when I was exhausted and could make no more noise, I emerged, tired and feeling as if I had lost something of myself. Tiger, who had been waiting patiently, put her paw on mine.
‘Come on, Alfie, I’ll take you home,’ she said.
The van had left by the time we got back to my house and so had the Snells’ car. They had gone. Tiger walked me to the back door and bade me farewell at the cat flap. I went through it, although even that felt like a major effort. I padded sadly to the kitchen. Claire, Jonathan and Summer and Polly, Matt and their children – Henry and Martha – were all there. They looked at me and I saw the sympathy in their eyes. Well, not the children – they just played on the floor, oblivious to my pain. I noticed that my favourite food, pilchards, sat in my bowl, but I had no appetite.
‘Alfie,’ Claire said. I just looked at each of them, sadly, and walked out, ignoring the food and going upstairs to my bed on the landing. I curled up in it and begged for sleep to come.
I sat on the sofa, listlessly watching the sun stream through the window. It had been a week since Snowball left, and the longing I felt, just to see her, speak to her, hear her voice, was all consuming. I had barely been out; I didn’t even want to see my friends. I just wanted to be alone with my poor, aching heart. Even Summer’s lovely smile had been unable to cheer me up, although I did put on a brave face for her, letting her cuddle me and even pull my tail, although that took all the energy I had.
This evening, my Polish family – Franceska, big Tomasz, Aleksy and little Tomasz – were all coming over in yet another effort to cheer me up. It was Claire’s idea. I wanted to try to be more like my old self, if only for my humans’ sakes, as they were being so kind and trying so hard, but I was oh so tired. It was like I had an illness of the heart.
‘Alfie?’ Jonathan sat down next to me, interrupting my thoughts. I nudged my head lethargically against his arm. It was the most I could offer.
‘Right, Alfie,’ he said. He was wearing his work clothes, the smart ones he normally kept away from me in case a bit of my fur snuck onto them, and he had a beer in his hand. This must be serious if he was risking his best clothes, I thought, and I couldn’t resist rubbing my head against his suit sleeve. I might be a bit down in the dumps but still … Especially as he didn’t even tell me off! He took a sip of his beer and then, looking solemn, he put it down on the coffee table.
‘I know that this sucks,’ he said, looking slightly embarrassed.‘We were very sad that Snowball had to go – we knew how close you two had become. But it’s human stuff. Jobs, houses, schools, it all added up to the Snells having to move away, and unfortunately you’re a casualty of that.’ He paused to lean forwards and take another sip of beer. I looked at him; I had no idea where this was going.‘The thing is that women, well, we love them and we lose them sometimes – but then you might find someone like I found Claire.’ He beamed as if he had solved all my problems.
‘Miaow.’ He found Claire, really? I think he’ll find I handed her to him on a plate! I rolled my eyes, as I thought back to my careful matchmaking when I first arrived on Edgar Road.
‘Claire is wonderful, and I love her deeply. She may have her moments, but when I think about some of the women I have been with … Goodness, I still shudder to remember them.’
No, I still had no idea where this was going.
‘So, anyway, the thing is, you need to dust yourself off and get back out there. You know, back in the game. Stalking alleyways for new cats the way we go to bars.’
Was he for real? Was he telling me to go down an alleyway?
‘You see,’ Jonathan continued. ‘The best way to get over heartbreak is to put yourself out there, even if it’s just for a bit of fun. Oh yes, the rebound is actually quite healthy, and you must have ways of meeting cat ladies. That Tiger down the road is pretty cute for a stripy cat. Anyway, it’s like they say, you need to get back on the horse.’
He looked pleased with himself as he downed the rest of his beer and stood up. I looked at him. Was he mad? Horses? Tiger? I might be heartbroken but Jonathan had lost the plot. If I could talk to humans I would have had a lot of questions to ask him. Instead, I put my head down, even more exhausted than before.
Claire came into the room.
‘Oh, there you are.’ She came up to Jonathan and kissed him.‘How did it go?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, I think I got through to him,’ he said as I lay down on the sofa and curled myself up into a ball.
‘Really? He still looks sad,’ Claire pointed out.
‘Give him a bit of time. We had a chat, like you asked me to. You know – man to cat. It’s all good.’
As they both left the room, Claire looked back at me – she clearly wasn’t convinced. But then again, neither was I.
After a short catnap, I got up and greeted my other families. Although the adults could deal with my heartache, I knew the children couldn’t, especially my first-ever child friend, Aleksy, who was nearly eleven now and had always been a sensitive boy. He would hate to see me sad. Little Tomasz, who wasn’t so little, nearly as big as Aleksy despite being three years younger, was more of a physical child, and he didn’t really pick up on emotions. Polly and Matt’s children, Henry, who was almost five, and three-year-old Martha, were too young to understand my pain. As I played with them, mainly with a ball and ribbons, I made a huge effort. It wasn’t easy, but to see my friends smiling and hear them laugh was a tonic. I made a special fuss of all the children, especially Aleksy, and it did cheer me up just a tiny little bit. It was lovely to be surrounded by the love of my families. Having all of them there was such a treat, and I just about managed to be like the old me for a short while.
My families got together frequently. Polly and Matt lived on the same street and I often spent time at their house, where they had been kind enough to install a cat flap for me. Frankie and Tomasz lived a few streets away, above the restaurant they owned. The restaurant food was delicious.
Talking of food, I was distracted by the smell of it. Tomasz had brought a feast from his restaurant for everyone and he’d brought me sardines which, even though my appetite wasn’t quite what it normally was, were quite welcome. I tried my best to appreciate the food and count my blessings, although it wasn’t easy. Nothing at the moment was easy – it was as if my paws were stuck in mud.
‘So how is Alfie?’ Franceska asked Claire. I could hear them, as they had a habit of talking in front of me as if I didn’t understand. They did the same with the younger children.
‘Sad. He seems sad. He’s been off his food and he’s barely been out. I know he’ll recover but it’s heartbreaking,’ Claire said. She liked to read books, and lately she had been reading classic romances, which seemed to have made her even softer than normal.‘I just feel so terrible for him, to love and then to lose. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?’
‘He’ll be fine,’ Jonathan cut in. ‘He’s a man, he’ll soon bounce back.’
‘Typical male point of view,’ Polly added.
‘I’m
