Alfie and George

by Rachel Wells

  However, I wished I could see Dave and rub my fur all over him. That would serve him right for hurting one of the loveliest women I knew.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Today was a big day for us. Claire was taking George to the vet to get his vaccinations, which meant he would finally be allowed outside. Although I have a severe vet phobia, I wanted to go with him but annoyingly I wasn’t invited. I had been very careful not to share with George my aversion to the vet. Vets meant well but they prodded in places they frankly had no business to. I told him he’d be fine though, and got him excited about seeing the outside world. I was keen to take my boy out: I couldn’t wait to show him off to my friends and take him round the neighbourhood.

  The good news was that as long as they were at the vet’s, the cat flap would be open. It was also very important that I tell my cat friends what I had figured out about the lamppost cats. It was a worrying turn of events, and I knew the posters were still on everyone’s mind. I was also hoping I might get to meet the new Edgar Road cats. Since becoming a parent I had barely had any time for myself, and I was now realising how precious that was. Just being able to do what I wanted to do, something I had previously taken for granted, was now a luxury. I was so busy looking after George that I wasn’t looking after myself, and it was a while since I’d been my usual cat-about-town self.

  I called for Tiger, who came out when I bashed her cat flap, our way of ringing the doorbell. She was just finishing cleaning her whiskers.

  ‘Did I interrupt your lunch?’ I asked.

  ‘No, I was only having a snack,’ she replied. Tiger liked her food, though since we’d been friends, I had made her take more exercise, and she was far less lazy now than she used to be.

  ‘I need to talk to you about the lamppost cats, but I think we should go and see the others so I can talk to you all,’ I said.

  ‘Really? You know something?’ Tiger was interested.

  ‘Yes, I’ve figured it out – there’s lots to fill you in on.’

  I started strolling with Tiger by my side. From a distance, I saw Elvis and Rocky, and with them was one of the new cats. I was excited – Tiger was right, it was the curiosity I always felt for new people and new cats that I loved. I smoothed my fur down and approached. I couldn’t help but notice instantly that the new cat was beautiful. My heart may have belonged to Snowball but my eyes were still working! I saw Tiger glance at me sideways and I thought maybe she was jealous; she could be a bit possessive of me, although I didn’t think she thought of me in that way anymore. Did she? I tried to give her a reassuring look. I mean, I couldn’t even think about another woman right now, and probably not for a very long time. Maybe not ever.

  ‘Alfie, Tiger, glad you came. This is the one of the new cats I was telling you about, Pinkie,’ said Rocky.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Pinkie,’ I purred. She was a similar colour to me, but with a very cute round face and a bright pink collar.

  ‘You too, Alfie,’ she grinned. She was quite stunning.‘And Tiger, nice to see you again.’ What lovely manners, I thought. Tiger made a sound but didn’t say anything.

  ‘You’re new to the area?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, my family moved to somewhere called “overseas”, and they couldn’t take me with them so they found me a new home.’

  ‘That’s rough,’ I said. ‘Although I know all about that, having suffered something similar.’

  ‘Yes, Elvis told me a bit about your background. But the lady I live with now is very nice, and she has great taste in food.’

  ‘Anyway,’ Tiger interrupted. ‘We have more important things to discuss than food. Go on, Alfie, tell them what you know about the cat pictures.’

  ‘Ohh, you know something?’ asked Nellie, moving closer. I raised my whiskers as all the cats surrounded me.

  ‘Yes, I do. The lamppost photos aren’t a beauty contest. It means that they are missing.’

  ‘Missing?’ Rocky asked. He looked shocked.

  ‘Yes, the owners have put up pictures asking if anyone has seen their cats. Which means they aren’t at home.’ I felt quite knowledgeable as the others hung on my every word.‘It happened to me once, when Jonathan and the others thought I was missing. But it was all a misunderstanding, as you know, because I was with the vet. So we need to try to figure out if these cats are really missing or if they’ve left their homes of their own accord.’

  ‘You mean like they just got fed up and ran away?’ Nellie asked.

