by Terri Cabral
Chapter 12: New Housemates
The rest of the summer was very hot and humid. Peter returned by mid-summer and picked up Duchess. I was left alone again. I loved to lounge outside even in the heat but stayed close to the house enjoying the cool shade of the big tree in the back yard where Chipper once had her nest. One morning, I was sleeping soundly under the tree when suddenly a small Chickadee flew down and landed by my nose.
“Miss Thisbe? Is that you?” chirped the little bird.
I woke with a start. A flood of memories came back. “Chipper?”
“No, no, Miss Thisbe that was my Mama. I’m the youngest baby that escaped on that awful day.”
Surprised and happy Thisbe exclaimed “Oh my, you are all grown up. I bet you have a mate and babies now. What name did your Mama give to you?”
“She always called me precious little one. Papa just called me Precious.”
“My Mama called me Precious!”
“I have a mate and we’ve had many babies. One year all our eggs were destroyed. It was very sad but the next year I had five babies. We all live in this area.”
I was happy for the little bird. “Do you live in this tree?”
“For a few years I came back here but now I live in the tree over there.” indicating a tree in Butch’s yard.
“Well, Precious, you are welcome in my yard any time. Come by and bring your family. I would love to meet your mate.”
“I will let him know that you are a friendly cat. He knows what happened to my family. It was nice seeing you again, Miss Thisbe. Good bye for now.”
“Good bye, Precious, come back soon.”
The little bird flew off toward her nest. I smiled. What a pleasant surprise! I am glad that she has a family and a mate. I fell asleep again and dreamed of Chipper.
It was the end of summer and I celebrated my sixteenth birthday. Ana held a patio birthday party. Robbie came by and cooked food on an outside stove Ana had just bought. They called it a grill. Peter came over with Duchess. Roger and Gary came by to wish me well.
Gary commented, “Thisbe looks very healthy. She looks like she did when she left here. You must be living well, Miss Thisbe. I’d love to know your secret.”
I also overheard Robbie, who worked at the vet’s office, remark. “Thisbe is very healthy for a cat her age. I looked at her records. She could live for another few years, perhaps even into her twenties.”
That’s great news! I certainly don’t feel any older and I want to be around here as long as I can!
Fall arrived quickly and the air was instantly cooler. One day I watched Ana get dressed up in strange looking clothes. I wonder where she is going. I have never seen her wear that before. Is she in another show? Is that a costume?
Ana looked at me and laughed, “Am I dressing in a funny costume? I know you’ve never seen this outfit before. I am going to a Renaissance Festival with a new friend, Alia. It’s girls’ day out and should be fun. Would you like to stay inside or play outside today?”
“I don’t feel like going out. I want to sleep on my favorite rug.” I purred and walked around Ana’s legs, approving of her costume. “You look very nice Ana. I hope you have fun.” I walked out to the living room and curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace.
Ana laughed, “Okay Thisbe, I guess you want to stay inside today. I’ll make sure you have lots of food and water. Enjoy your day.”
Ana finished getting ready, fixed my food and blew a kiss, “See ya later, Thisbina. Have a good day.”
The front door clicked closed. The house was quiet. I heard Ana’s car start up and crunch on the gravel of the driveway as she drove out.
I suddenly felt the familiar chill. I glanced toward Arturo’s chair. He and Belinda were standing there looking at me. I got up and walked over to the chair, “Hello! I’ve missed you! You never come around anymore!”
“Thisbe, we’re very busy here. We have lots of things to do. But on occasion, we like to come and check up on you and Ana. We saw that she went out today so we thought we’d visit with you.”
“I’m so happy. I’ve been a little lonely here now that Duchess is gone. I’d love a visit from you. Are my friends still there? What do you do there? Do humans talk to the animals like you do to me?”
