by Rachel Wells
‘Miaow.’ I followed him outside, but he didn’t seem happy as he kicked at stones. I hadn’t seen him this miserable before. I tried to encourage him to play with me. There was a frisbee on the ground which I nudged towards him.
‘Oh, it’s my frisbee,’ Stanley said, throwing it. I jumped up to try to catch it, but it was way too high.
‘Brilliant, Alfie, try again.’ Stanley suddenly looked happier. I kept jumping for the frisbee, although it was very tiring and I didn’t manage it.
‘Try again,’ Stanley shouted and threw it. I jumped but when I landed on all fours I saw the frisbee flying over the garden fence.
‘Whoops,’ Stanley said. I jumped up onto the fence and took a look. I was met by unfriendly snarling. The frisbee had landed next to a very big, very angry looking dog. I felt my fur stand on end.
Stanley dragged a garden chair over and stood on it to see over the fence. ‘I’m guessing the dog won’t throw it back so it’s down to us, Alfie.’
Count me out, I thought.
‘I’ve had a brilliant idea!’ Stanley shouted running to the shed. He returned, carrying a long stick with string attached and a large hook on the end. ‘Dad’s fishing rod,’ he told me as he climbed back on the chair, wobbling a bit. ‘If I can hook the frisbee, I can get it back. Any adventurer would do the same.’ He looked pleased with himself as he flung his arms back and then forwards and I watched the line and hook flying through the air and …
CRASH! The rod had hit the greenhouse roof next door. The dog started barking. Two people – a lady and man – ran out of the house just as Mr Clover appeared.
‘Stanley, what have you done?’ he shrieked.
‘But Dad—’
‘I don’t want to hear it, Stanley,’ Mr Clover shouted. Stanley’s shoulders slumped as he wandered off to the other end of the garden. ‘I am so sorry,’ Mr Clover said to the neighbours as he stood on the chair and surveyed the damage. ‘So very sorry. I’ll pay for the repairs to your greenhouse.’
‘Oh, don’t worry,’ the man said, smiling kindly. ‘We don’t use it. We’ve been meaning to get rid of it actually.’
What a nice man, I thought, as the dog growled at me.
Mr Clover looked relieved. ‘Are you sure?’
The neighbours nodded.
‘Well, I must do something. I know, I’ll give you a piece of my art. Wait there,’ he said, running back into the house and emerging a few moments later. He climbed back on the chair and handed a red banana over the fence. The man looked at the women as Mr Clover smiled at them expectantly.
‘Well, gosh, I mean, thank you,’ the woman said.
The man stared at the banana looking puzzled.
‘Oh you are most welcome, and thank you,’ Mr Clover finished.
‘I have to paint another banana,’ Mr Clover told us as Stanley and I stood by the back door. ‘Can you please stay out of trouble for five minutes?’
Mr Clover was still mumbling to himself – something to do with kids being a pain in his bottom and fruit being far less trouble, as he headed back inside.
Stanley was still looking glum but then, all of a sudden, he seemed to perk up. ‘Hey Alfie! I know how we can stay out of trouble and practise our adventuring: we can build a den.’ He went to the shed, and came back with a pile of things. He then went inside and brought out some poles and a blanket.
‘Purr,’ I replied, although I didn’t know what a den was.
‘So, we have a blanket, two garden chairs, some chicken wire and some funny poles I found. All any adventurer needs for the perfect base camp for our missions.’
I followed Stanley as he set about building. I jumped on one of the chairs as he stuck the chicken wire in-between them.
I wondered why it was called chicken wire, it looked nothing like a chicken.
‘Off the chair, Alfie, or you’ll end up lost under the blanket.’
I did what I was told. He put the poles into the ground and ended up balancing the blanket over the whole thing. I crawled into the opening. It was big enough for me to live in, not that I would.
‘Wow,’ Stanley said as he joined me. ‘This is the best den ever.’ I was caught up in his excitement. ‘Right, so Adventure Cat, our next mission is to find fossils. We need to dig for them.’ He put a hat with a big brim on me and picked up a bucket and spade. The hat slipped over my eyes and I had to use my paws to push it back. I wished I didn’t have to wear it but I didn’t want to upset Stanley. I slowly followed him round the garden. As he dug, Stanley sifted through the mud and put his findings into the bucket. Most of it looked like rubbish to me but he seemed pleased when he found a coin and a plastic toy.
