You've Got a Friend

by Judi Curtin

  ‘Hmm,’ said Graham. ‘I think you and your dad need to have a long talk about this, Molly.’

  ‘I guess,’ I said, disappointed that our great idea didn’t seem so great anymore.

  Graham patted my shoulder. ‘You’re trying to be kind, which is always a good thing. And maybe your dad would love a little kitten – we just need to be sure before you land on his doorstep with one, that’s all.’

  ‘I guess,’ I said again.

  ‘Let’s take a picture to show your dad,’ said Beth, taking out her phone. ‘And if he wants a kitten he can choose the one he likes the best. I so love this little cutie with the white face.’

  So Beth took a photo of the kittens, we said goodbye to Graham, and we headed back to Dad’s place.

  * * *

  ‘Don’t tell me you’re hungry for more burritos!’ said Dad when he opened the door of his flat.

  Beth laughed a fake laugh. ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘We have a sort-of surprise,’ I said.

  ‘I have no idea what a sort-of surprise is,’ said Dad. ‘But I suppose it’s got to be better than a sort-of disappointment. Why don’t you come in and tell me what’s going on?’

  So Beth and I followed him into his very tidy flat.

  Beth took out her phone, and waited for me to explain.

  ‘We wanted to give you a surprise,’ I said. ‘But we’re not really sure if you’re going to like it.’

  ‘So we brought a picture to show you first,’ said Beth. ‘And soon we’ll be able to bring you the real thing – if you want us to.’

  ‘And we really, really hope you will want us to,’ I added.

  Beth scrolled through her phone and handed it to Dad. I looked over his shoulder. ‘Beth and I like the one with the white face, but it doesn’t matter if he’s not your favourite. The one with the white paws is very cute too – if you pick him you could call him Socks.’

  ‘Or you could pick the one who’s completely ginger,’ said Beth. ‘Basically they’re all adorable, so we wouldn’t mind which one you go for, would we Molly?’

  ‘And Beth and I could come over and play with him, couldn’t we? And we could mind him for you if you’re not here.’

  Beth and I were so busy talking, it took me a minute to notice that Dad wasn’t saying anything.

  ‘So what do you think?’ I asked. ‘Aren’t they the cutest little things you’ve ever, ever seen?’

  Dad handed the phone back to Beth.

  ‘Yes, Molly,’ he said. ‘I have to agree with you, they are very, very cute – almost irresistible.’

  I hugged him. ‘I knew you’d love them,’ I said. ‘And this flat will be so much nicer when it’s got a pet living here. No offence, Dad, but it’s a bit empty at the moment. Maybe you could even have two kittens. They’d be such fun and they could play together when you’re out.’

  Dad shook his head. ‘You don’t understand, darling,’ he said. ‘These kitties are totally adorable, but I’m afraid I won’t be adopting one.’

  ‘You’re right,’ I said, feeling angry. ‘I don’t understand. You live on your own, and you can do what you want. You love cats, and these ones need a home, so I don’t get why you won’t take one. Please, Dad, please, please, please say you’ll let us give you one.’

  ‘No!’ said Dad, sharply. ‘Stop begging, Molly, because it’s never going to happen.’

  I wanted to argue more, but I could see that Dad had made up his mind, and Beth was looking embarrassed, so I knew I had to let it go.

  ‘You’re the boss,’ I said sulkily. ‘But you know you’re making the biggest mistake of your life?’

  Dad hugged me. ‘I’m sad to say I’ve made lots of bigger mistakes than this,’ he said. ‘And I know you’re trying to help me, sweetheart, but a cat – well, I’m afraid I’m never going to own a cat.’

  ‘That’s a weird thing to say,’ I said, pulling away from him. ‘How do you know you won’t own a cat when you’re an ancient old granddad? You could have one to keep your knees warm while you rock on your rocking chair all day long.’

  Dad smiled a sad smile. ‘I had a cat once,’ he said. ‘A very long time ago.’

  I sat down next to him. ‘You never said that before. Tell me about him. Was he cute like the ones on Beth’s phone?’

  ‘Pablo,’ said Dad. ‘He was called Pablo.’

