Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie And George

‘No!’ I shouted, a bit more forcefully than I intended. George jumped but thankfully stayed on the gatepost.‘George, dogs are to be avoided at all costs. Now come down.’ I leapt down, having used my sternest voice, and George reluctantly followed me.

‘Right, this is George,’ I said for the second time when we re-joined the others.

‘Aww, you’re so incredibly sweet. I’m Nellie,’ Nellie cooed. She went up to George and made a fuss of him.

‘Nice to meet you, George, I’m Elvis.’ Elvis looked overjoyed to see my kitten.

‘I’m Rocky, nice to meet you.’ Rocky stopped looking at his paw and came over to greet us.

‘Wow, you’re all cats,’ George said.‘And there are so many of you!’

‘We certainly are,’ Rocky said.‘And Alfie was right, this is one cute kitten.’ All three cats were immediately taken with George, I could tell.

‘Come with me, George, I’ll show you the bush that attracts butterflies,’ Nellie said.

‘What are butterflies?’ he asked.

‘Follow me and you’ll find out.’ I sat and watched proudly as Nellie took George to see the butterflies. He really is my boy, I thought, as I watched him jumping around. Of course he never actually caught a butterfly, but then neither had I, and I’d been playing for a lot longer. We just liked chasing things, usually without much success — though I did swat a fly once at home. Jonathan had been so pleased with me, until he realised it was a fluke.

‘Nice youngster,’ Elvis said to me. ‘Look, here comes the other cat I mentioned to you, Tinkerbell.’ I hoped that this wasn’t another of his attempts to set me up. I know I was busy but I still thought of Snowball in any spare moment I had — usually before I went to sleep at night. But when I came face to face with the new cat I realised something strange.

‘But you’re a boy,’ I said, confused.

‘Have we been introduced?’ Tinkerbell growled. Not only was he male, but he was big, about twice the size of me. I felt a little threatened.

‘Sorry, I’m Alfie and I’ve heard about you but, well, you’re called Tinkerbell so I assumed you were a girl.’

‘No, I’m a tom.’ He raised his whiskers.‘Look, my owner wanted a girl cat so when they got me they gave me a girl’s name. To be honest I’d rather not talk about it. If you’re a friend, you can call me Tinks.’

‘Nice to meet you, Tinks.’ I gave him my most charming look.‘And sorry for the misunderstanding. I didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just that my friend Elvis here seems to want to set me up with female cats so …’

‘Oh yes, I heard you’re the heartbroken one. But no need to make a fuss, I’m happy with my name and my sexuality, thank you very much. And now that we’ve cleared that up, we can be mates.’

‘What does it mean? Setting my dad up with a female?’ I hadn’t heard George approach but he was standing behind me with Nellie and Tiger.

‘Well, young George, it’s just that we thought Alfie might like a new girlfriend, and then you could have a new mum,’ Rocky explained.

‘Oh, no, thank you,’ George replied.‘Tiger’s my mum.’

‘Aww,’ Tiger and Nellie both said, and I swear I have never seen Tiger look so moved. Even Tinkerbell softened. This kitten could win any charm competition, of that I was certain.

‘Goodness, Alfie and Tiger, you guys are like a married couple already, so I guess it makes sense,’ Rocky laughed. I shot him one of my looks.

‘Well, George, we’re all your friends here, so if you need anything, then you just ask,’ Elvis said.

‘But don’t come here on your own,’ I warned. ‘Not yet anyway. Either me or Tiger need to escort you.’

‘As if I would,’ George replied innocently.

Apart from George nearly jumping into that dog’s garden — and I dreaded to think how that might have ended up — our first proper trip was a great success. My kitten was greatly admired by all and I felt so proud. Unfortunately, however, it was getting late and there was no time to drop into Matt and Polly’s house. That would have to wait for another day.

‘Honestly, Alfie, you’re like the cat who got the cream,’ Tiger said as she dropped us home.

‘I have George, and he’s better than any cream,’ I replied.

Back in the relative safety of home I had a quick catnap on the sofa while George was carted off to play with Summer. She was cross that we’d had been out when she got back from nursery. She kept stamping her feet and crossing her arms, saying ‘bad Alfie,’ which I thought was a little unfair. But Claire found it funny so I only gave a small yowl of objection. Then I went to have a well-deserved rest. As I drifted off I thought of how well George had coped with the trip, and I was pleased that the other cats welcomed him so readily. Deep down I had known they would, but it was still gratifying to see them admiring my kitten. I thought I would bask in his reflected glory as I fell asleep.

A commotion woke me. Although I had only intended a quick nap, even that had been cut short. I jumped up in fright as I heard Summer scream. Both Claire and I ran to her room.

‘What’s the matter, poppet?’ Claire asked.

‘Deorge, up there,’ Summer said, pointed upwards. We all looked and saw George tucked on top of Summer’s wardrobe.

‘He must have climbed,’ Claire said, hugging her daughter. ‘It’s OK, he’s just playing.’ She smoothed Summer’s blonde hair and the tears started to subside.

‘No, Deorge stuck,’ Summer shouted, putting her thumb in her mouth.

‘He’s stuck?’ Claire looked up at him uncertainly. She was fairly tall but she couldn’t reach the top of the wardrobe. George looked at me and then put a paw over his eyes. Ah, I thought, he had got up there easily — at a guess he had jumped on the chest of drawers and then onto the wardrobe — but he didn’t feel quite so confident in getting down. After all, it was quite high for such a little one. I looked at Claire, and then at Summer, and finally at George. Despite the fact that I didn’t like heights and my legs were aching a bit from all the exercise earlier, I would have to save the day. I jumped onto the chest of drawers and then leapt up and onto the wardrobe, thankfully landing beside George.

‘Look, Sum, it’s OK, Alfie will help him down,’ Claire said. Summer seemed happier.

‘Oh, hello, Dad,’ George said quietly.

‘George, you must be careful. You’re stuck. Why did you jump up here if you’re too scared to jump back down?’ I asked, trying not to sound cross. After all, we all did stupid things. I’d done too many to count.

‘Oh, I’m not stuck,’ George replied. ‘Why did you think that?’

‘Well, Summer said you were and when I looked at you you put your paw over your eyes.’

‘Oh, Dad, that was to tell you I came up here to hide from Summer. She wanted me to be her baby and she tried to put me in her pushchair like a doll and I didn’t really like it. I can get down, I just don’t want to.’

‘Well, what do we do now? Claire thinks you’re stuck, and now I’m up here when I don’t really like being this high. You’ll have to come down with me.’

‘Only if you promise you won’t let her put me in the pushchair.’

‘OK, get down and we’ll go straight downstairs, it’s your teatime anyway.’ He looked at me uncertainly.

‘Promise?’ he said.

‘Yes, now come on.’ George jumped down with ease; I envied him his youth and fearlessness as I tentatively followed. Then we both made for the stairs before Summer could object.