Alfie Cat In Trouble

by Rachel Wells

  ‘Oh, Alfie, not another family to worry about?’

  ‘I went there to get away from my problems at home, not find more, but I want to help them.’

  ‘You always do,’ Tiger stated as she jumped at a butterfly, missed and fell head-first into a bush. I couldn’t help but laugh as she brushed leaves off.

  ‘It’ll all be all right. I’ll think of something.’

  ‘Well, in the meantime, do you fancy going to the park?’ Tiger asked.

  ‘If we can roll around in the flower beds and chase flies, it might cheer me up.’ I was worried, but a bit of fun never hurt a cat.

  ‘Come on then, Alfie, I’ll race you there.’

  The back door was open, but there was no one downstairs. I ran up to Stanley’s room as fast as my paws would take me, where I found him, sitting on his bed. I greeted him with a purr and gently put my paw on his arm.

  ‘Alfie, I’m glad you’re here,’ he said. I miaowed. ‘I was supposed to have an adventure with Dad today. But then Mum had to work in the Clay Room, so Dad had to take Viola to her piano lesson. And I had to stay here.’ He folded his arms across his chest and made a face. I tried to tell Stanley that we could have an adventure – after all I am quite good at them – but he didn’t seem to understand.

  ‘My parents prefer her to me. It’s clear.’ He stamped his foot before sitting down next to me again. ‘They moved here for her and I miss our old home. I had lots of friends and lots of adventures. Dad and I would go and pick fruit together but now he goes to the boring old greengrocer instead and I don’t even get to go with him.’

  I knew that Stanley’s parents did love him. After all, no matter how cross my families were with me they still loved me and I loved them. But how could I tell Stanley this?

  ‘All I want to do is be an adventurer, but how can I when I can’t even practise?’

  I had an idea. I saw a pair of binoculars nearby and I went up to them. Gently, I nudged them, as if to say I could help him, but somehow I managed to get myself tangled in the strap. Part of it was round my neck and part round my legs. The more I tried to untangle myself, the more stuck I became.

  ‘MIAOW, MIAOW,’ I said as loudly as I could. That got Stanley’s attention.

  ‘Oh wow, good idea, Alfie. We can have adventures together!’

  Finally! It took him a while to untangle me, so binoculars were now added to the list of things I needed to avoid.

  ‘One minute.’ I sat still and watched as Stanley rushed around the room collecting stuff. Then, he put a hat with flaps on me; I tried to swipe them away with my paw but they just flopped back over my ears. Next, he wrapped a scarf around my neck. ‘It might be summer, Alfie, but when we explore the North Pole it’ll be cold.’

  I didn’t know what to say so I sat still and let Stanley carry on. He started taking photos; he was so excited. I didn’t actually like being dressed up; I mean what cat does? But Stanley was happy as he snapped away with his camera.

  ‘You are now Alfie the Adventure Cat and we are going to have so much fun. We can find fossils, build dens, dive for treasure. Oh I know – we can discover a species of animal never found before!’

  I had no idea how we were going to do all those things, but I kept quiet. It was worth it to see Stanley happy. He pulled out a notebook and pen and started making notes. He also drew some pictures that were very good. His plans seemed extremely ambitious but I couldn’t help feeling a bit excited. I quite fancied being an adventure cat, even if I didn’t know what it involved.

  While Stanley was busy drawing up plans for our first mission, I thought I would go and see what else was going on in the house. As I walked past the next room, I spotted Viola returning from her piano lesson. She looked down in the dumps as she sat on her bed, so I jumped up and nestled into her. She started stroking me gently and I purred.

  ‘Oh look at you, in your hat and scarf, I bet you’ve been having loads of fun with Stanley?’ She sounded sad.

  I miaowed in agreement.

  ‘You do look a little bit warm though, Alfie. Shall I help you take those off?’

  I miaowed even louder to say what a good idea this was and Viola carefully removed my adventure outfit.

  ‘I wish Stan would play with me more,’ she said. Her voice was so much quieter than Stanley’s. ‘I miss being friends with him and I miss my old home.’ She paused to wipe a tear from her cheek. ‘I know we had to move so I could go to music school but it’s a lot of pressure. I love playing the piano, I really do, and I like it here a bit, but at the same time I’m scared about my new school.’

