Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie And George

‘Oh, Jon, thanks, we have to help her. I can’t imagine how it must feel …’

‘Hey, you know I’d never leave you and Sum, don’t you?’ He looked at her as he spoke and, as I said before, I knew with certainty in my heart that, no matter what, he wouldn’t leave them. He was nothing like Dave.

‘I do, and I love you. But for now we need to get Tasha back in one piece. She did the same for me when I first moved here, and I didn’t have a child to think about like she does.’

‘Hey, baby, we’ll do whatever it takes to sort her out. Don’t worry.’

I nuzzled against both their legs. I was going to help too, of course.

‘Oh, Alfie, I forgot how much you love Tash too. Well, between us all we’ll get her back on her feet,’ Claire declared, sounding determined.

Satisfied, I miaowed and then went to the back door.

‘OK, Alfie, you can go out, but come to the windowsill when you want to come in,’ Claire said.

‘Miaow,’ I agreed.

I found Tiger under a bush in her front garden.

‘Hi, Tiger, what’s going on?’ I asked. It had been a couple of days since I’d last seen her, and I realised that I’d missed her. I was so used to seeing Tiger almost every day, I wondered if I took her for granted a bit.

‘Well, hello, stranger. I’d almost forgotten what you looked like.’

‘This not going out lark isn’t easy. Nor is having a kitten to take care of. I can’t wait for you to meet him though, he’s so cute.’

‘Oh, Alfie, you keep saying that, you proud father. Stroll?’

‘Yes, I’d love to. I haven’t had nearly enough exercise lately.’ We rubbed noses and set off. We hadn’t gone far when a big cat shadow loomed over us.

‘Great,’ I said.‘First time out in ages and we have to bump into him .’

‘Well, fancy seeing you two here,’ Salmon said, baring his teeth at us.

‘We do live here,’ Tiger replied, flicking her tail angrily.

‘Well, I’m patrolling to check everything is OK. Can’t be too careful you know.’

‘Right, Salmon, and what trouble have you happened upon?’ I said, humouring him. Salmon’s owners ran the local Neighbourhood Watch; they were real busybodies and Salmon was cut from the same cloth.

‘Well, like my owners have noted, number twenty have put so much rubbish in their garden that they’re attracting vermin. They’re holding a meeting about it, you know.’

‘Great, and what about the cat pictures, do you know anything about that yet?’

‘I do,’ Salmon replied. ‘But unfortunately it’s classified information.’

‘What? What on earth does that mean?’ Tiger asked.

‘I am not at liberty to discuss it with you.’

‘Which, once again, means you don’t know anything,’ I retorted.

‘I see your girlfriend left you,’ he said, unkindly.

‘She didn’t leave him, she moved away,’ Tiger hissed. She glared at Salmon in her most aggressive way. Tiger was my best friend and also my self-appointed bodyguard.

‘Yes, well, same difference,’ said Salmon, hissing back at us before walking off.

‘That cat does not get any nicer,’ I said, fuming.

‘But he’s not important. Look at him, he has no friends, and you have loads. Speaking of which, let’s go and find them.’

We made our way to a strip of grass surrounded by bushes at the end of Edgar Road, where our little cat community would sometimes converge. I was lucky: Elvis, Nellie and Rocky, three of my favourite cats, were hanging out there when we arrived. They all stood up to greet us.

‘Alfie, it’s been ages,’ Nellie said, yawning and raising her whiskers.‘Is there any news?’ Nellie loved drama.

‘I’m sure Tiger told you, I’ve been preoccupied with a kitten.’

‘I know, fancy you having a real kitten and not a human to worry about,’ said Rocky. He was an older cat, well-meaning but sometimes a tad interfering.

‘Oh, I still have plenty of humans to worry about, but the kitten can’t go out yet so I’m restricted as to what I can do at the moment,’ I explained.

‘How are you, Alfie?’ Elvis asked kindly. ‘You know, after Snowball leaving?’

‘I miss her, of course I do. You don’t just get over someone that quickly.’ I felt emotional as I thought of her beautiful white fur and blue eyes.‘But George, my kitten, he’s keeping me busy.’ I smiled sadly, tilting my head to one side.

‘Well, we’re all looking forward to meeting him when he’s allowed out,’ Nellie said. ‘But try to come here more often, now the weather’s nice. There are some new neighbourhood cats you should meet.’

‘Really?’ I hadn’t even noticed any new families. I had obviously been neglecting my doorstep cat duties with everything going on.

‘Oh, not new families, just new cats. Two, actually, and nice they are, as well. One is so pretty we think she’ll probably get a picture up there soon,’ Elvis said.

‘Elvis, do you really believe there’s some kind of cat beauty competition going on?’ I asked.

‘Can’t see why not,’ he replied.‘And as I said, I’m guessing at least one of the new cats will be entered soon.’ He sounded sure but it made no sense to me.

‘Have you met them?’ I asked Tiger.

‘Yes,’ she answered shortly, slowly blinking her eyes to indicate the subject was closed.‘Right, I want to sunbathe while it’s still hot.’ She found the best spot and lay down. I had time to stay for a little while, so I settled down, stretching out next to her, and enjoyed the feeling of the sun warming my fur. I thought about the new cats and how Tiger had been so keen to change the subject. She could be a funny one, I thought, but it would be nice to meet new cats, it was something else to look forward to. After all, I always say, you could never have too many friends.

As I left the others and walked back on my own, I saw some of the posters. I had seen four in total now. I looked at the pictures of the cats and had to admit that, yes, they were all nice looking cats. But still I was annoyed with myself — I knew somewhere deep down that I had the answer. As I reached the front door, I experienced a sudden flashback. My memory suddenly fell into place. When my families had thought I was missing, they’d put a picture of me on the lampposts (I wasn’t missing at all, I was ill at the vet, but that’s another story). Yes, I had figured it out. These cats were missing for some reason and their owners were trying to find out if anyone had seen them. Of course, it all made sense now. I remembered Aleksy showing me the picture he drew of me and telling me how he had put that up. That was what the lamppost cats were — missing cats! I would have to tell the other cats my discovery, but first I had to go and check on George.

‘Where’s George?’ Claire asked me. I looked at her and blinked. I had just been out into the garden for a few minutes to attend to my needs. How could they have lost him in that short time? I went off to find him. It didn’t take me long — he was under Summer’s bed.

‘George,’ I said,‘come out.’

‘No.’

‘George, I am not going to tell you again. Either you come out or I come to you,’ I warned.

‘No,’ George repeated. I wondered if he’d been taking lessons from Summer when my back was turned. I crawled under the small toddler bed and saw he was tied up in what look like a ball of wool.

‘George, what have you done?’ I asked, eyes widening. ‘Nothing,’ he replied, trying to back away and bumping into a wall.