‘Oh … I’ve just spotted the flowers,’ said Ellen excitedly. ‘Up ahead and to the right.’
She led the way, with Jim and Alby close behind.
‘Well, here’s the flower exhibit,’ said Ellen. ‘But there’s no sign of Alice.’
‘Oh what a shame,’ said Jim with a grin. ‘We can go then.’
‘No, we can’t,’ said Ellen sternly. ‘Not yet. I told Alice we’d pop in for a look at her roses, so that’s what we’re going to do. Besides, she can’t be too far away.’
‘Knowing Alice, she could be anywhere,’ groaned Jim. He leaned close to Ellen and whispered, ‘She’s probably struck up a conversation with some poor, unsuspecting person who is trying desperately to get away from her.’
‘Oh Jim,’ laughed Ellen. ‘You’re terrible.’
Ellen glanced at the different flowers on display, until one particular group caught her attention. There, with a shiny blue FIRST ribbon hanging from them, were Alice’s roses.
‘There’s no way she’ll be far,’ Ellen remarked. ‘Not when her roses won first prize.’
‘Again?’ said Jim. ‘That’s three years running. I’m surprised she’s not here with a loudspeaker to let everyone know.’
‘Shhhh!,’ whispered Ellen. ‘Here comes Alice now!’
‘Oh, I’m so glad you came,’ Alice trilled. ‘Did you notice?’
‘The first prize on your roses do you mean?’ said Ellen. ‘Of course. They’re the best roses by far.’
‘If they had a prize for the best-smelling flowers, you’d probably win that too,’ added Jim.
Alice smiled proudly.
‘Yes, well, I have to agree,’ she cooed. ‘I don’t know how they come up so well year after year, but I’m not complaining. Anyway, I saw you over here, so I thought I’d come and get you.’
‘Come and get us?’ queried Ellen.
‘Of course,’ replied Alice. ‘My success doesn’t end here, you know. Follow me, there’s something else I want you to see.’
Alice led them through the main pavilion and into a second, smaller one.
‘This is where the animal exhibits are,’ she explained, as Ellen, Jim and Alby followed in silence. They walked past an array of cages, with people clucking and cooing over their pets as they waited to be judged.
‘I like the smell of cakes and flowers better,’ said Jim.
Suddenly they came to a stop, right in the middle of the cat exhibit. Ellen looked around in amazement. There were cats of every description: large, small, fat, skinny, fluffy, sleek, and some that were practically furless. Some were in the middle of being judged. Others were waiting. Others still had either blue, red or green ribbons pinned to their cages.
‘You know how much of a cat lover I am,’ Alice gushed.
‘Yes,’ said Jim. ‘We know.’
Alice giggled like an excited child. ‘I couldn’t help myself. I’ve had such a good run with my roses, this year I thought I’d try something else.’
‘Don’t tell me you’ve become a cat judge?’ said Jim.
‘Heavens no!’ shrieked Alice.
‘You’re not cat-sitting for someone are you?’ asked Ellen.
Alice shook her head.
‘Wrong on both counts.’
‘What then?’ asked Ellen.
‘This year I’ve decided to try my hand at showing,’ Alice informed them earnestly.
‘Showing?’ they replied.
‘That’s right,’ she said proudly. ‘I’m showing Pussums. That’s him in the cage over there on the stage. The one with the blue ribbon on it.’
Ellen gasped. ‘You don’t mean— ’
Alice nodded, a huge smile spreading across her face.
‘Can you believe it?’ she said excitedly. ‘My Pussums has just been judged Best Cat in Show!’
Even though a guide dog sometimes had to stand about waiting, while humans did nothing much, it was never off duty. Ever.
Whether sitting still, or leading a blind companion, as long as a guide dog was in harness, it had to stay alert. Alby had to be the eyes of his master. A guide dog could never relax, not under any circumstances. Not until its harness was removed.
Alby enjoyed the smells in the place they’d been visiting, but he tried to ignore them, in case his salivary glands went into overdrive and made him drool. That would be most embarrassing.
When he’d spied the cat’s human, he thought they’d soon be able to go home. But moments later he was leading Jim along behind her and Ellen, with no idea at all where they were going.
A familiar smell filled his nostrils, and his nose twitched. There was no mistake. He’d know that smell anywhere. Cats!
If he hadn’t been so well bred and specially trained, Alby could have had a field day. There were cats everywhere. Big cats. Small cats. Skinny cats. Fat cats. Fluffy cats. Bald cats!