  ‘And what was Pablo like?’ asked Beth.

  ‘He was a tabby,’ said Dad. ‘With a beautiful grey and black coat and a white patch under his chin. He only had three legs, but—’

  ‘Three legs!’ I said. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ said Dad. ‘He strayed into our house when I was a little boy, and his leg was already gone when he arrived.’

  ‘Was he able to walk and stuff?’ asked Beth.

  ‘He could do pretty much anything any other cat could do,’ said Dad. ‘He could run and jump and climb. Stephen and I had a treehouse in the garden, and—’

  ‘You had a treehouse!’ I said. ‘That’s so cool.’

  ‘It was very cool,’ said Dad, smiling. ‘Stephen and I had a lot of fun in that treehouse when we were young lads. There was a ladder to get up and Pablo could scamper up there in a few seconds. He was a real little adventurer.’

  ‘I don’t get why I’ve never heard about Pablo before,’ I said. ‘And I’ve seen heaps of photographs of you and Uncle Stephen when you were little. How come Pablo isn’t in any of them?’

  ‘Pablo wasn’t with us for very long,’ said Dad. ‘He …’

  ‘He what?’ I asked. ‘Did something terrible happen to him?’

  Dad shook his head. ‘Sorry, girls, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore, if you don’t mind. It’s painful to me – and there’s no sense dragging up unhappy memories for nothing.’

  ‘You can tell us what happened,’ I said. ‘If you talk about it, maybe …’

  ‘No!’

  Now I didn’t know what to say. I felt a bit stupid for thinking that one small kitten would be the answer to all of Dad’s problems. And now I’d made him even sadder than before.

  Dad got up. ‘That was a very sweet thought, girls,’ he said. ‘Now you probably need to get going. Charlotte and Jim will be worried about you.’

  ‘You’re sure you’re OK?’ I asked.

  He smiled. ‘Everything’s fine,’ he said. ‘Now off you two go, and have fun. See you soon.’

  As Dad closed the door behind us, I tried not to cry. Why did life always have to be so complicated?

  * * *

  Later, when Beth went for a walk with her dad, I told Mum all about the kittens, and how Dad got upset when he heard we wanted to give him one, and about Pablo the mystery cat.

  ‘That’s so strange,’ she said. ‘In all the years I’ve known your dad, he never once mentioned having a cat. I used to talk a lot about the pets I had when I was a girl and because your dad never joined in, I presumed he’d never had one.’

  ‘I know you went out together when you were very young,’ I said.

  ‘Did I tell you that?’

  I smiled. She’d never exactly told me, but when Beth and I went back to the 1980s we had learned a lot about my mum – she was a very scary teenager, she once thought that yellow dungarees were a good fashion choice, and she was going out with my dad when she was only fourteen!

  ‘Anyway,’ I said. ‘I’d love to know more about Pablo. Did you know Dad when he was a little kid? Did he live near here?’

  ‘No,’ said Mum. ‘When he was small, he lived at the other side of town – Castle Street, if I remember correctly. We didn’t meet until we were in our teens, and …’

  ‘And what?’

  ‘Your dad never liked to talk about his childhood – it was like a forbidden zone between us.’

  ‘That’s weird. Do you think something terrible happened to him when he was a kid?’

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. After I married, I got to know his parents quite well – th
ey died when you were a baby, remember?’

  ‘What were they like?’

  ‘Well, they were serious people. I get the sense that they were very strict with their boys.’

  ‘So maybe—?’

  ‘Don’t jump to conclusions, Molly. Your grandparents were a bit old-fashioned, but they were nice people, and they never mentioned anything dramatic about your dad’s childhood. Times were hard back then, and parents had to be stricter than they are now.’

  ‘And what about Uncle Stephen – did he ever say anything about when they were kids?’

