‘I don’t see how it would work. We’ve got a fair few weeks until the show and everyone’s busy enough as it is,’ Jonathan replied.
‘I agree, it’s not feasible to have someone stationed at the hall at all times,’ Vic concluded.
Although it did give me an idea. If it came to it, maybe we cats could keep watch. Yes, that wasn’t a bad idea at all. Honestly, the cat neighbourhood watch could foil this before the human one did. But then, we usually did.
The meeting conclusion was a pretty woolly plan where everyone would keep their eyes and ears open and report anything suspicious… which was pretty much my, and my cat friends’, plan too. But it was still gratifying to see everyone firmly behind making the show a success and trying to stop anyone from doing it harm. Surely with us all working together, the show would be safe now.
‘Right, so we know what we’re all doing?’ Vic said, after a lot of waffle. I would have been surprised if anyone knew what they were doing.
‘Pretty much nothing,’ Jonathan muttered and Claire swatted him.
There was a bit more chatter before Jonathan finally managed to get everyone out. Matt and Polly stayed behind for a last drink and a debrief.
‘Do you think the person who did it was here?’ Polly asked, sipping her wine.
‘Probably. I would be, if it was me, to see what we knew,’ Matt replied.
‘I just don’t understand why anyone would try to sabotage the show,’ Polly said.
‘Me either,’ Claire agreed.
‘No one seems to know anything though; that’s the problem,’ Jonathan said.
‘True, and no one was acting in a suspicious manner,’ Claire said, which I agreed with, because I had been watching and I had very good intuition.
‘So maybe they weren’t here. What if they have nothing to do with the show but they just don’t want it to go ahead?’ Polly mused.
‘But why?’ Matt was as confused as I was.
‘Well, I’m pretty sure it can’t be about the charity. No one could object to supporting the homeless shelter, surely?’ Claire said.
‘People can be strange and have weird motives for doing things. By the way, Tomasz called me. They couldn’t be here tonight because of work, but apparently Aleksy accused Tommy of doing it,’ Matt said.
‘Unfortunately, that possibility did cross my mind too,’ Jonathan said.
‘But he didn’t, and he had an alibi in any case,’ Matt explained.
‘Just shows how mud sticks,’ Polly said. ‘Tommy was just being a teenager and now he’s trying to join in with us, become part of it, and I really think he’s turned a corner.’
‘I agree, and he wants the work experience with Jon, so he really is trying,’ Claire said.
‘Anyway, I feel bad for doubting him, because it definitely wasn’t him, and we can be sure about that. Tommy has turned over a new leaf,’ Jonathan added.
‘Which brings us back to square one. No idea who has been messing with the show,’ Polly sighed.
‘No idea at all,’ Matt sighed.
They were wrong, I thought, as I settled into my bed, I wasn’t at square one. We knew it wasn’t anyone we were close to, because they all cared too much. The more I thought about it the more I thought I would have to sneak into the hall overnight and act as a watchcat, but I didn’t fancy doing it alone and I had to have a long hard think about who would be happy to do it with me. Snowball would be my obvious choice, but I was pretty sure that there was no way she could sneak out without Harold noticing, and if she disappeared overnight he would probably panic, which could hurt him. George would probably love the adventure but what if the person did turn up and we were in danger? I couldn’t put him in danger, he was my kitten. Hana wasn’t even on the list as she would be terrified and I wouldn’t put her through that. None of the cats from the recreation ground would be that happy to spend the night away from Edgar Road, and although Iknew if I asked them they would, I didn’t want to put them in that position. And, of course, Dustbin and Ally would join me if it was an emergency, but night time was the busiest time in the yard and they needed to keep the rodents at bay – that was their job after all. So, really that left me with only one option – an option that I wasn’t overly keen on – but I could see no other way.
I went to see Salmon the next morning and told him of my plan. He stared at me with narrowed eyes.
‘We stake out the hall?’ he said.
‘Well, yes, but only if there’s any more problems, of course, which they decided last night there might not be. But if we’re going to catch the culprit …’
‘I agree. I would be happy to step into the breach with you; my owners would want me to help out. And although it might be dangerous, I accept the mission.’
‘Right, uh … that’s great.’ Salmon was more dramatic than me sometimes.
‘What next?’
‘We have a rehearsal tonight, and I’m hoping we’ll find everything intact, but if not then we shall have to spend at least one night there, maybe more, until we find out who is doing this.’
‘Alfie, as much as I don’t relish spending a night in a cold, dark hall with you, I agree it might be the only answer. I’ll come to rehearsal tonight so I can see the lay of the land for myself.’
‘Great. OK, well, I guess I’ll see you there later.’
We said a nice, friendly goodbye and I went home. Goodness, I could only hope that we caught the person on the first night out there, because more than one night alone with Salmon might be more than this cat could cope with. I was beginning to regret my plan but I told myself that it was for a good cause, and it would be worth it if we were able to save the show.
When I told Snowball and the others at the recreation ground, they all had a good laugh at me. Only Elvis was missing, and Nellie said she couldn’t wait for him to hear about this.
‘Listen, I am making the sacrifice for the greater good,’ I said, my fur bristling.
‘But, Salmon? I mean, it wasn’t long ago that he tried to fight you all the time,’ Rocky said.
‘That was years ago, and Tiger used to see him off,’ I said with fondness.
‘No one would mess with Tiger,’ Snowball said. We often shared memories of her, because she had been an important part of all our lives. Although Snowball had been my girlfriend first, when she came back after Tiger died and heard about our relationship she was happy for us, rather than jealous. But then, they were friends themselves back in the day. It was nice to be able to talk freely about Tiger with Snowball. I couldn’t help but think she would have done the overnight in the hall and she was far feistier than me, so if there was any danger lurking, it would probably be her that would have faced it. I shook my head. Those thoughts weren’t going to help us now, so instead I would use my memories of Tiger for strength, as I often did.
‘Anyway, Salmon and I are almost friends,’ I said. ‘So, let’s not worry about that right now.’
‘We can worry about the fact that if the person comes to the hall when you’re there and sees you, you could be in danger,’ Nellie said.
‘Oh gosh, I hadn’t thought about that,’ Snowball said. ‘Alfie, you have to promise to be careful.’
I brushed their concerns away.
‘Listen, we don’t even know yet if we’ll have to do it, but if we do, Salmon and I will stay hidden, I promise.’ I shuddered. I had been in enough danger in my life, I certainly didn’t need more.
That night, Salmon and I made our way out of the hall after rehearsals. We decided the best thing to do was to wait outside, hidden in the shadows, to see if anyone came. I was hoping someone would, but also scared because what would we do if they did?
‘So what do we do, if we have to confront someone?’ Salmon asked.
‘I was thinking the same. Perhaps if we just make enough noise to scare them off?’ I suggested.
‘OK, but if they look dangerous, then we definitely leave them alone.’ Salmon sounded nervous but I was too, so I understood.