Jemima slunk through the shadows at the back of the little fibro house. Black fur blended with the shadows, with only her luminous green eyes betraying her presence.
‘Cat,’ squawked the cockatoo at the back steps.
‘Be quiet, Peregrin,’ hissed the black cat.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ he huffed.
‘Yes, and I’m looking for mice in master’s house.’
‘Come inside then,’ the big white bird sleepily whispered, before tucking his head under his wing. He was asleep in seconds.
The black cat scurried up the back steps of the house, and disappeared through the cat flap in the back door.
The kitchen light was on, and so Jemima padded towards it, knowing a member of her family would be there.
A man stood at the sink, washing up the dinner plates from the night before. He looked at the chequered black and white lino towards the hallway.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said grumpily, as Jemima quietly came towards him.
And then he turned back to his task, and ignored her.
Feeling unloved by the lack of attention, Jemima resolved to change this.
On fleet feet, she flitted through the shadows of the house, and into the laundry, across the other side of the kitchen from the hallway.
‘I’ll show them,’ she muttered to herself.
Rustling in the corner betrayed the presence of rodents.
‘I’ll catch one of you pesky vermin, and then I’ll get some love,’ the black cat whispered to herself.
On the top of the top loader washing machine, she could see her quarry. In a glass tank, a large black and white rat chewed on a carrot in amongst shredded paper.
Pouncing, she caught him by the scruff of the neck, and carried him back into the kitchen.
‘Oh Jemima, put that rat down,’ commanded the man at the sink.
With a puzzled look, the black cat obeyed and dropped the squirming rodent onto the lino.
‘That rat is a Christmas present, for the children,’ explained the man.
Jemima pulled a face. She did not like this news.
On her mind was one thought.
‘One more animal to distract the family away from me.’
Liz's Everest 