I cried with relief as I drove her home. I felt a psychic connection had been made. Why was I feeling so panicked about the cat? She was meant to come to me and I was feeling a great urgency that someone … or something … was directing at me. Why did I feel that way? What made me want to drive so far without an appointment and no guarantee that anyone would even be home? I can honestly say I have no idea, but whatever or whomever it was that was warning me, urging me on, I thank them to this very day. I always think it’s important to follow that ‘gut instinct’ or strong urging that we feel from time to time. It’s not usually wrong.
Magik never really grew very much. She was always a tiny cat. So much so that her nickname was ‘kitten’ and she would happily come to me if I called her that. She spent much of her day sitting on or under my desk. She was always clean and right from the start she litter-trained herself. I recall there was only ever one accident and it was totally my fault. I hadn’t cleaned her litter box to her satisfaction, so she found her own litter tray – a cardboard box full of books that was sitting under my desk. As I saw her climb in I simply laughed … then I noticed her squatting! I grabbed her but it was too late – she and I both got very wet that day. But it never happened again and it made a funny story, which I repeated over and over.
As the weeks went by she shed her brown baby ‘fluff’ and a fine, silky black fur emerged. She had a tiny triangle-shaped face. More like a Siamese cat, really; she was gorgeous. She finally looked like the cat of my dream. She really was adorable, and had a lovely temperament to go with it. She loved to be with me. She was the companion that I needed and had hoped for.
One day shortly after the squatting incident, I was sitting with my family watching the television when we heard a gentle thud, thud, thud. Curious, we all rushed into the hallway just in time to see a box gently slip down the last two steps. Then the box popped open and Magik poked her head through the top. Realising she was okay we all burst out laughing. She had effectively skied down the stairs! As she peeped her head out of the box it was like she was waiting for us all to clap! It was the first of many such humorous moments.
Another day we were all sitting down in the living room again when we heard an almighty smash. Rushing to the bedroom upstairs I saw a large angel statue broken into numerous pieces all over the floor. Its previous location had been the windowsill and I was surprised to see that the window was closed – no breeze. What had happened? As I turned around both Tigger and Magik were snuggled up on the bed. Neither had moved, which was surprising in itself, and both were looking up with a strange ‘innocence’ about them, a kind of fake ‘Who? Us? … No, that was nothing to do with us …’ look upon their faces. Once more I found myself laughing, but of course I couldn’t prove a thing.
Tigger and Magik were never really best buddies, but it was a respectful tolerance that they shared. As they passed each other they would sometimes lift their heads up as if they were saying ‘Wass’up?’ A sort of ghetto-cat greeting. At other times they would rub up against each other, but it usually ended up with Magik’s head in Tigger’s mouth. Don’t worry; Magik always got her own back. Even though she was small she was always much brighter than her ‘big brother’. Magik was more agile and would jump onto a higher surface, tapping or grabbing at Tigger when he passed by. He was never bright enough to work out what was going on. She loved to climb on top of the pine wooden box in our living room – it served as both a footstool and a coffee table and was also the perfect height for her to attack her nemesis. Magik loved to reach out and pat Tigger on the head when he walked by. Tigger would spin around, trying to find her, and then run round and round the box. Magik would tuck herself back out of sight and get him on his next trip around. Tigger never did work out that Magik was on top of the box, and it provided us with many hours of amusement.
Tigger regularly jumped on Magik’s back or got her in a headlock. However subtly, that little ‘kitten’ always found a way to show him who was boss, though. One day Magik was asleep on a chair and Tigger jumped up and pushed her off so that he could claim the chair as his own. It was a deliberate move. Magik slowly snuck underneath the chair and pulled on his wagging tail, which was hanging down the back of the chair, before making a mad dash for it. Once again, Tigger, always a little dopey, had no idea what was happening. By the time he’d worked it out and looked under the chair, Magik was hiding behind the nearby sofa, no doubt having a giggle at her cleverness! Cats give us hours of fun and laughter, don’t they? I’m sure you have similar cat stories of your own.
Being a writer is a lonely business, or it can be. Lots of writers have cats … or dogs. Their gentle companionship is soothing and relaxing. It’s easier to say, ‘Well, I was talking to the cat,’ rather than admit one was talking to oneself! Both cats spent a lot of time with me in my writing room (a conservatory at first, then a large converted garage at the next house and then two bedrooms in the next two houses – yes, we moved a lot).
Both cats loved being in the room with me, but my little one wanted to be under the desk at my feet or right on top of the desk, sometimes on the keyboard itself. One of my earliest photographs of her was of her peeking around my laptop. She was so tiny that the laptop would have hidden her completely. There is another wonderful photograph of her sitting in a basket of fan mail and readers’ letters that were waiting to be answered. These images regularly appeared on my website and in my columns and magazine articles. The cats developed a bit of a fanbase of their own. People would often write and ask me how they were. I also wrote about both cats in my books. When Magik passed, the first thing I did was to share the news on my social media pages. The support I had from my followers was amazing, and I will never forget their kindness.
When Magik died it was completely unexpected. The vet told me that she had complete kidney failure. We’d missed the signs, if in fact there had been any. Right up until 24 hours earlier she had been leaping six-foot fences and climbing on the roof next to the window where my office was. She showed no signs of the muscle wastage the vet found. She was always a noisy cat, so if she’d been yelping more than normal we couldn’t tell. Could we have done something? Should we have noticed? Maybe. I’ve owned cats my whole life and had never come across this before. Who knows? And anyway, for Magik, her time was done. There was no point in the ‘could have, should have’ that we all put ourselves through. She was still a young cat, but she was gone.
She was the sweetest, gentlest cat you could ever wish to own. We all loved her very much. Several family members shed a tear for the loss of this precious little girl and she will never be forgotten. Thankfully we have stacks of lovely photographs to remember her by.
So now, as I sit here typing, I feel her with me, urging me to write. Go on, Mum, tell some wonderful true-life stories. So here they are.
Chapter 2
Over the years I’ve received hundreds of spiritual and paranormal letters about animals, but one animal stands out among all the others … cats. Maybe it’s because I’ve been such a big cat owner myself. Strangely, this is the first time in 35 years that I haven’t owned a cat at all. My fur babies are all now in heaven, but don’t feel sad for me; they all visit from the other side … but more of that later!
If you’ve read my other books, you’ll know how important cats have been to me. My last pets – Tigger, the fat ginger tomcat, and Magik, both of whom we’ve already met – used to sit in my office all day long. Actually they would follow me from room to room, so if I stood up to make a cup of coffee or pop to the bathroom, I’d probably trip over them on my way out of the door. All cat owners will totally relate to this! There