Saturday, December 24, 1910
It was very late on Saturday evening, December 24th, 1910. The stars twinkled in the clear cold sky. Sarafina the Cat was queen of the Conrad house; one of the finest in the small town of Eagle Creek, Montana. She was having a very busy week. Many humans had come to see her.
Inside the house were Michael and Paula Conrad, their sixteen-year-old daughter Sarah, the oldest son, Martin Conrad, Martin's wife, Gladys and their adopted twin boys Joshua and Stevie, aged two. The younger son, twenty-year-old Robert Conrad, his wife, Sherri, and their newborn, Susanna Violet, were also visiting.
On Sunday morning, Paula Conrad would have two great tasks: preparing food and arguing with her daughter Sarah because she was not performing her duties at a sufficient velocity.
During the mad dash, Paula and Sarah had overlook the requisite ten minutes of petting Sarafina required from each inhabitant of her house. This was upsetting; however, having lived through two other Christmases, Sarafina knew this silly season provided many opportunities for humans to forget what was most important- the happiness of the cat.
Robert, Sherri and Suzi had arrived Thursday on the afternoon train. In all of the excitement to see his mother, Robert had literally stepped over Sarafina when he entered the house. He and Sherri were carrying luggage, which they had placed on the second floor in the bedroom that had once been used by Robert and his older brother Martin.
After sufficiently sniffing the bags, Sarafina went back downstairs. The humans had gathered in the parlor, the baby Suzi was making her first visit; so much attention was on her. From her experiences with Josh and Stevie, Martin and Gladys' children, Sarafina knew that small humans were unpredictable. She approached carefully and gave a couple of preliminary sniffs. She determined that the baby was an exact mixture of Robert and Sherri's scents. While the young one was interesting, Sarafina did not understand why its presence resulted in Sarah and Paula speaking incoherently and cooing.
On Friday, there was even more busyness around the house. Various human residents from Eagle Creek came by and delivered gifts and greetings. Most of the women wanted to see the baby while most of the men wanted to discuss killing animals with Robert. Mysteriously, they ignored Sarafina's input on songbird hunting. She did enjoy sniffing greetings from the humans who had cats and responding in kind.
Sarafina was beginning to feel crowded with so many people in the house, but, she kept in mind that it was only temporary.
She checked on the packages once more and then decided to make one more round outside to ensure the security of the home. As she walked, she thought about how she was not really a part of the celebration.
Sarah usually discouraged Sarafina from giving gifts, in the form of dead mice, while company was over. But this year, Sarafina was determined to play some part in the festivities.
After checking on the horses and chickens, she climbed a tree to get on the roof of the barn.
The roof of the barn afforded a great view of most of her domain. As she scanned the nearby woods, she saw a tiny, black creature crawling out of the underbrush.
Sarafina tilted her head to study the unusual animal. It looked like a cat, but it still seemed unfamiliar. She'd seen all sorts of house cats as well as wild felines such as the bobcat, puma and the Canadian Lynx. This new cat was important to examine, not only because it was on her territory but because it was so tiny.
Sarafina climbed down the tree next to the barn and trotted over to greet the visitor.
She stood about twenty yards away, arched her back and hissed. "This is my territory. Why are you here?"
"Help!" whimpered the tiny intruder, "Can you help me? I'm lost."
"Oh, you poor dear. How old are you little kitten?"
"Four weeks, I guess. I'm not sure."
"What's your name?"
"I don't know. I have two brothers; they always call me 'Sissy.' Can you be my mommy?"
"Well, Sissy, this is my domain, however, since you are a small one; you can stay and I'll be your mommy until you get back with your family."
Sissy jumped up and down. "Hurray."
Sarafina went over to greet the little visitor. They touched noses to learn more about each other. After Sissy checked out, Sarafina lead her to the house.
Sissy tilted her head. "Do you live with humans?"
"Yes."
"Are they good humans or bad humans?"
"They're good, very good. They provide a warm house for me to live in; they take care of my needs."
Sissy looked down. "Some humans are mean, one of them shot at me with a gun."
Sarafina gave her sympathy by licking Sissy's face.
"I am so sorry about that. I'm sure it was a mistake. Here, come on the porch. The woman of the house cooked a ham. She gave me the scraps, which are the best part of the dish."
"Thank you." Sissy enjoyed the ham and licking the bones.
Sarafina shivered. "It is cold out here. We should go inside."
Sarafina jumped up on the window ledge. Sarah was in the kitchen talking on the telephone, reviewing each moment of the Christmas Ball with her best-friend Emily.
Sarafina tapped on the window to get Sarah's attention.
