Thursday, December 11, 2008

Oh brother, where art thou?

This morning She got up too early and fed us and to Her it seemed there were not quite enough and at first She thought it was me, Pixie, missing. She cannot count very well and gets confused now there are six of us. But no, Pixie was there. Later She realized that She had not seen Maurice all day. Maurice who jumps into Her arms, mostly when She is expecting it, but sometimes when She is not. No Maurice, and it is cold outside. By supper he was still not back and though a line of ginger curled along the sofa, none was him.
So when we walked around the village before bed we called. And She was worried. He never stayed out all day, never missed food.
The moon was so so bright, silvered cloud, deep dark shadows. The night before dawn this morning was as dark as could be. Moon had set. The earth was waiting for sunlight. Tonight it is splendid in the silver light of the moon.
Still no Maurice, and then there he was, on the path, tail high in the moonlight, and into Her arms he jumped and She hugged him, so close.
Seems that he was just keeping company with Mr Griffiths in the small white cottage next door. And Glyn always has a bowl of catfood for a hungry cat.

11 comments:

quiltcat said...

oh what a relief...i was reading with great anxiety. Thank goodness he was just doing a good deed by visiting Mr Griffiths.

Jackie Morris said...

It happens, just now and again, that one will not come back for hours. They are seldom away for a whole day. I think Maurice would have stayed with Glyn all night last night if I had not been worried and called him.
And I do worry about Glyn too. His house looks beautiful, but has no heating more than a n electric storage heater. He no longer lights fires in the chimney fawr, which is just as well as it if full to the brim with twisted twigs from the nests of jackdaws. When it gets colder his hands look blue sometimes.
He loves cats.

Griffin said...

I can imagine his face too... what's all the fuss for? Cheeky article!

Two Pixies sounds good tho'.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh! What a lovely happy cuddly ending!x

Celia Hart said...

It's fun to disappear for a while - I do that! I'm never far away but she gets so worried.
Then I skip home and let her hug me ;-) it keeps her happy!

The Tabby studio assistant
x

billie said...

So glad he was not far away after all!

Dickens E. Wickens, our tuxedo, does this to us now and then. One time I found him curled in a ball in the woods' edge by our house, just watching and listening to us frantically search for him.

Anonymous said...

mmmm..isn't this where one of the Gingers went awhile ago?

I would start charging rent for "purr" companionship.

Glad he is back in your arms....

Anonymous said...

And Maurice probably has no concept that humans might consider his behaviour "naughty" . Why scold a cat?

Jackie Morris said...

Indeed Maurice was not naughty. My animals show more care to my neighbour than I do. Rosie ran around to Mr Griffith's today and I found her talking to him in his garden. He looked well, but said he had had a few bad days. He suffers from glaucoma amongst other things. I asked if Maurice had been with him yesterday and he said that yes, one of the cats was there, for most of the day. And then I felt guilty for worrying and for calling Maurice in the late evening, which brought him away from Glyn, who loves the company of cats. I should have known that he was safe, and trusted that he was doing what needed to be done.
The cats are so much kinder than me. Apart from when it comes to mice.

ChrisJ said...

My oldest son's name is Glyn -- a good Welsh name. My youngest is Owen. And when you couple these names with Jones, you know we have good Welsh stock in us.

So glad Max came back. It's very worrying when they are out in the big wide world even though Glyn was keeping hime company..

Anonymous said...

I see, no naughtiness there at all. Perhaps Maurice has chosen to be your delegate.