Last Friday I drove to work, settled down at my desk and did work things, greeted my co-worker when she arrived, and looked when I heard her ask a little later, "Do you hear a cat crying?" Why, no, I did not, but I did stand up by her desk, then outside, and then exclaimed, "It's coming from my car!!!"
My guess was that a kitten hitchhiked in under the hood, so I needed a place to put the kitten once I opened the hood and caught it. I looked and looked, and eventually, I taped a large box back together that I found in the garage. Upon popping the hood, despite my assumption, I was startled to see a kitten sitting on the engine block. Before I could grab it, it dashed back down into the tubes and wires and out of sight.
My coworker was equally startled to see the tiny kitten under the hood, and we guessed at what to do to coax it out. "Here, kitty-kitty" is not the language we speak around our cats - mostly we meow at them. That wasn't working. I found a container of powdered coffee creamer, so mixed with water in a little bowl, it sat behind my tire. It failed at an instantaneous reunion. I had to get back to work.
In an e-mail I was reminded that St. Anthony helps find lost things, and he was a Franciscan, founded by the patron saint of animals. I offered a prayer to St. Anthony to "find that kitten" - not entirely lost, but maybe. An hour later I left for our new free lunch Friday program, and loathe to do so, I drove not knowing whether the cat had escaped unseen (my desk doesn't overlook my car) or whether it was shuddering at the heat and sounds of the engine. Back at the office that afternoon, I popped the hood one more time and meowed for the kitten - no noise, no crying, no scuffing of paws. No idea whether it was in there or not!
Back to work for the afternoon, and finally the hour arrived for me to return home. Every bump (and there are a lot of them) on the highway home was jarring, and I kept an eye on the rear-view mirror for a kitten tumbling across the road, though the vision never materialized. I pulled up to the house and took a deep breath. I walked around to get my bag and things from the car. Lucky and Curly, the two mamas, came over and were meowing quietly. I encouraged them to meow a little louder in case the lost kitten somehow survived inside the workings under the hood, though I don't think they understood.
As I opened the door, I heard a howling cry of hope for rescue coming from the car. I ran to the driver side to pop the hood, and there lodged behind the passenger headlight was a badly shaken up kitten. It couldn't get away in that tight space, so finally I was able to yank it out by the scruff. It darted off so fast, with neither mama following it, that I never figured out if it was Cracker or Twinkie - who look a lot a like, was born of one mama and nursed by the other. I let out a "Praise the Lord!" and felt an amazing relief wash over me.
Sunday evening we sat out while the cats and kittens fed and then played with them. Both Cracker and Twinkie were there and unharmed. I am inclined to think it was Twinkie, but whichever it was, that one is still pretty tense to be held and petted. Those darn cats - I don't even like cats.......
