Alfie The Holiday Cat. Alfie In The Snow. A Friend Called Alfie

‘Right then, home time,’ Claire said. As she started to walk us home, Pickles managed to wrap his lead around my paws, causing me to fall over.

‘Oh, Pickles,’ Claire said, untangling us and then picking me up. Luckily I wasn’t in too much pain from the accident, but I gave Pickles a little bit of a wide berth for the rest of the walk. When we got home, there was still no sign of George. I let Pickles follow me around the house, he said he needed to watch me to learn about being a better cat. I didn’t even have the energy with everything that was going on to point out for what felt like the millionth time that he was a puppy. So I went about my usual cat business with him as my little shadow. I went to lie on my favourite blanket and I looked out of the window. But no matter how hard he tried, Pickles couldn’t get up onto the windowsill, and I didn’t have the heart to watch him try for too long. So I hopped off my perch so that we could take a walk around the garden. Perhaps I needed to make my cat activities more dog-friendly, or Pickles friendly anyway. There was still no sign of George, but I couldn’t risk leaving the house to go and look for him. I hoped Claire would take Pickles for a walk to give me some space, but she had to go and get things for Harold, so once again I was left in charge. I know I wasan adult, but I was also a cat, and the responsibility being piled on me was vast. However, I was flattered because clearly everyone felt that I could handle it and they were almost right.

‘Right,’ I said. ‘Time to practise napping,’ I said, as I led Pickles to curl up on the sofa with me. it had been a tiresome morning, and I needed some peace. Thankfully Pickles started snoring the moment he lay his head down, and I was ready to rest myself. I had to think about Harold, andwhat he might be going through – we all knew how much he hated hospital by now. I thought about George and the fact that he was frustrated by not being able to see Harold. I had to think about all my families, and I said a little prayer for everyone before I lay my head down and fell asleep – the little pug snoring next to me.

Chapter Fourteen

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After a restful cat nap, I woke up feeling uplifted for a change. It was girls’ night, or rather ladies’ night at our house and my favourite human women would all be under one roof. It was lovely being a friend to so many people, but when they were all together, my heart would swell with happiness. Since coming to Edgar Road, I had been incredibly busy, making friends, bringing people together and solving problems, so George was right, I did have a vocation, and so, therefore, I understood how important it was to him. I determined that I would help him with his quest. I might not have taken him as seriously as I should have done … But for now, I was going to hangout with my favourite bunch of women; Claire, Franceska, Polly and Sylvie.

I said goodnight to George, who although now old enough to stay up with us, wanted to go and be with Toby.

‘That’s fine, son, but you know where I am if you want me,’ I said.

‘Of course. But I need an early night, I’m exhausted,’ he said, stretching his paws and yawning.

‘Pickles kept you busy earlier, didn’t he?’ I had been quite pleased when George said he’d hang out with Pickles for a bit, so I could go out and see my friends. We still had to be careful because if we both went out, he followed us.

‘Yeah it was fun, I was trying to teach him how to meow.’

‘And how did that go?’

‘Not great, whenever he tried it still came out as a woof, but it was quite funny.’

‘Sweet dreams, son.’ I gave him a quick nuzzle and then headed downstairs, chuckling to myself. Poor Pickles didn’t stand a chance.

Jonathan had gone to Matt’s to ‘get out of the way’, as he put it, but I was pleased; he’d been working so much lately he hadn’t had time for any of us, including his friends. He and Matt were best friends, so it would do them good to spend a bit of time together. Again, thanks to yours truly. They did invite Marcus, but he was with his dad at the hospital, and he’d taken Connie with him to cheer Harold up. The children were tucked into bed, but I knew that Toby and George were not asleep but playing on Toby’s tablet under the covers. I think Claire knew as well but was also turning a blind eye. We parents sometimes did that, we would choose our battles. Besides, it wasn’t a school night, and therefore we could all have a lie-in the following day. Paws crossed.

‘Dig in,’ Claire said, as they sat at the kitchen table, all with glasses of wine and food laid out.

‘It looks great, Claire, I am so hungry right now. Sometimes I think that working in a restaurant puts me off food,’ Franceska said.

‘Frankie, you work in the office,’ Polly pointed out. They laughed.

‘Yes, but I am around the food all day still,’ Franceska argued. ‘It’s a good diet in a way.’

‘Maybe I should come and work with you,’ Sylvie said. ‘I’ve put on a bit of weight lately.’

‘Not that anyone can tell.’ Polly rolled her eyes.

‘It’s because you’re happy,’ Claire pointed out. ‘You are, aren’t you?’ Claire worried about Sylvie, I knew because she had had such a hard time, and meeting Marcus had been great for her, but with Harold at the hospital, it wasn’t as peaceful as it had been, although they seemed tobe coping well.

‘I am. I wish they would sort out Harold though. Marcus is incredibly worried, naturally, and he’s running himself ragged being at the hospital all the time. But you know, he’s going to be there for longer than we hoped. Which isn’t great for any of us.’

‘It must be hard, well I know it’s hard because fitting everything in including visiting Harold in hospital isn’t easy,’ Polly said.

‘And you guys have been great, knowing that you’re all visiting him takes some of the pressure off Marcus, but you know what he’s like.’

‘A lovely man,’ Franceska said. She was a big fan of Marcus, in fact, we all were.

‘It’s funny because I still think of it as the early days in our relationship. We see each other a lot, but we haven’t discussed the future yet, but you know I feel as if he’s been there forever in some ways. And he’s so different from my ex—’

‘Don’t go there,’ Polly warned wagging a finger at Sylvie. They laughed.

‘No, but you know he, my ex, really wants Connie to go to Japan for Christmas, and I know I won’t be alone, but it would be the first Christmas I wasn’t with my daughter since she was born.’ She shuddered. ‘And I’ve told them both, him and Connie that is, that it’s her choice. The problem is I know she’s conflicted.’

‘She would be, do you think she wants to go?’ Claire asked. I thought it would be sad to not have Connie here for Christmas, but I also knew that Connie missed her dad.

‘I don’t know. She’s so loyal after the turmoil of last year she doesn’t want to say, I’ve tried to tell her that I don’t mind and that I’d be fine here with Marcus and all of you, but I don’t know. She’s not happy with her father, especially now he has a new family, but I also don’t want her to cut him off. He is her dad, after all.’

‘Do you want me to talk to Aleksy about it?’ Franceska asked. ‘I never ask him to betray her confidence, but I could say that we’re worried she doesn’t know what to do so maybe he could make sure she is OK?’

‘That’s a great idea, as long as you don’t say it’s come from me,’ Sylvie said. ‘Thanks, Frankie, I don’t need to know what she says, but it would be great to know that she can confide in Aleksy.’

I would have suggested the same– I had taught my humans well.

‘Gosh, can you believe we’re talking about Christmas already?’ Claire said. I couldn’t believe it. It was late October, so actually, it wasn’t that far away. It would be our second Christmas without Tiger who we lost in December last year. I felt emotion well up, I missed her. I would have given anything to see her one last time. Just as I was about to wallow, I felt a drop of something wet on my head. I jumped up and then onto Franceska’s lap.

‘Sorry, Alfie, I got carried away, and spilt my wine,’ Polly said, looking guilty. Franceska wiped my fur and then stroked me as I settled down on her lap, purring.

‘So what do you think, we should do a big Christmas again, like last year?’ Polly asked.

‘Not exactly like last year,’ Claire laughed.

‘Oh can we not talk about it yet, I have so much work to do because I like to take time off in December, but if I don’t get it done then you’ll have to do my shopping, Claire,’ Polly laughed. It was a family joke that Claire loved shopping, a bit too much. Jonathan moaned about it all the time.

‘You know I’d love that,’ Claire replied. ‘But you know, I’ll have to do everything this year, because Jonathan’s been tasked with heading up a department which has lost staff due to incompetence, so he needs to turn it around. He is also hiring staff, so when he finds the right people,in theory, it will take the pressure off him a bit.’ Her eyes darkened slightly.

‘Bear with it, Claire,’ Franceska said. ‘When we started out with the restaurants, remember how mad I got about never seeing Tomasz or him seeing the kids? But we sorted it out.’

‘You went back to Poland and threatened not to come back,’ Polly pointed out.

‘Yes, I did, but that was because Tomasz didn’t realise how much he was neglecting his family, which was different. Jon knows he’s working too much and he’s already trying to sort it out.’

I crossed my paws that he was.

‘I know, and I’ve said that I will support him,’ Claire said. ‘But if it carries on into the new year then maybe I’ll go to Poland.’ They laughed again.

Their easy chatter was music to my ears. Life might not be perfect, never perfect, but still better than it could have been. And that was enough for this cat. For now.

Chapter Fifteen

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‘Just where exactly are you going?’ I asked George as he stood by the cat flap. I knew I sounded like an overbearing parent, but I didn’t care. I was feeling suspicious.

‘I’m going to see Hana,’ he replied. I narrowed my eyes. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him exactly, but I could tell he was hiding something. Also, it was very early, and he didn’t usually go out this early.

‘But her family might all still be asleep,’ I pointed out. After all, ours was. It was a school day, or weekday, whatever the best term was, and I had noticed, from my bed, on the landing, George get up, quietly as if he didn’t want to wake me as he crept downstairs. Something was definitely going on.

‘No they get up super early,’ he replied, confidently. ‘Anyway, she needs a friend, because she’s sad about Harold,’ he continued.

I was confused, George was the one who was closest to Harold.

‘But, aren’t you sad about Harold?’ I asked.

‘Of course I am, but he’s going to be fine. I know it.’

I surrendered, and let him go.‘Don’t be too long,’ I shouted after him, still unable to shake the feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I had to resist the urge to go after him, I knew that would cause a row between us but I also knew my kitten really well, and I knew when he was hiding something.

I paced around trying to think when Jonathan emerged. His hair was wet from the shower and he was in his dressing gown. Gosh, he was up earlier than usual too.

‘What are you doing up?’ he asked, echoing my thoughts.

‘Meow.’ Hoping for breakfast now, actually.

‘Right, coffee’s on, let’s get you and George some breakfast.’

As Jonathan made his coffee and I made a start on my breakfast, it was nice for us to spend time together, just the two of us. Rare but welcome.

‘Need to get into the office early, there are a few interviews for staff today, so it’s looking hopeful that I might not be such an absent father and husband soon!’ he told me. Jonathan sounded cheerful.

‘Meow,’ I reassured.

‘I know, and I’ve given myself a deadline, by the new year I want my department fully staffed so I can still work hard but not the ridiculous hours I’ve been doing, and I’m pretty sure I can meet that deadline, actually,’ he continued, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing because I guess it was too hot.

‘Yowl.’ I’m right with you.

‘It’s going to be so much better for all of us, including me,’ Jonathan said.

‘Are you talking to Alfie or yourself?’ Claire snuck up on us, taking us both by surprise.

‘Alfie, of course, he’s a great listener,’ Jonathan said as Claire gave his cheek a kiss.

‘Meow,’ I responded. I really was.

After our early start, I was pleased when Claire said that Pickles was going with her to do the school run. There was still no sign of George, so with the house empty I took advantage of having a bit of time to cat nap before the whirlwind that was Pickles returned. When George was a tiny kitten I would snatch sleep wherever I could, parenting tip number two, and I was now doing the same with Pickles. As I found a sunny spot on the sofa, which was getting rarer and rarer every day, I took my nap. I was woken by a wet nose pressed against mine.

‘George?’ I asked, before I realised I was half asleep.

‘Oh wow, it’s working, I’m getting to be like George,’ Pickles said as I opened my eyes.

‘Well, I think you’re more like you,’ I said, diplomatically. ‘You need to find your own self you know, Pickles. You don’t have to do everything George does.’

‘I don’t, he tried to teach me to chase birds yesterday but I couldn’t jump up on the fence like he can,’ he said sadly. ‘In fact I can barely jump.’

‘Oh dear, Pickles, you can’t do everything like a cat, it’s a matter of biology.’ I had no idea if this was the right term but I wanted to sound as if I knew what I was talking about.

‘But one day when I’m bigger?’

‘No, Pickles, as much as it’s fun to do some of the things George does, there are others which you absolutely must not. The first is going out without a human, the second is climbing.’ I wondered what else would have to go on the list. I had a feeling it would be a very long list.

‘It’s not fair that I can’t do all these fun things, to be honest. And Alfie, I’m sure you know what you’re talking about a bit but I’m not sure you’re right. I think in time and with practice I can definitely absolutely do everything that George does.’

Oh no, this wasn’t going exactly as planned.

‘You know not all cats like to climb, I’m not keen on it myself,’ I continued.

‘But I am and one day I’m going to be a climber.’

I didn’t have the energy to argue further, but thankfully Claire came in, and to my surprise Marcus was with her.

‘Right, sit down, and have a cup of tea, and then we’ll go through everything,’ Claire said.

‘You really are a life saver. I really could do without having to go, but it was booked ages ago and it’s work …’

‘Marcus, you’re going to Scotland not to outer space. Your dad isn’t critical anymore, and I can visit him every morning after the school run, find out what he needs for the day, then take it in the afternoon. Sylvie is going to go in the evenings, and Polly, Matt and Jonathan will when they can too, we’ll keep an eye on him.’

‘Thanks, Claire, you know he’s getting better because he’s constantly moaning.’

‘Oh yes, when I last saw him he accused one of the nurses of trying to kill him off.’

‘How they haven’t tried already I will never know,’ Marcus laughed.

‘You know he’s going to be fine, don’t you?’

‘I do but he is getting older, and you know I live with him at the moment, but he might need more care before too long.’ Marcus scratched his head, I wished he’d do the same to mine. I loved a good head scratch.

‘Cross that bridge when you come to it, but, Marcus, he’ll be fine, you’re only gone for a few days.’

‘I know, I know, but you understand the guilt. We take care of people, Claire, that’s what we do.’

‘Speaking of Sylvie,’ Claire said.

‘I wasn’t,’ Marcus replied but we both knew he was a bit.

‘Really?’ Claire raised an eyebrow.

‘OK, I love her to bits, you know that, but I’m worried, she’s been a bit moody lately, and I think it might be to do with the idea of Connie going to Japan for Christmas.’

‘Is she going?’

‘We don’t know, we both spoke to her, and told her that she had our blessing but it was her decision. She hasn’t mentioned it since, and Sylvie doesn’t want to push. I think also being at the hospital so much takes its toll on both of us, as well, so maybe that’s adding to it … But you know when I first met her she was upset, and since then she’s always been so level-headed. However she might be having a bit of a relapse.’

‘I’ll have a chat with her, she said she was fine when she was over the other night, but I can double check.’

‘Thanks, Claire, you are such a star, I do appreciate it.’

Did I now need to add Sylvie to the list of people I worried about?

‘George.’ I almost jumped on him the minute he got home.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘Oh nothing, I just wondered how Sylvie was.’

‘How should I know that?’

‘I assumed you’d been with Hana today, after all she’s your best friend.’

‘Oh yeah, right, she said that Sylvie had been a bit grumpy lately but she didn’t know why.’ George seemed preoccupied. I hoped he hadn’t had a falling out with Hana.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Apparently Sylvie said she felt tired and irritated a lot, and she didn’t feel that good, it’s not a big deal though.’

‘Oh it isn’t? That’s a relief, I was worried for a minute.’

‘Anyway, I haven’t been with Hana all day.’

‘But you’ve been out all day, George, where have you been?’

‘Dad, I can’t tell you, but trust me, I was only doing good. I was doing my job.’

‘You were doing your job?’

‘I suppose I was, actually. Yes, I was at work today.’

‘The job you can’t tell me about?’

‘No, Dad, it’s early days, so I think it’s best to keep it to myself for now.’

‘George, I am really confused about this.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry but it’s kind of a secret job and I can’t tell anyone. Don’t feel it’s just you that I’m keeping it from, no one knows anything about it.’

He went off to get some food and I sat there, feeling flummoxed. Should I worry? Where had he been? I decided to go out myself and see if anyone else knew anything.

‘Nellie, I’m so glad you’re here, did you see George today?’ My words gushed out as soon as I reached the recreation ground.

‘Um no Alfie, but—’

‘Oh goodness, where has he been? I mean he can’t visit Harold’s house, and he said he hadn’t seen Hana since this morning. He seems to think he’s got himself a job but everyone knows that cats don’t really have jobs, so I have no idea.’ I paced up and down, and barely noticed that my other friends, Rocky and Elvis, had approached Nellie. Even Salmon was there.

‘What is it?’ I asked looking between them. They all looked serious. ‘Has something happened with George, is that what this is?’ I asked, panicked. ‘Is something wrong with him?’

‘No, Alfie, although this does affect George,’ Nellie said kindly.

‘Can one of you tell me what’s going on?’ I demanded, this was scaring me. The way my friends were all looking at me wasn’t great.

‘OK,’ Salmon said, glancing at the others. It had to be bad if they’d included him. ‘I came to find you, and I told the others, because, you know my family is friends with the Barkers?’ The Barkers were Tiger’s family.

‘Yes, so?’ I had a bad feeling.

‘Well, the Barkers have, there’s no easy way to say this, Alfie, but they’ve got another cat.’

I felt the words stick in my throat. I wanted to yowl, but I knew that I couldn’t do that. I had a million questions but I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers. Tiger was irreplaceable.

‘Right.’ I sat down as if I’d been physically winded.

‘Alfie, Tiger is not being replaced,’ Rocky said, gently.

‘But the Barkers were so lost without her, and it’s been almost a year, so they thought it would be time. The cat they’ve got, Oliver, he’s not a kitten and they can give him a good home,’ Salmon said, sounding more compassionate than I ever heard him be in my life. I raised my whiskers. I knew that the Barkers would be lost without Tiger, and I knew that the cat flap never heralding her arrival home must have been painful for them. The same way seeing her windowsill empty was painful for us.

‘Are you alright?’ Nellie asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I replied, honestly. ‘Does George know?’ This might explain things.

‘No, as Nellie said, we haven’t seen him all day and he didn’t come this way, so I guess he didn’t go past the Barkers’ house,’ Elvis said.

‘What’s the new cat like?’ I asked. I felt deflated, horrible, but I still had to get all the information because George was going to have to know about this and I would be the one to tell him.

‘As far as I know he’s called Oliver, he came from a local shelter, because his owners couldn’t have him anymore, but I don’t know more than that.’

I felt terrible, because when I was homeless, I’d been too scared to go to the shelter, too young to understand that it was a safe place for cats so I had run away instead, hence ending up at Edgar Road.

‘Alfie, he can’t go out at the moment, can he, Salmon?’ Rocky said.

‘No, I heard the Barkers telling my owners that he’s got to stay inside for a few weeks until he gets used to the place.’

‘Right.’ I felt words were going to choke me.

‘So, what we’re saying is that you’ve got a while to get used to the idea before you actually have to meet him,’ Nellie said gently.

‘OK.’ This was the last thing I expected when I came out to see my friends. But now I had to go and tell George that another cat was living in his Tiger mum’s house. But I had no idea how he’d react.

‘It makes sense, Dad, I guess,’ George said, I was amazed by his mature reaction. My boy constantly surprised me.

‘Eh?’ I expected him to react the way I had, feeling upset, angry maybe, at the idea of my Tiger being replaced.

‘Dad, loneliness comes in all shapes and sizes, you taught me that. The Barkers have been very cat lonely without Tiger, and they have a good home. And the new cat, he probably lost his home so he must have been very lonely too. So, it makes sense that they have each other. After all it’s a shame to let a good cat flap go to waste.’

‘So, you don’t feel that Tiger’s been replaced?’ He was so flippant about it.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, they will always love her in their hearts, like we do, but I know that they need this new cat too.’

‘Right.’ I wasn’t sure I was following. ‘But you said that I couldn’t fall in love with another cat, because Tiger was irreplaceable.’

‘Oh Dad, of course you can’t replace her, but then cats are more intelligent than humans. Humans need us cats to survive, surely you understand that?’

‘Um, yes, I guess I do.’ I actually did hold with this logic. I’m not a vain cat, but we are superior to most animals and people, so George did have a point.