While Sarah was getting up to go to the door, Sarafina said, "There are nine humans in the house right now, it's very crowded. I normally sleep with Sarah. I am going to have to ask you to stay in the parlor. It has a fireplace so it's nice and warm. While you are sleeping, I will tell the humans about my intention to have you stay in the house for a few days."
Sissy sniffed all around the door. "Thanks mommy."
Sarafina smiled at her.
Sarah rushed to the door, opened it and then promptly returned to the phone.
Sissy was right behind Sarafina when they went into the parlor. When Sissy saw the couch, she immediately ran beneath it.
"This reminds me of home. Mommy, can I sleep here?"
Sarafina checked underneath the couch. "That'd be just fine. If you get thirsty, the faucet in the kitchen usually drips so you can drink there. If you need to relieve yourself, try and hold it in. You can do that in the morning."
"Thank you so much, mommy." Sissy yawned; she curled up into a ball and was fast asleep.
Sarah continued chatting on the phone. She never noticed Sissy and barely acknowledged Sarafina's entrance.
Sarafina put a paw on Sarah's right arm and meowed. Sarafina realized that humans were not smart enough to speak the complex language of Cat; however, she still thought she should give it a try. "I found a lost kitten, her name is Sissy. I told her she could stay here a few days until her mother finds her."
Sarah remained focused on her discussion with Emily concerning the romantic potential of various young men at the dance simply scratched Sarafina's ears and said, "Oh, yes, oh yes. That would be sooooooo nice."
Sarafina replied, "Good. I'm glad we have this understanding. Sweet dreams, Sarah."
During the night, Sarafina periodically checked on Sissy. Each time, Sissy was sound asleep and content. Sarafina went to Paula, her food preparer, to make sure she understood the situation.
Paula petted Sarafina and yawned. "Yeah, ok, sure, whatever, go back to sleep."
Sarafina returned to Sarah's room confident that she'd made all of the necessary arrangements for Sissy's stay.
About sunrise, Paula got up to make coffee. Sarafina took the opportunity to discuss Sissy situation with Paula. She kept nodding and saying, "Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh," as she brewed the coffee. She opened the door for Sarafina and then went back to her food preparation.
Sarafina meowed to Sissy. Sissy scrambled out the door from underneath the couch. The felines took care of business, sniffed a little of the snow and returned to house. Since Paula had not sufficiently shut the door, Sarafina was able to nudge it open with little effort. She did not want to distract Paula from her duties.
Sissy returned to her make shift home beneath the couch and curled up to take another nap.
After a big breakfast the humans decided to clean up the kitchen before opening the presents. The small children went into the parlor; Sherri was watching them.
Sarah and Paula cleaned the kitchen. Gladys was upstairs talking on the phone to her mother. Robert and Michael were outside gathering firewood.
While the two-year-olds were restlessly exploring the parlor, one of them looked underneath the couch.
"Kitty! Kitty!"
Sherri, who was looking at a Sears Catalog replied, "That's right, Josh. Sarafina is a kitty."
Sarafina meowed, "No, he means Sissy."
Stevie also looked under the couch, "Kitty! Kitty!"
Sarafina went to the kitchen to check on Paula and Sarah's progress. She meowed, "You two need to meet Sissy. You'll really like her."
Sarah responded by smiling at Sarafina and scratching her just beneath her chin.
Josh and Stevie came into the kitchen.
"Kitty! Grammy! Kitty!"
Paula smiled. "That's right, Sarafina is a kitty."
Stevie pointed at the parlor. "Kitty!"
Sarah rubbed Josh's head. "That's right Sarafina is in... no wait, she's right here in the kitchen. But, she does sleep in the parlor sometimes. You are so smart."
Josh ran over to his mother. "Kitty! Kitty! For me?"
His mother chuckled and said, "No, sweetheart, kitty stays here. This is Sarafina's house."
He was insistent. "No! No! Kitty for Josh!"
Sherri rolled her eyes. "Young man, the kitty stays at Grammy's house."
"No! No! No! Kitty in the parlor is for Josh."
"Never mind."
Sherri got up and went to the kitchen to grab a cookie. Sarafina meowed when Sherri walked in.
Sherri asked, "Do you have any more of those sugar cookies that...?" Sherri paused. She thought to herself, "Why would he say, 'Kitty is in the parlor?'"
She swished her mouth. "Paula, did you get Josh or Stevie a toy that looks like a cat?"
Paula dried her hands. "No."
Sherri raised an eyebrow. "Did you get them a kitten?"
"No. I didn't get them a kitten. It must've been...." As soon as she said that, the men walked in from chopping the firewood. Gladys came down and met them in the parlor.
Sherri shook her head. "Robert Michael Conrad I specifically told you I did not want a cat in my house."
