Alice's ginger cat was a stray. It used to follow her. One day she visited a friend who lived in a house in the next road and the cat went missing.
She called at all the houses in the road and told them, "He's got discharging eyes and bandy legs, which sounds dreadful, but he's a lovely cat and we love him dearly."
She was nearly home when he jumped over a nearby fence. He was fat. He'd been fed.
Next door to Alice and Loudon was an elderly nurse who had a cat. Alice laughs: "She used to go the the front door and shout for her cat by name, 'Mikey!' "
"Over the road lived John Morgan's sister who also had a cat. She would ring a dinner gong for her cat. Sometimes the dinner times would coincide and you would hear one women calling her cat and the other woman ringing the gong."
So who had fed Alice's cat?
"We'll never know. Maybe the cat had sneaked in through a cat flap and stolen or shared another cat's food. Or maybe just looked hopeful, the way cats do."
I remember having lunch with Alice and a friend of hers. Looking out of the kitchen window at the back garden, I saw a cat approaching a bowl of food in a saucer on the ground outside.
I asked, "Is that your cat?"
"Yes," said Alice.
Her friend looked out and gasped, "That's my cat."
"He's my cat," insisted Alice. "He always comes here for lunch."
"Well I never," said her friend. "He always comes to me for dinner."
In late afternoon, Alice's friend's husband called to collect. "Thanks, Alice," she said. "I have to go home and cook my husband's dinner."
I didn't dare make any comment, for fear of causing embarrassment. But after she'd gone, I joked to Alice, "Is her husband that stray homeless man you've been feeding at lunchtime?"
She called at all the houses in the road and told them, "He's got discharging eyes and bandy legs, which sounds dreadful, but he's a lovely cat and we love him dearly."
She was nearly home when he jumped over a nearby fence. He was fat. He'd been fed.
Next door to Alice and Loudon was an elderly nurse who had a cat. Alice laughs: "She used to go the the front door and shout for her cat by name, 'Mikey!' "
"Over the road lived John Morgan's sister who also had a cat. She would ring a dinner gong for her cat. Sometimes the dinner times would coincide and you would hear one women calling her cat and the other woman ringing the gong."
So who had fed Alice's cat?
"We'll never know. Maybe the cat had sneaked in through a cat flap and stolen or shared another cat's food. Or maybe just looked hopeful, the way cats do."
I remember having lunch with Alice and a friend of hers. Looking out of the kitchen window at the back garden, I saw a cat approaching a bowl of food in a saucer on the ground outside.
I asked, "Is that your cat?"
"Yes," said Alice.
Her friend looked out and gasped, "That's my cat."
"He's my cat," insisted Alice. "He always comes here for lunch."
"Well I never," said her friend. "He always comes to me for dinner."
In late afternoon, Alice's friend's husband called to collect. "Thanks, Alice," she said. "I have to go home and cook my husband's dinner."
I didn't dare make any comment, for fear of causing embarrassment. But after she'd gone, I joked to Alice, "Is her husband that stray homeless man you've been feeding at lunchtime?"
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