Chapter Seven

I have been helping Mom and Dad.  They are cutting and hauling wood.

I go out and hang around while Dad runs that LOUD thing that cuts the logs.

Sometimes I jump on the big woodpile to see if any mice run out.

They don’t.

Then Mom and Dad haul the wood and I stay in the corrals.  There ARE mice in the corrals.

I was hanging out in the corrals searching here and there after Mom and Dad stopped for the day.

It was growing dark

I forgot about growing dark time.

When SUDDENLY out of nowhere

THE OWL CAME gliding down and lit right in front of me!

I FROZE

“STOP RIGHT THERE, CAT!!!  NOW!”

I stopped.

I was already stopped.

I was frozen.

There was no way I was going to move.

I was trying to move, but I couldn’t.

“I am not going to hurt you. Get that through your head.  I just want information.”

The owl fluffed her feathers this way and that, settling down right beside me.

“My name is Ruth!” the owl announced.  “Boomer was my very best dog friend.  We had lots of adventures together.  I want to know if the rumors I am hearing are true.”

I just stared at the Owl, Ruth.  My eyes must have been bigger than my face, my tongue was frozen in my mouth, I couldn’t talk.

“Come on, Cat. As soon as you tell me, I’m out of here.”

Yeah, right, and you grab me on the way out.  I thought to myself.

I just stared at—-Ruth.

“I WILL NOT EAT YOU!” Ruth yelled at me. “I WILL NOT!”

I squatted down, trying to make myself tiny.  Oh, maybe that isn’t a good idea.  I FLUFFED myself up, trying to make myself big.

“Stop it,” Ruth tiredly commanded. “Just tell me about Boomer.”

She glared at me with her big round eyes.

I started to shake and shiver.

“Okay, here is a deal.  You tell me.  I continue to sit right here, I won’t move. You run as fast as you can away from me and hide.  Then I will fly away.  And only then.”

“You can’t leave, you know,” Ruth announced.  “I can get you before you even think about moving your paws.  So, tell me about Boomer.  Once I know the truth, you can run off and I will let you go.  You really don’t have a choice.”  Ruth stated flatly.  “You have NO CHOICE!”  She emphasized.

I stared and stared.  Ruth was right.  I didn’t have a choice.

So, I told her.  Everything.  The whole sad story.

I was very shocked to see big tears rolling down Ruth’s face.

“You really did care about our Beaglie?”  I asked.

“Yes.  He was the most special mutt.  He really cared about the farm and all the animals on the farm. He was my friend.”

“Where is his grave, cat?” Ruth asked sadly.

I told her.

She lifted herself up and silently flapped away.

She didn’t even try to eat me.

She didn’t even let me get away.

She just left.

Off I ran!

Later on, that night, as I sat on Mom’s lap; Mom told Dad that she (Mom) saw a marvelous wonder.  An owl was sitting on the giant tree stumps covering Boomer’s gravesite.

Ruth, I thought.  She really is an owl of her word.