The sea and the sky flushed crimson, and one by one the boats returned to the harbour. I watched for Jessica, but she didn’t come. I considered making the long trek back to our cave in the beech wood, if I could find the way. I thought about living there alone. Or trying to find Ellen.
Or just surviving.
Or willing myself to die.
Miserably I stared at the last boat coming in, and as it turned towards the harbour the rising sun flashed on the windows of the cabin. And there, silhouetted against the brightness, was the bulk of a fisherman and a tiny cat, a black cat who was in the cabin with him, her paws up on the window, her face gazing towards the harbour. The boat came in closer and the cat’s face was black and white with a little pink nose, and eyes that shone as yellow as the sun. My Jessica!
I puffed my chest out and arched my whiskers. I knew Jessica could see me there waiting. And I knew she loved me. She was staring at me, and my heart was full of joy.
I followed along the quay as the boat chugged towards a flight of dark green stone steps. The fisherman carried Jessica out of the cabin and put her on the steps. She looked back at him and meowed, and stood there with her tail up. What was she waiting for? Hadn’t she seen me?
The fisherman lifted the lid of a huge black basket, and instantly the seagulls screamed and twirled around the boat in a flurry of white wings. He took out a fish and gave it to Jessica. She started up the steps with it in her mouth, and the seagulls were dive bombing her. But Jessica hung on to her fish, glaring and growling at the fierce birds. I was afraid for her. More and more gulls were coming from far and wide, squabbling and screeching.
‘Get off!’ The fisherman came to her rescue by chucking some more fish into the water, diverting the birds away from Jessica. She kept coming up the steps with the heavy fish, and I was so proud of her I thought I would burst with gratitude.
She’d come back, and she’d brought us a meal fit for a king.
Amidst my joy, what happened next was unthinkable.
I had no reason to be afraid of a human. No human had ever hurt me. So I didn’t turn around when heavy footsteps came up behind me. Two big hands picked me up and I was so surprised I didn’t resist at all.
‘I’ve got him,’ the man said and took me over to where a woman in a red fleece jacket was standing next to a plastic cage. I looked back at Jessica who was nearly at the top of the steps, the fish still in her mouth, and she hesitated when she saw me being carried away.
‘In you go.’ The man pushed me into the cat cage and shut the hatch. I turned around, meowing desperately at Jessica.
‘Lucky he was still here,’ said the woman. ‘He’s definitely a stray.’
She put her face up to the cage and looked in at me.‘Don’t you worry pussy cat. We’ll give you a nice home, and get rid of those fleas for you. You shall have a warm bed and plenty to eat.’
I meowed very loudly, my voice echoing all over the harbour as the man put the cat cage in the back of a van. I could see Jessica sitting under a bench with her fish, out of reach of the seagulls. She was watching me, with anxious eyes. I should have been there, kissing her, welcoming her back after our time apart. That sweet moment of reunion had been snatched away.
I knew now that I didn’t want a new home. I wanted to stay with Jessica and survive in the wild until Ellen came back for us.
How had I got it so wrong?
My last glimpse was of Jessica’s disappointed face, and then the doors of the van clicked shut. The couple got in and started the engine, talking happily.
‘Well, fancy us finding a lovely cat when we’re on holiday. The boys are gonna love him. I wonder what his name is.’
‘How about Blackie? Or Socks? Or Fred? That’s it. Fred. We’ll call him Fred.’
Fred! I was to be called Fred. It sounded so final. It felt like the end of everything for me. I was a failure. Not only had I let Jessica down when she’d been so brave, but I’d disobeyed my angel. I’d been too trusting.
Another terrible thought surfaced. What if these well-meaning people took me far away to another place? What if I never saw Jessica again? Fight, I thought. Come on Solomon– fight!
I’d always been a quiet, peaceful cat. But now, as the van drove away, I did something I’d never done before. I panicked.
My claws came out. My lips curled back. My tail lashed and banged the sides of the cage. I ripped and tore at the plastic, I pinged the metal grille that was keeping me prisoner. I shredded the cushion and savaged the white stuffing inside. Fight, I kept thinking, fight. Once I’d started I couldn’t stop.
‘He’s going berserk,’ said the woman. ‘Stop the car, Bill. He’s going crazy.’
‘Nah, he’ll be all right. He’ll have to settle down if we’re going all the way to London, won’t he?’