A Cat Called Alfie

by Rachel Wells

  ‘Thanks,’ I said. The rain had stopped as suddenly as it had started, so that was something.

  ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  ‘I’m stuck. That’s all you need to know, my back legs have seized up.’ I saw Tiger look at me, then at Snowball and finally at the sad-looking flowers.

  ‘Oh, Alfie, I’ll come up. You never were very good at climbing trees.’ Tiger quickly climbed the tree and joined me whilst Snowball sat on the ground looking at us.

  ‘You can’t move at all?’ Tiger asked, sounding concerned finally.

  ‘My legs have gone all stiff. I’ve tried to wriggle but I don’t think I can. Tiger, promise me that whatever you do you won’t let them call the fire brigade.’

  ‘What if it means you have to stay up here forever?’

  ‘Tiger, you were supposed to help.’

  ‘I know but what can I do? I don’t think I can carry you down, you might have to jump.’

  ‘But it’s too far and if I land on my back legs it’ll be worse.’

  ‘Alfie, why do you insist on doing all these stupid things?’

  ‘Tiger, you’re not helping.’

  ‘Do you guys maybe want to stop arguing and tell me what I can do?’ Snowball asked but for once we were both lost for words; and ideas.

  The patio doors suddenly opened and Christopher walked out. He looked at Snowball, then up at the tree. Tiger looked at me.

  ‘He’ll save you,’ she whispered.

  ‘You get down and then he’ll know I’m stuck,’ I suggested. Tiger, showing an agility I could only envy, quickly climbed down from the tree. She joined Snowball.

  ‘So you’ve got friends, then, Snowball? More than I have,’ Christopher said, looking and sounding glum. ‘Is that Alfie up there?’ he asked.

  Snowball miaowed.

  ‘Is he stuck?’

  She miaowed again. Christopher smiled.

  ‘Don’t worry, mate, I’ll get you.’ He tried to climb up but I was a bit too high for him.

  ‘Damn it, I can’t get up there,’ he said to himself and I felt a little more petrified. He went to the shed and took something out. When I looked I almost cried with relief, it was a ladder.

  ‘All rescued, Alfie,’ Christopher said a little while later, looking pleased with himself as he placed me gently on the wet ground. I purred and nuzzled into his legs with gratitude. He put the ladder back in the shed. I stretched and my legs started to regain some movement.

  ‘I can’t wait to tell everyone,’ he said, and I saw a glimpse of the boy underneath the surly teenager.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Snowball asked when he’d gone, narrowing her eyes at me.

  ‘It was my way of cheering you up. Flowers and me up a tree. My grand gesture,’ I explained. When I said it out loud it didn’t make as much sense as it had in my head.

  Tiger looked at Snowball and smiled.

  ‘It didn’t quite go to plan,’ Tiger teased.

  ‘No, not exactly,’ I replied.

  ‘But it was a nice thought. Right, come on, Alfie, let’s get you home,’ Tiger said. She was right, I was loath to leave Snowball but I needed to go dry off and rest my legs somewhere warm and comfortable.

  ‘OK. Sorry about the …’ I started to say to Snowball but she gave me an affectionate flick of her tail.

  ‘’S all right,’ she replied, neck pulled in coyly. I felt a prickle in my whiskers. I reluctantly started walking away.

  ‘You know what?’ Tiger said to Snowball. ‘Alfie might be a bit of an idiot at times, with all these harebrained schemes, but you know you could do a lot worse.’

  Snowball smiled, actually smiled, in response.

  I grinned to myself as I limped home.

  - CHAPTER -

  Thirty-Three

  My leg stiffness had eased and I was mobile again by the next morning. I resolved to take it easy for a day or two, to give myself thinking time. I was feeling reflective, the way I always did when my legs ached and I was reminded of the things that had happened in my past. I would think about events, cats and people in my life, past and present.

