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

He caught my attention while I was looking out of the front window. I ran round the back and we met in the garden.

‘Any news?’ I asked.

‘It is a problem. Some cats’ owners are so worried they won’t let them go out. It’s causing havoc among local cats. I think your street is the last street to be hit by whatever’s going on.’

‘So no one knows?’

‘Not yet, but a very good friend of mine — Mr B, the cleverest cat I know — is on the case and he’s going to come and see me tonight. Just try to relax, keep an eye on your kitten and hopefully I’ll have news. I’ll try to come at the same time tomorrow, look out for me. I’d better go,it’s time for my lunch and I have to see off those pesky rodents too.’

I said goodbye and went back to the house to worry. While the plan for my families wasn’t dangerous, we didn’t know what we were dealing with with the lamppost cats. There was so much piled up on my plate at the moment and it seemed to be mounting up.

And George was getting into more and more trouble, which was threatening to distract me from the task at hand. He was becoming quite a paw-full. The other day, he had played with Jonathan’s favourite work tie and it looked a bit worse for wear when he’d finished with it. Jonathan was really angry, and of course somehow he blamed Claire and me. Claire told him he should focus on what was important, which just made him madder. They weren’t really talking to each other by the end of the day and George was still unsure what he’d done wrong. I tried to explain but actually I was trying to focus my energy on the bigger picture. I remember one of my families saying that with children you had to pick your battles. Stealing Jonathan’s tie didn’t really warrant too much of my attention — after all, he had loads more. Claire was right: Jonathan needed to worry about what was important and it wasn’t a silly tie. Although George hid from Jonathan for a while afterwards, I did tell him, yet again, that Jonathan was prone to flying off the handle but he usually calmed down quite quickly. I was used to him getting cross with me but quickly thawing anyway.

And then one morning George had noticed that Claire was eating smoked salmon for breakfast, so while her back was turned he jumped onto the table and actually ate from her plate. Jonathan found this funny but Claire, who was a bit keen on everything being clean and not having cats on the table while they were eating, didn’t. This time she was cross; she put George on the floor and gave him a long lecture on hygiene, which I know he didn’t listen to, because I got bored halfway through and he had an even shorter attention span than me. After that I had taken him to Matt and Polly’s so we could lie low for a bit.

Matt had been getting ready to go to a meeting with his potential new employer. They would be discussing something called‘terms’ and he was stressed because he still hadn’t really discussed it with Polly yet. He kept putting it off because he wasn’t sure how they would cope with both of them working or something. As he blustered on, in quite an unlike Matt kind of way, George, who was growing and as a result was going through a clumsy phase, got under Matt’s feet, causing him to trip up and bash his elbow. As a result he became even more flustered. I had decided to take George to the park in the end, hopeful that no trouble would follow us. Thankfully it didn’t.

Later that day I had found George scaling the curtains in the spare room, gleeful about discovering that he could climb them. However, he got almost to the top and then realised he didn’t know how to let go. He had started to panic and I had to coax him down. It took a lot of time and effort, his claws were stuck firmly into the material, and when he was finally persuaded to let go — one paw at a time — I noticed he had made quite a few little rips. I hoped no one would notice and I told George that we should give the spare room a wide berth for a bit, just in case.

And this morning, George had knocked a cereal box off the kitchen counter, pouring the contents all over the floor. He had then climbed into the empty box and started running around the kitchen. Summer was laughing and Claire was shouting while Jonathan shrieked,‘We should be filming this for YouTube, we’d at least make enough money to buy more cereal out of the blooming kitten.’ Of course it was left to me to get him out of the cereal box. Although he’d been covered in cornflake dust, he was so adorable when he was happy, it was almost impossible for me to be cross with him.

Thankfully, or not, everyone else was too cross with each other to really tell us off. I mean, I know I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I was responsible for George, so I could have been given a bit of a ticking off too — like I had with the tie incident.

With Dustbin working on the lamppost cats, I was focusing on my plan for my families. I decided to go and round up our cat friends to finalise the details for my grand plan. Poor George didn’t really understand, it was a lot for a kitten to take in, even though he was getting bigger, but I remained patient as I explained that he was going to be the most important cat in solving everyone’s problems, which he quite liked the sound of. And every way I had looked at it there was absolutely no danger involved at all. If Tiger wouldn’t let anything happen to me, she absolutely would never let anything happen to our George.

I was just about to start the meeting when a large shadow loomed.

‘What are you up to?’ Salmon asked, approaching us. Oh no, this was the last thing I needed. He couldn’t get wind of any plan; if he did, he might sabotage us.

‘Well,’ George said, before anyone could stop him, ‘I am going to save the whole wide world.’ Bless him, he had interpreted the plan in a slightly different way.

‘What are you talking about?’ Salmon asked, in a kindly way, but I knew he was looking for gossip in that salacious way of his. Tiger gently put her paw over George’s mouth and motioned for him to be quiet.

‘It’s just a game we’re playing, Salmon,’ I said, trying to sound friendly.‘Nothing for you to be concerned about.’

‘You guys are always here, plotting things,’ he spat back. So much for friendliness.

‘Well, that’s not true, most of the time we’re napping, sunbathing and playing with leaves,’ said Rocky.

‘And just hanging out. With friends. You should try it sometime,’ Elvis said.‘If you have any friends, that is.’

‘As if I have time for such frivolities. Honestly, if I was like you then this street would go to wrack and ruin. Well, carry on with your silly game, I have more important matters to attend to.’ He turned and stalked off.

‘What was he talking about and why did you put your paw over my mouth?’ George asked.

‘I’ll teach you about him later,’ I said. ‘But right now we have to finalise our plan. Right, Rocky, you go first.’

As each of my friends gave their ideas, I listened to them all. It seemed they had all thought carefully about it and had done a pretty good job. I beamed with happiness; it was all going to be so straightforward, the easiest of my plans but also the most important.

D-Day was set for tomorrow, Saturday. It had to happen then, because everyone would be home from work. So today was the only day we had to get it right. But I was confident; we were all working together and we had left no stone unturned. I was one hundred per cent sure that nothing could go wrong.

‘My idea,’ Nellie said. I almost didn’t want to hear, she could be a bit silly sometimes. ‘My idea is that you use the shed at the bottom of Tiger’s garden.’

We all looked at her. Our sticking point had been where we could hide George. After all, Tiger couldn’t take him to her house, her humans doted on her but they weren’t keen on other cats. I had been chased out of there a few times and I’m not only charming, but Tiger’s best friend too. But Nellie had come up with a genius idea. Tiger’s shed was quite tatty, and had a gap in the door theycould easily slip through. And her humans didn’t use it, ever.

‘That isn’t a bad idea,’ Tiger admitted grudgingly.‘So what do we need? Food, something to keep us warm and comfortable, water, something to play with?’

‘You’re only going to be there for a few hours, not the whole summer,’ Rocky pointed out.

‘But we can get enough food for George, a blanket and yes, he will need a source of water,’ I said.

‘I can sneak him into my house for food and water,’ Tiger said.‘Because how on earth are we supposed to get food and bowls and stuff into the shed?’

‘Good point. So you sneak him in when it’s safe. They always give you too much food anyway, so you’ll have plenty for George.’ It was true, Tiger was totally overfed — she had to exercise a lot to keep the weight off.

‘I’ll drag a blanket down there for you,’ Elvis offered.‘We have loads at home and I am the strongest cat here.’

‘That’s debatable,’ said Tinkerbell. I wasn’t sure which of them was right but I knew I wouldn’t like to fight with either of them.

‘Why don’t you both get the blanket, it’ll be easier with two of you,’ Tiger sensibly suggested. They looked at each other and nodded. I liked how everyone was working together.

‘What about toys? I don’t want George to get bored,’ Tiger said.

‘We can bring some from home,’ I said, although I wasn’t sure how we would carry them. ‘Right, we need to get this settled because we’re going to do this tomorrow.’ My voice shook with nerves.

‘Alfie, it’s fine, we have planned this brilliantly, what on earth could go wrong?’ Nellie asked.

I didn’t answer. In my experience those sounded like famous last words.

Later I quietly ran through the plan with my little boy again. He still didn’t understand fully but he was super excited about being a hero, which of course is what I had convinced him he would be if everything went the way I hoped. But I had to say, I was more nervous about this plan than I had been about my others. Not because of any danger — this was the least dangerous plan I had ever come up with — but because so much was at stake.

Walking back from our planning meeting, we’d popped in to Matt and Polly’s. Polly had taken an afternoon off because Martha had to go to the doctor, and Polly wanted to be with her. I thought that was a good sign, but I quickly realised things weren’t good. George had run off to play with Henry and Martha in the living room, while I listened to Polly and Matt arguing in the kitchen.

‘Well, yes, I agree we should be celebrating you having got a new job, but you seem to have forgotten that I’m working now and we have two children.’

‘I haven’t forgotten, but I don’t know what you want. Do you want to keep working?’

‘Yes, I do. I was dubious at first but I did the interior design course so that I could go back to work at some point and now I love my job. I’ve cut my hours lately, now I know what I’m doing a bit better, and I feel I’ve got the balance right. And now that it’s all sorted, you want me to give it up!’ Polly wasn’t shouting but I could tell she was angry.

‘I didn’t say that, but what are we going to do about the kids? I mean, yes, Henry’s at school, but the days aren’t long enough and Martha is only at pre-school three days a week.’ Matt sounded frazzled.