‘You see, Alfie, being an Adventurer is very serious so we need all the practice we can get. Come on, help me dig.’
‘Miaow.’ I tried, but digging wasn’t one of my best skills. I found it almost impossible and my paws got covered in mud. Stanley, though, managed to make quite a mess of the lawn.
‘Back to base camp,’ he announced finally. I followed him as he emptied his bucket to examine his findings. ‘A ring-pull, a five pence piece, a plastic aeroplane and four worms,’ he said. ‘No fossils so far. Oh well, we must not give up but now we must rest.’
I sat on his lap, eyeing up the worms that he’d put in my hat suspiciously. They were wriggly and without fur so I didn’t trust them.
‘STANLEY CLOVER!’ Mrs Clover’s voice boomed angrily. We looked at each other and poked our heads out of the den. We came face to feet with Mrs Clover, Mr Clover and Viola. Mrs Clover pulled the blanket off and shrieked. She and Viola had just arrived home.
‘What are you doing with my special poles?’ she asked. She was red-faced and her glasses fell off, she was so angry.
‘What special poles?’ Mr Clover asked. Mrs Clover grabbed a stick and the den collapsed.
‘My den!’ Stanley cried out.
‘These, Stanley,’ Mrs Clover hissed, ‘are poles from the rain forest of Papua New Guinea and I was using them for a very important piece of artwork.’
She looked so red, I thought her head might explode.
‘Oh dear, dear,’ Mr Clover said, calmly. ‘Look they’ll be fine.’ He went to collect the rest of the poles. ‘Just a bit of mud that we can dust off,’ he added reasonably. Mrs Clover examined them and then slowly returned to her normal colour.
‘You see, nothing was really wrong, was it?’ Viola said.
‘You were supposed to be watching him,’ Mrs Clover pointed at Mr Clover.
‘Ah, well you see, I was but I had to go inside and paint a banana. I gave my other one as a peace-offering to next door.’
‘Next door? I don’t understand.’ Mrs Clover looked confused. I wanted to cover my eyes with my paws. Now we were in real trouble.
‘Stanley had an accident with a fishing rod and next door’s greenhouse,’ Mr Clover explained.
‘I can’t even leave you two for a couple of hours.’ Mrs Clover’s face was so red again it looked as if it might explode.
‘I’m sorry, but I was trying to be an Adventurer. I wish I could go to Papua New Guinea,’ Stanley said sadly.
‘You won’t be going anywhere other than your room, young man,’ Mrs Clover shouted.
‘What on earth happened to the lawn?’ Mr Clover suddenly asked, noticing the holes. Stanley hung his head. Mrs Clover’s jaw dropped open and I quickly sat down to hide my paws which were still a bit muddy.
‘Oh no, we must have moles,’ Viola said quickly.
‘Moles?’ Mr Clover asked.
‘In London?’ Mrs Clover added. ‘Do you get moles in London?’ I looked at Stanley who was staring at his sister, open-mouthed.
‘Oh yes, I read about it, it’s a real problem,’ Viola said, as if she knew what she was talking about. I didn’t think she did; I’d lived in London for all of my six cat years and never even seen one mole.
‘Right, well I better go and look up how to get rid of them.’ Mr Clover went into the house.
; ‘And Stanley, you can repair the lawn before you go to your room,’ Mrs Clover said. She was angrier than ever as she clutched her poles and marched inside.
Viola turned to Stanley who looked as if he was going to cry.
‘Don’t worry, Stan, I’ll help,’ she said quietly.
‘Thank you for saying it was moles, Vi. I really didn’t want to get into any more trouble.’ Stanley smiled sadly at her.
‘You’re welcome,’ Viola smiled back. As they filled in the holes, Viola tried to cheer Stanley up by making jokes and I sat watching. They really could be the best of friends, I thought, but they just needed a little bit of help. Luckily, I was here.
The lawn fixed, Stanley slunk upstairs to his room. I wasn’t allowed to go with him. I felt bad and powerless as I sat in the kitchen, trying to think. Viola was now practising her piano; Mrs Clover was cleaning her rainforest poles and Mr Clover was making a display of his latest project: black apples. He was admiring them, looking very pleased with himself.