Robert looked at her with great confusion. "Yeah, you told me that. So?"
"So? You got them a cat!"
He chuckled, "I did no such thing." Robert turned to his father. "Dad?"
Michael shook his head. "I didn't get anyone a cat."
Sarafina stepped into the parlor. She sniffed the couch and meowed to Sissy.
Josh pointed once more at the couch. "Kitty, Pa-Pa, kitty!"
Michael got down on the floor and looked.
"Well, I'll be. There's a kitten underneath the couch."
Robert asked, "Seriously? Where'd it come from?"
"Sarafina must've found it. It certainly is a cute little critter."
"What does it look like?"
"It's black with a white tuff of hair on its head and... ahhhh!"
Michael froze.
He whispered, "Robert, very slowly and with much deliberation, I want you to move the women out of the parlor."
Sherri and Gladys both asked, "Why?"
"Just... do... what... I... say" said Michael. "And everything will be just fine. Oh, no, no, no, do not come out from underneath the couch yet."
Sherri screamed, "Skunk!"
She and Glady's began running around the parlor trying to rescue the children.
Sarafina meowed at Sissy. "Skunk? Is that another name for a polecat?"
Sarah said, "Sarafina!"
Sarafina looked to her and meowed, "You said she could stay."
Michael tried to herd everyone out of the parlor. They all crammed into the kitchen.
"Hush! Hush! Hush! Believe me; we do not want that little fellow to be upset."
Sissy walked into the kitchen sniffing around for some breakfast. The women quaked tremendously. All, except Sarah had a husband to hold on to. She wanted to be someone's bride and at that moment any of the boys in Eagle Creek would do.
Sarafina came up to Sissy and meowed for Paula to give them more ham. The surprising sound made Sissy jump. The humans all shut their eyes and held their noses.
Sissy sniffed around for a minute but could not find a way to get on to the counter. Sarafina jumped up, put a sugar cookie in her mouth and gave it to Sissy. She was very happy to eat the cookie.
Michael whispered, "While little stinker here is feeding, let us softly and tenderly go on to the front porch."
They all nodded their agreement.
The plan was working right up until the moment the baby wanted to nurse.
The infant's plea for nourishment were confusing to Sissy. She stopped eating the cookie and looked to Sherri.
Sherri smiled and whispered, "The baby is hungry; nothing more. Please, please, return to eating your sugar cookie."
Sissy did not let the distraction keep her for long. She returned to the sweet snack. Sarafina watched her eat and then offered to get her another one.
The humans carefully stepped onto the porch.
Paula gently shut the door.
The humans all let out a collective sigh of relief.
Little Stevie yelled, "Kitty! Kitty!"
"No, Stevie," said Pa-Pa Conrad, "the 'kitties', as you call them, are inside."
Josh said, "Three kitties!"
Me-maw Conrad said, "No, two kitties."
Paula turned around and cringed. "Oh, come on!"
The other humans slowly turned around.
On the steps of the porch was a very worried mother skunk and Sissy's brothers. Mother was attempting to smell if her daughter was inside. She was also trying to determine the best way to make the humans move out of her way.
Robert whispered, "Ok... now, what do we do?"
Sarah said, "I got it."
Sarah went to the kitchen window and tapped on it.
Sarafina looked up and jumped on the window ledge. Sarah tried in vain to get her to look to the steps. Finally, Sarafina noticed the skunk family. She meowed to Sissy. "Your mother's here."
Sissy scrambled out the kitchen and began clawing on the front door. Gladys slowly opened it and the Conrads watched in yuletide splendor, another family reunion.
As the four skunks peacefully walked off into the front yard, Sissy began telling her mother about her adventure. Mother stopped as did her children. She resolutely returned to the house in search of the sugar cookies her daughter had enjoyed so much.
The antsy humans watched with great fear as the skunk family approached the house.
"I got it" said Paula.
Paula went back into the kitchen and got the bowl of sugar cookies. She showed them to mamma skunk. Sissy and her family stopped. Paula then tossed one of the sugar cookies out on to the front yard. The family examined Paula for a moment and then went for the cookie.
Michael took the bowl and said, "You're not dressed to be out here. I've got a heavy coat on, I can handle this."
Paula mouthed, "Thank you."
The human family went back inside. Michael kept tossing cookies deeper and deeper into the woods until the family was on a course for home, a den in a hollowed out tree.
Sarafina stepped out into the yard. She was sad to see Sissy leave. Additionally, she felt bad that everyone was giving and getting presents and she could not give the Conrads any special gifts. Her melancholy soon vanished when she heard Paula scream from inside the house.
"Good!" thought Sarafina. "Paula found the dead mouse I put in her stocking."