  ‘Found new owners, maybe?’ Pinkie suggested.

  ‘But there does seem to be quite a lot of them,’ Rocky pointed out.

  ‘You’re all right. This may be a case of missing cats, but we need to figure out why. After all, they could just have found nicer homes. It does happen.’ I was loyal to my families but they were good to me – not all humans were.

  ‘So we need to be vigilant?’ asked Elvis.

  ‘Yes,’ Tiger replied. ‘We don’t think there is anything to worry about but we do need to keep our eyes on the situation and we should discuss it at various intervals. It’s only right.’

  ‘Tiger’s right,’ I concurred.

  ‘Guess where I met Pinkie, Alfie?’ Elvis said, changing the subject and sounding proud. His attention span really was very short. I wondered if they were an item, but I didn’t think so as Pinkie seemed far too young and pretty for him.

  ‘Where?’ I asked. I saw that Tiger was chasing her shadow and pretending not to listen.

  ‘In my fridge.’

  ‘Your fridge?’ I asked, incredulous.

  ‘I happen to like fridges,’ Pinkie said.‘When I first moved here, my owner kept me inside, but when I was allowed out I went to Elvis’s house by mistake.’

  ‘Well, it is only next door,’ Elvis said kindly.

  ‘Anyway, his fridge was open, and I just can’t resist an open fridge.’

  ‘Yes, but then my owner closed the door, trapping her. Luckily she forgot to put the milk back so when she opened it again, Pinkie jumped out. Gave my owner a bit of a fright you know,’ Elvis laughed.

  ‘Wow, that’s some story. Don’t you find fridges cold?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course, but then I don’t plan to spend that much time in them. It’s what you get out of them that counts.’ She said this as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

  ‘Anyway, I escorted her home and now she’s become a friend,’ Elvis finished. Tiger made a sound that sounded a bit like ‘hmmph.’

  ‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, although maybe you ought to keep out of fridges, they can be dangerous,’ I warned.‘And if you get stuck in one they might have to make you a lamppost cat.’

  ‘Anyway, as I was saying to Pinkie, Alfie is single,’ Rocky interrupted.

  ‘What?’ I said.

  ‘You know, Pinkie’s new to the area, you’re a single tom, you two could step out together. Just a thought.’

  So now my cat friends were trying to matchmake? Had that been their plan all along?

  ‘Sorry, Pinkie, but you know I’m still nursing a broken heart from my last relationship. I can’t think about courting another cat.’ I felt embarrassed all the way to the tips of my whiskers. This was awkward.

  ‘Hold on a minute,’ Pinkie cut in.‘Thanks, guys, for thinking of me, but Alfie, well, to be honest, you’re not my type.’

  ‘He’s not?’ Tiger had now stood up and looked interested.

  ‘No, I like my toms a bit more manly, if you know what I mean.’

  I was affronted. More manly? What on earth did she mean? Tiger was trying and failing not to laugh, and Rocky and Elvis couldn’t hide their smirks either.

  ‘Well, although I like to think of myself as quite macho, actually, at least we’re on the same page. And I’m sure we can be friends,’ I said, mustering all the dignity I had left. ‘But I have to be getting back. I have a kitten to check on. Don’t forget to be vigilant about those lamppost cats.’

  I left my friends where they were and walk
ed home. Not manly enough, what on earth? I strutted and swaggered to show just how macho I could actually be.

  When I got home, the house was quiet and I enjoyed some time on my own whilst they were still out at the vet. I padded from room to room, enjoying the silence and the space. Just like the good old days, when Claire and Jonathan went to work and I had the whole house to myself. I would never wish for life to go back to what it was – I couldn’t imagine life without either Summer or George – but a bit of peace was nice.

  I pondered the missing cats. I certainly felt as if something strange was happening, and there might be a mystery to solve. It did seem an odd coincidence that four cats had now decided to leave their homes, but then it wasn’t impossible. Maybe their owners were mean, or gave them terrible food, or made them sleep in a shed? Any of those reasons would be justification for running away.

  I was dozing on Claire’s bed when I heard the door open. I stretched, yawned and licked my paws before making my way downstairs.

