Ms. Kate Does Not Take Kindly To Strangers

 Ms. Kate was angry. She really didn't know why she was, but she was. She felt like her life was slipping by and had nothing to show for the five years she had lived on this farm. She had had no adventures, no fun, no nothing. She even had all of her nine lives left! No one in her family had ever had such a dull life. She had listened to stories of her mother telling of her and her aunt's fun during their lives and felt so sorry for herself. She had no clue where her mother was now; probably out having fun somewhere. 

She laid down on the comfortable sofa in the humans' living room. "Well, this is a plus. At least I have somewhere warm and comfortable to live, but that's all. I've had several cat naps today and there was not a one of them that had a friend in it. I have never ever had a friend! When I get sad I have no one to tell. When I want to share my hopes and dreams to a friend there is no one. I'm so very lonely. What a sad life I've had. The lady that lives here has a friend. Her name is Grandma Lu. I heard her talking about seeing the camper uptown and that they must be going on vacation. Vacation. What would that be like? I would love to see something or somewhere new. Grandma Lu lives just down the road. I wonder if they would take me along. It would be such fun! I've never had any fun."

Just then she heard one of the young people say they were going to town and meet some friends for a burger and fries. She didn't know what that was, but she was going to tag along. She'd have to be careful not to be seen. "That's the easy part. No one ever notices me anyway. Gray fur, yuk! Why couldn't I have been born a beautiful calico cat? They are so beautiful, but of course, they let you know it too. I can remember one time...Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in here? Get out! This is my couch!"

"Calm down old lady. My name is Rowdy. I've traveled a long ways and I am tired, so move over. Have you got a soft blanket or something? I'm cold and my paws are about shot. What's your name anyway? Come on! Get over!"

"I'll have you know my name is Ms. Kate and this is my home. We do not take kindly to strangers especially ones that mew like they don't even live in these parts. Where did you come from, anyway? And don't you think for a minute that I will share my food with you. I have my own dish and nobody touches it but me. I think it's time for you to scat, cat!"

"Ms.? Oh so you are single? Do you have any kittens around here? Never been married or had kits? I'm so very happy to hear this; me either. I'll tell you what, if you get me some food (some mouse pie would be nice especially if it's warm), and a place where I can rest for awhile you can go with me. I'm on my way to Texas."

"The audacity of you inviting yourself into not only my home but presuming that I will treat you as a welcome guest. I have not had any mouse pie since I was a very young kitten. Plus go away with you? You yourself said your paws were shot. How on earth would we travel hundreds of miles to Texas?"

"Just up the road a few minutes ago I saw a cat jump into a camper that an old man had hooked up to his truck. You can't ever tell. He might be going our way. Let's give it a try. We can find some food on the way. I know that campers have furniture in them that is soft. I traveled in one part way here. Come on! Life's too short not to have an adventure. Well? What do you say? How many lives have you used up? None? You are young yet, live a little, girl!"

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Addison was trapped in a fishing net. She had worked herself out of the mountains of pillows on the bed in the camper, but now how was she going to get out of this predicament? The human yelled at her for making him sneeze and went out the door and left her to fend for herself. Addison remembered all of the things that had happened to her in her life and decided to take a deep breath and relax. The ribs that she had broken when she fell from that big tree hurt when she took big deep breaths. What she needed was a plan. She had her two front paws caught in the net, but her back paws were free and she was able to breathe small breaths. If she just had a little help she could make it. Then she noticed that the human had not completely shut the door. She laid there looking at the sunbeams bouncing off the wall. Where there was a will there was a way. She mewed softly, but loud enough for someone to hear.

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"K.R. watched from behind their house as his step sister and her husband put things in the back seat of the pickup. He had a plan. Lu and her husband thought they were just going fishing so they could enjoy themselves. Ha! No they were going to Texas and he would finally get his hands on the silver mine at the Double D. He deserved it. Yes, he was old, but that didn't matter. He could spend money in his seventies just as well as he could have in his forties. Yes. He was going to be rich and Lu was going to see that his dreams were going to come true..

