by Rachel Wells
‘I’m glad it wasn’t too far,’ I said as I looked. ‘So that’s their school.’ I was quite excited to see where Aleksy and little Tomasz spent their days. I had seen schools before, of course, in passing but I had never been in one before.
There were children everywhere. As Franceska dropped the boys at the gate they went through it and into the playground, a noisy tarmacked area, swarming with loud little people. Tomasz ran off in one direction and Aleksy stayed close to the gate. As Franceska turned, shooting a last worried look at Aleksy before walking off, that was my cue.
‘OK,’ I said as Tiger and I crossed the road. ‘Stay by the gate. If anything bad happens I’ll make my loudest noise.’
‘Good luck, Alfie,’ Tiger said, nuzzling my neck. I felt tense again as I squeezed through the bars of the gate and into the playground. I followed Aleksy as he made his way across the playground to a big building. Then I saw a group of children. One of them waved at Aleksy, but another child, a little bigger than Aleksy, stopped him.
‘Here’s the cry baby,’ he said nastily. I looked at all the boys and girls. None of them looked comfortable with the horrible boy but I could see that they were all too scared to say anything.
‘Leave me alone,’ Aleksy said, although I could hear the wobble in his voice.
‘Make me.’ All the other children looked aghast at the two boys. No one seemed to know what to do.
‘I don’t want to fight with you,’ Aleksy said. I wanted to fight him though. I wanted to give this kid a good hard swipe – but I told myself violence wasn’t the answer.
‘Because you are a baby and a chicken.’ The boy started to make chicken noises as he came very close to Aleksy. ‘I guess I’ll just take your lunch,’ he said.
‘No … you can’t have it,’ Aleksy stammered back. I was proud of him; I could see he was scared, but he was still sticking up for himself.
‘I think you’ll find I can.’
I wondered where the adults were. I spotted one but she was the other side of the playground and hadn’t noticed what was going on.
I realized that children weren’t so different from adults. You got nice ones and mean ones, but as I watched, I saw that this was just a sad kid who was acting tougher than he actually was. I couldn’t tell Aleksy this though, so I decided that it was time for me to act.
I moved towards Aleksy and miaowed loudly.
‘Alfie,’ he said, startled, fear forgotten. ‘What are you doing here?’ He picked me up. I purred into him.
‘Is that your cat?’ one of the children asked.
‘Yes, well he lives in my old road, not at my house, but he’s very clever. He must have followed me all the way to school!’ Aleksy put me down and all the children rushed to pet me. I made myself my most charming as I purred and revelled in the attention.
‘It’s only a stupid cat,’ the nasty boy said. I wasn’t scared though, he didn’t really pose as much of a threat as many adults and other animals I’d met. After all, I’d once had a seagull threaten me and a horrid man nearly kill me. This was nothing compared to that. But I was powerless as the nasty boy took Aleksy by surprise and grabbed the bag off his back. Aleksy grappled with him but there was nothing I could do as the bag swung out and hit a little girl in the face. I seemed to be the only one who noticed as the girl burst into tears and ran off; both boys scrambled to grab the bag. Aleksy won. I looked over at the crying little girl, torn about what to do – I was here to protect Aleksy, but I knew I could quickly cheer her up if I went over and snuggled up to her.
But before I could decide, the bully looked at Aleksy who was now clutching the bag to his chest, then at me. As if weighing up his next move he stepped towards me. I stood my ground, looked at him and hissed aggressively. The boy looked a bit startled and quickly stumbled back.
‘See, he doesn’t like you. He only likes nice people,’ Aleksy said, looking and sounding a bit braver. The other children laughed too.
The boy looked at Aleksy, his eyes full of anger, and then he looked at me.
‘Dumb cat,’ he said. I flicked my tail up in anger, and hissed at him again. He backed away.
‘Ha, Ralph is afraid of a cat,’ Aleksy said. I realized then, as Aleksy’s eyes sparkled that although I hadn’t done much, I had given Aleksy confidence – and that was exactly what he needed. As all the other children laughed, a bell rang out. I stuck close to Aleksy; I wanted to see more of this school, it seemed an intense but interesting place.
