Alfie and George

Chapter Twenty-nine

It was nearly teatime and I had had enough. I still cared about my humans, but not as much as I cared about getting George back. The adults were still looking for him, to no avail, so I went to round up my cat friends in the hope that they might have some leads. As I set off though, Salmon loomed over me.

‘Right, Alfie, what is going on?’ he demanded, narrowing his eyes. ‘I’ve seen the neighbourhood cats running around like headless chickens, your family have been to see my family and I heard them say they had to go and look for George before dashing out.’

‘So you know exactly what’s going on then. George is missing. It’s a long story but the fact is we need to find him.’ ‘I was afraid that was the case. I was actually hoping this was just one of your hair-brained schemes.’

I wanted to be affronted, but for once Salmon was right. ‘Well, he’s missing, and I’m frantic, we’re all frantic. What if he’s become one of the lamppost cats?’

‘My family said they were afraid that that might have happened to George. Look, they’re looking for all the cats, George now included, and with so many of us we’re bound to find him. And I’m off now, so if there’s any news I’ll report back.’ Salmon sounded kind, which was a first for me.

‘You will?’ I was wide-eyed.

‘Yes, the boy is very cute and, well, I’ve got a soft spot for him. Don’t worry Alfie, we’ll find him.’

‘But what if he’s with the other lamppost cats?’ I asked.

‘Then at least he’ll be among friends. Alfie, try not to worry.’

I watched in amazement as Salmon bounded off. My kitten had bewitched even him.

I was sure now that George was lost, not hiding, and the idea of him being afraid was almost too much for me to bear, especially now that night was falling. My cat friends had paired up to search the area: Nellie had gone with Tinkerbell, Rocky with Elvis. Tiger and I were sticking together — I needed her more now than I ever had. It was as if her physical presence was keeping me in one piece. Or almost. I wanted to curl up and yowl but I had to try to keep going until he was found. Not finding him was not an option.

When we met up, all the cats reported where they had looked so far, and we all shared our frustrations that no one had come close to finding George. Despondency filled the air around us; I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.

‘I’ll go home and see if the humans have any news,’ I decided.‘You wait here for Dustbin, and I’ll be back as quickly as I can. They all nodded solemnly. Nellie had said that my plans brought them together, but this was a step too far. We were all distraught: for Pinkie, because of the fear that someone might be out there to hurt cats, and especially for George, who we all loved.

My legs felt heavy as I made my way inside. I saw, to my dismay, all my humans at the kitchen table. Why weren’t they out looking?

‘Miaow,’ I said angrily. They all turned to look at me: Jonathan, Claire, Matt, Polly, Tomasz, Tash and, surprisingly, Max. I saw that Max and Tash were holding hands — what was that about? I then saw that on the table were posters, just like the lamppost ones, only these had a picture of my George on them. I felt my heart tear in two.

‘Hi, Alfie. No luck?’ Claire said. She looked terrible, as if she had been crying. In fact, none of my humans looked good. I just looked at her. I didn’t have the energy to even wonder where the children were.

‘Thanks for doing these posters so quickly, Max,’ Jonathan said.‘We can’t risk wasting any more time.’ He issued instructions to everyone on where they should put them up. I climbed onto Claire’s lap, and looked at George’s beautiful face.

‘You are such a star, Max,’ Tash said, and I saw her cheeks were again pink. It seemed they had resolved their issues, but I didn’t have any energy to be happy for them, not now at least. I jumped down and headed back out. We weren’t any closer to finding out where George was.

‘Dustbin?’ I asked hopefully as I approached Tiger, who was waiting by my gate.

‘Sorry, Alfie, he’s not here yet. The others have gone to do another search, no one has any idea what else to do.’

‘And for once I’m all out of plans. Tonight will be the first night I’ve spent away from George since he came to live with me. I’m not sure I can bear it.’

‘Alfie, look, why don’t we wait here until Dustbin comes? We’ll stay all night if we have to. And if either of us need to go inside then the other will be here.’

‘That would be great,’ I said.‘I just feel so useless.’

‘Alfie, we’ll get him back, I just know it.’ Tiger and I snuggled together by a bush, although I didn’t think sleep would visit that night.

We saw Matt, Jonathan and Tomasz emerge from the front door, armed with posters.

‘Right, guys, meet you back here when they’ve all been put up,’ Jonathan said. They headed off, Matt and Tomasz in one direction, Jonathan in the other.

‘They’re putting up pictures, on the lampposts,’ I explained to Tiger. She looked distraught as the reality of what was happening hit us once again.

‘If only I hadn’t insisted on that stupid plan,’ I lamented.

‘Oh, Alfie, it’s not your fault. You only left him for a few minutes.’

‘I know, but I shouldn’t have left him at all. I should have waited with him until you came back. No matter what the plan was, he should not have been left alone.’

‘Well, we can’t turn back the clock, and blaming yourself isn’t going to help anyone. Come on, Alfie, let’s try to be positive. You’re the most positive cat I know.’

‘I just don’t feel it right now.’

‘I know, it’s horrible. I didn’t think I could miss anyone the way I miss George.’ Tiger looked sad.‘But we will find him. We have to.’

‘I just wish Dustbin would turn up.’

The front door opened again and Tash walked out carrying Elijah. Max was next to her.

‘Are you sure I can’t carry him for you?’ Max asked.

‘I’m used to it,’ Tash replied.

‘But, Tash, you don’t have to. Look, I promised you we’d take things slowly, and I mean it, but let me help you.’ He sounded so genuine; I really liked this guy.

‘You’re right. I guess I’m so used to doing things myself. Max, you have to be patient with me.’

‘Hey, Patience is my middle name.’

I really hoped it wasn’t.

Tiger and I watched them walk off towards Tash’s flat, with Elijah now in Max’s arms. It was very sweet and had I not been so worried about my kitten my heart would be full of joy.

‘George needs you, Alfie,’ Tiger said, suddenly. ‘He needs us both. We sort of promised him we were his parents now and we have to protect him. No matter what.’

‘Tiger, you’re right. We need to be strong; no time for moping.’ We were going to find him. I closed my eyes and wished it with all my heart.