A Cat Of Many Names Was Using Up Her Nine Lives

 He smiled as he thought about his wife. She loved to go camping, but she took everything but the kitchen sink with her. One time she even took an iron. As he pulled into the yard he saw her waving at him. "I can't believe it. She's actually ready. She must be ready for a little quiet time. I'm glad that it's only for three days though because I really can't miss my physical therapy. I can already tell the difference a little exercise makes in my hip. Okay I'm coming. I'm coming. Good grief it's not like I've been gone for two hours."

He got out of the camper and said, "Hey, what's your hurry? Alright, just let me put my fishing poles away. I got a new fish net too. I'll put that stuff under the bed. The tackle box is under the trailer like always."

"No, just throw them on the bed and let's get out of here. Have you thought about where to go? Did you get some cash? Good. Let's just go to the other side of the lake. We've never camped there before. We have some friends over there. Maybe give them a call. They can come over for a bbq. What do you think?"

He thought that sounded like a good idea. He wasn't in for a long trip since he hurt his back. "Sounds good to me. I'll just throw this stuff in the back and we will be on our way."

She was a cat of many names, but Addison, as her last human called her quickly jumped off the bed and hid lest she be found. She was ready for an adventure, not be kicked out like yesterday's trash as so often had happened to her in her life. The little girl, Regan, and her mother had saved her from an early death. She had always wanted a rush, a thrill, a death defying adventure and she had found several throughout the years. The last one though about finished her off. She thought that she could jump from the rooftop of a really high building to the branch of a tree and she missed! "I nearly broke every bone in my body and probably used up about seven of my nine lives that day. Good thing that lady found me or I would have been a goner. Actually a good thing the veterinarian she took me to told her how to take care of me and told her that I should live a long good life."

"It was a great place to live, good food, but the petting and the other cats! Meow! I just couldn't take the day after day of purring and making them think I was happy. No! I just had to leave. The little girl still has the other cats. It's good that I left before she started to love me. I just can't have that. Love means being committed to staying in once place. No, not for me." 

She jumped back up onto the bed. She stretched and yawned soon to be sound asleep. She had only closed her eyes for a few seconds. She listened and felt the camper moving. "Oh good. Back to my comfy home for awhile. Oh this bed is so comfortable I think the swaying and moving is making me sleepy again. While she waited to fall asleep she thought of all the things that she had been through over the years. Oh the fun I have had but don't forget the bad times. There were many. That one little girl that carried me around by my neck almost finished me off, and once I got caught in a blizzard and had to room with a squirrel in it's home in a tree to survive. Talk about cold. I almost froze to death. I still can smell those acorns. Yuk! Not for me. Give me a good old fish, maybe a sardine or some tuna fish. Makes me hungry just to think about it."

"Oh the memories, she purred. I had a friend once that was a dog. I still can't believe that that dog didn't eat me alive. He was huge! I can't remember his name for sure; maybe Rex. He was looking out his window and saw me outside in his yard. He went out the first chance he got and told me that his humans were making jerky and he was sure that I would like it. He had sneaked me out a piece of it. Not my favorite. Fish is my favorite, so I thanked him and made my way to the nearby lake. It was quite the journey. Just think if I had a permanent home I would never have made friends with a Great Dane. I felt bad about leaving that big guy, but he had two little girls. That was no place for me.

Yup I just have a feeling I'm on to another adventure. I just don't know what. Probably not too exciting. These people are old."

Addison heard a familiar sound; a sneeze as humans called it. "No! Not again! There just seems to be something about me that makes humans sneeze, but there was no human in this little house on wheels. Suddenly her bed started to raise up in the air. She felt herself being flipped to the top of the bed and all those comfy pillows were now falling all over her. She was being buried alive by the pillows. A net of some kind had her trapped! Surely this was not her eighth or nineth life! What was happening?"

K.R. Might Be Allergic To Cats!

