Alfie the Holiday Cat

Chapter Five

We were all having breakfast in the kitchen when there was a loud, persistent knock at the door.

‘Is that the builders already?’ Claire asked, looking up from where she was trying to coax Summer to eat some fruit. All the children were sitting nicely at the table, and George was licking porridge off the floor. I was trying, and failing, not to notice him doing so.

‘They’re not due for an hour, I’ll go,’ Polly said, making towards the door. I went with her. As she opened the door, we both were taken aback for a moment. Standing on the doorstep was a very glamorous woman, who I first thought was carrying one of those tiny dogs but on closer inspection it was actually a cat. A Persian, I thought, very pretty, but she took one look at me and waved her tail in a hateful way, hissed and started squirming.

‘Chanel darling, behave,’ the woman said as the cat wiggled in her arms. I stood my ground; this was my ground after all.

‘Hello?’ Polly said, looking bemused. The woman was tall, very slim and wearing a dress and really high heels. Her blonde hair was long and very neat and she was wearing make-up. I felt a little sorry for Polly — although she is the most beautiful woman I know, she didn’t look great in an old T-shirt, cropped leggings, her hair piled messily on top of her head and there was no make-up on her face. The cat was as immaculate as her owner but I didn’t like her, she was hostile and, I decided, as she hissed at me again, more than a little bit mean.

‘Sorry, sorry.’ The lady’s voice was confident and a little too loud. ‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Andrea. I live next door and, well, I wanted to come and meet you, with Chanel of course. I didn’t realise you had a cat though,’ she said giving me what I can only describe as a ‘look’. It was a bit disdainful.

‘Oh, hi.’ Polly looked at the woman unsurely. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Polly, this is Alfie. We actually have two cats here,’ she explained.

‘Meow,’ I said, trying to tell Chanel I wasn’t scared of her. She looked at me as if she’d like to kill me.

‘Right, so are you living here now?’ Andrea asked. Her grey eyes narrowed and she tried to peer round the door into the house.

‘No, not exactly. We’ve just arrived but we’re on holiday. It’s a long story.’ Finally Polly found her smile.

‘Right, well no time like the present.’ And somehow Andrea managed to manoeuvre herself around me and Polly and into the house, Chanel still in her arms.

‘Um, everyone else is in the kitchen,’ Polly said, but Andrea had headed that way already.

Claire was sipping coffee, the children were squabbling and Franceska was trying to clean up but she kept tripping over George who was insistently scrabbling around her feet.

‘George, stop,’ she chastised.

‘Children, shush,’ Claire shouted.

‘Um, everyone, hello,’ Polly interrupted. As they all turned to look at Andrea, everyone went quiet. Even George. ‘This is Andrea, she’s our neighbour?’

‘Well yes, I live in the next house to your left, Beach Villa, and I’ve come to welcome you.’ She didn’t sound welcoming. Chanel glared at me and George. George was now still and staring at Chanel, his eyes wide.

‘And you’ve got a cat?’ Aleksy said, looking puzzled. ‘We love cats.’

‘Yes, sorry Chanel is like my baby, my third baby as I have two daughters, but I take her everywhere. I wouldn’t have brought her here if I knew you had cats, she doesn’t care for other felines.’

‘Meow,’ Chanel concurred.

‘Right, well I’m Claire, this is Franceska and these are our array of children.’ Claire smiled, and held out a hand but Andrea was unable to take it because she was still trying to contain a squirming Chanel.

‘Lovely to meet you all. I would stay but I think darling Chanel is a little uncomfortable.’ As Chanel was hissing and wriggling that seemed to be a bit of an understatement.

‘Right,’ Claire said, uncertainly.

‘But I tell you what, I’ll pop back this evening, on my own,’ she glared at me as if it was my fault, ‘with a bottle of something fizzy and we can have a proper chat.’

‘Um?’ Franceska said.

‘Well we are in a total mess, what with builders and everything.’

‘So I see, never mind, I’m happy to slum it,’ Andrea trilled. ‘I’ll be back about eight, I’m guessing all these children will be in bed then.’ She laughed, but it sounded a bit menacing. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out.’

Before anyone could say anything else, she and Chanel were gone.

‘My goodness,’ Claire said.

‘What on earth was that?’ Franceska said.

‘And we thought that we were the sophisticated Londoners, coming to a little Devon village,’ Polly said. ‘She looks right out of Knightsbridge. As did her cat.’

‘Chanel. What sort of name is that?’ Claire mused.

‘Did you see the collar? I bet it was real diamonds.’

‘Oh God, and she’s coming back tonight. I don’t know why we didn’t say no.’ Franceska trembled.

‘We didn’t get the chance … Anyway, it’ll be nice to meet some local people,’ Polly said unconvincingly.

‘Do you think we’ve got time to get our hair done?’ Claire quipped.

‘Well, I didn’t bring my ballgown with me but I feel that I should have done now,’ Polly giggled.

George was scrabbling at my legs to get my attention.

‘What?’ I hissed.

‘That cat, Chanel, she’s beautiful,’ he said. He looked a little enraptured.

