Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie The Doorstep Cat

‘Are you excited about your new school?’

‘I am yes, so, but I am also a bit scared.’

‘Right, well, I think that we should go to the shops and you can choose a cool school bag and pencil case; it’ll be a starting school present from Matt and me.’

‘Wow, really? I can have Spiderman?’

‘Whatever you want.’

‘Polly,’ Franceska started.

‘No, please, Frankie. I can never repay what you’ve done and I hope you don’t need me in the way I needed you, but let me treat the boys. And also, I need an outing some time soon, I can’t fester in here forever. A trip to buy a Spiderman bag might do me the world of good.’

‘OK, thank you.’

Val returned with the tea and they all chatted like old friends. The boys played with both Henry and me and I felt emotional as I knew what was happening next. But although I was leaving them, I knew they would be all right. They were happy, and while Polly wasn’t exactly back to normal, she was at least more cheerful than she’d been. I could tell when she picked Henry up and kissed him. I had never seen her do that before. Henry barely cried the whole time I was there. It felt as if a miracle had happened in the flats at number 22.

Before lunch, they decided to take a walk to the park.

‘I need some fresh air,’ Polly said. ‘Let me quickly throw on some clothes.’ That was a curious expression, I thought, but she returned wearing jeans and a T-shirt. They started getting their shoes on. Henry was strapped into his smaller pushchair and Thomasz insisted on walking. They set off, and they turned round to me as I stood at the gate.

‘Bye, Alfie,’ Aleksy said.

‘Bye, Alfie,’ Thomasz mimicked. Both Polly and Franceska bent down to stroke me.

‘If you come back at lunch time, I’ll buy you some fish on our way back,’ Polly said. I miaowed with joy.

‘You’d swear he understood you!’ Val pointed out.

‘He very clever cat,’ Franceska replied. ‘Of course he understood.’

I rushed to see Tiger after leaving. I took the back way, which was slightly quicker; jumping fences and dodging snarling dogs. When I arrived, she was sunning herself in the back garden. I told her immediately of my plan and she looked stricken. She actually yowled at me in annoyance, but I tried to explain the thinking behind it. She called me all kinds of cat names, telling me I was an idiot. Then she cried out and said she was scared for me because we didn’t know how it would turn out. She said I was a very brave, very stupid cat indeed. And I couldn’t do anything but agree with her. We eventually had an affectionate goodbye and I promised that I would do whatever I could to make sure I came back to her in one piece.

I tried to forget about the visit with Tiger and what lay in store as I hastened back to number 22 for my fish.

‘We go to my flat,’ Franceska said, as I met her outside with the boys. ‘Henry is sleeping and Val makes Polly rest too, so I have your fish.’ I purred with pleasure and followed them up the stairs.

Aleksy put the television on, and Thomasz sat on the floor as close to it as he could get. Franceska, who was in the kitchen, shouted, ‘Too close, Thomasz, move.’ And she laughed. I wondered if she could see through walls. Cats have wonderful sight and can sense objects but even we can’t do that. I followed her into the kitchen and waited for my lunch. As promised, she cooked me some fish and then served it. It was like being a human, apart from the fact that I ate from the floor. I ate quickly and then cleaned myself as she fed both the boys and herself.

After lunch she put a reluctant Thomasz down for a nap and spent time reading with Aleksy.

‘Is hard to read English,’ he complained.

‘Yes but you are doing good. Soon you will be better than your mamma.’

‘Will I like school?’ he asked, looking worried.

‘You will love it, just like you did in Poland.’

‘But with different language.’

‘Yes and the teachers say they will be very kind to you and help you, so you must not worry.’ I could see that, for all her reassurances, Franceska was concerned about her boy.

‘And if Polly buys me a bag, I will be very happy.’ Aleksy squirmed as his mum kissed him and cuddled him.

After reading for a while, Aleksy got out his toy cars and tried to make me chase them. I did, but my stomach wasn’t feeling good. My nerves were growing and although I tried to make the game fun, my heart wasn’t really in it. I told myself off. If this was to be our last play for a while, or, I shuddered at the thought, even longer, then the least I could do was to have fun. So I let Aleksy push the car, which I chased and then tried to roll it back to him with my little paw. It wasn’t that easy. He laughed with glee when I did this. We played for what felt like a very long time, before I had to leave. It was time for me to go and put the very scary plan into action.

As I bade everyone goodbye I memorised their faces and hoped sincerely that I would see them again soon.

My legs were shaking as I approached Claire’s house. Tiger was waiting for me outside and she gave me a quick nuzzle and wished me luck. She asked me to reconsider but I said I couldn’t; something told me that this had to be done for the good of Claire, whom I loved so much. I might have been angry with her, I might have been annoyed at how weak she was, but I loved her and she needed me. I felt as if I was all she had and although that didn’t feel like much, I hoped that now it would be enough for her.

I leapt with more energy than I felt through the cat flap and stood still for a moment. I could sense that Claire wasn’t home yet. Joe was in the living room watching television. I took a breath and felt my fur stand on end. I remembered last feeling this level of terror when I first started being a homeless cat. My little cat heart was beating so fast that it was almost jumping out of my body.

I sat outside the living room, waiting. I wasn’t sure how long I was there before I heard Claire walking down the path and I thanked God for giving us cats such excellent hearing. Timing was everything. I ran into the living room and jumped straight up onto Joe’s lap. He looked surprised and then, as I had guessed he would be, angry.

‘Get off me you stupid moggy,’ he shouted and I hissed at him before lashing out and scratching his arm. I closed my eyes, as I had predicted what would follow.

‘You stupid bloody cat, I hate you,’ he said, as he threw me across the room. I curled myself into a tight ball and when I felt myself falling, I put my legs out and landed straight. Claire had entered the house, so I yowled as loudly as I could.

Joe darted across the room and began to kick me repeatedly. The pain seared through my entire body, and I could no longer even cry out.

‘Oh my God, what the hell, get off him, get the hell off him, you bastard!’ I heard Claire cry before everything went black.

I wasn’t sure, despite watching lots of hospital dramas with Margaret, whether I was conscious, unconscious or something in between. I knew I wasn’t dead because I hadn’t seen Agnes or Margaret and I was pretty sure that in death I would. I was warm though, although it felt as if we were moving as the pain seared through me. I could vaguely hear voices and was reassured that one of them was Claire’s.

‘What have I done?’ she cried. ‘I let him use me and now he’s gone and nearly killed Alfie. Oh God, if he dies, I’ll never forgive myself.’

‘Claire,’ it was Tasha’s voice I could now make out. ‘You were vulnerable after the divorce. We thought you were better but that wasn’t real, was it? You still felt worthless and I should have seen that. But Joe, well he did see it. Men like him sense these things. You can’t blame yourself. Look, Alfie will be OK, we’re nearly at the vet and I know he’s going to make it through.’ But she didn’t sound sure, I could hear it in her voice. ‘And he saved you.’