‘Excuse me … I don’t recall inviting you in,’ protested Max, but his voice just blew away through the open door like a discarded leaf. Ignoring him, she barged into the lounge, with Dylan following, looking lost and sullen in her intimidating presence.
There was no place to hide. Diana was lying on the sofa with a blue blanket over her, and TammyLee was sitting in the chair beside her, engrossed in playing with her mobile.
‘Is that ’er?’ Dylan’s mum asked him, jerking her thumb at TammyLee.
‘Yeah.’
‘Right, you … you got some explaining to do, my girl.’ Dylan’s mum folded her fat arms. ‘And I ain’t leaving ’til you come clean about what YOU did with MY grandchild.’
TammyLee couldn’t seem to find words to reply.
In the shocked silence that followed, the house was filled with the roar of heavy rain. Max stood up and assembled the shreds of his authority.
‘And you are?’ he asked acidly.
‘’Is mum.’ She jerked a thumb at Dylan, who was shuffling from one foot to the other. ‘Iris Fredrickson.’
‘Well now, Iris Fredrickson … what gives you the right to barge into our home, uninvited? Especially with this … this boy in tow. He’s not welcome here, and neither are you. So kindly leave.’
‘I don’t take no notice of the likes of you,’ Iris said, looking contemptuously at Max. ‘Think you’re so bloody good, don’t you? Well, your daughter is a lying whore.’
TammyLee leaped to her feet.
‘I AM NOT,’ she hissed. ‘You don’t even know me.’
‘Don’t want to, either.’
‘You’ve no idea who I am or what kind of life I have,’ TammyLee said. ‘You only know what Dylan’s told you. He feels guilty about dropping my cat in the river … animal cruelty that was … I could have reported him for it … so he’s just winding you up with stuff he’s fabricating to get attention. That’s what he is, an attention seeker. Everyone knows that.’
‘Now you listen to me, my girl.’ Iris moved closer and jabbed a fat finger at TammyLee’s face.
‘No, you listen.’ TammyLee stamped her foot, and even from under the sofa, I could feel the heat of her anger. I wished I was a tiger that could leap out and defend her. ‘I don’t have a life like most girls my age. I come home from college and care for my mum,’ she said, waving a hand at Diana, who was calmly watching.
‘That don’t make you a saint,’ said Iris.
‘WHAT is this about?’ demanded Max. ‘Will someone please tell me?’ He looked searchingly from one to the other, while torrents of rain lashed at the windows. It was nearly dark outside, but inside the fire flickered orange, and there was light that only I could see. It was the shine of angels who were mostly around Diana.
I chose that moment to emerge from under the sofa. I had to help. With my tail up and eyes bright, I was aware of the empowering light as I stood there bravely, a very small cat in the midst of angry, towering humans. Who should I go to? I wanted to be with Diana, or TammyLee– that would have been the obvious choice. But I looked at Iris, first. I’d seen her swollen legs coming through the gate and her fist thumping the door. Now I looked for her eyes, which were embedded in the folds of an unhappy face. I examined her aura and it was in tatters. Her heart was tightly wrapped in layers of misery.
She looked down at me looking up at her and melted. That’s when I knew exactly what to do. I targeted her, brushing my waving tail around those swollen legs as I glided to and fro. I stood up on my back legs, purring, and dabbed at her skirt with paws of velvet.
Everyone was watching me.
Iris couldn’t resist me. She reached down and smoothed me, and it was obvious from her touch that she loved cats. Without asking permission, she picked me up and I let her. I made a fuss of her, purring, and gazing into her eyes.
‘You don’t have to be angry,’ I was telling her, by telepathy. ‘You can talk quietly, like Diana, and then the angels will help you.’ I talked directly to her soul. It shone like a lamp in the distance, and as she responded to my love – it came closer and she began to relax.
Diana decided to help me.‘Well,’ she said. ‘Tallulah loves you, doesn’t she? Now, why don’t you sit down in that armchair, with Tallulah? And Dylan, you sit there, on the stool by the fire … you look cold, poor lad. And let’s talk this over, quietly, and calmly, shall we?’
Diana would have made a good cat, I thought approvingly. She was so lovely, and quietly spoken, no one could get mad with her. I saw Dylan glance at her with disbelief and longing in his eyes.
‘You sit here, love. I’ll move my feet,’ she said to TammyLee, who was staring at me with an incredulous expression.
Everyone sat down exactly where Diana had told them to, and I began work on Iris’s heart. Only Max was still standing, looking bewildered as he often did when faced with the radiance of Diana’s love. She looked at him. ‘Now why don’t you go and get those sandbags, Max? Listen to that rain.’ She turned to Iris and spoke to her as if she was a long-lost friend. ‘We have to be so careful living close to the river.’