Alfie The Doorstep Cat. A Cat Called Alfie. Alfie Cat In Trouble. Alfie Far From Home. Alfie And George

Chapter Twenty-Four

I slept uneasily which wasn’t a surprise. I made my way downstairs where Claire and Jonathan were already sat at the breakfast table.

‘Polly texted me to say she’d called in at the Snells’ and there was still no sign.’

‘God, I remember how worried I was when Alfie was missing, when he’d been hurt and taken to the vet’s that time.’ I shuddered as I made my presence felt. I hated hearing that word.

‘Oh there you are, I wonder if you’ve seen Snowball?’ He went to feed me. I miaowed to tell him I hadn’t seen her.

‘They’re making more posters. Polly said she would take the kids out and put them up a bit further afield. I can’t get out of work but I’ve offered for us both to help when we get back.’

‘OK, darling, cool. I’ll try not to be late.’

After I’d breakfasted, groomed myself and made my way out, I saw Polly and Karen and I wanted to cry as I saw Snowball’s beautiful face smiling down at me again and wondered if I would ever see her again. You heard about cats going missing a lot and many of them were never found. Terrible things couldhappen, and it was unfortunately more common than it should be. I felt as if my heart was going to break. It seemed Karen felt the same because she stood with Polly, sobbing as Polly put her arm around her and the children looked on.

‘I’m sorry,’ Karen said. ‘But she’s family. Daisy adores her and we’ve had her since she was a kitten. I can’t bear to lose her after everything else we’ve lost.’

‘Hey, love, come on, we’ll find her. After work me, Matt, Claire and Jonathan are going to look. We’ve put these posters up everywhere and I’m sure we’ll have her home safe in no time.’ I hoped that Polly was more confident than she sounded.

I left them, as Tim joined his wife and for the first time I saw affection pass between them. They clung to each other and when Tim suggested driving around looking for Snowball, Karen said she wanted to go with him.

I had to find that cat. As I started walking I saw Tiger engaged in some kind of conversation with Salmon. I quickened my pace. Maybe he would know where Snowball was.

‘Hi, Tiger,’ I said.

‘Ah, here’s your partner. I’ve just discovered your ruse, Alfie,’ Salmon said unkindly.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Sorry, Alfie, I felt I had to tell him we were just pretending to be on his side the other day, as we’re doing all we can to find Snowball.’

‘Oh, I’d forgotten that.’

‘Well who cares. The cat is done for.’

‘What do you mean?’ I hissed angrily.

‘It’s obvious. She’s been kidnapped by the criminals that the Snells are involved with. They’ve probably double-crossed them or something and so they’ve taken the cat.’

‘I’ve never heard such nonsense,’ Tiger said.

‘We’ll see,’ Salmon replied before stalking off.

‘Ignore him, Alfie, I’m sure she’ll be all right,’ Tiger said, trying to cheer me up. I smiled, gratefully, at her but even I was losing hope as no one had seen her. We had looked everywhere we could think of and were quickly running out of ideas.

That evening, I felt the love in Edgar Road, for the first time in ages, as Polly, Matt, Claire and Jonathan and all the Snells came out together to look for Snowball. I had cat tears in my eyes as I saw them all working together. I had wanted to bring them together, to help them, but not at the expense of Snowball. As her face looked at me from every lamppost I tried to strengthen my resolve to find her but even I was struggling to stay positive.

‘I just can’t think of where else to look,’ Tim said as they all converged outside our house. My families exchanged anxious glances.

‘But, Dad, we can’t give up,’ Daisy said, tears streaming. Her father put his arm around her.

‘We’ll never give up, princess.’ He hugged her.

‘Hey, I know,’ Matt said, trying to sound optimistic. ‘Why don’t we try another search but this time split up? I know we’ve looked but she might have got lost and be trying to find her way back. Tim and Christopher, come with me and Jonathan and we’ll head east, you ladies go west and we’ll meet back at ours where I’ll get our babysitter to make us some hot drinks.’

Everyone agreed but I couldn’t help but feel that it was because they didn’t know what else to do. The only silver lining, I thought glumly, was that at least we were showing the Snells what a nice street we were, with the exception of the Goodwins of course.

‘What now?’ Tiger asked me. The other cats were all still searching but like the humans, we were running out of places to look. I began to feel despondent but then I remembered who I was.

‘Remember when I went to stay at Franceska’s?’ I asked. Tiger nodded. ‘I met this outdoor cat, Dustbin, he works the yard outside big Tomasz’s restaurant, keeping it clean from vermin.’

‘Nice job,’ Tiger said. ‘But I don’t follow.’

‘He’s an expert on being outside. I know it’s a bit further but maybe he can help us find Snowball!’ I just had a feeling that he would be better at this than we were.

‘Alfie, it’s getting dark and it’s quite far away. Are you sure about this?’ Tiger asked. She was right, this was out of my comfort zone, and I didn’t relish the idea.

‘I have to find Snowball and this is the only idea I’ve got,’ I explained.

‘You must really love her,’ Tiger said, sounding a bit sad.

‘I’d do the same for you,’ I replied and I meant it. I loved her in a different way but I would.

‘I know, come on, let’s find this Dustbin.’

We walked as briskly as we could, with an urgency that we didn’t feel the last time we came here, and also with more confidence. We both knew we could find our way back easily. The only difficult part was when we got to the restaurant finding our way out the back, after all I had only been through the flat before. But we found an alley and after a couple ofwrong turns we found the yard.

‘Dustbin,’ I called. A head emerged from under a bin. He had clearly been having his dinner.

‘Alfie? Is that you?’ He crawled out.

‘Hi, yes, and this is my friend Tiger. Dustbin, we really need your help.’ I noticed Tiger looking a bit scared as I filled him in. She was a brave cat but she had never had to rough it like this in her life. Not like me. Or Dustbin.

I realized quickly that I had done exactly the right thing as Dustbin seemed to round up quite a few dirty, feral cats who looked terrifying but were all incredibly kind and willing to help. I described Snowball to them— cats don’t need missing posters I can tell you — and I even managed to explain how she smelt, although Tiger said I went too far when I went on about garden roses, fresh dew on grass, and summer breezes. You can’t help being in love I tried to tell her as the other cats laughed at us. Tiger then shot out a more practical description, also saying that Snowball might not be overjoyed or even remotely friendly if found. She made a good point.

Dustbin said we had to wait for them in the yard, which horrified Tiger; and when they left, I could see she was more nervous than I was.

‘What was that?’ she said, jumping.

‘Your shadow.’ I rolled my eyes and flicked my tail. I had been homeless of course, for a short time, and although I hated to be reminded of those days, I knew this yard and it didn’t scare me. I was glad the mice and rats were keeping away from us though as we settled down to wait.

I was fighting sleep, but Tiger’s jitters kept me awake. She was tougher than me normally but I had found her Achilles paw. It was dawn by the time Dustbin returned with one of his friends and by some miracle they had Snowball with them. At first I wondered if I was so exhausted I was seeing things but as they approached, I saw it was definitely her and I wanted to leap for joy.

‘You did right coming to get me,’ Dustbin said. I looked at Snowball, who didn’t look well. She was thin, as if she hadn’t eaten for the whole time she’d been missing — coming up to four days — and she wasn’t very white anymore. But still the sight of her made my heart beat that bitfaster, although I was also full of anxiety at the state she was in. Would she be all right?

‘Dustbin … how?’ I was almost lost for words.

‘Word got out very quickly, and she was found about two miles north of Edgar Road. She’d got lost, and was hiding out in a park, but near a big estate, so it was fraught with danger. It was lucky one of my mates remembered seeing her and found her when he did, he called me and we managed to gether back to you.’ Dustbin looked proud and I went over and thanked him by nuzzling him, although he was filthy.

‘Dustbin, I don’t know how to thank you,’ I said.

‘No worries, Alfie, happy to help. But she doesn’t look too good. How are you going to get her back to Edgar Road?’

‘I’m not sure.’ I couldn’t quite believe they’d found her so quickly, I certainly hadn’t got a clue how to get her home. She didn’t look as if she would be able to walk.

‘Franceska and Tomasz?’ I said. It was almost morning, but I would have to wait until they got up. ‘But how can I get their attention?’ I said.

‘Ah, well, you might be in luck. Franceska comes down here every morning to clean the restaurant, she does it before the boys get up.’

‘Thank goodness.’ I was relieved, and Tiger looked as if she could finally relax.

‘And until then, we need to all snuggle up to keep warm.’

Tiger looked horrified at the idea but she moved close to me. Snowball still hadn’t spoken and she looked as if she was in shock as she lay down next to Dustbin, I snuggled up to her other side, so she would be warm between us, and because I wanted to be close to her as the relief of finding her was seeping in. I hoped she wasn’t too ill, but I couldn’t be sure, as we allfell into an uneasy sleep.

‘What on earth?’ I heard Franceska shout, which woke us with a start. She ran back upstairs and came down again with big Tomasz, who was wearing his pyjamas.

‘Alfie?’ he said.

‘Yes is Alfie, but with the cat who went missing and this cat from his street also.’ Franceska obviously recognized Tiger. ‘And Dustbin. What is going on?’ We all miaowed in chorus, apart from Snowball who was still silent.

‘The cat looks sick.’ Tomasz picked Snowball up and she lifted her head and looked at him, which gave us all hope.

‘But what are they doing here?’ Franceska asked.

‘No idea, but we need to get them home. You stay with the boys, I’ll get dressed and then drive them back.’

‘But we don’t have cat carriers.’

‘Kochanie, we don’t have time to worry about that.’

Tomasz placed us in the car, all on the back seat. Snowball had managed to say thank you to Dustbin before we left and then she said the same to me and Tiger. It was the sweetest sound ever to my ears, like flapping butterfly wings. I tried to enjoy the journey but I was too full of emotion. We had done it, or Dustbin had; my plan had worked out. It was amazing and I couldn’t wait to get home, so that Snowball could get better. I had a horrid feeling that she was going to have to visit the vet though.

Tomasz pulled up outside Jonathan and Claire’s house, and rang the bell. He was carrying Snowball and I was at his feet. Tiger bade us goodbye and went home to eat, sleep and get clean, something I was also desperate to do. Finally Jonathan appeared, looking grumpy and wearing his dressing gown.

‘What on earth are you doing here, Tomasz?’ he asked before he saw that Snowball was in his arms. ‘You found Snowball? How on earth?’ He looked at me.

‘I have no idea, Jonathan. I found Alfie, with the missing cat, in the yard behind the restaurant, along with the restaurant cat.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Jonathan said.

‘I don’t either,’ Tomasz concurred. ‘It seems that Alfie strikes again.’

Claire appeared and took in the scene.‘What’s going on?’

‘He’s got Snowball! It seems that, yet again, Alfie is somehow linked to a success story and we will never know what happened.’ Jonathan stood aside as if to let Tomasz in.

‘She is not good, I think we need to get her home now,’ Tomasz said, staying on the doorstep.

‘Oh, I’ll come round with you,’ Jonathan offered.

The Snells cried tears of joy when they saw Snowball, but the celebration was short-lived as they noticed how unwell she seemed.

‘Do you need a lift to the vet?’ Tomasz asked, introducing himself.

‘No, we can’t thank you enough for bringing her back but we’ll take it from here.’ As the Snells shut the door, Jonathan and Tomasz exchanged a glance; it seemed as if the Snells were keen to get rid of them and me.

‘They seem a bit strange,’ Tomasz said. ‘They didn’t even ask me where the cat was found or anything.’

‘I know, and I thought we all bonded yesterday when we were looking for her. I mean they didn’t tell us their life story but they joined us for tea and cake, and although they were upset they were friendly then.’

Both men shrugged and I wondered what this meant. Would the Snells return to their old ways or were they going to continue being part of the street? I fervently hoped it was the former but I was afraid it was the latter.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I was more determined than ever to come up with a plan to help Snowball and her family. As I feared, the Snells had retreated to their old ways since Snowball’s return a few days ago. They had come to see Jonathan to tell him that Snowball was fine; she had been just a bit dehydrated. The vet had given her some medicine and the all clear, and they had thanked us, and finally even asked where she was found. That was the last we’d seen of them.

Desperate to see Snowball, I had taken to hanging out by the loose fence panel and I had been rewarded with her finding me there three days after her rescue.

‘Are you all right?’ I asked her.

‘I am now, thank you. And thank you for your efforts to find me.’ She sounded formal for someone whose life I’d practically saved.

‘We all did. The cats on Edgar Road and my friend Dustbin all rallied. Even Tom who is sorry he hurt you. But why did you run off?’ I asked.

‘I’d had enough. My family were falling apart, Tom and Salmon were mean and I thought if I was going to be homeless anyway I might as well make a head start. By the time I’d cooled off and wanted to come home I had no idea where I was until that cat found me.’

‘I remember how scary it can be out on the streets,’ I said.

‘Well thank you again, Alfie, and you might be pleased to know my family are stronger now. While I was missing, they remembered how much they loved each other, so they are getting along much better. At least one good thing came out of it.’

‘I’m so glad; now if only we could all be friends—’

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself. We still need our privacy, they still have too much going on to cope with and, speaking of that, I’m afraid Tim is fixing the fence today. When he saw how loose this panel was, which I may have helped him discover, he decided to do some work out here. Thanks for finding me, but now you can leave us alone again.’

That was over a week ago and I hadn’t even so much as caught a glimpse of Snowball since. The loose fence panel had been fixed, and so my days of looking from my garden into the Snells’ were over. After all I’d done for her, I was hurt. But then I realized I couldn’t give up.

I decided it was time to go and see Snowball to find out once and for all what was going on with her family. I had to try to get to the bottom of it. I was prepared to be brave and go inside the house if I needed to; after all, I knew the layout and this time I would make sure I avoided getting stuck in cupboards.

I was still feeling quite pleased with myself as I made my way next door, going over the fence rather than round the front. I surveyed the place from the top of the fence, but couldn’t see anything, so I jumped down into the garden. It was deserted, I could tell by just sniffing the air. I went over to look through the patio doors. Whilst the Snells kept the front of the house in darkness most of the time, I could see into the back, and as I looked through the patio doors, trying not to concentrate too much on my own reflection, I could see the kitchen was empty. I decided to take my chance as I hopped through the cat flap. The kitchen was definitely empty, not tidy though, as dishes littered the side and there was a lot of clearing up to be done. Being such a clean cat this made me bristle but I tried not to mind too much. Snowball’s bowls on the floor had half-eaten food and a small amount of water. As tempted as I was to help myself, I didn’t touch them as I knew that would definitely upset her. And of course I was glad she was well enough to eat again.

I padded through the hall and into the living room, which was much like ours at home, although, again, not as tidy. Evidence of life could be seen in the creases on the cushions, and I spied some bits of white fur on the sofa. I couldn’t resist having a sniff, making me feel closer to the object of my affections. As always, the front curtains were drawn. I reluctantly went back into the hallway and stood at the bottom of the staircase. I was so tempted to go upstairs, to see what was there, but then I heard movement coming from the kitchen. I froze. Was I about to be discovered? I looked for somewhere to hide but there was nowhere, and so I stood rooted to the spot as a figure appeared. It was Christopher, the boy that they talked about. He started as he saw me and then smiled.

‘Snowball won’t be happy to find another cat in the house,’ he said. ‘Unless of course you’re her friend? Do cats have friends?’ He bent down to stroke me and read my collar. ‘Oh you’re the cat who helped find her. Nice one.’

I miaowed, trying to answer him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. He threw a backpack on the floor and went into the living room. As he slumped on the sofa, I wondered what I should do. I mean here was an opportunity for me to get a bit more information, but I also didn’t know what Snowball would say if she came home and found me talking to another of her humans. But the temptation was too great and, yet again, trying not to think too much about consequences, I hopped up on the sofa and sat with Christopher.

‘I shouldn’t be here,’ he said, looking at me, darkness clouded his eyes. ‘I should be in school. There’s going to be loads of crap when Mum and Dad find out, and we’re all getting on better so I don’t want to hurt them anymore.’ He sounded sad and a bit angry. ‘Luckily they’re both out. Mum at work as always and Dad’s out trying to find a new job, and isn’t having much luck. It’s all so bad here no wonder Snowball ran away.’ I purred my agreement, although I didn’t exactly understand.

‘That’s the thing,’ he continued. ‘I have no one to talk to. My old friends all managed to forget me instantly, and I hate my new school. Daisy is so self-obsessed she barely notices I’m here, same with the parents, and even the cat doesn’t want to listen to me — Snowball is Daisy’scat so she doesn’t pay much attention to me.’

I miaowed again, to tell him I at least wanted to listen.

‘I understand now why my parents are so damn paranoid after everything that happened. People suck. My mates on Facebook ignore me, or post that my dad is a criminal, which isn’t true. They post up pictures of parties I’m not invited to, holidays we can’t afford to go on and, well, when I message them they never reply.’

I had no idea what this Facebook was but I got the gist. He had lost his friends when he moved, just like I had. I nuzzled him. Life was hard when you felt alone and I knew all about that.

‘Although when Snowball was missing the neighbours who helped seemed nice but now, Mum and Dad have gone back to ignoring everyone.’ He sighed. I purred to try to say I wished they would be friends with everyone.

‘If only he hadn’t done that to Dad. We have to put up with the police coming round, although I know they are trying to help but it doesn’t help when the neighbours are gossiping about us. None of this was our fault. None of it was Dad’s fault although I don’t tell him that enough.’

I held my breath; who did‘he’ mean and what had he done? Was I finally going to find out what had happened to the Snells. A loud and unhappy noise interrupted us. I turned and looked; Snowball was sitting in front of the sofa and she was not happy. I didn’t hear her come in so had no idea how much of that she had heard. She hissed at me and Christopher laughed. I was so happy to see her that I didn’t care about her anger, and I was also pleased to see she looked back to her normal beautiful self.

‘For God’s sake, Snowball! Alfie rescued you.’ Snowball hissed again. I didn’t know what to do as I looked from Christopher to my one true love. I was still enamoured with her but her timing sucked — I had to admit — just as I was getting to the bottom of things.

‘All right, keep your fur on,’ he said at last, as he picked me up. ‘Sorry, Alfie, looks like you’re going to have to leave. Apparently there’s only room for one cat in this house.’ He smiled at me as he opened the front door and gently set me down outside. My last view before the door closed on me was of Snowball’s thunderous face as she glared at me.

Well, that didn’t go exactly to plan.

When I got home, I crawled into my bed. Life was complex for humans and cats alike, although I was quickly realizing that it was relationships that caused most complexities in life. I thought about it, how others affect you, the impact they have on your life, both good and bad. I knew that my skill was bringing people together and I was determined that, despite resistance, I would continue to do this. Relationships were worth it in the long run even if they caused heartache along the way, I thought as I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Six

‘Why do I have to do everything?’ Claire’s shrill voice shattered my sleep. I stood up, stretched, and shook the sleep off me, before I ventured downstairs. Claire rarely shouted and I was unused to it. I found her and Jonathan in the kitchen; she looked incensed and he looked slightly scared.

‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t know you wanted me to go to the supermarket on my way home from work.’

‘Because you never bloody ask! You just expect food to magically appear in the house, despite knowing that I work hard too. I might not earn as much as you but I still contribute to this household,’ Claire thundered.

‘Darling, I know, and I would never suggest otherwise. Listen, give me a list and I’ll go shopping right now.’ Jonathan looked startled, like a cat caught in the headlights.

‘Yes, of course you’ll go now when I’ve had to shout and scream at you. Forget it, get your own dinner. I’m going for a walk.’ The front door shook as Claire slammed it. Jonathan looked at me.

‘No idea what’s got into her, mate, but I’m not keen.’ I miaowed. I wasn’t keen either, this was not like my Claire, who never shouted. I was unsure if I should be worried but I was pretty sure I should be.

While Claire stormed off, Jonathan fed me, before sitting at the table and scratching his head a bit more. After an hour Claire returned and he apologized, although I was pretty sure he had no idea what he was actually sorry for. He poured her a glass of wine and after they talked things through, they made up and she eventually forgave him. It was all so strange.

Meanwhile, while they went to bed quite happy, I went to bed worrying about Snowball. I wasn’t sure why she was so angry with me. I had helped save her, and then gone to see if she was all right, yet I was being made to feel as if I was in the wrong. It was as if she would never forgive me, not for all the saucers of milk in Edgar Road, although I was only trying to be caring. It was soconfusing.

After a fretful sleep I decided that I would take a leaf out of Jonathan’s book and apologize even though I hadn’t technically done anything bad. I thought about taking Snowball a gift but I didn’t want to overdo it. It was easy for me to get a mouse or bird for her — or more accurately, to ask Tiger to get me one as she was the better hunter — but what I needed to do was issue a heartfelt apology to her and hope that she would forgive me. I was pretty sure she wasn’t as easy to get round as Claire though; Claire was a lovely pushover when it came to me or Jonathan, but Snowball clearly wasn’t that easy to impress.

Decision made, I didn’t want to dilly-dally. I ate my breakfast quickly, but took some time cleaning myself, determined to look my best. I quickly made my way to the Snells’ back garden next door and hid behind a bush. I sat and waited, as I watched the kitchen scene unfold. It was familiar in a way.

Tim was dishing out breakfast. Daisy was looking at her phone as she ate toast. Christopher looked even more unhappy than he did the previous day, and Karen was drinking a cup of coffee. No one seemed to be speaking. I caught a glimpse of Snowball at her bowl, eating her breakfast, looking happier than when I last saw her, and I bided my time.

Finally, Tim cleared the dishes, Karen left the room and Daisy and Christopher followed shortly after. I guessed they were going to school. Tim loaded the dishwasher and Snowball came outside.

I slid out from my hiding place.

‘You!’ she exclaimed.

‘Listen, I’ve come to apologize. I’m sorry that I was in your house yesterday but I’d only come to find you, to check you were all right. I didn’t expect Christopher to talk to me.’

‘What did he say?’ Her eyes were narrowed.

‘Just that someone did something to his dad, someone who he thought was a friend. He didn’t say what.’

‘Good. That is more than you need to know.’ Her tail twitched from side to side angrily.

‘Snowball, there is something going on, and I know it’s something bad and sometimes it helps to share. I’ve solved my fair share of problems in my time, both for cats and for humans, and I’m not bad at it, if I do say so myself.’

‘Even you can’t fix this,’ she said.

‘But I could try,’ I pushed.

‘What is it with you? Why won’t you just leave us well alone? We don’t need you or your help.’

‘OK, fine. But can I ask you one thing? Snowball, if I tell you my story, how I came to live next door, and the people in my life then will you agree to listen? And after that if you want me to leave you alone then I will.’

She narrowed her eyes at me again. They really were like glittering sapphires.

‘So if I listen to your life story you’ll go away?’

‘If you want me to.’

‘Oh, I’m pretty sure I will. But do carry on. And I’ll try not to fall asleep.’

This was one tough cat to win over, but then I loved a challenge.

‘You see I am a doorstep cat. Before you moved in I was considering adding the new family here to my list of families I stay with, but of course they already had you.’ I tried to sound my most charming as I told her the story. Of my first owner Margaret, of being homeless, of the cats who helped me on my way, and those who tried to hurt me. I told her of reaching Edgar Road, my journey, how I met my families, helped them and brought people together. I left out no detail as I filled her in on my story.

‘So you see, I am actually a fairly resourceful cat,’ I said.

‘Is everything you’ve told me true?’ she asked.

‘Absolutely. I do not tell lies.’ I was slightly affronted, although I realized I had told her a lot of stories in one go. I sat upright, my tail curled around my body, trying to work out what she thought of it all.

‘Well it’s quite an adventure. And yes you have obviously proved yourself very helpful to those people but I don’t see how that applies to us.’

‘Can’t you see that if I know what’s wrong for your family I can help you guys too?’

‘No, you can’t.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I just know. Alfie, listen to me. I’m sure you are a very nice cat. Perhaps in other circumstances we could have been friends even. But now, this is not the time. My family is literally falling apart. They are only together now because of misery and the misery isn’t going anywhere. Just as Ithink things will get better, they get worse again. It’s all horrible and we are all tormented. I think that if there was something to be done I would have done it by now.’

‘Yes but if I knew … I might have a new perspective.’

‘Your life has been amazing, you’re right, but it’s nothing like mine. And you might have helped others but you can’t help us.’

‘But I’m sure I can.’ I was confident.

‘Alfie, you said that all I had to do was to listen to your story.’

‘I did,’ I admitted.

‘And if I still wanted you to keep away you would?’

‘I said that too.’

‘Well I want you to keep away. From me, from my family and especially from Christopher.’

‘But do you really?’ I asked, clinging on to my fast-evaporating hope.

‘I absolutely do. Goodbye.’ She was beating her tail from side to side, and as I looked at her I knew I’d failed.

She disappeared back into her house, her white fur gleaming in the sunlight, and I realized that for once I had overestimated my abilities. I made my way home, slowly, bereft at the idea that I had failed and might never be friends with her, and terrified at the thought that I would only be able to see her from afar and never hear her voice again. I was flooded with disappointment that her family wouldn’t be part of our lives, and I felt like a failure as a doorstep cat. A failure at everything. I felt the weight of the world settle on me as I made my way home.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

‘I’m worried about Alfie,’ I heard Claire say but I didn’t lift my head up.

‘Why?’ Jonathan asked. ‘He looks all right to me.’

‘You never notice anything,’ Claire snapped. She was still in a bit of a mood it seemed. ‘He’s barely eaten the last few days. I even had to throw away salmon yesterday.’

‘Really?’ Jonathan started to pay attention.

‘Yes, really. Do you think he’s ill? He’s been in his bed much more than usual and has hardly been out. Or he stares out of the window if he’s not in bed. I’m really worried, Jon.’

They should be worried. There was definitely something going on with me. Since Snowball had banished me from her life, I had barely been able to eat and I had no interest in anything, not even seeing Tiger. I had hardly set foot outside the house, and had only done so when I absolutely had to. Tiger had been waiting for me outside my back door, wanting to go and play, and I told her I was feeling unwell, an excuse she reluctantly accepted. The thing was that I actually did feel terrible. I was quite out of sorts. Claire was right, it wasn’t like me not to tuck into my food but my appetite wasall but gone. I felt like staring into space, had no energy for my usual sports, and all I wanted to do was to curl up in my cat bed, or stare out of the window into nothingness. I didn’t feel ill exactly but I certainly didn’t feel like myself. And I didn’t understand what was wrong with me.

‘Shall we take him to the vet?’ Jonathan suggested. I wanted to yelp my objection but I didn’t even have the energy for that.

‘Yeah, if he doesn’t perk up by tomorrow I’ll take him in. But Jonathan, it’s as if he’s depressed or something.’

‘Do cats get depressed?’ Jonathan asked.

‘I don’t know, but he seems almost like I was when I first moved here. All mopey and lethargic.’

‘Blimey, a depressed cat, who’d have thought it. Of course he might just be lovesick.’

‘Do you think cats can be lovesick?’ Claire asked. Jonathan shrugged and they turned and walked away from me.

But that was it. I was lovesick. Jonathan had hit the nail on the head.

I felt lethargic, sad, and mournful. I knew I was just feeling sorry for myself but being in love, being rejected, does make one a bit self-indulgent, I guess. When Snowball sent me away, I felt as if I’d lost her forever. Not that I ever had her in the first place, but I felt as if I’d lost hope of her ever being mine. And I was the sort of cat that never lost hope.

I pricked up my ears. Claire was still talking about the vet, of which I am definitely not a fan. They prod and poke around where they’re not wanted and yes, perhaps they did some good too, but I had them down as people to visit only when necessary. I had far too much on my plate to spend time in the vet’s, especially as I now knew that my supposed illness was caused by the lack of love from another cat. No, no way did I wantto go to the vet. I quickly realized it was time for me to pull myself together.

I started to process my thoughts. Just because Snowball said she wanted me to stay away didn’t mean forever? And the problem with her family hadn’t gone away, had it? No, in fact I was needed more than ever, even if she didn’t realize it. In fact, if I could help the family, Snowball would surely be so happy that she would definitely want to be my friend at the very least. Although for now I would respect her wishes and stay away, I knew that it wouldn’t be forever. Or even very long.

I had begun to regain my resolve but not my appetite; however, I realized that if I was going to prove useful, I needed to keep my strength up. So with all the energy I could muster, I left my bed, approached Claire and miaowed the way I did when I wanted feeding. She looked so happy as she praised me for looking better. Honestly, sometimes it was almost too easy.

I forced myself to eat; it wasn’t that I felt sick, I just wasn’t that hungry, but after some food and more water, I began to feel a bit stronger. I knew I had to fight the urge to pine, because it was clear that no one ever achieved anything by pining. After four days in bed, it was time to get up.

Next stop was Tiger. After looking in her garden to no avail, I made my way to our recreation space. She was there, with Nellie, Rocky and Elvis. They were sunbathing and passing the time, so I joined them.

‘Are you feeling better?’ Tiger asked. I nodded.

‘What was wrong?’ Nellie followed.

‘I don’t know, I just felt a bit under the weather,’ I replied, eager to change the subject. If I was lovesick and pining, the fewer people who knew the better. I had a reputation to maintain after all.

‘Guess what, Alfie?’ Elvis said.

‘What?’ I pricked up my ears.

‘Tom has a crush on our Tiger,’ Rocky quickly piped up.

‘Shut up,’ Tiger hissed.

‘He left her a present, a mouse,’ Nellie told me. Tiger just looked at me.

‘He’s been mooning around after her, and although we find it quite funny I do feel a bit sorry for him.’

‘Hey, enough!’ Tiger shouted. ‘Tom’s a bit rough around the edges but since he’s stopped fighting us he’s become a nice cat.’

‘But what about Snowball?’ I said.

‘That was his wake-up call, although personally I think it was more Salmon’s fault. Alfie, you know he helped us in any way he could when we were looking for Snowball, I think he deserves a second chance.’

I raised my whiskers in question. It seemed maybe Tiger was a little bit keen on Tom if she was willing to give him a‘second chance’ and it was true, he had redeemed himself. I was actually delighted for my friend. Being in love, even unrequited love, made you want everyone else to feel it too.

‘Tom’s a nice guy now,’ I supported my friend. Tiger looked uncomfortable.

‘You never used to think that,’ Nellie said.

‘That was when he tried to bite me all the time but he doesn’t do that anymore, and he’s said he’ll give up fighting,’ I replied, magnanimously.

‘Glad you think so, Alfie. But anyway, just because he apparently likes me doesn’t mean that I feel the same.’ Tiger squirmed confirming my instinct was right.

‘But do you?’ I asked.

‘Right, who wants to chase butterflies?’ Tiger changed the subject.

Tiger and I went off together, with my promise to help her chase butterflies, although I also had an ulterior motive as we needed to talk.

‘Were you really ill?’ she asked, as we reached the park and made for the best butterfly bushes.

‘No, I was just a bit sad to be honest. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s what it was.’

‘Like when humans get depressed?’ Tiger asked.

‘Yes a bit like that. I didn’t want to eat, I was tired, I felt like I had no energy for anything.’

‘But now?’

‘I’m feeling a bit better. To be honest, I didn’t realize that I was so bad, but when my family started talking about the vet I knew I had to do something. So I forced myself to get up and come out.’

‘Oh, Alfie, you’re not the type of cat to be like that. Is this about Snowball?’ She sounded cross, although not jealous.

‘I know and that’s why it’s so infuriating. I know it’s a bit awkward but itis to do with Snowball. She makes me feel so sad, because she doesn’t like me.’

‘Right, Alfie, you need a project, because otherwise you might slip back into pining for that incredibly undeserving cat,’ Tiger stormed. ‘I’d like to give her a piece of my mind.’

‘Don’t, Tiger, and you’re right, I do need a project; if I focus on that then I’ll forget about the heart pains I’m feeling.’

‘God you’re dramatic. But listen, I’ll help you. Goodness knows you don’t deserve it but I will.’ Tiger blinked at me. And I wondered why I couldn’t have fallen in love with her. She cared about me so much that life would certainly have been much easier with her; but of course as my humans say ‘you don’t choose who you fall in love with’. It just happens.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

‘Alfie, play with the football outside?’ Aleksy asked me as he headed out the patio doors. I followed him. It was family day again at our house, and I was almost back to my old self. I was totally myself in front of people — and cats — but I still had the odd moment of pining when I was alone. My heart ached a bit when I pictured Snowball, no matter how fruitless it was; I had no control. But at the same time I was eating again, exercising and on the whole feeling a lot better. I had a couple of glimpses of Snowball; only from afar now the fence had been fixed and I hadn’t risked going round there. Yet.

Tomasz bounded out after us, followed by a slightly more reluctant Henry. The boys started kicking the ball and I just watched them, rather than joining in, given that the ball was almost as big as me. Tomasz rushed into Aleksy, sending him flying, then he kicked the ball up into the air.

‘Tommy, stop,’ Aleksy said, rubbing his leg as he sat on the ground.

‘Sorry, Aleksy, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

‘The ball is gone,’ Henry said, pointing at the fence. We all looked but the ball had disappeared.

‘I am very cross,’ Aleksy said to Tomasz as he picked himself up and, blinking back tears, made his way inside.

I followed him, leaving Tomasz and Henry outside. Everyone else was in the kitchen, chatting and sorting out food that smelt delicious, even with my reduced appetite.

‘Mum, Tommy kicked the ball over the fence and he bashed into me.’ Aleksy was a sensitive boy, and he rushed to his mother’s side and into her arms.

‘Which way did it go?’ Jonathan asked.

‘That side.’ Aleksy pointed to the Snells’.

‘Oh boy, they might not even answer the door.’

‘Who’s going to go?’ Claire asked.

‘You know after we all bonded over the missing Snowball we’ve barely seen them,’ Jonathan said.

‘Really?’ Tomasz asked.

‘I’ll go,’ Polly announced.

As Polly stood up to go, my heart leapt and I quickly stood up too. I definitely wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

We made our way next door, Polly striding along and me running to keep up with her. I was excited about the fact I had an excuse to maybe get a glimpse of Snowball. I hadn’t seen her since she banished me, but I was also nervous at the idea of seeing her and how she might react.

Polly looked a bit anxious as she rang the doorbell. I could hear movement from inside the house, and then after what seemed like ages, the door slowly opened.

‘Hello, Polly,’ Daisy said with a smile as she opened the door. She turned round, shouting ‘It’s Polly.’ We couldn’t hear the response but no one else rushed to greet us. ‘Sorry, Mum’s tied up in the kitchen.’ I hoped she didn’t mean literally.

‘Right, so anyway,’ Polly started, her eyebrows a bit raised. ‘My friend’s little boy kicked the ball over your fence. I’m so sorry but I wondered if you wouldn’t mind getting it for us.’

‘Of course, no problem.’ I was surprised that Daisy was quite so sunny, given how she’d been when I’d seen her previously. She hadn’t closed the door when she went to get the ball, so I stood by Polly’s feet looking in; but there was no sign of Snowball, and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. After a few minutes, we heard footsteps and then Daisy returned with Aleksy’s ball.

‘Thank you so much, love. He’ll be relieved and I’ll make sure we don’t disturb you again.’

‘’S all right,’ Daisy said, suddenly looking a bit coy. ‘Can I ask you, are you a model?’

‘No, not anymore, but I was before having two kids.’ Polly laughed. ‘And certainly not a supermodel, but I did a few magazines and catwalks in my time. Why, are you interested in that world?’ Polly asked.

‘I’d love it but Mum and Dad well …’

‘Daisy, you have the height, and the looks, although I obviously don’t know how you photograph. How old are you?’

‘Sixteen.’ Daisy was red-faced but I noticed that she was very pretty. I wonder why I hadn’t noticed it before.

‘Well, take my advice, get your exams first and then maybe think about it. It’s a tough world. But if you’re really interested and if your parents are OK, I can help with agencies.’

‘Would you really?’

‘Of course. But as I said, your parents have to agree to it, and don’t do anything until after your GCSEs.’

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.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘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.

I loved Claire so much, I couldn’t bear for her to be upset, although it seemed there was little I could do. I could see Jonathan didn’t know what to do either. He was attentive, he was loving but he didn’t smother her — Jonathan wasn’t the smothering kind. He bought her flowers, which for some reason made her cross; she accused him of trying to ‘buy’ her whatever that meant? This crazy behaviour hadn’t been going on long enough for me to be desperately worried but Claire seemed to be on a slippery slope leading her back to her self-destructive ways. Jonathan was like an innocent bystander, trying to save her but without any idea of whether or not he was doing the right thing. And I for one knew exactly how that felt.

I walked into the kitchen and it seemed my timing was impeccable. Claire was standing in front of a broken dish, sobbing. She sank to the floor, cradling her knees and sobbed even harder. I went over to her, brushing against her but she didn’t even notice. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t know what to do.

I needed to take matters into my own paws, so I made my way to Polly and Matt’s. They were all there as I jumped through the cat flap and into their kitchen. The children were having something to eat and Matt was feeding Martha.

I miaowed loudly.

‘Hi, Alfie,’ Matt said, as he stopped spoon-feeding Martha. Martha immediately started to cry loudly, so he continued.

At times like this I wished I could talk. Instead, I used my loudest yowl. Henry jumped and dropped his food, Matt looked at me as did Polly.

‘What’s wrong?’ Matt asked.

‘Do you think something’s really wrong?’ Polly asked. I yowled again — of course there was something wrong. I put my head back through the cat flap to indicate that they needed to follow me to Claire’s.

‘Maybe I’ll check Claire’s?’ Polly suggested. ‘Can you hold the fort?’

‘Sure thing.’

Polly stood up and headed out of the house. I followed her, keeping so close to her legs I was touching them. I wanted her to know I needed her, and this was the best way I could do that.

