All I could think about, as I sat by Daddy in the van, was riding Christie. I was big enough to be able to go out of the corral. I had been riding my horse by myself for two years now. I wanted to see the rest of the little ranch. There was one tank. Were there more? What was over that hill? Was it all hot and dusty? If I rode out of the corral, I could ride and ride as Daddy didn’t ride and wouldn’t come to get me.
It seemed like we would never get there. Daddy stopped at the liquor store for ice, beer and cigarettes. I liked going there as Mr. B always had a peppermint for me and he had a big, blue parrot who would talk to me. I got to go in the store so that I could hold the ice chest open while Daddy filled it with ice. If Daddy went to the other liquor store, I would have had to sit in the van and wait. I hated that. Daddy always seemed to take forever and the van was hot and smelly.
We finally pulled up in the driveway of the little ranch. Mr. Orms came sauntering out. He looked and walked like those guys on the silly cowboy calendars. He wore an old wrinkled hat, beaten up boots, jeans with a hand-tooled leather belt and a huge, silver belt buckle. He wore Eli shirts, just like Daddy. All the cowboys seemed to wear Eli shirts.
As I got out of the van, I saw a kitten scamper into the shed. A KITTEN! I had never seen a kitten before except in books and movies. All thoughts of riding went out of my head. I just had to hold a kitten. Mr. Orms noticed my excitement.
He laughed, “Them’s feral cats. You'll never catch one!”
“May I try?” I begged and looked at Daddy and Mr. Orms. They had to say yes, they just had to!
“Darlin’, if you catch one, you can have it!” Mr. Orms drawled around the toothpick in his mouth.
I looked at Daddy. I knew better than to say a word, but I hoped. Daddy was stuck. He couldn’t contradict his friend. It just wasn’t in him.
“Aw, shucks, she ain’t gonna catch one.” Mr. Orms reassured Daddy.
“Well, if she does, we are naming it after you!” Daddy said, just a bit unhappily. He didn’t like cats. They walked back to the van to get the hay and beer cooler, talking about the horses and the dry, hot weather.
I looked back at them. Could I really have one if I caught it? My head spun! A kitten! Oh, I had to have one! I walked as quietly as I could in my red boots towards the shed. I had never been in there. It was rather large, filled with feed bags, hay and horse tackle. It was hot and dusty. The smell of hay was sharp in the heat. Could I do it? Could I catch one? Yes! I could. I just had to!
A gray kitten scurried out the door. I shut the door to keep any more from escaping, if there were any more inside. I quietly walked around, looking behind feed bags and crawling over the bales of hay. There were four kittens crouched in a corner of the shed behind a bale. Three of them were hissing up a storm! They didn’t want me anywhere near them. The fourth one was very small and quiet, like me. He looked up at me with big brown eyes and I knew that he was the one I wanted!
I was afraid to reach down to get him as the other kittens might scratch or bite me. I looked around and saw Mr. Orms’ big leather gloves hanging on the wall. Those would work just fine. I crawled up on a bag of feed and stretched as far as I could. Not quite. I needed something else to put on that bag. There was a bale of hay right by the feed bag. I pushed and shoved the feed bag over and then moved the hay bale, inch by inch. Then, I pushed and pulled the feed bag until it was on the hay bale. I climbed on top of the pile and stretched…. just one more inch…. I got it! I held it by a finger tip and shook it so that if there were any spiders or scorpions in it, they would fall out.
I finally got the glove on. It was so big I had to hold the top with my other hand so it wouldn’t fall off. I crawled over the hay bale and laid on my tummy. As I reached down to get the kitten, the other kittens ran off, hissing and snarling. But the little orange one just sat there, looking up at me. As I grabbed him, he hissed, quietly. I hugged him to my chest. I was so excited I thought I would cry! I caught it! I caught the kitten. Now, if Daddy would just let me keep him!
I sat in the hot, stuffy, dusty shed until I heard Daddy and Mr. Orms come back out from the stables. Daddy hollered for me. I walked out of the shed, proud but also a bit afraid Daddy would say no. I still had the leather glove on as I showed them that I had caught a kitten.
Mr. Orms laughed and laughed. He couldn’t believe his eyes!
Daddy didn’t look too happy. I didn’t say a word. I just looked up at him, silently begging to keep the kitten.
“Now, you know I said she could have one if she caught it!” Mr. Orms teased Daddy as he slapped him on the back, still laughing.
“Yep, ya did. Alright, but we’re naming it after you!” Daddy replied.
“Hello, Mr. Orms,” I said to the kitten as I pet his little red head.
Daddy & Mr. Orms burst out laughing. I was so confused. Did I get to keep the kitten or not?
“We’ll call him Dewey, honey.” Daddy finally said as he dropped his cigarette to the driveway and smashed it with a twist of his foot. “That’s Mr. Orms’ first name.”
We drove with the windows closed so the kitten wouldn’t jump out. It was hot and sweaty, but worth it. Mama was so surprised! She took Dewey from my arms and held him gently. He snuggled her and purred.
The cousins were visiting Aunt Dinky for the summer. Baby was now 3 and had a bed in our bedroom. Sister had gone off to college so it was quiet at home. I was glad.
Mama and I put newspaper down in the little green bathroom for the kitten. That night, Mama tucked me in bed, put Dewey in the bathroom and shut the door. Dewey mewed and mewed. He didn’t like being in there all alone. I waited until I heard Daddy go to bed, then I snuck out of bed and got Dewey. He purred and snuggled. I tried to hide him under the covers, just in case, but he’d have none of that. He crawled over to my neck, tucked his head under my chin and went to sleep, purring softly.
He slept that way for the next 10 years, purring me to sleep.
nice story
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