The next morning, as promised, I was outside the front gate bright and early, washing the breakfast off my whiskers while I waited for Tabby. He eventually turned up, looking as gloomy as a cat in a cage.
‘I wish I didn’t have to face her,’ he said as we set off to look for Suki. ‘She’s just going to give me another mouthful of abuse.’
‘So let’s get it over with. Remember, just try to be sympathetic. I’ve heard females have something called hormones going on when they get pregnant. I don’t know what it is, but it probably isn’t very nice.’
‘All right, Ollie, I’ll do my best. But be a good cat and back me up if she starts on me.’
Suki was sitting on a windowsill of her house, staring out. When she saw us coming along the road she sat up straight and fixed us with a really mean, vicious glare.
‘This doesn’t bode well,’ Tabby groaned.
We waited in her front garden as Suki jumped down from the windowsill, her tail already flicking dangerously, and disappeared from view.
‘She’ll be heading straight for the cat flap,’ he said, ‘and then straight for my throat.’
‘Stay calm. Don’t go on the offensive,’ I advised him, although I obviously wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation either.
‘Look what the dog dragged in,’ Suki meowed nastily as she reappeared round the side of the house. ‘I thought you must have done a runner, Tabby. Haven’t seen you around since our last fight. Too scared to face me, were you?’
‘No, I just don’t want to fight with you,’ he said, in a pathetic whining mew. I looked at him in surprise. I’d never heard Tabby sound so unsure of himself before. ‘What’s done is done, Suki.’
‘Yes, but you’re not the one walking around with kittens in your tummy as a result.’
‘Look, I’m sorry, but…’
‘Don’t say but,’ I said to him very quietly. ‘Just sorry.’
‘Sorry isn’t good enough. And who asked you, Oliver?’ She immediately turned her venom on me. ‘Who asked you to get involved anyway?’
‘Tabby did,’ I admitted. ‘But it’s true, he is sorry. He was telling me yesterday how sorry he is. He wishes the pair of you didn’t mate in the first place, don’t you, Tabby?’
‘Do I?’ Tabby gave me a puzzled look. ‘Oh, er … I suppose I do, yes, in the circumstances.’
‘So now you’re saying you didn’t even enjoy it?’ she shrieked.
‘No! No, I’m not saying that.’ He got up and turned around a couple of times on the spot, looking even more uncomfortable than I felt, while Suki just sat there, glaring, waiting. ‘Look,’ he said again finally, with an air of desperation in his meows. ‘You’re a nice cat, Suki, and we had fun, didn’t we?’
‘And now I’m having kittens, you’re dumping me.’
‘No! Did I say that? I’ve only stayed away from you because you’ve been in such a foul mood.’
I glared at him. That didn’t sound like the best thing to say to her.
‘I’m pregnant!’ she hissed at him. ‘Of course I’m in a bad mood.’
‘All right. But it won’t last forever, will it. And then, afterwards, maybe we can get together and have fun again,’ Tabby said, looking suddenly considerably brighter.
‘What!’ she screeched. ‘Are you completely off your head? You needn’t think you’re going to talk me into it again. Anyway, my humans have always said they were going to get me spayed after I’d had one litter. I just don’t think they expected it to happen quite so soon. And nor did I,’ she added, giving him another reproachful look.
‘It must have been a shock for you,’ I said, trying for my most sympathetic mew. ‘Have your humans not realised yet that you’re expecting?’
‘No, but I’m sure they soon will. At the rate I’m putting on weight, I won’t get through the cat flap for much longer.’
‘You still look good to me, Suki,’ Tabby purred.
I stared at him. It was unbelievable. Even now he was trying to come on to her. He couldn’t seem to help himself. I was so glad I didn’t have to live my life at the mercy of these strange urges.
‘Anyway,’ I said, trying to change the subject, ‘we think you’ll be an excellent mother, don’t we, Tabby?’
‘Yes, excellent,’ he said without much obvious interest. If cats could shrug, his shoulders would have been up round his ears.
‘Do you really think so, Ollie?’ she said.
And I suddenly realised she was probably frightened. That was why she was being so aggressive. She was still a young female and probably had no idea how she was going to cope with the birth and raising the kittens.
‘Of course I mean it,’ I said. ‘You’ve got exactly the right temperament. It’s as if you were born to be a mother. Isn’t it, Tabby?’
‘Er, yes. Sure.’
‘And you know what? I bet once they’re born, you’re actually going to love those kittens,’ I went on. ‘Little kittens are so cute, everybody loves them – but their mothers always love them best of all.’