‘It’s like Pickles can’t really be a cat, because he’s a dog. It’s the same for humans. I know this, it’s part of my job to know this.’

Leaving me dumbfounded he made to go to the back door.

‘I have to see Hana now, she’s expecting me.’

Just what was happening to my little boy? And what was this job he kept talking about? It was driving me crazy not knowing, but that would have to wait, because now I had bigger fish to fry– if only – I had to wallow about the fact that there was another cat living in Tiger’s house. Before too long I would have to meet him, and be nice to him, and not feel angry, hurt and incensed that he was not, and never would be, Tiger. I did understand the Barkers’ need for a cat, I did understand Oliver’s need for a home, but that was rational thought, my heart – which wasn’t as rational – still hurt.

Chapter Sixteen

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My confused state lasted all week, I was so upset. George would go out for long periods of time every single day and still refused to tell me where he was going. I did trust him– sort of anyway, but I worried. What if someone was taking advantage of him? What if he was putting himself in danger? I just didn’t know what to do.

Polly was sitting with Pickles on her lap when I appeared from my morning constitutional, my best thinking time normally, but not today. Claire was pouring coffee for them both. Pickles was enjoying having his ears rubbed– that dog was seriously pampered, but he was so sweet and had grown on me at an alarming rate. When he first arrived, I worried that I would have to try hard to like him, what with him being a dog and all, but actually I took to him very quickly and he now felt like part of my family.

‘I saw Marcus this morning and he said that Harold has perked right up,’ Polly said.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, apparently an old friend has been to see him and it’s cheered him up no end. Marcus said he’s like a different man at the moment, although he still complains about everything, he is happier than usual and hasn’t accused anyone of trying to kill him in days.’

‘Do you think it’s a woman?’ Claire asked.

‘Oh goodness, with his heart problem, I sincerely hope not,’ Polly laughed. ‘Marcus didn’t say who it was, just that his old friend is visiting every day, and somehow before official visiting time. He wondered if it was someone from that group he goes to, you know the old people’s group.’

‘The Senior Centre? As long as he’s happy it doesn’t matter,’ Claire said. ‘You know I’ve started talking to more people on his ward. It’s so sad, some of the old people in hospital never get visitors.’

‘That’s so sad,’ Polly said. ‘If I get old I hope my children visit me.’

‘Polly, that’s not something to be thinking about now. Right, I said I’d bake Harold a cake to share around the ward today, so I better get started.’

‘But, Claire, you don’t bake.’

‘I know, but it’s just a sponge cake, how hard can that be?’

Polly shook her head but then she had to leave to go to work.

Turns out it’s harder than Claire thought. Firstly she managed to get flour all over the floor, and Pickles, who was hoping to get some stray food, turned white and had to be brushed off. Then she got eggshell in the eggs, and it took ages to pick it out. When it finally came out of the oven it looked terrible, all sunken and not anything like a cake should look. The kitchen looked like a bombsite. Luckily I’d had the foresight to watch from a safe distance.

‘Right, I’m going to buy a cake,’ Claire declared and went out, leaving Pickles and me alone. There were a lot of places I wanted to go to, the recreation ground, next door to see Hana and question her about George, and part of me wanted to go to Tiger’s old house to see if I could catch a glimpse of the new cat, but I couldn’t go anywhere, not for a while anyway.

‘Garden?’ I asked Pickles. It was pretty cold but at least it wasn’t raining and I needed some fresh air.

‘Yes, please.’ I went through the cat flap and waited. After a few seconds a tiny head appeared. Pickles’ head. But his body didn’t follow.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked. ‘Come out, hurry up.’

‘I can’t seem to move,’ he said, looking a little stricken.

‘What do you mean you can’t move?’ I asked.

‘I seem to be stuck,’ he said, as he tried to wriggle. Oh, no, this was not what I needed. Pickles had finally done it, he’d become too big for the cat flap. What on earth was I supposed to do now?

I started circling around, trying to think.

‘What are you doing?’ Pickles asked.

‘Thinking,’ I replied. There was no way I could pull him from the front, I was a cat after all. And he was blocking the only way for me to get inside the house, so I was stuck outside. I sat down and started licking my paws.

‘What are you doing?’ Pickles asked again.

‘Thinking,’ I replied. I watched him try to heave himself out but he wasn’t going anywhere as his paws swung up and down in the air. He’d be exhausted in no time at this rate.

‘Have you finished thinking yet?’ he asked.

‘The thing is, Pickles, we are in a bit of a predicament,’ I said.

‘What’s that?’

‘You’re stuck in a cat flap. You remember not long ago you were small but now you’ve grown. You’re actually bigger than George, so you can’t use our cat flap anymore.’

‘OK, but how do I get out?’ He looked panicked as his face scrunched up even more than normal.

‘I’m afraid there’s only one way, we have to wait for Claire to come back from the shops.’

‘But how long will she be? This isn’t comfortable, or even fun anymore.’

‘She won’t be long, but, Pickles, if you stop wriggling, and panicking then you’ll be more comfortable,’ I suggested. He did.

‘Can we play a game while we wait?’ he asked.

‘Sure what do you want to play?’

‘We could play I spy.’

He had learnt about I spy from the children, but couldn’t really grasp the alphabet. Dogs.

‘You go first,’ I suggested.

‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with bird.’

‘Bird,’ I guessed.

‘You are so good at this. Your turn, Alfie.’

I was beginning to despair when I heard Claire arrive home. I thought about waiting for her by the front doorstep but then I was worried that if I left him alone, Pickles would panic even more and hurt himself.

‘Oh my goodness,’ I heard Claire shout, and of course we both knew that we’d been saved. Claire must have seen Pickles’ back end in the cat flap. What a sight to come home to.

‘Right,’ I heard her say. ‘Pickles, stay still, I am going to gently pull you backwards.’ I heard a little bit of huffing from Claire, before Pickles’ face began to disappear backwards. Once he was freed I quickly went through the cat flap to join him.

‘Well this is a bit of a pickle, Pickles.’ Claire laughed at her own joke. ‘You are going to have to stay inside now until one of us is here to let you out. And, Alfie, you and George will have to bear that in mind, and not rush out, because, Alfie, he might follow you and get stuck again.’

‘Meow.’ It wasn’t ideal. This puppy had curtailed my freedom quite a lot so far and although I enjoyed his company, I valued my freedom. I wasn’t sure I was happy not to be able to go outside.

‘Or we could get a dog door, which is just like a bigger cat flap.’ Her brows knotted as if she was thinking. ‘Or you could do what Polly said and lose some weight, Pickles,’ she finished, before she went to unpack her shopping.

‘What are we going to do?’ Pickles asked me wide-eyed.

‘I am going to have some lunch,’ I replied. ‘And if you want your lunch too, let’s hope Claire decides to go for the bigger door option.’

Chapter Seventeen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_18]

I went to see my cat friends while I could still come and go of my own free will.

‘Have any of you seen George?’ I asked Nellie and Rocky. Elvis wasn’t there.

‘No, Alfie, I’ve barely seen him the past few days, but then we haven’t seen much of you either.’

‘I’ve been puppy-sitting, it’s very time-consuming. But George has been going out and he’s been gone quite a long time. I’m a bit worried.’

‘I have no idea where he could be. As Rocky said, we’ve haven’t seen him for a few days. I miss him of course,’ Nellie said, sweetly. ‘But do you think it’s anything to do with the Barkers’ new cat?’

‘Actually, I seemed to be more upset about that than he was. He said the Barkers were lonely and of course they needed a cat. Part of me feels that I should trust him. The other part …’

‘What does the other part say, Alfie?’ Rocky asked.

‘That I need to know what’s going on, because it’s the only way I can be sure he is safe.’

‘Which part is going to win?’ Nellie asked.

‘Which do you think?’ I raised my whiskers, we all knew what was happening.

I was going to have to follow George, just for my own peace of mind. Forget him and Hana now I needed to know more about where he went. But I really had to figure out how to do it so he didn’t know, because George got incredibly cross with me when I did follow him once. And he hated the idea that I didn’t trust him. I needed to think and I needed a plan. Luckily coming up with plans was one of the things I always did best.

‘You know, you could ask Hana,’ Rocky suggested, which made me want to kick myself if that was even possible, because I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that already.

‘Look, Alfie, I don’t blame you for needing to know, in fact we’d all feel better if we knew George wasn’t going to be in any trouble. After all we all love the lad,’ Rocky said.

‘Yes, you’re right.’

‘So if you need us to help in any way, then just let us know,’ Nellie finished.

‘Thanks, guys, I can always rely on you,’ I said which reassured me. ‘But you’re right first I’ll go and ask Hana.’

I knew I had to walk back home past the Barkers’ house, and I still felt conflicted. As I approached, the new cat, Oliver, was sat on the windowsill, in the same spot Tiger used to sit. I felt my heart ache as I looked at him. He was black and white, a fine-looking feline. He also looked very intelligent. And, of course, nothing like Tiger. He looked up just as I was staring at him and I felt embarrassed, but I raised my whiskers in as friendly a way as I could muster. He raised his whiskers back. He clearly wasn’t a young cat, but he needed a home, and goodness knows enough cats were looking for good homes. The Barkers had a good home and they needed a cat because, as George said, they didn’t feel right without one. So I had to come to terms with this because what was important was that this cat had a loving home now. It’s exactly what my Tiger would have wanted.

With thoughts of Tiger in my head, I went to Hana’s house, and let myself in through her cat flap. I didn’t normally go to her house alone, because she was George’s friend, but needs must.

‘Hi,’ I said as alerted by the noise of the cat flap she approached.

‘Alfie, this is a surprise,’ she said. She really was the sweetest cat.

‘How are you?’ I asked. I wished Hana would come out more but she liked to be at home. It takes all sorts of cats to make a world.

‘I’m good, thanks, we’re quite busy here, what with Harold being in hospital, there’s a lot going on,’ she said. ‘But I think he’s going to be alright. You know humans though, I just try to be a good cat and listen to them all.’

‘I guess it’s a bit stressful for you, though, Hana.’

‘I just worry about my humans. and I just wish Harold would come home and things could get back to normal.’

‘Of course you do. And George told me that Harold had to be in a bit longer,’ I started. ‘Talking of George, I don’t want you to betray a confidence or anything but I just want to know he’s safe and I don’t know where he’s going every day.’

Hana tilted her head to one side.

‘You know he said he bet you were going to come and ask me.’

Oh no, I’m obviously predictable.

‘I’m sorry but you know I do worry about him.’

‘I know you do, but, Alfie, George said he has a job. It keeps him busy, but he said he can’t tell me. Although I think he only doesn’t want to tell me in case I tell you!’ She grinned. She had a kind smile.

‘You can’t get anything past that boy,’ I said, grinning back. ‘Hana, I don’t want you to think I’m a terrible dad but I just want to know he’s safe.’

‘I know, it’s like Sylvie and Connie. But actually I think Sylvie might be worse than you.’

‘Thank you, I think.’

‘Alfie, I know George is a bit mysterious, but he is smart and if he says that he’s safe, I think you should believe him. I know it’s hard not knowing but George taught me a saying, “curiosity kills a cat”.’

I didn’t think that was the exact saying, because I was incredibly curious and I was definitely alive.

‘Hana, I won’t ask you to lie to George for me …’ I also knew he’d be really cross if he found out I’d been trying to get information from his friend.

‘Thank you, Alfie, I won’t lie to him, but if he doesn’t ask me then I don’t need to tell him.’ She blinked at me.

‘But while I’m here, you wouldn’t care to shed light on the relationship between you and George would you?’ I asked.

‘He said you would probably ask me about that too.’ She grinned. ‘So, maybe you should ask George.’

‘You are a star, Hana, and thank you again.’ She was right, I should ask my son. Not that he would ever tell me.

I chatted to her for a bit longer and then I said goodbye. Now I had to come up with another way to find out what George was doing and where he was going.

George was going out early in the morning at the moment, and we didn’t see him again until the afternoon. Once I had a clear idea of his schedule I could put the next part of my plan into action, to follow him to wherever he was going. I would need to remain unseen, and he would be none the wiser. It was foolproof.

As I’ve said, I have had many plans in the past, and on the whole they have worked out. They may have included a few dangerous incidents but I’m still here to tell the tale. But this plan, with George, was crucial to get right. When I saw him later that day, I gave him one last chance to tell me where he’d been going.

‘It’s my job, Dad, I’ve told you a million times.’

I was pretty sure he hadn’t told me even half of that many times, actually.

‘OK, but you know as your dad I would love to know more about it. You know where it is, and what you do.’

‘I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. You remember when Tommy decided he was going to be a spy?’

‘Oh yes, I vaguely remember that, it was a few years back now wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, and he said he was going to be a spy and catch bad people but he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that was his job.’

‘Are you trying to tell me you’re a spy?’ I asked, horrified. When Tommy described it, it sounded like a dangerous job. I felt panic in my fur, I was pretty sure cats didn’t get to be spies but then what did I know?

‘Of course I’m not a spy, I don’t actually even know what one is,’ George replied, laughing at me. He was infuriating. ‘It was just an example because my job is a secret, but it’s not dangerous and you just need to trust me.’

‘I do trust you but I really don’t understand why you can’t tell me anything.’

‘I can tell you that what I do is very important.’

It was time for me to put my plan into action.

The following day, I let George leave, and snuck out quickly behind him. The weather was closing in, the clocks were about to change, which meant we would have more hours of darkness than this cat cared for, but never mind. Winter wasn’t my favourite season, although thankfully it included Christmas – its only redeeming quality. Anyway, I followed George out of the cat flap and to the front of the house. Keeping out of sight I watched him walk past Hana’s house and I set off behind him, keeping a safe distance. He crossed a road, but I got delayed by traffic and he got more of a head start as I hurried after him. I realised we were relatively near the children’s school but instead of turning towards it he turned the other way. He strode confidently, this was clearly somewhere that George had been a number of times before. He turned around a couple of times but I hid either behind a pedestrian or in a hedge and felt pretty confident about my journey. Finally he came to a stop, but I hadn’t caught up with him. From where I stood, he looked to be in some kind of queue with humans. I was confused until I saw there was a big red bus parked by the queue. Surely not? Before I could move, I spotted George, weaving himself between people’s legs and hopping onto the bus. I tried to follow him but was blocked by a woman and a pram, who was struggling to get on. When she finally did the doors closed, and I was left standing on the street, watching, helplessly, the bus pull away with my kitten on it.

As I walked home, I felt as if I had failed and tried to nurse my despair. George clearly had been on the bus before but how? Why? And had no one noticed, because as far as I was aware, cats didn’t get to travel on buses. He was sneaking on the bus, and what’s more he was getting away with it. Although I hadn’t managed to get as far as I would have liked, I conceded that at least now I had more information and information is power. Or at least something I could use to plan my next step.

I had to figure out a way of getting on the bus without George noticing, and stay hidden on the bus, until it was time for him to get off. I had even more questions than answers at this point which only fuelled my determination to crack this mystery once and for all.

The following day, my determination increased. I rose early, cleaned myself, and waited downstairs for George to emerge. After what felt like ages, he padded downstairs with Toby and Summer. Claire and Jonathan followed after, and as the noise of the morning began to fill the house. I managed to pull George away before we tucked into our breakfast.

‘I wanted to catch you before you went to work,’ I said. ‘Just to check that you’re alright.’

‘I’m fine, Dad, but I’m not going to work today.’

What? So much for my carefully constructed plan and early morning start.

‘You’re not?’ I tried to sound nonchalant about it, after all I didn’t need him to feel suspicious.

‘No, Dad, no one works all the time, even Jonathan has time off every week.’

‘Well that’s true, but of course as I don’t know about your job, I have no idea what your working arrangements are.’ Again I tried to feign disinterest. I looked at my paw.

‘Ah, well I have a day off today and I thought what better way to spend it than with my dad. And as it’s the weekend, we might not have to babysit Pickles, so maybe we can go out and spend some time together?’ he asked me, hopefully.

‘I’d love to,’ I replied, feeling a little emotional. ‘Actually, George, I’ve missed you.’

‘And I’ve missed you too, Dad. Come on let’s not waste any time, and make the most of the day.’

I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do. Even if it did mean that my plan to discover George’s job would have to wait.

Chapter Eighteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_19]

We’d spent most of the weekend together, been to see Dustbin, caught up with our friends on Edgar Road, hung out with Hana. It was like old times. But the saying curiosity killed the cat was actually proving to be apt, because I felt as if I was dying to know about George’s job.

I repeated my steps of the last time I tried to follow George. I was up at the crack of dawn, but then so were Claire and Jonathan.

‘Oh, Alfie, you’re up early,’ Claire said fussing me as Jonathan made coffee. I wasn’t sure what was going on.

‘I’m hopeful that I’ll get my team finalised today,’ Jonathan said, handing Claire a mug.

‘I really hope so, Jon, this is getting to all of us now.’

‘I know, darling and I am sorry but it’s just—’

‘I know, temporary. And I do understand but I think now it really is enough. You know Toby was so upset last night because he has a big science project coming up. He held it back from you because he was worried you’d be too busy.’

‘That makes me very sad, Claire.’ Jonathan sounded upset. ‘And when I get back from work tonight, I will talk to him about it, I promise. And I’ll make time to help him in any way I can.’

‘I’d quite like to spend some time with you too. This weekend you’ve been glued to your laptop, Jon.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry but I had to finalise all the reports for today, it will get better. It has to get better.’ His voice sounded sad.

We all tried so hard to believe his words but we’d heard them before. I didn’t have time to dwell on that as the children and George descended. George and I had already established that he was going to work today, so I was ready. I was more than ready.

We were interrupted by a surprise ring on the doorbell, who would be popping by before breakfast? Our morning routine was underway; the children at the table waiting for their cereal and toast, Jonathan upstairs getting ready to leave for work. As Claire opened the door, there stood Matt on the doorstep holding Pickles. I hadn’t accounted for this.

‘Thanks so much, Claire. Polly was up at the crack of dawn to get the train to Manchester and I’ve got an early meeting.’ He handed a squirming Pickles to Claire.

‘No worries, we’re all up early anyway,’ she said kindly. As Matt left, Claire shut the door behind her and put Pickles down, releasing his lead. As Pickles shuffled into the kitchen, I tried to catch him on his own.

‘Pickles, I have to tell you that I’m going out this morning, on urgent cat business, with George.’ It wasn’t strictly accurate but I needed to keep it simple for him. ‘So you need to stay here, and I’ll be back later.’ In reality I had no idea where I was going, so I certainly had noidea when I’d be back.

‘OK, Alfie,’ he said and took up his position under the table to catch the children’s scraps. Great, crisis averted – I went to watch George leave.

I tried not to act as if I was watching George’s every move, while watching his every move. No sooner had Claire rushed the children out of the house for school, George headed out. I waited a beat and went out after him.

I went through the back garden and was about to squeeze under the gate, which had been left open. I started bounding down the street after him, he wasn’t too far in front of me, and was just about the cross the road when I heard a voice behind me.

‘Wait for me.’ Oh no, it was Pickles. He caught up with me.

‘I told you to wait at home.’ I cursed the fact they had put a bigger cat flap – which they said was a doggy door – in at home and double cursed the fact the gate was open, because there was no way he would have got out of the garden otherwise.

‘Where’s the fun in that?’ he asked. ‘I wanted to go on urgent cat business.’

Yet again I had a decision to make, and no time in which to think about it. I could take Pickles home which would be the sensible option, or I could continue to follow George and hope for the best. I wanted more than anything to find out where George was going and if I went back home now, who knew when I’d get the chance again. Especially if Pickles was always going to follow me. No, I needed to make sure George was safe, that was the most important thing. Pickles would have to come with me, but I definitely wouldn’t let him cross any roads on his own.

‘Stay close to me and try not to be seen,’ I said. This was not part of my plan.

‘Why?’

‘We’re planning a surprise for George, so he can’t know we’re here yet.’

‘Oh fun!’

I shook my tail. This was anything but fun.

Tentatively I led Pickles safely across the road and followed George to the bus stop.

‘Right, come on, we have to get on the bus but no one can see us.’

