Oliver The Cat Who Saved Christmas

CHAPTER TWELVE

Although Martin kept complaining that it was only November and ‘ages’ till Christmas, it seemed like everyone had started talking about it now. The children were getting excited about things like Christmas plays that were going to happen at school and apparently involved them dressing up as shepherds and angels, and Sarah having to make strange costumes out of sheets. Every time they got silly and rowdy, they were warned that Father Christmas wouldn’t come unless they behaved themselves. I’d actually heard Grace and Rose whispering together about not believing in this Father Christmas person anyway, so I wasn’t sure why they pretended they did. Perhaps it’s a bit like us with the Nine Lives story. A legend – part of their culture. I could understand that. Anyway, they still seemed to be excited about him coming, whether they believed in him or not.

All the talk of Christmas was making me feel homesick. When I lived in the pub, Christmas was such a lovely time. George put lots of decorations up, with holly and other greenery all around the fireplace, and a really big Christmas tree in the corner, weighed down with shiny baubles and tinsel and sparkling lights. I can see what you’re thinking, little kitten. A tree, indoors – yes, it’s what everyone does at Christmas. I keep forgetting next Christmas will be your first time. Well, take a hint from me. When your humans bring the tree indoors, they’re going to tell you not to touch it. But then they’ll hang all the sparkly things on it, putting temptation right in your way. If they don’t want these things played with, they shouldn’t hang them there. Believe me, it’s almost impossible to resist the urge to jump up and swat those sparkly baubles with our paws. I almost brought the whole tree crashing down when I was a little kitten like you, on my first Christmas. It frightened the life out of me and, after that, George hung the sparkly things higher up on the tree so I couldn’t reach them. I still tried, though. Some things just can’t be resisted.

It was so pretty and cosy in the pub in the evenings, with all the lights, and the flickering of the fire, and although it was true there were a lot more strange people in the bar, which made me a bit nervous, they were all usually in really happy moods. George used to say it was his favourite time of year. And now I couldn’t stop thinking about him, living somewhere far away with his sister and her cat allergy and without me. It made me mew sadly to myself as I lay in my chair or on Rose’s bed snuggled up with her teddies, and sometimes the girls would stroke me and wonder why I didn’t seem very happy, and I wished I could explain.

To take my mind off it all, that week I went every day on my little jaunts to the Big House. I didn’t waste time playing in the bushes anymore, or at least, not for more than a few minutes. I ran straight up to the big windows where I’d seen the girl and the woman before. Sometimes they were there again, and the girl called Caroline would call out hello to me and watch me with that sad little smile. Once or twice, there was nobody in the room so I guessed they must be somewhere else in the house. It was so big, they could have been anywhere. One day I got even braver and trotted round the side of the house and all the way to another big door, with steps going up to it. From the top of the steps I could jump onto a wide windowsill and see into another room. It was a huge room, bigger than the bar in the pub, and it was almost completely empty. I couldn’t help wondering what on earth it was for, and why anyone would want a room of that size, especially if they didn’t have any furniture to put in it. Humans never fail to surprise me. And then I remembered that conversation about the Big House being the only place large enough to hold a party. It was true. Everyone in the village could probably fit in that one huge room.

I didn’t hang around. I was always nervous that the angry man who didn’t like cats – or humans, by the sound of it – would turn up and catch me. I couldn’t understand why Martin had said he lived there on his own. If that was the case, why were the girl and the woman there? Perhaps they were trespassing, like me, and perhaps I should stay well clear of the whole situation. But something made me go back again the next day anyway.

Sarah seemed to be very busy these days. She was always in the kitchen, making things that smelt lovely and spicy and putting them in the freezer.

‘More mince pies for Christmas, Ollie,’ she’d say as another batch went in. ‘It might still be a long way off, but I’ve got so much baking to do, I need to get ahead of myself.’ I wondered whether she was expecting to feed the whole village rather than just her little family.

‘I’ll be hosting a little Christmas lunch for the WI,’ she explained one evening to Nicky. ‘There’s obviously not going to be a formal party this year, so we’ll just meet here for sausage rolls and mince pies, and people will bring their own drink. It’ll be crowded, but who cares? Why don’t you come and join us? It’ll be on a Saturday.’

‘Oh, but I’m not a member,’ Nicky protested.

‘Well, I was actually going to suggest you might like to join. It’s not like you would imagine. We do lots of interesting stuff, and there are several younger women like yourself. It would help you make friends in the village. I know it’s hard when you’re at work in the city all week.’

‘Oh!’ Nicky said again, and she laughed. ‘You must have known what I’ve been thinking. I sometimes wonder whether Dan and I will ever fit in here.’

‘Of course you will. Everyone’s very friendly. Well, most people are. But you haven’t been here long, and you’ve got no free time to mix with people, have you? The WI meetings are usually on Tuesday evenings, and of course as you know, while we can’t use the hall, we’re meeting in each other’s homes. Why don’t you come with me one week and see what you think?’

‘Thanks, Sarah. Perhaps I will.’ She still sounded a little doubtful. ‘Although I keep saying I’m going to look for an evening job,’ she suddenly blurted out. ‘Something temporary. Bar work, or waitressing. But to be honest, I’m always too tired when I get home from work.’

