Chapter Two - Journeying Cat

Nobody wanted the brindled mixter-maxter kitten.

He did not feed well and he was sad.

"Nobody loves me," he thought. "The others all have homes to go to. Everyone has a visitor except me. Maybe I shall decide to go away. Perhaps I could find a home for myself. But I don't know how. Besides, I'm scared."

When the kittens were eight weeks old they went to their new homes. Only the brindled mixter-maxter kitten was left.

The farmer's wife said, "He is not doing well. Nobody wants him."

Then her daughter who worked in an office in the city said, "We have mice in the office. Perhaps a cat would keep them away. I'll take the kitten there."

Everyone cheered up. It seemed to be a good solution. So the brindled mixter-maxter kitten was put into a cardboard box, lined with plastic and newspaper, ("in case of accidents," said the farmer's wife) and travelled with the farmer's daughter to Edinburgh.

On the journey to the city, the kitten was very frightened. The bus jerked and bumped when it moved, and made a roaring noise. He slipped around inside the cardboard box. "I don't like this one little bit," he thought. "I hope we get there soon."

When the bus stopped, the farmer's daughter walked from the bus stop to the office, carrying the kitten in the cardboard box. People hurried past them, anxious to get to work on time. The mixter-maxter kitten was still frightened because the box was dark and there were strange smells and noises all around him. He wanted to be back on the farm.

When the farmer's daughter arrived in the office with the cardboard box, everyone crowded around to see. They laughed when they saw him.

"What a funny looking cat."

"What a mixter-maxter kitten."

"We shall have to call him Tartan."

"That's not my name," thought the brindled mixter-maxter kitten.

"Or Motley."

"That's not my name either," said the kitten to himself.

For three miserable days and nights the brindled mixter-maxter kitten lived in the office. The days were noisy and busy and frightening. Sometimes the typists would give him a little milk in a saucer or some biscuit crumbs. But they were too busy to see that he was lonely and not eating. The nights were quiet and lonely and frightening. There were strange noises of emptiness in the vast building. Sometimes the mice came out and laughed at him.

"I've been here long enough," he said. "I want to go home. Back to the farm."

Three days later the head of department came into the office. He was a big man with large hands, a red florid complexion and a very loud voice.

"Here comes the Boss," the staff said in low voices.

The Boss looked round the office and then spotted the mixter-maxter kitten.

"Bless me," he said, "what on earth is that cat doing here? Animals are not allowed." He began to frown and look angry. Just then three things happened.

The brindled mixter-maxter kitten yawned enormously, for the mice had kept him awake all night. He looked so sweet with his shell pink tongue and pearl white teeth that the Boss looked again.

Then the brindled mixter-maxter kitten miaowed in a high-pitched little voice, because the staff had forgotten to feed him and he was so hungry.

Then the brindled mixter-maxter kitten decided he liked the Boss with his large hands and his red florid complexion and loud voice, so he took a few unsteady steps forward until he reached the Boss's large shiny brown shoes.

The Boss smiled all over his red florid face. "My wife would know what to do with you," he said. To the staff he said, "I shall take him home with me at the end of the day." And he did.