Alfie the Holiday Cat

‘OK, come on then.’

‘I’ll put the tea on hold.’ Claire grinned. ‘But how about some food for you two?’ She looked at me.

‘Meow!’ Yes please.

I forgot about the tour of the upstairs, as we settled down to eat. The cottage had a nice feel about it, I decided. The rooms were big and, despite being old and a bit run-down, it was very light. I don’t know why but I thought that cottages were meant to be small and gloomy. Well that was what Jonathan said, until he’d visited of course. Seabreeze felt a bit like its name. It was big, it was bright, and when the work was done I knew it would be lovely. It was definitely a bit shabby now but I felt excited about the summer, not only were we going to have a lovely holiday but Seabreeze would be transformed into a dream house, I just knew it.

The children came back all covered in sand which they scattered like stardust through the house until they all emerged in the kitchen.

‘I was thinking, shall we take them to the pub for tea?’ Claire asked. ‘It’s just none of us are quite unpacked, and it might be easier.’

‘Cool,’ Aleksy said. The other children were all jumping about with excitement.

‘Look at all this sand,’ Franceska laughed. ‘I suppose we need to get used to this.’

‘Well, in my plans,’ Polly said, ‘which I’ll unveil properly later, I thought the utility through there,’ she pointed to a door at the back of the kitchen, ‘could be the sand room – and we can knock through so you come in the back door directly into it. That way the sand is containable. Oh, and that’s where the downstairs loo is too,’ she said. ‘Which works now, by the way, although needs replacing.’

I looked. I hadn’t noticed the room before, but now the door was open I could see it was actually quite big.

‘You’re a genius, Pol,’ Claire said.

‘Wait till you see what else I’ve got planned. I’m not sure that we’ll get it all done this holiday but we’ll give it our best shot! Anyway, pub sounds good to me. I’m too exhausted to think about cooking,’ Polly agreed.

The children were all ushered into the utility space where sand was emptied from shoes and clothes. Then they said goodbye to us and were off.

‘Right, George, while we’re alone I want to get the proper measure of the house.’

‘OK, Dad. I might nap, I’m a bit sleepy,’ he said. I followed him to the big living room where he curled up on the windowsill. The sun was setting but it was a warm spot. I went back to the downstairs rooms and wondered what the two empty rooms would be used for. The back door, which I was delighted to see had a cat flap in it, was right next to the wall where the utility room was. I decided not to go through it yet, because although he was asleep I didn’t want to leave George alone in the house. Instead I headed upstairs.

The stairs were uncarpeted and at the top was a big open landing. I decided which way to go and found myself nudging the door of the furthest room. It was a medium-sized room in which they had put two sets of bunk beds. I guessed this was for the four boys. The window looked out onto the sea, and I thought how lucky the boys would be to wake up to that. I also guessed it was going to be George’s room as he’d have to sleep with Toby. Luckily, if he did have to sleep in the top bunk, George wasn’t afraid of heights. I was a bit, but that’s a whole other story. I made my way to the room directly opposite which was a smaller room. There were two beds, both with pink covers. For Martha and Summer. They had got the short straw as the view out back was of other houses and fields, but then there were only two of them. Next to those rooms at the back of the house was a big bathroom. In it was an old fashioned bathtub, with a shower hose, a toilet and a sink. Again, it had all seen better days. I went to the rooms on the other side of the landing, and at the front was the biggest bedroom. It had a lovely view out over the front, and it also had a sink and a toilet in a small room off it. I knew this was what they called the master bedroom and Franceska and Polly insisted it was Claire’s room. There were two other small rooms behind it, which Polly and Franceska were staying in. All beds had been set up, and although it was going to be a bit of a squeeze, it was big enough for all of us. Just. I saw there was a staircase leading up to a door and I had heard them talk of an attic room, but I couldn’t get through the closed door to explore that.

I tried to quell the feeling of disappointment. Yes the location was spectacular but the house really did need a great deal of work. I tried to imagine how it could be but being a cat it was too hard. I just had to put faith in Polly that it would be like home when finished and of course the beach looked lovely, I couldn’t wait to go and explore that, having no real experience of sand. I went to find my kitten. It was time to try to enjoy the holiday.

I walked back into the kitchen and smelt something funny. There was no sign of George, or of my humans as I went to investigate. I nosed around the utility room but couldn’t see anything. However, the smell was distinctive; it was the smell of cat, but not George or me. I wondered if some of the local cats had been round when the house was empty. I shook my fur, maybe I was just imagining things. There was no sign of any cat, just the smell. I reluctantly left my investigations to go and get George.

‘Meow!’ I said loudly. He needed to wake up or I’d never get him to sleep tonight.

‘Yelp!’ George jumped and fell off the windowsill, landing on his tail.

‘Sorry,’ I said, trying not to laugh. ‘I just wanted to wake you.’

‘What’s up?’ George asked, licking his fur.

‘Nothing, I thought we could go out for a quick explore before the others came back.’ I was itching to get another sniff of that sea air.

‘OK, but can we go to the beach like the children?’ George asked.

‘No, not tonight, I don’t want Claire to worry if she comes home and we’re not here, but soon, I promise.’