We managed to get on by staying close to some human legs and then as I saw George making his way up the back of the bus, I quickly got Pickles to come with me and we hid behind a big shopping trolley at the front.

‘Be really quiet and still,’ I commanded as Pickles wiggled his bottom excitedly. I could see how George got away with it – although I was unsure how on earth he’d learnt to take the bus in the first place. Most people were staring at their phones, a couple had books, so it was relatively easy to go unnoticed. When the bus stopped, Pickles and I lurched a bit, so I sort of snuggled into him to try to keep us still. At the next stop someone stood on my tail as they were getting off. I had to bite my tongue not to yelp although it hurt. After what felt like ages, I noticed George go andwait by the doors, and I told Pickles to prepare to get off the bus. I mentally crossed my paws that he would stay close to me, I couldn’t imagine the sort of trouble we’d be in if I lost him on a bus. The bus came to an abrupt halt, and George, looking every inch the expert, hopped off. We followed managing once again to fall into step with some humans. I have to say, as the wind hit my face I felt relieved that that part of our journey was over. I was partly impressed with my kitten, that he had managed to figure this bus thing out, and part worried if he did this every day. We were lucky that he hadn’t been hurt by a human standing on him, or worse. I had found the bus ride very stressful, although that could have been down to the fact I was trying so hard to keep Pickles in line.

‘What now?’ Pickles asked. He was very excited, whereas I was worried now. We were far from home, and Pickles really shouldn’t be with me. George and I shouldn’t be this far from home, let alone the puppy.

‘Come on, we best not lose George now,’ I said, beckoning him. We followed George at a safe distance, and after a short while we came upon a large, modern building. I finally figured out where we were as the penny dropped. The vehicles parked outside were the same as the ones which had come to collect Harold when he was ill the first time. An ambulance. George had brought us to the hospital. And he seemed to think he worked here.

Confused, I ran up to the door just as he walked through. It was an automatic door, so it opened and I strode through, although there were a few people around, no one seemed to notice either George or myself. The door shut and I saw Pickles standing on the other side. Desperate not to lose George, or Pickles, I stood close to the door which opened again.

‘Hurry up,’ I said.

‘Woof woof, woof,’ Pickles replied. I saw George stop, after all us cats have excellent hearing, much better than humans. He froze for a second, as the door closed again then turned around and saw us. I braced myself as he approached me; he did not look happy.

‘What on earth are you doing here?’ he hissed. Just then the door opened and some humans walked in, Pickles happily trotted in behind them.

‘Um, we thought we would come and see Harold?’ I tried.

‘No, no you didn’t. You followed me because you couldn’t trust me about my job and now you’re probably going to ruin everything,’ he carried, on, ushering us to a doorway where hopefully no one would see us.

‘Wo—’ Pickles started, wiggling his bottom excitedly.

‘No Pickles,’ I hissed. ‘We need to be really quiet.

‘George, I admit I needed to see where you’ve been going, I was worried sick. And I’ve been trying to follow you for a while but today was the first day I actually got it right, only I got it wrong because Pickles followed, and I am sorry but I just love you so much and need to know you’re safe.’

‘Look, you’ve got what you came here for, you know where I work. Yes I work in a hospital, yes Harold is here and my job is to make people happy and not just Harold. It’s really important to me and if you’ve ruined it, I will never forgive you.’

I felt awful, I should have trusted him, but I also needed, as a parent, to know where he was going. If only he’d told me. No, actually if he told me he was doing this I would have still worried and had to follow him anyway.

‘George,’ I said, in my best parental authoritative voice. ‘I am your father and I do trust you but you have undertaken a very treacherous journey, and anything could have happened. I was worried sick about you, what if you’d been run over, or stepped on, or the bus driver caught you? Anything could have happened did you even think about that?’

‘None of that did happen though, did it? Look, Dad, I know you worry but I did this very carefully. The first time I came with Marcus.’

‘Marcus brought you?’ I asked with surprise.

‘Not exactly. I knew he was visiting Harold so I followed him, and I learnt the whole layout, then I started coming on my own, in the mornings mostly when I knew they didn’t have visitors.’

‘Why couldn’t you tell me all this?’

‘Harold said it had to be a secret or I wouldn’t be able to come anymore.’

‘I think he meant from humans. What now?’ I asked, as I noticed Pickles had become bored and restless.

‘You and Pickles go home and I’ll go and visit Harold.’

‘Um.’ I hadn’t quite thought through this part of my plan.

‘What?’ George asked.

‘I’m not sure how to get home. You see I was so busy watching you, and making sure Pickles was alright I didn’t pay that much attention to the route.’

‘OK, then how about you and Pickles wait here, stay hidden and I’ll go and visit my friends.’

‘Friends? I thought it was Harold.’

‘Dad, there are lots of lonely people on his ward who like to see me. That’s my job, I visit lonely people and cheer them up.’

‘Wow, I am so proud of you.’ I felt emotional.

‘Yes, but you’re stopping me from doing my job.’

‘Could we come and watch you, just this once?’ I asked.

‘No, absolutely not, there’s no way that I am going to let you come with me.’

‘OK.’ I resigned myself to stay hidden, and try to keep Pickles under control – goodness knows how I was going to do that. As George walked off, Pickles made a break for it and ran after him. I had no choice but to follow.

George made his way to a back stairwell where we joined him.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘It was Pickles,’ I replied truthfully.

‘It really was,’ Pickles said. ‘I am trying to be a cat so I need to cheer people up too. After all this is important cat business.’

I raised my whiskers at George, he had put the cat idea into Pickles’ head after all. George hid us round a corner until someone pushed the door open and came out from the stairwell, he hissed at us to be quick and thankfully we made it safely in just before the door closed.

‘There’s a lift,’ he explained, ‘but I can’t reach the buttons so this way I know exactly what floor to go to.’

‘You’ve really put a lot of work into this haven’t you?’ I said, impressed.

‘Of course, it’s my job as I try to keep telling you,’ he replied. ‘You don’t just sail into a job this important, you know, it takes a lot of thought and talent.’

That told me. We walked up two flights of stairs, Pickles was huffing and puffing, the dog was really unfit– compared to us anyway. When we were on the right floor, according to George, there was a wedge keeping it open.

‘Harold arranged for whichever patient is allowed out of bed, to go for a little walk, and wedge this door open, he does it every day,’ George explained. ‘The first time I came along I got stuck here for ages waiting for someone to come through, so we don’t take any chances now.’

He squeezed through the door, and then looked at Pickles.

‘Dad, if you come through we can push it open further for Pickles.’ I was beginning to think my son was some kind of genius.

It took a bit of effort but finally we were all through the door.

‘Right, this is the last bit,’ George told us. ‘The door is shut but people go in and out all the time, so what we must do is wait around the side, and as soon as the door opens we run for it. Whoever gets there first can hold the door open for Pickles,’ George said.

‘What if I get there first?’ Pickles asked. George just shook his tail. I wondered how long he would remain angry at me for.

We huddled behind a pillar and, as George predicted, someone came through and opened the door. We were about to make a run for it, but when we turned around to tell Pickles to run, we saw him running faster than we’ve ever seen him in the opposite direction.

Chapter Nineteen

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_20]

‘Quick,’ George said, as we both sprinted as fast as we could after Pickles. He was about to enter another ward, as he chased behind a man pushing a child in a wheelchair. We caught up with him and just made it through another door before it banged aggressively behind us, I only just managed to whip my tail through in time. As we caught our breath, I looked around and saw that we were in a bright-coloured place. The man carried on pushing the chair, somehow Pickles had hitched a lift. I looked at George in horror. Pickles was sitting on the lap of the little girl in the wheelchair, but thankfully she had hidden him under her dressing gown so the man hadn’t noticed. She was smiling and we followed them until she was pushed to a bed. I had a bad feeling.

‘This must be the children’s ward,’ George said.

So this was a hospital ward I thought, as I saw a row of beds with children and a few adults next to them. I looked at George.

‘This is not good is it?’ I asked.

‘No, Dad. If we get caught there will be a whole heap of trouble.’ And as if to prove the point, Pickles jumped down from the girl’s lap and started sliding around the floor.

‘Look, it’s a dog,’ one of the children shouted, as those who were able got out of bed and crowded around Pickles. The adults looked at each other uneasily. As did George and I who were trying to stay unnoticed behind a curtain.

‘Should he be here?’ one of them asked.

‘I don’t think so, shall I go and get the ward sister?’ another replied.

‘Can’t we play with him?’ the boy who was stroking him asked. ‘Please, he’s so cute.’

‘Woof,’ Pickles agreed.

‘We don’t know anything about him,’ the adult with him replied. ‘But he shouldn’t be here, I’m sure.’

‘Maybe he’s one of those dogs who can visit hospitals,’ another adult suggested. ‘I’ve read about them.’

‘Maybe, but shouldn’t he have an adult with him and be on a lead? What if he bites a child?’ the woman who said she would go and get sister asked, before she left the ward.

‘Oh no,’ I said. Yet again, I realised I should have taken Pickles home, I shouldn’t have come, I should have waited, I should have trusted George. So many things were going wrong and I had a bad feeling in my fur. This was not one of my finer plans. ‘If they catch him, what will they do?’

‘I don’t know but Harold says to me it’s imperative that I don’t get caught, which is why I keep it so quiet. He says there will be big trouble if I’m found out.’

We were already in big trouble, that much was clear and we couldn’t get to Pickles without being seen. I wracked my brain for answers, but I couldn’t come up with a great deal of options.

‘Do you think we should stay hidden and wait and see what happens?’ I asked.

‘I don’t see we have much choice. Oh boy, Dad, why did you have to come with him today?’

I asked myself the same thing.

‘Right what is going on,’ a voice boomed and a large woman who seemed almost like a giant compared to most of the children, and us of course, loomed. The children, who didn’t seem very happy to see her, parted and I could see her staring at Pickles, who was wagging his bottom at her excitedly. I wanted to rush in and save him but I didn’t know how. A shadow appeared on the floor as she reached out and picked him up. He licked her face.

‘Uggh, you dirty thing, you cannot be on a ward with ill children,’ she shrieked. Poor Pickles looked confused. After all everyone he encountered fell for his charm, so I did feel a bit bad for him. He tried to wriggle out of her arms as she tightened her grip. How would I ever make this up to George?

‘Has he got a collar on?’ one of the parents asked, but I knew he didn’t. Polly had said she’d had him chipped, but decided against a collar. Knowing Pickles he’d have only eaten it.

‘No, but then he’s probably chipped,’ another voice said, which was a relief.

‘Well I don’t have time for this. I’ll call the dog warden and they can deal with it,’ the woman said. I felt my heart sink. I didn’t know what a dog warden was but what if they took Pickles somewhere and we never saw him again? What if the dog warden was as mean as the woman who held a Pickles in her arms?

‘Dad, we have to do something,’ George hissed.

‘Right,’ I said, another plan leapt into my head. ‘We will have to follow that woman, with Pickles, and whatever we do we can’t let him out of our sight.’

‘Good idea,’ George said, and I began to feel a bit like the adult again. So far, George had proved himself mature and sensible. Perhaps he wasn’t technically supposed to come to the hospital but he was coming for the right reasons, and I had somehow messed that up for him, which didn’t make me the best father in the world. As well as getting Pickles out of here, I would have to put that right. It’s what parents did when we screwed up. After all, we were only cats at the end of the day.

The woman marched out of the ward, leaving children crying in her wake but we couldn’t afford to dwell on that. George and I raised our whiskers at each other in understanding and followed her, ever careful not to be seen we dodged behind trolleys along the corridor. We watched her march into an office, and put Pickles down on a chair.

‘Stay there,’ she commanded. Even Pickles looked terrified of her, with her stern voice I couldn’t blame him, but Pickles was sitting stiller than I’d ever seen him.

Thankfully, she hadn’t shut the door but we didn’t dare being seen yet. I poked my head around.

‘How on earth did you get into my ward?’ she asked.

‘Woof,’ Pickles replied.

‘Well I won’t have it. I run a tight ship and there is no room for dogs.’ She narrowed her eyes at him, and Pickles trembled.

‘Right.’ She typed something into the computer, and then picked up a phone. I could barely breathe as I watched it unfold. ‘Hello, yes I’m calling from the hospital, and there’s a dog running around here, totally out of control.’

There was a pause.

‘I don’t know if he’s dangerous,’ she continued. I glanced at George, Pickles was possibly the least dangerous dog in the world.

Another pause.

‘No, he’s not foaming at the mouth. Listen, I need someone to come up and get him out of the hospital. Out of the children’s ward.’

Another pause.

‘Make sure you hurry, thank you.’

The phone went dead.

What was going to happen? They were on the way to get him and we had no way of getting him out of the room without being seen.

‘Sister, Sister, there’s a problem in bay three.’ A nurse came running in. Thankfully she didn’t notice as I tucked myself into the corner of the office. Sister looked the nurse, then at Pickles.

‘Stay,’ she commanded and ran out. She pulled the door shut behind her, but George managed to get his paw in before it closed totally. We were all back together, thankfully but that wasn’t necessarily the end of our problems as we had to figure out a way to get out of here.

‘Pickles,’ I hissed, ‘come with me.’

Pickles wiggled his bottom, but thankfully hopped off the chair.

‘This is so much fun,’ he said. I had no words. ‘Apart from the scary woman. I didn’t much like the scary woman.’

‘Look,’ George said as we began to make our way out of the ward and hopefully to safety, gesturing with his whiskers. ‘It’s a laundry cart, I’ve seen them before, they might take us to Harold’s ward if we’re lucky.’ He gestured with his paw to a big cart, which had high sides, therewas no way Pickles could jump up to it. Perhaps Pickles might be able to fit in at the side?

‘Pickles, do exactly as I say,’ I commanded in my sternest voice.

‘I always do,’ Pickles replied. He really, really didn’t. We approached the cart. There was a man with one hand on it and he was talking to someone else. Thankfully he had his back to us.

‘Right,’ I said, holding open the slit with a paw, ‘jump in.’

‘Are you coming?’ Pickles asked.

‘I’m right behind you.’ Pickles started to climb in and, although his bottom got caught up a bit, I gave him a shove with my paw and he was in. I followed, as did George.

‘Yuk, it stinks,’ Pickles said. It wasn’t the most pleasant smell, but then it was a laundry cart. And thankfully it wasn’t too full. And this was his fault so if anyone had a right to complain …

‘It’s better than the dog warden,’ George hissed at him. He wasn’t delighted; we were still in big trouble with him.

‘Where are you going now?’ I heard a human voice say from outside the cart.

‘To Carpenter ward,’ he replied.

‘That’s Harold’s ward,’ George whispered, flooded with relief.

‘Pickles,’ I warned, ‘from now on you do exactly what we say and you follow us. No going off on your own or getting any bright ideas.’

‘OK.’ he replied. I didn’t feel full of confidence but surely the worst had happened and we’d escaped, so that should be alright and at least now we were going to see Harold. I just had to make everything else up to George, that was all.

We were on the move. I felt the trolley being pushed forward. There was a bit of a shunt as we went through the door, but I motioned for Pickles to stay quiet. Another shunt told us we were through more doors and then the cart stopped.

‘Let me check,’ George said, quietly, looking out of the gap. ‘Yay, we’re here,’ he said, sounding happier than he had since we’d arrived. ‘Right, follow me. I am the expert here, so it might be an idea to remember that.’

I would never forget that again. George went first, Pickles next and I brought up the rear so I could keep an eye on Pickles. We sort of herded him, it was the only way. Without further incident, we managed to get to another room similar the children’s ward. Then, in the bed nearest the door, sat up in his striped pyjamas, was Harold. I was so pleased to see him, I nearly yowled, I realised how much I’d missed him. George jumped up onto the bed.

‘I wondered where you’d got to, you’re late today,’ Harold said, but he stroked George, and nuzzled him. ‘I was worried, that’s all,’ he added.

‘Meow,’ George said. Then he looked down at us, and Harold did the same.

‘Oh my, how on earth did you get these two in here?’ he asked.

‘Meow,’ I said.

‘Hold on,’ Harold said. He put George onto his bed, and slowly swung his legs around. Then, holding onto the bed frame, he bent down and picked Pickles up. I jumped onto his bed when he was back in it, and the three of us crowded him.

‘Well I never,’ another old man said, getting off the bed he was in and coming over.

‘I have no idea how they all got here,’ Harold said. ‘I mean George’s pretty clever, as is Alfie, but how did they manage to sneak a dog in here?’

The other man chuckled.‘It’s amazing isn’t it. Can I show him around?’ He picked Pickles up. Pickles licked his face.

‘Yes but don’t get caught mind. If a member of staff appears you have to hide. George, sorry I know you know this already, but Alfie and Pickles, it’s important.’

‘Meow.’ I had already gathered as much.

Arthur, the elderly patient, took Pickles around the ward to see other patients, and they all cheered up immediately.

‘Dad, I know that you worry about me but alongside Harold I visit other people here, so would you stay here while I do my rounds?’ he asked.

‘You are careful, aren’t you?’ I replied, our heads were touching. Harold looked around for his glasses, which were on the top of his head.

‘I’ve never been caught,’ George replied giving me a withering look. ‘Unlike some.’

‘Sorry, sorry,’ I whispered.

‘Yowl,’ he said to Harold, giving him a nuzzle.

‘Right you are, boy, see you in a minute.’ Harold obviously knew the drill by now and I couldn’t help but feel proud of my son. He had an important role here.

‘George is like a tonic here,’ he said. ‘People love him coming here, and he cheers us all up no end. You should be very proud.’

The mews choked in my throat, but I still felt guilty for the fact I had followed him here.

‘Some people are so lonely, when my family, well our family comes to visit I always send them to talk to some of those who never have visitors. See Neville, in the corner?’ I looked at a man who seemed very white but then Arthur approached with Pickles and a big smile appeared on his face. I felt like yowling, it was bittersweet. These people weren’t well and they were lonely, some of them, and that wasn’t right.

‘Meow?’ What can we do? I asked.

‘It’s terrible, not knowing what to do.’ But what on earth could we do about it?

‘Incoming,’ Harold said, and tucked me under his bed sheet. Arthur hid Pickles under the bed he was next to.

‘Right, gentlemen,’ a nurse, who wasn’t as severe as the sister, said. She had a kind voice from what I could hear, I obviously couldn’t see her. ‘About to bring your medicine, is everyone alright?’

‘Yes, thanks,’ they chorused.

‘Good, back in a mo,’ she said.

‘They always come round to tell us they’re coming round, it’s very strange,’ Harold said. ‘But the good thing is that we know the medicine is coming, so we know to keep you all hidden. Can’t have you getting caught now, can we?’ Not after last time.

It was so much fun. I did feel bad for the men on the ward, they clearly weren’t at their best, but there was a nice atmosphere. Even Harold laughed a couple of times.

‘Right,’ he said, after the medicine had been given out, ‘someone will have to get George because it’s visiting time soon and the family will be here – you need to get out before they come.’ Some of the people, the more mobile ones, from the ward had gathered at Harold’s bed and Pickles and I were both there now.

‘I’ll get him,’ a man offered.

‘Only because you want to see your fancy woman, Giles,’ Arthur said and they all laughed.

Giles returned with George hidden in his dressing gown and we looked on from Harold’s bed.

‘It’s been so grand to see you all,’ Harold said, he sounded emotional. ‘I do miss you, but I’ll be home soon. And you guys better get ready to go now.’

‘Meow,’ George said.

‘Incoming,’ Arthur shouted and we all, having learned the drill, hid under the sheet. I looked at Pickles.

‘Stay still,’ I said, he was wiggling his tail like mad.

‘I am,’ he said. He was not.

‘Pickles, you’ll get caught again,’ George warned.

‘I will not,’ he said defiantly. ‘I’m a good cat.’

He really wasn’t either.

‘What is this?’ a voice said. Thankfully it didn’t sound like the woman from the children’s ward, but George and I stayed still as statues. However, Pickles was still wiggling. Oh no. I had a bad feeling. Suddenly the sheet was pulled back, and exposed us all.

