Alfie and George

by Rachel Wells

  ‘But I can do it?’ he asked.

  ‘Look, George, come with me and I’ll give you a lesson. But honestly, I do this as a job, it’s not something you domestic cats need to worry about too much.’

  ‘Thank you! Can I, Dad?’ he asked, looking at me hopefully.

  ‘Of course, George.’ I sat back on the doorstep as I watched my boy go hunting with Dustbin. And I have to admit he was already much better at it than me. My boy, a total natural.

  ‘So, Alfie,’ Dustbin said, when we were all sitting in the sun by the restaurant back step.‘How’s your broken heart?’

  ‘Oh, well, now you come to mention it, it’s still a bit sore.’ I gestured to George.‘He keeps me busy, which may have been Claire’s idea, but there are moments when I feel pangs of loss. I still wonder what Snowball’s doing …’ I looked wistfully at the sky, although I wasn’t sure why.

  ‘You know, I thought about it after you left last time,’ Dustbin said.‘It’s as if you give a bit of your heart to everyone you love, and sometimes they stay around and sometimes they don’t. The point is, Alfie, that you have a very big heart, with enough pieces for everyone.’ I felt emotional as he said this, thinking of those I’d loved who had taken pieces of my heart with them: Margaret, Agnes and Snowball. I knew Dustbin was right.

  ‘For such a feral cat you’re very wise,’ I said, touched and full of love for him.

  ‘That’s what friends are for.’

  ‘But I don’t understand,’ George said, looking bewildered at both of us.

  ‘You’re far too young,’ we both said at the same time.

  We had a lovely time with Dustbin and I filled him in on the lamppost cats. I did it while George was distracted, as I didn’t like talking about them in front of him. I didn’t want to scare him.

  ‘Interesting,’ Dustbin said after a while. ‘I wonder what’s going on? They can’t all have decided to leave home.’

  ‘That’s what I think. My humans have been all preoccupying me as usual with their own problems, but this is beginning to make me worry. What if the worst is right and there’s some kind of threat to all the cats in the neighbourhood? No one from Edgar Road has gone missing, but still, it seems a bit close to home to be comfortable.’

  ‘Look, Alfie, I can ask around.’ Dustbin had this amazing network of cats who generally knew or could find out anything; they had helped me in the past.

  ‘I’d be really grateful if you could.’ I still wasn’t sure what the lamppost cat issue really was, or if I should be worried about it, but having Dustbin dig around for me wouldn’t hurt at all.

  When we went back inside, big Tomasz took the boys out for lunch so Franceska could pack. George and I followed her into her room where there were two suitcases on the bed, one big and one small.

  ‘So much easier to pack for the boys than for me,’ she sighed as she started putting clothes into the bigger case.

  ‘Miaow,’ I said, staying close to her. I followed her to her wardrobe and then, when she had an armful of clothes, back to the bed.

  ‘Where’s George?’ she asked. I looked around; he was nowhere to be seen. Oh no, not hide and seek again. I started looking round the room as Franceska put the clothes in the suitcase. Suddenly they all flew up in the air.

  ‘Ahhh!’ Franceska screamed as George jumped out from the suitcase. ‘You gave me such a fright!’ Then she started laughing. George purred with joy, and I felt relieved he was all right, although he’d made a mess. After that, he kept climbing into the suitcase as if it was a new game. In the end, Franceska shut us both in the living room, saying if she let us stay she’d never get packed before the boys got back. I told George off; although of course he had just been playing, I had hoped to spend some time with Franceska.

  ‘Right, I’m done,’ she said a while later, coming into the living room, closing the door behind her, and flopping down on the sofa. ‘Having a kitten is like having a baby, you can’t take any chances,’ she said. I purred in agreement as I jumped onto her lap. ‘I’ll miss you, Alfie. I know it’s only for a few weeks but it will be the longest I haven’t seen you since we met,’ she said, stroking my fur and scratching my head – which I loved. I snuggled further into her lap, hoping she would miss her husband too.‘I’ll miss Tomasz of course,’ she said, as though reading my mind.‘But he works so much, I hardly ever see him anyway. I tell him he needs to spend more time with his family. The boys, they grow up so fast.’ I miaowed: yes, they did, all the children did, even George seemed to be growing at an alarming rate. I often found myself asking where my tiny kitten had gone.‘I guess we’ll be back before you know it but, just in case we don’t get time alone again this weekend, take care and be good.’ Franceska kissed my head. She often talked to me a lot when it was just the two of us. I liked to think I was one of her best friends – I almost had too many to count.

