Alfie Far From Home Read online

  Copyright

  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2016

  HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,

  HarperCollins Publishers,

  1 London Bridge Street,

  London SE1 9GF

  The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk

  Text © Rachel Wells 2016

  Illustrations © Katie May Green 2016

  Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers 2016

  Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

  Rachel Wells and Katie May Green assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work.

  A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

  Source ISBN: 9780008172053

  Ebook Edition © 2016 ISBN: 9780008172060

  Version: 2016-04-27

  Dedication

  To my gorgeous Godson, Eric

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Have you read

  About the Author

  Also by Rachel Wells

  About the Publisher

  My name is Alfie and I am a cat, or more accurately I am a doorstep cat. This means I have one main family who I live with in Edgar Road, but I also visit other homes. I am a bit like a part-time pet in each one. I get fed (yummy), I get stroked and fussed over and I also get to play with lots of children. I really like children. I have many friends, both human and cat, but my latest are the Clover family. They recently moved into the next street to me and I have been spending a bit of time with them.

  You see, I also get involved in the lives of my humans, who often need my help. And this cat is very good at helping people. It’s what I do – what any good doorstep cat should do.

  I sat on the pavement with the Clover family. Eight-year-old Stanley squealed excitedly as they stared at a van.

  ‘We actually get to live in there?’ He was looking more unruly than usual, hair messy, T-shirt back to front and the laces of his trainers untied. I needed to give that boy a lesson in grooming – I always made sure my blue-grey fur looked its best. Mind you, his parents were a bit scruffy too. Only Viola was neat and tidy.

  ‘Yes, dear, it’s our camper van,’ Mrs Clover said. ‘We’re sleeping in it at the campsite.’ The Clovers were going on holiday. ‘Right, well children, chop chop, we must finish packing.’

  ‘I’ll miss you, Alfie,’ Stanley said, picking me up. I purred. I would miss the Clovers too.

  As Stanley put me down, he and Mr Clover went back into the house.

  ‘Come along, dear,’ Mrs Clover said. Viola looked glum. ‘Whatever is wrong? Don’t you want to go on holiday?’

  ‘No, I mean yes, I really do. Oh, it doesn’t matter,’ Viola sighed as she hurried after her mum.

  After they’d gone, I decided to look around the house on wheels. I climbed in through an open window and my eyes widened. There was a small kitchen area, a room with a toilet, and a table with bench seats round it. Being a cat, I wasn’t sure where they would sleep, but I assumed they would work that out.

  The sun streamed through one of the windows. Tucked down the side of the bench was a cushion. It was a perfect spot, so I thought I’d just enjoy a bit of sunbathing before the Clovers left.

  I opened my eyes slowly, blinked, yawned and stretched. I felt my stomach lurch as I became aware of motion. I was moving. How was I moving? I sat up but didn’t recognise my surroundings, so I jumped up and looked out of a window – I could see flashes of trees whizzing past. Yikes! I was in the van! I wasn’t meant to be here!

  ‘YELP!’

  ‘Alfie?’ Viola said.

  I looked and saw Viola and Stanley sitting at a pull-out table, playing a game. Mr Clover was driving, Mrs Clover sat next to him.

  ‘Oh yikes,’ Stanley said. ‘Alfie, what are you doing here?’

  ‘Miaow.’ Obviously I’d fallen asleep and woken up in a moving house. Oh well, no problem, they couldn’t have gone far.

  ‘We’ve been driving for three hours,’ Viola said.

  Three hours?

  She bit her lip. ‘Mum?’ Carefully, she moved nearer the front.

  ‘Yes, dear?’

  ‘It seems that Alfie has accidentally stowed away.’

  ‘What? WHAT? Dear, stop the van, we have to stop the van. STOP.’

  ‘Oh goodness, oh goodness.’

  Whilst Mr and Mrs Clover panicked, I started cleaning myself. I couldn’t believe I’d been asleep all that time.