‘Alfie, I’m going to trip over you,’ she said, picking me up. She marched us to our front door and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. ‘Is anyone home?’ she asked. I miaowed the affirmative. She rang the bell again, her finger pressed on it insistently. Finally, Claire answered the door.

‘Bloody hell,’ Polly said as she looked at her, echoing my thoughts. Her face was streaked with tears, her hair was a mess and she looked terrible. It was as if she had morphed into someone else.

‘Thanks, Pol,’ Claire said, sarcastically, standing aside to let her in. Claire went to the living room and Polly followed her.

‘Sorry.’ Polly looked contrite. ‘What’s going on? Alfie came over, yelping and yowling, and I thought that maybe you were in trouble.’

‘I am in trouble. I hate myself at the moment, and soon I’ll drive Jonathan away. He’s been working late every night this week.’

‘What’s that got to do with things?’

‘He doesn’t want to spend any time with me and who can blame him?’

‘Don’t be crazy! He loves you, anyone can see that.’

‘He might have loved the old me but I’ve turned into some kind of mad woman that no one could love.’ She burst into tears again. Polly left the room, returning with tissues, which she handed to Claire.

‘What’s really going on?’ she asked, sitting down next to Claire on the sofa.

‘I don’t know. It’s the baby thing. We’ve been trying for ages now, and I just can’t help it but now, every time I get PMT I feel so horribly disappointed that I can’t bear it. And this time, well this time is the worst ever. For a couple of weeks now I’ve just felt evil and I know myperiod is coming, which makes me feel even worse.’

‘Claire, I don’t want to make things worse but you can’t have this every month.’

‘I know, but what can I do? I want to kill someone one minute and I just can’t stop sobbing the next.’ To illustrate this she burst into tears. Polly hugged her.

‘Listen, honey, this isn’t right. PMT shouldn’t be making you feel like this.’

‘Well I do. There’s probably something seriously wrong with me and I need to see a doctor. It’s probably early onset menopause, knowing my luck. Oh and look at my complexion, I’m covered in teenage acne.’

‘Claire, I don’t think this is menopause or PMT,’ Polly said gently.

‘Oh my God, you mean it’s something worse?’

‘Since when were you such a hypochondriac? No, no!’ Polly replied.

‘Well what is it?’ I’ve been pre-menstrual for a couple of weeks.’

‘Claire, do you think …’ Polly smiled. ‘Claire, do you think you could be pregnant?’

Claire looked at Polly, thunderously. Not the reaction either of us were expecting.

‘Please, sorry, I know how much you want to be, so don’t hit me, but if you’re not pregnant then you need to see a doctor about the uncontrollable mood-swings and the first thing they’ll do is make you take a test.’ Polly sounded so reasonable and calm. I was glad I’d fetched her.

‘Oh God.’ Claire looked at Polly, who displayed a glimmer of hope in her eyes. ‘Shall I do one?’ Claire was trembling.

‘I take it you have some?’ Polly asked.

‘I’ve got about fifty in the bathroom.’ That was my Claire — always well prepared.

She came downstairs a little while later. Polly was in the kitchen, having cleared up the broken bowl. Claire still looked terrible.

‘Well?’ Both Polly and I waited with bated breath.

‘Positive.’

‘You did a test?’

‘I did four. Oh my, I’m pregnant. I’m actually pregnant!’ Claire sounded shocked but with joy dancing across her face.

‘Claire, you’re having a baby!’ Polly shouted, grabbing Claire and hugging her.

‘Oh my God,’ Jonathan said, as he appeared in the doorway. None of us had heard him come in, we were so caught up. I watched as a huge smile spread across his face. Then Polly laughed, and Claire finally smiled and as Jonathan grabbed her in a huge hug they both cried and laughed at the same time. Polly quietly snuck out, as did I; it was a moment for just the two of them.

We were going to be a proper family now! I was so excited, and relieved. Now Claire would be happy again. All she wanted was a baby and now it looked as if she was getting one. We were all getting one.

Chapter Thirty

‘Alfie, look,’ Tiger said, gesturing to where Heather and Vic Goodwin stood on the pavement outside their house with a strange man. The man was wearing a suit and he didn’t exactly look happy. I had gone to find Tiger to deliver the good news, whilst giving Jonathan and Claire some alone time.

‘We need to see if we can find out what’s going on,’ I said, wondering if it was to do with the Snells.

‘Leave it to me.’ Tiger carefully crossed the road and hid under a car nearby. I didn’t know whether to follow her but my decision was made for me when Salmon appeared, jumping onto a wall and looking right at me with his beady eyes. Luckily it seemed he hadn’t seen Tiger. I would have to wait here and bide my time so as not to arouse suspicion.

The suited man walked off, crossed the road to number 48 and rang the bell. Now I was really worried. The Goodwins and Salmon watched the man, all wearing the same matching self-satisfied smiles. When she felt sure everyone was looking the other way, Tiger rejoined me and we went to my front garden, out of sight of the horrible Salmon.

‘So …?’ I pushed, desperate for information.

‘It seems he’s the Snells’ landlord. The Goodwins said the family are up to no good, and although he assured them that there was nothing illegal going on in the house, they didn’t believe him. It sounds as if they’ve literally been hounding him which is why he finally caved in and said hewould go and see the Snells.’

‘Do you think he’s angry with the Snells?’

‘I think he’s more angry with the Goodwins. I heard him say they pay their rent on time, they’re no trouble, although of course the Goodwins didn’t agree with that. In the end he said he would speak with them and tell them that the neighbours were concerned. But that’s all he’s agreed to.’

‘Oh good. I would hate the Goodwins’ witch hunt to drive them out.’

‘They won’t give up though. I think they’ve far too much time on their hands and keep going on about the fact that if they have bad neighbours then the property prices will fall, whatever that means.’

‘What do your family think?’ I asked.

‘Well, I’ve heard them speaking to the Goodwins and they seem to be easily led by them. I mean my family are great and all, but they like a quiet life. The Goodwins have convinced them that they will cause a massive disturbance on the street before too long, so they are ready to support them.’

We went back to the street to see if there were any developments. The Goodwins had gone, as had Salmon, but there was no sign of the man who was possibly inside the Snells’ house now. I looked at Tiger.

‘This feels like it’s just a mess but one which could so easily be cleared up.’

‘Is that your cat instinct?’

‘Yes, but now I have to go home, because I think it’s probably time for a celebratory dinner.’

‘You mean they might give you some nice fish because of the baby.’

‘I’m hoping so.’

‘Right, well call for me tomorrow and we can see what’s happening.’

‘Oh, by the way, how was your trip to the park with Tom?’ I asked. Tiger hadn’t been forthcoming with information so far.

‘Yeah, fine thanks,’ she replied but refused to say more before she ran off.

I was right, as soon as I got home, Jonathan gave me some fish. As I ate, he started making dinner, while Claire sat at the table.

‘You know,’ Claire started, ‘it’s still early days. I know Polly knows, so Matt will too, which means we’ll have to tell Franceska and Tomasz, but perhaps we should hold off telling anyone else, just yet.’

‘Whatever you want, darling. But you need to see a doctor anyway, just to get the ball rolling, and then we can take it from there.’ Jonathan sounded more excited than I had ever heard him, I thought.

‘Yes, I’ll call them first thing. I am so unbelievably happy, Jonathan, but I really worry that something might go wrong.’

‘Nothing will go wrong, Claire. You do know that, deep down, don’t you?’ I miaowed, because I knew deep down that it would all be all right.

Claire’s worried face transformed and she giggled unexpectedly, she actually giggled.

‘You know what, I do. Sometimes I think that I can’t be this lucky. To have found you, and this gorgeous house, a job I love, Alfie of course, our friends and now the baby. But then also, deep down, I think that this is all meant to be. This happiness, I deserve it, I earned it, and so I need to start enjoying it rather than worrying.’

‘My goodness, Claire! How long have I been telling you this? At last you see it for yourself.’ Jonathan came over and kissed the top of her head.

‘Yeah I know, Mr Right all the time,’ she teased. ‘Faith, belief in happiness, doesn’t come easy to me, but it will now, I promise. I love you and we’re going to be a wonderful family.’

Hoping that included me, I gently jumped up onto Claire’s lap. She picked me up and kissed my nose. ‘I may be having a baby but I will always love you, Alfie,’ she said, happiness radiating from her. ‘You’ll always be my baby too.’ I smiled, I would always be loved, and I knew that as a certainty.

Chapter Thirty-One

Polly’s mum was visiting — babysitting — and Polly and Matt were in Claire and Jonathan’s living room. They were all drinking apart from Claire who had sworn off wine until after the baby was born.

‘So the doctor said you could be over two months pregnant?’ Polly asked.

‘Yes, it looks like it, but it’s still early days.’

‘Be confident, and calm, that’s the most important thing. And be thankful that you’re not too sick!’

‘I will, and the exciting thing is that there won’t be that long between mine and Tasha’s babies — Martha isn’t that much older really in the whole scheme of things.’

‘Are you going to find out the sex?’

‘I think so. I’m not one for surprises but Jonathan is convinced it’s a boy and is already calling him “he”. He thinks that he, Alfie and the baby are going to make this a totally male-dominated household.’

‘He’s happy, isn’t he?’ Polly laughed.

‘So happy! Isn’t it great to see a gruff man showing his caring side. I mean I know how much he loves Alfie, but now, well, with this it’s just gorgeous.’

‘And you are a fluffy marshmallow. Right let’s say something horrible before I go too soft.’ They laughed, and the doorbell rang.

‘Expecting anyone?’ Jonathan asked.

‘No, Frankie’s with the boys and Tomasz couldn’t get off work.’ Claire got up to answer the door. I went with her and was horrified to see the Goodwins on the doorstep. What a way to ruin our little celebration.

‘Hi,’ Claire said nervously. ‘I don’t mean to be rude but we’ve kind of got company.’

‘Well this won’t take long,’ Heather said, almost sweeping her aside. Vic followed, grinning his sinister grin.

‘Oh good,’ he said as he entered the living room. ‘Matt and Polly too.’

They were all struck dumb.

‘Why are you wearing Christmas jumpers? It’s June?’ Jonathan finally asked after scrabbling about for something to say. Jonathan was right, their jumpers had snowmen on them. If anyone was a danger to this street it was them.

‘Oh they’re for our annual Christmas card. Salmon has a jumper the same,’ Vic explained.

‘Yes, we like to get organized, so the photographer came today. We haven’t had time to change yet.’

‘Erm, lovely …’ Polly arched an eyebrow, looking a bit lost for words.

‘What can we do for you?’ Claire asked, grabbing Jonathan’s arm.

‘It’s about the Snells.’

‘Of course it is.’ Jonathan rolled his eyes.

‘We’ve spoken to the landlord, but to no avail. He insists they’re paying rent and are not criminals, therefore they’re free to live there.’

‘Great, so can we draw a line under this then?’ Claire asked.

‘No, no, I’m afraid we cannot. This street is a good street and I saw the daughter with a cigarette the other day.’

‘That’s not illegal.’

‘It’s actually pretty normal teenage behaviour,’ Jonathan chipped in.

‘No but it is indicative of the degenerative nature of youth. That family is rotten to the core. They won’t meet us, so they obviously have something to hide. We will not stand for it.’ Vic sounded determined as he flashed his scary smile.

‘I really think you need to let this go,’ Matt started. ‘There is no need for a witch hunt, they haven’t hurt anyone and just because the police have been round a couple of times, doesn’t mean that they’re a band of criminals. That could be anything.’

‘I sometimes wonder if you people take Edgar Road seriously,’ Heather said, sounding annoyed.

Vic spoke.‘She’s right. Anyway, we’ve told the landlord that we are going to start a petition against them and if everyone in the street signs they’ll have no choice but to leave,’ Vic added.

‘My God, you’re going to hound potentially innocent people from their home? Even when they have kids?’ Jonathan sounded angry and I was proud of him.

‘All they need to do is to tell us why they are hiding from us. Now will you sign our petition or not?’ They sounded hostile.

‘You know what, we’ve humoured you long enough. We come to your very long meetings, and what do they achieve? Nothing! They’re generally just a load of hot air.’ Jonathan stood now but still kept a bit of distance between him and the Goodwins.

‘Hours of hot air,’ Matt supported, looking like a man who would never get those hours back again.

‘But we won’t see this neighbourhood becoming unwelcoming and nasty, which is what is happening thanks to you two. You’ve taken against people you don’t know for reasons of your own imagining. No, we won’t be signing your petition and unless you decide to be more reasonable we won’t be coming to your meetings again,’ Jonathan finished.

‘How dare you!’ Vic shouted.

‘Hey, let’s be calm about this,’ Polly started. ‘None of us are disputing that the family’s behaviour is a little strange but we’ve spoken to Karen and Tim and we feel confident that they’re simply a family in turmoil. And that’s the only reason why they’re so intent on keeping themselves to themselves.’

‘Oh, Polly, you are young and na?ve. You’ve let yourself be taken in by these people. Listen to our experience and trust us.’ Heather sounded so patronizing.

‘You’re being ridiculous.’ Jonathan lost his temper again. ‘We’ll have no part in what you’re doing, so please leave my house and leave us alone. Blimey, the Snells have got the right idea.’

‘It’s a shame you own your homes otherwise we would have you evicted from the street too,’ Vic said, shouting back at Jonathan.

I cowered under the seat; both men sounded quite aggressive.

‘And don’t think you will get one of our special Christmas cards this year either,’ Heather added before they stormed out.

After everyone was sure they’d gone, Claire started laughing. ‘My God, the ultimate punishment — no Christmas card!’

‘I wish I could have been that photographer,’ Polly said, tears of laugher rolling down her cheeks.

‘Imagine, them and the cat in those jumpers?’ Claire was almost doubled up.

‘Where do you even get human and cat matching jumpers?’ Matt asked.

‘Oh she probably knits them,’ Polly added.

‘Hey, honey we could do that next year,’ Jonathan suggested. ‘Me, you, Alfie and the baby all in the same jumpers.’

‘Somehow I don’t think your relatives would get the irony,’ Claire said.

‘Now who said I was trying to be ironic?’ Jonathan asked.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Love makes the world go round. If you look, you see it; snapshots of love, everywhere you go. Especially on Edgar Road.

In a smile, a look, a gesture, you can feel and see love. It radiates a power that envelops everyone it touches. It wraps you up and keeps you safe and warm. You see the world a bit brighter, the sun feels warmer, the flowers look more colourful, and you see beauty everywhere.

Matt, Polly and the children all showed this love; Claire and Jonathan more than ever now; and it was obvious how much Franceska and Tomasz loved each other and their children. And they all loved me. Even the Goodwins gave off a feeling of love to each other, although it was strange they seemed to derive pleasure from meddling in other people’s lives, but it was clear they loved each other and Salmon in their funny matching-jumper-kind-of-way.

Another month had passed since Tiger and Tom had started hanging out and they were looking almost loving, and, although it was clear that Tom was keener, the way Tiger acted when he was around suggested she was falling for his rather odd charms. So that left me. I loved so many people and cats, but of course the romantic part of my heart was reserved for Snowball.

There were many types of love, I learnt. The happy kind, that surrounded us and the sad kind that surrounded Snowball and the Snells. I knew they all loved each other but they were lost and theirs wasn’t happy love, it was sad love. I had to do something about it, I knew, not least because I needed to win Snowball’s heart. Although that probably makes it sound more selfish than it is, because I also love helping people — you see love can mean so much, it really does make the world go round.

Because Jonathan had stood up to the Goodwins they had become even more determined in their irrational dislike of the Snells. Tiger reported that they had indeed started a petition to get them to move from the road, and they were taking it door to door on our long street. It was ridiculous and the thing was never going to work, because most of the residents of Edgar Road wouldn’t even know who the Snells were. We knew a few neighbours to wave at but even the dreaded Neighbourhood Watch meetings only attracted a fraction of the very long street.

What worried me was what I had heard Jonathan and Claire talking about. If the Snells were indeed vulnerable in any way then they would be made even more so if they felt unwelcome. They might even move to another house for a quiet life and that meant they would take my Snowball with them. Despite the fact there was no actual threat from the Goodwins the upset their action caused could do a lot of harm nonetheless.

In lieu of knowing how to fix everything, it was time for me to make a‘grand gesture’. I had seen this, both on television and in real life. A grand gesture was something one did to show your loved one how much you loved them, although it usually involved some kind of sacrifice.

It was time for me to do a grand gesture for Snowball. I needed to woo her. I needed to show her that I meant what I said, and that she wasn’t alone. I had barely seen her since that time in the garden a few weeks ago, although I had tried to; she was proving ever more elusive, forcing me to step up my efforts.

I ruled out music, and crossed poetry off my list too as cats aren’t great at reciting it. I could bring her a few gifts but that definitely wasn’t special enough. I had no one to consult either; if I asked Tiger she would give me one of her withering looks and probably laugh at me. So, it was just down to me and I had to remember I was a cat. We might be resourceful but we don’t quite have theresourcesof humans.

I decided to involve flowers, which all humans seemed to use to woo their women. I thought about the lovely flowers in Polly’s front garden. Surely she could spare a couple of them for me?

I set out to pick some flowers, my plan still hazy but I felt confident that it would come to me. As I poked around in the flower beds, I realized picking flowers wasn’t as easy as it looked. I tried to swipe the flowers with my paw but they just bounced back. Then I tried to scratch at them but that just served to make petals fall off. I tried to get a few, but that wasn’t working, so there was nothing for it, I would have to dig. Digging was hard work — after all, I’m not some hapless dog — and I was beginning to feel as if this wasn’t one of my better ideas, but finally I managed to dig deep enough to grab the flowers by the roots. Sitting, I then used both paws and my mouth to yank them from the ground.

I then faced the problem of how to carry them. All I had available to me was my mouth, so I laid them down, bent my head and picked them up, trying to ignore the earthy taste. I had to admit they didn’t look quite as good as they had in the ground by the time I made my way to Snowball’s house. I hoped that what Claire often said was true; it was the thought that counts.

Snowball’s back garden was deserted, as was the downstairs of the house. I wanted to lay the flowers down but then how would she know that they were from me? I wondered what to do as these slightly destroyed flowers now didn’t feel like such a grand gesture. I looked up at the tree that stood proudly in the garden and I had an idea. If I was in the tree when she saw me, I could climb down and present her with the flowers making the gesture even grander!

I wasn’t the most practised climber but I was a very determined cat so I set off. Climbing with flowers in my mouth was actually harder than walking with them, but I clenched my teeth and got on with it. I didn’t look down until I reached the second branch. It wasn’t too high but definitely high enough, I decided, as I settled down to wait for Snowball.

It was actually really pleasant up there, I decided, as I surveyed my view. I couldn’t see into the upstairs of the house because all the curtains were closed but I watched some birds, who seemed to be aiming for me but swerved at the last minute and darted off. My jaw started to ache from clenching onto the flowers but if I let go now, they would be lost. As time wore on, I wanted to move but couldn’t, and as it grew colder and colder it eventually started to rain.