‘That’s a breach of my human rights,’ Harold screeched. ‘I could have been naked.’

‘No, Harold, you couldn’t,’ a man’s voice said, although he sounded kind. ‘You wear your pyjamas in here, but more to the point why are there two cats and a pug in your bed?’ I thought I saw his lips twitch. A woman in a nurse’s uniform joined him to see what was going on.

‘Well I never,’ she said.

‘They’re just visiting,’ Harold said, but he did sound contrite.

‘How on earth did two cats and a puppy get in here?’ The male nurse scratched his head.

‘And what do we do now? Should we call the dog warden?’ the female nurse said.

‘You can’t call the dog warden for cats,’ Harold said, to my relief. ‘And anyway, I happen to know them.’

‘You know them?’ the male nurse asked.

‘Yes, they live on my street. My Marcus will be here any minute now, surely he can arrange for them to be taken home.’

George gave me another scowl. We were going to be in big trouble when our humans heard about this but then, there was no way around it. We could make a run for it, but what if they caught us and called the dog warden? And what would the dog warden do with cats? Was there a cat warden? There were so many questions running around my head, I didn’t notice Marcus approaching.

‘Hello—’ he said before he stopped short.

‘Hey, son,’ Harold said, innocently.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Poor Marcus’s brows were etched in confusion.

‘It seems,’ the male nurse started to explain, ‘that these three somehow came to visit, and I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that animals are not supposed to be on hospital grounds.’

‘Of course not, but how on earth did they get here?’ We all looked at Marcus innocently, as did Harold now. Another staff member approached.

‘I just spoke to Lisa in the children’s ward and she said a dog was found there earlier. She didn’t mention any cats though.’

‘Have you been causing havoc?’ Marcus asked. We all looked at him as if butter wouldn’t melt.

‘Meow,’ I said as softly as I could.

‘They’ve been cheering us all up no end, I can tell you,’ Arthur said.

‘Still, they shouldn’t be here, so can you take them home?’ The male nurse sounded kind but firm.

‘Of course, although I don’t have a lead or anything to put them in and I came by bus. Would you mind if I called a friend?’

‘No, and while you do that, as long as you take full responsibility that they don’t go anywhere else in the hospital, they can stay here until someone can collect them.’ He grinned and left us. I was more than a bit relieved.

‘Dad, you should have phoned me, Claire must be worried sick about Pickles.’

Oh dear, we hadn’t thought of that.

‘You know I’m hopeless at using the mobile phone,’ Harold grumbled. Marcus had pulled his out and called Claire.

‘Claire, I’m at the hospital, but so are Alfie, George and Pickles,’ he said.

I could hear Claire scream, but I couldn’t make out the words.

‘I know, I know, I had no idea but I’ve just arrived, can you come and get them?’

More noise came from the phone.

‘Claire’s on her way,’ he said as he hung up. ‘But she’s not happy, and you guys are in big trouble. You too, Dad.’

Oh boy, I knew that I would be the one getting the blame for this, after all I was supposed to be the responsible adult. I don’t think Harold counted as that, so it would all be on me.

We all felt sad to say our goodbyes. Claire walked into the ward, with a stern look on her face. She was wielding a lead for Pickles and our carrier as she rushed towards us. We all cowered slightly.

‘It took me ages to park but I finally got a space,’ Claire said. ‘I’ve been worried sick, looking everywhere for Pickles and the cats, Jonathan got called out of a meeting as I phoned him in hysterics. He suggested they might be with Hana and as no one was home, I sort of hoped that was the case, but I was this close to calling Polly who would have been frantic as well.’ The words gushed out of Claire and as I knew her so well I knew she was angry with us. With me.

‘I know, I thought that as soon as I saw them. Shall I help you get them into the car?’ Marcus asked.

‘Please, that would be great. And, Harold, if you get any more unexpected visitors, perhaps you’d let me know,’ she said, wagging her finger at him.

George wouldn’t talk to me on the journey back to Edgar Road, I tried to apologise to him but he didn’t want to hear it. When we got home, we were all led to the kitchen for our telling off.

‘I am so angry,’ Claire said. ‘But, Alfie, you’re the adult so I’m holding you responsible. What were you thinking? And how on earth did you get to the hospital? Anyway, I have to go to the supermarket before I pick the children up from school, I’ve wasted most of the day trying to findyou. And before you even think about going out again I’m locking the cat flap.’

As she stormed off, it seemed we were all grounded.

Chapter Twenty

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Winter had settled in, and the frosty atmosphere in the house was even thicker than the frost outside. And, it was all my fault. Pickles couldn’t be held responsible because he was a baby – however I was not. In the days following our hospital visit, George wasn’t talking to me, he was going off to see Hana, but I knew he hadn’t risked going back to the hospital, because he was never gone long enough. He was blaming me for the fact he had lost his job, and not only that but the people he cheered up in hospital were missing out. I felt as if I might drown with guilt.

Claire kept telling me off, I mean if I heard‘anything could have happened to Pickles and it would have been all your fault, Alfie,’ one more time, then I would go mad.

Polly and Matt were upset when they were told, and Claire felt awful, when she spoke to them she blamed herself rather than me, but Polly said she couldn’t be responsible for Pickles following George and I. Tomasz came round and fixed bolts to the gate, so it wouldn’t blow open again. There were a lot of factors involved in Pickles following us to the hospital, but the upshot; I had well and truly messed up in so many ways.

When they weren’t angry, they were all astounded about how we managed to get to the hospital. I couldn’t tell them, of course, at least they didn’t know George had been going for ages. Harold had kept that quiet from what I could tell. The only person, other than the children, who wasn’t angry with me wasPickles. But then he had no idea why everyone was making such a fuss, he kept saying it was his best day ever. At least one of us was happy. I didn’t have the heart to be cross with him, although I did tell him again that he mustn’t try to get out with us.

I knew I had to come up with a plan to make it up to George. He avoided me at home, and he missed Harold. I tried to talk to him but he wouldn’t have any of it. While Claire took Pickles and the children on the school run, I headed out to seek the advice of my friends. Because I had to put this right.

It was so cold outside, the wind was ruffling my fur as I made my way to our recreation space. I saw Nellie first, then Elvis and Rocky, but with them was Oliver, the Barkers’ rescue cat. I stopped a short distance away and took a breath. I knew I would meet him at some point but I hadn’t thought about that properly – not with everything going on. It looked as if the time was now. I braced myself and told myself that I could do this.

‘Alfie,’ Nellie said, coming up to me and giving me a nuzzle; as my friends greeted me they realised how hard this was for me. I was so grateful.

‘Hi, everyone,’ I said. Then I turned to the new cat. ‘Hi, Oliver, I’m Alfie, I’ve seen you at the window, but welcome to Edgar Road.’

‘Thanks, Alfie, I’ve heard all about you, from the Barkers as well as these guys.’ He was warm in his greeting and I immediately liked him. I couldn’t help but think of him in Tiger’s bed, or in her garden, but didn’t matter, not really.

‘Really? The Barkers talk about me?’

‘They told me about Tiger and how she had cat friends in the neighbourhood, and how you and George were her closest friends.’

‘That’s nice to hear,’ I said, a little choked with emotion. ‘So tell us about yourself?’ I was determined to make an effort. It’s what Tiger would have wanted.

‘I love food in jelly, especially fish. I like to play and my favourite toy is a padded fish which I keep with me, and I love nothing more than to curl up in a good box. I had a best friend, Copper, and I miss him a bit. It’s so nice to have friends here as I’ve been at the shelter a while. In fact, I couldn’t be happier to have arrived here on Edgar Road – especially at my age.’

‘How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?’ I said.

‘I’m twelve years old, Alfie, still a few lives left in me yet.’

‘You’ve got plenty of friends here,’ I said. Oliver grinned. He’d fit right in, I was a very good judge of cat.

‘Where is George?’ Rocky asked. ‘I haven’t seen him in a while.’

‘Ah, well that’s something I could do with advice on.’

‘Oh is this still about his job?’ Elvis asked.

‘No, I actually found out about his job, but it went a bit wrong.’ I explained what happened.

‘Are you telling me that you, George and the puppy ended up at the hospital?’ Rocky sounded incredulous, I realised it did sound more than a little bizarre.

‘And you went on a bus?’ Nellie narrowed her eyes.

‘I’ve never been on a bus,’ Oliver said. ‘In all my days.’

‘Most cats haven’t,’ Elvis added. ‘Although I did go on a bus once with my owner a long time ago—’

‘Guys, I get this is a strange story but the fact is we all got home safely, I know that we got caught and Claire had to be called … Anyway, the thing is that George’s job is visiting Harold and his friends in hospital and now he’s furious with me because he can’t go anymore. He said I have made him lose his job.’

‘You have messed it up for him a bit,’ Nellie pointed out.

‘I know, I know, and I feel like the worst father in the world but I was worried about him. And actually, if you’d seen the journey and the risks he took, you wouldn’t be happy with him going either.’

‘And I guess it wasn’t exactly your fault that Pickles followed you,’ Rocky said.

‘But, now everyone’s mad at me and I need to put things right. But I need to put it right with George first.’

‘Alfie,’ Nellie said, gently. ‘He’s been through enough lately, not just losing Tiger but also with Harold in hospital.’ Her tone was gentle, but she was right.

‘I know, I’ve got an idea. How about you get him his job back,’ Oliver said.

‘That’s a lovely suggestion but how can I do that?’ I asked, feeling panicked. If only Tiger were here, I thought suddenly and with a pang, she always knew what to do. Or if she didn’t she would at least keep me calm. At the moment I was anything but calm.

‘Right, let’s think about this logically,’ Rocky suggested, putting a paw on me, he was doing his best, they all were and I was grateful for my friends. Remember, how lucky I am, I kept telling myself. I might be in the dog house right now but I was still lucky.

‘Have I got this right?’ Elvis said. ‘George’s job was visiting Harold in hospital?’ he said proudly.

‘Chip off the old block,’ I said.

‘Yes, Alfie, what would you do if you could do anything to put this right?’ Elvis said.

‘I would make it so George could visit Harold in hospital again,’ I said. ‘Like Oliver suggested.’

‘So that’s what you have to do,’ Nellie said.

‘But how? The humans will be so cross if he sneaks off again … Maybe I could get one of them to take George when they visit Harold.’

‘But I thought the hospital said that cats weren’t allowed?’ Oliver pointed out. He was a clever cat, I could see Nellie blushing a little when he spoke.

‘Maybe the hospital would change their mind if they saw how happy the patients are when he’s there? Now who would be the best person to take him?’ I started thinking carefully, running through all my humans in my head. Not Claire, she was too angry, Jonathan only went straight from work, as did Polly and Matt. Sylvie was unlikely to be convinced either … It only left Marcus, and he was a bit of a pushover – perfect.

‘OK, so how do I get Marcus to take George?’ I asked.

‘When you want a human to take you somewhere, you just follow them,’ Nellie reminded me.

‘Yes but that’s what got George into this mess in the first place – unless, Nellie, you’re a genius! If I get George to follow Marcus, but make it clear he’s following him, Marcus will have no choice but to take George with him. Of course that’s it!’

‘All in a day’s work for us, Alfie,’ Rocky said.

‘Now all you have to do is to sell the plan to George,’ Nellie pointed out.

‘That’ll be a breeze, well if I get him to listen to me long enough to tell him.’

‘Goodness me, you are an interesting bunch of cats,’ Oliver said. ‘I’ve barely been here for a minute and already it’s more exciting than my old life.’ He looked quite thrilled.

‘So, Oliver, how did you get to be in a shelter?’ I asked.

‘I was telling your friends earlier, my old family had a problem and couldn’t look after me anymore. I’m not sure exactly what happened but it was very sad.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ I said, he needed good friends.

‘The shelter was very kind to us, and the staff were wonderful, they took good care of us. When the Barkers came in to adopt me, well, I felt like the luckiest cat in the world. I’m not young, or cute like a kitten but I am a nice cat.’

‘I can see that,’ I said, feeling emotional. ‘And I’m so happy that the Barkers have you now as well.’

‘Not so keen on you though, Alfie,’ Rocky joked.

‘No, I got chased out of their house a fair few times when I broke in to see Tiger,’ I said. I felt like I had a new friend, and a new plan to get back into my George’s good books. Life was looking up.

Now I just had to get George to agree to the plan, and before that I had to get him to get close enough to me so I could tell him the plan. Which wasn’t easy.

‘Go away,’ he hissed later that evening as I approached him.

‘George, I really need to talk to you, I need to put this right.’

‘Too late, I’m going out,’ he said and off he ran. I thought about following him but that was what got me into this mess in the first place. Hana might be able to relay my plan to George if he refused to listen to me? I crossed my paws that I would be able to make this plan work.

Chapter Twenty-One

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I managed to go to Hana’s early the following morning without George noticing, he was too busy trying to avoid me. And Claire was too busy shouting at Jonathan about the fact that he had to go on a work trip so she would be left holding the fort for a few days. I wasn’t happy about their argument, but it was on the hold list for now, because my first priority was to fix things for George.

I clattered against the cat flap to announce my arrival and then I hopped in. Connie saw me first.

‘Alfie, how nice to see you,’ she said scooping me up. Thank goodness, someone who was happy to see me. ‘I hear you’ve been in a bit of trouble,’ she continued stroking my head. I purred loudly to show her how much I was enjoying it.

‘Connie, you need to get ready for school,’ I heard Sylvie shout, she didn’t sound happy either. Connie sighed, put me down and then left, so I went to see Hana who was looking out of the back patio door.

‘Hey, Alfie,’ she said, in her sweet way.

‘Hana, I’m not sure I’m welcome here,’ I started, carefully.

‘You’re always welcome, Alfie, I know George isn’t exactly pleased with you, but I am your friend too.’

‘That’s an understatement about George.’

‘Well, you know what he’s like, he’ll cool off soon enough.’

‘I wish I felt as confident as you sound,’ I said. ‘But I’m here because I need to put things right—’ I heard shouting. ‘Is that Sylvie?’

‘Oh yes, she’s not happy at the moment. I heard her say to Marcus that she is tired, and snappy but she thinks that it’s something that all women go through at a certain age. And now she feels sick so she thinks she’s got a bug as well.’

‘It doesn’t sound nice. But is it serious?’

‘I don’t think so, not like Harold, but it’s not fun. I heard her tell Claire that if she carried on like this Marcus would run for the hills.’

Claire, Polly and Franceska were all of a similar age, so I wondered if it would happen to my other human friends too. Was that why Claire was so angry today? Another one for my hold list.

‘It seems there is a lot going on at the moment. But I have always said we should deal with one thing at a time, so firstly can I talk to you about George.’

‘Of course. He misses his job, Alfie, and he’s missing Harold, but I think he’ll calm down soon.’

‘I was going to suggest that he go back to see Harold but he needs to get Marcus to take him.’

‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. But how can he get Marcus to take him?’

‘That’s why I want to talk to him, but he won’t listen. I thought that if he followed Marcus when he went to see Harold one day, but made it obvious, so that Marcus knew he was following him, and then Marcus won’t have any choice but to take him with him.’ It sounded so simple when I saidit out loud, but I knew that the execution might not be as simple.

‘What if Marcus says no?’ Hana asked.

‘I had thought of that, but Marcus is a softy, if George looks at him with those big eyes of his, he won’t be able to resist. Or so I hope. I mean George has to make a big fuss of following Marcus and possibly make a racket to show him how much he wants to go with him, but …’

‘It’s not a bad idea, Alfie, do you want me to talk to George for you?’ Hana offered, in her sweet voice.

‘Would you?’ I asked, raising my whiskers, hopefully.

‘Of course, I don’t think George should be cross with you all the time, and I have tried to tell him that. It’s understandable for a parent to worry.’

‘Thanks, Hana, I appreciate it. I better go home for breakfast, but if there’s anything I can do to help with the Sylvie situation, please let me know. Once I’ve sorted George out anyway.’

‘Thanks, Alfie.’

We briefly touched noses and said goodbye. At least I had another ally.

Bizarrely Sylvie was at our house by the time I got home, I stopped on the way to play with some leaves, every cat needs to indulge in hobbies. Claire was back from the school run, Pickles was asleep in his bed, George was nowhere to be seen.

‘I’m going to the doctor in a couple of days, I’m pretty sure I’m going through the menopause.’

‘Oh Sylvie, it’ll be good to know, and of course get something to help you. I don’t know how I’d cope, because I’m so stressed at the moment I’d probably explode.’

‘Things no better with Jon’s work?’

‘No, worse actually. You know how many times he’s told me it’s going to get better? Millions, and I’m bored of shouting at him, it’s getting beyond a joke. What with Christmas coming soon, it’s just a lot.’

‘Oh Claire, what a pair we are at the moment, what with Harold in hospital I feel so guilty for snapping at Marcus but I can’t control myself. Do you think we should do something?’

‘What?’

‘How about we get Franceska and Polly and organise a spa day? You know we probably all could do with a day off. And I can always organise for Connie and Aleksy to help with the kids?’

‘Oh my goodness, that sounds like bliss, I could really do with that. Yes, I’ll tell Jonathan tonight, and get the others on board.’

‘Oh hey, Alfie,’ Sylvie said, as I hopped on her lap. She gave my head a nice scratch and I purred.

‘I still haven’t quite forgiven him for the whole hospital escapade,’ Claire said.

‘I know, and I still have no idea how they managed it but Marcus said that Harold is miserable and he wants to see George.’

My ears pricked up, this was good news indeed, because it meant that Marcus really wouldn’t be able to resist George’s pleas, if we played it right. I could only hope that Hana convinced him to speak to me or at least listen to the plan.

‘Anyway, I’m off to work now, but I’ll let you know how I get on when I finally see the doctor.’ Sylvie gently placed me on the floor and stood up.

‘Call me.’ Claire kissed her goodbye. ‘Do you think I should see a doctor?’ She sounded serious and I rubbed her legs. I hated it when Claire wasn’t happy. I hated it when anyone was unhappy but Claire had been my first friend on Edgar Road – her happiness was entwined with mine in manyways.

‘No, but I think when Jonathan gets back from this business trip you two need to have a serious talk about how you are going to make more time for the family. You love each other too much not to sort it out.’

‘You’re right, thanks, and I’ll think it through before I shout as well.’

Progress was being made on all sides, paws crossed.

I had played hide and seek, ball and goodness knows what else with Pickles after Sylvie left, in an effort to wear him out. I ended up worn out though, but thankfully we both had a nap together, curled up on the sofa, because I could barely keep my eyes open. After the stress of the past few days, I could have used the cat equivalent of a spa day.

When I woke up, I stretched, and gently nudged Pickles who was still snoring, loudly I may add. The bigger he got, the noisier he seemed to become. Pickles didn’t stir, so I got up and went to the kitchen where I found George eating out of his bowl. My heart filled with love the way it did every time I saw him. I stood and watched for a moment, drinking him in. How I wished we could get back to the way we were.

He turned and looked at me.

‘Dad,’ he said.

‘Oh George,’ I replied. He came up and nuzzled me and it felt amazing.

‘I know I was angry but it wasn’t really your fault. Well it was, but I know that you only did what you did because you love me,’ he said, sounding so mature.

‘You don’t know how happy your words make me. Have you spoken to Hana?’

‘Yes, and she told me about your conversation. I would like, more than anything, to go and see Harold, but I also realise how much of a risk I was taking now. I mean if I got caught, I might not have ever seen you again.’

‘George, you know that would never happen. Remember when you were catnapped? I didn’t stop until I found you.’

‘I know and if it hadn’t been for Pickles …’

‘Yeah we might have got away with it, although that mean woman’s face when she saw him with the children was quite funny.’

‘It was and the whole ward did love him. And you. But you see what I mean, there are lots of lonely people out there and it was nice to do something about that.’

‘And I am so proud of you for it, George. But listen, I think we can get Marcus to take you to see Harold. He told Marcus he misses you.’

‘He does?’

‘Yes, Hana told me that she heard Marcus telling Sylvie that. So all you have to do is to figure out when he’s going to the hospital, and basically get under his feet. If you make a lot of noise he’ll know you are following him.’

