by Rachel Wells
On the plus side, we were about to have a breakthrough with the Hana situation. I gleaned from Claire and Polly’s conversation about the dead things that Sylvie was still refusing to have anything much to do with us, but she was working longer hours, and had told Claire that a lady called Susan had just started coming to the house to clean it – apparently so Claire didn’t think she was a burglar. I think that Sylvie was showing that she did want to communicate after all but she still didn’t know how, that was my take.
I immediately formed a plan, and explained it to George. All we needed to do was to find out when this Susan came, and then get George into the house with her. It would bank on her not throwing him out but, after all, no one could resist George. OK, well perhaps Harold could, but we had a feeling this Susan loved cats and so wouldn’t be immune to his charms. Hopefully anyway.
So, George and I cased the house, waiting for her. We knew Susan came after Connie had left for school and Sylvie for work. It became part of our daily routine. We would breakfast, then clean ourselves, and when everyone from our house left for school we would go and camp out next door. We’d wait in the front garden, sheltering from the cold under a fat bush, and if there was no sign by lunchtime we would know she wasn’t going to turn up, so I’d head home and George would go and visit with Hana through the glass. The routine helped me; although I was still pining for Tiger, I appreciated being kept busy. As did George. It was helping us to rebuild our relationship too, spending time together. We chatted as we waited, and I felt closer to George, once again.
We struck lucky on the third day, when a lady unlatched the gate and made her way up the front path. She was wearing jeans, had her hair tied back and looked very friendly, I thought. As we watched her approach the front door, I gestured for George to go.
‘Go in with her, quick,’ I said as the lady stood on the doorstep, fumbling around in her pocket for a key. He started to move towards her and then stopped.
‘Dad, you forgot to tell me how to get out again?’
‘Make sure you leave when she does, son,’ I said. Bless him, I thought, he still had a lot to learn. I crossed my paws that this would all work out as I watched George slip in between Susan’s legs as she began to walk through the door.
‘Who do we have here?’ she said, bending down.
‘Meow,’ George said. I saw Hana come to the door, and I saw her eyes widen as she saw George there. They greeted each other with a nuzzle and then Susan shut the door. He was in.
I felt warm; George and Hana were together for now and I hoped they had a nice time together. I also hoped he came back with a lot more information. Actually, more than anything, I hoped he remembered to leave with Susan.
Feeling satisfied, I stared at the closed front door for a few minutes before I headed back. I imagined that, as Susan got on with her work, George and Hana would have a tour of the house, as I had that time I’d got stuck inside, and they would play together, chat, really enjoying their time together. I raised my whiskers at another job well done.
Back at our house, I found Claire, Polly and a man I hadn’t met before sitting round the kitchen table with a notepad and pen in front of them. I was curious as I jumped up onto Claire’s lap.
‘Marcus, this is Alfie, one of our cats who alerted us to your father.’ Ah, so this was Marcus. He was nothing like I’d expected. I’d expected a slightly younger version of the angry, red-faced man, but he was tall, slim and about the same age as Matt and Jonathan at a guess. He had curly dark hair, glasses, and he looked very kind. Nothing like his father.
‘I still can’t believe your cats saved my father, it’s crazy,’ he said, with a small laugh.
‘I know, it takes a bit to get your head around how Alfie and George are,’ Polly explained. ‘It’s taken us years to get used to it, but Alfie is a remarkable cat and we like to think he’s training George up to be the same.’ She stroked me and gave me one of my favourite head scratches. Just what I needed.
Marcus leant over and petted me. I immediately liked him, he had very soft, warm hands.
‘How do I thank them?’ he asked. ‘I’m guessing, no matter how clever they are, they won’t read a thank you note.’ The women both laughed and I added good sense of humour to his list of attributes.
‘Buy them some fish, that always works,’ Claire said, still tittering. ‘Or any kind of delicious treats.’
‘Meow!’ It really would.