  ‘Dad, just pull over when it’s safe,’ Viola said sensibly.

  A few minutes later, Mr Clover found a lay-by.

  ‘We’ll just have to go home,’ Mr Clover said.

  ‘But we’re nearly there!’ Viola pointed out.

  ‘Then we at least need to phone Alfie’s family,’ Mrs Clover said. ‘The number’s on his collar.’

  ‘Yes, let’s phone them. That’s exactly what we’ll do,’ Mr Clover said.

  ‘But then what?’ Mrs Clover asked.

  ‘Just explain we’re in Devon and that Alfie will have to come on holiday with us for a week,’ Viola suggested.

  ‘But a cat, on holiday. I mean whoever heard of such a thing?’ Mrs Clover shrieked.

  Actually, I had been on holiday before, but I couldn’t tell them that.

  ‘Mum, Dad, calm down,’ Stanley said.

  Viola’s plan sounded good to me. I’d miss my other families but a holiday might just be what the vet ordered.

  ‘OK.’ Mrs Clover calmed down and phoned my home. I was going on holiday!

  For the rest of the journey, I was as excited as Stanley. Only Viola was quiet.

  We stopped by a sign that said Curly Wood Campsite and were greeted by a man and a woman.

  ‘Mr Clover and family.’ Mr Clover got out of the van.

  ‘Welcome to Curly Wood. I’m Mr Green the campsite manager, and this is my wife, Mrs Green.’ The man who welcomed them was tall and thin with a funny moustache on his face which looked a bit like a slug. I hoped it wasn’t a slug. The lady was wearing a tool belt.

  ‘Thank you,’ Mrs Clover said.

  ‘I need to undertake a routine check of your vehicle,’ said Mr Green. He pulled a book out of his shirt pocket.

  ‘Oh, OK.’ Mrs Clover looked unsure.

  ‘Nice camper van.’ He climbed in and came face to face with me. He jumped; I put a paw up in greeting. ‘A cat?’

  ‘Yes, funny story, he sort of ended up here, we didn’t mean to bring him—’ Mr Clover explained.

  ‘I don’t think visiting cats are permitted on our campsite,’ Mr Green said. ‘We have a cat called Humphrey but he lives with us.’ He began looking through his book. ‘We do allow well-behaved dogs, although they must be kept on a lead at all times, but …’ He scratched his head.

  Dogs? Did I hear right? I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay now.

  ‘We promise he’ll be no trouble,’ Stanley said.

  The man looked at him, took a whistle out of his pocket and blew it loudly. We all jumped.

  ‘I’m looking through my rule book and I appreciate silence.’

  After a while, he put the book back in his shirt pocket. ‘I am not happy but unfortunately I can’t find anything in the rule book about visiting cats. And I can’t break the rules when enforcing the rules, so, against my wishes, he can stay.’

  ‘Hooray,’ Stanley said; he was silenced by a look.

  ‘But one whiff of trouble and you’ll be out.’ Mr Green pointed his whistle at me. ‘Enjoy your stay.’ As he left the van, he asked Mrs Green to show us where to park.

  We stood outside the van; we were going to look around the campsite.

  ‘Alfie, you need to stay inside,’ Mr Clover said, lifting me back in. ‘We assured your family we’d take care of you and we can’t risk you getting lost. Or worse,’ he finished.

  What could be worse than getting lost? Some holiday this was! But then I noticed an open window. When the coast was clear, I jumped out. There were tents, caravans and other camper vans and in the distance I could see the wood. It was lovely—

  ‘Hisss.’

  I stopped, turned and found myself staring at a plump ginger cat.

  ‘Hello.’ My legs trembled.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked nastily.

  I flashed him my most charming smile. ‘I’m Alfie; it’s very nice to meet you.’

  ‘I said what are you doing here?’

  ‘I accidentally came on holiday.’

  I wondered if he would attack; he was huge.

