‘Why, again?’ Tiger pushed. I had explained it once but once was never enough for her. Tiger needed to hear everything at least twice before she seemed to understand it.
I had devised one of my plans. Franceska had been for lunch at Polly’s. Strong, stoic Franceska, who was so much an anchor for all my families, was in tears as she explained that she had been to Aleksy’s school but it seemed to have made no difference. The school explained that if Aleksy was, as Franceska and big Tomasz feared, being bullied, they had to either see it happening or Aleksy had to tell them, for them to take any action. But when asked, Aleksy kept saying he was fine. Despite the school saying that they would keep a close eye on things, Franceska wasn’t convinced this was enough. Whilst Aleksy wouldn’t tell them what was going on, he kept coming home covered in scratches and bruises — clear proof, Franceska said, that someone was hurting him.
My sweet Franceska was distraught. And my best human friend, Aleksy, had cried himself to sleep and Franceska didn’t know what to do. It broke my heart, so I decided to take matters into my own paws. I would go to the school myself. I would find out what was wrong with Aleksy and I would fix it.
‘Right, so I remember from my trip with Polly where they live. We have to leave very early because I don’t know how long it’ll take to walk, as I went in the pushchair last time. Anyway, when we get there we’ll follow Aleksy to school.’
‘Right, and then what?’ Tiger looked at me as if I was mad. It was almost a fair assumption.
‘Well, that’s what I don’t know.’ I knew I had to get to Aleksy and show him that I was there for him. I also knew I had to sort out the bullying, if he was in fact being bullied, but I had no idea how exactly. What did people expect? I am a cat after all.
‘So let me get this straight. We’re going to walk miles but we don’t even know what we’re going to do when we get there? This might be one of your more genius ideas, Alfie. Maybe even better than the one involving nearly getting yourself killed by Joe, Claire’s idiot ex-boyfriend.’ I looked at Tiger; sarcasm was very unbecoming in a cat.
‘All right, I know it’s not perfect. But I cannot bear to think my Aleksy is sad. Tiger, I have to do something.’ I was pleading.
‘I know, I know.’ She sounded exasperated. ‘And after all you’ve been through there is no way I’m letting you go all that way on your own. No way. So I guess I have to come with you. But you owe me. Big time.’
‘Oh thank you. I’ll call for you tomorrow morning and I promise, I will make it up to you.’ She looked at me, stretched out her paws and lifted her whiskers.
‘I hope so, Alfie, I really do.’
‘Tiger, you are the best friend any cat could have,’ I said, as I bounded off home to rest up for the big journey.
It was still dark when I woke but the birds alerted me with the dawn chorus; it was my early morning alarm call and for once I was grateful for them, as I stretched and quietly padded downstairs and out of the cat flap. I went to Tiger’s house and quietly made my way through her door, and found her drinking some milk. I was hungry but I knew I had no chance of breakfast before I left, so I would have to bear it. If I’d left any of my supper from the night before, Claire would have cleaned it away. Tiger’s humans were a little less bothered with mess.
‘Ready?’ I whispered. She licked her whiskers and followed me outside. As I didn’t venture far from home anymore, I felt nervous as we set off. I had paid very special attention to where we were going when I visited with Polly and luckily, the dark had no bearing on my senses. As we walked past Snowball’s house, we both stopped and looked. Through the darkness a white flash chased a creature under a bush taking us by surprise.
‘She’s up early,’ Tiger said looking at me. I glanced over at Snowball, who peered directly at us in her hostile way, but I didn’t stop; I had bigger fish to fry. Oh how I wish I had a fish to fry in actual fact.
Snowball didn’t move as we strode on. I thought it wouldn’t hurt her to think I had lost interest; Jonathan always said women liked the chase, and he seemed to know a lot of women before settling down with Claire so maybe he was right.
‘So you’re not talking to Princess Mean then?’ Tiger asked me as we headed towards the park.
‘Tiger, today is about Aleksy, and you are with me, so let’s leave the talk of Snowball.’
‘Fine by me,’ she replied.
The sky was slowly beginning to lighten as we walked; the air began to get warmer as the sun made its presence felt. Although I still felt a bit uneasy, as we got nearer to Aleksy’s my confidence began to grow. The closer we got the more life appeared in the streets, as the world began to come alive. It was strange for me, being out at this time. Normally I would be fast asleep in my warm bed, but now, braving the biting dawn, I saw a different side of life and it made me realize how cosseted I had become.
Since my mission to find a new home after Margaret died, the long journey that led me to Edgar Road had put me off leaving there again. I rarely ventured further than the park at the end of the street. I looked over at Tiger, reassured by having her at my side.
‘This is the street,’ I said as we rounded a corner. I knew the flat would be easy to find as it was above the restaurant. So after walking a bit further, we arrived at our destination. The walk had taken a long time, but then we hadn’t been rushing. Tiger wasn’t one for running about after all. And we both made sure we took in every landmark so that we didn’t have to worry about finding our way back again.
‘This is it,’ I said as we stood outside Ognisko. It was in darkness of course, and as we found a hiding place nearby I tried not to think about Franceska’s sardines as my stomach rumbled.
‘So what now?’ Tiger asked.
‘We wait for Aleksy to come out and follow him to school. But, it’s important that they don’t see us.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’ll be a surprise when I turn up.’
‘And what are you going to do when you get there?’
‘I don’t know but I hope I’m going to get some inspiration.’ To be honest, I didn’t have a clue what I was dealing with and I had never, ever been in a school before. My plan wasn’t without flaws.
‘This better not be another dangerous situation you’re getting us into again,’ Tiger warned.
‘They are children, not adults,’ I pointed out. ‘And anyway, once we get to the school I will be going in alone,’ I said more bravely than I felt.
‘I could come with you, find the bully, and scratch him really bad,’ Tiger suggested, looking a bit too keen on the idea for my liking.
‘No, Tiger, no violence. Not in this case. The bully might be nasty, and goodness knows if he is, I dislike him for hurting Aleksy, but he’s still a child.’
‘OK. If you insist, I’ll just watch you and not interfere.’ Tiger bristled. She seemed almost disappointed that she wasn’t going to get to inflict pain on someone.
‘Thank you,’ I replied and we waited in silence.
After what felt like a long time, I saw little Tomasz first as he appeared out of the front door, jumping, full of energy. Franceska was next and she turned and spoke, before Aleksy appeared. He was looking sad and I could sense his reluctance in the way he looked and moved. Tiger and I hung back and then began to follow them in silence. It was easy to keep out of sight, by dodging behind the odd fence or bush. Whereas Tomasz chatted animatedly to his mother, Aleksy was largely silent as he dragged his feet.
‘Oh look, there’s the school,’ Tiger said and we stopped and hid by a parked car. We watched as Franceska and the boys crossed the road.