‘Right, I can do that. So, let’s look at the list. I can’t believe how nice you’ve all been.’
‘Hey, don’t mention it. I wish I’d known that he was there before, we could have helped,’ Claire said. A darker look passed over Marcus’ face.
‘I feel so damn guilty, but it was a really bad time. My wife cheated on me, my dad didn’t approve of me divorcing her, then I sold my company, because I wanted to have a fresh start, and that took quite a lot of work. I still work for them, but as a consultant … Anyway, there was a lot going on in my life, and I let my stupid pride get in the way. Dad and I are both too proud for our own good actually, it’s one of our biggest faults, but I should have kept an eye on him, I should have made sure he was alright. I’d have never forgiven myself if anything happened to him.’
‘Hey, it all worked out. You’ve had a wake-up call and now you are going to make sure your relationship is repaired,’ Polly pointed out. My women were so kind.
‘So you’re single?’ Claire asked and I swished my tail; Claire and I did like to matchmake but perhaps this wasn’t quite the time.
‘Yes?’ he replied, sounding worried.
‘Ignore her, Claire is the matchmaker of the group, but Claire, we don’t know anyone we could try to set Marcus up with, do we?’ Polly stated, firmly.
‘Well, no, apart from Sylvie.’
‘Who’s not even talking to us, remember,’ Polly said.
‘Who’s Sylvie?’ Marcus looked confused and I couldn’t blame him. Although it wasn’t a bad idea. If Sylvie hadn’t been totally insane, of course.
‘No one to worry about right now, but what we do need to sort out is the house. How long before your dad is out of hospital?’
‘They said about another week. But in that time I need to get it cleaned up and sort out some furniture. I’d like to redecorate but I don’t see that we have time, not to mention that garden and getting the front of the house painted.’ He looked worried.
‘That’s why we’re here. Polly and I are going to put together a roster. We’ve cleaned the house, so that’s a start,’ Claire said. ‘Although it won’t all be finished, we can get a lot done in a week.’
‘Thank you so much.’
‘So, painting first off. I’ve roped a couple of guys in to help us, and the carpets can be laid, all you need to do is choose the colours. Then there’s furniture – we can get some of it sorted now but some might need to be ordered so we will make do with what we’ve got for now. The garden will be tidied up a bit before your dad comes home, but again, that might take longer, and the outside painting will be last.’
‘As I said, I’m willing to pay, and also for your time,’ Marcus said.
‘Marcus, we are doing this out of friendship, that’s what we do. But let’s go to the DIY store now to get supplies, and you can bring your credit card for that,’ Polly said.
‘I’ll pick up the kids and give them tea,’ Claire offered. ‘That way you guys have longer to get everything you need.’
‘What would I have done without you, cats and husbands included?’ Marcus said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
‘Well, luckily you don’t have to worry about that, you’re part of our Edgar Road family now. And I know you’re going to stay with your dad for a bit, but it’ll be good to know that we’re just down the road when you’re not there.’ Claire smiled.
‘That means a lot. I’m a bit thin on the friendship ground, what with the divorce and everything.’ He looked sad but then he smiled; I could tell he no lon
ger felt alone.
I raised my whiskers, all this friendly chat and caring was making me very tired. For the first time in days, I drifted off into sleep, feeling almost peaceful.
Someone licked my head, interrupting my dreams. I opened my eyes slowly to see George standing over me. I’d almost forgotten to worry about him, actually I had. The sleep that I’d had was desperately needed, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had rest like that.
‘Dad,’ he said, as I extended my paws and started to stretch.
‘You got out OK?’ Thank goodness. That wasn’t my best parenting – going to sleep and forgetting about my child – but thankfully it had been fine, he was fine.