‘It’s not like either of our jobs are permanent. I know I’m on a rolling contract but yours is six months and then we might be back to square one,’ Polly ranted.

‘Thanks for the optimism.’

‘Oh God, I can’t talk to you when you’re like this, I’m going to see my children,’ said Polly, storming out of the room.

I went to get George and told him it was time to go home. Before we left, I made a fuss of Henry and Martha. I worried for those two lovely children.

Claire was sitting at the kitchen table, crying, when we got home. I looked at George, who seemed very sad. This day was not going well. I was wondering where Summer was just as Jonathan walked into the kitchen.

‘Claire, please don’t cry,’ Jonathan said, sitting down next to her.

‘I asked Tash to give Sum tea so we could talk, yet we’re not talking.’

‘I don’t know what to say, Claire.’

‘I want this child,’ she said.

‘There is no child, not yet.’

‘You know what I mean.’ Claire had tears streaming down her face and I felt so sad for her.

‘I do, but I don’t know what you want from me.’

‘Yes, Jonathan, you know exactly what I want from you.’ So much was unsaid between them, but they both knew what they meant.

‘Look, I’m going to the gym and then I said I’d pop in to see Tomasz at the restaurant.’

‘Right, that’s more important than this?’ Claire snapped.

‘No, but I made plans and I’m sticking to them. Tomasz is really struggling without his family. Besides, we’re not getting anywhere right now.’

‘Oh, just go then,’ Claire screamed at him. I had never heard her so angry.

By the time Tash brought Summer home, Claire had stopped crying, and she also had a glass of wine in her hand.

‘Can I tempt you?’ she asked Tash. Her eyes were red and Tash hurriedly took Summer and Elijah into the living room with some of Summer’s toys.

‘OK, just a quick one. My boy’s tired tonight.’

‘Nursery wears them out. Oh, Tash, sorry. I’ve had another row with Jonathan.’

‘I thought so. Come on, sit down.’ They both sat down and as George again went to play with the children, I stayed with the adults.

‘I’m not going to bore you with the details, it’s nothing new anyway. Distract me, tell me about your budding romance.’

‘Ah, well you might regret asking that. I’ve asked Max for some space. He wasn’t being anything but charming and wonderful, but I freaked out when we were last out.’

‘Why, Tash?’

‘I’m falling for him, Claire, and I got scared. I’m not sure I can cope with being hurt again.’

‘Oh, Tash, look at us both. Two great men and we’re pushing them away.’ Claire’s eyes filled with tears again.

‘I know, that’s exactly what we seem to be doing,’ Tasha said sadly.

It seemed that tomorrow couldn’t come quickly enough, and we only had one chance to get it right. There was so very much resting on our plan. I hoped and prayed with all my heart that we got it right.

Chapter Twenty-eight

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I was yet again facing a sleepless night. I was so worried about tomorrow. George slept soundly at least, which was good. Despite the lack of danger involved in this plan, I was still worried that George would be spending his first night away from me, and although he’d be with Tiger — she had promised to sleep in the shed overnight with him — I wouldn’t feel comfortable without him. I knew that I would feel as if something was missing, being apart from him. But at least I would be busy. I would have to rally all my families to look for George and make sure they bonded over it. I did have quite a big part to play in the plan — the biggest, in fact. All George and Tiger had to do was lay low, I actually had to mobilise the humans and somehow ensure that they actually came together over this, rather than falling apart. I had to admit that I was a ball of nerves: from the tips of my claws to the ends of my whiskers, I felt like jelly.

Oh, life was so hard and so complicated. It was a lot to cope with. Not just for me either. As I watched my kitten sleeping, I hoped that I could protect him from the worst that life had to offer, but failing that, I hoped that I could at least equip him to deal with it. Being a parent was just so fretful, and I didn’t think that I would ever stop fretting about George.

I must have drifted off, because I woke with George tickling my nose with his whiskers.

‘Dad, it’s the day!’ he squealed.

‘Shush,’ I said. ‘Let’s not draw too much attention to ourselves. We need to go before the others wake up.’

George was an early riser, waking at dawn most days, so our plan was that we would leave the house, I’d deliver him to Tiger and then come back to bed. I’d pretend to be asleep and when everyone else woke up they would find me alone in the bed. I could make lots of noise to show them I was worried and then our search would begin. Part one of the plan was simple.

I made George drink some water before we left. There was no food as Claire still didn’t leave food down for us overnight, but hopefully Tiger would get him into her house for breakfast. We then left, as quietly as we could. I walked George to Tiger’s house and we stood by her back door. I pushed the cat flap to let Tiger know we were there.

‘Good luck, my little boy,’ I said, feeling affectionate, emotional and a little bit terrified all at once.

‘Thanks, Dad, and don’t leave me too long.’

I nuzzled up to him.‘I won’t, but you know Tiger will be there for you. There’s nothing to worry about. But, George, listen, it’s important that you do what you’re told. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’ He looked serious. I hoped Tiger had woken up. She had said she would get up when the birds started singing. After a short while, she appeared.

‘Here we are,’ I said, shaking.

‘It’s OK, Alfie, it’ll be fine, and I’ll take it from here. Right, George, wait there, I have to go and make sure the coast is clear — my family are early risers — and then I’ll come back and sneak you in for breakfast. I’ll be really quick,’ Tiger said.

‘Do you understand, George?’ I asked. He looked a bit like he hadn’t been listening as he stared at the emerging sun and then a bird flying overhead. Tiger disappeared round the back of her house.

‘Yes, of course. Wait. Breakfast.’

‘Right, I have to go. Remember, do whatever Tiger says.’ I touched my nose to his and then, before I got more emotional, I left to go home. George would wait, Tiger would be right out and then the plan would begin to unfurl.

‘I’ll listen to Tiger-Mum,’ were his parting words for me. I felt so proud.

I rushed home and luckily made it back to my bed before anyone in the house woke up. Because I was so tired, before I knew it I’d actually fallen asleep.

‘Where’s George?’ I woke up to see Claire and Summer standing over my basket. I looked around and then yawned.

‘Miaow?’ I said.

‘Jon, Jon,’ I heard Claire shout. She then went into the bedroom. A sleeping Jonathan emerged.

‘Alfie, is George downstairs?’ he asked me, rubbing his eyes.

‘MIAOW!’ I don’t know, I tried to tell them.

‘Oh God.’ Claire practically flew downstairs and Jonathan picked Summer up and followed her. I went after them. Of course, after looking everywhere we didn’t find him.

‘I told you it was too soon to leave the cat flap open at night,’ Claire snapped.

‘Um, Claire, everyone said it was OK and anyway, Alfie nearly got locked out the other night. I mean, you can’t keep them in forever.’

‘Oh, Alfie, why did you let him out of your sight!’ Claire stormed back upstairs to check again.

So at the moment she was blaming Jonathan and me— a bit unfair, but it was early days and it was early in the morning. Neither of them had had coffee and that said a lot. I normally avoided them in this state.

I stood by the back door and made a lot of noise. While Jonathan strapped Summer into her highchair, made coffee and gave Summer a drink of milk, Claire could be heard slamming doors upstairs.

‘He’s definitely not up there,’ Claire said, coming back into the kitchen. ‘Jonathan, where on earth is he? He’s never out without Alfie and he’s always here first thing in the morning.’ She had searched the whole house by now and of course found nothing.

‘Look, darling.’ Jonathan gave her a hug.‘You sort Summer out and I’ll throw on my tracksuit and go out and look.’

‘Can you get Matt to help you?’ Claire asked.

‘Of course, don’t worry.’ He kissed her and I felt a little tiny moment of triumph. See, it was working already.

I went out with Jonathan, and followed him to Matt’s house. Luckily they were already up and dressed and Matt came straight out when he heard what had happened.

‘Oh God,’ Polly said as she came to the front door.‘Let me know what I can do. I’d go to yours, Jon, but then George might come here, so maybe I should stay?’

‘Babe, I think you should stay put. I’ve got my mobile so we’ll keep in touch.’ Matt kissed Polly and she hugged him tightly.‘I’m sure he’s fine, you know what kittens are like, they get into all sorts of trouble.’

As the guys decided to go and check the street, I followed them. But I heard a hiss by Tiger’s front gate and I turned to see her, trying to get my attention. I waited until the men were at a safe distance.

‘Tiger, it’s working already!’ I exclaimed.

‘But where’s George?’ Tiger asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I told you I’d check the coast was clear at home, but when I came back out, George was gone. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find him, so I assumed there’d been a change of plan and he was with you.’ Tiger sounded slightly panicked.

‘You mean he’s not with you?’ I felt fear bubble up in the pit of my stomach.

‘No, he wasn’t there when I came out of the house, nowhere to be seen. So I assumed he was still with you and the plan had somehow changed! I was literally gone for a flap of a butterfly wing!’

‘Oh God, Tiger, no. I left him on the doorstep so I could get home before everyone woke up, and that was the last I saw of him. I thought he was with you! I told him to wait and he said he understood.’ Now I sounded hysterical.

‘Right, OK, let’s stay calm. He’s definitely not in my house, so shall we check yours?’

‘We can pop back there but Claire’s there and she checked everywhere.’ I was finding it hard to catch my breath.‘When I got home, I went straight to bed. I dropped off, but it wasn’t for long, and that’s all I can tell you.’

‘So George really is missing?’