‘But not nice, she didn’t like us, did she?’ I pointed out.

‘But everyone likes me. I’m going to be her friend. She’s so beautiful, the most beautiful cat in the world.’

I saw then the look in his eyes, which reminded me of myself when I first saw Snowball. My George had developed his first crush.

Andrea was soon forgotten as the builders arrived. One of them was going to finish the doorway into the newly christened ‘sand room’, while the others went up to the attic. According to Polly they worked hard and didn’t drink too much tea — which was apparently a good thing for builders, especially as we had a tight time schedule. As the weather was good, Franceska and Claire once again took the children to the beach. George and I lay on the bonnet of Claire’s car — it had the highest roof — and watched them from our vantage point. We said we’d probably go to the beach later but, as it was so close, we didn’t feel the urgency any more. So curling up together on the car sunbathing and watching the world go by was definitely a pleasant way to pass the time.

There were a few dogs around, although of course not on the beach, and they were thankfully on leads. It was a busy, lively village; cars kept appearing, looking for places to park, children jumping excitedly out, also lots of people cramming the pavements, all wearing summery clothes and chattering excitedly. I saw that Aleksy had set up some kind of ball game and children were approaching him to play. I hoped they would make some nice friends this summer, I hoped George and I would too—

‘Oh it’s you,’ a hostile voice interrupted me. I looked up to see Chanel standing on the street.

‘Hi, hey, how are you?’ George gushed. She narrowed her eyes, swishing her tail angrily, and then turned her attention back to me.

‘I never go out on my own, not outside my garden anyway, so it’s a very big deal that you have made me come here,’ she snapped.

‘I didn’t make you do anything,’ I replied, still trying to sound friendly.

‘Who do you think you are, coming here?’ she hissed.

‘Well, I’m Alfie, this is George and this is our holiday house,’ I said, not unkindly. I was a firm believer in using charm. Especially with difficult creatures. Chanel was clearly a difficult creature.

‘Not for long,’ she said, again flicking her tail. ‘Mark my words, your days are numbered,’ she hissed before turning and leaving.

‘What on earth did she mean by that?’ I asked. I felt suddenly as if something might be wrong with this otherwise perfect set-up. I blinked, had I misheard her? Her voice had sounded menacing and her words threatening.

I looked at the children, all playing in a big group, Claire and Franceska looking on happily. I saw Polly come to the front door with a cup of tea and make her way over to join them and I saw George preening himself, checking his reflection in the wing mirror of the car. Surely our days weren’t numbered, whatever that meant. Our holiday had only just started.

‘Oh wow, Dad, I think she likes me,’ George said.

‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ I asked. I didn’t want to burst his bubble but that cat really didn’t like either of us. I remembered back to when I first met Snowball. She had been quite immune to my charms and I hadn’t given up. But then, this cat, well she was no Snowball, or Tiger for that matter, she was just downright horrible.

‘It was the way she looked at me, I could just tell,’ George sighed. I raised my whiskers but held my tongue. I had a horrible feeling that George’s first crush was going to teach him a lot about love — the hard way.

That evening, the house was alive with the sounds of happy children. I pushed Chanel to the back of my mind as they chattered on about their new friends and how tomorrow Aleksy and Tommy had their first paddleboarding lesson. Summer was cross because she couldn’t go but, as Claire pointed out, she was too little, and Toby was still a bit scared of the water. Back home Jonathan had started taking him to swimming lessons but it was early days and I totally sympathised with how he felt. Really, I was sure it was more sensible to be scared of water than to actually want to be in it. The builders were long gone but Claire was still trying to clean up the dust, which seemed to be covering everyone and everything.

‘Oh God, I need to shower before the queen gets here,’ she said. I figured out she was talking about Andrea.

‘You know, I think we need to try to get the plumbing sorted soon, the shower is a bit lacklustre,’ Polly said, her head back in the plans. ‘I’m thinking we can fix it temporarily before we get all the bathrooms done.’

‘Polly, you are a marvel with all this house stuff, honestly, I wouldn’t know where to start,’ Franceska said.

‘Yes, well I can’t cook remember,’ Polly laughed, giving Franceska a hug.

‘Also, I have spoken to Colin and we are going to have a shower set up outside, with hot water, to hose the worst of the sand off the kids before they even go into the sand room. What do you think?’

‘Genius,’ Claire said. ‘I love it.’ But then she had just spent the best part of two hours sweeping both sand and dust up.

‘This is going to be the best holiday cottage ever,’ Franceska said. ‘I am so happy we all did this.’

‘So am I,’ Claire agreed, a dreamy look on her face. ‘I bet Aunt Claire would be so happy that it was filled with love.’

‘Oh gosh, it’s nearly seven. Right, Claire, we’ll round up the younger ones and get them washed and ready for bed. Frankie, can you continue with the clearing up?’ Polly said, jumping up.

‘I can, but I’m not sure it’s going to make much difference,’ Franceska said, taking the broom from Claire and shaking her head at the mess.

