I’ve got plans to release Cats Home and finish off the Cats Collection at the start of next month, so why not start preparing now by showing you the first chapter – subject to potential change before publication – today? If you want to get caught up on the series, you can look at Cats Alone (first book) or Cats Wild (second book) – as this is a trilogy, Cats Home will be the final book and the picture for this blog post is the (hopefully final) version of the cover, with art by Leon Whittle.
Cats Home Excerpt – Chapter One
I think the only reason why Ruby comes with me to the shelter is to watch the queen suffer for as long as she can. Sometimes, the malice within my tribemate worries me. At other times, it is a blessing to have such a loyal and fierce protector, especially when I have to consider Sophia and her safety.
There is also the small issue of not knowing whether the queen will simply flee once we leave her at the shelter. We cannot stay when the workers discover her, otherwise we may be collected as well, and that would fully ruin our plans – whatever they are now. Once, my plan was to wait for Joseph in that old, cramped, dirty house that we all knew as home.
How come that feels like so long ago, now?
The blue-grey queen takes slow, exhausted steps. Her body remains low and close to the concrete ground as we close in on the large shelter building. There is a sunset behind the looming grey structure ahead of us, causing the sky to glow a bold orange colour. I want nothing more than to simply have this exchange rid us of the queen, so that we can finally start planning our next moves.
Ruby refuses to discuss anything in front of the queen and, while I can’t blame her, it does make it difficult to hold conversations when she also refuses to let the queen leave her sight for even a second. Convincing her to let me or Red take over the watch while she sleeps is a trial.
‘Well. Here we are,’ she says, as we near the large shelter doorway. ‘Finally getting rid of the rubbish.’
‘Ruby,’ I scold, but only half-heartedly. We’ve been through a lot at the paws of this queen, and even seeing our adversary in this constantly worn-down state doesn’t elicit much sympathy from me.
She says nothing in response to Ruby, or me. Instead, she lowers herself fully to the ground and closes her eyes, unmoving except for a slight rising and falling in her chest. In the shadow cast by the shelter, her blue-grey fur seems almost black – almost like mine. In another reality, we might’ve been more similar in other ways, too.
But we’re not. I have to remember that. I have my tribe, and we are a family. I have Sophia, and I have the twins, and I have Baxter. We even have our new friends now in Red, Spot and Maria. No matter what the future holds, I know that my tribe has my back and I have theirs. This queen had a tribe, sure – maybe she still has them – but they caused chaos and deliberate harm to those who did nothing to them. It’s cruel and needless… and it stops now.
By taking the queen off the streets, we can ensure that she won’t be able to hurt anyone else. Her tribe might continue to cause trouble, but we have the power to remove at least one link from the chain. It feels like it’s our duty to do this, although Ruby might see it as just revenge. To be fair, Ruby and Sapphire have never been under the care of an animal shelter before, but I have. I know this isn’t a cruel action by itself, although the queen will have less freedom than before.
It’s more than likely that she’ll be able to find a good home, especially if she starts to behave a little calmer after existing within a safer, more comfortable space for a while. Come to think of it, maybe we should all hand ourselves in. I know we’re wild right now, but how long can we last like this?
No. The tribe would be separated, and I couldn’t allow that. Being away from Sophia for a lifetime would be so painful that I can’t even bear to imagine it, and I’ve grown so fond of my tribe that… I don’t want to leave them, even if I would be able to live with a nice owner for the rest of my life. I don’t want comfort for me – I want comfort for all of us, and I can’t ensure that if the control is in the paws, or hands, of someone else.
On that thought, something strikes me. We probably won’t see this queen again, but there is still so much that we don’t know about her. I couldn’t even tell you her name, let alone her life’s story. Maybe we don’t have time for an entire history, but it feels wrong to just dump her here without the most basic courtesy. Keeping an eye on Ruby, I reach out with one paw and pat the queen’s shoulder.
‘I just thought I’d ask,’ I say, as she opens her eyes and blinks at me slowly, ‘for your name.’
‘Why does it matter?’ She asks, her voice soft and shaking.
‘Yeah, why does it matter?’ Ruby echoes, although her tone is far more spiteful. I ignore my tribemate for now, focusing on the queen.
‘You are going to be taken care of by the people in this shelter,’ I say, ‘and that is the best course of action. We couldn’t keep you with us and I think you really have a chance of turning your life around without your tribe and the danger and competition on the streets. But now that we’re parting ways, it feels wrong to not even know your name.’
She doesn’t speak for a few long moments. Ruby hisses and begins to pace back and forth, mumbling about how we should just make a racket and then leave, and something about how talking to the queen is a waste of time. I don’t mind. She has her reasons for disliking the queen, or even hating her, and I have mine for wanting a little bit of closure.
‘You’re… a strange cat,’ the queen remarks. ‘Soft. I’m guessing… pet from birth, recent stray?’
‘Ha,’ Ruby sneers, ‘you couldn’t be more wrong. Shadow was wild from birth. Our owner took us all in, and then…’ she trails off, before shaking herself suddenly. ‘You don’t deserve that story,’ she spits.
‘I see,’ she murmurs. ‘A surprising cat, too. My… my name, or the one my tribe use for me… it’s Kiana. It was someone’s… someone’s previous owner’s name, a little girl.’
‘That’s lovely,’ I reply, noticing Ruby bristle beside me. ‘Kiana, I hope your life improves from here. Can you promise me that you’ll stay until someone collects you?’
‘I’m too… too tired to move,’ she sighs, closing her eyes again. ‘Leave, don’t leave. I don’t… mind, anymore.’
I look to Ruby and nod. There’s one fairly surefire way to get some attention to Kiana from the shelter, and it’s something that we cats do happen to excel at, when we want to. We’ll just have to be extremely quick on our paws and hope that Kiana keeps to her word, and truly is as tired as she appears to be. I have some doubt in my mind, but that’s only natural after her sometimes horrifying antics with her tribe.
Nevertheless, Ruby and I launch into our plan. We make a show of scratching at the shelter door, which has an interesting mix of different animals’ scents lingering around it, before beginning to yowl. Obviously, we can’t just attract the attention of the people in the shelter like a human might, but we have our own ways as cats. I remember leaving Sophia’s siblings by this very shelter, although that was a much quieter affair. After all, they were too small to move too far so time wasn’t an issue – I just waited nearby until they were picked up. Kiana is a different case, so we’re using a different approach.
Together, we create a scratchy, high-pitched symphony – or cacophony – until I pick up on distant footsteps beyond the door. I turn to Ruby and see that she’s also picked up on the noise; her ears twitch and her eyes widen in the split second before she acts.
‘Now!’ Ruby cries.
Instantly, we both spin around and sprint away from the shelter, racing towards a fence which we leap up onto. Ruby jumps down without hesitation and continues scampering down an alleyway, but I hesitate for a moment and look back towards the shelter.
The door has opened, and someone has stepped out. They’re leaning down and picking up a ball of blue-grey fur: Kiana. As they turn to enter the shelter again, I notice them stroking her head and feel a little bit of relief sink into my heart. She’s going to be okay. I know I shouldn’t care – realistically, I should act like Ruby and be glad that we’ve gotten rid of Kiana – but I can’t help myself. She’s not the same cat who antagonised us and seemingly tried to ruin our lives for no reason. She’s changed.
Looking away from the shelter, I hop down from the fence and hurry after Ruby, hoping that Kiana continues to change for the better.
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Oskar Leonard 