‘Oh no, my boy is missing!’ It dawned on me. ‘Jonathan and Matt are looking for him and now we’re going to have toreally look for him.’ I felt terrified; I couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened.

‘Oh no, Alfie, this plan has gone wrong before it’s even started.’

‘And I never even saw it coming.’

As we quickly ran to my house to see if he’d gone home, I felt increasingly worried — but also a bit angry with George. I had explicitly told him to wait for Tiger, he had only been left alone for a matter of minutes, and he knew not to go off. But I was angrier with myself. I should have waited with him, or told Tiger to risk taking him into her house. We had specifically chosen the back of the house in case there was a lamppost cat snatcher — after all, they wouldn’t have known George was there would they? Unless they’d been watching us. No, it couldn’t be that, that made no sense.

Oh goodness, all he’d had to do was stand there, why couldn’t he have done that? Where could he be? I felt as if my mind was running round in those circles George was so fond of. Oh, little George. I tried to breathe calmly, despite feeling as though my life was spiralling out of control. I wanted my boy back!

He wasn’t back at ours and I heard Claire on the phone to Tash. She sounded as upset as me. The plan was so simple, but it had fallen apart from the moment it started and I only had myself to blame.

‘Alfie,’ Tiger said, as we checked every inch of our back garden. ‘Beating yourself up really isn’t helpful. We need to think about this. Let’s round up all the cats and get them to spread out. We need to check his favourite places.’

‘He’s not at our house, if he was at Polly’s we’d know and Tash is looking out for him. So the park, or the end of the street? But then if he goes there the other cats will see him …’ I couldn’t think of anywhere else.

‘Right, I think you need to stay central and also keep an eye on the humans, and I’ll keep checking my house, because he might remember he’s supposed to be there. How does that sound?’

‘I have no better ideas. I wish I did.’ I felt like lying down and yowling but then that wouldn’t find my boy, would it?

‘Look, come with me to find the others and you can help me organise them. Oh, Alfie, we have to find him, where on earth could he have gone? Why did I take my eyes off him?’ Tiger seemed to feel the same as me.

‘I just don’t know where he’d have gone. And, Tiger, it’s not your fault — you had to check the coast was clear. I mean, I know I keep saying it, but he was supposed to sit on the step and wait for you! Why didn’t he do that? I was sure he understood.’

‘I didn’t take long, Alfie, I promise I just ran in, checked downstairs and was out again.’

‘I know. I mean it, Tiger, it’s not your fault. I should have waited with him.’

‘But then you might not have been home before your family woke up and that was a crucial part of the plan.’

‘OK, let’s stop going round in circles and just find him then.’ I turned to run off and saw Dustbin appear. I’d never been so pleased to see him.

‘Oh, thank goodness you’re here. George is missing,’ I said.

‘What? Not the lad?’

‘Yes.’ I explained the plan to Dustbin.‘It was still dark when I left him in Tiger’s back garden. Oh, what have we done? What if I’ve lost him for good?’ I yowled.

‘Right, Mr B is on the case, honestly he’s the best cat in the business. I’ll go to him right now and tell him of this latest development. Don’t worry, Alfie, if I’ve got anything to do with it, he’ll be found safe and well.’ I tried but failed to feel reassured.

Rocky was the first cat we saw. He went to get Elvis, who went to find Nellie, who rounded up Tinkerbell, and we all met at the end of the street. I outlined the situation.

‘So you want us to pretend to find him?’ Nellie said. Honestly!

‘No, contrary to our plan he is actually missing.’

‘Oh my word, the gorgeous little baby is actually missing?’ Nellie started yowling and Elvis had to calm her down. Although I could see all my friends had panic in their eyes.

Once roles had been allocated, Tiger headed back to hers. I went with her to check but there was still no sign of George. I felt as if I had a paw missing, I missed him so much. I hoped he wasn’t scared or in danger.

I went back home and slipped through the cat flap.

‘Have you found him?’ Claire, who was still not dressed, rushed up to me. I just looked at her, my eyes full of sorrow. She picked me up.‘Don’t worry, Jon and Matt will find him. Oh, Alfie, I’m sorry I shouted at you.’ She hugged me close before putting me down. I purred sadly. The doorbell went and Claire opened it to Tash.

‘Where’s Elijah?’ Claire asked.

‘With Granny today. She picked him up really early, so it means I can help. What should I do?’

‘No sign of him on the way here?’ Claire asked without hope.

‘No, I looked the whole way, on both sides of the road. I read somewhere kittens like to hide though, so he could just be hiding.’

We had checked all the usual places more than once, so I knew that he wasn’t hiding.

‘Has Summer had her breakfast?’ Tash asked.

‘NO!’ Summer shouted. Tash grinned.

‘Claire, go and get dressed and I’ll make Summer some toast.’

‘Oh, thank you, Tash.’ Claire had tears glistening in her eyes as she made her way upstairs.

By lunchtime everyone was in our kitchen. Claire, Jonathan, Polly and Matt sat at the table. Tash had set up a sort of playgroup in the living room for the children. The doorbell went again and I hoped it was someone with George, but we opened it to find Tomasz standing there.

‘Right, I am here now, so let’s make a plan,’ Tomasz said, sitting down.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be at work?’ Claire said.

‘Some things are more important. Don’t worry, my Alfie, we will find him.’ As he stroked me, I felt reassured, Tomasz was so big and comforting. I felt a slight sliver of hope.

‘I don’t know what we’ll do if we don’t find him.’ Claire started crying and Jonathan wrapped his arms around her.

‘We will find him,’ he said, but I heard his voice crack. He was such a softy underneath the bluster, but he sounded determined.

‘We have to,’ Polly said, her beautiful face ashen. Matt hugged her. Somehow the fact that everyone was being brought together didn’t make me feel any better.

‘I think I’ll call Max,’ Tash said, her cheeks reddening. The others looked at her. ‘He might be able to help, he’s quite practical.’

‘Good idea, Tash,’ Jonathan said, and I saw Tash brighten. I followed her into the other room, and when I heard her speak to him, I knew that she was letting him in. By asking for his help she was trusting him, and although I felt as bad as I ever had in my life, I felt a little better for that.

It was decided that Tash would stay with the children and Claire and Jonathan would go on foot to the park at the end of the street, stopping at the Goodwins first— if anyone could find George it would be those nosey parkers, Jonathan said. Matt and Polly would go to the other end of the street and Tomasz and Max would drive around looking at the surrounding area. The plan was that if we hadn’t found him by nightfall they would put alerts on the local Facebook and then maybe even make posters … My baby might become a lamppost cat! But we all hoped it wouldn’t come to that. I prayed and prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

I did actually see the flaw in my plan then. Even if it had worked, I had planned on George staying away overnight, but the amount of worry that that would have caused was unfair. No matter how much my humans needed to have their eyes opened, it wasn’t worth this distress. But now he really was missing, and it was all my fault.

If anything happened to my kitten, I would never, ever forgive myself.

Chapter Twenty-nine

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

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

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

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

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

‘You will?’ I was wide-eyed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘I just don’t feel it right now.’

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

‘I just wish Dustbin would turn up.’

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

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

‘I’m used to it,’ Tash replied.

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

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

‘Hey, Patience is my middle name.’

I really hoped it wasn’t.

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

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

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

Chapter Thirty [Êàðòèíêà: i_030.jpg]

I woke with a start. I was still lying under a bush; obviously I’d fallen asleep at some point, but it was still dark. Tiger slept beside me, looking so peaceful I almost forgot the turmoil we were in. I stretched out and took a look around. Still no sign of Dustbin, or any other cats for that matter. I paced around a bit, to loosen my legs up and also for want of something to do. I was just about to lie down next to Tiger again, when to my surprise I saw big Tomasz walking down our street. What was he doing? Had he found George? I barely dared to hope. I ran out onto the street to intercept him, and as soon as he saw me he scooped me up in his arms.

‘Alfie, is the middle of the night,’ he said as he sat on the garden wall, still cradling me. I miaowed — I knew that. But what was he doing here? ‘I have been thinking a lot. Seeing how lost you are without George makes me see how lost I am without my family — my wife and kittens. Alfie,I am coming to look for George tonight, while everyone else sleeps, but I feel so useless.’ I nestled into his neck; I felt the same. ‘Alfie, I’m sorry, but as worried about George as we all are, I know what I need to do. Tomorrow I am going to fly to Poland to get my family back. I hope we find George by then but if not I have to go. I hope you understand.’

Tomasz was such a big, solid man but he sounded so sad. I did understand. After all, part of my grand plan had been to get him to go to Poland. I thought of the miserable irony of my life: Tash had opened herself up to Max and Tomasz was going to get his family, yet here I was having lost my kitten. There was no triumph, only pain, and I tried to ignore the horrible feeling that I would rather have George back than any of this. It was selfish of me, wasn’t it? I was suddenly realising that my kitten was more important to me than anyone, and his happiness and safety came above all else. I loved my humans, and I wanted their happiness, but not at the expense of George. I nestled into Tomasz again; I wanted to feel a bit of warmth because suddenly my fur was freezing, and so was my heart.

After a while, Tomasz left to go and look for George. Poor Tomasz, he felt guilty at leaving us before George was found, so he was sacrificing his sleep to have one last look, but I had a terrible, sinking feeling it was fruitless. I was beginning to give up all hope. How could I continue to put one paw in front of the other? How could I eat, sleep, ever be happy again? I was pretty sure that unless George came back, I couldn’t.

