by Rachel Wells
‘Tiger, this is different,’ I said.
‘It’s always different, Alfie. Remember what you’ve done so far – you’ve been in more scrapes than I can count, from getting yourself stuck up trees to almost being killed. Don’t you think that now, with George to think about, you’d be better off keeping out of it and letting the humans sort themselves out?’ Tiger made a good point but she wasn’t going to deter me. That wasn’t the sort of cat I was.
‘The reason I’m doing this is for George. Well, for him and all the children. The adults need to see what they’re in danger of losing. It seems to be only when I put myself in danger that I manage to bring people together, you know that.’
‘Yes, but what are you going to do this time? Set fire to yourself? There’s only so much danger you can get away with and I think you’ve probably reached your limit.’ Tiger looked stern.
She had a point. I had been through a lot in my life and perhaps there wasn’t much more I could do. How many more of my nine lives could I afford to lose? I might have to come up with a less dangerous way of fixing things.
‘OK, look, I know you’re right, so I’ll give it some time, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll all sort themselves out. But if they don’t … then we’ll have to come up with a plan.’
‘Deal,’ Tiger said. ‘But what about the missing cats?’ She knew me too well.
‘I’ve asked Dustbin to ask around about them. I’m still hoping it’s just something weird rather than something serious. But all we can do on that one is wait and see.’
‘Mew, mew, mew.’ I looked up to see George clinging to a branch by his front paws.
‘I tried to catch a bird,’ he said,‘but now I’m going to fall.’
Oh my goodness, my poor little boy. ‘Just stay where you are, George, I’m coming,’ I shouted, starting to panic. Tiger shot me a look.
‘It’s OK,’ she said calmly,‘George, you can jump from there. Look it’s grass here, and if you let go, you’ll land on your legs.’ George looked at us uncertainly and I realised that, actually, Tiger was right – he wasn’t far from the ground. I must learn not to panic so much.
‘Tiger’s right, George, you’ll be fine and we’re right here.’ Eventually George let go and landed on all fours.
‘Wow, that was fun, can I do it again?’ he asked, giggling.
‘Another day,’ Tiger and I said in unison. I smiled at her and she grinned back; we were getting good at this parenting lark, I thought, as a flash of affection for Tiger flooded me. But I couldn’t think about that, I had bigger fish to fry.
Talking of fish, a little while later, George and I made our way home to eat our supper of sardines. I told him to make sure he bathed thoroughly: we had company coming so we both needed to look our best. Claire looked very pretty as she started to cook the food that she’d prepared earlier in the day. She was wearing a dress and high heels and her hair was swept back off her face. She had put on some make-up but still looked natural. She hummed to herself while she worked. I heard Jonathan upstairs. He was bathing Summer and getting her ready for bed, and seemed in a slightly better mood as he laughed with his daughter. We heard splashes and shrieks of joy coming from her. I was always excited when we had friends coming round. Being a sociable cat, I enjoyed people, and I also guessed that no one would argue tonight, because they tended not to in public. So we were in for a nice, harmonious evening with friends and I for one felt it was just what the vet ordered.
Tash arrived first. She was wearing jeans, a sparkly top and heels. George jumped up at her, and she scooped him into her arms after handing a bottle of wine to Claire.
‘Easy, George,’ she said, smiling. He was mesmerised by her top. It was like lots of tiny mirrors and I knew he was trying hard to look at his reflection in it! She petted him before carefully putting him down and accepting a glass of wine from Claire.
‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m nervous. Not only because of tonight and you trying to set me up with some bloke I’ve never met, but because Elijah’s with him.’
‘I know, honey, but he’s also with Dave’s mum.’ The stipulation to an overnight visit had been that it had to be at his mum’s house, because Tash seemed to think that Dave would expose Elijah to danger if his mum wasn’t there. I didn’t know much about it but the situation seemed to be good for Dave’s mum, who adored her only grandchild.
‘I know, thank God for Pat. Poor woman feels so guilty on her son’s behalf but I keep telling her that it’s important she feels she can see Elijah whenever she wants. Anyway, I need to stop being so silly about it.’
