Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie And George

‘Thank you all so much,’ I said to the chickens. I felt as if I was friends with the creatures now.

‘Cluck,’ they replied, bobbing their heads in what I could only assume meant ‘you’re welcome’.

My relief was palpable. I had relied on a team, and that team had really come through. As we approached Edgar Road I saw Tiger at my gate. I miaowed and Jonathan set me down.

‘He’s safe,’ I said, grinning.

‘Oh, Alfie, you did it!’ Tiger looked so happy and I felt closer to her than ever in that moment.

‘No, Tiger, we did it.’ I nuzzled her and felt like the luckiest cat in the world.

It was pandemonium when we got back with George. Claire burst into tears, as did Summer, who ran up to George, clutched him to her little chest and told him, ‘Bad kitten.’ George looked confused at this telling off, but I gave him a reassuring look. Polly and the kids all crowded round him and of course they wanted to hear the story.

‘Alfie did it, really,’ Jonathan said, looking confused.‘After that whole thing here, the kerfuffle, he made us follow him and he led us to the house. How did you find it when no one else had?’ Jonathan asked me. I tilted my head to the side. ‘I think he had help, cat help, that is. And then he took his life, or one of them anyway, into his own hands …’ Jonathan told the story, but it sounded a bit more like one of his action films than what really happened. I mean yes, it was dramatic, but not quite as dramatic as he made out.

‘So it turns out that poor Henrietta worked at a cattery, but she hated giving the cats back so they gave her the boot,’ Matt said.‘Which sent her a bit mad and she basically scooped up all the cats she came across. There were about twenty there, all in this big dilapidated house.’

‘Imagine the smell, Claire, you would not have coped,’ Jonathan added. It was funny what humans dwelled on.

Everyone was so happy and made a huge fuss of George, but I got a hero’s welcome after Matt and Jonathan finished explaining what had happened. Claire went to get us some smoked salmon, which was very welcome after our ordeal.

We ate as everyone stayed close by, all chattering with relief.

‘Have you told Tash?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Yes, I texted her. She’s at home with Elijah, he wasn’t feeling too well, but Max is with her so she said she would celebrate. And Tomasz? Has anyone let him know?’

‘I texted him,’ Jonathan said. ‘And look.’ He held up his phone, which had a photo of my Polish family on it.‘Family selfie, so it’s all good with them,’ Jonathan grinned. I began to relax. George was back where he belonged. In fact, it seemed everyone was where they belonged right now.

As I snuggled up with George, after we’d eaten and cleaned ourselves, I wanted everyone to see how much I loved him. I hoped they would then see how much they loved each other.

‘It’s amazing, really,’ Polly said. ‘Alfie has really adopted George as if he’s his own. Even if he’d fathered him he couldn’t love him any more.’ Claire looked at Polly and then at Jonathan. I saw Jonathan looking at me and then he reached over and grabbed Claire’s hand.

‘And we love those cats as if they’re our children, almost,’ Matt pointed out.

‘We do,’ Claire said, and I saw she had tears in her eyes as she held tightly onto Jonathan’s hand. I made a note to make an extra fuss of Polly later. How clever she had been with what she said.

‘Polly,’ said Matt,‘I was thinking a lot today, when we were looking for George. I felt so scared for him, I know we all did, but it was as if we’d lost a part of the family. And so I think we need to decide, for the good of our family, how we can both work, because I don’t think it’s good for anyone if either of us are miserable.’

‘We have been awful lately,’ Polly said.‘Poor kids, we must have been a nightmare to live with.’ I purred my agreement from where I was resting: they had been.

‘You can get a nanny or an au pair or something,’ Jonathan said.‘Plenty of parents do that.’

‘And I can help you find one,’ Claire said. She was so efficient that I knew she’d probably find them someone in no time.‘And you’re right. We’ve all made a bit of a mess of things lately, perhaps this was the wake-up call we all needed to start putting things right.’ She looked at her husband.

‘We’ll talk, properly talk, later,’ Jonathan said, leaning over to kiss her.

Henry walked into the kitchen and up to his dad. He looked cross.

‘What’s up, mate?’ Matt asked.

‘Martha and Summer want me to dress up as a girl and go to a pretend tea party with them.’ He didn’t sound happy.

‘Oh boy, those girls are so bossy. Right, Henry, come with me and I’ll find you something else to do,’ Jonathan said, taking his hand.

‘Can I play on the iPad?’ Henry looked hopeful.

‘OK, but you’d better use it in the kitchen or the girls will squabble over it.’ Jonathan ruffled Henry’s hair as he went to get his iPad. Henry sat on a chair in the corner of the room, happy once again now he was safe from the girls.

Oh, I thought as I felt the warmth of my little boy, it could all be so easy, if only people would let it.

‘I’m going to open a bottle of champagne,’ Jonathan announced. ‘We need to celebrate George’s safe return.’ He went to the fridge to get a bottle.

‘You know, the last time I was as scared as I was today was when Alfie was ill and I didn’t know if he’d survive,’ Claire said. She was talking about my first plan, which had been incredibly dangerous. Although it had worked, it did almost kill me.

‘And to think we didn’t know each other then. Gosh, Claire, I can’t imagine not having you guys in my life,’ Polly said.

‘If it wasn’t for Alfie, and now for George, we wouldn’t all be talking like this, like we haven’t done for ages, so I reckon we should toast them,’ Matt suggested.

‘You’d almost think he planned the whole thing,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Oh, Jon, you are so ridiculous where Alfie’s concerned, of course he didn’t. But Matt’s right, our lives are richer for having them in it, so let’s toast them,’ said Claire, giving Jonathan an affectionate pat on the arm.

Jonathan stood up and cleared his throat.

‘To love, family and friends — and that includes our lovely, clever cats, without whom we would be lost. As lost as little George was. To Alfie and George.’ He raised his champagne and everyone echoed him as they clinked glasses.

My heart swelled, so full of joy, I wondered if it would burst.

Apart from the fact that George actually did go missing, and my plan had gone totally awry, the end result was exactly what I had hoped for. No, it wasn’t worth losing George for, and I would never leave him ever again, not for a moment, but we had him back and it was time to stop dwelling on the bad times and look to our future. Which, as I listened to Claire and Jonathan talk that night, seemed to be exactly what they were doing.

‘I think adoption is important for so many reasons,’ Claire said. ‘A child needs a loving family, and we have one, we are one. There are too many children in the world that don’t have what we can offer,’ she said.

‘I know and I want to, but I’m scared. What if I don’t love the child like I love Summer? I can’t believe how much I do love her, it takes me by surprise even now.’

‘But what if you do love them? Jonathan, you don’t realise how big your heart is, you treat all the kids — Aleksy, little Tomasz, Elijah, Henry and Martha — as if they’re family.’