‘Where?’ Leger demanded.
Joe led him to the car park where they found Gordon’s white Fiat Stilo parked. Carole was inside, sitting in the passenger seat, her eyes completely vacant. Leger jumped onto the hood of the car and peered in at her. She had clearly been crying a lot and had a black eye.
‘Somebody has hit her,’ Leger seethed. ‘I’ll bet it was Gordon! Why doesn’t she just open the door from the inside?’
‘Where is he?’ Joe asked.
‘I don’t know but I’ll wait here all day if I have to,’ Leger replied.
He sat on the car, ready for a long wait and Joe reluctantly did the same. Carole seemed completely unaware of their presence for the first five minutes then she noticed Leger and squinted at him through her swollen eye.
‘Leger?’ she mouthed.
He pressed his paws against the windscreen and gave her what he believed to be a smile.
‘Is Aunty Anna here?’ she said, although it was so quiet through the glass that Leger could barely hear her.
‘No, it’s just me,’ he said.
‘Get Aunty Anna!’ she said. ‘Get help, Leger! Oh, this would be so much easier if you were a dog.’
‘Is there a way we can stall Gordon when he returns?’ Leger asked Joe.
‘I could poop. A lot. On his car,’ Joe suggested. ‘We all could.’
‘I couldn’t,’ Leger said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
‘Not you. All the birds,’ Joe screeched, tilting his head back with laughter.
‘What good will that do?’ Leger quizzed.
‘Ever driven a poopy car?’ Joe winked.
Leger scrunched his eyes closed. ‘Go for it.’
He stepped aside and watched from close by while Joe and several other gulls swooped down and defaced Gordon’s car. A few of them scratched the roof with the feet and another couple attempted to burst his tyres with their beaks, to no avail.
‘It was worth a try,’ Leger sighed.
When the car was utterly filthy and Carole was then terrified, even though the birds were helping her, Gordon arrived back, holding a bag of what initially looked like groceries, although Leger noted it was actually just a bottle of whisky in a bag.
‘That’s him!’ Leger wailed. ‘Wait for my signal and then get him!’
Gordon cursed succinctly when he saw the state of his car and reached out an arm to shoo the birds away from the mess. He ground his teeth together, then removed his jacket and threw it onto the ground.
Carole cowered inside the car and began to sob. Gordon put his key into the passenger door lock, turned it then opened the door and as soon as he did, Leger screeched, ‘Now!’
He lunged forward to grab the keys in his mouth while Joe and his friends swooped down on Gordon and slapped his face with their wings. A few of the gulls aimed for his head with their sharp feet and all of them who were close enough pecked at his body.
Carole took her chance and kicked the car door wide open while he was distracted. It was then that Leger saw her hands were bound behind her back with plastic ties. She ran into the ferry terminal without Gordon even noticing and Leger followed on behind, taking a brief backwards glance at all the birds taking care of the man who had hurt Carole. Joe toddled away from thescene on his feet, stopping at the edge of the car park to pick up a discarded piece of wafer from an ice-cream cone. He then nodded at Leger, who winked back, and flapped himself up into the air to make his return to Glasgow.
*****
‘Poor Carole,’ Bob whined, looking over at the young women whose eye was still bruised.
The humans of the house were in the kitchen, baking together. Even Hugh had decided to join in and be the master chef for the afternoon while Annabella gave Carole and Brianna instructions and Louis looked on from his bouncy chair. The animals were out in the hallway, looking in at them, wondering if they would get to sample the scones when they were cooked. It was unlikely either Lily or Leger would be fed anything that was made, but Bob might get a crumb or two.
‘I know. It’s unlikely Gordon will ever return to the family home now,’ Leger noted. ‘I knew their relationship was unconventional but I never suspected him of violence towards her.’
‘Might be for the best if they split up. He wasn’t around much anyway,’ Bob said.
‘But still, it’s sad for the children to grow up without their father around,’ Lily mused.
Bob’s eyes flickered over to Lily and then to the floor. The pair still weren’t as affectionate as they had been but once Carole was home, safe and sound, Bob had forgiven Lily for her suggestion that Carole might have been at all involved in Sean Gilbert’s death.
‘So, now that Carole is home, Gordon’s facing legal action, Sean Gilbert’s friend has told the police the full story, and the swan family have a sign posted next to the loch to ask that nobody touches the baby, I suppose there’s nothing left for me to do,’ Leger sighed.
‘All’s well that ends well,’ Lily smiled.
‘I suppose,’ he said.
‘What’s the matter, mate?’ Bob pressed. ‘You look like something’s still troubling you.’
‘It’s all this business with Kevin and Iain. I hate to make an enemy, although sometimes it’s necessary. I just think that I need reassurance Kevin won’t hurt any cats on the island,’ Leger replied.
‘There has to be a way. He’s already feared, isn’t he?’ Lily asked.
‘Yes, but when they realise that Kevin only attacked Sean Gilbert because he was trying to feed Iain, the cats will work out that all they have to do is wait until Iain is separated from his father and then attack the cygnet. I need to find a solution,’ Leger said.
He walked into the living room, away from Lily and Bob and sat on the sofa. The television was on and Annabella had been watching some historical drama about the Vikings. Leger watched, only half interested until he heard about the death of one of the characters. As soon as the Earl died, the Viking who killed him took the title and all the land that the Earl had owned.
A smile formed on Leger’s lips. He had a plan now to solve the problem of the irritable cob but he would need Joe’s help once more.
*****
‘So, basically Joe, our seagull friend is here to mediate,’ Leger told Lily.
He had brought her for backup, although when they spoke about it they didn’t mention the fact that travelling to the loch in pairs was about protecting either one of them. They just said that it would be good to have someone else there for company.
‘Kevin!’ Joe announced. ‘Leger has a plan.’
‘Yes, basically what I want to happen is to give you the title that the human you killed had. His name was Gibby the Cat Killer. If you have this reputation, and you’ve earned that by seeing off someone who was viewed as an enemy of cats, you’re automatically feared by the feline community.’
Kevin looked at Joe, then back at Leger. ‘But he didn’t actually kill any cats. He loved animals.’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ Leger dismissed. ‘The most important thing is reputation. Your son has already sown the seed by telling Massingham, the grey cat with the loose collar, that you killed a human. Now, you’ll inherit his supposed title.’
Kevin appeared to think this over for a moment. He then looked at Joe, who nodded his head up and down to signal that he thought it was a good idea.
‘Alright. Tell your clowder that I am, from this day forward, to be known as Gibby the Cat Killer. My family can still call me Kevin, can’t they?’
‘Oh yes!’ Leger agreed. Lily nodded too.
Kevin spread his wings wide and lifted his beak proudly. ‘Go! And don’t come near this loch again. Unless you’re bringing Iain home. He does like to wander into your garden.’
‘Of course. Thank you, Joe, for mediating. And I think we can have a satisfactory, albeit distant relationship between the cats and the swans now.’
‘Don’t get too carried away. Just go before I change my mind,’ Kevin spat.