It had been sunny when I set out, but the sky darkened, the heavens opened and a rain shower ensued. As I felt my fur begin to droop I was beginning to think that this grand gesture wasn’t actually such a good idea. Then Snowball appeared from her cat flap.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ she asked, but she was smiling, or actually laughing at the sight of me, drenched to the skin and now clinging to the branch with cold.

Still, I might be soaking wet but now it was time for me to go down and present the flowers as planned. And ta da!

I then met the next flaw in my plan as I realized that my back legs had seized up. My old injury had returned, just as it often did when it rained. I really hadn’t thought this through. I had spent too long in one position, and I needed to start wiggling them. The only problem was I was in a tree. With flowers in my mouth. What was a cat to do?

‘Alfie, are you OK?’ Snowball said, beginning to look concerned. I had no choice, I opened my mouth and the flowers fluttered to the ground. One of them landed on Snowball’s head. So I guess she got the idea at least. She didn’t look as pleased as I’d hoped though, as she shook the flowers off which were dripping wet too.

‘Sorry, but they were for you.’

‘Alfie, what on earth are you doing?’

‘Well, I had this idea that I’d get you flowers, which by the way isn’t as easy as it looks for a cat. And then I was going to sit up here and wait for you and then jump down and present you with them.’

‘Why on earth would you do that?’

‘It works for humans.’ I was in pain and beginning to feel a bit grumpy.

‘But now?’ Snowball asked.

‘Well I have this problem with my back legs sometimes, so it seems I might be a bit stuck.’

‘Stuck?’

‘Yes, as in I can’t move.’

I tried to wriggle again but my back legs were still too stiff to be much use.

‘Oh, Alfie, what can I do?’ At least she had softened towards me, although she hadn’t picked up the flowers. Or said thank you come to think of it.

There is this urban myth that cats are always being rescued by firemen. It does happen for the less intellectual of our kind, but not as much as people would have you think as it’s the ultimate humiliation for a cat.

‘Would you mind finding my friend Tiger?’ I asked, at a loss. I wasn’t sure what she could do but she understood my physical limitations and might be able to help.

‘OK, I guess I can try. Although this rain doesn’t suit me.’

I told Snowball where she might find her and she reluctantly trotted off. I tried to stretch out but my legs just weren’t having it. I was cold, wet and unable to move, my grand gesture slowly becoming one of my worst ideas ever.

It seemed forever before I saw Tiger following Snowball into the back yard. She took one look at me and laughed.

‘Thanks,’ I said. The rain had stopped as suddenly as it had started, so that was something.

‘What on earth are you doing?’

‘I’m stuck. That’s all you need to know, my back legs have seized up.’ I saw Tiger look at me, then at Snowball and finally at the sad-looking flowers.

‘Oh, Alfie, I’ll come up. You never were very good at climbing trees.’ Tiger quickly climbed the tree and joined me whilst Snowball sat on the ground looking at us.

‘You can’t move at all?’ Tiger asked, sounding concerned finally.

‘My legs have gone all stiff. I’ve tried to wriggle but I don’t think I can. Tiger, promise me that whatever you do you won’t let them call the fire brigade.’

‘What if it means you have to stay up here forever?’

‘Tiger, you were supposed to help.’

‘I know but what can I do? I don’t think I can carry you down, you might have to jump.’

‘But it’s too far and if I land on my back legs it’ll be worse.’

‘Alfie, why do you insist on doing all these stupid things?’

‘Tiger, you’re not helping.’

‘Do you guys maybe want to stop arguing and tell me what I can do?’ Snowball asked but for once we were both lost for words; and ideas.

The patio doors suddenly opened and Christopher walked out. He looked at Snowball, then up at the tree. Tiger looked at me.

‘He’ll save you,’ she whispered.

‘You get down and then he’ll know I’m stuck,’ I suggested. Tiger, showing an agility I could only envy, quickly climbed down from the tree. She joined Snowball.

‘So you’ve got friends, then, Snowball? More than I have,’ Christopher said, looking and sounding glum. ‘Is that Alfie up there?’ he asked.

Snowball miaowed.

‘Is he stuck?’

She miaowed again. Christopher smiled.

‘Don’t worry, mate, I’ll get you.’ He tried to climb up but I was a bit too high for him.

‘Damn it, I can’t get up there,’ he said to himself and I felt a little more petrified. He went to the shed and took something out. When I looked I almost cried with relief, it was a ladder.

‘All rescued, Alfie,’ Christopher said a little while later, looking pleased with himself as he placed me gently on the wet ground. I purred and nuzzled into his legs with gratitude. He put the ladder back in the shed. I stretched and my legs started to regain some movement.

‘I can’t wait to tell everyone,’ he said, and I saw a glimpse of the boy underneath the surly teenager.

‘What was that all about?’ Snowball asked when he’d gone, narrowing her eyes at me.

‘It was my way of cheering you up. Flowers and me up a tree. My grand gesture,’ I explained. When I said it out loud it didn’t make as much sense as it had in my head.

Tiger looked at Snowball and smiled.

‘It didn’t quite go to plan,’ Tiger teased.

‘No, not exactly,’ I replied.

‘But it was a nice thought. Right, come on, Alfie, let’s get you home,’ Tiger said. She was right, I was loath to leave Snowball but I needed to go dry off and rest my legs somewhere warm and comfortable.

‘OK. Sorry about the …’ I started to say to Snowball but she gave me an affectionate flick of her tail.

‘’S all right,’ she replied, neck pulled in coyly. I felt a prickle in my whiskers. I reluctantly started walking away.

‘You know what?’ Tiger said to Snowball. ‘Alfie might be a bit of an idiot at times, with all these harebrained schemes, but you know you could do a lot worse.’

Snowball smiled, actually smiled, in response.

I grinned to myself as I limped home.

Chapter Thirty-Three

My leg stiffness had eased and I was mobile again by the next morning. I resolved to take it easy for a day or two, to give myself thinking time. I was feeling reflective, the way I always did when my legs ached and I was reminded of the things that had happened in my past. I would think about events, cats and people in my life, past and present.

I felt lucky; my world was full of colour at the moment and my families were all thriving. Claire’s ‘jigsaw’ was complete, along with Jonathan’s, and I had rarely seen two happier people. This baby, when it was born, would be the most wanted and most doted on baby, and as long as they didn’t forget me I was all for it. After all, it wouldn’t be like having a new friend, it would belike having a new sibling for me, a human sibling. I would have to work very hard taking care of it as I would be the older brother from now on. The way Aleksy would always look out for little Tomasz, or Henry for Martha.

I took a long time to perform my morning ablutions, and then I thought about going to see Tiger. I wasn’t planning on going on one of our usual long walks but a bit of exercise was good for me. I slid out of the cat flap and found myself face to face with Snowball.

‘Hi,’ I said, suddenly feeling shy at her unexpected appearance.

‘Hello, Alfie. I thought I would see how you are after yesterday.’

‘That’s sweet,’ I replied. ‘But I’m good thank you. Feel a bit silly that it all went a bit …’

‘Wrong? Yes it did, but it did make me smile. And Christopher was so animated last night, after rescuing you; it was as if you did it as a favour just for him.’

‘Wish I’d thought of that really.’ I said, thinking that I really did. It would have saved me having to dig up Polly’s flower bed.

‘Well, you always said you could help, and you did a bit. Anyway, I wondered if you wanted to go for a walk?’

‘With you?’ I was shocked; was she asking me on a date?

‘Yes, of course with me. I thought maybe we could talk.’

‘OK, but can we take it slowly? I’m still aching a bit.’ I wasn’t going to pretend to be macho; that would only lead to more trouble.

‘No problem.’ We looked at each other and I felt my whiskers tingle again. I hoped my legs weren’t shaking as we set off. I didn’t want to bump into any other cats, so I led Snowball in the direction of the park.

‘Have you been to the park before?’ I asked.

‘No, I tend not to go out much at the moment — I prefer to stay close to home.’

‘Where did you live before this?’ I asked.

‘In Kent, it’s not that far from London but we lived in a really big house, with all this land around us.’

‘Our houses are quite big,’ I exclaimed. My first home was much smaller than Jonathan’s house, and his was the biggest house I had ever been in.

‘I guess, but the problem is that they’re not all that large compared to what we had. I barely left my garden. It could take all day to explore it, it was that big. And there were flower beds and trees and even a lake. It was so much fun.’

‘Really? So nothing like here?’ I could only imagine what Snowball was used to, it sounded amazing.

‘No, nothing like here. We didn’t have neighbours so close, we had loads of space around us. And the house was bigger too. Far too big to be honest. I could go for hours without seeing anyone, despite the fact we lived together.’

‘Why did they have such a big house?’

‘I don’t know, it’s a human thing. They had a lot of money, and people who have a lot of money often have big houses. They had more than two cars too. Daisy and Christopher went to schools that they had to pay for and Karen, well you might find it hard to believe, but she had so many clothes they could barely fit in her wardrobe! She looked glamorous all the time. She did work part-time though as she never liked just being at home. Not like now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She works all the time, in a hospital, any shifts she can get as she’s the only one earning money.’ Snowball looked sad, but we had reached the park.

‘Come on, I’ll show you the best bushes.’ I led her over and we crawled under a bush, it was really quite nice being there, alone together. It felt quite intimate as the leaves shadowed us and we sat side by side.

‘So what happened to it all?’

‘I shouldn’t be telling you any of this.’

‘I know, but I did get stuck up a tree for you.’ I smiled and tried to nuzzle her; she didn’t push me away, but she did look a bit embarrassed.

‘Right, well, anyway, we had lots of money because Tim is very clever with computers and he had a company, which was very successful. He worked a lot, mind you, and Karen always moaned that she never saw him. But they went on these exotic holidays and when they did I had to stay in a cat hotel, which I wasn’t that keen on to be honest, but they would always come back happy.’

‘A cat hotel?’ I had never heard of such a thing.

‘Yes, you had to sleep in your own cage and you got fed but there were other cats and you didn’t get half the attention you get at home.’

‘Sounds like the vet to me.’

‘Um, not exactly. Anyway there was this other man, Simon, he was Tim’s business partner but also his best friend. He was the best man at their wedding, there are photos of him; I mean there were. And the children called him Uncle Simon. He didn’t have any children of his own, but he always had a different girlfriend and Karen never liked them.’ Snowball rolled over, and sighed.

‘Sounds a bit like how Jonathan used to be before Claire,’ I said.

‘Anyway, Simon was always around. He and Tim were so close and he trusted him. But then this thing happened.’

‘Go on.’ I could barely wait.

‘Simon turned out to be bad. Really bad. He managed to do something called fraud and he took off with all their money.’

‘How on earth did he do that?’ I asked, not really comprehending.

‘I don’t exactly know how he did it but he left the company bankrupt, which means totally broken I think. He left Tim in a huge mess.’

‘So Tim didn’t suspect anything?’

‘No, he trusted Simon. But he was left owing a lot of money and he had to shut down the business. It was a huge mess. The police are trying to find him but according to Tim and Karen, even if they do it won’t make things right again.’

‘I’m horrified that someone could do that.’

It was beginning to make a bit of sense as to why the Snells were so secretive and unwilling to let anyone in. No wonder they didn’t trust anyone.

‘It got worse though. Not only did they lose everything and have to move here but they also lost all their friends. Some people pointed the finger at Tim; although he lost everything they still thought he’d done something bad. People turned their backs on them as soon as they found out they were poor, too. It was awful. All those people who came round for parties, drank that fizzy wine, and ate our food, wouldn’t even answer their phones to Tim or Karen. They were forced to sell their house, the kids had to leave their expensive schools, and their friends abandoned them too. That was when Karen got a job near here so they moved to Edgar Road.’

‘But why did they think Tim was involved?’ I asked, trying to clarify.

‘People are judgemental, Alfie. But he is totally innocent and when they moved here he was too terrified to make friends in case they thought he was a criminal.’

‘The irony is that by refusing to befriend anyone on the street the Goodwins think exactly that.’

‘I know but he’s too affected by everything that’s happened to think straight. They all are.’

‘It’s a sad story. Although I will never understand why humans value money so highly, above everything else. Cats don’t have any and look how happy we are. All we need is a butterfly to chase, a warm fire to come home to, and a loving lap to sit on.’

‘I don’t understand either.’

‘And they say us cats are superficial! But when it comes down to it, we’re more loyal than most of them.’

‘I agree, Alfie.’ Snowball looked at me, and I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding. ‘So now you know what happened,’ she continued. ‘The police come round because of Simon. But Karen and Tim are still so depressed and so hurt, that they won’t let themselves meet anyone. They’ve puttheir guard up, and now the Goodwins are making everything so much worse, just when they thought they might be able to get their lives back on track.’

‘That’s the thing, when you’re down, sometimes you can’t see anything good.’

‘No, and I couldn’t either for a time. I’m worried for the kids. Chris is being teased at his new school because he came from a posh school. But he’s good at football, so if he would just get involved in that he would be OK. He refuses to though. And Daisy is popular because she’s pretty.To be honest, she has always been a bit of princess so she struggles with the change in her lifestyle, although as Karen points out on a regular basis, she is luckier than so many people.’

‘And she is — you all are — but then if you have something and it gets taken away, it’s totally natural to miss it.’

I thought about what Dustbin had said about how some people didn’t have homes and it wasn’t their choice. That made me feel so sad. ‘Some people don’t have any home, let alone a nice one like yours,’ I said, gently.

‘I know, you’re right, but I miss it too. My old life, my garden. I was miserable and sad when I first came here, and I didn’t want to see anyone or make any friends.’

‘Really, I’d never have known,’ I joked.

‘Yes, but then this cat called Alfie came along and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.’

‘And are you glad I wouldn’t?’ I asked, suddenly feeling quite emotional. Snowball snuggled up next to me; her warmth made me feel as if I was made of gold. I nuzzled into her neck.

‘Yes, I think I just might be,’ she replied.

Forget my sore legs, after hearing that I floated on air everywhere for the rest of the day.

Chapter Thirty-Four

‘Well, you know I’d go and see them, but the last time I did I made things worse, and I don’t think they’d even open the door for me,’ Jonathan said.

Polly and Matt had popped in with the children on their way home, although it was bedtime. Claire was giving Martha a cuddle, Henry and I were playing with a plastic ball as they spoke.

‘I don’t think they’ll let any of us in. But you know we have to try to do something.’

‘We could write them a note,’ Claire suggested.

‘Not a bad idea,’ Polly agreed.

I was trying to concentrate on what everyone was saying, but it was difficult as my mind kept drifting back to the previous day with Snowball. After our lovely date, I slept beautifully and had lots of wonderful dreams. I had never been in love like this and until yesterday it was all one-sided. She hadn’t exactly given in totally to my charms but she had softened towards me and when I walked her to her back door, we had a little nose rub. I asked her when I would see her again but she had only said, soon. She seemed to have put a bit of her guard back up, although not totally. I just had to be patient.

As I listened to what was going on around me, it turned out that Polly had had another run-in with the Goodwins earlier.

I hadn’t seen Snowball today and I now found out why. Polly was upset. On her way back from dropping Henry off at nursery she ran into the Goodwins and two police officers outside the Snells’ house. According to her, the Goodwins were wearing camouflage clothes — like they wear in the army — and said they had been undercover watching the Snells’ house. The police were trying to explain they were here to see the Snells but the Goodwins kept trying to pump them for information. Polly said they were crazy and she almost expected the police to arrest them for harassment.

Heather and Vic were interrogating the police— apparently in normal circumstances it’s the other way round. The police officers told them they couldn’t say anything, although the Goodwins kept badgering them about the Snells being part of the criminal underworld, telling them about their petition, on which they had managed, somehow, to get more than twenty signatures. Polly stepped in at this point and said that they needed to be left alone. The Goodwins accused Polly of aiding and abetting and the police looked at her with sympathy as they finally managed to get away and headed into to the Snells’ house.

‘Quick, back to our vantage point,’ Heather had said as they both ran to watch from behind a bush in their front garden.

Polly had gone home, fuming.

‘It is quite comical when you think of it,’ Jonathan said. ‘I mean they’re now dressing up like a bush to get to the bottom of something that probably doesn’t have a bottom.’

‘We all know they can’t make them leave, but it must be upsetting to have a vendetta against you, no matter how ridiculous the perpetrators. I just think they should be told that we don’t feel the same way the Goodwins do, and we want to lend any support we can. We need to show them that not everyone is as horrible as that pair.’ Polly was incensed and I loved her for it.

‘I agree,’ Claire said. ‘Let’s get a letter done tonight and we can all sign it.’

‘Right, Matt. Put the kids to bed and I’ll write this letter with Claire now.’

‘In that case, Jonathan, you can carry one of them home with me. And have a beer when we’ve put them down.’

‘Sounds like a good plan to me,’ Jonathan agreed. Claire and Polly both rolled their eyes.

I purred as loudly as I could to give them my approval, although I wasn’t sure they got it. This was perfect. What the Snells needed to know was that they did have support. After what I had heard, about how vulnerable the family was, I really did worry the Goodwins could actually hurt them. I couldn’t wait to tell Snowball, and to see her again of course.

I decided to take a chance as the women finished writing the letter and Polly delivered it on the way home. I headed next door too, going over the fence, praying it wouldn’t hurt my legs. I went over to the patio doors but they had pulled blinds across. I moved over to the cat flap and I chanced things by putting my head through. Although I could smell Snowball, and I enjoyed taking a moment to breathe in her scent, there was no sign of her. I lay down. It was night but it was still quite light as I found a spot to wait.

I thought I heard a loud voice and then I heard a door slam. Then another one. Then I heard a strange sound, followed by miaowing, and more door slamming. I knew I shouldn’t, I knew this was a bad time and no one wanted me there, but I couldn’t help myself. Without thinking it through, I hopped through the cat flap and into the kitchen, which was shrouded in darkness. The house was empty. Snowball wasn’t there. I looked everywhere — upstairs, downstairs — she was nowhere to be seen. What if something was wrong?

I knew it was wrong to break into someone’s house, but I had to wait for them to come back. What if they had had enough and decided to flee regardless? I felt panic. What if I never saw Snowball again? I curled up under an armchair in the living room trying to control my fear. I felt as if I had been there for years before I heard the pitter patter of paws.

‘Alfie!’ Snowball exclaimed. ‘What are you doing under the chair?’

‘I was worried.’

‘About what?’

‘I thought you’d gone. Polly told me about the Goodwins and the police today and then Claire and Polly wrote a letter to you all to say we supported you. But I heard shouting and door slamming and thought you must have fled. I thought I’d never see you again. I was so worried I had to wait here. I couldn’t risk leaving.’

‘Blimey, Alfie, you have got an overactive imagination.’

‘Well, yes perhaps I do, but look at you; yesterday you were all doom and gloom and today you seem different.’

‘I was actually out looking for you! So guess what happened? The police came to say they had Simon. Although they might not get the money back, Tim will get his reputation restored and Simon will go to prison. My family are so much happier.