It made him think of the cat from number twenty-eight. The one who, up until a few short days ago, had been his fat, fluffy, annoying neighbour.
Alby stood there while Jim chatted with the women. He tried to ignore the hisses and yowls, the tails and claws protruding from various cages around him, as the cats became aware of the dog in their midst. He had been taught to ignore such distractions. And he would.
Alby looked up as the cat’s human pointed at something.
And he nearly forgot he was a guide dog in his excitement.
Could it be? Yes, it was! He was sure of it!
There, stuck in a cage and looking decidedly uncomfortable, was the cat.
The cat was not impressed. Not one little bit. He had been imprisoned in the house all week. He had been primped and prodded. And fiddled with and fussed over. Not to mention cooed and cajoled to. Just so Alice could show him off to all and sundry and get one of those silly blue rags.
He sighed, frustrated. He’d well and truly had enough. All he wanted was to be outside again. Out in the cool, fresh air where he could sniff the smells. Up on the fence where he could chat to Alby. Not cooped up in some ridiculous cage, having to endure unspeakable humiliation from humans he had never seen before. And for what? A bit of blue stuff that was now stuck to his cage. He just hoped Alice was happy. There had better be a huge reward at mealtime for this.
Speaking of Alice, he couldn’t see her anywhere. She had gone off and left him imprisoned. Surrounded by more cats than he could poke a stick at, whose incessant noise was almost unbearable. How could she?
He wished he was strong enough to burst through the bars of the cage. But he wasn’t. He was soft. And fluffy. And even his claws, which were deadly weapons in most places, were useless here.
The cat sighed as it looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. At the unfamiliar humans. Not to mention the unfamiliar animals. And he laid his head glumly on his paws.
Just when he thought he’d never see his human again, he spied her, pushing through the crowd, heading towards him. Suddenly his heart skipped a beat as he saw who was with her, and instantly he sat up. It was Alby’s blind human. And his other human. And … yes … Alby was there too! The cat felt full of happiness. He hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed Alby.
Suddenly he gasped, mortified. He was stuck in a cage with a blue thing stuck to the front of it. What would Alby think?
He didn’t have to time to ponder that, as Alice grabbed the cage off the stage and placed it on the ground at her feet. Then she reached down, unlocked the latch and scooped him out, before plucking the dreaded blue thing off the front of the cage and attaching it to his collar! His collar of all places! He would have much preferred her to attach it to a bin!
‘You’re such a good kitty, yes you are,’ she cooed.
She was just about to put him in his travel cage, when a very grumpy looking lady pushed past carrying a huge ginger Persian cat in her arms. A second-placed red ribbon dangled from one of her hands.
‘Hmmmph!’ she sniffed, staring at Pussums. ‘You came second to that! What were the judges thinking?
’
Suddenly, the Persian sprang out of the lady’s arms and pounced on Pussums, who meowed in terror. He tried to dodge the Persian cat’s claws, then leapt off the table and ran for dear life.
The Persian gave chase, under tables, over feet, through legs, until it had the cat in its sights. Pussums looked behind, terrified. The Persian was closing. Fast. What could he do? Where could he go?
Suddenly he had an idea.
With newfound spring in his step, the cat zig-zagged through the sea of legs, then doubled back. He didn’t even glance back to see if the Persian was hot on his tail. He only had one thing on his mind now.
At last, the cat spied Alby. And headed straight for him. He skittled to a halt just past the dog, then crouched behind him, eyes closed, not moving a muscle.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Alby. ‘I’ve got your back!’
‘You’d want to have more than that,’ puffed the cat.
Alby stood tall and proud in his harness, flexing every muscle in his body. He glared at the Persian as it bounded towards him then, realizing it was a dog – a big dog – in its panic to get away, the Persian promptly skidded into one of the grooming tables nearby.
A loud CRASH! echoed around the room. The cat peeked out from behind Alby. The Persian groaned as its worried human raced over to make a fuss over it. She picked it up and cradled it in her arms, then smothered it with kisses.
‘Well, I never!’ she hissed, as she pushed through the crowd and stormed out of the pavilion.
‘And I thought nothing exciting ever happened at the Morvale Show!’ joked Jim.
‘Well, I’d better be getting Pussums home,’ said Alice. ‘I think he’s had enough excitement for one day!
‘Speaking of home,’ hinted Jim.
‘Yes, I think we’ll follow your lead, Alice,’ said Ellen. ‘Jim and I have seen all we need to see of the Morvale Show.’
For a moment, the cat was face-to-face with Alby as their humans chatted.
‘Thanks,’ said the cat. ‘You saved my life.’