  I felt lucky; my world was full of colour at the moment and my families were all thriving. Claire’s ‘jigsaw’ was complete, along with Jonathan’s, and I had rarely seen two happier people. This baby, when it was born, would be the most wanted and most doted on baby, and as long as they didn’t forget me I was all for it. After all, it wouldn’t be like having a new friend, it would be like having a new sibling for me, a human sibling. I would have to work very hard taking care of it as I would be the older brother from now on. The way Aleksy would always look out for little Tomasz, or Henry for Martha.

  I took a long time to perform my morning ablutions, and then I thought about going to see Tiger. I wasn’t planning on going on one of our usual long walks but a bit of exercise was good for me. I slid out of the cat flap and found myself face to face with Snowball.

  ‘Hi,’ I said, suddenly feeling shy at her unexpected appearance.

  ‘Hello, Alfie. I thought I would see how you are after yesterday.’

  ‘That’s sweet,’ I replied. ‘But I’m good thank you. Feel a bit silly that it all went a bit …’

  ‘Wrong? Yes it did, but it did make me smile. And Christopher was so animated last night, after rescuing you; it was as if you did it as a favour just for him.’

  ‘Wish I’d thought of that really.’ I said, thinking that I really did. It would have saved me having to dig up Polly’s flower bed.

  ‘Well, you always said you could help, and you did a bit. Anyway, I wondered if you wanted to go for a walk?’

  ‘With you?’ I was shocked; was she asking me on a date?

  ‘Yes, of course with me. I thought maybe we could talk.’

  ‘OK, but can we take it slowly? I’m still aching a bit.’ I wasn’t going to pretend to be macho; that would only lead to more trouble.

  ‘No problem.’ We looked at each other and I felt my whiskers tingle again. I hoped my legs weren’t shaking as we set off. I didn’t want to bump into any other cats, so I led Snowball in the direction of the park.

  ‘Have you been to the park before?’ I asked.

  ‘No, I tend not to go out much at the moment – I prefer to stay close to home.’

  ‘Where did you live before this?’ I asked.

  ‘In Kent, it’s not that far from London but we lived in a really big house, with all this land around us.’

  ‘Our houses are quite big,’ I exclaimed. My first home was much smaller than Jonathan’s house, and his was the biggest house I had ever been in.

  ‘I guess, but the problem is that they’re not all that large compared to what we had. I barely left my garden. It could take all day to explore it, it was that big. And there were flower beds and trees and even a lake. It was so much fun.’

  ‘Really? So nothing like here?’ I could only imagine what Snowball was used to, it sounded amazing.

  ‘No, nothing like here. We didn’t have neighbours so close, we had loads of space around us. And the house was bigger too. Far too big to be honest. I could go for hours without seeing anyone, despite the fact we lived together.’

  ‘Why did they have such a big house?’

  ‘I don’t know, it’s a human thing. They had a lot of money, and people who have a lot of money often have big houses. They had more than two cars too. Daisy and Christopher went to schools that they had to pay for and Karen, well you might find it hard to believe, but she had so many clothes they could barely fit in her wardrobe! She looked glamorous all the time. She did work part-time though as she never liked just being at home. Not like now.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘She works all the time, in a hospital, any shifts she can get as she’s the only one earning money.’ Snowball looked sad, but we had reached the park.

  ‘Come on, I’ll show you the best bushes.’ I led her over and we crawled under a bush, it was really quite nice being there, alone tog
ether. It felt quite intimate as the leaves shadowed us and we sat side by side.

  ‘So what happened to it all?’

  ‘I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.’

  ‘I know, but I did get stuck up a tree for you.’ I smiled and tried to nuzzle her; she didn’t push me away, but she did look a bit embarrassed.

  ‘Right, well, anyway, we had lots of money because Tim is very clever with computers and he had a company, which was very successful. He worked a lot, mind you, and Karen always moaned that she never saw him. But they went on these exotic holidays and when they did I had to stay in a cat hotel, which I wasn’t that keen on to be honest, but they would always come back happy.’

  ‘A cat hotel?’ I had never heard of such a thing.

  ‘Yes, you had to sleep in your own cage and you got fed but there were other cats and you didn’t get half the attention you get at home.’

