Chapter Six

It seemed we walked forever.  I was starting to get tired and sleepy, and well, tired.

“I need to rest, Hobbie.  I’m tired. Ever so tired.”

“Me too, TLC.  Let’s curl up over here under this Rabbit Brush hollow.  Things will look much better in the daylight.”

So, we did just that, curling up in a hole that was already perfect for a kitty body to sleep in.  Hobbie lay a little way away from me, and I took a spot closer to the base of the Rabbit Brush.

It was just as we were drifting off to sleep when SUDDENLY another cat came into our den!  A black and white tuxedo cat!

“YEOWL”

Hobbie and I jumped up, ready to put paws to the dirt and get out of there. But the opening was full of CAT!

“Who are you?” Tuxedo demanded.  “What are you doing in my hollow?”

Hobbie sat down and stared at Tuxedo. “Harlequin? Is that you?  I’m Yellow, remember me?”

“Yellow! You are back here?  You vanished one day.  I couldn’t figure out where you went. You’re back?”

“Just for a little while, Harlequin.  I have a home now, all the food I want to eat, a house to go inside and get cooled down, and a soft bed to sleep on.  I also have a new name. One I really rather like –Mellow Yellow, Mr. Hobbs.  Or Hobbie as I am generally called.”

“Okay,” Harlequin puzzled.  “A real home!  With real food.  Who is this you have with you?”

“This is TLC Cai-Cai, known to everyone as TLC.  He is my new fur brother.”

“Pleased to meet you, TLC”, Harlequin softly replied.  Looking right at me.

“So, okay, you are back, but why?”

“Dogs! A pack of 6 or more dogs running around on the farm, causing untold damage to the farm and all the wildlife living up here.” Hobbie explained.

“We also lost our dog, Boo Berry.  She was with us, then she wasn’t.  Now we not only have to figure out the pack of dogs, but we also have to find our Dog Brother.”  I explained.

‘I can tell you the pack of dogs is gone.” Harlequin announced.  A bunch of coyotes came up over Coyote Hill, saw the dogs and took off chasing them, from there to clear past the dark forest, to way over there beyond somewhere.”  Harlequin started giving herself a good wash down before nap time.

“I think, now. Before we find your Fur Brother, we all need to clean up, take a nap until we recover from our wandering this night.” Harlequin finished washing her back leg, curled up in a ball, and promptly fell asleep.

Hobbie and I looked at each other, finished out baths, curled up and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Chapter Five

“Oh!!! It’s scary out here.  How did you manage, Hobbie?”

“I hid a lot.  Then, gradually over time, I started to make friends.”

“Friends!!!”

“Yeah,

Deer are good friends.

Raccoons are hilarious and know how the whole farm works.

Skunk is nice, but a bit hard to be around. I learned the hard way about Skunk.

Then there is porcupine—that one has a short, short fuse and can reach out and swat you in a flash.

Lots of friends, TLC, that’s how you make it.”

Hobbs looked at me and started walking down the point of the Rocky Hill.

Down the road, we just walked up.