Whiskers Is Missing
“Charlotte, are you home?” James burst into the flat and froze when he saw his wife in the hallway. She was crouched on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. “I couldnt understand a word you said on the phone. You were crying so hard it was impossible to hear. And then, of course, my phone died. Whats happened, love? You look absolutely shattered.”
“Whiskers is gone” Charlotte barely managed to choke out the words. “Hes not here.”
“What do you mean, gone?!” James exclaimed. “Where could he have gone? Can you explain properly? Maybe hes hiding somewhere in the flat?”
“No. Your sister Vicky She said Whiskers accidentally ran out into the hallway when she took Oliver out for a walk. But James, you know our Whiskers Hed never just bolt out of the flat. Why would he? After nearly dying out there before? I think she let him out on purpose”
“What?!” James clenched his fists. “Where is she now? Wheres Vicky?”
“She said she was going to the shops I dont know. Ive been searching for Whiskers all this time, but theres no sign of him. No ones seen him nearby. How could someone do this, James? Throw a helpless little thing out on the streets? In the middle of winter? Is that even human?”
“Most people wouldnt. But Vicky Vicky could. Especially since shes pulled something like this before. Dont worryshe wont set foot in this flat again after today. Honestly, why did we even let her stay?”
—
A month earlier
James was walking toward the bus stop when he spotted something grey beneath a layer of snow.
At first, he thought it was just a stone lying on the ground. But then he noticed it was shakinglike an old fridge rattling on its last legs.
Thats what caught his attention. Hed never seen a stone shiver from the cold before.
Curious, he stepped off the path and moved closer.
Only then did he realize it wasnt a stone at all. It was a tiny grey kitten.
“Well, Ill be” James murmured, scratching the back of his head. “What are you doing out here, little one?”
It was a rhetorical question, of course.
Anyone could see what a pet was doing out on the streetsstruggling to survive. This kitten wasnt meowing for help. No, it just lay there, trembling.
It had already given up on anyone caring. So it didnt even try to call out. It just curled tighter, trying to preserve what little warmth it had left.
James carefully scooped up the kitten, brushing snow from its fur before tucking it inside his coat. He sprinted to the bus stop just as the bus pulled up.
During the ride home, he remembered Charlotte had always wanted a kittena grey tabby, just like this onebut theyd never found the time to visit a shelter.
Now, fate had dropped one right into his lap. And when fate hands you something, you take it.
“Charlotte, Ive got a surprise for you,” James announced cheerfully when he stepped inside.
“Oh, youve been spoiling me lately,” Charlotte smiled, walking into the hallway. “First those gold earrings, then the new phone Id been eyeing, then cinema tickets. Whats it this time? A ski trip?”
“Better!” James beamed, unzipping his coat and pulling out the kitten. “Here! Found him outside. Isnt this exactly the kind you wanted? A little grey tabby?”
“Oh my God,” Charlotte gasped. “Hes absolutely freezing, poor thing. Give him hereIll warm him up. And you go wash updinners ready.”
She looked down at the kitten and smiled. “Hes gorgeous”
And just like that, Whiskers became part of their family. Theyd debated names for agesso many optionsbut eventually settled on “Whiskers.”
“I think it suits him better than something like Tom or Felix.”
“Agreed,” James said.
This happy moment had happened in late November, just after the first snowfall. So the kitten had never known the true horrors of winter on the streets.
Thank God. For many strays, that ordeal was their last.
In the two weeks Whiskers lived with them, Charlotte and James grew incredibly attached.
Actually, theyd loved him from day one. But with each passing day, that love only deepened.
Whiskers adored them tookind, caring people. The sort whod never hurt him or abandon him like his previous owners had. So he was at ease.
Even when he accidentally knocked things off the table or dresser, they never scolded him. Just gently reminded him to be more careful next time.
“Of course!” hed meow back confidently, before jumping onto the dresser for the tenth time that day and sending the TV remote crashing to the floor again.
Everything was perfect until the knock at the door.
“Who could that be on a Sunday morning?” James rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clockhalf six. Still dark outside.
“Maybe the neighbours?” Charlotte suggested. “Something wrong with their place?”
“Ill check.”
When James opened the door, he found his sister Vicky standing therewith her five-year-old son, Oliver.
“Hey, little brother,” she grinned. “Weve come to visit. You dont mind, do you?”
“Actually”
“Yeah, yeah, I knowshouldve called first. But it was kind of a last-minute thing. And you wouldnt have picked up this early anyway. So here we are. Let us in? And help me with the suitcasedragging it up to the fourth floor nearly killed me.”
Of course, James let them in. But the suitcase gave him pause. People didnt usually bring luggage for a casual visit.
“Did something happen?”
“Isnt it obvious?” Vicky shot back. “My husband kicked me out. Found himself a new woman, can you believe it? Nowhere else to go. Mind if we crash here for a bit? Just till I figure things out. We can even spend New Years together. Sounds fun, yeah? Havent seen you properly in years. Were family, after all.”
“You know exactly why we havent spoken,” James said flatly.
“Oh, come off it. No use crying over spilled milk, as they say. How long are you going to hold that against me? People make mistakes.”
James opened his mouth to argue but stopped himself.
No point starting the day with a row.
And Charlotte probably wouldnt approve of him laying into his sisterespecially after shed just been kicked out.
But he had every right to be angry.
Five years ago, their father had passed away. He hadnt lived with them for years but had always helped out. Hed left behind a spacious three-bedroom flat in central London, meant to be split between James and Vicky. No other relatives.
At the time, Vicky was pregnantthough no one knew who the father was.
With their mums support, shed begged James to give up his share of the inheritance. Claimed she needed the flat morehe was a man, after all. Unmarried.
“Sweetheart, Vickys going to have a baby. She needs somewhere to live,” their mother had pleaded.
James didnt put up much of a fight. He got itshe really did need the space. He was living in student halls at the time. Figured hed manageget a job, maybe even a mortgage. Everyone was doing it.
Fine.
But after Oliver was born, Vicky sold the flat and moved in with some new bloke who didnt mind her having a kid.
“Vals got a business, and he really needed the money,” shed explained. “Besides, that flat was mine. I can do what I want with it. Got it?”
James, of course, lost it. That wasnt the deal.
If shed sold it, she couldve at least given him half. For fairness. But he never saw a pennyall of it went into “business development.”
Their mum stayed out of it”Youre adults, sort it out yourselves.”
Ten years earlier, when they were still kids, shed done the same.
Back then, James had found a kitten on his way home from school and brought it inside. A while later, it vanished.
He never suspected their mumshed been the one who let him keep it (they lived in the countryside then, plenty of space). So the only person who couldve been involved was Vicky.
“Tell me what you did with him! Now!” hed screamed.
But his sister never confessed. Though James could see the lie in her eyes. That kitten had annoyed her from day one. Later, he brought home anotherand that one disappeared too.
Coincidence? Hardly.
Their mum just shrugged, and Vicky played dumb. After that, James stopped bringing pets home
