JoJo returned to the streets and soon made herself very long with fear, scanning the area for danger, which was everywhere. Shoppers screaming at sellers showing their empty purses, cats and dogs barely able to walk and the collective fear of robbery even between cats. A kitten was given a piece of fish, within seconds it was ripped out of their paws. JoJo took safety back at the coach station with “the gang.” “Did Maurise tell you anything?” “Yes,” replied an old grey cat. “We are all ready for action.” JoJo scanned the group. Is this it, she thought. She decided to sleep in a small hut there, disenchanted, scared and missing her owner and even BooBoo. Little did she know that many cats were now marching on foot or more actually paws to the mansion. She woke up with a sense of doom but dragged herself to the gate.
She looked at JoJo with a twinkle in his eyes knowing she did not fully comprehend what was about to happen. “OK off we go, when I say, blow this whistle.” They crawled under the gates and into the first room. The owner sat at one side of a large table eating delicacies from around the world. This infuriated them both. “You can blow now,” instructed Maurise with venom. JoJo duly obliged. The chandeliers shook and the gold cutlery crashed to the floor.
The door was locked firmly behind them and they were greeted to the sound of hundreds of guards asking for their bellies to be tickled, rolling around on the floor madly. “Ah, it worked,” said Maurise thoughtfully. “We arranged for the teas to be spiked with catnip and tranquilisers.” Around them what appeared to be thousands of cats were loading all the treasures into sacks. A van was waiting and in no time it was full and they were off. It was 7.20 p.m.
The goods were unloaded in a safe building. Maurise invited JoJo to her office to observe the next and final stage. Meanwhile, the police had been alerted to events at the mansion and questioned the owner.
“So, you say two cats approached you in this room? What did they look like?”
“Urm, four legs, furry.”
A faint chuckle could be heard.
“A grey and white one, the other slender and black.”
“Most helpful,” the officer said, the other kicked his colleague’s leg. Stop it!
“And then I was trapped here and hundreds of cats ransacked the building. For now, I want to keep this from the media.”
“Yes, that would be a good idea.” His belly was almost ready to burst with the strain of trying to hold back the laughter.
In the office the keyboards clicked insatiably. “We are getting there my friend,” smiled Maurise. Towards the end she spoke a few human words online. “You can talk?” “A bit, you will soon as well. I guess your owner does talk to you.” “Oh, all the time,” she replied playfully.
“A car will take you home now.” “And you ?” “I’ll just check all is perfectly in place for tomorrow.” A car pulled up and within seconds JoJo was flat out, again. She woke up outside her house and yelled, within seconds her owner grabbed her, smothering her in kisses. “Oh JoJo, JoJo.” BooBoo had initially planned to attack. “It’s me BooBoo.” She rubbed herself against her. It was now almost 8 a.m.
The whole family was awake, breakfast and tears of happiness flowed. The news was put on.
It was another alert: “Across the country in all major towns and cities, unidentified market traders are giving away their produce for free.” People were interviewed with tears of joy, there was also, for some reason, an abundance of cats.
JoJo wiped her eyes. She made it.
A week passed, no questions were asked, nobody said anything. Then one morning she heard a faint cat voice. It was Maurise. JoJo was out of the window in a flash and they were both strolling towards the beach. “So, you’re no longer a house cat?” “How could I be, after all that.” Maurise explained that the free food would run out soon and anyway there are cat whispers about who is behind it. “What about your owner, Maurise?” “I need to come clean; he died, I found him… He had lost his job and…” Her voice broke, unable to carry on. They stayed together for days, talking about everything that mattered.
“JoJo is very happy with the black, cat they seem good for each other,” I said to my wife. “Oh no, not another one.” “It looks like it.” Both of us hugging and laughing.
THE END
Epitaph: They all gathered in the living room for the 7 p.m. news as usual. “The Nobel Peace Prize this year is for services to humanity (oh, and to cats) and is awarded to this cat. Please could you help us to locate it.”
“JOJOOOOOOOOO!“
In loving memory of our darling BooBoo. (2017 – 2025)