It was both scary and exciting as I seemed to be caught up in a sea of legs, making their way into what I learned was a classroom. There were a lot of children, all chattering loudly as I stayed close to Aleksy. I managed to follow him into the room, sneaking past a lady they called ‘Miss Walton’.
Ralph was red faced and clearly not happy. As the children competed to sit near Aleksy he had the biggest smile on his face. Meanwhile, Ralph sat on his own.
‘Right, time for the register,’ Miss Walton said, not having spotted me yet. She looked quite young and smiled a lot. As one by one the children answered to their names I began to enjoy myself.
‘Molly?’ Miss Walton said. There was silence. ‘Has anyone seen Molly?’ she asked, looking concerned.
‘She was in the playground, Miss,’ one child pointed out; I guessed they meant the little girl who had been hit by Aleksy’s bag. I felt terrible for having forgotten her, and knew that I had to help them find her.
I miaowed very loudly. The teacher looked over and saw me jump onto Aleksy’s desk, making everyone laugh.
‘Hi, and who are you?’ she asked, as she came over.
‘This is Alfie, he lives in my old street but he is a very special cat,’ Aleksy said proudly. ‘He must have followed me to school today and it’s very far.’
‘Well hello, Alfie,’ she said, stroking me. ‘But you’re not allowed to be in school, I’m afraid. This is for humans only.’ She laughed and I miaowed again. I jumped off the desk and, yowling as loudly as I could, started to walk towards the door.
‘Oh please can he stay?’ Aleksy asked. The others all cried out in agreement. All apart from Ralph who looked at his feet.
‘No, I’m afraid not. Look, children, all stay here and I’ll take Alfie out and find Molly.’ Another adult came into the classroom; Miss Walton said something to her about being back in a minute and then as I ran out she started to follow me. I tried to remember the way I’d come in as I legged it towards the exit. Before I left, I needed to find Molly, I’d seen her run off after all and had an idea which way she’d gone.
‘Alfie, slow down,’ Miss Walton said as she hurried after me. I stood in the playground, finding my bearings and sniffing the air. Like a super sleuth, I made my way round the side of the building where I had seen Molly heading following my nose, vaguely aware of Miss Walton a little way behind me. I stopped in front of a shed, noticing a door was ajar, just big enough for a small child – or a cat – to slide through. I peered in, but it was dark and cramped, full of outdoor clothes – muddy wet weather wear and Wellington boots. From the door, I couldn’t see the girl but I could sense her. Miss Walton came up behind me a little breathless.
‘Molly,’ she called. ‘Molly, are you in there?’ Her words were met with silence and I looked up and saw the worry etched on Miss Walton’s face as she looked around her, panic growing. I miaowed and went inside, scrambling around in the darkness, getting caught up in raincoats, and tangled in boots but determined to find Molly.
She was hiding in a dark corner, curled up and still crying. I miaowed loudly again, running out to alert the teacher. She looked puzzled – she was running around the playground shouting Molly’s name and sounding increasingly frantic. I kept yelling at her, brushing her legs before running back to the shed. She looked uncertain as she followed me into the shed but I led her to the missing girl.
‘Molly, there you are,’ Miss Walton said, kindly, her eyes full of concern and voice full of relief. I quite liked this teache
r; she was very warm. Molly looked up, her eyes teary and I saw her nose was bleeding. ‘Oh, Molly, what happened?’
‘I got hit by a bag. Ralph was trying to fight Aleksy, and it hit me.’ She burst into tears again.
‘Come on, we’ll get you cleaned up.’ Miss Walton pulled Molly up and, holding her hand, went back inside. Of course I followed them, even though I knew I shouldn’t, but I needed to see how this story ended.
Miss Walton took Molly to another kind lady who said she would make her better and then she headed back to the classroom. I managed to sneak in behind her.
‘Oh, Alfie,’ she said as she noticed me again. ‘I forgot about you.’
‘Alfie!’ Aleksy cried. ‘I thought you were sending him home.’
