Alfie The Holiday Cat

Chapter Eighteen

‘I get it, this is what it’s all about,’ George said excitedly. He had his head in an empty box and was pushing it around the kitchen table, much to the delight of Summer and Toby.

‘What?’ I asked quietly, making sure our families couldn’t hear.

‘The holiday, Seabreeze Cottage, all of our families having a very lovely time,’ he said.

‘You are so wise for one so young.’ I had taught him well, after all.

It was the day when our families had invited half the village, or so it seemed, round to Seabreeze Cottage for food and drinks. We still had a few weeks left here before we had to go back to Edgar Road. The builders had doubled in number and been working extra hard since the night the women had gone to the pub and the men had taken an extra day off work and were coming down on Thursday night. It was all exciting, and they had worked out that instead of just worrying about Andrea they should embrace village life. I only wished I had thought of it.

George bumped into the table leg, eliciting lots of giggles from Toby.

‘George, get out of the box, and Alfie, we don’t want you getting under foot today,’ Franceska chastised as she prepared a mountain of food.

‘Yes, Alfie,’ Claire reiterated. Honestly, why was it always me, not George? ‘The men are taking the children out for the morning so we can get organised. Can you do the same with George?’

‘Can we go sit in the hedge?’ George asked quietly as I used my nose to try to nudge the box off him.

‘Fine,’ I agreed. After all, I had no better plan on how to spend time getting out from under everyone’s feet. I decided not to be offended, after all I understood how important today was for everyone.

The men had come down and had some very good news. Jonathan had put Tomasz in touch with a friend of his, who was something to do with the law, and he had threatened the insurance company on their behalf. Apparently there’d been a bit of arguing and going backwards and forwards but the insurance company had finally agreed to pay for all the damage and lost wages. Tomasz and his business manager had then gone to the bank who had given them a temporary loan to cover the costs, so their stake in Seabreeze was safe. The celebratory mood returned and if it hadn’t been for Andrea and Liam I would also have been jumping for joy.

Jonathan, Matt and Tomasz had been so amazed by the transformation that they were overjoyed. The second floor was finished and now was home to three big bedrooms, a refurbished and expanded bathroom, and a master suite with en suite shower room. The only thing was that some of the furniture hadn’t arrived yet but they didn’t seem to mind that. Bit by bit, it was becoming a home, but more than that a home that represented each of my families. The children’s rooms were amazing, and now the other bedrooms were too. Claire and Jonathan’s room was painted in a blue colour that they both loved, and all the curtains and accessories matched. Polly and Matt’s room had a more modern feel, whereas Franceska and Tomasz had gone a totally different way and opted for a seaside feel — with stripy wallpaper, driftwood and shells, it did look a lot like a beach hut in fact. It was my favourite room because it felt as if it belonged. But I understood how each room was part of my families and that I loved. It meant that they were going to make this cottage a second home and it was feeling that way already.

Oh and Gilbert had been wonderful, he’d been on Liam-watch but Liam hadn’t had the opportunity to ruin anything else. Gilbert had even heard him on the phone, we assumed to Andrea, saying he was never alone in the house long enough to do anything. It seemed our plan was working, well sort of. And Gilbert was warming more and more each day to the idea of meeting our families so now I knew it was just a matter of time.

George and I made our way outside. It was a warm, not hot, day, with a cool sea breeze (I now understood the name of the cottage) gently brushing our fur. We made our way to the hedge and shuffled through. I found my favourite spot, ground soft, leaves shading me, and George sat as near as he could get to Chanel’s garden without being spotted. There was nothing to see, which we seemed to get a lot, but I saw George was looking so hopeful so I settled down for the duration. At least it wasn’t raining and there were worse ways for a cat to pass some time.

I had almost dropped off for a cat nap when George jumped up, stretching excitedly.

‘She’s here, Dad, she’s here.’ Before I had managed to open both of my eyes he had run off across the lawn to where Chanel stood, glaring. I thought it best I follow him.

‘Hey!’ George said, excitedly. For once Andrea wasn’t around, and Chanel was on her own. A rare occurrence.

‘What are you doing sitting in my hedge?’ she asked. She flicked her tail, fixing her green eyes on us. Yes, she was a sophisticated-looking cat but she had the meanest eyes I had ever seen. Even Salmon had nothing on her.

‘Technically, it’s our hedge too,’ I said. I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me. Well, only a bit as she inched towards us.

‘Not for long.’ She arched her back.

‘You are so lovely,’ George gushed. I nudged him, but there was nothing I could do.

‘Go away,’ she hissed.

‘We will go but before we do, I want to know why your owner wants our house so badly.’

‘Why should I tell you?’

‘Look, Chanel.’ I squared up to her. I didn’t intend on doing anything, I knew violence didn’t solve anything and I was the least violent cat ever, couldn’t really even hunt, but I didn’t want her to know that. ‘I just want to know. We know about Liam, we know that Andrea’s under pressure and that she has to sort things out soon. So what exactly is going on?’ I bared my teeth for good measure.

‘So, so pretty,’ George said, tilting his head.

‘How do you know all that?’ Chanel asked. I had wrong-pawed her.

‘We know, that’s all that matters. We’re on to you, and so you can either tell us what is going on or not but know this, we will find out.’

‘And your fur is the most beautiful I have ever seen,’ George added. We both looked at him.

‘Listen, none of this is any of your business, it’s my family and our problem. Yes, we do need your house and there is a very good reason for it, but I am not at liberty to share with you. You might do well to keep your nose out of our business. And while you’re at it, take the annoying kitten away with you.’ She turned on her paws and ran back towards the house.

‘Come on, George, I think it’s probably time we went,’ I said.

