Alfie in the Snow

by Rachel Wells

  ‘Loving is about letting go, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, George,’ I managed, my throat choked up. It really was.

  When we got home, thankfully the warmth hit us as soon as we got through the cat flap. Everyone was in a state about the snow.

  ‘What if it settles?’ Claire panicked. ‘People won’t be able to get out and then it could be a problem.’

  ‘Everyone can walk here and if we need to help, like with Harold, I can go and give Marcus a hand. So don’t worry, it’ll be fine, darling. In fact, more than fine, it’s going to be the best Christmas,’ Jonathan reassured. ‘We’re together, we’ve got our gorgeous two children, our amazing cats and our best friends coming, what more could we want?’

  ‘I know, I’m sorry. I wish that Sylvie and Connie would come though, I feel so sorry for them, and I know they’ll have a miserable Christmas. Especially Connie.’

  ‘You might need a Christmas miracle for that one. I’m not sure even Santa can sort that out.’

  I wished I could give them that miracle but I was all out of ideas. Part of me still wondered if Dustbin and I had been right to stop the kids from running away but I knew, deep down, it had been our only option. It was too dangerous out there for them. I was going to have to keep thinking, or – like Claire – hope for a miracle.

  By the time Tomasz, Franceska and the boys arrived before the carol concert, I was exhausted from trying to think. However, Aleksy took me aside immediately. Well, he picked me up. I narrowed my eyes at him. What was he up to now? I hoped we weren’t going to try to look for Connie again. But instead of heading outside, he took me upstairs.

  ‘Look, Alfie, I know you were only visiting Dustbin the night I was running away, but it was probably good that you were there,’ he said when we were out of earshot in Toby’s bedroom.

  ‘Yowl.’ I wasn’t, I was trying to stop you.

  ‘I thought it was a good idea, when you and Dustbin made the commotion and stopped me going, I really had to think about things and Connie did too. We realised running away was a terrible idea. We have very little money, I spent most of mine on her phone, and what job would I get at my age?’

  ‘Meow.’ I raised my eyes to the heavens, it was madness.

  ‘And it’s dangerous out there, I know that, but you see Connie was so sad and I just wanted to make things better. But somehow I made them worse because now she doesn’t even have the phone any more and her mum hates me.’

  ‘Yowl.’ She does.

  ‘Anyway, I have a plan and I think you might approve of this one.’

  I put my paws over my ears. I had a bad feeling.

  ‘No, honestly, there’s no risk to either of us. You see, tonight I am going to come to Connie’s and she is going to meet me and then we are going to hide, so that come morning when everyone gets up they’ll see we’re missing and they’ll worry but then we appear and say we were pushed so far to make a point that we want to be together and then they have to let us.’

  ‘YOWL!’ Could I voice my disapproval any more? Doing this on Christmas morning! It was a terrible idea. The worst.

  ‘Right, of course how did we concoct this with no phone? Well, that’s the clever part. Connie’s best friend, Sophie Hawker, is also my friend and we live on the same street. She went to visit Connie and she gave her a note from me. Her mum didn’t even suspect a thing. Clever, huh?’

  He looked so pleased with himself, I really felt like scratching some sense into him, but I wasn’t going to use violence, it didn’t solve anything. And I couldn’t do that to my Aleksy. Not unless I really had to.

  ‘And then Connie gave Sophie a note for me agreeing to the plan!’ His eyes sparkled.

  ‘Mewmewmewmew.’ This was quite possibly the worst plan I’d ever heard. What Aleksy was suggesting was ruining everyone’s Christmas morning by going missing. I knew how I’d felt when George went missing, it had been the worst time ever. Aleksy was going to put his parents, Tommy and Sylvie through that? Even for an hour it was too much and it would ruin Christmas. Totally ruin it.

  ‘I knew you’d approve. And we won’t ruin Christmas as we’ll only be gone for a bit.’

  ‘Yowl?’ How could I stop this one, I thought, as my poor overworked brain started whirring.

  ‘The best bit is that we’re going to hide in your shed, so we’ll only be in your garden. And I’ll set my alarm so we don’t leave it too late to tell everyone we’re fine. Hopefully before they call the police.’ His eyes clouded over slightly at that mention.