  ‘Sounds like the vet to me.’

  ‘Um, not exactly. Anyway there was this other man, Simon, he was Tim’s business partner but also his best friend. He was the best man at their wedding, there are photos of him; I mean there were. And the children called him Uncle Simon. He didn’t have any children of his own, but he always had a different girlfriend and Karen never liked them.’ Snowball rolled over, and sighed.

  ‘Sounds a bit like how Jonathan used to be before Claire,’ I said.

  ‘Anyway, Simon was always around. He and Tim were so close and he trusted him. But then this thing happened.’

  ‘Go on.’ I could barely wait.

  ‘Simon turned out to be bad. Really bad. He managed to do something called fraud and he took off with all their money.’

  ‘How on earth did he do that?’ I asked, not really comprehending.

  ‘I don’t exactly know how he did it but he left the company bankrupt, which means totally broken I think. He left Tim in a huge mess.’

  ‘So Tim didn’t suspect anything?’

  ‘No, he trusted Simon. But he was left owing a lot of money and he had to shut down the business. It was a huge mess. The police are trying to find him but according to Tim and Karen, even if they do it won’t make things right again.’

  ‘I’m horrified that someone could do that.’

  It was beginning to make a bit of sense as to why the Snells were so secretive and unwilling to let anyone in. No wonder they didn’t trust anyone.

  ‘It got worse though. Not only did they lose everything and have to move here but they also lost all their friends. Some people pointed the finger at Tim; although he lost everything they still thought he’d done something bad. People turned their backs on them as soon as they found out they were poor, too. It was awful. All those people who came round for parties, drank that fizzy wine, and ate our food, wouldn’t even answer their phones to Tim or Karen. They were forced to sell their house, the kids had to leave their expensive schools, and their friends abandoned them too. That was when Karen got a job near here so they moved to Edgar Road.’

  ‘But why did they think Tim was involved?’ I asked, trying to clarify.

  ‘People are judgemental, Alfie. But he is totally innocent and when they moved here he was too terrified to make friends in case they thought he was a criminal.’

  ‘The irony is that by refusing to befriend anyone on the street the Goodwins think exactly that.’

  ‘I know but he’s too affected by everything that’s happened to think straight. They all are.’

  ‘It’s a sad story. Although I will never understand why humans value money so highly, above everything else. Cats don’t have any and look how happy we are. All we need is a butterfly to chase, a warm fire to come home to, and a loving lap to sit on.’

  ‘I don’t understand either.’

  ‘And they say us cats are superficial! But when it comes down to it, we’re more loyal than most of them.’

  ‘I agree, Alfie.’ Snowball looked at me, and I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding. ‘So now you know what happened,’ she continued. ‘The police come round because of Simon. But Karen and Tim are still so depressed and so hurt, that they won’t let themselves meet anyone. They’ve put their guard up, and now the Goodwins are making everything so much worse, just when they thought they might be able to get their lives back on track.’

  ‘That’s the thing, when you’re down, sometimes you can’t see anything good.’

  ‘No, and I couldn’t either for a time. I’m worried for the kids. Chris is being teased at his new school because he came from a posh school. But he’s good at football, so if he would just get involved in that he would be OK. He refuses to though. And Daisy is popular because she’s pretty. To be honest, she has always been a bit of princess so she struggles with the change in her lifestyle, although as Karen points out on a regular basis, she is luckier than so many people.’

  ‘And she is – you all are – but then if you have something and it gets taken away, it’s totally natural to miss it.’

  I thought about what Dustbin had said about how some people didn’t have homes and it wasn’t their choice. That made me feel so sad. ‘Some people don’t have any home, let alone a nice one like yours,’ I said, gently.

  ‘I know, you’re right, but I miss it too. My old life, my garden. I was miserable and sad when I first came here, and I didn’t want to see anyone or make any friends.’

  ‘Really, I’d never have known,’ I joked.

  ‘Yes, but then this cat called Alfie came along and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.’

  ‘And are you glad I wouldn’t?’ I asked, suddenly feeling quite emotional. Snowball snuggled up next to me; her warmth made me feel as if I was made of gold. I nuzzled into her neck.

