I settled down in the corner of the bed under one of the angels, and watched TammyLee in surprise. When she was helping Diana, she seemed like a different person from the crying, desperate girl I’d seen. She acted like a cat lady, being calm and cheerful, doing everything, even the awkward jobs, with kindness and skill, her bangles jangling as she washed and dressed Diana. The two women talked happily, mostly about me and Amber and the garden. It was obvious to me that TammyLee loved her mum very much. I felt a twinge of envy. If only I’d had my mum, Jessica, in my life, I might have been a better cat.
TammyLee helped Diana to walk with a frame, to the top of the stairs, and sat her in a chair. She flicked a switch and the chair glided down the stairs to Amber, who was waiting at the bottom, her tail wagging, her front paws quivering with excitement.
We all had breakfast together, and TammyLee did everything, hardly sitting down herself, but marching about with toast in her hand.
‘Hasn’t Tallulah settled down well?’ remarked Diana. ‘What a GOOD cat!’
I glowed. After the names Gretel had called me, hearing that was like a healing touch on my soul.
Chapter Seven
SOLOMON
The room with the angels soon became one of my favourite places to curl up during the day when TammyLee had gone to school. I loved the softness and the colours of Diana’s room, the wind chimes tinkling in the open window, the wide windowsill with velvet cushions, the way the sun streamed in and gilded the sparkly scarves hanging on the back of the door. A glass crystal in the window splashed rainbows over everything, and once, for a magic moment, I had one onmy fur. I lay very still, squinting at the intense colour as it rose and fell with my breathing, feeling it healing something deep within me, a part of me that had been damaged by the time in Gretel’s hot car.
Amber acted strangely in Diana’s room. She wouldn’t stand up and wag her tail. She’d hover in the doorway and then creep in on her belly to see Diana, and sit with her chin on the bed and just the tip of her tail flipping as she offered Diana first one paw, then the other. From my lofty perch on top of the bookshelves, I studied her weird behaviour and the way she and Diana gazed at each other. If Diana closed her eyes, Amber would whine and push her nose into the limp hand hanging over the side of the bed.
‘It’s all right, Amber. I’m not going to snuff it yet,’ she said, opening her eyes, and I watched the relief flood through the dog’s soft face. Sadness, and intense anxiety, I thought – I have to get to know this dog, she’s such a complex being.
Later, I lay on the doormat next to Amber’s shining warm body.
‘Why are you so sad around Diana?’ I asked.
Amber gave a deep sigh and I could see her processing the reply. I waited.
‘Diana is ill, and I don’t want her to die,’ she said, and a tear rolled out of the corner of her left eye.
I made a fuss, purring and rubbing my head against her and she seemed to like it now. She left her head down for me, then rolled onto her side and let me walk all over her, stepping over her paws and along her back, and purring into her ear.
‘I’m Diana’s dog,’ said Amber. ‘She came and chose me when I was a puppy, and she taught me everything, even how to cross the road safely. She used to take me for lovely walks along the river and up into the hills, and she was never in a hurry like TammyLee and Max. She liked to sit forages and listen to the water. She said it had a heartbeat.’
‘I’d like to hear that,’ I said. ‘Next time you go to the river, I’m going to come.’
‘You won’t like it,’ said Amber. ‘We go through a park with big dogs racing about. It’s no place for a cat, believe me.’
‘I’ll find a way,’ I said, visualising myself on TammyLee’s shoulder or running through the treetops like a squirrel.
‘And there are lots of people,’ Amber said, ‘but, when I go with TammyLee, she takes me out of the park and up to the waterfalls and it’s quiet. We go to a pool and she likes to swim with me.’
‘Swim?’ I was horrified. ‘I shan’t be doing THAT.’
TammyLee tried to discourage me from going on her walks with Amber, but I passionately wanted to go. So I learned to anticipate when it was going to happen, and slipped outside to hide in the garden, then belt after them with my tail flying.
The first few times, TammyLee tried to take me home, but I wouldn’t let her catch me, and, eventually, she understood my need to go with them, and realised I was well able to look after myself. Avoiding the park, she headed down a footpath, which led straight to the river, close enough to home for me to go on my own! I couldn’t wait to do some private hunting.
We had a wonderful summer, and when the chill of autumn came and the river glowed with floating leaves, TammyLee dragged lots of wood logs inside and lit a cosy fire. Amber and I sat watching the flames and warming ourselves, while TammyLee marched around, cooking, cleaning and caring.