A Case of Cat and Mouse by Sofie Kelly

Author:Sofie Kelly [Kelly, Sofie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 11

I drove out to Wisteria Hill early Sunday morning. I’d had to drag myself out of bed. It had been a long week.

Roma had decided early in the morning was the best time to move the cat colony. For the past several weeks she had been slowly moving their feeding station, which was at the back of the carriage house, over to the door, literally a few inches at a time. I had helped her as often as I could. The first couple of times Lucy had looked perplexed, but noticed after carefully checking out the food and the water she’d eaten, the others had followed her lead.

Today, for the first time, the feeding station was in the doorway of the cats’ new home. Eddie had done an excellent job on the twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot shed. It was insulated, with a roof that didn’t leak and new shelters for each cat made from plastic storage bins by Rebecca, Ella King and Harry’s daughter, Mariah.

I was surprised by the knot of anxiety that lay in my stomach like I’d swallowed a large rock. This was such a big change for the cats. What if they didn’t like their new home? What if they all just disappeared? We’d never be able to find them again. And I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to rehome Smokey at the clinic, at least not now. The colony was his family. Just because he was old didn’t mean there wasn’t a place for him.

Roma had asked me if I would put out the cats’ food and water for the first time.

“Of course I will,” I’d said at once. Lucy trusted me as much as she trusted anyone, and Roma hoped the cat would accept the change more easily if she saw me.

Roma and Eddie stayed across the driveway as I headed for the carriage house with the food, the dishes and two jugs of water. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest and I knew she was probably as apprehensive as I was.

I propped the side door of the carriage house open and then went over to the new building. That door was wedged open as well and the feeding station was set up in the doorway. Eventually it would be moved farther inside. Eddie had built a small flap in the larger door so the cats could come and go as they pleased. There was a partial wall dividing the shelter area from the rest of the space so the cats would feel secure. The shelters themselves were up on a long shelf about waist height. There was a small step about halfway between the floor and the top of the platform so the cats could easily get up and down. I knew even Smokey could navigate the distance if I could just come up with a way to convince Roma that he needed to stay.

The building was sheltered by a clump of evergreen trees and some other bushes, which Eddie felt would mitigate the extremes of both the summer and the winter temperatures.

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