Кейт Мур - Felix The Railway Cat

‘What is that ?’ the station cat seemed to be saying, as she trotted round their ankles and circled the tree, moving back for a better view, then craning her neck upwards, to where the very top of the tree just touched the ceiling.

It was a big, bushy evergreen, with a solid wooden trunk and attractive branches splaying out every which way. Felix thought it might just be the most amazing thing she had ever seen. It smelled heavenly, of outdoors and forest and pine, and it was making the most intriguing sounds as Dave and Angie Hunte pushed and pulled it until it was safely and sturdily in place.

As soon as they stepped back, Felix launched herself at it. She ran right under the lowest branches until she reached the trunk, then dug in her claws and ran for the stars. It was just like the time when she used to run up her friend Gareth’s back, but this was much, much better! It was taller, and it didn’t wriggle or wince, and Felix could run fast, fast, fast until she reached the sky!

Suddenly, she was there, right at the very top of the tree. She poked her head out of the branches, and heard the peals of laughter from Dave and Angie below, who were pointing up at her and giggling. This was wonderful! She sat right there, queen of all she surveyed, with her head sticking out of the branches like a feline angel heralding the birth of Christ.

She sat there for ages, just watching. Why come down when one had such a marvellous view? She could see the team in the ticket office processing the tickets; watch as the customers came in and out of the station, many carrying shopping bags filled with festive goods, their breath fogging as they stepped out into the wintry vista of St George’s Square beyond the main front doors. And she could see Angie and Dave, who had disappeared for a short while, as they returned with a big cardboard box and started pulling out fairy lights and brightly coloured baubles from inside it.

TPE, by now, had stockpiled a range of festive decorations. They had white lights and coloured lights, blue baubles and silver ones, reds and golds and greens. The team mixed them up for a bit of variety and had different colour schemes each year. Chrissie from the booking office, who had given Felix her pink name tag, took charge of the display, and as Felix watched keenly she now came out of the ticket office and bent to help Dave and Angie.

Chrissie picked up a bauble and hung it on a branch. ‘Now, what’s this?’ Felix seemed to say, as she unpoked her head from the top of the tree and scrambled down the trunk to where the bauble hung below.

It glimmered there in the bright station lights, tempting and teasing Felix just as her laser toy did. The bauble spun first one way and then the other, as though it was taunting her. Felix narrowed her eyes, thinking hard and plotting. Then, in one fluid movement, she reached out a paw and swiped it hard.

Wipe-out! The bauble tumbled to the ground, and Felix jerked her head up, watching, as she heard Chrissie tutting and coming over to rehang it. Felix waited until she’d turned her back and then – swipe! Once more, the bauble fell off: 2-0 to Felix. It was game on.

And what a game it was. As soon as Dave or Angie or Chrissie hung a bauble, Felix would knock it off. There were baubles flying everywhere! Felix darted up and down the tree, having the greatest time of her life. Hidden among the branches as she was, all anyone could see was the tree moving a little bit, shaking as though it was chuckling at a fantastic joke, and all these baubles going everywhere.

‘Felix, no !’ they chorused.

But Felix was having far too much fun to stop, as she ducked and dived and swiped and wriggled and made the tree shake even more.

Finally, she tired a little of the merrymaking, and allowed Chrissie to complete the bauble-hanging. She watched proceedings as they continued, once again from the top of the tree, as Dave got out one of his big ladders and started climbing up it. She followed him with her green eyes with a great deal of interest. He had something clutched in his hand. What new toy-friend is this? she wondered.

But it wasn’t a toy-friend at all: it was an enemy. Though TPE changed the colour scheme of its decorations every year, one thing never altered: at the top of the tree would sit the same little angel, a gold cardboard cherub with a cone for a bottom who could be easily popped onto the highest branch and from there reign graciously over the station’s festivities.

Felix watched her coming closer with ever-narrowing eyes. As Dave reached out over the highest branch, Felix bobbed instinctively, and momentarily, below the barrier of uppermost branches, as though concerned he was going to grab her, but Dave merely placed the angel on the top of the tree and then descended the ladder.

Felix scurried back up and poked her head out of the top of the tree again. The angel smiled her painted smile. Felix looked her rival up and down – and the derisive glare she gave her said clearly that she was not at all impressed by what she saw.

‘ This is what you want to put on top of the tree?’ she seemed to be saying with that disdainful glower. ‘ This ? When you could have beautiful me ?’

Felix and the angel stared each other out at their elevated altitude, as though they were cowboys sizing each other up before a high-noon shoot-out. Felix made the first move.

Swipe! A little white-capped paw darted through the green branches towards the golden angel girl. But the station cat missed. She edged a little closer. Swipe! The tree wobbled and shook, and the multitude of baubles trembled on their strings. Felix poked and pawed at the angel through the branches: a left hook, a right hook, a swift uppercut. With every blow, she seemed to say, ‘Get off! It’s my tree! Get off! How dare you!’

Down below, the team chuckled. This feisty Felix was a rather recent development – but it wasn’t always a laughing matter.

Though Felix had not suffered any ill effects from her adventure to Domino’s Pizza, the team had noticed lately that she was no longer quite as pliant and friendly as she had once been. Frankly, you could understand it: from the moment she’d arrived at the station, she’d had scores of colleagues wanting a cuddle, and now she was out and about in the concourse she also had to contend with scores of strange customers, who stroked and poked and picked her up too. It was all a bit much for any cat to deal with. Everybody and their Uncle Fred wanted to play with her and touch her, and by now she was getting a bit bowled off by it.

With those she loved best, though, like Gareth and Angie, she was an absolute sweetheart. She had taken to following the team leaders around on their shifts, like a little puppy. If Angie was on duty and had to leave Felix behind somewhere, the cat would wait for her to finish what she was doing before trotting along beside her heels again; or Felix might turn it into a game of chase, where she would run cheekily ahead of Angie, occasionally looking back over her shoulder to check she was keeping up, then pause, waiting for her friend to catch her. But as soon as Angie’s feet drew parallel with Felix’s paws, off she’d go again, like a relay runner handed the baton. That was a great game. If the pair got separated while Angie was on shift, Felix would wait patiently by the bike racks, and the moment she heard Angie’s cheery voice calling out along the platforms – ‘Hello, driver!’ or ‘Good morning, there!’ to the customers – she would dart out happily to seek the owner of that voice, her joy plain to see as she scampered along.

Given Felix’s new diva-like disposition, however, Angie was understandably apprehensive as she took the kitten for her first grooming session. The vet had told Angie how important it was with a long-haired cat to make sure it was kept well-groomed, and Angie had bought a brush from him for that very job, but it had soon become clear that fluffy Felix was going to need – if not demand – professional expertise when it came to her beauty maintenance. So Angie made an appointment for her at a local grooming parlour.