A Christmas Cracker: The only festive romance to curl up with this Christmas!. Trisha Ashley

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СКАЧАТЬ me who resented her!

      But following my natural urge to throttle her would lead me straight back to prison and, more importantly, delay my finding out what had happened to Pye, so I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

      I thought no one was going to answer, but finally the key rattled in the lock and Kate opened it – pink, flustered and tucking her blouse into her skirt.

      ‘You!’ she gasped, looking like a frightened rabbit, as well she might, given the circumstances. ‘Have they let you out already?’

      ‘No, I avoided the searchlights and vicious guard dogs and climbed over the barbed wire, using a rope ladder that came in a cake,’ I snapped, wedging my nylon holdall in the door as she attempted to shut it.

      Her mouth dropped open, before sanity set in and she realised I was being sarcastic. ‘I suppose they must have let you out, but what on earth are you doing here?’

      ‘I might ask you the same,’ I replied.

      ‘I came back with Jeremy, so we could sort out the arrangements for the school trip to Paris, though Luke had to stay at school to take detention, so he’ll be joining us later,’ she said, recovering her composure slightly. ‘Not that it’s any of your business.’

      ‘Who is it?’ Jeremy’s voice demanded as he came down the stairs, fastening the cord of a blue velour dressing gown that was as familiar to me as my own. The scenario I’d interrupted was plain as a picture.

      ‘Oh, right, I understand everything now, Kate!’ I said. ‘This is what all the lies were about – you wanted Jeremy to yourself.’

      ‘Tabby? What the hell are you doing here?’ Jeremy said angrily, pushing Kate out of the way like the gentleman he wasn’t. ‘I told you we were through.’

      ‘She wants to make trouble, that’s what,’ Kate said. ‘Go away, Tabby, or we’ll ring the police and have you arrested for harassment.’

      ‘I’m not harassing anyone,’ I said, with more calm than I actually felt, because I knew from the other girls that putting a single foot wrong once I was let out could well mean being sent back to prison to serve the whole sentence.

      ‘In fact, I don’t give a damn about either of you. All I want to know is, what have you done with Pye?’

      ‘All this is about a stupid cat?’ Kate said incredulously.

      ‘He’s not just any cat, he’s my cat,’ I said fiercely, ‘and I love him.’

      ‘I’ve already told you that he went to a good home,’ Jeremy snapped. ‘There was no point in you coming here.’

      ‘Then tell me the name of the people you rehomed him with. I need to see for myself that he’s all right and that he’s settled with them. What’s the name and address?’

      He avoided my eyes. ‘I can’t give it to you.’

      ‘Look, this is my cat we’re talking about and he’s microchipped as belonging to me, so it wasn’t even legal to give him away without my permission.’

      ‘I don’t think that will wash, because in effect, you abandoned him through your illegal actions,’ he said smugly.

      ‘Listen, you pompous prig, I’m not going until you tell me where Pye is,’ I insisted.

      ‘Shall I call the police?’ asked Kate helpfully.

      ‘Yes, why not?’ I said, throwing caution to the winds. ‘Perhaps you’d rather explain to them what you’ve done with my cat?’

      Jeremy ran his fingers through his dark marmalade-coloured hair. There seemed suddenly to be a lot more forehead and a lot less hair than I remembered …

      ‘Oh, just tell her so she’ll go away,’ said Kate impatiently.

      ‘The Leafy Lane Pet Rescue Centre,’ he replied defiantly.

      ‘You mean, you put Pye in a cats’ home?’ I said, stunned.

      ‘It’s a good home, I told you.’

      ‘But … you let me think you’d rehomed him with nice people! If no one adopted him, he could have been put down by now!’ I exclaimed, panicking, for although Pye was very dear to me, I was aware he wouldn’t be the easiest cat to rehome.

      ‘They said they never put a healthy animal down, so he’ll be OK,’ Jeremy said. ‘You’re making a fuss about nothing.’

      ‘How could you? And how was it that I used to think you were so kind and wonderful, when really you’re callous and cruel?’

      ‘There’s no need for insults. You’ve got what you wanted, so why don’t you go away?’ Kate suggested.

      ‘I can see you got what you wanted, too, Kate,’ I said, then added to Jeremy, ‘You deserve each other, you poor, credulous mutt!’

      Then I hefted my bags and walked off down the drive, feeling glad I’d bought a belt at the station when I’d got the holdall, because losing my jeans halfway down the drive wouldn’t have done a lot for the dignity of my departure.

      I knew where the cats’ home was: a good couple of miles away. I managed to balance my bag on top of the wheeled suitcase and drag them both together, but I was still exhausted by the time I’d walked there.

      The girl behind the desk had a doughy face and scarlet-tipped black hair exploding out of a high knot, and I could see from her guarded expression that she’d recognised me the moment I walked in. I suppose the case had been a seven-day wonder locally.

      I pretended I hadn’t noticed and explained the situation anyway: that I’d been away and my cat, Pye, had been brought there without my permission, so now I needed to know what had happened to him.

      ‘Oh yes … Pye,’ she said uneasily. ‘We renamed him Pip because it sounded more friendly, though he isn’t, is he?’

      ‘Not to strangers, no.’

      ‘You must be Tabitha Coombs.’

      ‘Give the girl a coconut,’ I said shortly. It had been a long and stressful day already and the tension was slowly building inside me. ‘I’m the person his identity chip is registered to, if you checked it?’

      ‘Yes, but he was brought in by a man living at the same address as that on his chip, so—’

      ‘My ex-fiancé. We shared the same address, but not the same name. Pye is my cat.’

      ‘He told us he couldn’t keep him and you’d agreed that he should be brought to us for rehoming.’

      ‘Well, I didn’t – and he told me he’d found Pye a good home, he just didn’t tell me it was a cat rescue one. So … have you rehomed him? You didn’t … put him down?’

      ‘No, of course not! He was healthy enough to go straight onto the rehoming wing of the cattery, though actually, black cats СКАЧАТЬ