Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie And George

‘Hi, Alfie. No luck?’ Claire said. She looked terrible, as if she had been crying. In fact, none of my humans looked good. I just looked at her. I didn’t have the energy to even wonder where the children were.

‘Thanks for doing these posters so quickly, Max,’ Jonathan said.‘We can’t risk wasting any more time.’ He issued instructions to everyone on where they should put them up. I climbed onto Claire’s lap, and looked at George’s beautiful face.

‘You are such a star, Max,’ Tash said, and I saw her cheeks were again pink. It seemed they had resolved their issues, but I didn’t have any energy to be happy for them, not now at least. I jumped down and headed back out. We weren’t any closer to finding out where George was.

‘Dustbin?’ I asked hopefully as I approached Tiger, who was waiting by my gate.

‘Sorry, Alfie, he’s not here yet. The others have gone to do another search, no one has any idea what else to do.’

‘And for once I’m all out of plans. Tonight will be the first night I’ve spent away from George since he came to live with me. I’m not sure I can bear it.’

‘Alfie, look, why don’t we wait here until Dustbin comes? We’ll stay all night if we have to. And if either of us need to go inside then the other will be here.’

‘That would be great,’ I said.‘I just feel so useless.’

‘Alfie, we’ll get him back, I just know it.’ Tiger and I snuggled together by a bush, although I didn’t think sleep would visit that night.

We saw Matt, Jonathan and Tomasz emerge from the front door, armed with posters.

‘Right, guys, meet you back here when they’ve all been put up,’ Jonathan said. They headed off, Matt and Tomasz in one direction, Jonathan in the other.

‘They’re putting up pictures, on the lampposts,’ I explained to Tiger. She looked distraught as the reality of what was happening hit us once again.

‘If only I hadn’t insisted on that stupid plan,’ I lamented.

‘Oh, Alfie, it’s not your fault. You only left him for a few minutes.’

‘I know, but I shouldn’t have left him at all. I should have waited with him until you came back. No matter what the plan was, he should not have been left alone.’

‘Well, we can’t turn back the clock, and blaming yourself isn’t going to help anyone. Come on, Alfie, let’s try to be positive. You’re the most positive cat I know.’

‘I just don’t feel it right now.’

‘I know, it’s horrible. I didn’t think I could miss anyone the way I miss George.’ Tiger looked sad.‘But we will find him. We have to.’

‘I just wish Dustbin would turn up.’

The front door opened again and Tash walked out carrying Elijah. Max was next to her.

‘Are you sure I can’t carry him for you?’ Max asked.

‘I’m used to it,’ Tash replied.

‘But, Tash, you don’t have to. Look, I promised you we’d take things slowly, and I mean it, but let me help you.’ He sounded so genuine; I really liked this guy.

‘You’re right. I guess I’m so used to doing things myself. Max, you have to be patient with me.’

‘Hey, Patience is my middle name.’

I really hoped it wasn’t.

Tiger and I watched them walk off towards Tash’s flat, with Elijah now in Max’s arms. It was very sweet and had I not been so worried about my kitten my heart would be full of joy.

‘George needs you, Alfie,’ Tiger said, suddenly. ‘He needs us both. We sort of promised him we were his parents now and we have to protect him. No matter what.’

‘Tiger, you’re right. We need to be strong; no time for moping.’ We were going to find him. I closed my eyes and wished it with all my heart.

I woke with a start. I was still lying under a bush; obviously I’d fallen asleep at some point, but it was still dark. Tiger slept beside me, looking so peaceful I almost forgot the turmoil we were in. I stretched out and took a look around. Still no sign of Dustbin, or any other cats for that matter. I paced around a bit, to loosen my legs up and also for want of something to do. I was just about to lie down next to Tiger again, when to my surprise I saw big Tomasz walking down our street. What was he doing? Had he found George? I barely dared to hope. I ran out onto the street to intercept him, and as soon as he saw me he scooped me up in his arms.

‘Alfie, is the middle of the night,’ he said as he sat on the garden wall, still cradling me. I miaowed — I knew that. But what was he doing here? ‘I have been thinking a lot. Seeing how lost you are without George makes me see how lost I am without my family — my wife and kittens. Alfie, I am coming to look for George tonight, while everyone else sleeps, but I feel so useless.’ I nestled into his neck; I felt the same. ‘Alfie, I’m sorry, but as worried about George as we all are, I know what I need to do. Tomorrow I am going to fly to Poland to get my family back. I hope we find George by then but if not I have to go. I hope you understand.’

Tomasz was such a big, solid man but he sounded so sad. I did understand. After all, part of my grand plan had been to get him to go to Poland. I thought of the miserable irony of my life: Tash had opened herself up to Max and Tomasz was going to get his family, yet here I was having lost my kitten. There was no triumph, only pain, and I tried to ignore the horrible feeling that I would rather have George back than any of this. It was selfish of me, wasn’t it? I was suddenly realising that my kitten was more important to me than anyone, and his happiness and safety came above all else. I loved my humans, and I wanted their happiness, but not at the expense of George. I nestled into Tomasz again; I wanted to feel a bit of warmth because suddenly my fur was freezing, and so was my heart.

After a while, Tomasz left to go and look for George. Poor Tomasz, he felt guilty at leaving us before George was found, so he was sacrificing his sleep to have one last look, but I had a terrible, sinking feeling it was fruitless. I was beginning to give up all hope. How could I continue to put one paw in front of the other? How could I eat, sleep, ever be happy again? I was pretty sure that unless George came back, I couldn’t.

The next morning Tiger woke up and stretched; we had spent the entire night outside and I had been unable to get back to sleep. The sun was beginning to come up and as I saw Tomasz coming back again. I looked, hopefully, to see if he had George, but his arms were empty. As he came up to our front door, I looked at Tiger, who nodded. I was going to go inside to see if there was any news. He rang the doorbell and I stood at his feet as Jonathan, wearing his dressing gown and with hair messier than I’d ever seen it before, opened the door. His skin was pale and I guessed he hadn’t slept much either. Wordlessly, he stepped aside and let Tomasz and me in.

‘No luck?’ he said, as they made their way into the kitchen. He began to fiddle with the coffee machine.

‘I walked around for hours. No sign. But, Jon, I need to say something. I have decided that I am going to Poland today. I book a flight, I leave the restaurants with the managers.’

‘Mate, you’re going to get your family back!’ I saw a faint glimmer of a smile on Jonathan’s lips.

‘I feel so bad leaving when George is missing but I need to tell Franceska and the boys how important they are to me.’

‘Yes, Tom, you do and you know we’ll find George. I just feel it. So you go and I’ll text with any news, but first you need coffee, you look like death warmed up.’