  She had tears in her eyes. I wished she would talk to Stanley – they were both feeling the same. I brushed my tail on her wet cheek and she smiled as it tickled her. ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she said quietly.

  ‘LUNCH,’ Mrs Clover’s voice boomed. Viola jumped up, dried her cheeks with her sleeve and ran downstairs with Stanley on her heels. I followed them into the kitchen where four bowls of pasta were laid on the table. I was glad it wasn’t custard soup again, although there was still no sign of any pilchards.

  ‘Oh Alfie, I have something for you too,’ Mrs Clover said, putting a bowl with some tuna on the floor. I licked my lips and miaowed my thanks. Today was looking up.

  The family were quiet as they ate, as if they were all lost in their own thoughts. I started eating but kept one eye on them. Stanley was staring at his food as he shovelled it in; Viola played with hers. Mrs Clover was humming an unknown tune and Mr Clover was eating with one hand while holding an egg with the other. It was a bit odd, as I had come to know the Clovers could be.

  ‘What’s for pudding?’ Stanley asked when he’d finished.

  ‘Um, go and help yourself to some fruit,’ Mrs Clover replied. Stanley got up from the table, picked an apple off the counter and took a bite. As he walked back to the table with it, I sat at his feet.

  ‘AHHHH!’ Mr Clover screamed. Everyone looked up and Stanley dropped his apple in surprise. It landed on my head.

  ‘YELP!’ I cried.

  ‘That was my apple!’ Mr Clover shouted.

  ‘But Mum said to get some fruit, and it was on the side.’ Stanley sounded upset.

  ‘Yes, dear, I did,’ Mrs Clover agreed.

  ‘And Dad, it looks like a normal apple,’ Viola added.

  I rubbed my head with my paw. Who knew apples could be so heavy?

  ‘Well, it wasn’t a normal apple. It was a special apple that I was planning on painting later,’ Mr Clover moaned.

  I had an idea. I went to sit on a big pile of empty bags from the greengrocer’s.

  ‘Miaow,’ I said loudly.

  ‘Oh, look at Alfie! I know, why don’t we all go to the local greengrocer’s and help you choose some even better apples?’ Viola suggested, pointing at me.

  ‘Better apples?’ Mr Clover repeated.

  ‘Great idea!’ Stanley sounded excited.

  ‘Please, let’s go,’ Viola said.

  ‘All right, it’ll be a bit like old times.’ Mr Clover finally had a smile on his face, as did the rest of the family. I grinned as well.

  Everyone went to get ready for their outing and I waited by the door. As I left, I realised that I still had a lot of work to do. I had to bring the family together and help them see how much they needed each other. Because it was clear that they did need each other and they all really needed me.

  I left them at the corner and made my way home. Tiger was lying in the sun at the end of our road.

  ‘Hey Tiger,’ I said.

  She opened her eyes. ‘Alfie, you’re back early today.’

  ‘The family have gone out together. Only to get fruit, but it’s a start.’

  ‘So, you think that whatever it is you’re doing is working?’ Tiger rolled onto her stomach and looked at me.

  ‘It’s early days but I’m a confident cat.’

  ‘As long as you know what you’re doing.’

  ‘Oh Tiger, how could you say that? I alwa
ys know what I’m doing.’

  Tiger flicked her tail at me as if to say ‘yeah right’. ‘How about we forget the humans for a bit and go and tease some dogs?’

  She didn’t need to ask me twice.

  I wandered around the house, but there was no sign of Stanley. I went to see Viola who was playing the piano as usual. She stopped when I jumped onto the stool next to her and she made a fuss of me.

  ‘Hi Alfie, it’s nice to see you.’ She had such lovely manners.

  ‘Miaow,’ I said; it was nice to see her, too.

  ‘I’m afraid Stanley’s in trouble again. He pretended he was skydiving earlier, jumping off the sofa. It was funny but Dad got cross because he was being loud and I was supposed to be practising my scales.’

  I rubbed up against her. This wasn’t what I had hoped to find after yesterday.

