My name is Penny. I am a cat. I live in a big Victorian house with a woman named Nettie Elizabeth Duncan McNeil. Her friends call her Ned. She’s a nice woman, always makes sure my food dish doesn’t go empty and when she has ice cream, she shares it with me. I like living here. It’s peaceful, usually, and when it’s not, I run upstairs and hide under the bed.
One night, however, something happened to shatter this idyllic existence. My hair stands on end to think about it! A storm rolled in and I’ve never seen lightning so bright or thunder so loud. It made the tips of my toes tingle and my hair turn bristly and bushy. Anyway, there was a noise at the back door and in stepped (I shudder to mention it) a dog.
Like a shot, I took off for the stairs. What was that huge, ugly animal doing in my living room? Sure, he was wet and bedraggled and didn’t look like he intended to bite anybody, but one couldn’t be too careful. Wonder of wonders, Ned wasn’t scared at all. She talked softly to him and actually got a nice rug for him to lie down on.
With my whiskers a-quiver, I watched, ready to dash up to my hidey-hole if that smelly animal so much as looked my way. But, he didn’t. The ungrateful cur stepped nicely around the bed Ned gave him and lay down in front of the fireplace on My Own Bed! Oh, the nerve!
I considered hurtling onto his back and seeing how he liked the feel of my dagger-sharp claws, and chasing him back into the storm. But, for some strange reason, I didn’t. Maybe it was because I’ve been miserable and wet and cold a time or two and I knew how he felt. Anyway, I decided the better part of valor was patience.
That was how Ulysses came to be a part of Ned’s and my household. I decided I’d let him stay and see just what his place in the family would be. As it turned out, it was a pretty important part. He, in fact, saved me, at one point, from stepping on a snake. Can you believe it?
Ulysses was a bit more adventuresome than I. Oh, I like the occasional stroll through the yard, a hunt for vicious prey, or a wrestling match with autumn leaves, and I always have an eye out for danger, but Ulysses? Well, that dog actually went hunting for trouble. He would tell me all about it as we shared the warmth of the fireplace each night.
I understand that someone has written about our hair-raising adventures and put them into a couple of books. That’s nice. I think I appreciate hearing about close calls more than actually living through them. I’ve also heard that maybe this nice, old house attracts mysterious events. Couldn’t prove it by me. I like it here, and if the truth were known, I like Ulysses. We’re the best of pals now. And, of course, I like Ned, but I’ve never seen anybody get into as many scrapes as she does. She’s lucky to have Ulysses and me. We do our best to keep her out of trouble.
You’ll find the cat, the dog, the house and Ned in Moonlight Can Be Murder and in the soon-to-be-released By the Fright of the Silvery Moon.
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