by Rachel Wells
‘Nice job,’ Tiger said. ‘But I don’t follow.’
‘He’s an expert on being outside. I know it’s a bit further but maybe he can help us find Snowball!’ I just had a feeling that he would be better at this than we were.
‘Alfie, it’s getting dark and it’s quite far away. Are you sure about this?’ Tiger asked. She was right, this was out of my comfort zone, and I didn’t relish the idea.
‘I have to find Snowball and this is the only idea I’ve got,’ I explained.
‘You must really love her,’ Tiger said, sounding a bit sad.
‘I’d do the same for you,’ I replied and I meant it. I loved her in a different way but I would.
‘I know, come on, let’s find this Dustbin.’
We walked as briskly as we could, with an urgency that we didn’t feel the last time we came here, and also with more confidence. We both knew we could find our way back easily. The only difficult part was when we got to the restaurant finding our way out the back, after all I had only been through the flat before. But we found an alley and after a couple of wrong turns we found the yard.
‘Dustbin,’ I called. A head emerged from under a bin. He had clearly been having his dinner.
‘Alfie? Is that you?’ He crawled out.
‘Hi, yes, and this is my friend Tiger. Dustbin, we really need your help.’ I noticed Tiger looking a bit scared as I filled him in. She was a brave cat but she had never had to rough it like this in her life. Not like me. Or Dustbin.
I realized quickly that I had done exactly the right thing as Dustbin seemed to round up quite a few dirty, feral cats who looked terrifying but were all incredibly kind and willing to help. I described Snowball to them – cats don’t need missing posters I can tell you – and I even managed to explain how she smelt, although Tiger said I went too far when I went on about garden roses, fresh dew on grass, and summer breezes. You can’t help being in love I tried to tell her as the other cats laughed at us. Tiger then shot out a more practical description, also saying that Snowball might not be overjoyed or even remotely friendly if found. She made a good point.
Dustbin said we had to wait for them in the yard, which horrified Tiger; and when they left, I could see she was more nervous than I was.
‘What was that?’ she said, jumping.
‘Your shadow.’ I rolled my eyes and flicked my tail. I had been homeless of course, for a short time, and although I hated to be reminded of those days, I knew this yard and it didn’t scare me. I was glad the mice and rats were keeping away from us though as we settled down to wait.
I was fighting sleep, but Tiger’s jitters kept me awake. She was tougher than me normally but I had found her Achilles paw. It was dawn by the time Dustbin returned with one of his friends and by some miracle they had Snowball with them. At first I wondered if I was so exhausted I was seeing things but as they approached, I saw it was definitely her and I wanted to leap for joy.
‘You did right coming to get me,’ Dustbin said. I looked at Snowball, who didn’t look well. She was thin, as if she hadn’t eaten for the whole time she’d been missing – coming up to four days – and she wasn’t very white anymore. But still the sight of her made my heart beat that bit faster, although I was also full of anxiety at the state she was in. Would she be all right?
‘Dustbin … how?’ I was almost lost for words.
‘Word got out very quickly, and she was found about two miles north of Edgar Road. She’d got lost, and was hiding out in a park, but near a big estate, so it was fraught with danger. It was lucky one of my mates remembered seeing her and found her when he did, he called me and we managed to get her back to you.’ Dustbin looked proud and I went over and thanked him by nuzzling him, although he was filthy.
‘Dustbin, I don’t know how to thank you,’ I said.
‘No worries, Alfie, happy to help. But she doesn’t look too good. How are you going to get her back to Edgar Road?’
‘I’m not sure.’ I couldn’t quite believe they’d found her so quickly, I certainly hadn’t got a clue how to get her home. She didn’t look as if she would be able to walk.
‘Franceska and Tomasz?’ I said. It was almost morning, but I would have to wait until they got up. ‘But how can I get their attention?’ I said.
‘Ah, well, you might be in luck. Franceska comes down here every morning to clean the restaurant, she does it before the boys get up.’
‘Thank goodness.’ I was relieved, and Tiger looked as if she could finally relax.
