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I beamed with pride at my humans. Look, they had come up with this all by themselves and they were all going to play their part. I couldn’t have come up with a better plan myself. Well, I possibly could have done, but not much better, in any case.

I didn’t get to see how Tommy took the news because Tomasz and Franceska went home and it really was too cold and too late for me to follow them, so instead I filled George in. George and I both decided to visit Dustbin the following day to see if he’d heard anything and also it meant we could check on Tommy ourselves as he wasn’t allowed to go to school. I’d heard about him from the adults but I wanted to see him for myself. After all, he was my responsibility too.

With this in mind I went to bed early, and tried to ensure I got a good night’s sleep. Of course I was worried about Tommy and thinking about the Christmas show – I had a lot on my mind still – so I was slightly restless. But in the morning I was raring to go again and hurried George along.

‘What’s the rush? It’s not like Tommy will be going anywhere.’

‘I’m just impatient to see what’s going on,’ I said. ‘If you don’t want to come with me, you don’t have to.’

‘No, I do. I want to see Dustbin and of course Tommy. Just hate being rushed in the morning. I wish you’d chill out a bit.’

Goodness, my son could be cheeky. I tried to‘chill out’ by examining my paws but I really wanted to go. I wasn’t a ‘chill out’ kind of cat.

It seemed like hours before George declared himself ready and we set off. Thankfully it wasn’t raining but it was cold. The streets were quite busy as we took our usual route, people going to work, school, or shopping. We strode with purpose ourselves, as we had much to do; I set the pace and George was happy to keep up.

‘Goodness I feel like I’ve seen loads of you lately,’ Dustbin said in greeting.

‘I know. Where’s Ally?’ I asked as we made it into the yard.

‘She’s off having a bit of a stalk today. Felt like a change of scene and you know me, I hate leaving the yard except for emergencies.’

I grinned. Dustbin had left the yard to help us over the years, but that was about the only time he did.

‘So, Dustbin, have you seen or heard anything about Tommy?’ George asked.

‘Oh yes, there was a bit of a row last night as it happens. Franceska and Tomasz told Tommy he had to be involved in Aleksy’s Christmas show and both Tommy and Aleksy objected to that.’

‘Really? Why?’ I asked, I thought it was a good idea.

‘Well Tommy said it was dumb, but you know what he’s like lately, and Aleksy said that it was so important he didn’t want Tommy to mess it up. So Tomasz got really angry, more than I’ve ever heard him and he said that Tommy better get involved and do a great job or he could forget Christmas, and Aleksy should support his brother by giving him a fair chance. No one, not even Franceska, spoke for a while after that.’

Tomasz was a big man but so, so gentle, so it took a lot to make him lose his temper. This was a lot.

‘So Tommy’s still not really behaving himself?’ I had hoped Jonathan’s talk, along with the exclusion from school, would be enough to get him to turn things around. But no. My only hope now was that the Christmas show would do the trick.

‘I really think this Christmas show is going to bring everyone closer together again,’ I said, optimistically.

‘You know it was Dad’s idea, don’t you?’ George said, puffing his chest out and sounding proud of me. I was touched.

‘I know. It has Alfie written all over it,’ Dustbin said. We all grinned.

Tommy came downstairs with Franceska and they fussed over us.

‘Nice to see you here, Alfie, George,’ Franceska said.

‘Mum, do I have to come to the restaurant? Can’t I stay at home?’ Tommy asked as he gave George a cuddle.

‘No. You have school work and I need to make sure you’re doing it.’

‘It’s not fair,’ Tommy whined.

‘I think it’s very fair. You’ve put me and your dad through a lot and the school said you are not going to pass any exams if you go on the way you are doing.’

‘Not another lecture,’ he said, rolling his eyes.

‘Meow.’ He was being really rude. And poor Franceska looked as if she didn’t know whether to shout at him or cry. I nuzzled her and ignored Tommy. He really was being a brat but I knew, deep down, my Tommy was there somewhere. I just had to figure out a way to get him out.

George and I hung out with Dustbin for a while, enjoying our snacks, and then took our leave. I hoped Tommy being part of the show would finally bring him back to us. I thought that if everyone got involved it would be the best show ever and as Dustbin said, a way of bringing everyone I loved together. Thinking about it, it might have been one of my best ideas yet.