Molly and the Cat Cafe

My blood was thudding in my ears and I felt as though every hair on my body had stood on end. There was a scuffling noise on the wall, and I glanced up to see a shadowy shape leap down onto the path in front of me. I gasped, finding myself face-to-face with the orange eyes of a ginger tomcat. His spine was arched and his ears were pinned back against his head as he growled menacingly. Instinctively my body posture mirrored his. My back arched and I flattened my ears, letting out a low growl of warning. The ginger cat didn’t move a muscle. His narrow eyes were still fixed on mine, daring me to make the first move. He was a large, intimidating creature, his physical strength evident in his muscular frame. The patchwork of scars on his ears left me in no doubt that he was an experienced fighter. I had my back to the wall, and to escape I would have to run past him, exposing my vulnerable rear to his attacks. He began to yowl again, as if challenging me to try.

Suddenly there was a scraping noise from above, as someone slid open a window in one of the houses. Startled, the tomcat spun round to look, and I seized my chance, bolting back down the alley in the direction of the restaurant steps. I heard scuffling behind me and knew that the tomcat was in pursuit. I sprinted towards the halo of lamplight that glowed at the end of the alley, but as I ran, my energy start to sap away. The exhaustion of my long walk in the rain was taking its toll and I could feel the strength draining from my muscles. I knew the tomcat was gaining ground and I braced myself for the inevitable attack.

It came in the form of a searing hot pain in one of my back legs. I instinctively kicked out at my attacker and he, having delivered his knockout blow, backed off. I turned and hissed at him, aware of the burning sensation that was spreading down my leg and making my paw feel as though it was on fire. A cruel smile spread across the tomcat’s eyes as he looked at me.

‘Sorry,’ he said with a leer. ‘This alley’s taken.’

‘You only needed to say,’ I answered pitifully. He grinned as I limped towards the end of the alley.

Back out on the street, I felt light-headed, shaking with shock at what had just happened. I didn’t know where to go, but I knew I had to get as far away from the alley as possible. Trying not to put any weight on my injured leg, I retraced the route I had taken earlier, limping across the restaurant grounds until I found myself back in the market square. The pain in my leg was becoming unbearable and I knew I urgently needed to find somewhere under cover to tend to the wound. I hobbled towards a large yellow skip by the side of the kerb on the corner of the square. The skip was overflowing with rubble and waste, and stacked up beside it were piles of wooden crates and pallets. There was a musty, dirty smell coming from the crates, but I didn’t care. I forced myself through a gap between two pallets and burrowed forward until I reached the cold metal of the skip.

I slowly lowered myself to the ground and twisted round to examine my injured leg. The puncture wounds left by the tomcat’s teeth were visible through my fur, and I could see that the flesh around them was swollen and tender. I licked the area as gently as I could, trying to minimize the pain that my rough tongue inflicted on the inflamed flesh. Once I was satisfied the wound was clean, I curled into a ball, hoping that sleep would provide some respite from my suffering. But when I closed my eyes I saw a muddled amalgamation of memories from the day: the red-faced diners in the restaurant, the ginger tom’s leering eyes, the rain-soaked shoppers their faces hidden by umbrellas.

Desperate to put a stop to the endless loop of unsettling images, I forced myself to think of Margery. I tried to imagine her stroking and comforting me, telling me that it would all be better in the morning. But I couldn’t summon up a clear picture of her face – it was as if she was out of focus somehow, her features vague and blurry. I didn’t know if it was the effect of the bite or if I had simply forgotten what she looked like, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hold her face in my mind. It was a bitter blow. I felt like I was losing Margery all over again, just at the moment when I needed her most.

11

Unable to sleep, I shivered next to the skip in a feverish state, convinced I could see the amber eyes of the alley – cat glaring at me through the pallets, or hear his menacing yowl somewhere in the square. It was impossible to find a comfortable position and I experienced a searing hot pain whenever I moved my leg. Time passed agonizingly slowly as I hovered on the edge of consciousness until my mind eventually succumbed to exhaustion and I dropped into a blissful blackness.