Belinda laughed. “So many questions, Thisbe! Let me see if I can answer some of them. First of all, yes, all of your friends and your parents are here as always. They do watch over you…excuse me Thisbe your lovely mother is talking to me…what is that? Ah yes…your Mama says you have outlived your sisters. They are on this side watching you too. Your Mama is so proud of you. She says you are a very good cat…what’s that? Muffin says hello. She says she really likes Duchess and Butch. Yes Muffin…yes…okay I’ll tell her...Muffin says that Duchess is a good friend for you. Wait… now Chipper has something to say…evidently you met her daughter?”
“Yes! She stopped by to say hello a while ago. It was almost like seeing Chipper again.”
Belinda listened to another animal. “Thomas sends his love, Thisbe.”
Thisbe smiled “I love you too, Thomas.”
Arturo and Belinda stayed a little while longer then said goodbye. I was sad to see them leave but happy that they stopped in for a short visit.
That evening, Ana came home and brought a new person to the house. As she entered, Ana called out “Hello Thisbe, I’m home. I brought a friend home. I met him at the Renaissance Festival and we’re going out to dinner. His name is Ian.”
I stretched and walked over to greet this new person. He was very tall and slender. He had a lot of hair on his face but not much on his head and had very blue eyes like Arturo. I have never seen a human with no hair on his head but so much on his face.
“Hi, little kitty.” He reached down and gently picked me up. Holding me close to his chest he said, “She’s adorable, Ana. What’s her name again?”
Ana had run into the bedroom. She called out “Her name is Thisbe. She’s the best cat.”
Ian stroked my back and rubbed my ears, “Well, Thisbe, my name is Ian. Glad to make your acquaintance.”
He gently placed me back on the floor and stared at Ana as she walked into the dining room, “Wow, what a beauty! Where are we going?”
“Thanks. What do you feel like eating?” smiled Ana.
“I don’t care, you pick. I don’t know the area. Let’s go, I don’t know about you but I’m famished.”
Ana laughed, “Me, too! Thisbe is fine. She’s got plenty of food. Let’s go eat. There is a great new place that just opened. They claim to have the best brick-oven pizza in the area. I’ve been dying to try them out. Bye, Thisbe, I love you. See you later.” Ana closed the door.
I listened to the car crunch out of the driveway. He seems like a nice person. I have never seen Ana with a mate. Peter is just a friend. He doesn’t seem like a mate. He’s not like Belinda and Arturo. Robbie is just a friend, also. Maybe Ian will be Ana’s mate. Ah mates…I wish Thomas was here. I miss you, my dear Thomas. I went back to my furry rug, curled up and went to sleep dreaming of my old days with Thomas.
The next day, Ana went out with Ian again for dinner. That night Ian stayed at the house. The next day Ana went to work and Ian stayed at the house. He read some books and made dinner for Ana that night. Again he stayed. The next day Ana and Ian left and Ana came back alone. That night Ana and I were alone, sitting in front of the fireplace. She held me close and said, “Thisbe, I think I’m in love with Ian. It’s like we’ve been together before in another lifetime. I hope you don’t mind but I have asked him to move in with us. I think we might even get married. I know it’s such a short time but we’ve never felt like this with anyone before in our lives. I do believe in love at first sight.”
In a few days Ian moved in. Ana worked all day at her job but would come home in the evening. Ian worked at the Renaissance Festival, which was only for two days of the week, so he was home a lot. He always made dinner for Ana and they spent a lot of
time together. I was happy for Ana. During the days, while Ana was at work, I spent time with Ian. Lying on his lap one afternoon, I thought I love his company. He is very quiet. Ian sat and read in Belinda’s favorite chair or wrote at Ana’s big desk. I like sitting on his lap. When Ana would come home from work, Ian always had dinner prepared and my food ready in my bowl. I like this new housemate, Ian. He’s a nice man and I guess Ana really likes him too!