The next morning Tiger woke up and stretched; we had spent the entire night outside and I had been unable to get back to sleep. The sun was beginning to come up and as I saw Tomasz coming back again. I looked, hopefully, to see if he had George, but his arms were empty. As he came up to our front door, I looked at Tiger, who nodded. I was going to go inside to see if there was any news. He rang the doorbell and I stood at his feet as Jonathan, wearing his dressing gown and with hair messier than I’d ever seen it before, opened the door. His skin was pale and I guessed he hadn’t slept much either. Wordlessly, he stepped aside and let Tomasz and me in.

‘No luck?’ he said, as they made their way into the kitchen. He began to fiddle with the coffee machine.

‘I walked around for hours. No sign. But, Jon, I need to say something. I have decided that I am going to Poland today. I book a flight, I leave the restaurants with the managers.’

‘Mate, you’re going to get your family back!’ I saw a faint glimmer of a smile on Jonathan’s lips.

‘I feel so bad leaving when George is missing but I need to tell Franceska and the boys how important they are to me.’

‘Yes, Tom, you do and you know we’ll find George. I just feel it. So you go and I’ll text with any news, but first you need coffee, you look like death warmed up.’

‘Then looking at you is like looking in a mirror,’ Tomasz joked.

‘Who knew how painful this could be. And for poor Alfie too. You know, we will find him,’ Jonathan said again, but I wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince — me, Tomasz or himself.

I watched the house come alive but there was a flatness to everyone. Even little Summer wasn’t her usual self, she must sense that something was wrong. Children can be quite perceptive, I had learnt, though not quite as perceptive as cats. Claire wore her emotions on her face and I knew she had been crying. She kept hugging me and saying how sorry she was. Jonathan kept giving us both worried glances as he filled Claire in on Tomasz’s revelation.

‘I’m so glad he’s come to his senses,’ Claire said. ‘But honestly I wish it hadn’t taken losing George to do it.’

‘No, darling, nothing is worth losing George for,’ Jonathan agreed.

I had some water and tried to eat, although it felt as if the food would choke me. Spotting George’s bowl sitting empty in the cupboard was almost more than my heart could bear. I cleaned myself up a bit and listened to Claire and Jonathan trying to come up with a plan.

‘We’ve looked around, we’ve put posters up and we have Vic and Heather on the case. I think our best bet might be to sit tight here and hope the phone rings,’ Jonathan suggested.

‘I agree. Tomasz has been looking all night, we searched everywhere all day yesterday, and Vic and Heather even spoke to the police. If we stay close to home we might hear news or maybe, just maybe, George will come home.’

Oh, how I envied their optimism. Though I felt a little angry with them— they seemed to think they could sit around and do nothing. There was no way I could that. I had to be out there, doing something. Even if it was fruitless.

I left the house and made my way round to the front of the house to see Tiger looking uncertainly at something.

‘What is it?’ I said, rushing up to her.

‘Your friend is coming,’ she said, sounding nervous,‘and he has someone with him.’ I squinted as I saw Dustbin approaching from a distance. My heart swelled with hope but the cat with him wasn’t George, it was a big black cat. Tiger and I both sat upright, waiting for them to approach.

‘Alfie, can we talk somewhere a bit more private?’ Dustbin asked, gesturing to his companion. I wordlessly led them under our bush, where we’d be hidden.‘Right, first things first. This is Mr B. And Mr B, this is Alfie and Tiger.’ We all nodded our hellos. ‘Mr B is the best in the business, an expert at finding stuff. In fact, he helped me when your Snowball was lost.’

‘I remember it well,’ said Mr B.‘Pretty white cat, got herself into a bit of a scrape. Anyway, the thing is, Dustbin told me about the lamppost cats, and I’ve spent a bit of time looking into it, and I think we’ve got the answer.’

‘Really?’ I couldn’t breathe. They had found George?

‘Look, it’s been a bit of a job, but we got lucky, or we think we have. It seems that someone’s going round picking up cats off the street when they aren’t expecting it.’

‘You mean there really is a cat snatcher?’ Tiger looked terrified.

‘Yes. We don’t know who it is or why they’re doing it, but after extensive work we have found the house we think the cats have been taken to.Think is the operative word here— we can’t be one hundred per cent sure. But after doing some surveillance around this area we heard reports of unsocial levels of cat noise.’ Mr B sounded very professional, I thought. Once again I was indebted to Dustbin.

‘George is there?’ I asked.

‘We don’t know, Alfie. We know where the house is, it’s not far from here, but getting in isn’t going to be easy. The front has a high gate, which we can’t see over — it’s too tall to get up there. Attached to it is a wire fence which leads around a garden. We could see in but the curtains were all drawn and the house was in darkness. However, we were able to verify that indeed there were a large number of cats there.’

‘How?’ Tiger asked.

‘Good question,’ Mr B replied. ‘There’s a lot of noise, although be reassured we didn’t necessarily hear cats in distress, just cat chatter, and more than would be normal for a domestic house. Then there’s a shelter at the back which is packed full of tins of cat food and big bags of biscuits.’ I shuddered, I didn’t like cat food from tins myself.‘The house is also being guarded by some kind of creature right next to the wire fence. With the high gate, the drawn curtains on every window, the cat food and these guards, the evidence points to the fact that the person living there is hiding something — or rather, is hiding lots of cats.’

‘I guess it makes sense.’ I felt doubtful but we had nothing else.

‘Alfie, we can’t be certain, but if George is there then we need to find out soon. We need a plan,’ Dustbin said. I felt a tiny bit of hope swell inside me. This was the first bit of news since George had gone missing and I needed to be strong now, for my boy.

They needed a plan. Well, they had come to the right place.

Chapter Thirty-one [Êàðòèíêà: i_031.jpg]

I felt nervous. Of all the plans I had ever put into play, this one had the most riding on it. Not only George but potentially all the lamppost cats would be saved by this. I had rounded up as many of my friends as I could to explain what we needed to do.

After long discussions with Mr B and Dustbin I had all the information I needed, and they had even taken Tiger and I to the house. As they had said, it was in total darkness, but we could hear faint cat noises coming from inside. The front gate wasn’t going to help us but the back fence, which stretched around the house, was wire, and although it wouldn’t be easy, it provided a possibility.

The best thing though was that the creatures guarding the house turned out to be hens. Their run followed the fence all the way along its length, so the only way to get into the garden was via them. I managed to poke my nose through the fence, and although they were angry, squawking and wobbling their heads at me, when I explained that I had many hen friends in the country— only a slight exaggeration — they were more welcoming. At least they didn’t try to peck me through the fence with their beaks, anyway. We didn’t exactly communicate easily but we managed to establish that I would need their help, and as they calmed down I think they agreed to it. I was thankful for my time in the country: my understanding of hens looked as if it was finally coming in handy.

‘Impressive,’ Dustbin said as I came back. ‘But that fence will be tricky to climb.’ He was right: it was tall and there was spiked wire along the top. It didn’t look very safe.

‘I know, I think I can do it though, if I put my mind to it,’ I said, trying to sound brave, although I was quaking all the way down to my paws.

‘Oh, Alfie, are you sure, it looks as if it could really hurt you and your leg …’Tiger sounded worried.

‘Tiger, if my boy is in there I have to do it. I’ll get over there somehow.’ The others looked worried but it was agreed that Dustbin would accompany me. Tiger and I then left Dustbin and Mr B to keep watch on the house. They were going to wait there, because we still had a lot to do before we were ready for the actual cat rescue.

‘So, Alfie, what can we do?’ Rocky asked as I told them about the house.

I outlined our plan from start to finish, leaving no stone unturned, and by the time I had finished speaking everyone understood how serious it was.‘So, guys, I’m going to go. Dustbin and Mr B are waiting.’ I looked at Tiger, the only other cat who knew where the house was. She was needed in case anything went wrong.‘I have to sort out the humans too, but if you guys could find Salmon for me then that would be great. Tiger, can you direct Salmon to the house?’ I explained exactly what I needed Salmon to do. I wanted to give all my friends a part in the plan, although many of them were just going to be supportive roles. I knew how important it was for them to feel useful. Tinkerbell was going to assist Tiger, whilst Rocky, Nellie and Elvis were going to ensure they knew what was going on and would warn either Tiger or Tinkerbell of any problems. I could see how fired up they all were. Frightened, yes, but adrenaline was pumping through all of us. We were going to rescue George.

This plan was risky because I couldn’t do it with my cats alone. I had to get the humans involved and that wasn’t going to be easy. However, everyone agreed they knew their parts and what they had to do, so I felt as confident as I could.

‘Good luck, Alfie, we’re all supporting you, and we’ll be waiting to see you come home safely with the boy,’ Elvis said.

‘You’re such a brave cat,’ Nellie added.

I took a deep breath, and went to put the plan into action.

My first stop was home. I needed some humans with me and my preferred ones were Jonathan and Matt. They were physically fit and if I could get them to come with me then that would be half the battle won. Or quite a bit of it anyway. I still had quite a bit of work to do, as did Dustbin, who being such a tough cat was my chosen sidekick.

Once we got to the house I knew everything would happen very quickly, but first I had to get there and hope that I could get at least some of my humans there too.