 The girls were anxious to get to school to see everyone's costumes for the one hundred days of school celebration. The teachers had told everyone that they could dress up like old people do if they wanted to. They had told their parents and each were wearing gray wigs and glasses on chains. Regan was using a cane and Emma was carrying a handbag like she had seen older ladies use. They complimented each other on how old they looked and giggled as they walked.

As they continued on their way they saw a camper parked at the bank across the street. "Isn't that Grandma Lu's husband getting money out of the ATM? Looks like they are going on vacation. Mom usually takes care of their dog when they are gone, but she didn't say anything to me."

"I don't think that is Grandma Lu in the camper, Regan. I think that's a man in there. I just saw his head in the window. I wonder who that is and where did he go? I don't see him now."

Emma giggled and said, "Well, why don't we cross the street and find out? We still have plenty of time to get to school before the bell rings." Regan shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay, but look both ways and we have to make it quick. We don't want to be late on a special day like today. I had better send my cat home. She doesn't belong in school without permission."

She told her cat to scat and both girls watched as the cat started back towards home. Then they looked both ways and made their way to the bank's ATM to talk to Grandma Lu's husband. Emma thought she heard something in the camper and jumped a little bit. Regan said, "Hi! Are you and Grandma Lu going on vacation? Where are you going? How long are you going to be gone? Who's in the camper now? Is Grandma Lu in there? Can we quick say hi to her? Oh, really?  We sure thought we saw and heard someone in there. Oh well, okay then. We'd better hurry. Glad you like our outfits. Do we look old? Have a good time and tell Grandma Lu we will send her some pictures of the one hundred days of school. Maybe she can use them in her stories. Bye!" And they were on their way...

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"Nosy little girls. They act just like my nosy next door neighbors used to. Made me stub my toe. Ouch, it hurts and now I'm going to have to get back under the bed. He'd better hurry up and get back home to pick up Lu so we can get on the highway and I can quit hiding. I need to get to Texas to claim my share of that ranch and start digging out the silver I know is still in that mine."

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"I wonder what those little girls saw or thought they saw in the camper. Maybe I should just check it out while I'm in town close to a gas station. Could be something fell out of the fridge. I'd better check and make sure I have everything tied down and secure before we take off. I do need to put my fishing poles under the bed before we take off. First thing I'm going to do is stop and get some bait and put in the fridge. That always get's the old girl's goat. I do it just on purpose. Love to hear her yell." He chuckled to himself as he opened up the door and walked through the camper. Everything was as it should be. He closed the door and walked to the truck and didn't realize that he had closed the door on Regan's cat, Addison, who was sleeping on the bed in the back of the camper.

K.R.'s nose was tingling. "Oh I can't sneeze now, he thought. I can still hear him out there going through stuff. What is he doing?" He put his finger under his nose and pushed really hard. "Boy, that was a close one. I almost sneezed and gave myself away. Come on old man. Let's get this show on the road. Achoo!"

Fran thought he heard something just as he closed and locked the back camper door. "I must be hearing things. Those girls put the idea in my head there was someone in there." He shook his head and started the truck. He stopped at the closest bait shop, picked up a new net that he'd been meaning to buy for some time and a package of worms. Soon he was pulling in the driveway to pick up his wife and whatever she had to put in the camper. He grinned. He could see it all now. A big old catfish, a campfire, and a sky bright with stars. His kind of heaven. 

K.R. Is Back!

 He had been inside the big house for over twenty years. Twenty one years and forty four days to be exact. For each and every one of those years he thought about this moment. The moment that he would at last get even with that woman he called his sister. She was no more sister to him than the old guy that was in the cell next to him for over ten of those years. He couldn't believe his luck when the old guy said he knew Lu; the woman he had lived with for most of his younger years; his stepsister. Oh she'd be up there in years by now, but that didn't make any difference. He was going to have his day alright and today was the day. "I'll teach her not to answer my letters. Yessiree, bob. I'll make sure of that."

