Getting back from an event in Toulouse on the late side last night, tired and hungry, we were welcomed as usual by the cats, pleased to see us no doubt, but like us–in need of a snack.
I had a plan to do a quick stir fry with some chicken breast that had been marinating in an interesting mix of soy, olive oil, orange and lemon juice and various spices—of which more in a later post—and got down to work.
Meredith came into the kitchen looking worried.
“Have you seen Beau [our young black & white cat]?”
I hadn’t.
Usually he’s the first in line when the tins start popping.
Maybe he’d got locked in the dependence when we hit the road after lunch.
He hadn’t.
I was hungry and needed to eat—so continued to cook.
A now very concerned Meredith went into the garden with a torch.
A few moments later, I heard her exclaim:
“There you are—Beau! what are you doing up there!?”
I went out into the garden and saw a marooned Beau, stuck—way up in one of the box elders.
Meredith had heard nothing at first in the garden but sensibly had taken out Beau’s toy squirrel with her.
He heard the irritating squeaky noise it makes when I step on it by mistake.
The familiar sound, usually associated in his mind with fun, unfroze the frightened young cat’s state of mind and he started mewing—
“I’m here—help!!”
He was well beyond our reach, in a tree that was easy to climb but a devil to descend from—even for an experienced cat.
It was 10.30 at night, in the middle of the French countryside and most of our neighbours–the ones with long ladders, for instance–would be tucked up in bed.
What to do?
“Here I am—help…!”
“Well I have to eat!” I heard myself saying—ruthlessly.
We sat down without enthusiasm and discussed the options.
Our friend Thierry might have a ladder long enough—our friend Mitch certainly had one but lives fifteen kilometers away.
Call the fire brigade?
All these seemed ridiculous at that time in the evening—and the last, expensive.
What price our beloved Beau?
We chewed on disconsolately.
After ten minutes and fortified by the food and a glass of wine, Meredith opened the front door and went out into the courtyard.
After the briefest pause, I heard her cry for the second time in half an hour…
“There you are!”
Moments later in walked Beau…
“Here I am!” and sprawled himself on the floor under the kitchen table–as though nonchalance was his second name.
Following him Pippa came in—head cat, the “mother of all cats”—who’d stayed outside while we were eating and–we like to believe—talked the youngster down from the tree!
- Pippa–our heroine!
There followed a popping of tins!
And a period of reflection…
Robin Ellis 
Robin, what’s a “dependence’? Your Beau looks so much like our younger tuxedo cat, Bram. We’ve had three sick kitties this last week, so sympathize with your worries.
Looking forward to the chicken breast recipe, and glad Beau figured things out!
Hi Deborah–a dependence [de–pending(hanging off)] is a building attached to the main. Could be outbuildings, shed, wing. Here it’s the old stable, where the priest kept his horse–with a hay loft upstairs. We converted it after years and years, into guest bedroom etc..
Hope your kittens are on the mend. Trying the chicken breasts again tonight–we’ll see.
Why do they seem to run our lives when they choose. I’m glad it all ended well.
The chicken sounds delicious.
Great post. Maybe you should do a book featuring your cats and the experiences all of you have had. It should be a winner.
I really enjoyed this. Good photos too.
….i cant even see Beau in the tree?!!….I knew my eyes were bad, but this is ridiculous …….help!!
We were too busy trying to find a way to save him to take photos, Lesley–it was dark anyway!
The photos are just to give an idea of how high he had climbed.
Oh my goodness! Congratulations Pippa!
I agree with James – would love to see a book featuring all your furry “children”. 🙂
I too scanned the tree for Beau…until it occurred to me you said it was dark…so I gave up the quest…
yes, a book on your cats!…
As the French would say, a nice story with a “happy end”.
So different from having a dog…ours is 13 years old, indulged and well-cared for, yet would escape in a moment when given the chance. Just think of how much freer cats can be, who can climb and hop to the top of almost anything! And she’s not in the least repentant when captured and returned! At least Beau seemed to have moments of reflection…
dear robin.
nothing seems right when I return home each day and can’t see, hear, or feel five relines who own me, I very much enjoy your blog. I too, will add my twocents, and suggest that your humor is just right for a book. I was an editor at Houghton Mifflin for many years, i see you writing childrens book. Isn’t it amazing how everyone has a suggestion on what YOU should be doing.
Glad alls well that ends well.
Sheila
I/we sometimes regret not writing down the stories that have happened to our cats over the years we’ve been here.