‘I think I can do that.’ George sounded excited again.

‘I know you can, son,’ I replied.

The first part of the plan was in action. It was time to figure out part two.

Pickles suddenly appeared. He was snuffling around, waddling along, and wagging his tail at us.

‘George, I haven’t seen you in ever such a long time, and I miss you,’ Pickles said.

‘I’m sorry, Pickles, I’ve been swamped but I’m here now. So you can choose what you want to do, and I mean anything,’ George said.

‘I want to learn to climb trees again, it’s been such a long time since I practised that aspect of catting. I’m big now so I’m pretty sure I can climb trees.’

‘OK, come on then, race you to the back garden,’ George said, shooting off, with Pickles running as fast as he could behind him. For a fat puppy he was actually quite fast.

As I watched my boy– and my new boy – going, I felt my heart soar. Things were going to be alright, I could feel it in my bones. But I also knew there was no way Pickles would be any better at climbing trees.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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The day arrived when we’d try to get Marcus to take George to hospital with him. I prayed it would work, while George hopped around with nerves. He’d got up very early, washed carefully, before having breakfast and then washing himself again. I led him into the garden, for a last-minute pep talk.

‘You know what you’re doing?’ I asked.

‘Can we just go through it one more time?’ George asked as we shivered in the garden. The plan I had come up with was incredibly detailed, if I did say so myself.

‘Right, we know that Marcus is going to the hospital this morning, Hana confirmed that. So you go and wait outside Hana’s house, and the minute he comes through the front door you pounce on him. Make as much noise as you can to ensure he knows you’re following him. If he tells you to go home,ignore him, even if you end up at the bus stop with him, stay as close to his feet as you can.’ It was foolproof.

‘What if he picks me up and brings me home?’ George asked. Not quite foolproof then.

‘Then follow him again. You have to show him that you mean business and there is no way you are going to give up.’ Persistence was key.

‘Are you going to come with me?’ George asked.

‘No, son, this is your job and I will help and support you in any way but I know you need to do this on your own.’ I was learning as a parent too, you see.

‘Thanks, Dad.’

‘And I’ll be here when you get back, hopefully with a successful visit under your tail.’

I had to occupy myself while George was out, keeping myself busy, because I needed to prove to George that I was able to trust him. Of course I had Pickles for company. Since the back gate had been secured and Claire had more or less forgiven me, she was happier to leave Pickles in my charge once again. As Pickles grew up, he settled down a bit too. He still had a crazy side. He licked everything, even things no cat would ever dream of licking, and he still believed he could be a cat.

His training wasn’t going that well though. Even Summer’s shouting didn’t faze him anymore. He would stand when told to sit, and sit when told to come.

‘Pickles,’ I said, when he came to find me. George had been gone a good while without coming home so I was pretty sure the plan had worked. I hoped it had, because it would make George happy and also make things so much better between us.

‘Alfie, look what I can do,’ Pickles replied. He put his front paws up on the sofa and wiggled his bottom and his tail. He had his very cute face on, with hopeful eyes.

‘That’s great, Pickles, what’s it for?’ I asked.

‘I do it when the kids are eating and they feed me,’ he replied. No wonder he was growing so much.

‘Remember when we went to the hospital?’ I said.

‘I will never forget it,’ he replied.

‘Wasn’t the best part when we made everyone happy,’ I continued, a warm feeling spreading into my heart.

‘Yes, it was. Although the other best part was the bus. I liked the bus,’ he said.

‘I wasn’t so keen on the bus, but seeing the patients looking happy was amazing.’

‘It was worth the trouble we got into then?’ Pickles asked.

‘Yes it was, I guess especially as we didn’t get hurt. Apart from when the bus passenger trod on my tail.’

‘I don’t mind being in trouble, it happens a lot. The other day Polly gave me a bath.’ Pickles licked the sofa, and I shuddered. Baths were perhaps my least favourite thing. Or anything to do with water to be fair.

‘And?’ I asked.

‘Oh yes, I jumped out and got her soaking wet and she told me off. But then she laughed and hugged me. It seems being in trouble can be a good thing sometimes.’

‘You’re learning,’ I replied, proud of how well he was turning out.

It didn’t last. As I was fretting, I took my eyes off Pickles. I don’t know how long it was before I realised that he was gone, but I searched the house and because I wasn’t thinking too clearly I didn’t even think about the garden. I jumped through the cat flap, and lo and behold there was Pickles, his brown fur covered in mud. The rain was coming down now as well, so it was sticking to him. The worst thing was that he was busily digging up Claire’s favourite rose bush, and I knew she wouldn’t be happy. I had no choice but to brave the rain, and joined him.

‘Stop, Pickles, Claire will be so cross,’ I said.

‘Why?’ he asked. We still hadn’t quite got out of the ‘why’ phase.

‘Because that’s Claire’s favourite rose bush and you’re making a mess of it. And you look a wreck.’ I shivered, it was cold, wet and miserable. And now I was beginning to resemble a drowned rat. That would teach me to not pay attention. ‘Come on, let’s try to put the earth back,’ I commanded. As we did, I realised that putting it back wasn’t as easy as digging it up, despite our best efforts.Well, mine, because Pickles was too busy seeing how much more mud and earth he could get stuck to his fur.

‘Why were you digging anyway?’ I asked, exasperated by my lack of progress.

‘I wanted to go out, like we did the other day but the gate was closed so I thought if I dug up here I could get under the fence.’

‘Pickles, you would have to dig for hours to get anywhere close. All you’ve done is made a mess of the garden, and of yourself.’ I was beyond exasperated.

‘Oh have I?’ He was so innocent, I couldn’t stay angry with him, a little like I used to be with George. Babies were just too cute sometimes.

‘Yes, you have.’ But I grinned. ‘Maybe we should give up and go inside, this rain is horrible.’

‘Is it?’ Again he looked at me with his innocent eyes and I ushered him inside.

We sat on the back doormat, trying to shake the water off us. Before long Claire appeared, and did a double take.

‘What on earth have you two been up to? Stay there, don’t move a paw and I’ll be back.’

Pickles glanced over at me, and I nodded. We should definitely do as we’re told when Claire has that tone of voice on her. She returned with some towels and began drying us off in turn. I had managed to stay relatively clean, but was wet, whereas Pickles had black patches of earth all over his fur.

‘Right, Alfie, you find somewhere warm to dry off, but this one is coming to have a bath.’ She rubbed me in the towel a bit more, before she wrapped Pickles up in the other one and carried him off.

Yet again I was in trouble for something that I was trying to put right. Goodness knows what she’d say when she saw the rose bush.

I made sure I was properly dry before I went into the living room. Claire brought Pickles down, all clean and put him in his bed.

‘Stay in that bed,’ she commanded. ‘I’m going to get the kids but due to this awful rain I’m going to drive.’ She set off.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked, as Pickles sat up in his bed and panted, excitedly.

‘I might dig in the garden again another day,’ he said.

‘Pickles, why would you do that, you just got into trouble?’

‘It doesn’t feel like trouble, because I had a bath and I really like baths.’

I had no words.

Thankfully, he settled down for another nap, although I didn’t dare take my eyes off him in case he headed out into the garden again. Just as I felt that my eyes would explode, or more likely close by themselves, the front door opened and in bounded the children.

Henry and Martha ran up to Pickles and rudely woke him up by grabbing him. Toby and Summer hovered behind, wanting their turn. Then I was delighted to see Marcus carrying George in his arms. He put him on the floor, and Marcus followed Claire into the kitchen.

‘Everything alright,’ I asked George.

‘Never better, Dad, come into the kitchen, I want to hear what Marcus says.’ We both ran in.

‘I can’t believe you took George to the hospital,’ Claire said, she sounded more surprised than angry though.

‘He didn’t give me much choice. He followed me out this morning, and he also kept standing on my feet. I tried to get him to come home but he just yowled at me and then stuck to me like glue. I was going to phone you but I was running late, so I just took him with me.’

‘What did they say at the hospital?’

‘Luckily it was Jay in charge of the ward today, so I explained how much Dad was missing him and he said it was on me, and he’d turn a blind eye if I promised he’d behave. Dad was over the moon, he had tears in his eyes. Then he got me to do the rounds with George, so he could visit other patients. Claire, you wouldn’t believe how happy George made everyone. Dad gave me a lecture on how lonely some of the patients are and how much of a difference a cuddle from George can make.’

‘That’s amazing, and I guess my cats have always known how to cheer people up.’ Claire sounded quite emotional. ‘Alfie always did when he first came here to me as a kitten. I’ve been worrying about how much Harold has told us about the lonely people for a while actually. Can I help in anyway?’

‘Ah, I’m so glad you asked.’ Marcus smiled. Marcus was tall, and he had glasses and sometimes he could look serious, but he had the kindest smile. ‘I was going to ask if you’d be my partner in crime and take George into the hospital with you when you visit Dad. I know it’s asking a lot,because you’re breaking goodness knows how many rules but …’

‘Of course I will. We can draw up a roster if you like, but I draw the line at taking Alfie and Pickles too.’

‘Meow,’ I objected, hopping onto Claire’s lap. ‘But then seeing the state the pair of them were in this afternoon, it might be safer.’

‘What did they do?’

Just then the doorbell rang, and we all followed Claire to answer it. Pickles was there first, wiggling his bottom excitedly. Sylvie stood on the doorstep. She didn’t look good. Her hair was soaking wet and sticking to her head, and she looked as if she’d been crying.

‘Oh you’re wet through, come in,’ Claire said.

‘No, no, I won’t,’ Sylvie snapped. Pickles lost interest and went back to the living room to play with the children. Sylvie looked angry now and Claire alarmed. I went to get Marcus.

‘What is it, Alfie?’ he said.

‘Yowl,’ I replied, come with me. Just then Claire called him, and he finally got the message. We walked to the front door, and he stopped short when he saw Sylvie.

‘What on earth?’

‘I should have known you’d be here,’ Sylvie snapped.

‘Well funny story, George—’

‘There’s nothing funny about this, actually,’ Sylvie said. ‘I knew you two are always together these days but do you think I’m stupid?’ she snapped.

I had seen this side of Sylvie before, the one who was so upset about her divorce that she was angry with everyone. It wasn’t my favourite Sylvie and I had no idea what was going on.

‘Sylvie, what are you talking about?’ Claire asked.

‘My best friend, not to mention next door neighbour having an affair with my boyfriend,’ she spat.

‘What’s an affair?’ Summer asked, having appeared suddenly. Claire’s eyes widened in horror as did mine and Marcus’s. George looked confused. ‘And what’s for tea, I’m hungry?’ Summer added.

Even Sylvie looked a little shamefaced as Marcus shrugged at Claire and then went outside, gently taking Sylvie by the arm and shutting our door behind them. Just what on earth was going on?

‘Finally, we’re on our own,’ I said to George. It had been a long evening. Claire was so upset about what Sylvie said, which still made no sense.

But that would have to wait, because I wanted to hear from George himself about his hospital visit.

‘I loved going to see Harold,’ George said. ‘He was so pleased to see me, and so was everyone else, it is so good to be doing my job again.’

‘And by the sound of it, you’ll be doing it without any risk now as Claire and Marcus are both going to take you to see Harold. So it’s a great outcome.’

‘Yes, but he’s not going to be in hospital much longer. He’s coming out soon, they said.’

‘Really? Marcus didn’t mention that, but then he got interrupted by Sylvie.’

‘Yes, she seemed a bit crazy,’ he said.

‘We shouldn’t say crazy, George,’ I chastised. ‘But she was upset about something and although we know that Marcus and Claire are just friends, something must have triggered it.’

‘Well Harold is coming home, I think in a couple of weeks. And then it’s going to be nearly Christmas,’ he said. ‘Then I’ll be unemployed.’

‘It is.’ We weren’t in December yet, but November was underway. ‘Although, George, you will have a job visiting Harold at home and making sure he’s OK.’

‘I know, but after Harold comes out of hospital, I think we should find a way to help lonely people still,’ George said.

‘You are the most wonderful kitten a cat could ever ask for,’ I said, meaning it.

‘I’m not a kitten anymore,’ George said, leaning over and swiping me with his paw.

‘You’ll always be my kitten,’ I finished.

I settled George into bed, and then went to Claire’s room where she and Jonathan were getting ready for bed.

‘It’s crazy, but Marcus phoned me after and said that Sylvie had calmed down, and that he or she would explain everything tomorrow.’

‘What brought that on? I mean I don’t have to worry about you and Marcus do I?’ Jonathan laughed, showing that he was joking.

‘Darling, of course you don’t, I’m too busy looking after your children, your pets and other people to do anything, and you know how much I love you anyway.’

‘And you’re a saint to put up with me,’ Jonathan said, giving her a hug. ‘But the good news is that my deputy is fully in place, and he’s so ambitious that he’s snapping at my heels, if he wants to try to get my job he might actually do a lot of my work.’ He laughed.

‘So not worried about him actually taking your job then?’ Claire raised an eyebrow. ‘Only you could see him as an asset rather than a rival!’

‘No, it’s fine, we’re both on the same page, he has a bit to learn but he’s keen and hard-working. I’ve said that I will be home for bath and bedtime for the kids every night unless it’s pre-arranged and I think now things are settling down we should make sure we have our date nights aswell. I know I haven’t been the best husband and father the last few months but I will put that right now.’

‘Oh Jon, I do love you.’

I left with a grin on my face, and took myself to bed. I curled up, and thought about the day. So much had happened, it had been ridiculously busy, a mixture of good and bad. And as I prepared to drift into sleep I hoped that it would be a calmer day tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-Three

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It was lunchtime before the mystery of Sylvie’s outburst was finally solved. George, Pickles and I were tucking into our food when we heard.

Claire had been to the supermarket in the morning, and then she popped in to see Harold, but without George as she went straight from the supermarket. George, Pickles and I had spent a lazy morning at home, and even Pickles failed to get into trouble. George, still on a high from having been to hospital the previous day, was happy to entertain Pickles and I was happy to sit back and relax for once. We heard the letter box flap on the door and Pickles scooted as fast as he could to the door. He barked his little bark, constantly, and sat with his back to the door as a shower of letters landed on his head. It was one of his favourite pastimes. George laughed, as did I. Shortly after, the door opened, Claire walked in with Sylvie, who looked nice and normal again. Claire picked up the post, Sylvie picked up Pickles and we made our way to the kitchen.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind me coming in?’ Sylvie asked. Her hair was neat, pulled back off her face and she had make-up on.

‘Come in, apart from anything else I want to know what on earth was going on yesterday?’ Claire said. She didn’t sound cold, but she didn’t sound as warm as normal either as she put our food down and we all tucked in.

‘You know I went to the doctor the other day?’ Sylvie asked. Claire nodded. ‘They did some tests and yesterday I got the results. It freaked me out a bit.’

‘Oh no, nothing serious, I hope?’ Claire gestured for Sylvie to sit down. ‘Coffee?’

‘No, I better not. And as for serious, it depends on your point of view. Claire, I’m pregnant.’

Now, I definitely hadn’t seen that coming. I didn’t know how old Sylvie was exactly but she seemed about the same age as Claire.

A massive smile appeared on Claire’s face. ‘Oh my goodness, Sylvie, you’re pregnant! I can’t believe it.’

‘Neither can I! I’m in my forties and Connie’s fifteen for goodness’ sake. And when I found out yesterday I freaked out. I had all these thoughts running wild in my head. What if Marcus was angry with me? I mean we never thought children were on the cards, never discussed it. I thought thatI was going through the menopause for goodness’ sake. And then I worried about what Connie would think, her father has just had another baby, so what if it felt as if we were both replacing her. I felt totally out of control, terrified and confused and then when I couldn’t get hold of Marcus and then found out he was at your house, I just lost it.’

‘You certainly did, but, Sylvie, it’s a big deal, I just wish you’d said something.’

‘I told Marcus on your doorstep and he was so happy that any fears I had immediately melted away and then I felt like a total fool. And then he persuaded me to tell Connie straight away and she hugged me and said that she was so happy because it meant she would worry about me less, if that made sense, and also that she would be a great big sister. I cried so much, I didn’t have any tears left. And tonight we’re going to the hospital, Marcus and I, to tell Harold. You must think I’m such a fool.’ Sylvie wiped tears from her cheeks.

‘No, I think you’re amazing, and lucky. Imagine when I first met you you felt as if you’d lost everything but Connie and Hana, and you were pretty miserable. But then we all got our friendship back and you met Marcus and you have barely stopped smiling since. I think it’s amazing and you know we will all help out.’

‘That explains why I was so up and down lately, it was hormones, just not in the way I thought it was! But you know I am excited. I’m scared, there could be all sorts of issues, but Marcus and I talked well into the night and the thing is I know he’s committed to me and to Connie and the baby. In fact he made me book a scan first thing, because he said that the sooner I have a scan the sooner my mind might be at rest, he really is thoughtful.’

‘I can’t believe it, my head is spinning,’ Claire laughed and then she grabbed Sylvie and hugged her.

‘I am so happy, Claire. I mean I know I accused you of having an affair with Marcus yesterday and I am so sorry but, as I said, I wasn’t quite in my right mind.’

‘Will Marcus finally move into your house now?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, we talked about that. I need him but then that leaves Harold on his own, so we need to figure that out. Harold values his independence as you know so I don’t think he’d move in with us but we have to sort something out.’

‘Of course, there’ll be so many plans to make,’ Claire said, beaming.

‘I would crack open the champagne but you know, I can’t drink …’

‘I’ll have a glass tonight for both of us.’ The two women hugged again.

I told George to go and see Hana, after all she needed to be congratulated too, she was going to have a new human soon.

Claire took Pickles out for a walk, while George went next door, and I decided to have forty, well-deserved winks.

When George came back, he asked if I would take a walk with him.

‘Sure, where do you want to go?’ I asked.

‘To see our other friends, since my job I’ve hardly had any time with them.’ I knew how he felt, since I had been put in charge of Pickles I had seen less of my friends than usual. Both the Edgar Road cats and dear Dustbin. However, we had a meal at Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant on Sunday, for family day so I would see plenty of Dustbin then.

‘They’ll be so pleased to see you,’ I agreed.

‘Oh my goodness, it’s so long since we’ve seen you together,’ Nellie said, gleefully greeting us with a nuzzle.

‘And it’s great that you’re all here,’ I said as I greeted Elvis and Rocky.

‘The gang is back together,’ Elvis said. ‘Right, can you please fill us in on all the news,’ he added.

We told them the latest hospital news, and of course about the baby, and then Rocky and George went off to climb George’s favourite tree.

‘You’re forgiven now then?’ Nellie asked.

‘Thankfully, yes, I hated it when he wasn’t talking to me, but it’s been so hectic lately I haven’t had much time to really process anything.’

‘Are you alright though, Alfie?’ Elvis asked.

‘I’m getting there,’ I replied, honestly. Oliver joined us. ‘Hi,’ I said, greeting him warmly.

‘I really love it here, although I’ll love it more in the summer,’ Oliver said.

‘I hear you,’ Nellie said.

‘George,’ I shouted as I saw him and Rocky near the bottom of the tree. ‘Come here.’

‘Oh, we haven’t met have we?’ George said as he approached.

‘No, but I’ve heard all about you,’ Oliver said. ‘And I am very delighted to meet you.’

‘And I’m happy to meet you. How are you settling in?’ George asked, he was so sweet, my heart was bursting with pride for my boy.

‘Pretty well. I know you know my house very well, and I hope you don’t find it too hard me being there,’ Oliver asked.

‘No, because Tiger mum taught me how to be kind and being kind means that you want everyone to be happy. The Barkers were very lonely without a cat.’

‘Yes, they said that to me when they got me, that a home isn’t a home without a cat. And I am grateful for a loving home, it doesn’t happen for every cat.’

‘So, basically the Barkers aren’t lonely anymore and neither are you,’ George said.

‘Exactly right,’ Oliver replied.

‘But you know we are all so lucky to have each other,’ I said, suddenly. ‘We are all good friends and with Oliver, a new friend, and we’ll never be lonely with each other either.’

‘Friendship makes the world go round,’ Rocky said.

