Then the man leaned over us both. Dougal, he said to me. Dougal! I have a name. That's my name now. I began to feel a bit safer, because the other humans hadn't given me a name. Or if they had, they hadn't told me so I knew. And my new friend was to be called Shadow.
They put both of us in a big box and locked the top and Shadow nuzzled me. I could tell she was worried, but I told her it was all right. We're being picked and we have names; this is good.
It might be wonderful, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. I liked the man. And I felt good about the woman, too. She had red fur and was quieter than him, but she seemed warm and kind as well. She put a furry rug in our box, which was sweet of her. And we were going to our new home, and we sat on the bottom of the box and we didn't say a word the whole way.
Is this what's supposed to happen? Shadow asked me. I touched noses with her and told her not to worry. I had worked out by now that she wasn't really Black Kitten, but I had made up my mind I was going to look after her anyway. She would be my new little sister.
I could hear the big box with wheels making quiet noises. This was a gentle ride and I could hear the two humans talking softly. This sounded good too, I told her. We'd all heard stories in our cages about humans who shouted. Cats can't stand being shouted at. It makes us horribly embarrassed and we don't know what to do - because we can't understand what they're angry about; or even whether it's our fault or not. These two were speaking softly to each other and the woman trailed her paw over the top of our box and said something soothing. We could smell her as she did this, and I think it was meant to be reassuring. Shadow sat where she was and snuggled closer to me. I could smell her fear, but I told her again that this would be all right.
The big box with wheels stopped, and I heard the door open. Then the man picked us up and carried us into the house. It smelt unusual, and I could definitely smell another cat there. At least one other cat. Well, we will have to worry about that later. The first thing we have to do is settle in and see what they've got for us. I heard more doors opening and closing and then the humans did something to the top of the box and the lid flew open. We looked up and there they were, looking at us and calling us by our names. I jumped out of the box and had a careful look around.
It's a very unusual home. It's not that big and the floors are curved instead of flat but there are LOTS of things to hide behind and explore and they've got us a Cat Castle! We had one at home - well, what used to be my home anyway - and it was one of the things I really missed. But we did what you have to do first, which is to walk right round the room and smell everything and make sure everything is all right. So we did; and it was.
There's a really big bed and Shadow looked panicky when she first saw it. What's that? she wanted to know and I told her, It's a bed. She didn't even know what a bed was. But we went all round the walls and it was downhill all the way round the walls and uphill towards the middle of the room. It was very odd, but I didn't mind. Then Shadow ran into the Cat Castle and made crinkly noises inside the tunnel, so I went round to the other end and we chased each other through it and we climbed on top of it and played with the little toy mousie on top. It was wonderful fun.
You could tell there'd been other cats here. There were faint smells from long ago, but we knew there'd been quite a few from the odd little wisps of scent around the floor, especially under the bed. I don't know where the other cats had gone, but we had this room to ourselves.
Our humans kept coming in to see how we were and we chased each other and looked cute. Shadow asked me constantly was this going all right? and was this what was supposed to happen? and I told her yes, this is all good.
They are gentle and they don't shout or hurt us and the dirt tray is big and fresh and we have water and munchies and they feed us lots. This is everything a cat could wish for. We chased each other and she kept crying when we wrestled and I didn't understand what was wrong. We're supposed to do this, I told her. What's wrong with you?
The man came in and lay on the bed for a while and we chased each other all around and over him. Whenever Shadow and I were wrestling I found he put his long paw between the two of us and I had to fight her around his paw. Later I realised that he was protecting her belly so that I couldn't scratch her and mess up her stitches. At the time I just thought he was playing too and that was fine by me.
Late at night he came and pulled back the cloth things and got into the bed and turned the light out. Shadow looked at me and asked, What do we do now?
I wasn't sure. I didn't know if we were allowed to cuddle up to him or not, but I was pretty sure that if we wanted to sleep on the bed we'd have to stake our claim right away. So we did. I climbed up onto the bottom corner of the bed and Shadow cuddled up to where his back paws were. Soon we were all asleep and it was wonderful. We were safe in our new home and our humans clearly loved us and I was so happy I couldn't stop purring all night.
20
There was one bad moment during the night when I woke up and saw the human's back paws suddenly kick out and down, and poor little Shadow got pushed off the bed and onto the floor! She cried and it must have been very painful with her stitches and everything. He kicked me! she said. Why?
The human was awake immediately and he picked her up off the floor and cuddled her. I think it was an accident, I told her. You know sometimes you kick me in your sleep? No I don't, she said, and I told her she did but she was asleep the whole time and didn't know she was doing it and I think that's what the human was doing. He really seems sorry and you should forgive him. So she licked his nose and he kissed her and stroked me and we all went back to sleep.
Our human didn't wake up until very late and by the time he got out of bed we'd eaten every crumb in our bowls and I was really hungry.
But the human keeps a big packet of wet food in our room and he gave us lots as well as lots of munchies.
And guess what: Shadow ate her wet food really quickly and started to eat mine. Again! And I just looked sadly at my disappearing food and the human picked her up and hugged her so I could finish my breakfast in peace. We spent a long and wonderful day exploring every detail of our room. There are so many places to hide it's just brilliant!
And the food kept on coming, and she kept stealing mine and the human kept standing in the way and trying to head her off. He doesn't hurt her but he keeps putting his back paws between her and my bowl. I just wish he'd pick her up while I'm eating. It's the only way to stop her stealing my food.
And then he lay on the bed and we wrestled and he put his paw between us so I didn't hurt her too much. Sometimes he blows on my nose to tell me I'm being too rough. And I stop for a bit but then I forget and start wrestling with her again. I know she's smaller than me but I'm a growing boy and she will just have to learn to get stronger I think.
21
Played, ate and slept the day away. It was a good day. Our humans still love us and nobody got hurt, except Shadow when I was too rough with her. Man kept putting his paw between us when I forgot.
I now think of our humans as Man and Woman, as distinct from just any other men and women. Because they are ours, and because they are kind to us and don't hurt us and we love them.
And we get to curl up with Man and sleep. Shadow likes to snuggle in close but I like to keep my distance a bit. The thing about the far corner of the bed is that his back paws won't kick me over there even if he is having a bad dream. But every time he wakes up he runs his paws over my fur and tells me what a Good Cat I am.
I had an awful dream myself in the middle of the night. I dreamt I was back in my cage and I woke up howling. Man didn't wake up but Shadow came and washed my face. She may be a food-thief but she has a kind heart. She doesn't really speak Cat yet but there are things I am going