the leaves as they moved in the breeze. I heard the scream of the seagulls flying overhead, and I remembered the shining sea.

  It had been so long since I’d talked to my angel. Had I become a boring switched-off old cat? I focused on the light, remembered the silver stars, and listened beyond the wind in the trees. And from somewhere among those sounds my angel’s voice began to talk to me.

  ‘All is well, Solomon. You must go back,’ she said. ‘Ellen wants to take you to live with Isaac, and this is good for her and for you. You will be quite safe in the cat basket. I will watch over you. Stay calm and this time nothing will hurt you.’

  ‘I can’t,’ I said. ‘I just can’t go inside that basket.’

  ‘You can, Solomon. Isaac has a lovely home where you will be free and happy. It’s time to move on.’

  I clambered down from the tree, thinking about what she’d said. In my heart I wanted to be with Jessica again. I decided to go to the badger hole, one last time, and sit close to the tiny white tuft of Jessica’s fur. Then maybe I would try to go home.

  Sensing a movement inside the hole as I approached, I sat down to watch. A bird was in there! A robin. I watched him hopping about and saw his head move to peck something. I heard the burr of his wings as he flew past. In his beak was Jessica’s tuft of white fur. He was going to line his nest with it.

  My last link with Jessica was gone.

  With my tail down I padded slowly homeward through the copse, just looking at the ground in front of me. I was tired of life, and deeply grieving, and afraid.

  When I got to the caravan I was surprised to see Karenza sitting on the grass with Ellen. Normally I would have run to them with my tail up, but I couldn’t.

  Ellen gave a cry, ‘Oh HERE he is! Solomon …’

  I didn’t go to her but crept right under the caravan into the dark and crouched there.

  ‘What’s wrong with him? He must be hurt, or sick,’ said Ellen, and she lay on her tummy and tried to coax me out. I felt too numb to move. ‘Please Solomon,’ she pleaded, ‘I love you so much. I won’t leave you ever again. Please come out.’

  ‘Let me try,’ said Karenza, and she crawled under the caravan and lay beside me. She looked into my eyes for a long time, and gently put her hands on me. I felt a warm glow from them, and I remembered that touch, how she had taken me into her bed and healed me through the night.

  ‘I need to spend some time with him, Ellen,’ she said. ‘Can you hang in there?’

  ‘OK, I’ll just sit here quietly.’

  Karenza began to talk to me by telepathy, which made it so easy. The thoughts were rippling to and fro between us. Instead of lecturing me, Karenza asked me questions, deep questions that needed to be answered.

  ‘What is it you want to tell me, Solomon?’

  ‘I want to go with Ellen, but I can’t. I can’t go in that cat basket.’

  ‘What happened to make you so afraid?’

  ‘I was … kidnapped … by a family and they were going to take me to London, and call me Fred.’

  ‘So what did you do?’

  ‘I … I went crazy, and hurt myself. I made my paws bleed, and my nose. I was covered in blood. I had to make them let me out.’

  Karenza paused and sent me a whoosh of love from her hands. It was better than the amber velvet cushion. I sensed her tuning in to my deepest secrets.

  ‘That must have been hard for you, Solomon. You don’t like fighting do you? You’re such a loving cat.’

  What she said, and the way she said it, gave me such peace to know that a human understood. I wanted to purr, but instead, I sort of cried like a human in little squeaks and growls, and the sound travelled right through me, carrying the pain away. Karenza stayed with me, and I saw that Ellen had crawled under the caravan too and her beautiful eyes were looking at me like two big lamps. I reached out a paw to her to show I cared.

  Then Karenza asked me about Jessica, by telepathy, and I was able to tell her everything. It was such a relief. I even told her about the robin flying off with the tuft of white fur.

  Each time I told her something and she listened, I felt lighter, and better. The dark space under the caravan seemed full of the haze of stardust. I began to feel like a new cat.

  I purred and stretched. I kissed Ellen on the nose. Then I walked out into the sunshine and the two women crawled after me, their hands and clothes grubby from the dust. I sat on Ellen’s lap and purred while Karenza told her everything.

