‘She’s such a pretty cat, but I don’t think she wants to go with us,’ the lady said to Penny. I watched the ginger cat next to me, who was meowing loudly and scrabbling at the bars, looking up at the two people adoringly.
‘He’s too old, really.’
‘And he’s a tomcat.’
‘But he loves you,’ said Penny. ‘Look at him, poor luvvy, he’s been in that pen all summer. And he’s got oodles of love to give.’
The ginger cat eventually got what he wanted. He made a fuss of the two people, and ran into the cat basket with his tail up. As they carried him away, he was kissing the bars and purring, and his eyes danced at me joyfully. I felt so lonely.
It got harder and harder as the days rolled by, and other cats came and went in the pens next to me. It got harder every time I saw one being taken home with‘nice people’. I wanted my freedom. I didn’t want to get depressed again. No, I had come to this planet for a reason. I’d used up one of my nine lives and wasted my time with Gretel.
I seriously considered going with someone who wanted me, and then escaping, following the river back to TammyLee. My angel said no.
‘Wait,’ she kept telling me.
Penny told me she’d put my picture in the paper for a second time, and then something totally unexpected happened.
People didn’t normally come in the mornings, so I was dozing in the sun, stretched out in the chair. I was used to hearing Penny’s voice as she bustled around the cat pens, and I was so sleepy and comfortable that I didn’t bother to open my eyes when I heard the click of the farm gate being opened.
Penny was patiently explaining something to someone who didn’t want to listen.
‘But I saw her in the paper. I know it’s the right cat.’
‘I understand that, my luvvy,’ Penny was saying. ‘But I can’t allow you to take her today.’
‘But why not? It’s a perfectly good home for a cat. We’ve got a big garden. I’ve looked after lots of cats.’
‘This is the Cat Protection League,’ insisted Penny. ‘And we don’t home any of our cats until we’ve inspected the home they’re going to.’
‘You sound like you don’t trust me.’
‘Well, I don’t know you, do I? I’m only doing my job, dear.’
‘I thought you wanted a home for this cat.’
‘Of course we do.’
‘So I’m not good enough. Is that it?’
‘I’m sure you are, dear. I just need to make sure – for the cat’s sake.’
‘I mean, what d’you think I’m gonna DO to her, for goodness’ sake?’
‘I’m sure you’ll be fine, dear – but please.’
‘Oh, yeah, yeah, I know.’ The voice was getting higher and higher, even though Penny was keeping calm. There was something in the girl’s voice that struck a chord in my memory. I’d been running along the top of a wall on a moonlit night. So much had happened to me since that night. It washard to remember.
The footsteps and voices were coming nearer, walking down the side of the house. Soon, they would be round the corner and coming to the cat pens.
‘Well, surely, I can at least LOOK at the cat,’ came the girl’s voice, and with it came a distinctive jingling sound that jogged my memory further. Bangles. An arm with gold and silver bangles on it.
By now, I was wide awake and sitting up in the chair. Penny knew I usually turned my back on people, not because I was rude, but because they weren’t the right people for me. But this girl who was arguing so loudly with Penny – could it be … could it be HER?
I tensed expectantly as they came round the corner together. When I saw the girl’s aura of bright turquoise and lemon, I knew.
It was HER! My TammyLee!
I sailed down from the chair and ran across the pen with my tail flying like a plume. I flung myself at the fence and scrabbled with my paws, and meowed so loudly that it echoed off the stone walls of the farm. I wasn’t going to make a mistake this time. My TammyLee had come for me. She’d found me. She wanted me.
I weaved from side to side as I waited for them to open the gates and come in.
‘Well, well, well!’ said Penny, and she reached down to pick me up, but I twisted away from her and stared up at TammyLee with my golden eyes.
She gasped, and held out her arms. I leaped straight up and she caught me, her bangles jingling and tinkling. She looked into my soul with eyes that were green as clover leaves. And then she whispered to me:
‘Magic puss cat.’
I purred and purred, and kissed her beautiful face. I patted the gold bead in the side of her nose. I searched those green, green eyes, past the brightness, and saw that the deep pain of losing Rocky was still there. It would be there for ever. But I was here now, and I was going to love her.
‘Well … I’m speechless,’ said Penny.
TammyLee gazed and gazed at me, and a smudgy-looking tear rolled down her face. I licked it from her cheek, which was like a pale piece of velvet.
‘It is you,’ she whispered to me. ‘I knew when I saw your photo in the paper. I knew it was you. Magic puss cat.’