By
W. E. Lopez
©2001
Center City is a small community of about
65,000 people; little more than an hours drive from the lights and glamour of
Broadway. SUSIE’s dad had purchased the
three-bedroom house at his wife’s insistence.
He didn’t particularly care for the long commute to work each day, but
he agreed with his wife that a small town was a better place for SUSIE to grow
up than the streets and alleys of New York City.
Young SUSIE had been rehearsing her lines for
the Thanksgiving play at school with her friend, Dennis, who was playing the
part of a friendly Indian. The time
seemed to fly past and soon the afternoon was gone. Dennis went home for dinner and SUSIE began to wonder where Dumb
Cat had disappeared. Dumb Cat usually
spent the day roaming outside, occasionally chasing a bird, or a small dog if
he was feeling his oats. The cat had
learned as a kitten that he would do better to leave large dogs alone, when he
had tried to show the Morrison’s golden lab that the cat should be king of the
block. The Morrison’s lived six houses
down the street and the golden lab remained undisputed.
Outside, it was cold, with a hint of frost in
the air. SUSIE put on her coat and a
pair of woolen mittens and a red cap.
She went out the back door to see if Dumb Cat had found a warm place to
lie in the sun as the afternoon shadows lengthened. It was quite sunny in front of the garage, and the concrete drive
way would probably have been very warm, but Dumb Cat was nowhere to be seen.
SUSIE looked in the shed where her mom set
her seedlings in front of a wide window in the spring where they could get an
early start in the warmth and light of the sun. She would have luscious salads of home grown red tomatoes, pale
green cucumbers and rich green lettuce before summer arrived. Dumb Cat was not there either. SUSIE searched in every place he thought
Dumb Cat might be napping, but still could not find the jet black feline. After about fifteen minutes she went into
the house and hung up her coat and put away her cap and mittens.
In the kitchen, mom was just finishing the
fourth pie she had been baking for the fourth grade bake sale. The aroma of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and
pumpkin filling combined with the warmth of the kitchen to give it a truly
homey atmosphere.
“Mom,” SUSIE asked her mother. “Has Dumb Cat been around here? I haven’t seen him all afternoon.”
Her mother wiped a smidgen of flour from her
cheek and said, “I haven’t seen the little rascal, SUSIE. He’ll be in before supper, I’m sure. It starts to get really cold pretty early in
the evening this time of year.”
“But I haven’t seen him all day, mom. Do you suppose he’s lost or something?”
“I hardly think so, SUSIE,” she reassured
her. “Dumb Cat has been a part of this
family for three years now, ever since he was a kitten. He knows better than to wander off at the
start of winter. He’s probably just
exploring, perhaps looking for a girlfriend.”
“Well, I sure hope he comes home before
dark. I wouldn’t want to have to go out
and look for him after the sun goes down,” SUSIE said.
“And I wouldn’t want you doing so either,”
her mother replied. “If Dumb Cat hasn’t
come home when supper’s over, we’ll let your father take a flashlight and look
for him.”
“Can I go too, mom? Huh? Please?”
“We’ll ask your father when he gets home,
SUSIE. He would probably welcome
another pair of eyes to help him search for Dumb Cat.”
SUSIE’s dad came home shortly before
seven. Dinner was a terrific pot roast
mom had made, but SUSIE wolfed it down, almost as if the house were on
fire. She was anxious to begin
searching for Dumb Cat and tried to hurry her father also.
After dinner, SUSIE put on her cap and
mittens again and went outside with her dad to search for Dumb Cat. “I’m surprised we didn’t find him on the
front porch trying to get in,” SUSIE’s dad said. “It’s darned cold already and if I was a cat, even a Dumb Cat,
I’d like to be inside with my family where it’s nice and warm.”
SUSIE and her dad searched all the way down Elm
Street to Pine, then turned right and came up Sycamore behind SUSIE’s
house. As they walked along the street,
SUSIE kept calling for Dumb Cat while her dad pointed the flashlight into every
shadow and every yard they passed. It
was after eight o’clock and quite cold when they got home. SUSIE’s mom fixed her a cup of hot cocoa
with a dash of nutmeg atop frothy whipped cream, but SUSIE hardly appreciated
the treat before she began preparing for bed.
