Alfie in the Snow

‘Why don’t you get some rest while I finish up here?’ he suggested, kindly, when I told him how tired I was. I didn’t need asking twice, I curled up by the back door to Franceska’s house and I took my forty, or so, winks.

I was woken by Dustbin nudging me and although I was startled I shot up to see Aleksy opening the back door to their house. He was wearing dark jeans and a black hoody, and had a backpack with him. It didn’t look as if he had much stuff in it, I thought, as he was carrying it with ease. Dustbin and I blinked at each other and we turned to face Aleksy.

He jumped at the sight of me. ‘Alfie, what are you doing here?’

‘MEW,’ I said at the top of my voice. That was our cue. Dustbin and I yowled and meowed at the tops of our voices.

‘Shush, please shush,’ Aleksy said. We didn’t. He picked me up but I wouldn’t stop and I wiggled until I had to, reluctantly, give him a tiny scratch, which made him let go and drop me onto the floor. It wasn’t one of my best experiences. Dustbin, give him his due, thankfully kept going – turns out he had quite a pair of lungs on him. We saw a light go on inside the flat above the restaurant, and I saw Aleksy notice it too. I imagined them looking out of the window at us. Thankfully neither Tomasz or Franceska seemed to have heard us though.

‘Can you both please just be quiet, you’ll wake Mum and Dad.’ I could hear the desperation in his voice but I wasn’t going to be silenced.

‘Yowl,’ I shouted over and over.

‘Alright,’ he said, suddenly sitting down on the doorstep and pulling out his phone. We both stopped shouting and waited. ‘Hi, it’s me.’

I couldn’t hear what Connie was saying.

‘Hana tried to trip you up?’ There was a pause. ‘She woke your mum up?’ Another pause. ‘What did your mum say?’ Silence. ‘Oh, you shut yourself in the bathroom, quick thinking. But Alfie is here and he and Dustbin made such a noise when they saw me that my parents will wake up soon, and the flat next door is already looking out of the window. They haven’t seen me yet, I don’t think.’ Pause. ‘No, I agree, we can’t risk it tonight.’ He sounded crestfallen but it was for his own good. ‘I’ll text you and let’s talk at school tomorrow and come up with a new plan.’

That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear but at least he and Connie were safe and had aborted their running away for now.

‘Alfie, why are you here?’ Aleksy asked, after he hung up. ‘Did you know I was going to try to be with Connie?’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘No, that’s silly. Of course you didn’t know, you just came to see your friend, Dustbin.’ He nodded. If it was easier for him to believe that, then who was I to argue?

‘Alfie, I’ll walk you home,’ Dustbin said, after we watched Aleksy go inside. I was glad I hadn’t woken Tomasz and Franceska, but also a little surprised. The fact that they had slept through me and Dustbin at our nosiest was slightly worrying. If that didn’t wake them then what on earth would?

‘You don’t think he’ll try to come out again?’ I asked. I was longing for home, for my bed, but I didn’t want to lose Aleksy.

‘No, we’ll wait a few minutes just in case. But that doesn’t mean that’s the end of this.’

‘We’ll keep our ears to the ground,’ I said, but I didn’t mean literally.

‘Sure, but we’re both tired, it’s been a long day. Let’s sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings.’

‘Oh goodness, I need a rest. In a few days we have the nativity play to look forward to. Maybe that will give us some light relief.’ I filled Dustbin in on Tommy’s plan as he walked me back to Edgar Road and even Dustbin thought it would be a riot. That was what worried me: it might cause a riot. I wasn’t sure how much more this cat was up to at the moment. 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I knew the nativity was a big deal, but today it was all anyone talked of over breakfast. Summer was so excited, she kept saying she was literally the star of the show. Toby mumbled how there were loads of other stars but he was too miserable about having to hold Emma Roper’s hand to make a huge fuss. They didn’t mention Tommy’s plan and I was impressed with the fact that Summer hadn’t spilled the beans, she just kept saying it was going to be the best nativity ever. The performance was after school, which was why all my families could go, and of course that included Tommy and Aleksy.