  ‘Mama, Mama, look what we got, a Happy Meal!’ little Tomasz ran into the living room carrying a box.‘It has a toy in it!’

  ‘You took them to McDonald’s?’ Franceska asked, sounding surprised.

  ‘Mum, we begged Dad to take us, we never get to go and all our friends do,’ Aleksy said. He looked worried – being such a sensitive child, he didn’t like arguments.

  ‘It’s fine, your dad is soft. It’s not good for you, but it won’t hurt. Tomasz, I guess it was a special treat.’

  ‘It was, kochanie, and I would have taken them wherever they wanted to go. I’m going to miss you all, you know.’ He sounded a bit down.

  ‘I know, and we’ll miss you too.’ Franceska sounded warmer towards her husband than she had done in a while. I wondered if she meant it or if it was for the boys’ sake.‘But later we eat healthy food, no more junk,’ she smiled.

  ‘Pizza?’ little Tomasz asked.

  ‘I said healthy,’ Franceska laughed.

  ‘Pizza with vegetables on it?’ Aleksy suggested, and everyone laughed.

  The rest of our weekend whizzed by. Aleksy and little Tomasz made an assault course for George, which he loved. It had tunnels, jumps, balls and toy cars, and George enjoyed being the centre of attention – which he usually was anyway – as they timed him going round it. It wasn’t without incident: at one point he got stuck in one of the tunnels, which was made out of cardboard and a bit small. But after much pushing, prodding and coaxing, he was freed at last, no worse off for his experience. Franceska was in a better mood too, and Tomasz stayed with us, which seemed to prove to me that he didn’t need to be in the restaurant all the time.

  As we said goodbye later that evening, I was sad. I would miss them all, including Dustbin, who had really helped me yet again. It was good to know he was going to try to get to the bottom of the lamppost cat mystery. Aleksy, of course, I would miss so much, but little Tomasz and Franceska too. When they all went to Poland they would each take a piece of my heart with them. I just hoped – really, truly hoped – that they would return with their pieces before too long.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Polly was at our house when big Tomasz drove George and me home. Matt and Jonathan had gone to the pub. Matt was no further forward in his job search and Polly was worried that he might still be feeling depressed. Claire thought a trip to the pub might do both him and Jonathan some good.

  We settled the children in front of the TV. Claire said it was frowned upon to use it as an unpaid babysitter but she defied any normal mum to actually be the one who frowned on it. They were arguing about who got to cuddle George and so they all had to take turns. George didn’t mind being passed between them – as always, he quite liked the attention. Polly, Claire and I sat in the kitchen; all doors were open so we could hear the kids, but at least we could also have some grown-up time.

  ‘How are things with work and Matt? I feel I haven’t seen you in ages,’ Claire said.

  ‘That’s the job. Honestly, I do like it but I want to cut down a bit on my hours. I can’t though, we need the money and at the moment I have two big pr
ojects on, and of course everything has to be finished yesterday so I’m working most evenings. I feel I hardly see the kids and when I do, I’m so knackered I just let them watch TV.’

  ‘Like now, like me, you mean? Don’t beat yourself up, Polly – you need a break. It’s not like we’re terrible mothers, you need to cut yourself some slack.’

  ‘You’re right. Been there, done that. I know I can be tough on myself sometimes, but it’s hard not to feel guilty, you know?’ When Polly had post-natal depression with Henry, she felt she wasn’t a good mother to him and I know she still beats herself up about it, but she’s a great mum – I see it every day.

  ‘You’re enjoying your job though?’

