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The doorbell at Skeledale rang out loudly, Siegfried popped up from his chair in the office, shouting to the empty house, “I’ll get it”. It was still hard to wrap his head around the fact that this house, which had been so annoyingly busy just a few months ago, was now so quietly empty. After James had been called up, Helen returned to the farm, and it was back to the lonely old days with just he and Mrs. Hall rattling around this big old house.
The bell rang again, and Siegfried frowned at the impatience of their visitor, he flung open the door muttering “yes, yes, I heard you…”
On the porch of Skeledale stood a man of about forty, wearing tattered clothes and holding a box.
“Can I help you?”
The man stuttered, “oh I do hope so, are you Herriot?”
“No, I’m Farnon, Siegfried Farnon…don’t ask. Herriot is my partner, but he’s been called up to the RAF, is there something I can help you with?”
The man shifted uncomfortably on his feet and the box in his hand seemed to jostle from side to side.
“Do you have a sick animal in that box?”
The man unexpectedly burst into tears and said “she’s…she’s not exactly sick”.
Siegfried softened and ushered the man inside, “come inside, mister…I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name”.
Once they were safely ensconced in the exam room, the man put the box down, wiped at his eyes and said, “I’m Beck, Jonathon Beck”, holding his hand out for Siegfried to shake it.
“I’m sorry for my bloody blubbering, Mr. Farnon, I’ve had a terrible shock this morning, you see, I’m shipping out in a few days, so I came home to spend a few days with me mum, but she hadn’t told me she were feelin’ so poorly. She told me she were dying, but she didn’t look that bad so, I thought she were just trying to gin up some sympathy, but this mornin’ I found her in her chair…”
Siegfried blanched, “oh my poor fellow,” he said reaching into his pocket to pull out a hanky.
The man took the slip of white cloth and loudly blew his nose into it.
“Wait a minute, Beck…is that…is Georgina in this box?”
The man nodded, “aye, tis our Georgie and me mum left this note next to her chair,“ he said fetching a single piece of paper from his pocket. “I guess it’s sort of her last will and testament, she had no money, but she says very clearly that her dying wish is that I bring Georgina here to Skeledale house and ask for Mr. Herriot to care for her. She said he were so kind to her…”
The box shook violently as if the creature within knew she was being talked about.
Siegfried stammered, “oh…I…I’m sorry, Mr. Beck, we can’t possibly take her in…”
The box shook again, and Jonathon erupted in a fresh round of tears, “but Mr. Farnon, I am me mother’s only living child, me sister passed from TB last year and me brother was killed in the war not six months ago, and now I’ve been conscripted…thought I were too bloody old, since I’m damn near forty, but I have no children, so…”
Siegfried stopped him, “alright, Mr. Beck, Jonathon, leave her with me, I will sort something out, you just go and take care of things at home and take of yourself…”
He patted him on the back, escorted him out, then returned to the exam room where the box was suspiciously motionless as it sat on the exam table.
He thought to himself, ‘it’s just a bloody cat’ and slowly untied the length of twine that held the box closed.
Suddenly the furry beast burst from the box with a screech and a hiss, it lunged at his face swiping a gash to his cheek then bounced off the exam table and disappeared into the house.
Siegfried sat down heavily and cursed his own stupidity; he’d failed to close the door to the exam room and now the demon beast roamed free in his home.
He touched his cheek, and sucked in a breath as he felt the sting of the open wound. As he rummaged around for a piece of gauze, he heard her come home from the market, “only me…” she called out, stopping by the door of the exam room.
She dropped her heavy basket on the floor and rushed into the room at the sight of blood trickling from his face.
“Oh my, what happened here?”
He held the piece of gauze to his face and sat back down allowing her to examine the wound.
He huffed, “a cat…bloody Mrs. Beck died this morning and willed us her cat! Her son just left; he’s been conscripted…”
Audrey smiled knowing that the good man, her Siegfried, could never turn away an animal in need.
“Let me take a look”, she said as she gently removed the gauze from his face.
He hissed as she blotted away the blood, “she got you a good one, I will have to clean it out thoroughly, could be all sorts on a cat’s claw”.
She soaked a piece of cotton with alcohol, then tipped his face up and gently touched the edge of the wound, he sucked in a breath and gritted his teeth as she tended to the deep scratch.
