‘Thanks, Gilbert. Look, so this will be the girls’ room when it’s finished.’
‘Nice up here, isn’t it?’ he said, and it was. There was a patch of floor which the sun shone down on, through the new skylights. ‘Don’t mind if I do,’ Gilbert said as he lay down and stretched out.
‘Hey, help yourself. Honestly, if my humans see you they won’t mind you being here, they’re cool like that.’
‘That’s as may be but you know I’m not in the market for a family and I wouldn’t want them to get any ideas about me going home with you at the end of the holiday.’
I could see why he’d worry; they might think he needed a home and insist on taking him back with us. They were very caring people after all.
‘You know what, Gilbert, I think we can sort it so you can be Seabreeze Cottage’s guard cat when we’re not here.’
‘A job? I like the sound of that.’ He stretched his spotted limbs out again. ‘You know, I could get used to this.’
‘Enjoy a spot of sunbathing. I’ll leave you to it. They won’t come up here anyway, it’s not finished.’
‘Right you are, Alfie, and I’ll have a think about how I can help you, seeing as you’ve helped me.’
I left happy; it seemed that Gilbert and I had reached an understanding.
My peace was shattered. It was pandemonium as the front door flung open and my families rushed in.
‘Tommy, you are very naughty, imagine smuggling George to church. Ah, there you are, Alfie, I hope you weren’t too worried,’ Franceska said.
‘MEOW!’ I pretended I was. Aleksy winked at me.
‘You have to admit though, Frankie, it was quite funny when George jumped out of the jacket and went to see that Persian cat.’
‘Chanel,’ Claire added.
‘The whole congregation stopped and they were supposed to be singing “All Things Bright and Beautiful”. Then Chanel yelped as if she’d been attacked, Andrea screamed and the whole service descended into chaos.’ Matt was laughing.
‘But, George, why on earth were you fixated on that cat?’ Jonathan asked. ‘She hissed at you and swiped at you but you didn’t move!’
George turned to me as if to say that they had no idea.
‘You shouldn’t encourage him,’ Franceska said but I saw her lips twitching.
‘I don’t think we should be allowed to go to church again,’ Toby said.
‘No, I think it’s just George who isn’t allowed,’ Henry told him.
‘Oh my, Tommy, that was naughty, you can go to your room now.’ Tommy didn’t object, he was giggling too much.
‘Oh, Frankie, don’t be too hard on him, it was priceless just to see the look on Andrea’s face,’ Polly said.
‘Oh and the way she said we had invaded her church and that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves,’ Claire added. ‘God wouldn’t like it!’ She had tears running down her cheeks.
‘It didn’t help that George started running around the pews meowing like a lovesick … well, a lovesick cat,’ Matt laughed.
‘I think the vicar seemed quite pleased, he shook my hand warmly at the end, and said we were welcome any time.’ Jonathan smiled.
‘She probably terrorises the vicar too,’ Polly pointed out.
‘Well, I know I said that she was nice when we first met her, but after what I heard last night and what I’ve seen today, I think that woman would terrorise God,’ Matt finished.
Everyone went to get changed and then they decided to drive out to another village which had a cliff railway and yet another beach, and after that they were going to go for something called afternoon tea. Of course George and I weren’t invited. The men weren’t getting a train back until tomorrow morning, and I guessed they needed to get out of the village for a while to escape from the excitement of church. I was a bit sad that I didn’t get to go to church after all; it sounded eventful.
‘What shall we do?’ I asked George when we were alone.
‘I better go and see Chanel.’
‘Do you think she’s angry about what happened in church?’ I asked, trying to sound diplomatic.
‘No, but I think I scared her by jumping up at her suddenly, so I should apologise. I mean, I’m sure she would have been very pleased to see me.’
‘Even though she hissed at you?’
‘It was a very affectionate hiss.’
There was no way I was going to win this one as I went with my boy to take up his hedge vigil once again.
This time, though, there was something for us to see. The two girls were playing in the garden, although they were playing with dolls and being very dainty and quiet. Andrea was with them, lying on a sun lounger and speaking loudly into a phone. I tried to edge as close as I could without being seen.
‘Who on earth does he think he is?’ Andrea screeched into the handset. Thankfully my hearing was good but I could still hear only one side of the conversation. There was a pause. ‘I know I said they’d be gone by now but they are quite mad. Honestly, I mean who takes a cat to church?’
You do, I thought. As the other person spoke— I wished I could hear them but I couldn’t — Andrea drank from a large wine glass.
‘You’re supposed to be on my side,’ she snapped. ‘I’m doing my best. Those Londoners come and act as if they own the village.’
There was a longer gap this time.
‘I know, I know,’ she hissed, a bit like her cat. ‘I need that house. And I am going to damn well get it. I thought they’d just sell it, I offered a decent sum for the dilapidated hovel, and I know I don’t have much time.’ Chanel looked a bit surprised as Andrea banged her fist on the sun lounger.
‘Of course, and trust me, they’ll be gone before you know it,’ Andrea replied, throwing the phone down as Chanel nuzzled her in agreement. I felt my fur go cold as I processed the words. Whatever she was doing, she seemed determined to get our house. Our home.
I looked over at George, to see if he’d heard what I had, but he was fast asleep. Some stalker he was turning out to be.
Chapter Twelve
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It was hard to believe we were just into our third week in Lynstow, almost half way through our summer break. And in many ways it felt as if we’d been here forever; Seabreeze and the village felt like home. In other ways there seemed to be so much to do that it would never be finished. Matt and Jonathan were gone again, until Friday, when Tomasz would be coming down with them. I was still worried about the conversation between Tomasz and Franceska, I hated it when there were any problems with my families, but I heard no more about it. Franceska was putting a brave face on things, as if nothing was wrong, and if she spoke to Tomasz, which I am sure she did, she did it out of earshot of all of us.
Polly chivvied Colin, saying she wanted to step up the progress. She was slightly panicked that we didn’t have long and she didn’t trust any major works to take place after we left. With the minor blips that Liam had been responsible for, they were playing a bit of catch-up and Polly said they couldn’t tolerate any more delays.
However, the attic was almost finished. A bathroom had been installed, and Liam and Mark were painting the rooms as per Polly’s instructions before the carpets were laid. Colin and Pete were working on the outside of the house and I thought that Liam surely couldn’t wreak any havoc with the painting, but I kept an eye on him when I could, just in case.
I was sitting upstairs watching Liam like a hawk, or a very devoted cat at least; I’d made George come with me but he had fallen asleep in a sulk. I was also cleaning myself after having had a small snack but then who said cats can’t multi-task? Today Liam was looking so innocent as he painted one of the rooms. He did keep checking his watch though.
‘Liam, I’m going to grab a bite to eat, do you want to come?’ Mark said.