‘I was, but, Aleksy, you were right, Alfie is a very special cat. He found Molly, and he’s the hero of the school today.’ All the children cheered me and I preened myself. It hadn’t been hard but then again, I wasn’t going to refuse praise. Milking it, I first went up to where Aleksy sat and jumped onto his desk. As the rest of the class crowded round him I stood on my back legs and raised my paw. ‘However, I have heard that there was an altercation in the playground which we will talk about, mark my words.’ Miss Walton looked at Ralph who turned red and looked as if he would burst into tears.
‘High-five,’ Aleksy said, as I sat up, tapping my paw with his hand. A trick we practised every time I saw him. I was quite an old paw at it now, in fact.
‘Wow, can I do that?’ another child asked. I let them all high-five me, which was tiring but it made them so happy that I couldn’t refuse. Even Ralph was moving closer, but he didn’t seem quite able to join in.
‘Aleksy, you know the coolest cat ever. Can I come and see him at your house, if he’s ever there?’ one child asked. As everyone made a request to hang out with Aleksy and me, I felt as if my job here was done.
‘But Alfie really does have to go now,’ Miss Watson said all too soon, ‘so how about we write a story about him, and his journey here? Then we can all draw pictures!’
‘Yeah,’ the class chorused, excitedly.
‘Great,’ she said. ‘Right, while I show Alfie out, yet again, you can all start thinking about the story.’ She picked me up and took me outside. When we got to the gate she put me down. ‘Bye, Alfie, nice to meet you but it’s best if you don’t make this a regular thing,’ was her parting comment.
‘All OK?’ Tiger said, as she came to greet me.
‘Mission accomplished I think, and it was incredibly easy! Aleksy is very popular now and that horrible boy isn’t going to bother him again.’ Seeing how the children had reacted to Aleksy, I was confident of that. I wished I could have been there to hear their story about me though. I would have liked that.
- CHAPTER -
Twelve
‘All right, I said I’d go,’ Jonathan said reluctantly, as I appeared in the kitchen. It was the day after my school adventure and he had arrived back from his work trip.
‘Take the plant I bought them before it dies,’ Claire snapped. She had bought it about a week after Snowball’s family moved into number 48, and as all attempts she’d made to deliver it had been in vain, she’d been watering it herself.
I bristled, she clearly wasn’t in the best of moods.
‘Of course, darling. Hey, are you all right?’ His voice was tender so I knew he was as concerned as I was.
‘Yes, sorry I snapped. I just think those poor neighbours need warning about the horrors opposite them. I saw Vic today and he’s really got it in for them.’
‘OK, I’ll give it a go, wish me luck.’ He kissed his wife. ‘Alfie, come with me, you haven’t met the new neighbours yet either have you?’
How little he knew. However, unable to resist another glimpse of Snowball, I trotted off.
I wondered if Vic and Heather were watching as Jonathan stood on the doorstep and rang the bell. I was sure I could see a curtain twitch. Jonathan was quite insistent with the bell, and after what seemed like ages we heard footsteps coming towards us. It was the man who opened the door. Although he only opened it a fraction.
‘Hello?’ he said, suspiciously. What was it with these people?
‘Hi, I’m Jonathan, your next door neighbour. We wanted to welcome you to Edgar Road.’ The man opened the door a bit more.
‘Hi, I’m Tim. Sorry we haven’t introduced ourselves but it’s been pretty hectic.’ Tim sounded normal, not the way he had when I had heard him speaking to Snowball where his voice had been sad. Suddenly she appeared at his feet as the men shook hands.
‘Nice to meet you, Tim. Oh and this is my cat, Alfie.’
‘Snowball,’ he said, gesturing to her. Both men laughed awkwardly. Snowball looked at me through narrowed eyes; she clearly wasn’t over the moon to see me.
‘My wife, Claire, got a plant for you.’ Jonathan handed it over, looking a bit sheepish. It wasn’t very manly after all. ‘She’s been over but you must have been out.’
‘To be honest, we’re not home much. My wife, Karen, works shifts at the hospital and poor thing is doing killer hours at the moment. The kids have just started a new school, which, well, you know how it is.’
‘We don’t have children, yet.’ I marvelled at the fact Jonathan disclosed this information, he looked a bit bashful so I guessed he was surprised by his openness too.
‘Well take it from me, teenagers starting a new school is no fun,’ he laughed although it was edged with bitterness.
