Рейчел Уэллс - A Cat Called Alfie

We heard shouting from inside; it sounded like they were wondering what was keeping Daisy. She looked apologetic.

‘Sorry, I better go, but I’ll talk to Mum and Dad.’

‘Thanks for the ball,’ Polly said as Daisy closed the door. I was flooded with disappointment. I knew Snowball knew I was there, I could sense her, but she clearly didn’t want to see me.

We walked down the path and back to mine in silence. As Claire opened the door, Aleksy rushed forward and looked delighted to see his ball.

‘Don’t kick it over again or it’s lost.’

‘It wasn’t me, it was Tomasz,’ Aleksy protested.

‘OK, tell him to be more careful, love.’ Polly ruffled his hair as she handed the ball over. She and Claire went into the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around the table. Martha was in the highchair that they brought over with them and when Polly sat down the food was served.

‘How was it next door?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Honestly those poor people are like characters in a soap opera; everyone wondering what they are up to or why they are like they are! Anyway, Daisy answered the door, I didn’t see anyone else.’

‘I wish we knew what their deal was? What was she like with you?’ Claire asked.

‘Very sweet, wanted to know if I was a model. I said I’d help her if her parents were happy with it but I can’t imagine they would be.’

‘Do you think they might be like those secret people?’ big Tomasz asked. I sat at Aleksy’s feet and the children were all concentrating on their food; the adults seemed more keen to chat.

‘What secret people?’ Matt asked.

‘You know something happens and they have to be new people and no one can know who they really are?’ big Tomasz explained.

‘Oh yes, those in witness protection!’ Claire exclaimed.

‘Well I guess it would explain why they don’t want to see anyone.’ Polly nodded.

‘And why the police visit sometimes,’ Jonathan added.

‘Yes but if you’re in witness protection you have to act normally so as not to raise suspicion surely?’ Matt chipped in.

‘Oh yeah.’ They all reverted to looking as confused as they did when they started speculating.

After lunch had been cleared away, including my empty bowl, they all decided to go for a walk, as it was a cold but sunny day. As children were bundled into coats, and Matt fetched Martha’s pushchair, I decided that as much fun as it had been I was glad for some time alone.

I bade them all goodbye and made my way to the back garden to sunbathe. As I jumped through the cat flap I was surprised to find a most unexpected visitor in my garden. Snowball.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

‘Hi, why are you here?’ I asked, taken aback.

‘We had a deal. Or so I thought. Why did you come to the house before?’

She was as coldly hostile as ever, but beautiful with it too.

‘Snowball, you can’t blame me for that. I was helping Polly get Aleksy’s ball back, but I have kept away the past few days.’

‘Don’t take me for a fool, Alfie.’

‘I never would.’

She looked at me witheringly. OK, so maybe I was a bit, but you can’t blame a cat for trying. ‘Anyway, Daisy seemed really happy to see Polly.’

‘She was.’ Snowball looked a bit sad for a minute. I had found her weak spot; it was Daisy. ‘But of course then when she spoke to her mum and dad they weren’t happy. They kept telling her that modelling is so tough, and not many people make it. I mean she was happy for the first time in months; you’d think they might have been a bit more supportive.’

‘Yes, you would. Why do you think the parents are doing that?’

‘They’re scared, Alfie, really scared. We all are. I know those horrible people with that nasty cat Salmon think we’re bad, and I know everyone else thinks we’re strange, but that’s not it. We’re scared. Nervous even, and on top of that we’ve lost the ability to trust.’

‘Wow, that’s a lot to deal with. What on earth has happened to ruin your family’s trust like this?’

‘I can’t tell you, and you know why I can’t,’ she reprimanded me.

‘Fair enough.’ I needed to tread carefully, this was the nicest she had been to me and I didn’t want to ruin that. ‘I get it, Snowball, honestly I do, because I was in a bad place, I told you. There must be something we can do. You can’t do it on your own.’ I looked at her, her eyes were filled with sadness that I just wanted to take away from her. ‘And it’s the same for us cats. You need friends and I’m willing to be just that.’

She stood up and walked around in a circle, as if she was thinking about what I said. Then she looked at me again.

‘You’re a good cat, Alfie and I’m sorry I was so mean to you, but I have to do what my family wants me to do, and that means I have to keep away.’

‘Are you sure you won’t let me help?’

‘For now I can’t, sorry.’ She looked at me. ‘Honestly, Alfie, I really am sorry.’

I was speechless as I knew that somehow, in my little garden, something had changed. A switch had been flicked. And although I didn’t know where that would lead, I felt we had taken a giant leap forward.

She turned and ran as she heard voices. My families were back and Snowball had disappeared in a puff of fluff.

‘Alfie looks like the cat who got the cream,’ Claire observed later when the others had all gone home. She was right, I couldn’t get the grin off my face, ever since my encounter with Snowball. I know she didn’t exactly furnish me with good news but I felt that had been our first truly friendly conversation. I couldn’t be happier.

‘Hey, if he looks like the cat who got the cream, then let’s give him the cream. There’s some left over from pudding.’ As he winked, Claire giggled and I licked my lips. Moments like this, when life felt good, were priceless. And on top of that I had a big bowl of cream to enjoy.

‘Do you fancy going to the park?’ Tiger asked. We were lazing around at our patch at the end of the street. Our little gang — Elvis, Nellie, Rocky, and our newest member Tom — had been having a competition. We’d been stalking mice, but I lost as usual. Tom had won, although it was clear to us all that he was just trying to impress Tiger.

‘Sorry but I need to go home, Claire’s not herself,’ I explained. ‘Next time though.’

‘I’ll come to the park with you, Tiger,’ Tom offered, gruffly. I tried not to grin.

‘Oooooh,’ Nellie teased.

‘Shut up, Nellie. Come on, Tom, let’s go.’ Tiger stalked off without a backward glance and Tom followed. It was quite a sight to be seen. Tiger, confidently striding and the normally alpha male Tom, literally tottering after her. They did made a cute couple though, in a strange kind of way.

It was true that I was concerned about Claire. I worried that with the excitement of everything that was happening with Snowball, I was neglecting my own family. I had to do a mental inventory: Matt, Polly and the kids were definitely all right; Franceska and family, ditto; but I wasn’t so sure about Claire and Jonathan.

While Jonathan was the same as always, the reliable man I loved so much, Claire was see-sawing between being calm and angry. One minute she would seem happy, the next she would be snapping at Jonathan, or crying. I really was worried about her. I knew she wanted a baby, but I didn’t understand why she was behaving like this. Jonathan said to me the other day that he was walking on eggshells, and his patience — which wasn’t great at the best of times — was being tested.

Whenever Jonathan asked her what was wrong she would snap ‘nothing,’ in an almost hateful way. I would try to make things better by snuggling up to her, but so often she would burst into tears and I was left thinking I’d only made things worse, even when I purred in my most relaxing way. Jonathan and I were at a loss as to how we could help Claire and fix this situation.