Alfie in the Snow

She looked so sad and I didn’t know whose pain was whose any more, I could feel mine and hers, mixed up together. I know I was feeling sorry for myself, and devastated at the idea of losing her, but suddenly I stopped being selfish and focused on how awful it was going to be for her. She was the one that was ill. I hadn’t even thought about how much she was hurting, but now it was all I could think about. I needed to be kinder, less selfish. It wasn’t easy.

‘Of course, you need to rest, Tiger, and you will not tell George tomorrow. We will tell him tomorrow. I’ll meet you here after breakfast. And I love you.’

‘I love you too, Alfie, and I’m sorry …’

‘You have nothing to be sorry for. You just think of yourself for now and I will worry about everything else. After all, it’s what I’m good at.’

We both managed a small smile before we parted. So, I just needed a plan to keep George away and, of course, taking him with me to see Dustbin would be perfect. It was not too far, as I have already said, but it was far enough away to keep him from Edgar Road for a few hours. Hopefully by the time we got back the children would be home from school and things would be too hectic for him to think of going out again. It was the only plan I had right now.

I found George in the back garden, about to go into the house.

‘Have you been to see Hana?’ I asked.

‘Yes, but Sylvie is home today so we couldn’t chat. I was going to see Tiger mum.’

My heart felt as if it was being stabbed.

‘Good idea, but I have to go and see Dustbin. Do you fancy coming with me first?’ I asked, trying to act nonchalant.

‘Oh yes, I’d love to see Dustbin. After all, I can see Tiger mum any time I want.’

Oh God, just as I thought my heart couldn’t break any more.

George chatted away as we walked and I think he failed to notice how quiet I was. It felt as if I spoke I wouldn’t be able to hide the truth and it was important, for George I believed, that Tiger and I both told him together. That was parenting after all. So I tried to mew in the right places and I tried to concentrate on his cheerful chatter. I couldn’t help but think of Edgar Road without Tiger and that didn’t seem right. Not right at all.

‘Dad, we’re here, you were miles away,’ George said, as we weaved through the back way to the restaurant yard.

‘Sorry, son,’ I said. I really did need to pull myself together, not only for the next few hours but after … No, I wasn’t ready to think about after.

Dustbin was giving himself a wash when we found him.

‘Oh, this is a nice surprise,’ he said. As usual he seemed genuinely happy to see us.

George went straight for the bins to see if he could sniff out any mice and, instead of telling him off, I let him, so I could talk to Dustbin.

‘I thought I’d ask you if you knew what was happening with Aleksy?’ I asked. ‘Franceska was at ours yesterday and she was upset.’

‘Oh, interesting. You know, I heard her and Tomasz talking last night as they checked the restaurant last thing. He told her that she was being silly, that Aleksy might be a bit secretive and glued to his phone but he wasn’t drinking, smoking or taking drugs.’

‘God forbid,’ I said. ‘He isn’t, is he?’ None of that had occurred to me.

‘Nah, Alfie, you see, Aleksy sneaks down here when he thinks his parents don’t notice. From what I can gather, he seems to have got himself a girlfriend.’

‘Oh, is that all?’ I felt relieved. A girlfriend, that was a nice thing, not something to worry about.

‘Yeah and he was saying he wanted to tell his mum and dad but his girlfriend doesn’t want him to. It seems I’ve become a bit of an eavesdropper since meeting you.’ He laughed, as did I. Dustbin used to keep himself to himself until he met me. He did try to keep me at paw’s length when we first met but I wasn’t having that and now we were the best of friends and he knew everything that went on.

‘Sorry, well actually I’m not sorry. The more we learn about our humans the easier it is to solve their problems,’ I pointed out.

‘Right you are. Anyway, from what I could hear of his conversation, his girlfriend obviously told him not to tell his parents and he said he was finding it hard to lie to them, but the girl must have said something else because then he said, OK, he would leave it a bit longer until she was ready.’

‘Let me get this straight. The reason he’s being secretive is that his girlfriend can’t tell her parents so she’s asked him to keep quiet?’ It seemed to make sense.

‘Yes, and I gather that her mum thinks she is too young for a boyfriend.’

‘You really did listen, didn’t you?’ I raised my whiskers, impressed.

‘Oh yes, and I know who the girl is, by the way.’ He grinned. I hadn’t thought to ask that question, where was my mind? My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Who was she?

‘So do I,’ George piped up. I hadn’t noticed him but he was behind us, having heard it all.

‘Who?’ I asked. And how did George know?

‘Connie,’ they both said at the same time.