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Bridge. WhafFewgotfolks? asked a man in uniform, giving
me a scary look. Nothing, said the Guv. So we drove on some
more, all the way through Windsor and here we are!
My! I breathed, you HAVE had an adventure! But it
was as nothing to the adventure she was going to have in a
few days' time.
The Guv is very particular about cars. Things have to be
just right, and if a car is not as the Guv thinks it should be, it
gets attention immediately. About three, or was it four? days
after Miss Ku went on her trip to Detroit, the Guv came in
and said, I'm not satisfied with the car steering. There
seems to be a tight bearing. Ma said, Take it up the road
to that Service Station, it will be quicker than going all the
way to Windsor. The Guv went off. Soon after I thought I
heard the sound of a Police siren, but passed over the vague
idea. Half an hour or so later, a car drew up, a door slammed,
and the Guv came into the house as the car drove off. Done
already? asked Ma. No! said the Guv, I came back in a
taxi. Our car will not be ready until this afternoon, it needs
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new steering ends, but it will be all right when those are re-
placed. What's happened? asked Ma, who knows the
Guv's expressions well. I was doing about twenty-five miles
an hour up the road, replied the Guv, when a Police siren
went off just behind me. A Police car shot ahead and pulled
up directly in front of me. I stopped, of course, and a Police-
man got out of his car and came lumbering towards me. I
wondered what I had done wrong I had been driving five
miles under the limit. You Lobsang Rampa? the Policeman
asked. Yes, I replied, I read one of your books said the
man. Anyhow, said the Guv, He only wanted to talk and
he told me that Press Reporters were still trying to trace us.
Pity they haven't got something better to do, said Ma.
We don't want anything to do with the Press, they have
told lies enough about us.
What time is it? asked the Guv. Three thirty, replied
Ma. I think I will go and see if the car is ready. If it is I will
come back and collect you and Miss Ku and we will go out
and try it. Ma said, Shall I telephone them? If they will
deliver the car if it is ready you can drive the mechanic
back to the garage and then come for us. I'll phone now,
said Ma, hurrying off to the foot of the stairs where we kept
the telephone. Miss Ku said, Oh! Goody; I'm going out,
Feef, is there anything you want? No thank you, Miss
Ku, I replied, I hope you will have a pleasant trip. Ma
came hurrying back; The mechanic is on his way now, she
said. By the time you get on your coat he should be here.
The Guv did not wear a thick overcoat, like other people, he
just wore something light in order to keep the snow off. It
often made me smile when the Guv was out in just trousers
and jacket while everyone else was SWA.DDLED with
everything they could cram on!
The car is at the door, called Buttercup from upstairs
where she was entertaining Monkeyrouse. Thank you!
replied the Guv as he went out to where the mechanic was
waiting in the big green Monarch car. Come on, Miss Ku,
said Ma, we have to be ready, he will not be more than a
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few minutes. Miss Ku tripped daintily along so that Ma
could help her with her coat, the blue woolen one with the
red and white edging. The car was heated, but the path to the
car was not. I'll think of you, Stick-in-the-mud! said Miss
Ku to me, while I am bowling along the highway you will be
listening to the shrieks of Monkeyrouse. He's come, said
Ma. Goodbye Miss Ku, I called, look after yourself.
The doors shut, the car drove off, and I sat down to wait. It
was terrible to be alone; I depended utterly upon the Guv
and Miss Ku, they were my eyes, and often my ears. As one
gets older, particularly after a very hard life, one's hearing
becomes less acute. Miss Ku was young, and always had had
the best food. She was vital, healthy, and alert and with a
brilliant intellect. I well, I was just an old woman cat who
had had too many kittens, too many hardships.
They are a long time, Feef! said Buttercup, coming
down the stairs after settling Monkeyrouse. They are
indeed! I replied before I remembered that she did not
understand the Cat language. She went to the window and
looked out, then busied herself with food. As far as I re-
member now, it was something to do with fruit and vege-
tables, for Buttercup was VERY fond of fruit. Personally I
disliked fruit intensely, except for coarse grass. Miss Ku was
fond of a grape now and then, the white ones, she liked to
have them skinned and then she would sit and suck them.
Curiously enough, she (Miss Ku) also liked roast chestnuts.
I once knew a cat, in France, who ate prunes and dates!
Buttercup switched on the lights, It is getting late, Feef,
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