‘I thought that was love.’ Nellie looked confused.

‘They are pretty much the same thing I think,’ Elvis finished. And I looked at my friends, old and new, and I knew it was time to count my blessings again. I was so lucky I didn’t need to worry about loneliness and it was a real shame that anyone in the whole wide world had to feel it.

‘Dad, I’ve got the answer,’ George said suddenly.

‘To what?’ I asked.

‘Harold, when he comes home from hospital and Marcus moves in with Sylvie, I worry that he might be lonely.’

‘But, George, he’s got all of us and our families, we’ll see him all the time.’

‘Yes, but when he goes to sleep, he won’t have anyone else in the house with him. And when he wakes up. He’ll be all alone then. And I can’t move in with him because Toby needs me …’

‘Yes, George, but from what I’ve heard he wants to live in his own house.’

‘So we need to make sure he’s not alone,’ George stated, pulling himself up to his full height and looking quite pleased with himself. ‘Harold needs a cat of his own.’

As we walked home, we discussed the idea some more.

‘But, George, won’t you be jealous, after all you and Harold have a special bond and you would have to share him.’

‘I’ve learnt to share an awful lot lately; with Pickles and now seeing Oliver in Tiger mum’s house … I really don’t want to be selfish about it, and it makes perfect sense. Harold needs a cat. I would suggest giving him Pickles but then I thought that Henry and Martha might not like it, so we need to get him a cat of his own.’

‘OK, it’s not a bad idea, but how on earth do we put it into practice? It’s not as if we just happen to have a spare cat laying around.’ I grinned.

‘I know, on Sunday the adults said they are going to discuss what the options are for Harold, we will have to listen and then you’ll have to show them that the answer is a cat. It’s simple really.’

For him maybe, just how the hell was I going to do that? I needed yet another plan. Honestly my skills were being put to the test lately.

Chapter Twenty-Four

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Family day is one of my favourite days ever because I get nearly everyone I love under one roof. And when it’s at Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant, I get to see Dustbin which is a big bonus. I could do with some of his wisdom, now I had been charged somehow with getting Harold a cat. And George, my lovely George, assumed that I would be able to do it. Sometimes children seemed to think parents coulddo anything, and although that was flattering, it was also a lot of pressure.

However, I couldn’t let him down, not after everything we had been through lately. But I had no idea how I was going to do it yet. Harold was finally due out of hospital the following week. Talk had turned to the fact that Sylvie, now pregnant, needed Marcus around more than ever, but Harold wouldn’t entertain moving in with them – he wanted to be in his own home. The doctors said he would be able to live alone, as long as he had help, which of course he did but George had already said he didn’t want him to be alone late at night or in the morning, when we wouldn’t be there for him.

‘George, I get that you don’t want Harold to be lonely and I will do all I can to put your plan into action,’ I said. ‘But I can’t make any promises.’

‘I know you’ll do it,’ George said, leaving me no choice.

We set off and more excitedly, because Hana was joining us, although Connie was carrying her, and Pickles was also with us, although he was on a lead so there was no way he could get into trouble. Even so, he kept splashing into puddles, left by last night’s rain, which made Polly a little annoyed, Matt seemed to find it funny. Until he got soaked of course.

We all arrived at the restaurant, and everyone greeted each other with hugs and kisses, as coats were taken off, scarfs and gloves discarded. The children ran to Tommy, begging him to play a game with them and Pickles and George. Tommy said he would set up a little course for them. Aleksy and Connie immediately sneaked off together, so George, Hana and I headed to the back of the restaurant to find Dustbin.

‘I don’t know if I want to go outside, it’s cold,’ Hana said.

‘Just for a bit and I promise if you want to come back in, I’ll come with you,’ George coaxed.

‘OK, I do want to see Dustbin after all.’

We made our way out and found Dustbin cleaning his paws in the yard.

‘Ah hello, friends.’ He came and greeted us. ‘It’s been far too long.’

‘I know, there has been so much going on, we’ll fill you in, where’s Ally?’ I asked.

‘Oh she’ll be along later, she just went for a walk. I was waiting for you guys, but sometimes Ally gets a bit stir crazy in the yard and needs to get out – not sure why it’s a mighty fine yard.’ We all looked around the yard, it was spacious but a bit gloomy and there were a lot of big bins out here. I could see why you might want to spend a bit of time away from it.

‘I’m going to get Harold a cat,’ George announced and then we filled Dustbin in on our plans.

‘I think it’s a grand idea,’ Dustbin said when he finished. ‘But short of kidnapping a cat for him, I’m not sure how to do it.’

‘And we don’t have the first idea how to kidnap a cat, not that we would ever do that of course,’ I pointed out.

‘Yes, that wouldn’t be right, I mean I want Harold to have the company as well, I think it’s a very good idea, but not if we have to steal a cat,’ Hana added.

We all gave it some thought.

‘I know, I’ve got it,’ I said and I really did. ‘What if there was away to lead a homeless cat to Harold’s.’ It was a brilliant idea, if I did say so myself.

‘But how will we find this homeless cat?’ Hana asked.

‘Dustbin can ask about, and Ally too. You never know there might be a cat around who would be glad of a warm home.’ It did make sense. To me anyway.

‘We can certainly ask around,’ Dustbin said, ‘but I don’t know … I mean most of the outside cats we know like it that way. Anyway, if we do hear of anyone I’ll let you know.’ He sounded uncertain and my confidence took a slight knock. Ally arrived and I relayed my plan to her.

‘I’m not sure how easy it will be, but we can try,’ she said, sounding a little more upbeat than Dustbin. I would take that. ‘But, Alfie, you might need to have another idea as well,’ she suggested gently. OK, so as usual I needed a backup plan.

Hana went inside shortly afterwards, as it was too cold for her, and George went with her. I guessed they would join in with the children. I took a few moments to have a deeper chat with Dustbin and Ally about George’s fixation with loneliness.

‘I understand it, I do. I remember feeling lonely even when I wasn’t alone, after Snowball …’ Snowball was my first love, when she and her family moved away it was devastating. ‘Then after Tiger, but I did have family and friends around me, so I have to acknowledge that. Harold does too, although he does live alone and I can see why that would worry George.’

‘I think, Alfie, George really saw his hospital visits as his job, and now he knows that is coming to an end, he’s turning his efforts elsewhere. First Harold and then, well, like you he’ll want to make sure no one is ever lonely again.’

‘So all this is my fault really?’

‘I’m afraid so. You brought up a fine young tom, and now he wants to do good in the world. We can’t complain about that can we?’

‘And you know he has a point. I heard people talking about how hard it is to be on their own, and look at your families in the restaurant, they’re all happy. It would be wonderful if there was more of that in the world,’ Ally said. ‘Even Dustbin and I found each other, before that I was a loner.’

‘You’re right, and although we might not be able to fix the loneliness problems of the world we can try to do our bit, right?’

‘Right, Alfie.’

I had to do my bit. In our world of Edgar Road, the immediate issue was Harold. What if he got ill in the night? I just hoped if we did get him a cat, it would be almost as smart as us. One of the reasons a dog would be absolutely no good.

Everyone was sat around the table and the hum of easy chatter filled the restaurant. The children had their own table, although Aleksy and Connie complained that they were grown-up enough to be able to sit with the adults. They weren’t quite though, and as Claire pointed out, they were needed to keep the younger ones in check.

‘It’s good news that your dad is coming home this week,’ Franceska said.

‘I know, and you guys have been amazing,’ Marcus replied. ‘Claire and I are drawing up a roster to make sure he’s taken care of at home the way he was in hospital. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you all.’

‘Pah, that’s what friends are for. Whenever we can help we can,’ Tomasz said, although he was very busy so I wasn’t sure how much time he would have.

‘We’re worried about him being alone though,’ Sylvie said. ‘I need Marcus with me, especially as the pregnancy isn’t that easy.’

‘I cannot believe we have another baby coming,’ Polly said, she ignored the idea of the difficult pregnancy.

‘But my moods are all over the place,’ Sylvie said. ‘And I’m worried I might, you know, not cope as well as I should,’ she added carefully.

‘Sylvie, I had postnatal depression with Henry,’ Polly said.

‘I didn’t know that,’ Sylvie said. I did, it was when I first met Polly, Matt and Henry, before Martha was in the picture. In fact I may have even diagnosed her postnatal depression myself.

‘Yes, it was tough but once I knew what it was, I got help and was fine, so with us around you, you won’t fall into any holes. We won’t let you.’

‘Thanks, guys, but still Harold is resolute he won’t move in with us, so we still have the problem of what to do about him.’

‘He’ll probably be fine,’ Jonathan said, uncertainly.

‘Yeah,’ Matt added. ‘The doctors said he’s OK to go home and they know he lives alone.’

‘I know but it doesn’t stop us worrying,’ Marcus replied. I glanced over at George, he glanced over at Hana, and I called them in close.

‘It’s a long shot but I’ve got an idea. If we all jump up on the table, they might get that we’re trying to tell them something,’ I suggested. A genius idea if I did say so myself.

‘But they hate us being on the table, we always get in trouble,’ Hana said.

‘Exactly.’ George grinned. ‘Dad’s right, if we do that they will know we’re telling them something.’

‘Right, let’s do it,’ I said. The three of us jumped onto laps and then onto the table.

‘What on earth are you doing? Get down this minute,’ Claire said. I saw Polly try not to laugh at her tone. Polly often said Claire missed her vocation and should have been a school teacher.

‘Yowl,’ I shouted.

‘Yowl,’ Hana added.

‘Yowl,’ George finished.

The adults glanced between us.

‘Anyone would think they were trying to tell us something,’ Jonathan said. I raised my whiskers, of course we were; humans could be a little slow on the uptake but you would think that after all the years of my teaching, they might have got it by now.

‘Maybe they are saying that we should get Harold a cat?’ Tomasz suggested.

‘Meow,’ I said and nuzzled Tomasz to reward him. He was the cleverest right now.

‘Meow,’ George reiterated.

‘Meow,’ Hana thirded. The adults all studied us hard. But I think we had managed to convey the message.

‘That’s it, if Harold had a cat, he wouldn’t be quite on his own, and if the cat is anything like these three, they’ll take good care of him,’ Matt said.

‘What a great idea and Dad will love it. As long as George isn’t jealous, I mean those two are like best friends.’

‘Meow,’ George said, to show he didn’t mind at all. He then went to Marcus and jumped into his arms to reiterate the point.

‘These cats are so clever,’ Jonathan said. ‘But it is a great idea, if Harold has a cat then at least we know he’s got company when we’re not there.’

‘It’s a genius idea,’ Claire said.

‘After all, everyone needs a cat,’ Franceska finished rubbing my ears.

‘Woof.’ We all turned to see poor Pickles trying to climb up a chair leg but he couldn’t. I’d almost forgotten about him in my delight that my plan was working, so I hopped down and went to join him.

‘Am I ever going to be a cat, Alfie?’ he asked.

‘We’ll see,’ I replied. Which is what adults said when they really meant no.

As the adults discussed the cat they were going to get for Harold, I went to eat. Claire was going to take charge but she liked that, and they said they would of course get an older cat, because the last thing Harold or any of us needed was a kitten. And they had to remember Harold’s age but then of course any cat that came to live with him would be part of our family so they would never be alone anyway. I went to tell Dustbin the good news, and I was feeling so proud of us all as I did so. We’d proved to be a formidable team yet again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_26]

It was a year to the day since we lost Tiger, I knew this because Oliver told us the Barkers had been preparing for it. In fact they were going to wait to get Oliver until the year anniversary, as it seemed right, but in the end they had gone to find him a bit earlier.

Because he told us about this day, we decided to make it Tiger day. We’d had a memorial, after Tiger passed away, which I knew nothing about but we learnt to say goodbye to her, and now we were going to honour the year without her by telling her how much we missed her and loved her still. All our friends were meeting at the recreation ground.

George even asked Hana if she would come and she’d agreed. She might not like the cold, or even the outside that much but she was a good cat and a good friend to George. The only problem we had was Pickles.

‘Why can’t I come?’ he had whined as we prepared to leave.

‘You know why,’ George retorted. ‘You can’t be out without a human. We’ve had enough trouble already, what with nearly being run over, and caught at the hospital, don’t you think?’

‘It’s not fair. No matter how hard I work at being a cat I am still a dog.’

‘Life isn’t fair, my lad,’ I said kindly, shooting George a warning look. ‘But we will tell you all about it as soon as we get home.’

He turned his back on us in a sulk. Poor Pickles, it was hard for him but after all he was still only a puppy. We loved him, but there was nothing any of us could do about the‘dogness’ of him.

We called for Hana and set off to the meeting place. I was heartened to see that everyone was there already. Dustbin and Ally had even come from the yard, which was touching. Elvis, Nellie and Rocky, my three closest Edgar Road friends, were there, even Salmon had turned up with Oliver– what a wonderful group it was.

‘Right,’ Elvis said, taking control. ‘Let’s share our favourite Tiger story, or memory, in order to honour her today,’ he said, seriously.

‘I’ll go first,’ I said. ‘Everyone knows how much I loved Tiger and how close we were. When we first met though she really didn’t like exercise, and I used to make her come for long walks with me, she would complain all the way but then she ended up liking exercise even more than I did.’ It was a simple memory but I had others which instead of sharing I wanted to keep in my heart.

‘She was my Tiger mum,’ George said. ‘And I am just proud to have had her in my life and I hope that she’s proud of me now.’

‘Oh George, she would be beyond proud of you,’ I said, through my emotions. ‘Everyone is beyond proud of you.’

‘Oh good.’ He raised his tail, and I felt that he had come such a long way lately.

We all stood solemnly as Rocky recounted how Tiger was a great bird chaser in her time, Nellie talked about the‘girl’ chats they shared and how now she was surrounded by boys she missed that the most, Elvis said she could be really feisty when pushed, which she could be, and Salmon said how she never quite liked him and called him a ‘busybody’ – which to be fair he was. Oliver stayed quiet as did Ally, but Dustbin finished the chat.

‘I knew Tiger more through Alfie and then George than first-hand, although I did have the pleasure of meeting her a few times. But what struck me is that she embodied what being a cat was. Yes she was feisty but only really when she was protecting those she loved, she was loyal, she was fun, she was loving and kind, and she had a big heart. Tiger was an example to all of us and by following that example she will always live on through all of us.’

It was a sombre moment as we let those words sink in. Dustbin might be feral but he was incredibly wise. I felt choked, and I nuzzled Dustbin in gratitude for such a wonderful summing up of Tiger…

‘Woof woof, woof woof,’ a voice interrupted us bounding into our group. All the cats sprang back apart from Dustbin, George, Hana and I. They made quite a racket.

‘Shush, it’s alright,’ I told them. ‘It’s only Pickles.’

‘How on earth did you get out?’ George asked as Pickles wagged his tail at us.

‘I am more cat than you thought,’ he replied.

Nellie, Rocky, Oliver and Elvis started moving closer, examining him curiously.

‘Claire was in the front garden, talking to someone and so I escaped and then I ran really fast.’ Pickles sounded so proud, and George gave him a paw. ‘And I knew you came here, because I’ve been walked past it when you were here before, so I am actually a very clever cat too.’

‘High five! Good one, Pickles,’ George said, although I really didn’t think he should encourage him.

‘How many times have we told you not to go out on your own?’ I despaired.

‘But it’s too much fun,’ he argued.

‘Oh my goodness, what is going on? Bad puppy.’ Claire ran up, breathless. She clutched her stomach as if she’d been winded. We all tried to look busy. Nellie started playing with some leaves, Rocky moved to the nearest tree, Dustbin and Ally took a step back and Oliver along with Salmon hid in a bush. ‘Do you always meet here?’ Claire asked. Although we met here regularly, we were away from the road so the humans didn’t know about our patch.

‘Meow,’ I said. It didn’t hurt her to know, after all we weren’t doing anything wrong.

‘Right, you come with me.’ She picked up a wriggling Pickles and walked off. ‘See you at home,’ she said to George and me. At least this time she couldn’t blame me for Pickles’ behaviour. I was as bemused as she was, after our back gate had been turned into a fortress. George and I could squeeze under it but poor chubby Pickles …

We dispersed soon after, bizarrely a human turning up seemed to unsettle my friends more than the fact that Pickles had. They didn’t like outsiders knowing about our special place. I reassured them that Claire would be too angry with Pickles to give it too much thought and we all said our goodbyes.

‘We ought to go home, George,’ I said. ‘Pickles might need us.’

‘Yeah, he’s in big trouble. Right, Hana, we’ll drop you off, and thank you for coming.’

‘You know I’d do anything for you,’ Hana replied and we all blinked at each other.

Pickles had been told off and was sulking in his bed. Even George couldn’t cheer him up, he really was in the doghouse, excuse the pun. After all the emotion of the day, I decided to take a cat nap and enjoy the peace and quiet. I felt sorry for Pickles being in trouble, although I was secretly impressed with his earlier jail break. He really was more cat than I gavehim credit for. At least when he was sulking he couldn’t get into more trouble, so I was able to sneak away and fall asleep on the sofa.

I was woken by voices, I pricked my ears up and began to open my eyes.

‘Are you sure about this?’ I heard Jonathan ask. He was home from work extra early and had been making an effort lately, work had eased off as he promised, and it was so nice to have extra time with him. Not least because he brought George and me nice treats to eat. Our house was finally a happy home again.

‘Look, Jon, it is weird but it’s also fate,’ Claire replied.

‘I don’t believe in fate,’ Jonathan replied.

‘In this case you should believe in fate. I mean the timing and everything. To think I was making all those phone calls to cat shelters when the answer was right here!’

It was quite cryptic and I had no idea what they were talking about, as I fully opened my eyes and stretched.

‘What about Alfie?’ Jonathan asked. They both looked at me and I eyeballed them back. What about me? ‘And it’s very sad, as well, of course.’

‘Alfie’ll be happy,’ Claire hissed and then directed Jonathan away. ‘We can’t talk about this in front of him.’

What on earth? Why couldn’t they talk about it in front of me, that was what they usually said when they were trying to keep things from the children. I wasn’t a child though, I was an adult. I stalked off and joined Pickles in his sulk, while we waited for Matt or Polly to come to collect him. I’d had enough drama for one day.

George and I went out that dark evening, despite the cold and the wind. We looked up at the stars, as the breeze ruffled our fur.

‘Do you think Tiger heard us today?’ George asked.

‘Yes, and I think she would be pleased that we’re friends with Oliver,’ I added.

‘Life is funny isn’t it?’ George said.

‘Yes, it is, when we lose loved ones, we have to let love guide us,’ I said, feeling sentimental.

‘And with everything that we’ve been through, with Tiger, with Harold and my hospital job, and Hana being my very best friend, I know that everyone can suffer from loneliness, and that it’s the worst thing, and the fact that I’ve never been lonely means I am the luckiest cat ever. Although I miss Tiger mum, I don’t have to be alone ever and even when I’m sad I’m not alone.’

‘And the same goes for me. I have been lonely at times, George, but never since I met you of course.’

‘So if Harold gets a cat, then we’ll be their friend too,’ George said.

‘Of course, that’s what we do, we make friends with everyone, even a dog.’ I grinned.

‘Pickles isn’t so bad. Not for a puppy anyway. Although, thank goodness Harold’s getting a cat and not a dog. But, Dad, we’ll never have to be lonely will we?’

‘No, George, never, and we will always be the lucky ones for that.’ I crossed my paws and said a prayer that this would be true.

Chapter Twenty-Six

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_27]

There was definitely a strange atmosphere in our house. Frustratingly I had no idea what was causing it. And neither did George. We were both being kept in the dark. There had been lots of whispered conversations following the last one I’d heard, and plotting it seemed. I worked out that the humans were making a huge deal out of getting Harold his cat and for some reason it had to be a secret.

‘Why can’t they just go and get one?’ George asked. Harold had been home for a while now and Christmas was approaching, so George really didn’t want him to be on his own longer than necessary. Although he was barely left alone and Marcus had got him something called a panic alarm for emergencies. It all sounded very complicated to me, George and I agreed that a cat would be much simpler as a panic button. I just hoped they were trying to get the right cat.