  ‘He’s a very traumatised cat,’ she said, and then added something which made me feel a whole lot better. ‘And he must never be expected to go in a cat basket again, Ellen. He can’t, and he needs you to understand that.’

  Ellen was silent.

  ‘It’s my fault,’ she said eventually. ‘I should never have left him that time.’

  ‘Solomon’s forgiven you. Haven’t you, Solomon?’ said Karenza, and I purred louder, put my paws around Ellen’s neck, and gave her a cat-hug.

  ‘Look at him. He’s giving me so much.’ Ellen rubbed her cheek against my head. ‘But how are we going to get him down to Isaac’s place? The caravan is all locked up now and I’ve given the keys to Nick. We’ve officially moved out.’

  Karenza’s eyes gleamed and she rummaged in the bag she always carried over her shoulder. It had a fabric cat on it with eyes made of tiny beads. She took out something that looked like a sock, and let me sniff it. It smelled of one of her cats.

  ‘This is a new kind of cat harness,’ she said. ‘He’ll be quite safe in it. And we can walk him down to Isaac’s place. That’s the natural way for a cat to travel, and he won’t be frightened at all.’

  ‘It’s five miles, Karenza, and look at the time.’

  ‘I don’t bother about time,’ said Karenza. ‘I’ll come with you, and we’ll go across the fields. I know the way. And we’ll take turns carrying Solomon if he doesn’t want to walk.’

  ‘That’s wonderful of you – thanks,’ said Ellen, taking the sock thing from Karenza. I let her slip it over my head and gently pull my front paws through the two arm holes. It was comfortable and I felt OK in it. Karenza clipped a long lead onto it, and I rolled around on my back, playing with it for a few moments of being silly.

  Then we set off into the golden evening, walking west. We walked through bluebell woods and along lanes perfumed with clouds of white flowers, through a village and over a bridge. It was a long way.

  ‘He loves it,’ said Ellen. ‘He’s had his tail up all the way.’

  On top of a hill we stopped for a rest, and the two women drank from bottles of water as we watched the sun going down.

 
‘That’s Isaac’s place.’ Ellen pointed to a huddle of buildings in the valley below. ‘It’s an old farmhouse. You’ll love it, Solomon.’

  I hoped it was going to be OK.

  Seeing Ellen so happy with Isaac, I was a bit jealous. They both loved me and gave me everything I needed, but I still missed Jessica. Sometimes I wanted her so much that I ached inside.

  Isaac’s place was a roomy farmhouse with deep stone windowsills lined with cushions. And it had STAIRS! I did try to play on my own, and everyone encouraged me. John ran up and downstairs dragging a catnip mouse on a string, and I enjoyed that game.

  Isaac had a magnificent piano and I took to lying on his lap and purring while we both soaked up the beautiful music Ellen loved to play. I grew to trust Isaac totally, and I could see that Ellen and John had a happy life with him.

  The garden was a wild tangle of overgrown shrubs festooned with honeysuckle and bramble. Underneath was a network of green tunnels, used by various wild creatures. Exploring on my own was spooky, but I persevered, and one day I made an amazing discovery.

  I found a gate overgrown with ivy, and beyond it was a secret path winding between tall pink foxgloves. It looked mossy and inviting, and as I sat staring at it, I suddenly felt that Jessica was with me. She would have gone straight down there. My fur started to bristle with excitement. I squeezed under the gate and trotted down the path, not knowing what I was going to find.

  The grass was hot and bees were buzzing, but there was a rhythmic swishing sound. It changed suddenly to a majestic roar as the path opened onto a rocky hillside, and there before me was the sea.

  Now I knew where to go to think about Jessica.

  I selected a warm rock and sat on it for a long time, gazing at the blaze of sunlight on the water. I watched enormous sparkles pirouetting at the edges, dancing away and then massing together. It seemed to me that the sea was full of angels, and if I stared for long enough I would see them. I never did, but if I closed my eyes and imagined that mass of silver sparkles, I saw my own angel clearly.