Suki was looking at me very strangely.
‘That’s a nice thing to say, Ollie. But what’s the matter? You look like you’re going to cry.’
‘I’m all right,’ I said, turning away. I went and sat a little way away from them, washing myself, trying not to show how much I did feel like crying.
‘He was taken away from his mother,’ I heard Tabby telling Suki very quietly.
‘Kittens nearly always leave their mothers,’ she retorted. ‘We can’t keep them all with us forever.’
‘No. But I bet when you were a kitten, you at least stayed with your mum until you were old enough to walk, and see properly, and eat meat. I bet you weren’t snatched away from your mum and left to die.’
‘Oh.’
I turned back to look at her. She’d gone all soft-looking, like she wanted to cry herself.
‘Poor Ollie,’ she said gently. ‘I didn’t know. And you’ve turned out to be such a nice cat, haven’t you, despite everything. Unlike some males I could mention!’ she added with another venomous glare at Tabby. She stood up and stretched. ‘Anyway, I’ll be seeing you both, I suppose. I need my rest. I’ve got my kittens to think about now.’
We watched her turn tail and head back round the side of her house.
‘Well,’ Tabby said, ‘I think I handled that quite well, don’t you?
* * *
Back at Sarah and Martin’s house, it was looking very festive. Martin had put twinkly lights over the front door and the windows, and the children were helping Sarah to put decorations up in the lounge. They were singing songs about red nosed reindeers and the three kings of Orient, whoever they were, and talking about making Christmas cards for their school friends. After they’d had their Sunday lunch they all went out to visit some friends in another village. Left on my own, I sat on the back of the sofa, looking at the pretty baubles twinkling on the Christmas tree. A couple of them were within easy reach of my paws from where I was sitting. They were just hanging there, sparkling at me, begging to be swatted. Nobody would ever know, would they? I reached out one paw and batted a big silver one. It swung backwards and forwards prettily on the tree for a minute. Very nice. I batted it a bit harder. Oh, it was so satisfying – I could keep this up all day. A little Father Christmas figure was swaying just above my head. I lay on my back and reached up with my back paws, giving it a good kick, then jumped up again and swiped at a red shiny bauble on a higher branch. By now the adrenaline was really pumping. How far up could I reach? With a little jump I could hit that big glittery golden one … pow! Oh, drat. I misjudged the jump slightly and instead of landing safely on the back of the sofa, crashed through the lower branches of the tree, ending up tumbling off the bucket and onto the floor. A shower of pine needles fell over me, followed by two or three baubles and some tinsel, which had got itself round my neck. I ran for the kitchen, shaking the tinsel and pine needles off as I went. Phew! That had ended up a bit scary. Just as well nobody was watching. I gave myself a good wash and decided to pop round to see Nicky and Daniel, so that I wouldn’t be tempted by any more illicit play with the baubles.
The cottage next door was so bare compared with Sarah and Martin’s house. Nicky was cleaning her little kitchen in silence while Daniel was busy putting something he called draught excluder around their doors and windows instead of twinkling lights.
‘Cheer up, babe,’ he said, coming into the kitchen and putting his arms around her waist from behind. ‘Things are going to get better.’
‘Are they, though, Dan? It’s only two and a bit weeks now till my parents are due to come. It’s nice that Sarah and Martin are putting them up overnight, but I’ve still got no idea how we’re going to make it seem anything like a proper Christmas.’
‘We’ll get presents for them, and for your brothers. And I’ll get a turkey, and all the trimmings, I promise. I’ll put it all on my credit card.’
‘Your card’s already maxed out. Don’t be stupid. We’re in enough debt as it is.’
‘So a little bit more won’t hurt. Come on, Nick, it’s nearly Christmas. We need to think positive.’
Just then there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other in surprise.
‘Can’t imagine who that might be,’ Daniel muttered.
He went to open the door, and I heard him say, ‘Oh, hello again, Tony. Come in, for God’s sake, it’s freezing out there. How’s the car?’ he added as he closed the door and led the way into the kitchen.
‘Running perfectly smoothly, thanks to you,’ the other man was saying. His voice sounded pleasant enough, but nevertheless he was still a strange male, and my heart was doing its usual little dance of fear. ‘I hope I didn’t keep your husband too long yesterday,’ he added to Nicky.