  ‘I love it. And I love that they appreciate what I do. I know it sounds silly but I feel really proud of myself. I don’t think I could go back to not working again. But I don’t know what the future holds. I just wish Matt would get a job, not because I want to give mine up – to be honest, I really don’t – but because he hates being at home so much. I can’t bear how miserable he is.’

  ‘There’s nothing you can do though, is there? I mean, apart from being supportive. And he’ll find a job soon, Pol. He’s applying for them, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, and I’m trying to be optimistic but, well, his glass is definitely half empty at the moment. You know how happy go lucky he normally is but now he’s all doom and gloom.’ She sighed.‘Anyway, how was the weekend?’

  ‘Good and bad. Dad put it all into perspective for me. If we want a child sooner rather than later, then we need to be open to adopting an older child. The process still takes a long time, although, thanks to Dad, and the contacts he has, we are quite a way along. But as soon as we’re approved, if we’re approved, if we want a baby or a young child, then the wait begins. I think an older child would be great, they’d be at school and it would be an older sibling for Summer, like Henry, maybe, but Jonathan thinks it’d be even harder for him to love an older child than a baby.’

  ‘His argument?’

  ‘It does make sense. Well, to him it does, only because it’s the way he feels. He thinks that he loves Summer so much because we made her. He’s scared that if we adopt a child he won’t feel the same and he doesn’t want a child to live with us and feel second best.’

  ‘It’s kind of sweet, in a way,’ Polly pointed out. And I agreed. Jonathan did have a sensitive side, it was just kind of buried beneath designer suits and bluster.

  ‘Oh yes, he wouldn’t want to treat the child differently, but more importantly he wouldn’t want to feel about them differently, even if they didn’t realise it. He said it was important for him to love any child equally and if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.’

  ‘So what are you going to do?’ Polly asked.

  ‘We agreed to see if we got approved before we made any decisions, but to be honest, he’s freaked out a bit and let’s just say we aren’t on the best of terms right now.’

  ‘Oh God, we’re all arguing.’ Polly looked at the table.

  ‘Yes, we all are. And Tash, who is the only one of us whose relationship is actually broken, is probably doing better than we are now!’

  ‘I’m glad for her. She’s really been so strong through all this, it’s amazing.’

  ‘Yes, well, that’s the thing. I have someone I want her to meet, one of Jonathan’s colleagues, so I thought I’d arrange a dinner. Here, next Saturday night. Can you get a babysitter?’ Claire asked.

  ‘I can, but are you sure it’s wise to fix her up? It hasn’t been very long since she split up with Dave.’

  ‘No, and it might be terrible, but she’s been stuck in that flat since she moved in, she only sees us and she needs a confidence boost. It might end in tears but, on the bright side, they’ll probably be mine.’ Claire laughed and Polly smiled at her.

  ‘OK, I think you’re mad but I’ll come. I mean we’ll come. What does Jonathan think?’

  ‘That I’m too bossy for my own good! But I think he loves me for that in a weird kind of way.’

  ‘And Tash?’ Polly drummed a manicured finger on the table.‘Surely she has a say?’

  ‘Well, she’s not exactly jumping at the idea but she eventually agreed with me that a night out with some company and food would do her good.’

  ‘So you wore her down too?’

  ‘I absolutely did.’ Claire grinned and gave Polly’s arm a squeeze.‘We’ll work things out, our little gang, we always do.’

  ‘Miaow!’ I jumped onto the table. Thank goodness, some positivity at last, although I knew that I would be the one to sort it out in reality.

  ‘Mummy, Mummy! Summer won’t let me have my turn with George.’ Martha appeared at the door looking cross.

  ‘Come on,’ said Claire.‘Let’s go and sort this out.’ The two women smiled as they went into the living room. It seemed there was only so much the TV could do.

  Jonathan came back from the pub quite late. Claire had waited up and so had I. George was sleeping next to me, snoring softly. I loved hearing the sounds he made while sleeping – I could watch him for hours. Well, until I fell asleep anyway.

  ‘Hi, Jon, how was your night?’ Claire asked as he kissed her.

