Кейт Мур: Full Steam Ahead, Felix

And she had. As Bolt moved onwards, now heading towards Felix’s favourite bike racks on platform one, she moved forward to see what he was up to. It could have been a territorial move, given Bolt had gravitated towards one of her favourite spots, but her observation did not have that quality. It was more that she was curious and wanted to keep a watchful eye on him. She mirrored Bolt as he stepped in and out of the racks, shadowing him, as though he was learning the steps for the first time and she was making sure he was getting them right. (He wasn’t, necessarily; he hopped and skipped a little, pouncing on the shifting shadows, whereas Felix flowed through the metal bars like water, her body silken and smooth.)

As the two cats jointly picked their way through the forest of bike racks, it was inevitable that their paths would eventually cross. Indeed, so closely was Felix following Bolt’s movements that, in the end, she wound up face to face with him. The two station cats stood together nose to nose , just like those pictures that Jacqui had sent to Angie way back when of her own cats welcoming Bolt.

And, after all this time, it did seem to be a welcome. Felix hadn’t felt able to do that, nowhere near, when Bolt had first arrived, but out here on the platforms that October evening, during the camaraderie-rich night shift, it seemed she had finally turned a corner.

‘Welcome to our world,’ said her close attention. ‘Watch how you go now, young ’un – you’ve got an awful lot to learn.’

Under the glow of the station lights, the two cats faced each other, noses sniffing hard. Their paws padded safely over the twisted shapes of the metal padlocks and chains that were usually used to secure bikes to the racks. It was here that they paused, a meeting of minds and moggies. And in those chains resting between them was a beautiful symbolism, as though this first training session was finally linking the two cats together – two pest controllers bonding through their shared experience.

Over the past seven years, Felix had loved her team and performed her duties to the best of her ability, but she had never had another cat with whom she could share all the adventures. Now, however, she stood nose to nose with Bolt under the arch of her favourite silver rack.

It curved above them like the future.

32. A Powerful Pair

Throughout that autumn, Bolt’s training continued. Felix did not join him on every session, perhaps taking a paws-off management approach. Without Felix to follow, it took time for Bolt to gain in confidence during his early platform patrols. He seemed, at first, not especially to like the feel of the cold platform beneath his paws and always needed to be encouraged to step away from the grey-carpeted lobby. Yet Jacqui and Angie continued to take him out during the quiet night shifts, encouraging him to walk on his lead along the platform, and, slowly, he gained more skill. By mid-November he had got the feel of it and could be seen strolling along the platform in a sprightly manner, flicking his tail and happily exploring with his nose right down on the ground. At times he was so eager that Angie found herself having to tug back on the lead gently as Bolt raced ahead. As the weeks passed, his world widened. Moving on from platform one, Angie escorted him halfway along platform two. Then came the day when Bolt went on to the concourse for the first time.

He instantly seemed much happier there than he’d ever been on the platforms, perhaps taking some comfort from the more familiarly sheltered space. He especially loved the gateline, which boded well for his future shifts as part of the revenue protection team. Although if Bolt continued to express his affection for the gateline as he did on this first visit – by stopping dead on the grey rubber floor of the gates themselves – it would cause all manner of chaos in the middle of rush hour!

He seemed quite happy there. Not for him the luscious red carpets that Felix frequented; he was quite content with this rubbery grey one. He sat himself down and even took the time to have a bit of a wash, his little pink tongue flicking out firmly over his short black fur. He was too young to have gone to the groomers yet, but when the time came it was likely that he too would take the road trip to visit Louise on her exciting-smelling farm. After Felix’s first feisty visit there, the senior pest controller had come to enjoy her time with Louise. The groomer joked that she was like a different cat! Even as soon as her second trip, the tiger had been tamed. Now, she closed her eyes when Louise combed through her fluffy fur, as though Louise was merely softly stroking her; her grumbling, if it came, was just a gentle underscore, emitting only if Louise had to tackle a particularly tough tangle. At the end of each session, they even had a cuddle.

Back on the concourse, Bolt’s big ears pricked up and he wandered out from the gateline on to the cream marbled floor of the concourse. His tail, with which he was becoming increasingly familiar, wagged firmly from left to right, as though he was enjoying himself. With his more streamlined fur, Bolt’s tail was more like a whip than Felix’s. His energy slickly channelled through it now, as he showed Angie that this station cat business really wasn’t half bad.

Now that Bolt was beginning to master his patrols, it was time for stage two of his training: exposing him to the sounds of the services. It was Angie Hunte who took responsibility for this latest aspect of Bolt’s apprenticeship. She chose to ease him in gently. At four o’clock in the morning, a single night train was due to pull in at platform four. Angie escorted Bolt out on to platform one a short while beforehand. She hoped that as the train wasn’t directly on their platform, and would be slowly drawing to a halt as it arrived, it would be the best way to introduce Bolt to the noises that would soon become second nature. This way, he’d get to hear them without the train being right on top of them.

Bolt was happily trotting along the platform when the first rumble of the railway tracks started to sound. He stopped dead and raised his head, his large ears twitching. As the noise got louder and louder, Bolt began to tremble. Angie pulled him back on his lead and he ran quickly to her. Immediately, she scooped him up and pressed him against her chest, trying to reassure him with the more familiar sound of her heartbeat. They walked up and down the platform together as the noise increased in intensity.

‘It’s all right, sweetheart,’ Angie said soothingly. ‘You’re not going to be hurt. I’ve got you, Bolt. I’ve got you.’

But as the train arrived in full force with a monstrous roar of its engine, despite those comforting words, Bolt blinked up at her. He was shocked, startled and scared.

‘This is a train, Bolt,’ Angie explained to the apprentice over the roar. ‘These are noises you’ll soon be hearing every day. You just need to get used to them.’

With a screeching squeal, the train applied its brakes, and this new sound made Bolt shiver all over again. Afterwards, the terrifying train finally fell silent. The few passengers boarding the night service embarked, little knowing that across the way an apprentice railway cat was undergoing training.

Angie took Bolt back inside before the train departed. He was still shaking, and she didn’t want to do too much too soon. There was time enough for all that. This little cadet could take as long as he needed to adjust to his railway life.

Despite his understandable early apprehension, Angie believed that Bolt was, overall, much more confident than Felix had been at the same age. If the door to outside was opened for him during a night shift now, he would choose to exit and sit outside on the grey carpet of the lobby, even if the door closed behind him. He was not yet confident enough to go any further than that lobby alone, but he was content to sit on the mat, nose twitching, as he slowly acclimatised himself to the big wide world. Angie didn’t recall Felix doing that at such a young age. All in all, Angie had plenty of hopes that, with time and training, Bolt would soon be as sure-footed and safe on the railway as the original station cat.