Oh, my, such a situation! Back in Alaska our cats have been creative in getting into devilish spots at the most inopportune times. Rusty (Pippa colored) stole away into our craft room, the door closed, and he was trapped for a week while we were on vacation. Our neighbor even came in, combed the house, calling his name. He refused to answer. When we arrived home he started howling, the door was opened, and out came a very meek, dehydrated Rusty. Our Molly loves to climb up on our roof and conveniently ‘forgets’ how to get down until we go to the back of the house and call her to ‘rediscover’ the way down to the back stairs. Otherwise she howls most piteously for hours, letting the neighbors know how cruelly we treat her. I say Beau caught a whiff of your cooking and decided it really wasn’t that much fun torturing his humans. And I agree with the others–I see a book or 2 in all your cat stories.
Since my coffee cup has “cat lover” emblazoned on the side, I enjoy your cat stories. I have plenty of my own of course, as my cat, Boris, is quite a character in his own right. But I never tire of hearing of other cat shenanigans. They are out to rule the world!
They already do!
It seems every cat I’ve ever owned has managed to climb to the top of a tree or the top of my roof and then refused to come down – usually through sheer fear. I once practically pulled my cat’s leg out of its socket trying to drag him in through a top bedroom window! They get quite stubborn when they are scared.
By the way, your home is very beautiful and “gemutlich.”
Now I’m on to the 2nd part of the second season of “Poldark” ordered from Netflix. Warleggon (the great Ralph Bates) always seems to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop!
“Dogs have Masters, Cats have Staff!!”. Loved your Beau predicament! Our very own queenly, Pippa-Squeak, would have glared most haughtily up at your Beau and “Dared” him to make his own way down if he knew what was good for him!! Or Not!! And please do think of a book about your lovelies, but by all means, continue to delight us all with your wonderful recipes and daily thoughts on life! So pleased you are feeling so much better!
Namaste!
O, yes cats helping each other that’s true.Nice story!
By the way people who like cats I like those people too.
So glad all ended well for both humans and puss-cat. Pippa has taken Beau under her paws then.
I was positive you were going to say that the smell of your wonderful meal gave Beau the incentive to get down on his own. I do love the image of the “mama” cat waiting patiently for the humans to go inside so she could handle the situation. My dog, Boris, used to babysit the kittens from my cat, Pilgrim. He would get so mad if she was late coming in, but he never left the box until she got there. Animals are amazing. I love having them in my life, as clearly you do too. Thanks for a wonderful story.
PS I had to laugh at your insistance on eatting…such a man!
Another Boris!
I was soo sure you were going to say that the aroma of your wonderful meal offered Beau the incentive to come down on his own. However, I do love the image of the “mama” cat waiting patiently for the humans to go inside so she could handle the situation. When I was little we had a cat Pilgrim who would produce a litter of kittens twice a year. When she needed a break she would go over and rub up against our German Shepard, Boris who knew at that point he was “on duty” and he would sit next to that box and watch until Pilgram came home…no matter how long it took. It was amazing to watch. Pets add so much to our lives. Glad I have mine. Thanks for the wonderful story.
PS… I had to laugh at your insistence on eatting…you are such a man!
Thanks, another lovely story.
Whew–when I read the title, I had to race to the end to see if all was well! Reminds me of the time some years ago when a construction worker left the slider open (after a great many warnings by us to PLEASE be careful!), and our dear, sweet Pepper snuck out. (Our cats are indoor-only cats.) We had that same horrible reaction–where’s Pepper?! Under the bed? Up in the loft? Stuck in the closet? etc. Gene went outside and heard a pitiful meowing coming from deep inside our ornamental bush around the corner of the house, and there was Pepper, hugging the wall & hiding for his life! He was so relieved when I urged him out! I think he had a few reflective moments, too! (Pepper’s my avatar in the Flickr photos. We lost him to kidney issues. And now I tell every cat owner to add a bit of water to the catfood to make sure they drink enough.)
Happy story and good idea about the water.
I love reading about your cats Robin – we are cat people here too – we have two young ones – Billy and Quiz….a constant source of hilarity for us. The other week Billy got stuck in our roof (long story, read ‘renovator’s nightmare’) – and we were most concerned about how we were going to get him out or coax him down. So we two, along with Quiz, were standing peering up at the roof and calling Billy. Next thing, we looked around…and there is Billy standing there peering up at the roof with us…..the expression on his face was ‘Ooooh what’s going on up there?’ Just love cats and their sillyness!
Lovely story, Bron–thanks.
