‘But Mum,’ Viola started saying. ‘You said you hated the carpets, remember? You said they would be the first things to go.’
I looked at Stanley, who was still staring at the floor.
‘Well, OK, yes that is true but still … That is no excuse for you breaking the rules and you two definitely need a bath.’ She turned to us. I wasn’t happy with that, I hated water of any kind – baths, ponds, even puddles. What had we done?
‘I know,’ Viola said, in her timid voice. ‘It’s so hot, shall we get the hosepipe?’
‘Great idea,’ Mr Clover boomed. For the first time, he seemed to be looking at something other than his fruit.
‘OK, I suppose so. Children, put your bathing suits on,’ Mrs Clover ordered. ‘Alfie, stay where you are. Don’t move.’
I wasn’t sure I could; I was stuck to the floor.
Viola and Stanley shrieked with laughter as Mr Clover swung the hosepipe around and they ran through the water. Tentatively, Mrs Clover removed the clay from my fur and paws, as I tried hard to avoid getting too wet.
‘Well, you are back to normal. I assume grey is your normal colour?’ Mrs Clover said as she finished. I miaowed. I was grey but in some lights I had a blue tint to my coat.
‘Well, this is a fun activity,’ Mr Clover chuckled and the children cheered.
I wasn’t having very much fun, not being a fan of water, but seeing my new friends happy was almost worth getting wet for. The phone rang and Mrs Clover rushed indoors. She emerged a few minutes later. ‘Viola, quickly get dried. You’re seeing your new piano teacher this afternoon, I can’t believe we nearly forgot. Dear, can you sort out Stanley? She said, turning to Mr Clover. ‘Viola get dressed and practise.’
‘But Mum—’ Viola groaned.
‘Chop chop, hurry hurry.’ Mrs Clover wrapped Viola in a towel and took her inside. Mr Clover put the hosepipe away and Stanley and I stood, dripping, alone on the lawn.
‘It’s always the way – we start having fun and she has to ruin it,’ Stanley huffed.
‘Miaow?’ Did he mean his mum?
‘Viola. It’s always about Viola and her piano. No one even notices me half the time. More than half really.’
I wanted to tell him that Viola had been enjoying herself, too. She hadn’t wanted to go in.
‘Come on Stanley, get yourself dried and dressed,’ Mr Clover said, going inside.
I knew that I had a job to do. Stanley was sad; Viola seemed a bit miserable, too. Mr and Mrs Clover were distracted but in the garden they had all enjoyed themselves. I knew my mission here was to remind them that they could have fun together.
A little while later, I found Tiger chasing butterflies at the end of Edgar Road.
‘Hey,’ I said.
‘What’s wrong, Alfie?’ she asked. She could always read my moods.
‘I’ve just left the Clover’s. It’s not a happy place. Stanley gets into trouble because he’s bored and the grown-ups are obsessed with work.’
‘Oh, Alfie, not another family to worry about?’
‘I went there to get away from my problems at home, not find more, but I want to help them.’
‘You always do,’ Tiger stated as she jumped at a butterfly, missed and fell head-first into a bush. I couldn’t help but laugh as she brushed leaves off.
‘It’ll all be all right. I’ll think of something.’
‘Well, in the meantime, do you fancy going to the park?’ Tiger asked.
‘If we can roll around in the flower beds and chase flies, it might cheer me up.’ I was worried, but a bit of fun never hurt a cat.
‘Come on then, Alfie, I’ll race you there.’
Chapter Three
The back door was open, but there was no one downstairs. I ran up to Stanley’s room as fast as my paws would take me, where I found him, sitting on his bed. I greeted him with a purr and gently put my paw on his arm.
‘Alfie, I’m glad you’re here,’ he said. I miaowed. ‘I was supposed to have an adventure with Dad today. But then Mum had to work in the Clay Room, so Dad had to take Viola to her piano lesson. And I had to stay here.’ He folded his arms across his chest and made a face. I tried to tell Stanley that we could have an adventure – after all I am quite good at them – but he didn’t seem to understand.
‘My parents prefer her to me. It’s clear.’ He stamped his foot before sitting down next to me again. ‘They moved here for her and I miss our old home. I had lots of friends and lots of adventures. Dad and I would go and pick fruit together but now he goes to the boring old greengrocer instead and I don’t even get to go with him.’
I knew that Stanley’s parents did love him. After all, no matter how cross my families were with me they still loved me and I loved them. But how could I tell Stanley this?
‘All I want to do is be an adventurer, but how can I when I can’t even practise?’
I had an idea. I saw a pair of binoculars nearby and I went up to them. Gently, I nudged them, as if to say I could help him, but somehow I managed to get myself tangled in the strap. Part of it was round my neck and part round my legs. The more I tried to untangle myself, the more stuck I became.
‘MIAOW, MIAOW,’ I said as loudly as I could. That got Stanley’s attention.
‘Oh wow, good idea, Alfie. We can have adventures together!’
Finally! It took him a while to untangle me, so binoculars were now added to the list of things I needed to avoid.
‘One minute.’ I sat still and watched as Stanley rushed around the room collecting stuff. Then, he put a hat with flaps on me; I tried to swipe them away with my paw but they just flopped back over my ears. Next, he wrapped a scarf around my neck. ‘It might be summer, Alfie, but when we explore the North Pole it’ll be cold.’
I didn’t know what to say so I sat still and let Stanley carry on. He started taking photos; he was so excited. I didn’t actually like being dressed up; I mean what cat does? But Stanley was happy as he snapped away with his camera.
‘You are now Alfie the Adventure Cat and we are going to have so much fun. We can find fossils, build dens, dive for treasure. Oh I know – we can discover a species of animal never found before!’
I had no idea how we were going to do all those things, but I kept quiet. It was worth it to see Stanley happy. He pulled out a notebook and pen and started making notes. He also drew some pictures that were very good. His plans seemed extremely ambitious but I couldn’t help feeling a bit excited. I quite fancied being an adventure cat, even if I didn’t know what it involved.
While Stanley was busy drawing up plans for our first mission, I thought I would go and see what else was going on in the house. As I walked past the next room, I spotted Viola returning from her piano lesson. She looked down in the dumps as she sat on her bed, so I jumped up and nestled into her. She started stroking me gently and I purred.
‘Oh look at you, in your hat and scarf, I bet you’ve been having loads of fun with Stanley?’ She sounded sad.
I miaowed in agreement.
‘You do look a little bit warm though, Alfie. Shall I help you take those off?’
I miaowed even louder to say what a good idea this was and Viola carefully removed my adventure outfit.