‘Oh yes. It was so good, and I got out easily. I told Hana that we would stay close to Susan, but not so she could hear our chat, but so we knew when she was leaving. It was so nice to see her properly and have a conversation which we could actually hear. The house is very nice. Not much stuff around but Hana said they lived in a smaller space in Japan and did something called “minimalism”.’ His voice was so animated, I hadn’t heard him so full of enthusiasm since before Tiger told him she was ill. ‘The best thing is that Susan is coming back in two days, she comes in twice a week now. Apparently Sylvie isn’t very good at cleaning and also she worries about Hana being left alone, so she comes in, for two hours twice a week! Which means that I can see Hana all that time.’ He sounded happier than I had heard him in ages.
‘So how was it?’ I asked. I didn’t want to burst his bubble but I was curious.
‘Well, as I said, the house was lovely, and Susan is sweet. Hana has raw fish for food nearly all the time! And she eats rice, and I got to try some.’
‘Rice, really? And did you like that?’ I’d never tried rice.
‘It was OK. I prefer my food to be honest but it was good to try it. But Hana is lonely though, we were right.’
‘Go on.’ We were getting to the interesting part, I could tell.
‘Well, she loved her life in Japan. She didn’t spend much time alone, there were always people around. Sylvie, her ex-husband, Connie, and the house was normally full of their friends too. But now she’s alone so much and when Sylvie and Connie are home they don’t really talk to each other and they shout if they do.’
‘We guessed that was the case, didn’t we?’ I tilted my head sympathetically.
‘Yes, but things have taken a turn that you and I didn’t even think of,’ he said.
‘What, George?’ I had a bad feeling in my fur.
‘Remember you said how Aleksy was working to buy Connie a present?’
‘Yes.’ I willed him to hurry up, but he wasn’t one for rushing a story.
‘He lied to his mum a bit, because he bought her a phone yesterday, and she hid it under her pillow and they do that talking thing where you don’t talk but write.’
‘George, are you talking about texting?’ I had a very bad feeling.
‘Yes, they do texting, which means that of course Hana doesn’t know what they are saying because she can’t read. She thinks they do still talk but only when Connie shuts the door and Hana is outside. Of course her mum doesn’t know.’
‘George, I have a bad feeling about this. Was there anything else?’
‘Sylvie cries a lot, she’s very lonely, she isn’t coping so well. It’s not a happy house at the moment, but it is very nice and clean. Susan is a very good cleaner.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘Perhaps I should go and see Dustbin, just in case, see if he knows anything.’ I said later, starting to fret yet again after having had time to digest all the information George had given me.
‘OK, but I’m tired, so I think I better wait here for Summer and Toby. It’s been another busy day,’ George yawned.
‘And you know if Dustbin did know anything urgent, he would come and find us, so he probably doesn’t.’ The idea of walking all that way right now wasn’t appealing to me either.
George and I made our way downstairs, me trying to decide what to do. We had reached the kitchen when the cat flap bashed loudly. We both ran as quickly as we could and slid through, to find Dustbin standing on the other side.
‘Talk of the devil,’ I said. ‘I was just trying to decide if I had to come and see you, because George found out that Aleksy got Connie a phone,’ I gushed.
‘Ah, you know about that, yes he did. And I came to you as soon as I could, but I was very busy. The rodents seem to be more determined in winter.’
‘At least you’re here now. There’ll be big trouble if anyone finds out about the phone,’ I said, raising my whiskers worriedly. Aleksy and Connie were playing with fire. I understood how frustrating love could be, especially when you were young, but still.
‘Yeah, it’s worse than that,’ Dustbin said.
‘What?’ My fur stood on end.
‘I heard him speaking to her last night in the yard. They are planning on running away.’
I wondered if Tiger could see me and what she would be thinking if she could. Slightly out of ideas, we held our crisis council at the recreation ground. Thankfully, as Dustbin, George and I approached, Nellie, Elvis and Rocky were all there. It was a good time, before tea and before it got dark, and I was grateful for my friends. We needed to come up with a plan; it needed to be quick and I needed their input.
‘According to what Dustbin heard, we think they might be planning on running away tonight, late, when it’s dark and everyone is asleep,’ I finished, having filled them in the whole situation.
