‘Tallulah!’ he said at last, and a feeling of relief settled over me. ‘I’m not a spirit cat, and I’m not really here. I’m with you in my thoughts, and I know you’re in trouble. You must go home.’
‘I can’t,’ I said.
‘You can, and you must. You are too precious to live wild in the winter. It’s your mission to be with TammyLee. She is calling you now. Listen!’
I did, and through the silvery night came the distant voice:‘Tallulah. Tallooolah!’
‘It will be all right,’ said Solomon. ‘You can play and be joyful, and no one there will make you afraid. Take back your trust and your joy, and go home to the people you love.’
I cried to him, in gratitude. Even my angel hadn’t found the right words like he had done.
Then I heard his purr, and it was louder than mine. It filled the echoing shell of winter. I gazed at Solomon and then he was gone, leaving only the purr in my heart. I turned and trotted homewards along the river, with the words ringing in my mind:‘Take back your trust and your joy.’ He was right. Who had taken those treasures of the soul away from me? Gretel! I’d forgiven her, but I hadn’t taken back my right to play and be joyful.
I paused, to look back at the bridge. It was dark against the moonlit river, and the mysterious cat had vanished. He’d left me a picture of where he really was on this winter night, curled up on the lap of a beautiful woman with long blonde hair who sat by a bright warm stove, stroking him and dreaming.
Solomon. I’d seen Solomon. My dad. My homeward trot quickened to a gallop, the mad dash of an ecstatic cat. I streaked along the riverbank, skidded round the corner and into the footpath, where I saw a torch shining at me and heard TammyLee’s cry of joy as I ran to her with my tail up.
She carried me home, her cold cheek pressed against my fur. Through the gate, up the path and into the warm kitchen. My supper was still there, untouched.
‘You wait till you see our Christmas tree,’ she said, and I followed her into the lounge. I sat down next to Amber and gazed at the sparkling tree. I made up my mind not to touch it, only lie on my back under its branches and watch the reflections in the baubles. I was glad to be home.
Winter passed and it was spring again, and by then I was a confident and contented cat. I was even a bit fatter, which only added to my magnificence.
Every afternoon, Amber and I waited in the garden for TammyLee to come home from school. Amber’s sensitivity was awesome, and she knew when the bus was coming, even if it was far away. She’d run to the gate, put her paws on top of it and bark, nearly knocking me over with her tail. I rearranged my ruffled fur and slipped under the gate, to run down the road and meet TammyLee. It always made her smile to see me welcoming her.
But one afternoon in May, it was different. Amber’s tail went down and her ears drooped, as we waited. The bus came. We saw it trundle past the end of the road, and it didn’t stop. Where was TammyLee?
I sat on the hot pavement, waiting, but she didn’t come.
Something made me look up at the trees overhanging the next-door fence, and one was full of light. It swerved and danced, then settled into a familiar shape. My angel.
‘Remember the tree, Tallulah,’ she said, ‘like this one.’
The perfume hit me. Elderflowers. My angel was showing me something important.
‘It’s an anniversary,’ she explained. ‘Humans count events in years, and when the time comes round again, they remember. The feelings return, stronger than before. Today is Rocky’s first birthday, at the time when the elder tree flowers, as it will always be.’
Amber was whining behind the gate, and Diana was calling me from her window, but I hurried down the road. I knew exactly what I had to do. Follow the river. Go through the scary park with all the dogs, run beside the river towards the town, until I came to the elder tree where TammyLee had abandoned baby Rocky.
I’d wanted Amber to go with me, but instead, I found myself on a lone mission. The river shimmered in the heat, and a family of ducks were sleeping on the bank. When they saw me, they plopped into the water and swam across to the other side. It gave me an idea. Why not cross the river and be outof the reach of dogs, and people? I climbed the sturdy trunk of an oak tree and followed a curly branch with little ferns growing on it. Soon I was above the water, looking down at the swirls and the green of it flowing below me. The branch was getting thinner and thinner. I hesitated, then realised I couldn’t turn round without falling into the river. Looking down at it made me dizzy.