She was still very worried about Dumb Cat. SUSIE didn’t sleep at all well that night. She kept tossing and turning as she worried
about poor Dumb Cat out in the cold.
She listened for any sound that might mean the black cat was at the back
door or a window and wanting to get in.
But she didn’t hear anything and she soon dropped off to sleep.
When morning came, SUSIE put on slippers and
a warm robe and checked the front porch and then the back yard as soon as she
got out of bed. Still there was no sign
of Dumb Cat. Even worse, there had been
a light snow during the night and there was at least an inch of the white stuff
covering the ground. Try as she might,
SUSIE did not see any paw prints that might have belonged to the black cat.
This would be the last day of school before
the Thanksgiving break. SUSIE would be
playing the part of a young pilgrim-girl in the Thanksgiving pageant, but she
seriously doubted if she would remember her lines now. Her thoughts turned too often to Dumb Cat.
The play was soon over, and SUSIE thought the
class had done quite well in front of the parents who had come to see the
pageant. She was anxious to get home
and see if Dumb Cat had returned. Her
mom had to man the bake-sale booth until six o’clock and every minute seemed to
drag as slowly as they always did when SUSIE had to listen to Pastor Norman’s
even toned and monotonous voice during church services.
As luck would have it, all the pies and cakes
were sold before 5:00 p.m. and SUSIE and her mom drove to the little house on
Elm Street. Dumb Cat was still nowhere
to be seen and SUSIE was quite saddened by the cat’s absence.
Over dinner that evening, SUSIE’s dad asked
if perhaps they should check the pet stores and try to find another cat.
“But, Dumb Cat’s only been gone a day,
dad. He’ll be back soon, I’m sure.”
“And what if he doesn’t come home, SUSIE?”
“He will, I know it! I don’t want another cat, I want Dumb Cat,”
SUSIE said, and treated the situation as if the subject were closed. Secretly, she wondered what she would do if
the cat never came home?
Dumb Cat did not come home that week, or even
that month. When Christmas had passed,
SUSIE’s mom was the one who asked this time if they should get another cat, but
SUSIE would not hear of any such thing.
New Year’s had passed, and now it was
Valentine’s Day. SUSIE had hoped she
would get a special card from that cute boy in the third row of Mrs. Staley’s
class, but she received only a simple card with a gopher in a hard-hat and a
pick and shovel next to an ore cart and the caption “Will-U-B-Mine”. SUSIE felt slighted until she reminded
herself that she wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up, and an astronaut
would certainly have her choice of all the cute guys.
On a Saturday, just after the Saint Patrick’s
Day Parade, when most of the snow had left the ground, SUSIE opened the kitchen
door to take out the trash as her mother had asked. Dumb Cat crowded his way through the kitchen door and strolled
into the house with his tail held high.
“Dumb
Cat!” SUSIE exclaimed and quickly set down the wastebasket while scooping up
the cat. “Where have you been you evil
cat? I’ve been worried all winter that
you were laying frozen, out in the snow somewhere! Now you wander into the house with your tail in the air and act
as if the whole place belongs to you!”
Dumb Cat said nothing; he just bumped his
nose against SUSIE’s chin as he buzzed and purred. When he was satisfied that his human had not forgotten him, he
made it known that he wanted down and began to explore his home. Dumb Cat had also worried all winter. He didn’t want the humans to change anything
in his house, and he particularly didn’t want any bothersome babies moving in.
SUSIE was happy the cat was home also. She spent many hours with the cat that
spring and summer, and then one day in fall the cat disappeared again.
SUSIE spent another anxious winter worrying
about her cat, until one day in early spring, Dumb Cat hopped up on the sill of
the kitchen window and asked to be let inside.
SUSIE’s mom and dad were at a loss to explain
where the cat had been for the second winter in a row, so SUSIE decided that
she would ask around the neighborhood and try to find out if anyone had seen
the black cat during the winter months.