  ‘It’s OK, George, you’re home now,’ Claire was saying gently. The door to the cat carrier was open but George was refusing to come out. I leaned in and rubbed his nose to let him know I was here.

  ‘I don’t like the vet. Why didn’t you tell me?’ he said.

  ‘Because we all have to go. They are what we call a necessary evil. And now you’ve had your vaccinations you won’t have to go so often – hardly ever, in fact, if you stay healthy and out of trouble.’

  ‘Really? But I might have to go again?’ He looked at me with his big eyes full of terror.

  ‘I’m afraid all cats do from time to time, but listen, it gets easier.’ It really didn’t, in all honesty, but I wanted to be positive.‘And the good thing is that now you’ll be allowed outside and you’ll love that.’ Although suddenly I started fretting. There were all sorts of dangers outside and I didn’t want to think about what might happen to my kitten.‘But you don’t go out without me or a human, not yet anyway. Promise?’

  George looked at me with those big eyes that melted my heart every time.‘I promise, Dad.’

  Was there anything sweeter than that word?

  ‘I love hearing Summer call me Daddy,’ Jonathan said that evening as he and Claire were having dinner. The kids were in bed, as was Tash, so it was just the three of us in the kitchen.

  ‘I know. And you know what, you’ll love it when our next child calls you that too.’

  ‘Claire …’ Jonathan’s voice had a warning edge to it. I knew this issue was far from resolved but, what with everything that had been going on with Tash, it had been put on the back burner – or so I thought.

  ‘Look, Jonathan, I’m going to be positive about this. We have the adoption workshop tomorrow and then after that we’ll get allocated our own social worker. It’s early days, I know. We’ve got a long way to go, but I refuse to feel disheartened.’ Claire looked determined and I knew there was no arguing with her when she was like this.

  ‘Right, well how’s Tash doing?’ Jonathan seemed to agree with me that an argument with Claire was a waste of time right now, and obviously decided a subject change was easier.

  ‘I wanted to talk to you about that. The solicitor is great, thanks, and she suggested that Tash buy Dave out of the house. She said they have quite a lot of equity, because they bought it so long ago, and the prices have rocketed in their area, so her idea is that she buy hi m out and then if she doesn’t want to live in it she can rent it out.’

  ‘That makes sense,’ Jonathan said. ‘It’ll be a good investment for her and Elijah.’

  ‘I think at first she wanted to fight Dave a bit, you know, because he thought she’d just hand over half the money and she’d believe his half-baked promises to pay child support. And especially as he hasn’t made much effort to see his son since he moved out. But now she just wants to move on. So the solicitor is going to be firm but fair with Dave.’

  ‘Good for her. And if he does anything, I’ll go and see him. Or maybe a solicitor’s letter would be better. I never exactly took to Dave but I didn’t think he was this much of an idiot. What about finding her a new home?’

  ‘Well, there’s a flat coming up at the end of the road, a bit like Polly’s old one, which would be perfect for the two of them. The tenants are moving out in a month.’

  ‘Are you sure you didn’t kick them out?’ Jonathan raised an eyebrow.

  ‘No, although I admit I was asking around. I actually went to see the curtain twitchers.’ That was their name for Salmon’s owners, Vic and Heather Goodwin.

  ‘Blimey, you must really want her here, to have done that! Though it would be lovely to have them down the road. What does Tash think?’

  ‘I haven’t mentioned it, I wanted to talk to you first.’

  ‘Well, darling, I think it’s great. She can stay here until she’s ready to move somewhere else, either Edgar Road or wherever.’

  ‘See, you are such a compassionate man, Jonathan, you’ll be fine with this adoption.’ His smile quickly vanished, but Claire didn’t push it.

  ‘Oh, and Heather and Vic were talking about something else. You know there’s been a few cat posters going up on the street?’

  ‘This is London, unfortunately there are always cat pictures. I see loads on my way to the tube station. Maybe they’ve been hit by cars, or just run away,’ said Jonathan.