  She shook her head again. ‘Stephen is a bit like your dad – those two aren’t great communicators, I’m afraid,’ she said. ‘Mind you, I never got to know your dad’s brother very well.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘There was always a coolness between him and your dad. They seemed almost like strangers, which is unusual since they were the only two in the family. I’ve never really understood their relationship. I know my sister, Mary, and I used to fight like cat and dog when we were little, but at heart we were always the best of friends. Mary and I used to …’

  I could see that this conversation was about to go way off track. Mum loves talking about the olden days. That used to drive me crazy, but ever since I learned how to travel back in time, I can understand her a bit better. Even though I’m only thirteen, I’ve been back in 1960, and 1969, and 1984. Now I get that the past is a real place – and if you were there, it never really leaves you. It sort of travels around in the back of your mind, changing the way you think about stuff.

  ‘I love hearing about when you were little, Mum,’ I said. ‘But now I’m kind of worried about Dad. Did you ever talk to him about his relationship with Stephen?’

  ‘Many times, but whenever I brought it up, your dad just shut me down. In the end I stopped mentioning it. Maybe that was wrong of me. Maybe I should have asked more questions … But I can’t go back in time and change that, can I?’

  Well, actually …

  ‘Before today, I hadn’t seen Stephen for ages and ages,’ I said, quickly changing the subject. ‘It’d be nice if Dad could see him and hang out with him for a bit, don’t you think?’

  ‘I agree,’ said Mum. ‘Family is important, and those two need to fix whatever is going on between them. Knowing your dad, though, I don’t see that happening any time soon. I think sorting those two out could well be impossible.’

  ‘Oh, well,’ I said, as the beginning of an idea popped into my head. ‘Sometimes impossible things happen.’

  Chapter Five

  Next morning, I met Mum on the landing. ‘You’re up early, Molly,’ she said. ‘Are you planning something I don’t know about? Should I be worried?’

  ‘Why do you always have to think the worst about me?’ I snapped. ‘Maybe I’m just up early because I want to get the most out of the day, like you always go on and on about.’

  Mum held up her hands. ‘I was just making conversation,’ she said. ‘Forget I spoke.’

  ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I will.’

  I headed for Beth’s room, not sure why I felt so angry. Mum was thinking the worst, but on this occasion she was right. I was planning something, and there was no way I was letting her find out what it was.

  * * *

  ‘Go away, Molly,’ said Beth. ‘It’s still the middle of the night – and we’re not going bowling till this afternoon.’

  ‘You’ve got to get up,’ I said, pulling the duvet off her head. ‘Before bowling, there’s something you and I have to do.’

  ‘Forget it,’ said Beth, grabbing the duvet and pulling it over her head again. ‘Nothing is more important than my beauty sleep.’

  ‘Nothing at all?’

  ‘Zero. Zilch. NOTHING!’

  ‘How about if I said we need to go visit Rico’s shop? How about—?’

  I didn’t have time to finish the sentence as Beth threw back the duvet and jumped out of bed.

  ‘Why are you just standing there?’ she said. ‘Where are my socks, and—?’

  ‘You don’t even know why I want to go to Rico’s.’

  ‘I’ve got a pretty good idea – and anyway, I don’t really care why. You’re usually not a big fan of Rico’s, so if you want to go, I want to go, and you can explain on the way. Now pass me my jeans.’

  ‘Those are actually my jeans,’ I said, picking them up from the floor and handing them to her.

  She grinned. ‘Stop arguing over minor details, Molly. Go get ready – we’ve got a journey to go on.’

  I smiled. Beth used to be really sensible, and always thought hard about things before doing them, but she changed after we accidentally went back to 1984 and she met her mum. Nowadays she’s more up for doing stuff – more ready to take a chance. Also, she talks about her mum more – and I feel special because I’m the one she has those conversations with. I guess it’s good to know that you don’t have to be the exact same person for your whole life.

  * * *

  ‘I’m guessing this is about your dad?’ said Beth as we headed towards town.

  I nodded. ‘I’ve been thinking about it all night. Dad’s so sad and lonely and I really want to make things better for him.’

  ‘I totally get that, but he’s just back home after years of living so far away. Maybe all he needs is some time to settle down?’

  ‘He’s had weeks and weeks to settle down, but it’s not working. Every day he just gets sadder, and then, yesterday, when I saw him with Stephen, it’s like a lightbulb went on in my head.’