I knew then, even more clearly, exactly what I had to do. Viola and Stanley should be sticking together. So now, all that was left was for me to figure out exactly how to unite them.
It wasn’t a very happy house as I appeared at the Clovers. Stanley was in his room, lying on his bed. He didn’t even cheer up when I arrived. Viola was alone in her room, reading a book and looking sad. She didn’t make even half as much of a fuss of me as she usually did. I was so determined to come up with a plan to bring Stanley and Viola together but they seemed further apart than ever, and I hadn’t even got a proper idea yet. I noticed that Mrs Clover was shut in the Clay Room. Did no one in this family spend time with each other? The doorbell rang and so I went downstairs. Mr Clover was holding a pink egg as he opened the door.
‘Hello?’ he said.
‘I’m Mr Ivory the piano tuner,’ the man standing on the doorstep said. He was large and had a big bag with him.
‘Oh, I’d quite forgotten about you,’ Mr Clover said. ‘Do come in.’
I followed them to the piano.
‘Wow, that is a beautiful piano,’ Mr Ivory looked excited.
‘Well, yes, but it’s no egg,’ Mr Clover replied. The piano tuner gave him a funny look.
I stayed with Mr Ivory. It was quite interesting watching him work, although I had no idea what he was doing. At the same time, I started to formulate a plan to bring Stanley and Viola together. It was the piano that took up most of Viola’s time and her parents seemed to be preoccupied with it, too. Stanley felt neglected and too upset to see that Viola could help him, if only he would let her. As Mr Ivory tinkered with this and that, making some very odd noises along the way – the piano not him – I realised that it could be part of my plan. Perhaps I could learn to play a tune. Viola and Stanley would be so happy, or they would find it so funny, that it would bring them together.
I am not just a pretty cat, you know.
When Mr Ivory had finished, he went to find Mr Clover. I jumped up to start practising but the top of the piano was still open and I climbed up to have a look. It was bumpy but warm as I lay down for a minute. I was tired after all the thinking I’d been doing. I yawned and closed my eyes, just for a short cat nap …
I opened my eyes. It was pitch black. I blinked. I couldn’t see a thing.
‘YOWL!’ I realised I was inside the piano; the lid was closed. I tried to nudge it with my paw but it wouldn’t open. I was trapped. In a piano! What on earth was I going to do? I miaowed, yowled and yelped as loudly as I could and just as I was beginning to think I would be here forever, I heard voices.
‘But he has to be here,’ I heard Stanley say. He sounded distraught.
‘But we’ve looked everywhere, Stan,’ Viola replied. ‘Maybe we should get Mum and Dad?’
‘As if they care.’
‘Oh Stan, they do, I know they seem a bit distracted …’
‘Except when they’re shouting at me. Face it, Vi, they love you better.’
‘Oh Stan, don’t say that.’ I heard her protest as she sat on the stool, and hit some keys.
‘OW!’ that hurt.
‘He wouldn’t have gone without saying goodbye,’ Stanley said; they hadn’t heard me.
‘Calm down, we’ll keep looking,’ Viola sniffed. ‘Honestly, Stan, I’ll help you, I want to help.’
‘It’s been horrible since we moved here,’ Stanley said. ‘Alfie is the only good thing about it.’
‘I miss our old house, too,’ Viola said.
‘Do you?’ he asked. I heard him sitting down and he bashed the keys.
‘OW!’
‘Yes, very much,’ Viola said. ‘Oh Stanley, I just want to be your friend.’
‘Really?’ Stanley sounded unsure.
‘Of course, I love it when we play games together. It’s so much fun.’
‘It is fun, isn’t it? Maybe we could do more, you know, like you could help with my adventures?’ Stanley sounded uncertain.
‘Yes, I’d really like that. Let’s start by looking for Alfie together.’ Viola sounded more cheerful.
‘OK, I’m really worried, Vi,’ Stanley added.
I took a deep breath and gave my loudest ‘YOWL!’, and quickly followed it up with another one.
‘What was that?’ Stanley asked.
‘I think it came from inside the piano,’ Viola replied. The piano lid slowly opened and I jumped out, straight into Viola’s arms.
