The Great Adventure

Peewee, closely followed by Tabitha, slowly approached the strange orange glow and the sound of the Old Man’s harmonica. Had they been human the almost supernatural or alien unearthliness of the scene would have struck them. But they were animals, so it probably didn’t. Tabitha, in fact, who couldn’t help her excitement, shook in expectation. Peewee, on the other hand, was cool and suspicious. Quietly, slowly stepping with one leg at a time, in that graceful and slinky way only cats can manage, he moved forward. Unfortunately, the scene of the svelte cat sneaking up on an unsuspecting target was pretty much ruined by the goofy dog, who began to whine and wag her tail in anticipation as they got closer.

The two animals rounded a bush and stared at the sight that greeted them. There, down a slight embankment, gathered around a bonfire on the edges of a ruined trailer park were a group of humans. A few trailer park lights that had evidently been spared by the hurricane were rigged in a circle around the fire and were wired to a generator chugging away in the background. They gave off a weak yellowish light. The combination of the flames and the lights produced the strange eerie orange glow that the animals had seen. Also apparently wired to the generator was a beat up old refrigerator. And large boom box in the shadows, just beyond the fluttering glow of the dancing flames, was blasting out the Old Man’s harmonica.

Peewee and Tabitha weren’t sure what to make of the scene. They sat down and stared for a while. Although it was hard to see through the shadows and murky darkness that cloaked everything beyond the lights and the bonfire, it seemed that it was all mess and destruction. All the trailer houses looked like they were completely ruined, either blown to bits as they stood or turned over on their side and then blown to bits. But despite all the devastation the humans were partying. They were sitting around, roasting food in the fire, and eating and drinking and talking. They would occasionally get up and go to the old refrigerator and help themselves to something else. Had the animals understood such things it would have seemed very surreal to them.

Everything seemed friendly enough, but the two animals stayed put, sitting quietly and watching for a while, just in case. They were still completely filthy and bedraggled, two mangy and disreputable looking characters, so it was probably just as well they were hidden by the darkness.

Suddenly, without warning, a blurry shape came barreling from the side and headed straight for Peewee. It was big brown and brawny, a pit dog built like a tank. Peewee’s cat reflexes were barely just fast enough. He took off like a bolt, an orange streak with a brown pit dog in hot pursuit. Tabitha, a split second behind, tore after them.

Cats are very fast, but they don’t have as much endurance as dogs do. Peewee knew he had to immediately do something or the pit dog would soon catch him. He made for the nearest tree and scampered up as fast as he could. The pit dog, his paws clawing the trunk, snapping at his tail, barely missed him. Tabitha, who was a very fast runner, was rocketing along only a few steps behind them. As she reached the tree she slammed on the brakes and tried to come screeching to a halt, but she didn’t quite stop in time. She crashed into the pit dog and the two animals went rolling on the ground.

The two dogs jumped back and eyed each other with mean and nasty growls. The confrontation was at a standstill. The brown pit dog was big and muscled and vicious looking and should have sent Tabitha running. But Tabitha stood her ground. She was a terrier, and terriers, when there is fire in their eyes, don’t back down. Peewee’s life was enough to put a lot of fire in Tabitha’s eyes.

For a few tense moments the dogs stared and growled. But somehow, and it is difficult for a human to understand exactly how, dogs can tell in a few seconds (or less) if they are going to fight, be friends, or if they will simply ignore each other and walk away. In this case, after the initial shock and indignation of the crash passed, and after they had stared and growled at each other long enough, the fire passed from Tabitha’s eyes. There was a slow and hesitant meeting of noses. This was followed by a few bounces with the front legs extended. It wasn’t long before the dogs were smiling and their eyes were sparkling. They liked each other. The pit dog forgot all about Peewee now that he had a real playmate.

Meanwhile the commotion did not go unnoticed by the humans. The animals were too busy to notice, but just as Tabitha and the pit dog were getting into some serious play two men and a kid came running up the embankment.

“Look, they’re playing!” exclaimed the kid, “Bruiser got himself a friend!”

“Well, I’ll be,” said one of the men, “that damned dawg hates nearly every other critter he ever sees.”

“He sure seems to like this one,” said the second man.

Peewee, who had scampered at least fifteen feet up the tree, was now sitting on a branch and meowing loudly, hoping someone would notice and help him back down.

“Hey, look, there’s a cat in the tree!” the kid pointed out excitedly. The two men looked up at Peewee.

“I don’t think he can come down by hisself,” said one man, “I think he’s got himself stuck up there.”

“Must have been Bruiser that treed him,” said the other one. “Maybe I better git the ladder an’ bring it over,” said the first man.

“OK,” said the second man, “I’ll stick around here and make sure Bruiser don’t cause no more trouble.”

But the man needn’t have worried. Bruiser and Tabitha were happily rolling and wrestling and wagging their tails.

Soon the first man returned with a ladder and placed it against the tree where Peewee was perched. The top of the ladder was about five feet short of where Peewee was. The man climbed up to the very end of the ladder and grabbing a branch for support with one hand he stretched out with the other, barely reaching the cat. By then a small crowd of humans had gathered under the tree to watch the proceedings.

“Watch yourself,” said a woman to the man up in the tree, “I don’t wanna be picking you up off the ground down here!”

The man up in the tree reached as far as he could and just managed to grab the cat. Peewee, who was petrified, dug his claws into the tree, and held on for dear life. He held on so tightly in fact, that in order to free him the man had to grab him with both hands and he therefore let go of the branch he was holding for balance. That was a mistake. The man immediately began swaying way up there on the end of the ladder. There was a gasp from the crowd below, but the man luckily (and barely) managed to grasp the tree with both arms and hug it for dear life. Even Tabitha and the pit dog were mesmerized by the scene. They were no longer playing but instead sitting and staring up at the tree.

“You OK?” asked a man.

“You gotta talk nice to it so it’ll trust you,” suggested a woman.

The man in the tree, having regained his balance, once again held on to a branch with one hand and began to stroke and pet Peewee with the other hand, murmuring quiet nice things to him. Peewee remained frozen and looked down at the man, his terrified yellow eyes relaxing little by little. A few minutes more of this treatment calmed him down enough to ease his claws and let go of the branch. The man gingerly picked Peewee up with one hand (it was lucky that he was such a small cat) and brought him down. The crowd cheered and congratulated, and the dogs came to take a closer look.

“Bruiser, this here cat is a friend. Friend, Bruiser, friend” said the man holding Peewee.

Bruiser looked up at Peewee. Peewee, though safe enough in the man’s arms, eyed him suspiciously. Tabitha looked up at Peewee and then at Bruiser and whined.

No one was sure if Bruiser got the message, so the man carried Peewee down to the bonfire, followed by the other humans and the dogs. The appearance of Peewee and Tabitha seemed to animate the gathering. More food and beer were brought out of the old refrigerator, and the party got a second wind. The animals were offered delicious snacks, cooked on the fire, which they gladly ate. The friendship between the dogs was a surprise and delight to the gathering and the subject of much conversation.

As the night wore on into the wee hours one by one the humans curled up and fell asleep, as did Bruiser. Only a few dimly glowing red embers were all that was left of the fire when Peewee felt it was time to move on again. He gently extricated himself from the arms of a sleeping child and quietly walked over to Tabitha. He stared at her for a moment or two, and then trotted off into the darkness. Tabitha sighed, looked around, and reluctantly followed.