ChapterOne
Raven Johnson picked up her tote bag and paused to scratch Jackie’s head.The gray tabby cat awakened from her slumber in her usual spot on the windowsill, soaking in the warmth of the early summer sunshine.
“I’ll see you later, after I give my talk at the school meeting tonight,” Raven said.Jackie flicked her ear, lifted her head to allow a scratch under her chin, then settled back onto her paws and closed her eyes.
Raven walked across the gravel driveway toward the Cat’s Meow Rescue Centre, admiring the new sign, with a cat peering out from theOinCat’s Meow.It felt fitting since many of the cats she received there tended to hide behind obstacles until they felt safe.
The late afternoon sun was still bright but the sharp heat from earlier in the day had begun to dissipate.Raven pushed open the door and was greeted by Mal, one of two full-time staff, who was writing notes and sorting through papers at the desk.Her short dark curls had gone awry since Raven had seen her earlier that morning, which meant that she’d been raking her hands through her hair again.
“Hello again,” she said.“Looks like you got busy since I left.”She pointed to the paper.
“Just printed off the application forms.”Mal finished making a note in the ledger.“We got another call from animal rescue.They caught a feral mom with a litter of kittens and took them to Rosalyn to get checked out.”
“How many?”
“Four.But the kittens are too young to leave their mother, so Rosalyn’s going to keep them all in her back room for a couple of weeks, then spay the mom before sending them over here.”
“I’ll have to thank her.”Raven made a mental note to stop by her friend’s vet practice when she was in town.“That’s the third time this month Rosalyn’s kept the overflow there.Kitten season started early this year.”
“Tell me about it,” said Mal.“At least the applications seem to be picking up.That kitty cam has stirred a lot of interest.”
“Everyone wants to adopt Dot and Dash,” Raven said of the tiny kittens that had grown up in the eye of the whole community, courtesy of the camera trained on their cage.“I just wish we could get as many people interested in adopting the older cats.”
“Daisy and I have been brainstorming about that,” said Mal.
“Brainstorming about what?”asked Daisy, stepping through the door that led to the kennel area.She wore her long blonde hair in two braids that made her appear younger than her twenty-one years.
“How to market older cats,” said Mal.
“Right.”Daisy’s face lit up.“I was talking to my grandma about it.She’s super interested in animal welfare.She said we focus on how calm older cats are.How they don’t have the midnight zoomies or climb the curtains, that sort of thing.”
“Great idea,” said Raven.“Once we get our summer kickoff done and the kitten craze is over for a few months, we should plan for another campaign for September or October.”
“How about ‘Fill your empty nest with four legs and a purr’?”said Daisy.“You know, for those people whose kids go off to college in September.It sure helped me when Mom got a new cat after I started college.Before that she called me daily.”She rolled her eyes and laughed.
“I like your creativity,” Raven said.A familiar pang caught her off guard—that empty nest feeling didn’t only happen in September.Her daughter Wren had left two years ago with Rosalyn’s daughter, McKenzie, to attend school in Edmonton.The house still felt too quiet.
“Is Charlotte ready to go?”she asked, pushing the thought away.“I want to drop her off at the Bookworm on my way to the school.”
“Right!I forgot.”Daisy turned back the way she had just come.“She’s in the transition suite being her usual perfect self.Just need to get her into the carrier.I’ll be back in a minute.”
Daisy scurried away, and Raven walked over to thumb through the pile of adoption applications.She hoped some were appropriate.With thirty-eight cats, they were near their forty-cat limit.What they needed was to expand.One rescue from a hoarding situation or an unregulated breeder, and they’d be unable to assist.
“I hope Charlotte likes Rhett Butler,” said Mal, moving around the other side of the desk and heading toward the laundry room.
“Charlotte is sweet,” said Raven.“Even a grumpy store cat like Rhett will be fine.”Though she too had her concerns.Charlotte was the second cat to be taken to stay at the store, and though Rhett Butler had tolerated the new cats so far, there was a concern he might exercise his territorial rights one day..
“How’s Tilly doing?”asked Mal, when she returned after transferring laundry from the washer to the dryer.
“She’s fine.She loves Lance.”She smiled at the thought of how Lance, the owner of The Bookworm by the Bay, had taken to the little calico cat.“And Rhett Butler has taken her under his wing.Despite all the visitors to the bookstore, I think Rhett appreciates a little four-legged companionship.”
“How is the volunteer situation working out?”Raven walked over to review the schedule on the desk.“Any of the students to return for summer?”
Mal shook her head.“I haven’t had time to contact them all yet.I’ve been vetting the applications, but we’ve lost Sam and Becks.They graduated and moved away to work this year.”
“I’ll see if we can advertise through the volunteer center.”
“Or you can ask one of the advisory committee members to do that?”Mal’s voice rose in a question, but Raven knew she was right.