‘And until then, we need to all snuggle up to keep warm.’
Tiger looked horrified at the idea but she moved close to me. Snowball still hadn’t spoken and she looked as if she was in shock as she lay down next to Dustbin, I snuggled up to her other side, so she would be warm between us, and because I wanted to be close to her as the relief of finding her was seeping in. I hoped she wasn’t too ill, but I couldn’t be sure, as we all fell into an uneasy sleep.
‘What on earth?’ I heard Franceska shout, which woke us with a start. She ran back upstairs and came down again with big Tomasz, who was wearing his pyjamas.
‘Alfie?’ he said.
‘Yes is Alfie, but with the cat who went missing and this cat from his street also.’ Franceska obviously recognized Tiger. ‘And Dustbin. What is going on?’ We all miaowed in chorus, apart from Snowball who was still silent.
‘The cat looks sick.’ Tomasz picked Snowball up and she lifted her head and looked at him, which gave us all hope.
‘But what are they doing here?’ Franceska asked.
‘No idea, but we need to get them home. You stay with the boys, I’ll get dressed and then drive them back.’
‘But we don’t have cat carriers.’
‘Kochanie, we don’t have time to worry about that.’
Tomasz placed us in the car, all on the back seat. Snowball had managed to say thank you to Dustbin before we left and then she said the same to me and Tiger. It was the sweetest sound ever to my ears, like flapping butterfly wings. I tried to enjoy the journey but I was too full of emotion. We had done it, or Dustbin had; my plan had worked out. It was amazing and I couldn’t wait to get home, so that Snowball could get better. I had a horrid feeling that she was going to have to visit the vet though.
Tomasz pulled up outside Jonathan and Claire’s house, and rang the bell. He was carrying Snowball and I was at his feet. Tiger bade us goodbye and went home to eat, sleep and get clean, something I was also desperate to do. Finally Jonathan appeared, looking grumpy and wearing his dressing gown.
‘What on earth are you doing here, Tomasz?’ he asked before he saw that Snowball was in his arms. ‘You found Snowball? How on earth?’ He looked at me.
‘I have no idea, Jonathan. I found Alfie, with the missing cat, in the yard behind the restaurant, along with the restaurant cat.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Jonathan said.
‘I don’t either,’ Tomasz concurred. ‘It seems that Alfie strikes again.’
Claire appeared and took in the scene. ‘What’s going on?’
‘He’s got Snowball! It seems that, yet again, Alfie is somehow linked to a success story and we will never know what happened.’ Jonathan stood aside as if to let Tomasz in.
‘She is not good, I think we need to get her home now,’ Tomasz said, staying on the doorstep.
‘Oh, I’ll come round with you,’ Jonathan offered.
The Snells cried tears of joy when they saw Snowball, but the celebration was short-lived as they noticed how unwell she seemed.
‘Do you need a lift to the vet?’ Tomasz asked, introducing himself.
‘No, we can’t thank you enough for bringing her back but we’ll take it from here.’ As the Snells shut the door, Jonathan and Tomasz exchanged a glance; it seemed as if the Snells were keen to get rid of them and me.
‘They seem a bit strange,’ Tomasz said. ‘They didn’t even ask me where the cat was found or anything.’
‘I know, and
I thought we all bonded yesterday when we were looking for her. I mean they didn’t tell us their life story but they joined us for tea and cake, and although they were upset they were friendly then.’
Both men shrugged and I wondered what this meant. Would the Snells return to their old ways or were they going to continue being part of the street? I fervently hoped it was the former but I was afraid it was the latter.
- CHAPTER -
Twenty-Five
I was more determined than ever to come up with a plan to help Snowball and her family. As I feared, the Snells had retreated to their old ways since Snowball’s return a few days ago. They had come to see Jonathan to tell him that Snowball was fine; she had been just a bit dehydrated. The vet had given her some medicine and the all clear, and they had thanked us, and finally even asked where she was found. That was the last we’d seen of them.
