Our lovely refugee puss seems to be settling in. He now comes out from under the bed when we call, he’s eating well, and he enjoys as much cuddling and stroking as we can give him. This morning we had a number of shopping chores to do, and we left him alone in the house for the first time. As we went out the checkpoint the policewoman I’d spoken to earlier told us apologetically that the order for all residents to carry a red permit had now been rescinded (grrrrr)!
One arm of my glasses had broken and we needed to go to Merivale to an optician. I was grateful to get a replacement arm, and I don’t care that they don’t match, I’m sure no-one would notice. We then went to the Home Base in Marshlands Road where we got plastic canisters to replace our vintage glass ones, now smashed, and an external keyboard for the VolCan laptop.
When we arrived home I hurried inside to tell the refugee we were back, but he was nowhere to be seen. We hunted high and low, and called and called, but he didn’t answer. All the doors, windows, and cat door were locked. There seemed to be no way he could have got out, but he was definitely gone. At different times we both thought we heard a faint mew in a corner of the lounge, which seemed to come from under the house. We took it in turns to go outside and call under the house, but there was no reply. This cat is usually very vocal, and has been talking continually since he arrived.
Before we phoned his real Mum to confess that we’d lost him we checked everywhere one more time. Stephen was inspired to turn the lazyboy chair over, and there was Bentley! He’d somehow managed to crawl inside, then kept uncharacteristically quiet. His Mum has told me that sometimes when she’s been away he’s given her the silent treatment for a day or two to punish her, and that may have been what he was doing to us. As a refugee I think he should be more grateful, and considerate of my stress levels.
“I really thought he’d gone for good
and I had failed at fosterhood.”
Ruth's Reflections 
It’s nice that you have a new furry friend to keep you both company – but I do think he could be a bit more appreciative – fancy scaring you like that!
LikeLike