‘And as for tonight, it’s just dinner with friends. Yes, there happens to be a single man you’ve never met coming but what’s the worst that can happen?’
‘I get drunk and make a fool of myself?’
‘Tash, you don’t do that, it’s more likely to be me, now sit down and relax.’
I went to sit on Tash’s lap, and as she stroked me I could feel her calming down. I purred ‘you’re welcome’ to her as she smiled at me. Jonathan entered the kitchen. He looked very handsome in his jeans and a clean, pressed shirt.
‘Hi, Tasha,’ he said, kissing her cheek. He then kissed Claire before grabbing a beer from the fridge and hovering. ‘Can I do anything, darling?’ he asked.
‘No, it’s all under control.’ And it was, but then Claire was pretty organised when it came to things like this. The table was set with candles and cutlery, but it wasn’t too cluttered; wine glasses gleamed and the food smelled delicious, although I could tell there was no fish.
‘So, tell me about this guy,’ Tash said.‘I know I’m supposedly not being set up, but I certainly feel like I am!’
‘Tash, you are being set up, my beautiful wife knows what she’s doing!’ Jonathan laughed. I saw Claire smile, which was rare lately, but tonight was a great example of how united they could actually be. ‘Anyway, Max is forty-four, divorced, one child who’s at university – so he started young by the way – and he was married for twenty years. No big drama, he and his wife just drifted apart apparently.’
‘And he works with you?’
‘Yes, he trades the same stocks as me. Good job, nice guy and actually quite fun, although he does like to play golf but I try not to hold that against him.’ I didn’t know what golf was but Jonathan was a strictly football guy, and whether he watched it at home or in the pub it always involved beer. Maybe golf was like that?
‘He sounds great, but I’m just not sure how I feel about dating again, it might be too soon,’ Tash said.
‘Oh, nonsense,’ Claire cut in.‘I’m not saying marry the guy, but it doesn’t hurt to meet new people and maybe even have the odd date. After all, a girl’s got to eat.’
‘Anyway, aren’t you ladies forgetting something? Tash might not fancy him,’ Jonathan teased.
‘Oh, she will, he’s really good-looking,’ Claire said. Jonathan shot her a look of mock hurt.
George was grinning as I joined him on a soft chair in the corner of the dining area. I knew what he was thinking, that it was lovely to see everyone laughing and relaxed for once. We were interrupted by the doorbell, and as George and I settled down to watch the evening’s events unfold, I began to feel positive. Maybe Tiger was right and everything would sort itself out after all?
Well, Claire turned out to be right. Max was very good-looking: he was tall, with greying hair, and he had a lovely smile. I immediately liked him as he made a huge fuss of both me and George. I could see that Tash was quite taken with him too, she kept blushing and twiddling with her hair. Polly and Matt were on good form, and were even being affectionate to each other. They were usually the most touchy-feely of my couples, always holding hands or hugging or doing that kissing that you see in films, but lately they hadn’t been doing that so much. So to see them back to their old selves was heart-warming. They weren’t doing film kissing but Polly kept putting her hand on Matt’s arm and he had his hand on her leg when he wasn’t
holding a fork. There was more laughter and fun than we’d had in a long time and I think, for George, ever in the time he’d lived with us.
I couldn’t help marvelling that even though he’d only been with us for such a short time, I almost couldn’t remember life without him. I hadn’t forgotten my time with Snowball, but it was as if George belonged in my life more than anyone or anything else ever had. The time before him felt like it had happened to a different cat. Did that sound crazy?
‘So, Claire, we have to go to this dinner with my bosses next week, can you babysit?’ Polly asked.
‘Sure, what night? I’d be happy to if Jon can stay home.’
‘Thursday.’
‘No problem,’ Jonathan said.
‘It’ll be funny, Polly often had to endure dinners when I was working, but now I’m the spouse who has to charm her bosses. Not sure I’ll be as good at it as she was,’ Matt said, but he didn’t sound bitter.
‘They’ll love you, but I agree it will be odd. Gosh, over the years I’ve been to so many of these corporate dinners with you.’