‘Karen picked up the letter from your family, read it to Tim and they both hugged. Then the kids, well, with a bit of prompting from me, asked their parents if maybe things could go back to normal a bit. Their first act of normality was that they went out to get a takeaway, together as a family.I was so happy I ran round to find you but you’re here after all!’

‘So what was all that shouting?’

‘Well they were quite loud admittedly, but happy loud.’

‘Oh, I feel like a total fool now.’

‘You, Alfie,are a fool, a soppy fool.’

It was too late for me to leave before the front door opened and chatter flooded in, happy, lively chatter. Snowball smiled.

‘Come on, you might as well meet them all properly.’

‘Won’t they be cross?’

‘Today they wouldn’t mind if you were a lion.’

I followed Snowball into the kitchen where the family were dishing up food and pouring drinks.

‘Wish it could be Champagne, darling,’ Tim said, as he handed Karen a glass of wine.

‘I think we’ve had enough Champagne to last a lifetime, don’t you?’ she replied, smiling.

‘Can I have some wine?’ Daisy asked.

‘A small glass,’ her father replied, pouring her one.

‘What about me?’ Christopher asked.

‘Oi, Daisy’s sixteen, but you’re only fourteen! ’Fraid not.’ Tim ruffled his son’s hair affectionately.

You would think it was a totally different family to look at them and I smiled at Snowball, who couldn’t stop grinning at me.

‘Is that the cat from next door?’ Karen asked, spotting me.

‘Yes, it’s Alfie,’ Christopher replied. ‘Remember I told you I rescued him? I think he and Snowball are friends.’

‘Even the cat next door is nice, then,’ Karen mused. ‘I was touched by that note and I feel quite bad for acting like a total nutcase in front of them, but I’m not sure I’m ready to tell everyone what we’ve been through.’

‘I agree, it’s still so raw,’ said Tim.

‘We still probably need a bit of time,’ Karen said.

‘Not to mention getting the dreaded Goodwins out of our hair. Did you hear the police say they were hiding in bushes trying to catch us out?’

‘Clearly bonkers,’ Daisy said.

‘Yes, but I’m not ready to deal with them yet.’ Karen sounded upset.

‘Kids, Karen, I would like to say that I am really sorry for how bad things have been. I know moving was awful and adjusting to new schools, but now that Simon’s been caught, I do feel that we might start to get back to normal. Well, a new kind of normal anyway.’

Tim looked sad again. I could see there had been a giant step forward but it wasn’t quite giant enough.

Quietly, Snowball led me outside.

‘Wow, things have changed quickly,’ Snowball exclaimed when we were alone. ‘I know Tim will never forgive himself for trusting Simon, but at least now he’s been caught, it’ll make him feel there’s some justice.’

‘Do you think they’ll get the money back?’

‘I think it’s probably long gone. It was spent on bad investments and gambles from what I heard, but they have a home. It might not be what we were used to but it’s better than many people have, you taught me that.’

‘Everyone seemed happier. Well, apart from Christopher,’ I pointed out.

‘He’s still missing his old life. I don’t think he’s made friends at school; I haven’t seen him with anyone and he seems so withdrawn, more than any of the others. I’m Daisy’s cat and Christopher doesn’t like me half the time. Whenever he rows with his sister, he seems to blame me.’

‘Is he mean to you?’ I asked.

‘Not really, just says the odd thing, calls me a scraggy moggy when he’s really annoyed but I know deep down he doesn’t mean it. He pretends not to like Daisy but deep down he loves her too,’ Snowball explained.

‘I think we need to get my families and yours together. Honestly, it’ll really make yours feel welcome and wanted.’

‘They might, one day. But I am glad I met you, Alfie.’ Snowball nuzzled my neck and I felt like a million dollars.

Chapter Thirty-Five

‘Goodness, this is a bit like when Claire and Jonathan go out with Matt and Polly,’ I said.

Three faces looked at me. Tiger, Tom, Snowball and I were at the park, playing in the flower beds. It was like a double date, I thought. Although for now Snowball was in the friend zone, I knew it was only a matter of time before we became more romantic.

Tiger wasn’t exactly romantic towards Tom, but he followed her around like a lovesick puppy. She obviously liked him but she was, like Snowball, playing a bit hard to get. However, we were spending a very pleasant afternoon together so I wasn’t complaining. Surprisingly, Tiger and Snowball had hit it offand Tom was definitely more charming than we had ever known him. I could see us becoming a tight little unit which made me feel more content than ever.

Although there was nothing wrong with my life before, having Snowball come into it had definitely added another dimension. My eyes shone a bit brighter, my smile was a bit wider, and when I slept, my dreams were filled with happiness.

And Snowball: her slow thaw towards me had accelerated at great speed— next stop love. Her family were also slowly thawing. I had seen quite a bit of them. Snowball said I was always welcome, so I had kind of added them to my list of homes, despite being there the least. I wanted them to meet my families, become friends, which is what a doorstep cat wants more than anything: to bring people together. Despite the fact they were happier and had been pleased to receive Claire and Polly’s note, they hadn’t rushed round with open arms. I understood. When you’re hurt like that, when you lose everything and especially with betrayal added into the mix it takestime to heal and gain back the confidence to trust new people.

We still needed to find a way to get them to be friends the way we were. Gathered in the park, it seemed a good time to try to come up with a plan.

‘Last time you brought humans together you nearly died,’ Tiger pointed out.

‘Well I’m not going to do that a second time,’ I mused. ‘I’m down to my last six lives I think, so I still need to do something and it has to be big.’

‘Like getting stuck up a tree again,’ Tiger teased.

‘No, that’s too—’ I stopped, they had just given me an idea.

We were distracted by a low flying butterfly; Tom tried to swipe it at the same time as Tiger and their paws collided.

‘Sorry,’ Tom mumbled looking bashful.

‘Well I don’t know, Alfie, maybe it’s enough that they are happier now. And they did say they’d speak to the neighbours. Maybe that’s enough?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’ I was a determined cat.

‘But none of us have a clue what to do.’ Snowball lay down and looked sad as she put her head in her paws. ‘I’m worried they’ll leave. I know they said things are looking better but they’re still not happy. I really don’t want to leave Edgar Road.’ Snowball looked so sad, lying there, that my heart went out to her. I couldn’t let that happen.

‘I think I know what to do,’ I exclaimed, remembering my earlier brainwave.

‘Oh no, I’m not sure I want to know,’ Tiger said, covering her ears with her paws. ‘Knowing you it’s going to be dangerous!’

‘I want to know. Come on, Alfie, tell us,’ Tom pushed.

‘No, you are all going to have to wait and see. Tiger, tell Snowball how good I am at getting humans to do what I want.’

‘He is, Snowball. He can convince any human of anything. He doesn’t pull the fur over my eyes, but those humans fall for it every time.’

‘I guess we’ve got nothing to lose.’ Snowball sounded doubtful.

‘And everything to gain,’ I finished.

I felt a sense of purpose as we strutted home. I walked beside Snowball, whilst Tiger and Tom frolicked behind us. They definitely brought out the playful side in each other. We were almost at Snowball’s gate, when Salmon jumped out on us. I had almost forgotten about him.

‘Well, what do we have here,’ he said, licking his lips ominously. ‘You all look cosy together.’ Snowball hissed, but I stood next to her protectively.

‘Salmon, it’s time you got lost. You and your nosey family. The Snells have nothing to hide and you might as well give up now.’

‘What, because you tell us to?’ He laughed nastily.

‘No, because you’re all making huge fools of yourselves. You’re going to be the laughing stock of the street soon.’ I sounded braver than I felt.

‘You already are,’ Tiger piped up from behind, reinforcing my confidence.

‘Yes that petition didn’t work, and we cats are thinking of getting a petition going against you,’ Tom joked. He actually did have quite a good sense of humour now he was with Tiger.

‘Cats can’t write,’ Salmon shot back.

‘We’ll use mouse blood to write it all over your yard,’ Tom replied, but he didn’t sound serious. I don’t think he did anyway.

‘You wouldn’t dare?’ Salmon looked afraid for the first ever time.

‘Try us,’ I challenged.

Salmon turned and ran back across the road.

‘My hero,’ Tiger said. ‘Impressive.’

‘You’re my hero too,’ Snowball whispered to me.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Claire was disappointed. I think she believed that after the note they’d sent, Karen would be round, thanking them and perhaps inviting them for a cup of tea at the very least. She ranted a bit to Jonathan that the note Karen had sent back, which Claire referred to as a ‘perfunctory’ thank you, was far from satisfactory. So it was lucky that I had my plan. Theyneeded a helping paw and luckily I was here to provide one.

I always thought that happiness was infectious. You know, contagious. I looked at all my families up and down the street, and even further afield, and realized how happy everyone was. Even us cats had nothing to worry about. We were all elated and I knew, if we could reach them then the Snells would catch it from us. We would literally infect them with happiness.

I breakfasted in Claire and Jonathan’s happy house. Claire had let Jonathan give me tinned or fresh fish for days now, so I was pretty lucky. Something told me that when the baby came along they would be a bit distracted and I might not get the same attention, but if they were I had back-up. I refused to have any of my joy stamped on. Not even by Salmon who had taken to staring with hostile eyes at all us cats, although from a safe distance. He really was a coward after all.

He was extra-annoyed because Polly seemed to blame him for digging up her flowers. After my grand gesture, I’d forgotten about the slightly destroyed flower bed but Salmon had been caught lurking by her front garden, so when she jumped to that conclusion it suited me just fine.

‘Alfie, you are probably only going to be gone for a few hours; you’re acting as if this is your big farewell,’ Tiger said, as I went to see her before implementing my plan.

‘I am not. And anyway, if something goes wrong, then you’ll wish you had treated me a bit more fondly.’

‘Alfie, you’re such a drama cat. You yourself said that there was no danger attached to this plan.’

‘I know, but I would like everyone to appreciate what I am going to do.’

‘But we don’t know what it is!’ I could see Tiger was exasperated, so I decided to confide in her and, for once, she actually listened carefully.

‘Alfie, you are mad, after last time,’ Tiger said. She didn’t look every impressed.

‘That’s why it’s so perfect, I’ve got experience in it now. But don’t tell anyone,’ I said. ‘It’s supposed to be a secret.’ Tiger raised her whiskers, shook her head and smiled.

‘You will never change. Be careful, Alfie, and hopefully you’ll get what you want.’

It was afternoon before I headed into Snowball’s house. I told her I would be there and she was in the kitchen waiting for me. She still had no idea what I was planning, so I thought I’d better tell her.

‘Right, I’m going up the tree again,’ I said.

‘Why?’ Snowball asked.

‘Because then your family will go and get my family, they’ll bond over the need to rescue me.’ I was pretty confident with this plan. I had thought it out. My grand gesture hadn’t worked exactly as I planned, but it had given me an idea. I was going to climb the tree again, pretend to be stuck (as this time I would ensure my legs didn’t seize up), and then Snowball would go and get help from our families. I could just picture the scene: that as they all talked about rescuing me, the Snells would realize what a good thing it was to have friends on the street, and whilst they were distracted I’d just climb down again. Of course, they’d all be so happy that I was safe that everyone would be friends. It was foolproof.

‘What if Christopher just gets the ladder again?’ Snowball asked.

‘I thought of that. I’ll go even higher so the grown-ups will have to get involved.’ I remembered that the ladder only reached the branch I was on which wasn’t that high, this time I would climb further.

‘And you think that will work?’

‘Yes, of course. Don’t you?’

‘What about your legs?’

‘You worry too much. Right, wish me luck. And trust me, this will bond them, somehow, it really will.’

‘Good luck. And, Alfie, either you’re mad or a genius; I just hope it’s the latter.’

Snowball followed me to the garden. I looked at the tree, feeling confident. I’d done it before I could it again and this time I was unencumbered by flowers so it would be easier. With confidence I started to climb. I began to enjoy myself. It was early evening and still pleasant; the sun was fairly warm, the sky blue. I saw some birds overhead and listened to them singingas I made my way, branch by branch into the tree.

I easily passed the place where I’d been when Christopher had rescued me and continued further on up. I could feel the wind in my fur as I carried on, brimming with determination with each branch I passed.

After a long, arduous climb I suddenly realized how tired I was, so I stopped to see if I was high enough. I got myself in position on the branch and looked down.‘Oh my goodness,’ I thought, ‘what has happened?’ Snowball had shrunk — she was tiny! I looked again and saw just how high I was. I felt dizzy as the ground seemed to spin beneath me and I clung onto the branch for dear life. I cried out, but not as part of the plan; it was a cry of genuine terror as fear rushed through my fur. I had never been this high in my life and I was terrified. I thought about getting down, aborting the plan, but I couldn’t move. It was as if I was literally paralysed by fear.

I couldn’t see her face but I could see Snowball heading inside, yelling loudly. Thankfully she soon came out with Karen and Tim. Christopher and Daisy followed them and they all looked up at me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear what they were saying; the wind seemed to take their words away and I was truly stuck in every sense of the word as they all stood below, looking up at me.

There was activity on the ground, as Daisy ran out back round the side of the house and disappeared. Making sure my back legs were securely on the branch, I put my paws over my eyes to see if that stopped me feeling sick, but then I couldn’t bear not being able to see. I cemented myself to the branch wondering if I would have to stay here forever; would this be my new home?

After what felt like hours, Polly and Matt appeared in the garden. I fleetingly wondered where Claire and Jonathan were as I saw them all staring up at me, shaking their heads. Matt came to the bottom of the tree and shouted something up, but all I could hear was my name. I miaowed as loudly as I could but I couldn’t be sure he heard me. I wanted to cry. This was not the amazingly straightforward plan I’d thought it was going to be.

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.

Epilogue

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.

It wasn’t long before Polly and Matt called round, both children ensconced in the stroller, carrying even more food and chairs.

We waited by the front gate and Jonathan, with Summer strapped to his chest, went to get the Snells. Karen opened the door, smiling shyly, shouted for the others and joined us on the pavement. I looked at Snowball and grinned. We both stopped and looked and saw the Goodwins twitching their curtains across the road. All our humans waved over at them, and they waved back. The Goodwins weren’t our friends but they had accepted the Snells at last, especially as they had gone to a couple of their Neighbourhood Watch meetings and taken homemade cake with them.

Snowball smiled at me as we set off for the park.

Jonathan and Matt were arranging blankets when Franceska and Tomasz and the boys arrived. Aleksy was clutching his precious football, I was pleased to see.

‘Hey, shall we play football while they set up lunch?’ Christopher asked.

So much had changed. Not only did we have Summer now but the Snells were far happier. Tim had got a job and loved going to work again. Karen had managed to cut back on her hours so she wasn’t so tired. Polly had taken Daisy to see a model agency because she’d finished her exams and she was going to try out for a few jobs in the school holidays before she went back to do A-levels, and Christopher had started playing football at his school and was so good he was something of a star.

And Snowball and I were friends. Proper friends, close friends, although so far it hadn’t become anything more. I didn’t want to push her, so I had treaded carefully; things were changing but I could tell she needed more time. However, I was feeling optimistic that today was the day that I would make the breakthrough I’d been planning for months.

And it all started with me getting stuck up a tree.

‘Yeah!’ Aleksy shouted and he and Christopher took the ball to the centre of the park. Little Tomasz bounded after them, amid shouts from his father not to lose the ball this time. Henry ran as fast as he could to join in but when the boys started kicking the ball he hung back, nervously. I joined him, as did Snowball. We watched as Christopher showed off some impressive ball skills to an utterly amazed Aleksy.

Matt, Jonathan and Tim came over.

‘Wow, he’s so good,’ Matt said.

‘He’s become the star at school, not that he likes us to acknowledge that,’ Tim said with pride.

‘Let’s join them,’ Jonathan suggested. They all bounded onto the small area, kicking the ball and although Christopher was clearly the only person who could play, they were all having fun.

‘Fun has re-entered our lives, Alfie, thanks to you,’ Snowball said as if reading my mind.

‘And you know I did it for you,’ I replied as I nuzzled her neck.

‘Come on, boys, lunch,’ Franceska called a little while later, and they all made their way over, Matt carrying Henry. The children sat together on one blanket, the adults on another. Although Daisy sat with the adults, Chris was next to his biggest fan, Aleksy. Aleksy adored him, and I was so happy to see how great Christopher was with him; like a big brother almost.

I lay down and basked in the sun with Snowball by my side as my families chatted with hers as they feasted on the lovely food everyone had brought; I looked forward to the leftovers later.

‘It seems so strange to think so much has changed this year,’ Franceska said. She often became reflective when we all got together. Big Tomasz put his arm around her.

‘We’ve been through the mill but seem to have come out the other side,’ Tim said.

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Jonathan said and the men clinked their beer bottles.

‘Jonathan, do you remember when you thought they might be like Batman, but a whole family of crime fighters,’ Matt laughed.

‘Cheers for reminding us, Matt, it was only a theory,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Excuse my husband, he’s almost as mad as the Goodwins sometimes.’ Claire stroked Jonathan’s arm affectionately as Franceska cuddled a sleeping Summer.

‘It seems the cakes have worked, they’re civil to us now,’ Karen said.

‘Yes — although remember it’s a fine line. You don’t want to encourage them too much or they’ll be popping round all the time.’

‘Good point, we’ll have to make sure we draw all the curtains at least once a week,’ Tim joked.

As glasses chinked and more drinks were poured, Snowball and I left our families and headed to the flower beds.

‘Looking back, your plan, as fragile as it seemed, worked,’ she said.

‘And I got rescued by a fireman for you guys.’ I still expected praise and even sympathy for it all these months later, I had to be honest.

‘You’re right, and thank you. It’s like a happy ending all round.’ Snowball stretched out her body and yawned. A combination of sun and happiness was enough to make any cat tired.

‘Well, not quite,’ I said meaningfully. ‘It’s time for me to stop pussy-footing around,’ I declared.

‘When have you ever pussy-footed, Alfie?’ she teased.

‘OK, well maybe I haven’t but you know … well … you obviously know what I am trying to say, don’t you?’ I felt exposed, embarrassed and unsure.

‘Perhaps, you need to spell it out,’ Snowball replied, looking deep into my eyes and making my legs turn to jelly.

‘You are the most infuriating cat I’ve ever met. Even more so than Tiger. But you are also the most beautiful, and you make me feel alive, like I’m a better cat when I am around you. I need to know you feel the same.’

‘Oh, Alfie, of course I feel the same. No one has ever got stuck up a tree twice, ripped up flower beds or been rescued by a fireman for me. And even without all that, I think you are a wonderful, handsome cat and I couldn’t imagine my life without you now.’ I happily nuzzled her neck, as Aleksy came running over.

‘Alfie!’ he shouted as the others joined him. ‘Snowball. I think they are in love!’ he announced.

Aleksy was holding his brother’s hand. Daisy was standing close to Christopher. Martha and Henry were holding onto the railings and peering at us. Jonathan had his arm around Claire who was carrying Summer. Polly and Matt were holding hands and Tim had his arm around Karen’s waist. Snowball and I were pressed together looking at all the humans who loved each other and loved us too.

