Рейчел Уэллс - A Cat Called Alfie

No one moved from the garden now and although I couldn’t see much, I did see Tim making a call. Matt was still trying to shout up to me, but the wind kept stealing his words so I couldn’t hear him. I wished I was in his arms right now. Anyone’s arms. I felt sick to my stomach as I huddled and clung on for dear life.

After about half an hour of being stuck to the branch, I heard the sirens from quite far away and instinctively knew what it was. Oh the indignity! My worst fear. Matt and Tim ran round to the front of the house, and after a while they came back with four firemen who looked up at me. I covered my eyes again. I would never live this down and if this didn’t bring my families together then it would be the ultimate humiliation for nothing. They disappeared and then reappeared with a ladder that looked enormous. As they rested it against the tree, they started extending it before one man started climbing. Finally, I found myself face to face with a friendly looking fireman.

‘OK, Alfie, you’re safe now,’ he said, as he reached for me and took me in his arms. He did have to literally peel me off the branch but as soon as I felt his arms around me I started to feel relief. I wouldn’t have to live in the tree after all.

I closed my eyes as we made our way down the ladder. I was still feeling sick. He handed me to Polly who was crying.

‘Thank you for rescuing him,’ she said. ‘Honestly, Alfie, sometimes I wonder about you, you could have fallen,’ she chastised.

‘Can I get you guys a cup of tea?’ Karen offered the firemen.

‘Nah, thanks, love, but we might have to put an actual fire out!’ he laughed. ‘But take care of that cat, he’s my first ever cat rescue,’ the man who’d got me down said. ‘And I’ve been in the brigade for over ten years.’

I had never been so embarrassed in my life.

Polly was still clutching me as we went round to the front of the house. Snowball followed and I could see she looked relieved, although I hadn’t had the chance to talk to her yet.

The first thing I noticed was that the shiny red fire engine had attracted quite a crowd as most of the residents of Edgar Road stood around it — apart from the Goodwins of course, who were probably behind their curtains.

‘My God, are you all right?’ I heard panic in Claire’s voice as she rushed across the street and up to Polly. ‘We just got home and saw the fire engine. Is there a fire?’

‘No, Claire, it was Alfie, he got stuck up a tree in the Snells’ garden,’ Matt explained, still looking shaken up. I felt bad that yet again that I had made my families worry about me but I told myself it was for the greater good. I noticed that my cat friends were also out, watching the goings on hidden beneath bushes. Tiger smiled at me and I tried to smile back, still feeling woozy from my adventure up the tree.

‘He was so high,’ Karen said. ‘Poor little thing, none of us knew what to do so Tim called the fire brigade.’

‘Are you all right?’ Claire took me from Polly and cuddled me. I miaowed and snuggled into her; I was still feeling dizzy actually but so relieved to be out of the tree I almost didn’t mind.

‘Excuse me, it’s Rob,’ a man I recognized from the street said. ‘I’m with the local paper and we’d love to do an article, it’s not often that we get the old cat-up-a-tree story these days.’

Did he really have to rub it in?

The whole street seemed to be buzzing with excitement as I was handed back to the fireman who rescued me and my picture was taken. For the paper! Could this get any worse?

‘Right,’ Jonathan announced to the Snells, after, it seemed, the whole neighbourhood had checked on me, taking the time to introduce themselves to the Snells who seemed shy but happy to shake hands and exchange words. ‘Please come to our house so we can thank you with a drink at least.’ I waited for the Snells to make their excuses but they nodded.

‘That’d be lovely,’ Tim said, to everyone’s surprise, and we all happily made our way to our house.

Polly went to get the children whom she’d left with her neighbour, and I was pleased to see that it was noisy and full in our kitchen, just the way I liked it. Matt and Polly, Claire and Jonathan sat around the table with the Snells, Martha was asleep in her buggy and Henry was playing tiredly with some cars on the floor. Daisy and Christopher seemed animated by the situation and were chatting easily with everyone, and finally Tim decided to open up and tell everyone exactly what was going on. I saw him look at Karen as if asking for permission and she squeezed his hand and smiled.

I wanted to escape and see Snowball but Claire and Polly wouldn’t let me out of their sight so instead, I listened to the familiar story that I had heard from Snowball as I rested. As Tim left no stone unturned, my humans looked horrified as they listened to their tale.

‘It’s terrible, but I wish we’d known,’ Jonathan said. ‘If only to get the Goodwins off your backs.’

‘Yes, mate, sorry, we didn’t handle it very well,’ Tim explained.

‘Yeah but after hearing all you’ve been through, no one can blame you,’ Claire said, giving Karen’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

I was still pretty shaken up from my ordeal, not to mention embarrassed. However, as I saw the happy faces in my kitchen, I tried to remember that I had got what I wanted. Well nearly, anyway.

I heard the cat flap and everyone turned to look as Snowball appeared.

‘Snowball!’ Daisy said. ‘She’s come to see if Alfie’s OK.’ She was gleeful.

Snowball miaowed and came over to my basket. She smiled at me and waved her tail and I knew she was happy as she curled down next to me.

‘My goodness, that’s the cutest thing I have ever seen,’ Polly said.

‘My God, Alfie’s got himself a girlfriend,’ Jonathan stated. Matt and Jonathan high-fived, the others all laughed and started chattering animatedly about us. Claire was pink with delight.

I looked at Snowball, she looked at me in understanding; humans could be so juvenile sometimes but I loved them anyway.

It was family day again, six months after I had been stuck up a tree. Oh how that story never got old, not with my cat friends, who thought it was hilarious. Tiger, after telling me she had warned me I wasn’t good with trees, couldn’t stop with her teasing, and the others joined in. Then, of course, it had made its way onto the front page of the local paper. Claire had even got the photo of me and the fireman framed so every day I had a reminder of my ultimate humiliation.

However, I was too happy at the fact that my plan worked to worry. What was a little embarrassment in the grand scheme of things?

It had taken a while to fully ensconce the Snells into our group but slowly they had learned to trust us. Tim, Matt and Jonathan watched football together, Karen was great company now she was happier, and they had been joining us on family days for a while now.

As it was a lovely day, we were going to have a picnic in the park, which was one of my favourite family days. Everyone was going to be there and I was beside myself with excitement. Before we left, Claire was making lots of food as I played around her feet, Jonathan was getting hot and bothered as he tried to find picnic blankets and folding chairs — which of course were where they always were. And baby Summer, who had arrived over a month ago, was curled up in her Moses basket, sleeping. I could barely take my eyes off her, she was so beautiful, and Claire teased that I was her bodyguard. Luckily, so far, that was easy, as all she did was eat and sleep — a bit like Tiger when I first met her, actually.

I loved all my human children but when they had brought Summer home from hospital, I had fallen in love with her immediately. She was my new sister and I would do anything to make sure she was looked after. She already lived up to her name. As soon as she entered the house, it was sunny all the time. Even when she woke up throughout the night, no one moaned and Claire and Jonathan were happier than I had ever seen them.