  ‘I know, but there is a bit of a spate of them at the moment. Anyway, Heather and Vic are going to mention it at the next neighbourhood watch meeting, as they think it might be a bit sinister.’ I felt my fur shiver. I hoped it wasn’t something bad, but I couldn’t help but feel they might be right.

  ‘Well, you know what those two are like, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about,’ Jonathan replied.

  ‘I hope you’re right, darling.’ Claire sounded worried, which made me feel even more worried. I had a feeling we were on the cusp of something; I had to make sure the local cats all kept their eyes and ears well and truly open.

  Claire wanted an early night with her latest book club book, so after checking that George was fast asleep, I sat with Jonathan and we watched a film. Or he watched a film and I snuggled up and got a bit lost in my thoughts.

  ‘Oh, Alfie, I know there’s no stopping Claire when she makes her mind up, but I just don’t think I can do this adoption.’ He actually looked sad and I think I understood. Jonathan was a lovely, honourable man but he did struggle with his emotions a bit sometimes.

  I snuggled into him to try to reassure him that he could, but I was pretty sure that it wasn’t enough. I would have to think of another way. There were more changes a-paw, I could feel that, and suddenly I felt even more exhausted. Heartbreak, in whatever form, takes its toll and now it looked as if it might also be spreading its wings over all the people I loved.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‘What’s this?’ George looked at me in wonderment as he tentatively padded his paw onto the lawn.

  ‘It’s grass,’ I replied.‘You can walk on it.’

  ‘It’s soft and springy and a bit damp!’ he exclaimed. Seeing things through his eyes did open mine to what I usually took for granted. Maybe that was the point of children and kittens? It certainly made having them make more sense. I smiled at him indulgently. Could he be any more adorable?

  ‘It’s very good for walking on, and it’s only damp because it’s still early, although when it rains it will be wet too.’

  ‘So it’s safe and not like a bath?’

  Educating George was still a bit of a chore. I watched him leap off across our small lawn. He was allowed outside now but only in the garden until he got used to the area. Claire and Jonathan were talking about getting a lead for him – honestly, we cats are not dogs – which was a terrible idea as I could do that just as well. I tried to tell Claire as much by miaowing very loudly and giving her my disapproving look but as Jonathan said, when she makes up her mind …

  George flipped onto his back and rolled over in the grass. He was
so happy with such simple pleasures; it was yet another thing I loved about him. I could remember when all I wanted to do was to sit on a warm lap or relax in a sunny spot, but those simple days had ended prematurely for me after my first owner died when I was still young. I now wanted that simplicity for George, and to protect him from the complexities of life. That was when I knew that I was definitely a parent.

  ‘Hey, Alfie,’ I heard Tiger hiss quietly as she jumped over a fence and into our garden.

  ‘Tiger!’ I was delighted to see her.

  ‘I know the humans might not like it but I had to come and see you.’

  ‘They won’t mind, they know we’re friends. I don’t think they’d even mind if they found you in the house – Snowball used to visit all the time.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that was a bit different. Anyway, I wanted to meet George, plus I have something else to tell you.’

  George, on hearing another voice, approached us, hiding between my legs and looking a little scared.

  ‘Hey, George, there’s no need to be worried. This is Tiger, my best cat friend,’ I announced, feeling proud of my charge.

  ‘George, I am so pleased to meet you,’ said Tiger.

  George stepped out from between my legs and gave Tiger his most charming head tilt.‘Hello.’ He sounded so sweet.

  ‘Gosh, you are gorgeous!’ Tiger walked closer to him and rubbed him with her neck. I had never heard her sound so tender. Not with me anyway, that was for sure. Honestly, she’d only spent a few seconds in his company and she was already smitten.

  ‘Are you my mummy?’ George asked. ‘I don’t think you are, but you look a bit like her.’

  Tiger looked at me and I knew we both felt our hearts soften even more; I could see it in Tiger’s eyes.

  ‘No, George, but I am going to help Alfie take care of you, if you’d like me to.’ Tiger cuddled into my kitten, and George seemed to love that, stretching his paws out into the grass.