A Paw-sible Theory

“Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat.”

––Mark Twain

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: One of a Kind

She had nothing to do but wait. The hands on the antique mantle clock didn’t seem to be moving fast enough. Hunter had called early that morning and told her that the judge had signed the release papers.

“It looks like I’ll have to bring that clock to the repair shop,” she said with a heavy sigh.

Sitting innocently at her feet, I looked up and gave her a short meow.

“You’re right, Murfy; there’s nothing wrong with the clock. I’m anxious, is all,” she admitted, “I can’t wait for Ethan to get home. Thanks to you, David is on his way to the County Branch jail right now to pick him up.”

She smiled, probably thinking that anyone hearing her talking to her pet would think she’d lost her mind, but if that’s the case, there’s lots of crazy folks out there.

When finally, Ethan walked in, we were all so happy to see the radiant smile on Alyx’s face that Misty didn’t even pester Ethan for cat treats. We were totally surprised when he pulled out our favorite from his pocket.

The following day was Alyx’s first official day back to work; I followed her to the two-year old truck, jumped in when she opened the door and wedged myself under the passenger seat.

“Come on, Murfy; I have to get to work. Maggie needs me,” she said, grabbing my back foot and gently tugging. I’d wrapped my paws around something solid under there and I held on tight. She pulled and I protested loudly.

“Okay, cat, you win, but you won’t have the run of the place like you think you will. I don’t want to worry about you running out every time someone comes in or goes out.”

I knew what that meant. A few minutes later, she came back out from the house, loaded with necessities, including the much-hated harness and leash. I hissed, she laughed, my roommates watched from the house, horrified.

“Hey, don’t hiss at me––it was your idea to come, remember?”

It was a short ride to Antiques & Designs, and I was only slightly hyperventilating. Alyx had called on the way, and Maggie was waiting for us at the back door.

“Since we have another half-hour before we open, let’s leave Murfy free to explore the store. It’s been a long time since he was here last. It will give him a chance to get reacquainted with the surroundings, and then I’ll put the harness and leash on him.”

“That should be fun,” Maggie said, laughing “If I remember right, you didn’t have him on a leash the last time he was here.”

“That was because the store was closed––as it is now. I’ll take it off when I’m sure he’ll stay put without it.”

“Did he ever let you put him on a leash before?”

“When we first moved in and before I had the back porch screened. He gave me a hard time at first, but as smart as he is, he quickly figured out that if he wanted to be outside, he would have to be on a lead. I only had to do that a couple of times, and then he just started to stay close and I let him free.

“I remembered that was also the first time he met Smooch, the Pomeranian next door––his first encounter with a dog. Murfy was exploring the bushes a few feet away from me, and without any warning, Smooch came charging across the lawn barking raucously, as small dogs often do. The dog meant business, and I feared for Murfy’s safety and mine.

“Murfy is roughly the same size as the dog, but when he puffed out his fur, he look twice as big. He strutted towards the dog, ready to rumble. Smooch stopped in his tracks, turned and went running back to his home, his tail tucked between his legs. He had obviously had other encounters with cats and had learned his lesson. Murfy held his position until the dog left his territory, then swaggered back, and nonchalantly draped himself across my feet.”

I remembered that day as well. My mother didn’t have time to teach me much, but the first thing she taught me was that although it’s not true that dogs and cats are natural enemies, some dogs do hate us just because we’re cats and will attack on sight. She said our claws gave us the advantage, and I needed to be judicious about using them. Well, I didn’t have claws, so I bluffed. Smooch is a simple dog and was just as scared to get into a fight as I was and it had worked.

Closely observed by Maggie, I cautiously set off to investigate the store with a sniff here, a taste there––rubbing against some pieces of furniture to mark them mine, while gingerly touching other things with my paws in order to determine if they were friend or foe.

“You know, Alyx,” said Maggie, “it might be fun to have him around. He lends an air of hominess to the place, don’t you agree?”

“I do. It will be interesting to see how our customers react,” she answered as they both went about the business of getting ready for the day.