‘I think she really likes me, Dad,’ he replied. ‘I mean, more than she did at first even!’

What could I do?

The lawn had been transformed. The dining table had been moved outside, which had taken Tomasz, Matt and Jonathan a lot of arguing to get it through the door. But now it was on the lawn, laden with an abundance of food. Colin had brought over some other tables, and every chair we had, plus some of Colin’s, littered the lawn, along with picnic blankets. The children were playing outside and Seabreeze Cottage was open for our party, or whatever it was we were having.

Colin and his wife Fiona, a lovely warm woman who loved cats, were already here. They were having a cup of tea and chatting.

‘It’s funny how you brought your cats with you on holiday,’ Fiona said.

‘Ah, well they’re like family to us, we couldn’t not, and anyway they are so good, they haven’t run off or caused any problems.’ Claire bent down and petted me. I purred, although that wasn’t strictly true. I looked over to where George was eating ice cream out of Summer’s bowl. I would have to ignore that for now.

‘Well it’s lovely. Right, there’s our Shelley coming.’ Some more people were approaching. ‘She’d be ideal to look after this place when you’re away.’

‘Oh yes, we were looking forward to meeting her,’ Claire said and she and Jonathan smiled as they were all introduced.

It was a lot for a cat to take in. There seemed to be so many people in the garden that there was barely any grass visible. As well as Colin’s family, there were other people who I had never seen, some old, some young. Amber, the woman who had come to apologise for Andrea’s behaviour, was again apologising for not spending time with us. It seemed she had been looking after her sick mum but now she was back they were all planning on having lunch together. Amber said she didn’t care what Andrea said any more. Then there were the village children, and their parents, who again, now they had stepped out of Andrea’s shadow, were really nice.

‘Do you think we should go and see if Andrea wants to come?’ Matt asked.

‘I wouldn’t,’ Vicky replied. ‘She knows where we are, she’s probably watching from one of her rooms.’ They all looked up at Andrea’s house but there was no sign of anyone there.

‘And we did put an invite through her door,’ Polly said. ‘Not that she deserved it after the way she talked to Frankie, but we are trying to be neighbourly.’

‘Well, you know I was a bit dubious at first, I mean that you would spend all this money on the house and barely use it, sorry,’ Kate, another of the village ladies, said.

‘Well that was the idea Andrea tried to plant in our heads anyway,’ Amber explained.

‘Oh don’t worry, you’ll be sick of the sight of us we’ll be here so much,’ Polly laughed.

‘Speak for yourself, you won’t be able to get enough of me,’ Matt joked and they all smiled.

‘By the way, I wanted to find a gardener when the house is finished.’ Polly quickly changed the subject. ‘We have some plans for getting plants all round the side, and then we can look at the furniture.’

‘Oh look no further,’ Kate said. She turned to a young woman. ‘Chrissy, come here.’ Chrissy joined us.

‘This is my sister, Chrissy, she has a garden design business and she lives in the village,’ Kate explained. Polly then took Chrissy round the garden, explaining what they were looking for.

The village seemed to have sprung to life in our garden and I felt incredibly content as I watched the party unfold. Everyone was eating, drinking and chatting. Jonathan had met a guy who was involved in the local football team so they were talking football for ages, and Aleksy and Tommy’s paddleboard instructor popped in too. We met Liam’s parents: Shelley, who was very sweet and who seemed keen to be our caretaker when we were away — as well as Liam’s dad, who had a walking stick. He kept admiring the work that had been done while his son was looking awkward as Colin got him to help by giving guided tours of the house. Everyone was complimentary.

The children were playing without a cross word. As well as Ben, Jess and Millie, there were other children I hadn’t met yet. Younger ones were playing with Summer and Martha and there were a couple still in prams. Summer was besotted by one of the babies, and Martha was trailing Millie around, asking her to plait her hair for her.

The men were all laughing and joking and, at one point, Jonathan almost tried to buy a boat from Colin, but luckily Claire stopped him.

‘Maybe I’ll buy one next summer,’ he said. I sincerely hoped not. That was just asking for trouble.

I saw my humans blossoming once more. The stress that Polly, Claire and Franceska seemed to have been feeling looked as if it was melting away in the sun and as everyone bonded I felt we really were part of Lynstow. And it was as if it was meant to be.

It was an exhausting but lovely afternoon and I was only sad that I couldn’t find Gilbert. I was hoping, yet again, to introduce him to the family while everyone was together, and I decided that I would see him tonight and tell him that that was what we were going to do. It was time to be forceful. I knew that if he stayed here when we went back to London Shelley could make sure he was well fed, and then he would definitely be part of the family. I just had to convince him of that. I was pretty sure my family would see it the way George and I did as well. The only problem now was convincing Gilbert.

It also meant I had to keep a close eye on Liam at the party. I was unsure if Gilbert was there, but hiding, although I couldn’t sense him so it seemed unlikely. However, Liam behaved, and his family were there, as well as the other builders, so he was occupied at all times. Only once did I see him sneak off, and following him, discovered he had merely gone to the downstairs loo. Nevertheless, I sat outside and waited for him. It didn’t hurt for him to think that I was on to him and from the way he looked at me, slightly frightened, I think he did.

There was a lot to do in our time left at Seabreeze Cottage before the children had to go back to school, I had to ensure that Gilbert was alright, that Andrea stopped trying to take our house, and that Liam didn’t manage to knock it down. It seemed an awful lot but I was going to make sure I did it.

‘Dad, I think I need to go inside,’ George said, joining me by the front door where I sat watching the fun.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, concerned. George looked a little shattered.

‘I’m a bit hot but mainly it’s very tiring being this cute.’

‘Of course it is.’ I smiled and led him inside for a rest.