‘Oh dear,’ Nellie said, licking her paws in concern. ‘I don’t like the sound of this.’
‘The poor kids just want to be together,’ Elvis said. ‘I saw something like that on TV once, and I have to say I don’t blame them. Parents have a lot to answer for.’
George flicked his eyes towards me worriedly.
‘Not you Alfie, of course.’ Of course not. I’d tried to help George get together with Hana, not keep them apart – although that was just friendship. And yes, I had tried to warn him off Chanel, but that was because she didn’t like him. No, in the case of Aleksy and Connie, I was fully supportive. But not of them running away. Running away never solved anything. Not to mention that London at night was full of danger.
‘Well,’ Rocky said. ‘I think there’s only one thing for it.’
‘What is that?’ I asked, impatiently. If there was a solution, I wanted it. What with how full my head was at the moment, I was finding it hard to think.
‘Stop them,’ Rocky said.
‘Great, I think we know that,’ I said, a little snappily. ‘But how?’
‘Don’t snap, Alfie, we’re only trying to help,’ Nellie bristled.
‘Sorry, sorry, it’s a bit tough right now.’
‘But hey, Rocky’s right, we just need to stop them, literally.’ Dustbin’s eyes lit up as he seemed to be thinking. And then I got it.
‘Sorry Rocky, you are right. We need to lie in wait for Aleksy, and make so much of a commotion that he’ll think we’re going to wake his family up, or we actually do wake his family up, and he’ll have no choice but to abandon running away.’ My brain was back in proper operation now.
‘Oh, good idea, Dad, but what about Connie?’ George sensibly asked.
‘Go and tell Hana, if you can. I know it’ll be through the window but fill her in and see if she will try to stop Connie. It’d be easier if we could get in there to help but it’ll have to be down to her, I’m afraid. Once again, thanks guys, you are the best friends a cat could have. And I hope that Aleksy and Connie appreciate us.’
‘They probably won’t, not if you stop them running away,’ George pointed out, sensibly.
‘Not right now but my job, our job, is to keep them safe,’ I explained.
‘And it’s not safe out there, not for teenagers or most cats,’ Dustbin explained. ‘Honestly, if they did run away, I shudder to think how they’ll manage. I mean, Aleksy hasn’t exactly got survival skills.’
‘I’ll go to Dustbin tonight, and help him stop Aleksy. If he sees me there he’ll know that somehow we’ve foiled his plan and it might make him think again.’
I was a little cross now I thought about it. Aleksy was normally the sensible one but running away, late at night, was not clever and it was far from sensible. It was also not going to happen. As the others discussed the plan, I listened but I couldn’t help but think about the other day, when Tommy had come up with his plan for the nativity and Aleksy had said he’d help, as if nothing was amiss. And his good mood must have been down to this crazy running-away idea. I wasn’t happy with him at all.
I would not let this family fall apart. I would not let Aleksy and Connie run away. Yes, their situation was unfair, and yes, they should have been allowed to have their relationship, within the limits of their age, but this was not the way to go about getting Sylvie to change her mind. I worried that if she got wind of it then she’d lock Connie up at boarding school, far far away, whether she could afford to or not.
I calmed down as George and I headed home, and I felt confident in our plan. George had asked to come with us but I pointed out that Toby would worry if he wasn’t there. Although our plan didn’t involve any of my usual dangers, things could always go wrong, so knowing George was safely tucked up at home would be one less thing for me to worry about. The ideal outcome would be that we stopped Aleksy without his parents finding out and the same with Connie. Then they would realise how foolish they were being and rethink their behaviour. George and I parted ways and he went to Hana’s house and I went back to ours.
Marcus was at our house again. He had paint smeared on one of his glasses lenses, and he and Jonathan were both drinking beer and laughing. They seemed to get on well and I thought he would be a welcome addition to Edgar Road – although I had said the same about Sylvie not long ago.