‘And I keep saying I don’t want you to do that, anyway,’ Daniel said, sounding upset. ‘Neither of us should be talking about second jobs. I’m looking for a better-paid job, so that we don’t have to.’

There was a silence then, which made the whole room suddenly feel very uncomfortable. Sarah and Martin were fidgeting in their chairs, looking into their drinks, doing little coughing noises.

‘What kind of work are you in, Dan?’ Martin asked eventually.

‘I just work in a shop,’ he replied, staring at the floor.

I wondered why he sounded so sorry about it. I’d have thought it’d be great fun to work in a shop.

‘It’s not just any old shop, it’s one of the big stores in the West End,’ Nicky protested. ‘But they pay their staff peanuts.’

That sounded quite fun, too. Not that I liked peanuts myself, but I’d seen Daniel enjoying them, so I wasn’t sure what the problem was.

‘It’s not exactly my dream job,’ Daniel said with a sigh. ‘I always wanted to be a car mechanic.’

‘Really?’ Martin was looking interested. ‘Did you train to do that?’

‘Kind-of. My dad taught me. We both just liked tinkering around with cars, you know? It was a hobby. We used to fix a few neighbours’ cars, and Dad used to say that when I left school he’d set me up in business doing it. So I never bothered with my exams – I was always so sure it was what I was going to do.’ He fell silent.

‘What happened?’ Sarah asked gently.

‘Daniel’s dad had a heart attack, and sadly he didn’t survive,’ Nicky answered for him. ‘Dan had to get a job – any job – to help his mum.’

‘Then Mum got a new boyfriend.’ Daniel picked up the story. ‘And … well, she didn’t need me anymore. They actually moved to Spain in the end and I hardly ever hear from them. And of course, I met Nicky.’ He gave her a little smile.

‘So it’s my fault, really,’ Nicky said, smiling with her face but not with her voice. ‘He’s never been able to stop working at the shop and start doing what he really wants to, because first of all we lived with my parents but, well, it didn’t work out. And now…’

‘The cottage next door was the cheapest place we could find to rent anywhere.’ Daniel shrugged. ‘But it’s so far to commute to both our jobs – we just didn’t think it through properly. After the rent, nearly all our money goes on the train fares. Nicky had only just finished college when we got together. Her parents warned us we were rushing things. We should have listened.’

‘But you wanted to be together,’ Sarah said softly. Her eyes looked all wet. ‘Of course you did. And I’m sure things will get easier in time.’

‘Maybe,’ Nicky said, not sounding convinced.

She looked at Daniel, and Daniel looked back at her. There was another one of those silences. I could tell there was something somebody wasn’t saying. We cats are good at picking up these things.

‘The thing is,’ Daniel suddenly blurted out. ‘It’s going to be even harder now.’

‘We weren’t going to tell anyone yet, Dan,’ Nicky said, looking worried. ‘Not till we’d told my parents.’

‘I know. But what difference does it make? They’re going to be livid. They’ll never help us out now. They’ll blame me, and say we’re both stupid, and we should have been more careful. And they’ll be right, won’t they, let’s face it.’

Nicky was crying now. I leapt up onto her lap, purring at her, and she gave me little quick strokes like she didn’t even know she was doing it.

‘I’m pregnant,’ she told Sarah and Martin, in a little quiet voice. ‘Three months, now. We didn’t mean for it to happen, obviously. I put off getting a test to confirm it, for as long as I could – I kept hoping it was a false alarm. Not that we didn’t want children. I love children, I work with them. We wanted them, but not for ages yet. We wanted to get married first, and now we’ll never be able to afford that.’ She sighed and wiped her eyes. ‘We just seem to get ourselves into one mess after another.’

‘Oh, Nicky.’ Sarah got up and came over to put her arms around her. I felt like I was in the way, so I jumped down and went to console Daniel instead, rubbing myself against his legs, but he looked too unhappy to care. ‘I must admit I did wonder, when you’ve kept refusing the wine and drinking orange juice. If there’s anything we can do to help…’

‘Thank you. But there isn’t, really. We’ll just have to get on with it, won’t we? I’ll work right up till the last minute, and go back again as soon as I’ve had my statutory maternity leave. At least I can take the baby with me to work!’ she added with a little snort of a laugh.

‘Oh yes, you work in a nursery, don’t you,’ Sarah said. ‘Can’t you find a job in one that’s closer to home?’

‘Not paying as much as mine does.’

‘It’s a really posh place,’ Daniel said, giving Nicky a proud look. ‘All the rich London people send their kids there. Nicky was the highest-placed student of her year on the childcare course, with distinctions in everything. So she had her pick of the best jobs.’

‘Oh, clever you, Nicky.’ Sarah was looking thoughtful. ‘But, of course, it means paying those train fares.’

‘Yes. I know. It’s swings and roundabouts, I suppose. On the other hand, if we moved back to London, and rented a flat there, even with those astronomical rents, we might still be no worse off, with only a short bus or tube ride to work.’

‘I’d like our child to grow up here, in the countryside, though, Nick,’ Daniel said, looking kind of wistful.

‘So would I, Dan. But we might not have the luxury of that option,’ she snapped.

The evening seemed to have come to an unhappy ending. I gave up trying to comfort them all and went off to my bed in the kitchen.