  ‘Good. I did try to come home ages ago but Matt wouldn’t let me,’ Jonathan said.

  ‘That’s OK. Was he all right though?’

  ‘Not really, but I think he’ll be fine, he just needs time. Right, I’ve got a really busy day ahead of me tomorrow so I’d better get some sleep.’ Without waiting for Claire to respond he left to go upstairs. Claire looked a bit sad as she cleaned up the kitchen before following him.

  ‘George,’ I said, nudging him gently. I did think about leaving him to sleep here but I wanted my bed. He opened one eye and looked at me.‘Bedtime.’

  ‘Dad?’ he said, stretching his little legs out.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Why is everyone so unhappy?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, but I felt a quiver in my fur; had my boy picked up on the tension?

  ‘I had a lovely weekend, but it was clear that Franceska and Tomasz were sad, then Polly looked a bit miserable and Claire talked about them all falling apart. Tash as well. I only just met these people but what happens if they don’t get better?’ He sounded so sad, and although my heart was breaking for him, I was also incredibly proud. He was learning to be a very perceptive little cat: a chip off the old block, as Jonathan would say.

  ‘George, please don’t worry, we are going to fix this, both of us. My job is often to help my families, and you’re right, now they need us more than ever, but we’ll figure it out. Trust me.’

  ‘I do trust you, Dad,’ George said as he got up and made his way to bed.

  Snuggled up next to little George, I began fretting. I had now promised both Aleksy and George that everything would be all right, but I had no idea where to start. There were often hurdles to get over but this time there seemed to be so many. One thing my families had in common was that they did love each other, and I knew they wouldn’t ever fall properly apart, but I could also see they needed help. Urgently. Yet again my to-do list had grown.

  I also had to deal with my own heartbreak – although that had been pushed far down the list – George, who needed guidance and a lot of taking care of, as well as all my humans, or the adults anyway. At least the children seemed to be all right. Although Aleksy knew something was amiss with his parents, so how long would it be until all of the children were affected by the less-than-congenial atmospheres in their respective homes? Children, just like kittens, did pick up on things, even the little ones. So, I had the children to protect, the adults to sort out and I had promised George and Aleksy we were going to find a way to do it soon.

  I tried to sleep but my brain was whirring.

  Franceska was going to be so far away, so how on earth could I get big Tomasz to see that working these long hours for his family was making him risk them all? How could I get Polly and Matt
to see that although they had a role reversal, and it wasn’t perfect for either of them, they could make it work? And Claire and Jonathan, well, they worried me most of all in a way. They were so far apart, despite Claire’s dad trying to talk some sense into both of them. Jonathan still thought he couldn’t love someone he didn’t make but that was crazy – look at the way I felt about George. Even if he were biologically mine, I couldn’t love him any more than I already did. So why couldn’t Jonathan see that? Why couldn’t Claire point it out to him? Yet again, it all came down to me. I had a heavy burden on my little cat shoulders and a long, hard road ahead to ensure everyone was happy. And on top of that, there was the mystery of the lamppost cats to solve. If there was something sinister going on, we needed to get to the bottom of it. And quickly.

  My whiskers ached at the thought of how I was going to do it, but somehow, do it I would.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Franceska had gone and Tomasz had been round to have a beer with Jonathan and see us. He seemed very lost without her. Matt was no closer to getting a job and he was feeling useless. Polly was settling into a routine now; she was juggling the job and the children quite well, I thought, but she still didn’t talk to Matt properly about work because she was afraid how he would react. Claire and Jonathan had had lots of meetings with a social worker and were told that they would hear if they were approved for adoption soon. This seemed to create an even bigger gulf between them and they were still very distant with each other. I heard all of this, and yet I still had no idea what to do.

  Tonight, Tash was coming over for dinner with all of them and one of Jonathan’s friends or colleagues I hadn’t met, and I was hoping the dinner might give me some inspiration. When little George kept asking if things were going to get better, I kept fobbing him off, saying that soon they would and that I was working on it. But really I had no idea.