It was the first of many times when Isaac came and took Ellen out, and I watched her slowly coming alive again, singing and making things, and reading stories to John. And I enjoyed the evenings with Pam. It seemed that everything had come right for me, if only Jessica had been there to share the cosy life we now had.
[Êàðòèíêà: img_13]
THE DIARY OF A STAR CAT
I only had one terrible fear in my life. The cat basket. There were bad memories of being taken away from Jessica that day. How it felt to be imprisoned, to have to fight so fiercely for my freedom, had left scars in my mind. One day Ellen tried to take me to the vet, and when I saw that cat basket I ran away and hid in the same old badger hole. I stayed there all day until dark and I heard the anxiety in Ellen’s voice as she called me, banging my dish with a spoon. So I went home to a warm welcome, and the cat basket was nowhere to be seen.
The next day Abby the vet came to see me and gave me what she called a booster jab.
‘How old is he now?’ she asked, stroking me under my chin.
‘He must be seven,’ said Ellen. ‘I don’t know why he’s got those grey hairs round his face. Seven isn’t old for a cat, is it?’
‘It’s middle age,’ said Abby. ‘But don’t forget Solomon went through a major trauma and it may be that he’ll age quicker.’
‘And we don’t know what happened,’ said Ellen, ‘or what he’d been through when he was a kitten. And I do think he’s still grieving for Jessica. He lies and gazes at her photograph.’
‘Well, he’s in good condition anyway,’ said Abby. ‘His coat’s beautiful.’
‘I want him to be as strong as he can,’ said Ellen. ‘We’ve got another huge change coming and I don’t want him to get upset.’
The words rang in my head. Another huge change! What could that be? I was settled now, even without Jessica my life was as good as it got. I didn’t want another upheaval. Especially if it involved Joe. Or the cat basket.
My anxiety led me to seek out refuges again. I went down the lane to see Karenza. I made friends with Pam’s dog who was smaller than me, and I was allowed into her caravan for a cuddle and a titbit. The old badger hole was my private sanctuary, and the tuft of white fur from Jessica’s coat was still there. It comforted me as I slept with my nose touching it. Inside the hole I listened to every carthat came down the lane, and if one slowed down and turned into the campsite, I was instantly awake and nervous. Was it Joe? Was it a bailiff?
One day in early summer when the copse was full of bluebells and pink campion, I heard the sound of Isaac’s car turning in. I loved Isaac, so I got up, stretched and dashed through the tall flowers and over the wall to greet him.
He was standing outside the caravan with his arms full of empty cardboard boxes. Ellen came out and he put the boxes down and gave her a big bear hug. She hugged him back and her aura glowed like a sunset.
‘I’m here,’ said Isaac, ‘and this is the best day of my life.’
‘And mine,’ Ellen said, gazing up at him.
I ran to them meowing, my tail up.
‘Here he is. Hello, Solomon,’ said Isaac, and picked me up. I purred and made a fuss of him.
‘He loves you,’ Ellen said, ‘he always comes running doesn’t he?’
In the caravan I sat on the sunny windowsill and wondered why Ellen and Isaac were taking everything down from the shelves and packing it into boxes. The kitchen china went in, then Ellen’s books and her ballet shoes. I turned to look at Jessica’s photograph, and it had gone. It was a shock. I stood in the space and meowed at Ellen.
‘Don’t worry, Solomon, Jessica’s photo is packed. It’s quite safe, darling, and you shall see it again very soon.’
Ellen had always explained stuff to me, but just lately I hadn’t been listening. With a growing sense of alarm I watched her dragging two big bags out of a cupboard and packing John’s clothes and teddies into them. When had this happened before? On that terrible day when I’d been abandoned.
Surely it wasn’t happening again!
I got more and more spooked. My fur began to bristle, and I sat stiffly, watching Isaac carrying the boxes to the car.
The caravan looked bare, as if no one lived there.
Ellen went outside, and came in with the cat basket.
I took one look at it and ran as if someone had set fire to my tail.
‘Oh no!’ I heard Ellen cry. ‘Solomon!’
I shot up my favourite ash tree in the copse and sat there hidden by the green summer leaves. Ellen and Isaac were calling for me, but I ignored them. I watched the sunlight flickering on the leaves as they moved in the breeze. I heard the scream of the seagulls flying overhead, and I remembered the shining sea.
It had been so long since I’d talked to my angel. Had I become a boring switched-off old cat? I focused on the light, remembered the silver stars, and listened beyond the wind in the trees. And from somewhere among those sounds my angel’s voice began to talk to me.