Desperate to see Snowball, I had taken to hanging out by the loose fence panel and I had been rewarded with her finding me there three days after her rescue.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked her.
‘I am now, thank you. And thank you for your efforts to find me.’ She sounded formal for someone whose life I’d practically saved.
‘We all did. The cats on Edgar Road and my friend Dustbin all rallied. Even Tom who is sorry he hurt you. But why did you run off?’ I asked.
‘I’d had enough. My family were falling apart, Tom and Salmon were mean and I thought if I was going to be homeless anyway I might as well make a head start. By the time I’d cooled off and wanted to come home I had no idea where I was until that cat found me.’
‘I remember how scary it can be out on the streets,’ I said.
‘Well thank you again, Alfie, and you might be pleased to know my family are stronger now. While I was missing, they remembered how much they loved each other, so they are getting along much better. At least one good thing came out of it.’
‘I’m so glad; now if only we could all be friends—’
‘Don’t get ahead of yourself. We still need our privacy, they still have too much going on to cope with and, speaking of that, I’m afraid Tim is fixing the fence today. When he saw how loose this panel was, which I may have helped him discover, he decided to do some work out here. Thanks for finding me, but now you can leave us alone again.’
That was over a week ago and I hadn’t even so much as caught a glimpse of Snowball since. The loose fence panel had been fixed, and so my days of looking from my garden into the Snells’ were over. After all I’d done for her, I was hurt. But then I realized I couldn’t give up.
I decided it was time to go and see Snowball to find out once and for all what was going on with her family. I had to try to get to the bottom of it. I was prepared to be brave and go inside the house if I needed to; after all, I knew the layout and this time I would make sure I avoided getting stuck in cupboards.
I was still feeling quite pleased with myself as I made my way next door, going over the fence rather than round the front. I surveyed the place from the top of the fence, but couldn’t see anything, so I jumped down into the garden. It was deserted, I could tell by just sniffing the air. I went over to look through the patio doors. Whilst the Snells kept the front of the house in darkness most of the time, I could see into the back, and as I looked through the patio doors, trying not to concentrate too much on my own reflection, I could see the kitchen was empty. I decided to take my chance as I hopped through the cat flap. The kitchen was definitely empty, not tidy though, as dishes littered the side and there was a lot of clearing up to be done. Being such a clean cat this made me bristle but I tried not to mind too much. Snowball’s bowls on the floor had half-eaten food and a small amount of water. As tempted as I was to help myself, I didn’t touch them as I knew that would definitely upset her. And of course I was glad she was well enough to eat again.
I padded through the hall and into the living room, which was much like ours at home, although, again, not as tidy. Evidence of life could be seen in the creases on the cushions, and I spied some bits of white fur on the sofa. I couldn’t resist having a sniff, making me feel closer to the object of my affections. As always, the front curtains were drawn. I reluctantly went back into the hallway and stood at the bottom of the staircase. I was so tempted to go upstairs, to see what was there, but then I heard movement coming from the kitchen. I froze. Was I about to be discovered? I looked for somewhere to hide but there was nowhere, and so I stood rooted to the spot as a figure appeared. It was Christopher, the boy that they talked about. He started as he saw me and then smiled.
‘Snowball won’t be happy to find another cat in the house,’ he said. ‘Unless of course you’re her friend? Do cats have friends?’ He bent down to stroke me and read my collar. ‘Oh you’re the cat who helped find her. Nice one.’
I miaowed, trying to answer him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. He threw a backpack on the floor and went into the living room. As he slumped on the sofa, I wondered what I should do. I mean here was an opportunity for me to get a bit more information, but I also didn’t know what Snowball would say if she came home and found me talking to another of her humans. But the temptation was too great and, yet again, trying not to think too much about consequences, I hopped up on the sofa and sat with Christopher.