  ‘He’s been sent outside. I didn’t want him to go. He was having so much fun, I wished I could have joined in. I mean Stanley doesn’t seem to like me very much sometimes but I wish he did. We used to play together in our old house, I miss that—’

  ‘Viola, I can’t hear the piano,’ Mrs Clover shouted. Viola sighed and I felt bad. I wished she could confide in me more. She looked downcast as she started playing again so I decided to cheer her up. I jumped onto the keys and tried to play with her. She looked surprised, then she giggled and we played together, although I found it quite hard. The keys were unsteady and it was difficult to balance.

  ‘Plink, plonk,’ I played but suddenly my leg slipped, and I crashed onto the keys.

  BANG! My bottom hurt. To be safer, I sat on the keys and tickled Viola with my tail; she giggled.

  ‘What on earth is going on?’ Mrs Clover asked, coming into the room.

  ‘Sorry Mum,’ Viola said. ‘Alfie was playing the piano.’

  Yikes, I was in trouble now. Would I get banished, too? But Mrs Clover just laughed.

  ‘Oh you silly cat! And by the way you are no Mozart,’ she said, laughing even harder. I purred with joy as they both laughed, although I had no idea who or what Mozart was.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ Mr Clover asked as he walked in with Stanley in tow. ‘Dear, I said Stanley could come back in; I think he’s spent enough time in the shed.’

  ‘Fine, but Stanley, and Alfie actually, can you please stay out of mischief? If Viola doesn’t practise she’ll be in trouble.’

  ‘OK, Mum,’ Stanley said, grumpily. ‘Come on, Alfie. Let’s go upstairs.’

  I felt bad about leaving Viola, but I followed my friend upstairs and into his room.

  ‘I’m so fed up; she’s always telling me off, and Viola gets all their attention. Sometimes I think they don’t even want me in the house. Oh well, at least I like the shed. I mean, I can’t tell them that – they think being sent outside is a punishment, but I think the shed is going to be my headquarters. I’ve put my special stones in it, as well as photos and plans that I’ve drawn up.’

  ‘Purrr,’ I replied.

  ‘And I’ve just had the most brilliant idea. Adventurers have to work both on dry land and under water so I thought I could practise today.’

  ‘YOWL!’ No, not water.

  ‘I shall get ready and you can be my assistant. Basically, that means you just have to be with me.’

  I felt relieved; I wasn’t planning on being involved in any underwater missions, thank you very much.

  Stanley raced around, putting on a pair of swimming trunks, a pair of funny looking rubber things on his feet and goggles over his eyes.

  ‘Right, so I have trunks, flippers and goggles. All I need now is my stopwatch and the bath.’ The flippers made him walk in a funny way. A bit like an upright frog.

  He filled the bath and got in. I sat beside the bath, a safe distance from the water. Stanley took a deep breath and started his stopwatch. Then, with the arm holding the stopwatch sticking out of the bath, he went under. After a while, his head emerged from the water; he spluttered as he looked at his stopwatch.

  ‘Not bad,’ he said. ‘But I need to do better.’ He took a deep breath and went under again.

  I waited. And waited. I moved a little closer to the bath but I couldn’t see anything. I was pretty sure that no one, apart from fish, could spend so much time underwater. I panicked. What if something happened to him? I jumped up onto the side of the tub. Stanley was very still under the water and I didn’t know what to do. I peered over the side, about to reach out with one paw, when suddenly he sat upright, knocking my paw, and me into the bath.

  SPLASH!

  ‘YOWL!’ I screamed.

  ‘Alfie!’ Stanley grabbed me quickly and lifted me out.

  I was horrified as I shook the water out of my fur. ‘Alfie,’ Stanley repeated.

  I was soaked and, in a panic, I ran downstairs. I was yelping as I jumped up onto the kitchen counter, skidded and went headfirst into a basket of eggs. They all flew off the counter and smashed. I sat there, soaking wet and covered in yolk.

  ‘My eggs!’ Mr Clover screamed.

  ‘What on earth?’ Mrs Clover exclaimed.

  Viola said, ‘Stanley!’ They all turned to where Stanley stood in the doorway, dripping wet, still wearing his flippers, goggles and trunks.

  ‘I am guessing you can explain this?’ Mrs Clover bellowed.

  ‘My eggs!’ Mr Clover repeated. I licked some of the egg off my fur; it wasn’t bad.

  ‘Well, you see, I was practising being underwater—’ Stanley started.