‘I know, and you’ve always dazzled. Never mind, I’ll just have to do my best,’ said Matt, kissing her cheek.
‘Well, you are charming all the school mums I used to hang out with,’ Polly teased.
‘Charming?’ Matt replied, ‘I spend most of my time running the gauntlet so I don’t get cornered by them. Not only are they scary but they keep wanting me to join them for skinny lattes and Pilates.’ Matt laughed and everyone else joined in.
‘What do you do, Matt?’ Max asked. I held my breath.
‘At the moment, nothing. Well not nothing, I’m a househusband. I worked for a digital design agency, which went belly-up. And despite numerous applications there aren’t any posts senior enough for me at the moment.’
‘Oh God, you’ll have to take up Pilates, mate,’ Jonathan teased.
George had fallen asleep beside me, but I was concentrating on the conversation. It seemed that Max’s brother co-owned a company like the one Matt used to work for, and Matt had heard of it. And although Max didn’t know if he had any vacancies, he said he’d be happy to ask. Matt seemed very pleased and I thought about what a small world it could be. As Tash flirted, Claire and Jonathan looked happy and Matt and Polly were affectionate; I wondered if they would sort everything out without my help. For once. With that lovely thought swimming around my head, I fell asleep.
I woke as Tash and Polly came to say goodbye to us. George didn’t stir, but I decided to follow them out, just to make sure that everything was all right. I don’t think anyone noticed as I went out the front door, they were all so effervescent and excited. As I stood by our gate, I saw Matt and Polly head off in one direction holding hands, which made me feel warm in my fur. Then Max offered to walk Tash home before getting into the taxi that was waiting for him. I hung back slightly as Max spoke to the driver and then he and Tash set off the short walk to her flat, the opposite way to Matt and Polly.
‘I know things are raw but I had fun tonight. So if you fancy going to dinner sometime …’ I heard Max say. I decided I really liked him: not only was he handsome, he was kind.
‘I would like that,’ Tash said. She could barely keep the smile from her face and she looked so pretty in the moonlight. Max stopped and pulled out his phone as Tash gave him her number. Satisfied, I made my way home.
I went to jump through the cat flap.
‘Yowl!’ I flew backwards. Yet again, I had forgotten that the cat flap was still locked at night. When would I learn? I panicked slightly; what if I was locked out for the night? What if George woke and I wasn’t there? I jumped on to the kitchen windowsill and was relieved to find myself looking at Jonathan. He was holding a glass and seemed to be staring at the sink.
‘Miaow!’ I shouted as loudly as I could, tapping the glass with my sore head.
‘What the?’ Jonathan jumped and dropped the glass. I ran to the back door. ‘You gave me the fright of my life, Alfie!’ Jonathan shouted. I walked past, giving him my sternest look. Take away your freedom and then see how you feel, I wanted to say, but of course I couldn’t, being a cat.
Chapter Twenty-three
Vic and Heather had called a neighbourhood watch meeting. I watched through our living room window as people crammed into their house. Polly and Claire went; Polly said that Matt was so down she didn’t think he’d survive it, so Claire offered to go with her in solidarity. Tash couldn’t go as she had to look after Elijah and to everyone’s amusement she was actually a little disappointed. But as they told her, there would be plenty more meetings to attend in the future. But despite the joking, I knew the nature of the meeting might help me so I was disappointed that I couldn’t go either.
I felt a little sad as I watched Polly, still in her work suit, and Claire, wearing jeans and a jumper, walk through the Goodwins’ door. All I could do was settle down with Jonathan and wait for Claire to come home. Summer was in bed, George was asleep on the armchair and Jonathan and I sat side by side on the sofa watching the news. There was no mention of any cats on it as far as I could see, so I didn’t think that this lamppost cat thing had reached epic proportions yet, but still I found it troubling. Despite the increase in posters, none of our cat friends had gone missing, so it didn’t make sense. I still hadn’t heard from Dustbin, and I wondered if Edgar Road was somehow protected from whatever was going on. But then just what was going on? Anyway, I was sure they would be discussing it at the meeting, so I would hear about it later.