‘Well, one good turn deserves another,’ said Alby. ‘That makes us even now.’
Suddenly he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
‘What?’ snapped the cat.
‘Um, nice look,’ said Alby.
‘Oh, I knew it! It’s the ribbon isn’t it? It’s not like I wanted to be in a cat show, you know.’
‘Typical,’ said Alby with a smirk. ‘Always at the beck and call of humans. Cats have no pride. None whatsoever.’
Alby was sniffing around in the backyard when the cat suddenly appeared on the fence.
Alby wagged his tail warmly. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad the cat was back. The place wasn’t the same without him.
‘Cat!’ said Alby happily. ‘Or should I call you Pussums?’
‘Don’t you dare,’ snarled the cat. ‘Or I’ll never speak to you again.’
‘That wouldn’t be such a bad thing,’ said Alby. ‘Besides, that name is really starting to grow on me.’
‘I mean it,’ said the cat.
Alby frowned. ‘Oh alright, there’s no need to get your fur in a fluster. Cat it is.’
‘Thank you.’
‘And to think I was actually relieved when you turned up safe and sound at that cat show place,’ grumbled Alby.
‘Did you miss me?’ said the cat.
‘Me? Miss you?’Alby went back to his sniffing, as if he couldn’t care less. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he said. ‘You didn’t happen to miss me did you?’
‘Ha! You don’t seriously think I would miss you? Just to make things perfectly clear, I am a cat and you are a dog, remember? Miss you! What a preposterous idea.’
‘Absolutely preposterous,’ Alby agreed. ‘Besides, from what I could see, you were having too much fun to miss anyone.’
‘Fun?’ snorted the cat. ‘It was horrendous, I tell you. Horrendous. All that poking and prodding, and for a stupid blue thing. I don’t know what my human was thinking.’
‘Well, I must say, it’s been lovely and quiet around here. I was just getting used to the peace. But I suppose all that will change now you’re back.’
‘Huh, I wish I’d had some peace,’ groaned the cat. ‘Instead, I was imprisoned in a cage and surrounded by a bunch of whingeing fluff balls.’
‘You happen to be one of those fluff balls,’ Alby reminded him.
‘Maybe … but that’s beside the point. I’m back now. Back to my old familiar haunts. Back with familiar faces. Even if that does include yours!’
Suddenly the back door at number twenty-eight was flung open.
‘Oh Pussums,’ Alice Bremner trilled. ‘Come out, come out wherever you are!’
She waited on the porch for a few moments then called again, before heading back inside. But the porch light was still on, which was good.
‘Well, I don’t know about you,’ said the cat, ‘but I’m bushed. The last few days have been far too stressful for my liking. I don’t think I’m cut out for show business.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Alby. ‘You seemed quite at home in the spotlight.’
The cat scowled, then wandered along the fence a little way before turning to face Alby. ‘You know, guide dogs are okay. I mean, you’re okay ... for a dog.’
‘Thanks for the compliment,’ said Alby. ‘You’re not half bad yourself. For a cat.’
‘Goodnight Alby,’said the cat. ‘It’s good to be … ’ He hesitated.
‘Yes?’ said Alby.
‘Oh, let’s just leave it at goodnight.’
‘Suit yourself,’ said Alby.
Suddenly the porch light next door flicked off, and number twenty-eight was shrouded in darkness.
Alby and the cat glanced at each other.
‘She wouldn’t!’ hissed the cat.
‘I think she already did,’ said Alby. ‘Oh dear. Looks like someone missed curfew. Again.’
‘Hmmm. Looks that way,’ agreed the cat.
‘Looks like someone might need a place to stay for the night.’
‘Yes, it does, doesn’t it. You wouldn’t happen to know a place, would you?’ And the two of them laughed as they headed towards the Williams’ sunroom.
Alby tried to get comfortable, but he couldn’t. ‘Hey, cat, can you move that paw of yours?’ he whispered. ‘It’s sticking into my ribs.’
‘Oh, if I must,’ the cat groaned sleepily then, reluctantly, rolled over.
But now its tail was twitching on Alby’s nose, making it itchy.
‘Hey, cat,’ hissed Alby. ‘Can you stop twitching your tail? It’s really making my nose itchy.’
So, the cat changed position, again, groaning with displeasure.
‘There. Happy?’
‘Very,’ said Alby.
‘Anything else?’
‘No.’
‘Sure?’
‘Sure.’
‘Glad to hear it. Goodnight Alby.’
‘Goodnight cat.’
Showbusiness Page 2