Cats! You gotta love ’em, right?!! xo
Note to “Mr. Jones”: Just saw a special ed. of Rolling Stone mag. on the newstands–the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time! #4 just happened to be “Highway 61 Revisited” and #9, “Blonde on Blonde.” There were four Beatles albums in the top 10, incl. Revolver, Rubber Soul, the White Album, and Pepper at #1 (yeah!) The Stones, Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, and the Clash (!) filled out the rest; no Elvis until #11, ha! And the regular ed. of RS (w/Obama cover) has a very nice 4 pg. tribute to Levon Helm, incl. a VERY YOUNG pic of the Hawks in ’57. Dunno if they have RS in France…? Perhaps check online.
Cheers & hugs!
Thanks Dianne–I’ll check out the RS piece. The response to his death is very touching.
When you miss him, little Beau you see how much you love him and how he tried to come back to you, out of the high tree! I loved the story and I was quite sure it will all turn out well. Question… did you always have had cats or are these cats a love of you both?
Love from Caroline
I do like a happy ending. your cats are so lovely. mystic Rog sees another launch lunch for ‘beau and his friends’ next summer ….watch out b. potter! …….and the same lovely illustrator….much love to you both xxx.
Thanks Rog–on verra!
I do believe Pippa talked him down. Good girl. I felt Meridith’s fear in looking for Beau. I also know with diabetes you gotta eat when you gotta eat.
One of your hero’s friend lives in Wilmington, DE for the last ten years. David Bromberg and Levon Helm go back 40 years. Helm played drums on two songs on Bromberg’s album “Use Me”. Bromberg performed at Helm’s legendary Midnight Ramble concerts in his Woodstock, N.Y. barn. He went to his memorial in the same building last month. Virginia from Delaware
“you gotta eat when you gotta eat.”–that was my excuse anyway!
Thanks for the stuff about david Bromberg.
All’s well that ends well!
Hi, Robin & Meredith, Gene told me I forgot to mention our most important cat-up-a-tree story: when we rescued our little Winnie! It was two autumns ago, driving home late one night–pitch black. We rounded a curve & there were 3 wriggling kittens on the center line, and headlights coming from the other direction! Panic ensued–“Stop the car!” “Don’t get hit!” but they all darted into the woods. As Gene positioned the headlights, I heard crying & nearly plunged in after them. Good thing I hesitated or I wouldn’t fallen down a 20 ft embankment! We ended up borrowing a nice lady’s flashlight & some cat food, and spent the next hour trying to determine where the pitiful tiny mews were coming from! Up the hill, down the hill–the sound was bouncing all over the gully. I looked up, but finally looked STRAIGHT overhead, and there she was–just out of reach on a dead tree which was snagged between other branches. Holding our breaths, we bent the tree down & prayed it wouldn’t catapult her into the gully below. Mew, mew! Got her! She was 6 wks old and just fit into the palm of my hand, all black with big golden eyes! It took us nearly two more weeks to catch her brothers, who had learned well from their mom to fear humans. By then, both had respiratory infections. But thankfully, they were tired of eating bugs & pine-needles and literally dashed SIMULTANEOUSLY into the trap to eat! Tried to catch mom, but never even glimpsed her; only caught the neighborhood cats. But now the 3 kittens all have happy, loving homes. 🙂 Here’s Winnie: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianneandgene/7145205087/in/photostream
A great story–well done the two of you. Winnie looks adorable.
Oh my goodness, I am so happy to hear that your sweet cat is safe and sound.
I know how dear those little furry kids are to those of us who have the great fortune to share our lives with them.
My husband Charles and I have three Golden Lab-trievers and a beautiful tortoise shell tabby named “Irish” whom our dogs love as much as we do.
She practically mothered them when they were small pups and if there is an alpha in the bunch it is definitely she.
Irish has the old world look and charm of an old soul in animal form.
I am a novelist and on most days when I read back chapters aloud, Irish comes nuzzling and purring then takes her place in her little bed in the corner of my office. It’s a lovely ritual.
Well, I think the way you write these stories is charming and humorous. Why don’t you and your wife put them in a little book with photos and print it? You could talk about each cat’s personality and tell of their escapades. I’m sure it would delight cat lovers all round the world!!!
Thank heavens. We have tuxedo kitty also named Beau who follows us outside during our walks, trying to herd “the old lost folk” home.
I have a cat and mouse story. My cat Lily has kept mice out of my house for many years. I decided at one time to keep her out of my bedroom while I was at work because she was peeing on my bed (She was very angry at me…that is a long story in itself!). I would only let her into my bedroom at night. One night she was very active in the room so I turned on my bed side light. I saw a mouse run across the floor with Lilly right behind. Liliy caught the mouse She then sat on the floor and turned her head towards me. The mouse was in her mouth! Her expression was “hey mom I got the mouse!”. Well I screamed and she dropped the mouse!! My 20 year old son ran into my room. He and Lily worked side by side trying to find the mouse!! They never did. Lucky mouse.