  Oh no. I put my paws over my eyes. Of course, they’d call the police straight away. This was not good. Not good at all, I had to put a stop to this madness, but how?

  Chapter Thirty-One

  This Christmas Eve was not going according to plan at all any more. I should have been relaxing in the warm with my boy while the families all went to the carol concert, but no, no I had to go and clear up yet another mess that my humans were making. I knew Aleksy was young so I really tried to give him some kind of concession, but this was possibly the worst plan I’d heard, and trust me, I had heard and even been the mastermind of quite a few. None that involved ruining Christmas, though.

  And now I was going to have to save it.

  I toyed with the idea of not telling George, but after all I had told him he needed to be open with me, so I felt I should do the same with him. I filled him in, but I downplayed it a bit; even so, he was shocked. He had been to visit Hana to wish her a Happy Christmas Eve through the glass door and she obviously had no idea what the kids were up to. I said the best thing would be for him to stay home to make sure all was alright here, while I went to see Dustbin. By giving him a very important job I managed to persuade him to wait at home. I was a little annoyed, as I was looking forward to a relaxing festive evening with my family, but of course life didn’t always give us what we wanted, did it?

  My legs were so weary as I made my way there, but I had no option. The snow was falling more heavily – I had to be careful, as it was slippery under paw in certain parts. I felt as if my fur was freezing to my body, as worry flowed through me. We had to sort this out, and I had only one idea. Dustbin was in the yard having a rest by the bins. Obviously the rodents had scrammed.

  ‘Alfie, what a surprise.’ He stood up and stretched out. Poor Dustbin seemed tired as well.

  ‘I know. It’s Christmas Eve and it’s snowing, and I’ve had a really full day, but Aleksy came to my house and he confided in me that he and Connie are going to run away tonight.’

  ‘Oh no, that’s terrible.’

  ‘Yes, but the best or worst bit – I can’t figure out which – is that they are only planning on hiding in our garden shed for a while. They think if they scare the parents just for a short time, they will see sense, or Sylvie will, and let them see each other.’ I was almost tripping over my words.

  ‘This sounds like one of your plans,’ he pointed out. Not terribly helpfully, I might add.

  ‘Well, yes, normally I would, perhaps, agree but I wouldn’t do anything at Christmas. Christmas is, well, Christmas, no one should mess with Christmas.’ I was getting quite worked up now. ‘Imagine Franceska, Tomasz and Tommy waking up on Christmas morning to find Aleksy missing, it’ll be awful, and the same for Sylvie, only worse as she’s all alone. And then they’ll call Claire and Jonathan, which will ruin Christmas morning for the little ones, and the same with Matt and Polly as everyone aborts normal Christmas festivities to find the idiots!’ The more I thought about it the worse it sounded.

  ‘Oh dear, what a mess.’ Dustbin could sometimes be a bit too calm, although as I was so worked up, that might not have been such a bad thing. ‘So, we’ll stop him like we did last time,’ he suggested, licking his paw.

  ‘No, we can’t because Connie is going to meet him in the garden shed.’ I was so agitated. I suddenly wanted to knock the heads of a number of my humans together. Sylvie, for being so ridiculous about keeping these two apart, them for this silly plot, and wel
l the mood I was in, I could probably find a reason for all of them. Happiness was so precious, so fleeting, why couldn’t they see that?

  ‘Um, I see.’ Dustbin licked his other paw and glared angrily at a mouse who was trying to approach. The mouse took one look at him and scurried away. ‘I almost feel bad not letting them in in this weather, but you know, a job’s a job.’ He raised his tail.

  ‘Dustbin, back to the matter at hand,’ I snapped.

  ‘Oh yes, so what do you think we should do?’ he asked. He looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and I knew I was being unfair, snapping at him, so I tried to calm down.

  ‘Well, I was thinking there is only one thing to do, and that is for me to somehow get Jonathan and Claire to discover them tonight, so the morning isn’t ruined.’

  ‘Good thinking. So what can I do to help?’

  Now I could see us being able to foil this plan, I was beginning to feel calmer.

  ‘It’s a big ask but I wondered if you could follow Aleksy, you know, make sure he’s OK. He shouldn’t be wandering the streets at night, even if it’s only to our house.’