I walked into the kitchen. It was funny how wrong it felt without George. He had only lived with us for a short time but the house needed him. I padded my way over to where Claire and Tash were feeding the children. Polly was pacing, as was Matt. Jonathan was on his phone.

‘Oh, Alfie, there you are,’ Claire said.‘I guess there’s still no news?’

‘Miaow.’ I took a breath.‘Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow,’ I screeched as loudly as I could. Everyone stared at me. Right, so I’d got their attention. I ran around in circles, still yowling, then I ran towards the front door, the idea being that someone would follow me.

As I sat by the front door, listening to them all talking about me in the kitchen, I began to realise that might not happen.

‘Has he gone mad?’ Tash asked.

‘Blimey, who knew he could even make that noise,’ Jonathan said. OK, I told myself, trying to keep calm, this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.

I went back and repeated the routine, yowling, miaowing and making as much noise as I could, but they all just stared at me dumbfounded, and then Summer burst into tears. I was feeling frustrated as Claire comforted her, telling her not to worry, though she looked worried herself. I went to Jonathan. He was my only hope it seemed, and that was slim. Honestly, they say humans are clever, but really? These guys were not showing it very well. I tried to sit up and swipe at his leg, but he just looked at me.

‘What, Alfie?’ he asked.

‘YOWL!!’ I replied, but still he looked confused. I hated to do it, and hoped he would forgive me later, but I had no choice. I scratched him as forcefully as I could.

‘Ow! What on earth did you do that for?’

I took my chance as he looked at me angrily.‘MEOW,’ I said, running towards the front door.

‘I think he wants you to follow him,’ Claire said at last.‘Do you think he knows something?’

As I sat by the front door, bashing it with my head to further illustrate my point, Matt, Jonathan and Polly finally appeared. At this rate I would have to knock myself out before they did what I needed them to do. As Jonathan opened the door I ran out, glad to see he followed me.

‘What is he doing?’ Polly asked as she stood at the door.

‘No idea, but Jon and I will follow him, you guys stay with the kids. I’ll call you if anything happens,’ Matt shouted as they started following me down the road. I took the route that I had memorised so carefully. I was tired but we had to hurry. If George was in that strange house then I wanted him out of there as quickly as possible.

I remembered the route perfectly, which was a huge relief, and as I reached the house, Mr B and Dustbin were waiting for me. I wasn’t sure what Matt and Jonathan would think but Mr B slipped into the shadows, leaving only Dustbin and me.

‘I think I saw your boy,’ Dustbin whispered. ‘There was a moment when the curtain went back and I can’t be sure but I think it might have been George.’

‘I hope it was.’ My heart sang at the idea.‘Are you ready?’ I asked, and Dustbin indicated he was.

Matt and Jonathan were standing by the high gate, trying and failing to open it. They banged on it loudly but to no avail.

‘What is this?’ Matt asked.

‘No idea, maybe Alfie really has gone mad? Mad cat’s disease or something,’ Jonathan said. I yowled at him — this was no time for jokes.‘OK, sorry. Right, Alfie. What is this place and who is that enormous cat?’

‘I can’t be sure but I think it might be Tomasz’s restaurant cat,’ Matt said, looking puzzled.

‘Nothing would surprise me with these guys,’ Jonathan said, as we led them to the fence. I miaowed a lot to get the chickens’ attention. They stared at me with their small beady eyes but stayed quiet, which I took to mean they were ready for us. I took a breath and then started scaling the fence. It wasn’t easy: the wire was slippery and it was high.

‘Blimey, what’s he doing?’ Matt asked. I noticed neither of them tried to help me.

‘Do you think, I mean, is it possible, that maybe George is in that house?’

‘I can’t see why else Alfie would do that. He doesn’t like heights remember.’

As I climbed with Dustbin by my side, encouraging me, I ignored the humans. At least they had figured out why we were here, so hopefully they would actually do something useful now. After what seemed like forever, I made it over the spikes and prepared to begin my descent. Going down looked so much scarier than coming up. I froze.

‘I think we should call the police,’ Jonathan said finally.

‘And say what?’ Matt replied.

‘That there might be a cat snatcher in that house,’ Jonathan said. I glanced back at him from the top of the fence and he pulled out his phone.

‘What evidence do we have though?’ Matt asked.

‘Well, they have our cat, or they will in a minute anyway. Look, Alfie’s about get in there.’

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jonathan pull out his phone and start to dial, looking anxious.

‘They might not believe us,’ Matt said.‘Although yes, if you say our cat is in there it might work.’

‘Exactly. Unless you’ve got any better ideas? If there is a cat snatcher in there they might be nasty, so we can’t take them on.’

‘True, right, get the police,’ Matt said, still sounding uncertain.

‘It’s OK, Alfie,’ Dustbin said quietly. ‘Watch me, just go quickly, gripping where you can, and you’ll be on the ground in no time.

I was still terrified. Matt was right, I didn’t like heights — and what if Dustbin and I were heading into terrible danger? I was glad Jonathan was calling the police.

I gave myself a little pep talk and, as I saw Dustbin reach the bottom, I knew I could do it. I could do it for my boy. I landed a little roughly but I made it. Dustbin still looked scared of the chickens but he managed to jump out of the coop easily. I looked at the chickens.

‘I hope you understand this. I’m going to chase you, but I promise I won’t hurt you, I just need you to make a lot of noise,’ I told them.

‘Cluck, cluck, cluck,’ they replied, which I was pretty sure was hen-speak for ‘yes’.

I took a breath and started running after the chickens. They flew everywhere, and thankfully they must have understood me as they made a huge racket. Even though I was tired, I kept going, and the chickens made more and more noise. Probably a bit more than necessary, but then chickens could be quite dramatic. Feathers started flying. I hadn’t even done anything.

‘Blimey, why is he chasing chickens? He was scared of them when we were on holiday — didn’t want to go anywhere near them,’ Jonathan said. ‘Alfie, stop that, stop that now!’ he shouted, but of course I wasn’t going to stop for him.

Finally a door sprang open and a scruffy lady emerged. As she ran at me screaming, Dustbin managed to sneak into house. Great, the first part of our plan had worked!

‘Get off my chickens,’ the woman shouted; she sounded a bit like the queen. ‘Get off them!’ Yeah, as if, I thought. I chased the chickens even harder, until I was sure Dustbin was safely inside. Thankfully the woman had forgotten to shut the door too. The idea was that he would tell all thecats to come out, so there could be no doubt that this person had the missing lamppost cats. I just hoped she did have them, after all of this. It would be a bit embarrassing otherwise.

‘We’re sorry,’ Jonathan said, his voice shaky as if he was nervous, when the woman noticed them. ‘Alfie, get out of there!’ I did as he asked, hopping into the woman’s garden to stand by her feet. I noticed she was wearing one boot, but the other foot only had a holey sock on it. She didn’t exactly look dangerous, although her grey hair was wild and she wore a huge jumper over what looked like pyjamas.

‘Right, well, I’m sorry about this but if you could open the front gate, then Alfie can come with us,’ Matt said, glancing at Jonathan. He and Jonathan turned around; they were looking for the police, I guessed.

‘I will do no such thing. This cat is mine now,’ she said, looking at me. ‘Ahh, I don’t have a British Blue and you are very handsome.’ I raised my whiskers — how kind of her to notice — but then I remembered where I was and why I was there.

‘He’s our cat,’ Matt said angrily.‘Give him back!’ He stood as close as he could to the fence and Jonathan joined him.

‘Yowl,’ I said angrily.

The woman stared at me, then at Jonathan and Matt before turning around and looking at her back door.

‘Arrrghhh!’ she screamed as Dustbin emerged, followed by a horde of cats. My heart quickened as I saw George next to Dustbin.

‘Miaow,’ I said, running up to him.‘Thank goodness you’re all right.’ I nuzzled him with all my might.

‘Dad, I knew you’d come,’ George replied.

‘Right, no time for that just now, we need to stick together.’ I saw Pinkie emerge with the others; there must have been about twenty cats there! She ran over to me.

‘Thank goodness,’ she said. ‘Alfie, thank goodness you’re here.’ She looked upset. ‘I’m so relieved to be out. I really didn’t like being there, not even her fridge was a comfort to me.’

‘It’s OK, you are all free now,’ I said.

Although I realised with a sinking feeling that actually none of us were; we were still stuck in the woman’s garden.

‘You really are the cat snatcher!’ Jonathan shouted above the noise, as cats of all shapes and sizes ran around the garden, miaowing loudly.

‘I most certainly am not,’ the woman replied.

‘But you’ve got our kitten, and you’re trying to take Alfie!’ Matt said.

‘They are all mine. Mine I tell you,’ she screeched. I looked at her, worried she was deranged. As she tried to round up the cats, including me, two things happened. We heard a police siren coming closer, just as Vic and Heather Goodwin ran up to Matt and Jonathan, with Salmon at their heels. Ihad never been so pleased to see them. Actually before now I hadnever been pleased to see them, so this situation really was very odd.

‘What is going on?’ Vic shouted.

‘She’s the cat snatcher,’ Matt said.

I snuggled close to George; we didn’t know how to get out but at least I had my boy. The other cats all seemed happy to be outside as they ran around in circles, enjoying their freedom.

‘What, this old lady?’ Heather asked, incredulous.‘Citizen’s arrest!’ she shouted, although how she was going to do that from the other side of the fence I wasn’t sure.

‘I am not the cat snatcher. These are all my cats,’ the woman maintained.