For now we contented ourselves with jumping out of the cat flap, and making our way round to the front of the house. As we sat on the edge of the lawn staring at the sun setting into the water, I was mesmerised. Yellow sand seemed to sparkle, as the water rolled softly, filling the air with a salty aroma. It was intoxicating. The bright orange sun looked as if it was floating on the water, and the sky was alive with colours of orange, yellow and the electric blue of the beckoning night sky. The smell here was different to that in Edgar Road. It smelt of salt, and sun and combined a heady aroma which made me want to sit there and sniff the air; which was what I did.

I understood why this meant so much to Claire. It was the most beautiful view I’d ever seen and I was so glad, so thankful, as George sat next to me, that I got to share it with my kitten. And it hit me, that we were really on holiday, our first holiday together.

Chapter Four (#ulink_932225b6-7299-5c15-a976-5765b237f3f4)

I was woken by George tickling my head with his tail yet again. I had opted to sleep on Claire’s bed, which was pretty comfortable, and also, I liked being near her when it was the two of us. I guess I felt that, without Jonathan around, I was her protector, the way I was when we first met. Claire was my first human on Edgar Road. She moved there after getting divorced and she was very sad when I first met her. I was lonely, she was lonely, it was as if we were meant to be together. She cried a lot and I comforted her, which in turn comforted me. We have an unshakeable bond and I love all my humans, I really do, but Claire will always have an extra special place in my heart. In a way it was meeting her that led me to meeting my other families, and then in turn I led Claire to them too.

It took me a moment to remember where I was, before I realised that we were by the sea. On our holiday, in our home which, if all went to plan, would be our holiday home. I leapt up excitedly. Claire opened her eyes.

‘Hey, boys, are the children awake?’ she asked, just as Toby and Summer came running in.

‘Mummy, Mummy,’ Summer shrieked, jumping on Claire and as Claire laughed, Toby climbed next to her and hugged her.

‘Did you sleep well, Tobes?’ she asked, stroking his hair.

‘I did, Mummy, George kept me warm,’ he said and I looked at George, proudly. I saw the sun streaming in through a small gap in the curtains and I couldn’t wait to see the sea again.

‘Right then, who wants some breakfast?’ Claire said, moving the covers and getting up.

‘Me, me, me,’ Summer chanted, jumping on the bed, sending me up and down with her.

‘Meow,’ George said loudly. Claire laughed.

‘Right, children and cats, let’s get you fed.’

It was so nice, us all being together, I thought; the kitchen was full of chatter and laughter. Yes, I missed the men but I could see this house, or cottage, or whatever it was supposed to be called, working already. Franceska was making a cooked breakfast, Claire was making coffee and Polly was organising the children around the table.

‘Mum, can I help?’ Aleksy said, as he joined his mum by the stove, which worked but had definitely seen better days. It looked a bit like the stove that my first owner Margaret had and I knew that that was very old.

‘Yes, darling, you can be in charge of toast.’ Luckily we had a new toaster.

‘And I’ll help you, Aleksy,’ Tommy said. Everyone was getting on harmoniously. It seemed that Lynstow, Seabreeze Cottage and the sea air were having a magical effect on us already. The children generally got on well but they also bickered a fair bit too. But not today.

‘Toby, do you want to play snap?’ Henry asked. Toby and Henry were of similar age, and Henry had been so sensitive in befriending Toby that he had made me proud. They were great friends, although it was more like Henry was his protector, because Toby needed it. Toby had made great progress since being with us, but he was still scarred and vulnerable and we all had to be mindful of that.

But all my children were wonderful and I had done a good job with them, if I did say so myself. Aleksy, who was the oldest at nearly eleven, looked after them all and Tommy who was a bit younger, but actually almost as big, did too. In fact, all my children looked after each other. The older boys definitely looked out for the younger ones, and Summer and Martha as the youngest were taken care of by all. Honestly, no one would ever hurt those girls! Jonathan joked that if they ever dared get a boyfriend, the other boys would definitely scare them off! But it filled my heart to see how our families had grown and bonded, and really the idea of us all being together like this for our holidays was a dream come true.

‘What are the plans for today?’ Aleksy asked, as he spooned up a forkful of beans. I was sitting on his lap, hidden from view because the humans didn’t like us being so close to food, but anyway, apart from the egg, I wasn’t that keen on his breakfast anyway. George was sitting at Summer’s feet. She used to throw her yoghurt and George developed quite a taste for it. Although she didn’t really do that any more, he still lived in hope.

‘Well I thought we would all go to the beach. We’ll take a blanket for us adults and you children can take buckets and spades and just enjoy the sand.’

‘Can we go in the water?’ Tommy asked.

‘If the tide’s in, but it might be cold,’ Franceska said, reasonably. It was sunny, we could see that, but also it looked as if there was a bit of a breeze as the trees in the garden swayed gently.

‘Anyway, we’re only across the road if we need anything from home,’ Claire pointed out. ‘Pol, we’ll pop back for lunch and to see how it’s going.’

‘Of course, can’t wait to get them working,’ Polly said, referring to the builders who were due to arrive shortly. ‘Right, Henry, Martha, you be good for Claire and Franceska.’ They both nodded.