  ‘Sounds painful,’ said Beth.

  I punched her on the arm. ‘You know what I mean. I started to wonder about why Dad and Stephen don’t get on.’

  ‘But remember your dad said how they used to play in the treehouse together?’ said Beth. ‘He made it sound like they were best buddies back in the day.’

  ‘I know – but things so aren’t like that now – and then when Dad mentioned Pablo, he was too sad to tell us the rest of the story.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Beth. ‘All that was very weird. My hamster died when I was six, and I was really, really sad for ages – but in the end I got over it.’

  ‘Exactly! We need to know what happened between Dad and Stephen – and why he can’t talk about Pablo. Dad won’t tell us, and Mum can’t tell us.’

  ‘So there’s only one way to find out.’

  * * *

  We stopped outside Rico’s shop. It looked just like before – kind of old and creepy – and the front door still needed painting.

  ‘I know this thing was all my idea,’ I said, feeling a bit scared. ‘But maybe …’

  ‘You can’t chicken out now,’ said Beth. ‘Your dad needs us.’

  ‘Yeah, but we don’t even know what we’re looking for. We don’t know when Dad and Stephen fell out with each other, so we have no clue when we should go back to.’

  ‘I’m not sure that even matters,’ said Beth.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, we’ve time-travelled before – and it’s not like getting on a train or a bus, is it? It’s not like we can read a timetable and buy a ticket for … I don’t know … say, 10 January 1922, and just go there. Usually we just concentrate on what we are trying to do, and it’s always worked out.’

  ‘So, you’re saying we go through Rico’s weird door and hope for the best?’

  ‘I guess. Now let’s get going – I don’t want to be late for bowling.’

  * * *

  Rico was standing behind the counter, still polishing one of his sparky blue bottles. Just like before, he was wearing a suit and a snowy white shirt. Just like before, he didn’t seem surprised to see us. Just like before, I was terrified. Why couldn’t the magic door have been guarded by a fluffy poodle instead if this creepy guy?

  ‘Er, hi Rico,’ said Beth. She was trying to sound brave, but I could tell by her voice that she was just as scared as I was. I guess time-travelling is never going to be as simple as running
down to the shop to buy a loaf of bread.

  ‘Hello, girls,’ said Rico. ‘So nice to see you again. Is there anything in particular I can do for you on this lovely day?’

  It was actually raining outside, but I decided not to mention that. Maybe Rico was so weird that he thought rain was lovely. Maybe he was trapped in the shop forever, and had no clue what was going on outside. Maybe he’d been there for hundreds and hundreds of years, and Beth and I were the only people he ever saw.

  ‘We’d like to use your back door,’ I said. ‘If that’s OK?’

  ‘Oh, that’s always OK,’ said Rico, smiling and showing us his perfect white teeth. ‘You know the way.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Beth and I together, and then I followed her through the velvet curtain.

  We stood there for a second, getting used to the warm darkness, and the weird cinnamon smell. ‘I used to like cinnamon,’ I moaned. ‘But now—’

  ‘Sounds like how I feel about burritos,’ said Beth.

  I tried to punch her arm, but in the darkness I missed and my hand rubbed against something cold and squishy. I jumped and hit my head.

  ‘Ouch! Let’s get out of here,’ I said. ‘Before one of us gets killed.’

  ‘OK,’ said Beth. ‘I’m good with that plan. Hold my hand and concentrate on your dad and Stephen and Pablo, the three-legged wonder cat.’

  * * *

  Even though I’d closed my eyes, the flash of light was bright enough to blind me for a second. I rubbed my eyes and when I could see again, Beth was smiling.

  ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What can you see that’s making you so happy?’

  ‘That,’ she said, pointing to the sign on the wall next to us. ‘Castle Street. Isn’t that where your dad lived when he was a little kid?’

  ‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘I’m so glad we don’t have to go on a crazy, scary walk. This time Rico’s landed us exactly where we need to be.’

  ‘Good old Rico!’ said Beth.

  ‘Let’s hope he’s landed us when we need to be,’ I said. ‘It so won’t be helpful if it’s only last week – or tomorrow or something.’