‘Perhaps they are making sure that the cat is clever enough,’ I pointed out.

‘But most cats are clever,’ George retorted.

‘True, maybe they’re making sure it has the right personality for our family. Remember some cats can be a bit moody, and others are a little aggressive, not our friends but outside of our group.’

‘All all the cats we know are lovely.’

‘Another reason we’re lucky,’ I pointed out. ‘But of course the cat would have to like Pickles as well, and children, as well as old people.’

‘You’re right, it might be harder than we thought to find a cat like that, just because we are, doesn’t mean all cats are. It’s quite a list: clever, sociable, lovely, kind, good at plans, likes dogs … There probably aren’t many cats like that out there.’

‘That’s true, George.’ I felt my fur freeze as the penny dropped. I glanced at George and quickly away. All the secret conversations and the ‘don’t talk about it in front of Alfie,’ ran through my brain. I knew what was going on and I didn’t like it, not one little bit. They were going to give me to Harold. They couldn’t find another cat like me so they were giving me away. I felt a sense of horror, and dread all mixed up together.

My eyes flickered to George again. How could they even consider separating us? I know it was just the end of the street but this was the home I shared with my son and my main family. I was a doorstep cat, but not one to be given away willy nilly. But the conversation with George had made it all clear to me. I was the only cat clever enough to take care of Harold. Oh no, no no. This could not be happening. But what could I do?

‘There’s something else, as well, Dad,’ George said, interrupting my thoughts. There was no way I could tell him this.

‘What? I hope nothing’s wrong.’ I had enough to deal with right now. Like being given away.

‘No, but you know since Harold came out of hospital we’ve both been a bit worried about the people who are lonely.’

‘Right and you and Harold have discussed this have you?’ I tried to hide the fear I was feeling and have a normal conversation. I had to behave as if everything was alright in front of George although I felt sick.

‘In our own way we have. And we’ve come up with an idea. In fact Harold and me came up with an idea to start a Sunday Lunch Club.’

‘A Sunday Lunch Club?’

‘Yes, we discussed the idea at length, but for someone who is always happy to tell people off, he’s a bit nervous about sharing the idea with anyone else.’

‘Go on.’ I was intrigued. And I needed the distraction from my own problem.

‘He wants us to introduce friends to the old people who don’t have anyone else, and organise a lunch once a week. Or maybe once every two weeks, and then he also said maybe once a month we all go to the restaurant together like we did at Christmas last year.’

Last Christmas there’d been a power cut in Edgar Road, and we were lucky that Tomasz and Franceska were able to host those who might have been without any power to have Christmas lunch at the restaurant. There was a lovely sense of community there, among all cats and humans alike.

‘I think that is a brilliant idea,’ I said. ‘George, well done, you and Harold have done a pretty sterling job.’ It was a great idea, and I would have been jumping fully on board if I was fretting so much about my own future.

‘But we need to encourage him to tell Claire or Marcus or someone, because he feels too scared to do so and without them involved it’s not going to happen.’

‘We’ll give it some thought,’ I suggested. Thinking that it was far too soon for me to have to come up with yet another plan. I was all planned out for the moment. Also, I now needed a plan so I wouldn’t have to live at Harold’s. Oh this was not good. It was the opposite of good.

‘Maybe Harold’s new cat can help too,’ George suggested. I felt sick. I loved Harold, yes, but I didn’t want to leave George.

‘Maybe,’ was all I could manage.

‘Let’s hope they get one who is very clever indeed then,’ George finished.

I was busy worrying about how I would tell the humans that their idea to give me to Harold was not going to work when Claire announced we were all going to Harold’s together.

‘Meow,’ I said, giving her my most loving look. How could she think of giving me away?

‘You’ll love this surprise, Alfie,’ she said. No, no I wouldn’t. Although I had figured out what was going on, I was still trying to process it and come up with a way to make sure it didn’t happen.

‘We’re going to meet the new cat, I bet,’ George said excitedly. You’ve already met him, I wanted to say but I couldn’t. I had no idea yet how George was going to cope, because I wasn’t coping.

George and I had a light lunch which felt like my last supper. I know it sounded a bit dramatic, as Harold was on the same street, but George needed me to live with him, and what about Toby and Summer? Not to mention Jonathan and Claire. Their lives would literally fall apart without me. How could they do this to me?

‘If I’m going to meet a new cat, I need to make a good impression,’ George said, as he gave himself a thorough grooming.

‘Is Hana coming with us?’ I asked. I thought if he had his best friend there it might make things easier for him.

‘She is not. She said it’s too cold, and she doesn’t know anything about the new cat either. I hope the new cat isn’t going to have a nervous disposition, it wouldn’t cope well in our family, or on Edgar Road for that matter.’ George chatted away but his words barely registered with me.

Claire led George and me out of the house and to Harold’s. She left the children with Polly. Of course she did, she was giving me away, and she wouldn’t want them to be a party to that! I was suddenly angry. After all I had done for this family, how could they do this to me?

‘Do I look alright?’ George asked, as we stood at the door. I was pleased that I had taught George to always look his best as I tried to focus on him and not me for a moment.

‘You are the most handsome kitten,’ I replied, affectionately. Deep down I wanted to yowl but I had to pull myself together.

‘Although I am NOT a kitten,’ he replied, but he nuzzled me to show he didn’t mind.

Claire used her key to open the door, and George rushed in to see this new cat, but Harold was sat with Marcus in the living room and they were alone. My worst fear was confirmed. There was no new cat, I was the new cat. Although George looked under the furniture just in case. No, no new cat here.

‘Alfie, George, you two have been my friends for ages, especially George,’ Harold said, as he sat in his favourite chair. ‘And I know it was your idea that I get a cat – it’s a grand idea. But I don’t want you to think for one minute that this new cat will replace either of you in any way.’ Oh, that was strange. If I was the new cat then how could I replace myself? Was Harold just a bit confused, after all he’d been in hospital for a long time and that could confuse anyone.

‘Meow.’ George jumped onto Harold’s lap and nuzzled into his neck. I thought it showed how far George had come recently as he showed no sign of jealousy.

Claire looked at her watch.

‘They should be here by now,’ she said. ‘I just can’t wait.’

‘Meow?’ I asked, enough was enough, I needed to know. Who should be here by now? Just what on earth was going on? I yowled at Claire, begging her to tell me.

‘Jonathan and Matt went to get Harold’s new cat,’ Claire explained to me. ‘And they will be home any minute now, so get ready to give a warm welcome to her.’

Relief flooded my fur, I was not the new/old cat. I wasn’t being given to Harold, and the fear I’d held the last few days was unfounded. In fact I felt a little bit silly.

But what had all the hushed conversations been about? Why was there such a big fuss being made of this? Claire was jittery, Harold excited and Marcus grinned. No, this still made no sense.

‘It’s going to be the best surprise ever, Alfie,’ Claire said. No, no idea what she was talking about.

‘I still can’t get over how you guys talk to your cat as if they’re human. Sylvie does too and Connie sometimes talks to Hana in Japanese if she doesn’t want us to know what she’s saying,’ Marcus laughed.

‘Since meeting George, and then Alfie, I’ve learnt that these cats understand everything. I’ve never met a better listener than George,’ Harold said.

‘Meow.’ George thanked him.

It seemed like a long time, all this waiting. I hopped from paw to paw, impatiently, while George and Harold sat there quietly. I still couldn’t get over why they were making such a meal of this? And if Claire had told me in the first place I wouldn’t have had to worry about being given away.

I was just about to start getting bored, when the doorbell went. Claire jumped up and went to the door. Matt and Jonathan came in, Marcus was stood up, and Harold levered himself up to standing.

‘Everything OK?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, all great. I mean sad, it was sad seeing them have to say goodbye but at least this is the best possible outcome under the circumstances,’ Jonathan said, which flummoxed me even more.

Matt put the cat carrier down on the floor. He bent down to open the door. George went up to it, and finally the cat moved and stretched, but I couldn’t see it. I spotted one white paw and I felt my body start to shake, as the cat began to make its way out of the cat carrier. I would never forget that paw, that scent. Suddenly all the secrets, all the hushed conversations made sense. It was never me, but it was all about me.

‘Meow, meow, meow,’ George said excitedly. He had no idea, as Harold’s new cat emerged from the cat carrier and I found myself face to face with Snowball.

We both stared at each other. I felt as if I was glued to the carpet, as my legs continued to shake. All those feelings I had once felt began to flood back. In front of me was my first love and she looked exactly the same. A little older maybe, but her white fur was still the fluffiest I’d ever seen and her blue eyes were mesmerising. What on earth was she doing here?

George searched my face questioningly. He had never met Snowball, he had no idea what she looked like. And I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to be pleased when he discovered just who Harold’s new cat was. Because of Tiger, I mean.

‘Welcome to my house, Snowball,’ Harold said, picking her up and stroking her. George’s eyes widened and then he looked at me. The pilchard finally dropped.

‘It was a bit heartbreaking,’ Jonathan said. ‘They are really going to miss her but at least they know she’s going to a good home and of course a familiar street with friends,’ he added. ‘With Alfie. They were so pleased that these two were being reunited,’ he added. And I would be too, if it wasn’t for George.

‘Oh Snowball, please don’t be sad, we’ll be great company for each other and you have your old friend Alfie here too,’ Harold said, petting her. She snuggled into him. I guess she had accepted the move with her usual grace.

‘Snowball’s family, Tim and Karen Snell, are moving overseas,’ Claire explained. Although to who I wasn’t sure, it seemed only George and I were in the dark on this one. ‘And it wasn’t suitable for her to go with them, so when they told me and I mentioned that we were looking for a cat,it all fell into place.’

‘I still can’t believe you told them we were looking for a cat the exact time they were looking for a family for Snowball,’ Marcus said. ‘It’s like it was fate,’ he added.

‘That’s what I said,’ Claire said, excitedly. ‘Snowball and Alfie were inseparable before they moved away, he was so devastated when she left,’ she added. George did not look best pleased.

‘And I’m very pleased to meet you,’ Harold said. ‘You really are gorgeous.’ He sounded delighted, but I was still trying to process all the information, and there was so much to figure out. Snowball seemed a little less shocked than me, but when Jonathan and Matt turned up she would have known what was going on, and her family had probably explained it to her, but I had a feeling she’d miss them. She had lived with them since she was a kitten and that broke my heart. However, it seemed that their loss was our gain.

I had a million questions but seeing the thunderous look on George’s face, I realised he had too.

Snowball and I were trying not to look at each other. George was ignoring me. The humans were all making a massive fuss of Snowball and all I wanted to do was to speak to her alone.

‘We’ve even got a cat flap for you,’ Harold said, ‘so you can come and go as you please.’ He was clearly smitten but then Snowball had that effect on people, and cats actually. I tried to get George’s attention – he was sulking under a chair, clearly not himself.

I took a breath. I needed to speak to Snowball, I needed to know what happened and if she was alright. I couldn’t tell from her impenetrable gaze which she had trained on Harold right now. I also needed to talk to George, because of all the questions I was sure he wanted to ask. But at the moment we were stuck here, in the most awkward welcome party known to cats.

It felt so strange, all those years apart and I could still read her. It was, in some ways, like she’d never been away. My unwarranted fear of being given to Harold was replaced with a new fear. And that was that George would never accept Snowball. Claire said to Jonathan that she was surprised by our reactions, she thought we’d both be so happy to see each other, but of course I couldn’t explain that to her. How could I expect a human to understand the complexities of a cat relationship?

George and I broke away from the others on the way home and went to the park at the end of Edgar Road.

‘How are you feeling?’ I asked, accepting how inadequate my words were. We were crouched behind a bush together, George was angrily swiping at leaves.

‘I don’t know,’ George said sadly. ‘They said Snowball was your girlfriend?’

‘I know and, George, I was just as shocked as you were to see her,’ I said.

‘But, Dad, she can’t replace Tiger,’ he said. I supposed I should be grateful for him getting straight to the point.

‘Of course not, George, and you can’t think of her like that. We were together before Tiger and I were, when your mum and I were just friends, but I don’t want you to worry about that. We haven’t even had the chance to say hello properly yet,’ I pointed out.

‘I was excited for Harold to get a cat and I thought we’d all be best friends but now I don’t know how I can be friends with her, it feels like I would be betraying Tiger mum,’ he said. He looked pretty forlorn.

‘And I understand that. You must feel incredibly confused, and I know I do too. But Snowball is here because she lost her family, or was about to lose them, and because we persuaded our families that Harold needed a cat. We need to remember that.’

‘But, I can’t ignore the fact that she and you have history, and that makes me feel funny,’ he said.

‘I understand, George, I do, but I don’t have the first clue what to say to you. Snowball will never replace Tiger in my heart. I need you to know that. We’re different cats now, we’re older and hopefully wiser …’ While I was trying to reassure George, I was also trying to reassure myself, or at least organise my emotions.

‘But you might love her like you used to.’

‘I honestly don’t know how to answer that at the moment. George, please understand me when I say that I won’t do anything to hurt you and I would never ever do anything to tarnish my feelings for Tiger.’

‘I hope that’s true and I hope you know that I am going to have to tell Snowball that she can never be my mum.’ He was getting riled now.

‘You don’t need to say that because she never would try to do anything like that. George, remember when Oliver moved into the Barkers’ house, and I felt funny about that? You said that the Barkers needed him because they were lost without Tiger and mentioned that Oliver needed a home. Well Harold needs Snowball and Snowball needs Harold by the sounds of it and if you can be friends with Oliver, then you can be friends with Snowball surely.’

‘No, because Oliver was never your girlfriend, and didn’t try to replace my mum. Anyway I can’t talk about this anymore right now, I’m going to go and see Hana.’

There was nothing I could do as I watched him stalk off.

My heart felt heavy as I went home. I thought about going back to see Snowball but then I realised I needed a bit of time alone.

I crept into the house and into my bed. I fell asleep and tried not to think but after about only forty blinks, I woke up, everything felt unsettled. I decided that it was time to bite the bullet, because I wouldn’t settle until I had a proper chat with Snowball. I needed to know she was alright. So I made my way back to Harold’s house, hoping George was happily with Hana and didn’t get mad at me if he found out. I had no idea how to do the right thing. Firstly I had to worry about George’s feelings, then Snowball’s and finally my own.

I let myself in the cat flap and found Snowball in the living room sitting on Harold’s lap. He was asleep. It was strange, seeing her evoked myriad emotions. In some ways they looked as if they belonged together and had been together for years, they seemed so comfortable. Yet, also I couldn’t help but remember how much pain I had been in when I said goodbye to her years ago, and how much had happened since. I’d become a father – albeit initially reluctantly – I’d fallen in love with Tiger, I’d been on holiday a number of times, we’d met Harold, there was almost a whole life between when I last saw her and now. And I was a very different cat from the one who tried to woo her by climbing a tree with dug up flowers. That had ended in me getting rescued by the fire brigade and was so humiliating, by the way. I would never do that now! Especially as that was how I discovered my fear of heights.

Snowball peered at me and I thought‘I still know you.’ It was in her eyes. I tilted my head and hoped that she would follow me as I made my way to the back door.

‘He sleeps very soundly,’ I said. It was the first thing I’d said to her and it was horribly inadequate.

‘He snores loudly,’ she replied with a grin.

‘Where do we start, Snowball?’ I asked.

‘At the beginning?’ she replied.

‘Tell me, because Claire was vague, why you’re here. Your family moved away?’ I wanted to nuzzle her but it felt too soon for that sort of contact.

‘The kids moved away ages ago, and somehow they both ended up in America. So, they all missed each other and Tim and Karen decided to move, but they couldn’t really take me, because where they were moving to would be too hot. They said at my age it would probably be best for me to stay here.’

‘That must have been devastating for you?’

‘I kind of got used to losing people, Alfie. First you, then Daisy moved away to be a model, then Christopher left home … I miss everyone, of course, and when I found out Tim and Karen were moving I was utterly heartbroken. But then they spoke to Claire and told me I’d be coming back to EdgarRoad, and although I was still sad, I thought about you and how no matter what the situation was with us, we’d be friends again. I felt a bit better, because I didn’t have to start over from scratch. But then when I saw you this afternoon, it was so strange. And I don’t think George liked me.Oh, Alfie, it’s all so confusing.’

‘Let me fill you in on what’s been going on here since you’ve been gone,’ I said, trying to find a starting point for this new situation between us both.

We talked for what felt like hours. I told her about how heartbroken I was when she left, and how my family thought the answer lay in giving me George as a kitten. I then told her about how we got to know each other and how in doing so, Tiger became even closer to me. I told her about our adventures and finally I got onto losing Tiger, and the new cat who was living in her old house. I filled her in on so much, it was quite tiring for me, talking so much.

In turn, she told me about how after she moved from Edgar Road, she had a very different life. They lived in a house with a garden on a street which was smaller than Edgar Road, and there weren’t many cats around and so, unlike me, Snowball had been living quite a quiet and solitary existence since leaving here. Well that was at an end now she was back here.

‘You do realise that life on Edgar Road is still not remotely peaceful or quiet,’ I said.

‘I do, and if I remember rightly, life with you is never dull,’ Snowball said and I saw another glimpse of the girl I left behind.

‘You know when life is calm and quiet, I always start to panic that it’s going to change drastically. It always happens; this time everything was alright then Pickles arrived in our lives. Shortly after Harold went to hospital, George got a job, then Sylvie found out she was pregnant and now here you are. I mean dull? I don’t even know the meaning of the word dull.’

‘Oh, Alfie, there is so much we need to catch up on,’ Snowball said. ‘Where do we go from here?’

‘Do you think we can start to rebuild our friendship now? See, what happens?’ I asked.

‘I think that’s the best way. We need to think about George. I mean he seemed pretty angry.’

‘He’s confused. He thinks you’re going to replace Tiger, and we have to prove to him that that’s not the case. No matter what happens between the two of us, we have to make George feel good about the situation first off, because he and Harold are so close. And he’s my son, my number one priority.’

‘OK, so, Alfie, I’ve been here five minutes and you’re already going to have to come up with one of your crazy plans.’

‘Hey.’ I bumped her gently, old feelings began to come flooding back again. ‘My plans are not crazy.’

We turned and grinned at each other and I knew that although I had lived a life without her in it, I still adored her. It wasn’t the same as I felt with Tiger, but I needed to figure out how to go from here. Snowball and I agreed that George was the first priority here, the rest would have to wait.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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I knew George was stubborn but boy was he stubborn.

‘You can’t decide you’re not visiting Harold anymore because of Snowball, he’s your best friend,’ I said. That was my first part of the plan, trying to encourage George to get to know Snowball via Harold. That way they could become friends, without me being there. That was the idea, anyway.

‘Harold doesn’t need me, he’s got her,’ he said. It wasn’t going well.

‘You know that’s not true, we talked about jealousy, George, and it doesn’t work. And not only that but it’s not fair on Harold. He loves you and he’s done nothing wrong.’ I should have pointed out that none of us had done anything wrong actually but I was taking baby steps.

‘I’m sure you’re there all the time anyway, no one needs me, anymore,’ George whined.

‘I need you,’ Pickles said, but George wasn’t remotely placated by his comment.

‘George, Snowball only moved in just over a week ago and we’ve only spoken briefly and that was because I wanted to tell her about you. Everyone needs you, me most of all, but also Harold.’ It was exasperating.

‘Hmmph,’ he said.

‘George, you have to see that Snowball didn’t come here on purpose, she had no choice. She’s lost her family, she’s alone, and she’s not here to replace Tiger.’

‘I don’t want her here, you loved her before you loved Tiger mum, and I don’t like that.’

‘George, if Tiger was still here, then we’d be having this conversation and I would tell you that I would never leave Tiger for Snowball, but she’s not here, and I’m alone in that way. I’m not saying that Snowball will be my girlfriend again, but she is here now and whatever happens I have to find a way to make you OK with that. Because you’re my priority.’

‘Hmmph.’

‘Right, I am going to visit Harold and Snowball, are you coming?’

‘No. I have to see Hana.’