Jonathan fell asleep on the sofa at some point, as he often did, snoring a bit and dribbling sometimes, but then when he woke up denied he had been asleep at all. Glancing at George, who was also fast asleep, I went to stretch my legs in the garden. As I slid through the cat flap I was surprised to see Tiger by my back step. Her fur glinted in the moonlight, and she looked very serious.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked.
‘Thank goodness you’re here, I thought I’d have to risk coming in.’
‘Tiger, I’ve told you before, I’m sure Claire and Jonathan wouldn’t mind!’ Jonathan would probably huff and puff a bit but actually he’d be all right. Besides, he was snoring away just now anyway.
‘I’ve been waiting for ages and getting cold, but I had to come and see you.’ Tiger’s eyes shone with fear.
‘What is it, Tiger?’
‘The lamppost cats, it is serious after all.’
‘Ah, I worried it was. That’s why the Goodwins called their meeting.’
‘Yes, it is. My owners were fussing, telling me to be careful, saying they might have to stop me from going out! Anyway that’s not the worst bit. There was a new poster tonight and it’s …’
‘Come on, Tiger, spit it out.’ Tiger often got a bit flustered when she was upset. I tried to be patient but it wasn’t one of my strong points.
‘Pinkie! It’s Pinkie on the poster.’
‘Are we sure she isn’t just in a fridge somewhere?’ I asked, but I had a bad feeling.
‘She’s missing, Alfie. Her poster is on a lamppost. So finally, after all our musing about whether this was a proper problem, someone we know has gone missing, an Edgar Road cat. It’s time we stopped burying our heads in the sand. I think that something bad is going on and you know I’m not a dramatic cat. But I can’t just sit by and watch our friends go missing.’ I had never seen Tiger this agitated before.
‘Calm down, Tiger. Right, let’s think this through. Pinkie wouldn’t just leave home – she liked her owner.’
‘Exactly. She really was happy there.’
‘OK, so you’re right, something is going on. I need to think about this, and I need to go and see Dustbin again. I mentioned it to him before but with Franceska and the kids in Poland I haven’t seen him since. I need to go there but what will I do with George? It’s too far for him to walk.’
‘How about I look after George and you go. I’d go with you but one of us needs to take care of the kitten.
’
‘OK. And don’t worry, Tiger. Alfie is on the case.’
‘Oh, Alfie, I just don’t want anything bad to happen to any of us.’
‘Hey,’ I said, with all the confidence I could muster,‘I won’t let it.’
I went back inside, legs shaking. I was more troubled by this latest development than I cared to admit. It had hit home now and no longer could we ignore the problem. Jonathan decided he was too tired to wait up, so I took George to bed, and although I tried to stay awake, sleep claimed me. I was asleep before Claire came back.
At breakfast, I was delighted that Claire discussed the meeting with Jonathan.
‘I know they are quite mad but it does seem there are a spate of cats going missing. The Goodwins have done a spreadsheet and everything. And you know, Jon, it’s more than is comfortable, even for London.’
‘You’re kidding?’ Jonathan said through a mouthful of toast. ‘What’s a spreadsheet going to do?’ Trust Jonathan to focus on that.
‘Well they have charted where the cats went missing and it does seem to be a triangle of streets around us. They’ve also got all the owners together and everyone is searching. Jon, you have to admit that it’s too many now for it to be cats running away or getting run over.’ As Claire looked worried, I thought of poor Pinkie. ‘And for once the Goodwins are actually being helpful, not just interfering.’
‘Yeah, they have got a point. But what are they going to do?’
‘They’ve asked us all to search around the area, look out for anything suspicious and most of all keep our cats safe.’
Jonathan looked at her. ‘You don’t think anyone would take Alfie or George do you?’ Finally he sounded as if he was taking it seriously.‘Has anyone spoken to the police?’
‘Yes, but I don’t think missing cats are their top priority, and the point is that if we can get to the bottom of it soon then they won’t get the chance to take our cats. We were all wondering if we should keep them inside.’
‘But Claire, Alfie would hate that. Look, maybe we use that as a last resort.’