By eight, the children were in bed, apart from Aleksy and Tommy who were in the living room watching a DVD. They were the oldest after all so they were allowed to stay up later than the others, especially as it was school holidays. George had gone to bed with Toby as usual and I was hanging out with Aleksy until I heard the knock at the door. I sprang up from Aleksy’s lap and went to the door, arriving just before Claire.

Andrea was standing on the doorstep looking dressed for a night out. She wore a dress, again, high heels, her hair was swept up onto her head and she had a lot of make-up on. The smell from her was so strong I felt as if I’d swallowed a mouthful of perfume; it wasn’t pleasant.

‘Andrea, how lovely to see you again, come in,’ Claire said, stepping aside to let her in.

‘Likewise,’ she replied, but didn’t sound as if she meant it.

Claire led Andrea into the kitchen where Polly and Franceska were sitting around the table. Wine glasses had been put out, candles lit and, although it wasn’t exactly immaculate, it was tidy and clean-ish at least.

‘What a charming kitchen,’ Andrea said, wrinkling her nose, as she greeted the others.

‘Did you know my Aunt Claire?’ Claire asked.

‘No, she’d gone before we moved into the village, but she was spoken about. It was a big annoyance to the village that the house was empty for so long. We tried to do something about it but we couldn’t seem to get to the bottom of who owned it … Until now.’

‘Well my aunt was ill, and I think whoever was managing her affairs just did as per her instructions. I used to come here as a child,’ Claire explained. Andrea handed her a bottle, and she opened it, pouring four glasses.

‘Sorry we don’t have flutes, only wine glasses.’ Polly looked embarrassed.

‘Well, as I said earlier, I’m happy to slum it,’ Andrea said, before laughing. Her laugh sounded a little tinkly and fake.

‘I’ll add them to my list,’ Claire said through gritted teeth. She was making a list of things they still needed as she went along.

‘How long have you lived here?’ Franceska asked, changing the subject.

‘Ten years. My husband and I moved here when I had my first child.’

‘How many do you have?’ Polly asked.

‘Two, both girls. Savannah is ten, obviously, and Serafina is eight.’

‘Lovely names. And what is the village like now, obviously I haven’t been here for so long,’ Claire said.

‘It’s a great village. There’s a lovely school for the girls and obviously we live on the beach.’

‘Not in those shoes,’ Polly said, before clamping her hand over her mouth.

‘Oh I don’t go to the beach much, all that dreadful sand. But I watch the girls from the safety of my garden. You could do the same.’

‘Of course. And we think the village is lovely. We went to a nice pub when we last visited, The Lynstow Arms.’

‘The food’s good there, of course us locals try to avoid it during the holidays, you know, it’s full of tourists,’ Andrea said, without a hint of irony, even though she was addressing tourists.

‘You must find that annoying,’ Claire said, stifling a grin.

‘To be honest, we think this is a lovely village and community and we like to keep it that way. We find it unfortunate that Londoners come in and buy up the properties which they hardly ever use. It’s sapping the soul from the village.’ She said this without a hint of niceness, I thought as I curled up on Claire’s lap. I didn’t like the turn this was taking; it reminded me of my earlier conversation with Chanel.

‘Well the good thing is that this house has three families so we’ll use it loads. Weekends, school holidays, you’ll probably find there’s someone here most of the time.’

‘Not quite the same though, is it? You are not going to be a full-time part of the community. Seabreeze Cottage will still be empty a great deal of time.’ Her voice had turned cold and I saw Franceska looking alarmed.

‘We want to become as much a part of the community as we can,’ Claire pushed.

‘Absolutely, and we have so many school holidays, as you know, our kids will grow up here as well,’ Polly added.

‘I’m sure you mean well. With your building plans and hundreds of children, not to mention the cats, but the point is that I am here to make you an offer.’

‘An offer?’

‘What kind of offer?’

‘I want to buy Seabreeze Cottage. I want to buy it off you right now.’

‘But we’ve started work on it,’ Polly said.

‘Then stop. Sell it to me, go back to London and if you want to come on holiday then rent somewhere but let this house, this amazing property, go to someone local.’

‘But you already have a house, so it’d be a second home for you too?’ Polly suddenly sounded annoyed.

‘Look, I can’t explain everything now but if you sell me this house it will be a home, you can trust me on that one.’ She sounded sincere, I almost believed her.

‘That’s a lovely idea but you know this is a family home for me,’ Claire explained. ‘And my Aunt Claire was a big part of this community and she wanted me to have the cottage, so that’s what I am going to do.’ She crossed her arms; nice but firm.

‘I will pay you above the asking price.’ I noticed a hint of desperation enter Andrea’s voice.

‘I’m sorry, Andrea, but it’s not for sale,’ Claire said, stroking me.

‘Everything has a price,’ Andrea said, staring at Claire with cold grey eyes.

‘We don’t,’ Polly said, going to stand near Claire’s chair. ‘We want this to be a family home too, but for our families.’

‘We’ll see. I want this house.’ Andrea stood up and glared at each of the women, any hint of friendliness fled. ‘And I always get what I want.’

I now understood what Chanel meant. If Andrea had her way, it seemed our days here would in fact be numbered.