‘Can I come?’ Pickles asked, hopefully.

‘No,’ both George and I said at the same time. I felt guilty.

‘Pickles, Claire is going to be cross if you go out and I really do need to but I promise I won’t be long and if you stay here and are good, then I’ll play with you when I get back.’

‘Promise?’ He looked at me with his big eyes.

‘Promise,’ I said, wearily.

It was beyond frustrating. I went alone to see Snowball who was settling in well, despite the fact she missed her family terribly. But Harold had taken to her, he seemed to adore her already, although of course it was very early days.

‘So where’s George?’ Harold asked, as he fussed me. He then put down some food for us. I bet George would be missing eating his biscuits dunked in tea with Harold. I would remind him of that.

‘Meow,’ I replied. I would tell George later how Harold was missing him, I would go on and on until George relented and went to see him.

Snowball and I sat in the back garden.

‘I can’t wait to see the others. Do you think Harold will mind if I go out for a bit?’ I knew that Marcus was coming round, because Harold told me, so I thought that we’d be alright to go out. As Snowball had lived on Edgar Road before, it felt unnecessary to keep her in like they did with new cats sometimes. Also she had me to escort her, so I took the opportunity to take Snowball to see our friends. It would be a reunion of sorts.

‘Hi, guys,’ I said, ‘look who’s back.’

‘Oh my goodness,’ Nellie said, nuzzling Snowball. Elvis and Rocky crowded round. ‘Thank goodness you’re back, what a turn up for the books. I’ve been moaning that I don’t have any female company as well.’

‘I have no idea who you are, but it’s nice to meet you,’ Oliver said. We all started talking at once. It was like the old days, but of course without Tiger, and I felt almost happy again, actually, genuinely happy. Then a voice interrupted us.

‘So now she’s muscled her way in with all of you,’ George stormed. We all sprang apart and faced George who was angrier than I’ve ever seen him.

‘George, this isn’t like you,’ Nellie said. ‘Snowball is an old friend.’

‘Can’t you see what she’s trying to do? She’s trying to replace Tiger,’ George persisted.

Our cat friends looked shocked, and Snowball appeared devastated as she scrunched up her lovely face.

‘No, George, no I’m not,’ she said quietly. ‘But I’ve lost everyone I cared about and now I’m here and I’m with old friends. And new ones I hope, but that’s all it is.’ She turned to walk away. I was horrified, sad and worried all at the same time, but more than anything I was angry. I had not brought George up to be like this.

‘George, that was rude, and you are going to come with me and we’re going to sort this out once and for all,’ I shouted.

‘Go, lad,’ Rocky said. ‘We love you and we loved Tiger but Snowball was our friend too,’ he said, quietly. I was grateful for his support.

‘Come on,’ I said again and set off, I turned and thankfully George was following me. We caught up with Snowball. ‘Let’s go to mutual ground,’ I said. And the three of us headed to the park.

George sulked the whole way there so Snowball and I remained silent. We arrived at the entrance to the park and headed to one of George’s favourite places, where there was a big climbable tree.

‘So,’ I started, ‘Harold is missing you. He really wants to see you and I know you’re missing him too.’

‘Not my fault,’ he replied. I paused, a little unsure where to go next.

‘George,’ Snowball said, gently. ‘Perhaps it’s time you told me what your problem with me is because I am not trying to replace Tiger. Gosh, I could never replace Tiger,’ she added.

‘I just don’t like you,’ George said, sounding more like a kitten than he was.

‘You don’t know her, son,’ I pointed out.

‘But I know you were my dad’s girlfriend once and now you’re back again and I just don’t like it.’

‘OK, I understand that, but, George, if we’re going to get past this, we need to talk. I have no choice but to live with Harold. Don’t forget that Harold loves you.’

‘But I feel sad. Because of Tiger mum, I loved her so much, and I miss her,’ he mumbled.

‘Oh, George, I know, and your dad misses her too, and all the friends I just saw. Tiger was a wonderful cat, and we were friends, your mum and me, you know.’

‘Really?’ George didn’t sound convinced.

‘Although actually you and Tiger have something in common talking of not liking me,’ Snowball said, with a grin.

‘What?’ George couldn’t help but sound curious.

‘She didn’t like me either at first,’ Snowball said.

‘She really didn’t,’ I added.

‘Really? Why didn’t she like you?’

‘Pretty much the same reason as you don’t like me, because of me and your dad.’

‘But she came to like you?’

‘Yes, we ended up as great friends. She was a wonderful cat.’ Snowball stood up. ‘George, do you like climbing trees?’

‘I love it,’ he said, as he softened to her.

‘Why don’t the two of us go and climb a tree? I can tell you about the time your dad ended up stuck up a tree in my garden.’

George blinked and then tilted his head to one side as if he was thinking. He had heard the story before of course but not from Snowball.

‘OK, and then I’ll decide if I like you. But you can’t make me.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Snowball grinned and I realised that no one, not even George would be able to resist her for long.

I watched them go off together and they started climbing. I had to stop watching when they got a bit high, because it made me feel funny. My vertigo could kick in even if I was on the ground, it seemed.

I huddled under a bush to keep warm while I waited for them, paws crossed they would come down friends.

They were quiet when they came to find me, which could have meant anything. I stood up and stretched.

‘All OK?’

‘I have decided to be mature and give Snowball a chance. After all it’s not her fault that she had to come back to Edgar Road and like Oliver she’s lost her family, although she didn’t go to the shelter, so we need to be kind and thoughtful about that. And I do miss Harold. And biscuits dunked in tea.’

‘George, you never cease to surprise me with your maturity,’ I said. Apart from when he was immature of course but I didn’t voice that.

‘And I have promised I won’t try to replace Tiger, not that I ever could, but we can all be friends now,’ Snowball said.

‘And I need to see Harold immediately to make sure he knows I still care about him,’ he said. ‘That was bad of me, none of this was Harold’s fault, or Snowball’s actually. Are you coming, Dad?’

I looked at them both, my first love and my favourite cat in the world, my son, and I was so relieved they were getting along. I realised I didn’t need to be there after all.

‘How about the two of you go and you can continue to get to know each other,’ I suggested.

‘Aren’t you worried I might tell more stories about you?’ Snowball asked, with a grin.

‘No.’ I swished my tail. ‘I think the fire brigade rescue was my most humiliating moment.’

‘There was also the time you fell in cow poo,’ she added. Oh no, I’d forgotten about that.

‘Oh you must tell me about that, come on, Snowball, I need to go and see Harold right this minute.’

They trotted off and I felt my heart swell again, I was pretty sure that all would be alright, but I would have to be careful, because George needed to continue to feel secure. That was my priority. I didn’t know how I felt about Snowball at this stage, I remembered all my romantic feelings, they had all returned, but I also knew we were both different cats now. A lot of water had passed under the bridge, and it felt as if we needed to get to know each other again. Which both scared and excited me. But there was plenty of time, I knew that, and I also knew that whatever I did, however I moved forward I would always respect Tiger and also respect George’s feelings. But I also recognised how seeing Snowball again had been a little like a reawakening for me.

I was always so busy worrying about other people and their feelings that I didn’t have much time for my own. When I saw Oliver at the Barkers’, it hit home how much I missed having companionship, so when I saw Snowball and felt how wonderful seeing her made me feel, I realised I was still very much alive, and it was time for me to start living.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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George had agreed to give Snowball a chance, although I felt I should give Snowball a bit of a wide berth for the moment while things were still tender between them.

The children were out with Jonathan and Matt. Pickles was in his bed, George was either with Hana or Harold and Snowball. Claire and I were enjoying the peace and quiet when the doorbell rang. I went with Claire to answer the door and was pleased to see Aleksy on the doorstep, on his own.

‘Hey, Alfie, Claire,’ he said as he came in. He leant down to pet me. Pickles, who had been asleep, appeared.

‘Woof, woof, woof,’ he said, licking Aleksy’s leg.

‘Ughh, Pickles you are a rubbish guard dog.’ He picked him up and petted him as Pickles licked his face. ‘I hear Snowball’s back, I can’t wait to see her,’ he said.

‘You should go and see her, take Connie as well,’ Claire said.

‘I think we’re going in a bit.’

‘Woof!’

‘Can I take Pickles?’ Aleksy said.

‘If you promise not to let him off the lead.’

‘Woof.’ Pickles licked his face again. That dog could get his way with anything, it seemed.

‘Right, Aleksy, it’s nice to see you but what do I owe the pleasure?’ Claire asked.

‘I want to buy a present for Connie, you know for Christmas,’ he said, blushing. ‘She’s going to Japan, which means I won’t see her on Christmas Day, but I want to tell her that I care and also make her feel as if I’m OK about her going.’

‘You couldn’t ask your mum?’ Claire asked.

‘No, she’ll only tell me to buy her one of those funny neck pillows to use on the plane.’ She did; Franceska was known to only spend money on things that she deemed useful.

‘So what were you thinking?’ Claire asked. She was smiling and I think she found it sweet, as did I, that Aleksy had come to her for help.

‘Jewellery, I heard women like that,’ he said looking at his feet.

‘They certainly do.’ Claire smiled. ‘So why me?’

‘Because you have good taste and Jonathan says that shopping is the thing you do best,’ Aleksy replied. Claire rolled her eyes. Jonathan did say that. A lot.

‘Right, come with me, we’ll hit the internet,’ Claire said and they went to the kitchen to her laptop.

‘Is the internet something I can eat?’ Pickles asked me.

‘No, it is not and you need to stop trying to eat everything,’ I chastised.

‘OK, Alfie,’ he replied as he licked me.

I decided, that I’d go and see my friends while Aleksy took Pickles. I hadn’t seen much of them since Snowball was back, because as I said before, I was still processing my feelings. I headed out into the cold, shivering as I first hit the outdoors, and made my way down. I was disappointed to find no one was there but it was a freezing day, so it was also understandable. I stayed for a bit, wondering whether to head back when I spotted George walking down the road.

‘Hey,’ I shouted and went to join him.

‘Why haven’t you been to Harold’s for a while?’ he asked as we fell into step with each other.

‘I just wanted to give you the chance to spend time with Harold. Your old dad can give you some space you know. So how are you finding it?’

‘Dad, I know I was upset at first but you have to admit that it is strange that your old girlfriend turns up, but I actually like her. I really like her, she’s funny, and I like that she’s nothing like Tiger mum as well. Although Tiger mum was funny, she and Snowball are very different. You really don’t have a type do you?’

‘No,’ I laughed. ‘I don’t have a type. But I also have a lot of feelings—’

‘I do know, and I don’t want to talk about that but there is something I do want to talk about.’

‘Right, go on?’

‘It’s about Harold’s idea for the Sunday Lunch Club. He’s got a list of people who don’t have anyone and he’s even written it all down in a notebook. I chatted about it with Snowball as well and we both think that it’ll be great for our community if we could put it into practice.’

‘Right, so you guys now have your own little plan, seeing as you wouldn’t talk to her a few days ago that’s interesting,’ I teased.

‘Stop it, Dad. But you know my job, it’s not at the hospital anymore, but I still have it. I still have to try to help lonely people you know.’

‘I know and I’m proud of you.’

‘But we need your help,’ George said.

I felt as if we had come so far. I was so delighted that George and Snowball were actually in cohorts about something, I was pleased Harold was doing something as well, but I didn’t know where we went from here.

‘My help with what?’

‘Harold is too nervous about his idea to tell any humans, is there a way we can put it in practice on our own?’

As much as I was a cat who normally put plans into action, arranging for people to cook for other people and take care of them was possibly beyond me. It definitely needed human intervention.

‘We need one of them to hear the idea, so we need to encourage Harold to tell them,’ I said.

‘But how do we do that? I mean he’s happy to talk to Snowball and me but that’s as far as it goes,’ George said.

‘Then we need to find a way to get him to tell the others, and they can help get it set up, I know they can,’ I said.

‘But how?’ George asked.

‘George, I think we need another plan.’

‘I was hoping you’d say that. But I also think we need Snowball’s input on this one.’

‘Really?’ It seemed she had won my boy over.

‘Yes, she told me about your past, and some of your plans have been really terrible. With her help, I reckon we can keep us all out of danger.’

I had no words.

‘It’s a bit like old times isn’t it?’ Snowball asked as we sat in Harold’s garden discussing what George had told me earlier.

‘Different house but yes,’ I replied, feeling a mixture of nostalgia and confusion. I felt warm despite the fact it was freezing and being next to Snowball was making me happy.

‘Alfie, I feel that I’ve bonded with George, but I also think it all hinges on his plan. If we can’t get Harold to tell the others about the Sunday Lunch Club, George will be so disappointed and I can’t bear to let him down.’

‘I agree, I want to make it happen too, not least because I love that he accepted you so quickly.’

‘It wasn’t that quick, he froze me out for over a week.’

‘Believe me, for George that’s nothing. He didn’t talk to me for ages not that long ago. Anyway, any ideas about how to get Harold to tell the others? I really don’t know why he won’t.’

‘He says he thinks they might just say he’s a silly old man and not take it seriously,’ Snowball told me. ‘It’s totally irrational because it’s a great idea, but he doesn’t seem to have confidence in himself.’

‘Poor Harold, not only is it brilliant, but he’s given it a lot of thought, according to George.’

‘Weirdly he swears that he and George came up with the idea together, I have no idea how that worked though,’ Snowball said.

‘You said he’d written it down?’

‘Yes, he’s got this notebook and he said the other day he’d made a list of people and also written a bit about how his idea would work.’

‘Where is this notebook?’ I asked.

‘He leaves it on the arm of his chair, mostly,’ she replied. ‘Why?’

‘I think I might have an idea …’

‘Just like old times.’

‘What did you think of Pickles?’ I asked. I hadn’t seen him since he’d been to Snowball’s house. I think Aleksy must have taken him back to Polly’s.

‘Interesting little fellow. Kept trying to lick me,’ Snowball replied.

‘You better get used to that. Did you fall in love, when you moved away?’ I hadn’t asked this question directly yet.

‘No, I didn’t. But I know about you and Tiger. She always loved you.’

‘And I grew to love her, but it was different than with you, not better, not worse, not more or less, just different.’

‘I do understand. I did feel a bit jealous at first, but then that’s natural.’

‘Yes, and you will always be my first love, Snowball. Remember how hard I had to work to woo you.’ We both laughed.

‘It’s strange, I’m still upset about my family, I know they had to move and I know they thought long and hard about taking me with them, but …’

‘Snowball, it was only when Claire told them that we were looking for a cat that they actually made up their minds, because you know their reasons.’

‘I know, and I don’t like the heat – I’m much more a winter cat.’

‘You live up to your name,’ I joked.

‘And settling in with Harold is very strange. He’s lovely, don’t get me wrong but it’s the two of us so much of the time and the others were out of the house a lot whereas Harold isn’t, so I do have more company. And he’s a lovely man and seeing you again, and my other friends and meeting George …’

‘It’s not all bad is it?’

‘No, it’s not bad at all.’ Then Snowball snuggled into me a bit and we sat there like that in silence. In that moment, I realised that you can love lots of people, because I realised that I absolutely still loved her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

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He wasn’t the most obvious love guru but since he’d been spending time with Ally, Dustbin had definitely changed. He’d softened slightly and he was definitely happier. He had more of a spring in his step. That’s what love did to you. And I had a spring in my step that cold, frosty December morningwhen I went to see him. I needed some clarity and I think I needed it away from Edgar Road. I had left George in sole charge of Pickles, because I had done more than my fair share of Pickles sitting. George said he was happy to do that and he had gone off to get Hana to come round to ours too to keep them both company. She’d agreed, of course, being the most agreeable cat ever. In order to get away I told him I was working on the plan to get Harold’s ‘lonely people club’, which is what George had named it, up and running. And I was working on that but I was also working on myself. Because there was a part of my heart which did feel lonely, I could acknowledge that now.

When Snowball moved away, I didn’t even want pilchards, that was how bad my heartbreak was. But then Claire had come up with the genius plan to get George, and although I loved him more than anyone I’d ever loved, because he was my son, the part of my heart reserved for a different love had been empty. After Tiger, I hadn’tconsidered ever falling in love again. I was confused. I felt guilty. For George, for Tiger, and for Snowball. I wasn’t in the habit of just falling in love all over the place, there had only been two loves in my life after all. Claire said it was fate, and although Jonathan didn’t believe in fate, maybe I did.

My thoughts had brought me all the way to Dustbin’s yard.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you, Alfie,’ he said.

‘I needed someone to talk to,’ I replied and I told him how I was feeling. ‘I still love Snowball, my old feelings have come back as strong as ever but I don’t know what to do because of George?’

‘You know George has been through a tough time, which is why he reacted so badly to having Snowball back,’ Dustbin said, when I explained all. ‘Understandable but he did get over that quite quickly. He might not like the idea of the two of you together but I think he’ll come round. He’s aclever cat.’

‘I know, but I don’t want to hurt anyone.’

‘Ah, yes, but you know all Tiger really cared about was your happiness, I am sure she still cares about that. Tiger is gone, which is horrible, and you’ll never forget her. The problem is, Alfie, life moves on and you have to move with it.’

‘You’re so wise,’ I said. I was feeling so sad that I lay down and let myself have a little yowl.

‘And we both know that life doesn’t last forever, so we have to live it to the fullest. When I met Ally, I wasn’t interested in companionship. You know me, I’m only friends with you because you were so persistent, didn’t give me much choice, and I’m glad I am. And it was thanks to you that I was able to open my heart up to Ally too. You’re a good friend, Alfie, no, the best friend a cat could have, and that being said, you deserve to be happy too.’

‘Love and friendship, that’s all we want isn’t it?’

‘Two important things and you taught me them.’

‘And about the joys of pilchards! In fact, I really fancy some pilchards.’

‘Shall we go to the restaurant door, look hungry and see if they’ll find something for us?’ Dustbin smiled.

‘You’re speaking my language.’

As we ate sardines, not pilchards, but I’m not one to complain, Dustbin and I discussed the idea Harold had for his lonely people.

‘Remember last Christmas, when you got everyone to the restaurant. That’s probably what inspired Harold.’

‘You might be right. He goes to this senior centre once a week but he says that some people there don’t see anyone apart from that, and often they don’t have a proper cooked meal, because they only cook the basics themselves. It’s sad.’

‘But he’s got the idea, so all you need to do is to let one of the humans find out about it.’

‘Yes, I think Claire, this is right up her street, but I don’t understand why Harold won’t tell her about it.’

‘It sounds as though he’s lacking in confidence,’ Dustbin pointed out.

‘He told Snowball he’s worried they’ll think it’s a silly idea and laugh it off,’ I explained. Dustbin was right. Harold had lost a bit of confidence since being ill, actually, I think it worried him at times, how vulnerable he was. Although I had never suffered a lack of confidence, I could understand it.

‘Right, but, Alfie, if he’s written it down then all you need to do is to get one of them to read what he’s written.’ He said it as if it was simple, and as I thought about it, I realised that it was.

‘Oh, Dustbin, you are a genius on so many levels. Of course, I’ll steal the notebook and take it to Claire.’ My mind was whirring again. Perhaps I wasn’t as planned out as I thought.

‘Or you might find it easier to take Claire to the notebook, and it might be a bit less risky,’ Dustbin narrowed his eyes at me.

‘Of course, Dustbin you really are the best.’ I calmed down and realised he was right. I was a cat. How on earth would I carry a notebook?

‘And tell George that this was your idea. You get this done for him and Harold, and then you will possibly soften him up a bit when you tell him how you feel about Snowball.’

‘Since when did you become the king of plans?’ I asked, only slightly affronted, because normally this was my department.

‘Since your head has been full of confusion about Snowball. Don’t worry you’ll have the crown back in no time.’ He grinned at me, and I grinned right back.

I was so happy as I walked back, things were coming together, I could feel it. My humans were happy, my cats were happy, Pickles was happy– although Pickles was always happy. I felt fully confident of being happy. But as soon as I went through the cat flap I could hear loud and upset voices, and that didn’t sound very good. I immediately panicked, I had left George with Pickles; what if something had happened to either of them?