‘The police are on the way,’ Matt told them.

‘Good. And that’s not true, lady.’ Vic waved a bunch of papers at the woman. ‘All these cats have been reported missing.’

‘And George is one of them,’ Jonathan said.

‘You are a cat-napper of the worst kind,’ Heather shouted.

‘But …’ The woman looked defeated.‘I just wanted them to be mine.’

The police car pulled up and two policemen got out.

‘What on earth is going on?’ one of them asked, as Vic took it upon himself to explain.

In the ensuing madness, I was able to check that George was all right. He said that Pinkie had looked after him and the other cats were all very friendly. They were all very upset to have been kitty-napped, as they thought of it. But the cat snatcher, who it turned out was called Henrietta, was kind to them, although she wouldn’t let them go out, so the house was a mess and the cats were all stir-crazy. She hadn’t been mean though, which to me was the main thing.

It transpired that she had grabbed George from Tiger’s back step in the few seconds he had been there alone. She must have been watching us. I shuddered to think that I had been so careless.

‘Let us in,’ one policeman said.

‘I’d rather not,’ the lady replied uncertainly.

‘Either let us in or we will have to force our way in, and you’re in enough trouble as it is.’

As the police eventually gained entry, with Matt and Jonathan alongside them, Vic and Heather also barged in. They were doing their best to tell the bemused policemen what to do.

‘You should arrest her,’Vic said.

‘Lock her up and throw away the key,’ Heather concurred.

‘Well, perhaps first we should sort out what to do with all these cats. It’s not like we can take them to the station,’ one of the policemen said, looking slightly afraid.

‘No need,’ said Heather. ‘We can call all the owners and they’ll come and collect them. Look, I’ve got the posters. We took a copy of each so we knew what cats to look out for. We don’t run the neighbourhood watch for nothing, you know.’

‘Well that is good, Mr and Mrs Goodwin. Right, Ms …’

‘Babbington-Smythe. But you can call me Henrietta,’ the strange lady said. She even held out her hand to the officer, who looked confused but shook it.

‘Come with me,’ said one of the policemen.‘I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to wait inside while we sort this out.’ The other policeman used his radio to inform someone that they had a cat situation which may take a while. As Matt scooped up George, Jonathan phoned Claire to tell her what was going on and I managed to get a quiet moment with Dustbin and Mr B.

‘I don’t know how to thank you, Mr B, you did a sterling job. And, Dustbin, you proved, yet again, what a great friend you are. None of these cats would be free without you.’

‘I dunno about that, Alfie, but I’m just glad the boy is all right,’ said Dustbin. ‘The other cats too, of course, but especially him.’ We nuzzled.‘And, Alfie, it took real guts to do what you did, that fence, your fear of heights, the hens. Good job.’

‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but I must get back, you never know when I’ll be needed next,’ Mr B said. They both managed to get away without anyone noticing or trying to rehome them, thankfully.

After what seemed like ages with the policeman, we were allowed to go. Heather and Vic agreed to wait for the other cat owners, only to help the police, of course. As I gave Salmon a grin, I realised the Goodwins were in their element. They were loving every minute, although possibly disappointed they didn’t get to make a citizen’s arrest.

As we made our way home, Matt carrying George, Jonathan carrying me, I realised that this plan had worked pretty well. No one was hurt, I hadn’t got more than a couple of scratches from the fence, no chickens had been harmed, and I had George safe and sound with me.

‘Thank you all so much,’ I said to the chickens. I felt as if I was friends with the creatures now.

‘Cluck,’ they replied, bobbing their heads in what I could only assume meant ‘you’re welcome’.

My relief was palpable. I had relied on a team, and that team had really come through. As we approached Edgar Road I saw Tiger at my gate. I miaowed and Jonathan set me down.

‘He’s safe,’ I said, grinning.

‘Oh, Alfie, you did it!’ Tiger looked so happy and I felt closer to her than ever in that moment.

‘No, Tiger,we did it.’ I nuzzled her and felt like the luckiest cat in the world.

Chapter Thirty-two [Êàðòèíêà: i_032.jpg]

It was pandemonium when we got back with George. Claire burst into tears, as did Summer, who ran up to George, clutched him to her little chest and told him,‘Bad kitten.’ George looked confused at this telling off, but I gave him a reassuring look. Polly and the kids all crowded round him and of course they wanted to hear the story.

‘Alfie did it, really,’ Jonathan said, looking confused.‘After that whole thing here, the kerfuffle, he made us follow him and he led us to the house. How did you find it when no one else had?’ Jonathan asked me. I tilted my head to the side. ‘I think he had help, cat help, that is. And then he took his life, or one of them anyway, into his own hands …’ Jonathan told the story, but it sounded a bit more like one of his action films than what really happened. I mean yes, it was dramatic, but not quite as dramatic as he made out.

‘So it turns out that poor Henrietta worked at a cattery, but she hated giving the cats back so they gave her the boot,’ Matt said.‘Which sent her a bit mad and she basically scooped up all the cats she came across. There were about twenty there, all in this big dilapidated house.’

‘Imagine the smell, Claire, you would not have coped,’ Jonathan added. It was funny what humans dwelled on.

Everyone was so happy and made a huge fuss of George, but I got a hero’s welcome after Matt and Jonathan finished explaining what had happened. Claire went to get us some smoked salmon, which was very welcome after our ordeal.

We ate as everyone stayed close by, all chattering with relief.

‘Have you told Tash?’ Jonathan asked.

‘Yes, I texted her. She’s at home with Elijah, he wasn’t feeling too well, but Max is with her so she said she would celebrate. And Tomasz? Has anyone let him know?’

‘I texted him,’ Jonathan said. ‘And look.’ He held up his phone, which had a photo of my Polish family on it.‘Family selfie, so it’s all good with them,’ Jonathan grinned. I began to relax. George was back where he belonged. In fact, it seemed everyone was where they belonged right now.

As I snuggled up with George, after we’d eaten and cleaned ourselves, I wanted everyone to see how much I loved him. I hoped they would then see how much they loved each other.

‘It’s amazing, really,’ Polly said. ‘Alfie has really adopted George as if he’s his own. Even if he’d fathered him he couldn’t love him any more.’ Claire looked at Polly and then at Jonathan. I saw Jonathan looking at me and then he reached over and grabbed Claire’s hand.

‘And we love those cats as if they’re our children, almost,’ Matt pointed out.

‘We do,’ Claire said, and I saw she had tears in her eyes as she held tightly onto Jonathan’s hand. I made a note to make an extra fuss of Polly later. How clever she had been with what she said.

‘Polly,’ said Matt,‘I was thinking a lot today, when we were looking for George. I felt so scared for him, I know we all did, but it was as if we’d lost a part of the family. And so I think we need to decide, for the good of our family, how we can both work, because I don’t think it’s good for anyone if either of us are miserable.’

‘We have been awful lately,’ Polly said.‘Poor kids, we must have been a nightmare to live with.’ I purred my agreement from where I was resting: they had been.

‘You can get a nanny or an au pair or something,’ Jonathan said.‘Plenty of parents do that.’

‘And I can help you find one,’ Claire said. She was so efficient that I knew she’d probably find them someone in no time.‘And you’re right. We’ve all made a bit of a mess of things lately, perhaps this was the wake-up call we all needed to start putting things right.’ She looked at her husband.

‘We’ll talk, properly talk, later,’ Jonathan said, leaning over to kiss her.

Henry walked into the kitchen and up to his dad. He looked cross.

‘What’s up, mate?’ Matt asked.

‘Martha and Summer want me to dress up as a girl and go to a pretend tea party with them.’ He didn’t sound happy.

‘Oh boy, those girls are so bossy. Right, Henry, come with me and I’ll find you something else to do,’ Jonathan said, taking his hand.

‘Can I play on the iPad?’ Henry looked hopeful.

‘OK, but you’d better use it in the kitchen or the girls will squabble over it.’ Jonathan ruffled Henry’s hair as he went to get his iPad. Henry sat on a chair in the corner of the room, happy once again now he was safe from the girls.

Oh, I thought as I felt the warmth of my little boy, it could all be so easy, if only people would let it.

‘I’m going to open a bottle of champagne,’ Jonathan announced. ‘We need to celebrate George’s safe return.’ He went to the fridge to get a bottle.

‘You know, the last time I was as scared as I was today was when Alfie was ill and I didn’t know if he’d survive,’ Claire said. She was talking about my first plan, which had been incredibly dangerous. Although it had worked, it did almost kill me.

‘And to think we didn’t know each other then. Gosh, Claire, I can’t imagine not having you guys in my life,’ Polly said.

‘If it wasn’t for Alfie, and now for George, we wouldn’t all be talking like this, like we haven’t done for ages, so I reckon we should toast them,’ Matt suggested.

‘You’d almost think he planned the whole thing,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Oh, Jon, you are so ridiculous where Alfie’s concerned, of course he didn’t. But Matt’s right, our lives are richer for having them in it, so let’s toast them,’ said Claire, giving Jonathan an affectionate pat on the arm.

Jonathan stood up and cleared his throat.

‘To love, family and friends — and that includes our lovely, clever cats, without whom we would be lost. As lost as little George was. To Alfie and George.’ He raised his champagne and everyone echoed him as they clinked glasses.

My heart swelled, so full of joy, I wondered if it would burst.

