‘Nope. She’s been a bit elusive lately if you ask me,’ Rocky said.
‘I said the same to her but she said she just didn’t like the cold any more. Though I thought she might be here this morning.’
‘Nah, not so far. Although it’s still early.’
We settled down to our activities, gossiping, watching George play and watching the world go by, and before long Tiger appeared. I was relieved to see her, and I’m not sure why I was worrying. It was just something I always did. I am a worrier by nature. And when, like now, life was coasting along very well, I tended to worry more.
‘Hey,’ I said, greeting her excitedly.
‘Calm down Alfie, you’re acting like you haven’t seen me for ages.’
‘Well, you weren’t out last night.’
‘No, sorry, I fell asleep after dinner again, and when I woke up, I thought it was probably too late. Honestly, I am not a fan of winter,’ she declared, examining her paw.
‘I love winter, I hope it snows,’ George said excitedly. He’d had his first experience of snow the previous year and he was a big fan. I was not; it was cold, wet and you sank into it, a bit like sand actually, which I also wasn’t too fond of.
‘Yes, well, George, you might not say the same when you get older,’ Tiger said, but indulgently. ‘Right, come on and we can go and climb a tree if you’re good.’
They set off together to the nearest tree. All was normal as I watched George jump about with Tiger, then Nellie went to join them and they started a game of tag. Rocky, Elvis and I watched and caught up on more local gossip.
‘Salmon tried to tell us about your neighbours as well,’ Rocky said.
‘Of course, his owners will have gone around already, won’t they?’ I replied. Salmon was a pain and used to be my arch nemesis, but we were civil now. He lived across the street from me with the Goodwins who were the self-appointed neighbourhood watch coordinators on Edgar Road. Translation: they were incredibly nosy busybodies who annoyed most of us. But Jonathan had to admit that, with them around, Edgar Road was a low crime street. No one got away with anything. ‘What did he say?’
‘Oh, he was doing his usual, acting as if he knew more than he did, being cagey, but we’re used to it now. He didn’t even mention the fact they’d lived in another country, so my guess is that your humans found out more than his.’
‘Well that makes me happy,’ I said. I was still curious though. Our chat was interrupted by a commotion and we rushed to see George perched precariously on a high branch. My heart sped up.
‘Oh my goodness, George,’ I said.
‘Get down at once,’ Tiger was shouting.
‘He’s ever so high,’ Rocky exclaimed.
‘And that branch don’t look too secure,’ Elvis yowled.
‘Oh no, poor boy, what’s going to happen?’ Nellie asked. We all started panicking, running around in circles and yelping. As we came to a halt I noticed that George had started his descent. My heart was in my paws as I watched him climb down. I had discovered my fear of heights a long time ago, whilst being stuck up a tree. Not only that, but I’d had to endure the humiliation of being rescued by the fire brigade. It was all for love, but that was another story. Trees had not been one of my favourite things ever since.
‘What were you all shouting about?’ George asked innocently as he reached the ground.
‘Oh thank goodness,’ Nellie said, sitting down and looking exhausted.
‘George, you were so high, too high,’ Tiger chastised.
‘No I wasn’t. Look, I got down, didn’t I? Sometimes you adults panic about the most ridiculous things.’
Unfortunately no one could argue with that.
Tiger and I decided we’d had enough excitement for one day so we took George home. He was reluctant, having had so much fun. But while we were on our way I saw the next-door neighbour, Sylvie, and her daughter, Connie, in the street. I couldn’t resist making myself known to her.
‘Oh Connie, here are the next-door cats again.’
‘They’re cute,’ Connie said, bending down and petting us.
‘We’ll meet them properly later as we’re going over.’ Sylvie smiled in the way that people did when they weren’t really very happy. A fake smile, or putting on a brave face as I thought of it. We all did it, us adults.
‘Great,’ Connie said but I noticed how her shoulders sagged and she dragged her feet. Her voice definitely lacked enthusiasm.
‘Come on, if we get your school uniform sorted quickly then I’ll buy you some more exciting clothes.’ Sylvie was trying hard.
‘Fine,’ Connie said as they walked off.
‘I think those two need a lot of cheering up,’ I said. Tiger nodded her agreement.
‘Well, they’ve come to the right street,’ George finished.
They really had.
My slumber was disturbed by one of my favourite noises: my families. From my place on Claire and Jonathan’s bed, I heard the loud cheery greetings. I stretched and rushed downstairs where George was, as usual, centre of attention. I meowed loudly to make myself heard and Aleksy and Tommy came over and took turns fussing me. I nestled into them enjoying the warmth.
Our house, which wasn’t quiet at the best of times, became louder, more crowded, and heaps of fun. Claire and Jonathan’s was the biggest house which was why we all convened at ours, but Tomasz and Franceska came in loaded with food from the restaurant, Polly and Matt always had wine and beer with them, and the adults – which included me – would all go to the kitchen to prepare food and drinks while the children, with George in tow, went into the living room. The older children would set up games for the younger ones. I had noticed that lately Aleksy hovered a bit before joining the kids; he thought himself too grown-up and I had been warned what that meant. He was a new creature now, something called a teenager.
I had heard about teenagers, notably from Tiger whose humans didn’t have one but knew one who visited, and I’d had first-hand experience of one when I was in love with Snowball and she lived with a teenage boy who spoke monosyllabically and never smiled. Well, my Aleksy, who I had known for years, since I first moved to Edgar Road and before he even started school, was now one. He had had his thirteenth birthday last year, and everyone had made a big deal about him becoming a teenager, but I didn’t know why because as far as I could see there was nothing to celebrate. It seemed that turning fourteen hadn’t improved things at all.
It was about losing my sweet best friend – although he was always still lovely to me, I didn’t know if the real him would ever come back. Teenagers were not an exact science though, apparently, but this one, hovering in the hallway, looking at the phone clasped in his hand, ignoring everyone around him, had definitely become one of them.
Eventually he went into the living room.
‘Aleksy, help me make a den,’ Tommy said.
‘I’m busy,’ Aleksy mumbled and sat on the sofa doing something with his phone. Toby looked disappointed.
‘But Aleksy, you make the best dens,’ Henry complained.
‘Please,’ Summer asked, looking at him with her big blue eyes.
‘OK, but just for a minute,’ he sighed, as he started gathering the sofa cushions.
I went to the kitchen where Polly had just finished telling Franceska about Sylvie.
‘She’ll be here in a minute, but remember, guys, it’s been hard for her,’ Polly reminded