Alfie the Doorstep Cat

by Rachel Wells

  ‘I only saw it the other day, and then, as I keep saying, I didn’t think it could be the same cat. So tonight, when I actually saw you putting up more posters I finally clicked, didn’t I?’ Claire didn’t sound as much a pushover as usual. She was standing up to Jonathan, which amused me.

  ‘I’ve been worried sick.’

  ‘Of course, I understand and I’m sorry. I mean it. But I did think he was my cat!’ I tried to miaow to remind them that I was there, but no sound came out.

  ‘And what about the kid?’ My ears pricked up. Did they mean Aleksy? I was beginning to feel loved. Jonathan had missed me and had been looking for me and maybe the families at number 22 were too?

  ‘Look, I honestly only saw your poster. I didn’t see the other one, with the drawing of a cat on it, until you showed me.’ Claire sounded flustered now. ‘And even if I had, I’m not sure the picture of the cat looked anything like my Alfie,’ she tried a weak laugh.

  ‘The kid, or I guess it’s a kid, unless it’s a very incompetent adult who drew it, must be really upset.’

  ‘I know and I feel bad but I didn’t know quite what a flirt Alfie was!’ She laughed. ‘He must have been getting fed everywhere.’

  ‘Yes, I’m guessing that this little monkey of a cat was pretty well fed and looked after. That’s three houses that we know of. Goodness knows how many more there might be. Look, let’s go see the kid when we leave here. If they’re anything like me, they’ll be worried sick about Alfie.’

  ‘I really am sorry.’

  ‘If I ever see the bastard that did this to Alfie, I’ll kill him. Who could do that to a defenceless cat? What total, utter scum.’ Darkness clouded Jonathan’s face.

  ‘I know and I wish I’d called the police or something. I feel so responsible and terrible for letting it happen to him.’

  ‘I suppose it’s not your fault entirely,’ Jonathan said, not thawing all the way, but perhaps sounding slightly less angry.

  ‘It is. That’s the problem, it’s completely my fault.’

  ‘It can’t have been easy for you, having to see him get hurt,’ Jonathan conceded. Claire burst into tears. Managing to open one eye, I saw Jonathan pat her awkwardly on the shoulder and it suddenly struck me how good they looked together; albeit a bit blurry through my sleepy eyes.

  ‘I’m sorry, Jonathan.’

  ‘Don’t be. He’s going to be all right.’ I saw Claire nod her head.

  ‘Oh Alfie,’ Claire said, reaching in to stroke me through the bars of my cage. ‘It seems that you are one very loved cat.’

  I knew then that my recovery would be swift, because I was loved and I loved each and every one of them too. And besides, I had a new, and hopefully far less dangerous, plan to occupy myself with now.

  It was the day to go home and I was so excited. No more cage, not that it was that bad, but it was hardly The Ritz. And although they had encouraged me to exercise, I had been confined. Now I would go back to my life of wandering the length of Edgar Road, perhaps not quite jumping the fences as I used to, but having a go at the very least. I was so looking forward to seeing all my families and Tiger too, although I wasn’t sure if they were cross with me now they had all discovered each other. I hoped not.

  Claire came to collect me and although I wasn’t happy about it, she and the vet bundled me into my cat basket. I screeched, not with pain, but because I find it very undignified being shoved into one of those.

  ‘He really ought to be kept in one place for a while. I would recommend that he exercise, but gently. He should be able to figure it out, but I want him kept in for at least one more week and then I’d like you to bring him in for a check-up,’ the vet instructed. I tried to scowl at her from the cat carrier; that didn’t sound like fun and it wasn’t what I had planned.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.’

  Jonathan stood at the desk, waiting for both Claire and me. I was delighted to see him.

  ‘I just need to pay the bill,’ Claire said, as the lady on the desk handed it to her.

  ‘Jesus,’ Jonathan said, whistling. ‘Bloody expensive.’

  ‘Well, as he’s your cat too, maybe you’d like to chip in,’ Claire said. Jonathan looked shocked, but then Claire laughed. ‘Only joking. I have insurance.’

  ‘You have insurance?’ Jonathan asked, incredulously, as if he’d never heard of it.

  ‘Yes, Alfie is my cat and so of course I have him insured.’

  ‘Never occurred to me,’ Jonathan said.

  ‘Well that doesn’t surprise me,’ Claire retorted. ‘I bet you forget to feed him if you go away as well, don’t you?’ Jonathan had the grace to look bashful, because he did.

  ‘Well, with four homes, I’m sure he never goes hungry.’

  ‘Not the point. Right, let’s get going, we’ve got a party to go to.’ I felt indignant myself then, they were having a party on my first day back?

  Jonathan parked his car outside his house and he carried me in, with Claire following behind. They had bickered about me the entire journey home, until I was sure that it was only a matter of time before they realised they were meant for each other. Perhaps it wasn’t immediately obvious, because they were arguing and Claire had just got out of a volatile relationship, but actually, to me, they made perfect sense. Their arguing was different; softer, and not as aggressive. Not only that, but Claire gave as good as she got. She wasn’t timid around him. She was the Claire I knew she should be. Call it cat’s intuition, but I just knew in my heart that these two could love each other as much as I loved them.

