A Friend Called Alfie

by Rachel Wells

  ‘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 t
hem 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 find you. 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

  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 was Pickles. 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 ha
ppy 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.