One day, Ian and Ana left together leaving me home alone. I wanted to go out and visit with Butch but missed my opportunity when Ana left. Disappointed, I jumped up onto the windowsill to at least watch the activity in the front yard. Oh no! There’s Mooch slinking around under the trees. He’s watching the birds above his head. I banged the window as hard as I could and tried to make some noise to warn the birds. I don’t want that cat catching any of the birds. Mooch heard me and glanced toward the window temporarily breaking his concentration. The birds noticed the cat under the tree and flew to the house roof far away from Mooch’s grasp.
Mooch angrily hissed at me in the window and slowly walked back to his yard.
Satisfied that Mooch was far from my yard, I curled up on the bench and fell asleep.
I heard Ana’s key in the lock. Ana entered followed by Ian. She turned to him and said, “Just put Blanca down in the living room. She and Thisbe need to get acquainted. I’ll fix them some dinner.”
She went into the kitchen while Ian placed a large white cat down on the floor. She sort of looked like Mooch. She had a black streak on her head but her tail was very short. I had never seen a cat with such a short tail. She looked rather lost. She glanced around. I leapt down from the bench and wandered over to the new cat.
“Hello! My name is Thisbe. I heard your name is Blanca? Welcome to the house. Are you going to live here or are you just visiting?”
“Hi Thisbe, I think I’m going to live here. That woman found me out back of a building looking for something to eat. I was so hungry. She and this man fed me then took me someplace they called “the vets”. I can’t remember much.”
I was very curious, “What do you remember?”
Blanca thought a moment and said, “Well…I remember a house…with lots of people and other cats… and I remember being in something that moved… but I can’t remember anything else. I know I like this man, Ian. I jumped on his lap and told him my name and he HEARD me! Thisbe, he HEARD me because he told Ana that my name was Blanca and asked if he could bring me home! I didn’t know humans can hear us talk. No one has ever heard me talk to them. They fed me pieces of meat from their food. I knew I liked that meat and remember eating it before….but I can’t remember much else.”
I thought Poor Blanca. She must have been really hurt to forget her life. She seems to be a nice cat. I wonder how old she is. She looks young.
I said, “Well, Blanca, it looks like I’m going to have a new housemate. Our family has grown this year. We have Ian and now a new cat. We’re one big family now. I like a big family. It’s been Ana and me for so long. Before that it was just Belinda and me. It looks like Ana has our dinner ready. Let’s go eat.”
After dinner, Ana and Ian settled in for a quiet evening in front of the fire. I shared my favorite black furry rug with Blanca. I wanted to get to know her a little better.
“I love this rug, Blanca. It’s very warm in the winter. You’re welcome to share it with me. Tell me more about your life. Maybe your memories will come back to you.”
Blanca curled up on the rug and said, “You know, Thisbe, I’m sure I must have had a life before but I look at this as a new start. This is my life now. The doctor told Ian that I am about three years old, so I must have had some life before…oh wait…I just remembered falling out of the thing they called a…a…what was it…oh a truck…the people I lived with would take all the cats and dogs for a ride…I think I fell out of the truck. I don’t remember anything after that except that my head hurt a lot and that I was very hungry. I like Ana and Ian. I’d like to live with them for a long time. How long have you been with them?”
I laughed, “Oh I have been around a long, long time, Blanca. I met Ana sixteen years ago and we have lived in many places. I used to live here with Belinda. Then I went to live with Ana again and then we came back here. We’re going to have lots of time together and I have lots of stories to tell you.”
Blanca was amazed and in awe, “WOW! Sixteen years!! I hope to live sixteen years! I can’t wait to hear your stories! I know where we eat but where do we sleep? Here?”
I laughed again, “Oh no! I sleep on the bed right next to Ana. Ian also sleeps in the bed with us. I suppose you can share the bed too. It’ll be crowded with the four of us in it!”
The evening ended with the fire dying out. Ana and Ian got up and started to walk toward the bedroom. They called out to us cats, “Come on, kids, time to hit the hay.” We all settled into the cozy bed for the night.