‘Sorry to hear that. Anyway, listen, we should grab a beer? Or maybe you and your wife would like to come over for dinner one night?’
‘We’d love to but to be honest at the moment things aren’t easy. Karen’s working all hours and with the kids …’
‘Well, when you have time the invitation’s there. Anyway, I wanted to warn you that there’s this couple over the road, Vic and Heather Goodwin. They’re Neighbourhood Watch Nazis, and they’ve got a bit of a bee in their bonnet.’ Jonathan scratched his head, awkwardly. Snowball stared at me, with beautiful but frosty eyes. I had to make myself concentrate on the conversation, she was so distracting.
‘Really?’
‘They are sort of, well, curtain-twitchers my mate Matt calls them. They think that as they haven’t met you and you didn’t come to the meeting the other night, you’re, well, you know … dodgy.’ Jonathan looked a bit red, and Snowball scowled at me. Tim bristled.
‘Dodgy, because we didn’t go to a meeting? Christ what kind of place is this?’
‘Oh, no don’t get the wrong idea! It’s just them, and I’m warning you because, well, they kind of have their binoculars trained on your house.’ He laughed again.
‘My God, you are kidding me.’ Tim looked across the street. I turned and could swear the curtains did in fact twitch again. ‘This is crazy. Look, we just like to keep ourselves to ourselves, so thanks for the plant but, really, I have to go.’
‘Please, I didn’t mean to offend you, it was just a friendly visit.’ Poor Jonathan looked confused.
‘Bye, Jonathan.’ Before he could say anything else, Tim closed the door.
‘Damn Alfie, I think I messed up.’ Jonathan looked flummoxed. ‘Claire’s going to kill me,’ he mumbled as he walked away. I stayed put, trying to figure out what went wrong.
All of a sudden I heard raised voices, but Jonathan was already out of earshot.
‘I hate school, this house and this stupid place, why can’t we just go home,’ a female voice shouted – the teenage girl I thought.
‘Because, Daisy, you know full well what happened. We have no choice.’ It was Tim and he sounded desperate.
‘Yeah well that doesn’t make it any better does it,’ a surly boy’s voice chipped in.
‘For the love of God, I can’t do anything right and now we’ve got the neighbours on our backs,’ Tim shouted.
‘Can we all calm down,’ a voice obviously belonging to Karen said. ‘It’s not your dad’s fault and if we continue like
this our family is going to fall apart.’ Her voice was desperate. Then I heard noisy tears, which I thought was the girl again. My head was so close to the door, I was almost in it.
‘Alfie!’ Snowball’s voice came from behind the door, I pricked up my ears.
‘Yes?’ I hoped my voice conveyed helpfulness.
‘Go away and leave us in peace. None of us, especially not me, need you here.’ Her voice was even more vehement than usual.
‘I was only trying to help,’ I said.
‘You can help by leaving us alone, all of you. Oh and by the way, if it was you that left me the bird the other day, you shouldn’t have bothered.’ I heard her padding away, as the other voices faded and I had no alternative but to turn around and head home.
Whatever was going on with them, it wasn’t good, although I knew, instinctively, that they weren’t bad people or doing anything dodgy like the Goodwins thought. But I could tell they also needed help, although, boy, they weren’t making it easy, that was for sure.
I made my way back and saw Jonathan standing, still looking confused, key in hand. I was about to run after him to follow him in when a shadow blocked my path. It was Salmon.
‘Oh, not you,’ I hissed.
‘Alfie, you really are a silly cat. Those people are bad and that white ball of fluff is no better. She’s an evil cat.’
‘How on earth would you know?’
‘My owners know, and if you know what’s good for you you’ll steer clear. They are going to be very fleeting visitors on Edgar Road, my family will see to that.’
‘What do you mean?’ I suddenly felt very fearful.
‘They rent that house and the landlord won’t put up with illegal activity.’
‘What illegal activity?’ My eyes widened.
‘We don’t know yet but rest assured we will get to the bottom of it.’
‘So it’s just what you guys think?’ I almost laughed.
‘Don’t take us seriously if you don’t want to, but mark my words, we will see this street returned to the way it should be.’