Alfie in the Snow

‘Oh yes. It was so good, and I got out easily. I told Hana that we would stay close to Susan, but not so she could hear our chat, but so we knew when she was leaving. It was so nice to see her properly and have a conversation which we could actually hear. The house is very nice. Not much stuff around but Hana said they lived in a smaller space in Japan and did something called “minimalism”.’ His voice was so animated, I hadn’t heard him so full of enthusiasm since before Tiger told him she was ill. ‘The best thing is that Susan is coming back in two days, she comes in twice a week now. Apparently Sylvie isn’t very good at cleaning and also she worries about Hana being left alone, so she comes in, for two hours twice a week! Which means that I can see Hana all that time.’ He sounded happier than I had heard him in ages.

‘So how was it?’ I asked. I didn’t want to burst his bubble but I was curious.

‘Well, as I said, the house was lovely, and Susan is sweet. Hana has raw fish for food nearly all the time! And she eats rice, and I got to try some.’

‘Rice, really? And did you like that?’ I’d never tried rice.

‘It was OK. I prefer my food to be honest but it was good to try it. But Hana is lonely though, we were right.’

‘Go on.’ We were getting to the interesting part, I could tell.

‘Well, she loved her life in Japan. She didn’t spend much time alone, there were always people around. Sylvie, her ex-husband, Connie, and the house was normally full of their friends too. But now she’s alone so much and when Sylvie and Connie are home they don’t really talk to each other and they shout if they do.’

‘We guessed that was the case, didn’t we?’ I tilted my head sympathetically.

‘Yes, but things have taken a turn that you and I didn’t even think of,’ he said.

‘What, George?’ I had a bad feeling in my fur.

‘Remember you said how Aleksy was working to buy Connie a present?’

‘Yes.’ I willed him to hurry up, but he wasn’t one for rushing a story.

‘He lied to his mum a bit, because he bought her a phone yesterday, and she hid it under her pillow and they do that talking thing where you don’t talk but write.’

‘George, are you talking about texting?’ I had a very bad feeling.

‘Yes, they do texting, which means that of course Hana doesn’t know what they are saying because she can’t read. She thinks they do still talk but only when Connie shuts the door and Hana is outside. Of course her mum doesn’t know.’

‘George, I have a bad feeling about this. Was there anything else?’

‘Sylvie cries a lot, she’s very lonely, she isn’t coping so well. It’s not a happy house at the moment, but it is very nice and clean. Susan is a very good cleaner.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

‘Perhaps I should go and see Dustbin, just in case, see if he knows anything.’ I said later, starting to fret yet again after having had time to digest all the information George had given me.

‘OK, but I’m tired, so I think I better wait here for Summer and Toby. It’s been another busy day,’ George yawned.

‘And you know if Dustbin did know anything urgent, he would come and find us, so he probably doesn’t.’ The idea of walking all that way right now wasn’t appealing to me either.

George and I made our way downstairs, me trying to decide what to do. We had reached the kitchen when the cat flap bashed loudly. We both ran as quickly as we could and slid through, to find Dustbin standing on the other side.

‘Talk of the devil,’ I said. ‘I was just trying to decide if I had to come and see you, because George found out that Aleksy got Connie a phone,’ I gushed.

‘Ah, you know about that, yes he did. And I came to you as soon as I could, but I was very busy. The rodents seem to be more determined in winter.’

‘At least you’re here now. There’ll be big trouble if anyone finds out about the phone,’ I said, raising my whiskers worriedly. Aleksy and Connie were playing with fire. I understood how frustrating love could be, especially when you were young, but still.

‘Yeah, it’s worse than that,’ Dustbin said.

‘What?’ My fur stood on end.

‘I heard him speaking to her last night in the yard. They are planning on running away.’

I wondered if Tiger could see me and what she would be thinking if she could. Slightly out of ideas, we held our crisis council at the recreation ground. Thankfully, as Dustbin, George and I approached, Nellie, Elvis and Rocky were all there. It was a good time, before tea and before it got dark, and I was grateful for my friends. We needed to come up with a plan; it needed to be quick and I needed their input.

‘According to what Dustbin heard, we think they might be planning on running away tonight, late, when it’s dark and everyone is asleep,’ I finished, having filled them in the whole situation.

‘Oh dear,’ Nellie said, licking her paws in concern. ‘I don’t like the sound of this.’

‘The poor kids just want to be together,’ Elvis said. ‘I saw something like that on TV once, and I have to say I don’t blame them. Parents have a lot to answer for.’