Рейчел Уэллс - A Friend Called Alfie

‘Not the best hiding place after all, then, Pickles,’ I said.

‘Oh, I wasn’t hiding. I was going to find somewhere to hide then I spotted the cereal box on the floor.’ Why was it on the floor? I wondered. One of the children I guessed.

‘So, what were you doing?’

‘I wanted to have a snack, so I got the box on its side and then I went in to get my snack, and I somehow got stuck.’

Of course he did.

‘But it was quite delicious,’ he finished. ‘But next time I’ll have to find an easier way to get it.’

Claire took Pickles with her while she cleaned the house, saying it was the only way she could keep him out of trouble. I wasn’t sorry, as I went out and bumped into George who was coming from Hana’s house.

‘Hi, son,’ I said, happy to see him. ‘What have you been up to?’ As if I didn’t know.

‘Just talking to Hana. What about you?’

I told him about Pickles and the cereal.

‘When I was young I didn’t do stuff like that,’ George tutted.

‘Well, you nearly drowned, got stuck in lots of cupboards, were catnapped, and that’s just for starters,’ I pointed out, although technically the catnapping was my fault.

I had come up with a plan to solve a little scrape my human owner was in by pretending to lose George, and hiding him in Tiger’s shed. But he ended up being catnapped, and it was the worst time of my entire life until I found him. The plan did work eventually, it did bring us all together, but I learned a big lesson and would never put my kitten in the slightest risk ever again.

‘OK, fair enough, but now I’m a big cat, things have changed,’ he said. ‘Shall we go for a walk?’

‘Yes, come on, then.’ We started off towards the end of the street.

‘You know about me being a big cat,’ George said as we strolled.

‘Yes?’ I asked. Clearly, he wanted to talk to me about something.

‘What is my job?’

‘What do you mean your job?’ I asked.

‘My job, you know Hana was telling me how Connie and Aleksy were talking all the time about what they were going to do when they were grown-ups. Well, I’m pretty much a grown-up now, and I don’t have a job.’

‘We’re cats, George, I don’t have a job either.’

‘But you do, I mean you don’t have an office like Jonathan, but like Claire, you take care of all of us, that’s your job the way it is hers, so what’s mine?’

‘Being a big cousin to Pickles is a job of sorts then,’ I explained.

‘Yeah, maybe it’s a bit of a job, but it’s not my cat calling. I need to find my purpose in life.’

‘Your purpose in life?’

‘You take care of people and Dustbin has a job taking care of the rodents, so I need to find my life purpose.’ He was getting frustrated.

‘I guess you have a point.’ I wasn’t sure that George needed a job, after all, I had kind of stumbled into my role. And I had no training for it, not to mention that the pay was terrible apart from the odd pilchard. But he sounded so serious about this, I had to give him my support.

‘Yes, I might be a cat, but I’m not an ordinary cat, so therefore I need to find my purpose. What I am supposed to do to make the world a better place.’

‘Wow, well when you put it like that, George, I guess, like me, your vocation will be to do the same as me.’

‘I thought that but I need to find my own path in life, I can’t just jump onto yours.’

‘George, what on earth are you talking about?’ I was bewildered.

‘It’s what Aleksy said. He is going to get a job working in a different restaurant and learn the hard way before joining the family business because otherwise, it will be too easy for him. Nepotism it’s called. Hana told me, she’s very clever. So I need to find my own job rather than take the easy route by following you.’

‘George, you are a very clever cat, although you’ll always be my kitten, so you can do whatever it is you put your mind to, but if you want any advice, you know where I am.’ I crossed my paws that he would give me a bit of time before asking for my advice because I had no idea what to tell him. I was still trying to get my head around the concept of nepotism, which I’d never even heard of.

‘Thanks, Dad, but as Aleksy told Connie and Hana, sometimes when you are growing up, you need to do things yourself for yourself. It’s how you build character. So that’s what I am going to do. I am going to make you proud of me.’

I couldn’t argue with that.

‘I’m so proud of you already, George,’ I said, feeling emotional. My boy was growing up so fast, like Aleksy, who was also my boy and all of the children. I could see why Polly was so keen to get Pickles, keeping a baby in the family. Although after this morning I was pretty sure there had to be easier ways.

‘I am going to be an amazing career cat, just as soon as I figure out what I am going to do with my life,’ he announced, and I couldn’t reply because I felt both choked up with pride and also a little amused. There weren’t exactly a million jobs for cats, after all. But then if anyone could find something to do, it was George. I would help him in any way I could because that was what a parent did. And that was a job in itself, after all.

Chapter Ten

Polly had a few days off work, so we didn’t get to see Pickles as much as before, although he did pop in quite a lot so Polly could drink coffee and chat with Claire. But with the humans around, he wasn’t able to get into too much trouble, because they stopped him the minute he started. George and I could only sit and watch Pickles well and truly under control. Or as under control as he could be.

‘I’m thinking of sending Pickles to puppy training,’ Polly said as she had coffee with Claire.

‘But he’s not that bad,’ Claire said. ‘And he’s still so little.’

‘He doesn’t do what he’s told,’ Polly pointed out. Ever, I added.

‘No, but he’s housetrained which is the main thing, and he’s still a baby. Besides, you’re so busy that I might end up having to take him and I’m not sure I fancy it!’ Claire pointed out. ‘I can barely train my own family.’ They both laughed. I narrowed my eyes, I was very well trained thank you very much, although Claire couldn’t take the credit for that. In fact, it was me who trained my humans rather than vice versa.

‘No, I’ve found a weekend class, and I think Matt can take him. After all, Matt was the one who pushed for him to come and live with us.’

‘I’m not sure Matt is the best person to train him, Pol,’ Claire said. I agreed. Matt was lovely but so soft, no one did what they were told when he was in charge.

‘It might be good for both of them then. I thought I might get him to take Henry and Martha, they can have bonding time as well.’

‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea, it could be their thing. Jonathan is so busy at the moment, I’m worried the kids aren’t getting enough time with him. So this Saturday we’re going to have a fun day out in London together. I know Jonathan’s not keen, he’s so tired, but I’ve told him if he does Saturday with us then we’ll have a pyjama and film day on Sunday.’

‘So, he’s still working ridiculously hard?’

‘I really have to bite my tongue and not nag him. I mean we both discussed the fact that the job was going to change things before he took the promotion, but I guess the theory and the practice are two different things. I miss him, that’s it really, I miss spending time with him.’

‘But in the long run, it’ll be worth it?’ Polly asked.

‘It’s not just the money, I mean that’s really good, and it means I can be there for the kids, but we also need to try to figure out how we can do this without ruining our family.’