He was getting chilly and it was hard to see because the sun was shining so brightly. He wasn't used to being outdoors for very long at a time and surely wasn't used to sunshine. He stood behind the corner of the service station and watched the old guy. "I'm sure that's her husband. Looks like they are going somewhere. Nice camper. Doesn't look like the one sis and I grew up in. Ha! What a piece of junk if you could even call it junk. It had more duct tape to hold that thing together than nails. Makes no difference because today, sister dear I will make sure you do as I say and go where I want to go. I have made a plan that will make me rich and you are going to help me do it!"

He watched as the older man filled his truck with gas. "Hmm, got a credit card, do ya? Hope there's a big old wad of cash just waiting to be used. He saw the old man walk into the building. He nonchalantly walked closer to where the camper was parked. He tried the back door. His luck was changing already! The old man had left the back door open. "I know how these things are built. I lived in one long enough." He quickly climbed into the camper lifted up the bed and sure enough there was a large storage area under the mattress. He quickly grabbed one of a dozen pillows and took it with him under the bed. "Lu hasn't changed a bit. Always did have to hog the pillows if we were lucky enough to have some." He quickly moved the lawn chairs over and some extension cords to one side of the storage area. Would wonders never cease? There was an old heavy quilt under there too. This is going to be the easiest job I've ever had. "Good grief there must twenty rolls of toilet paper in here. She always was afraid we would run out when we were kids."

" I'll give it to her. She's living the good life now, but I want a piece of it."  He felt the camper rock and heard the old man open and close doors then he heard the outside door open and close. Soon they were moving. "Hmm, wonder where he's off to now. He opened the bed with his hands and tried to see outside, but the windows were frosted over. "Rats! I need to be able to see. He crawled to the front of the camper and peeked out the window. "An ATM! He's playing right into my hands. This is going to be a blast, but I'd better get to the back before I'm discovered. I'm not into laying on a hard floor, but this is worth it. I'm going to Texas and those two old fogies don't have a clue!"

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It was hard to keep from worrying about keeping things from her husband let alone from one of her very good friends, but no one needed to know about her past. She had a good life now with a good man. That rascal of a stepbrother was not going to ruin it. She pretended to fool B and her husband thought it was fun, but he had no idea that the envelope was real. She walked into her office and looked at the old spittoon. It was an antique alright. It belonged to her mother's grandfather. He had owned a saloon and a ranch in Texas. She had been told by her grandmother and her mother that the ranch at one time had had a mine on it. It had been played out years ago and the ranch had been sold. There was nothing left of that life that interested her. She knew nothing about horses or Texas. It was kind of fun writing her little stories about the Double D, but those little stories did keep those memories of K.R. alive.  She certainly didn't want a reminder of her life as a young girl and that dratted K.R. He was a con man with a capital C. He was in prison where he belonged. He was selling shares of the Double D Ranch to unknowing folks for lots of money then he ran like the coward that he was.

 The sheriff finally caught him with the help of an undercover agent and good riddance! He had extorted thousands of dollars from people and thought he could live the good life on the beach. Wrong, little brother. Why do I even call you that?! I do need a vacation. Fran can fish and I can write my little stories. Why do I let that man get me so riled up? I haven't seen him in over twenty years. Oh shoot, there's Fran and I don't have everything ready. "Coming, dear! Did you get some money and the truck all gassed up? Did you put some extra toilet paper in the back? I don't want to run out. Oh good. I'd better check back there just to make sure, though. You know you can be forgetful sometimes. Are you sure? Okay then just let me grab my handbag, my computer, my phone, a hat or two and some snacks. Oh you did? I hope you got me some chips too.  You know how I am with salty snacks. Nope, not going to cook on this trip. Unless you catch me some fish we are going to stop at little cafes along the way. They were putting things in the camper so they would be travel safe when Grandma Lu turned to her husband and said, "By the way, just where are we going? Do you have a plan?"

In the dark K.R. let out a deep breath and thought, "That was a close one. Always was afraid we'd run out of toilet paper. Can't blame the old girl. We did have it rough growing up. Then he grinned and thought, Well, old man it makes no difference if you have a plan; I certainly do. Now let's get this thing on the road it's getting hot in here."