Kidnapping at Midnight - a Long Ago Tale

 

I was going through papers this week and found a story from twenty years ago.   Time marches on! It's a pretty good memory, so I thought I would share it here.

Some people think life in the country is peaceful, perhaps even a little boring.  The nights are so quiet, they say.  I suppose it mostly is, compared to city life.  But with colts being born, canine encounters with skunks and possums, and coyotes courting and quarreling, I wonder sometimes where all the peace is.

A recent Friday morning was one of those times.  The excitement of an unexpected blessed event, the drama of a kidnapping and the relief of a safe return – we had it all.

I was awakened at midnight by what sounded like a baby kitten outside my bedroom window.  I thought a cat had kittens and brought them to the house, and since I thought the dogs might bother them, I got up to investigate.  I turned on the lights, got my flashlight and went out in my gown to look.

To my astonishment, under the big holly tree by my front porch, I found a cat licking a baby puppy.  My young collie, Kelsey, was licking a second puppy.  I did not know she was expecting puppies – unfortunately it was an underage, incestuous liaison, certainly not of my choosing.

A word of explanation about the cat is probably in order.  She has no real name of her own – I call her Toby’s cat because of her close relationship with Toby, another of my collies.  They have slept together since they were puppy and kitten, and Toy’s cat follows the dogs around like a pesky younger sibling, even going adventuring with them around the farm.

Anyway, Kelsey’s mother, Molly, was trying to get under the holly tree with Kelsey, the cat and the puppies, so I thought I’d better put them  in the dog pen.  I guess even canine moms don’t think their daughters know how to care for their newborn.

So, I crawled under the very prickly holly bush, flashlight in hand and accompanied by Molly.  It was pretty crowded under there, with the two dogs, the cat and the puppies.  I got the newborns and, followed by Kelsey and Toby’s cat, took them to the doghouse.  Kelsey and the cat went in the doghouse and lay down with the puppies.  I fastened the dog pen gate, thought all was well and went back to bed.

A 2 a.m., I heard a puppy outside the window.  Thinking I had missed one of the litter, I jumped up, grabbed the flashlight, turned on the lights and went out again in my gown.  I found Toby’s cat with one of the puppies, back under the holly tree.  She had slipped through the gate with it.  I took it away from her and returned it to Kelsey, who now had five puppies, with the cat trying to bite my ankles, and started back to bed.  The cat passed me, puppy in her mouth, before I reached the front door.  So, I took the puppy back, fastened the cat in the basement and went back to bed.

When I got up at my normal time, I let the cat out and she immediately returned to the doghouse with the puppies and the dog.  She tried to move a puppy again, but Kelsey came out and took it away from her.   When I left for work, Kelsey, the five puppies and cat were all curled up in the doghouse.  I thought things were okay.

But when I came home that afternoon, the cat had moved four of the now six puppies to the garage.  So, I put all the puppies and Kelsey in the garage and put the cat out.  The cat was distressed, but I was relieved.

I did not realize that Kelsey knows how to open the garage door.  Next thing I knew, the door was open and the cat was back in the box with the puppies.  She and Kelsey seem to have worked things out, however, because there have been no more kidnapping incidents.  Kelsey and Toby’s cat are sharing the care of the puppies, and the other dogs look in on them several times a day.  I’ll say this:  They must be the cleanest puppies ever, with both mothers licking them several times daily.  I’m not sure what kind of effect this will have on the puppies as they grow up, but I guess too much love and care doesn’t hurt anyone.  And Kelsey will be glad to have a baby sitter when she is ready to go off chasing rabbits again.

 

Needless to say, I spend a lot of time watching this odd family.  I suppose there is a lesson in this somewhere.  It’s a relationship that goes beyond tolerance of differences, to what some people would think is friendship between traditional adversaries.  Humans have a hard time getting along, even among the same species.  Maybe animals are smarter than we are.