  I was growing happier by the minute. Especially with thoughts of prawns and my cashmere blanket, of Aleksy and our ball games, of seeing how Polly was, and Henry and the two Thomaszes, and of course, not forgetting my lovely Franceska. Oh, how I had missed them, I thought, as I smiled broadly and waited to be let out of the cat carrier.

  Jonathan put me down in the hallway and opened the door. He picked me up and carried me to the kitchen. I was still upset that they were leaving me to go to a party but as the door opened, I miaowed in surprise.

  ‘Alfie,’ Aleksy shouted, and ran over. He stopped just in front of Jonathan. There was a colourful banner pinned to the wall, and around Jonathan’s kitchen table were Franceska, the two Thomaszes, Matt, Polly and Henry. I couldn’t believe it. These people didn’t know each other and here they were, all together.

  ‘You’ve been rumbled, Alfie,’ Matt laughed.

  ‘What is rumbled?’ Aleksy asked.

  ‘We found out he have four homes, well, not that he lives with us, but he visits us,’ Franceska laughed.

  ‘Yes, Alfie, we look for you and I draw picture but we no find you and we worry. But then they tell us you were hurt.’ Aleksy looked tearful.

  ‘Here, Aleksy, if you’re very gentle, you can hold him.’ Jonathan passed me to Aleksy who kissed me. Claire had joined us. It was so funny seeing all my families here together. I studied them while I nestled into Aleksy. Polly looked more gorgeous than ever and definitely much better as she bounced Henry on her lap. Thomasz and Matt looked the same. Franceska looked as in control as ever, and little Thomasz looked as if he had grown in my absence. But Claire looked wonderful. I had seen her at the vet’s but not really taken her in. She was beginning to blossom again; she seemed to have put on a little bit of weight – I noticed these things – and her cheeks were gaining colour. She was beautiful, I thought, as was Jonathan.

  Jonathan took me from Aleksy and put me in the bed that was usually at Claire’s house. They put my food down next to me: salmon and prawns, the best meal ever.

  They made a fuss of me and everyone gave me presents. It was like it was my birthday! Aleksy and Thomasz had drawn me pictures, which were of a cat and a car. The children had been told that I had been hit by a car whilst crossing the road, so that they weren’t distressed by what had really happened. I minded slightly, I had crossed half of London dodging traffic, for goodness sake, I think I knew my Green Cro
ss Code.

  ‘You must be careful crossing the road,’ Aleksy said to me, and Jonathan winked.

  ‘There’s one last present,’ Jonathan said.

  ‘Long overdue,’ Claire added. She reached over to me and gently removed my collar. She took off the tag that tied me to Margaret. She held up a new one and everyone clapped. ‘Alfie, this has your name and all of our phone numbers etched on it. All four of your families, so you’ll never be lost again.’

  People say cats can’t cry but I promise you, I had tears swimming in my eyes.

  I was exhausted, but they were being gentle and loving with me, everyone saying how much they’d missed me. My heart swelled so much I thought it would outgrow my body. Seeing all my families sitting around at Jonathan’s house was the best present ever.

  They talked about a rota. I was to stay at Claire’s whilst I was getting better, and she had taken some time off work to nurse me. Then Jonathan said he had taken different days off to take care of me too. Apparently I needed my medicine regularly, and I needed to be quiet.

  ‘There’s a sweet cat that seems to have been looking for you too,’ Claire said. ‘The one who lives next door to me.’ I wondered if Tiger would come and visit me as well. That would complete my friends and family.

  Eventually, when Aleksy was promised he could visit me after school, and Polly said she would bring Henry round and sit with me when Claire had to go to the shops, and each and every one of them had kissed me and petted me gently, they all left.

  Jonathan carried me back to Claire’s house and settled me downstairs. They said I wasn’t up to managing the stairs yet and I felt quite weak, so I guessed they were right.

  ‘Will you stay for a drink?’ Claire asked him, when I had curled up to rest.

  ‘Of course. Do you fancy getting a takeaway too? I’m famished. I mean, only if you want the company,’ Jonathan said, and I was pretty sure he turned a bit red as he suggested this.

  ‘That would be great. I’m so glad he’s home,’ she replied, looking down at me.

  ‘Well, one of his homes anyway,’ Jonathan replied and they both laughed. My heart lifted as I heard in their voices something I often felt in mine; love. They might not know it yet but I did. I was a very clever cat.

  I was visiting Tiger. She was trying to exercise more with me, having acknowledged that she needed to lose some weight. She said that when I’d been away she had eaten and not moved much, pining for me, which was nice, although I think she was just being a bit lazy as she was prone to.