Early Saturday morning, after a warm and
satisfying breakfast of creamy oatmeal with bits of crispy bacon crumbled on
top, SUSIE skipped the usual Saturday morning cartoon shows and set out down
the street knocking on doors. No one in
the homes on SUSIE’s block had seen Dumb Cat during the winter, but SUSIE was
not surprised. If Dumb Cat had been
only next-door, surely SUSIE would have noticed him sometime during the winter.
SUSIE crossed Pine and began asking at homes
in the next block. The fourth house he
asked at had a mailbox shaped and painted like a birds house. There was even a robin painted gaily on the
front with a tiny spring-clip for a beak where notes could be pinned in case
someone came to visit while the owner’s were away. The name under the mailbox read, “The Byrds.” SUSIE thought that was cute, even if it was
a little silly.
SUSIE twisted the old-fashioned doorbell and
soon heard footsteps approaching from inside.
The lace curtains were parted slightly and she saw a pleasant faced
woman peering out at her. The lady
opened the door and asked, “Yes?”
“Hello, Mrs. Byrd, my name’s SUSIE. I live up the street,” she said while
pointing in the direction of her house.
“Yes, I know you. I’ve seen you playing in the front yard or riding your bicycle on
occasion. What can I do for you,
SUSIE?”
“Well, you see, I have this cat. A black one, about four years old. Last winter, and the winter before that, he
simply disappeared. Poof! He vanished. And then he came home again in the spring. I’ve been trying to figure out where he’s
been, so I’ve been asking around the neighborhood to see if any one can tell me
anything.”
“A black one? That’s your cat?”
Apparently Mrs. Byrd did know something about Dumb Cat! “Does he have a little white speck at the
tip of his tail? And a gray spot, like
a teardrop in his left eye right next to his nose?”
“Yes’m,” SUSIE said with excitement, for Mrs.
Byrd had described Dumb Cat exactly.
“Oh, so that’s where Mister E
belongs. Come inside, won’t you
SUSIE. This is too good for my husband
not to hear.” Mrs. Byrd opened the door
and stood aside while SUSIE entered.
She led the girl into the living room and asked her to set on the sofa
while she introduced her husband, who was watching a basketball game on the
television.
“Ron?
This is SUSIE. She lives just up
the street. I think we’ve discovered where
Mister E spends his time when he’s not with us.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir,” SUSIE said
politely. “Excuse me, but who is Mister
E?”
“That’s the name Alice and I gave to the
black cat who strayed in here two years ago, SUSIE, because it was a mystery where
he came from. Does he belong to you?”
“He sure does,” SUSIE said. “And I’ve been very worried about him each
winter when he disappears.”
“Alice and I sure regret it if we’ve caused
you any concern, SUSIE. You see, I’m
retired from the telephone company, and each winter my wife and I go to Florida
where the weather is so much nicer than here in New York. Two years ago, when we had that early snow,
your cat just showed up on our back stoop and asked to be let inside. I guess he didn’t like that white stuff
sticking to his paws.”
“We hated the thought of that poor lonely cat
roaming around outside through the cold of winter,” Mrs. Byrd said, “and we
didn’t know he belonged to anyone. We
just assumed he was a neighborhood stray.
I asked Ron to buy a cat carrier, and we took Mister E to Florida
with us to spend the winter. When we
returned in the spring, I thought the cat would stay with us, but he
disappeared again, only to return the following winter.”
SUSIE could not help but laugh! While she spent her winter in New York,
wearing coats and mittens and rubber galoshes, Dumb Cat had been going to
Florida with Mr. and Mrs. Byrd and enjoying the weather!
“Excuse me for laughing,” SUSIE said. “I call him Dumb Cat because he always seems
to do the silliest and dumbest things around the house. He’s really very funny, you know? But I guess he’s not such a dumb cat after
all, since he’s smart enough to go with you to Florida each winter.”
SUSIE chatted with the Byrd’s a little while
longer, then she excused herself to go home and tell her folks that she had
solved the Mystery of the Disappearing Cat.
Mr. and Mrs. Byrd looked forward to sharing the cat with SUSIE during
the coming winter, and SUSIE could relax, knowing that Dumb Cat would have a
nice winter home with people who enjoyed having a cat around.