Apart from the fact that George actually did go missing, and my plan had gone totally awry, the end result was exactly what I had hoped for. No, it wasn’t worth losing George for, and I would never leave him ever again, not for a moment, but we had him back and it was time to stop dwelling on the bad times and look to our future. Which, as I listened to Claire and Jonathan talk that night, seemed to be exactly what they were doing.

‘I think adoption is important for so many reasons,’ Claire said. ‘A child needs a loving family, and we have one, we are one. There are too many children in the world that don’t have what we can offer,’ she said.

‘I know and I want to, but I’m scared. What if I don’t love the child like I love Summer? I can’t believe how much I do love her, it takes me by surprise even now.’

‘But what if you do love them? Jonathan, you don’t realise how big your heart is, you treat all the kids — Aleksy, little Tomasz, Elijah, Henry and Martha — as if they’re family.’

‘I know, and I love them all, but they don’t live with me. I’m not their father.’

‘But you are like Alfie and George’s dad now, as well as Summer’s.’

‘I sometimes think that perhaps I could do it, but I’m scared, Claire. And by the way, I know we treat them like they’re children but Alfie and George are cats.’

I did fleetingly think that Jonathan hadn’t exactly welcomed me when I first met him, physically ejecting me from this very house a number of times, but then I knew that was a very different Jonathan to the one I had now. I had won him round and Claire had fixed whatever was wrong with him. Now he was the best father anyone could have. Well, apart from me of course!

‘I know that, and it is scary. I’m sorry I’ve been so determined to do it that I haven’t really thought how frightening it is. I’m not just thinking about me, you know. I think that expanding our family in this way will be good for all of us. Summer would really love a sibling, we have a loving home to offer any child, and who cares if he’s older than her.’

‘He? Don’t tell me you’ve already got a child and haven’t told me.’

I thought I wouldn’t put it past Claire actually. Jonathan looked even more terrified.

‘Of course not.’ Phew, I was relieved.‘But in my head it’s a boy. A big brother for our Sum, someone to take care of her. To protect her while we protect him.’ Claire had tears in her eyes, and I felt a hit of emotion. It would be so perfect, to open our home, our family to a child who didn’t have one. That’s what they had done with me.

‘I would like that. I’d also like to have another child, but Claire, what if I don’t feel the right way about them, what if I don’t feel that I’m their parent?’

‘Trust me, you will. When the right child comes here, you will feel it.’

‘But how can you be so sure?’ he asked.

‘Because of Alfie and George.’

Chapter Thirty-three [Êàðòèíêà: i_033.jpg]

It was over six months since George had gone missing. He was big now, and never got into any trouble. Pah, who am I kidding? He was always up to something. Luckily he had grown out of hide and seek— I think being trapped in Henrietta’s house for so long had put him off hiding. The local paper had called her a mad cat woman — I have to admit, I actually felt a bit sorry for her. She was actually a woman who loved cats, although of course that didn’t mean she could just nick us off thestreet. Anyway, despite his ordeal, George still loved playing with bags, boxes and curtains, jumping up and climbing. I was forever telling him off but I had learnt that was an important job for any parent, cat or human.

However, I also made sure he knew he was loved. I was always on hand with a nuzzle whenever he needed one— or if I’m honest, whenever I did. Making sure George knew how loved he was was my most important job. It was so funny, how reluctant I had been when he first arrived, how I wanted to be alone with my heartbreak, but Claire had obviously known what she was doing.

I was teaching George how important us cats actually were in the lives of our humans. He did get a bit carried away, telling me that his latest goal was to make Summer less bossy. I wished him luck with that; it was too ambitious a plan, even for me. And for him, I thought, as I watched her still insisting that he pretend to be her baby. But the boy was taking after me, and although there was no blood shared, I could never love anyone more. A chip off the old block, he was eagerly lapping up information and charming all the neighbourhood cats, even Salmon; he pretty much had us all wrapped round his little paws.

Tiger had become such a great surrogate mum to George too. We spent so much more time together and although she was still sarcastic, judgmental and a little scathing of my more sentimental side, she took George under her paw as if he was her own. We were quite a team, the three of us. We had a bond I knew no one could ever take away from us, and we spent more time together than ever. Even Claire and Jonathan had noticed the time we spent together, calling Tiger and I an‘old married couple’. They thought it was funny. I did not. There was nothing old about me.

And our other cat friends were all part of our lives in a way they hadn’t been before. Losing George and Pinkie had bonded us in a way that took us all by surprise. The cats of Edgar Road were a force to be reckoned with, and not to mention Dustbin, whose friendship I valued highly.

My families were all doing well again, and I had my paws crossed that it stayed that way. I didn’t for one minute think that it would — after all, it never did — but I had learnt to enjoy the good times and only worry about the bad when they actually came.

Tash was now a fully-fledged resident of Edgar Road and George and I visited her flat regularly. She was seeing Max and apparently their status was‘in a relationship’. She was cautious, but happy. And though it hadn’t been plain sailing, they weren’t friends, Tash and Dave had reached a level of agreement over Elijah which, according to Tash, was the most she could hope for. And lovely Elijah was so laid back and happy; he was gettingbig but he was the loveliest boy. The adults joked that he and Summer would get married one day but to be honest I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, Summer would run rings around him. He’d be totally henpecked — I had learnt what that phrase meant from my holiday in the country and my rescue mission. Of course, I loved Summer and I loved her bossiness, I just didn’t wish it on anyone else.

I had been to stay with my Polish family, with George as well, because Claire and Jonathan had had something important to do. They were much happier now and Aleksy told me he was no longer worried about his parents. Big Tomasz was busy, and they were planning on opening their third restaurant, but they had put such a good formula in place that he didn’t have to actually be working all the time. He was the brains behind the food, his business partner looked after the business side, and they had good chefs and managers working for them. They were even talking about moving to a bigger home, so the boys, who were growing so fast, would have more space. I could see their point but I worried that I would miss Dustbin. George and I loved hanging out with him. He’d declared that George was a very good hunter, which I didn’t approve of; but I couldn’t really stop him, it was natural for most cats and I knew I was an anomaly. But I enjoyed spending time with Dustbin, who was one of the wisest cats I knew; even if they moved, I would find a way to see him, I knew the way to his home by now. Franceska was saying how wonderful it would be if they could live on Edgar Road again, although they hadn’t seriously looked at anything at this stage. Jonathan joked that they were turning into ‘The Waltons’, although I didn’t know what he meant. I would love to have them back on our street — I would have another home to visit regularly and I would feel like a proper doorstep cat again. You could never have too many homes.

I’d tried explaining this to George when I’d settled him back home. He had been a little traumatised by his ordeal but mainly because of the noise of the other cats.

‘This is your home,’ I’d said.‘Always remember that.’

‘But what about Matt and Polly’s?’

‘Well, yes, that’s your home too.’

‘And Franceska and Tomasz.’

‘Yes, that’s your home too, but nowhere else.’ I was getting a bit frustrated.

‘Tash?’

‘OK, George, what I am trying to say is that these are your homes, all the ones you mentioned. But the easiest way to look at it is that your home is wherever I am.’ He seemed to accept that.

It had taken a while, but Polly and Matt had ironed their issues out. They both worked now and they both loved their jobs, but they made their family life work too and had employed a nanny, who the others shared sometimes. Lucy, the nanny, was so nice and we all liked her. Polly and Matt also made sure they spent time together once a week. They were all lovey-dovey like they used to be. Polly looked so much like her old self, beautiful and happy. Matt was relaxed and he enjoyed the time he spent at home— even the tidying. They were planning a big family holiday, but I was pretty sure that George and I weren’t going to be invited. Martha was getting bigger, as was Henry. He now refused to play with Martha and Summer and was relieved when Aleksy and little Tomasz returned from Poland and he hadboys to play with again.

Claire, Jonathan and Summer were all great too. George and Summer were so close, and I liked that, because I wanted her to have that relationship the way I did with Aleksy. We both loved all the children but we did have an extra closeness with those two, because I felt as if I had grown up with Aleksy and Summer was growing up with George. Summer had turned three recently and we’d had a lovely family party, and it was then that Claire and Jonathan told us their big news. It hadn’t happened overnight, but it didn’t matter, because today was a big day. Everything was about to change yet again, only this time I hoped it was going to change for the better.

We were all very nervous and excited at the same time. My stomach fluttered. We were all looking our best: Jonathan wore a pair of smart trousers and a shirt; Claire was wearing a pretty floral dress; and Summer was wearing a princess costume that she’d got for her birthday, which she insisted was her best outfit ever. To be honest, she barely took it off, but she did look very cute. I had made sure George groomed himself thoroughly and I had done the same. We both looked incredibly handsome, even if I did say so myself.

We all waited, fidgeting and not quite knowing what to do with ourselves. Time crawled by so slowly, which it always did when you were waiting for something.

Claire and Jonathan had met him, of course— our potential adoptee. They’d had lots of visits and trips with him, but now he was coming to our house to see if we were all going to live together. He couldn’t move straight in, he had to be happy here, but why wouldn’t he be? Our home was so full of love it radiated out of every room. He would fit right in, once he had time to get used to it. Just like me, and like George.

I stretched as the doorbell went.

‘Oh goodness, they’re here. Do I look OK?’ Claire patted her hair and looked flustered. Claire’s mood had been so great lately, she was so happy and excited about the future. She kept saying that this was fate and she knew it was meant to be. And I think Jonathan believed her, finally.