I felt as if I could actually see the love that surrounded me and as I looked at the faces of those that made my up all my families, I smiled the broadest smile a cat could. I had loved and lost and loved some more— but through all the happiness and sadness, there was one thing that I would never doubt. This doorstep cat was the luckiest cat in the world.

2.5.1. ALFIE CAT IN TROUBLE

Chapter One

Sitting under a bush, I stared at a van, which two big men were unloading furniture from. I was about to move closer when my best cat friend, Tiger, appeared.

‘Alfie?’ she said.

I flicked my tail up in greeting.‘Hello, Tiger. Look, people moving in!’ I was always excited by the sight of a removal van. You see, I am a doorstep cat. I visit more than one house and have lots of humans who think they own me. Of course, in reality I own them. But that is why removal vans have such a fascination for me. They mean new people, and new people need a cat.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_003.jpg]

I might make some new friends to play with and if I’m lucky they might even give me yummy food – pilchards are my favourite.

‘Alfie, this isn’t even our street, what are you doing here?’ Tiger was annoyed by my doorstep antics. She had one family and she liked it that way. But I loved my families – I had three altogether: one main home and two others, but I always say you can never have enough humans. Or pilchards for that matter.

‘It’s only round the corner.’ We were in the street next to mine, Edgar Road. ‘I’m in trouble again,’ I admitted.

‘What did you do?’ Tiger raised her whiskers.

‘Why do you always assume it’s my fault?’

‘Because it usually is, Alfie.’

I raised my whiskers back at her in protest, but Tiger was right.‘It’s to do with baby Summer – she isn’t sleeping. She cries all the time. She sounds like you when someone steps on your tail.’

‘Thanks Alfie.’ She glared at me with her yellow eyes. ‘Anyway, what has that got to do with you being in trouble?’ She licked her brightly striped fur; it was clear why she had been named Tiger.

‘I’m just trying to explain,’ I huffed. ‘I’m tired, and Claire and Jonathan are tired and grumpy.’

‘And?’

‘And at breakfast I was half-asleep so I stumbled into my food bowl. My paws got covered in food so I panicked and somehow managed to tread it all into the carpet.’ I shuddered as I remembered how Claire and Jonathan, my normally lovely humans, had shouted at me and called me a ‘pest’.

‘So, they’re cross?’ Tiger asked, sounding sorry for me.

‘Yes, so I decided to lie low for a while. And in doing so I’ve found a new family, just to spend a bit of time with.’ I wasn’t planning on running away or anything like that.

‘I guess that’s fine but Iknow you. Don’t get too involved with them – don’t poke your whiskers into their business,’ Tiger said. I nuzzled her neck.

‘Don’t be silly, of course I won’t,’ I replied. Honestly, Tiger didn’t need to worry so much. After all what could possibly go wrong?

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

I made my way to the new house. It was easy to sneak in– the door was wide open, and the men were still carrying furniture so no one noticed me. I found myself in a big room that opened onto a kitchen.

There was a tall, thin man unpacking a lot of fruit onto the kitchen counter. There were more bananas, oranges and apples than I had ever seen. He seemed to be taking a great deal of care, polishing them and putting them down very gently. It seemed a little strange.

‘Dear, could you leave that and help me?’ a woman shouted. She was shorter than the man, with big glasses and hair like a bird’s nest with lots of pencils sticking out of it.

‘But my fruit,’ the man replied.

‘I am sure it’ll be fine for a few minutes, Dear,’ she said. ‘We need to organise the furniture.’

I watched as the two removal men moved sofas, tables and chairs while the woman kept changing her mind about where they should put things. They huffed and puffed as they went backwards and forwards a lot.

‘But Mrs Clover, you said it’d be fine here!’ they complained as they lifted the biggest sofa I’d ever seen.

‘Yes, well I thought it was, but it just doesn’t look right. Please can you put it by the window? Yes, that’ll do nicely. What do you think dear?’

The man, I assumed Mr Clover, was staring at an apple, which was painted a bright yellow.

‘What? Oh yes, oh lovely.’ He obviously wasn’t paying attention but Mrs Clover seemed happy.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

There was a little girl in the corner of the room. She had a book hiding her face and seemed not to notice the commotion. I thought about approaching her, but then a boy entered the room. He looked a bit scruffy: his clothes were far from neat, he had a cheeky round face with freckles dotted across his nose and messy hair. He was carrying a box, out of which he kept dropping things. As some of them rolled towards me, I saw they were stones. He looked a bit lost. He tried to get his parents’ attention but his voice wasn’t heard in the commotion.

Mrs Clover was giving orders; Mr Clover was looking lovingly at his yellow apple and the girl had her head in her book. With a thump, the boy suddenly dropped his box and stones flew out across the floor.

‘AHHHHH!’ Mr Clover shouted. Both the boy and I looked on in horror as Mr Clover skidded on a stone, slipped along the wooden floor and ended up with his head in a plant pot.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_005.jpg]

‘Stanley, what have you done?’ Mrs Clover screeched. She sounded cross. Stanley was red-faced as he started scooping his stones up. ‘You are such a calamity,’ she bellowed.

‘Sorry, sorry but it’s my special stone collection,’ the boy protested, sadly.

‘My head, it’s stuck, it’s stuck!’ Mr Clover shouted, his voice muffled by the pot. As he tried to pull it off, he banged into the wall.

‘I think it was an accident,’ the girl said, in a quiet voice, but no one took any notice.

‘Stanley you need to be more careful,’ Mrs Clover yelled, as Mr Clover’s head was freed by the removal men.

‘Sorry,’ Stanley mumbled again. I moved towards him; he definitely needed a friend.

‘YOWL!’ I slipped on a stray stone and fell over. My bottom ached, my tail hurt and I was lying on my back with my legs in the air.

‘Oh gosh, it’s a cat!’ Stanley exclaimed, scooping me up and giving me a much needed cuddle.

‘Miaow,’ I said.

‘Wow, how did you get in here? Do you live here? Who are you?’ He seemed very pleased to see me.

I purred.

‘Look, Mum, Dad, Viola! Look it’s a cat! A CAT!’ he shouted.

Still, no one seemed to hear him. Mr Clover had dropped his yellow apple during the plant pot incident and one of the removal men had stepped on it. Mr Clover was looking upset as he cradled the squishy mess. I thought he might have had tears in his eyes. The removal men were lifting a piano as Mrs Clover was telling them how precious it was and Viola was at her side. No one noticed Stanley or a lone cat.

‘No one ever listens to me.’ Stanley looked very upset as he took me and his stone collection out of the room.

We went upstairs, sat on his bed and he read my name tag.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_006.jpg]

‘Alfie, that’s a good name for a cat.’

I miaowed in agreement.

‘We had to move here from the country. I miss it.’ He looked sad as he stroked me, still clutching his stones. I purred in support. ‘My sister, Viola – she’s a podigy.’

I tipped my head questioningly; I’d never heard of a ‘podigy’.

‘It means she is very good at music. She has to go to the best music school so the whole family had to come here. She’s eleven and I’m only eight so I don’t matter. I miss my old home. And Viola is so good all the time. She never gets into trouble. I always do.’

I miaowed excitedly– Stanley and I were the same!

‘I don’t mean it, but I can be a bit clumsy. Mum calls me Calamity Stan. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Even if you don’t live in our house you can visit, and we can be friends. Can’t we?’

I nuzzled into Stanley. Yes we would be very good friends, I could feel it in my fur. I miaowed and jumped off the bed; it was time for me to leave.

‘You will come back, won’t you?’ Stanley said.

I miaowed again. You bet I would.

Chapter Two [Êàðòèíêà: i_007.jpg]

When I returned to the Clover’s house the next day, I made my way under the fence and into the back garden. The kitchen door was open so I just walked in. Mr Clover was sitting at the table, painting the outside of the apples in rainbow colours. I wanted to know why he needed to paint fruit but I couldn’t ask, being a cat.Mrs Clover was talking on the phone and cooking lunch at the same time. I wondered, fleetingly, if I would get any but it didn’t smell like fish, so it wouldn’t matter too much if I didn’t.

‘I can make two new designs for plates by next week,’ Mrs Clover was saying. There was a pause. ‘Yes of course, matching bowls.’ She was stirring something on the stove and talking. ‘Oh no!’ she shouted, dropping the phone.

‘What is it dear?’ Mr Clover asked without looking up.

‘I’ve made custard instead of mushroom soup,’ she said, scratching at her messy hair. ‘I must have mixed up the packets.’ She looked puzzled.

‘Oh dear, dear,’ Mr Clover replied.

I thought this might be the maddest house I had ever visited.

‘Never mind, custard soup will be delicious for lunch, I am sure,’ Mrs Clover decided.

I was suddenly glad I wasn’t joining them.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

Half an hour later, I was distracted by the most beautiful music I had ever heard. Viola, the‘podigy’ was playing her piano and I was impressed. I went over to her and hopped onto her lap. She stopped and scooped me up, giving me a lovely cuddle.

‘What a cute cat,’ she said.

I snuggled into her; she was pretty lovely herself. She was taller than Stanley, with the same colour hair and freckles, and she wore glasses like her mum, although her hair was much neater. As she stroked me, Stanley ran into the room like a whirlwind.

‘Alfie!’ he said, grabbing me from his sister. Viola looked a bit surprised; so did I. ‘I have to show Alfie something,’ Stanley said, carrying me off.

‘You are my friend not hers, Alfie,’ he said as he took me upstairs.

I miaowed. Of course I could be friends with everyone but I wasn’t sure Stanley understood that. I glanced back at Viola who looked unhappy as she watched us go.

‘Anyway I am going to show you where Mum works. We call it the Clay Room and we are absolutelynot allowed to go in there.’ He opened the door.

‘YOWL!’ I said in my loudest voice. If we were absolutely not allowed to go in there, maybe we shouldn’t?

‘Oh it’s all right, Alfie, no one will ever know.’ Stanley crept in and I followed him, although I was sure that it was a bad idea; I could feel it in my fur.

I had never seen a room like it before. There were boxes everywhere, and I could see that the ones that were open were full of pots. A massive wheel was set up in the centre of the room.

‘My mum is a very famous pottery maker,’ said Stanley. ‘She designs things and then a big factory makes loads of them to sell.’ I purred in understanding. ‘My Dad, he’s an artist. You’ve probably seen him with funny coloured fruit – that’s what he paints. He sells it to a gallery and they seem to like it.’ He sighed. ‘They are both so busy, and for me, moving here, not having any friends – well it’s not so much fun at the moment.’ He sounded troubled.

‘Miaow,’ I replied.

‘Dad’s not as successful as mum, but some people say he’s a genius. We all think he’s a bit bonkers. He’s branching out into eggs next.’

I was lost for words.

I looked into the big container of clay and then at the potter’s wheel. It was quite interesting.

‘It’s so cool isn’t it?’ Stanley said. I purred my agreement as Stanley picked me up. ‘Come and see the clay,’ he said as he walked towards a large bucket. ‘Ahhh!’ Stanley shouted, narrowly avoiding bumping into a large pot which was next to the clay. He wobbled and I felt myself slipping.

‘YELP!’ he dropped me and I landed in the bucket of clay. It was wet and sticky, not at all how I thought it would be. I panicked. I couldn’t move – I miaowed, yelped and yowled.

‘Oh Alfie, sorry, sorry, don’t worry, I’ll help you,’ Stanley shouted, trying to free me from the clay. Finally, I was out but we were both covered in the sticky stuff; it was all over my fur and paws. So much for no one knowing we were here.

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‘You look like a clay cat!’ Stanley laughed. I wasn’t amused. Oh boy, we were going to be in so much trouble! We had no choice but to go downstairs. I shuddered as we left a trail of clay behind us; it reminded me of home and the cat food incident.

We both stood in the doorway. Mr and Mrs Clover just looked at us.

‘Heavens above!’ Mr Clover said, dropping an orange. I could see where Stanley got his clumsiness from.

‘Stanley what have you done now?’ Mrs Clover asked.

‘Sorry,’ Stanley said. ‘Alfie wanted to see where you worked and well, he sort of fell into a box of clay and it left a huge mess on the carpets.’

I stood as close to Stanley as I could, trembling with fear.

‘I don’t believe this; we’ve only been here five minutes and already you’ve ruined the carpets!’ Mrs Clover bawled.

‘But Mum,’ Viola started saying. ‘You said you hated the carpets, remember? You said they would be the first things to go.’

I looked at Stanley, who was still staring at the floor.

‘Well, OK, yes that is true but still … That is no excuse for you breaking the rules and you two definitely need a bath.’ She turned to us. I wasn’t happy with that, I hated water of any kind – baths, ponds, even puddles. What had we done?

‘I know,’ Viola said, in her timid voice. ‘It’s so hot, shall we get the hosepipe?’

‘Great idea,’ Mr Clover boomed. For the first time, he seemed to be looking at something other than his fruit.

‘OK, I suppose so. Children, put your bathing suits on,’ Mrs Clover ordered. ‘Alfie, stay where you are. Don’t move.’

I wasn’t sure I could; I was stuck to the floor.

Viola and Stanley shrieked with laughter as Mr Clover swung the hosepipe around and they ran through the water. Tentatively, Mrs Clover removed the clay from my fur and paws, as I tried hard to avoid getting too wet.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_009.jpg]

‘Well, you are back to normal. I assume grey is your normal colour?’ Mrs Clover said as she finished. I miaowed. I was grey but in some lights I had a blue tint to my coat.

‘Well, this is a fun activity,’ Mr Clover chuckled and the children cheered.

I wasn’t having very much fun, not being a fan of water, but seeing my new friends happy was almost worth getting wet for. The phone rang and Mrs Clover rushed indoors. She emerged a few minutes later. ‘Viola, quickly get dried. You’re seeing your new piano teacher this afternoon, I can’t believewe nearly forgot. Dear, can you sort out Stanley? She said, turning to Mr Clover. ‘Viola get dressed and practise.’

‘But Mum—’ Viola groaned.

‘Chop chop, hurry hurry.’ Mrs Clover wrapped Viola in a towel and took her inside. Mr Clover put the hosepipe away and Stanley and I stood, dripping, alone on the lawn.

‘It’s always the way – we start having fun and she has to ruin it,’ Stanley huffed.

‘Miaow?’ Did he mean his mum?

‘Viola. It’s always about Viola and her piano. No one even notices me half the time. More than half really.’

I wanted to tell him that Viola had been enjoying herself, too. She hadn’t wanted to go in.

‘Come on Stanley, get yourself dried and dressed,’ Mr Clover said, going inside.

I knew that I had a job to do. Stanley was sad; Viola seemed a bit miserable, too. Mr and Mrs Clover were distracted but in the garden they had all enjoyed themselves. I knew my mission here was to remind them that they could have fun together.

A little while later, I found Tiger chasing butterflies at the end of Edgar Road.

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‘Hey,’ I said.

‘What’s wrong, Alfie?’ she asked. She could always read my moods.

‘I’ve just left the Clover’s. It’s not a happy place. Stanley gets into trouble because he’s bored and the grown-ups are obsessed with work.’

‘Oh, Alfie, not another family to worry about?’

‘I went there to get away from my problems at home, not find more, but I want to help them.’

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‘You always do,’ Tiger stated as she jumped at a butterfly, missed and fell headfirst into a bush. I couldn’t help but laugh as she brushed leaves off.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_012.jpg]

‘It’ll all be all right. I’ll think of something.’

‘Well, in the meantime, do you fancy going to the park?’ Tiger asked.

‘If we can roll around in the flower beds and chase flies, it might cheer me up.’ I was worried, but a bit of fun never hurt a cat.

‘Come on then, Alfie, I’ll race you there.’

Chapter Three [Êàðòèíêà: i_013.jpg]

The back door was open, but there was no one downstairs. I ran up to Stanley’s room as fast as my paws would take me, where I found him, sitting on his bed. I greeted him with a purr and gently put my paw on his arm.

‘Alfie, I’m glad you’re here,’ he said. I miaowed. ‘I was supposed to have an adventure with Dad today. But then Mum had to work in the Clay Room, so Dad had to take Viola to her piano lesson. And I had to stay here.’ He folded his arms across his chest and made a face. I tried to tell Stanley that we could have an adventure – after all I am quite good at them – but he didn’t seem to understand.

‘My parents prefer her to me. It’s clear.’ He stamped his foot before sitting down next to me again. ‘They moved here for her and I miss our old home. I had lots of friends and lots of adventures. Dad and I would go and pick fruit together but now he goes to the boring old greengrocer instead and I don’t even get to go with him.’

I knew that Stanley’s parents did love him. After all, no matter how cross my families were with me they still loved me and I loved them. But how could I tell Stanley this?

‘All I want to do is be an adventurer, but how can I when I can’t even practise?’

I had an idea. I saw a pair of binoculars nearby and I went up to them. Gently, I nudged them, as if to say I could help him, but somehow I managed to get myself tangled in the strap. Part of it was round my neck and part round my legs. The more I tried to untangle myself, the more stuck I became.

‘MIAOW, MIAOW,’ I said as loudly as I could. That got Stanley’s attention.

‘Oh wow, good idea, Alfie. We can have adventures together!’

Finally! It took him a while to untangle me, so binoculars were now added to the list of things I needed to avoid.

‘One minute.’ I sat still and watched as Stanley rushed around the room collecting stuff. Then, he put a hat with flaps on me; I tried to swipe them away with my paw but they just flopped back over my ears. Next, he wrapped a scarf around my neck. ‘It might be summer, Alfie, but when we explore the North Pole it’ll be cold.’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_014.jpg]

I didn’t know what to say so I sat still and let Stanley carry on. He started taking photos; he was so excited. I didn’t actually like being dressed up; I mean what cat does? But Stanley was happy as he snapped away with his camera.

‘You are now Alfie the Adventure Cat and we are going to have so much fun. We can find fossils, build dens, dive for treasure. Oh I know – we can discover a species of animal never found before!’

I had no idea how we were going to do all those things, but I kept quiet. It was worth it to see Stanley happy. He pulled out a notebook and pen and started making notes. He also drew some pictures that were very good. His plans seemed extremely ambitious but I couldn’t help feeling a bit excited. I quite fancied being an adventure cat, even if I didn’t know what it involved.

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While Stanley was busy drawing up plans for our first mission, I thought I would go and see what else was going on in the house. As I walked past the next room, I spotted Viola returning from her piano lesson. She looked down in the dumps as she sat on her bed, so I jumped up and nestled into her. She started stroking me gently and I purred.

‘Oh look at you, in your hat and scarf, I bet you’ve been having loads of fun with Stanley?’ She sounded sad.

I miaowed in agreement.

‘You do look a little bit warm though, Alfie. Shall I help you take those off?’

I miaowed even louder to say what a good idea this was and Viola carefully removed my adventure outfit.

‘I wish Stan would play with me more,’ she said. Her voice was so much quieter than Stanley’s. ‘I miss being friends with him and I miss my old home.’ She paused to wipe a tear from her cheek. ‘I know we had to move so I could go to music school but it’s a lot of pressure. I love playing the piano, I really do, and I like it here a bit, but at the same time I’m scared about my new school.’