‘Alfie, thank goodness!’ Stanley said. I purred my thanks as Stanley stroked me. ‘Thanks Vi,’ Stanley mumbled, and Viola smiled. See, I knew they could be friends. Viola moved towards Stanley and, still holding me, she hugged her brother.
Mr and Mrs Clover walked in.
‘Ah, there you are children. Is the piano all right, Viola?’
‘Perfect,’ she replied, giving Stanley a funny look. They both giggled.
I had done it; I had made them laugh, and they had made friends. I didn’t even have to learn how to play the piano after all.
As I approached my house, I found Tiger sitting under a bush in my front garden.
‘Hey,’ I said, feeling proud.
‘Why do you look like the cat who’s got the cream?’ Tiger asked. I licked my whiskers.
‘Yum, I wish I did have cream.’ Suddenly, I remembered I was quite hungry. ‘Well, if you must know, I have managed to solve all of the Clover children’s problems.’
‘Oh Alfie, here we go again,’ Tiger said, rolling onto her back. She could be a very negative cat.
‘No, honestly, it was genius. I knew I needed to get them to spend more time together and now they are going to. Alfie strikes again!’
Tiger looked at me as she swiped her paw at a passing fly. She missed then she rolled back and stood on all fours.
‘I guess you are going to tell me about it, whether I like it or not?’
Of course I was. ‘Well, it all began with a piano …’
Stanley was sitting at the kitchen table with a box in front of him when I let myself in. I jumped up. It had wriggly worms in it. I backed off slightly; I still didn’t trust them.
‘Miaow.’
Stanley looked sad. ‘Oh Alfie, hi, I was just looking at my worm collection. Every Adventurer needs a collection of wild animals.’
‘Miaow!’ He had me. He didn’t need worms.
‘You don’t count Alfie, you’re not wild.’ I didn’t know whether to be offended or not. ‘Anyway, I am so totally bored today. I don’t know what to do. Mum and Dad have been spending all their time with Viola. She’s playing them her new piece of music.’ He looked at me. ‘She was going to play with me, but they wouldn’t let her.’
Oh dear. Poor Stanley. He had made friends with his sister but he was still upset by his parents. I had an idea. I jumped off the table and went through to the living room, knowing that Stanley would follow. He did. Viola was playing her new piece of music, her mum and dad were standing watching her. I approached with Stanley just behind me, clutching his
box of worms.
‘Bravo,’ Mrs Clover clapped. She had tears in her eyes.
‘Viola, that was brilliant,’ Mr Clover said.
‘Such a talented girl,’ Mrs Clover added.
Viola blushed. I could see Stanley getting angry.
‘Look everyone, I’ve got a worm collection,’ Stanley said, standing right behind his parents.
‘What?’ Mr Clover swung round and bumped into Stanley.
‘Ahhh!’ Stanley said, dropping his box.
‘AHHHHHHH!’ Viola screamed as worms landed in her lap. She jumped up then tripped over. ‘Oww.’ She landed on her bottom, her glasses flying across the air.
‘Sorry,’ Stanley said, scooping his worms up. I wasn’t sure if he was apologising to Viola or the worms.
‘Right, Stanley that is it,’ his mother shouted. ‘Worms do not belong in the house and look what you have done to your sister.’
‘I’m fine, honestly, Mum,’ Viola said. But everyone ignored her.
‘You never pay any attention to me.’ Stanley shouted.
‘Well I am paying attention to you now, young man,’ his mother said, waggling her finger at him. ‘You will say sorry to Viola, and then you can go to your room and think about your behaviour.’
Stanley ran off.
‘I just don’t know what to do about him,’ Mrs Clover said as I went to follow. ‘No Alfie.’ Mrs Clover picked me up before I reached the stairs. ‘Stanley needs to learn to behave himself, so I am afraid you will have to leave today. Come back tomorrow.’ She opened the front door and put me outside.
I hadn’t done anything and I was being banished! I was beginning to understand why Stanley was so angry with his parents. I sat on the steps feeling cross, before deciding that I might as well go to the park. With any luck Tiger would be there. I started walking slowly, taking my time. The sun was beating down, birds were flying overhead, and I stopped to look at flowers. My good mood returned as I enjoyed my journey.
No sign of Tiger as I made my way to the flower bed. I was just about to dive under my favourite bush when …