“Sorry”, she whispered as she dabbed at the wound, she swept her thumb over his uninjured cheek as she tried to soothe him and thought to herself, she should not be enjoying this moment so much. She found her heart beating a little faster at his nearness, their faces were just inches apart and she could feel his breath on her cheek. His eyes were closed as he trustingly gave himself over to her care. She found herself examining his weathered face, the lines on his forehead had deepened with the stress of the past year, but he still looked boyishly handsome. A wayward curl of his hair had loosed, and she cautiously swept it back into place, she caressed his forehead, traced the lines around his eyes and stopped herself just in time before she made her way toward his lips. He’d opened his eyes and was staring longingly at her, she smiled and whispered, “there, that should do it, if we keep it clean, I don’t think it will leave a scar”.
He reached up and held her hand to his uninjured cheek, “thank you, Mrs. H…”
She blushed and fought the urge to lean over and press her lips to his.
The moment lingered, their eyes locked, the line between employer and employee had long been erased, and they stood at the precipice of a new phase in their relationship, but neither was ready to take the leap and declare themselves, so they continued the dance, each cherishing moments of closeness like this, but burying the words that would define it.
The moment was broken by a loud hissing sound and scuffle that came from the direction of the kitchen, a duet of excited barks broke out and Audrey said “Jess, Dash…” then briskly made her way toward the scullery.
Siegfried touched his cheek, and smiled, then got up and went to assess the damage.
###
When Audrey arrived in the kitchen, there seemed to be something of a showdown occurring, the beautiful grey and white feline sat perched on the table lording over the lowly canines, they both stared curiously up at her as she emitted a low growl. Audrey laughed at the scene recognizing that if Georgina were allowed to stay, they would all become her subjects eventually.
She shooed the dogs out the back door and approached the cat cautiously. She held out her hand and said soothingly “hello Georgina, you sure are a pretty girl…”. The cat did not flee, but instead bumped her head against Audrey’s hand seeking some affection. Audrey smiled and started stroking her gently whispering “I’m going to forgive you for injuring my Mr. Farnon just this once, because you must be having a rough day, but from now on you keep those claws to yourself.”
The cat began to purr and flopped herself down onto the table, welcoming Audrey’s touch. As she lovingly stroked the soft fur, she whispered conspiratorially to the cat, “he will bluster and fuss and say, ‘no more damned animals’ but if you play your cards right, little girl, you’ll have a home for life.”
Georgina rolled onto her back and allowed Audrey to pet her tummy, lolling her head to the side and appearing to grin.
That’s how Siegfried found them as he entered the kitchen, he stared at them and wondered how that could possibly be the same furry beast that had harmed him only minutes earlier.
Siegfried approached and reached out to touch the cat’s head and was rewarded with a hiss, he pulled his hand back, and exclaimed “bloody thing is mad, purring one second and hissing the next”.
Audrey turned to him and said dryly, “gee, that sounds familiar”. She raised her eyebrow at him and defied him to disagree.
He scowled, her point well taken, and turned heel to go back to his office. He called back to her, “I’m going to make a flyer to put in the square, ‘one cat, free to a good home.’”
###
Siegfried sat at his desk and heaved over a large plie in search of some blank paper, as Vonolel came to the edge of the cage and sniffed at him. He stopped his search and gave his attention to his little rodent friend, “have no fear little one, I will make sure no harm comes to your way, I assure you, our feline guest will NOT be staying”.
While Siegfried headed out the front door with his flyer to post in the square, Audrey headed out the back to find a shallow pan and some sand. She set up the makeshift litter box and poured some milk in a dish for Georgina, then went back to the market for something to feed her. The last thing she wanted was for Georgina to dine on Siegfried’s precious rodent friend, although she was not particularly keen on rats as pets, he loved the creepy little creature to death.
When she returned from the store with three cans of what Mrs. Enderby assured her was the best cat food available, she scooped it into a dish and placed it next to a little makeshift bed she’d created for their newest guest.
When Siegfried returned from his errand he went immediately to his office, he had intentions of catching up on billing, and felt the need to stand guard for Volonel.