‘You look lovely,’ Jonathan said, taking her hand. I could see he was sweating a bit as they made their way to the front door.

‘Me too!’ Summer shouted as she followed them, George and myself on her heels.

Jonathan opened the door, and in walked a lady holding the hand of a boy about Henry’s age. He looked terrified, and clutched the lady’s hand tightly. My heart went out to him; if anyone needed a cat it was this boy, I could immediately tell.

‘Hi, Marie,’ Claire said, shaking hands with the lady.

‘Hi, guys, Summer,’ Marie said.

Claire knelt down on the floor.‘Hello, Toby, welcome to our house,’ she said gently. The boy looked at her and smiled uncertainly.

‘Toby.’ Summer jumped forward and smiled at him.‘I’m a princess.’

‘Hi, Summer.’ He seemed a bit more at ease with her, but still shuffled from foot to foot. I watched Claire kneeling before him, with Summer next to her. Jonathan hung back slightly.

I decided to introduce myself. He must have been feeling so mixed up, and he was so young to have to handle such emotions. I lost my first home when I was too young to fully understand and it had been the hardest time of my life. I wanted him to know I knew how he felt, in my own way.

‘Miaow,’ I said, rubbing his legs.

‘A cat!’ he exclaimed, and sat down on the floor to stroke me. Claire followed suit as did Summer. George joined us.

‘Another cat!’ Toby said, even happier to see George, who crawled into his lap. This boy was all right, he clearly loved cats. Summer giggled, and Toby looked at her and giggled too. I felt choked up as I saw Claire’s eyes fill with tears. We were both thinking the same thing, I was pretty sure. This is our boy.

We all played on the floor for a while. Marie the social worker hung back but Jonathan still seemed rooted to the spot. I decided to go and give him a little nudge.

‘Who’s hungry?’ he asked finally, looking at me and then at them.

‘Me!’ Summer shouted.

‘Toby?’ Jonathan asked. Toby nodded shyly. We all looked at Jonathan. He had tears in his eyes, which was rare, and his voice was choked. I was so proud of all of them, but especially him, at that moment.

He reached out his hand to Toby. Toby looked at it for a few seconds, but then he put his hand into Jonathan’s. Jonathan pulled him gently to his feet and held onto that little hand so tightly.

‘Come on, son,’ he said.

Chapter Thirty-four [Êàðòèíêà: i_034.jpg]

When Toby had to leave, he said he didn’t want to go, and nor did anyone want to say goodbye. Although he was still shy and uncertain, he had enjoyed being with us, I could tell. I found it hard to accept that a boy who was five years old had to come and live with a new family. It was part of life that I would always find upsetting, confusing and just wrong. But then I also knew, watching how Claire, Jonathan and Summer were with him, that if he had to go to a new home, ours was the best.

Marie took Claire and Jonathan aside and said the visit had gone very well and so they would be increasing the time Toby spent with us until it was decided he could come and live here, which she hoped would be sooner rather than later. Claire looked relieved and Jonathan beamed, proving us right, he could love a child that wasn’t biologically his. His eyes were already full of love. After Toby left, with many hugs and kisses and promises that he could come back soon, we were all emotionally drained.

‘So Toby’s going to come and live with us?’ George asked when I was trying to settle him in bed.

‘Yes. Claire will be his mummy and Jonathan will be his daddy.’

‘Like you and Tiger are to me?’

‘Yes, just like that.’

‘Because I love you, Dad, and I love Tiger-Mum too.’ I kissed him goodnight: there was only so much emotion one cat could take in a day and I had reached my happiness limit.

‘Jonathan, I didn’t want him to go,’ Claire said when we were alone later, after Summer and George were fast asleep.

‘Me neither, I almost couldn’t bear it. You were right. The minute I saw him, I knew he was my son. I don’t understand it but I looked into his eyes and I loved him. Right away, I loved him.’ Jonathan was crying again — this was a regular occurrence today.

‘Oh, Jon, I love you so much and Toby will be the luckiest boy having you as a father.’

‘He deserves it after what he’s been through.’

‘Jon, don’t talk about that, let’s look to the future.’

‘Can’t wait to take him to the football.’ Jonathan tried to laugh.

‘Summer might want to go too,’ Claire pointed out.

‘Of course. I’m not being sexist, I’ll take them both. But I think you’re right, you know, it feels as if our family is complete now. Us, Summer, Alfie, George and now Toby. It feels right. It feels really wonderful, in fact.’

‘I know exactly how you feel. I’m just so happy right now. I can’t wait to have that lovely little boy living here.’

‘It might be hard at first, he’s going to need a lot of time and attention and we need to make sure Summer doesn’t feel left out.’ Jonathan was always the voice of reason.

‘I know, Jon, and that’s why I’m taking a year off work, remember. I’ll have time to give them both the attention they need. Nothing worthwhile is easy but we are going to do this and we’re going to do it really, really well.’

‘Maybe I should listen to you more in future,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Finally! It’s about time you realised that. But seriously, Jon, we’re going to be all right.’

‘No, Claire, we’re going to be more than all right.’

I checked on George, who was snoring gently, before I got ready to go out. I went past the living room, where Claire and Jonathan were snuggled on the sofa, and left the house. There was someone I needed to see. I had taught my humans a lot, and of course my plan had ultimately worked, despite it going terribly wrong, but they had taught me a great deal too. Seeing my families pulling together, all of the parents reaffirming their love, or looking for new love, had opened my eyes. Being a parent, whether of a child or a kitten, gave you a different perspective. Love and parenting worked in so many different ways. For example my first human, Margaret, didn’t have human children, she had Agnes and then me, we were her babies and she parented us brilliantly. She showered us with love and affection, not to mention pilchards. And it was the same with Claire and Jonathan before Summer came along. You were parents to your pets, your pets were parents toyou. There were no rules when you loved — you just took care of each other.

That was what I had learnt. I had also discovered that nothing is forever, so you need to snatch whatever happiness you can, when you can. You need to hold tight to what’s important to you and nurture and cherish it. You need to appreciate everyone you love every single day. Everyone had learnt something when George was missing, and I wondered if perhaps I had learnt the most.

It wasn’t late, but I gently bumped the cat flap and waited in the back garden. After a few moments, Tiger emerged. The sky was dark blue, the moon bright and round; stars sparkled at us, it was a beautiful night. We sat on the back step, the place where our plan had gone wrong, looking up at the moon together, sitting side by side in silence.

‘How did today go?’ she finally asked, flicking her whiskers at me.

‘Wonderful, brilliant, it couldn’t have gone better if I’d planned it myself. Toby is a lovely little boy. I feel sad he doesn’t have a forever family already, but we’re also so lucky that we’re going to be it for him. You’ll love him too!’

‘Another kitten to worry about,’ Tiger grinned.‘Although perhaps it’s time to hang up your hat when it comes to plans to fix things.’

‘As if I will ever do that! Anyway, I don’t think he’s as naughty as George, or as bossy as Summer, but yes, of course I’ll worry about him, and love him, and do all I can to take care of him.’

‘Because that’s the kind of cat you are.’

‘It is. But I also need to appreciate those who help me, with George and my families, a bit more than I do at the moment,’ I said. My thoughts were clear but I was finding it hard to articulate them.

‘Anyone in particular?’ Tiger asked.

‘You know who I mean, Tiger. You. You’ve always been there for me, even after that business with Snowball you still were my best friend, and now you’re my co-parent.’

‘I’ve never heard of a co-parent,’ she said. She looked slightly embarrassed, probably because I had alluded to the time she told me she was in love with me.

‘You know I’ve learnt that love comes in all shapes and sizes. I think with Snowball it was young love, my first ever romance, I suppose, but we didn’t have too many responsibilities back then. I’ll always miss her a bit but life is different now and I wouldn’t change it for all the pilchards in the world.’

‘You wouldn’t?’

‘Tiger, what I’m trying to say, which I’m not doing very well, is that you’ve been by my side when it matters and I want us to be like that for a very, very long time.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Our relationship — we’re best friends, we’re parents and we love each other. All that teasing about us being an old married couple, well, I see it now. Maybe not the passion of youth but a more mature kind where we love each other properly.’ I felt so flustered by this conversation.

‘So you think we’re like an old married couple?’ Tiger asked, her voice slightly mocking.

‘Yes, well, less of the old, but a married couple who have the utmost respect for each other, who both love George in a way where he will always come first, but also a couple who have fun, who laugh with each other, and have deep, deep feelings of love for each other — that’s how I feel, Tiger. And vanity aside, none of us are getting any younger, it’s about time I saw what was right in front of my face.’

‘Me.’

‘You.’

‘Oh, Alfie, I never thought you’d say this, I mean, I never dreamed after Snowball …’

‘Shush. Some things take longer to figure out. Like with Toby, that’s not an overnight thing and we aren’t either.’

‘But … we’re rock solid?’ Tiger asked. Her eyes were full of everything I loved about her: warmth, fun, friendship, beauty. I had taken her for granted for so long but now my eyes had definitely been opened.

‘Unbreakable. Like the best things in life, we’ve been worth waiting for, and now, Tiger, my love, the wait is over.’

‘I’ve loved you for so long, Alfie.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry it hasn’t been plain sailing, but now I can return that love. And I know one little kitten who will be incredibly happy.’

As we both looked at the moon, my heart was full— of my families, of my cat friends, of Tiger and, most of all, of our kitten, George.