She had tears in her eyes. I wished she would talk to Stanley– they were both feeling the same. I brushed my tail on her wet cheek and she smiled as it tickled her. ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she said quietly.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_015.jpg]

‘LUNCH,’ Mrs Clover’s voice boomed. Viola jumped up, dried her cheeks with her sleeve and ran downstairs with Stanley on her heels. I followed them into the kitchen where four bowls of pasta were laid on the table. I was glad it wasn’t custard soup again, although there was still no sign ofany pilchards.

‘Oh Alfie, I have something for you too,’ Mrs Clover said, putting a bowl with some tuna on the floor. I licked my lips and miaowed my thanks. Today was looking up.

The family were quiet as they ate, as if they were all lost in their own thoughts. I started eating but kept one eye on them. Stanley was staring at his food as he shovelled it in; Viola played with hers. Mrs Clover was humming an unknown tune and Mr Clover was eating with one hand while holding an egg with the other. It was a bit odd, as I had come to know the Clovers could be.

‘What’s for pudding?’ Stanley asked when he’d finished.

‘Um, go and help yourself to some fruit,’ Mrs Clover replied. Stanley got up from the table, picked an apple off the counter and took a bite. As he walked back to the table with it, I sat at his feet.

‘AHHHH!’ Mr Clover screamed. Everyone looked up and Stanley dropped his apple in surprise. It landed on my head.

‘YELP!’ I cried.

‘That was my apple!’ Mr Clover shouted.

‘But Mum said to get some fruit, and it was on the side.’ Stanley sounded upset.

‘Yes, dear, I did,’ Mrs Clover agreed.

‘And Dad, it looks like a normal apple,’ Viola added.

I rubbed my head with my paw. Who knew apples could be so heavy?

‘Well, it wasn’t a normal apple. It was a special apple that I was planning on painting later,’ Mr Clover moaned.

I had an idea. I went to sit on a big pile of empty bags from the greengrocer’s.

‘Miaow,’ I said loudly.

‘Oh, look at Alfie! I know, why don’t we all go to the local greengrocer’s and help you choose some even better apples?’ Viola suggested, pointing at me.

‘Better apples?’ Mr Clover repeated.

‘Great idea!’ Stanley sounded excited.

‘Please, let’s go,’ Viola said.

‘All right, it’ll be a bit like old times.’ Mr Clover finally had a smile on his face, as did the rest of the family. I grinned as well.

Everyone went to get ready for their outing and I waited by the door. As I left, I realised that I still had a lot of work to do. I had to bring the family together and help them see how much they needed each other. Because it was clear that theydid need each other and they all really needed me.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

I left them at the corner and made my way home. Tiger was lying in the sun at the end of our road.

‘Hey Tiger,’ I said.

She opened her eyes.‘Alfie, you’re back early today.’

‘The family have gone out together. Only to get fruit, but it’s a start.’

‘So, you think that whatever it is you’re doing is working?’ Tiger rolled onto her stomach and looked at me.

‘It’s early days but I’m a confident cat.’

‘As long as you know what you’re doing.’

‘Oh Tiger, how could you say that? I always know what I’m doing.’

Tiger flicked her tail at me as if to say‘yeah right’. ‘How about we forget the humans for a bit and go and tease some dogs?’

She didn’t need to ask me twice.

Chapter Four [Êàðòèíêà: i_016.jpg]

I wandered around the house, but there was no sign of Stanley. I went to see Viola who was playing the piano as usual. She stopped when I jumped onto the stool next to her and she made a fuss of me.

‘Hi Alfie, it’s nice to see you.’ She had such lovely manners.

‘Miaow,’ I said; it was nice to see her, too.

‘I’m afraid Stanley’s in trouble again. He pretended he was skydiving earlier, jumping off the sofa. It was funny but Dad got cross because he was being loud and I was supposed to be practising my scales.’

I rubbed up against her. This wasn’t what I had hoped to find after yesterday.

‘He’s been sent outside. I didn’t want him to go. He was having so much fun, I wished I could have joined in. I mean Stanley doesn’t seem to like me very much sometimes but I wish he did. We used to play together in our old house, I miss that—’

‘Viola, I can’t hear the piano,’ Mrs Clover shouted. Viola sighed and I felt bad. I wished she could confide in me more. She looked downcast as she started playing again so I decided to cheer her up. I jumped onto the keys and tried to play with her. She looked surprised, then she giggled andwe played together, although I found it quite hard. The keys were unsteady and it was difficult to balance.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_017.jpg]

‘Plink, plonk,’ I played but suddenly my leg slipped, and I crashed onto the keys.

BANG! My bottom hurt. To be safer, I sat on the keys and tickled Viola with my tail; she giggled.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Mrs Clover asked, coming into the room.

‘Sorry Mum,’ Viola said. ‘Alfie was playing the piano.’

Yikes, I was in trouble now. Would I get banished, too? But Mrs Clover just laughed.

‘Oh you silly cat! And by the way you are no Mozart,’ she said, laughing even harder. I purred with joy as they both laughed, although I had no idea who or what Mozart was.

‘What’s so funny?’ Mr Clover asked as he walked in with Stanley in tow. ‘Dear, I said Stanley could come back in; I think he’s spent enough time in the shed.’

‘Fine, but Stanley, and Alfie actually, can you please stay out of mischief? If Viola doesn’t practise she’ll be in trouble.’

‘OK, Mum,’ Stanley said, grumpily. ‘Come on, Alfie. Let’s go upstairs.’

I felt bad about leaving Viola, but I followed my friend upstairs and into his room.

‘I’m so fed up; she’s always telling me off, and Viola gets all their attention. Sometimes I think they don’t even want me in the house. Oh well, at least I like the shed. I mean, I can’t tell them that – they think being sent outside is a punishment, but I think the shed is going to bemy headquarters. I’ve put my special stones in it, as well as photos and plans that I’ve drawn up.’

‘Purrr,’ I replied.

‘And I’ve just had the most brilliant idea. Adventurers have to work both on dry land and under water so I thought I could practise today.’

‘YOWL!’ No, not water.

‘I shall get ready and you can be my assistant. Basically, that means you just have to be with me.’

I felt relieved; I wasn’t planning on being involved in any underwater missions, thank you very much.

Stanley raced around, putting on a pair of swimming trunks, a pair of funny looking rubber things on his feet and goggles over his eyes.

‘Right, so I have trunks, flippers and goggles. All I need now is my stopwatch and the bath.’ The flippers made him walk in a funny way. A bit like an upright frog.

He filled the bath and got in. I sat beside the bath, a safe distance from the water. Stanley took a deep breath and started his stopwatch. Then, with the arm holding the stopwatch sticking out of the bath, he went under. After a while, his head emerged from the water; he spluttered as he looked at his stopwatch.

‘Not bad,’ he said. ‘But I need to do better.’ He took a deep breath and went under again.

I waited. And waited. I moved a little closer to the bath but I couldn’t see anything. I was pretty sure that no one, apart from fish, could spend so much time underwater. I panicked. What if something happened to him? I jumped up onto the side of the tub. Stanley was very still under the water and I didn’t know what to do. I peered over the side, about to reach out with one paw, when suddenly he sat upright, knocking my paw, and me into the bath.

SPLASH!

‘YOWL!’ I screamed.

‘Alfie!’ Stanley grabbed me quickly and lifted me out.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_018.jpg]

I was horrified as I shook the water out of my fur.‘Alfie,’ Stanley repeated.

I was soaked and, in a panic, I ran downstairs. I was yelping as I jumped up onto the kitchen counter, skidded and went headfirst into a basket of eggs. They all flew off the counter and smashed. I sat there, soaking wet and covered in yolk.

‘My eggs!’ Mr Clover screamed.

‘What on earth?’ Mrs Clover exclaimed.

Viola said,‘Stanley!’ They all turned to where Stanley stood in the doorway, dripping wet, still wearing his flippers, goggles and trunks.

‘I am guessing you can explain this?’ Mrs Clover bellowed.

‘My eggs!’ Mr Clover repeated. I licked some of the egg off my fur; it wasn’t bad.

‘Well, you see, I was practising being underwater—’ Stanley started.

‘Underwater?’ Mrs Clover looked horrified.

‘Yes, in the bath. And Alfie came and sat on the side of the tub; I seem to have accidentally knocked him in. It’s well known that cats don’t like water. Then he screeched loudly, and ran down here. I just came to see if he was all right.’

‘My eggs!’

It seemed Mr Clover was very fond of those eggs.

‘I don’t even know where to start. Stanley, you know you are not allowed to have baths on your own and as for being underwater – what if something had happened? Do you really think Alfie would have been able to rescue you, you silly boy?’ Mrs Clover yelled.

Stanley looked at everyone and at me. I would have found a way to rescue him, but I didn’t know how to tell them that.

‘No one would be bothered if anything happened to me anyway,’ Stanley shouted. ‘You don’t care about me at all.’ He stamped his flipper and tried to run off, but he could only manage a wobbly walk with his legs out straight. It would have been funny if he wasn’t so upset.

Viola looked distraught; Mrs Clover looked shocked and Mr Clover was still staring at the broken eggs.

‘What a worry that boy is.’ Mrs Clover looked upset.

‘But maybe he just thinks you’re cross,’ Viola said, reasonably.

‘Viola, can you try to get Alfie cleaned up?’ Mrs Clover asked, ignoring her. ‘And Dear?’ she said to her husband.

‘My eggs,’ he repeated. He really was unreasonably attached to them.

‘For goodness sake, forget the eggs and come and speak to your son. He needs to learn to be more careful, and you need to help me.’ Mr Clover looked up. ‘And, besides, how many times have you been told not to put all your eggs in one basket?’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

That evening, having recovered at home with a long nap, I went to look for Tiger.

‘Oh dear, someone looks a bit down in the dumps,’ she said as she joined me in her back garden.

‘It’s just all gone wrong at the Clovers. I’ve never known a family like it.’

‘I warned you to leave well alone, but you never listen.’ Tiger yawned. ‘I’m a bit tired, but if you want we can go and look at the moon; it might cheer you up.’

‘You’re a good pal, Tiger.’

‘Yes I am, and maybe if you weren’t so intent on saving the world you’d remember that a bit more.’

We both sat and stared at the bright round moon and Tiger was right– it did cheer me up.

Chapter Five [Êàðòèíêà: i_019.jpg]

I arrived at the Clovers early after yet another sleepless night. One of my families was looking after baby Summer so Claire and Jonathan could get some sleep. I was tempted to do the same, but I was worried about Stanley. I found the whole of the Clover family in the kitchen, finishing breakfast. Mr Clover was eating an egg– so it was all rightfor him to eat them but not for me to accidentally break them.

Mrs Clover seemed cheerful, Viola was smiling but Stanley was quiet.

‘Right, so Dear, do you remember what I said?’ Mrs Clover asked.

‘What exactly was that?’ Mr Clover replied.

‘Tut. Please, listen and you too, Stanley,’ she said. Stanley made a face. ‘I have to take Viola to her new school. Dear, you’re in charge of making sure your son doesn’t get into trouble. Stanley you are in charge of staying out of trouble. You too, Alfie,’ she said, noticing me. ‘Come along, Viola. We don’t want to be late.’ Mrs Clover went to put her shoes on and I followed her so I could say goodbye.

‘Mum.’ Viola pointed at Mrs Clover’s shoes. ‘Your shoes don’t match.’ One was red and the other green.

‘Pah, never mind, no one looks at feet.’

I miaowed. I did.

‘So I have to keep Stanley out of trouble?’ Mr Clover said coming to the front door.

‘Yes, you should be able to manage that, shouldn’t you?’ Mrs Clover replied.

Mr Clover looked as if he absolutely couldn’t.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

As Stanley and his Dad cleared up the breakfast things, I managed to get myself some leftover egg; I had acquired quite the taste for it.

‘Right, Stan. I have to paint some fruit. I won’t be long but can you occupy yourself for a while?’

‘I usually do,’ Stanley mumbled sadly.

I rubbed against his legs. I felt sorry for him– he only got his parents’ attention when he was in trouble. It was the same with me at my house at the moment.

‘Alfie, let’s go to the garden,’ he suggested, huffily.

‘Miaow.’ I followed him outside, but he didn’t seem happy as he kicked at stones. I hadn’t seen him this miserable before. I tried to encourage him to play with me. There was a frisbee on the ground which I nudged towards him.

‘Oh, it’s my frisbee,’ Stanley said, throwing it. I jumped up to try to catch it, but it was way too high.

‘Brilliant, Alfie, try again.’ Stanley suddenly looked happier. I kept jumping for the frisbee, although it was very tiring and I didn’t manage it.

‘Try again,’ Stanley shouted and threw it. I jumped but when I landed on all fours I saw the frisbee flying over the garden fence.

‘Whoops,’ Stanley said. I jumped up onto the fence and took a look. I was met by unfriendly snarling. The frisbee had landed next to a very big, very angry looking dog. I felt my fur stand on end.

Stanley dragged a garden chair over and stood on it to see over the fence.‘I’m guessing the dog won’t throw it back so it’s down to us, Alfie.’

Count me out, I thought.

‘I’ve had a brilliant idea!’ Stanley shouted running to the shed. He returned, carrying a long stick with string attached and a large hook on the end. ‘Dad’s fishing rod,’ he told me as he climbed back on the chair, wobbling a bit. ‘If I can hook the frisbee, I can get it back. Any adventurer would do the same.’ He looked pleased with himself as he flung his arms back and then forwards and I watched the line and hook flying through the air and …

[Êàðòèíêà: i_020.jpg]

CRASH! The rod had hit the greenhouse roof next door. The dog started barking. Two people– a lady and man – ran out of the house just as Mr Clover appeared.

‘Stanley, what have you done?’ he shrieked.

‘But Dad—’

‘I don’t want to hear it, Stanley,’ Mr Clover shouted. Stanley’s shoulders slumped as he wandered off to the other end of the garden. ‘I am so sorry,’ Mr Clover said to the neighbours as he stood on the chair and surveyed the damage. ‘So very sorry. I’ll pay for the repairs to your greenhouse.’

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ the man said, smiling kindly. ‘We don’t use it. We’ve been meaning to get rid of it actually.’

What a nice man, I thought, as the dog growled at me.

Mr Clover looked relieved.‘Are you sure?’

The neighbours nodded.

‘Well, I must do something. I know, I’ll give you a piece of my art. Wait there,’ he said, running back into the house and emerging a few moments later. He climbed back on the chair and handed a red banana over the fence. The man looked at the women as Mr Clover smiled at them expectantly.

‘Well, gosh, I mean, thank you,’ the woman said.

The man stared at the banana looking puzzled.

‘Oh you are most welcome, and thank you,’ Mr Clover finished.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

‘I have to paint another banana,’ Mr Clover told us as Stanley and I stood by the back door. ‘Can you please stay out of trouble for five minutes?’

Mr Clover was still mumbling to himself– something to do with kids being a pain in his bottom and fruit being far less trouble, as he headed back inside.

Stanley was still looking glum but then, all of a sudden, he seemed to perk up.‘Hey Alfie! I know how we can stay out of trouble and practise our adventuring: we can build a den.’ He went to the shed, and came back with a pile of things. He then went inside and brought out some poles and a blanket.

‘Purr,’ I replied, although I didn’t know what a den was.

‘So, we have a blanket, two garden chairs, some chicken wire and some funny poles I found. All any adventurer needs for the perfect base camp for our missions.’

I followed Stanley as he set about building. I jumped on one of the chairs as he stuck the chicken wire in-between them.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_021.jpg]

I wondered why it was called chicken wire, it looked nothing like a chicken.

‘Off the chair, Alfie, or you’ll end up lost under the blanket.’

I did what I was told. He put the poles into the ground and ended up balancing the blanket over the whole thing. I crawled into the opening. It was big enough for me to live in, not that I would.

‘Wow,’ Stanley said as he joined me. ‘This is the best den ever.’ I was caught up in his excitement. ‘Right, so Adventure Cat, our next mission is to find fossils. We need to dig for them.’ He put a hat with a big brim on me and picked up a bucket and spade. The hat slipped over my eyesand I had to use my paws to push it back. I wished I didn’t have to wear it but I didn’t want to upset Stanley. I slowly followed him round the garden. As he dug, Stanley sifted through the mud and put his findings into the bucket. Most of it looked like rubbish to me but he seemed pleased whenhe found a coin and a plastic toy.

‘You see, Alfie, being an Adventurer is very serious so we need all the practice we can get. Come on, help me dig.’

‘Miaow.’ I tried, but digging wasn’t one of my best skills. I found it almost impossible and my paws got covered in mud. Stanley, though, managed to make quite a mess of the lawn.

‘Back to base camp,’ he announced finally. I followed him as he emptied his bucket to examine his findings. ‘A ring-pull, a five pence piece, a plastic aeroplane and four worms,’ he said. ‘No fossils so far. Oh well, we must not give up but now we must rest.’

I sat on his lap, eyeing up the worms that he’d put in my hat suspiciously. They were wriggly and without fur so I didn’t trust them.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

‘STANLEY CLOVER!’ Mrs Clover’s voice boomed angrily. We looked at each other and poked our heads out of the den. We came face to feet with Mrs Clover, Mr Clover and Viola. Mrs Clover pulled the blanket off and shrieked. She and Viola had just arrived home.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_022.jpg]

‘What are you doing with my special poles?’ she asked. She was red-faced and her glasses fell off, she was so angry.

‘What special poles?’ Mr Clover asked. Mrs Clover grabbed a stick and the den collapsed.

‘My den!’ Stanley cried out.

‘These, Stanley,’ Mrs Clover hissed, ‘are poles from the rain forest of Papua New Guinea and I was using them for a very important piece of artwork.’

She looked so red, I thought her head might explode.

‘Oh dear, dear,’ Mr Clover said, calmly. ‘Look they’ll be fine.’ He went to collect the rest of the poles. ‘Just a bit of mud that we can dust off,’ he added reasonably. Mrs Clover examined them and then slowly returned to her normal colour.

‘You see, nothing was really wrong, was it?’ Viola said.

‘You were supposed to be watching him,’ Mrs Clover pointed at Mr Clover.

‘Ah, well you see, I was but I had to go inside and paint a banana. I gave my other one as a peace-offering to next door.’

‘Next door? I don’t understand.’ Mrs Clover looked confused. I wanted to cover my eyes with my paws. Now we were in real trouble.

‘Stanley had an accident with a fishing rod and next door’s greenhouse,’ Mr Clover explained.

‘I can’t even leave you two for a couple of hours.’ Mrs Clover’s face was so red again it looked as if it might explode.

‘I’m sorry, but I was trying to be an Adventurer. I wish I could go to Papua New Guinea,’ Stanley said sadly.

‘You won’t be going anywhere other than your room, young man,’ Mrs Clover shouted.

‘What on earth happened to the lawn?’ Mr Clover suddenly asked, noticing the holes. Stanley hung his head. Mrs Clover’s jaw dropped open and I quickly sat down to hide my paws which were still a bit muddy.

