‘Might as well,’ he said. ‘Nothing better to do.’
Sometimes George could sound a little like a teenager still. We set off and it was quite windy. There were also more hazards on the street, probably because the weather was so awful and people couldn’t see where they were going. At one point I was pushed right to the end of the kerb, nearly falling into the road.
‘George,’ I hissed. ‘Let’s jump on garden walls, it might be safer.’ We chose the harder, less direct, but definitely safer route. By the time we reached the restaurant we were tired – our fur both cold and warm, if that’s possible – and also a little relieved. Sometimes cat travel can be dangerous; I can’t count the number of times my tail’s been stepped on, or my paws for that matter. But, of course we love our freedom, so it’s a small price to pay.
Dustbin greeted us, and then Ally emerged from behind one of the big bins.
‘We haven’t seen you for a while, the show’s been keeping us busy, and I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten about you,’ I said.
‘We’ve seen all the comings and goings, so I know it’s been hectic, but we’ve missed you,’ Ally replied.
‘The show definitely seems to be one of your better ideas, everyone seems so happy about it,’ Dustbin added. I preened.
‘Please don’t start him off,’ George said with a groan. We all laughed a bit.
‘Tommy seems to be slightly better,’ I said, deciding not to be accused of boasting this time.
‘Yeah, he and Charlie have been working hard on ideas, from what we can see,’ Dustbin said. I loved that he was my eyes and ears on the family here. It made me feel as if I wasn’t missing out, even though I didn’t see them every day. Although I was seeing much more of them at the moment, with the show. ‘But, I think that Charlie needs to take credit for keeping him on track. He’s a different kid when Charlie’s around. When he’s just with the family he turns all surly and rude again.’
‘And …’ Ally stopped to laugh. ‘Tommy has a crush on the girl who is playing the main angel or something. He talks about her a lot to Charlie, but only out here. When Aleksy asked him about it he went all huffy again.’
‘Ah, teenage love, I remember it well,’ George said. I glanced at him in confusion. Since when was he such a grown-up?
‘Yeah, well, the main thing is that he’s starting to do better,’ Dustbin explained.
‘It’s music to my ears,’ I said. ‘So, anything new with you?’
‘Just really busy here,’ Dustbin said. ‘The restaurant is always full, which is great, but of course it means we have more pests to keep at bay.’
As we chatted and caught up, I was surprised to see Aleksy walking towards us. Shouldn’t he be at school?
‘Meow,’ I said, rubbing his legs.
‘Don’t worry, Alfie, I’m not skipping school, I’ve got to go to the dentist. I’m just going to meet Dad at the restaurant as he’s taking me.’
Ah, I didn’t know much about dentists, but I was glad he wasn’t doing anything he shouldn’t be. I didn’t need any more troublesome teens in my life.
‘I’m going to take one of the new posters to the dentist to see if they’ll put it up. And don’t forget we have a meeting at the hall tonight after school, to look at where we are with sets, so if you want to come along?’
‘Meow.’ Try keeping me away.
As he walked off, fussing us all before he went, Dustbin grinned.
‘They all treat you as if you’re a human.’
‘I know, and sometimes I feel as if I am, although of course us cats are cleverer than humans. Listen to my latest idea,’ I said, and I filled him in on the idea of getting the Sunday Lunch Club to the show on Christmas Day. The more I thought and talked about it the better it sounded.
‘Most people are tired on Christmas evening though,’ Ally pointed out. ‘All that food and drink, and the cooking and clearing up.’
‘I know and I had thought of that,’ I replied. ‘But if we did it early, like after lunch, it would be such a lovely way to end the show and Christmas Day too. It also means that the Sunday Lunch Club will already be with those who are in the show so transport won’t be a problem. Most of them could walk, it’s not that far.’
‘Yeah, I can see that,’ Dustbin said. ‘Hey, Ally, if they do it what about us sneaking in to watch?’ He raised his whiskers.
‘Really?’ George said. ‘I would love you to see us being sheep. I’m pretty good but the others need work. I have high hopes that they’ll be OK by opening night though.’
My fur bristled but I kept quiet.
‘I’d love to see you be sheep too,’ Dustbin said.
‘I have no idea what sheep are, but I’m pretty sure we should be there to see it,’ Ally added.
I was even more excited. To get them out of the yard took a lot, but it seemed that our friendship was enough. It moved me and I resolved to work hard to be a good sheep, whatever that meant.
‘So,’ Aleksy said later, as we met him at our house, ready to go to the hall. ‘I’ve given the Nativity script to the others, but obviously as you’re cats you are not able to read.’
Me, George, Snowball, and Hana sat facing him, all of us listening intently to our pep talk.
‘Mew,’ I said.
‘But, what happens is this. You will be in the field with the shepherds, which will be in the middle of the stage, just after Mary and Joseph are told they are having a baby and they set off to go on their journey to take part in the census. We tried to get a donkey for Mary to ride on but apparently it’s not safe, so we need to think about that. Connie thinks that as we’re doing a different version we could have them go on a bike, which might be fun, but we need to ask Sylvie and Marcus what they think about that. Anyway, where was I?’ He scratched his head.
‘Meow,’ George said impatiently.
‘Oh yes, so, you and the shepherds will be in the middle of the stage and you’ll be frolicking like sheep – jumping around, and playing, you can improvise – and then it goes dark and we have the song “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night”. After the song the angel comes, and you listen while she says a baby has been born and you have to visit. Then the shepherds herd you together and you all set off on your journey. That’s the first scene. We then break for Ralph’s choir to sing and come back for the second scene where you meet the baby Jesus.’
I realised that I’d stopped listening because I was thinking about the song and whether I’d heard it before, which I thought I had but couldn’t be sure …
‘Meow, meow, mew.’ George was telling him he understood. Thankfully, it seemed he’d been paying attention. Hopefully Hana and Snowball had been too.
Claire appeared and said it was time to go and get Connie. I was the only one going with them as Snowball and George were going to Snowball’s house, because George felt as if he had neglected Harold, and Hana was going home to rest as she was still really, really tired.
Before we parted, George said we would have to start rehearsals properly the following day as we all had a lot of work to do. It seemed that although Aleksy and Connie were directors of the show, George was the self-appointed director of us. We all agreed before I jumped into Aleksy’s arms. I had done quite a lot of walking today so I fancied being carried. One of the perks of the cat job.
After picking up Connie, she, Claire, and Aleksy chattered away about the rehearsals, and I enjoyed listening to them as we made our way to the hall. It was cold, so I snuggled into Aleksy as he carried me. We reached the hall and Claire unlocked the door using the keys Ralph the vicar had given us. She flicked on the lights as we walked in and then gasped.
‘What is it?’ Aleksy asked.
We all stared as Claire pointed at the stage. There were large, bright yellow footprints all across the stage.
‘How on earth?’ Claire said.
‘It looks like a man’s footprints,’ Connie said. ‘And we had yellow paint to make the big star that the wise men are going to follow.’ The star was huge and was to be attached to a person, though I wasn’t entirely sure who or how. Aleksy had said that maybe we could suspend the star in the air, as if it was in the sky, but apparently not on this amateur production’s budget. Jonathan said it would cost a fortune, not to mention something called health and safety. I loved how Aleksy had big ideas, but most of them did have to be reined in.