Felix was not around as they entered the back-office corridor. Angie didn’t know where she was, but she was glad that Bolt was going to have time to adjust to his new surroundings without his manager breathing down his neck. No new worker deserves that when they first clock on for duty.
The team leaders’ office was empty, thank goodness. Angie, Jacqui and Bolt entered and shut the door behind them. Then Jacqui carefully laid the carry case on the desk.
Angie knew that in the next few moments she would be meeting a very special little boy. Her loving heart was already pounding in her chest. After all the planning and preparation and top-secret discussions, he was finally here. Her little apprentice. She couldn’t believe it was real, that they had done it. She placed her hands over her mouth, not trusting herself to speak.
Jacqui gently opened the carrier. As she’d been looking after Bolt for the past twenty-four hours, she wanted this to be Angie’s time, so she graciously stepped back and let her colleague come forward.
Oh my goodness, what a cutie! As she peered into the carry case, Angie saw his ears first. They looked bigger than him. ‘Oh!’ she cried in delight.
She cupped her hands and lifted him out. He was as good as gold, the moment just as precious. Close up, she saw that, actually, he wasn’t all black, despite first impressions. He had a few little white tufts, barely noticeable, under his chin, and a slim flash of white on his belly too, just slightly left of centre. When he stretched, it looked like a horizon or a spaceship travelling at warp speed. With his long, gangly limbs, he was one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen (the other, of course, being Felix).
Though the love that Angie felt for him was identical, he didn’t remind her of the original station cat. They just looked too different. Felix as a kitten had been a big ball of fluff. Bolt, in contrast, was short-haired and all ears.
Already in love, Angie placed him tenderly on her chest. Bolt, clearly comfortable, nestled his head against her shoulder and sleepily closed his eyes. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he heard the loveliest Yorkshire voice whisper softly to him.
‘You’re home, Bolt,’ said Angie. ‘Welcome to Huddersfield.’
28. Meet the Apprentice
It was this cosy trio that Felix walked in on a short while later. Bolt, having woken from his nap, was beginning to explore his new home, confidently striding out into the corridor – even though his long legs couldn’t quite keep up with his desire to explore, and he wobbled as he walked.
Angie and Jacqui had been so caught up in the moment that they weren’t aware of Felix’s arrival – so when she appeared in the corridor it was completely unexpected. They would probably have done the introduction in a different way, given time and opportunity, but it was suddenly taken out of their hands. Felix stayed only a few seconds, clearly not ready to engage with the new arrival, but when she returned about five minutes later and hissed at him, Angie spoke to her gently.
‘This is your new apprentice,’ she told Felix. ‘You’ve got to teach him now, Felix. You’ve got to look after him. You’ve got to pass all your knowledge on.’
She remembered her vision of the two cats trotting companionably along the platforms and held her breath as she watched the senior pest controller. Was Felix going to rise to the occasion and assume her managerial duties straight away?
Felix was not. She gave a long, low hiss through her teeth, slow and steady, and then she turned on her white-capped heels and walked huffily away.
Angie let her go. She knew she would need time – possibly lots of time. Like any only child who gains a sibling, she needed to adjust to the new situation. Yet Angie was confident that she would eventually come round.
In the meantime, Bolt had to meet the rest of the team. The first person Angie let in on the secret arrival of their second cat was Angela Dunn. Angie sloped alone into the booking office and tapped her on her shoulder.
‘Angela, have you got a minute?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ her colleague replied.
‘Just step out of the office a moment with me,’ Angie went on. ‘Shut your window, please.’
Angela did as she was told, more intrigued than worried.
When she walked into the team leaders’ room, she gasped. A little black kitten was sitting on Jacqui’s lap.
‘Meet Bolt,’ announced Angie.
Angela made a beeline for him. Long ago, Angie had briefly mentioned the idea of a kitten to her, but nothing about Andy’s green light. Nevertheless, Angela had heard enough to understand immediately that this was their newest member of staff. She was in full support of his arrival. Angela perhaps knew better than anyone what a busy old girl Felix was these days; anything that might give her a break could only be a good thing in her opinion.
She scooped up the kitten and held him against her chest like a baby. Bolt simply curled up against her and went to sleep again, and Angela felt her cheeks flush pink with happiness.
With Angela now in the know, it was time to let the cat fully out of the bag. The wonderful news soon spread around the station like wildfire – and everyone fell crazy in love with the new kitten. One by one, all the team members came into the room to meet him. There was a huge fuss made over him as each employee had a special moment with their new colleague. It was explained that, eventually, he would be helping Felix – and, by so doing, would give her a bit more peace and quiet.
Angie Hunte particularly remembered Joe from the gateline coming in on his break – the colleague who had been so suspicious when they’d first arrived at the station with the mysterious carry case. Now he knew the full story.
‘Joe,’ she said. ‘Meet Bolt.’
Angie watched his reaction closely as she revealed the name, as she had been doing with all the members of the team. She wanted to see what they made of it. Would other people think it appropriate that she had named the kitten after their Billy? Would they be in favour – or against?
Joe had been at the station long enough to have known Billy before he passed and immediately made the connection. The moment he heard what the kitten had been called, he looked up to heaven and stared skywards for a beat, thinking of Billy Bolt. When he looked back at Angie, he was smiling. ‘What a fab name,’ he said. ‘You could not have picked a better name.’
That was how everyone seemed to feel. Jacqui, who’d joined the station after Billy had died, soon found herself regaled with stories of the old-timer. The kitten prompted colleagues to recall their own favourite anecdotes so that Billy again loomed large in the minds of the Huddersfield team, even as his namesake gambolled on the carpet.
There was also a bit of ribbing about the new arrival, given what had happened with Felix. ‘Are we sure it’s a boy?’ several members of the team joked.
But the confusion with Felix had arisen due to her long fluffy fur. With Bolt, they had no such difficulty. ‘Yes!’ cried Angie and Jacqui. ‘He is definitely a he!’
Station manager Andy Croughan was duly informed of the kitten’s arrival too, via text message. Well, the news came rather as a surprise to him, of course! But he could not have been more chuffed, especially about the name.
Someone else who needed to be informed was Mark Allan, Felix’s Facebook manager. He was cycling over in Morecambe when he received a message from Angela Dunn: ‘I’ve got something important to tell you.’ Worried, he pulled off the road and called her, fearing the worst. Imagine his relief when he learned the team had recruited a new kitten! Angela sent him a snapshot and he could see at once that this was going to be one popular little pussycat.