We’d
been hearing an otherworldly meowing for three or four days. Boo and Molly were
inside but we could never be sure if it wasn’t them playing. Winter hit hard
that year, a cold snap that included gale force winds and freezing rain like
daggers, turning to blizzard blowing snow. We lived in a trailer less than a
quarter mile from the farm Merrill worked at; since he had decided it wasn’t
much sense to drive such a short way he walked. This particular morning I was
to discover where the source of the ethereal meowing was coming from.
Just
before 8 am I opened the porch door for Merrill when we both caught a glimpse
of an orange cat before it vanished down a hole in the skirting around the
trailer. How long it had been under there we didn’t know but now we had an accounting
for the ghostly meowing we’d been hearing. After he left I opened a can of
tuna, bundled myself into my parka, boots, mitts and scarf and sat myself down next
to the hole with the tuna held out just far enough that it had no choice but to
crawl out to get the food. The bribe didn’t take long to work but the feline
fought like a wildcat to get free of the towel and my grasp. In the dead of
winter and so obviously a ‘throw-away’,
an unwanted that someone dumped because, being near a farm thought there would
be a means of survival or they just chucked the helpless little thing out to
die in the freezing cold. Someone was grievously in need of a heart.
Once
I managed to get this struggling little bundle inside and while the cat ate I
had a better look at it. ‘It’ was not a cat in the real sense of the word, more
like a pale shadow of one. The sad package before me was a dirty orange color,
more bone than skin or fur and ferocious when defending food. Boo and Molly didn’t
know what to make of this unwelcome, belligerent stranger suddenly in their
midst so they stayed at a constant distance and gave way in everything so now,
there was a perpetual tension in the house. Kitty was equally vicious towards
us. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, I had to be extremely careful
when putting food down so as not to lose a hand to a sudden flash attack at anything
that threatened the food and milk dishes; the cat was utterly convinced that I
would the food away from it.
Puss
was sick, undernourished and piddled everywhere. I soon learned that we had
another female in the house, unsprayed. Now I had to practically reinvent
patience when it came to teaching her to use the cat box, this only when she
would allow me to touch her, let alone to pick her up but as time went on and
with slow improvement, she started gaining some weight. As her health improved
so did her temperament, somewhat, but still she remained openly defiant and
distant as if afraid to give in and rely on me for her care. It took several
months to win her trust and more than a few more months before the three of
them would learn to like each other and get along. It was a long winter!
She
took delight in doing her level best to dominate Boo and Molly. Taking over
their personal places and making them hers; eating out of their dishes and playing
with their toys. I think it amused her to annoy them and get away with it but
eventually Molly began to take exception and quarreled with her over things
that were rightfully hers. So the sparing events started. It was not unlike the
Roman Gladiators, all one had to do was put armor on them and a sword in their
paws and Wawla! Gladiator Cats!
They
never actually hurt each other and even Boo would wake up and take notice; it
was the loud caterwauling that got the neighbors attention and brought an
almost endless stream of visitors and sudden friends to my door. For obvious
reasons we named her Sassy because of her sassy disposition. Eventually, Sassy
and Molly worked out their differences and played together, this usually
involved racing up and down the hallway to see which of the two was faster and
squabbling over the highest seat on the cat tower Merrill made for them, much
to the annoyance of Boo.
For
a time Molly forgot about venturing outside to follow Boo, now she had a new
friend to play with. Summer wore on and after a time it became a little too
quiet in the house; I went to check. Merrill had repaired the screen in the
spare room window, now I found it torn again and this time, two kittens were
out and about in the neighborhood.
Sassy
has had a happy home with us for the past few years and joined us on our
adventurous cross Canada road trip to PEI.
Catspaw
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