Chapter 2

PEEK-A-BOO

Peek-a-boo’s life was the opposite of Cheyenne’s. It was harsh and she was unloved. She was born in a field, near a barn by an old farmhouse. Her parents were wild feral cats that no one ever owned. Peek had many brothers and sisters, but she was the largest kitten of her family. She knew her momma, but not her dad, who ran away after she was born.
Peek’s fur was shaggy and often unkempt as a kitten. It was long in some places and scruffy short in others, and her coat had lots of different colors. It was black and orange and brown and white, and her little paws looked as if she were wearing white socks.
Because she was a wild cat, Peek had no loving or cuddling from people. In fact, she had no contact with people at all. She neither feared humans nor liked them. She simple had no opinion.
As Peek got a bit older, she became more curious about the farmhouse where humans lived, and wandered close to the house. The farmer’s wife often swatted at her with the broom yelling “shoo away kitty, I don’t want any wild cats ‘round here.” Still, sometimes Peek’s curiosity would get the best of her.
One day when the farmer’s wife accidentally left the front door open, Peek-a-boo (after carefully looking around) tiptoed on her little paws into the house. The farmer’s wife spotted Peek-a-boo and let out a shriek. “What are you doin’ in my house? Get out you mangy cat, get out!” Grabbing her broom, she chased the little kitten all around the house, yelling as she ran. “Shoo git, shoo shoo, git outta here,” she screamed.
Peek-a- boo was terrified, her fur puffed straight out, making her look like a little round fur ball with a head, two feet and tail attached. Suddenly, she looked around and spotted the front door still open. Just as she headed through the door it closed with a loud BANG, catching the tip of her tail inside the door. “Yaow Yaow Yaow it hurts,” screamed Peek. She ran as fast as she could back into the field, screeching all the while. “Meow, meow meow,” she cried all the way back to the barn.
All alone, since her mama, brothers and sister had run away, there was no one to comfort her. So she limped to her bed in the hay and lay down quietly, wanting to forget the whole ordeal. Poor Peek mewed softly, licking the tip of her tail over and over again trying to help it heal. In time, Peek-a-boo’s tail did heal, but the very tip of her tail was now crooked. It wasn’t something you could see easily. But she knew it was there, and it reminded her how dangerous people could be. Peek-a-boo never approached the house again.
As Peek got older, she became a very good hunter. She could catch the fastest field mouse and the largest barn rat even in the snowy cold of winter. She grew very big, with long legs, and a bushy tail. She was quite beautiful. Her fur was long and shiny and her coat was full and lovely. Not ever having seen herself in a mirror, Peek had no idea how magnificent she had grown. Her black button nose stuck way out and her big round eyes were copper with little green and gold flecks in them. She had very long whiskers and a slash of orange fur that ran diagonally from her forehead, across her nose to her chin, making her look like a very fierce cat.
Life became difficult as she got older. She wasn’t often happy, and since she wasn’t happy, she didn’t purr. Winters were the hardest time of the year. When it was snowy and cold, she would have to stay curled up in the hay for warmth, and the snow made it harder to scout for food, even though she was such a good hunter. Mostly life was lonely.
One afternoon in the beginning of the spring thaw, while walking in the field, the farmer’s wife saw Peek-a- boo stalking a field mouse. She went home and waited for her husband to come in from working in the back fields. “Avery, I saw the biggest most beautiful cat I’ve even seen.” She didn’t realize Peek was the same cat she shooed out of the house when it was a kitten.
“Well,” said the farmer’s wife, “maybe we oughta trap her, and bring her here to be a mouser for the house.” She’d seen Peek stalk and catch mice, so she knew she would do a good job. “I’ll never have to worry about having mice again, with that cat living here.”
“Well just as long as ya know that there cat is a wild cat, good for mousin’ but not the friendly type,” said the farmer. They plotted and planned how they would catch this big beautiful cat. “I know just how to catch her too,” said the farmer.
The next day, the farmer went out into the field closest to the house, where his wife had seen Peek-a-boo hunting the day before. He placed a wooden crate on its side with a stick holding the crate up, and a long, long, long string attached to the stick. Inside the crate he put a small bowl of milk, and some cooked hamburger that was left from last night’s dinner. He then took the string and walked far, far away so that Peek-a-boo could neither see nor smell him. Cats have very good eyesight, and can smell and see things people cannot.
The farmer squatted way down flat on his belly in the field and waited. He waited and waited and waited, and just when he was about to give up waiting, he spotted a cat that looked like the one his wife had described, creeping toward the box. Peek’s curiosity about the smells coming from the box, and her hunger drove her closer and closer to it.
Cats are very curious creatures. The hamburger and milk were new smells and they smelled wonderful. “Wow, what is that smell?” thought Peek. She couldn’t resist any longer, she hunched down very low to the ground, and slowly crept toward the box. Peek looked left and she looked right. She looked in front and she looked behind. As far as Peek could see, there was no one near the box.
She approached the hamburger and milk and began to eat and drink. “Yum Yum this is so good!” she growled as she ate. Because it tasted so wonderful, she wasn’t as cautious as she should have been. BANG!!! The crate came down on her with a loud crash.
Peek-a-boo panicked. “MEOW, YAW, MEOW,” she screamed the loudest she could. She banged against the crate with her body. She pushed at the sides with all her might, and pushed at the top with her head. She scratched and scratched the wooden crate with her claws, but nothing she did could help her escape from the box. “Let me out! LET ME OUT OF HERE, HELLO, HELLO, CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME,” she screamed. Over and over she yelled and pushed and clawed and screamed, but no one heard her except the farmer. No one helped her.