He was drawn away from his office by a sound coming from the living room, it was the wonderful magical sound of her laughter. It was rarely heard these days with all the turmoil in the world, but it was the most beautiful music to his ears, and it drew him like a siren’s song into the other room.
When he reached the doorway the sight before him made his heart warm in his chest and a smile creep onto his lips. She sat in her chair with a knitting project in her lap, but instead of creating a scarf or a sweater, she was using the yarn to play with Georgina. She would dangle the loose end up in the air and giggle with delight as the agile creature leapt up to snag it over and over again. It was at that moment that he had the first inkling that another creature may find its forever home.
He approached and sat in the chair next to hers, he leaned forward and picked up a stray piece of yarn and dangled it in a similar fashion. Georgina stopped playing with Audrey’s yarn, shot him a death glare, shook her paw in disgust and sauntered off in the direction of the kitchen.
Audrey pressed her lips together and suppressed a laugh, “at least she didn’t hiss at you, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you soon.”
He got up and headed back to his office and the pet who loved him, he called back over his shoulder, “no matter, Mrs. H, I’m sure someone will see my flyer and ring us any day now”.
###
As the next few days passed, Georgina solidified her place in Skeledale house, she nestled herself on Audrey’s lap whenever she had a moment to relax, she hung around the kitchen when she was cooking and even accompanied her to the bathroom when she took her morning constitutional.
She made allies of Jess and Dash by begging for treats that they also got to indulge in and sporadically hanging out with them in their baskets. On one occasion Audrey even found Georgina wedged in between the two dogs taking turns grooming their ears with her sandpapery tongue.
When it came to Vonolel, the natural assumption was that Georgina would follow her instincts and hunt the rodent, but the opposite was true, she seemed indifferent to the pet rat.
Siegfried blustered when he found her sitting on his office chair staring into the cage, but Volonel did not seem afraid, in fact he pressed his nose to the bars, as Georgina leant in for a sniff, they seemed to greet eachother and then went their separate ways. Vonolel burrowing down into his bedding and Georgina jumping down off the chair then making her way back to the kitchen and her favorite human.
The only occupant of Skeledale that Georgina had not charmed thus far, was Siegfried.
One evening after dinner, Siegfried came into the living room intending to sit in his chair and read his book as he sipped a night cap, but his chair was otherwise occupied.
The little grey and white ball of fur was curled up in a little ball, her head upside down, looking like she was tucked in for a long winters nap.
He frowned and grumbled, “that blasted cat has stolen my chair…”
Audrey looked up from her post on the sofa and smiled, “well sit in my chair, or you could join me here on the sofa”.
Siegfried hesitated, so she felt the need to say, “or I could shoo her away”.
He looked at the comfortable little creature then down onto the face of his favorite human and smiled, “no…no…let her be, I’ll just…” he gestured to the spot next to her on the sofa.
He settled himself in next to her, propped his feet up on the ottoman just next to hers and cracked his book.
They read in companionable silence for a moment, then Georgina roused from her slumber, arched her back to stretch and hopped down from his chair.
Audrey glanced at Siegfried, and they shared a little chuckle at the sheer audacity of their feline tenant.
Georgina performed an elaborate stretching routine on the floor by their feet then jumped up onto the sofa and nestled herself between the two of them.
She looked up at them with her innocent green eyes and implored them to pet her.
Audrey set down her book and complied, stroking her back, her ears, her neck. She purred loudly and soaked up the affection for a second, but then reached out her paw and gently laid it on Siegfried’s thigh. She tipped her head back and gazed intently at him till he had no choice but to join in the petting.
His fingers stroked her soft fur, tracing lines down her back and over her head, occasionally brushing against Audrey’s fingers which were following a similar path.
She smiled at him each time it happened, a little color rose on her cheeks and a contented sigh escaped from her lips.
Then, as suddenly as she’d jumped up to join them, she jumped down, and headed casually out of the room, leaving them alone on the sofa.
Their hands rested idle next to eachother on the golden fabric of the sofa, till Siegfried seized the opportunity and slid his pinky over to caress hers.
She smiled and turned her hand over to lace her fingers with his.
He smiled and tightened the embrace, tracing his thumb over hers till she hummed and tipped her head to rest it on his shoulder.
After a moment he whispered, “clever girl, tis our Georgie”.
The end