‘I shouldn’t be here,’ he said, looking at me, darkness clouded his eyes. ‘I should be in school. There’s going to be loads of crap when Mum and Dad find out, and we’re all getting on better so I don’t want to hurt them anymore.’ He sounded sad and a bit angry. ‘Luckily they’re both out. Mum at work as always and Dad’s out trying to find a new job, and isn’t having much luck. It’s all so bad here no wonder Snowball ran away.’ I purred my agreement, although I didn’t exactly understand.
‘That’s the thing,’ he continued. ‘I have no one to talk to. My old friends all managed to forget me instantly, and I hate my new school. Daisy is so self-obsessed she barely notices I’m here, same with the parents, and even the cat doesn’t want to listen to me – Snowball is Daisy’s cat so she doesn’t pay much attention to me.’
I miaowed again, to tell him I at least wanted to listen.
‘I understand now why my parents are so damn paranoid after everything that happened. People suck. My mates on Facebook ignore me, or post that my dad is a criminal, which isn’t true. They post up pictures of parties I’m not invited to, holidays we can’t afford to go on and, well, when I message them they never reply.’
I had no idea what this Facebook was but I got the gist. He had lost his friends when he moved, just like I had. I nuzzled him. Life was hard when you felt alone and I knew all about that.
‘Although when Snowball was missing the neighbours who helped seemed nice but now, Mum and Dad have gone back to ignoring everyone.’ He sighed. I purred to try to say I wished they would be friends with everyone.
‘If only he hadn’t done that to Dad. We have to put up with the police coming round, although I know they are trying to help but it doesn’t help when the neighbours are gossiping about us. None of this was our fault. None of it was Dad’s fault although I don’t tell him that enough.’
I held my breath; who did ‘he’ mean and what had he done? Was I finally going to find out what had happened to the Snells. A loud and unhappy noise interrupted us. I turned and looked; Snowball was sitting in front of the sofa and she was not happy. I didn’t hear her come in so had no idea how much of that she had heard. She hissed at me and Christopher laughed. I was so happy to see her that I didn’t care about her anger, and I was also pleased to see she looked back to her normal beautiful self.
‘For God’s sake, Snowball! Alfie rescued you.’ Snowball hissed again. I didn’t know what to do as I looked from Christopher to my one true love. I was still enamoured with her but her timing sucked – I had to admit – just as I was getting to the bottom of things.
‘All right, keep your fur on,’ he said at last, as he picked me up. ‘Sorry, Alfie, looks like
you’re going to have to leave. Apparently there’s only room for one cat in this house.’ He smiled at me as he opened the front door and gently set me down outside. My last view before the door closed on me was of Snowball’s thunderous face as she glared at me.
Well, that didn’t go exactly to plan.
When I got home, I crawled into my bed. Life was complex for humans and cats alike, although I was quickly realizing that it was relationships that caused most complexities in life. I thought about it, how others affect you, the impact they have on your life, both good and bad. I knew that my skill was bringing people together and I was determined that, despite resistance, I would continue to do this. Relationships were worth it in the long run even if they caused heartache along the way, I thought as I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
- CHAPTER -
Twenty-Six
‘Why do I have to do everything?’ Claire’s shrill voice shattered my sleep. I stood up, stretched, and shook the sleep off me, before I ventured downstairs. Claire rarely shouted and I was unused to it. I found her and Jonathan in the kitchen; she looked incensed and he looked slightly scared.
‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t know you wanted me to go to the supermarket on my way home from work.’
‘Because you never bloody ask! You just expect food to magically appear in the house, despite knowing that I work hard too. I might not earn as much as you but I still contribute to this household,’ Claire thundered.
‘Darling, I know, and I would never suggest otherwise. Listen, give me a list and I’ll go shopping right now.’ Jonathan looked startled, like a cat caught in the headlights.
‘Yes, of course you’ll go now when I’ve had to shout and scream at you. Forget it, get your own dinner. I’m going for a walk.’ The front door shook as Claire slammed it. Jonathan looked at me.
‘No idea what’s got into her, mate, but I’m not keen.’ I miaowed. I wasn’t keen either, this was not like my Claire, who never shouted. I was unsure if I should be worried but I was pretty sure I should be.