  ‘Yes, I think I just might be,’ she replied.

  Forget my sore legs, after hearing that I floated on air everywhere for the rest of the day.

  - CHAPTER -

  Thirty-Four

  ‘Well, you know I’d go and see them, but the last time I did I made things worse, and I don’t think they’d even open the door for me,’ Jonathan said.

  Polly and Matt had popped in with the children on their way home, although it was bedtime. Claire was giving Martha a cuddle, Henry and I were playing with a plastic ball as they spoke.

  ‘I don’t think they’ll let any of us in. But you know we have to try to do something.’

  ‘We could write them a note,’ Claire suggested.

  ‘Not a bad idea,’ Polly agreed.

  I was trying to concentrate on what everyone was saying, but it was difficult as my mind kept drifting back to the previous day with Snowball. After our lovely date, I slept beautifully and had lots of wonderful dreams. I had never been in love like this and until yesterday it was all one-sided. She hadn’t exactly given in totally to my charms but she had softened towards me and when I walked her to her back door, we had a little nose rub. I asked her when I would see her again but she had only said, soon. She seemed to have put a bit of her guard back up, although not totally. I just had to be patient.

  As I listened to what was going on around me, it turned out that Polly had had another run-in with the Goodwins earlier.

  I hadn’t seen Snowball today and I now found out why. Polly was upset. On her way back from dropping Henry off at nursery she ran into the Goodwins and two police officers outside the Snells’ house. According to her, the Goodwins were wearing camouflage clothes – like they wear in the army – and said they had been undercover watching the Snells’ house. The police were trying to explain they were here to see the Snells but the Goodwins kept trying to pump them for information. Polly said they were crazy and she almost expected the police to arrest them for harassment.

  Heather and Vic were interrogating the police – apparently in normal circumstances it’s the other way round. The police officers told them they couldn’t say anything, although the Goodwins kept badgering them about the Snells being part of the criminal underworld, telling them about their petition, on which they had
managed, somehow, to get more than twenty signatures. Polly stepped in at this point and said that they needed to be left alone. The Goodwins accused Polly of aiding and abetting and the police looked at her with sympathy as they finally managed to get away and headed into to the Snells’ house.

  ‘Quick, back to our vantage point,’ Heather had said as they both ran to watch from behind a bush in their front garden.

  Polly had gone home, fuming.

  ‘It is quite comical when you think of it,’ Jonathan said. ‘I mean they’re now dressing up like a bush to get to the bottom of something that probably doesn’t have a bottom.’

  ‘We all know they can’t make them leave, but it must be upsetting to have a vendetta against you, no matter how ridiculous the perpetrators. I just think they should be told that we don’t feel the same way the Goodwins do, and we want to lend any support we can. We need to show them that not everyone is as horrible as that pair.’ Polly was incensed and I loved her for it.

  ‘I agree,’ Claire said. ‘Let’s get a letter done tonight and we can all sign it.’

  ‘Right, Matt. Put the kids to bed and I’ll write this letter with Claire now.’

  ‘In that case, Jonathan, you can carry one of them home with me. And have a beer when we’ve put them down.’

  ‘Sounds like a good plan to me,’ Jonathan agreed. Claire and Polly both rolled their eyes.

  I purred as loudly as I could to give them my approval, although I wasn’t sure they got it. This was perfect. What the Snells needed to know was that they did have support. After what I had heard, about how vulnerable the family was, I really did worry the Goodwins could actually hurt them. I couldn’t wait to tell Snowball, and to see her again of course.

  I decided to take a chance as the women finished writing the letter and Polly delivered it on the way home. I headed next door too, going over the fence, praying it wouldn’t hurt my legs. I went over to the patio doors but they had pulled blinds across. I moved over to the cat flap and I chanced things by putting my head through. Although I could smell Snowball, and I enjoyed taking a moment to breathe in her scent, there was no sign of her. I lay down. It was night but it was still quite light as I found a spot to wait.