  ‘This is my campsite and I don’t need the likes of you on it,’ he said.

  ‘Humph
rey?’ a woman’s voice said. The cat softened as he turned round. ‘Humphrey, it’s teatime,’ the voice repeated.

  He narrowed his eyes at me then ran off.

  I felt unsettled by my encounter so I went off in search of Stanley and Viola. I came across a small building and snuck in through an open door. Mr and Mrs Clover were sitting at a table with some other adults. I stalked, unobserved, to the back of the room and found Stanley and Viola. Stanley was laughing and joking; there were two other boys and a girl with them. Viola hung back – she seemed to be hiding behind her long hair. I wanted to go to her but Stanley spotted me first.

  ‘Alfie,’ he whispered, scooping me up and hiding me under his jacket. ‘If anyone sees you, you’ll be in trouble.’

  ‘Who’s that?’ a boy asked.

  ‘Alfie, our cat from home,’ Stanley explained. “Well, not exactly our cat. You see, he is and he isn’t.’ I saw the other children look at Stanley in confusion. ‘Oh, but that’s a bit of a long story—’

  ‘Hey, best not to let Uncle Green see him in here,’ the boy interrupted. ‘Let’s go outside, quick.’

  The boy had an accent I hadn’t heard before.

  ‘Cute cat,’ the girl whispered, as the smallest boy stood beside her. I saw Viola’s cheeks redden as they did when she was around new people.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, with a smile.

  She could be awfully shy, poor thing. I knew she was nervous about starting her new school when they got back too. I rubbed against her legs to offer support.

  Stanley walked out with the boy and girl next to him and Viola went to follow, but Mrs Clover stopped her.

  ‘Ah, Viola, there you are. Mr Green has said you can see the piano now.’

  ‘Piano?’ said Viola.

  ‘Yes, we found a campsite that had one,’ her mother explained. ‘So that you could practise while we were away.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Viola in a small voice.

  It was clear that she wanted to come with us but, instead, she followed her mum to the piano.

  As I wandered outside the following morning, I saw Humphrey glaring at me. ‘Hi Humphrey.’

  ‘You still here?’ he replied.

  ‘Well, I don’t really have a choice,’ I pointed out. ‘It would be nice if we could be friends?’ I raised my whiskers hopefully.

  ‘I already told you – I don’t like other cats on my campsite.’

  I was about to argue, but then rounding the corner were the three children from last night. I discovered, after Stanley had got me safely out of the clubhouse, that they were Nathan, Emily and Jack. Nathan was the oldest at twelve – he was staying with his uncle and aunt, Mr and Mrs Green. He had come from America, which was very far away. Emily and Jack were brother and sister. Emily was ten and Jack was seven. As soon as he spotted them, Humphrey changed; he was nice to children. Stanley stepped out of the van.

  ‘Hey, Stan, meet Humphrey the campsite cat. He’s really cool,’ Nathan said.

  I miaowed. I was cool too.

  ‘Wow, he’s big. Alfie and he can be friends,’ Stanley said, picking me up.

  ‘What are we going to do now?’ Jack asked excitedly.

  ‘There isn’t a whole lot to do here,’ Nathan said. ‘My uncle sure likes his rules, but we can go to the playground, I guess.’

  ‘Lead the way. I’m an adventurer and generally I can find adventures everywhere,’ Stanley said confidently.

  ‘Yay!’ Jack said. I wasn’t sure why.

  ‘Vi, are you coming?’ Stanley shouted into the van.

  Viola emerged, smiled shyly at the others and they all set off. I started to follow.

  ‘You’re coming too?’ Humphrey asked, not sounding thrilled.

  ‘Yes, I’m an adventurer’s cat, after all,’ I replied huffily.

  The playground had seen better days. There were a couple of swings, a slide which was scuffed and rusty, a roundabout which creaked when it moved and a see-saw.

