Great Aunt Tillie And Her Underground F.P.O.

 Belle had put on her F.P.O. bonnet so that her great aunt Tillie would know that she was coming on a mission. The humans were dumping cats and dogs on the Double D. Something had to be done and her great aunt was in charge of the F.P.O. in this district. It was affiliated with the D.P.S. in Oklahoma for dogs. She was an honorary member because of her excellent service to both dogs and cats. It had been a long time since she had visited Aunt Tillie. She was a bit odd, but meant well and had served her feral felines with not only kindness, but with a passion that wouldn't end. She had hidden several of them in her own home. In Aunt Tillie's home there was an under ground training center for the abandoned and neglected cats that came looking for a handout. Some were mean, some had faces that showed the scars of street fights. They fought for survival which getting to food first no matter what. There was a separate room for a nursery for the baby kittens. Belle had traveled all day and found herself at the farm where her Great Aunt lived. She hid in the bushes and watched carefully for any dogs that might not take kindly to a strange cat on their land.

She found it safe to cross the driveway and entered in the hidden kitty door of the large home's basement. There was her aged aunt in her glory; teaching the feral cats to be gentle to humans, especially human children. It was a difficult lesson, but it looked like they were paying attention to the old feline.

Aunt Tillie squinted her eyes and said, "Who comes into my house without permission? Speak up! I can't hear as well as I used to. Oh, it's you my dear. Looks like to me from the bonnet that you are wearing that you are on a mission. You learned well from my sister's daughter. Yes, I will help you. Children, go to your separate rooms and wait for me. I may have a lesson for you to carry out soon. Remember stay out of the catnip jar. You may need to be on your toes. Also I want all of you to gather your mittens together. Hopefully none of you have lost your mittens. You know what happens if you have! You must wear them on your stakeout so that no paw prints are seen by those humans that are dumping animals on the Double D Ranch. Once we know who is doing it then we will establish a plan. We mean to stop this once and for all. Now get your rest. It will be a long and perhaps eventful night."

When Patches and Mouse got back to the room that they shared they had a long talk. "This could be a dangerous mission, you know. Some of us might get hurt or lost. Do you think we are ready without any kind of field experience? We have only been going to these classes for a short time. I'm thinking all kinds of bad things could happen." Mouse blinked at her companion with her beautiful eyes and said, "There's just a couple of things to remember. The first thing is very important. Get your gear together and those mittens better be clean and ready at the first call from the old teacher. Next; absolutely no catnip. I've seen you on that stuff. You just can't handle it. So nowhere no how do you get even a sniff of it. Next, remember when we go on these stakeouts you hide in the bushes so the humans can't see you. Tillie will tell us exactly what to do and where to hide. Now get some rest while you can."

There were two more kittens discussing the dangerous mission they were supposed to go on later that night. "I'm scared, Gus. I don't want to go. My human lady has me so spoiled that I didn't ever go outside until one day I got curious and slipped out the door when she went out. She shut the door and went to work and I couldn't get back in the house. Someone saw me and took me to their house. They had children that carried me around the neck. It hurt so I scratched them. They got mad at me and took me out in the country and threw me in a ditch. Do I have to go? What if I get lost again?"

"Matthew, it's going to be okay. Would you like me to talk to Tilly and see if you can help plan the field strategy. Didn't you say that your human taught you and Chanel how to read maps and to use a computer? I'll ask her if she could use your help. You probably will be better at office work anyway. Now get some rest. I'll take care of it for you."

Back in the main classroom Belle was beginning to feel boxed in. She had this bad feeling she might have taken on more than she could handle. She had no idea that all the cats in the house were new and had never been on a field trip before. Tillie was old; what if a human tried to snatch her? Would she be able to handle this without her help? Oh dear, what had she done. "I should have brought Carrie Belle with me. She's been on her own for a long time after being dumped on the ranch. She's got it good now. That lady, Allie is lovin' on her. Well, I guess I'd better get some rest too. Tonight might be a really busy one."

Josh was watching the trailer unload the white horse that belonged to Jean's daughter. His name was Shadow. He was pretty thin, but looked to have some energy. "I wonder what happened to that big guy? I have no idea why the horse was sold or who bought him. He ended up at a rescue ranch in Oklahoma. I'm anxious to hear the story of where, how, who, and why any horse from the Double D would be sold. This is a real mystery, but thankfully he is back where he belongs. I sure hope Dad didn't have anything to do with this. I can't imagine why he would except for money. That was his big aim in life. Money was the answer to all his questions; especially other people's money."

As Josh walked out towards the small field that Shadow was being taken, he noticed some of the hands talking quietly to him and calmly telling him how handsome he was. One little boy was watching the horse shy away from the hands. They walked away and continued to talk just to the horse. The young boy looked familiar to Josh. Then he recognized him. He was the son of the head ranch hand on the Double D. He was learning by watching. His dad also was watching Caydon.  "So far so good, my boy. Just stay on the fence and be ever so quiet just like I've taught you. You are a natural with horses. I wonder where your future will lead you. Whatever it may be you will do great things; I'm sure of it."

As he walked closer to the corral he noticed the cat that Allie had been coddling walking slowly through the tall grass. She looked like she was on a hunt for a fat mouse. He grinned for a second but forgot about the cat, the horse and everything but the meeting he was going to have in town in a few minutes. He and Justin had a lot to talk about; a lot.