  ‘Underwater?’ Mrs Clover looked horrified.

  ‘Yes, in the bath. And Alfie came and sat on the side of the tub; I seem to have accidentally knocked him in. It’s well known that cats don’t like water. Then he screeched loudly, and ran down here. I just came to see if he was all right.’

  ‘My eggs!’

  It seemed Mr Clover was very fond of those eggs.

  ‘I don’t even know where to start. Stanley, you know you are not allowed to have baths on your own and as for being underwater – what if something had happened? Do you really think Alfie would have been able to rescue you, you silly boy?’ Mrs Clover yelled.

  Stanley looked at everyone and at me. I would have found a way to rescue him, but I didn’t know how to tell them that.

  ‘No one would be bothered if anything happened to me anyway,’ Stanley shouted. ‘You don’t care about me at all.’ He stamped his flipper and tried to run off, but he could only manage a wobbly walk with his legs out straight. It would have been funny if he wasn’t so upset.

  Viola looked distraught; Mrs Clover looked shocked and Mr Clover was still staring at the broken eggs.

  ‘What a worry that boy is.’ Mrs Clover looked upset.

  ‘But maybe he just thinks you’re cross,’ Viola said, reasonably.

  ‘Viola, can you try to get Alfie cleaned up?’ Mrs Clover asked, ignoring her. ‘And Dear?’ she said to her husband.

  ‘My eggs,’ he repeated. He really was unreasonably attached to them.

  ‘For goodness sake, forget the eggs and come and speak to your son. He needs to learn to be more careful, and you need to help me.’ Mr Clover looked up. ‘And, besides, how many times have you been told not to put all your eggs in one basket?’

  That evening, having recovered at home with a long nap, I went to look for Tiger.

  ‘Oh dear, someone looks a bit down in the dumps,’ she said as she joined me in her back garden.

  ‘It’s just all gone wrong at the Clovers. I’ve never known a family like it.’

  ‘I warned you to leave well alone, but you never listen.’ Tiger yawned. ‘I’m a bit tired, but if you want we can go and look at the moon; it might cheer you up.’

  ‘You’re a good pal, Tiger.’

  ‘Yes I am, and maybe if you weren’t so intent on saving the world you’d remember that a bit more.’

  We both sat and stared at the bright round moon and Tiger was right – it did cheer me up.

  I arrived at the Clovers early after yet another sleepl
ess night. One of my families was looking after baby Summer so Claire and Jonathan could get some sleep. I was tempted to do the same, but I was worried about Stanley. I found the whole of the Clover family in the kitchen, finishing breakfast. Mr Clover was eating an egg – so it was all right for him to eat them but not for me to accidentally break them.

  Mrs Clover seemed cheerful, Viola was smiling but Stanley was quiet.

  ‘Right, so Dear, do you remember what I said?’ Mrs Clover asked.

  ‘What exactly was that?’ Mr Clover replied.

  ‘Tut. Please, listen and you too, Stanley,’ she said. Stanley made a face. ‘I have to take Viola to her new school. Dear, you’re in charge of making sure your son doesn’t get into trouble. Stanley you are in charge of staying out of trouble. You too, Alfie,’ she said, noticing me. ‘Come along, Viola. We don’t want to be late.’ Mrs Clover went to put her shoes on and I followed her so I could say goodbye.

  ‘Mum.’ Viola pointed at Mrs Clover’s shoes. ‘Your shoes don’t match.’ One was red and the other green.

  ‘Pah, never mind, no one looks at feet.’

  I miaowed. I did.

  ‘So I have to keep Stanley out of trouble?’ Mr Clover said coming to the front door.

  ‘Yes, you should be able to manage that, shouldn’t you?’ Mrs Clover replied.

  Mr Clover looked as if he absolutely couldn’t.

  As Stanley and his Dad cleared up the breakfast things, I managed to get myself some leftover egg; I had acquired quite the taste for it.

  ‘Right, Stan. I have to paint some fruit. I won’t be long but can you occupy yourself for a while?’

  ‘I usually do,’ Stanley mumbled sadly.

  I rubbed against his legs. I felt sorry for him – he only got his parents’ attention when he was in trouble. It was the same with me at my house at the moment.

  ‘Alfie, let’s go to the garden,’ he suggested, huffily.