Kitty wanted for nothing. She was well cared for and loved by all the family. It was a large family. There was mamma and papa, with their three sons and two daughters. Jeremy the eldest son had been married for the past four years and had a two year old daughter of his own, Philippa. Marcia the second eldest daughter was also married and had recently had a baby , her name was Jessica. The other three children, two boys and girl were still at home. The youngest of the family, Katrina, had met with a fatal accident just six months earlier. She had been on a skiing holiday with some friends, when the cable car she was travelling in, had broken free from its cable and plummeted to the ground. Her closest friend Sabrina had survived the accident. Katrina was sadly missed by everyone. Each weekend the family got together and it was as if they had all been apart for months, instead of just for a few days. The house was always alive with laughter, even now after the tragic accident.
The house was a huge Victorian building, set in its own grounds. Within the grounds there was a small but wonderful woodland. Planted under the canopy of trees were delicate plants, flowering in an abundance of colour that caught the suns rays coming through the leafy boughs. All the children had played here from an early age, with little chance of coming to any harm. Within the woodland there were hundreds of butterflies, fluttering by and adding their own colours. The sound of bird song filled the air and you could also hear the scampering of tiny feet of the squirrels who were in search of food.
It was on one of these Sunday gatherings that late in the afternoon, all of the youngest children set off to go and play hide and seek in the woods. Kitty followed at a distance, as she hadn’t been asked along. Valerie, who was the shy one, was chosen to be the one to come and find them. As she began to count to one hundred, she thought she caught a glimpse of someone very familiar to her. She shook her head, it must surely be a trick of the light. Reaching the count of one hundred and calling out “coming, ready or not”, Valerie turned around quickly, hoping to catch any one of them who may have been standing behind her. But no one was there.
As Valerie skipped along, peeping under the thick shrubs and behind the hedges, she still had the feeling that someone watching her. It wasn’t like when she had played hide and seek before, when she knew that it was her own brothers, peeping out to see if they were to be caught in the game. As she neared the next hiding place, a small makeshift hut, that they themselves had made years ago, she heard quiet giggling coming from inside.
Quickly jumping in, Valerie joyfully shouted, “caught you”. Indeed she had, because for more times than they could count on, they always ended up in the hut. She sat down and with a slight shiver she started to tell them all about the feeling of being watched. Each one of them said that they had felt something too. But not one of them could pinpoint from where they thought they were being observed.
They sat and chatted and told each other stories, but it was only when the dark shadows started to show, that they realised that the hour must be late and they must set off back to the house in case they were missed.
Hand in hand they sang their way along the carpet of green grass, but as they neared to where they came back into the garden, they suddenly stopped. A high piercing scream broke the otherwise stillness of the quiet late afternoon. The sound came from within the wood. From the nearby garden table where he elders sat, they too were stunned into their own silence by this shriek. They quickly dashed forwards to the opening of the woodland.
“What on earth could have made that noise”, papa said to no one in particular. They all stood and listened, their eyes roaming over the now darkened area. Once more the scream pierced the now deadly silence and a movement was seen just a little further in. With startled looks at each other, they stepped forwards. It was mamma who with a shaky hand to her throat uttered, “It’s Kitty, she is caught in something”.
Quickly they ran over to try and help poor Kitty, who by now was visibly shaking. As papa bent down he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Valerie looked at him and said, “Please papa, let me, for now I know who has been following me all through these woods”.
Valerie knelt down besides Kitty and gently taking the awful old trap that she was caught in from around her hind leg, she gently cradled her on her lap. Looking up towards all their gazing faces, Kitty’s eyes suddenly changed and with a last gasp of breath, she slowly closed them.
For a long time no one spoke a word. Then slowly standing up, with her arms holding the now still form of Kitty, Valerie broke the silence and said. “I am sure that you all must have seen the change in Kitty. I for one am sure that the eyes, which have just gazed at all of us, were the eyes of our dear sister Katrina. For hadn’t we all, at sometime or other commented about these eyes. The loving looks which sometimes caught you unawares. Then there is also the name that we always called Katrina, hadn’t she been our little pussy cat?”
As they all made their way back to the house, all had their own thoughts on this. But for now they must make a grave for their recent lost one, little Kitty.
Tears glistened from all of their eyes. And in silent agreement they carried onwards.
The End