  ‘Right, that’s good, yes that’ll work. And then when I get to your place I’ll bang on the cat flap to let you know they are in the shed, so you can alert the humans straight away.’

  ‘Perfect. You really are such a good friend, Dustbin.’ I felt emotional, probably because I was so tired, angry, missing Tiger, and the idea that Christmas might be ruined, it was all getting on top of me.

  ‘No, you are. And you take care of these families so well. Right, so I’ll let you know when they are there. You will have to really make a fuss to get Jonathan and Claire out though.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry, I seem to have had a lot of experience doing that lately.’ I really had. And although they sometimes could be a bit slow on the uptake, they seemed to get what I was telling them in the end. After all, that was how I had saved Harold. I just hoped I could stay awake long enough, I was so cat-tired (Yes, I know the expression is dog-tired but I would never compare myself to a dog.)

  ‘Right you are. We’ll sort this out and, you never know, the shock of them actually running away, albeit to a garden shed, might even make her mother see sense. I hope so, Aleksy is such a good lad.’

  I nodded, I did understand. Love wasn’t always easy; I had learnt that the hard way.

  My house was once again a hive of activity when I returned home, brushing the snow off my fur and warming my bones by the radiator.

  ‘Oh there you are, Alfie. I was wondering where you’d been. I can’t believe you went out in this weather,’ Claire said.

  ‘Meow.’ It wasn’t my choice.

  ‘Never mind, it’s so Christmassy, isn’t it? The first white Christmas in goodness knows how many years. The kids were so excited at the concert and getting them into bed was a mission. Thankfully they know that Santa only visits sleeping children, so they seem to have gone off now. And George is tucked up with Toby, in case you were wondering.’

  I was, but I’d assumed that was where he’d be. When I was dry and warm I was going to go and say goodnight to him.

  ‘And Jonathan and I have quite a lot to do before we’re ready for tomorrow. But I’m so excited. The snow, the big lunch with all our friends. It’s going to be wonderful,’ she gushed, she was so full of Christmas cheer. I hoped it was contagious.

  As I thought about Aleksy and Connie, I wondered what would happen when they were discovered. Either all the parents would be so angry the teenagers would be grounded forever, or they would see how much the two of them meant to each other and Sylvie would relent and maybe we’d all spend a wonderful Christmas together. I knew which one I wanted it to be. I also knew which one I thought it would be.

  After kissing my boy goodnight, I went to wait by the cat flap. That way, I knew if I went to sleep I would hear Dustbin when he arrived. I wondered what Tiger would have said to me if she was here, but I thought I knew. She would have said that Aleksy’s crazy plan was too much like one of mine, and that perhaps my humans were more influenced by me than we’d realised. I would be to blame for all of this, but then she would have approved of the way I was putting it right, I’m sure. I did feel responsible but then I cared too much about everyone’s happiness. I was learning that there was only so much this cat could do, however, and although I would never give up trying, sometimes I couldn’t find ways to solve everything. I still hadn’t figured out how to bring Sylvie and Connie back into the fold, and I hadn’t found a way of getting Hana out of the house – although of course I had discovered a way to get George in. Harold and his son had been reunited thanks to George and I, but that had been mainly George. Although I had achieved a fair bit, thinking about it. Just not everything, and I wasn’t a cat who liked loose ends.

  Claire and Jonathan approached.

  ‘Honey, can’t we go to bed yet?’ Jonathan yawned.

  ‘Not until all our gifts are under the tree, and let’s have a last glass of champagne, so we can toast our Christmas Eve together. And it was perfect, wasn’t it? I can’t believe that Harold even sang at the carol concert, he really enjoyed himself.’

  ‘Yeah, and Marcus is a top bloke. I like him.’

  ‘If only Sylvie would meet him, he’d take her mind off all the awfulness in her life,’ Claire said.

  ‘Meow,’ I agreed.

  ‘Oh Alfie, I thought you were asleep. Why are you lying by the cat flap?’ Jonathan asked. ‘Santa comes down the chimney, not through the cat flap,’ he laughed. I swished my tail. Very funny.