‘Oh no, we must have moles,’ Viola said quickly.

‘Moles?’ Mr Clover asked.

‘In London?’ Mrs Clover added. ‘Do you get moles in London?’ I looked at Stanley who was staring at his sister, open-mouthed.

‘Oh yes, I read about it, it’s a real problem,’ Viola said, as if she knew what she was talking about. I didn’t think she did; I’d lived in London for all of my six cat years and never even seen one mole.

‘Right, well I better go and look up how to get rid of them.’ Mr Clover went into the house.

‘And Stanley, you can repair the lawn before you go to your room,’ Mrs Clover said. She was angrier than ever as she clutched her poles and marched inside.

Viola turned to Stanley who looked as if he was going to cry.

‘Don’t worry, Stan, I’ll help,’ she said quietly.

‘Thank you for saying it was moles, Vi. I really didn’t want to get into any more trouble.’ Stanley smiled sadly at her.

‘You’re welcome,’ Viola smiled back. As they filled in the holes, Viola tried to cheer Stanley up by making jokes and I sat watching. They really could be the best of friends, I thought, but they just needed a little bit of help. Luckily, I was here.

The lawn fixed, Stanley slunk upstairs to his room. I wasn’t allowed to go with him. I felt bad and powerless as I sat in the kitchen, trying to think. Viola was now practising her piano; Mrs Clover was cleaning her rainforest poles and Mr Clover was making a display of his latest project: black apples. He was admiring them, looking very pleased with himself.

I knew then, even more clearly, exactly what I had to do. Viola and Stanley should be sticking together. So now, all that was left was for me to figure out exactly how to unite them.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_023.jpg]

Chapter Six [Êàðòèíêà: i_024.jpg]

It wasn’t a very happy house as I appeared at the Clovers. Stanley was in his room, lying on his bed. He didn’t even cheer up when I arrived. Viola was alone in her room, reading a book and looking sad. She didn’t make even half as much of a fuss of me as she usually did. I was so determined to comeup with a plan to bring Stanley and Viola together but they seemed further apart than ever, and I hadn’t even got a proper idea yet. I noticed that Mrs Clover was shut in the Clay Room. Did no one in this family spend time with each other? The doorbell rang and so I went downstairs. Mr Clover washolding a pink egg as he opened the door.

‘Hello?’ he said.

‘I’m Mr Ivory the piano tuner,’ the man standing on the doorstep said. He was large and had a big bag with him.

‘Oh, I’d quite forgotten about you,’ Mr Clover said. ‘Do come in.’

I followed them to the piano.

‘Wow, that is a beautiful piano,’ Mr Ivory looked excited.

‘Well, yes, but it’s no egg,’ Mr Clover replied. The piano tuner gave him a funny look.

I stayed with Mr Ivory. It was quite interesting watching him work, although I had no idea what he was doing. At the same time, I started to formulate a plan to bring Stanley and Viola together. It was the piano that took up most of Viola’s time and her parents seemed to be preoccupied with it, too. Stanley felt neglected and too upset to see that Viola could help him, if only he would let her. As Mr Ivory tinkered with this and that, making some very odd noises along the way – the piano not him – I realised that it could be part of my plan. Perhaps I could learn to play a tune. Viola and Stanley would be so happy, or they would find it so funny, that it would bring them together.

I am not just a pretty cat, you know.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

When Mr Ivory had finished, he went to find Mr Clover. I jumped up to start practising but the top of the piano was still open and I climbed up to have a look. It was bumpy but warm as I lay down for a minute. I was tired after all the thinking I’d been doing. I yawned and closed my eyes, just for a short cat nap …

I opened my eyes. It was pitch black. I blinked. I couldn’t see a thing.

‘YOWL!’ I realised I was inside the piano; the lid was closed. I tried to nudge it with my paw but it wouldn’t open. I was trapped. In a piano! What on earth was I going to do? I miaowed, yowled and yelped as loudly as I could and just as I was beginning to think I would be here forever, I heard voices.

‘But he has to be here,’ I heard Stanley say. He sounded distraught.

‘But we’ve looked everywhere, Stan,’ Viola replied. ‘Maybe we should get Mum and Dad?’

‘As if they care.’

‘Oh Stan, they do, I know they seem a bit distracted …’

‘Except when they’re shouting at me. Face it, Vi, they love you better.’

‘Oh Stan, don’t say that.’ I heard her protest as she sat on the stool, and hit some keys.

‘OW!’ that hurt.

‘He wouldn’t have gone without saying goodbye,’ Stanley said; they hadn’t heard me.

‘Calm down, we’ll keep looking,’ Viola sniffed. ‘Honestly, Stan, I’ll help you, I want to help.’

‘It’s been horrible since we moved here,’ Stanley said. ‘Alfie is the only good thing about it.’

‘I miss our old house, too,’ Viola said.

‘Do you?’ he asked. I heard him sitting down and he bashed the keys.

‘OW!’

‘Yes, very much,’ Viola said. ‘Oh Stanley, I just want to be your friend.’

‘Really?’ Stanley sounded unsure.

‘Of course, I love it when we play games together. It’s so much fun.’

‘It is fun, isn’t it? Maybe we could do more, you know, like you could help with my adventures?’ Stanley sounded uncertain.

‘Yes, I’d really like that. Let’s start by looking for Alfie together.’ Viola sounded more cheerful.

‘OK, I’m really worried, Vi,’ Stanley added.

I took a deep breath and gave my loudest‘YOWL!’, and quickly followed it up with another one.

‘What was that?’ Stanley asked.

‘I think it came from inside the piano,’ Viola replied. The piano lid slowly opened and I jumped out, straight into Viola’s arms.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_025.jpg]

‘Alfie, thank goodness!’ Stanley said. I purred my thanks as Stanley stroked me. ‘Thanks Vi,’ Stanley mumbled, and Viola smiled. See, I knew they could be friends. Viola moved towards Stanley and, still holding me, she hugged her brother.

Mr and Mrs Clover walked in.

‘Ah, there you are children. Is the piano all right, Viola?’

‘Perfect,’ she replied, giving Stanley a funny look. They both giggled.

I had done it; I had made them laugh, and they had made friends. I didn’t even have to learn how to play the piano after all.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

As I approached my house, I found Tiger sitting under a bush in my front garden.

‘Hey,’ I said, feeling proud.

‘Why do you look like the cat who’s got the cream?’ Tiger asked. I licked my whiskers.

‘Yum, I wish I did have cream.’ Suddenly, I remembered I was quite hungry. ‘Well, if you must know, I have managed to solve all of the Clover children’s problems.’

‘Oh Alfie, here we go again,’ Tiger said, rolling onto her back. She could be a very negative cat.

‘No, honestly, it was genius. I knew I needed to get them to spend more time together and now they are going to. Alfie strikes again!’

Tiger looked at me as she swiped her paw at a passing fly. She missed then she rolled back and stood on all fours.

‘I guess you are going to tell me about it, whether I like it or not?’

Of course I was.‘Well, it all began with a piano …’

Chapter Seven [Êàðòèíêà: i_026.jpg]

Stanley was sitting at the kitchen table with a box in front of him when I let myself in. I jumped up. It had wriggly worms in it. I backed off slightly; I still didn’t trust them.

‘Miaow.’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_027.jpg]

Stanley looked sad.‘Oh Alfie, hi, I was just looking at my worm collection. Every Adventurer needs a collection of wild animals.’

‘Miaow!’ He had me. He didn’t need worms.

‘You don’t count Alfie, you’re not wild.’ I didn’t know whether to be offended or not. ‘Anyway, I am so totally bored today. I don’t know what to do. Mum and Dad have been spending all their time with Viola. She’s playing them her new piece of music.’ He looked at me. ‘She was going to play with me, but they wouldn’t let her.’

Oh dear. Poor Stanley. He had made friends with his sister but he was still upset by his parents. I had an idea. I jumped off the table and went through to the living room, knowing that Stanley would follow. He did. Viola was playing her new piece of music, her mum and dad were standing watching her. I approached with Stanley just behind me, clutching his box of worms.

‘Bravo,’ Mrs Clover clapped. She had tears in her eyes.

‘Viola, that was brilliant,’ Mr Clover said.

‘Such a talented girl,’ Mrs Clover added.

Viola blushed. I could see Stanley getting angry.

‘Look everyone, I’ve got a worm collection,’ Stanley said, standing right behind his parents.

‘What?’ Mr Clover swung round and bumped into Stanley.

‘Ahhh!’ Stanley said, dropping his box.

‘AHHHHHHH!’ Viola screamed as worms landed in her lap. She jumped up then tripped over. ‘Oww.’ She landed on her bottom, her glasses flying across the air.

‘Sorry,’ Stanley said, scooping his worms up. I wasn’t sure if he was apologising to Viola or the worms.

‘Right, Stanley that is it,’ his mother shouted. ‘Worms do not belong in the house and look what you have done to your sister.’

‘I’m fine, honestly, Mum,’ Viola said. But everyone ignored her.

‘You never pay any attention to me.’ Stanley shouted.

‘Well I am paying attention to you now, young man,’ his mother said, waggling her finger at him. ‘You will say sorry to Viola, and then you can go to your room and think about your behaviour.’

Stanley ran off.

‘I just don’t know what to do about him,’ Mrs Clover said as I went to follow. ‘No Alfie.’ Mrs Clover picked me up before I reached the stairs. ‘Stanley needs to learn to behave himself, so I am afraid you will have to leave today. Come back tomorrow.’ She opened the front door and put me outside.

I hadn’t done anything and I was being banished! I was beginning to understand why Stanley was so angry with his parents. I sat on the steps feeling cross, before deciding that I might as well go to the park. With any luck Tiger would be there. I started walking slowly, taking my time. The sun was beating down, birds were flying overhead, and I stopped to look at flowers. My good mood returned as I enjoyed my journey.

No sign of Tiger as I made my way to the flower bed. I was just about to dive under my favourite bush when…

‘Yelp!’ Stanley was right behind me. I knew children shouldn’t be out without a grown up and although I was six cat years old, I didn’t qualify.

‘Hi Alfie,’ Stanley looked very pleased with himself. He was wearing a big hat, had a pair of binoculars around his neck and was holding his compass.

‘Miaow?’

[Êàðòèíêà: i_028.jpg]

‘An Adventurer needs to be able to stalk without being detected. I decided to practise by following you.’

‘Miaow?’

‘Mum and Dad were so busy, they didn’t see me sneaking out. They don’t care anyway. Besides, you didn’t notice me following you which means I’m very good at it.’

I knew we were going to be in big trouble for this. I tried to get Stanley to go back home by walking to the park exit but he wouldn’t. He collected some leaves, and then he climbed up one of the smaller trees.

‘Um, there is not much on the horizon,’ he said, looking through his binoculars. ‘Ah, some rare species of plants.’

I had no idea what to do, so I just stayed with him. After what seemed like ages, he came down from the tree.

‘I suppose I’d better go home; it’s probably nearly tea time,’ he said. Finally. I rewarded him by brushing my tail against his legs. ‘Right, let’s go.’ He took out his compass. ‘Oh dear, which way is home?’ We stood at the park exit. I knew, so I miaowed but he didn’t seem to hear me. He looked at his compass and started running round in circles. ‘My compass is broken and now I am totally lost!’ he shrieked as he started getting breathless. I tried to get his attention but he was spinning too much.‘Oh no, I am going to have to live in this park forever!’ Stanley shouted. He was huffing and puffing, sweating and distressed.

‘Miaow, miaow, miaow!’ I screeched. Finally, he stood still. I started walking, hoping he would follow me and, still holding the ‘broken’ compass, he finally did. I led him home as quickly as my legs would allow.

‘Wow, you really are an adventure cat,’ he said, as we reached his front door.

We rang the doorbell, and although I didn’t want to wait, I knew I couldn’t abandon Stanley now. Mr Clover opened the door.

‘Oh my goodness, there you are!’ he said. Stanley hung his head.

‘Where have you been?’ Mrs Clover shrieked as soon as she saw him. Viola burst into tears.

‘Sorry, but—’

‘No, Stanley you have gone too far this time,’ Mrs Clover interrupted. ‘It’s not safe for children to go wandering off; anything could have happened to you.’ Mrs Clover was more upset than I had ever seen her.

‘We were worried sick, Stanley,’ Mr Clover shouted. ‘Worried sick.’

I looked at Stanley who looked at his feet. He was bright red.

‘You are to go straight to your room,’ Mrs Clover started crying. ‘And you are not to leave this house, not even to go in the garden.’

‘Not fair.’ Stanley threw his compass. It flew through the air and I could barely look as it smashed into one of Mrs Clover’s pots.

‘My new pot!’ she screamed. Mrs Clover started to cry as Mr Clover hugged her and Viola.

Stanley looked at the three of them, huddled together and, without them noticing, he ran into the garden.

Chapter Eight [Êàðòèíêà: i_029.jpg]

I needed to go home but first, I had to mend the Clover family. They were quite broken. I followed Stanley to the shed, where he sank down on the picnic blanket and sobbed. I went over to him and rubbed up against him, purring to let him know I was there for him.

‘Miaow.’ Gently, I put my paw on his arm.

‘I didn’t mean to break the pot,’ he said sadly. ‘Now Mum and Dad will be crosser than ever with me. They might send me away.’

‘Miaow.’ Of course they wouldn’t.

‘They don’t want me here.’

I looked around. My Adventure Cat photos and drawings were on the walls and his collections were laid out on shelves. He had made it very cosy here but I knew he needed to go back to the house.

‘I am never going back to the house,’ he said. So much for that.

I waited with him for ages but he wouldn’t move. It was getting cold and even a little bit dark. We couldn’t really stay here forever, could we? I knew I needed to act. When Stanley was calmer, I left him to get help. It was a job for more than just me.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_030.jpg]

‘Where on earth can he be?’ Mrs Clover was shrieking. I miaowed to tell them I knew, but they didn’t seem to hear me.

‘He can’t have gone far, Dear, after all we locked the front door and he can’t get out the back.’

‘He can’t have disappeared into thin air,’ Mrs Clover said. They both looked worried as they talked about calling the police. I couldn’t believe no one thought to check the shed.

‘What are we going to do about him?’ Mrs Clover asked.

‘Maybe you just need to talk to him,’ Viola said, sounding cross.

‘What?’ Her parents turned to look at her.

Viola sighed.‘We’ve just moved here. Stanley has no friends apart from Alfie.’ I was moved by the mention. ‘And you’re so busy. He thinks it’s all about me and the piano.’

They both looked at her in confusion.Sometimes humans can be a bit silly.

‘So he keeps getting into trouble because we’ve moved?’ Mr Clover scratched his head.

‘It’s notjust that but basically, yes. And it’s school holidays, so he’s bored and you just shout at him. He thinks you love me more than you love him.’ Viola had tears in her eyes.

‘Nonsense,’ Mrs Clover said. ‘We love you both the same. Why on earth would he think that?’

‘But we don’t do anything together, do we? When was the last time Dad took Stanley out? Or you, Mum? Or the last time we did anything as a family?’

‘Oh dear, dear,’ Mr Clover said, looking guilty.

‘I see, Viola. We’ve been so busy we’ve neglected him.’ They both hung their heads in shame.

‘We must find him,’ Viola pushed.

I had never heard her sound so bossy and I liked it.

Mrs Clover organised a search of the house, but of course I knew where he was. I stood between Viola’s legs and kept miaowing.

‘What is it Alfie?’ she asked. I nudged her leg and then I walked out into the garden. I turned back, yelped at her and she began to follow me.

[Êàðòèíêà: i_004.jpg]

‘Oh Stanley there you are! Mum and dad are really worried,’ she said, as I pushed open the shed door.

‘No, they just want to shout at me,’ Stanley huffed.

‘Honestly, they aren’t cross. They just want to know you’re safe.’

‘They don’t care. I’m rubbish at everything and they only love you,’ Stanley said. ‘They probably want to send me away.’

‘They don’t, Stan. I spoke to them and they realise they’ve been too caught up in their stuff. They’re really sorry.’

‘Are they?’ Stanley looked hopeful.

Viola nodded.‘Hey, what’s all this?’ She looked at the pictures.

‘Alfie the Adventure Cat,’ Stanley replied quietly.

‘You did all this?’ Viola asked.

‘Yes.’ Stanley stood up. ‘See, here are my photos of Alfie the Adventure cat, and over there are drawings of our missions,’ he explained, pointing to a picture of the den and the dug-up lawn. ‘And I’ve done descriptions and maps of ideas for new adventures.’ Stan was animated as he showed Viola round the shed.

‘Wow, Stan, it’s brilliant!’

‘Really?’ Stanley asked.

‘It really is. So amazing. I know it hasn’t been easy moving here. I’ve been scared and Mum and Dad, well they are—’

‘Always too busy for me unless they’re shouting.’

‘They only tell you off because they care. They wouldn’t bother if they didn’t.’

I miaowed. Viola was right.

‘I suppose,’ Stanley replied.

‘And I thought we were friends now. I haven’t got any friends here, either, you know.’

‘Sorry Vi, but I was jealous. You never get into trouble.’

‘But I don’t mean to be like that. And I’m jealous ofyou– you know how to have fun much more than I do.’

‘OK,’ Stanley stood up. ‘Let’s make a pact: we’ll try to be a bit more like each other – I’ll get in less trouble and—’

‘I’ll get in more!’ Viola giggled. ‘Come on, let’s go. Mum and Dad are far too silly to even think of looking for you in the shed, and they were talking about calling the police.’

Viola hugged Stanley and he hugged her back. I miaowed. This was exactly the outcome I wanted.

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‘Oh Stanley, we were so worried,’ Mrs Clover said as she grabbed him, holding him so tight I wondered if he could breathe.

‘I’m sorry that I keep doing things wrong,’ Stanley said. He hung his head as I sat at his feet.

‘Well, that is how we learn; I mean, you don’t think I just painted a piece of fruit and that was that – no, I made plenty of mistakes,’ Mr Clover said.

‘Um, well anyway, we need to make more time for you – for both of you, but especially you, Stanley. So we are all going on a family holiday,’ Mrs Clover announced.

‘Hooray!’ both Viola and Stanley replied.

‘And we will start by making your favourite tea.’

‘Sausages and chips?’ Stanley was wide eyed.

‘Whatever you want,’ Mrs Clover added.

‘As long as it’s not custard soup,’ Viola said and everyone laughed.

I knew my work here was done. For now.

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Quietly, I let myself into my home through my cat-flap. It was late and I was tired after such an eventful day, hungry too.

‘Oh Alfie,’ Claire said as I walked into the kitchen. ‘We were worried about you.’ She scooped me up and cuddled me.

‘I know we’ve been grumpy but we missed you, Alfie,’ Jonathan added. I purred with happiness.

‘And to show you how much we love you, we’ve got your favourite tea.’ Claire rubbed my head.

‘Pilchards,’ both Claire and Jonathan said at the same time. I licked my lips and felt my whiskers quiver in anticipation.