‘Not at all,’ she said with a smile. ‘He loves nothing better than tinkering with cars, and he doesn’t often get the opportunity. I’m Nicky, by the way – I don’t think we’ve met. We only moved here a few months ago.’
‘I’m Tony.’ He suddenly caught sight of me cowering under the little kitchen table. ‘Oh, your cat looks just like the one that used to live in the pub.’
‘He is! It’s Oliver. He spends some of his time with us, and some with Martin and Sarah next door – since the fire, you know,’ Daniel explained. He picked me up and gave me a little stroke. ‘He’s a bit shy with strangers, but he’s a lovely boy, aren’t you, Ollie?’
I purred in response, feeling much safer in Daniel’s arms.
‘I was never a regular in the Forester’s, but I thought I recognised him. I heard George had had to relocate temporarily. Good of you and Martin to take care of the cat.’
‘Oh, it’s been nice to have him around, when we’re here, that is. We both work in London all week.’
‘Do you? I don’t envy you. I used to commute myself, before I retired a couple of years back. Not a lot of fun, is it, and so expensive these days.’
Daniel glanced at Nicky and nodded. ‘You’re right there.’
‘Would you like a cup of tea or something, Tony?’ Nicky asked.
‘No, thank you, I’m sure you’re busy. I just came to thank you again, really, for your help. This is just by way of a small recompense for your time.’ He held out a carrier bag, adding, ‘It’s not much.’
‘Oh!’ Daniel blinked and went a bit pink. ‘There wasn’t any need…’
There was a clinking of bottles as he put me down and took the bag from Tony. I knew that sound quite well, of course, from my days at the pub. Daniel peered inside the bag and exclaimed: ‘No, really, you don’t have to do this!’
‘I insist. It’s the least we could do. If you hadn’t helped me out I’d have had to call someone from the garage in town, and you can imagine what they’d have charged me, just for my own stupidity in letting the battery go flat. It’s only a couple of bottles of plonk.’
‘And this too?’ Daniel asked, lifting something else out of the bag. It was a bowl of some sort, covered with that plastic stuff they call cling film.
‘Just a Christmas pudding,’ Tony said with a short laugh. ‘Chuck it out if you don’t want it.’
‘Of course we wouldn’t chuck it out,’ Nicky said, looking shocked. ‘But surely you want it yourselves for Christmas?’
‘My wife makes half a dozen of the things every year, love, and there’s only us, and my daughter and son-in-law. I think she wants to feed the entire village. She always gives one to the WI for a raffle prize, and one to the Scouts’ bazaar – not that they’re having one of course, this year, because of the hall.’ He shrugged. ‘If it’s any good to you, please take it and enjoy it. They’re good, I have to say, her puddings. There’s just too many of them.’
And, laughing again, he turned to leave. ‘Hope to see you both again before Christmas, anyway. Thanks again, Daniel.’
‘No, thank you, for these,’ Daniel said, still staring into the bag.
‘How kind of him!’ Nicky exclaimed after she’d seen him out. ‘Can you believe what he said? Just a couple of bottles of plonk? They look like good wines, Dan. We’ll have to put them away for Christmas Day.’
‘Yes, I suppose we should,’ he said, looking regretful.
She laughed. ‘And chuck the pudding away if you don’t want it! As if! How lovely – at least we’ll have that to serve up to my family now. I could even pretend to Mum that I made it myself.’
Daniel put both arms round her then and they clung together, laughing. It was so nice to see them happy for once. I purred my delight at them, walking round their legs, and it felt like we were all doing a little dance together. For a minute or two, you know, it actually felt warmer in that chilly little kitchen.
* * *
I didn’t get a particularly warm welcome, though, when I went back to Sarah and Martin’s house. Sarah had the hoover out – I always hated the noise it made, so I tried to run straight upstairs. But she saw me, turned off the hoover and called out to me in quite a stern voice:
‘Yes, you might well run away, Oliver! Look at the mess I’m having to clear up in here. Three baubles broken, pine needles everywhere, tinsel strewn through the lounge…’
‘Sorry!’ I squawked in Cat as I scarpered up the stairs. ‘I got carried away.’
I was worried she might be so cross with me that she’d go and get the new cat straight away and send me packing. I slunk into the girls’ bedroom to hide under one of their duvets.
‘Cats!’ I heard Sarah exclaim out loud to herself. ‘Almost as much trouble as kids.’
I couldn’t quite work out whether that was good or bad. But just before the hoover started its noise again, I was surprised to hear her laughing to herself.
Phew! Perhaps she still loved me after all.