  ‘Very funny, Jon, now come and have a drink, honestly, it will help you finish the wrapping.’

  ‘We’ll be up all night at this rate,’ he complained.

  ‘I want it to be perfect for Summer and Toby when they wake up at the crack of dawn,’ Claire said. I thought Jonathan might voice another of his objections but instead he put his arm around Claire and kissed the top of her head.

  ‘And so do I, darling, so let’s get going and be tucked up in bed in time for the real Santa to come.’

  I let Jonathan scratch my ears and I hoped that Dustbin would arrive first.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I must have fallen asleep, but I heard the cat flap bang and jumped up in an instant. I put my head through and saw Dustbin’s eyes staring back at me. In a second I was out in the freezing cold next to him.

  ‘They’re here?’

  ‘Yup, they went through with the crazy plan. Aleksy shivered all the way here, it’s so cold, and the shed is probably freezing. It’s lucky we’re not leaving them until morning, they’d probably get hypothermia,’ Dustbin replied. ‘Anyway, I checked they were inside before I came to get you, didn’t want them seeing me this time.’

  Although the snow had stopped, there was a thin carpet of it in the garden. I could see their footprints, and also Dustbin’s paw prints.

  ‘Right, I guess it’s showtime,’ I said. Dustbin nodded.

  ‘Good luck, Alfie, I’ll wait just round here out of sight in case you need me.’

  I went back inside. Claire and Jonathan were in their pyjamas, just about to switch the lights off in the living room and go to bed. Oh boy, I thought, as the tiredness weighed heavily on me, I had to get this right.

  ‘MEWMEWMEWMEWMEW,’ I screeched at the top of my lungs. Then I ran in circles.

  ‘Oh, not this again,’ Jonathan said. ‘What now? For goodness sake, Alfie, it’s midnight, on Christmas Eve, which means it’s technically Christmas morning and I for one want my bed.’

  ‘Alfie, shush, you’ll wake the children, now go to bed,’ Claire said. Oh dear, they were obviously so tired they weren’t getting it.

  ‘YOWLYOWLYOWL.’ I tried to stand on Claire’s foot but she pulled it away and I fell on my tail. I got up and ran some more circles. Normally Claire was the quicker of the two but it was very late.

  ‘I really think he’s trying to tell us something.’ Jonathan scratched his head. Thank goodness. I headed to the
back door, mewing all the way.

  ‘He wants us to go outside?’ Claire said, uncertainly.

  ‘What, in this weather? Alfie, you’ve got to be joking.’

  ‘MEOW.’ I really wasn’t. I headed through the cat flap, crossing my paws that they would follow. After a few seconds I saw the door open and two sets of eyes peered out at me.

  ‘You go, Jon,’ Claire said.

  ‘But I’ve got my slippers on.’

  ‘So have I,’ Claire replied. I wished at least one of them would just hurry up and come.

  ‘OK, let me just put my shoes on.’ Jonathan went off and came back, his feet stuffed into some trainers. ‘Come on then,’ he said, glancing back at Claire as he stepped outside. ‘This had better be good.’

  Oh it would be, I thought, as I started to lead him to the shed. He ran his hands through his hair and turned back to Claire.

  ‘I think he wants me to go to the shed,’ he said.

  ‘What if there’s someone in there? They might be dangerous,’ Claire replied. She went to the kitchen and came back with a saucepan. Forgetting she had her slippers on, she ran to Jonathan and handed it to him.

  ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘In case you need to hit them,’ Claire said.

  ‘You honestly think Alfie is telling us that there’s someone dangerous in our shed?’ He sounded a little bit panicked.

  ‘No idea but to be on the safe side,’ Claire said sensibly.

  ‘It’s probably a cat. You know, a stray cat that we’ll end up having to give a home to, or maybe it’s Santa.’ Jonathan laughed and I swished him with my tail again, this was no time for jokes.

  ‘YOWL.’ Would you just open the door already? Claire gave Jonathan a little push and, saucepan in hand, he tentatively opened the door. A scream from inside filled the air, as Jonathan flung the door wide open.

  ‘Oh my goodness,’ Claire said as the three of us stared at Aleksy and Connie, huddled together in the shed, wrapped in dusty old painting blankets.