Eventually, Peek-a-boo grew very weary. In fact, she was so tired from all the banging, scratching and screaming that all she could do was lie down and rest. The farmer knew that the wild cat would struggle to get out of the box, so he didn’t go near the box for a very long time. He had dressed in heavy gloves and a thick coat, so that she couldn’t scratch him when he took her out from under the box.
Finally, the farmer (who carried a thick canvas bag with small holes in it) carefully lifted the lid just a bit, and grabbed Peek-a-boo around the neck. She tried to struggle and scratch him, but his gloves were too thick, and she was very tired. Before she knew what was happening, she was in the canvas bag with the top tied tightly with rope. “Meow, meow, meow,” screeched Peek-a-boo, trying to wiggle out of the bag, but it was closed too tightly even for her claws.
When the farmer got home that night he put the bag on the floor. “This cat is full of spit and vinegar,” he said to his wife. “Be careful when I open this here bag, cause she’s gonna come out hissin’, spittin, n’ fightin’.” Having said that, he carefully opened the top of the canvas bag and jumped back.
Peek-a-boo leaped out of the bag. Her fur was all puffed up and standing straight out. Her eyes were wild, and she hissed and swatted at the farmer and his wife, ran around the house, up the steps and hid under the first bed she could find. She then stuffed herself tightly into a ball in a corner under a bed and waited.
“Put a saucer of milk down for the cat, and leave the cat alone,” he said. “She’ll come out when she’s hungry enough. There are plenty of mice ‘round here for her to catch for her supper.”
The farmer and his wife ate their dinner, watched some television and went to bed. The next few days were very quiet, Peek would hide under the bed all during the day. When it was quiet at night, and the people had gone to sleep, she would come out, explore the house, drink the milk left for her and catch a mouse for her dinner.
This became Peek-a-boo’s life for the next few years.
One day, the farmer’s wife decided she wanted a pet. “Avery, I want a pet cat. You’re gone all day, and I am lonely. I know that a wild cat can never be a pet. I am going to drive to the city, to the pound and see if I can adopt a cat.” She adopted a big old black male cat, named Francis.
Francis was an incredibly lazy cat, and not used to going outside at all. He had been the companion of an elderly lady, who spoiled him with treats, and let him do whatever he wanted. When the lady died, her family didn’t want Francis, so they took him to the pound to be adopted. He had never been with other cats, and was used to having the whole house to himself, but the pound didn’t know that. His schedule was to sleep during the day and roam around the house at night, although that information was also not on his adoption papers.
The farmer’s wife, not knowing Francis’s history, brought him home that day. He sat on her lap during their t.v. time, purring while she petted him, and slept there until the farmer and his wife went to bed. Then Francis decided to explore the house. He was just trotting around the corner from the living room to the kitchen, when he met up with Peek-a-boo, who was out looking for mice. “Who are you? What are you doing in my house? Get out,” he caterwauled. He had a very deep, loud voice and huge black piercing eyes.
Peek wasn’t used to seeing other cats, let alone one as big as Francis. “Excuse me,” she squeaked very politely, “but I live here.” “Not if I can help it,” growled the big black cat.
With that, Francis started to chase Peek around the house, swatting at her with his long dangerous claws. They ran around and fought and growled, making a terrible noise. All of a sudden Peek got tangled up in a bunch of electric cords, including the cord to a very expensive family heirloom lamp. Before she knew what was happening, Francis, with an evil glint in his eyes, and a smirk on his lips, pushed over the lamp. It fell to the floor with a loud CRASH.
“That will teach you. I’m gonna tell the farmer you broke the lamp.” Then Francis ran out of the room, up the steps, and into the bedroom where the farmer and his wife had been sleeping. The farmer jumped out of bed from the noise. “Meow, meow, wake up and see what that nasty cat downstairs has done,” Francis tattled to the farmer.
When the farmer got downstairs, Peek was still struggling to get out of the cords, and very, very afraid. The farmer was sure that Peek-a-boo had broken the lamp, and yelled at her, all the while trying to untangle the cords. “Drat cat, stay still darn you…gull darn cat, I should have known better than to let you into my house. You’re nothin’ but trouble!”
As he touched Peek, she panicked, scratched his arm and bit his hand. She didn’t mean to hurt him, but she was frightened. When she got loose, she ran as fast as she could up the steps and under the bed in the guest room. She could hear the farmer still yelling. “I’m gonna kill that gull-dern cat when I get a hold of her!” Peek shook with fear. She knew she was in trouble, she just didn’t understand what was happening or why.
The next day the farmer put on his heavy coat and gloves, picked up the canvas bag, marched into the guestroom and closed the door. He moved the bed to get Peek out from under it. There was no other place to hide. “You’re goin’ to the pound, you dang cat, I don’t want any cat ‘round here that’s gonna hurt nobody.” He chased Peek round and round the room until he caught her. The next thing she knew, she was in the bag and being taken away.
When the bag was opened again, her surroundings were completely different. Here was a cold steel cage with not much in it except a bowl of water, a box with some gravel-like stuff in it, and a small blanket to lie on. She was afraid of people now, hid in the corner of the cage and hissed when anyone came near. When she was finally left alone, she fell asleep.