Читать книгу Alfie in the Snow - Rachel Wells - Страница 15

I was thinking about how to get to meet Hana now the weekend was over. Connie had started school and Sylvie told Claire she had some job interviews, and now I had spent a bit of time with both Connie and Sylvie I really, really wanted to meet this exotic cat. Not only was I keen to let her know that she had friends around if she wanted them, but I also was interested to get her opinion on how her family was coping.

Connie had told Aleksy that they’d had Hana since she was a kitten and she had never been outside, she’d always been a house cat which was customary in the Tokyo suburb where they lived. I could understand that in some places cats didn’t go outside and I also knew it suited some of them, but I couldn’t imagine being a house cat. Although, after some of the trouble we had got into in the past, it probably wasn’t a bad idea. And in George’s case it would make life much easier for me … No, being a house cat, on reflection, sounded terrible and I needed to rescue Hana from this life of incarceration now she was in England.

These were my thoughts as I hung around outside Tiger’s house – George had gone off for a stroll with Nellie – when I saw her owners come out with her in a cat carrier. I narrowed my eyes and wondered where she was going. Her owners were older than any of mine and didn’t go out very often. But they got into a car, a taxi, and drove off. Tiger hadn’t been looking so she didn’t see me. I forgot all about Hana and fretted about Tiger, where was she going? What was she doing? Was everything OK? I calmed myself down as I went to find the others. Her owners didn’t have luggage with them so they couldn’t be going away. Perhaps they were taking her to visit a friend. I found Elvis and Rocky at the recreation ground, grateful that I could take comfort in their routine.

‘The lad and Nellie have gone to the other end of the street,’ Rocky said.

‘Yeah, and Nellie never says no to him,’ Elvis added.

‘No one says no to George,’ I pointed out. ‘But I wanted to ask you, I just saw Tiger going out, does anyone know where she’s gone?’ I asked. I doubted they did but, before they could answer, Salmon loomed over us. He had a habit of doing that, almost appearing from thin air.

‘Are you wondering about Tiger?’ he asked. He sounded his usual smug self. But I wanted information, so I needed to play along.

‘I was, I saw her go out with her owners, I had no idea what she was up to,’ I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

‘Well, my owners went to see hers this morning, important neighbourhood watch business. Apparently they are taking her to the vet.’

‘The VET??!’ I immediately panicked.

‘Calm down Alfie,’ Salmon said, almost sounding kind. ‘It’s just a check-up. Tiger probably didn’t even know she was going but they said they’d locked the cat flap so she couldn’t go out this morning.’

‘Thank you Salmon, it’s really kind of you to let me know.’ I wasn’t used to him being so helpful.

‘That’s alright.’ He tried to sound cool again. ‘No fur off my nose.’

‘Hey, I was just thinking about Hana, the cat who’s moved in next door to me,’ I said, thinking I owed him.

‘Oh yes, have you met her?’ he asked. He couldn’t hide his interest now.

‘No, but her owners came to our house last night. She doesn’t go out, ever. She’s a house cat. Something common in her country of Japan apparently.’

‘Well I never,’ Rocky said. ‘A house cat?’

‘Yes, she’s never been out, ever,’ I said, enjoying having the authority on something.

‘That’s a shame,’ Elvis said. ‘It means we’ll never meet her.’

‘Oh we will,’ I said.

‘What do you mean?’ Salmon narrowed his eyes at me.

‘I don’t exactly know, but I will figure something out.’

‘I can’t stand around here all day chatting, things to do, people to see.’ Salmon grinned before stalking off.

‘Gosh, he’s almost going soft in his old age,’ Rocky said as we watched him swinging his tail behind him.

I didn’t tell George about Tiger. Salmon had said it was just a check-up but I wanted to talk to Tiger and get some reassurance before involving George. He was surprised as I actively encouraged him to go out on his own after lunch, but he was quick to take advantage as he rushed off with my blessing.

I sat by Tiger’s back step and it wasn’t long before she appeared.

‘Thank goodness,’ I said, nuzzling her. ‘I was worried about you.’

‘I know I’m sorry, they sprang the vet on me. This morning I went to go out and I bashed my head against the cat flap, which hurt.’ She paused to rub her head with her paw. ‘They closed it without telling me, and they shoved me, well not shoved, but put me in the carrier and off we went.’

‘You poor thing.’ No cat I knew was a fan of the vet, they had a habit of poking around where it wasn’t their business. Well, actually it was their business but it was still very personal and intrusive. ‘What did the vet say?’ I took a long, hard look at Tiger; she seemed fine to me.

‘Oh nothing really, it was just a check-up. They poked and prodded and ran some tests but I’m right as rain. You know how my humans fuss. I heard them say that at my age we needed to check more often. I mean the indignity!’

‘God, I hope it doesn’t occur to my family. I’ll have to make sure I always appear in the best of health in front of them.’

‘Good plan, Alfie. Although the vet was nice, she was very kind, but still. Where’s George?’

‘Off playing somewhere. To be honest, I wanted him to go off so I could talk to you. You know, in case anything was wrong. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.’

‘Oh Alfie, what will we do with you? Come on, I’ll come with you, let’s go find our boy.’

We set off, the wind in our fur, the cold air whipping around our legs as we set off. We walked in companionable silence and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to have so many cats around me that I’d known for years, and that I cared so deeply about, and that cared about me. It made me return my thoughts to Hana, I really had to figure out a way to see her and make sure that she wasn’t too lonely. Loneliness was the worst thing and although it had been so long since I had experienced it, I had never forgotten.

George and I walked Tiger home and then went back to our place, where we bumped into Aleksy who was with Connie.

‘Hey guys,’ Aleksy said, petting us.

‘Meow?’ Aleksy didn’t normally come to our house on his own.

‘I just walked Connie home, but I better go, Mum will worry if I don’t get back soon. Not to mention that we have a mountain of homework, right Con?’ he grinned. I was startled, Aleksy hadn’t been this chatty for quite a while, or looked so animated. He wasn’t even staring at a screen. Was being a teenager over now? I certainly hoped so. I wanted my sweet Aleksy back.

‘Yes, and it’s only my first day,’ Connie giggled. I stared at them both, raising my whiskers. It looked as if they had become friends already which made me very happy. So, as I took George home for tea, all seemed right once again.