I would like to say that this hadn’t happened to me before but that wouldn’t be true. I had been known to get trapped in places on occasion – especially cupboards. But I couldn’t worry about that right now, I was here, in front of Hana, and I wanted to make a new friend.
‘Why don’t you give me a tour of the house?’ I asked, thinking I would come up with a plan to get out later. After all, I was a cat who was known for being very good at plans.
By lunchtime, I was beginning to panic. Although spending time with Hana had been pleasant and we had managed to cover quite a lot of ground. Not only had I toured her entire house, but I’d explained all about Edgar Road. I told her about George, who I thought would make an excellent playmate for her, and she told me all about Japan, specifically her house in Japan, and the strange language they spoke, the raw fish she ate, and how happy her family had been. Since coming to London they had all been very sad – which I knew of course. But Connie was trying hard to get used to it, as she didn’t want her mum to worry, and vice versa. Hana was the confidante of both her humans the way I was with all of mine. She listened to Connie before she went to sleep and then had late-night chats with Sylvie. It kept her very busy.
‘What about the husband/father?’
‘Oh yes, you see I thought he was lovely,’ Hana said as we stood in Connie’s bedroom. It was painted a bright yellow, and she had put big pictures of pop stars on the wall. There were lots of photos of her and other girls on a pin-board – they were her friends in Japan, Hana said, which was one of the reasons she was upset; she missed them. I understood all about that. ‘But then one day he said to Sylvie that he was in love with someone else, and that he wanted a divorce. Sylvie was so devastated, she still is, and I don’t think she’s coping as well as it seems.’
‘It’s very sad,’ I said. Then I turned my attention back to the problem at hand. ‘But you know, if I don’t go soon, George might start worrying about me.’
‘I feel terrible, you came around to make me feel welcome and now you’re stuck.’
‘Oh no, I’m still glad I met you, I just wish you could come out, and then you could meet the others, our cat friends.’ That would be my next plan. As soon as I came up with one to get myself out of her house, I would come up with a way of getting Hana out of the house too.
We both looked around for any sign of being able to leave, but it was hopeless. There were no windows open, or anything that I could use to get outside. As I was beginning to despair we heard a sound, like a key in the door.
‘That’s the front door,’ Hana said and we both bounded towards it. The door opened and I saw my chance. Without hesitation I ran as fast as I could through Connie’s legs and outside. It was only when I was on the front path that I stopped, turned around and saw that Connie and Aleksy were both looking at me with bemusement.
‘How did Alfie get in here?’ Connie asked. ‘Hana, are you OK?’ I took offence at that, what did she mean? What did she think I had done to her?
Hana mewed, softly. I hadn’t even stopped to say goodbye to her but I raised my whiskers and she raised hers back.
‘I’m sure he was just being friendly and, after all, Alfie is one clever cat, he would have found a way,’ Aleksy replied, and I bounded off to get home to George, as they closed the front door. Not feeling that clever – after all, it had taken hours to get out.
When I told George all about my adventures next door, he went into a sulk because I hadn’t taken him with me. When I reminded him of his refusal to go out because of the rain, he still took umbrage. I promised him the next time I would take him with me but of course I wasn’t sure how there would be a next time. After the hazard of getting in and out, it just might not happen. I wasn’t ready to cope with that again.
It was only much later, when I was alone, about to take a short nap, that I thought about it all again and realised I hadn’t stopped to wonder what on earth Aleksy and Connie were doing at her house in the middle of the day. Weren’t they both supposed to be at school?
Chapter Eight
Word about my visit to Hana got around quickly. I was surprised. I had thought that if Connie told her mum she would have had to explain not being at school, but that only goes to show how wrong I was. It turned out Connie had gone home at lunchtime because she’d forgotten one of her text books. She obviously hadn’t mentioned Aleksy, because when Claire was telling Jonathan, in front of me, his name didn’t crop up.
‘Did Sylvie mind about our mad cat being in her house?’ Jonathan asked. I waved my tail, I wasn’t mad.
‘She was a bit surprised at first but when I explained that Alfie always liked to make friends with other cats she didn’t seem too upset. She said she always worried about Hana being bored, she wasn’t alone very often in Japan.’
‘Maybe we can persuade her to put a cat flap in so Alfie can visit more often,’ Jonathan laughed.
‘Yelp!’ I jumped onto his lap; that was a very good idea.
‘Alfie, I think Jon was joking,’ Claire giggled. ‘Anyway, I invited her to lunch on Sunday at the restaurant. I checked with Frankie and she didn’t mind.’
‘Great. Hopefully she’ll start to settle in a bit more.’
I was excited at the news. Not that Sylvie and Connie were joining us, although that was nice, but mainly about the fact that we were having lunch at the restaurant. It would give George and I a chance to catch up with Dustbin, the restaurant cat who was a very, very good friend. He lived outside and was a bit feral, but he liked it that way, and he might have been rough around the edges but he had a heart of gold. I hadn’t seen him for a bit, probably because life in Edgar Road was keeping me busy, so we were due a visit.
In the meantime I had to find Tiger. She was still being a bit elusive of late, and I did want to see her. I missed her. George had seen more of her than I had, but that was because he went into her house. I wouldn’t go because if I got caught by her owners they threw me out. They didn’t mind George quite as much, but nor were they laying out the red carpet to welcome him either. He assured me she was fine but I still wanted to see for myself.
I went to Tiger’s house and nudged the cat flap. As I waited on the doorstep I was anxious, but Tiger appeared after a short time.
‘Hi stranger,’ I said.
‘Don’t start,’ she replied, giving me a quick nuzzle. ‘I’ve had my family all keeping me in, it was to do with the vet. I thought I was fine but it turned out I had some kind of infection, and I had to take some medicine, which is why I haven’t been out. It’s all gone now and I’m allowed out again.’
‘But George said you were staying in because of the weather.’
‘I didn’t want him to worry, or you. I was only allowed dry biscuits to eat for days, can you imagine?’
‘No, frankly I can’t. But you say you’re all better?’
‘Yes. The tablets, which my family thought they were being very clever in hiding in small bits of chicken – which I ate because it was the only respite from the biscuits – have all gone, and that means I am back to normal.’ She grinned.
‘Oh thank goodness.’
‘You know, Alfie, you worry too much. Tell me, what’s been going on in the world while I’ve been stuck in.’
‘Walk with me and I will do.’ I grinned. It hit me how much I’d missed her. I was a softy after all.
As we took a stroll, I told her about Hana and being stuck in the house.
‘It’s a shame, you know, she’d make a perfect companion for George,’ I said, not for the first time.
‘Stop trying to matchmake, Alfie,’ she replied. ‘George will make his own friends.’
‘I know, I was just saying, they aren’t that far apart in age and she’s lived a very sheltered life.’