  ‘We don’t have much to work with to make an adventure,’ Stanley said as he surveyed it.

  ‘I told you that, pal,’ Nathan said, patting his shoulder.

  Jack was on the swing, asking his sister to give him a push, and Viola, I noticed, hung back again. I went to rub myself against her legs, but then I spotted something under a nearby bush. Viola followed me as I dived under it.

  ‘It’s a football,’ Viola said, as I nudged it to her with my nose.

  ‘Nice one, Vi,’ Stanley said. ‘Right, we can make an assault course.’

  ‘What’s an assault course?’ Jack asked, wide-eyed.

  ‘It’s like a race where we do different things. ‘We can start the course here.’ He walked towards some wooden stumps with a bench at the end. They were all different heights. ‘Right, follow me!’ he said as he climbed from the bench to the tallest one. ‘It’s going to be cool.’ He excitedly explained to everyone how it would work. ‘Right, let’s go,’ Stanley announced.

  They took it in turns. They had to jump over the bars of the roundabout while the other children spun it, then when a bit dizzy they had to stand on the swing and do ten swings without falling off; run across the see-saw, and finally walk up the slide with the football and then throw it between the swings, like a goal. I had to admit it was impressive, although it didn’t look safe.

  ‘There’ll be trouble,’ Humphrey grumbled, coming up beside me.

  ‘Why?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s against the rules. Mr Green’s rule book clearly states that the playground must only be used as it should be.’

  ‘But he’s not here,’ I pointed out.

  ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ Humphrey replied before climbing a tree to watch. I thought about joining him but then I’m not exactly a fan of trees, having been stuck up one in the past, so I stayed on land.

  The children were having a lovely time and Viola started to smile at last. But then I heard, ‘peep, peep, peep’. The whistle was loud and a bit too close for comfort.

  Jack, who had been standing on the swing, fell off. Emily and Viola rushed to him; he’d landed on his bottom.

  ‘Peep, peep, peep. Just what do you think you are doing?’ Mr Green shouted.

  ‘Um, Uncle, we were just having a race,’ Nathan explained.

  ‘Nathan, you should know better. When we invited you to stay we expected you to obey the rules.’ He pulled his book out. ‘You have broken rules 77, 89, 111 and many more. I’ll take that—’ He snatched the football out of Stanley’s arms. ‘Balls can only be played with in the designated ball area, rule 199.’

  ‘Wow, he likes his rules,’ Stanley said after he’d gone. I miaowed in agreement.

  ‘Boy does he.’ Nathan looked downcast. ‘It’s not like I even asked to come to stay. I was hoping to spend the summer back home in the US, playing with my friends, but no, because my parents were busy with work, I end up miles from home, in a caravan with Aunt and Uncle Green!’

  ‘Sorry to hear that, mate.’ Stanley squeezed Nathan’s shoulder sympathetically.

  ‘What shall we do now?’ Jack asked. Viola looked at Emily but stayed silent.

  ‘I know a real good trick,’ Nathan said, suddenly grinning.

  ‘What?’ The others crowded round him.

  ‘Follow me to the shower block and I’ll show you.’

  They all walked off and I made to follow them. I felt Humphrey come up beside me.

  ‘Hiss,’ he said.

  ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘This is not a good idea. Nathan’s unhappy and I think he’s looking for trouble.’

  ‘What’s the matter with him?’ I asked, interested. I was a cat who always helped humans in trouble, after all.

  ‘He’s homesick. Poor kid got sent over here because his parents are working away and he misses home.’

  ‘That’s something I have some experience of.’ I explained about Stanley and Viola and how I’d accidentally ended up in the van.

  ‘We’d better go and keep an eye on them; this isn’t going to end well.’ He bounded off and I followed him.

  Nathan led them to the back of the shower block. He giggled as the others watched him turn a big tap. Four people, wrapped in towels, heads covered in shampoo, ran out screaming.

  ‘It’s freezing,’ someone cried.