  Many months had passed since the incident, such as it had now become known. I hadn’t realised that although my plan was dangerous and had nearly caused my death – I wasn’t quite aware of how near death I’d been – the outcome had been better than I could ever have envisaged. But, as the seasons passed, my strength had returned. It was now summer again. The sun was out, the evenings light and warm. I had survived it all; the attack by Joe, and the cold winter that followed, which made me loath to go out. I had eventually forced myself to set foot outside the front door, returning to my old life of visiting all the houses; Jonathan’s, the flats at number 22, and of course, Claire’s. After my recovery I had returned to being a doorstep cat but with a difference, because everything was different. And now things had changed more than ever.

  Franceska and Thomasz and the boys had moved and left Edgar Road. Luckily they had only gone round the corner though, and lived in a bigger flat. I didn’t visit often, as it was quite a walk, but they came to Polly and Matt’s or Jonathan and Claire’s all the time. It seemed that I had brought about a friendship for all of my families, which made me so happy; they liked each other, just as I had wanted.

  Thomasz had a partnership in his restaurant and was doing very well. Aleksy loved his school and his English was now better than his parents’. Thomasz the boy was talking more and almost sounding English. Franceska worked in a shop and she often brought gifts of fish. She said she was less and less homesick now.

  Polly was better and enjoying being a mum. She had a growing stomach, which they told me meant there was another baby coming, another playmate for me! She, Matt and Henry were very happy. Henry was walking now and pulled my tail a lot, but in a fun, not mean way, so I tried not to mind too much. The biggest change was that they lived in a new house now, which happened to be right opposite Jonathan’s. They were so much closer and the house they lived in wasn’t as big as Jonathan’s, but it was a lovely family home.

  Claire and I both lived full time in 46 Edgar Road, with Jonathan. My idea to get them together had worked (although it took a while). It was the best plan ever, although they seemed to do it all by themselves, needing only a little help from me. They were so happy together, although Jonathan could still be grumpy and Claire would tease him. She wasn’t scared of him and he treated her – and me – like royalty. Tasha visited all the time and they had other friends over, as well as Franceska’s family and Polly and Matt. The house was busy and full, the way I had always thought it should be.

  Claire and Jonathan called me their miracle cat because apparently I had done so much. I was growing quite an ego; the way they talked, you would think I had saved the world, not just helped four families. But apparently I had, and my life was all the better and richer for it.

  As we settled into a routine which worked for us all, I had much to be thankful for: my friendships, my family, the love that surrounded me. My days of wandering the streets in fear, dodging cars and dogs and feral cats, scrabbling for food and shelter, were so far behind me that sometimes it felt as if that life had happened to another cat. But I knew it had happened to me, because my past was always with me. The tears and the fear, and the way my families had needed me, had become a part of me. I would never forget Joe and what he had done to me because, although it had cost me a lot, it had given me so much more. I would never forget when Aleksy came back from school with a certificate because he had written about his best friend, which was me. I would never forget Franceska saying that being in England had been so hard at first but that I had made it easier. I would never forget Claire saying I had saved her, and Polly saying the same. I would never forget that Jonathan teased me for turning him into a cat lover and telling Claire that I had saved him from the awful Philippa. I would never forget my long journey here, and I just hoped that the hard bit of it was now over and my relaxation could begin.

  Because I was still happiest being a lap cat, and I now had the perfect number of laps to sit on. At night, I would sometimes go out and look at the stars. I would look at the sky and hope that Agnes and Margaret were up there somewhere, winking at me, because although I had apparently done a lot of good things since I lost them, I had only done it because of the love and lessons they had taught me. And I was a better cat for them and for everything I’d been through. And that, I had learnt, was how life worked.

  About the Book

  This book has been a pleasure to write because of the team I have been privileged enough to work with. Thanks especially go to my wonderful Editor, Helen Bolton; this process has been so much fun and you have been inspiring, encouraging and a wonderful guide in my first novel. Also the team at Avon have all been so excited for this which has driven me on immensely. I have also been lucky to have fantastic agents, so big thanks go to Kate Burke and all at Diane Banks Associates.

  My family have been a great source of encouragement, keeping me fed and letting me write late into the night. My wonderful friends have kept me grounded as I ran ideas past them – I feel you have all been a part of this.

  Finally to the cats who have been part of my family throughout my life. This is for all of you; you’ve been my family, my friends, my inspiration and at many times my support. You aren’t just pets, you are so much more.

  About the Author

  Rachel Wells is a mother, writer and cat lover. She lives in Devon with her family and her pets and believes in the magic of animals. Rachel grew up in Devon but lived in London in her twen
ties working in marketing and living in a tiny fl at with an elderly rescued cat, Albert. After having a child she moved back to Devon and decided to take the plunge and juggle motherhood with writing.

  She has always wanted to write and now has found her voice in her first novel, Alfie the Doorstep Cat. She has always had cats as pets, ever since a young child, and she has always wanted to write. Rachel is delighted to have been able to combine her two main passions at last.

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

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  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

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  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited

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  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

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  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

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