Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie Far From Home

‘A—’ Viola started to say, but Stanley pushed her out of the way. ‘Ahh,’ she said, nearly falling on me.

‘I’m not sure I understand. What do you mean by pegs?’ Stanley asked. ‘Is it actual washing?’

‘Well done for trying, Stanley, but no.’ Mr Green sounded kind. Viola turned pink and Emily looked at the floor. This wasn’t funny. Not at all.

‘A tent!’ Poppy shouted triumphantly, and she ran round the tents until she found one with a clue pinned to it. She handed the clue to Mr Green.

‘Well done again, Poppy. I really can’t understand why no one else can get the clues.’ Mr Green scratched his head and looked puzzled. Nathan smiled again, and although he hadn’t welcomed me with open arms, I felt very sorry for Mr Green.

‘Ah, this is a good one. Right, what is a cat’s favourite food?’ Mr Green looked hopeful, but the boys looked blankly at him. Viola and Emily were clearly uncomfortable and I knew the answer! Pilchards. Not that I knew where to find them. I only wished I did!

‘Cat food,’ Nathan said. Mr Green shook his head.

‘Is it fish?’ Poppy asked, running towards the shop. The other children watched as she went to the tins of fish and found a clue underneath them. ‘Got it!’

Mr Green looked relieved, and quickly carried on. But the next clues were equally embarrassing. Mr Green patted Poppy’s head each time she got the clues whilst the other children looked blank.

‘Right, last clue. Beneath the house that isn’t a house,’ Mr Green announced. ‘Let’s see if someone other than Poppy can get this one.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Nathan said. I was feeling cross with the children now. They weren’t being nice to either Mr Green or Poppy. I saw that Viola and Emily weren’t happy as they both now stared at the ground and Jack looked close to tears. This wasn’t fun.

‘Well, it’s quite simple. Beneath the house that isn’t a house,’ Mr Green repeated. He sounded impatient.

‘I know, it’s under this caravan!’ Poppy exclaimed and she crawled on the floor, retrieving a bag of sweets.

‘Well done, Poppy.’ Mr Green smiled with relief.

As soon as he’d gone, Nathan and Stanley started laughing.

‘That was such fun,’ Nathan said.

‘Why are you laughing?’ Poppy asked.

‘Well, you see before you arrived we decided to play a trick on Mr Green by not getting any of the clues right,’ Stanley explained.

‘You mean you did it on purpose?’ Poppy said.

‘Yes,’ Viola said. ‘It was Nathan’s idea.’ She looked embarrassed.

‘I didn’t want to do it – I like sweets,’ Jack said. Emily patted his shoulder again.

‘Well, I shan’t be sharing with you, it wasn’t nice,’ Poppy said, clutching the sweets to her chest. The others looked a bit embarrassed.

‘I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to be mean,’ Emily said.

‘We really didn’t,’ Viola added. The two girls exchanged a shy smile.

‘Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ve got sweets in the van and I’ll share them with all of you; even you, Poppy,’ Stanley said. ‘Come on.’

I started after them but a cat-shaped shadow loomed.

‘Hello, Humphrey,’ I said.

‘What business did you have going on the treasure hunt?’ he asked.

‘I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed.’

‘I am getting fed up with you being on my territory.’ He flicked his tail in anger. This was one mean cat.

‘Look, one of my children, Viola, is unhappy, so I need to stay close to see if she’s all right.’

‘Um … Well I do like children, but I’d still prefer it if you could try to keep out of my way as much as possible.’

I bounded off. I didn’t need asking twice.

‘Right, dear,’ Mr Clover announced. He was wearing a rucksack, a big-brimmed hat and carrying a walking stick.

‘What are you doing?’ Mrs Clover asked. She was sitting in a chair with a big drawing pad on her lap.

‘The children told me the treasure hunt was a bit of a disaster, so I am taking them on an adventure, to forage in the wood for fruit or whatever. We might even see a bear,’ he laughed.

‘Oh no!’ Jack hid behind his sister.

‘It’ll be fine, young man, now go and tell your parents and meet me here as quick as you can.’ Stanley and Viola were giggling excitedly as they waited for their friends.

‘Viola,’ Mrs Clover said. ‘You need to do your piano now.’

‘What?’ Viola looked at her mother.

‘Piano now. It’s the only time the clubhouse is free.’

‘But I was going with Dad and the others.’ Her face fell.

‘Nonsense, you can do that anytime – come along.’

I sat next to Viola on the piano stool. I had been desperate to go with the others but Viola needed me. Despite the fact that she was upset, she was playing beautifully.

‘Oh, Alfie,’ she said. She stopped playing and started stroking me. ‘I do love the piano but I wish I could have gone with the others. If I can’t make friends here, how will I ever manage at school?’ She paused.

‘Purr,’ I said in understanding.

‘I wish I was like Stanley – he makes friends so easily – but I really struggle and now I am in here on my own and they’re off having fun. I’ll never have any friends and I’ll probably be on my own for ever!’ She bashed the piano in frustration. I curled on to her lap to comfort her. She sighed and started playing again but I could see she was playing through tears.

That night, the children all sat round a table in the clubroom. I had snuck in again, getting better at this every day. They were still talking about foraging and what they had managed to collect, so Viola felt more left out than ever. No one noticed, but Emily kept shooting her worried glances. I nudged Viola but she didn’t even look at Emily. She was intently staring at the table. I jumped on to her lap and she petted me. I also had a good view of the stage as a spotlight – which was actually Mrs Green holding a torch – shone on it and the curtains were pulled back to reveal Mr Green in a massive top hat and cloak, waving a magic wand. Everyone clapped, although Viola’s was half-hearted.

‘Welcome to my Magnificent Magic Show,’ Mr Green said in a funny voice. ‘I am Magician Green.’ He took his hat off and put it on the table. Nathan rolled his eyes at Stanley.

‘What?’ Stanley whispered.

‘This is going to be awful,’ Nathan replied.

‘Shush,’ Poppy hissed.

‘For my first trick, I shall join these silk scarves,’ he announced with a flourish as he pulled a number of brightly coloured scarves out of his hat. He showed the audience how they were separate. Then he held them in one hand and waved his wand over them.

‘Abracadabra,’ he said, grabbing the end of one scarf; the rest fluttered to the floor.

‘Oh dear,’ he said, hurriedly picking them up. He tried again but the same thing happened. I saw Mrs Clover cover her mouth with her hand and Mr Clover’s mouth twitched. The children all looked confused as Mr Green turned his back and hastily tied a few of them together. Despite the fact that we’d all seen him doing this, everyone clapped.

‘Thank you, and now for the classic trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.’

My goodness, I thought, a rabbit? I wasn’t sure I was keen on rabbits.

‘But as we don’t have a rabbit I am going to produce a cat from my hat.’ Mr Green laughed as did everyone else. Viola looked at me. Mr Green showed the audience that the hat was empty, waved his wand over it and said his magic words. I heard a light laughter start from the adults and then Stanley and Nathan shouted.